Question about games on multiplatforms

[Space Cadet]

I think this is my first video game thread in years.

Anyway, I was looking at YouTube videos of games from the SNES/Genesis and Playstation/Saturn/N64/Dreamcast years. I was looking at the differences between the various ports and was reminded about how some games were different from each other. One example is Aladdin. I owned an SNES, so I only played that version. However, I forgot how different the Genesis version was when I saw a YouTube video of it. Then there are differences between the various Street Fighter II games. Another example is the Tony Hawk games between the N64 and Playstation/Dreamcast.

My question is, in today's generation of video games, do we still get that variation between the different ports? Or is it more or less the same between the systems? I've been in and out of the video game scene for the past 6-8 years(the last system I bought was a GameCube), so I'm not totally sure. I'm sure some knowledgeable people here will inform me.

[Classic Speedy]

Toy Story 3 got vastly different games on separate systems: There was a PS3/360/Wii/PC version, a PS2/PSP version, and a DS version.

[Chaos Yoshi Mage]

Sometimes yeah, I believe that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Sonic Unleashed, and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands were very different on the Wii than the HD Consoles. Most handheld versions are vastly different games as well.

[Shawn Hopkins]

They're different if hardware differences require them to make a different game, such as having to start from the ground up to make a game that will work on the underpowered Wii. But it rarely or never happens just to set the individual versions apart like it did the earlier days of gaming. Games just simply cost too much to make to justify completely separate versions for similar consoles. Now, sometimes a game will suck and they'll go back and try to improve the port, they did this for the PS3 version of Alone in the Dark after people complained about the 360 version, for example. And sometimes there will be a tiny bit of exclusive content, a character, level or weapon, usually available through a download code or preorder. And of course games usually run better on the primary development console, in most cases for the HD games that's the 360.

So, really, the answer to your question as I understand it is no. If the hardware is similar any differences are minor.

[Space Cadet]

Thanks for answering guys! I kinda figured that there wasn't much difference nowadays compared to earlier generations. Cost is definitely a factor and then there is the demise of the arcade industry. Back in the day, arcade games were superior in the technological department and when they ported to the various systems, changes had to be made(Turtles in Time and Daytona USA comes to mind). Now, we don't have that anymore.

In fact, the only time I hear of changes is when older titles are ported to the DLC.