Slashdot Mirror

Aaah, it depends on which IGN report you read. In the first article I read Kelly Sumner says "The fact that the PlayStation 2 will be the only home entertainment system on which one can enjoy Grand Theft Auto titles is a great statement for the platform overal", and I took the rather careful phrase to mean he was explicitly avoiding the presence of GTA games on platforms other than "home entertainment system"s. In the other one IGN themselves say "Grand Theft Auto 3 and all future titles in the GTA franchise will be exclusive to PlayStation 2 until October 2004, SCEA announced today at its E3 press conference", but I still see the same quote from Sumner, so we have no direct evidence that they have really said no more PC GTA games for the next 2 and a half years.

Well, yah..I hate to tell you, but its NOT coming out for the Xbox...O-well, less plastic for the landfill...
Check it out, on an XBox site, too......
Well, no big deal. We wouldnt want another Atari/landfill issue, now would we ;)

yep, you sure know what you're talking about.

"Grand Theft Auto 3 and all future titles in the GTA franchise will be exclusive to PlayStation 2 until October 2004, SCEA announced today at its E3 press conference"

here's the link

..since Rockstar just announced their until-2005 exclusivity agreement with Sony yesterday.

An interesting scenario would be if Nintendo and Sony decided to lower software prices [ps2.ign.com] as sort of an eye-gouge to Microsoft's plans...

Numerous EA games support dts.

> HDTV

Tekken 4 does progressive scan.

> Let you import your own music to your driving game

Odd, if I turn the music down on the game, and the volume up on my hifi, I can get any music I want in game...

They already have gotten support from EA (sports games), Sega (sports games), and more than a handful of Japanese game developers. Racing games, fighting games, flight games, RPGs, FPS are all accounted for. I've heard more from Sony recently than Microsoft, but Microsoft is probably holding out for E3 this week.

Sony has been touting their partnerships with AOL and RealPlayer among others and support from game developers. Microsoft has been boasting about their service and their voice capabilities. Both are probably holding most of their game announcements for E3. In any case, neither is set to launch their services officially until Fall this year unless one of them pulls something out of thin air.

Personally, I don't understand all the fuss about the online race for this generation of consoles. It will mostly be all beta testing for the next generation, and the games are mostly unproven so far. Laggy fighting games where twitch reflexes are key to winning, racing games where most PC racing games have not fared well, and so forth all seem like a big hassle. Sports games are one of the few exceptions IMO. It's definitely intriguing to look at the games and see where the gaming companies think consoles are going, but right now, it's pretty unknown territory that in of itself is a gamble to even develop an online game for.

On another point, console game prices are headed south if the latest rumors regarding Sony and Nintendo are true. Most brand new titles today debut at $35-$40 for their first week lately in the Sunday ads much like their PC counterparts. Many of Sony's big titles are also going to their Greatest Hits series at a reduced costs for roughly $30 less than a year after they've been out.

I won't even attempt to convince you that while X-Box may be a PC in a box, in all fairness, it does have some things going for it. I'm a happy PS2-only owner at the moment BTW.

(Grabbed from a NWN Forum post by Derek French - NWN Assistant Producer)

Greetings all:
We are trying to organize a list of Beta Toolset Mirrors. If you have the Toolset and have a mirror of the install files, please post them here.

Also, for your download security pleasure, here are the MD5 checksums for the individual files:

AUTORUN.INF - C14C468795575BCE73D84989262479B4
data1.cab - 181F15C7F19E07C92727D9C49E820E40
data1.hdr - B4F103D55E8FFAAA94505716A7C82DE1
data2.cab - A7B82CE88F1FAF469892FC12208655D8
ikernel.ex_ - 4D63BBFF28AFC7A69B6DEFAF048306A7
layout.bin - 26D40B394685321838E00002C30CBEE7
readme.txt - 6CD49925A70C04B3393DEF39F44F4B51
setup.bmp - 03A01D22277FFC06F91B475696946B81
Setup.exe - 1AEB989E361AF85F5099DE3DA25457F4
Setup.ini - FEB5DB091554FE2E65CFED8E2E9D292A
setup.inx - 5AFB35300108D078A2B942DD85759E45
FilePlanet version: NWN_Tools_BETA.EXE - 6D4B52FE7264C16BE9A0A3B506E9456C

MIRROR LIST: 3D Gamers Link
Baron Bosse Link
FilePlanet Link
gec Link Link Link

IGN ran a similiar interview with bill roper about the same subject.

