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DC versus PS2 Showdown!

nintendo's new console gamecube is coming out in the not-too-distant future(fall 2001 for americans), probably before x-box for that matter. sure, its a year away, but upto this point, nintendo has come through with one thing that few others have: quality games! and games are what people own consoles for, not their ability to imitate computers. check out cube.ign.com for more information, and video clips of what this thing can do... its pretty damn impressive in my opinion. -agent oranje

> "Software designers are so infatuated with the fact that they can, that they don't stop to think if they should."

Exactly!

It's interesting to note that Soul Caliber doesnt' have any blood.

Drakken* also has an option of not showing any. (The dead bodies slowly fade out to nothing.)

Sure, the gore in Mortal Kombat 2 was, shall we say, interesting, but it didn't add anything constructive to gameplay. And to tell you the truth, I haven't missed the blood at all in the latest games !

* Someone even did up a nude Rynn model for Drakken! I don't mind this, because, hey, if a users wants to see a virtual character get "nekkid", that's their business, but to ship a game that way, IMHO "shows a lack of taste and good judgement." Yeah, sex sells, but do we have to keep exploiting it for sales? i.e. The real live "Laura Croft" at E3 was under 18, but yet you needed to be 18 or older to get into the show!?

Cheers

IGNCube has a decent story about the new Metroid game here, and a short mpeg demo clip of game here. Oh, I can't wait for the Gamecube....

IGNCube has a decent story about the new Metroid game here, and a short mpeg demo clip of game here. Oh, I can't wait for the Gamecube....

First things first. I'm a Sega fan, not that I dislike Nintendo, but if I have to choose between the two I go to Sega. So a lot of my comments are going to be on Sega games.

When you look at video games, their purpose is entertainment. Be it the old school Donkey Kong or new Ecco the Dolphin, they're trying to be fun.

Now, when you play a game like Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future, it's hard not to belive that you aren't controlling a real dolphin, except for all the game related stuff. It just looks SO real. However, the downside to this is that you get lost real easily. You are using your echolocation probably about every 5 seconds so you don't get lost. Now, a real dolphin doesn't do this, I bet, but I'm not a real dolphin.

Donkey Kong, on the other hand, is very unreal. You could magically see through walls. You could jump your hight as many times as you wanted without getting tired, and swinging a big 100lb hammer at who knows how fast didn't tire you out for 30 seconds! Pretty good for an overweight carpenter (little known fact, Mario wasn't named Mario back then, he was called "Jumpman" and he was a carpenter).

For current games, this works just as well. Two of my favorite games (both on Dreamcast) are Samba de Amigo and ChuChu Rocket. While both use polygons, they don't need to. Many people have looked at ChuChu Rocket and thought that it was using sprites! Samba de Amigo doesn't really need any graphics other than lights and colors; it might actually be better that way!

As a counter example, sort of, is Jet Set/Grind Radio also on Dreamcast. It is 3D, but it stands out because they purposely made it have... kinda crappy looking 3D. And that makes it look good. However, I really wouldn't have minded if wasn't in that graphical style.

The thing that's always important to remeber is that games are just supposed to be games. That's why true simulators aren't really that popular; particularly sims of planes, helicopters, and other things that are that foriegn. At least with a racing car sim, it's just a fast car.

First things first. I'm a Sega fan, not that I dislike Nintendo, but if I have to choose between the two I go to Sega. So a lot of my comments are going to be on Sega games.

When you look at video games, their purpose is entertainment. Be it the old school Donkey Kong or new Ecco the Dolphin, they're trying to be fun.

Now, when you play a game like Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future, it's hard not to belive that you aren't controlling a real dolphin, except for all the game related stuff. It just looks SO real. However, the downside to this is that you get lost real easily. You are using your echolocation probably about every 5 seconds so you don't get lost. Now, a real dolphin doesn't do this, I bet, but I'm not a real dolphin.

Donkey Kong, on the other hand, is very unreal. You could magically see through walls. You could jump your hight as many times as you wanted without getting tired, and swinging a big 100lb hammer at who knows how fast didn't tire you out for 30 seconds! Pretty good for an overweight carpenter (little known fact, Mario wasn't named Mario back then, he was called "Jumpman" and he was a carpenter).

