1 Kickstarter space sim

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1298800608/rogue-system

2 finally, a football thread!

3 That ginger is my favorite type of gaming system. Where can I play with it?

4 She has elbows!

5

So,

Destiny.

 

not sure what to think.  Could be cool, could be completely oversold.

If it ends up just being a bunch of instances strung together (ala WoW style) then it's just another FPS perhaps with a bit of Guildwars thrown in.

If they actually manage to pull of "living world" I'll be impressed.

Meanwhile, launching on the PS3 and Xbox 360? If I ever needed a reason to push off getting the next gen consoles, the number of good games still coming out for this Generation would be it.

6 What is the best gaming system to buy?

7 Other than me likey green stripe bikini top, I got nothin'

8 Which 'Ette is that?

9

Posted by: tsrblke at February 17, 2013 02:59 PM (GaqMa)

it will hit the next xbox and possibly the new playstation

What is the best gaming system to buy?

Posted by: Dr Spank at February 17, 2013 03:01 PM (w+Dvf)

depends on what your looking for. 360 has the best usability and multiplayer but it comes for a price (can typically find it for $35-40 on sale for a year). PS3 has the better exclusives. I personally wouldn't buy one atm, not with the new Xbox possibly releasing in September

10 Got my Atari 5200 running yesterday. So far I can only play Galaxian and SuperBreakout with the trackball until my controllers arrive next week.

11 And why buy a WiiU when you know they're going to be kicking the price down to boost shitty sales?

12 Vic said in the gun thread below, "Elbows up."

They are indeed "Up".

The elbows that is.

13 And why buy a WiiU when you know they're going to be kicking the price down to boost shitty sales?

Posted by: zsasz at February 17, 2013 03:10 PM (MMC8r)

yeah, that was a huge mistake with the 3DS, it gives the precedent that if it doesn't sell, they will quickly drop the price

14 The Uncanny Valley at it's best.

15 Forbes has a nice 2 page article about Destiny. http://tinyurl.com/bf5r6ah
That 10 year contract must have the folks at Bungie feeling pretty good. Makes me sick that it won't be available for the PC.

16 Makes me sick that it won't be available for the PC.

Posted by: and irresolute at February 17, 2013 03:22 PM (DBH1h)

they said:

At the game's reveal in Bungie's Bellevue, Washington office this week, attended by Eurogamer, Bungie COO Pete Parsons said: "It's a persistent, shared and connected world, so you will need to be connected [to the internet] to play Destiny."

On the possibility of a PC version, Parsons said: "We would absolutely love to be on the PC. If you talk to the people upstairs, we play it on all platforms. So, stay tuned." No mention was made of a Wii U version.

http://tinyurl.com/awtk2uw

17 So Danica Patrick is on the pole...

18

Speaking of gaming. Tiger and Skeets are on the links today playing 27 holes.

 

Hey, where are all da white women.

19 Packed in mic - It looks like there is a mic jack on the new controller prototype so hopefully they don't make the same folly of not having a mic packed it.

Is this English?

20 Dead Space 3 is all that. Even if you don't like horror, it is tremendous in every aspect including local 2 player coop My gaming life is still revolving around Star Wars the old republic mmo

21 Just hilarious listening to moron sportscasters trying to come up with PC ways to include the words 'Danica' and 'Pole' in the same sentence...

22 Is this English?

Posted by: weft cut-loop at February 17, 2013 03:32 PM (Ipj15)

mangled English, yes

23 So Danica Patrick is on the pole... Posted by: Grover's at February 17, 2013 03:28 PM (9aKQB) I'll be in my bunk.

24 Well if Tiger is publicly jaunting about with Obama, then that means that his media image will magically repair itself. Watch for the rumpswabs at ESPN  being extra solicitous around Tiger this year. He's been publicly blessed by the Savior.

25 Not even a gamer. Just here to avoid homework. My wife thinks I'm studying. Some things never change.

26 Did you say 'racing'?   Nascar?;  horse?

Danica Patrick is 'on the pole' (for next weeks Daytona 500, that is)
(remember this? wwwDOTyoutube.com/watch?v=-DTEbv3L5mI) 

27 Racing related: Iron Dog GPS tracking: http://irondog.ionearth.com/2013/irondog/

28 @21. Just best not to fight it. But, sportscasters are often the ones too short for sports and can't sing in the Glee club. So they gotta go somewhere.

