M$ raising the price of Xbox Live....

[GeckoYamori]

Valve shits on Xbox Live:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=263859

Speaking to our colleagues at PC Gamer in its recently-published interview, Newell said one of Valve's failures over the years was to assume that Microsoft would improve Xbox Live so it could update its games regularly for free.
Microsoft has a notoriously closed approach to its online service compared to PSN, with developers allowed as little as one free title update (though there are exceptions) and limitations on the amount of free game content they can release.

[Zoltor]

Yes I did!

I happen to own both titles, so I can speak from first hand experience. Calling the character models in uncharted 2 plastic, yet praising those in crysis would be naive. Especially when someone says they could upgrade there pc for $150 and it would be more powerful than a 360 or ps3; if it only took $150 to do so, why wasn't that pc built right the first time?

Look to be real, most people that ever plays games on a PC has a PC far more powerful then the 360 anyway(seriously now in the PC world, a PC actually less powerful then the 360, hell even one just as powerful is considered a POS, and such low end technology doesn't cost much, when everyone wants the newest/best out there), that doesn't mean consoles aren't prefered(if nothing else, it will always be better playing games on a big TV screen, not to mention most games made today, are for consoles).

The major advantage consoles have, well 3 major advantages actually, are your TV, you don't have to upgrade as often(since all the games are designed around the console, where with PC games, they design the games around the actual technology that is in the market, so to beable to play any/every game, you basically need the best/close to it), and you don't have to worry about viruses(not to mention scripts, worms, hackers, exc).


To GeckoYamori: Yikes, M$ even restricts developers from offering free content(DLC, man I didn't know that), that is crazy. If a developer wants to add DLC items/content for free, who the hell is M$, to say no.

[GeckoYamori]

The constant argument that you always need to upgrade to a top-of-the-line PC is a myth that has been debunked over and over. If someone intends to make a high-selling PC game, they will make sure it has modest requirements to reach a larger audience. This can be seen in games such as any Blizzard title, The Sims, Spore, etc. The few games that do have very high requirements are either niche titles like Crysis, or badly optimized console ports that were more or less made as an afterthought.

[kokujin]

Yes I did!
Calling the character models in uncharted 2 plastic, yet praising those in crysis would be naive.

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/scree...d_Faces_14.jpg



I don't even think UC2 uses bump mapping on its faces.One thing UC2 does very well is facial animation.They did a very good job considering what they had to work with.

[doomguy]

The Crysis one does look a little better but i think they really over did the texture, his skin looks a little like sand paper tbh.

[GeckoYamori]

Look at how insanely low-res the texture is for that leaf to the left of the soldier! For shame Crysis, for shame.

[kokujin]

Look at how insanely low-res the texture is for that leaf to the left of the soldier! For shame Crysis, for shame.

Here's some more.I can't remember if this guy is a main character or not.

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/scree...s_Faces_36.jpg

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/scree...d_Faces_12.jpg

[gamevet]

[IMG]

I don't even think UC2 uses bump mapping on its faces.One thing UC2 does very well is facial animation.They did a very good job considering what they had to work with.

The bump mapping is for minor details and the clothing. Most of the detail is in-model.

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=079141

here is drake in zbrush. all the fine details, cloth details, were added as a bump map afterwards.

Look to be real, most people that ever plays games on a PC has a PC far more powerful then the 360 anyway(seriously now in the PC world, a PC actually less powerful then the 360, hell even one just as powerful is considered a POS, and such low end technology doesn't cost much, when everyone wants the newest/best out there), that doesn't mean consoles aren't prefered(if nothing else, it will always be better playing games on a big TV screen, not to mention most games made today, are for consoles).

.

The middle range PC I put together last year is slightly more powerful than a 360 or PS3, but the CPU is pretty much middle of the road. The GeForce GTS 250 OC was $150, the 600 watt power-supply was over $75 and the board would probably run about $90. It's still expensive to put together a PC, if you're going from one generation of CPUs to another.


I'm pretty sure it would cost just as much, if not more to build a PC with a triple-core processor, 1 gig of GDDR3 RAM and a Radeon X1900 XT. And the games probably wouldn't perform any better than their console counterparts. I seriously thought about putting together a shopping list from New Egg, of the parts it would take to build this phantom PC, but I really don't have the time tonight.

[kokujin]

Those are really nice, they definitely know their stuff.

