Bethesda’s Pete Hines squashes PS3 Oblivion rumors flat

VP of Public Relations and Marketing Bethesda‘s VP of Public Relations and Marketing”>Pete Hines finally sets the record straight regarding rumors that have been floating around the web with regards to the PS3 version of Bethesda Softwork’s Oblivion.

Technical limitations of the PS3? One of the most rampant issues that has been reported in the past was the port’s lack of downloadable content, as well as the exclusion of certain missions and features. These deficiencies were rumored to have been caused by “technical limitations” of the PS3. However, Hines insists this isn’t so.

According to Hines, certain features were deliberately left out because of concerns with maintaining balance within the game, as well as the dev team’s lack of experience with the Playstation Network Store.

To illustrate his point, he notes that items such as the Orrery and Mehrunes’s Razor were not included as these would require a player to immediately have access to a wizard’s tower and a thieves’ den, respectively. Hines goes on to say that “There was no good way to incorporate these features into the game as soon as it started because it didn’t make sense.” However, he has not discounted the possibility of these features being eventually available – possibly when the dev team fully figures out the nitty-gritty details of the Playstation Network.

Will PS3 graphics be better? Another issue that he addressed was the one that concerned shaders and optimizations for the PS3 version of the game, and the question of whether the PS3 version of the game will be graphically superior when compared to the Xbox 360 and PC versions.

Hines clarifies that the shader functionality which was designed to re-render low-res textures will also be making its way to the 360 and PC versions via updates – sooner or later. However, certain optimizations which make use of the PS3’s Cell Processor will have to remain exclusive to the PS3.

VP of Public Relations and Marketing Bethesda‘s VP of Public Relations and Marketing”>Pete Hines finally sets the record straight regarding rumors that have been floating around the web with regards to the PS3 version of Bethesda Softwork’s Oblivion.

Technical limitations of the PS3? One of the most rampant issues that has been reported in the past was the port’s lack of downloadable content, as well as the exclusion of certain missions and features. These deficiencies were rumored to have been caused by “technical limitations” of the PS3. However, Hines insists this isn’t so.

According to Hines, certain features were deliberately left out because of concerns with maintaining balance within the game, as well as the dev team’s lack of experience with the Playstation Network Store.

To illustrate his point, he notes that items such as the Orrery and Mehrunes’s Razor were not included as these would require a player to immediately have access to a wizard’s tower and a thieves’ den, respectively. Hines goes on to say that “There was no good way to incorporate these features into the game as soon as it started because it didn’t make sense.” However, he has not discounted the possibility of these features being eventually available – possibly when the dev team fully figures out the nitty-gritty details of the Playstation Network.

Will PS3 graphics be better? Another issue that he addressed was the one that concerned shaders and optimizations for the PS3 version of the game, and the question of whether the PS3 version of the game will be graphically superior when compared to the Xbox 360 and PC versions.

Hines clarifies that the shader functionality which was designed to re-render low-res textures will also be making its way to the 360 and PC versions via updates – sooner or later. However, certain optimizations which make use of the PS3’s Cell Processor will have to remain exclusive to the PS3.