Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Anyone Playing Halo 2?

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Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 11-09-2004, 03:10 AM:

Just wondering if anyone here is playing Halo 2...or if anyone plans on it. I bought the game about 4 hours ago at Wal-Mart, so far it's awesome. Any other Xbox Live Gamers here?

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-09-2004, 04:39 AM:

Apparently a ton of people are playing it. I have been hearing of lines as long as 250+ deep for this game which went on sale at midnight. It was even on my local news at 10:00pm which is unheard of around here. I do not have the game yet. I'll get around to getting it, but it's not so great that I need it RIGHT NOW. It certainly is no Out Run 2. I expect total orgasm right when I turn it on from the way everyone's been talking about it, and it had better deliver! If it doesn't then I will be pissed. But hype is NEVER wrong, right? I also expect amazing graphics of an unheard-of high quality. It better not just look like an Xbox game!

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 11-09-2004, 04:53 AM:

While I love a good game, I cannot see the deal here? What is the appeal in staying up all night long playing a video game with people you will never see?

What ever happened to getting together with friends for a barbeque or a poker game? What about going out to a club, or staying home and throwing an orgy?

Things are just too impersonal anymore. I want my orgasms in person dammit!

Ciao

Dave

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 11-09-2004, 04:56 AM:

How come they don't make that for PC?
Does anyone here play Warcraft III? I know, that's old news in the gaming community. But I almost never play on the PC, and when I do, I play that. Or at least I try to. I played Warcaft I and II and was the terror of my computer enemies. But III is simply too difficult for me. I get overrun within 15-20 minutes [Frown]

Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 11-09-2004, 09:38 AM:

Oh I agree, I bought the game to play with my friends at my apt up here at college. We all have our Xboxs networked so we get a pretty good game going. I think Halo 2 is a great game, but I can't get it passed the hardcore people who think Halo and Halo 2 are the best games ever. I remember playing Quake 2 on my PC online years ago with faster speed, better graphics, and more people. Funny how people forget about games like that, when Halo is very much alike it. To me, the best premiere for a game, and one completely worth staying up all night for was "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" <--- that was a game.

SPOILERS!!!

Joe - the graphics aren't that much better.....certainly not orgasmic

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-09-2004, 01:50 PM:

Halo 2 will eventually be ported to the PC computing platform, but only after some additional work. It should follow along the lines of what the developers did with Halo. You can buy a PC version of Halo. But be warned, it demands a lot of graphics card horsepower to work on higher rez computer screens (along with having a full blown Windows operating system monkeying around with things in the background, unlike the very simplified version of XP running in X-Box consoles).

I would expect a PC version of Halo 2 to have the same overly expensive and ridiculous hardware demands of games like Doom III. With Doom III, the game play is great, but only if you have a high end PC with a $500 PCI-Express graphics card in it (such as the GeForce6800 Ultra). The game is still playable to satisfactory standards using cards like the ATI Radeon 9800, the previous top end champ. Doom III functions about as well as a stroke victim on any older or budget oriented video card.

What's funny is Doom III will have a X-Box version released in the coming months. With that and games like Halo 2 it gives customers some pause. Do you want to spend at least several hundred dollars upgrading a PC to play a game like Doom III or Halo 2? Or would it be better to just spend $150 on an X-Box console? I don't own an X-Box yet, but this extreme financial question is the factor that would have me go in favor of the console.

The PC gaming industry has just gotten way to perversely expensive for it to be worth it at all. Companies like Alienware and Falcon Northwest are selling liquid cooled, 4GHz overclocked machines for over $6000. All that just to play a damned game! Guys are spending that much money on something that doesn't work as an investment at all. Look for this industry to start caving in on itself, especially with the ridiculous pseudo monopoly happening between nVidia and ATI. Those assholes have been dragging their feet for the past couple years while inflating the prices of their video cards. The playing field was a lot more competitive just three or four years ago.