29 So, wait. Danica Patrick moved up to Nascar?

30 #6

The one with the games you most want to play. It's really that simple.

If you want to complicate things, you can make a list. First, what kind of games do you like the most? Certain genres are very undersupported on consoles and a PC is the only option.

Second, what is your like/dislike for fiddling with stuff? Consoles are very plug and play, while PCs can have a certain amount of hassle to get everything working right. This is both good and bad. Few console games allow for user created content, while many PC games have a vast array of free content available to add.

You can keep adding more considerations. If you don't have any real answers for the first item, chances are you'll be happy with either machine, as both are now fairly cheap with vast libraries of cheap games to choose from.

31 Games should be more expensive than they are, just based on inflation. That doesn't even count larger dev teams. . An AAA title should probably be $100-120. One reason everyone wants to go to subscriptions and lots of DLCs. . Also, the reports of the death of PC gaming have been exaggerated for fifteen years now, though quality is certainly sliding down to console levels (bad ports). . I find myself having to use 3rd party aodtware to configure controls more and more.

32 Sometime soon (June 2013) MS is going to be starting to show it's Xbox 720 that may, among other things, allow two users on what are currently single user games, 1080p, 3D gaming and more. 

With all this power, the question begs to be asked is when is MS offering a W8 portal that would allow the Xbox to be used as a W8 computer?   Just saying, it's nice to surf the web on a big screen.  It might also get lots of folks who might otherwise not get an XBox to get an console for it's regular computer use.  Rumors are something like that may be in the works and could easily leave other gaming consoles without an OS link to fade to the background.  However, this is MS, whose marketing and development wizardry frequently seems to have a self inflicted rectal cranial inversion.

33 #9

I'd disagree. Now is an excellent time to buy a PS3 or Xbox 360. They're known quantities and qualities. If new releases for both machines stopped today, you'd still have years of good games to occupy you at low prices.

Unless they do something really amazing it will be at least a year before I buy either the PS4 or NextBox. I succumbed to madness with the Wii U and now feel like I should have waited, especially when I could have just gotten a Wii and caught up with the worthwhile titles there. The cost would have been a bit better in the long term.

If you have a lot of disposable income and are very big into gaming, being an early adopter can be rewarding but those days are behind me. Nowadays, I'd rather let wealthier people get a new platform through its teething period and wait until it can speak complete sentences and not shit itself before buying in.

34 PS3's are still 250-300 bucks on Amazon. I'll wait until the PS4 comes out and the 3 become closer to obsolete. I imagine they'll be under 100 some day.

35 Daniel Craig has one fine ass.

Just sayin'

36 I heard Goonswarm got rolled last night in Mechwarrior Online twice last night by Midnight Sons out of two matches.

37 I heard Goonswarm got rolled last night in Mechwarrior Online twice last night by Midnight Sons out of two matches.

Posted by: Deathknyte at February 17, 2013 04:09 PM (98X8y)

wouldn't surprise me, Goons aren't that great at MWO

38 PS3 is the best deal in gaming. All the good games are like $20-40 and if you go to GameStop, you can trade your old ones in for some credit. Gaming can be cheap in terms of entertainment hours per dollar. PS3s are awesome.

39 Just got back from a nice extended cruise on the scoot.  Second ride out and second time some asshole tried to change lanes on top of us.  I love humanity.

All in all though, it's a gorgeous day here in DFW, 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  Spent a few hours at White Rock Lake and the Dallas Arboretum.  Won't be going back to the Arboretum...$40 bucks for two to walk around and admire flowers?  I'll just go to the local garden center thanks.

Hope y'all are having a great Sunday.

40 #31

Not really. The sales volumes are orders of magnitude higher than in the past but pricing hasn't changed all that much at the high end.

Back in the mid to late 80s when I was working at Cinemaware, moving 50,000 units of a game for any computer platform was regarded as a big success. The NES revived the console market and offered much higher number but at a considerable cost. You had to pay for a ROM cartridge and a royalty on top of that. The capital outlay to ship a game in decent quantity (assuming Nintendo liked you that month) was well beyond most computer game publishers, despite the severe limitations of the NES as a platform.

Games for the SNES and Genesis frequently got up to $80, with a few like VR Racing (that included a supplementary DSP chip in the cart) going higher. These were the games using the largest data volume or very small production runs.

