GTA SA "remade" for Xbox 360 in HD? Nope, it's an Android port, and it's capped at 30FPS

[Aniallation]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-gta-san-andreas-on-xbox-360-is-a-mobile-port

 

 

So what's the score with the new HD version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on Xbox 360? In a move seemingly timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the game's release, the emulated Xbox version available through Games on Demand has been replaced by a new version that promises "720p resolution, enhanced draw distance and Achievement support".

 

Curiously, there isn't an equivalent new version of the game available on PlayStation 3. Instead, PS3 owners have to make do with the original PS2 release, which runs on Sony's software emulator and hands in visuals and performance that look like a very close match for the game in its original setting. That probably sounds like a back-handed compliment, but after playing the Xbox 360 remaster for a while, we're actually glad the original game is still available somewhere.

 

There has been some speculation about the basis of the new Xbox 360 HD version. Is it a port of the original PC version? Does it include assets from the enhanced mobile edition available on iOS and Android? What's the frame-rate like? And, bearing in mind the rudimentary nature of the visuals, is any anti-aliasing supported?

 

It becomes clear pretty quickly upon loading the game that we've seen a version of GTA: San Andreas rather like this before. Really quite recently in fact. The Android version formed part of our testing for the Nvidia Shield Tablet, and the Xbox 360 HD version appears to be a straight and somewhat uninspiring port of that mobile release, delivered by members of War Drum studios, whose names have been added to the credits.

 

We took a look at the beginning of the game across four platforms - PS2, PC, Xbox 360 and Android. The PS2 version is more limited in many regards than its siblings, certainly in terms of draw distance, and also seems to be running a very low precision framebuffer, resulting in a stipple-like effect in the visuals. However, it also has its own sunny bloom effect not found in any of the other versions we tested. Not surprisingly, the PC version (released at the same time as the original Xbox game) is fairly close to the original, complete with its unimpressive, constricted field of view in widescreen mode.

 

Viewed side by side, Xbox 360 and Shield Tablet games appear to be a close match - the higher-resolution 2D artwork and the new front end are much the same, though the new console release appears to possess enhanced draw distance over the Android version (even when it's set to 100 per cent on the mobile version). Unfortunately, aside from the inclusion of Achievements, there's very little love given to this new edition. Just like the Android release, there's absolutely no anti-aliasing available, whereas even the original PC version supports this, while the vast majority of Xbox Originals on the 360 emulator supported 2x or 4x MSAA depending on the title.

 

What's even more unimpressive is that frame-rate is capped to 30fps and you don't even get a locked, consistent performance level. Travelling around Los Santos, we note occasional hitching and stuttering, with frame-time dips often in excess of 60ms, which translates into momentary dips where the game is running at the equivalent of 15fps.

 

 

What could have been an opportunity to produce the ultimate, definitive version of GTA: San Andreas comes across as something of a missed opportunity. There's debate on GTA fan sites about the extent to which the mobile version is better than the PC original in terms of elements such as draw distance and asset quality - the Xbox 360 version occupies 2GB of space vs the 4GB of the original PS2 and PC versions. Certainly the mobile release on which the 360 game is based appears to lack effects, such as the screen distortion designed to emulate heat haze, while radio station music is pared back, presumably because of licensing issues. This 360 port also suffers from glaringly obvious bugs, like audio cutting out completely during some cut-scenes.

 

In revisiting San Andreas, it's actually the PS2 original that comes across as the most authentic of the lot: a technological masterpiece of its time, with assets built to service what is today a relatively miniscule resolution, but at its most comfortable on the original target hardware. Curiously, despite the often crippling frame-rate, the controls just seem to feelbetter in some ways than the remastered version.

 

Scaled up to 720p and beyond, even with the enhanced assets, it's clear that the level of detail in the assets doesn't really stand up to scrutiny. The game wasn't really designed to scale in this way and it shows. At just £2.99, the Xbox 360 port is keenly priced for what it offers, but we can't help but wonder whether keeping the Xbox Originals version - at least alongside any HD remaster - may have been the preferable option.

[XTankSlayerX]

BREAKING NEWS:

 

EA Now declared a saint.

 

Rockstar. What the fu*k. Why? This is how much you like your players...

[Snickerzz]

if they actually remastered it i guarantee if wouldnt have cost $3 or whatever.

also its a dead giveaway by the huge buttons and the menu layout that it was a mobile port

[EcoBoost]

Wow... Xbox 360 can't even keep up with a game like GTA SA... is 30FPS too much to ask for already?

[Speedyv]

Wow... Xbox 360 can't even keep up with a game like GTA SA... is 30FPS too much to ask for already?

 

It probably spikes a lot or something.

Not really surprising. 

