That was an awesome image- photo-realistic, in that everything was as you would expect it to be. Big props to the artist- maybe he can work on some game where the ball rolls around and smashes people. Then the blood and gore attaches to the ball (in some places) and the blood starts to dry, while still being tracked off by the floor.
Supposedly the specs for the Nextbox come out next week. I'm very, very interested in seeing what they will be doing with that. I hope that they don't get onto a 'low-price' kick, and skimp on the specs to come in with a $199 console at release. I really don't mind paying the extra $100.
Are we now in the 'golden age' of software for the current crop of consoles? Is this the time where the number of users has reached critical mass, allowing developers to pour more dollars into games, knowing that there is a huge base of customers? But- just before they start holding back on development of new games for the current generation, waiting for the next one?
I'd like to think that we'll at least have a good bunch of games up to this next Christmas. After that we can sit around and wait for the next generation.
But, using the age of the actors in the videogame commercials might not be the most scientific method of proof.
There are far more cartoon dogs, leprachauns and jolly fat people in commercials than real life. I don't think the actors always accurately reflect the buying public.
The only time I ever update my video card drivers, is when Windows Update tells me I should. That way I know I am getting good, stable drivers.
Not saying it is a better way...just a different way. I really don't care about being up to the minute on this, but it keeps me within the last 4 months.
In the previous article- a lot of comments were made regarding the crappy video cards, and it was just assumed that since people were still playing Counterstrike, they had older computers not capable of running anything better. (Or, because they have older computers, they play Counterstrike)
Umm...I'm 35...and I probably play about 10 hours per week.
I've got a job I've got a house I've got kids
I also decide to play games rather than spend time watching TV (there- that is 10 hours of the average American's week right there)
So he can get off his soapbox right now...and make room for me. Because dammit- to me games ARE the new Hollywood.
While I'm talking about Hollywood...he really should look at the history of films before he makes his incorrect comparisons. The earliest films were popular just because people had never seen 'moving pictures'. It took years before anything was more than a few minutes long.
Then films started to do something other than just 'documenting' life, they added a story. Then a few years later they decided they could move the camera around for different angles. Then a few years later it was decided that editing could be used for more than just the continuation of the story.
Then sound came out. And the studios started producing strict 'genre' films (just like in games) and for a while it hit the doldrums. Eventually when there was a little more money, the directors could diverge from the genres, and make more interesting films. Then we got color. Then we got CGI..etc. etc.
I think that games can easily be compared to films. And it does have the same potential to be a solid part of our normal entertainment outlet for a long time to come. Movies did not get where they are now so easily, but they made it. Games will have a similar life.
Not to mention the fact that one of the two POST PS2 consoles was the most direct copy of a PC ever in the console business. So it is quite possible the author does have his head up his butt.
I've seen so much Windows Media bashing over the years, that it is great to see someone provide a good comparison, with PICTURES as proof.
I do WMV streaming at work- and it works great. Previously, right here, on Slashdot of all places, when I mentioned it, people would tell me over and over that the quality sucked.
So, if they really cared what the slashdot kiddies thought, they would have have done something to skew the results. But this didn't happen.
They did mention that the encoding took far longer for Windows Media, and that is true. (But their hardware was crap for media encoding- a single processor? If you are doing video encoding, you probably have a lot more hardware than that to throw at the problem). But when it comes to ease of hosting, and getting the users to actually view the thing, nothing beats Windows Media 9.
I did try Divx for a while- and after the 9,000th complaint in about 2 days, I finally relented, and put it up in a.wmv format. The complaints were not about quality, but in the "how do I watch the movie" vein.
Josh and Trish America want the video to play with the click of a link- which generally means Quicktime or Windows Media. I'll stick with Windows Media.
Honestly- very few of the people here on Slashdot want to watch the movies I serve up- but your parents do. Now do you really want to explain to them how to play an Xvid file?
Saying that the Xbox is a failure as a gaming system is just your unsubstantiated opinion.
