I've played both console MMORPG's, FFXI and EQOA, they handle the control issues slightly differently.
EQOA uses the circle button for skills and spells. Circle always casts the active skill on the active target. The active skills are stored in 2 skill bars holding 5 skills each which are controlled with the d-pad. IIRC you cycle between targets with one of the shoulder buttons. Pet control is handled via the quick chat interface. EQOA could use another skill bar since, as a Cleric, I found myself cycling out half my miscellaneous damage/debuff spells for buffs every half hour or so.
FFXI uses macro bars containing buttons, you bring them up with the shoulder buttons, choose with directional button and hit X. But a lot of people just use the keyboard shortcuts, even those who play the game on the PS2. There's 10 macro bars of 10 buttons each. You have easy access to two bars at once but can quickly cycle between bars. Most people set up sets of 2 for each of their favorite job classes. Just before I quit FFXI i had a WHM bar set and RDM bar set. Some skills in FFXI you use so rarely that you don't need to macro (or shouldn't macro so you don't use them accidentally). Those you can use via a FFXI's modified version of the standard FF spell casting interface. Some people just used that instead of using macro's since for most job classes it was "good enough". My primary job class was WHM so macros were more useful for me.
So yeah, they probably have among the most complex control schemes I've ever seen in a console game.
I know that if you send a PS2 system with a hard drive slot to Sony to fix DRE's, you'll get your exact same system back, they won't send you a slim model to replace it.
There's still a few 80GB MGS4 models out there in stores if you look for them. Sure it's not 100% backwards compatibility, but it's "good enough". Out of my large 40+ (bought mostly used) PS2 library, only 2 titles have enough issues that I consider them unplayable on my 80GB MGS4 PS3, those being Tekken Tag Tournament (doesn't play at full speed) and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (texture glitching, which is common in Snowblind engine games on the PS3, but much much much worse in Fallout:BOS)
We'd use the game player more if people would publish Reader Rabbit type stuff for PS3, I know it's a waste of the hardware, but it seems like if they can crank out throw-away titles like Creature Feature (Eye) and the Pixel Junk series, they should be able to put together some decent edu-ware without spending too much on development.
Hello Mr. Insightful Anonymous Coward, I've thought the same thing...about the PS2, and even posted about it in SCEA's G.A.P section of the Playstation Underground. The things have USB ports and enough hardware to do edutainment titles but there aren't very many of them. The PS2/PS3 would be much better edutainment machines than any of those cheap edutainment devices like the v.smile. Heck, it would even be possible to do an updated version of Bank Street Writer.
The one feature I miss in AbiWord is exporting to PDF
Huh? AbiWord has been able to export to PDF since 2.2 at least. Created a PDF or two with old 2.2 on my Playstation 2 Linux kit. I have 2.4.6 in this Yellow Dog Linux 6.1 install and it has PDF export built right in. Saving as PDF is an option in the Save as dialog (where you choose your save format) and it's also in the print menu where you can print either to PDF or Postscript.
Are you one of those gamers who wanted Fallout 3 to be turn based, isometric and 2D....in 2008? Times have changed, games have changed. Fallout 3 may be real time (though VATS makes combat feel more turn based to a certain extent), it may be 3D, it may use the Oblivion engine, and it may not have been developed by Black Isle, but it's still a Fallout game and claiming otherwise is just being curmudgeonly.
May I remind you that one of the reasons Black Isle doesn't exist anymore is that they made games for a niche of gamers, that nowadays is comparatively an even smaller niche.
And on top of that the good third party stuff, like Zack & Wiki,
That's a good one? Saw it on the store shelves cheap and was thinking about buying it to give as a gift, but didn't know the quality of it.
as Wii Sports-machine on the other side its a stunning success,
I sometimes say that the Wii, is the "full console" equivalent to those 10 Atari games in a joystick devices, for many owners essentially only being Wii Play/Sports/Fit machines
Recently I've seen comments similar to yours stating that Fallout 3 is Oblivion with guns and not a "real" Fallout game. So I decided to try the original game, that I've never played, being a console gamer. So installed Fallout to my dosbox directory on my PS3's YDL install. It's slow, but playable. Anyway the vault exit scene reminded me quite a bit of Oblivion and there I was, in the wilderness, with an overarching quest (like Oblivion) but the freedom to go and do what I wanted (like Oblivion). I happened to run into a few rats wandering around (like Oblivion) and killed them, and looted their corpses. Sure it was turn based and isometric, but at it's core it's not that much different than Oblivion. So it seemed to me to be quite appropriate that Fallout 3 uses the Oblivion engine. Fallout 3 IS a real Fallout game.
