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Aah, first thing that popped into my mind when reading the headline were the zombie dogs in Resident Evil on PS1... I'm quite surprised this didn't come up sooner!
The High Definition AV pack gives you component 480i / 480p (if the game supports it). That's good enough for DVDs and Xvid and the like. For HDTV you're gonna need something else.
Actually the Xbox High Definition AV pack gives you access to all HD resolutions; you just don't see them in games because most cannot afford the extra RAM for the larger framebuffer.
If your Xbox is "no longer under warranty" you can try out Xbox Media Center and make it use any HD resolution you want. Mine is set up as a dashboard in 720p native and it looks quite sweet... 1080i is even better but I can't bear the interlaced display.
Coupled with a PC over ethernet (away in another room so noise isn't an issue) I can stream all the media I want without even touching the local Xbox drives. For recording I have a dedicated PVR (sadly not a Tivo, which would fit this setup quite well).
This is all well and good, but until someone manages to get an HDTV-ready HTPC, it's not worth it. Get a HD-ready PVR from your local cable/satellite company, combine with Xbox Media Center, and you're all set:)
Wasn't there an article about HTPCs a few weeks back (though it didn't specifically focus on Linux)?
Moderate -1, WRONG. Whenever I make a change, I almost always comment out the existing line, put my initials, date, and why I commented it, and then put in my new line.
Moderate -1, WTF! There is no reason whatsoever to keep old code in comments; that's what source control is for.
My $0.02, and doing this has saved my butt numerous times when you're sitting at the implementation phase, ready to go-live, and something fails last-minute. (testing be damned!)
You know, that explains a lot. Never mind then...:)
When you're using DirectX, you *ARE* dealing direct with the hardware.
No, you are not. You have been (successfully) misled by the marketing drones at Microsoft:)
Waaaay back in DirectX 1.0 (when the only useful component was DirectDraw) there was a fast path leading directly to the hardware framebuffer, but this is long gone.
I write games for a living (and prior to that I wrote DX and GL drivers for Windows) so I can assure you, at the application level, DX is not letting you in on some hardware action, everything is abstracted to a common layer (the DirectX runtime). Only the driver, supplied by the hardware vendor, is able to talk to the hardware.
The graphics engine needed for a game [...] almost requires a kernel bypass to write directly to the video hardware.
These days are long gone. Windows has been proving it with blazingly fast GDI, DirectX and OpenGL apps that are completely hardware-independent, yet 100% hardware accelerated. Hell, even current (and future) game consoles don't allow you to poke directly at the graphics hardware anymore (PlayStation2 excluded).
Ugh, can't say I miss programming VGA registers by hand and dealing with all the semi-compliant hardware... *shudder*
at the very least, if it doesn't get adopted, then I suppose using an uncommon format will help curb piracy being that nobody will have easy access to blank disks or a burner and all...:-P
...not that it worked for Sega & the Dreamcast...:)
Off course I Googled, and I got just f*cking useless results! Know-it-alls like you were beaten up on the playground when I was a kid...
Easy there bud. This wasn't meant as a personal attack you know.
Look a little deeper at the f*cking useless results. I had no clue what mrxdav was either and the first hit from Google reveals it is the "Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV)" component from Microsoft. This is further confirmed with subsequent Google hits.
Just because the answer isn't in the title of the Google hit doesn't make it f*cking useless...
You say that like one is obviously better than the other, but you didn't say which one? I have the PS2 and I haven't seen car games on the PC as good as Burn Out. But on the other hand, I haven't seen a FPS on a console that rivals that of Half Life on the PC.
I have no intention of (re)starting the PC vs Console debate, each platform has their ups and downs... Since you asked, for most games I play (racing, action/adventure, shoot-them-ups) the console is obviously a better choice. But as you say, for first-person shooters (HL2, Doom3, etc) the PC is clearly superior, if only because of the dual mouse/keyboard inputs.
