Console Wars: Another Opinion

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LoudMusic

LoudMusic

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I used to tell people to buy a Playstation 2 because I like Sony and I hate Microsoft and Nintendo just sucked it up this time around. Frankly, you can do whatever the hell you want with your money, I don't give a damn.

I bought a PS2 well over a year ago. It's pretty cool, I like it. It has lots of really excellent single player games that will entertain a person for many many many long hours. I do not regret a single cent I've spent on my PS2. However, I'm extremely picky about my games and review them for a month before I buy anything. I would prefer it was a 4-Player console and there were more group games, but it's not. I play it when I'm alone because the solo-games kick ass.

I bought my XBox a little over two months ago. It is a quite enjoyable system as well. One of the MAJOR factors that made the DreamCast a good system (even though it essentially failed in most peoples' eyes) was the fact it had four controller ports built into the console. Game producers made more four player games. The more people you can get infront of the the TV having fun, the more popular your console is - DUH! The XBox has LOTS of multiplayer games, and even networkable games. Networking with the XBox is easy and cheap, where it isn't so much with the PS2. They've got more people playing XBox and thinking "wow that's fun, I should get one of these" than probably any other console. My XBox is my party console. It's the one people tend to see and think how much fun it is. I think this alone is going to extremely aid the XBox's life. The console that follows it will change everything. Microsoft just has to not give up.

Well, I start writing things like this and then realize that I don't care. This time I'm not going to close the window, I'm just going to stop writing and post what I've got. If anyone wants to have a conversation I'll respond.
 
Interesting you say that - gaming is a fairly solitary activity for me, and there really isn't a lot there that appeals, whereas the killer single player games do seem to be on PS2 (GT3, GTA3 & VC come immediately to mind).

I do have a bit of a personal thing about MS products, which doesn't help, but given the lower prices now, you know what's actually stopping me from getting an X-Box (apart from the inevitable hammering I'd get from the better half?)?

I'd need to buy another steering wheel. If that damned thing had a USB port to hook my GT Force into, I'd just about buy one - but then, thinking about it, alot of the racing games are on PC, aren't they? Mmm....
 
Steering Wheel Shmeering Wheel. XBox's driving games pale in comparison. The first person shooters are amazing though.

I've rented Hitman 2 (PS2), Socom: US Navy Seals (PS2), Time Splitters 2 (XBox), and BMX XXX (XBox - oh my head ... so many X's). I'll write up some reviews. I rented cross platform games on certain consoles because ... well because the others were out so I only had one choice (:

So you don't do much group gaming? That's what my group of friends is all about. We are EXTREMELY social people, and we all love video games; guys and girls alike.
 
I don't really get to gether with people and play video games, but then again, the last time I hung out with somebody was well over a month ago... I wish I was one year older and could drive to people's houses and hang out w/out having to hitch rides...:mad:
 
Originally posted by LoudMusic
So you don't do much group gaming? That's what my group of friends is all about. We are EXTREMELY social people, and we all love video games; guys and girls alike.
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Very little - usually the partner and I fighting over zoning policies in Simcity 3000 or someone taking a beating at Monopoly (we'd lose the pieces of a real board game), or drunken fighting with a visiting mate (often on a PS2 game! :lol: . Sorry).

We're very social, too, but our social activities tend to involve eating, drinking, sitting around chatting or sport.

I agree totally on the driving games front - really haven't seen anything on X-Box I'd want except maybe Grand Prix 4, which I can get on PC, but I don't want to start customising that again after fairly recently updating GP3.
 
I was initially dissapointed with the PS2's multiplayer lineup. At one point I was thinking of buying an X-box for the multiplayer stuff. But then I vowed to not buy another console for about 2 years. Personally I couldn't give a toss about online gaming (well apart from maybe Automodelista and an online GT) because it is usually filled with class 1 arseholes.

Here are in my opinion (A Brits opinion) the best multiplayer experiences on the PS2.

GT3/GTC
This beats everything hands down, probably the most fun i've ever had with my PS2. 5 player GT is a bastid to set up, but once you have it up and running you will understand what I mean.