Yes, the thing does put out heat. It's nice having the heat today with the cold and the ice storm and all. It's also useful for posting to Slashdot (with Firefox under Linux), and playing Oblivion.
From what I gather with my limited geekery skills, the PS2 clusters worked the same way, a few x86 boxes to act as masters to keep the PS2's that did the grunt work with their VU's fed with data efficiently.
Yes, the GPU client is faster, but it's limited to the kinds of WU's it can do, compared to the PS3 client, as the FAH site says:
What type of calculations the PS3 client is capable of running?
The PS3 right now runs what are called implicit solvation calculations, including some simple ones (sigmodal dependent dielectric) and some more sophisticated ones (AGBNP, a type of Generalized Born method from Prof. Ron Levy's group at Rutgers). In this respect, the PS3 client is much like our GPU client. However, the PS3 client is more flexible, in that it can also run explicit solvent calculations as well, although not at the same speed increase relative to PC's. We are working to increase the speed of explicit solvent on the PS3 and would then run these calculations on the PS3 as well. In a nutshell, the PS3 takes the middle ground between GPU's (extreme speed, but at limited types of WU's) and CPU's (less speed, but more flexibility in types of WU's).
It seems that the PS3 is more than 10X as powerful as an average PC. Why doesn't it get 10X PPD as well?
We balance the points based on both speed and the flexibility of the client. The GPU client is still the fastest, but it is the least flexible and can only run a very, very limited set of WUs. Thus, its points are not linearly proportional to the speed increase. The PS3 takes the middle ground between GPUs (extreme speed, but at limited types of WU's) and CPU's (less speed, but more flexibility in types of WUs). We have picked the PS3 as the natural benchmark machine for PS3 calculations and set its points per day to 900 to reflect this middle ground between speed (faster than CPU, but slower than GPU) and flexibility (more flexible than GPU, less than CPU).
The PS3 is outrunning all the rest of the FAH client types. Should I stop my existing PC/GPU/... FAH clients?
NO. The other clients are valuable to us too and we have chosen a points system to try to reflect the relative merits of each different platform to our scientific research. For example, the SMP client has been producing some very exciting scientific results and continues to be very important in our work. By supporting machines with lots of different functionality, we have a very rich set of hardware on which to run varied types of calculations, allowing us to tailor calculations to the hardware to achieve maximum performance.
Meaning the 80GB systems are NOT 100% backwards-compatible.
Not 100% but very still very high. Out of my collection of 64 PS2 games, only 2 have enough problems that I consider them unplayable on the PS3: Tekken Tag Tournament (doesn't run full speed) and Fallout Brotherhood of Steel (with very pronounced texture glitching)
But now, the PS3 ships without hardware or software emulation to play PS2/PS1 games.
Sigh, why do people keep getting this wrong. Although the latest release PS3 consoles can't play PS2 games, ALL PS3's can play PS1 games since that's entirely software emulation.
DLNA isn't downloadable content but the ability to network with a DLNA serving device (like a PC) to play content stored on that device. http://www.us.playstation.com/PS3/Features/DLNA The Xbox uses a SMB/CIFS scheme from what I've read.
I forgot to mention the PSP based remote play too.
Now while the other consoles may have some of these features, neither has them all.
Ahhh, I've always wanted to try that game. I have one of those kinds of voices that people say has very good diction, and I've wanted to see if the voice recognition would work for me when it doesn't for others. My mother, who has Rheumatoid arthritis, couldn't use voice recognition because she has one of those voices that doesn't work well with it. I told her to enunciate better but she simply couldn't.
You'll notice the backwards compatibility info says not PS1/PS2 but PS2. ALL PS3's can play PS1 discs, including the most recent models that can't play PS2 discs, because PS1 backwards compatibility is entirely software based, not hardware or hardware/software.
Now hold on there, as a PS2 and PS3 owner I have to say that the PS2/PS3 manuals say to NOT move the console from vertical to horizontal while it is powered on with a disk in the drive, so I'm not for certain that it's "build quality" or not.
