Hard-Core PCer to (UPGRADE) to X-b0x?

[eLoup]

Halo X-Box-ians,

I have come to let you guys convert me to the world of gaping green “X”. Here’s my position, my opinions. Flame away, I’m wearing my Teflon undies. So have at, convince me all that is X will be neXt.


I’m a PC gamer. Looking at the X-box, and yes, I have to admit I’m impressed! However, like anything, flashy graphics and cracking sound doesn’t make a game. However, this is why I’m attracted to the X-box, over, say, PS2 or GameCube. It seems that the X-Box will have many games released on the PC platform. I am a die-hard believer that the PC is /the/ ultimate platform for gaming. No matter how good a console system can get, it can never be what a PC is. I’d extend this comment even to the mighty X-Box, however, maybe to a slightly less degree.

What I play? Well, one of the things PC games do, and do very well is online gaming. And I admit, I’m an online gamer. Not a gamer, and Online Gamer ;-) *As in I haven’t ever played the single player game of games I buy, only online play, if they even have single-player at all* The two genres I’m attracted to most are MMOLG (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) / MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game), and FPSes. I started online playing with Mud/Mux/Mush/Moo and it really hooked me. But when Asheron’s Call came out I was definantly an MMORPG nutcase. I played for a year before I got too frustrated with the game. It was an amazing game to break into the genre, but unfortunately, so flawed it pained to play after awhile. I then Beta tested (2,3, and 4) Dark Age of Camelot for Mythic Entertainment which as far as first gen MMORPGs, it takes the cake, easily. However, being that it’s a second gen MMORPG, it’s really rather lacking in the innovation department. The game I deem the ultimate MMORPG is “Dawn”, now vaporware by Glitchless Entertainment. As for FPSes, I play Half-Life Mods online. Depending on the mood there’s TFC, CS, DoD, BO… let put it this way : HL Mods is online FPS at best. Variety, precision, and fun. Of course, I also followed World War II Online since January and played for nearly 3 months. It’s breaking so many boundaries it might as well make a new genre category.

Okay, so what the hell does this have /anything/ to do with X-Box?

I’m looking to get a new game rig! A respective PC game rig (AMD 1900+, 512 ddr ram, 30gb 7200 hd, GF3 ti 500, SB Audigy Xgamer, Win XP Pro) will run me in the realms of $900-1300 USD. Now, for hardcore gaming, the kind where you get monitor tan, that’s nearly the price to pay for serious gaming. But I’m also starting my own business and as such, the budget is more than a bit thin (hell, it’s on the range of “non existent”). That’s why I decided (against my hard-core PC instincts) to look at X-Box.

My single and largest beef with the X-box is that I have not read anywhere that there is, or is planned a mouse as an I/O device. I mean common! X-Box has some classifiably “|337” FPS titles going for it, but FPS’s are truly mouse games. I mean, there is no way I could ever play Counter-Strike or Team Fortress Classic and get my scores with a game-pad! Hello! It’s all about being able to rotate on by-instance acceleration over a plainer surface. With a game-pad design you’ll more than likely be forced to turn at a fixed rate. What the hell…. Please tell me there will be a mouse/keyboard set-up available… For the love of god! And what about RTS games (such as Starcraft, a popular PC title) where you need Drag-and-Drop operations… You expected to drag-and-drop with a cursor maneuvered by a game-pad? Ahg! Please! X-Box has EVERYTHING in it’s favor, now lets take console games to a further new high by making them compete ALL the way with PCs: that means the flexibility of communication / complexity of a keyboard, and the lightning fast and accurate responsiveness of mice and even trackball devices!

If they added mice/keyboards: then X-Box could also become the first CONSOLE system to develop a *serious* massive, successful, mind-blowing MMORPG (Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Game). So far, only PCs have the development, player mass, funding, and flexibility to make successful MMORPGs. Lets face it, it’ll be a while before any console MMORPG will ever come within eye-brow rising distance to MMORPG gargantuan titles and innovations found on PC platform, games like Dark Age of Camelot, Asheron’s Call: Dark Majesty, Ever Quest, Star Wars Galaxies, Shadow Bane, etc.. etc.. etc..

…. But if there is news of X-Box keyboard, mouse and trackballs for serious FPSers and Online players where communication and super-glue like adhesive community interaction co-exist, then the Gods are smiling down upon me. The X-box might show up in my stinky stocking for X-mass along with the customary hand-full of coal.

So, console vs. PC grudge matches aside : tell me, is the "X" neXt? For me, the hardcore online PCer looking to upgrade on a budget?

I recognize that “the box” is a powerhouse for console crowds, but if this doesn’t stand a chance to meet my gaming needs I’ll want to know.

All right then, have at… I’m listening!

