Games: The Official Halo 2 Topic [OT!]

[Cataferal]

Well, i hope you can [img]tongue.gif[/img] There are people around who literally couldnt wait....

[Nevan]

True. Of course I've already got my copy paid for.

[mrwiseman]

WRT Xbox Next and Xbox backwards compatibility: I don't know the issue in too much detail, but Xbox games use high-level APIs, like DirectX. If Xbox Next is another tweaked PC in disguise, they can make it backwards compatible anytime. If this time Microsoft is up for some real hardware design, which would be their first time (really) (so subject to failure) (though not necessarily will), then it'll be a little harder. But ultimately, just keep this in mind:

Trial for copyright property:

nVidia's allegations: $$
Microsoft's allegations: $$$$$

The jury says: $$$$$ ＞(*) $$

Microsoft wins in trial. So they can.

(*): Pretend ＞ means "is more just than".

?????

WRT BitTorrent: Infiltrating Peer to Peer networks like a BitTorrent network to corrupt files can be defended illegal BTW. This is what 0v?r?P?ΕЯ [please try to keep heavily censored if you have to mention] and other evil shitty so-called law-enforcer companies do to the eMule and KaZaA networks, and they already lost at least one trial for it. I think it was because of their illegal client which they did by reverse-engineering KaZaA, but I think they can get in trouble for poisoning and corrupting networks too. Of course small copyright holders winning trials against those bastard motherfuckers was exceptional enough; winning them against huge companies like Microsoft is unthinkable, so in practice they can do what they want. Justice is bought just like apples or CD-Rs, you just go and get some 40 units of Fat Nasty Lawyer?, and this allows you to do anything. That's what's so good about democracy.

Anyways, IMO piracy is wrong, but Microsoft has no right to corrupt a BitTorrent network. They should use the usual legal and judicial means to stop it and find a compensation.

?????

WRT downloadable content for Xbox Next: In any case, it won't be as customizable as the PC version, nor it'll be able to react as quickly and have as many people doing mods, unless like I said, it's just another PC, and people develop their own tools for it to FTP/SMB and do whatever they want. Nothing like a PC to do stuff, that's why I'll be getting a new PC to play The Elder Scrolls 4, even if I decide to buy they console it'll be out for.

For example, even if you could install Morrowind patches in a uh... "console" (which would require complete control over the file system, including manual file date edition, or a partial redesign in the Morrowind patching system), you wouldn't be able to do stuff like hacking the game in real time to add dynamic draw distance, TruForm, etc.

<font color="#101010" size="1">[ October 17, 2004 10:58 PM: Message edited by: -Wiseman- ]</font>

[Cataferal]

WRT Downloadable content - Microsoft have stated that they may be omitting the hard drive from the Xbox Next, since their priority is now set on improving the size and production costs of the console. The justification of this being, out of all 3 consoles, it is Microsoft who have made the biggest loss per console sold, losing ?150 per sale.

This is obviously thanks to the fact they used the internal ideology of a PC, and scrambled all the highest quality componants together (such as the PIII, Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Broadband Modem, specialised Nvidia Geforce 2 graphics chipsets) hoping to make the best console out of the 3. Meanwhile, Sony designed most of their own technology, and are consistantly using their R&D departments to minimize the PS2 chipsets and internals, to make it more space and cost efficient: hence the upcoming release of the Slimline PS2.

The Xbox Next, being designed by a japanese team, is set to make use of a similar ideology to its predacessor, but this time focus on the japanese market, and improve on its former strengths, all the while minimizing their technology. I have no doubt it'll be a serious contender for the PS3, Microsoft have already wasted millions on this project, and this being Bill Gates' hobby, a lot more is going to be spent to round up the technology and 3rd party support to make the next attempt a success. Its Microsoft, they can afford it.

<font color="#101010" size="1">[ October 17, 2004 11:27 PM: Message edited by: Cataferal ]</font>

[Nevan]

It's too early for me to decide when console I'll get next. It'll depend on the games, that is for sure.

