GameCube Kiosks (1 Viewer)

[BrianB]

This is untrue. You can actually press a button and it skips right over the cut scene. If there are load times in this game, I can't find em.

That's cool, Anthony. I was just going by reports from friends with GameCubes, none of them have mentioned you can skip that scene
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Nothing In Particular

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Anthony-
Another positive aspect of the GameCube. Thanks for clearing that up.
Aaron-
The X-Box's hardware is very much like a PC, moreso than the GCN or PS2. The reason developers have trouble with the PS2 is because of the new hardware design (which is more complex than a PC). The reason the GCN is so easy to program for is because of how simple its design is. The X-Box is in the middle of those two, with a very PC-like hardware. Yes, the DC had a keyboard, mouse, and all those other things, but it wasn't huge, made by a computer company (I know they don't make computers, but you get what I'm saying), and the DC didn't have very PC-like hardware. Keyboard and mouse don't make a console PC-like, they make the games PC-like. A browser is just there so that you can visit the websites of the companies who make the games, which is actually a plus. Windows CE was there as a programming option, not an OS. While the DC has some PC similarities, its nothing like the X-Box.

 

[Aaron Copeland]

A browser is just there so that you can visit the websites of the companies who make the games, which is actually a plus Windows CE was there as a programming option, not an OS.

LOL...Again, internet browsing is a very PC-like. BTW, you could do more than browse internet sites. You could download (another PC-like quality) games saves, cheats, VMU icons, etc... And, yes, WindowsCE is indeed an OS.
Basically...just tell me why having PC like qualities is a bad thing? Just one valid reason.
Aaron

 

[AndyVX]

In regards to load times...
I was just watching the newest video's of Eternal Darkness, and there are no load times that I could notice.
One of the guys from Silicon Knights has even stated many times that they had to program in a slight delay when switching rooms because it was too fast.
I guess good programmers will get better results in regards to load times (or just developers that take the time to fully optimize their games)
Andrew

 

[Dean Cooper]

Well here is a picture of a Xbox one. no working unit in it yet though.

Dean

 

[Graeme Clark]

quote:
The X-Box's hardware is very much like a PC, moreso than the GCN or PS2
[/quote]
And this matters why?
If Sony put out a big grey box, built around PS2 technology, with a harddrive, a modem, and some slots for future expansion, that ran Linux (or perhaps windows) and a web browser... what would you call it?
quote:
made by a computer company (I know they don't make computers, but you get what I'm saying)
[/quote]
No, I don't actually. MS is a computer software company, Sony makes TVs and walkmans, Nintendo is a playing card company.
Is it too soon to pull out the wrong wrong wrong quote again?
[Edited last by Graeme Clark on September 27, 2001 at 03:42 AM]

 

[BrianB]

Is it too soon to pull out the wrong wrong wrong quote again?

Go on. I have no idea what quote you're talking about, but it sounds interesting.
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Nothing In Particular

 

[Kelley_B]

Yes, I too would like to hear this wrong wrong wrong quote.
I wonder what brand of TV MS will be using it their demo units. The LCDs in Sony's PS2 units are pretty sweet, even though the image is to me leaves much to be desired. Oh well I guess its time to go hit the mall this weekend.

 

[Graeme Clark]

The LCDs in Sony's PS2 units are pretty sweet, even though the image is to me leaves much to be desired.

No kidding. They made for a cool looking kiosk, but a bad impression of the actual system.
I bet it'll use Sony screens
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[Morgan Jolley]

MS said that they weren't making a PC and even tried to separate the XB from PCs. The fact that it came out so close to what they didn't want it to be like at all bothers me.
The GCN is powerful and tiny and quiet. Its not bulky or ugly (purple is, but the black one looks cool) and its cheap. Its also simple. If Nintendo could do it, I don't see why MS couldn't. The XB could have been smaller and lighter if MS tried to make it that way. I would prefer a smaller console because it takes up less space and is easier to move. And yes, big is a quality that most PCs seem to have (besides the crap ones, Macs, or internet PCs).
If Sony made a powerful PC, put it in a console architecture, and then released it, I would have nothing wrong with it. If they did everything possible to make people think it was nothing like a PC whatsoever (and even say "we don't want to make a PC, we want to make something totally different") then I would have something wrong with it. MS made a PC and called it a console (which is OK) but then said that they didn't want to make a PC (which is not OK).
One of the reasons that the GCN has such quick load times is because of the well designed hardware (from the reports that I have read or heard). If MS had designed their hardware better, then maybe it would have some of those small benefits that the GCN has.

