360 and PS3 Versions of GTA IV Almost Identical in Graphics: Rockstar Head

A week ahead of Grand Theft Auto IV's release, Rockstar Games President Sam Houser said the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 each presented their own challenges but that the game looks "pretty much identical" on the two platforms.

Echoing comments of several other major developing houses, the Rockstar head said the PS3 at first presented some difficulties but that the hurdle had been cleared.

"Getting things running on the PS3 initially was challenging. I think it was challenging for a lot of companies, but it's also a machine where, now that we've got comfortable with it - I don't want to say we've cracked it, but we've got comfortable with it - we know we can make our games," he said.

While he praised the 360 as being "a very, very accessible, familiar, effective environment to work in," Microsoft's decision to produce a hard drive-less discount model "complicated" efforts to develop the game for it, Houser said.

He also expressed some concern about the expanding disc size of games - not a problem for the Blu-ray capable PS3 but a challenge for the DVD-only 360.

"If we're filling up the disc right now, where are we going?" Houser asked. "It's not like our games are going to get any smaller."

Source: 1up.com