PS2 progressive scan title

PS2 dts titles

HAND

We're definitely comfortable at $299 ... I can't imagine that we need to change our strategy one iota.

First of all: you guys rule, the HTTP 1.0 thing worked great. I'll have to see if I can make Junkbuster HTTP-1.1-aware sometime.

Second: free-riding. Well, it goes like this. I've always ad-filtered since I discovered Junkbuster (and will soon try Privoxy, because I've wanted HTML-filtering for awhile too), because ads are annoying and are the largest consumer of my meager 2k/s bandwidth. So screw ads. Web pages look lots prettier without them.

That said, I have nothing against supporting sites I like, especially this one. I support IGN but subscribing to IGN Insider. for over $20 a year. You know what? It was the best $20 subscription I've ever bought. IGN has lots of content, up-to-date stories, the IGN Unplugged PDF magazine (free for insiders). $20 a year for daily updates is great.

What's the difference? IGN's subscription is value-added. I pay to get stuff I didn't have before. Slashdot's subscription is stupid: I pay to not get something I had. In fact, since there's junkbuster (the geek solution; isn't this a geek site?) I'm paying for not getting something I already didn't have. Kinda silly.

When slashdot starts offering exclusive pay-only features with enough value-added pay-only content, you will see me being the first to pay $20 a year to subscribe. Spellchecked and slightly edited stories would be kinda nice too.

Think of it like this. If the RIAA started giving away CDs (ok, implausible, but follow me here ;-)) that had ads between tracks, and offered ad-free versions for $20, would you pay or just rip and skip those tracks?

Add value, ask money for it, I'm there. Otherwise, something strikes a sour note in my geek side for paying for not getting something I could avoid anyway.

First of all: you guys rule, the HTTP 1.0 thing worked great. I'll have to see if I can make Junkbuster HTTP-1.1-aware sometime.

Second: free-riding. Well, it goes like this. I've always ad-filtered since I discovered Junkbuster (and will soon try Privoxy, because I've wanted HTML-filtering for awhile too), because ads are annoying and are the largest consumer of my meager 2k/s bandwidth. So screw ads. Web pages look lots prettier without them.

That said, I have nothing against supporting sites I like, especially this one. I support IGN but subscribing to IGN Insider. for over $20 a year. You know what? It was the best $20 subscription I've ever bought. IGN has lots of content, up-to-date stories, the IGN Unplugged PDF magazine (free for insiders). $20 a year for daily updates is great.

What's the difference? IGN's subscription is value-added. I pay to get stuff I didn't have before. Slashdot's subscription is stupid: I pay to not get something I had. In fact, since there's junkbuster (the geek solution; isn't this a geek site?) I'm paying for not getting something I already didn't have. Kinda silly.

When slashdot starts offering exclusive pay-only features with enough value-added pay-only content, you will see me being the first to pay $20 a year to subscribe. Spellchecked and slightly edited stories would be kinda nice too.

Think of it like this. If the RIAA started giving away CDs (ok, implausible, but follow me here ;-)) that had ads between tracks, and offered ad-free versions for $20, would you pay or just rip and skip those tracks?

Add value, ask money for it, I'm there. Otherwise, something strikes a sour note in my geek side for paying for not getting something I could avoid anyway.

I've played them all and I still think the PS2 is the best, with the N64 a close second. I realize that better graphics and sound enhance game-play, but it's really about playability. I still think Mario Kart 64 is one of the best games out, I love GT3 for the graphics, but Mario Kart 64 is still a killer game.

