Console wars today

[Pulstar]

http://gamemusic4all.com/wordpress/g...nesis-tribute/



I wonder why they chose the title "LOSER" for this rather decent tribute album?

[PimpUigi]

It's more powerful than the origianl Xbox for sure

I only have rumored specs to go off of, but the Wii's rumored specs are less powerful than Xbox's specs were.
I got the rumored specs from Guru3d.com

All of the best looking games on the Wii are GameCube games mostly.
Rogue Squadron 2 actually won best "Wii" graphics in what must have been a joke article.
It's a GameCube launch title...

Xbox has about 23 games that support 1080i (I own Enter The Matrix...just because it was 1080i got it for $2 at the objection of the GameStop clerk, his nickname after that was "Enter The Matrix" because, I explained to him that I was buying the game for 1080i, and he suggested I buy Final Fantasy 9 instead...which doesn't support 1080i so it's a waste of time for my purpose)

Xbox has about 60 games that support 720p, and not 1080i
And even though they don't say it, every single Xbox game supports 480p (even Aggressive Inline, the best skating game except for Tony Hawk 4, which was made by the same people)

It's not that the Wii's graphics bug me, it's that reviewers always write "The Wii is capable of more" every time, when IMHO it's proven that it isn't capable of more.

HD Wii is next probably.


I don't discount all hope for the system, but I probably won't get one until it's $100 or less.
Or Black.
What happened to the promised multi color Wii's?!

SMW felt like SMB 3 version 2.0

Then I guess I will have to call it "SMB 3 done right."
<-- This face looks too evil to imply I mean these comments as positively as possible. lol

[kool kitty89]

I like the Wii, but technically, it's a piece of crap. Even its progressive scan support isn't universal. Dreamcast's video chip natively and by default supports progressive scan with no apparent cost in performance; only a few games turn it off, mainly 2D games that weren't developed for it -- but even they can be forced. Apparently, Dreamcast is more advanced than Wii.

Hmm, is the GC like that as well? (with only specific games supporting progressive scan -which is annoying since that means many will look best via component on a nice SD CRT, while those supporting progressive look best on an HDTV or VGA monitor -we have a YPbPr to VGA adaptor -but it doesn't deinterlace or scan double)
Does the Wii scan double VC titles when set to 480p mode? (it really should, as a few HDTVs won't display 240p at all)

Dreamcast might have some minor advantages to GC/Wii, I know it has a t least some over the Xbox an dmore over the PS2 (more powerful CPU than xbox, better texture and AA ability than PS2), but I think that would be minimized compared to GC, which has a CPU advantage over Xbox for sure and should over DC and PS2 as well (at very least the Wii does), not sure about all the GPU geatures compared to DC or Xbox, but at least a better poly pusher than DC.(which is the PS2's main advantage over DC -besides DVD functionality)

All of the best looking games on the Wii are GameCube games mostly.
Rogue Squadron 2 actually won best "Wii" graphics in what must have been a joke article.
It's a GameCube launch title...

Rogue Squadron II was the most techinically impressive game of that generation. It pushed the GC hardware beyond what Nintendo said the system was capable of. The last Madden on the GC was often praised as being the best looking version as well.

Umm, I didn't find RSII all that impressive compared to some other GC games (rare's Star Fox adventures for instance -and there are better examples as well -perhaps some of the RE games)

Rebel Strike (RSIII) however, was certainly impressive, with more open environments, full 3D controll (albeit a bit clunky compared to real flight/space sims on PC and such -even X-wing, but better than the previous RS games in every respect though). Plus more varied gameplay (with ground missions) Awsome vs multiplayer (albeit limited to 2 player).
And on top of everyting else, it had the entire RSII game avalable as a split-screen co-op option!

SMW felt like SMB 3 version 2.0. It had prettier graphics, added Yoshi and really cool sound effects, but the game felt very much like I'd been there before.

Hmm, there are soem things that would either be impossible or very limiting on SMW for the NES, least of which would be the music. Having the gameplay that smooth for one (and even then there's some slowdown -much less in the allstars release), having as many sprites without excessive flicker, as large or detailed sprites, and color. Plus visual effects, transparency, multiple BG planes (particularly the cave and castle levels with BGs moving in multiple directions simulatneously -some done by sprites I think), and the several instinces of mode 7 for bosses. (and the scene/level transtions as well)

[j_factor]

The only game I know of that supported 720p on the Xbox was Soul Calibur II. I don't recall playing any Xbox games in 1080i though, even though the Xbox dashboard would let you checkmark that setting for games that supported it. GT4 on the PS2 supported 1080i, btw.

The first console game (in history) to support 1080i was Dragon's Lair 3D for Xbox. Not a whole lot of games used it, but it was supported.

GT4 doesn't truly support 1080i, it "fakes" it. From what I understand, the game's actual resolution in 1080i mode is 640x540(p). It takes that image, interlaces it, and triples the horizontal resolution, in order to end up with 1920x1080i. That would also be why it doesn't look very good.