Toca/Pro Race Driver.
This game is ultimately a let down, the graphics are awfull and the handling is suspect at times. But for a 4 player experience I have spent many an hour doing a custom championship. Pick from a selection of around 30 real world tracks and around 40 cars, go for DTM, Aussie V8's, BTCC, or create your own custom championship and add 3 other people and your battling for championship points now! :D
This is comming out on X-Box as well so it will probably be better on that.
WWE Smackdown Shut your mouth.
Yeah it's a wrestling game, yes I know wrestling is fake get over it. This is a great one for after the pub when you are a bit too pissed to play something complicated. But it has to have the largest amount of multiplayer options available for a wrestling game, giving it diversity. Although it's not for the people who take the view "wrestling is just two sweatty rednecks holdong each other" I like it.
X-Box has WWE Raw game which is a pile of pants.
Pro Evolution Soccer.
Ahh the beautifull game has never been so good, this is the Gran Turismo of Footie games and it has an excellent single player mode (simmilar to a GT mode but you buy new players for your team and you can train them) but the multi player is top notch, even supporting up to 8 players at once if you have a second multitap.
X-Box gets the diluted version of pro evo soccer, called ISS it is no way as good as pro evo.

Timesplitters 2
Timesplitters was the only decent multiplayer game I had for the PS2 for a loooong time, bloody excellent. I have had allot of fun with the second one although I must admit i am too lazy to go through unlocking stuff, so I cheated. This can be I linked on the PS2 for up to 16 players, I have managed 8 player, it was just pure fun.
Well this is on all formats, so i'd say buy the X-Box version.

Red Faction 2
Now I have heard allot of bad stuff about this game, although mainly from penny arcade. One of my mates brought it round. We played it in 3 player mode untill around 4am, there is nothing like blowing a bridge to smithereens while your mate is trying to snipe someone else on top of the bridge. Great weapons, I prefer them to the TS2 weapons and nice geo-mod engine thingy letting me blow holes in celings and walls.
I think this is a multi format one as well?

After thinking about it a little, I wouldn't mind haivng an X-box just to play a decent version of Toca racedriver with good graphics.
 
Interesting ... I'm one of the few people in my group that likes driving games. I guess if it was easily possible to have a LOT of people playing at once it could be more fun.

Hitman 2 -- Definitely has possibilities. Haven't played it much yet, but it's really attractive physically and the gameplay seems pretty good. The story has a fairly good opener and the levels appear to be layed out well.

SOCOM -- What the crap!?! People think this is fun?

Time Splitters 2 -- Eh ... wazafack. This is no Halo squasher. Where's the damn jump button?

BMX XXX -- No, sorry, square tits are not entertaining. And I hate bikes. I honestly didn't realize I had that game in my hand until I was at the checkout counter. Then I though, "what the hell, might as well".

I've played Red Faction. Is Red Faction 2 better? The first one was ok, and I liked the weapons. Perhaps I'll nab the second one when I return these.
 
Timesplitters is definitely no Halo Squasher, and I don't think it was designed to be. It's definitely the best split screen FPS ever created though.
And as for the jump button, I was put off by that too at first, but in retrospect it makes perfect sense. Too many games see players bunny hopping around (ever play CS early on before Servers could kick hoppers automatically?) On a console where Aiming is more difficult hoppers can kill the flow of a game, making it less enjoyable for everyone.
I'm betting that you are going to see more and more FPS without (or with severely handicapped) Jumping. (Games like Halo need it though because of the single player game, but multiplayer oriented games can easily do without it.)
 
Well there were just times where I wanted to jump on a box or something. And I almost always jump onto ladders in FPS games - saves that initial few rungs on the ladder.

Yeah, bunny hoppers are a problem, but there are ways to handle that. Stamina is a good way to deal with it. I think this is obvious in the UT mod Infiltration.

