Games: The Official Halo 2 Topic [OT!]

[Nevan]

Just so you know, quoted.

[Cataferal]

A double quote! What an honour.

I find it amazing that, before Microsoft bought out Bungie, there was speculation over a PS2 Halo port. Looking back now, it seems laughable. The Sony fanboys will believe anything.

[Nevan]

That's true, but there is also Killzone. The so called "Halo Killer." It looks like a good game, but no Halo 2. Besides, they are coming out with a game to beat a game made three years ago, something doesn't seem right there. Of course Killzone does look good and I will get it, just it won't be better, due in part to no massive multiplayer like Halo.

[Cataferal]

Yeah, the fact the Xbox has the popular XBox LIVE service, 4 controller ports as standard, and the link play only requires simple and cheap patch ethernet cables and hubs to set up means that XBox will always be the perfect multiplayer console - even though i think the Gamecube has more high quality multiplayer games.
The PS2 just isnt cut out for the job. It only has 2 controller ports, costing additional money to buy a multitap, it requires a specialized and expensive PS2 exclusive link cable, which is both hard to find and cant connect to more than one other terminal. Also, theres no official internet service; while Microsoft provides the complex console internet connection protocol and dumps it straight onto its HDD when you install Xbox LIVE, online titles for the PS2 have to provide their own straight from the DVD, which takes up precious RAM.
The PS2 is very much the single player console, and the Xbox is perfect for the likes of action and FPS's, considering its PC-esque technical specification.

[mrwiseman]

One thing, any code to be executed, loaded from HD or DVD, must reside in RAM. The Internet and gaming protocols used by the Xbox are always loaded in its RAM as well. In fact it's the good old Microsoft TCP/IP you've been running in your Windows 2000 box since forever (on top of which lies the application protocol).

[Cataferal]

Ahhh, i see. That'd make more sense. That'll mean the loading times will be longer for the PS2, since it'll have more data to load from the disc, unless the organization of the data on the disc is optimized.
With regards to Microsoft's TCP/IP protocol, it'd be fair to say in this instance; if it aint broke dont fix it. Here, Microsoft are actually applying something to the console which they've created themselves, instead of buying out other companies programming and technology. The online services for the Xbox are a major plus thanks to the background of the company that produced it, and its perhaps something Sony and Nintendo should pay more attention to in the future.

[mrwiseman]

Nah, network protocols are always loaded since you start the game and it's like, 250 KB of code. It should load in half a tenth of a second.

WRT MS TCP/IP: It's a great implementation, but not optimal for a console. It's larger and uses more buffers. The Dreamcast used a heavily optimized TCP/IP stack ideal for appliances and small computers which took less RAM.

But MS will always use all they have, because they don't really know anything outside PCs (Xbox Next would be their first non-PC hardware), and the reason why they got into the videogames business was just that PCs were selling less because of consoles, so they just thought, WTF, we call it a console, and here we go selling Windows to console gamers (since nobody used the bloated, inefficient, botched Windows CE for the Dreamcast). They just want people to use Windows, even to take a shit and to feed the dogs.

[Cataferal]

*Drags the topic to the "Next Gen console" thread*

IRT N - Im hearing all sorts of crazy things about the changes they've made to the game. It seems that they're trying to make it a different game, rather than an update. Im hearing about the new weapons, the changes to current ones, and the omission of the health packs, all to make the multiplayer more balanced.
Im hoping it'll work out.

[Nevan]

IRT Cat: Well there is no health packs, that is true. But if you get hurt and your sheild recharges it'll be like you weren't hurt, but if you die, you die. That's how it works. As for the guns, all for balance. But more so on the whole health pack thing, at first I hated the idea, then I think it could go either way, which is what I am thinking now. Of course I was expecting a slightly different game, I just hope they don't screw up the parts that made Halo great.

As in the vast amount of tricks in single player.

[Cataferal]

No Halo Humping either...but i could do without that.
And yeah, in the name of balance, i think Halo had to dumb down the pistol. It was way too powerful before.