~

eLoup
Seattle, WA USA

[Rancey]

Well I can tell you if you chose a console go with the Xbox. You ever go to LAN parties? It is a lot easier to set up 4 Xbox's and play 16 players than 16 computers. I have NEVER been to a LAN party of that size where at least 1 person's computer doesn't work (fortunately it has never happened to me personally). But I prefer LAN gaming to online gaming because I like being able to abuse the other players and I prefer playing with people I know and the pings are obviously a lot lower. But then you have to look at other things like you know 3 others getting an Xbox? Will each of them have 4 controllers? The choice is really up to you and you alone.

[RedFive]

Last I heard, there are no mouse and keyboard announced for the Xbox. Why, you have asked so inquisitively? Because Microsoft wants the Xbox to be a console, first and foremost. They don't want it to be a PC you hook up to your TV. While I wouldn't be surprised to see a keyboard and mouse arrive for the Xbox some time in the future (hell, the controller ports are just USB ports... :), it won't happen soon -- if at all.

However, that shouldn't be a reason *not* to get an Xbox. If you like console games at all (which I personally prefer to the shady and expensive world of PC gaming), you'll love the Xbox.

Don't take my word for it. When the system comes out, rent one from Blockbuster or go play Halo at EB in the mall. I think the machine and the games can do the talking much better than I can.

Best of luck in your choice!

=w= RedFive =w=

[eLoup]

A friend and I used to host LAN parties with about 10-15 people back a year or so. Played mostly CS, however, with only 10-15 people, it was a bit, how do you put it… underwhelming. This is why unless your LAN mates are any good, FPSes are generally much better online, where there is some serious competition. I love how they now have team-based Counter Strike championships with cash prizes and the whole bit, sounds fun! I think games that benefited from the small LAN numbers (anything under 32 players is tiny in my book) was Rune. No one had the game, but one of us somehow landed it on our hard drive probably after prompting half-a-billion demo downloads overnight from FilePlanet for LANing pleasure. Rune multi-player demo was just a hoot. Total hack’n slash gibbing fun, and it played well with the small numbers of players.

Now, does X-Box’s Ethernet connection have some sort of 4 console daisy-chain limit? Odd, but whatever. How about it’s online broadband capabilities? This is what I’m most interested in, since “X” LAN parties somehow is hard to imagine.

As for setting up LAN parties and running into complications… Yup, been there, done that :p it’s Murphy’s Law I think… “The more rigs you LAN the greater chance you’ll not have nearly enough CAT-5 cable to go ‘round”… or… computers not recognizing networks (a pain in the asz). We had this one guy who we dubbed “Pixel King” cause his computer didn’t even meet minimum specs for Half-Life, the engine used for all the Mod games we played. He had to run video acceleration in software when we where playing FireArms and had the crappiest heap of garbled graphics I’ve ever seen… and the frame rates! Oh! Don’t even GO there! LOL. He did all right, under the circumstances.

P.s. Ever since Atari 2600 – PS(1) days, for me, I’ve been wanting to see more co-operative games. But there is such a scant hand-full, and nothing really to what I have hoped for. Think X-Box titles might curb the appetite for games built to be played for 2 players (and more?)…? The ultimate LAN games (for me, besides standard melee fun) would be games built from the ground up for LAN environment but that have all the vivid, rich depth and development as one normally expects from your typical (well produced) one player fare. When playing such games as Kings Field II (PS1) and Resident Evil *1* (PS1) I always thought how much cooler it could be playing with another person via a link, ala Destruction Derby where two players could play, two machines, eliminating splitting screens which I so dearly hate.

Am I living in a pipe dream or /What!/

~

eLoup
Seattle, WA USA



Oh hey, okay – reply numero two :

No mouse or keyboard? Withhold two of gamings best input devices because they resemble PC hardware configurations and their respected platforms? Uh… the X-Box is supposed to be about gaming, right? It’s nothing /but/ gaming. So why in the world would you want to /NOT/ give the world’s most promising “console” the world’s BEST input devices because they are “just consoles”… No way. Something’s wrong here. Have you ever played a FPS on a PC using a mouse or trackball? There is no comparison, not to mention the immense amount of flexibility in keymapping functions on keyboards generally allowing for a huge amount of game movement and diversity (not to mention being able to type).

Sorry, I’m getting a bit rant-ish…. But hey, this is good, I’m getting the feedback I’m looking for. Thanks Jason, RedFive!

[scarecrow kfj]

Alright to start off eventualy they will have a key board but more inpresevly they will have a head set that you will be able to talk to others you are playing on line with. I love cc and starcraft to and I would love that online. Just remember a head set to be able to actualy talk trash to your opponitsa

[l Maximus l]

Yeah...the headset is extremely innovative. I'm so pumped!