Come to think of it, I'm not positive that 1080i Xbox games don't use similar trickery. But Xbox definitely supports "real" 720p at least.

Rogue Squadron II was the most techinically impressive game of that generation. It pushed the GC hardware beyond what Nintendo said the system was capable of. The last Madden on the GC was often praised as being the best looking version as well.

Rogue Squadron II? Really? It's a good looking game and all, but that's a bit silly.

And even though they don't say it, every single Xbox game supports 480p

Are you sure? I've always wondered about that.

What happened to the promised multi color Wii's?!

Nintendo has a record of showing systems in colors that they never make available. Whatever happened to the fuchsia, champagne, and lime green Gamecubes?

[PimpUigi]

I'm sure about every single game supporting 480p
Because I own many many games that claim to not support it, and I'm not sure if it's just my specific Xbox...but they all display in 480p

[kool kitty89]

I'm not sure, but I think the Xbox's video hardware may not even be capable of rendering an interlaced display. (480p would make the most sence given the PC architecture) And better for HDTVs and VGA monitors anyway. (with monitors not even working with SD signals) Which kind of sucks about the gamecube (and wii? at least for GC compatibility). Even for 480p compatible games, you have to select it, and that would mean starting on a SD compatible display and then switching to the monitor... (and we have a YPbPr to RGB converter for this specific purpose)
20" CRT, mulit-sync, awsome for 1440x1080 or 960x720 HD as well as 640x480p.

[gamevet]

Rogue Squadron II? Really? It's a good looking game and all, but that's a bit silly.

Rogue Squadron II pushed about 15 million polygons (Nintendo's spec sheets say the system was capable of about 10-12 million) during the space battles. Just the exhaust ports of the capitol ships were about 100K polygons. The game uses just about every effect the Gamecube could push. The Next-Gen magazine interview with Factor 5 covers everything they were able to push out of the system.

Factor 5 did amazing things with the Rogue Squadron series, and I believe RS on the N-64 was a benchmark title on that console as well.

Umm, I didn't find RSII all that impressive compared to some other GC games (rare's Star Fox adventures for instance -and there are better examples as well -perhaps some of the RE games)

How could you not see the brilliance of RSII? The light-sourcing, the spectacular ship models, the amount of ships participating in battle. It smoked the mighty Halo.

I've already stated my opinion of Star Fox Adventures. It was an okay game, but hardly did anything that made me think it was really pushing the hardware; Beyond Good and Evil was a better looking game. As far as the RE series goes on GC, RE4 was the only title that really stood out, but I don't think it did anything beyond what RSII did with the graphics.

Rebel Strike (RSIII) however, was certainly impressive, with more open environments, full 3D controll (albeit a bit clunky compared to real flight/space sims on PC and such -even X-wing, but better than the previous RS games in every respect though). Plus more varied gameplay (with ground missions) Awsome vs multiplayer (albeit limited to 2 player).
And on top of everyting else, it had the entire RSII game avalable as a split-screen co-op option!

RSIII is horrible. It had a solid engine, but the levels were hardly anything worth being amazed about.

[PimpUigi]

I hated RS3.
I loved RS2.

I was so sad about RS3's ground levels making the game suck.

: (

Split screen RS2 kicked ass though.
Good times.

[kool kitty89]

How could you not see the brilliance of RSII? The light-sourcing, the spectacular ship models, the amount of ships participating in battle. It smoked the mighty Halo.

I didn't think halo was all that great at the time either, cool, but not absolutely amazing. The fact that it had a 2-player co-op mode was what I noted most.
Sure it looked amazing next to say the Unreal games (though the gameplay and story was better in those, not to mention some of the level design), and the use of actual music rather than only ambient sounds was also a nice feature.
Then again, co-op (or multiplayer in general) is almost always a significant feature for me. (my brother, dad, and I had a great time playing Serious Sam via LAN, man that game is fun -mostly the first 2)

RSIII is horrible. It had a solid engine, but the levels were hardly anything worth being amazed about.

I hated RS3.
I loved RS2.

I was so sad about RS3's ground levels making the game suck.

: (

Split screen RS2 kicked ass though.
Good times.

I got bored with RS-II, even with various cheats enabled. RS III was awesome, open levels, freedom, great variety of ships, mix of space, terrestrial/atmospheric, and on-foot missions. I still like any of the X-wing series better in terms of flying though. (the fact that RSIII got closer compared to its predicessors was significant though)
The ground missions are a little frustrating at first, but once you get a hang of the controlls, they're great. (rather like Star Fox Assault -thogh in that case it would have been ideal to allow ship/tank/man to have unique control set-ups, you're stuck with tank+man though, so you have to compromise -the multiplyer in that game added too, though the lack of bots, widescreen, or cockpit/1st person views kind of sucked)

The co-op RS-II revamped that game for me though, it made it a lot more fun (though my brother and I never managed to get though the final stage, damn tight corridores -I had to chear in X-Wing Alliance to get through that -by turining on the invulnerability option, I'm great with assaults and open space dogfights, not so good in tight quarters though)

The vs multiplayer of RS III is what really did it for me though, especially with all the ships and levels available.