If I'm going to blow $6000 on a specialized computer, I'd rather build something that is going to make some money. I'd rather buy a dual 2.5GHz G5 PowerMac loaded with the Apple Production Suite, the Adobe Creative Suite and Adobe After Effects. Hell, with $6000 being the spending limit, I'd probably still have enough money left over to buy an X-Box and a few video games.

Posted by Kyle McEachern (Member # 2250) on 11-09-2004, 03:56 PM:

At the place I picked it up, there were about 400 people in line by 12:15am. My friend works at a GameStop in Pennsylvania and there were 950 pre-orders for it, and they were estimating about 700 of them were going to show up at midnight. The first people at the store I got it at were there around 6pm, but just south of here (In downtown San Francisco)...the lines were apparently much much worse. And half of the people aren't even really "gamers", just people who have gotten caught up in the hype of 'OH MY GOD I NEED HALO 2 TO BE ABLE TO SAY I HAVE HALO 2 AND BE ONE OF THE COOL KIDS'.

In terms of in-game, the graphics are cool, there are a great many new features that are a lot of fun to play around with, and overall it hasn't been a letdown at all, even with all the press and expectations.

Posted by Adam Wilbert (Member # 1184) on 11-09-2004, 04:11 PM:

Halo 2 is what the x-boxers play when they wish they were playing Grand Theft Auto San Andreas.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-09-2004, 04:12 PM:

GameSpy gave Halo2 a great review. PC Magazine gave the game their highest rating, calling it "The Ultimate X-Box Game." They listed lots of great things about the game and only one con: "Addictive game play may lead to antisocial behavior."

If I buy an X-Box, it's going to cost me more than $150. I'll need some little video source switching gadget, complete with optical digital audio inputs. My A/V receiver doesn't have enough to share between my 5-disc DVD changer and Dish Network console. Some of those switch boxes run as much as $100 or more. Then you have the $30 to spend for the Advanced A/V expansion pack to get digital audio output from the X-Box. That's just mandatory. You have to have the positional real-time Dolby Digital 5.1 in game audio that makes Playstation 2 kinda suck ass.

The only other thing making me hesitatate on buying an X-Box is all the time I know I'm going to waste using it.

Grand Theft Auto can go to hell. It might be a great game, but it blatantly glorifies criminal violence happening in reality. I'll have no part of that and will never spend any of my money to endorse it. That whole gangsta culture needs to die off already. Halo and Halo 2 are violent, but not with any concepts based on reality. Pure escapist entertainment.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 11-09-2004, 04:19 PM:

quote: Bobby Henderson
What's funny is Doom III will have a X-Box version released in the coming months. With that and games like Halo 2 it gives customers some pause. Do you want to spend at least several hundred dollars upgrading a PC to play a game like Doom III or Halo 2? Or would it be better to just spend $150 on an X-Box console? I don't own an X-Box yet, but this extreme financial question is the factor that would have me go in favor of the console.

My 2 Ghz dell bought in 2000 runs Doom 3 just fine. Granted I had to buy a $200 graphics card and upgrade my RAM from 512 to 1 Gig, but that's for future games too.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-09-2004, 05:07 PM:

Lets not forget that almost all Xbox games support at least 480p, and many of them support widescreen. GTA: San Andreas is the game PS2 owners are playing while wishing they were playing Halo 2.

Actually Bobby, the PS2 can do in-game DTS 4.0 (no center, no subwoofer). Only 2 games that I know of even use it. The PS2 can do widescreen sometimes, and 480p sometimes as well. But overall it is the inferior machine with a lot more games.

I was out and about today, and I stopped at the mall. This was about 2:40pm. There was a giant line coming out of Electronics Boutique going way across the mall. Crazy! I stopped at Target and there was no line and a ton of Halo 2's, so I picked it up there. Lesson learned: People who pre-order upcoming popular games at game stores are morons. I still haven't taken it out of the package as I've just been too busy with Super Monkeyball, which is the best game on the planet. But I do know that Halo supports 480p, 16:9, and Dolby Digital 5.1 in-game, all of which I will take advantage of when I power it up.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-09-2004, 05:30 PM:

The real thing that killed any desire for me to own a PS2 was the release of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3. One of my coworkers bought the PS2 version and one of my friends had the X-Box version. The PS2 version lacked so many things featured on the X-Box version that it just seemed stupid. The X-Box version had so many more maps, features, X-Box Live support, DD 5.1 and more. The built in hard disc and network card are the main features dictating the differences between the PS2 and X-Box versions of those games. Overall the game ran a lot faster and looked better on X-Box too, thanks to the much more powerful nVidia GPU chipset.

I think the only things going for PS2 are fanatic brand loyalty from Sony fans, more game titles and an anti-Microsoft bent. Even with all those things noted, there's plenty of great games on the X-Box platform and it seems a whole lot better right out of the box.

The only thing making me nervous about X-Box is the rumors buzzing about X-Box 2. From what I've read, X-Box will use multiple IBM-made CPUs similar to Apple's G5 processor and an ATI-based graphics chipset. It will not be backward compatible with the existing X-Box platform (which is Intel/nVidia based). X-Box2 may not even have a built in hard disc or ethernet either. Sounds pretty damned dumb. Apparently Microsoft is losing a lot of money over each X-Box sold, hoping to make up for it on game sales. But they'll definitely be doing Sony a huge favor if they drop the hard drive and ethernet.

Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 11-09-2004, 05:58 PM:

I've learned a little trick about getting stuff @ Midnight too. Go to Wal-Mart and pre-order it, they won't even be advertising it. I was 4th on the list last night @ 10pm. I walked right up past the line and got my game. The in-game DD is awesome, as well as the 480p....although you think they would have made this hi-def.

The next Xbox is rumored to have all kinds of combinations. I think they are toying with the idea of having one with a HD and one without, but the HD is definately awesome...although the 10gig one is a little much for what goes on there.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-09-2004, 06:25 PM:

I guarantee that All "XBox2's" will come with ethernet. Microsoft pushes Xbox Live like no tomorrow. There will probably be a package with and without a hard drive, with the latter able to add a HD later (I hope). It really is kind of necessary for Xbox Live.

Well I finally played Halo 2 a bit. Kind of hard due to the fact that the first level is so damned dark. The programmers messed up though and part of the HUD goes off of the left side of the screen. I guess they never heard of "action safe" or "title safe" areas. Oh well. The music is awesome, but I am not looking forward to the Breaking Benjamin, Incubus, and Hoobastank tracks that are supposedly in the game. The Dolby Digital 5.1 is very good indeed. The control is a bit tough and I don't like the darkness nor do I like invisible enemies. I haven't gone on Live yet, but I probably will soon.

They couldn't make this game in HD because the Xbox couldn't run a game like this in that resolution. The game was originally going to support 720p and 1080i, but it just didn't run smoothly enough. In order to get it to run smoothly, they'd have had to sacrifice quite a lot of detail.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 11-09-2004, 06:58 PM:

I'd take an original "Old Chicago" over an X-Box any day!

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 11-09-2004, 09:24 PM:

quote: Dean Kollet
To me, the best premiere for a game, and one completely worth staying up all night for was "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" <--- that was a game.

No, just no.

It was a good game but NOT the best! [Razz]

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-09-2004, 10:30 PM:

I agree. The N64 graphics made me ill just looking at them. And that Zelda game only engrossed me for a few hours before I became bored and started picking fibers out of the carpet one by one for entertainment.

Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 11-10-2004, 01:21 AM:

Yeah... ah huh. This comic sucks. I think I could have understood it just fine without reading the stupid quotes. Yes, the emotions on their faces is so dog gone good... they should win... whatever award is out there for comics.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-10-2004, 01:25 AM:

BUG REPORT!
There is already a bug in this game, and it is all over the internet now. Bungie can't hide it and they'll have to release an update soon (via Xbox Live download... non-Live connected players are screwed). The bug appears when you play the game in progressive scan mode (480p). The HUD is not positioned correctly onscreen. People are reporting that their radar is being severely clipped off of the screen, and you can't read the number on the left grenade. "Checkpoint" is "heckpoint" and all is not right. Tons of HDTV owners are noticing and reporting this all over the internet. It seems to specifically be a problem with the 480p mode, as when the Xbox is switched to 480i, the problem goes away completely. On my TV, the very edge of the radar is clipped, and the grenade boxes are touching the edges of my screen. Not right! Some HDTV users aren't seeing a problem, but those people have sets with very little overscan.