If they have sold fewer than Nintendo, that is okay. This is their first foray into consoles. My personal opinion, and that of many other Xbox owners I have talked to, is that it is a fantastic gaming system. The games are great, the graphics are great, and Live kicks a lot of ass.
5 years ago if anyone had tried to predict that another maker would jump into the console business, and be neck-and-neck with Nintendo, on their first try- they would have been laughed at. Yet, Microsoft is neck-and-neck. Now, they may have subsidized the Xbox- and that's cool by me. If it made the Xbox better for a lower price, I'm fine with that.
BUT- Microsofts subsidy does not make it a failure of a gaming system. Maybe a bad business decision (so far) but not bad for gaming.
Now of course- when I say 'the games are great' that is just my opinion. But an opinion shared by a LOT of people. We may not have games with young Japanese girls with short skirts, but I'm not really into that sort of thing. Are you?
Yes, it would have been a fantastic game on a Mac.
Until Bungie realised that the number of people who would have purchased the game for a Mac (Number of interested Mac owners - number of interested Mac owners who can run the game = 17) would have been abyssmally small.
So instead, they made themselves a ton of money for thier efforts, and sold millions of copies. If Halo had been a Mac game to begin with, I really don't think people would care enough to watch a video about its creation 3 years later.
I don't see a problem with that. I think they are a commercial, for-profit company. Not some sort of social program.
Well...first of all, maybe he DID mod you down, and that is why he had to post AC. (Not that I would ever do such a thing)
Secondly- yes, of course there is a double-standard. You are talking about a Microsoft product (Xbox) as opposed to something that comes from Japan (PS2).
But you do have a good point. For instance, Nintendo can make 'exclusive' games, and people point it out as a great reason to buy a Gamecube. And slap Nintendo on the back for the 99th version of a Mario game.
But, when Microsoft wants an exclusive game, it is obviously predatory, unfair, and probably illegal.
People complain about crappy ports of Xbox games on the PC. But when is the last time you played anything with Mario, Wario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, etc. on your PC?
I hope that the Doom 3 coop mode is similar to Halo. It is nice that when you get 'stuck' in some area, you can have a friend help you to get you through it, then switch back to single player mode and keep on cruising.
If I had that mode for Medal of Honor: Spearhead, I might have finished the game.
It's also the only thing that got me through a few tough levels in Halo at higher difficulty levels.
Also- I'm thrilled at the way they are developing Doom 3 for two separate systems. One group working on the PC, and another working on the Xbox. Then we won't hear how it is 'watered down' from the PC people, or how the 'controls suck' from the Xbox people.
I'm not a huge Doom fan, but the fact that it is being developed this way, and the co-op mode, mean that I will be getting the Xbox version. The screenshot for the Xbox version looked pretty good. I've been putting off an HDTV for a while- but if Doom runs at 720p, I might get one sooner than planned.
Depending on what the release date is- I don't think they have one yet- this could be something for me to get excited about. Halo2 of course is at the top of my console FPS list, and Half-Life 2 is slipping fast, I lose a little more interest in that just about every day.
But then again- Splinter Cell:Pandora Tomorrow comes out this month, so that should suck up a large part of April for me. And I have this 'Real Life' shit I am supposed to be working on. Gotta find a cheat for that one...maybe something like 'God Mode' or 'Invincible'. At least some 3d glasses..or sumpin'.
I don't think Microsoft is stupid. You might dislike them, but I don't think you could say they make a lot of stupid mistakes. They know that the hard-drive performed an important function on the first Xbox.
I am guessing that if they do not include a hard-drive, they will replace it with something that provides the same functionality- or better.
The first Xbox went way beyond what I expected them to do, especially for a first console. Now that they are moving into the second version, they will refine their original plan, and bring out anything new that they have been working on for the past 4 years.
But when you were in those countries for that extended period of time...
