Next-generation hardware FAQ (1 Viewer)

[JamesH]

In each of the many 16:9 games I have, extra information is added to the left and right sides of the image.

BTW, you might want to amend the FAQ a bit, 480p is not software sensitive on the Xbox. Every single Xbox game supports 480p, it's standard. Also, the PS2 is capable of 1080i in addition to the 480p you marked. However, I would probably mark both 1080i and 480p as "no" for the PS2, since it only has a total of two games that support the higher resolutions and there isn't really any effort to make them more widespread.

 

[BryanK]

Excellent thread !!!!

Is there anyway to get the xbox to play dvds in 480p? all the games are standard 480p. cant we just enable it for dvds?

 

[JohnGoggan]

I have a friend at SCEE and he is telling me that there are indeed definite plans to upgrade the DVD playback software for the PS2 to support progressive scan at the end of the year in Japan -- and then the US and EU sometime after...
Of course, that's still rumor -- but at least I'm hearing it from him -- he tends to be correct about such things.
- John...

 

[VinT]

Currently no PS2 games run in progressive scan, but a few future games will support it.

Although after-market component cables are available, I must warn everyone alot of PS2 games actually look WORSE with comonents! Gran Turismo 3 looks terrible with pixilation, shimmering and jaggies all magnified with the better resolution. I was horrified and now run s-video for my PS2. I'm not bashing the PS2, just sharing my experiences, but it looks like its aging fast

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Currently no PS2 games run in progressive scan, but a few future games will support it

Tekken 4 is the first PS2 game to support Progressive Scan and is already out in Japan.

 

[ChrisV]

I must warn everyone alot of PS2 games actually look WORSE with comonents! Gran Turismo 3 looks terrible with pixilation, shimmering and jaggies all magnified with the better resolution

No way, man. I tried S-video, and there's no way I'd ever go back from component. Although the PS2 does have its aliasing problems, it still looks WAY better with component video hooked up. At least on my display.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Some PS2 games that have really good AA (like Tekken Tag) look amazing using component. Others that don't have it look really bad.

 

[Ivan_F]

I hate to go off the beaten path here, but I was wondering what PS1 games do not work with the PS2. I'm looking to buy a PS2 soon and also want to buy some PS1 RPGs. Do they have a list of those games posted on the net? Thanks for your help!

 

[Woo Jae]

There is an FAQ at www.GameFAQs.com that lists incompatible games. Here is a copy of the list (don't know if it's been updated, but hey - you gotta start somewhere). This was taken without permission, and you can find the list here...
http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/f...rds_compat.txt

Games List
----------
This is not, and won't be, an exhaustive list of every PSX game's compatibility with the PS2 enhancements; the notes I made in the heading above summarize what my findings have been and are pretty consistently true for the 40 or so games I've tested. This section will only note which games
have glitches or failures with fast loading and/or texture smoothing on. Hairlines (see above) get pretty bad in some games, but I'm not considering them to be worthy of this list, just to keep the size down.
If someone wants to make a FAQ with a complete list of PSX game compatibility information, they're welcome to use this information as a basis (just let me know first). I can also provide input on titles that aren't listed here.
Okay, here goes. I'll try to not have this take up too much space, by abbreviating fast loading as "FL" and texture smoothing as "TS".
Arcade Party Pak: SCEA reports unavoidable problems, but no details known.
Arcade's Greatest Hits/Atari Collection 2: SCEA reports unavoidable problems,
but no details known.
Castlevania Symphony of the Night: Crashes immediately with FL turned on. TS
causes some weird graphical glitches.
Chrono Cross: FL seems to cause a "hiccuping" framerate in FMV sequences.
Crash Bandicoot Warped: Crashes (ha!) immediately with FL turned on.
Dino Crisis: FL causes graphical glitches.
Fighter Maker: SCEA reports unavoidable problems, but no details known.
Final Fantasy Anthology: SCEA reports problems, but the only ones I've heard of are occasional slight graphical glitches in FFV's menu.
International Track & Field: SCEA reports unavoidable problems, but no details known.
Judge Dredd: SCEA reports unavoidable problems, but no details known.
Legend of Mana: FL causes the opening movie to play super-fast, but it seems OK otherwise.
Metal Gear Solid: FL causes graphical glitches.
Monkey Hero: SCEA reports unavoidable problems, but no details known.
Mortal Kombat Trilogy (thanks Shinnokzx): Even with FL and TS turned off, game crashes or freezes when you let the "Continue?" timer run out. Also locks up when you are morphing into Liu Kang with Shang Tsung. It also freezes when loading the main screen with FL turned on.
RayStorm: Does FL mess up the music, or am I just hearing things? I need a second opinion on this one.
Silent Hill: FL causes characters to talkreallyfast. Actually kind of funny, worth trying out once. TS causes nasty graphical glitches.
Street Fighter Alpha 3: FL makes some characters "mute" (no voice). Occasionally crashes the game, too.
Suikoden: TS causes weird errors in character portraits & sprites.
Tomba! (thanks Shinnokzx): Runs fine when you are just starting a new game, but when you attempt to go to the "Options" or when you try to load a game, the game crashes. If you do start a new game you cannot save, or the game crashes. Problems persist even with FL and TS turned off.
Vanguard Bandits: TS causes "trails" to appear behind the mechs when they fight. Thanks OrochiJin.
Xenogears: Michael Bishop reports that FL can cause a freeze during the very first battle with Deus early on Disc 2, but the game works fine otherwise.