Who can blame Bungie, though? With a game that was super-rushed as Halo 2, who has time for beta testing? If this game were programmed in Japan, this problem would not be here, guaranteed. That and the graphics would probably be better.

Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 11-10-2004, 01:27 AM:

I'm with Dean, Ocarina of Time is one of my favorite games of all time. One thing I like about Zelda is that they do not rush at all on it and usually end up pushing the release over a year.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-10-2004, 02:10 AM:

Check it out. Here is my screen in 480p mode (my screen is not round, it is just barrel distortion from the camera. I hate RCA TVs and would never buy one... they are almost globes!):

480p

Notice how the HUD is clipping the edges of the screen in every single instance.

But if you switch the Xbox to 480i (Halo 2 does not support 720p or 1080i) and reboot the game in that mode ON THE SAME TV:

480i

Notice how the HUD is now safely within the boundries of the screen. Yes, I know the HUD appears stretched. Only the in-game ploygons are anamorphic. Sega is the only company who can get a game 100% truly anamorphic. Anyway, Halo 2 is teh suck!

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 11-10-2004, 04:22 AM:

Probably my favorite of the computer games I have played is "Warhammer - Dark Omen" which had very neatly designed and detailed 3D landscapes which could be freely zoomed and rotated. It looked incredibly good for '98 standards. People tell me it was too difficult to play on the Playstation though. It involved a lot of mouse action on the screen and on the control field and could get hectic at times.
Still, it was a lot of fun right up to the last level in which I encountered the seemingly invincible "Mummy King". He had decimated most of my troops when I decided to try a desperate last attack and simply ran him over with the Imperial Steamtank. That ended his dark reign.

Posted by Wolff King Morrow (Member # 2226) on 11-10-2004, 11:31 AM:

quote: Chris Hipp
I'm with Dean, Ocarina of Time is one of my favorite games of all time. One thing I like about Zelda is that they do not rush at all on it and usually end up pushing the release over a year.

I'm also a big fan of Zelda: OoT. I got that special bonus pack of it with the Gamecube Zelda and I ended up liking it better than the Gamecube Zelda (which was Nintendo's "Waterworld" remake). The resolution is actually better on the bonus version than the orginal N64 version. Of course, using an emmulator allows you to get even better image quality...

Posted by Adam Fraser (Member # 1074) on 11-10-2004, 01:40 PM:

If all you want to do is gaming and listen to music, just have someone modify your xbox. Put in a bigger HDD, add a dashboard, and a few programs and you have a gaming PC brand new for $250.00

My xbox was 143.00 new and the modification with a 120GB HDD was $100.00.

www.xbox-scene.com has more info, some things on the site are legal some are not.

Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 11-10-2004, 08:23 PM:

I'm having the same problem in 480p....a lot more than the HUD is cropped off though. The lower right where the names and time left is 1/2 cut off too.

Posted by William Leland III (Member # 1400) on 11-14-2004, 01:31 AM:

Bobby, PS2 does have 5.1 surround sound. my NFL 2k5 has Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, most PS2 games do have 5.1 surround. also bobby a friend of mine bought an x-box 2 controllers at a pawn shop for $134, also the x-box does have a hard drive, but if u wanted to play for character against your friends you would still need a memory card. just something to think about, but if i where you i would wait until the new x-box comes out.

i played halo2 and it's an okay shooter, but compared to san andreas, i would rather play san andreas. if halo was on ps2 i would probaly buy it used or if it went to greatest hits. to me shooters are linear, just go around and shoot. as for san andreas it's like an RPG action game. more thought is gone in to it and i get more out of it.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-14-2004, 02:03 AM:

PS2 has ZERO games that have in-game 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. I do know what I am talking about. The system does, however, have a few games that stream Dolby Digital 5.1 during FMV (full motion video) cut-scenes. But the system does not have the hardware to encode Dolby Digital, much less in real time. The two games that do DTS 4.0 (SSX 3 and Grand Theft Auto Vice City) do so respectably, but you'll be missing your center and subwoofer for sure. Many PS2 games are in Pro Logic 2, which is a poor-man's Dolby Digital.

