I agree that the PSP will be positive for Sony in itself, but I can definitely see it hurting the PS3 a little.
I don't think your iPod->Mac comparison makes a lot of sense in this area. The iPod dominates its niche, while the Mac is a niche product. The PSP->Playstation situation is the complete opposite. Playstation is the videogame console brand now (though you could reasonably argue Xbox has is on top nowadays when it comes to "cool").
But even more importantly I don't think one platform transfers to the other when it comes to videogames for a lot of reasons. You have to buy completely separate games for the PS2, PSP, and PS3, where with the iPod and Mac the same music is on both. Look at Nintendo's failure to turn their GBA dominance into a sales advantage for the GC (with their maligned "connectivity" concept). It just doesn't seem to work like that with videogames.
The big issue with the PSP is it does sort of dilute Sony's videogame brand. Many Sony fans looking to buy a new game system next year will have to pick either the PSP or the PS3. It's even possible this 'portable problem' is one of the reasons Nintendo has had trouble with their recent consoles. Videogame fans might just pick up a PSP because it does something a normal console doesn't, and stick with the Xbox360 they already have. Or it could be since they just bought the PSP they don't want to shell out cash for another new Sony system the next year, and so they look at Nintendo or MS for a console instead.
A similar problem occurs with Sony developers. Obviously Naughty Dog, Insomniac, etc. can have multiple dev teams, but supporting two hardware platforms is trickier than just going all out for a single console.
All of this is conjecture, naturally. But I think it is clear the PSP very well could hurt Sony in the console market.
Probably the best reason would be the better graphics on the Xbox2 (combined with its cheaper price - less than a heavy PC upgrade). I don't see it happening personally (too much cheating on the PC), but I guess it is possible.
The original post probably should have read: [I[Nintendo doesn't get small games like this because [B]their fans[/B] shun all but the largest 1st and 2nd party developers. [/I]
Both Ikaruga and Alien Hominid basically bombed on the Cube. Gamecubers generally only buy Nintendo games and the odd huge third party title, unfortunately.
(Neither game was an exclusive to GC either, I should point out. Ikaruga was a freaking twice-removed port from its original Arcade and Dreamcast releases.)
I can't think of a single game for the system made in Japan that was console exclusive or playable.
Seriously? I take it you don't follow modern console gaming much (which is okay of course). I'll help you out: Panzer Dragoon Orta Jet Set Radio Future GUNVALKYRIE Outrun 2 Dead or Alive 3 Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball Ninja Gaiden Dead or Alive Ultimate Otogi Otogi 2 Metal Wolf Phantom Crash Breakdown Shin Megami Tensei NINE Phantom Dust (by MS Games Japan, and one of the best games ever made for my money - I expect big things from them next-gen) Crazy Taxi 3 Crimson Seas Daisenryaku VII Steel Batallion/Tekki Dino Crisis 3 Wreckless Genma Onimusha House of the Dead III
I left out exclusive games that are widely considered to be poor (Blinx, Sneakers) and I'm sure I missed some that should be on the list. I also ignored Japanese games that are exclusively released on the Xbox in specific markets like America (ex: Shenmue II, Metal Slug 3, Guilty Gear XX#Reload, etc.). Xbox certainly does not have as many Japanese exclusives as the PS2 has, but some of the best games this generation are Xbox exclusives from Japanese developers.
How did you manage to quote two parts of the parent post while missing this part?
I understand that the mouse and keyboard is probably faster and more accurate, especially if that's what you're used to, but even with that in mind, it just doesn't feel good to me. I spend all day working with a mouse and keyboard -- I don't want to use the same equipment to play games.
What does your comment have to do with what you responded to? It is just some pointless and misguided "FPS games should only be played with mice and keyboard because headshots are all that matter" nonsense. Way to miss the point.
Ferfucksake people, stop trying to be argumentative and start trying to understand what people are saying. We all claim to be so smart, is our only ability with our intelligence to pick nits? Or can we use our intelligence to seek mutual understanding?
I agree with you here, but I also don't think starting your original comment with "Say what? You must be living in a very different world than I." was a good way to accomplish that then.