Same could be said for many of the N64 games.

I've played them all and I still think the PS2 is the best, with the N64 a close second. I realize that better graphics and sound enhance game-play, but it's really about playability. I still think Mario Kart 64 is one of the best games out, I love GT3 for the graphics, but Mario Kart 64 is still a killer game.

Same could be said for many of the N64 games.

I've played them all and I still think the PS2 is the best, with the N64 a close second. I realize that better graphics and sound enhance game-play, but it's really about playability. I still think Mario Kart 64 is one of the best games out, I love GT3 for the graphics, but Mario Kart 64 is still a killer game.

Same could be said for many of the N64 games.

Here is a link to a movie (avi file) preview that was just released today. It is the best one I've seen, although the resolution isn't the best. Lots of gameplay and action.

Week 4/8-4/14, Japan Hardware Sales

* PS2: 55,000 units (total this year: 1,323,000)
* GBA: 31,000 units (total this year: 969,000)
* GameCube: 10,000 units (total this year: 510,000)
* PS1: 3,000 units (total this year: 74,000)
* WonderSwan: 2,000 units (total this year: 11,330)
* Xbox: 1,800 units (total this year: 169,000)
* Dreamcast: 1,500 units (total this year: 12,000)

(from IGN)

Check here for more info.

• Firewire port
• USB port
• 2 line outs
• head phone out
• Mic/optical input (sorry iPod fans, your baby doesn't have this one. I wish it did, but it don't)
• 20 Gig Drive

And they've shrunk it. It's still bigger than the iPod by a good amount, but it appears to be less-than-CD-player size (see the site)

psxndc

the fact that the Xbox is basically a PC ina Box
Again, what makes the XBox a PC? Can you word process on it? Can you install an IRC client? Can you crack RC5 keys? How is the XBox a general purpose PC?

Its not a "general purpose" PC, but according to game developers I've spoken to, its a breeze to program for Xbox because you devellop on a PC and the Xbox's hardware is almost the same. I'm talking about the difference between the Xbox's PC-like hardware and the PS2's special, unique hardware.


Size/Weight: Yes, it's big. Yes it's heavy. But my entertainment center hasn't bitched at me yet. Good thing there's 10 foot cords on the controllers so I don't have to move the box out whenever I wish to enjoy a game.

I like to take my console to play at friend's house...


DVD: Don't most people own real DVD players anyway?

Nope.

From what I've read on newsgroups, you get what you pay for when playing DD movies on the PS2 considering it cuts out a few times a movie (Saving Private Ryan is one example I can remember).

Well, IGN had started a list about that... I don't think they're very serious about it though...anyway, I personally have only had trouble with one movie, and even "real" DVD players have their bad moments.
And it also applies to the Xbox, so shaddup.

Also, how enjoyable is it using a corded gamepad to control video playback? I thought that kind of a thing went out in the early 1970's when IR and RF was invented *cough*. XBox made me pony up $30 for the DVD playback. I'm guessing you $bought$ a DVD remote for your PS2, unless they were free.

Its very enjoyable, thank you very much.
You're guessing wrong. I already have the controller on my couch full-time, duh! Why would I want to buy a battery-eating remote. Maybe you need your phallic remote in your hand when you watch a movie, but personally, after I've pressed play, I'm set. Anything else I need to do I can do with the controller. If I wanted a remote, I could have one, and I'm not limited to the Sony controller, I got cheaper 2nd-3rd party choices. I cannot believe that people could possibly say that being FORCED to buy a remote is better than being given the choice. What kind of brainwashing did they put you through? Sheesh

My hands would always hurt after a marathon PS1 session with the dual shock controller

Well, how shocking! You used the controller for a marathon, and your hands hurt? Wow!

Warlords Battlecry I Review
Warlords Battlecry II Review

IGN PC seemed suitably impressed.

