I posted a comment on this, that got labelled "troll" by an overzealous moderator. Anyways, here it goes :
Why do people HAVE to interoperate with AOL AIM clients/servers ???
Just build your own, and better yet, use some standard and ignore AIM. This is just absurd, MS trying to connect to them, Open Source people trying to get it too, why ?
If AOL wishes to only allow their clients to be able to use their servers, I don't see why people should complain about this.
After all, it's AOL people, I find it strange that Slashdot geeks want to interact with clueless AOL minions !!!
Why do people HAVE to interoperate with AOL AIM clients/servers ???
Just build your own, and better yet, use some standard and ignore AIM. This is just absurd, MS trying to connect to them, Open Source people trying to get it too, why ?
If AOL wishes to only allow their clients to be able to use their servers, I don't see why people should complain about this.
After all, it's AOL people, I find it strange that Slashdot geeks want to interact with clueless AOL minions !!!
This is just a way to paint the other group as "anti" something, giving it a negative connotation.
I think a "pro-abortion" , "anti-abortion" labeling would be fair, but then again most politicians really do not want to admit they're "pro-abortion" (they prefer pro-choice).
Absent a consitent labelling, I rather people use the names each group have given themselves, after all, it's how they want to be called. Let "pro-choice" people call themselves that, as well as "pro-life" people.
I think it's a safe assumption that this could be an honest mistake. I guess most of us are just more skeptical when it comes to Microsoft.:)
I'm reminded of the Spanish saying :
"Cria fama y acuestate a dormir."
Sort of means : "Create a reputation and go to sleep".
BTW : The other screenshots, didn't have the horrible edge artifacts with the model, they were somewhat more believeable, yet, they proved to be "concept art" too.
The final proof, is that xbox.com admitted these images were "concept" art, and not only was the image I picked apart faked, but the others as well.
Now, the only thing you need to do to convince yourself, is to go to xbox.com and see the "new" "real" Amped screenshots, the model looks nothing like the first released images.
> If that's the case how do you know that the edge issues aren't the result of the players being rendered using a different meathod ?
Because usually, you don't get random white pixels intersecting the background. Also, like I pointed out in my image, there are 3 types of edges. This is very strange, plus the edge around the character is just typical "pasted" image on Photoshop quality.
Notice also, that there are white pixels, even when the intersection of colors does not contain any white (trees and face).
This type of problem, could have been a bug, but coupled with the obvious fake lens flare, and the apparent resolution differences between the character and the background, it's obvious it's pasted on.
Anyways, it doesn't matter if I proved it completely or not, MS admitted those characters were added to the backgrounds.:)
I think the lens flare thing is common, but not the "pasting of high poly models" on top of real in-game backgrounds.
The funny thing is, we tought it was only the close up of the boarder that was fake, but it turned out (like many suspected) that all of the screenshots had fake characters in them.
This is like pasting a render of a dinosaur from the Jurassic Park movie on top of a pixelated background from a real game and claiming that's how the game looks.
This is not only about MS, but other game companies trying to fool the public. However, MS does make a good example as usual, so this story will hopefully make game developers be more careful in the future.
Either that, or they'll hire more professional "fake screenshot" engineers.:)
There isn't some sort of "conspiracy", actually, I think the MS team reacted responsibly. We discussed this mess in the IGN forums like midnight/early morning of last Friday. And by late afternoon, xbox.com clarified the whole situation.
The only question is, was it an honest mistake, or a real attempt of deception ?
The character was pasted on top of the "real" in game background, that was the worst offense, not the lens flare. The lens flare is just what "caught" our attention initially.
They posted a "clarification" on Friday (no longer there)
xbox.com clarification
Some of the images for Amped released during Gamestock were enhanced to illustrate some features that will be in the final product. While this is a common practice for
games so early in development, we apologize for the confusion. No one intended to be deceptive. Everyone was so busy prepping for Gamestock, that we just missed the fact
that these were labeled "concept art". Frankly, we're impressed with the skillz of those digital sleuths! Nice work!
I've tried to document this whole thing since we talked about it in the IGN forums in my website.
Well, at least I "guesed" correctly, the models were pasted by MS. They confirmed all the screenshots were concept art. To my surprise of course, I initially tought only the "face closeup" picture was fake.
Slashdot Mirror
Why not move your mom to an open source client of your choosing.
AIM uses the AOL servers, why not let them decide who gets to connect ?
I posted a comment on this, that got labelled "troll" by an overzealous moderator. Anyways, here it goes : Why do people HAVE to interoperate with AOL AIM clients/servers ??? Just build your own, and better yet, use some standard and ignore AIM. This is just absurd, MS trying to connect to them, Open Source people trying to get it too, why ? If AOL wishes to only allow their clients to be able to use their servers, I don't see why people should complain about this. After all, it's AOL people, I find it strange that Slashdot geeks want to interact with clueless AOL minions !!!
Why do people HAVE to interoperate with AOL AIM clients/servers ???
Just build your own, and better yet, use some standard and ignore AIM. This is just absurd, MS trying to connect to them, Open Source people trying to get it too, why ?
If AOL wishes to only allow their clients to be able to use their servers, I don't see why people should complain about this.
After all, it's AOL people, I find it strange that Slashdot geeks want to interact with clueless AOL minions !!!
Agreed.
This is just a way to paint the other group as "anti" something, giving it a negative connotation.
I think a "pro-abortion" , "anti-abortion" labeling would be fair, but then again most politicians really do not want to admit they're "pro-abortion" (they prefer pro-choice).
Absent a consitent labelling, I rather people use the names each group have given themselves, after all, it's how they want to be called. Let "pro-choice" people call themselves that, as well as "pro-life" people.
*sigh*
It doesn't matter what the resolution turns out to be, the character model was a fake, it was rendered in another 3D program.
If you look at the new images, the "real" character model is nowhere near as detailed looking as the one in the first pictures.
It wasn't one screenshot, it was all of the initial Amped shots that turned out to be "concept art".
I don't know why people are making this McDonald's comparision, this is ridiculous.
There were screenshots released at GameStock, to prove how "powerful" the X-Box is, and how it's games look.
Does McDonald's release tech demos ?
Also, what do you suggest we do ? Just ignore it for the good of MS ?
I think it's a safe assumption that this could be an honest mistake. I guess most of us are just more skeptical when it comes to Microsoft. :)
I'm reminded of the Spanish saying :
"Cria fama y acuestate a dormir."
Sort of means : "Create a reputation and go to sleep".
BTW : The other screenshots, didn't have the horrible edge artifacts with the model, they were somewhat more believeable, yet, they proved to be "concept art" too.
The final proof, is that xbox.com admitted these images were "concept" art, and not only was the image I picked apart faked, but the others as well.
Now, the only thing you need to do to convince yourself, is to go to xbox.com and see the "new" "real" Amped screenshots, the model looks nothing like the first released images.
Again, the main problem here wasn't the lens flare, but the snowboarder model.
It was a pre-rendered high quality character, that does not look like that in the real game.
> If that's the case how do you know that the edge issues aren't the result of the players being rendered using a different meathod ?
:)
Because usually, you don't get random white pixels intersecting the background. Also, like I pointed out in my image, there are 3 types of edges. This is very strange, plus the edge around the character is just typical "pasted" image on Photoshop quality.
Notice also, that there are white pixels, even when the intersection of colors does not contain any white (trees and face).
This type of problem, could have been a bug, but coupled with the obvious fake lens flare, and the apparent resolution differences between the character and the background, it's obvious it's pasted on.
Anyways, it doesn't matter if I proved it completely or not, MS admitted those characters were added to the backgrounds.
The main problem with the shots was that they cut & pasted characters on them. The lens flare was just the thing that caught our attention.
I guess you missed the part where MS admitted *ALL* the shots were "concept art". LOL !
Read what site, the one that links the images in my homepage ?!?!? http://sellmic.com
LOL !!!
... specially MS, is more fun than doing their marketing work for them.
Also, many gaming sites found this newsworthy, so I don't know why you're complaining :
planetgamecube.com
computerandvideogames.com
fgnonline.com
gamers.com
xbox.ign.com
This is insulting, yet extremely funny !!! LOL !
I think the lens flare thing is common, but not the "pasting of high poly models" on top of real in-game backgrounds.
The funny thing is, we tought it was only the close up of the boarder that was fake, but it turned out (like many suspected) that all of the screenshots had fake characters in them.
This is like pasting a render of a dinosaur from the Jurassic Park movie on top of a pixelated background from a real game and claiming that's how the game looks.
Excellent point.
:)
This is not only about MS, but other game companies trying to fool the public. However, MS does make a good example as usual, so this story will hopefully make game developers be more careful in the future.
Either that, or they'll hire more professional "fake screenshot" engineers.
There isn't some sort of "conspiracy", actually, I think the MS team reacted responsibly. We discussed this mess in the IGN forums like midnight/early morning of last Friday. And by late afternoon, xbox.com clarified the whole situation.
The only question is, was it an honest mistake, or a real attempt of deception ?
The character was pasted on top of the "real" in game background, that was the worst offense, not the lens flare. The lens flare is just what "caught" our attention initially.
They posted a "clarification" on Friday (no longer there)
xbox.com clarification
Some of the images for Amped released during Gamestock were enhanced to illustrate some features that will be in the final product. While this is a common practice for games so early in development, we apologize for the confusion. No one intended to be deceptive. Everyone was so busy prepping for Gamestock, that we just missed the fact that these were labeled "concept art". Frankly, we're impressed with the skillz of those digital sleuths! Nice work!
I've tried to document this whole thing since we talked about it in the IGN forums in my website.
> The doctoring was minimal. They threw a background up behind the character and put a crappy lens flare in. Big fucking deal. Wrong.
They pasted the characters on top of the background. The background is in-game, the character is not.
The lens flare is not the only problem. The biggest problem is that they pasted much higher high-poly characters on top of real game shots !
The new screenshots show the big difference in character quality.
They added the "yes these are actual screenshots" after news sites picked up our thread in the IGN forums.
Well, at least I "guesed" correctly, the models were pasted by MS. They confirmed all the screenshots were concept art. To my surprise of course, I initially tought only the "face closeup" picture was fake.