The common $60 price point we have today is using much less expensive media, if any (Steam/XBLA/PSN) and far better production level management and inventory control. Nowadays it trivial to order up a bunch more discs for delivery within days. Back in the cartridge days if you didn't order enough it could be six months before you could get another production run. By then a game might have lost its appeal and it was no longer worth bothering.

If anything, the $60 console game is overpriced. The industry engages in a self-fulfilling prophecy of estimating sales volumes but chickens out on seeing how many more customers it could reach in the first quarter of release if the price were $40 or some other number. With the installed base of consoles getting into the many tens of millions there is no reason why games selling ten million units are so rare, except price. If you look at the turnover of used games in places like GameStop there is significant evidence the industry could a lot more volume if the prices were more reasonable.

There is a certain stigma attached to used games, or perhaps a status attached to new games. People feel better about getting the new item but price can overcome that desire. This even applies to discounting. Most hit games will later be released in a 'Greatest Hits' version for a much lower price point and slightly different packaging. It's amazed me the number of people who somehow think a game is better if it is in the clear (PS3) or green (Xbox) box instead of the red or gray box. It's the exact same game but it makes a status statement if an observer might assume the owner paid the full release price for it. Having a lower price at launch would benefit from this irrationality.

I've never been to a movie theater and found the box office charging different prices depending on what the movie cost to make. The only price difference has been based more on the theater's cost for having a 3D projection system or an Imax room. The movie business continues to be hugely profitable, even though they'll claim to have never made a penny.

41 The problem with the PS3 is that there are too many good games that simply don't play properly on it. For example, see just about anything put out by Bethesda.

I've heard nothing but horror stories about what happens when people try to play "Skyrim," "Oblivion," "Fallout 3" and/or "Fallout New Vegas" on the PS3.

It's a fine machine, on the whole, but if I had to choose, I'd choose an Xbox 360.

42 Also, the used prices for Xbox 360 games are consistently lower than the used prices for identical games for the PS3.

43 The Linux port of Steam dropped Thursday. Since I run almost all Linux at the house, I've been seeing how the other half lived four or five years ago.

44 Both System Shocks suffered from having the player do too much.

More shoot em up than role player and too much stuff to have to do for a shoot em up.

For their time they were really great and in some ways were cutting edge.

Too high a learning curve, poor monster ai and not smooth enough frames no matter how high your frame rate was.

They did better in some ways in SS2 but by then we had DukeNukem3D and Descent I and II and they had much faster action, less story and convoluted puzzles to figure out.

they improved the monster AI and the movement but still too much to do and switching back and forth between pickup modes and shooting could still get you killed off before you knew what happened.

Liked the music and most of the sounds.

They are Iconic but don't hold up too well to even Doom3.

They tried to cover too many bases and failed.

I am the proud owner of both and the game guides for both.

 

45 6 What is the best gaming system to buy?

Posted by: Dr Spank at February 17, 2013 03:01 PM (w+Dvf)

AR-15.

46

Posted by: The Dude at February 17, 2013 03:06 PM (vJdyz)

 

Dude,

They're saying flat up "Xbox 360."

It may launch on the next xbox too I suppose, but still, strange that they aren't holding it to that.

47 This is an entire thread that is incomprehensible to me.  LOL!

I quit playing video games about the time of Super Mario Brothers II.

Get off my lawn  (And have a nice Sunday evening.)

48 29 So, wait. Danica Patrick moved up to Nascar?

Posted by: Pug Mahon, who is bored right now at February 17, 2013 03:39 PM (6rcHp)

More like GoDaddy put up serious coin to put her into Nascar's Cup Series. She didn't do much in the Nationwide Series last year, and getting the pole at Daytona is more car than driver. I'm sure Rick Hendrick, oh wait, I'm sorry, Tony Stewart put her in the best car and engine that they had. Look for her to take out 1/4 of the field by about lap 75.

49 So I tried out some of the big free to play mmos the last few weeks. Dungeons & Dragons Online DC Universe Online Star Wars: something something Old Republic The DCU one had pretty amazing graphics and was surprisingly fun. I can see how these style games can be addictive. I'd avoided ever getting addicted to the mmorps cause I'm cheap and didn't want to pay a monthly fee. And I'd been limping along an old laptop too weak to play a game like DCU. But then it died and I got a new one that's plenty fast. Seems like these mmorpgs all started as pay to play and then went f2p after some # of years. Is that the norm now? (Except for Warcraft, of course.) The only game I really want to buy is Civ5.