For current games, this works just as well. Two of my favorite games (both on Dreamcast) are Samba de Amigo and ChuChu Rocket. While both use polygons, they don't need to. Many people have looked at ChuChu Rocket and thought that it was using sprites! Samba de Amigo doesn't really need any graphics other than lights and colors; it might actually be better that way!

As a counter example, sort of, is Jet Set/Grind Radio also on Dreamcast. It is 3D, but it stands out because they purposely made it have... kinda crappy looking 3D. And that makes it look good. However, I really wouldn't have minded if wasn't in that graphical style.

The thing that's always important to remeber is that games are just supposed to be games. That's why true simulators aren't really that popular; particularly sims of planes, helicopters, and other things that are that foriegn. At least with a racing car sim, it's just a fast car.

First things first. I'm a Sega fan, not that I dislike Nintendo, but if I have to choose between the two I go to Sega. So a lot of my comments are going to be on Sega games.

When you look at video games, their purpose is entertainment. Be it the old school Donkey Kong or new Ecco the Dolphin, they're trying to be fun.

Now, when you play a game like Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future, it's hard not to belive that you aren't controlling a real dolphin, except for all the game related stuff. It just looks SO real. However, the downside to this is that you get lost real easily. You are using your echolocation probably about every 5 seconds so you don't get lost. Now, a real dolphin doesn't do this, I bet, but I'm not a real dolphin.

Donkey Kong, on the other hand, is very unreal. You could magically see through walls. You could jump your hight as many times as you wanted without getting tired, and swinging a big 100lb hammer at who knows how fast didn't tire you out for 30 seconds! Pretty good for an overweight carpenter (little known fact, Mario wasn't named Mario back then, he was called "Jumpman" and he was a carpenter).

For current games, this works just as well. Two of my favorite games (both on Dreamcast) are Samba de Amigo and ChuChu Rocket. While both use polygons, they don't need to. Many people have looked at ChuChu Rocket and thought that it was using sprites! Samba de Amigo doesn't really need any graphics other than lights and colors; it might actually be better that way!

As a counter example, sort of, is Jet Set/Grind Radio also on Dreamcast. It is 3D, but it stands out because they purposely made it have... kinda crappy looking 3D. And that makes it look good. However, I really wouldn't have minded if wasn't in that graphical style.

The thing that's always important to remeber is that games are just supposed to be games. That's why true simulators aren't really that popular; particularly sims of planes, helicopters, and other things that are that foriegn. At least with a racing car sim, it's just a fast car.

The idea is clearly innovative, but after a quick Google search I found evidence that something called "Nuotto" was already in the works back in April. They apparently jumped on the Pokemon connection too...

Sewkemon?

my hope is that square plays out all their movie-making fantasies with this project, so they can concentrate on making games, instead of movies diguised as games.

PS2.ign.com had an article about the shortage. Apparently Sony is denying that the problem is DVD related:

The official reason, according to SCEA executives, is due to a shortage of various components that are crucial to the completion of each unit. Sony would not list the exact components, but Vice President of Marketing Andrew House stated that it had nothing to do with the DVD aspect of the machine.

Sony did modify the DVD hardware after the problems they had in Japan with the software DVD drivers, which are now fully implemented in hardware. They could be lying to save face, or some other component is having shortages. Rambus anyone?

PS2.ign.com had an article about the shortage. Apparently Sony is denying that the problem is DVD related:

The official reason, according to SCEA executives, is due to a shortage of various components that are crucial to the completion of each unit. Sony would not list the exact components, but Vice President of Marketing Andrew House stated that it had nothing to do with the DVD aspect of the machine.

Sony did modify the DVD hardware after the problems they had in Japan with the software DVD drivers, which are now fully implemented in hardware. They could be lying to save face, or some other component is having shortages. Rambus anyone?

Umm sorry to burst your bubble but Metal Gear Solid X (the one being developed for the X-Box) is just a port of the original Metal Gear Solid with some enhancements. You won't be seeing "Sons of Liberty" on anything other than the PS2 (I doubt the X-Box could even handle it).

