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Why Nintendo will win the war …
- Company Experience -
Nintendo has produced videogames since the early 1980’s. They achieved total market dominance with the SNES, Game Boy, and NES systems, occasionally giving up some of the market to Sega. Sony on the other hand, has just entered the console business and their success is due only to the fact that they ran off with the Big N’s ideas. Because it was CD –based, developers were so excited about what it could do. Many publishers ditched Nintendo when it was announced they would stick with carts as opposed to newer mediums. Now, Square, who has had a strong relationship with Nintendo, asks for the N to reconsider cart usage. But to satisfy their own in-house developer, Shigeru Miyamoto, they were to use carts. After that, Square developed for the Playstation and Nintendo was left in the dust. Backstabbed by Sony. But now, with the release of the Dolphin, Nintendo has gotten back on its feet and is prepared to reclaim dominance of the volatile video game industry…
- Learning from Mistakes -
The Nintendo 64 had several key downfalls: namely the relatively small-capacity carts, lack of a sound chip, and little 3rd party development. The cartridge, although it could not store much data, had close to no load time whatsoever so it was not a totally bad component. In addition, while PSX owners were listening to CD-quality sound, N64 buyers were left with a mediocre sound system, but eventually developers got the hang of the sound hardware. With the release of gamecube on the horizon, Nintendo will address all of these major issues. Dolphin will have DVD, a sound chip developed by Factor5, and “the best software lineup of any Nintendo console in the world”.
- Gamecube Hardware -
In the last console war, Nintendo’s system was lacking in polygon count, the sound department, and medium. Now Gamecube is far superior to the PS2, which was cursed with many hardware problems at its launch. Here is a comparison of the two machines and their known specs.
Gamecube PS2
Main CPU Speed 400 MHz 300 MHz
Copper Technology YES NO
Memory Bandwidth 3.2GB/s 3.2 GB/s
Graphics GPU Speed 200 MHz 150 MHz
# Of Controller Ports 4 2 (LOL)
VRAM at least 16 4 MB
RAM extras 1T- SRAM None
Texture Compression Yes No
Anti-Aliasing Yes No
On-board T & L Yes No
DVD Playback- No Yes
Direct Handheld Yes, GBA No
VMS-style Device Yes No
Exclusive Franchises Pokémon, Zelda, Mario etc. None
As the chart above shows, gamecube is superior to PS2 in every respect. In fact, Nintendo’s top officials have announced that they are very unimpressed with the PS2 demos and such. The Big N stated in an interview that “RAM is extremely essential to Gamecube” and “ the controller will be extremely innovative”. For those of you who are unaware of Copper Technology, Texture Compression, T & L, 1t S-RAM, and Anti-Aliasing, I will explain them briefly:
Copper Technology- gamecubes inner circuitry will be made out of copper as opposed to aluminum within the PS2. Copper is a better conductor of electricity, meaning it transfers more data at a faster rate than traditional aluminum. You can expect smooth frames and textures on Dolphin thanks to this vital feature.
Texture Compression- Makes RAM usage 7 times more efficient and increases transfer times between the main and graphics CPUs. Dolphin will feature S3 compression so developers can use less megabytes of RAM to achieve better textures and apply the extra RAM to other key areas if necessary.
Anti-Aliasing- A graphical effect in which where polygons meet they are slightly blurred to smoothen out the appearance. Because PS2 has only 4 MB of video RAM, this feature cannot be fully embraced. Gamecube on the other hand will contain 12–16 MB of it.
Onboard T & L- An extremely important advantage of Gamecube. T & L stands for Transformation and Lighting. Transformation and Lighting are effects such as running water, lens flare, real-time lighting, and animation. These features will be built directly onto the graphics card in Gamecube, meaning the main processor will be freed up to handle other tasks such as polygons. Now picture this: a 300 Mhz CPU bogged down with data and a 400 Mhz copper CPU handling mostly polygon counts and frame rates while cooperating with the GPU. Which one will obviously have the best appearance? Dolphin, of course. This T & L feature is so excellent that it is considered “the best innovation that can be found on a graphics card” by PC World magazine reviews. T & L is also present on the Nvidia geForce card for the PC and it has received immensely good reviews as a result.