Just thought I would mention why Sony does that weird naming convention with the Wegas/Vegas. The 'W' is actually supposed to be some kind of overlapping double-V (why they want that is a mystery), so the name is actually more like VVegas. Just written using a W. It's stupid as hell obviously, but I just thought I would let you know the insanity that is behind that.:)
Vibration is just as necessary in certain games (Amplitude uses it to inform the player what the beat is) as visual indicators are. Sure you could get rid of it if you wanted to, but it is a vital part of gameplay for many genres (in particular racing and music games off the top of my head).
Eh, and radiosity has been used occasionally since early Voodoo-based games. Both games heavily tweaked already existing lighting approaches.
Plenty of other videogames use normal mapped characters with light maps and manage to make it look great. Not many games manage to pull off the dynamic lighting of Doom3 yet...
Namco actually used middleware to put SCII on all three platforms IIRC. Continuing to code for that middleware would actually be easier than switching to PS2-focused code, especially since it appears that this sequel uses the same graphics engine and much of the same art as SCII.
I could understand if they were trying to make their new Soul Calibur look good (a la Tekken 5), but it still looks completely like a below-average middleware game. One of the 'new' levels shown is actually a much uglier version of a level that was in the Dreamcast Soul Calibur.
How come, then, for ever XBOX game brought over to the computer (or released for the computer at the same time or before), the PC version always looks better than the XBOX version?
Because if it was ported to the PC it obviously never took particularly strong advantage of the console hardware to begin with. (The big exception probably being Halo 1, but that game has never looked all that great to begin with.)
Seriously, just go play Phantom Dust, Amped 2, DOA2U, Ninja Gaiden, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Rallisport Challenge 2 (which looks far better than Rallisport Challenge 1, which was ported to the PC), Kindgom Under Fire: the Crusaders, Otogi 2, etc. on a VGA monitor or HDTV. These games easily meet (or even exceed) the best graphics you can find on the PC.
And the game footage you linked to is just a prototype, and besides the fact there are ways to make things look even better than that, it really doesn't look any bit of a higher level of graphical detail than what is out today.
Then you are apparently legally blind, so why you are talking about graphics at all is beyond me. Tell me of a PC game coming out this year with Heavenly Sword's level of high graphical detail (note the piles of bodies left on the ground after the battle), huge armies of models on the screen at once (each of which is better than the best of Doom3 or HL2), massive environments, and all filled with the real-time dynamic lighting on display. Just check out the real-time soft shadows that the army gives off - this is amazing stuff.
And of course it is a prototype. The Xbox2 hasn't come out yet, so it's not like we can look at the actual games for it right now. If for reason you think this ingame footage is faked (which negates your argument that it doesn't look at all that good), you'll just have to wait to presumably see it at E3 in a couple months. It's also pretty old footage now, so it should be looking much better anyway at this point. This is just preview footage like you see for every upcoming console or PC game...
'Trolly McTrollington' was referring to game quality, not game sales. The GBA simply hasn't been too successful with the former (yeah yeah, it probably has five decent original games for it - that isn't a lot).
(I am assuming you are referring to the current console generation in general, not just the PS2.)
> HDTV support. Done. Xbox, GC, and to a lesser extent the PS2 all support HDTV to some degree. So did the Dreamcast (via VGA). HDTV will get much better in this generation, of course. (Xbox2 will have all games support at least 720p, for example, which was something you only occasionally saw with Xbox1 games.)
> Better surround-sound. Done. Xbox1 features ingame DTS. Good luck getting that on the PC nowadays with what happened to Soundstorm. This is an area where the PC actually needs to catch up...
> Better data caching to reduce load times. Pretty much done. The PS2 has definite problems with load times, though many games are getting good at hiding it. But the Xbox and GC both feature very quick load times generally.
> Support for a PC monitor. Done. Only the PS2 doesn't do this natively for most games. Consoles have done this since Dreamcast.
> Headphone jack built in. ??? Consoles used to do this (ex: Sega Genesis). I really don't see any demand for this. Unless you meant more a headphone + mic adaptor, which is standard for Xbox2 controllers (and is easily accomplished on the Xbox1 and PS2 - both Gamecube and Dreamcast also had mic adaptors).
> Wireless controller standard built in. Supposedly that's coming. I actually really don't want this (vibration support seems to get left out, and wireless mic audio is pretty bad in my experience), but I am apparently in a minority on this. I am perfectly happy with the Xbox1's extra long cables and special 'trip-guard'.