Halo 2 is a 5.0 game as it has zero discrete subwoofer. This is from Bungie's (the morons who made the game) web site:

quote: Bungie
"Here is the skinny. In Halo 1 we sent all signal through the LFE as well. After we shipped we realized that 99% of commercial decoders "redirect" the Front-Left and Front-Right signals to the subwoofer. So in effect in Halo 1 we doubled up on our bass unintentionally.

For Halo 2 we decided to do what commercial decoders are expecting and we use a 5 channel mix (four surround plus center) and count on the decoder to be set up properly to redirect the front speaker signal to the subwoofer. We intended on then utilizing the LFE at times (as we can send full 5.1 mixes through the audio chip) but time and disk space got in the way. You have not seen the last of the audio content for Halo 2 however..."

They are morons. The only benefit to having the sub handle all of the bass is if your main speakers suck ass. It is not a proper set up!

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 11-14-2004, 10:46 AM:

I'm one of the cool kids, I got Halo 2 two days ago.

It's ok, I love that it is live but so far I enjoyed the first Halo much better.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 11-14-2004, 11:54 AM:

M faorite game is still return to wolfenstein

Posted by Adam Wilbert (Member # 1184) on 11-14-2004, 12:40 PM:

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is still one of the best 1st person shooters out there. I can't get used to console 1st person shooters, such as Medal of Honor on my ps2. I really wanted to like that game and play it all the time, but my thumb dexterity is just not up to par with a mouse control.

Posted by Wolff King Morrow (Member # 2226) on 11-14-2004, 12:56 PM:

quote: Joe Redifer
The two games that do DTS 4.0 (SSX 3 and Grand Theft Auto Vice City) do so respectably, but you'll be missing your center and subwoofer for sure.

Add SSX Tricky to that list.

But alas, I'm a total convert to XBox. I have a modded one w/ 80-gig HD that I put several other programs on, including media players and emulators. Awesome portable PC now!

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 11-14-2004, 02:00 PM:

I'll third the RTCW endorsement, great game.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-14-2004, 04:17 PM:

Wolff, can you absolutely 100% confirm that SSX Tricky is DTS? Do you have this game? It is listed as Pro Logic 2 over at HDTVArcade. If it is indeed DTS, I can post that info and they can get the list updated. They want the list to be as accurate as possible, and sometimes there are mistakes on the list (rarely).

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-14-2004, 04:21 PM:

quote: William Leland III
also bobby a friend of mine bought an x-box 2 controllers at a pawn shop for $134, also the x-box does have a hard drive, but if u wanted to play for character against your friends you would still need a memory card. just something to think about, but if i where you i would wait until the new x-box comes out.

??? Could you be more specific about this? Which game are you taking about? Although I'm not a huge X-Box-ophile, I haven't heard of any games requiring you to buy any added on memory cards or any stuff like that.

Joe already responded about the PS2 and it's lack of true, in-game positional 5.1 audio. The X-Box is the only console to ever have this feature. If I buy any gaming console currently on the market, I will buy an X-Box.

As to "X-Box Next" or whatever it is going to be called, from everything I've read on the subject the current X-Box seems to be a better deal.

The latest news seems to indicate Microsoft will have no fewer than three versions of X-Box2. One will lack a hard disc drive while another version will have it. You'll probably have to pay a hefty premium for that hard disc option. Those two systems are supposed to hit the market in late 2005. Then, to counter the PS3, Microsoft plans to feature a third version of X-Box2 in 2006. That one may have even more beefy hardware and will work as a fully functional PC. Of course, you can hack an existing X-Box to run Windows applications, Linux, MAME, etc. But this one will work as a fully functional PC right out of the box. That development really calls into question all the rumors of X-Box2 relying on a IBM G5 processor for the main CPU.

