I bought a record number of games (for me at least). I've bought games for all my systems, including DS, PSP, PC, Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube. I don't know the tally, but I bought a few games each month. There's been a lot of variety this year, and lots of great experiences.
If no-one was watching, it would have been approved for a second season, let alone a third. Stargate Atlanis has its moments of very good sci-fi mixed with a few bad episodes. Give it a chance, some episodes are stellar.
ET was one guy doing everything with a solid five month deadline (H. Warshaw was contracted in august to get the game out before Christmas). It did sell a million, but with four million left in stock and a slew of unhappy gamers, it was not a big success. I don't think bug fixing would have saved the game at all. Primarily, it needed a functional design, a team of coders, graphic artists and musicians, and a year's deadline. Given the amount of money at stake, this was certainly doable.
This is a big pet peeve of mine -- everytime anyone talk about games from the olden days they always talk about the dreck that we got from Nintendo, Sega and Atari. Bah, in the old days, we used real computers, like Speccys and Commodores and Amigas (and one dude even had an Acorn, but he never had any games to talk about).
Old software wasn't any less buggy than their modern counterparts, but in the good old days we had to accept the bugs and learn to live with them, and even try to work them to our advantage. We had to get up early in the morning to start the tape player if we wanted to play the game during the afternoon, but they were often so difficult we rarely got beyond the first screen. The bugs were also spectuclar, often culminating in bosses not being possible to kill, to sprites getting stuck and tapes that demagnetized. Consoles. Eh, we never touched them. Good times.
I'm not really sure where people will go either way, but this is far from being an 'easy' choice, and you have to remember these are adults buying these things, for the most part, not kids. "It only plays games" is not a feature. Sony is going to try to position this so that anyone looking at XBox360 Premium+HD-DVD is going to see a price much higher than a PS3 bundle. Sony will also be able to point at ( probably pretty expensive ) high-end first-generation Blu-ray players which make the PS3 look like a *screaming* deal. If Sony can also manage to have a game lineup that rivals or beats the Xbox... that would be a bad thing for Microsoft.
It also depends on the price and availability of Bluray movies, and whether they truly look that much better than the stuff on DVDs. Personally, I'm looking forward to HD as I've got a huge display that can show 1080p, but I'd like to see some true HD material before I'll say it's worth paying more for than what you currently pay for DVDs.
FWIW, I bought Civ4 on release and have not applied the patch yet, but have completed dozens of games without problems, even on large maps. I've had one CTD, but that's about it.
Yes, it was butt ugly. But it's got more charm than any OS variant available today. I love my KS/WB 1.3 (1.4 never happened - it got bumped up to 2.0):)
It wasn't exactly fast either. And it crashed a lot, seeing as it didn't have any memory protection.
There's lots of talk about the Xbox 360. Did you notice you could scroll down the page?:)
Here's a very interesting tidbit from the interview re. the recent talk about the external HD-DVD addon for the 360:
Engadged: You announced yesterday that the Xbox 360 will have an external HD-DVD drive, and so it seems you've firmly committed to that platform as opposed to Blu-ray, but do you risk fragmenting the Xbox 360 as a platform by introducing an HD DVD drive? Is that going to be an issue for developers if some consumers have a version of the 360 with an HD-DVD drive and others don't?
Bill:
There's no fragmentation here. The developers are creating games that run on the DVD-9 format that's in every Xbox, and whatever we do with the drive, they'll all be upwards compatible with that. So that's how the games are written and it's a very clear message that lets game developers get huge volumes and payback for the big investments that they make.
So, Xbox360 will get HD-DVD games, but the end user will get both and if he doesn't the external drive, he plays the dvd version.
Wow, I thought Syndicate came earlier. I know Amiga 1000 was released in 1985 (and mine still works!), but it took a while for the 16 bits to dominate - at least until 1989, if I recall correctly. In the beginning, all we got was "improved" 8 bit ports, which had better graphics and sound (usually, but not always, though), but usually the same or worse gameplay. Atari ST did have an edge over the Amiga, and games were released for that machine first, but this changed from 1988-89 and onwards.
So, I decided to look at games for the Amiga, sorted by year, but there are some odd results here:
http://www.gamespot.com/games.html?type=games&plat form=24&mode=all&sort=release&dlx_type=all&sortdir =desc Another World came out in 1985? I can't remember that. Defender of the Crown I do remember, as everyone I showed it too were flabbergasted at the polished gameplay. Again though, I would say Dungeon Master really showed what the 16 bits could do. It's still impressive to this day.
This "history" of game controllers seem to start with Playstation (never mind the illustration pic of that Atari controller, it ain't mentioned). Not a single mention of any controller older than current generation consoles, not even a single joystick... Bleh.
Of course it's hard to switch operating systems if you've been using one type of OS for a long time and are switching to something completely different.
I remember struggling with the inadequacies of Windows when I had to switch to that OS after Amiga went bust. It was hard and extremely annoying, but eventually I knew enough to administrate both Windows 95 and the Windows servers in the business I worked for then.
I also found Linux hopeless to use and work with the first months after I installed it, but again, business dictated I learn it, so I did. I like Linux more than I like Windows, but it's apples and oranges, really.
Maybe I'm just showing my age... but the cream of the crop in gaming was actually toward the end of the 8-bit era. Since there were no powerful CPU's or great graphics cards, gameplay took a front-row seat. The 16-bit era... at least at its inception... heralded a new era of graphics and incredible CPU power (for its time). Unfortunately, for many years the platforms suffered from "incredible-hardware-itis", where game makers spent more time focused on the graphics than the gameplay.
Yes, you are showing your age.:) But now, so am I. I don't agree with you. The beginning of the 16 bit era was awash with *fantastic* games. Take games such as Dungeon Master, Populous, Syndicate, Stunt Car Racer (they made an 8 bit version of this one too), and all the PC based adventure games made by Sierra and Lucasarts. Yes, there were quite a bit of focus on graphics, but the gameplay of the above mentioned games were far superior to most 8 bit games. (Not that I don't love the 8 bits - I have several Commodore 64s/128s which I boot every now and then. The Last Ninja series, Arkanoid II, Bubble Bobble are among a few 8 bit games I'll never tire of).
For the most part, HD is a bullshit buzzword spread around to sell you more stuff. Most people really don't understand what it truly is, but it sounds cool and everyone's saying it so it must be good. HD can make games look better, but not necessarily. It won't make them play any better though. I'm an avid console gamer and play a lot of games these days, but I really miss the days of 2D gameplay. The last few generations have put an emphasis on 3D, which really doesn't enhance certain games in any way. The same can be said of HD.
So , in other words, you have not hooked up the Xbox360 to a 1080p display and seen what it's all about? Even the 2D graphics improves significantly, since all games are required to be designed for all resolutions.
If all you want is old-school 2D gameplay, download Mame or buy some used 8 or 16 bit computers.
Probably through the USB ports in the front. I'd buy it if only to prevent more juggling with component cables. My HD Projector can only connect one unit at a time, which means I have to physically swith cables when I want to use my DVD player instead of the Xbox360. Anyone know of a switching box for component cables?
Odd. I have the exact opposite experience. The Free software people I know personally, loathes Microsoft but use Windows to play games (and they source these games from either torrents or the usenet), and they only use PS2s and boast about getting their 0-day games before anyone else.
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Intel, well they make decent processors, but AMD is the tops. I haven't bought an Intel since the MMX enabled Pentium II.
I bought a record number of games (for me at least). I've bought games for all my systems, including DS, PSP, PC, Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube. I don't know the tally, but I bought a few games each month. There's been a lot of variety this year, and lots of great experiences.
If no-one was watching, it would have been approved for a second season, let alone a third. Stargate Atlanis has its moments of very good sci-fi mixed with a few bad episodes. Give it a chance, some episodes are stellar.
ET was one guy doing everything with a solid five month deadline (H. Warshaw was contracted in august to get the game out before Christmas). It did sell a million, but with four million left in stock and a slew of unhappy gamers, it was not a big success. I don't think bug fixing would have saved the game at all. Primarily, it needed a functional design, a team of coders, graphic artists and musicians, and a year's deadline. Given the amount of money at stake, this was certainly doable.
This is a big pet peeve of mine -- everytime anyone talk about games from the olden days they always talk about the dreck that we got from Nintendo, Sega and Atari. Bah, in the old days, we used real computers, like Speccys and Commodores and Amigas (and one dude even had an Acorn, but he never had any games to talk about).
Old software wasn't any less buggy than their modern counterparts, but in the good old days we had to accept the bugs and learn to live with them, and even try to work them to our advantage. We had to get up early in the morning to start the tape player if we wanted to play the game during the afternoon, but they were often so difficult we rarely got beyond the first screen. The bugs were also spectuclar, often culminating in bosses not being possible to kill, to sprites getting stuck and tapes that demagnetized. Consoles. Eh, we never touched them. Good times.
Heh. I was just going to post the same thing. And he's got an insightful mod. :D
So... you can only like one show at a time, is that it?
And since we're suggesting urls, here's my favourite: http://www.wayoftherodent.com/. Great gaming magazine, with a definite retro flair.
Come on - in the next 300 days or so, or whenever it is until PS3 launches, we'll have daily updates on fresh rumors concering PS3. Brace yourself.
FWIW, I bought Civ4 on release and have not applied the patch yet, but have completed dozens of games without problems, even on large maps. I've had one CTD, but that's about it.
It wasn't exactly fast either. And it crashed a lot, seeing as it didn't have any memory protection.
Here's a very interesting tidbit from the interview re. the recent talk about the external HD-DVD addon for the 360:
So, Xbox360 will get HD-DVD games, but the end user will get both and if he doesn't the external drive, he plays the dvd version.So they fucked up. At least Robotron looks awesome in HD. ;)
So, I decided to look at games for the Amiga, sorted by year, but there are some odd results here: http://www.gamespot.com/games.html?type=games&plat form=24&mode=all&sort=release&dlx_type=all&sortdir =desc
Another World came out in 1985? I can't remember that. Defender of the Crown I do remember, as everyone I showed it too were flabbergasted at the polished gameplay. Again though, I would say Dungeon Master really showed what the 16 bits could do. It's still impressive to this day.
It's january. Who's got the money to buy expensive luxury items now? It's buyer's market, hence lower prices.
This "history" of game controllers seem to start with Playstation (never mind the illustration pic of that Atari controller, it ain't mentioned). Not a single mention of any controller older than current generation consoles, not even a single joystick... Bleh.
I remember struggling with the inadequacies of Windows when I had to switch to that OS after Amiga went bust. It was hard and extremely annoying, but eventually I knew enough to administrate both Windows 95 and the Windows servers in the business I worked for then.
I also found Linux hopeless to use and work with the first months after I installed it, but again, business dictated I learn it, so I did. I like Linux more than I like Windows, but it's apples and oranges, really.
If all you want is old-school 2D gameplay, download Mame or buy some used 8 or 16 bit computers.
Probably through the USB ports in the front. I'd buy it if only to prevent more juggling with component cables. My HD Projector can only connect one unit at a time, which means I have to physically swith cables when I want to use my DVD player instead of the Xbox360. Anyone know of a switching box for component cables?
Funny how people are different like this.
It's not the Xbox that gets too hot in the affected cases, it's the PSU. Watercooling the box is pointless.