The lights are on
If you still haven't picked up Grand Theft Auto V and are debating whether to get it on PlayStation 3 as a retail disc or downloaded title, you should watch this video. Eurogamer's Digital Foundry compiled the footage that shows a significant deficit in some areas that plague the digital version.
The Digital Foundry team used two different hard drives: a 500 GB after-market installation and an original 60 GB OEM drive. The problems are definitely noticeable on the newer, faster drive, but not nearly as pronounced as the original hardware.
You'll see side-by-side footage for the first half that shows off the more minor discrepancies. The second half doesn't need the comparison. At the 2:09 mark, you'll start to see structures disappear trees without their trunks and other oddities.
The report also indicates that these pop-in issues are only severe when driving at fast speeds in heavily populated areas. They seem to be absent when on foot and significantly less noticeable in the more open areas of the game's large map.
[Source: Eurogamer]
Our TakeFor some this might not be a significant issue, as the issue seems to present itself only during extremely fast driving in downtown areas. Is it annoying? Absolutely. Is the game still playable (and by all reports enjoyable)? Definitely.
For those that are experiencing this problem, I hope Sony and Rockstar are able to patch things up.
I've got the PSN version and my intro looked nothing like the intro they're showing. I feel the issue stems from not having a defragged PS3 and having the file structure properly setup. There are guides on how to do this numerous places.
I have a Slim PS3 with an upgraded 640GB 5400RPM HDD. I did not have a bad intro like they did but I am noticing pop-in while driving quite often. Hopefully this gets patched up.
Blue-Ray ATW! If not just to save on the massive PSN download lol.
The console simply doesn't have the access to grab the game just off of the hard drive, the read speed is too slow. Rockstar used a lot of technical trickery and wizardry to get GTA V to the point that it is. My point being that hopefully this wont be a problem for next gen.
Not to mention the goodies you get too. I love the big map.
exactly why i prefer physical copy
I actually considered getting the digital version. Phew, made the right choice.
doesn't surprise me...
This Article is Miss leading.
Blu Ray Drive read at anywhere from 30 - 72mb/s
5400rpm HDD reads between 10 - 50 mb/s
7200rpm HDD reads between 30 - 90 mb/s
SSD HDD reads up to 300 - 1200 mb/s
This video only shows 5400 rpm performance... Shame on the video maker.
I've had some issues with the Hitman Absolution PSN version, as well, but I didn't really like that game enough to see if the issues would continue lol.
This could probably be patched... or maybe only some digital copies are afflicted.
I'd assume that the HDD has higher read speeds than blu-ray, especially PS3 blu-ray, which is the reason games install on the HDD in the first place, otherwise they'd just be taking up space on the HDD for the sake of having it run slower, which would be stupid. Something tells me a patch will fix this, by all means the digital copy should be the smoothest version, as it doesn't have to read off of a disk.