Posted by William Leland III (Member # 1400) on 11-14-2004, 04:52 PM:

bobby, when i create a team on my PS2 ESPN 2K5 Football, i can save my team to my memory card, take it to a friends house and play my created team against his. in order for you to do this on X-box you will need to buy a memory card, save it to the memory card.

i guess you could not buy a memory and bring your x-box and use the link cable. but im not sure about that.

here is a link about microsoft cracking down on modifed x-box users :
X-box Mod's

A Microsoft representative would not specify which additional security measures, if any, have been added to Xbox Live around the "Halo 2" launch. "Microsoft listens carefully to the Xbox Live community and reserves the right to take steps necessary to preserve the integrity of the user experience," the representative said in a statement. "Our goal is to provide our users with secure, consistent and fair online game play. Users are not permitted to manipulate the system to the detriment of others."
Microsoft appears to be using its smash "Halo 2" game as a vehicle to crack down on mod chips and other hacks of its Xbox video game console.

Hundreds of Xbox owners have reported in online forums in recent days that they were banned from Xbox Live, Microsoft's online gaming service, after trying to play "Halo 2" online with a modified console.

Mod chips," gray-market add-ons that allow game consoles to run imported discs, pirated games and homemade software, began circulating for the Xbox shortly after the game machine went on sale four years ago. Hackers who equip their Xboxes with mod chips and other upgrades, such as bigger hard drives, have gotten the consoles to perform all sorts of unauthorized tricks, including running Linux software and serving as digital media centers.

Microsoft and other hardware makers have long fought against mod chips, chiefly because those chips abet game piracy. The software giant's activities culminated in a Justice Department raid two years ago in which federal lawmakers took over a Web site used to sell mod chips and swap illegally copied games.

Billy Pidgeon, an analyst for research firm Zelos Group, said console makers have long used any means available to them to thwart mod chips and halt illegal copying of games. The advent of online gaming for consoles has raised the stakes, he said.

"They're worried not just about enabling casual piracy but also about cheating," Pidgeon said. "A modded Xbox can allow all sorts of new avenues for cheating online and ruining the experience for paying customers. I would argue that Xbox Live is a great experience for the end user precisely because it's a closed, controlled environment, and anything that threatens that is a real concern for Microsoft."

As first reported by CNET News.com, Microsoft has also used Xbox Live since its inception to crack down on mod chips and other hacks. The Xbox Live user agreement states that "Xbox Live may only be accessed with an unmodified, except for Microsoft-authorized repairs and upgrades, Xbox video game console. Any attempt to disassemble, decompile, create derivative works of, reverse engineer, modify, further sublicense, distribute or use for other purposes either the hardware or software of this system, is strictly prohibited and may result in termination of your account and/or your ability to access Xbox Live."

The agreement further gives Microsoft authority to "retrieve information from the Xbox used to log onto Xbox Live as necessary to operate and protect the security of Xbox Live and to enforce this agreement."

Posted by Wolff King Morrow (Member # 2226) on 11-14-2004, 06:12 PM:

quote: Joe Redifer
Wolff, can you absolutely 100% confirm that SSX Tricky is DTS?

Indeed I can. I have the game right now and my Receiver shows it as "4.0". In fact, I remember bitching on the gamefaqs forums that I wanted sub-woofer support at the very least. This game was also marketed as being the first DTS surround PS2 game.

Edit: Confirmed on page 13 of the instruction booklet.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-14-2004, 09:08 PM:

I remember the DTS press releases about SSX Tricky as well. Reviews of the process have not been nearly as good as the X-Box' hardware based method. While there may be twice as many PS2 gaming titles on the market, I'll bet there's a lot more DD 5.1 in-game X-Box titles than there are DTS 4.0 titles for PS2.

quote: William Leland III
A modded Xbox can allow all sorts of new avenues for cheating online and ruining the experience for paying customers.