[Cataferal]

Microsoft are trying to get a head start on Sony and Nintendo by releasing XBN in 2005 (as opposed to 2006). I'll wait before i buy it though, partly because i know the prices will come down, and partly to keep an eye on the games.

[Nevan]

If a lot of good games come out early on then I shall be fine with getting for starting price. It all depends.

[Cataferal]

Who knows? With Halo 3, and a generous splashing of decent RPG releases, i might do the same. But chances are, it'll take a while for all that to come, so i'll probably be waiting.
In the end, i'll probably end up with 2 of the 3 next gen consoles, one of them definitely being the PS3.

[mrwiseman]

IRT Cata(1): Sony, just like Nintendo and Sega, always designed its own machines with a custom architecture. This can be good (Dreamcast, GameCube, SNES, MegaDrive, ...) or bad (PS2, Saturn, 32X, ...), but when it's good, it's certainly better and more cost effective than a PC, and a custom architecture which doesn't suck is better for games (from development to play). If the Xbox Next is not going to be a PC (1) and it'll be designed in Japan (2) I'm more likely to get it.

The reasons for (1) are: PCs are always PCs, and will get the same games because it's dirt cheap to tweak and recompile. But I already own a PC, and a PC is better for PC games, so when I buy a console, I want a different set of games, not just 90% of the same. Besides, not being a PC means I'm not necessarily getting a million of Quake clones which I'm not fan of.

(2) means that a new team will do this for Microsoft (Microsoft was never good at doing hardware ? they'd use a tweaked PC with Windows even for a toaster just to control the temperature, and guess the results), and it's not like a Japanese team is more likely to do a better job than westerns (see, the PS2 design sucks, although more than half of the consoles they did had good architectures), but they WILL be more sensitive to Japanese tastes and gaming needs, and since I like Japanese games, this is a good thing.

????

Of course, as N said, it's too early to tell what console to get, and as Phaq said, graphics and sound are so good already, that the differences between them are getting harder to notice, so:

1. Getting a new, more powerful console for the sake of realism/graphics whoring/etc. is less justified
2. The practical techinical differences between platforms will be hardly noticeable

Therefore it'll be all about the games. (Just I hope they don't design them poorly because of this.)


However, I do have something in mind: 95% that I'm getting a PS3. Reason:

95% that Xenosaga 3 will get released for it, and I'll get whatever console Xenosaga games are released for with 100% probability (100%*95% = 95% ^_^).

And even without considering Xenosaga 3, I'm likely to buy a PlayStation 3 because for the looks of it, it'll still have the most RPGs, the most Japanese games, the most games, and the highest budget ones, due to popularity and Square-Enix and Namco's support (these two alone make half the RPGs).

I won't buy an Xbox unless a miracle happens, and I won't buy a GameCube unless half a miracle happens.

I would buy Nintendo's next if they keep the kiddy stuff and Mario Badminton type things down, and they get an assload of interesting RPGs.

I would buy Microsoft's next if it's not a PC (looks like it won't be so), and it gets an assload of interesting RPGs.

Note that by "interesting RPGs" (to me, of course) I mean Japan style cRPGs, with lots of story, anime characters, and major artistic value in music and graphics. God slaying and perverted characters are pluses. So if you want examples, Tales of Phantasia is interesting to me, Baldur's Gate is not.

????

And I wonder, what the fuck am I doing posting this in the Halo 2 thread? We should have a new thread for this. Sorry. If you want to further discuss this, please create one (I'll repost this tomorrow).

[Nevan]

I'll just let you create a thread tomorrow and post a little in here until you make the thread. What matters to me currently is good games in general, I'm not much of a RPGer, however. But if they come out for Halo 3 on it I'll buy it right there. It all really depends.

Now on Halo 2:
Saw a red Plasma Rifle the other day in a video, makes me wonder. Also rumored that the Sentinel Beam is usable.