Wrong. "Konami has just confirmed that this title will be based on Metal Gear Solid 2, still coming to PS2, not the original Metal Gear Solid for PlayStation."

As for your misinformed comment on the power of the XBox, such a statement is laughable. On a purely technical level, the XBox is superior to the PS2 by a factor of 2 or 3 in every relevant category: GPU power, CPU power, graphics memory, main memory, and memory bus speed. As such, its theoretical performance is 2 to 3 times better as well, whether in terms of pure theoretical base polys pushed or polys pushed with effects. Of course, this is to be expected, as it will launch over a year after the PS2, not include the extra components needed to double as a rack-quality DVD player, and take advantage of the well-known benefits of using off-the-shelf hardware.

This is indisputible fact. Moreover, everything I've heard points to the conclusion that whereas most developers (console *and* PC) are finding the PS2 very difficult to program for, most (PC *and* console) find the XBox very easy on this measure. This adds extra weight behind the report (confirmed by Konami in any case) that MGS: Sons of Liberty will debut on the XBox concurrently or even prior to its release for PS2.

You may have been confused by the fact that the original MGS is indeed being ported to the PC (due out much earlier than MGS 2's Q4 2001, though). Or you may just be spreading FUD. Or perhaps just unable to consider the fact that as oafish, dimwitted, and ponderous as MS seems compared to the PC software industry, when compared to tyrannical giants like Sony and Nintendo (and to idiots like Sega) they are not at much disadvantage at all.

Starfighter looks nice but may just end up being a prettier version of Rogue Squadron. I'm really excited about Z.O.E., which not only features anime style giant robot fighting over martian colonies but will contain a demo of Metal Gear Solid 2, which recently had some of it's thunder stolen as it will not be faithful to PS2, but will gussy itself up later for M$ with Metal Gear Solid X.

Don't get me wrong, I'll buy the damn thing, but the wait shouldn't kill anyone.

Starfighter looks nice but may just end up being a prettier version of Rogue Squadron. I'm really excited about Z.O.E., which not only features anime style giant robot fighting over martian colonies but will contain a demo of Metal Gear Solid 2, which recently had some of it's thunder stolen as it will not be faithful to PS2, but will gussy itself up later for M$ with Metal Gear Solid X.

Don't get me wrong, I'll buy the damn thing, but the wait shouldn't kill anyone.

This launch blows every other launch away. The only game worth buying for the Dreamcast was Soul Calibur.

Nintendo 64? Mario 64. (maybe pilotwings)

PSX 1? I think that launch blew goats, Ridge Racer 1 and tekken 1. ( I never liked Tekken )

PSX2 will rock the house, if you are waiting for the XBox because it will be better, all you are doing is depriving yourself of GREAT games. Just so you know, I DON'T have a PSX2 reserved and probably won't geet one until next year. I'll probably go get one when GT2000 comes out. That's the killer game to me. When it comes to killer games, every one has their own favorite, and the one that will make them buy a system. For some it's mario, zelda, Street Fighter 2, Final Fantasy, and for even some, it's Tetris.

Why would you not want to buy it? It's going to havve some great games regardless of how "amazing" the XBox or Nintendo GameCube (or whatever it's called) will be. If you're on a budget and can only buy one the the 3 new systems coming up then I say, work harder! (oh yeah, you want the box so you don't have to work harder, my bad )

Launch Title list from IGN

One look at that and you'll know one of the major reasons people will be purchasing PS2s... (Backwards compatibility and Final Fantasy X are the other reasons for me...)

For a bunch more information on the Gamecube, point your eyes at the screen and summon cube.ign.com into your browser window. You can also find a couple of jaw droppingly fantastic Star Wars Rogue Squadron videos here.

I for one intend to put myself into cryogenic storage until this thing is released next year as I just can't wait for the new Mario and Zelda games :-)

Simon
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Time is relative, lunchtime doubly so.