> Standardised MP3 support for in-game audio. Xbox1 can do this now with various MS software. I believe it transcodes the MP3 to WMA, but it is basically done. Xbox2 takes this further (games apparently have to support custom soundtracks now).
So current consoles should actually be meeting your standards pretty adequetely.:D So I will be shocked if the next-gen doesn't do the same...
(Most of the known next-gen features are Xbox2 specific, but Sony will have to meet most of them to keep the PS3 competitive. Odds are they will even one-up MS in some areas, due to extra prep time if nothing else.)
The same was true of Xbox1. It basically has an early Geforce4 in it (weaker than what eventually was released as a Geforce4 on PC, IIRC). This was released while the PC market was still making due with the cutting-edge Geforce3. Nevermind how many years it was before PC games were really written for that level of hardware...
But yeah, early footage of next-gen console games (like Heavenly Sword) destroys any coming game I've seen for the PC. Unreal3 engine tech is impressive, but I want to see games with release dates. That Heavenly Sword footage shows the kind of graphics the consoles are getting this year (and it will probably look even better, since that footage is of the game more than a year age).
And a lot of the "high end PC games look better than console games always" argument is silly anyway when you look at the games. Panzer Dragoon Orta, Phantom Dust, Amped 2, Team Ninja's games, etc. all look just as good (and arguably better if you don't hold resolution to be the most important visual factor) than the best looking PC games. Writing to a unchanging dedicated gaming platform gives amazing performance benefits.
Even if you want to argue that some PC game does look better than Panzer Dragoon Orta or GT4 (aesthetic tastes certainly vary), you probably won't find one in most of the genres that the consoles provide. Where are the beautiful PC fighting games? 3D action games (a la Ninja Gaiden and God of War)? Platformers (Ratchet & Clank)? Rail shooters (Rez, Panzer Dragoon Orta)? Etc.
The author ignoring this fact destroys a huge part of his argument. MS stated pretty clearly that 720p was what they were talking about as a minimum for the "HD era", not 480p. It seems like a third of the silly article is spent arguing that earlier systems supported 480p too. That's not what MS is talking about. And honestly, I don't think they are claiming to be the first to do HD anyway - the point is to make it the standard for gaming, not to invent it.
(Bizarrely, the author seems to actually recognize that 720p is the minimum standard for the Xbox2 late in the article. Why did he spend so much time arguing that 'many Xbox2 games wouldn't support that and so 480p isn't a big deal because other consoles support that blah blah blah' earlier in the article?)
It's actually a better comparison than you give credit. Most people don't buy Mario Sunshine because it has one major new feature, they buy it because it's the latest Mario platformer.
I am sure a lot (but not most) of that data is audio - probably not uncompressed, though. Why would it be? I don't have it here, but I remember the PC version audio wasn't uncompressed. Maybe a little more importantly, the massive sound compression on many Gamecube games does audibly hurt the quality. And I still don't think it could handle San Andreas (which checking the P2P networks, is a little under 4 gigs).
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance has a lot of content. You would reduce some of the size by reducing sound quality (it uses DTS on the Xbox, IIRC - Gamecube can't), but you would still need several discs. (MGS: Twin Snakes is already two discs, right?)
You are right that for some games multiple discs aren't really a problem. But for fighting games like Tekken 5, certain racing games, some action games (like Ninja Gaiden, which has a large world you can proceed through just like a GTA game) I am not sure that it's really doable. It is a limitation, even if some games can get around it.
I suspect the problem is that most Nintendo games (ie the big sellers on the Cube) just don't look all that great. The hardware is obviously capable of some very impressive graphics. But when Nintendo fills their games with N64-style textures and fairly low-poly models (or hell, just releases N64 ports on it, like with Animal Crossing) the system comes off as having pretty weak graphics. Obviously there are a few Nintendo games that are an exception (in particular the Metroid Prime series)...
It also doesn't help that for some reason a lot of multi-console games have more severe framerate issues on the Cube (oftentimes this is probably due to developer priorities, but some of it could be due to weaker dev tools).
And of course the system has seen plenty of more or less straight Dreamcast/Naomi ports (Dreamcast games looked great, but not Xbox-great). Ikaruga, Super Monkey Ball, Sonic Adventure games, Skies of Arcadia...
