I really doubt they'll ever give Verant a run for its money. Why? Bandwidth!
The servers on EQ have to have phone lines that can handle something like several gigs a second to run EQ, and even then lag can become a problem if a certain area gets too crowded (i.e. large events, where your client has to keep track of the location of 50 or more people). I imagine each server is made up of at least several computers, keeping track of players in different areas. These are all probably connected with some humongous LAN configuration.
All in all, I don't think a small group of hackers in Europe (as is my understanding, I could be wrong) could match the awesome power that Verant needs to run the game at its current pace.
Re:Posters overlook TV choice - also, less power.
on
Salon on the XBox
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· Score: 1
I don't think the Dreamcast can do hi-res TV and the PS2 only has very limited support. The August 2000 issue of NextGen says that the PS2 only has limited support for HDTVs (it probably crops) where the Xbox has full support. Plus the Xbox can do higher resolutions. And besides, the PS2 may have the "power", but the Xbox's processors (the standard and graphic) are both quite a lot more powerful (a 300 mHz main chip for PS2 versus a 733 mHz main chip for Xbox, with the PS2 graphics chip being 150 mHz and the Xbox's being twice as fast).
Conisder that by next year, many developers will have a lot more PS2 experience under the belt and be able to take advantage of the different architecure it offers.
So far only one game in dev for PS2 has broken all the first-generation barriers in terms of graphic complexity, and that's MGS 2, and by admission of Konami it's because they've had something like 10 to 15 million dollars in funding and have had to program everything themselves (i.e. FSAA, rendering, etc.). I think programmers have spent a lot longer optimizing in a DirectX environment and would be able to leap in and create graphic complexity that would be the equivalent of several generations down the line if it were a new development environment.
Also, you say that people will program for either DirectX or the "GeForce" in the Xbox. The card isn't a GeForce, so it isn't yet known how it works, but rather it's a special chipset known as "NV20", I believe. I imagine this thing will have the RGSS FSAA implementation that is currently only seen on Voodoo5 cards (which are even regarded by nVidia as the best current implementation of FSAA on consumer-level products). Anyway, the version of DirectX on the console will be DX 8.0, which looks to be quite a 3d API, and it isn't the same as previous clunky DirectX versions. I imagine with a large nVidia dev team, John Carmack, and whatever other technical folk are involved in this, it'll be a pretty high-quality API, not something you'll have to work around.
Anyway, I'm not trying to flame or attack you, I'm just disagreeing with your assertion that the Xbox is a strangling, closed, clankering monstrosity that will rust up and fall apart upon release, but rather it seems to be a console that's coming from people well-versed in the console industry and is offering some pretty new ideas to the mix. I'd be wary about purchasing that PS2. Consoles are suddenly getting a lot more exciting than they've been for a long time.
In the article, one person is quoted as saying it'll cost ya 3 grand to get a computer capable of playing Unreal Tournament.
I'm surprised they let that slip into the article. It seems to me that any technically-inclined person would be able to piece together a pretty decent computer for about $1000. My computer is a K6-2-450 with a Voodoo5, and those are about the two most noteworthy components. You could probably make a computer like mine for only $700 or so, depending on where you shop, and if you know how to build it. And it runs UT with 4xFSAA in 800x600 with a completely rock-solid high framerate with all graphic details on.
Anyway, my point is that a good gaming pc is nowhere near that expensive, provided you have the expertise to piece one together from cheaper parts. However, John Q. Average might be paying that much for a computer of similar power if he goes to a large pc vendor like Gateway or Dell, which I hope for the article's sake was the intent of the statement. Unfortunately, if you're like me, before you can gain all that expertise you'll need to buy one of those $3k computers from Dell so you can learn the ropes.
I'm surprised nobody's brought this up yet, but doesn't the page say he'd be more of a "consultant"? I'd imagine he probably got this because of his familiarity with cyberpunk, which is what I'd bet the producers are aiming for.
I wouldn't expect this name to stay too long. Remember "Project Reality" and the "Ultra 64"? Both were cooler names than what Nintendo finally decided on, the Nintendo 64.
I'd imagine that we're going to find a somewhat dopier name, as per the rumors floating around that Nintendo might be catering this game box towards kids.
I hope this hasn't been brought up, but I can't help but wonder how a force feedback mouse would draw the necessary power to operate whatever rotors and gears it needs for force feedback, as well as running a processor that will analyze the optical data.
I began wondering about this when I purchased an Intellimouse Explorer recently, especially since it's claimed to be able to process something like 18 MIPS.
Let's hope that this mouse doesn't require some sort of external power source or something, or I doubt it'll sell very well.
Actually, in an FAQ released right about when the GeForce2's came out, nVidia was saying that the 128 megs of RAM on the Voodoo5 6000 added up to only about 58 megs of effective RAM. Even 3dfx's competitor says it has that much RAM to work with, so it's more than 32. The only thing that has to be repeated is texture data, I think.