Warlords Battlecry I Review
Warlords Battlecry II Review

So does Gamespot...

Warlords Battlecry I Review
Warlords Battlecry II Review

IGN PC seemed suitably impressed.

Warlords Battlecry I Review
Warlords Battlecry II Review

So does Gamespot...

In synopsis, the technology is called "Anamorphic pan&scan," it does precisely what you're bitching about: it encodes screen placement for the DVD for those with the 4:3 option set on their DVD players. Currently it is only seen on some Columbia/Tristar releases, but if it got the recognition it deserved we wouldn't have the MGM debacle where the extras are one side of the disc and the widescreen/pan&scan version of the film is on the other.

Also, since those links I posted above are slashdotted to hell, make sure you check some of these links for information:

The Digital Bits

DVD Angle

DVD @ IGN

...can be found at this site.

The site features summaries of the days forum highlights, NWN wednesday treats and piles of other interesting stuff. Check it every day!

Well, hopefully Spiderman: The Movie will break this trend.

Because so many people seem to be having trouble with this...

One would assume that they said "anime-based" because these sorts of battle suits crop up a lot in anime (although generally without invisibility) -- take Bubblegum Crisis, for example. The suit pictured in the article--along with the drawing style and the fact that the wearer is apprently female--looks suspiciously anime-like.

Compare to this.

Also, a little note to the humor impaired: The phrase "anime-based" in the title of the story isn't there to imply that the Pentagon is actually trying to be anime-like. It's a joke.

After the N64, which, except for Zelda and Perfect Dark, was a complete pile of crap (IMHO), I swore to never buy another nintendo product again; however, big N really got their act together with the GCN. I love SSBM, and now they're getting back with Square?!? I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but Capcom recently signed an exclusivity deal with the big N for their Resident Evil series (if you haven't seen screenies of RE:Zero yet, run, don't walk here now!). If they (Capcom) follow suit with the Street Fighter franchise, the GCN becomes a very, very tight-looking "lunchbox" (Popular Science).

Actually, he wasn't right. I am. Square has only confirmed FFXI to come on the PS2 and PC right now. I was referring to the GameCube port when I said "Neither company". It's practically a given (I hope), but it's not yet confirmed.

As a matter of fact, IGN has its speculative eyes on Final Fantasy Unlimited as Square's first GC work.

While it is possible that Nintendo would have the Gamecube modem and broadband adapter ready in time for a MMORPG Final Fantasy Game, this seems far more likely as just the other day Miyamoto was talking was talking about the problems with online console gaming. Personally, I would rather have a great, offline RPG that can compete with the goodness of FF4-6 than something I have that requires me to shell out a lot more money for hardware (hence the $199 GCN in the first place :)

While it is possible that Nintendo would have the Gamecube modem and broadband adapter ready in time for a MMORPG Final Fantasy Game, this seems far more likely as just the other day Miyamoto was talking was talking about the problems with online console gaming. Personally, I would rather have a great, offline RPG that can compete with the goodness of FF4-6 than something I have that requires me to shell out a lot more money for hardware (hence the $199 GCN in the first place :)

Nope. Just SSX Tricky...

"Here's the reality: You block ads. You cost us money. Ultimately, I mean."

This is complete BS, actually. Number one fallacy is a false dichotomy: either there are ads, or we make no money. Take a look at IGN. They are a partially-free, partially-pay site (although they're moving more toward for-pay), and I subscribe to them for $20 a year. And I'm happy to do it, because they have the kind of extra content for subscribers I'm willing to pay for (in addition to just supporting a site that I really like and frequent).

This plan is complete BS. Assuming people will go for paying for not getting something is stupid. Paying for exclusion is stupid, because I can limit the signal myself, there's no service there. Supporting a site I like or not, I can't help but feel ripped off.