 

[Woo Jae]

Also, let me suggest some RPGs for you to try:
1. Final Fantasy Chronicles
2. Final Fantasy Anthology
3. Final Fanasty 7-9
4. Final Fantasy Tactics
5. Wild Arms 1 and 2
6. Legend of Legaia
7. Legend of Dragoon
8. Lunar Silver Star Story complete
9. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue
10. Grandia
11. Suikoden 1 and 2
12. Saiyuki: The Journey West
13. Vagrant Story
14. Valkyrie Profile
15. Xenogears
NOTE: This list is not a ranking!
This should start you down on the slippery path of RPG collecting...

 

[Ivan_F]

Woo Jae, thanks for the info! I caught that list on gamefaqs.com after putting in that post. I should've thought of that website as soon as I put in that post. I have already played FF7 thanks to borrowing the whole she-bang from him for a month. Can't wait to experience the whole PS1 experience. Oh yeah, it can play PS2 games also! Alright! Many of these games on your list can be had for 19.99 or even 14.99 NEW at Wal-Mart! Squaresoft, here I come!

:wink:

 

[MikeT]

I would love to know where there is any evidence that the PS2 supports Progressive Scanning. Even if a game does exist that supports it, perhaps 480P is only utilized by a different version of the PS2 Console that is out there somewhere (ie Japan). FYI, I believe the component cables for PS2 are just a scam, I tried using them and didn't see any improvement over composite cables (on a 55" TV).
I also find it hard to believe that a "software upgrade" would suddenly enable the PS2 to support 480P. If the hardware already existed in the console, I'd think it would have been utilized (for games, DVDs, or both) upon release.
To answer a separate post - there currently is no way to see DVDs in 480P on the XBox, that I know of. Also wanted to mention that, although 480P support is standard for XBox games (and i believe 1 game, BurnOut, supports 720P as well), there are very few games with Widescreen support on the system. Most of them "stretch" the image out to fill your WS TV. FYI, I just picked up Dead To Rights and I believe it does support Widescreen. If anyone can suggest other XBox games that have WS support I'd love to hear them. I also picked up Monkey Ball 2 for GameCube which has 480P and Widescreen - I think it's the only 4 player split screen game I've tried so far that has 480P / WS ... a great combo !

 

[BrianB]

I also find it hard to believe that a "software upgrade" would suddenly enable the PS2 to support 480P.

Doesn't sound like anything's going to convince you.

And it's "Street Hoops" that supports 720p on the XBox, not Burnout, I believe.

 

[MikeT]

Have you actually seen a PS2 game played in Progressive Scan? That's what I'm asking. When I first purchased the PS2 I called up Sony help and they had no idea how to enable Progressive on the system, or even what Prog Scan was.

 

[MikeT]

Oh BTW i just found the Chart in the Video Game Software section, that lists which games have 480P and/or WS... sorry for that part of my post.

 

[BrianB]

Have you actually seen a PS2 game played in Progressive Scan?

As I don't have SOCOM or Tekken 4, nope. Other people have. Do a search on the HTF - there's at least one member running Tekken 4 in progressive scan.

 

[Brandon_H]

I have played both SOCOM and Tekken 4 in 480p on my Sony KV32-XBR400 Wega, so I can vouch for the fact that a.) the PS2 can do 480p, and b.) it looks nice, especially in Tekken's case. Too bad that franchise's gameplay hasn't advanced since, oh, maybe Tekken 3.

Also, although 480p is something of a standard on Xbox, there are sadly a few games that *don't* support it -- "The Thing," "Agent Under Fire," and according to the latest reports, "Hitman 2."

 

[Greg_TSL]

People seem to think progressive output for games and DVD content is the same thing, and if a console supports 480p games it should support 480p in DVD's.

I'm a die hard PC gamer first and a console gamer second.

The video cards that enable all three of the current consoles to display graphics are all based on the technology used in PC video cards.

I play most games on my PC at a minimum of 1024x768 and some as high as 1600x1200. The video cards in the current consoles all have the horsepower to display resolutions well above 486x720. Of course when the games begin to push tons of polygons and heaps of textures, the performance quickly drops off, and better performance can be had at lower resolutions (why most X-box game developers aren't crawling over themselves to develop a 1080i game).

The developers can squeeze even more performance out of the card if they render in 480i, and since such a small margin of TV's display anything else, it hasn't been until very recently rendering it higher was even a consideration.

Anywhoo...displaying 480p from a current console's video chip set isn't a leap of technology in any sense. Its almost more natural. (I believe the Dreamcast actually had a VGA adapter to play on a PC monitor)

As for DVD playback in progressive scan, that is tied to the DVD playback system in the console, and as we know, most commercially available players aren't progressive scan, but since I know almost nothing of DVD player technology I'll put a sock in it while I still make any sense.

 

[Jeff Adams]

Just a question, how exactly do you know if you are playing a game in progressive scan mode? I mean does it have on the menu-progressive scan widescreen? Or do you just know because of the picture quality? And as far as progressive scan for the dvd portion of the consoles, I myself would never use my game system as my dvd player, so I could care less. In fact I wish they would just strictly focus on gameplay alone and get rid of the dvd player part. I have always been a component guy and IMO all of these multicapability players have to sacrifice performance somewhere.

 

[Greg_TSL]

As far as the Xbox is concerned there is a setup area where you specify weather you have a wide screen or 4:3 television.

As far as the progressive scan, I believe if you are running the component video cable, it should be progressive scan, assuming the game supports it. I don't believe there is a way to disable it. No interlaced displays have component video cables, so there are no settings involved.

Aspect ratio has nothing to do with progressive scan, so it's an independent factor.

I cant speak for the other systems, just the Xbox.

I hear Dragons Lair 3d is planning to support 1080i, it looks like the scenery wont be to polygon intensive, mostly flat surfaces with lots of texturing, so thats probably how they will squeeze enough FPS out of it.

Unfortunately I was no fan of the original, so I hope I'm pleasantly surprised by this version.