[smack119]

the thing about having to rotate at a fixed rate....if im right the controllers can pick up readings with 256 degrees of pressure. you the hard you push the fast it will move

[eLoup]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

A few observations and questions yet :

Pressure sensitive play-pad : Well, it’s definitely not a mouse or trackball, but I suppose it’s better than non-pressure sensitive game pads. Here’s to hoping we see an announcement of mice/trackball and keyboards soon! Oh, here’s a question to you guys that have played HALO or are a little more experienced with console FPS titles than myself: What happens if I want to be constantly running around, say running forward, and I want to look to my right, and shoot something that moving strait up? What I’m getting at, is does the X-Box game pad offer the flexibility of movement in all axis’s and still have finger arrangement so that you can shoot without taking a finger off a movement control? This is one of the reasons that mice + keyboards are so easy to configure for first person perspective games, aside from the fact that aiming adjustments are not done by pressing on a D-pad, but by moving your wrist (a faster operation).


What are the limitations of X-Box’s Ethernet conceivability?

Jason, you mentioned connecting 4 X-Boxes together and then I assume you meant that with a duel split screen /quad viewing area you’d get 4 people per monitor which places your LAN abilities right on 16 players. Is there a limitation, superficial or otherwise that only allows 4 X-Boxes to daisy chain up at one time? What’s the maximum amount of X-box-to-X-Box in the LAN environment? Also, the spec sheet says 10/100 Ethernet connection… , which is it? Can the X-Box transfer 100Mb/s or 10/Mb/s ? I’m used to playing on a 10Mb/s LAN environment, so either way is fine, jut very curious as to the throughput of the Ethernet card in “the box”…



Me blathering about Head-sets :

Okay, headsets may be a new thing for console world, but it’s old hat for PC’s, relatively speaking. While the technology is great, the application of voice communication often isn’t. Anyone who’s used “M Player” to connect in online games (I had to use it to play Aliens vs Pred online) knows that, indeed, open voice comm just doesn’t cut it. Let me demonstrate :


*You drink some Dew, double-click on AVP, and are immediately sent to M Player to join a game of AvP*
Site starts to load up…
*Crackle-crackle* …. *Ketcheeeeeeeeeeeeet……. Buiooooooop….. Crunch*
The voice of puberty chirps in…
“Heheh…. Hey dudes… can you, like… What!? No, I said I’d do the laundry later mom… Common!….”
Some other player in the M Player lobby…
“Hahah, what an ***wipe”
The drone of others….
“Hey dude, I just got the new album of Soggy Biscottie and the Ham Flavored Pudding!”
…”Dude! Like, put it on. Put it on! Put in ooooonnnnnnn! Ooooooooooo----nnnnnnnnnnnnn… Hahahahahahahahahahah -- Heheheheheheh – Hahahahahahah – Heeeeeeeee….. Oooooonnnnnn…Hahahaha. Yeah man, like kick those jams up my bi***”
Music that could make your cat go bald ensues….
“Hey guys… guys, I’m back. Hello? Testing…… Testing….. Mike-check… Guy? Hello? Guys? Hello, can you guys hear me? Hey…? Testing… 1….2…3… Guys? Hello? Testing…. This better? Is this better….. Better….. Testing 1,2,3…. –op.. Oh man, ****it-like. I have to go, my mom says it’s dinner time. Hey guys… If you can hear me, I’m going to dinner, my mom’s calling okay? *cerPLUNK-Crackle… Bonk..Chhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ------------ **



Then in Counter-Strike, they added voice comm, and while in theory you could use it to talk about team strategy and getting your mates to cover your 6, or to throw a ‘nade down the hatch. But 99 times out of 100, strategy quickly becomes insanity, such as I illustrated in the above, where squeaky voices drone endlessly.

At least with Roger-Wilco, players have the option to join other player’s servers so they could talk however the heck they wanted to without disrupting game-play.

There is only 1 kind of game I have ever played where voice comm (we used RW) actually enhanced game-play, and that was in sims. Playing Flight Sim 98 and Combat Flight Sim was a blast with voice comm because the people who play sims are generally genuinely interested in what they are playing. It’s a sim, and most everybody kept that atmosphere around, which was great. I used to act as flight deck and ground strip ATC (Air Traffic Controller) at many locations, including Chicago airports and Ark Royal Carrier. “X-Box, this is C-Hare ATC, request to land Charlie Delta Niner, granted. Approach on heading two-three-five at Angles-2… Out” ;-)

It seems to me that when the voice comm is being used for data relay and communications – it does work and people really get into it. However, when voice comm is used for socializing, things just… well, lets put it this way, just as there are “grief players”, there are also “grief talkers”.



Any other feedback welcome. Would like to hear more opinions form you guys! X-Box sounds great, and I’m darned curious (don’t worry, my cat’s already dead).


~

eLoup

[scarecrow kfj]

I do agree with you on headsets on the PC. I am still interested in getting one for the xbox cause once it hits on line I will be usinf it with friends at there house while I am at mine. Mostly for football games and such.. I am not the biggest fan of online play. I play alot of C&C when I do. Or yahoo games..lol But I like to talk sht when I am playing against someone and I think head sets would alow me to do that.