The Atari arcade games (especially the 2 wireframe ones) were also great additions.


I'm not sure about polygon count, draw distance, or whatnot, but RSIII looked better in general to me. Of course, I haven't played either in progressive mode. (and I can't remember if both offer widescreen or not)


My biggest complaint is with bugs, the controls would sometimes go weird an make you stick (though the only reason this was less of an issue on the previous 2 games was because they lacked the open air/space environments), that and sometimes you can't destroy things (like the sheilds/bridge of the star destroyers in multiplayer), the Mellenium Falcon's waypoint dissapearing after going into cockpit mode, stuff like that. Plus the still restricted space environments. If the 1993 PC X-Wing (and all others in the series) could have boundless space enviroments, why couldn't RSIII?

[gamevet]

I got bored with RS-II, even with various cheats enabled. RS III was awesome, open levels, freedom, great variety of ships, mix of space, terrestrial/atmospheric, and on-foot missions. I still like any of the X-wing series better in terms of flying though. (the fact that RSIII got closer compared to its predicessors was significant though)

The On-foot mission were horrible. They were a big step away from what the Rogue Sqaudron franchise was about, epic space battles. There was nothing about those on-foot missions that made me think the hardware was really being pushed either. The reviews tend to agree that RSIII was not as great as RSII.

I'd have to say that RSII got about 75% more playtime from me, over the inferior RSIII. The game wasn't that fun, and even RS on the N64 was a better game experience.

I'm not sure about polygon count, draw distance, or whatnot, but RSIII looked better in general to me. Of course, I haven't played either in progressive mode. (and I can't remember if both offer widescreen or not)

I honestly don't see how you could think otherwise. There was nothing about RSIII that made me think it was a better looking game than the previous title.

[PimpUigi]

Oh, I loved RS3's flight battles...I played all the first two levels of them or so.

Then I couldn't beat an on the ground part of a mission, and gave up never to play the game again, never getting to experience the goodness the rest of the game may have had to offer.

I had read the reviews (people I don't listen to, bit me in the butt this time) about how bad the on foot missions were, and how they account for half of the game...I wasn't prepared to deal with that. I was hoping they'd be as good as Rebel Assault's on the ground missions. I figured there's no way they could be worse, and to the point of not being fun at all.

No such luck.
Game potential wasted.

[Baloo]

I only have Rebel Strike, and I love it. I haven't really played much of Rogue Squadron, but from the first few levels I've played, it seems like a lot of fun as well.

The ground missions are pretty meh in RSIII, but I still think the game is very enjoyable overall.

[David J.]

I dunno about console wars but this guy loves his PS3 a little too much:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVwiROEIHic

Sonichu! I mean Dragonboy!

[kool kitty89]

Oh, I loved RS3's flight battles...I played all the first two levels of them or so.

Then I couldn't beat an on the ground part of a mission, and gave up never to play the game again, never getting to experience the goodness the rest of the game may have had to offer.

I had read the reviews (people I don't listen to, bit me in the butt this time) about how bad the on foot missions were, and how they account for half of the game...I wasn't prepared to deal with that. I was hoping they'd be as good as Rebel Assault's on the ground missions. I figured there's no way they could be worse, and to the point of not being fun at all.

No such luck.
Game potential wasted.

I found the ground missions quite playable, more fluid than, say, in Star Fox Assault. Not my favorite part, but still decent fun and playble. (my least favorite part in the entire game was probably the Super Star Destroyer trench run)

The open space levels with full 3D movement are what really did it, feilds of massive astroids or debris from starships, dogfigts int he midst of capital ship battles, assaults on star destroyers, raids on secret bases and outer space ship yards. Great fun! (especially with the Tie Hunter, Naboo or Jedi starfighters)

And vs multiplayer is great, with all those same levels, including a massively open cloud city and hoth. (on hoth, from the surface through the clouds)

[Knuckle Duster]

I found the ground missions quite playable, more fluid than, say, in Star Fox Assault. Not my favorite part, but still decent fun and playble. (my least favorite part in the entire game was probably the Super Star Destroyer trench run)

The open space levels with full 3D movement are what really did it, feilds of massive astroids or debris from starships, dogfigts int he midst of capital ship battles, assaults on star destroyers, raids on secret bases and outer space ship yards. Great fun! (especially with the Tie Hunter, Naboo or Jedi starfighters)

And vs multiplayer is great, with all those same levels, including a massively open cloud city and hoth. (on hoth, from the surface through the clouds)

Co-op Multiplayer in RSIII was the entirety of RS II's levels. But other than that, both games weren't as cool as the original RS on N64. That game with an expansion pak looked great for it's time, and along with Shadows of the Empire it made the N64 well worth owning.