rec.autos.simulators

by **Kevin Clar** » Fri, 15 Mar 2002 19:22:33

> Help me understand this...

> Why would sim racer buy a console?

Because sometimes you just fancy a break and a console allows you to
plug in a kick the ***out of someone on tekken or resident evil for a change.
Also GT3, while perhaps not the hard core sim some people seem to think
it is/should be, is ... er.......FUN! You don't have to worry about bump
***s or diff settings, just load up the skyline and go for a blast.

Kev

by **Damien Smit** » Fri, 15 Mar 2002 19:39:37

Well, I was talking console games, but feel free to add GP3 to the list.

--
Damien Smith

ICQ: 77028579
F12001 rank: +21.435

by **Damien Smit** » Fri, 15 Mar 2002 19:56:40

> > Help me understand this...

> > Why would sim racer buy a console?
> > I understand that some good sims are being ported over,
> > but why would a person with a fast computer/video card be interested in
a
> > console?

> Got me. Games that can't be patched or user modified, driven with your
> thumbs. If that was my only choice, I wouldn't race. IMHO.

That's the problem with PC games - they're usually released unfinished and
then some dodgy patch turns up a month later that causes invalid page faults
on brand X mainboards etc.etc. Console games are very heavily beta-tested
on identical hardware.

The X-box, for example, only has one brand of graphics card. Programmers
can squeeze every last drop of performance out of it (and the CPU) You can
buy an X-box for less than the cost of a half-decent PC video card and you
don't have to worry about upgrading in 6-12 months. For your US$300, you'll
get cutting edge graphics for at least 3-4 years. Imagine how embarassingly
old a PC would feel after 3-4years and only spending $300 on it. The X-box
seems to be the first console aimed more at ***s so I wouldn't be
surprised if a few sim developers contribute to it. And FF wheels are on
the way...

I'm not about to buy one just yet - but if my predictions are correct, I'll
be glad to see the back of my XP 2000+ and GF4 and it's endless upgrades.

--
Damien Smith

ICQ: 77028579
F12001 rank: +21.435

by **Damien Smit** » Fri, 15 Mar 2002 20:42:50

Wow. I'm in the exact same boat and agree 100%.

Sometimes you scare me, Haqsau. You regularly sound like a parallel
universe version of me. ?: |

by **Damien Smit** » Fri, 15 Mar 2002 20:50:06

Do yourself a favour and get hold of "Vanishing Point" It's arguably the
most impressive game available on Dreamcast and has quite a sim feel to it
though it's kind of a NFS clone (but much better).

I also like F355 and I've noticed it feels quite similar to the GT mod for
F12001 (not as bumpy though!)

by **Joe6** » Sat, 16 Mar 2002 02:48:58

On Wed, 13 Mar 2002 04:50:34 -0500, "Glaspak"

>Why would sim racer buy a console?

- Because I like driving games (not just sims) and other action games
- Sometimes it's nice to just play, WITHOUT having to
- install patches
- maintain and upgrade system
- tweak the hell out of a game and downgrade graphics
to get a decent frame-rate, etc.
- Better performance in general (consoles are optimized for 3D
graphics, and the games are optimized for specific consoles - niether
is true on PCs)
- More choices of games

PS2 GT3 works great with the force-feedback wheel. You can even use
one of the Logitech ones on both PS2 and PC.

by **Joe6** » Sat, 16 Mar 2002 02:50:57

Sometimes I wish PC games had that same benefit. Console games WORK,
out of the box, because they have to. Every PC developer should be
made to develop at least one console game, to get some concept of real
QA.

by **Haqsa** » Sat, 16 Mar 2002 10:02:20

Then we had better not ever meet, might destroy the universe or
something. ;o)

by **jbod** » Sat, 16 Mar 2002 14:40:19

I bought a Dreamcast, a Dreamcast Thrustmaster NASCAR wheel, F355
Challenge, Test Drive LeMans, Soul Calibur, and Dead or Alive 2, and
two arcade stick controllers, all for less than $150 (US). F355 is a
GREAT sim, and TDLM for the DC is MUCH better than the PC version --

Calibur and DOA2 -- my wife loves both games, and we've had some
AWESOME tag-team matches in DOA2.

Tons of fun for much less than a single GeForce4 card.

My question is why WOULDN'T you buy a Dreamcast?

;-)

-- JB

> Help me understand this...

> Why would sim racer buy a console?
> I understand that some good sims are being ported over,
> but why would a person with a fast computer/video card be interested in a
> console?

> What about FF controllers/clutch pedals, etc?
> I know that Act-Labs have console "engines".

> I've never owned a console, but I guess that I equate Rally Champ 2000 with
> the arcadish-style navigation.
> When I checked out the TOCA2 demo, that same style really turned me off.

> Yet, it seems that many people in this forum play driving games on the
> console boxes.

> With the X-box and a mutated WSC coming, it's forced me to ask...

by **Positive** » Sun, 17 Mar 2002 05:45:30

The Xbox isn't just any old Pentium. It's a PIII-733 with an advanced
nVidia Gforce3 chip onboard and a 10Gig HD + Ethernet card.

Project Gotham Racing and Rally Sport Challenge (I own both for the Xbox)
are awesome driving games. I also have a PC (ATI Radeon 7500, PIII-733)
with a Logitech driving wheel. I also own F1-2001 and GPL for the PC.

I think there's definitely room for both devices in my house. But guess
what's getting played more lately? The Xbox. Dolby 5.1 and HDTV support
are awesome, plus I can put up my feet on the couch. As mentioned, you
drop in a disk, sit back and enjoy. It's the no fuss driving meal.

: Why?
:
: Simple: no hardware conflicts to***around with endlessly.
:
: And, with companies writing driving/racing titles for use with wheels
(i.e.
: Gran Turismo 3 was written for use with a Logitec wheel, and I believe
this
: wheel will also work with EA's F1 2001) and the line is already starting
to
: blur.
:
: Also, the xBox is essentially a 12 month old Pentium computer with a TV
: output. So as time passes it will be easier and easier for game developers
: to release both their titles for PC users AND set console users (for xBox
at
: least).
:
: For me personally, I'm really tired of dealing with all the hardware
issues
: of PC racing. Every time a new game comes out, it seems like something
needs
: to be upgraded or fiddled with ("Damn! Wheel wont calibrate ... What?! Now
: it's not seeing the peddles ... OK 2 hours later and I'm ready to race!").
:
: Buying a console (and I haven't gotten one yet) allows a person to power
the
: thing up, drop in a disc and start playing. A year from now, I could get
the
: latest version of F1 2003 and do the same thing without worrying.
:
: And that makes owning a console a very attractive option for me.
:
: TB
:
:

: > Organization: MindSpring Enterprises
: > Newsgroups: rec.autos.simulators
: > Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 04:50:34 -0500
: > Subject: Why would a sim-racer buy a console?
: >
: > Help me understand this...
: >
: > Why would sim racer buy a console?
: > I understand that some good sims are being ported over,
: > but why would a person with a fast computer/video card be interested in
a
: > console?
: >
: > What about FF controllers/clutch pedals, etc?
: > I know that Act-Labs have console "engines".
: >
: > I've never owned a console, but I guess that I equate Rally Champ 2000
with
: > the arcadish-style navigation.
: > When I checked out the TOCA2 demo, that same style really turned me off.
: >
: > Yet, it seems that many people in this forum play driving games on the
: > console boxes.
: >
: > With the X-box and a mutated WSC coming, it's forced me to ask...
: >
: >
: