>One of the things that always pissed folks off about Nintendo was that they HAD to use proprietary formats.
No, what pissed developers off was having to fit everything on a cartridge, when CDs were bigger, and cheaper. You still had to use Sony & Sega's CD production facilities, and their formats were always proprietary, albeit variations on a standard. Consumers actually prefer cartridges, as they don't scratch and skip.
The only problem with a 1.5 Gb disc is that you won't be able to fit hours of FMV on it, but with more games using their engines for cut scenes, even that isn't a real problem anymore. Harder to pirate too.
Only the first batch of japanese PS2's have a PCMCIA slot, and memory card resident DVD software.
This was down to hitting the launch date, and not having finished the DVD software before the hardware was frozen for manufacture.
All PS2 DVD playback is a combination of software and hardware, as there's a dedicated unit of the EE (the IPU) that handles key stages of the decompression process.
The previous model, the ZX80 (which recquired a small pot of frozen yoghurt carefully balanced to keep it from overheating) also had one.
Nasty, but essential in keeping the price low enough that penniless scrotes like me could save up for one, and start honing the skills that now pay the bills.
TOOL (the devkit) is an intel box running Linux, with a PS2 dev-board. There are development tools for both Win32 and Linux. Theoretically you could recompile the Linux tools under OSX, and do Mac based development too.
The basic X-box architecture may be 'simpler',in that it only has one bus, and one bank of RAM, but that's simple as in retarded, rather than simple as in elegant. Developers are already bitching about bus bandwidth issues limiting everything you do on the X-box. Remember, there's a big difference between a flashy demo running on simulated hardware, and a real game running on real hardware.
Agree with you on Trip though. Why does anyone listen to him these days?
Indeed. It's difficult to beat Nintendo's platform price. I was merely pointing out that the PS2 price has already started dropping;
Japanese price dropped to 35,000 yen ($280.72), down from 39,800 yen ($319.22).
UK price dropped to £269 ($380) from £299 ($424). (Ouch, I'd forgotten how much I used to get stiffed by exchange rates.)
Given this, significant US price cuts around October time are almost inevitable. At least to $275, probably down to $250, possibly less if you figure in bundles. Add in the DVD player, and a library with a significant number of exclusive AAA titles (MGS2, GT3, Twisted Metal Black, FFX), PS2's gonna kick X-Box arse this christmas, assuming MS can even get the thing out of the door on time (GC will have been out in Japan for nearly two months before the US launch). Quite how it fares against GC, well, they're different markets. Apart from us hard-core gamers that is...;)
Personally speaking, If I only buy one console this christmas, it'll be a Gamecube (but only because I already have a PS2).
Women, do you have a secret? Do you have a special visitor? Are the painters in at the moment? Feeling strangely averse to swimming? Are you riding your tiny bike?
Then shut the fuck up about it, because Jon here is a little uncomfortable with the concept of menstruation.
Localisation for console games is generally non-trivial. Japanese character sets take up more VRAM than English. Europe runs at a different framerate, and screen size, and recquires multiple languages loaded.
Personally (and speaking as a developer) I'd much rather we only had to ship (and consequently, develop, and test) one version, rather than three.
Actually flash is an open standard. We used the spec to write our own runtime, which powers all the 2d graphics for Kinetica (front end, and game HUD), one of the few PS2 titles at E3 to maintain a constant 60fps (the flash runtime uses less than 5% of a frame). Plus it allows us to use third party design tools, a significant win in tool development time.
Sure there's some terribly implemented Flash sites. Sturgeons Law states that 90% of everything sucks.
I think you'll find CodeMasters were the last, with their hacked genesis/megadrive carts. They also went to court with Nintendo over their hack-cart, and won.
The reason no-one ports those dating sims, is because they wouldn't sell enough copies to pay for the localisation and reproduction. Same goes for the horse racing, mah-jong, and pachinko games.
Who gives a shit if it's beta hardware? It was running pre-alpha software. Even if the final hardware has bugs (and it will, they all do) it's the software's responsibility to work around it.
Virtually every demo box at E3 will have crashed once or twice. They have people there to press the reset button when things go wrong. E3 is a pre-release show, to preview product that's still under development, to store buyers, and the media. E3 demos are often being polished right up until the last minute. They are not finished product.
Actually there were a few demos on the Sony stand you could always get to. The three Barbie screens were usually free. Wasn't too hard to grab a go on a Gameboy Advance either.
It was impossible to get to a Sega machine though, as they kept them ALL in the corporate area. Never saw a vacant X-Box either, but then the Microsoft stand just wasn't that big when compared to Sony or Nintendo.
Microsoft won't be developing, or publishing the games, they're just throwing money around to make sure that no-one else does it for any platform other than their own.
It's an interesting tactic, but it could easily backfire, making x-box the platform of licenses, which hardly have the worlds greatest track record when it comes to great games.
It depends entirely on who you work for. Some will grind you into the ground. Some will let you sit on your arse and bullshit all day. Both kinds have a habit of going under.
I've been lucky to work at two of the better companies (Argonaut, SCEA), but I've heard horror stories from large and small companies.
Slashdot Mirror
Just not in the two other large games markets; Japan and the US.
The multiple language thing doesn't help either.
>One of the things that always pissed folks off about Nintendo was that they HAD to use proprietary formats.
No, what pissed developers off was having to fit everything on a cartridge, when CDs were bigger, and cheaper. You still had to use Sony & Sega's CD production facilities, and their formats were always proprietary, albeit variations on a standard. Consumers actually prefer cartridges, as they don't scratch and skip.
The only problem with a 1.5 Gb disc is that you won't be able to fit hours of FMV on it, but with more games using their engines for cut scenes, even that isn't a real problem anymore. Harder to pirate too.
