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Acer Labs' (ALI) Plans Box To Play PS2 Games, DVD
bemis writes: "Techweb has an article about Acer's plans to bring PC and PSX gaming to DVD players in China next year (and hopefully domestically here in the U.S.) ..they are also ramping up a chipset for 266MHz DDR SDRAM for Athlon systems to bring the bus speed up from a paltry 200MHz." Not much detail is given about the hinted-at game / video boxes, but the project sounds pretty ambitious. At this rate, DVD players will pass the $100 mark soon.
It sounds great to me, but...
I see a pissed-off Sony Corporation in their future.
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pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
It doesn't do PS2, just the original PSX
Guys...
first, no where in this article does it say PS2. It says this system will play playstation games.
second, look at the hardware specs. i'm sorry, but i highly doubt an athlon can emulate a full ps2...
let's put a little more thought into this stuff, eh?
Nowhere in the article does it mention that this project was cleared by Sony.
Despite Connectix's legal wins regarding this matter, it's still on the books that reverse-engineering this stuff is illegal. Hmmm...
What sort of controllers will be used? My experiance with PC "gamepads" has been moderate to poor.
PC games are designed to use a mouse and a keyboard. Console games are designed for that systems control pad. It's how it is, and it's probably how it's going to stay.
Will their controllers provide support for PS2's pressure sensative buttons? Will they be sleek and comfy? Will it provide enough buttons to satisfy an every-key-used-game like THPS? Will it still be simple enough to play Puzzle Fighter on?
I think that the chip is an ok idea, but there is a fine line between PC games and Console games. Look at Quake* for example. On PC for a while, huge hit, great game. N64 (or whatever your favorite console gaming system is) version of it comes out and sure its fun to play for a little bit. But does it really compare to the PC version? I think not.
The line must be drawn! All arrows point to this system failing or doing moderatly well.
I realize this article is speaking specifically of a chip, but the point of "lines between pc and computer games" is quite clear.
I suppose the difference is they aren't targetting it at high end stuff at all at the moment. But playing PC games on an embedded device seems a bit fishy. Incidentally, the article says Playstation, not Playstation 2. That makes a lot more sense, because even if it was a high performance device, the PS2 uses RDRAM, which makes for a very different architecture that is based on a high bandwidth backbone, rather than large buffers made from cheaper memory.
Anyway, it won't be replacing your P3 or Athlon anytime soon.
If you are modding me down because you disagree with me, use the "Flamebait" category, not the "Troll" one.
Way to read the article, folks. "And at its labs in China, the company is developing an embedded operating system and emulation software that would run PC and Sony Playstation games on the RISC chip"
/. once again.
This is a general-purpose, 300MHz RISC chip. There is no way in hell it could emulate the special-purpose, 300MHz SIMD-based Emotion Engine, nor its dual-channel RDRAM memory.
Nor is there any reason why ALi would ever want to do so. All gaming consoles, including the PS2, are sold at a loss. The only reason Sony wants to sell PS2s is that they make money on licensing fees for each game sold. The console is a loss leader. There is no way to make a PS2 for less than $300; if there was, Sony would sell them for less than $300. Therefore it is a very simple conclusion that this chip emulates the PS1--simple enough to be emulated without incurring additional cost--not the state-of-the-art PS2.
Shame on
how much is a Playstation 1 going for on ebay? about $60 with a few games.. if we wanted to play playstation games on a computer, we already can do that no problem! more impressive would be to load Tao Group's Elate OS or some other spiffy OS on it. Gee, a brand new processor can keep up with a 386 at 33mhz! great news! this thing is just destined to be lost in the huge competition for embedded Internet(copyright Al Gore) devices, which no one is sure they want! Of course, throw this into a PDA and play MP4 movies on it!
Chinese officials are good about looking the other way when it comes to IP, especially if it is to the benefit of China. In any other country, whether this idea ultimately ends up being on the level or not, there would be a restraining order against the manufacture of these devices so fast that a small flotilla of Navy ships would have the shipment stopped in the middle of the Pacific.