 

And I doubet R* wants to waste time on SA when they have V coming out soon.

 

Edit: apparently the physics are tied to the FPS, it's pretty common in games. Heard Linus talk about this before.

[alby800]

inb4 rockstar digging memes

[Deletive]

Are we forgetting soemthing about the mobile market? 

[Speedyv]

Are we forgetting soemthing about the mobile market? 

 

To be fair K1 came ages after those consoles,

 

Stop being an elitist 

[EcoBoost]

Are we forgetting soemthing about the mobile market? 

I thought the PS3 was more powerful then the 360? And that the fat PS3 used more power then the original 360

[Commander_Z]

they nerfed the pc version and removed the 1080p option

[WolfDeville]

Pathetic.

[Deletive]

To be fair K1 came ages after those consoles,

 

Stop being an elitist 

I'm aware it came ages after but what were we really expecting with this xbox 360 version when there are tablets already more powerful then our old consoles.

 

I thought the PS3 was more powerful then the 360? And that the fat PS3 used more power then the original 360

It is just it's a completely different architecture then the xbox 360 and it probably just didn't show up on paper. 

[Speedyv]

I'm aware it came ages after but what were we really expecting with this xbox 360 version when there are tablets already more powerful then our old consoles.

 

It is just it's a completely different architecture then the xbox 360 and it probably just didn't show up on paper. 

 

That's tech advancement for you.

Along with pretty weak consoles but yea

[StingBull]

Called it.

[Stomplar]

30 fps is good enough for me.

[ShadowCaptain]

Wow... Xbox 360 can't even keep up with a game like GTA SA... is 30FPS too much to ask for already?

 

 they wont be happy until you have to play the game in powerpoint

 

30 fps is good enough for me.

 

Really?

[Trik'Stari]

30 fps is good enough for me.

Then you need to re-evaluate your life.

[NICKT]

Even if 30fps is 'good enough', why is that acceptable?

 

When the human race got wings, we flew from land to land and then we laid our eyes towards the stars and we found ourselves reaching the moon.

Horses and carriages are 'good enough' but we said nay, and look at us now? Cars that go more than 10 times the speed of a human being could ever hope to achieve on their own.

 

Sure, 720p and 30fps is "ok", it's tolerable, but why should we stop striving to push for higher, for bigger, for better?

To go backwards from 1080p and 60fps which was the goal we were aiming for, it just sounds silly. It's like, "hey, we couldn't reach the ideal place so instead of informing everyone that they made a shoddy consumer choice, we'll just try and convince them that less is more".

 

EDIT:

Also, why is it capped at 30fps?

Like, I can understand having a cap in your game so you could limit FPS, but why 30? I'm pretty sure, at least I'd like to think so, that my two 680s could run this game at 60fps, why can't I get an option that allows me to do so?

Or is the PC not capped at 30fps?

 

Idk, my brain's fried, it's fap time.

[shadowblitz3]

No rockstar, no

[LemonSpice]

I thought the PS3 was more powerful then the 360? And that the fat PS3 used more power then the original 360

It is but it has an optimized architecture.It is completely different than the 360's chip in games developed on it it will destroy the 360 but for cross platform games it wont. 

 

The PS3 uses the Cell microprocessor, which is made up of one 3.2 GHz PowerPC-based "Power Processing Element" (PPE) and six accessible Synergistic Processing Elements (SPEs). A seventh runs in a special mode and is dedicated to aspects of the OS and security, and an eighth is a spare to improve production yields. PlayStation 3's Cell CPU achieves a theoretical maximum of 230.4 GFLOPS[3] in single precision floating point operations and up to 100 GFLOPS double precision using iterative refinement for the solution of linear equations.[4] The PS3 has 256 MB of Rambus XDR DRAM, clocked at CPU die speed.[3]

[Cookybiscuit]

This is news? The old GTA engines link everything to the framerate, anyone expecting 60FPS is an idiot.

[geforceftw]

Im okay with the 360 being capped at 30fps.

[Thony]

I personaly dont care about SA, already played it a lot back in tge day when it was popular

Vice City is still my most favourite GTA of all time. 5 should replace it fir me, but that would require R* to be PC gaming developer and not console one in this day and age.

Either way, i will spend my hard eaned money on GTA V and give them the chance to impress me

The only thing that matters at the end of the day is if i had fun playing it. Then comes everyrhing else.

Ubisoft destroyed Watch Dogs potential and i still enjoyed it for the duration of the missions. Some good scenes here and there and good story. Not much to do online but it could still be played.

[420istoday]

 

The framerate and physics are tied, shit gets wonky over 30fps.

[Stomplar]

Then you need to re-evaluate your life.

classy response there. Why even post? Are you that angry?