50

Posted by: epobirs at February 17, 2013 03:54 PM (kcfmt)

 

 

 

I've always waited 6months-1 year before buying into a console and so far it's paid out for me in dividends.

There's usually enough backlog in the game's catalogue for me to play that long.

General rule of thumb, wait until they start their second production run (or the first one with changes.)

For me that meant waiting until the second gen Xbox360 processors, but I also never head a RROD.  (Sadly though, a few months after I got my xbox they started stocking more HDD space in them)

51 #32

Xbox 360 added Internet Explorer in its last major firmware update. No need to wait for the next generation machine.

Beyond that, there just isn't much reason to have Win8 stuff running on a game console. While Microsoft may make it very easy for developers to recompile their Modern UI apps for the new console, the console environment isn't encouraging of freeware. When MS sells a Win8 license they're already in profits. When they sell an Xbox it still remains for software to generate any net revenue.

If XBLA isn't kept separate from the Windows Store I'll be very surprised. A bigger question is how they will offer continuity for owners of the Xbox 360. If the rumored specs are true, it's going to be very hard to emulate a 3.2 GHz PPC on a 1.6 GHz x86 processor. (Though the PPC in this case is an in-order design, which may mitigate some of the clock rate difference.)

It appears Sony is going to offer backward compatibility to the PS3 via streaming. What remains unknown is whether this will be solely for new purchases of PS3 games on the PS4 or there will be some addition to the PSN+ subscription to allow those with PS3 libraries to use their games on the new machine.

52 Posted by: The Dude at February 17, 2013 03:06 PM (vJdyz)

Dude,
They're saying flat up "Xbox 360."
It may launch on the next xbox too I suppose, but still, strange that they aren't holding it to that.

Posted by: tsrblke at February 17, 2013 04:34 PM (GaqMa)

they can't say shit till the new consoles are officially reveled. They're in the same position that Ubisoft and LucasArts are in. They can show it but they can't say anything about what hardware it's running on, just elude to it (which they showed the press of it running on new hardware on the shindig they had on Friday)

53

If XBLA isn't kept separate from the Windows Store I'll be very surprised. A bigger question is how they will offer continuity for owners of the Xbox 360. If the rumored specs are true, it's going to be very hard to emulate a 3.2 GHz PPC on a 1.6 GHz x86 processor. (Though the PPC in this case is an in-order design, which may mitigate some of the clock rate difference.)

 

Well keep in mind they're doubling the number of cores from 4 to 8 (and I think the 4 in the 360 includes one of the graphics cores.)

While I recognize "double the cores" does not mean "Double the power" the standardization model of consoles should allow developers to better utilize the multiple core infrastructure.

It also depends on how they decide to emulate.  Kinect titles might actually be the easiest since the current generation Kinect has to reserve some (15% IIRC) of the Xbox's processing power to handle Kinect input.

54 If I'm not mistaken, even with the weak January the WiiU has still outsold the PS3 and Xbox 360 at this same point in their lifecycles.

55 It appears Sony is going to offer backward compatibility to the PS3 via streaming. What remains unknown is whether this will be solely for new purchases of PS3 games on the PS4 or there will be some addition to the PSN+ subscription to allow those with PS3 libraries to use their games on the new machine.

Posted by: epobirs at February 17, 2013 04:40 PM (kcfmt)

would not be shocked at all if BC carried a PS+ prerequisite. Still curious in how they will tag you owning a PS3 game as I don't see them opening up the full library nor do I expect them to make you buy the games again

56 #50

I held out pretty long on both the Xbxo 360 and PS3. For a while my brother was living with us following his divorce and he had bought both those consoles and a Wii in the typical parental bidding war for the children's loyalty. They didn't get much use because he found he had no interest in gaming and I was waiting for stuff I really wanted to get cheap. (So when I finally got my own machines after my brother moved out I already had a fair library for each.) I had a huge backlog of games from earlier generations I'd barely played.

I used to be big on getting new machines at launch with the one must-have game, assuming there was one. Then waiting and mainly playing the older machines until there was more choices on the new one. But back then I had writing jobs that were served by having direct knowledge of the latest gear. Losing that incentive made it easier to wait.

57 Short. Concise. But who's the digital babe?

58 Still curious in how they will tag you owning a PS3 game[/] 1. Put disc in drive. 2. Machine reads ID off drive. 3. Machine says "Oh snap, PS3!" and hits the server instead of futzing around with the disc anymore.

59 The Danica circus is actually bad for Nascar, long term. Just look at what she did for IndyCar -- nothing. She stole the media oxygen from the real star drivers and left the series worse off than when she started. IndyCar kept hoping her media hype would rub off on the series, the cars, or the other drivers. It never did. I don't blame her. It's good for her. But bad for the sport.

60 I know where the barrel is.

61 they can't say shit till the new consoles are officially reveled. They're in the same position that Ubisoft and LucasArts are in. They can show it but they can't say anything about what hardware it's running on, just elude to it (which they showed the press of it running on new hardware on the shindig they had on Friday)

Posted by: The Dude at February 17, 2013 04:43 PM (vJdyz)

 

Well yeah that I understand, but they're offering pre-orders specifically for the 360 (and all the reports are that it will be released on that system.) Interviews confirm a 360 version.

I think you'd disappoint a lot of people if you suddenly reneged on that promise.

I'm not saying it won't be on the next gen systems. I'm just saying I'm surprised they're going to release on the current gen ones as well.

62 If I'm not mistaken, even with the weak January the WiiU has still outsold the PS3 and Xbox 360 at this same point in their lifecycles.

Posted by: Chris at February 17, 2013 04:45 PM (Ta7hi)

Difference being that the 360 was supply constrained as all hell, you couldn't find one on shelves for about 6 months. PS3 being due to the fact that everyone knew that they would be getting massive third party support, they just had to ride out their overindulgence with the kitchensink approach and they would be golden.

WiiU released at the worst time with the specs they have. No mindshare as everyone waits with baited breath for the new consoles and the lack of games is appalling considering they abandoned the Wii two years ago which is a horrible idea considering they haven't had third party support for almost 20 years. If they released the current WiiU say two or three years ago, they would definitely be in a better position.

63 Just got home with a digital antenna for the plasma. Checking out the free broadcast fare and considering cutting the cord.

64

Posted by: epobirs at February 17, 2013 04:47 PM (kcfmt)

 

6 months into the new house, Wii still not unpacked.

Furniture specifically bought with Kinect in mind .

65 Well yeah that I understand, but they're offering pre-orders specifically for the 360 (and all the reports are that it will be released on that system.) Interviews confirm a 360 version.I think you'd disappoint a lot of people if you suddenly reneged on that promise.I'm not saying it won't be on the next gen systems. I'm just saying I'm surprised they're going to release on the current gen ones as well.

Posted by: tsrblke at February 17, 2013 04:51 PM (GaqMa)

it's the transition period, they would be stupid to not release it to a 160 million base.

66 6 months into the new house, Wii still not unpacked.
Furniture specifically bought with Kinect in mind .

Posted by: tsrblke at February 17, 2013 04:52 PM (GaqMa)

god I hope they worked with the original Kinect specs as a starting point when designing it instead of what the Kinect was shipped as. Also hope the always online is true for them to build a vocal library that is at least on par with Google Talk

67 Posted by: Flatbush Joe at February 17, 2013 04:38 PM (ZPrif)

I reccommend Lord of the Rings Online, at least now that the maintenance from hell is over (I think). Like DDO, you can earn currency (TP) for the store in game and it's reasonably playable without any money down. It's vastly more convenient due to things that get unlocked if you get a 1-month subscription ( which you should wait on until you get a feel for the game). I put in $50 for TP two years ago plus $20 for the Moria expansion (which included a month subscription) and I doubt I'll ever have to pay again. YMMV as I have a lot of time on my hands.

It was a great feeling when I went back in December (after a sour experience with the SWTOR 'f2p' approach) and found all my characters and store purchases were in fact still intact.

68 And speaking of Nascar. One thing I don't get about the new Gen 6 car -- the front grilles. So the Ford, Chevy, and Toyota cars will have unique grilles. But a big part of the car design is the size and location of air intakes on the front grille. Do the air intakes have the same size and location on each car? I'm guessing yes cause otherwise the aerodynamics and engine cooling would be different between manufacturers. And one would inevitably have a significant advantage. Nascar wants the different brands to look different, but not have any competitive advantage. Which is tough to do.

69 More like GoDaddy put up serious coin to put her into Nascar's Cup Series. She didn't do much in the Nationwide Series last year, and getting the pole at Daytona is more car than driver. I'm sure Rick Hendrick, oh wait, I'm sorry, Tony Stewart put her in the best car and engine that they had. Look for her to take out 1/4 of the field by about lap 75. The thing is that a lot of the wrecks she has been involved in were not her fault or even involved her at the start now that's not saying that a different driver in her position wouldn't have been able to completely avoid being involved in the wreck. So expect her to crash out just probably not be the one starting it.

70 Frankly, the 360 is the console I have the least interest in. I'm not into FPS, online or group play, and can't think of many games for the platform that I've seen that interest me because they seem inordinately of those varieties. I'm a lot more of a retro gamer, of course, but the 360 really isn't to my taste, even compared to the fare on the PS3. And MS pisses me off with things like no built-in wireless and forcing you to pay to use Netflix, things that are free on other platforms.

71 And MS pisses me off with things like no built-in wireless and forcing you to pay to use Netflix, things that are free on other platforms.

Posted by: zsasz at February 17, 2013 04:58 PM (MMC8r)

the hardware refresh came with built in with wifi. As for the paygate on the apps, think they got stuck with it considering how the ecosystem was built at the start. New ballgame with new consoles

72 If Steam is now ready for Linux, that may be the next direction for me-- if we go ahead and drop Uverse, I'll likely build a linux PC to use as a DVR and media center. Making it a gaming platform for the plasma TV would go along with that beautifully.

73 http://tinyurl.com/a6x7gpr (Salem News)

Only liberals are worthy to evaluate life.

---


Do the air intakes have the same size and location on each car?
 Posted by: Flatbush Joe at February 17, 2013 04:55 PM

Yes, the size of the "airbox" is closely regulated on the new cars.

74 More Nascar, I see Darrell Wallace Jr is getting a lot of hype. Nascar is hoping he can be their Tiger Woods. We'll see. Good news is he's young and has had legit success at the youth levels before Nascar's Drive for Diversity hype train started. The real young wunderkind is Kyle Larson (who's half-asian, but doesn't really look it but that also got him some of Nascar's Diversity program support). Larson has just scorched the track in practically everything her's run since he was a kid. A potential Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart level of raw racing talent.

75 oh and Nintendo, if EA won't do it, please build a golf game that uses the balance board, the tablet controller and the Wii remote (hell EA already started it with Tiger Woods and it's use with the balance board)

76

Posted by: zsasz at February 17, 2013 04:58 PM (MMC8r)

 

I have no idea why the "no built in wifi" stuff keeps persisting.

Yes, they didn't have wifi until the Slim models.  But they do now.

I see that on reputable gaming sites, in articles (not comments.)

"Hopefully MS will put built in Wifi in the NextBox, unlike this Xbox."

They don't even acknowledge that MS did put it in this xbox. (and to be fair to MS, in 2k5 when the Xbox360 launched, IIRC, many home users were still running 802.11b routers, G having only come out in 2003.) 

77 I have no idea why the "no built in wifi" stuff keeps persisting. Yes, they didn't have wifi until the Slim models. But they do now. We just got a 360 recently, but neither we've had is a slim. Good to hear they've included it in the new model.

78 I'm bummed how long the console cycle is these days. Excited to see the new ones this year. Kinda bummed that means there probably won't be another one until 2020+. I like it when progress is fast and furious even if my personal interest level in gaming grows less as I grow older. Hopefully something like the OnLive system works eventually so progress can be more continuous.

79 Open General is a turn-based hex configured strategy game and an evolution of SSI Panzer General II.

Although similar to PG2, Open General has many additional features and fewer limitations. The purpose of this wiki is to eventually provide a one-stop resource for all information about playing the game. Currently, a player must consult several other resources to be fully informed.

http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/opengeneral/index.php?title=Main_Page

80 Hopefully something like the OnLive system works eventually so progress can be more continuous.

Posted by: Flatbush Joe at February 17, 2013 05:11 PM (ZPrif)

Onlive is essentially dead and Gaikai was bought by Sony. The tech to do it properly outside of lab tests isn't where it needs to be for something like that to viable without serious compromises to lag and visual degradation

81 #55

That is simple enough. You put the disc in the drive and the machine does an ID check. It also tells the remote server which game to bring up. Stuff bought from PSN in the first will be even simpler. You just log into your account and there they are.

Sales of PS3 games for streaming on PS4 will be aimed at those who never owned a PS3. It will also serve to bolster the library in the early days of the platform, which never hurts.

I cannot think of any reason not to offer nearly everything. It wouldn't much on the scale of serving a platform intended to reach tens of millions of consumers. The PS3 has around 700 titles in the US. Lets say each of those fills an entire single Blu-ray layer. (A very few use dual layer but the vast majority use much less than the 22.5 GB offered by the single layer.) So we'll call it about 17,500 GB of fast storage needed to feed the systems generating the output streams. Not even 18 TB. This is fairly modest compared to the disc arrays used in large movie theaters with many projectors to keep fed with 4K or 8K video. (Each projector usually has its own local storage cache.) No big deal when data centers deal in petabytes these days.

Realistically, the needed space will be a few terabytes less due to smaller games (though PSN titles will make up some of the difference) and stuff whose owners decline to make available. A bigger challenge is deciding how many games/streams to offer simultaneously. Presumably each stream, whether of the same game or a different game, will require an instance of the PS3 chip set to execute. I'm assuming Sony will use some of the existing CELL blade designs to do a PS3 or multiple PS3s on a blade. Depends on far down they can get the heat and power. But I'd expect at least one PS3 equivalent per U on a server rack.

I'd expect there to be a automatic system monitoring which games see the most play and dedicating racks to that along with local storage so that the machines that are frequently loading different games don't overly tax the array.

From there it becomes a matter of how much bandwidth each stream requires and how big a pipe serves the Sony end of the operation. It isn't going to be cheap, which is why I think they may aim it towards those who never had a PS3 rather than those who already own a pile of PS3 games and presumably a PS3.

82 Making it a gaming platform for the plasma TV would go along with that beautifully.

Posted by: zsasz

Plasma? What about the burn-in?

83 I know OnLive went bankrupt. And I know it's hard to see how they can do it without unacceptable latency. I'm just hoping they magically figure it out.

84 Your Commander in Thief , Just leaked on us in USA Today his urgent plans for illegal immigration reform, this is it!!!!! A Direct hit to the Bow...when this happens you have the signal SHTF...Game over

85 Been reading about the massive Aliens: Colonial Marines drama. Accusations and leaks are flying like mad, with a lot of pissed off fans battling fanboys who can't bring themselves to admit they got suckered into pre-ordering a shitty game.

86 @84 so what is it?

87 Weekends are slow here because it is all "boutique" threads: guns, books, games, etc. How about something open to all that wasn't started 8 hours ago?

88 Been reading about the massive Aliens: Colonial Marines drama.

Accusations and leaks are flying like mad, with a lot of pissed off fans battling fanboys who can't bring themselves to admit they got suckered into pre-ordering a shitty game.

Posted by: Hollowpoint at February 17, 2013 05:22 PM (X9Mnx)

yeah, the tears have been tasty. I actually like Gearbox outside of Hell's Highway but yeah.....at least I only spent $30 for it as it sits in my uninstalled folder on Steam after I played it (which reminds me that I totally forgot to write about the firings at Valve)

89 Ace up

90 #53

More cores doesn't really help, especially if they're recent AMD cores. AMD has taken to claiming two cores for what Intel would label one core with Hyperthreading. In my book, if it cannot produce a fully functional CPU by itself, it isn't a core, just a subset of a core.

With the XCPU you have three PPC cores with two threads per core. In Intel terms it's a triple core with Hyperthreading. You could map one of the AMD 'cores' to each of the threads in the XCPU but then you'd still be looking at double the clock rate in PPC core than the x86 cores of the new machine. This is made worse by the RISC nature of the PPC being more clock rate dependent than the X86 CISC architecture. RISC code is a lot wordier, using lots of instructions rather than having a bunch of big instructions that do a lot.

For real-time emulation it just doesn't look likely. But there is another approach, the one used by the Xbox 360 to run original Xbox games. This involves doing a lot of the translation in advance and saving the translated code until you've optimized enough to have the games run at the correct speed on the target system. This is why you have to download a small file each time you put an original Xbox game in an Xbox 360. It's retrieving a native code version from Microsoft's servers. The audio and visual portions of the game need no conversion and the code can be quite small.

The downside of this approach is that it requires a fair amount of work for each game, which is why a lot of good Xbox games never made the compatibility list for the 360. Microsoft focused on the title with the highest demand, such as the Halo flagship, and those that had the fewest problems to overcome, which is why some utter turkeys are compatible. After a certain point Microsoft decided it just wasn't worth any more investment stopped processing any more titles.