I may be biased since most PC ports of console games I've seen completely sucked (*cough* RalliSport Challenge *cough* - it was unplayable on a beefed-up PC but flies at 60fps on a lowly Xbox).
I guess my point is that in general the best way to fully enjoy a game is to play it on its original platform (much like movies are generally better in their native language).
The article doesn't mention a damn thing about the next generation consoles...
Yeah, the summary is misleading. The article does a (somewhat) good job of covering how we got to where we are but offers little insight on where we're going. Actually TFA implies (more than once) that a gaming PC is nowadays equivalent to a game console... On paper it may be, but in practice there is no comparison!
Anyway... Nothing to see here, move along... These aren't the news you're looking for.
The plug might fit and the device might not work... that's no better/worse than the plug just not fitting in the first place.
Sure, but if the plug doesn't fit, you know ahead of time. I prefer that to, say, being greeted by some "unsupported controller" error message in a game...
And if the memory cards were all, say, CF, what would be the problem? It's a known spec, and easy to accomodate.
Agreed. But then you open the door to generalized cheating by tweaking savegames because the card can be read/written everywhere (unless the game encrypts everything)...
It's also a back door into the system (f.e. XboxLinux).
Why can't I use the same memory card on my Gamecube and my PS2? Because they don't want you too. Why are all of the controller ports different and not just simple USB? This is especially glaring as the Xbox is standard USB with a funky plug.
The major point of a game console is that they are all the same (every PS2 has an identical controller). If you remove the custom plug and make it standard USB (say), then this uniformity is lost and some games may not work or play awkward because you're missing buttons or triggers.
I do agree with your point about proprietary formats, but the game console analogy is wrong...
One possible use for an Open camera would be capturing High Dynamic Range images.
Debevec has a method where you take multiple shots of the same image at different F-stops, and through some post-processing magic, extract a reasonnable HDR approximation (sorry, you'll have to Google it, I don't have the link handy).
An Open camera would allow someone to program the camera to take the required shots automatically (and possibly even generate the HDR image, though it's probably best to do it offline where CPU power and battery life aren't an issue).
Another possible use is to extract raw data even if your camera only exports JPG images, for those extra bits of precision (I seem to remember some Canon cameras that allow you to get at the raw, 11- or 12-bit image).
I'd like an Open camera, not to run Linux or MAME on it (that's probably a running joke by now) but to add capabilities that the original manufacturer won't bother with due to a limited market, etc.
Of course a decent scripting language could do this as well without "opening" the camera...
Buyers of HDTVs in India might be seeing the enhanced artifacts of 720x480 video that are less visible on a non-HDTV CRT.
Indeed. When I first bought my 51" HDTV, I almost cried... You see every single artifact of a 480p signal. An SDTV digital decoder (and many DVDs) look like shit on HD sets. It's easy to attribute this to a crappy HDTV set, when in fact it's just that your old CRT was too crappy to show you how bad the source material was:)
As far as I'm concerned, CRT HDTV rule since they can do multiple resolutions. If you buy a Plasma/LCD/DLP set, everything is rescaled internally to one resolution, badly blurring everything.
I can't imagine how bad a PS2 or an Xbox looks on a fixed resolution set... *shudder*
Slashdot Mirror
Automatic coral-caching of links (with an alternate collection of direct ones) would help prevent such issues.
/. at work" problems... :)
It would also prevent users under a company-wide HTTP proxy from ever seeing TFAs.
Then again, this might help curb the "reading
With Adblock, comes Adblock Filterset.G Updater.
:) Didn't know about the auto-update extension. Much appreciated.
Thanks mate, that's quite handy!
YMMV
Your Mac May Vary?
Umbrella is dedicated to providing care and support to all.
Aah, first thing that popped into my mind when reading the headline were the zombie dogs in Resident Evil on PS1... I'm quite surprised this didn't come up sooner!
Damn that was a great game (and movie).
Actually, their plan is much bigger...