As a PS3 fan I absolutely agree with you on the price being a big factor. I remember once talking to some parent about my age (41) in the video game aisle. It went something like this:
"The kid wants a PS3 but it's so expensive"
"Sure is, and I wish it wasn't, but it does more besides games"
"What do you mean?"
Then I explained DLNA, the photo, video and music stuff, the built in CD ripping, the built in web browser, the audio/video chat and messaging features, the built in card slots, the USB ports, the backwards compatibility, (it's run every PS1 and PS2 game I've thrown at it, with only Tekken Tag [the speed] and Fallout: BOS [major texture glitching] having major issues) AND the ability to run Linux on the thing.
Now THAT impressed him and he said, "Why doesn't Sony mention all that stuff in their ads."
"Hell if I know.", but I know from long experience that SCEA can't market their way out of a paper bag.
Slashdot Mirror
I've played both console MMORPG's, FFXI and EQOA, they handle the control issues slightly differently.
EQOA uses the circle button for skills and spells. Circle always casts the active skill on the active target. The active skills are stored in 2 skill bars holding 5 skills each which are controlled with the d-pad. IIRC you cycle between targets with one of the shoulder buttons. Pet control is handled via the quick chat interface. EQOA could use another skill bar since, as a Cleric, I found myself cycling out half my miscellaneous damage/debuff spells for buffs every half hour or so.
FFXI uses macro bars containing buttons, you bring them up with the shoulder buttons, choose with directional button and hit X. But a lot of people just use the keyboard shortcuts, even those who play the game on the PS2. There's 10 macro bars of 10 buttons each. You have easy access to two bars at once but can quickly cycle between bars. Most people set up sets of 2 for each of their favorite job classes. Just before I quit FFXI i had a WHM bar set and RDM bar set. Some skills in FFXI you use so rarely that you don't need to macro (or shouldn't macro so you don't use them accidentally). Those you can use via a FFXI's modified version of the standard FF spell casting interface. Some people just used that instead of using macro's since for most job classes it was "good enough". My primary job class was WHM so macros were more useful for me.
So yeah, they probably have among the most complex control schemes I've ever seen in a console game.
All PS3's play PS1 games, even the ones that don't play PS2 games, it's purely software emulation.
I know that if you send a PS2 system with a hard drive slot to Sony to fix DRE's, you'll get your exact same system back, they won't send you a slim model to replace it.
There's still a few 80GB MGS4 models out there in stores if you look for them. Sure it's not 100% backwards compatibility, but it's "good enough". Out of my large 40+ (bought mostly used) PS2 library, only 2 titles have enough issues that I consider them unplayable on my 80GB MGS4 PS3, those being Tekken Tag Tournament (doesn't play at full speed) and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (texture glitching, which is common in Snowblind engine games on the PS3, but much much much worse in Fallout:BOS)
Hello Mr. Insightful Anonymous Coward, I've thought the same thing...about the PS2, and even posted about it in SCEA's G.A.P section of the Playstation Underground. The things have USB ports and enough hardware to do edutainment titles but there aren't very many of them. The PS2/PS3 would be much better edutainment machines than any of those cheap edutainment devices like the v.smile. Heck, it would even be possible to do an updated version of Bank Street Writer.
Well considering that the PS2 was the most successfull console ever and is STILL going strong, Sony must have done something right.
Cell is Hyperthreaded, as any Linux on the PS3 user can show you:
Huh? AbiWord has been able to export to PDF since 2.2 at least. Created a PDF or two with old 2.2 on my Playstation 2 Linux kit. I have 2.4.6 in this Yellow Dog Linux 6.1 install and it has PDF export built right in. Saving as PDF is an option in the Save as dialog (where you choose your save format) and it's also in the print menu where you can print either to PDF or Postscript.
Are you one of those gamers who wanted Fallout 3 to be turn based, isometric and 2D....in 2008? Times have changed, games have changed. Fallout 3 may be real time (though VATS makes combat feel more turn based to a certain extent), it may be 3D, it may use the Oblivion engine, and it may not have been developed by Black Isle, but it's still a Fallout game and claiming otherwise is just being curmudgeonly.
May I remind you that one of the reasons Black Isle doesn't exist anymore is that they made games for a niche of gamers, that nowadays is comparatively an even smaller niche.
That's a good one? Saw it on the store shelves cheap and was thinking about buying it to give as a gift, but didn't know the quality of it.