So it depends how valuable they believe the 360 library is going forward. What may make a comeback is the original Xbox library, as compatibility with the new machine should be easily achieved and the sizes of the games make most of them well within XBLA download range. What PS1 is to the PS3, so the original Xbox may be to the Nextbox.

91

Monitor-tan guy talkng  about games on the intertube with phase 4 bedhead pretty much sums it all up for me.

 

lolgamerz

92 test test test test test

93 pixy pixy [pixy pixy

94 Gamers bitching about every single developer decision, no matter how inconsequential, highlights how utterly joyless people have become.

We're at the point where graphics cards, processors and sundry other hardware costs are incredibly cheap, combine that with a catalog of great games from the past decade, and we literally have tens of thousands of hours of high quality entertainment at our fingertips.

Eh, there's no joy in Mudville.

95 #94

Nah, it's just a form of gossip. Where teenage girls will talk for hours about what some pop star is doing the rest of us will talk about the minutiae of other stuff that is equally inconsequential. Especially if it means more time is spent talking about the subject than actually taking part in the activity.

96 Couple of bits of Kerbal Space Program news:

- They've updated the free demo to a more modern version of the game. So you have things like landing gear, EVAs (I think), docking, and the ability to have more than one flight in progress (you can have 3 in the demo). However, the demo solar system only has the Sun, Kerbin, and the Mun, so you can't fiddle with interplanetary flights without ponying up a bit of dough.

- The new demo uses a slightly more modern version of the game engine than the mainline game, so they've also released a patch for the main game to bring it up to date.

Sadly, I've had little time for gaming lately. After the shakedown flight of my interplanetary cruiser to Minmus, I launched another copy of it, got it all fueled up, and it's just sat there for a couple of weeks. Hoping I'll get some time to get back to it in the next couple of weeks. Part of the problem is that all the things I want to do (hang some landers on my cruiser and take it somewhere) are difficult, time-consuming things, so I need a block of a couple of hours to get anything done. Not like WoW where I can sneak in for a half hour or so to kill some skinnables and do a bit of mining.

97 Difference being that the 360 was supply constrained as all hell, you couldn't find one on shelves for about 6 months. PS3 being due to the fact that everyone knew that they would be getting massive third party support, they just had to ride out their overindulgence with the kitchensink approach and they would be golden.WiiU released at the worst time with the specs they have. No mindshare as everyone waits with baited breath for the new consoles and the lack of games is appalling considering they abandoned the Wii two years ago which is a horrible idea considering they haven't had third party support for almost 20 years. If they released the current WiiU say two or three years ago, they would definitely be in a better position. The Dude at February 17, 2013 04:51 PM (vJdyz) >>I don't remember the 360 being so unavailable after launch, or at least it wasn't around here. The WiiU's problem has been communicating exactly what is gained with the gamepad. I don't think specs are all that critical to a lot of consumers, as evidenced by Wii's success. It had something new, offered a different way to play games that was easy to demonstrate, and it took off because of it. The WiiU lacks that easily identifiable hook. Software support was actually pretty strong at launch, though. I'm not so sure the launches of the PS4 and the next Xbox will go all that smoothly, either. The economy still sucks, and it's harder to justify spending a few hundred bucks on another game machine. Especially if they block used games.

98 Hey, went by to install Steam on this computer and it apparently detected that what I would need for this flavor of Linux is a .deb file. Very on the ball if it's that automatic.

99 59 The Danica circus is actually bad for Nascar, long term. Just look at what she did for IndyCar -- nothing. She stole the media oxygen from the real star drivers and left the series worse off than when she started. IndyCar kept hoping her media hype would rub off on the series, the cars, or the other drivers. It never did.

I don't blame her. It's good for her. But bad for the sport.

Posted by: Flatbush Joe at February 17, 2013 04:49 PM (ZPrif)

Yep. She finished in the Top 10 of the Nationwide Series last year, but you wouldn't know who won the series championship if Danica wasn't now banging him. And she is. ESPN spent half of the race covering her even though she had 4 top 10's in 33 races.

She most definitely sucked the air out of that series.

100 I keep meaning to ask if anyone is doing anything fun with the free Unity 4.0 environment (or even the paid version). I have had it since mid-November and it is just plain fun to work with. May put up a youtube of my learning experience soon, but abuse ... oh, how I hate abuse (lol!).

101

After another full night of work, wishing for a weekend, an end of the agony, I find that i    i   i   am alone here on this thread.  adios mucchachos.  your idea of having a game thread was good, but your execution was pathetic.. all that is gold