xbox2 and pc to be compatible.

Dean Lester talk about xbox2 \pc compatibility here.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/09/22/news_6108247.html

there's no comment i could write on this without any flaming, so i'll pass my turn... for now.

 

Levels

The level rating system has got to be one of the worst ideas I have heard on a long time. If you want a user friendly computer, buy a MAC or an Amiga.

 

WHY????why is it a bad idea to make the pc more user friend ly and to have a system that helps people??That's just what arsehole's would say.

It makes sense to have pc's like this as 90% of the computer population has them and who the fuck buys amiga nowadays?C'mon let's get real and get behind this move.It's this that is holding pc back as a great games platform which it should have been for years now.Christ the screen I am using on my pc now blows the fuck out of TV's and would be amazing for high end releases like Shenmue online.We need more games of high quality from people like Square enix and Sega and many others but this will not happen until the platform has a user friendly interface and has user friendly systems at sale.

 

.

Guess I'm an "arsehole" then. :-D. The idea of new standards just bothers me, especially when it is coming from Microsoft and they want to merge console and PC gaming. Until Microsoft came into the console biz PC games were for PC's and console games were for consoles. Personally I'd prefer to keep them seperate :smt045

I am very sceptical of how this rating system is suppsed to work. With PC's, hardware advances pretty quickly so it still does not solve the problem of people keeping with the times.

 

I did not mean you were an arsehole,I know you are not nd i respect your views Metal 4 ever.I just meant that the PC clique are for keeping the systems as inaccessible as ever and stopping the masses from adopting the pc as a massmarket games platform.I can see where you are coming from but I still think you should be openminded to this approach, sure it's a bit corny but let's give it a chance.Sorry for the arsehole bit, that was maybe a tad OTT.I'm a stubborn prick sometimes though, so what does it matter :smt042

 

I agree with Metal4ever. The PC gaming crowd and consoel gaming crowd may as well be different species. I hate this bloody rush to standardize and merge everything as well. If XB2 is 'PC Compatible', it can go to hell as far my money's concerned.

 

indeed, standarization and merge are enemies in everything in life.... microsoft is all about this, but in worse.

 

Well

There advantages and disadvanges to that as well. For example you don't get all the Socom/Xbox Live morons in most PC games. On the other hand You get to mostly choose between rehashed FPS's, RTS's, and a few RPG's. One of the reasons for the inaccesibility is the cost of graphics cards along with all the other hardware. A half decent card will set you back $200 on it's own. A few years ago you could buy HP or Dell and play up to date games but that isn't so anymore...

 

I couldn't put it better.

 

I fully agree, pc gamers and console gamers are a too different.
Games that go well on pc's don't go well on consoles (online fps / RTS / RPG anyone ? )
Like wise racing games and action/platformers don't do wel on pc's their just to different.

And the fact that it's M$ that wants to standarize it makes it even worse.

 

Heh. Gun shooters especially. Who the hell would want to play Virtua cop and HOTD on a bloody monitor on a computer chair?

Convergence is an idea that I utterly despise.

 

The level thing sounds good on paper but PC market just moves too fast. They'll be at level 100 in two years. It is just easier to list the required specs.

As for the standardization of stuff like controllers, I like it. I don't understand why console makers (Sony being the exception) need to design a new controller for every system. I wish that MS, Sony, and Nintendo would get together and standardize the number of buttons/pads on a controller and the ports for controllers. If they want to their make controller in different shape that's cool but if I like the PS3 controller better than the XB2 controller it'd be nice to be able to just plug it in without an adaptor and have the same number of buttons. Not to mention that it would be easier on developers. Same for memory cards even if you had to format it for each system. If I've got a blank memory card for the PS3 and need one for the XB2 it'd be nice if I could just pop it in, format it, and use it. It beats having to either losing your data or leaving it on pause while you go buy a new one.

 

Developers are already selling ad space in video games. Take Hulk Jetmoto or odd world. Each one of these games had a freaking ad for some kinda drink. Now take sports games and driving games. Basket ball has to have every real shoe maker. I think NBA live 2005 had like over a 150 shoe styles from nikey that you can "unlock" and put on your player. They call this a realism. Driving games i understand that you want the real world cars and parts, but when you see them adding parts like NOS and such. Nos is a company nitros is the gas. Wait til online games join the masses of everyday people then advertisers are going to wait in more and more. Every in game retail space is going to have an ad and will have a link for you to click if you want to know more, or the load screen will be a changed daily to some soap company. Those in game bill boards will be up dated hourly. Video games are the next advertising space.

 

I have no issue with that type of marketing in games; it does add realism. Having a Timex watch and drinking Jet Cola does add an added sense of realism to Shenmue, for example.

And wake up man, this type of thing has been done sicne the 16-bit days and even before. And it has been - and can be - done tastefully. AM2s Pepsi Man is an excellent example.

 

Kevin you don't talk a lot, but when you do you simplify things perfectly :smt023 rayer:

 

exact , like like that cheetos game on genesis.... among others.

 

urgh no. That Cheetos game was a horrible example and one of how marketing in games shoukd not be done. A much more worthy example woukd be Cool Spot.

 

Shit yeah, and "Marlboro Go" on the Lynx. I don't think it was ever released, but I'd kill for a copy...

Anyway this idea's a piece of shit.

That can only mean one thing: less choice how to run my hardware at my end. Everything done automatically with no flexibility. It's the reason I hated Windows Xp for so long, it does shit without me asking it to. Call me a control freak, but I like to feel my PC acts the way I want it to, not the way Microsoft wants it to. And this level rating, what a bloody ridiculous idea. How does an Nvidia card compare to an ATI? How does an Intel compare to an AMD? Who the fuck decides? If you take every possible VGA card and multiply it by every possible processor and then by every possible sound card, even from this current hardware generation, you end up with millions of possible specs. The alternative is to bundle things into vague misleading groups and hope nobody notices that the 9800 isn't actually as good as a 9800 Pro.

That's easily the best news in that article. Hopefully this finally means I'll be able to get a half-decent D-pad connected to my computer without the need for a dodgy USB converter. The other companies will never take up a universal port, as they've got no connection to the PC world and they want you to buy new pads off them, not off their competitor.

 

My thought exactly, you can't put a rating system on pc hardware because it's all so different no pc is the same every single one is different.