Now if they moved slashdot to mostly-pay-for-stories, added some good original content, and did some bloody editing, I'd be happy to pay. I mean, slashdot is their only job, right? What exactly the heck do they do all day? Click a story and add a few halfway-literate comments without even checking? This is all fine and I have no complaints if I'm getting it for free. But if you want me to pay, shape up. That's all there is to it.

I think Barlow has alot of it slated down pretty well. The internet is becoming less free and more commercialized. Ads are worse than ever, and we're seeing a return to something I think we left off in the 80's. It's not who you are, but what you buy.

I especially hope that people will start to reflect a bit more on theiropinions of the music industry now that JPB has said it. Royalties are bullshit. Pay for the performance, not the music.

All in all, an excellent review. I just hope this reaches more eyes than the /. community.

I believe this is meant for the arcade, which would explain the namco connection. See IGN for the details.

ign says " It's confirmed, the Japanese Xbox controller will work on American consoles."

ign says " It's confirmed, the Japanese Xbox controller will work on American consoles."

Because ign.com does tons of other stuff other than video games, they don't have this problem.

I own a GC, and am certainly experienced enough not to count on reviews of games before the game has shipped. IGN is good about this stuff. They play the games, and they dont go easy on them in reivews (I've found the X-Box team at IGN is more prone to 'gloss' for bad games), I'd say that they arn't afraid of biting the hand that feeds them.

I think the key is relying on sources that are:

a) knowledgable
b) cover a broader base of interests than those you seek, such that their business doesn't rely soley on the area of interests you are seeking objective info from

is the best way to go.

But people should already be aware of this. I mean, everyone has to dance with the one that brought them to the party, so just make sure you're not listning to those who wouldn't gave gotten to the party otherwise.

Because ign.com does tons of other stuff other than video games, they don't have this problem.

I own a GC, and am certainly experienced enough not to count on reviews of games before the game has shipped. IGN is good about this stuff. They play the games, and they dont go easy on them in reivews (I've found the X-Box team at IGN is more prone to 'gloss' for bad games), I'd say that they arn't afraid of biting the hand that feeds them.

I think the key is relying on sources that are:

a) knowledgable
b) cover a broader base of interests than those you seek, such that their business doesn't rely soley on the area of interests you are seeking objective info from

is the best way to go.

But people should already be aware of this. I mean, everyone has to dance with the one that brought them to the party, so just make sure you're not listning to those who wouldn't gave gotten to the party otherwise.

I ran into a problem with folks not reviewing games when the GBA (Game Boy Advance for the un-anointed) first came out. My brother and I were trying to decide which games we should both get vs. which we should just share. Bomberman Tournament was the title we'd anticipated most, so if there was any possibility of increasing the gameplay value by buying two, we were gonna do it.

And, after a quick perusal of two of the largest gaming sites around - Gamespot.com and IGN.com - we decided two cartridges were the way to go. After all, in Gamespot's review, Frank Provo writes:

The game supports both multi- and single-cartridge multiplayer options, although the load times for single-cartridge hosting are somewhat excessive.

Sounds good, especially when paired with David Zdyrko's comments in IGN's review:

The only downside to the one-cart, four-GBA setup is that you'll have to deal with a tremendous amount of load time at the start of each contest, before the victory screen and before the start of the next battle.

This is only a minor annoyance, though, and can be remedied a lot if you happen to have a friend or more that also has a copy of the game.

So, we went and bought two copies, whipped those babies out, and set up a game. And, lo and behold - no multi-cartridge support. Yes, indeed, the single gamepak mode had lots of slow load times. But having more than one doesn't do you any good unless you lose a game in the couch cushions.

There was some moaning about this issue on the Gamespot forums, and as it turns out, the multi-cartridge support had not been brought over to the US version. Some of the reviewers had been given bad data by the company.

To which I first though, "OK, no big whoop. Shit happens." But the more I considered it, the more it bugged me. These two reviewers made claims based on information they got from the company that made the game - NOT their own experiences. They didn't test these features; they just threw them into the review.