For a bunch more information on the Gamecube, point your eyes at the screen and summon cube.ign.com into your browser window. You can also find a couple of jaw droppingly fantastic Star Wars Rogue Squadron videos here.

I for one intend to put myself into cryogenic storage until this thing is released next year as I just can't wait for the new Mario and Zelda games :-)

Simon
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Time is relative, lunchtime doubly so.

The GAMECUBE was shown to select people actually at SpaceWorld, the GameBoy Advanced was the main thing there for the public. Also, the GAMECUBE was NOT playable there (only Miyamoto played a few simple demos). It was on demo and to keep people wondering no one was allowed to hold the controller, only look at it. Way back at the "Europe's version of E3" headline I posted about the GAMECUBE being revealed but done in a way to not allow you to know much about the system and what it can really do. Just alot of eye candy. http://cube.ign.com has some great information too. The GAMECUBE will be revealed at E3 AND be playable THERE (not at Spaceworld) and be the main spotlight. Hemos, sorry to say, but this headline is Outta date.

First of all, this story was already posted to slashdot a month ago when Spaceworld took place - the game show that just happened was the Tokyo Game Show. Secondly, the amazing Star Wars, X-Wing in the trenches of the Death Star, demo was in fact very playable - view some action here . It looks amazing.

I trust Nintendo / Miyamoto when it comes to controller design. Now if only they made PC peripherals... Maybe I should invest in a N64 pad to USB converter...

As a casual gamer, I'm hanging out for the cube much more than X-box or PS2. Gimme another Mario Kart, and watch me waste another year or two of my life :)

--zaugg

We have all seen the MP3/CD players like the Mambo-X, the MPTrip, amd the Philips eXpanium. These are far more useful than standalone MP3-only players (despite being bulkier, of course). But what would be really cool is a software implementation, for your PC's CD-ROM drive.

Why, you ask? well, not all PC's have sound cards. Especially at work - my only source of entertainment is the CD player on my PC and it would be keen to have a mass of MP3's (er, ripped from my legitimate collection of CDs ;) to listen to.

Such a software app would have to read the MP3's from the drive, and redirect the audio to the CD-rom's audio output. Some combination of Sonique and Axialis. How difficult is this to do? has it already been done?

we could even hack it to run on Wince and subvert the Auto-PC :)

We have all seen the MP3/CD players like the Mambo-X, the MPTrip, amd the Philips eXpanium. These are far more useful than standalone MP3-only players (despite being bulkier, of course). But what would be really cool is a software implementation, for your PC's CD-ROM drive.

Why, you ask? well, not all PC's have sound cards. Especially at work - my only source of entertainment is the CD player on my PC and it would be keen to have a mass of MP3's (er, ripped from my legitimate collection of CDs ;) to listen to.

Such a software app would have to read the MP3's from the drive, and redirect the audio to the CD-rom's audio output. Some combination of Sonique and Axialis. How difficult is this to do? has it already been done?

we could even hack it to run on Wince and subvert the Auto-PC :)

the new nintendo console will support DVD movie playback

so stop complaining

-

The Game Cube was shown however only to select people. It was shown 1 day before E3 opened up and was shown behind close doors. IGN has a whole writeup on the Game Cube at http://cube.ign.com.
The Game Cube blows away the first generation Playstation 2 games. The Game Cube and Controller were only shown and was not allowed to be played with. Nintendo has alot of stuff it showed for power yet it still has alot of stuff to pull out of it's hat. Even the controller is a new design taking the best of numerous controllers. The controller is suppose to "melt in your hand" from it being so comfortable but very few people (mostly inhouse developers) have actually held it.