Will this even be possible with a CD/DVD based game? Perhaps if the disc is spinning at full speed continuously from the moment you start playing, always loading. But who want to listen to that all the time? Not to mention wear-and-tear on the drive and disc.
Eh, it works on certain Xbox games. Ninja Gaiden in particular just has a brief load at the start of the game (especially if it isn't in the cache), and then you get a very occasional loading time of a second or two (basically only when you start a new level, and then you have to read a little chapter information anyway - this will actually take longer than the loading time does). DOA2U is the same thing - a couple seconds here and there is the only loading you ever see. Good developers can pretty much eliminate load times on consoles if they make it a priority, and this has been true for a while (even some PS1 games were doing the completely streaming, no load times thing IIRC). So I don't see why the same thing wouldn't be possible for PC games.
You could argue that two seconds (max) doesn't count as 'zero-load' gameplay, but I think that is silly. These loading times are so quick they don't even bother throwing up a "now loading" screen, and odds are they are going to get even faster.
As Zorilla pointed out, that is compressed. It is also the smallest of the recent GTA games (I was referring more to Vice City and San Andreas, as I find GTA3 to be pretty dull). Also, the PC version is using pretty low-res textures and crappy car models. The better looking Xbox version (which would be similar to what the GC would have gotten) is bigger. (I lent my disc to a friend or I would check for an exact number.)
So yeah, you could probably get away with GTA3 with lots of compression, though just barely. How about games like MGS2: Substance - that is close to a full dual-layer DVD on Xbox. The newer Silent Hill games average around 4 gigs or so. Tekken 5 is roughly 4.5 gigs. Etc. The small disc size of the Gamecube is a problem for a lot of games.
Content update, yes. Bugpatch, no. You probably thought it was because a certain small segment of gamers pretended the camera in Ninja Gaiden was broken and that the content update fixed it. The former was just bullshit and the latter only made the camera slightly more flexible (I only found it useful for setting up more 'arty' screen angles, personally).
And the content upgrade still left the original game as is, controls and all - it just added new gameplay modes orientated around the online Master Ninja Tournament.
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I agree that the PSP will be positive for Sony in itself, but I can definitely see it hurting the PS3 a little.
I don't think your iPod->Mac comparison makes a lot of sense in this area. The iPod dominates its niche, while the Mac is a niche product. The PSP->Playstation situation is the complete opposite. Playstation is the videogame console brand now (though you could reasonably argue Xbox has is on top nowadays when it comes to "cool").
But even more importantly I don't think one platform transfers to the other when it comes to videogames for a lot of reasons. You have to buy completely separate games for the PS2, PSP, and PS3, where with the iPod and Mac the same music is on both. Look at Nintendo's failure to turn their GBA dominance into a sales advantage for the GC (with their maligned "connectivity" concept). It just doesn't seem to work like that with videogames.
The big issue with the PSP is it does sort of dilute Sony's videogame brand. Many Sony fans looking to buy a new game system next year will have to pick either the PSP or the PS3. It's even possible this 'portable problem' is one of the reasons Nintendo has had trouble with their recent consoles. Videogame fans might just pick up a PSP because it does something a normal console doesn't, and stick with the Xbox360 they already have. Or it could be since they just bought the PSP they don't want to shell out cash for another new Sony system the next year, and so they look at Nintendo or MS for a console instead.
A similar problem occurs with Sony developers. Obviously Naughty Dog, Insomniac, etc. can have multiple dev teams, but supporting two hardware platforms is trickier than just going all out for a single console.
All of this is conjecture, naturally. But I think it is clear the PSP very well could hurt Sony in the console market.
Probably the best reason would be the better graphics on the Xbox2 (combined with its cheaper price - less than a heavy PC upgrade). I don't see it happening personally (too much cheating on the PC), but I guess it is possible.
The original post probably should have read: [I[Nintendo doesn't get small games like this because [B]their fans[/B] shun all but the largest 1st and 2nd party developers. [/I]
Both Ikaruga and Alien Hominid basically bombed on the Cube. Gamecubers generally only buy Nintendo games and the odd huge third party title, unfortunately.