(ok it's old, but still a cool what-if scenario)
Personally if I wanted a copy on VHS I would buy it on DvD and copy it to VHS (a legal act).
Actually this won't work because of the Macrovision protection on said DVD. The VHS copy will be unwatchable.
Therein lies the problem; the copy protection is preventing you from exercising your legal rights (backup copy for your own private use)...
does the xbox speak dvi, natively?
No, it does not. I assume this is due to pressure from the MPAA and the likes (the "digital output == perfect copy" argument?).
Google reveals at least one Xbox VGA adapter, though I have no idea if that supports HD or if you are locked to 640x480.
The High Definition AV pack gives you component 480i / 480p (if the game supports it). That's good enough for DVDs and Xvid and the like. For HDTV you're gonna need something else.
Actually the Xbox High Definition AV pack gives you access to all HD resolutions; you just don't see them in games because most cannot afford the extra RAM for the larger framebuffer.
If your Xbox is "no longer under warranty" you can try out Xbox Media Center and make it use any HD resolution you want. Mine is set up as a dashboard in 720p native and it looks quite sweet... 1080i is even better but I can't bear the interlaced display.
Coupled with a PC over ethernet (away in another room so noise isn't an issue) I can stream all the media I want without even touching the local Xbox drives. For recording I have a dedicated PVR (sadly not a Tivo, which would fit this setup quite well).
This is all well and good, but until someone manages to get an HDTV-ready HTPC, it's not worth it. Get a HD-ready PVR from your local cable/satellite company, combine with Xbox Media Center, and you're all set :)
Wasn't there an article about HTPCs a few weeks back (though it didn't specifically focus on Linux)?
[...] open source may get the short end of the stick.
As one of my co-worker says all the time he hears this, "I'd rather get the short end of the stick, because you smash with the big end."
Moderate -1, WRONG. Whenever I make a change, I almost always comment out the existing line, put my initials, date, and why I commented it, and then put in my new line.
:)
Moderate -1, WTF! There is no reason whatsoever to keep old code in comments; that's what source control is for.
My $0.02, and doing this has saved my butt numerous times when you're sitting at the implementation phase, ready to go-live, and something fails last-minute. (testing be damned!)
You know, that explains a lot. Never mind then...
When you're using DirectX, you *ARE* dealing direct with the hardware.
:)
No, you are not. You have been (successfully) misled by the marketing drones at Microsoft
Waaaay back in DirectX 1.0 (when the only useful component was DirectDraw) there was a fast path leading directly to the hardware framebuffer, but this is long gone.
I write games for a living (and prior to that I wrote DX and GL drivers for Windows) so I can assure you, at the application level, DX is not letting you in on some hardware action, everything is abstracted to a common layer (the DirectX runtime). Only the driver, supplied by the hardware vendor, is able to talk to the hardware.
The graphics engine needed for a game [...] almost requires a kernel bypass to write directly to the video hardware.
These days are long gone. Windows has been proving it with blazingly fast GDI, DirectX and OpenGL apps that are completely hardware-independent, yet 100% hardware accelerated. Hell, even current (and future) game consoles don't allow you to poke directly at the graphics hardware anymore (PlayStation2 excluded).
Ugh, can't say I miss programming VGA registers by hand and dealing with all the semi-compliant hardware... *shudder*
I wonder if it will read the code commentary aloud in John Madden's voice for extra money?
/. fake story day!
Now THAT, my good sir, is genuinely funny. A definite "+5 Coffee up the nose", in lieu of my non-existent mod points.
Thank you for brightening up my boring
...not that it worked for Sega & the Dreamcast... :)
Off course I Googled, and I got just f*cking useless results! Know-it-alls like you were beaten up on the playground when I was a kid...
Easy there bud. This wasn't meant as a personal attack you know.
Look a little deeper at the f*cking useless results. I had no clue what mrxdav was either and the first hit from Google reveals it is the "Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV)" component from Microsoft. This is further confirmed with subsequent Google hits.
