will nintendo ever be a serious contender?

Not only the renders, you can even notice the compression artifacts in the backgrounds.

There used to be a model replacement mod for the PC version of FF7, but Google doesn't turn up much. Maybe it got DMCA'd. It still wouldn't match the FMVs, but it was an improvement.

 

There is no reason to use those FMVs, the in-game assets are already of a supposedly sufficient quality and I don't even know what you're trying to say at the end there. If you want a sample of the point I'm trying to make, check out the fan-made HD versions of the Extended Editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. There they have used an HD broadcast of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, mixed with upscaled DVD footage for the extended scenes. A similar type of quality break is what you get between gameplay and FMVs in games like FFXIII, where the only real change between in-game and FMV is further enhancing something that already looks good... of course... I guess they gotta use that BluRay disc for something.

It's awfully trashy because it hasn't aged well. If something has aged well visually, it shouldn't matter what you view it on. Generally, the only games that age well are those utilizing stylized graphics or solid art directions.

 

like SM64 or Lylat wars(PAL version of Starfox 64),both have aged relly,really well IMO

 

Agreed. PS2 games imo have nearly all aged horribly. I hate the menus in most games. Clunky. Case in point-

First Party Nintendo Game - Title Screen. Choose file. Press Start to save/Save and continue/Save and quit.

PS2 games. Title Screen. Load game. Choose Memory Card. Choose game to load. Load? Yes. Game loads. To save, Menu. Save game. Accessing memory card. Choose game slot. Save? Yes. Etc. Trivial example but this always really annoyed the shit out of me in Playstation games; clunky slow menus and horrible save implementation.

 

Also: nobody cares that you made your game with Bink Video or whatever. At all.

 

Bink do.

It's all about the contract. Different vendors specify different limits.

 

RAD game tools for me and Q-sound please!

 

Go Play FF7 On a PSP and tell me it doesn't look nice. If you don't think so. Poo on you. your loss lol.

 

Anything intended for a large screen is going to look nice shrunk down to a small screen..

 

Except Z-buffering when in use absolutely crippled the N64's fill rate. So your technical knowledge isn't so hot either, apparently. The PS1 did not need Z buffer or anti-aliasing. It needed more memory.

The N64's frame rate in most games was pretty awful. If you look back at most of Rare's stuff, it looks nice for the time but it runs like a dog. With a broken leg.

 

I am aware of the toll the Z-buffering put on the system actually, halving the memory, but that's still one feature the PSX lacked. Turbo3D microcode was crap to boot, some of the custom stuff really put that power into perspective,if you pardon the pun=)

 

Yes, But at full screen stretched from half it's original resolution to 480x272 It looks mighty nice. (The psp psx emulator cuts the original games resolution to fit unscalled on the screen from what I understand. Which would mean at full screen it's being stretched to near it's original resoultion but from half..)

Like I said, Play it on a smaller set or a PSP. It actually looks "good" if you do that. The issues are less noticeable.

 

I was just thinking "which idiot would give House of the Dead Overkill to their kids to play?"

Granted, the majority of Nintendo releases are aimed towards younger gamers, or at least those interested in playing more child friendly (and dare I say it 'fun' titles). However, I am thankful of these releases as it gives my 5 & 9 year old something that they can play together (any Mario title will do) and Mum or Dad can join in. It's easily accessible. Having played though a pile of graphically impressive, heart stopping and realistic titles on other consoles, I also really like the odd game of something like Mario, just as I loved Sonic.

I think it's great that Nintendo still actively develops material for those just joining the gaming market as I sometimes feel frustrated that the 360 and PS3 don't have so many titles catering for the younger new comers.

As an older, more serious gamer of course I was disappointed with the Wii as I had expected a great deal more, but then alternatives exist to satisfy my general gaming needs.

Nintendo does occupy a pretty important spot, they are taken seriously and they offer an alternative to the some times boring black consoles released by other companies.

Nintendo gear, being designed with children in mind is some of the most rock solid, reliable, rigid and tough hardware going. You have to admit it! You cannot say it's not good value for money.

Lots of games are actually rehashes of a theme already available. It's very rare to have a completely unique game arrive on the scene that is unlike any other title ever released. Nintendo know their brand, they know their market and they know what sells, so they capitalize on this by often using characters they know will be popular.

Given that most people tend to stick with a particular brand once they've bought into it, I think Nintendo are playing a very clever game.

 

I remember, having not played it in at least 3 years, busting out Perfect Dark again a couple years ago. OUCH. How did I ever live with ~15fps!?!? Sometimes lower!

Makes me want to emulate it instead (I did...) but the damn camspy never fcking works!

 

:lol:

Same here, happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't believe it :banghead:

Anyway I still love the game and the N64, beautiful machine.

 

Ditto. It's strange how many people will try and tell you the framerate "isn't that bad" or "looks fine to me" or similar. The framerate is fucking shocking.

 

Of course it's in the license, but that doesn't make it any less annoying. Gamers everywhere despise RAD Game Tools corporation because of the hours of their life they've needlessly wasted.

I figured we had reached the maximum number of startup screens one developer could possible throw in with the Dreamcast, but it turns out they're even more inconvenient on a portable system like DS or PSP, when you're just looking for something to pick up and play real quick-like.

 

It's like I always say to people, "Goldeneye/Perfect Dark were great and a lot of fun BACK IN THE 90's."

I consider both those games unplayable now. I did however play Perfect Dark on my friend's overclocked N64 and it ran pretty smooth. However, it's got the N64 controller...

I still love the N64 for and there's still a bunch of games I can play on the system but those two are just awful now.

 

That was a frustrating 10 minutes at PAX in the retro room...that night at Terry's though was rad

 

The sad thing is that people complaining about Perfect Dark's framerate probably never even endured the awesomeness of playing through the entire game on co-op on the hardest difficulty. That's when the game really flipped it around and made FPS into SPF :lol:
(Seriously, we'd often just pack the second player away in a corner during certain portions of some of the later missions, just to hope it somehow would improve the framerate if that person didn't see nor do anything. Good times!)


Although the framerate's pretty ass, I still think people need to look at the other aspects of GoldenEye/Perfect Dark (and also Time Splitters 1-3, which fortunately doesn't run like ass). These games all feature stuff that modern day FPS games fail big time at. The way these games handle difficulty settings and unlocks have yet to been properly duplicated and/or had a proper alternative in the modern day FPS market.

Same goes for the multiplayer aspects of Perfect Dark + Time Splitters, although PC games usually offer external modifications (sometimes fortunately supported by the developers/publishers), the stuff that you get "out of the box" on both console and PC versions of most FPS games now is often absurdly inexcusably limited in the ways of customization for the game rules goes (All usually replaced by some sort of "balance" excuse. Sure, pre-sets are nice, and they exist in these games too, but when you ALSO have options for different weapon layouts, handpicking every weapon for a map, set various handicap settings and other variables that can be toggled, you suddenly have a hole bucket of flexibility and additional replay value that you just don't get if everything is restricted to whatever tiny handful of pre-sets the developers felt was "balanced".)


Long live the N64 pad and I can't wait for Perfect Dark XBLA :nod: