rec.autos.simulators

--
-- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard>
-- http://www.racesimcentral.net/
-- This announcement is brought to you by the Shimato Dominguez
Corporation - helping America into the New World...

: > My only real complaints are the lack of a***pit mode
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: No***pit mode?  Why even bother to talk about it here...  :) :(
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: --
: -- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard>
: -- http://www.racesimcentral.net/
: -- This announcement is brought to you by the Shimato Dominguez
: Corporation - helping America into the New World...
:
:
:

Max Payne looks better on xbox because it came from a PC
EA Sports games (like SSX Tricky and Madden 02) look better on PS2, because
they are 2nd gen PS2 titles.

I am not defending my choice. I actually said the GC was better, but I went
for the PS2 because I personally prefer some of the PS2 games to GC games.
How is that being biased towards PS2? I think the most playable games
available will all be on GC. But I want a little more variety.

I didn't mean ALL of the xbox owners try to justify their personal choices,
just the ones who go into EB or Dixons or whatever and get brainwashed by
the salesman. This is the current argument for xbox vs PS2:

xbox
has a HD, doesn't need memory cards
has 4 controller ports
4 player makes the screen too small
has more Mhz, even though it is from a non-*** architecture
is online out of the box
can play DVDs with the official remote (available separately from MS)
USB ports on console are redesigned so you can't plug your PC keyboard/mouse
in.
3rd party hardware must be officially endorsed by microsoft (probably with a
% of sales, too)
need to buy a memory card to transfer savegames to another system, or to use
your unlocked game characters against a friend in 2/4 player mode.
can buy a disc to make DVD region free

ps2
needs memory cards which are expensive
has 2 controller ports, expandable with multitaps(1 MT = 5 ports, 2MTs = 8
ports)
8 player games only work in sports sims etc where all characters are on
screen at once (pro evolution etc)
online requires an adapter at extra cost
DVD out of the box
can buy 3rd party controllers, remotes, multitaps etc without sony
endor***t
USB ports same as PC so keyboard/mouse/steering wheel can be transferred
across
can buy a disc or a memory card to make DVD region free
HD is available soon at extra cost (5x bigger than xbox HD)

when it is all added up, it is about the same price, but the nice man in
your local electronics store (who is probably on commission anyway) only
tells the xbox side of the argument. So many people buy xboxes and then
wonder if they really have been duped by the nice man. So they try to
convince themselves with unjustified argument. If you thought about it and
got an xbox because you personally wanted one, then good for you, please
ignore all of my comments, and maybe we will meet up in a cross-console
online *** world pretty soon.

Fair enough, and btw I wasn't as worked up as I probably sounded.  ;o)

True for split screen games, but 4 player in many fighting and sports
games doesn't require split screen.  Of course, the same can be said for
PS2 on this one, and if I understood you correctly the PS2 is expandable
to more than 4 players.  8 players in a team sports game would be a
blast.

Must admit I'm a bit jealous of that one.

One good thing about the XBox HD that many people aren't aware of is
that it is only used for storing saved games and settings, you don't
install games to it.  So it's small size relative to a PC hard drive
really isn't an issue (yet).

I think the primary difference between the two systems is that PS2 has a
ton of good games now, but XBox has a hard drive now, at no extra cost.
I find the hard drive very useful, not just for saved games but for
ripping music also.  Since I have the Xbox connected to my receiver, I
often just use it as a digital juke box.  And I expect that the XBox
will soon have some very good games, including Pro Race Driver and
Morrowwind, so I'm not that concerned about the current sparseness of
the selection.

Anyway I will readily admit that even though I had been looking forward
to the XBox since I first heard about it, I was still teetering between
the XBox and the PS2 all the way up to about a month before the XBox's
introduction.  I honestly very nearly bought a PS2 for GT3. But I am
happy with my XBox, and I'm glad you're happy with your PS2.

Regards,
Hal

Relying on a salesperson in a store to make your buying decisions would be
the first mistake. There are good games on both systems. I have both, but
right now for my tastes the Xbox is getting more games that appeal to me. I
also think that the Xbox has more features for the money. HDTV
support(currently only 480P), 5.1 surround, custom soundtracks, ethernet,
hard drive. By the way, 4 player split screen is great fun in all of these
games and the screens are definitely not too small at my house. You just
need a bigger TV to take advantage of it.

Kyle

Apparently, Final Fantasy X and XI will extensively use the HD, as will
Championship Manager on PS2 and some other games. Also I heard that you can
save music to it and games will use it in games like replays etc. Don't know
about that one, though. Other than that, I can't really see the benefit yet.
It will come into it's own with the online connection though. Oh, and saving
games like Smackdown: Just Bring It which needs 4Mb (!?!) to save.

Nick.

I have a 28inch Panasonic flat widescreen, so it's not like i'm using a
portable TV or anything, but all the 4 player games I have played I haven't
really enjoyed, everything from Goldeneye through to racing games like TOCA
and Quake 3. But games like Pro Evolution, FIFA, and just about any sport
game are just fantastic with 8 players or more : I've played one of the
FIFAs with almost everybody on the pitch being controlled by a human - now
that was amazing! People get pulled out of position just like real life,
sometimes you don't pass to somebody because you know they are really
useless, etc, etc.

Back to my point, I never really got into 4 player splits coz from my sofa
(even with my big-screen TV) you can't see much.

The problem with 8 players though, is you need 2 multitaps (and 8
controllers). Between us, my mates have 8 controllers, and I recently bought
this little stand thing which is just amazing. It holds your PS2 in the
vertical position, it has an external on/off switch (so you don't have to
reach around the back of your console to turn it off), loads of AV
inputs/outputs (so it acts like a kind of splitter box between my PS2, Sky
Digital and DVD player), A 4 player multitap built in (with the ports spread
around the base), and has a DVD remote receiver built in, to use the
supplied remote. All for less than 20 (~$30). It is the best peripheral
ever and I thoroughly suggest all PS2 owners get one.

Nick.

:
: > Everybody has their own opinions, I was just expressing mine.
:
: Fair enough, and btw I wasn't as worked up as I probably sounded.  ;o)
:
: > 4 player makes the screen too small
:
: True for split screen games, but 4 player in many fighting and sports
: games doesn't require split screen.  Of course, the same can be said for
: PS2 on this one, and if I understood you correctly the PS2 is expandable
: to more than 4 players.  8 players in a team sports game would be a
: blast.

4 way looks quite good on a 16:9 HDTV

:
: > HD is available soon at extra cost (5x bigger than xbox HD)
:
: One good thing about the XBox HD that many people aren't aware of is
: that it is only used for storing saved games and settings, you don't
: install games to it.  So it's small size relative to a PC hard drive
: really isn't an issue (yet).
:

The DOA3 addon CD will supposedly use it, I also suspect that Online games
will also use it too.
Not to mention that you can use it to load Music CDs.   Wait and see, It'll
be used.

You don't need to reach around the back to turn it off, just hold the reset
button down for a couple of seconds.

Good point.  Expansions of any kind, whether it is add on content, a
custom controller driver, on-line capability or whatever will have to
use the hard drive.

True, but they are compressed (at I think 5:1 or so) so they don't
really take up much space.  On of the Xbox sites (wish I could remember
which one) tried to intentionally fill up the hard drive by repeatedly
copying music files.  I forget how many hours worth of music they
finally got on before it filled up, but it was way more than I have in
my CD collection.  I don't think I will need to worry about the hard
drive capacity for a few years (yes I know, famous last words!).