It's possible for the PS2 to do Dolby Digital during gameplay but apparently it causes a performance hit so early PS2 developers used DTS and Dolby Pro Logic II instead. That sort of became standard. So if you want a surround sound system attached to the PS2 you want it to support all 3 formats.
The PS2 can do 480p, 720p, and 1080i too, but games that support that are not common.
It can also do VESA SOG VGA in, 1280x1024 1024x768 800x600 640x480 not much supports VGA out.
The PS2 version of Half-Life sold pretty well. No idea why, though. I mean, I'm actually quite a fan of console fpses and would rank a couple of them as highly as any PC fps (eg. Riddick, Halo 2), but the PS2 version of Half-Life had the worst implementation of fps controls on a console ever.
It sold well because it's a good game.
Worst implementation? Well perhaps the dual shock only one, but you can plug in a USB mouse and keyboard. I use a combo of the dual shock and a mouse.
The only really cool feature was the extra little co-operative mini-campaign.
That would be a really great idea. Though Sony might do the following:
New from SCEA for Playstation 3, PS3Loppix!
Use your PS3 to surf the web, read e-mail and chat with your friends. Listen to Internet Radio, download songs from PS3L-Music, and much much more.
Includes a word processor, web browser, and chat software that supports the new Eyetoy 2.
Run popular, free, software on your PS2, games, educational software, home office applications and many others. Print to many printers over a USB connection.
I have heard...that at least one copy of a PS2 Linux "Live" disk was made. I have also heard that it was slow and kludgy, much more so than the standard HD install of PS2 Linux.
Yes, that's what I get from my reading too that the PS3 architecture is just taking ideas developed on the PS2 to the next level.
Odds are they probably already have GCC running on the chip. Some programmer out there probably already has a dev kit and he's probably installed Nethack or something on it just to prove he could..
And probably soon after the release of the PS3 some SCE Japan exec will say something like, "We could release Linux for the PS3 tomorrow if we wanted to." Which will lead to a petition, and you probably know how the rest will go.
I've got a Playstation 2 Linux kit and that Emotion Engine runs at idle most of the time. The main limit on the performance is the 32MB RDRAM. About the only thing I've seen that really taxes the CPU is if I try encoding an mp3 on it with "lame". Then CPU utilization hits close to 100%. It also takes about an hour and half to do the encode.
Of course, "lame" on PS2 Linux doesn't use the vector processors at all.
Really, what's happened is that console games have been dumbed down to be playable with the little joysticks/joypads that they give you. With a mouse, you can zero in on the bad guy's face and get a head shot off very quickly -- with a joypad, it would take much longer to do so, so the console game is set up to either auto-aim for you, or to make it so making head shots really isn't important to the game -- either you get no extra benefit from it, or the game is easy enough that you don't need to make them very often.
That's a design issue and does not prove the superiority of FPS's on the PC. Besides, WASD sucks for movement. I've tried to play FPS's with a keyboard but it's still a keyboard. Designed for text entry not for action. I like using my dual shock 2 in the left hand for movement, and USB mouse in the right for aiming.
But if you tried to play something like the PC version of UT with a joypad like you had on an X-Box, vs. guys with keyboard and mouse, you'd get pwn3d quick. It's just that the PC version makes it important to be able to aim precisely, something the joypad just isn't good at.
Well If I had the PS2 version I'd just plug a mouse and keyboard in, or just the mouse.
But since there will always be `extra'-ordinary games,
And I guess you logged onto slashdot on your gamecube or Xbox did you? Ahhh...
Perhaps they did, but I most certainly did log into Slashdot on my PS2.
PC games will be around long after the Xbox 2 or PS 3 have come and gone, I have listened to predictions of the downfall of PC games for the last ten years but..... yes they are still here and still sell millions of units.
PC gaming is dying a slow death that's been evident since about 1985 or so.
Sure HL 2 and Doom 3 have sold well...for PC games that is. There's console games that have sold 8 million copies. (by the by I can play Doom, Doom II and the original HL on my PS2. I fully expect ports of HL2 and Doom 3 to be in the works for the PS3)
So next year, odds are there won't be any PC games to sell a million and you'll have to wait another 5 years to get blockbusters like perhaps HL 3 and Doom 4.