ECTS Wrapup
PC and Console news
- From ZDNet's GameSpot

ECTS Final Wrap-Up
- From psx.ign.com

Nothing major at pocket.ign.com (Game Boy Advance), xbox.ign.com, or dreamcast.ign.com. Maybe I'm too tired and missing them... ;)

Hope some of this is somewhat useful :)

ECTS Wrapup
PC and Console news
- From ZDNet's GameSpot

ECTS Final Wrap-Up
- From psx.ign.com

Nothing major at pocket.ign.com (Game Boy Advance), xbox.ign.com, or dreamcast.ign.com. Maybe I'm too tired and missing them... ;)

Hope some of this is somewhat useful :)

ECTS Wrapup
PC and Console news
- From ZDNet's GameSpot

ECTS Final Wrap-Up
- From psx.ign.com

Nothing major at pocket.ign.com (Game Boy Advance), xbox.ign.com, or dreamcast.ign.com. Maybe I'm too tired and missing them... ;)

Hope some of this is somewhat useful :)

ECTS Wrapup
PC and Console news
- From ZDNet's GameSpot

ECTS Final Wrap-Up
- From psx.ign.com

Nothing major at pocket.ign.com (Game Boy Advance), xbox.ign.com, or dreamcast.ign.com. Maybe I'm too tired and missing them... ;)

Hope some of this is somewhat useful :)

When I send a paper letter to you, does your company have people who review every letter which is received or sent?

Actually, almost all mail that I receive at work (which is very little) is opened by the secretary long before it gets to me. And that's good too, since she usually can recognize junk mail and throw it away before I see it.

If it's personal (e.g. all those love letters from Morgan Fairchild), it is sent to my home, not my place of employment.

Of course, both the keyboard and gamepad pale in comparison to the most intuitive, powerful input device ever invented.

As for your comment on AI and CPU performance, you might be surprised at the small percentage of CPU time AI typically gets allocated.

You sure? Yesterday or so, I saw supposed screen shots.
Oh, here we go, a little digging on IGN gives us the . Read it and weep. Samus is back, man.

It sounds nice, sure, but like the story says, I think it's going to be a little too late. Perhaps if it was out a little earlier, to compete with the PS2, it would have a good run, but I predict that it will not be all that hot (anyone remember the TurboGrafx16? - sorry, best link I could find).
Given that it's already a little underpowered, at least for high-quality gaming (specs), I don't think it has that long a life. My money is on the Nintendo GameCube and my lust for the rumored metroid game.

Mon*Star of Limbo... [errie music] Give me the might... The Muscle... The MENACE... OF MONSTAR!!!! Ok, maybe not as cool as Mumm-RA, but hey you be the judge. Cool Stuff about silverhawks

Yes, it does come in 5 colors! 5 controllers and 5 systems

Yes, it does come in 5 colors! 5 controllers and 5 systems

Im suprised no on has posted these yet, found on IGN.com

http://ps2media. ign.com/media/previews/image/gamecube/gamecube.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/media/previews/image/gamec ube/colors.jpg
http://ps2med ia.ign.com/media/previews/image/gamecube/controlle rs.jpg

I personally want the Game Boy Advance, that will rock!

Im suprised no on has posted these yet, found on IGN.com

http://ps2media. ign.com/media/previews/image/gamecube/gamecube.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/media/previews/image/gamec ube/colors.jpg
http://ps2med ia.ign.com/media/previews/image/gamecube/controlle rs.jpg

I personally want the Game Boy Advance, that will rock!

Im suprised no on has posted these yet, found on IGN.com

http://ps2media. ign.com/media/previews/image/gamecube/gamecube.jpg
http://ps2media.ign.com/media/previews/image/gamec ube/colors.jpg
http://ps2med ia.ign.com/media/previews/image/gamecube/controlle rs.jpg

I personally want the Game Boy Advance, that will rock!

When it comes to getting (un)substantiated movie rumors my pick is filmforce

It says here that Dini (the guy associated the cartoon Batman Beyond) is working on the script and stuff. And there are two movies - a prequel (sic!) and a batman beyond flick.

When it comes to getting (un)substantiated movie rumors my pick is filmforce

It says here that Dini (the guy associated the cartoon Batman Beyond) is working on the script and stuff. And there are two movies - a prequel (sic!) and a batman beyond flick.

The article here states that there are 2,200,000 PS2 units sold in japan but only 4,000,000 software titles sold (of of 35.) Apparently this means the PS2 is only being used as a DVD player.

But what about the hundreds of millions of original PS titles that the PS2 is still compatible with?

The "Ncube" or whatever will be DVD based, so you can forget about the rest of your nintendo cartridges.

