Xbox Vs PS3: Ninja Gaiden Black Vs Ninja Gaiden Sigma Comparison

With the fast approaching release of NGS for the PS3, we thought we would put together one last comparison between the former-gen and the current-gen version of Ninja Gaiden. I know what you’re already thinking, “This isn’t a comparison, the PS3 will wipe the floor with the original Xbox”. That’s what I thought at first. But after scanning over the following screenshots and looking at a few different angles of the gameplay, things unfolded in a slightly different manner.

We all know that the PS3 is ridiculously powerful, but how does an exclusive port of an Xbox game to the PS3 look via comparison? Does the original big black box fall so flat on its face that it’s just plain embarrassing? Or is it possible that the difference is only slightly discernable. Check it out for yourself and see, you might be surprised.

With the upcoming release of Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the PlayStation 3, you can’t help but wonder how much of an upgrade this game has had over the previous-gen Xbox. While the changes are noticeable, the difference isn’t particularly shocking. Especially considering that the in-game play is still as fast and smooth on both versions. At least Team Ninja knows how to transition from one platform to the next without taking any steps back.

One thing to note, though, is that the lighting effects on the PS3 version are slightly disappointing, only because the shaders used for character shadowing is only slightly more of an enhancement over the Xbox version. Check out the screens with the white ninjas – they look nice, but at the same time Black isn’t light-years away (lighting wise) from Sigma. Maybe it’s just the room. You can notice, however, that there are more light sources on the characters in the PS3 version, though. The Xbox has some of the light sourcing as part of the textures, where-is all the of the light sourcing on the PS3 version seems to be refractive and adjusts in realtime. And obviously there’s more detail in Ryu’s model file; notice that the straps on his chest are protuberant polygons in the PS3 version, though they're textured in the Xbox version.

When the LOD (level of detail) is at its max, via comparison the original Xbox version actually looks only slightly different than the PS3 version. Again, the light sourcing and some minor details in the character models are what give it away. It will be a wickedly tough time to tell the difference between the PS3 and the 360 version...once the 360 gets Ninja Gaiden.

(Editor's Note: The PS3 screenshots are from a recent press release by Tecmo, while the Xbox screenshots are the ones Tecmo released during E3 2005)