Square Enix caught using PS3 video on an Xbox 360 commercial

I own an Xbox 360. I really enjoy using the console, but my real love is for the games on the device not the console itself.  I have friends that own Sony PS3s. One of them I would classify as a "fanboy." I remember when it was announced that Final Fantasy XIII would be coming to the Xbox 360 in addition to the PS3, and I remember that he was upset.

This behavior confuses me because I would like to see all games on all consoles.  It is my opinion that exclusivity agreements hurt the consumer, and I am confounded when people who call themselves gamers get upset when an exclusivity agreement is broken.

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With that background, let's get into the latest scandal.  Apparently, Square Enix (the developer behind Final Fantasy XIII) used footage from a Playstation 3 in a commercial for the Xbox 360 version of FFXIII.  It has been known for some time that the game in question looks slightly better on the PS3 than on the Xbox 360. Here are some screens if you'd like to judge for yourself:

Final Fantasy XIII Comparison Image
Click image to view larger. Comparison pictures from videogameszone.de.

I cannot see a major difference in those screenshots, but there is a minor difference and I will accept that that PS3 ones look a little better.  However, that difference cannot be taken to mean the PS3 is "better" than the 360.  The reason for this is that the version of FFXIII on the Xbox 360 is a port.  This means that the game was first developed on the PS3 and then the code was modified to work on the 360.

Ports always look worse than if the game is developed from the ground up on the console because the game will likely not take full advantage of the hardware nuances.  This works in the opposite direction as well. The Ghostbusters game that came out about a year ago looks better on the 360 than on the PS3 because the game was originally developed on the 360 and then ported to the PS3.

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So why did Square Enix use PS3 footage in their commercial?  They have a few claims. First of all, they are quick to establish that the scenes in the commercial are pre-rendered cut scenes.  This means that if this video looks better on the PS3 than the Xbox 360 it's not because the PS3 is better at rendering video game footage but that it is better at displaying video.

Second, they mention that the video footage could have been captured on any device and that they just used the PS3.  Honestly, I think Square Enix was just being lazy. For whatever reason they decided to make separate commercials for the PS3 and the Xbox 360 versions of their game.  When it came to showing pre-rendered video scenes they probably only wanted to capture the video once because it's not actual gameplay footage and just decided to use the video they captured from the PS3.

I don't think this was a case of Square Enix trying to be misleading, but it definitely gave the fanboys more fuel for the fire in the ongoing silliness that has been dubbed the console wars.

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