1t S-RAM- This RAM is very efficient and can be tapped more effectively than slower DRAM. It has been announced to be 7 times faster than traditional RAM. Because it is embedded directly onto the GPU, there is virtually no load times which means-> most importantly SILKY-SMOOTH FRAMERATES WHILE RUNNING HIGH-END PERFORMANCE TEXTURES. Think of PD on Gamecube with those benefits......
Now. Many of you will point out the fact that Gamecube will not have DVD playback. I think DVD playback is an unnecessary feature. Considering that DVD will soon be as popular as VHS, why would you want to have it on a PS2? The PS2 version is stripped down, jacks up the cost, is only a 2X speed, is known to skip, and must be activated using a goofy-looking Playstation controller. Instead, you can go out and by a high quality DVD player with 5 free movies. Many think it is a “cool” feature but it looks awkward using a controller as a remote anyway…
All in all, the hardware is significantly better than that of the PS2. Not to mention the CPU on Nintendo’s system is produced by IBM. Toshiba, who does not even specialize in microprocessors, makes the PS2 chip. Obviously, IBM’s will be designed much more efficiently. That brings us to the partners of Nintendo…
Nintendo themselves is the most potent force in the growing industry. On Gamecube expect remakes of classics such as Mario, Pokémon, Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and possibly a Metroid game. Hiroshi Yamauchi actually announced a Pokémon, Zelda, and Mario game are definitely coming to the N64’s 128-bit successor. This is good news for N fans everywhere, and the Pokémon and Mario games will most likely drive sales effectively. Zelda is scheduled for a 2005 release, and it will most likely be the best Adventure on any platform. Expect an updated Mario Kart with more multiplayer emphasis and new characters as well.
Rareware, one of Nintendo’s most respected secondary developers will have several excellent games for Gamecube. You can expect a Killer Instinct, Donkey Kong, Banjo-Kazooie, and even Perfect Dark 2. Imagine PD, with more levels, smooth frame rates, crystal clear graphics, more options, etc. Rareware will be a vital part of the 128-bit monster.
The GBA developing information is even more stunning. Presently, 70 developers are extremely eager to get their hands on these development kits and Nintendo predicts a total of 130. This is an enormous response that Nintendo is grateful of. The Game Boy Advance will be 32 bit and have online and 4-player connectivity as well. In addition, it will link up to Dolphin without the need for transfer packs. This gives developers many options and it is very exciting to ponder the possibilities.
The games on Gamecube will be the best yet: Mario, Zelda, Star Fox, Metroid, Perfect Dark 2, Rainbow Six, Pokemon, and hundreds of games from companies such as Lucasarts, Eurocom, Acclaim, Sucker Punch, Titus, Capcom, Konami etc. Retro Studios also plans to have 5 games of varying genres ready at the system’s launch. Trust me, the launch will be the best of its kind. EAch developer covers a gap in the different genres.
All in all they have the best stuff in there position and it will be hard to beat them.
Everyone write there opinions on this topic
- Company Experience -
Nintendo has produced videogames since the early 1980’s. They achieved total market dominance with the SNES, Game Boy, and NES systems, occasionally giving up some of the market to Sega. Sony on the other hand, has just entered the console business and their success is due only to the fact that they ran off with the Big N’s ideas. Because it was CD –based, developers were so excited about what it could do. Many publishers ditched Nintendo when it was announced they would stick with carts as opposed to newer mediums. Now, Square, who has had a strong relationship with Nintendo, asks for the N to reconsider cart usage. But to satisfy their own in-house developer, Shigeru Miyamoto, they were to use carts. After that, Square developed for the Playstation and Nintendo was left in the dust. Backstabbed by Sony. But now, with the release of the Dolphin, Nintendo has gotten back on its feet and is prepared to reclaim dominance of the volatile video game industry…
- Learning from Mistakes -
The Nintendo 64 had several key downfalls: namely the relatively small-capacity carts, lack of a sound chip, and little 3rd party development. The cartridge, although it could not store much data, had close to no load time whatsoever so it was not a totally bad component. In addition, while PSX owners were listening to CD-quality sound, N64 buyers were left with a mediocre sound system, but eventually developers got the hang of the sound hardware. With the release of gamecube on the horizon, Nintendo will address all of these major issues. Dolphin will have DVD, a sound chip developed by Factor5, and “the best software lineup of any Nintendo console in the world”.
- Gamecube Hardware -
In the last console war, Nintendo’s system was lacking in polygon count, the sound department, and medium. Now Gamecube is far superior to the PS2, which was cursed with many hardware problems at its launch. Here is a comparison of the two machines and their known specs.
Gamecube PS2
Main CPU Speed 400 MHz 300 MHz
Copper Technology YES NO
Memory Bandwidth 3.2GB/s 3.2 GB/s
Graphics GPU Speed 200 MHz 150 MHz
# Of Controller Ports 4 2 (LOL)
VRAM at least 16 4 MB
RAM extras 1T- SRAM None
Texture Compression Yes No
Anti-Aliasing Yes No
On-board T & L Yes No
DVD Playback- No Yes
Direct Handheld Yes, GBA No
VMS-style Device Yes No
Exclusive Franchises Pokémon, Zelda, Mario etc. None
As the chart above shows, gamecube is superior to PS2 in every respect. In fact, Nintendo’s top officials have announced that they are very unimpressed with the PS2 demos and such. The Big N stated in an interview that “RAM is extremely essential to Gamecube” and “ the controller will be extremely innovative”. For those of you who are unaware of Copper Technology, Texture Compression, T & L, 1t S-RAM, and Anti-Aliasing, I will explain them briefly:
Copper Technology- gamecubes inner circuitry will be made out of copper as opposed to aluminum within the PS2. Copper is a better conductor of electricity, meaning it transfers more data at a faster rate than traditional aluminum. You can expect smooth frames and textures on Dolphin thanks to this vital feature.
Texture Compression- Makes RAM usage 7 times more efficient and increases transfer times between the main and graphics CPUs. Dolphin will feature S3 compression so developers can use less megabytes of RAM to achieve better textures and apply the extra RAM to other key areas if necessary.
Anti-Aliasing- A graphical effect in which where polygons meet they are slightly blurred to smoothen out the appearance. Because PS2 has only 4 MB of video RAM, this feature cannot be fully embraced. Gamecube on the other hand will contain 12–16 MB of it.
Onboard T & L- An extremely important advantage of Gamecube. T & L stands for Transformation and Lighting. Transformation and Lighting are effects such as running water, lens flare, real-time lighting, and animation. These features will be built directly onto the graphics card in Gamecube, meaning the main processor will be freed up to handle other tasks such as polygons. Now picture this: a 300 Mhz CPU bogged down with data and a 400 Mhz copper CPU handling mostly polygon counts and frame rates while cooperating with the GPU. Which one will obviously have the best appearance? Dolphin, of course. This T & L feature is so excellent that it is considered “the best innovation that can be found on a graphics card” by PC World magazine reviews. T & L is also present on the Nvidia geForce card for the PC and it has received immensely good reviews as a result.
1t S-RAM- This RAM is very efficient and can be tapped more effectively than slower DRAM. It has been announced to be 7 times faster than traditional RAM. Because it is embedded directly onto the GPU, there is virtually no load times which means-> most importantly SILKY-SMOOTH FRAMERATES WHILE RUNNING HIGH-END PERFORMANCE TEXTURES. Think of PD on Gamecube with those benefits......
Now. Many of you will point out the fact that Gamecube will not have DVD playback. I think DVD playback is an unnecessary feature. Considering that DVD will soon be as popular as VHS, why would you want to have it on a PS2? The PS2 version is stripped down, jacks up the cost, is only a 2X speed, is known to skip, and must be activated using a goofy-looking Playstation controller. Instead, you can go out and by a high quality DVD player with 5 free movies. Many think it is a “cool” feature but it looks awkward using a controller as a remote anyway…
All in all, the hardware is significantly better than that of the PS2. Not to mention the CPU on Nintendo’s system is produced by IBM. Toshiba, who does not even specialize in microprocessors, makes the PS2 chip. Obviously, IBM’s will be designed much more efficiently. That brings us to the partners of Nintendo…
Nintendo themselves is the most potent force in the growing industry. On Gamecube expect remakes of classics such as Mario, Pokémon, Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and possibly a Metroid game. Hiroshi Yamauchi actually announced a Pokémon, Zelda, and Mario game are definitely coming to the N64’s 128-bit successor. This is good news for N fans everywhere, and the Pokémon and Mario games will most likely drive sales effectively. Zelda is scheduled for a 2005 release, and it will most likely be the best Adventure on any platform. Expect an updated Mario Kart with more multiplayer emphasis and new characters as well.
Rareware, one of Nintendo’s most respected secondary developers will have several excellent games for Gamecube. You can expect a Killer Instinct, Donkey Kong, Banjo-Kazooie, and even Perfect Dark 2. Imagine PD, with more levels, smooth frame rates, crystal clear graphics, more options, etc. Rareware will be a vital part of the 128-bit monster.
The GBA developing information is even more stunning. Presently, 70 developers are extremely eager to get their hands on these development kits and Nintendo predicts a total of 130. This is an enormous response that Nintendo is grateful of. The Game Boy Advance will be 32 bit and have online and 4-player connectivity as well. In addition, it will link up to Dolphin without the need for transfer packs. This gives developers many options and it is very exciting to ponder the possibilities.
The games on Gamecube will be the best yet: Mario, Zelda, Star Fox, Metroid, Perfect Dark 2, Rainbow Six, Pokemon, and hundreds of games from companies such as Lucasarts, Eurocom, Acclaim, Sucker Punch, Titus, Capcom, Konami etc. Retro Studios also plans to have 5 games of varying genres ready at the system’s launch. Trust me, the launch will be the best of its kind. EAch developer covers a gap in the different genres.
All in all they have the best stuff in there position and it will be hard to beat them.
Everyone write there opinions on this topic
Page:
Golden Rhino wrote:
>Everyone write there opinions on this topic
Funny, before this line there wasn't one spelling mistake, now you've gone and spoilt it.
In fact the whole post looks like a Ctrl C Ctrl V to me, given the language used and sudden understanding of all things technical by GR.
If I'm wrong, then sorry, but the whole format and layout of the post gives you away.
>Everyone write there opinions on this topic
Funny, before this line there wasn't one spelling mistake, now you've gone and spoilt it.
In fact the whole post looks like a Ctrl C Ctrl V to me, given the language used and sudden understanding of all things technical by GR.
If I'm wrong, then sorry, but the whole format and layout of the post gives you away.
Two! You kept the first quiet ssxpro!
...I don't think you've seen any of Dans posts then Michael...? :D
...I don't think you've seen any of Dans posts then Michael...? :D
Oh my, was that not the LONGEST! goddam message ever!!!?
Congratulations on your first win as well ssxpro, it's about time.
"I am proud to join you there."
:D
"I am proud to join you there."
:D
> is it called mgs2x. I thought it was the same with added features
Last I heard it was a sort of "MGS1.5"
Last I heard it was a sort of "MGS1.5"
Not the same MGS2!
Different game altogether
Different game altogether
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