There are HDTV capable consoles (Xbox and Gamecube) but you have to buy the HD plugs and obviously have a HDTV. Whether the keyboard/mouse combo is better for FPSs is debatable as well as based on personal preferance. Also the Playstation 1 has a mouse but it was used for like 2 games, an early showing of Sony's commitment to add-on parts (remember how the PS2 was supposed to connect to external Zip drives?)
The PS2 also supports HDTV
The PSone mouse also has more than 2 games that support it. Off the top of my head:
Final Doom Quake II Alien Resurrection X-com Monopoly Command & Conquer C&C Red Alert C&C Red Alert Retaliation Dune 2000 Warzone 2100 RPG Maker (the artwork creator only) Sim City 2000 MTV Music Generator
And the PS2 can connect to external storage devices in two ways:
The Linux kit
Certain "Gameshark" type devices have a USB storage device reader module
Gaming started on the PC, but gaming sure as hell left the crib.
Actually mass market electronic gaming started on the consoles. The first home/personal computers came after the first consoles.
As for consoles not getting RTSs is a matter of RTS games being TOO complex for the general gamer. Joe Average doesn't care about upgrading his troops (Warcraft), setting up ambushes (Starcraft)
You did know that Warcraft II was ported to the PSone. Starcraft got ported to the N64.
You're kidding, right? Right now, today, PC games are still blessed with much better graphics (HDTV consoles aren't here yet, are they?) and better interfaces for certain types of games (the mouse still rules the FPS and the RTS, for example. Has any console since the Dreamcast offered a mouse?)
The following consoles have or had mice:
Genesis SNES Saturn Playstation Dreamcast P laystation 2 (it has standard USB ports)
And then there's mods to existing games -- remember, Counterstrike started as a HL mod. Currently, consoles really don't allow anybody to modify the games at all, though it's possible that they may in the future.
Who needs mods, we don't have to wait as long for sequels so we aren't stuck playing counter-strike for 5 years because we don't have any other good games to play.
Ultimately, consoles are already full fledged computers -- the X-Box even uses an Intel cpu, PC hard drive, Nvidia graphics and a version of Windows. It may be that later versions of the consoles are even more computer like -- even going so far as having a mouse and keyboard for input, and allowing the use of a computer monitor for higher resolution graphics. And it may then allow you to do things like look at web pages, chat and do your taxes.
One could surf web pages and chat with Saturn's and Dreamcasts
PS2's can do quite a bit with a Linux kit installed. Browsing Slashdot, Posting to Slashdot. Chatting on IRC, using Gaim. I could probably file my taxes online with it but I haven't tried it yet. I use a TV as a display but it supports monitors too.
It doesn't matter that the specs don't get better, because the specs don't matter. Games are what matters.
Now if you're one of those people who brag about frame rates and resolutions and other benchmarks the specs matter to you, probably more than actually playing the games.
All that technological surpassmenet doesn't make the games actually better or more fun to play does it.
Ah ha, you're not a real WebTV user! I used to use WebTV AND read/post to Slashdot on it, so I know how Slashdot displayed. It displayed pretty well, actually. It loaded slowly, paritally because of my preferences.
Actually a LOT of WebTV folk posted to USENET, it was very easy to do. Bring up the address bar type in: news:comp.sys.cbm or whatnot and there you go. You could save newsgroups as favorites or search for a newsgroup by topic easily
If yoiu searched usenet for @webtv.net or @msntv.net addresses you're sure to find them.
They did try to get ISP's to sell boxes at one time, perhaps that's what you are thinking of. Most WebTVers that I asked bought one because of the infomercials or saw an in-store display. I bought my MAT972 Plus at Sears. Poor thing still sits under the TV, unused and unloved
By the By WebTV simply couldn't quote in USENET, it could in mail though. WebTVers begged for usenet quoting, but I don't think they ever got it. I stopped using WebTV in 02
As far as I know, they never pulled IRC access. They did close down some technological loopholes in the built in client that some users were exploiting. That's what you may be thinking of.