Did you spend a lot of time playing Counterstrike? I'm pretty sure the article was about how they played Counterstrike- not what the general (non-CS) society was like in those countries.
I don't think you need to be immersed in the culture to get a sense of how they play Counterstrike, I think that you just need to play CS with a lot of different people from each of the countries.
It seems like you are trying to expand the scope of the article to read 'this is what people are like from these different countries' where the author only claims to provide a small amount of insight on how they play Counterstrike.
First, I wonder what is required to be considered 'serious'. Second, I wonder what is more important- being serious, or having fun.
But- all fun aside. Really, 10 minutes probably isn't enough time to determine how good or bad a certain control scheme is for a game. The first time I tried a console FPS, I thought it was horrible. But it ended up being pretty good, and a lot of fun. It was, as they say...different.
I haven't had any type of TV reception for about a year now.
I got rid of DISH for two reasons:
#1- I would much rather play games, just as the article suggests.
#2- TV is generally shit anyway, just as we are all aware.
The last show I really enjoyed was The Office. That was painfully funny stuff. But when my house seemed filled with MTV and stupid 'entertainment' shows, like Extra, and (Insert other crappy shows about celebrities here) I figured that myself and my family don't really need to be inundated with news and information about Paris Hilton, Martha Stewart and Janet Jackson. Now we spend more time doing things.
The one time I am really bummed about not having TV is when I am sick. Somehow being at home sick, and brainlessly watching TV just go together. Now what does that say about watching TV?
10 minutes might not be enough time to make the adjustment. How long did it take you to learn to play first person shooters on your keyboard and trackball? I doubt you were an expert after 10 minutes. Possibly the millions of console FPS players are not all wrong. The controls can, and do work.
One thing that every single person I've played with on a console-FPS does though- that you might want to try. Invert the controls. This seems to be a much more 'natural' method of control. I don't know about SOCOM- but all of the games I play have this capability. And before I switch the controls, I am completely lost.
But my point is that they will maintain the same functionality.
That is like someone saying 3 years ago "I won't buy a Gamecube, because it doesn't take cartridges. The N64 takes cartridges, and my next console needs to also take cartridges!"
Or, maybe a PS2 owner not wanting to buy an Xbox (first version) because "none of my frieds with an Xbox uses memory cards. I use memory cards on the PS2 all the time, and nobody uses them on the Xbox, so it must suck."
My point is that we are looking to the future, and they may have something totally different, new, and better up their sleeve than a hard-drive. Because without some sort of re-writeable mass-storage, much of the functionality that makes the Xbox great will be gone.
Rather than painting a grim picture of the future Xbox without a hard-drive, imagine if your Xbox was SMALL and QUIET. Wouldn't that be answering some of the 'problems' with the current Xbox?
Personally- I don't particularly want a hard-drive in the next Xbox. I want something even BETTER.
Slashdot Mirror
Unfortunately, I was the only one who voted for Ross Perot.
That giant sucking sound is all the jobs going to...India...Russia...everywhere else..
People laughed at him...but I still like the idea of a businessman running the country, rather than a politician.
Contrary to the other responses, I agree- that picture is pretty nice.
And how can that other guy say the brick wall is too straight? Those are some nice damn bricks.
I especially like the peeling paint in the building.
That was an awesome image- photo-realistic, in that everything was as you would expect it to be. Big props to the artist- maybe he can work on some game where the ball rolls around and smashes people. Then the blood and gore attaches to the ball (in some places) and the blood starts to dry, while still being tracked off by the floor.
Scheck out 'Chronicles of Riddick' - this one looks pretty good, with dirty stuff, rust, etc.
Screenshots
Supposedly the specs for the Nextbox come out next week. I'm very, very interested in seeing what they will be doing with that. I hope that they don't get onto a 'low-price' kick, and skimp on the specs to come in with a $199 console at release. I really don't mind paying the extra $100.
