rec.autos.simulators

What unit, PC or TV?

: How big is your unit?
:

: > Well the day you can run 1600x1200 on a 61 inch PC monitor, you let me
: know!
: >
: > 10 feet away, it looks as good as 2' away from my 1024x768 PC screen.
: >
: >
: >


: > : Something about only 340,000 pixels (NTSC) doesn't...for me.
: > :


: > : > Since I've got an X, I haven't even looked at the PC for games.
: > : > I have a good PC too.
: > : > Something about a big screen, a couch and surround sound just does
it.
: > : >
: > : >

: > : message

: > : > : Does anyone rate the Xbox then?
: > : > :
: > : > : Just wondered - buying a PS2 or an Xbox looks a damn sight
: > : > : better bet than replacing my PC.
: > : > :
: > : > : Steve
: > : > :
: > : > :
: > : >
: > : >
: > :
: > :
: >
: >
:
:

You will need games though.  The problem at present is that the game
developers are only putting out 480p games.

There's a real nice FAQ being compiled on the Xbox.  Lots of discussion over
on the public microsoft news server (news.microsoft.com), in particular the
"microsoft.public.xbox" news group.
Boid is handling the FAQ at http://www.xboxfaq.info.

: That's one of the things in the pipeline, as I understand it.  First, tho,
: they need a Net connection, no?
:




: > > Well the day you can run 1600x1200 on a 61 inch PC monitor, you let me
: > know!
: > >
: > > 10 feet away, it looks as good as 2' away from my 1024x768 PC screen.
: >
: > Doesn't the X-box support HDTV?  Anyone seen it?
: >
: > --
: > Damien Smith

: > ICQ: 77028579
: > F12001 rank: +21.468
: >
: >
: >
:
:

Looks like totally different capabilities to me.  Also where did you get the
30FPS stat?  I don't remember even seeing developers state their frame
rates.

:
: Well, on paper, the X-box can move way more polygons than the PS2 or DC
: (which incidentally have fairly similar polygon capabilities)  It's
: difficult to comprehend why 30fps games are still making an appearance on
: X-box.
:

Also didn't mean to imply you needed to be online to use HDTV (which would
be quite a trick, since my cable bandwidth can barely handle 640x480).

I see the PS2 is already online in Japan.  Must be great to play GT3 against
flesh n'n *** opponents!

--Steve

: What?!?!?  Yer talkin abt. yer TV?!?!?  I guess if yer 10 ft. away, it
must
: be bigger than mine.
:

: > That's a rather personal question Steve!  How big is yours?  :-)
: >
: > What unit, PC or TV?
: >


: > : How big is your unit?
: > :


: > : > Well the day you can run 1600x1200 on a 61 inch PC monitor, you let
me
: > : know!
: > : >
: > : > 10 feet away, it looks as good as 2' away from my 1024x768 PC
screen.
: > : >
: > : >
: > : >


: > : > : Something about only 340,000 pixels (NTSC) doesn't...for me.
: > : > :


: > : > : > Since I've got an X, I haven't even looked at the PC for games.
: > : > : > I have a good PC too.
: > : > : > Something about a big screen, a couch and surround sound just
does
: > it.
: > : > : >
: > : > : >

wrote
: in
: > : > : message

: > : > : > : Does anyone rate the Xbox then?
: > : > : > :
: > : > : > : Just wondered - buying a PS2 or an Xbox looks a damn sight
: > : > : > : better bet than replacing my PC.
: > : > : > :
: > : > : > : Steve
: > : > : > :
: > : > : > :
: > : > : >
: > : > : >
: > : > :
: > : > :
: > : >
: > : >
: > :
: > :
: >
: >
:
:

Way off topic here, but does anyone have any good recommendations or web
links for TVs?

: What?!?!?  Yer talkin abt. yer TV?!?!?  I guess if yer 10 ft. away, it
must
: be bigger than mine.
:

: > That's a rather personal question Steve!  How big is yours?  :-)
: >
: > What unit, PC or TV?
: >


: > : How big is your unit?
: > :


: > : > Well the day you can run 1600x1200 on a 61 inch PC monitor, you let
me
: > : know!
: > : >
: > : > 10 feet away, it looks as good as 2' away from my 1024x768 PC
screen.
: > : >
: > : >
: > : >


: > : > : Something about only 340,000 pixels (NTSC) doesn't...for me.
: > : > :


: > : > : > Since I've got an X, I haven't even looked at the PC for games.
: > : > : > I have a good PC too.
: > : > : > Something about a big screen, a couch and surround sound just
does
: > it.
: > : > : >
: > : > : >

wrote
: in
: > : > : message

: > : > : > : Does anyone rate the Xbox then?
: > : > : > :
: > : > : > : Just wondered - buying a PS2 or an Xbox looks a damn sight
: > : > : > : better bet than replacing my PC.
: > : > : > :
: > : > : > : Steve
: > : > : > :
: > : > : > :
: > : > : >
: > : > : >
: > : > :
: > : > :
: > : >
: > : >
: > :
: > :
: >
: >
:
:

: Thx, Pos--I didn't know.  (Then again, I didn't know about acid reflux
: disease, either).  The Xbox FAQs will come in handy when I write my Motor
: Trend article.
:

Let us know the issue date for your article, might pick it up.