(Neither game was an exclusive to GC either, I should point out. Ikaruga was a freaking twice-removed port from its original Arcade and Dreamcast releases.)
Unbelievable hotness. Has it completely addicted you and stolen your life like it has mine?
I can't think of a single game for the system made in Japan that was console exclusive or playable.
Seriously? I take it you don't follow modern console gaming much (which is okay of course). I'll help you out:
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Jet Set Radio Future
GUNVALKYRIE
Outrun 2
Dead or Alive 3
Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball
Ninja Gaiden
Dead or Alive Ultimate
Otogi
Otogi 2
Metal Wolf
Phantom Crash
Breakdown
Shin Megami Tensei NINE
Phantom Dust (by MS Games Japan, and one of the best games ever made for my money - I expect big things from them next-gen)
Crazy Taxi 3
Crimson Seas
Daisenryaku VII
Steel Batallion/Tekki
Dino Crisis 3
Wreckless
Genma Onimusha
House of the Dead III
I left out exclusive games that are widely considered to be poor (Blinx, Sneakers) and I'm sure I missed some that should be on the list. I also ignored Japanese games that are exclusively released on the Xbox in specific markets like America (ex: Shenmue II, Metal Slug 3, Guilty Gear XX#Reload, etc.). Xbox certainly does not have as many Japanese exclusives as the PS2 has, but some of the best games this generation are Xbox exclusives from Japanese developers.
Just thought I would mention why Sony does that weird naming convention with the Wegas/Vegas. The 'W' is actually supposed to be some kind of overlapping double-V (why they want that is a mystery), so the name is actually more like VVegas. Just written using a W. It's stupid as hell obviously, but I just thought I would let you know the insanity that is behind that. :)
So give me a game console I can plug into my DVI monitor, and that I can control with a keyboard and mouse, and I'll be good to go.
:D
So you bought a Dreamcast, right?
Vibration is just as necessary in certain games (Amplitude uses it to inform the player what the beat is) as visual indicators are. Sure you could get rid of it if you wanted to, but it is a vital part of gameplay for many genres (in particular racing and music games off the top of my head).
Eh, and radiosity has been used occasionally since early Voodoo-based games. Both games heavily tweaked already existing lighting approaches.
Plenty of other videogames use normal mapped characters with light maps and manage to make it look great. Not many games manage to pull off the dynamic lighting of Doom3 yet...
Namco actually used middleware to put SCII on all three platforms IIRC. Continuing to code for that middleware would actually be easier than switching to PS2-focused code, especially since it appears that this sequel uses the same graphics engine and much of the same art as SCII.
I could understand if they were trying to make their new Soul Calibur look good (a la Tekken 5), but it still looks completely like a below-average middleware game. One of the 'new' levels shown is actually a much uglier version of a level that was in the Dreamcast Soul Calibur.
How come, then, for ever XBOX game brought over to the computer (or released for the computer at the same time or before), the PC version always looks better than the XBOX version?
Because if it was ported to the PC it obviously never took particularly strong advantage of the console hardware to begin with. (The big exception probably being Halo 1, but that game has never looked all that great to begin with.)
Seriously, just go play Phantom Dust, Amped 2, DOA2U, Ninja Gaiden, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Rallisport Challenge 2 (which looks far better than Rallisport Challenge 1, which was ported to the PC), Kindgom Under Fire: the Crusaders, Otogi 2, etc. on a VGA monitor or HDTV. These games easily meet (or even exceed) the best graphics you can find on the PC.
And the game footage you linked to is just a prototype, and besides the fact there are ways to make things look even better than that, it really doesn't look any bit of a higher level of graphical detail than what is out today.
Then you are apparently legally blind, so why you are talking about graphics at all is beyond me. Tell me of a PC game coming out this year with Heavenly Sword's level of high graphical detail (note the piles of bodies left on the ground after the battle), huge armies of models on the screen at once (each of which is better than the best of Doom3 or HL2), massive environments, and all filled with the real-time dynamic lighting on display. Just check out the real-time soft shadows that the army gives off - this is amazing stuff.
But maybe the video footage was too blurry for you to make out the detail. Here's some clear screenshots of the ingame graphics. And here's a video of the game's facial animation system, which shows just how detailed the character models are.
And of course it is a prototype. The Xbox2 hasn't come out yet, so it's not like we can look at the actual games for it right now. If for reason you think this ingame footage is faked (which negates your argument that it doesn't look at all that good), you'll just have to wait to presumably see it at E3 in a couple months. It's also pretty old footage now, so it should be looking much better anyway at this point. This is just preview footage like you see for every upcoming console or PC game...
'Trolly McTrollington' was referring to game quality, not game sales. The GBA simply hasn't been too successful with the former (yeah yeah, it probably has five decent original games for it - that isn't a lot).
Not wanting DRM has nothing to do with being "cheap" in this case. You still had to purchase the music from Apple with this program.
(I am assuming you are referring to the current console generation in general, not just the PS2.)
:D So I will be shocked if the next-gen doesn't do the same...
> HDTV support.
Done. Xbox, GC, and to a lesser extent the PS2 all support HDTV to some degree. So did the Dreamcast (via VGA). HDTV will get much better in this generation, of course. (Xbox2 will have all games support at least 720p, for example, which was something you only occasionally saw with Xbox1 games.)
> Better surround-sound.
Done. Xbox1 features ingame DTS. Good luck getting that on the PC nowadays with what happened to Soundstorm. This is an area where the PC actually needs to catch up...
> Better data caching to reduce load times.
Pretty much done. The PS2 has definite problems with load times, though many games are getting good at hiding it. But the Xbox and GC both feature very quick load times generally.
> Support for a PC monitor.
Done. Only the PS2 doesn't do this natively for most games. Consoles have done this since Dreamcast.
> Headphone jack built in.
??? Consoles used to do this (ex: Sega Genesis). I really don't see any demand for this. Unless you meant more a headphone + mic adaptor, which is standard for Xbox2 controllers (and is easily accomplished on the Xbox1 and PS2 - both Gamecube and Dreamcast also had mic adaptors).
> Wireless controller standard built in.
Supposedly that's coming. I actually really don't want this (vibration support seems to get left out, and wireless mic audio is pretty bad in my experience), but I am apparently in a minority on this. I am perfectly happy with the Xbox1's extra long cables and special 'trip-guard'.
> Standardised MP3 support for in-game audio.
Xbox1 can do this now with various MS software. I believe it transcodes the MP3 to WMA, but it is basically done. Xbox2 takes this further (games apparently have to support custom soundtracks now).
So current consoles should actually be meeting your standards pretty adequetely.
(Most of the known next-gen features are Xbox2 specific, but Sony will have to meet most of them to keep the PS3 competitive. Odds are they will even one-up MS in some areas, due to extra prep time if nothing else.)
The same was true of Xbox1. It basically has an early Geforce4 in it (weaker than what eventually was released as a Geforce4 on PC, IIRC). This was released while the PC market was still making due with the cutting-edge Geforce3. Nevermind how many years it was before PC games were really written for that level of hardware...
But yeah, early footage of next-gen console games (like Heavenly Sword) destroys any coming game I've seen for the PC. Unreal3 engine tech is impressive, but I want to see games with release dates. That Heavenly Sword footage shows the kind of graphics the consoles are getting this year (and it will probably look even better, since that footage is of the game more than a year age).
And a lot of the "high end PC games look better than console games always" argument is silly anyway when you look at the games. Panzer Dragoon Orta, Phantom Dust, Amped 2, Team Ninja's games, etc. all look just as good (and arguably better if you don't hold resolution to be the most important visual factor) than the best looking PC games. Writing to a unchanging dedicated gaming platform gives amazing performance benefits.
Even if you want to argue that some PC game does look better than Panzer Dragoon Orta or GT4 (aesthetic tastes certainly vary), you probably won't find one in most of the genres that the consoles provide. Where are the beautiful PC fighting games? 3D action games (a la Ninja Gaiden and God of War)? Platformers (Ratchet & Clank)? Rail shooters (Rez, Panzer Dragoon Orta)? Etc.
That gave me quite a laugh. Thanks for the link.
:D
Now I think I am going to go cry somewhere...
The author ignoring this fact destroys a huge part of his argument. MS stated pretty clearly that 720p was what they were talking about as a minimum for the "HD era", not 480p. It seems like a third of the silly article is spent arguing that earlier systems supported 480p too. That's not what MS is talking about. And honestly, I don't think they are claiming to be the first to do HD anyway - the point is to make it the standard for gaming, not to invent it.