Are we now in the 'golden age' of software for the current crop of consoles? Is this the time where the number of users has reached critical mass, allowing developers to pour more dollars into games, knowing that there is a huge base of customers? But- just before they start holding back on development of new games for the current generation, waiting for the next one?
I'd like to think that we'll at least have a good bunch of games up to this next Christmas. After that we can sit around and wait for the next generation.
I don't argue that gamers are getting older.
But, using the age of the actors in the videogame commercials might not be the most scientific method of proof.
There are far more cartoon dogs, leprachauns and jolly fat people in commercials than real life. I don't think the actors always accurately reflect the buying public.
The only time I ever update my video card drivers, is when Windows Update tells me I should. That way I know I am getting good, stable drivers.
Not saying it is a better way...just a different way. I really don't care about being up to the minute on this, but it keeps me within the last 4 months.
In the previous article- a lot of comments were made regarding the crappy video cards, and it was just assumed that since people were still playing Counterstrike, they had older computers not capable of running anything better. (Or, because they have older computers, they play Counterstrike)
So one of the assumptions must be incorrect.
He also says that 35 year olds don't play games.
Umm...I'm 35...and I probably play about 10 hours per week.
I've got a job
I've got a house
I've got kids
I also decide to play games rather than spend time watching TV (there- that is 10 hours of the average American's week right there)
So he can get off his soapbox right now...and make room for me. Because dammit- to me games ARE the new Hollywood.
While I'm talking about Hollywood...he really should look at the history of films before he makes his incorrect comparisons. The earliest films were popular just because people had never seen 'moving pictures'. It took years before anything was more than a few minutes long.
Then films started to do something other than just 'documenting' life, they added a story. Then a few years later they decided they could move the camera around for different angles. Then a few years later it was decided that editing could be used for more than just the continuation of the story.
Then sound came out. And the studios started producing strict 'genre' films (just like in games) and for a while it hit the doldrums. Eventually when there was a little more money, the directors could diverge from the genres, and make more interesting films. Then we got color. Then we got CGI..etc. etc.
I think that games can easily be compared to films. And it does have the same potential to be a solid part of our normal entertainment outlet for a long time to come. Movies did not get where they are now so easily, but they made it. Games will have a similar life.
Not to mention the fact that one of the two POST PS2 consoles was the most direct copy of a PC ever in the console business. So it is quite possible the author does have his head up his butt.
Why is Japan 'Where it counts'?
What percentage of the video game market is Japan anyway? 25%?
Of the 3 big markets in the world, Japan/Asia is the smallest.
The following figures will be total sales as of the end of 2003 (Jan 13, 2004, for PS2).
North America
PlayStation 2 - 29.26 million
Xbox - 8.6 million
GameCube - 7.46 million
Game Boy Advance - 23.78 million
Japan / Asia
PlayStation 2 - 16.18 million
Xbox - 1.4 million (~425,000 Japan alone)
GameCube - 3.37 million
Game Boy Advance - 12.66 million
Europe / PAL
PlayStation 2 - 24.56 million
Xbox - 3.7 million
GameCube - 3.11 million (~3 million Europe alone)
Game Boy Advance - 12.98 million
Worldwide
PlayStation 2 - 70 million
Xbox - 13.7 million
GameCube - 13.94 million
Game Boy Advance - 49.42 million
Windows Server 2003 has streaming (for Windows Media) built in. It is 'no tears' according to Info World.
Really- it's easy. In Server 2003, go to 'Manage Your Server' then do the little 'add functionality' thing, and say 'Yeah...I want streaming'.
Wait a few minutes, and you've got a streaming server that even an idiot Windows admin can manage. Simple, easy, and free.
I've seen so much Windows Media bashing over the years, that it is great to see someone provide a good comparison, with PICTURES as proof.
.wmv format. The complaints were not about quality, but in the "how do I watch the movie" vein.
I do WMV streaming at work- and it works great. Previously, right here, on Slashdot of all places, when I mentioned it, people would tell me over and over that the quality sucked.