I think that the thing the RIAA and whatever judge is ruling on this case fail to understand is that there's a whole generation of young people on the internet who don't really give a crap about who they're percieved as ripping off. They just want the easiest/cheapest way to get songs they like from whatever bands they like. Frankly, it's about that simple in a good deal of mp3 fans.
I think a lot of people are trying to drag ethics into it, possibly people who fit into the above catagory and are trying to legally justify it. Frankly, I don't really care what means you might say it's legal by, but I think I and a lot of other people are just going to pursue the way they think is the easiest or saves them cash.
Besides, do you really want to fill Elton John's pockets with more money after you've seen what the guy does with it? Hehe.
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The servers on EQ have to have phone lines that can handle something like several gigs a second to run EQ, and even then lag can become a problem if a certain area gets too crowded (i.e. large events, where your client has to keep track of the location of 50 or more people). I imagine each server is made up of at least several computers, keeping track of players in different areas. These are all probably connected with some humongous LAN configuration.
All in all, I don't think a small group of hackers in Europe (as is my understanding, I could be wrong) could match the awesome power that Verant needs to run the game at its current pace.
Conisder that by next year, many developers will have a lot more PS2 experience under the belt and be able to take advantage of the different architecure it offers.
So far only one game in dev for PS2 has broken all the first-generation barriers in terms of graphic complexity, and that's MGS 2, and by admission of Konami it's because they've had something like 10 to 15 million dollars in funding and have had to program everything themselves (i.e. FSAA, rendering, etc.). I think programmers have spent a lot longer optimizing in a DirectX environment and would be able to leap in and create graphic complexity that would be the equivalent of several generations down the line if it were a new development environment.
Also, you say that people will program for either DirectX or the "GeForce" in the Xbox. The card isn't a GeForce, so it isn't yet known how it works, but rather it's a special chipset known as "NV20", I believe. I imagine this thing will have the RGSS FSAA implementation that is currently only seen on Voodoo5 cards (which are even regarded by nVidia as the best current implementation of FSAA on consumer-level products). Anyway, the version of DirectX on the console will be DX 8.0, which looks to be quite a 3d API, and it isn't the same as previous clunky DirectX versions. I imagine with a large nVidia dev team, John Carmack, and whatever other technical folk are involved in this, it'll be a pretty high-quality API, not something you'll have to work around.
Anyway, I'm not trying to flame or attack you, I'm just disagreeing with your assertion that the Xbox is a strangling, closed, clankering monstrosity that will rust up and fall apart upon release, but rather it seems to be a console that's coming from people well-versed in the console industry and is offering some pretty new ideas to the mix. I'd be wary about purchasing that PS2. Consoles are suddenly getting a lot more exciting than they've been for a long time.
I'm surprised they let that slip into the article. It seems to me that any technically-inclined person would be able to piece together a pretty decent computer for about $1000. My computer is a K6-2-450 with a Voodoo5, and those are about the two most noteworthy components. You could probably make a computer like mine for only $700 or so, depending on where you shop, and if you know how to build it. And it runs UT with 4xFSAA in 800x600 with a completely rock-solid high framerate with all graphic details on.
Anyway, my point is that a good gaming pc is nowhere near that expensive, provided you have the expertise to piece one together from cheaper parts. However, John Q. Average might be paying that much for a computer of similar power if he goes to a large pc vendor like Gateway or Dell, which I hope for the article's sake was the intent of the statement. Unfortunately, if you're like me, before you can gain all that expertise you'll need to buy one of those $3k computers from Dell so you can learn the ropes.
Anyway, food for thought.
I doubt he'll actually touch the movie script.
I'd imagine that we're going to find a somewhat dopier name, as per the rumors floating around that Nintendo might be catering this game box towards kids.
Maybe it'll be shaped like Pikachu!
I hope this hasn't been brought up, but I can't help but wonder how a force feedback mouse would draw the necessary power to operate whatever rotors and gears it needs for force feedback, as well as running a processor that will analyze the optical data. I began wondering about this when I purchased an Intellimouse Explorer recently, especially since it's claimed to be able to process something like 18 MIPS. Let's hope that this mouse doesn't require some sort of external power source or something, or I doubt it'll sell very well.
Actually, in an FAQ released right about when the GeForce2's came out, nVidia was saying that the 128 megs of RAM on the Voodoo5 6000 added up to only about 58 megs of effective RAM. Even 3dfx's competitor says it has that much RAM to work with, so it's more than 32. The only thing that has to be repeated is texture data, I think.
I think a lot of people are trying to drag ethics into it, possibly people who fit into the above catagory and are trying to legally justify it. Frankly, I don't really care what means you might say it's legal by, but I think I and a lot of other people are just going to pursue the way they think is the easiest or saves them cash.
Besides, do you really want to fill Elton John's pockets with more money after you've seen what the guy does with it? Hehe.