(Bizarrely, the author seems to actually recognize that 720p is the minimum standard for the Xbox2 late in the article. Why did he spend so much time arguing that 'many Xbox2 games wouldn't support that and so 480p isn't a big deal because other consoles support that blah blah blah' earlier in the article?)
It's actually a better comparison than you give credit. Most people don't buy Mario Sunshine because it has one major new feature, they buy it because it's the latest Mario platformer.
I am sure a lot (but not most) of that data is audio - probably not uncompressed, though. Why would it be? I don't have it here, but I remember the PC version audio wasn't uncompressed. Maybe a little more importantly, the massive sound compression on many Gamecube games does audibly hurt the quality. And I still don't think it could handle San Andreas (which checking the P2P networks, is a little under 4 gigs).
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance has a lot of content. You would reduce some of the size by reducing sound quality (it uses DTS on the Xbox, IIRC - Gamecube can't), but you would still need several discs. (MGS: Twin Snakes is already two discs, right?)
You are right that for some games multiple discs aren't really a problem. But for fighting games like Tekken 5, certain racing games, some action games (like Ninja Gaiden, which has a large world you can proceed through just like a GTA game) I am not sure that it's really doable. It is a limitation, even if some games can get around it.
I suspect the problem is that most Nintendo games (ie the big sellers on the Cube) just don't look all that great. The hardware is obviously capable of some very impressive graphics. But when Nintendo fills their games with N64-style textures and fairly low-poly models (or hell, just releases N64 ports on it, like with Animal Crossing) the system comes off as having pretty weak graphics. Obviously there are a few Nintendo games that are an exception (in particular the Metroid Prime series)...
It also doesn't help that for some reason a lot of multi-console games have more severe framerate issues on the Cube (oftentimes this is probably due to developer priorities, but some of it could be due to weaker dev tools).
And of course the system has seen plenty of more or less straight Dreamcast/Naomi ports (Dreamcast games looked great, but not Xbox-great). Ikaruga, Super Monkey Ball, Sonic Adventure games, Skies of Arcadia...
Will this even be possible with a CD/DVD based game? Perhaps if the disc is spinning at full speed continuously from the moment you start playing, always loading. But who want to listen to that all the time? Not to mention wear-and-tear on the drive and disc.
Eh, it works on certain Xbox games. Ninja Gaiden in particular just has a brief load at the start of the game (especially if it isn't in the cache), and then you get a very occasional loading time of a second or two (basically only when you start a new level, and then you have to read a little chapter information anyway - this will actually take longer than the loading time does). DOA2U is the same thing - a couple seconds here and there is the only loading you ever see. Good developers can pretty much eliminate load times on consoles if they make it a priority, and this has been true for a while (even some PS1 games were doing the completely streaming, no load times thing IIRC). So I don't see why the same thing wouldn't be possible for PC games.
You could argue that two seconds (max) doesn't count as 'zero-load' gameplay, but I think that is silly. These loading times are so quick they don't even bother throwing up a "now loading" screen, and odds are they are going to get even faster.
As Zorilla pointed out, that is compressed. It is also the smallest of the recent GTA games (I was referring more to Vice City and San Andreas, as I find GTA3 to be pretty dull). Also, the PC version is using pretty low-res textures and crappy car models. The better looking Xbox version (which would be similar to what the GC would have gotten) is bigger. (I lent my disc to a friend or I would check for an exact number.)
So yeah, you could probably get away with GTA3 with lots of compression, though just barely. How about games like MGS2: Substance - that is close to a full dual-layer DVD on Xbox. The newer Silent Hill games average around 4 gigs or so. Tekken 5 is roughly 4.5 gigs. Etc. The small disc size of the Gamecube is a problem for a lot of games.
Content update, yes. Bugpatch, no. You probably thought it was because a certain small segment of gamers pretended the camera in Ninja Gaiden was broken and that the content update fixed it. The former was just bullshit and the latter only made the camera slightly more flexible (I only found it useful for setting up more 'arty' screen angles, personally).
And the content upgrade still left the original game as is, controls and all - it just added new gameplay modes orientated around the online Master Ninja Tournament.