This is the one area that has me weary about signing up for an X-Box Live account if I purchased an X-Box. I all but dropped out of Internet-based PC gaming years ago because of all the dishonest cheaters out there running aim-bot proxies and all sorts of other hinky shit. I loved playing games like Quake2 or QuakeIII Arena online, but I'd shut down the thing as soon as a cheater appeared. It's pretty obvious when someone is running an aim bot. It's too bad this kind of player fraud is starting to affect the X-Box online community as well.

Posted by Adam Wilbert (Member # 1184) on 11-14-2004, 11:10 PM:

I've always had a better game experience when playing only against people I knew. My brother and I ran cat-5 (or a serial cable back in the day) down our hallway and would spend all night playing Warcraft II or Duke Nukem or more recently RtCW. I can't stand playing for too long against people I'll never know. Whats the fun in that anyway?

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-14-2004, 11:15 PM:

It is nearly impossible to cheat on Xbox Live. However there are some players (many, actually) out there that are just really, really good. It is insane. I just got done playing a planned match wih members of a videogame forum I frequent. I started a thread telling them date and time, and we had 10 people playing. It was pretty cool, but there were a few problems coming from people with slower connections (DSL, etc).

Bobby, almost every Xbox game supports 5.1 Dolby Digital. Some of them go the 4.0 route and some of them even go to 2.0. But not too many at all. Go on over to HDTV Arcade and click on "XBOX" on the upper left of the screen. You can even sort the lists by your preference by clicking near the top of the lists. You can also see wich PS2 or Gamecube games offer things you like as well. The PS2 still lists SSX Tricky as PLII (Pro Logic 2) but that should change within a few days.

PS - I agree with Adam, LAN parties are really cool, especially when you've got people spread out all over the house with their own systems and TVs. ZERO lag!.

Posted by Trevor Bailey (Member # 75) on 11-15-2004, 09:32 PM:

In case you don't want to do the mod yourself, Friendtech will take care of you here.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-15-2004, 11:03 PM:

Most new X-Box titles I've seen explicitly list Dolby Digital 5.1 support on the back of the case. But that wasn't so when the X-Box first hit the market. Some games, like the original "Halo" or "Dead or Alive 3" had the Dolby Digital logo on the back of the box while a good number of others didn't. I suspected many of those others were basic ports from other systems and not designed especially for X-Box. The DD 5.1 audio on some of those games is frighteningly impressive. Although I found the game "Prince of Persia" to be frustrating as hell, its DD 5.1 in game audio shook my friend's house.

The system link / LAN party thing is another enticing reason to buy an X-Box, although it would seem cumbersome to set up multiple TVs around a house. It would probably be worth it to go to the trouble if you had a serious gaming party planned. That's because it just sucks ass to have four people playing each other by dividing up the real estate of one TV screen.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-16-2004, 12:30 AM:

Come on and get an Xbox along with Live, a broadband connection (if you don't already have one), and a few games and I will play online against you Bobby. I need someone I can actually win against. One of the best online games is Crimson Skies, and it has a great single player mode as well. It also has one of the best Dolby Digital presentations you will hear.

Posted by Wolff King Morrow (Member # 2226) on 11-16-2004, 12:37 AM:

quote: Bobby Henderson
This is the one area that has me weary about signing up for an X-Box Live account if I purchased an X-Box.

Rest your fears as Joe said, it's VERY difficult to cheat on X-Box Live. I got my modded X-Box dirt-cheap because the previous owner wanted to start playing online, which you can't do normally with a modded X-Box unless you get a lockable HD and switch it for online playing.

quote:
PS - I agree with Adam, LAN parties are really cool, especially when you've got people spread out all over the house with their own systems and TVs. ZERO lag!.

Me and many of my co-workers do 16-man X-Box LANs all the time. It's a total blast, but we end up getting no sleep!

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-17-2004, 06:18 PM:

Well they finally patched Halo 2 for the HUD problems in 480p and also some of the Xbox Live problems (took forever in matchmaking and many people got "could not load map" errors).

According to MicroSoft, companies are not allowed to patch their games via Xbox Live. So this is an "update" that "enhances" the game. [Roll Eyes]