[snume]

Valve shits on Xbox Live

To GeckoYamori: Yikes, M$ even restricts developers from offering free content(DLC, man I didn't know that), that is crazy. If a developer wants to add DLC items/content for free, who the hell is M$, to say no.

I would agree that Microsoft is too restrictive on the number of updates, free or paid for, but it is their system and they have that right, like it or not.

But Gabe Newell, even though Valve is a great game company, seems to spout off when he's in a bad mood and then retract or apologise later when he cools off or changes his mind.

What he is saying here is that Valve wants to be able to release a game that is NOT FINISHED and be able to patch it later when they get around to fixing the bugs. They would probably like to be able to add/change functionality too, but that is possible and can be done for free. It is done with Epic's Gears of War which is already on title update 6 (free updates) and Gears 1 had a lot of the maps available originally as paid releases and then released them a few months later as free content.

The moral of the story is take what Gabe Newell says within the same context as you would the Edge or 17days. A whole lot of bluster with a little bit of substance.

[GeckoYamori]

But Gabe Newell, even though Valve is a great game company, seems to spout off when he's in a bad mood and then retract or apologise later when he cools off or changes his mind.

Are you refering to his past quotes about the PS3? He was complaining over how different the architecture is and how difficult PS3 development becomes because of it. It's a valid complaint, and clearly one that many developers share. It wasn't some knee-jerk fanboy reaction like some people treat it as.

What he is saying here is that Valve wants to be able to release a game that is NOT FINISHED and be able to patch it later when they get around to fixing the bugs.

People are going to release unfinished games regardless of what "punishments" are put in place. And I certainly hope you aren't accusing Valve of all people of rushing out their products.

I think Gears is in a unique position considering the game is published by Microsoft themselves. And even there Gears is a classic case of the restrictions as Epic stated they would have released the maps for free from the very beginning if they had a say in it, and considering their track record for their other games I'd take their word for it.

[snume]

I don't need to be specific when referring to Gabe Newell's "spouting off". He's well known for "speaking his mind" and not for treading lightly.

Yes, Valve is taking FOREVER to come out with Half Life 3 or even Half Life 2 Episode 3. But Left For Dead 2 came out a year after LFD1 and according to Gabe, they had to release a whole new game because the changes were too vast to just release a patch. I doubt that was Microsoft's doing.

Gabe Newell's exact words were "The PS3 is a total disaster." "I'd say, even at this late date, they should just cancel it and do a do over. Just say, 'This was a horrible disaster and we're sorry and we're going to stop selling this and stop trying to convince people to develop for it'."

That was Jan 2007 - almost 4 years ago and only, what, 5 months after PS3 launch? Certainly a carefully thought out press release and not a knee-jerk reaction.

So, what it boils down to is this, if Gabe doesn't like something, he REALLY doesn't like it and he spouts off like a big baby. Why are we even listening to him or taking what he says seriously?

I am no fan of Sony and when I heard him make that statement, I smirked a bit. But I still saw him as a loud mouthed jerk who happens to run a company that makes some damn fine games. Seems to be a lot of those around (Bobby Kotick, Kaz Hirai & Marc Pincus (Zynga) among others)

Also, just because it takes Valve 5 years to make a game doesn't mean it still isn't rushed out. There often comes a time in a games development cycle when the developer feels that actually finishing it before it goes on sale is not financially feasible. Then they release it, bugs and all, and patch it as bugs are found. MS wants to limit that but they know it's not always entirely possible and they allow for updates. Just not enough to make Gabe happy. It just seems as if he wants NO restrictions.

[Knuckle Duster]

I don't need to be specific when referring to Gabe Newell's "spouting off". He's well known for "speaking his mind" and not for treading lightly.

[Metal_Sonic]

Valve shits on Xbox Live:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=263859

[Melf]

I pay little to no attention to anything Gabe says. He really did backpedal with the PS3.

I also don't agree with his update complaint. Why would I want to have 500meg updates on the 360? I have an 80 meg PS3, and in only 2 years, I've maxed out the memory. I have 24 PSN games and no movies or music on the console. The fucking installs and massive updates just eat your drive space too fast. They take forever too.

In contrast, My 20gig 360 HDD has 65 XBLA games, 2.3 gigs of Rock Band content, and 1.3 gigs of Resident Evil 5 DLC. I did have to add an 8meg flash drive, but come on...