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There is no K5 cabal.
There is no K5 cabal.
I am not the real rusty.
the question also becomes one of licensing. is sony just going to roll over and say "go for it boys and girls, you can just take half of our hardware gaming market"
although sony is purported to be allowing reverse engineering (am i correct here?) and they do, in point of fact, make the vast majority of their money off video game sales, not the console, this is still going to take a huge bite out of their wallet.
FluX
After 16 years, MTV has finally completed its deevolution into the shiny things network
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
The concept sounds interesting, to me it sounds reminiscent of the X-Box. But this has Playstation support too. Can't Acer get sued over this? I read the article, but I didn't see if the article meant that you could POTENTIALLY play Playstation games on this DVD player natively or if you had to install third party software (Bleem!). I know Sony took Bleem! to court (they haven't won a case yet). Isn't Acer in danger of butting heads with The Big Boys at Sony? I wonder if we could see a "universal" console system that supported every console in the market that used the same kind of media, like CDs. Interesting.
A remote for a controller. Not exactly the best setup on earth. I think they would have to include a playstation controller.
Also, isn't this what the PS2 does? Plays PS1 games, and DVDs?
This seems to be the wave of the future though, since the induhviduals at the top of corporations like to include a bunch of stuff in one. That's why M$ sucks so bad, they try to do everything. (as I'm writing from a win98 box...)
Hmm.. even though the article claims that its the Sony Playstation not the PS2 that this device will be able to play, its still mighty illegal in most places.
The people behind it probably know that, and they've found the perfect market: Instead of the super-tech-savvy Japanese who A: wouldn't buy it because the extra features aren't really worth the extra money and B: Sony would slam them down oh so fast, they hit the Chinese, a bunch of people who in general are more likely to appreciate the product and MUCH less likely to cause a legal fiasco.
Bravo.
No, Playstation 1. Did anyone read the article, or are the editors just flaming idiots? =)
heh. that means the PS1 emulation hardware is going to be worthless in, what, 2 days now?
fuck...right now i couldn't PAY a used game store to take my PSX off my hands.
FluX
After 16 years, MTV has finally completed its deevolution into the shiny things network
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
PSX eh?
At least this is a step on the road to burying the xbox.
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
See my user info for links.
I don't know who designed those ads with the two guys screaming "VI!" and "EMACS!", but I'll cut them some slack and not hold it against 'em if they'd please just withdraw these ads. I really don't need to see animated .gifs of these two guys who somehow appear to both be simultaneously taking it up the ass. If I want to see stuff like that, I'd check out the Geek Compound webcam feed.
They make the money back on the games sold.
This will create consoles they don't have to take a loss for. But they'll still get the money for the games sold.
The concern should be whether this can provide reasonable performance. But that should be a market concern.
Sony may pretend to be outraged but i don't think they'll mind much.
'There is a Light that never goes out.'
These hybrid systems are currently only slated for a Japanese release, with no US release planned (where US release = anywhere outside Japan). At the moment, Nintendo is trying to go down the 'games only' road (which I personally believe in), so I doubt they'll make a big push for the hybrid to be released outside Japan.
There are heaps of news stories around on Matsushita and their somewhat hazy Gamecube plans, and instead of me putting in heaps of effort and actully making heaps of links, I'll make you all a special link today ;)
Google search for 'Matsushita Gamecube dvd movies'.
Heaps of articles there, enjoy. :)
(Offtopic rant: The best thing happening in the gaming world in the next week is the US release of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Nothing else worthwhile is happening.)
So when are we going to see DVD players that play Dreamcast games (since Sega is officially licensing the technology). This is a shitty situation for people who already own older DVD players and payed more than 200$ for them yet see newer better faster ones come out all the time. Why should we buy this shit anymore? I got a DVD for the express purpose of being able to watch the Star Wars quadtology in widescreen with full DTS sound. Then I learned that this isn't going to happen until 2372 because George Lucas in a cry baby. Should I ditch my current DVD player and get a PS2 so I can play games whilst waiting for SW on DVD? The hardware is in my living room, where the fuck is my fucking content?