There are definitely different styles of games that could or could not use such an action. Ghost Recon doesn't have a jump either. Neither does Hitman 2. But those games are VERY slow paced games. They could, however, use something like a "lift yourself up on a ledge/box" maneuver. That was one of the things I liked about the Tomb Raider series. In addition to the normal FPS actions you could also have Lara simply pull herself up a ledge, or lower herself down a ledge - and they kept adding more actions to her skills list as the games moved on. I think these actions are included in Splinter Cell as well.

Ok, these games I've listed are a mix of shooter games. Some are bird's eye of your character (3rd person?) and some are from the eyes of your character. Which do you prefer?

Some examples

First Person Shooters
Halo
Half-Life
Quake(s)
Ghost Recon
Time Splitters
Unreal(s)

Third Person Shooters
Oni
Splinter Cell
Tomb Raider
Mech Assault
Obi Wan
Hitman

If I just chose games from each list, I come out about even. There are plenty more that I haven't listed. But if I were to rate game quality of each game and then average them out, I think first person shooters would come out ahead. But I don't think it has anything to do with the point of view - it's more the style of game.

"Shoot`em Up"
Halo
Half-Life
Quake
TimeSplitters
Unreal
Mech Assault

"Shooter Strategy"
Ghost Recon
Oni
Splinter Cell
Tomb Raider
Obi Wan
Hitman

And in this break down I would definitly say the strategy wins out. I enjoy a thought provoking game over a mindless shoot everything in sight game. That's not to say I don't like killing stuff occationally, but figuring out puzzles is more entertaining. It looks like 3rd Person Shooters tend to be more strategy oriented. Probably a good thing because it can be difficult to control a character accurately from 3rd person, which would make it difficult to compete in high action situations. 3rd Person gives you a methodical placement of your character, where 1st person gives you the ability to move quickly and aim accurately.

But back on topic ... it doesn't appear to matter what platform these games are on, I enjoy them all the same. Hitman 2 on PS2 is just as enjoyable as Ghost Recon on XBox. Both are available for both consoles. The thing that will make either of them win in the console war will be unique abilities of the console, and how well they are marketed. The XBox has the ability to be a fully web enabled device that can replace the home computer - Microsoft just needs to make a keyboard and mouse for it. The PS2 has that option already and with the Linux kit it can be there for $400. It just needs to be marketed as such a device.
 
Originally posted by LoudMusic
But back on topic ... it doesn't appear to matter what platform these games are on, I enjoy them all the same. Hitman 2 on PS2 is just as enjoyable as Ghost Recon on XBox. Both are available for both consoles. The thing that will make either of them win in the console war will be unique abilities of the console, and how well they are marketed. The XBox has the ability to be a fully web enabled device that can replace the home computer - Microsoft just needs to make a keyboard and mouse for it. The PS2 has that option already and with the Linux kit it can be there for $400. It just needs to be marketed as such a device.
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MS doesn't want to do that, they've already mentioned it. Part of the reason is that generally, the more expensive PC's are sold for gaming - you don't spend $2000 on a computer for email and word processing! So, to have a decent 'computer' with a really nice graphics card available for $200 would be a big hurt to the industry. Especially considering you don't have to worry about system optimization and install.

It's not that the console will kill the PC's, but it may very well draw significant sales away from it.
 
I don't see why they wouldn't want to make a "web TV/game console" out of the XBox. They don't make computers, they make operating systems and software. This is a hardware relm that is weakly explored and Microsoft could make a huge push into the market.
 
Originally posted by LoudMusic
I don't see why they wouldn't want to make a "web TV/game console" out of the XBox. They don't make computers, they make operating systems and software. This is a hardware relm that is weakly explored and Microsoft could make a huge push into the market.
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Actually MS wanted to make exactly what you are talking about, basically an all in one PC for the family rooms. Game developers were so put off by it that many said they would never develop for such a machine (I think the initial price tag was supposed to be higher as well.)
MS backed off and created the Xbox. But if you ask me, they are going to wait until they dominate the market as Sony is currently doing, and then they can do anything they want. That's when you'll see this happen. (When nobody has a choice.)
 