 

[Graeme Clark]

Someone else is welcome to try, if you really think it'll help.
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[Aaron Copeland]

MS made a PC and called it a console (which is OK) but then said that they didn't want to make a PC (which is not OK).

Ummm...so are you saying I can ditch my PC now that I will have an XBOX? I didn't realize I was going to be able to load Office and other PC programs onto my XBOX. Thanks for the info.
Aaron

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The GCN overall is smaller. It was not made to fit into a home theater. It was made to be powerful and small and for people to be able to use. Maybe you might not be able to use it because of the top loading tray, but it takes up less space than the XB.
Say the adapter is $40 (which it will probably be less, plus you can buy a 56k or broadband and aren't stuck with broadband no matter what). Also, the HDD is 8 GB, which is 1/5 of the PS2's HDD, and based on that price, an 8 GB HDD for the GCN would cost $30 or less. So the GCN should cost $270. Considering that Nintendo loses less money per console than MS or Sony, the GCN is still cheaper. The XB has more hardware and takes up more space, which is why it costs more. The GCN takes up less space and uses less hardware. Its also not that much taller than the X-Box.
And no bigger than a VCR? Thats still pretty big, considering that the PS2 is no larger than a PSX and is still a next gen console. The XB is the largest next gen console by far, and it probably stems from bad design or lack of time spent designing it.
The top load thing is not that big a deal. Loading times are in the same category. I don't mind having to wait an extra second or two for a loading time, and I don't mind having a top load or disc tray. Since I have said that the GCN's load times are benefits for it, I will then have to agree that a disc tray is a benefit for the XB.
The X-Box has hardware that is VERY similar to a PC. I would rather have hardware that is smaller, and based on the GCN, the smaller hardware makes it better (not just size and space, but it loads faster because of this and is simpler to program for).

 

[Dean Cooper]

The X-Box has hardware that is VERY similar to a PC. I would rather have hardware that is smaller, and based on the GCN, the smaller hardware makes it better (not just size and space, but it loads faster because of this and is simpler to program for).

Um all of the hardware that is in the GCN is based on the PC as well. CPU, RAM, optical drive, GPU for graphics, mother board, i/o ports, memory flash cards...geez sure looks similar to a pc too. Nintendo is putting less in the package so of coarse its going to be smaller, look at the PSone its smaller than the GCN, still doesn't mean that its more powerful. Size means sweet fuck all, its a game console not a cell phone.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The X-Box seems to have been thrown together based on PC hardware. Yes, the GCN has PC parts, but it is not put together like a PC. The GCN's hardware was specially designed to have all its parts work together in such a way that unnoticeable load times are a possibility and now a reality. The X-Box is huge because of its bad design. Have you seen the XB and GCN motherboards? The GCN one is simple because it was intelligently designed.
And size doesn't mean power. The GCN is just a little less powerful than the XB and takes up less space than half of the XB.

 

[Aaron Copeland]

The X-Box has hardware that is VERY similar to a PC. I would rather have hardware that is smaller, and based on the GCN, the smaller hardware makes it better (not just size and space, but it loads faster because of this and is simpler to program for)

You still haven't given a single reason why having hardware in common with a PC is bad. Why should anyone care? It makes ZERO sense. Also, that statement about smaller being better and allowing it to load faster and be easier to program for is the most ludicrous thing you have said thus far. How does being smaller affect either of those things???
Aaron

 

[James D S]

Sometimes, all you can do is cuss out loud and bang your head on the nearest wall. It helps, trust me.

 

[Dean Cooper]

 

[Graeme Clark]

Warning: Incoherent Argument
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[Morgan Jolley]

Aaron-
The GCN is able to load fast because of its design. The parts on the motherboard were placed in spots and made to integrate with eachother in order to get the best possible outcome. By being designed well, it is both smaller and better. If they had just made it quickly and thrown it together and not cared about anything, it would have load times and be bigger, like the X-Box.
I believe that MS could have designed the XB better. They probably could have changed around its parts in order to make it run better and they probably could have made it smaller. Had they done so, I would be happier.
Size is a non-issue. To me, it is important to a degree. If I am moving my console between two rooms (which I often do since out theater is in a different room from the other consoles) I would like a smaller, lighter console. If I have to carry a huge console down a flight of stairs and across two rooms just to play it in my theater, then I will probably see it as not worth it. What happens then? I don't get to use my X-Box to its fullest. Yes, it is nitpicking, but after doing it many times with multiple consoles (since my SNES) I know that it is important enough to have some part in my decision of which console to buy.