Only the first batch of japanese PS2's have a PCMCIA slot, and memory card resident DVD software.
This was down to hitting the launch date, and not having finished the DVD software before the hardware was frozen for manufacture.
All PS2 DVD playback is a combination of software and hardware, as there's a dedicated unit of the EE (the IPU) that handles key stages of the decompression process.
Actually they can both be right, as this matter is subjective, not objective.
Dee Hock
http://www.nader.org/interest/11800.html
The previous model, the ZX80 (which recquired a small pot of frozen yoghurt carefully balanced to keep it from overheating) also had one.
Nasty, but essential in keeping the price low enough that penniless scrotes like me could save up for one, and start honing the skills that now pay the bills.
You always remember your first time...;)
TOOL (the devkit) is an intel box running Linux, with a PS2 dev-board. There are development tools for both Win32 and Linux. Theoretically you could recompile the Linux tools under OSX, and do Mac based development too.
The basic X-box architecture may be 'simpler',in that it only has one bus, and one bank of RAM, but that's simple as in retarded, rather than simple as in elegant. Developers are already bitching about bus bandwidth issues limiting everything you do on the X-box. Remember, there's a big difference between a flashy demo running on simulated hardware, and a real game running on real hardware.
Agree with you on Trip though. Why does anyone listen to him these days?
Japanese price dropped to 35,000 yen ($280.72), down from 39,800 yen ($319.22).
UK price dropped to £269 ($380) from £299 ($424). (Ouch, I'd forgotten how much I used to get stiffed by exchange rates.)
Given this, significant US price cuts around October time are almost inevitable. At least to $275, probably down to $250, possibly less if you figure in bundles. Add in the DVD player, and a library with a significant number of exclusive AAA titles (MGS2, GT3, Twisted Metal Black, FFX), PS2's gonna kick X-Box arse this christmas, assuming MS can even get the thing out of the door on time (GC will have been out in Japan for nearly two months before the US launch). Quite how it fares against GC, well, they're different markets. Apart from us hard-core gamers that is...;)
Personally speaking, If I only buy one console this christmas, it'll be a Gamecube (but only because I already have a PS2).
Sony cuts PlayStation 2 price in Japan and PS2 set for price cut in Japan, note the reference to the price cut in Europe earlier this month. Significant price cuts around October time are almost inevitable.
Which would make the difference between "Art" and Pokemon trading cards, what?
Women, do you have a secret? Do you have a special visitor? Are the painters in at the moment? Feeling strangely averse to swimming? Are you riding your tiny bike?
Then shut the fuck up about it, because Jon here is a little uncomfortable with the concept of menstruation.
Localisation for console games is generally non-trivial. Japanese character sets take up more VRAM than English. Europe runs at a different framerate, and screen size, and recquires multiple languages loaded.
Personally (and speaking as a developer) I'd much rather we only had to ship (and consequently, develop, and test) one version, rather than three.
> I plead guilty to still liking Fatboy Slim, which I'm sure would have been very chic three years ago -- now it means I have no taste, apparently.
Nah, five years ago it might have been cool.
Three years ago you would've just been another teeny-bopper wannabe.
Now, it means nothing.
Just 'cause I went there. Actually, just 'cause I displayed there, for the second year running. Last year, Alien Resurrection, this year, Kinetica.
Actually flash is an open standard. We used the spec to write our own runtime, which powers all the 2d graphics for Kinetica (front end, and game HUD), one of the few PS2 titles at E3 to maintain a constant 60fps (the flash runtime uses less than 5% of a frame). Plus it allows us to use third party design tools, a significant win in tool development time.
Sure there's some terribly implemented Flash sites. Sturgeons Law states that 90% of everything sucks.
They could run it as a double feature with the last half an hour of Titanic.
Yes, yes, and yes.
What *was* your point?
I think you'll find CodeMasters were the last, with their hacked genesis/megadrive carts. They also went to court with Nintendo over their hack-cart, and won.
The reason no-one ports those dating sims, is because they wouldn't sell enough copies to pay for the localisation and reproduction. Same goes for the horse racing, mah-jong, and pachinko games.
Sonic The Hedgehog Advance?
Who gives a shit if it's beta hardware? It was running pre-alpha software. Even if the final hardware has bugs (and it will, they all do) it's the software's responsibility to work around it.
Virtually every demo box at E3 will have crashed once or twice. They have people there to press the reset button when things go wrong. E3 is a pre-release show, to preview product that's still under development, to store buyers, and the media. E3 demos are often being polished right up until the last minute. They are not finished product.
Actually there were a few demos on the Sony stand you could always get to. The three Barbie screens were usually free. Wasn't too hard to grab a go on a Gameboy Advance either.
It was impossible to get to a Sega machine though, as they kept them ALL in the corporate area. Never saw a vacant X-Box either, but then the Microsoft stand just wasn't that big when compared to Sony or Nintendo.
The original Tomb Raider shipped near-simultaneously on PC, PSX, and Saturn, you must be thinking of one of the sequels.
Gran Tourismo is really a 2nd party game, so exclusivity there isn't particularly suprising.
Microsoft won't be developing, or publishing the games, they're just throwing money around to make sure that no-one else does it for any platform other than their own.
It's an interesting tactic, but it could easily backfire, making x-box the platform of licenses, which hardly have the worlds greatest track record when it comes to great games.
It depends entirely on who you work for. Some will grind you into the ground. Some will let you sit on your arse and bullshit all day. Both kinds have a habit of going under.
I've been lucky to work at two of the better companies (Argonaut, SCEA), but I've heard horror stories from large and small companies.