A point

no built in modem/ethernet card for on-line play

From the FAQ: "Will the Cube have a modem? Yes."

The FAQ, also gives hardware comparisons between the n^3, PlayStation, PlayStation2, X-Box, and Dreamcast. For what is known about the n^3 it meets or beats all the other game consoles. Of course, until reviewers get their hands on some, we won't know for sure.

As per the specs page on cube.ign.com:

Software Medium

1. Matsushita unique mini-disc DVD technology
2. Multiple gigabyte storage capacity
3. Enhanced counterfeit crotection

When one says mini-disc, and they don't mean sony, then they mean 77mm, like the "three inch" CD/CD-R format.

You most likely will not be able to fit a full-size DVD into the box in any case. If you could, then you could load a DVD player software app (if someone wrote one and got MPAA licensing) into it and play one in software. It doesn't look like it's that kind of party.

As per the specs page on cube.ign.com:

Software Medium

1. Matsushita unique mini-disc DVD technology
2. Multiple gigabyte storage capacity
3. Enhanced counterfeit crotection

When one says mini-disc, and they don't mean sony, then they mean 77mm, like the "three inch" CD/CD-R format.

You most likely will not be able to fit a full-size DVD into the box in any case. If you could, then you could load a DVD player software app (if someone wrote one and got MPAA licensing) into it and play one in software. It doesn't look like it's that kind of party.

It does suck, but they probably are required to "enforce" it.

You won't like this, but the US version of the PS2 will have the DVD playback stuff in the hardware ...
For more info, check the PS2 FAQ.

Rareware's BlastCorps area.
IGN64 Review.

I think this deserves its own genre, how about the Third Person Demolish or be Nuked genre (TPDN)?

And that music is really a bit too addictive. Well, "Time to get movin'"!

If you think you've seen everything there is to see in gaming, you're wrong - if you haven't tried out The Typing of the Dead, that is. Sega has created possibly the weirdest game ever, a title that's so unexpected it defies logic when one tries and figure out the frame of mind of the individual at Sega of Japan who said "Hey, we'll make a typing game, and make it fun." The Typing of the Dead is the kind of game that, like Dance Dance Revolution and Beatmania makes people look on as you play, and with good reason: you're killing zombies with precise key strokes! Who wouldn't be intrigued at the prospect.

On the consoles, there's a different evolution going on simply because these machines are largely un-networked. Perhaps the popularity of the FPS genre on computers is due to the networked nature of gameplay there. On consoles up until now (perhaps the PSX 2 or Dreamcast will change this) games are all conceived at most as featuring one to 4 people all playing on the same machine and looking at the same screen (unfortunately, the PlayStation link cable never convinced developers that enough people would connect two playstations and have two tv's and there really aren't any games out there supporting the link cable).

Without networked play, FPS's are much more limited in appeal, so console game developers have really had to seek out new genre's. And there have been some good developments in the last few years. I've marvelled at some of the innovations coming out on the PlayStation. Here are some games I think have really broken ground:

Tenchu- Stealth ninja game. This was the first game I ever played where patience and cunning were really rewarded over quick reflexes and pattern memorization.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater- Skateboarding game built from a 3rd-person action game engine. Tremendous skateboard simulation game with very fluid and realistic movements. 1000's of hours of replayability here.

Puzzle Games- The growth of this genre is probably due to the creativity and diverse tastes found in the japanese game development community. Some of the amazing games that have fleshed out the puzzle genre in recent years are: Devil Dice, Mr. Domino, and Roll Away.

Rhythm Games- Obviously Parrapa the Rapper is the standout innovator here. Behind him came Bust-A-Move (Japanese title), Um Jammer Lammy, and Vib Ribbon.

Not to admit to my true luddite affiliation here, but as console gaming platforms evolve to more closely mirror computer gaming platforms (ala the XBox), we're going to see less and less differences in the games that are released on the two types of platforms. Unfortunately, I think, this is going to mean more FPS's and fewer breakout innovations like Vib Ribbon that don't leverage networked play or high-octane graphics.