Had a friend who wants to go the DV/PCTV route and he wound up going with a
65-inch Mitsu.  Talk about a big unit!  I think he made an even bigger
mistake.  The best specs I saw were for a 50-ish Pioneer, 16/9, with a line
doubler.  Unless you think you can hook into a lot of HDTV sources (there
seem to be no DVD standard, certainly none recordable, which leaves you with
only off-air or cable), I think a line-doubler, which will improve almost
any NTSC source except progressive scan, is the best thing you can do for
watching TV or playing games.  Lemme see if I can find some links:

http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/0-6342366-8-8994967-3.html?ta...
.6342366-8-8994967-2.arrow.6342366-8-8994967-3

http://800stereo.org/denonavr2802.html

http://800stereo.org/denonavr1802.html

http://www.hometheatermag.com/showarchives.cgi?107

This is the one:

http://www.hometheatermag.com/showarchives.cgi?37

http://www.hometheatermag.com/showarchives.cgi?37

http://www.ilovehdtv.com/hdtvmagazine/menu.html

http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/0-3219398-8-6807013-1.html?ta...

http://www.tvone.com/index.shtml

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/

That oughtta hold you for awhile!

--Steve

Erm, I think you only half read what I typed.  I said:

"Well, on paper, the X-box can move way more polygons than the PS2 or DC
(which incidentally have fairly similar polygon capabilities)"

I meant that the PS2 and DC have similar *actual* polygon capabilities.  The
X-box is way ahead.  Can I make it any clearer?

What?  It doesn't even have the Dreamcast on that page!  Also those figures
are meaningless.  It lists the PS2 as having 66 M polygons /s - it doesn't
mention that it's flat out displaying a tenth of those because of its
castrated video ram.

Seen Halo?  Seen Wreckless?  Seen Oddworld?  They're 30fps games - anyone
who's not blind should be able to pick the difference.

I don't need a developer to tell what frame rate their games run at - I'm
not blind.

--
Damien Smith

ICQ: 77028579
F12001 rank: +21.468

: > Looks like totally different capabilities to me.
:
: What?  It doesn't even have the Dreamcast on that page!  Also those
figures
: are meaningless.  It lists the PS2 as having 66 M polygons /s - it doesn't
: mention that it's flat out displaying a tenth of those because of its
: castrated video ram.
:

Those figures are not totally meaningless.
Hey why not throw in the Atari 2600 into the mix here too.
It's in the same boat as the Dreamcast! ;-)

: > Also where did you get the
: > 30FPS stat?
:
: Seen Halo?  Seen Wreckless?  Seen Oddworld?  They're 30fps games - anyone
: who's not blind should be able to pick the difference.
:

I own Halo and Oddworld, finished both of them, awesome games.

I'm not saying they're NOT 30fps games, but I'm not saying they are either.
I honestly don't know.
You appear to, so what's your source?
I certainly can't count 30 frames per second so I'm looking for published
stats.
I like to see technical facts on this, no matter how good my 15/20 Mark I
eyeballs are.

Just so it's clear to everyone I don't think the Xbox is governed to some
magical 30fps limit.
Project Gotham Racing is reportedly 60fps.  I own that as well.

: > I don't remember even seeing developers state their frame
: > rates.
:
: I don't need a developer to tell what frame rate their games run at - I'm
: not blind.
:

Neither am I, Halo looks great and is an excellent game (wheither it's 30fps
or not).

I've got both PS2 and Xbox. I have GT3 and Project Gotham. I prefer the Xbox
hardware, just about every thing about it is better than a PS2 (the one
execption is the controller). However, There is no compairing Project Gotham
to GT3. GT3 is a sim lite, where PGR is a pure arcade racer. There are a
couple of really good racing games for the Xbox though, F1 2001 (the best in
my opinion), and Rallisport challenge.
I don't play racing games on the PC any more. But I'm not a typical hard
core GPL pilot either. If you enjoy games like NFS, and even F1 2001
(although it's much easier on the PS2 and Xbox), then I would recommend
either system. But if all you play is N4 (or N2002) or GPL, I would not
recommend them. As for which is better, I would look at the availible games,
and the games to be released soon, and make a descion based on that.