Just because the answer isn't in the title of the Google hit doesn't make it f*cking useless...
Google is your friend...
(sorry, couldn't resist)
You say that like one is obviously better than the other, but you didn't say which one? I have the PS2 and I haven't seen car games on the PC as good as Burn Out. But on the other hand, I haven't seen a FPS on a console that rivals that of Half Life on the PC.
I have no intention of (re)starting the PC vs Console debate, each platform has their ups and downs... Since you asked, for most games I play (racing, action/adventure, shoot-them-ups) the console is obviously a better choice. But as you say, for first-person shooters (HL2, Doom3, etc) the PC is clearly superior, if only because of the dual mouse/keyboard inputs.
I may be biased since most PC ports of console games I've seen completely sucked (*cough* RalliSport Challenge *cough* - it was unplayable on a beefed-up PC but flies at 60fps on a lowly Xbox).
I guess my point is that in general the best way to fully enjoy a game is to play it on its original platform (much like movies are generally better in their native language).
The article doesn't mention a damn thing about the next generation consoles...
Yeah, the summary is misleading. The article does a (somewhat) good job of covering how we got to where we are but offers little insight on where we're going. Actually TFA implies (more than once) that a gaming PC is nowadays equivalent to a game console... On paper it may be, but in practice there is no comparison!
Anyway... Nothing to see here, move along... These aren't the news you're looking for.
The plug might fit and the device might not work ... that's no better/worse than the plug just not fitting in the first place.
Sure, but if the plug doesn't fit, you know ahead of time. I prefer that to, say, being greeted by some "unsupported controller" error message in a game...
And if the memory cards were all, say, CF, what would be the problem? It's a known spec, and easy to accomodate.
Agreed. But then you open the door to generalized cheating by tweaking savegames because the card can be read/written everywhere (unless the game encrypts everything)...
It's also a back door into the system (f.e. XboxLinux).
Why can't I use the same memory card on my Gamecube and my PS2? Because they don't want you too. Why are all of the controller ports different and not just simple USB? This is especially glaring as the Xbox is standard USB with a funky plug.
The major point of a game console is that they are all the same (every PS2 has an identical controller). If you remove the custom plug and make it standard USB (say), then this uniformity is lost and some games may not work or play awkward because you're missing buttons or triggers.
I do agree with your point about proprietary formats, but the game console analogy is wrong...
One possible use for an Open camera would be capturing High Dynamic Range images.
Debevec has a method where you take multiple shots of the same image at different F-stops, and through some post-processing magic, extract a reasonnable HDR approximation (sorry, you'll have to Google it, I don't have the link handy).
An Open camera would allow someone to program the camera to take the required shots automatically (and possibly even generate the HDR image, though it's probably best to do it offline where CPU power and battery life aren't an issue).
Another possible use is to extract raw data even if your camera only exports JPG images, for those extra bits of precision (I seem to remember some Canon cameras that allow you to get at the raw, 11- or 12-bit image).
I'd like an Open camera, not to run Linux or MAME on it (that's probably a running joke by now) but to add capabilities that the original manufacturer won't bother with due to a limited market, etc.
Of course a decent scripting language could do this as well without "opening" the camera...
> Porn is like God: it helps those who help themselves.
LOL! Where are my mod points when I need them... Definite +5 Funny!
EA is doing the same with their games (Prince of Persia, [...]
Erm, unless EA has bought Ubisoft while I wasn't looking, Prince of Persia still belongs to Ubisoft (or rather, Jordan Mechner).
Actually that's the scary part, EA is getting so big we start crediting them with games they haven't made...
As far as I'm concerned, CRT HDTV rule since they can do multiple resolutions. If you buy a Plasma/LCD/DLP set, everything is rescaled internally to one resolution, badly blurring everything.
I can't imagine how bad a PS2 or an Xbox looks on a fixed resolution set... *shudder*