Originally posted by Tom M
Timesplitters is definitely no Halo Squasher, and I don't think it was designed to be. It's definitely the best split screen FPS ever created though.
And as for the jump button, I was put off by that too at first, but in retrospect it makes perfect sense. Too many games see players bunny hopping around (ever play CS early on before Servers could kick hoppers automatically?) On a console where Aiming is more difficult hoppers can kill the flow of a game, making it less enjoyable for everyone.
I'm betting that you are going to see more and more FPS without (or with severely handicapped) Jumping. (Games like Halo need it though because of the single player game, but multiplayer oriented games can easily do without it.)
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Jumping is a great function in FPS games! But it has to be limited. If anyone has played Day of Defeat(Halflife Mod for computer) and America's Army: Army Operations, you'll understand. Basically, you have a little meter of energy, where you can jump to your heart's content until the meter runs out(usually 2-3 jumps) then it slowly comes back. It's more realistic, and you can reatch places that you can't without jumping(like window sills and going ontop of boxes quickly) but jumping has to be moderated by the game engine, or by the mod, it can't really be removed...
 
Originally posted by rjensen11
Jumping is a great function in FPS games! But it has to be limited. If anyone has played Day of Defeat(Halflife Mod for computer) and America's Army: Army Operations, you'll understand. Basically, you have a little meter of energy, where you can jump to your heart's content until the meter runs out(usually 2-3 jumps) then it slowly comes back. It's more realistic, and you can reatch places that you can't without jumping(like window sills and going ontop of boxes quickly) but jumping has to be moderated by the game engine, or by the mod, it can't really be removed...
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That's what I was talking about in Infiltration. It's called stamina.
 
Console games suck. I couldn't imagine spending my money for something that serves no other purpose but to dumb-down my kids. At least with a PC game, the kid can exercise his brain a little by hacking config files and what-have-you.
 
the console wars...........the winner of each war has to achieve at couple of things to be a winner.

First- the console must have the best customer satisfaction, and the largest user base

second- it needs to have good and exclusive franchises, that people buy!

third - it has to appeal to all, and develpers must trust the manufacturing company

There much more factors as well

The winners of each war:

8 bit: NES

16 bit: Snes

32/64 bit: Playstation

128 bit: ?

who will be the winner in this war? we will have to see.
 
Nintendo have no competitors for the handheld segment, i think mabe microsoft and sony should have a chizzbang at that.
 
As an owner of A ps2, GC and possible chance of the company I work for getting a xbox for fun during breaks I rekcon that all consoles have strong points and weak points. What I can't understand is why non-ps2 people like to bad-mouth the ps2, is it because of its successful dominance of the console market I don't know. Also another thing I have noticed nobody shows their respect for their ps2 and defend it when its getting hammered by non-ps2 owners I think its because the sony's grey and blackbox had done the job while others couldnt take it as they are reduced to childish name calling and ignorance.
 
No matter what, we will never agree which system is best, and when the X-PS2-Cube is long gone, we will stil be arguing, but over different systems.
Pointless...
 
Originally posted by opus125
Console games suck. I couldn't imagine spending my money for something that serves no other purpose but to dumb-down my kids. At least with a PC game, the kid can exercise his brain a little by hacking config files and what-have-you.
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if that is the case log out of gtplanet cause this is a forum dedicated to a CONSOLE game and spend some time playing command and conquer to stimulate that big brain of yours
 
Originally posted by CloneHead
No matter what, we will never agree which system is best, and when the X-PS2-Cube is long gone, we will stil be arguing, but over different systems.
Pointless...
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true true

but now I have given up arguing just like what Loud music said from now on I am leaving the arguing to the kids and just sticking to what I like best no matter the opinion
 
Amen brotha! Why argue? It's a waste of energy. I like my XBox, and my Playstation 2. I like playing my friend's GameCube.

If someone asked me which one they should buy, I'd have to respond with a whole slew of questions. It's like buying a damn car! This isn't easy anymore. And I think that's a good thing - it keeps the manufacturers on their toes and we end up with better products with lower price tags.
 
RESURRECTION! (wow this is an old thread)

It's not about the games, it's about finding what's best for you. The best tool for the job. It has a lot to do with games but not everything.
 

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