So, if they really cared what the slashdot kiddies thought, they would have have done something to skew the results. But this didn't happen.
They did mention that the encoding took far longer for Windows Media, and that is true. (But their hardware was crap for media encoding- a single processor? If you are doing video encoding, you probably have a lot more hardware than that to throw at the problem). But when it comes to ease of hosting, and getting the users to actually view the thing, nothing beats Windows Media 9.
I did try Divx for a while- and after the 9,000th complaint in about 2 days, I finally relented, and put it up in a
Josh and Trish America want the video to play with the click of a link- which generally means Quicktime or Windows Media. I'll stick with Windows Media.
Honestly- very few of the people here on Slashdot want to watch the movies I serve up- but your parents do. Now do you really want to explain to them how to play an Xvid file?
Go read Troed's website...the comment was aimed at him, and his efforts to get rid of sexist comments from IGN gaming magazine.
Saying that the Xbox is a failure as a gaming system is just your unsubstantiated opinion.
If they have sold fewer than Nintendo, that is okay. This is their first foray into consoles. My personal opinion, and that of many other Xbox owners I have talked to, is that it is a fantastic gaming system. The games are great, the graphics are great, and Live kicks a lot of ass.
5 years ago if anyone had tried to predict that another maker would jump into the console business, and be neck-and-neck with Nintendo, on their first try- they would have been laughed at. Yet, Microsoft is neck-and-neck. Now, they may have subsidized the Xbox- and that's cool by me. If it made the Xbox better for a lower price, I'm fine with that.
BUT- Microsofts subsidy does not make it a failure of a gaming system. Maybe a bad business decision (so far) but not bad for gaming.
Now of course- when I say 'the games are great' that is just my opinion. But an opinion shared by a LOT of people. We may not have games with young Japanese girls with short skirts, but I'm not really into that sort of thing. Are you?
Yes, it would have been a fantastic game on a Mac.
Until Bungie realised that the number of people who would have purchased the game for a Mac (Number of interested Mac owners - number of interested Mac owners who can run the game = 17) would have been abyssmally small.
So instead, they made themselves a ton of money for thier efforts, and sold millions of copies. If Halo had been a Mac game to begin with, I really don't think people would care enough to watch a video about its creation 3 years later.
I don't see a problem with that. I think they are a commercial, for-profit company. Not some sort of social program.
No space bugs?
What about those millions of little Spidery things in the Library?
Of course, spiders are not insects, blah blah blah...but I think they qualify as 'space bugs'.
Well...first of all, maybe he DID mod you down, and that is why he had to post AC. (Not that I would ever do such a thing)
Secondly- yes, of course there is a double-standard. You are talking about a Microsoft product (Xbox) as opposed to something that comes from Japan (PS2).
But you do have a good point. For instance, Nintendo can make 'exclusive' games, and people point it out as a great reason to buy a Gamecube. And slap Nintendo on the back for the 99th version of a Mario game.
But, when Microsoft wants an exclusive game, it is obviously predatory, unfair, and probably illegal.
People complain about crappy ports of Xbox games on the PC. But when is the last time you played anything with Mario, Wario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, etc. on your PC?
I hope that the Doom 3 coop mode is similar to Halo. It is nice that when you get 'stuck' in some area, you can have a friend help you to get you through it, then switch back to single player mode and keep on cruising.
If I had that mode for Medal of Honor: Spearhead, I might have finished the game.
It's also the only thing that got me through a few tough levels in Halo at higher difficulty levels.
Also- I'm thrilled at the way they are developing Doom 3 for two separate systems. One group working on the PC, and another working on the Xbox. Then we won't hear how it is 'watered down' from the PC people, or how the 'controls suck' from the Xbox people.
I'm not a huge Doom fan, but the fact that it is being developed this way, and the co-op mode, mean that I will be getting the Xbox version. The screenshot for the Xbox version looked pretty good. I've been putting off an HDTV for a while- but if Doom runs at 720p, I might get one sooner than planned.