Since I actually had a webtv.net address from 99 to 02 and posted to Slashdot occasionally with my box,I am probably more qualified to judge WebTVers than you. I ddn't see any higher ratio of kooks or whatnot than any other ISP.
I personally went from WebTV to Linux. I first heard about Linux on Slashdot, read about it on various sites and saw the announcement of the Playstation 2 Linux kit here. I bought it, installed it and use it as my personal machine.
Slashdot Mirror
sigh
It only "seems" that mouse is best because the games are designed to let you turn that fast with it.
On most console FPS's/TPS's you can adjust the speed of the right analog stick way up if you want.
Not only is the Dual Shock 2 a great controller thats good for all genre's the PS2 has USB ports so you can plug a keyboard and mouse in.
I prefer a hybrid control of Dual shock in left hand for analog movement, mouse in right hand for aiming.
See the Playstation 2, oh look it has USB ports. Take keyboard and mouse and plug them in.
However they keyboard is useless for intuitive moment, you're best off using the analog stick for movement and the mouse for aiming.
Thats how I play Half Life and Deus Ex.
It's possible for the PS2 to do Dolby Digital during gameplay but apparently it causes a performance hit so early PS2 developers used DTS and Dolby Pro Logic II instead. That sort of became standard. So if you want a surround sound system attached to the PS2 you want it to support all 3 formats.
The PS2 can do 480p, 720p, and 1080i too, but games that support that are not common.
It can also do VESA SOG VGA in, 1280x1024 1024x768 800x600 640x480 not much supports VGA out.
It sold well because it's a good game.
Worst implementation? Well perhaps the dual shock only one, but you can plug in a USB mouse and keyboard. I use a combo of the dual shock and a mouse.
ah yes, Decay, which I haven't actually played.
Then maybe the best Linux distibution for gaming is:
Linux for Playstation 2!
Admittedly it's more akin to dual booting, but you can play some open source games on it too.
Sorry, messed up on the URL's
The cluster
http://arrakis.ncsa.uiuc.edu/ps2/
The dev kit
http://playstation2-linux.com
Ummm they did put PS2 chips in workstations. They called it the GS Cube.
I suppose that if Saddam had wanted to cluster a bunch of PS2's he'd have had his techs find out the information from the NCSA:
Want a PS2 dev kit? (Sorry all sold out for NTSC U/C territory)
That would be a really great idea. Though Sony might do the following:
New from SCEA for Playstation 3, PS3Loppix!
Use your PS3 to surf the web, read e-mail and chat with your friends. Listen to Internet Radio, download songs from PS3L-Music, and much much more.
Includes a word processor, web browser, and chat software that supports the new Eyetoy 2.
Run popular, free, software on your PS2, games, educational software, home office applications and many others. Print to many printers over a USB connection.
I have heard...that at least one copy of a PS2 Linux "Live" disk was made. I have also heard that it was slow and kludgy, much more so than the standard HD install of PS2 Linux.
Yes, that's what I get from my reading too that the PS3 architecture is just taking ideas developed on the PS2 to the next level.
Odds are they probably already have GCC running on the chip. Some programmer out there probably already has a dev kit and he's probably installed Nethack or something on it just to prove he could..
And probably soon after the release of the PS3 some SCE Japan exec will say something like, "We could release Linux for the PS3 tomorrow if we wanted to." Which will lead to a petition, and you probably know how the rest will go.
I've got a Playstation 2 Linux kit and that Emotion Engine runs at idle most of the time. The main limit on the performance is the 32MB RDRAM. About the only thing I've seen that really taxes the CPU is if I try encoding an mp3 on it with "lame". Then CPU utilization hits close to 100%. It also takes about an hour and half to do the encode.
Of course, "lame" on PS2 Linux doesn't use the vector processors at all.
Just a little trivia, the default window manager on a fresh install of Linux on a Playstation 2 is Windowmaker. :-)
That's a design issue and does not prove the superiority of FPS's on the PC. Besides, WASD sucks for movement. I've tried to play FPS's with a keyboard but it's still a keyboard. Designed for text entry not for action. I like using my dual shock 2 in the left hand for movement, and USB mouse in the right for aiming.
Well If I had the PS2 version I'd just plug a mouse and keyboard in, or just the mouse.