I understand the most probable reasons: lack of time, only one cartridge to test with. But all I'm asking is for a simply "We didn't have two copies, so we can say for ourselves, but apparently..." Yes, it sounds a little wussy, but it makes the difference between journalism and an ad. At the very least, they could have corrected the error when they were notified; I'm aware of several people who have contacted both sites, including myself, and one Gamespot official even bothered to reply about it in the forums, but both still stand unchanged.

OK, this is a minor thing, I know. But it did cost me about 30 bucks, and it makes me wonder: how much else in these "reviews" is straight out of a press release?

More technical details about this mod can be found at www.portablemonopoly.NET. This includes some of the photos of the frontlit GBA screen that was previously up at www.portablemonopoly.COM.
To me, the screen looks eerily washed out (though this is always conviniently blamed on photographic technicalities, I'll believe it when i see it). Also, a slight portion of the right side of the screen is cut off to make room for the lightning strip. About 10 pixels or so are missing, which to me would be quite annoying, particularly with side scrollers.
It's also amazing to me that Adam (the portablemonopoly.com guy) is even TRYING to patent this... he is simply using a pre-existing lighting system developed for PDAs. A light guide sheet of plastic over the reflective screen guides a side light to light down at the screen.

Also, FYI, the www.portablemonopoly.net site is actually a rip off of a IGN Pocket Boards attempt at creating their own frontlight without having to wait for Adam to get his out.
IGN Pocket Boards is also where Adam's project got started. It was pretty much a group effort documented by Adam on his site till he decided to patent and cash in and took basically all the technical info off the site.

More technical details about this mod can be found at www.portablemonopoly.NET. This includes some of the photos of the frontlit GBA screen that was previously up at www.portablemonopoly.COM.
To me, the screen looks eerily washed out (though this is always conviniently blamed on photographic technicalities, I'll believe it when i see it). Also, a slight portion of the right side of the screen is cut off to make room for the lightning strip. About 10 pixels or so are missing, which to me would be quite annoying, particularly with side scrollers.
It's also amazing to me that Adam (the portablemonopoly.com guy) is even TRYING to patent this... he is simply using a pre-existing lighting system developed for PDAs. A light guide sheet of plastic over the reflective screen guides a side light to light down at the screen.

Also, FYI, the www.portablemonopoly.net site is actually a rip off of a IGN Pocket Boards attempt at creating their own frontlight without having to wait for Adam to get his out.
IGN Pocket Boards is also where Adam's project got started. It was pretty much a group effort documented by Adam on his site till he decided to patent and cash in and took basically all the technical info off the site.

I believe Final Fantasy X has shipped more than all of those titles. Maybe?

http://ps2.ign.com/news/41328.html

The problem I foresee is that the XBox is only going to fall farther behind in 2002, with a spectacularly mediocre lineup consising mostly of games being released for all three consoles and many that the XBox is getting several quarters later than the PS2 or NGC (THPS3, GTA3, etc.).

CB

2001-10-04

Popular game-maker Square, the company behind Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, has announced their intention to exit the movie business. Nikkei Financial News says the withdrawal came as the company announced "extraordinary losses" that could be as high as 3.16 billion yen, or 115 million US dollars.

20GB hard drive

USB and FireWire ports

MP3, WMA, and WAV support

Upgradeable firmware

MP3 and WAV recording

Scroll wheel

Lithium-ion battery

Compare that with 272 min's of 128k rate mp3 recordings. The only real drawback is the $400 pricetag. But then again, we still dont have a price on the Sountainer.

Favorable at MP3.Com

Negative at CNET.COM

Brief at IGN FOR MEN (heh)

Mixed at Epinions

This is for all of you who don't have google-equipped browsers.

There is, it's called Halo and most gaming sites think it's at least 1/5 as good as MGS2.

Halo Review - 9.7/10
Metal Gear Solid 2 Review - 9.6/10

Halo Review - 9.7/10
Metal Gear Solid 2 Review - 9.7/10

So I guess that means it's a contender in your book.