Depending on what the release date is- I don't think they have one yet- this could be something for me to get excited about. Halo2 of course is at the top of my console FPS list, and Half-Life 2 is slipping fast, I lose a little more interest in that just about every day.
But then again- Splinter Cell:Pandora Tomorrow comes out this month, so that should suck up a large part of April for me. And I have this 'Real Life' shit I am supposed to be working on. Gotta find a cheat for that one...maybe something like 'God Mode' or 'Invincible'. At least some 3d glasses..or sumpin'.
I don't think Microsoft is stupid. You might dislike them, but I don't think you could say they make a lot of stupid mistakes. They know that the hard-drive performed an important function on the first Xbox.
I am guessing that if they do not include a hard-drive, they will replace it with something that provides the same functionality- or better.
The first Xbox went way beyond what I expected them to do, especially for a first console. Now that they are moving into the second version, they will refine their original plan, and bring out anything new that they have been working on for the past 4 years.
But when you were in those countries for that extended period of time...
Did you spend a lot of time playing Counterstrike? I'm pretty sure the article was about how they played Counterstrike- not what the general (non-CS) society was like in those countries.
I don't think you need to be immersed in the culture to get a sense of how they play Counterstrike, I think that you just need to play CS with a lot of different people from each of the countries.
It seems like you are trying to expand the scope of the article to read 'this is what people are like from these different countries' where the author only claims to provide a small amount of insight on how they play Counterstrike.
Oh...so console FPS players are not 'serious'?
First, I wonder what is required to be considered 'serious'. Second, I wonder what is more important- being serious, or having fun.
But- all fun aside. Really, 10 minutes probably isn't enough time to determine how good or bad a certain control scheme is for a game. The first time I tried a console FPS, I thought it was horrible. But it ended up being pretty good, and a lot of fun. It was, as they say...different.
I haven't had any type of TV reception for about a year now.
I got rid of DISH for two reasons:
#1- I would much rather play games, just as the article suggests.
#2- TV is generally shit anyway, just as we are all aware.
The last show I really enjoyed was The Office. That was painfully funny stuff. But when my house seemed filled with MTV and stupid 'entertainment' shows, like Extra, and (Insert other crappy shows about celebrities here) I figured that myself and my family don't really need to be inundated with news and information about Paris Hilton, Martha Stewart and Janet Jackson. Now we spend more time doing things.
The one time I am really bummed about not having TV is when I am sick. Somehow being at home sick, and brainlessly watching TV just go together. Now what does that say about watching TV?
10 minutes might not be enough time to make the adjustment. How long did it take you to learn to play first person shooters on your keyboard and trackball? I doubt you were an expert after 10 minutes. Possibly the millions of console FPS players are not all wrong. The controls can, and do work.
One thing that every single person I've played with on a console-FPS does though- that you might want to try. Invert the controls. This seems to be a much more 'natural' method of control. I don't know about SOCOM- but all of the games I play have this capability. And before I switch the controls, I am completely lost.
But my point is that they will maintain the same functionality.
That is like someone saying 3 years ago "I won't buy a Gamecube, because it doesn't take cartridges. The N64 takes cartridges, and my next console needs to also take cartridges!"
Or, maybe a PS2 owner not wanting to buy an Xbox (first version) because "none of my frieds with an Xbox uses memory cards. I use memory cards on the PS2 all the time, and nobody uses them on the Xbox, so it must suck."
My point is that we are looking to the future, and they may have something totally different, new, and better up their sleeve than a hard-drive. Because without some sort of re-writeable mass-storage, much of the functionality that makes the Xbox great will be gone.
Rather than painting a grim picture of the future Xbox without a hard-drive, imagine if your Xbox was SMALL and QUIET. Wouldn't that be answering some of the 'problems' with the current Xbox?
Personally- I don't particularly want a hard-drive in the next Xbox. I want something even BETTER.