Define extra-ordinary
Perhaps they did, but I most certainly did log into Slashdot on my PS2.
PC gaming is dying a slow death that's been evident since about 1985 or so.
Sure HL 2 and Doom 3 have sold well...for PC games that is. There's console games that have sold 8 million copies. (by the by I can play Doom, Doom II and the original HL on my PS2. I fully expect ports of HL2 and Doom 3 to be in the works for the PS3)
So next year, odds are there won't be any PC games to sell a million and you'll have to wait another 5 years to get blockbusters like perhaps HL 3 and Doom 4.
The PS2 also supports HDTV
The PSone mouse also has more than 2 games that support it. Off the top of my head:
Final Doom
Quake II
Alien Resurrection
X-com
Monopoly
Command & Conquer
C&C Red Alert
C&C Red Alert Retaliation
Dune 2000
Warzone 2100
RPG Maker (the artwork creator only)
Sim City 2000
MTV Music Generator
And the PS2 can connect to external storage devices in two ways:
The Linux kit
Certain "Gameshark" type devices have a USB storage device reader module
Actually mass market electronic gaming started on the consoles. The first home/personal computers came after the first consoles.
You did know that Warcraft II was ported to the PSone. Starcraft got ported to the N64.
The following consoles have or had mice:
Genesis
SNES
Saturn
Playstation
Dreamcast
Who needs mods, we don't have to wait as long for sequels so we aren't stuck playing counter-strike for 5 years because we don't have any other good games to play.
One could surf web pages and chat with Saturn's and Dreamcasts
PS2's can do quite a bit with a Linux kit installed. Browsing Slashdot, Posting to Slashdot. Chatting on IRC, using Gaim. I could probably file my taxes online with it but I haven't tried it yet. I use a TV as a display but it supports monitors too.
It doesn't matter that the specs don't get better, because the specs don't matter. Games are what matters.
Now if you're one of those people who brag about frame rates and resolutions and other benchmarks the specs matter to you, probably more than actually playing the games.
All that technological surpassmenet doesn't make the games actually better or more fun to play does it.
When it's console. :-)
those devices are not PC exclusive things. Even some WebTV's had hard drives in them.
Both of my PS2's have HD"s in them. One has the Linux kit HD the other one the FFXI HD.
Yes it would depend on the newsgroups.
WebTVer's also have (or did have) their own alt.discuss hierarchy. That's the thing I miss most from my WebTV days, alt.discuss.
Ah ha, you're not a real WebTV user! I used to use WebTV AND read/post to Slashdot on it, so I know how Slashdot displayed. It displayed pretty well, actually. It loaded slowly, paritally because of my preferences.
Actually a LOT of WebTV folk posted to USENET, it was very easy to do. Bring up the address bar type in: news:comp.sys.cbm or whatnot and there you go. You could save newsgroups as favorites or search for a newsgroup by topic easily
If yoiu searched usenet for @webtv.net or @msntv.net addresses you're sure to find them.
WebTV via MLM? Never heard of it.
They did try to get ISP's to sell boxes at one time, perhaps that's what you are thinking of. Most WebTVers that I asked bought one because of the infomercials or saw an in-store display. I bought my MAT972 Plus at Sears. Poor thing still sits under the TV, unused and unloved
By the By WebTV simply couldn't quote in USENET, it could in mail though. WebTVers begged for usenet quoting, but I don't think they ever got it. I stopped using WebTV in 02
As far as I know, they never pulled IRC access. They did close down some technological loopholes in the built in client that some users were exploiting. That's what you may be thinking of.
Yes it's still around, they changed the name to MSNTV you know. They've got new broadband enabled boxes now, in addition to the old ones.
That's some nasty "domainism" you got there
Since I actually had a webtv.net address from 99 to 02 and posted to Slashdot occasionally with my box,I am probably more qualified to judge WebTVers than you. I ddn't see any higher ratio of kooks or whatnot than any other ISP.
I personally went from WebTV to Linux. I first heard about Linux on Slashdot, read about it on various sites and saw the announcement of the Playstation 2 Linux kit here. I bought it, installed it and use it as my personal machine.
.