icaritos said:
I was never comparing the PS3 to PC. And I know that console technology tends to be more conservative than PC technology and that as a result both the PS3 and the 360 are now using outdated tech components. I never said anything that contradicts this (although it does seem to be at least somewhat of a moot point in this particular case since Bethesda used the consoles as lead platforms for Skyrim). What I did was compare the PS3 to the 360 and not the PC. And while the 360 may appear to have more RAM due to all the RAM being shared it still has to distribute the RAM accordingly among the same the things as the PS3. All the PS3 does is formalize the process by splitting the RAM into two halves.
And the PS3's RAM is indeed faster and more efficient than that of the 360 (once again I'm not talking about the PC).
But you don't have to take my word for it. Here's an article for you:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/08/26/xbox-360-vs-playstation-3-the-hardware-throwdown
So the idea of RAM issues might (let me emphasize "might") explain why the PC version supposedly fares better than the console versions (although PC version has had it's share of issues as well) but it wouldn't seem to do all that much to explain why the PS3 is getting the shorter end of the stick than the 360. It seems more likely that it's simply because Bethesda simply found the 360 to be easier to work with as has been the case numerous times before regarding the 360 and PS3 with numerous other games and developers. And among those times by the way is with Bethesda's own Fallout 3 (I imagine that the consoles were at least a little less outdated then than they are now).
And all the article you point out does is present a few different theories. So it's not the most reliable of sources to say the least (and Joshua Sawyer isn't a particularly credible source due to potential conflict of interest issues). And it's seems that it doesn't actually say anything about outdated hardware. At best it only implies something like that.
And Bethesda is generally not a particularly reliable company either. As I said Bethesda does indeed have a reputation for releasing buggy games (and perhaps seemingly using consumers as de facto beta testers). As I understand it this has been going one since well before the PS3 was even released (stretching back to Morrowind if not further back than that). Even the PC version of Skyrim has had it's share of issues (and by the way a few instances of anecdotal evidence don't really amount to all that much if anything). And on top of that Bethesda is also guilty of suspicious and questionable behavior like refusing to release the PS3 version of Skyrim to reviewers before the release date even to those who specifically requested it. Not to mention those allegations that Bethesda forced unfavorable reviews of New Vegas to be taken down.
So Bethesda doesn't have the best of reputations with regard to numerous things. And among those things is PS3 game development.