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
Isn't there some law about licencing CSS on machines with software and DVD capabilities as opposed to DVD players with CSS in hardware. Won't this decision place the DVD player in the computer category and hence void the CSS licence?
a dvd player for under a hundred bucks? where? seriously, a decent one costs about $150 - $200.
Are you kidding? I work at a game store. We are still actively taking in PSX's, and usually get a call a day about the ORIGINAL PSX. Normally, once weve bought a used one, we can't keep in on our shelves for more than 24 hours!
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If a machine can do PC games, it can probably also do PS/2 games with something like MoSlo.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Sig11, TrollMastah, Patrick Bateman, OOG - you've all said good-bye and now it's my turn to go to that great place we /. really is and that Rob really doesn't give a damn.
/. still ran rampant with penis birds and vulgar,
go to when we realize how fatally flawed
Moderation / Metamoderation all failed so Rob started taking trolls into his own hands. Bitchslapping and
changes to the Slashcode have only brought about more abuses to the system. Additions like the time limit
between posts and the Lameness filter have hurt it's users while
racist remarks that outnumbered the useful posts.
So now, I know noone cares, but I'm going too. I follow in the paths of some truly great people that truly cared about
the Free Software community. But now, that "community" has evolved into an entity called Andover.net
and anyone that still has the notions of being a part of a community is silenced.
Good bye all. I really can't say I'll be missing you.
kwsNI
Yes, it's cool, but do we really need another box that does nothing that the PC already does?
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This message has been ROT-13 encrypted twice for higher security.
I just hook PSX controllers directly to my PC via the parallel port - I still haven't found a PC gamepad that comes close.
http://www.ziplabel.com/dpadpro/ has schematics for the lead (very simple for the PSX and most others, a nightmare for the N64!) and the software to use it. Under Windows, it's got a driver that makes it a generic 10-button joystick and you can even use the analogue sticks. Source for the joystick-scanning bit is available if you want to develop something for another OS.
Get hold of a controller extension lead and you don't even need to chop up the original - I'm planning to mount the controller port on the front of my PC when I get round to it..
If you've already got the controllers, it's a lot cheaper than buying new ones :)
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qube
... it will probably break down in about 3 months... :(
Has anyone else here had problems with Acer products? I've resolved never to buy from them again.
Er well no, and yes.
.
Depends on who you believe about the ownership of Taiwan, the Americans, the Taiwanese or the Chinese.
China refuses to recognise Taiwan as an independant country.
The Taiwanese think they are an independant country.
The Americans, who are always right, think that China is silly, and that Taiwan definately is a new sta.. erm.. its own country.
Check yr facts 2, matey.
~matt~
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"So there he is, risen from the dead. Like that fella, E. T." - Father Ted Crilly
At this rate, DVD players will pass the $100 mark soon.
They have already broken this mark. I saw a DVD player yesterday at best buy for $99. The manufacturer was KLH, and at that price, I wouldn't expect much. Nonetheless, the fact that prices have dropped this far is fairly impressive.
There's no way that a current PC is going to be emulating a PS2
1. I didn't say PS2 (PlayStation 2). I said PS/2 (IBM Personal System/2).
at anything approaching playable speeds in the near future
Most PC games designed to run at PS/2 CPU clock speeds are already unplayable; this is why I suggested MoSlo.
Will I retire or break 10K?
All these people PsyKe-d about PS2 emulation are full of Bleem! I feel so MAMED by the RAINE of Callus comments that it provokes me to RAGE. The IMPACT of this MESS is giving me a Genecyst on my NESticle...
In the face of Nightmare, pray for DCEmu...it shall guide you through the DarcNES...
Laters,
Jesterboy
http://www.overclocked.org