I sometimes say that the Wii, is the "full console" equivalent to those 10 Atari games in a joystick devices, for many owners essentially only being Wii Play/Sports/Fit machines
Recently I've seen comments similar to yours stating that Fallout 3 is Oblivion with guns and not a "real" Fallout game. So I decided to try the original game, that I've never played, being a console gamer. So installed Fallout to my dosbox directory on my PS3's YDL install. It's slow, but playable. Anyway the vault exit scene reminded me quite a bit of Oblivion and there I was, in the wilderness, with an overarching quest (like Oblivion) but the freedom to go and do what I wanted (like Oblivion). I happened to run into a few rats wandering around (like Oblivion) and killed them, and looted their corpses. Sure it was turn based and isometric, but at it's core it's not that much different than Oblivion. So it seemed to me to be quite appropriate that Fallout 3 uses the Oblivion engine. Fallout 3 IS a real Fallout game.
Wrong, the PS2 is quite capable of doing 480p, 720p or 1080i over component.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Progressive_Scan_PS2_Games/
I've always liked that IBM ad, though this PS3 oriented Yellow Dog Linux one is fun:
http://us.fixstars.com/showcase/video/
Yes, the thing does put out heat. It's nice having the heat today with the cold and the ice storm and all. It's also useful for posting to Slashdot (with Firefox under Linux), and playing Oblivion.
Course it's cool having Firefox on a game console, though I had X and Firefox on my PS2 5 years ago, though it was Firefox was still Phoenix then. :-)
Well, you can use a PS3 as a desktop, I do it myself, like I did the PS2 before it. But is this more of the kind of thing you're thinking about:
http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/ext/ZEGO/ZEGO.shtml
It's a rackmount server though.
From what I gather with my limited geekery skills, the PS2 clusters worked the same way, a few x86 boxes to act as masters to keep the PS2's that did the grunt work with their VU's fed with data efficiently.
Yes, the GPU client is faster, but it's limited to the kinds of WU's it can do, compared to the PS3 client, as the FAH site says:
Not 100% but very still very high. Out of my collection of 64 PS2 games, only 2 have enough problems that I consider them unplayable on the PS3: Tekken Tag Tournament (doesn't run full speed) and Fallout Brotherhood of Steel (with very pronounced texture glitching)
Sigh, why do people keep getting this wrong. Although the latest release PS3 consoles can't play PS2 games, ALL PS3's can play PS1 games since that's entirely software emulation.
DLNA isn't downloadable content but the ability to network with a DLNA serving device (like a PC) to play content stored on that device.
http://www.us.playstation.com/PS3/Features/DLNA The Xbox uses a SMB/CIFS scheme from what I've read.
I forgot to mention the PSP based remote play too.
Now while the other consoles may have some of these features, neither has them all.
Ahhh, I've always wanted to try that game. I have one of those kinds of voices that people say has very good diction, and I've wanted to see if the voice recognition would work for me when it doesn't for others. My mother, who has Rheumatoid arthritis, couldn't use voice recognition because she has one of those voices that doesn't work well with it. I told her to enunciate better but she simply couldn't.
You'll notice the backwards compatibility info says not PS1/PS2 but PS2. ALL PS3's can play PS1 discs, including the most recent models that can't play PS2 discs, because PS1 backwards compatibility is entirely software based, not hardware or hardware/software.
Now hold on there, as a PS2 and PS3 owner I have to say that the PS2/PS3 manuals say to NOT move the console from vertical to horizontal while it is powered on with a disk in the drive, so I'm not for certain that it's "build quality" or not.
Sounds like you got a bad connection on the PS2 AV cable, instead of whacking the PS2 (or wiggling the cable), replace the cable.
As a PS3 fan I absolutely agree with you on the price being a big factor. I remember once talking to some parent about my age (41) in the video game aisle. It went something like this:
"The kid wants a PS3 but it's so expensive"
"Sure is, and I wish it wasn't, but it does more besides games"
"What do you mean?"
Then I explained DLNA, the photo, video and music stuff, the built in CD ripping, the built in web browser, the audio/video chat and messaging features, the built in card slots, the USB ports, the backwards compatibility, (it's run every PS1 and PS2 game I've thrown at it, with only Tekken Tag [the speed] and Fallout: BOS [major texture glitching] having major issues) AND the ability to run Linux on the thing.
Now THAT impressed him and he said, "Why doesn't Sony mention all that stuff in their ads."
"Hell if I know.", but I know from long experience that SCEA can't market their way out of a paper bag.