Tried Xbox yesterday...

I love HALO.  Co-op is da best.  I only get slowdowns on the last level.

The jeep rulez.

HALO is the only FPS I have been able to play without a mouse.

My friends come down and there is no competition, and there shouldn\'t be I know, but to call it a button masher is just your inexperience with the game. - Watchdog

I\'ve played DOA2 on the DC pretty extensively when my cousin let me borrow it. He lives in Chicago, so getting "loans" tend to be a long term deal. Unless the gameplay has changed drastically over the DC version, which it hasn\'t from what I can tell of playing DOA3 at WalMart, it\'s a fu*king button masher. Get over it. You might just be more accustomed to a certain character\'s style and are good at anticipating your oppenents attacks.  "Counter - Combo - Repeat" - That\'s about the only level of mastery you get after moving past the button mashing phase. Even then, you still got a good chance of some newbie fukk comming in and just smashing his way to victory.

If you used the xbox controller for 5+ years and suddenly got introduced to the dualshock EVERYONE would say it felt too small and the buttons were placed illogically. - Watchdog

Game pads have been small for, well, damned near the entire history of videogaming. It\'s not 5+ years of Sony breaking us in... it\'s the way the industry has been. The second largest controller (from what I\'ve seen) is the N64\'s "3 Prong Boomerang".. which quite a few people can\'t stand either.

I\'m not saying the xbox controller is better, but once you get used to it, it is a very good controller. - Watchdog

I could get used to it, granted, but I\'ll probably never like it. It\'s basically a bigger and more ergonomically designed DC gamepad without the VMU window. After about a year of extensive play, I\'ve gotten used to the DC\'s pad.. but as I said before.. I don\'t really like it.

I DO NOT want to play with a keyboard and mouse in my livingroom. Also, when I have friends over can you imagine 4 sets of keyboards and mice? Can you imagine playing online and some people using k/m and some using controllers? It makes sense not to have k/m even though it is a superior setup. - Watchdog

I don\'t see a problem with having a K/M in your livingroom. I\'ve been using one (albiet without the mouse) for quite a while now, and it\'s actually pretty comfortable. Well, considering the size and the usefulness you get out of it. For a home console which is made to be played from a LazyBoy, I can\'t see why in the hell they didn\'t make the mouse into a trackball?!? Sure it\'s a bit awkward at first, but you " get used to it ". The four sets of KB/M would be a dumb idea if the peripherals plugged into seperate ports. However, if MS were to make a KB/M which spliced into each other for use on the same port, it wouldn\'t be bad at all. Expecially not with 10 foot cords on them.

If everyone is using a pad, the playingfield will be level. Get used to it, it\'s not the end of the world especially since the game was designed to play with a pad. - Watchdog

That, is one bonus to those who aren\'t lucky enough to own the KB/M setup. However it\'s going to turn off any serious fan of FPS\'s. Jeeze, why not herd all the players into their own seperate rank servers. That way, only newbies can play with newbies.. moderates can play with other moderates.. and Veterans can only fight other veterans. How\'s that for leveling the playing field? Dosen\'t sound like much fun does it?

Thanks for the feedback guys. As I said I didn\'t get to play a whole lot (I was in a hurry ), but the controller issue is what I noticed right away. It\'s not an Xbox-only problem - not by far. But it\'s just that much harder IMO to aim in a console FPS with a controller... you just don\'t have the same aim and feel as you would with a mouse.

The Xbox controller didn\'t seem too big for me though. I\'m sure it\'s pretty good in general.

They have tweeked the engine in DOA3 and Halo does not slow down that often not counting the last mission.

I played through Halo, beat the whole game and never saw it slow down more than maybe once.

pfffft, i must had a bad copy then

i saw hella slowdown

OR  you are are simply making excuses

OR you  dont know wtf yer talking about when it comes to FPS

im praying its the 1st one

I\'ve only played Halo for 10 minutes total at the local Software Etc.. so I can\'t comment on how good the game is.

What I can comment on is the framerate: there were a few instances of slowdown in the game.

It got a little heavy when I examined a tree-ish thing.. I recall..

case i point, a few slowdowns in only 10 minutes of play

NO, the tree-ish thing was out in the parking lot after you left the mall, remember?

Hmm,. and since all of PS2\'s games run @ a perfect and constant frame rate, I guess we need to redundantly point out how Halo has slowdown right? :rolleyes:

[Bobs_Hardware]

Originally posted by datamage
Hmm,. and since all of PS2\'s games run @ a perfect and constant frame rate, I guess we need to redundantly point out how Halo has slowdown right? :rolleyes:

well.. what else about the game are we supposed to pick on?  

you\'ll notice just as many people are displeased with a game like GTA3 running at 30fps, even if it is constant.  Hell, even a game like Red Faction at its relatively constant 30fps we will pick on.  FPS\'s, especially ones the calibur of Halo should be running at 60fps, but they wasted all their time trying to make the trees look realistic in an attempt to hype up their graphics when the most important factor was lacking..

:shy:

thank you bob, timesplitters was LOCKED at 60fps

were talking fps here, remember?

Right, and the graphical excellence that Timesplitter is, it\'s amazing that it runs @ an amazing 60fps.

I am Mr. Framerate, but sometimes certain circumstances need to be taken into consideration.

to hype up their graphics when the most important factor was lacking..

Most important factor? Howabout that Bungie managed to make an excellent game in a genre that is filled with stale and mediocre \'same ole concept first-person shooters? With excellent graphics, amazing AI, and loads of action. Do you honestly think the PS2 could\'ve done Halo any better? Do you see how filled the screen gets at times with all the insanity? Let\'s not forget it\'s Bungie\'s first attempt.

Some more a little later, but for now, I must depart.

this isnt about PS2 doing it better
i see that PS2 did spyhunter better if you wanna go that route

so should we blame bungie or xbox for 30 fps hiatus?

yeah the screen gets fill and the fps lows to a crawl, the comparison is????

we shouldnt make excuses for a "next gen" $300 top of the line console that m$ tells you its a "ps2 killer" and the "be all - end all" of console gaming  :rolleyes:

[Bobs_Hardware]

ive had this discussion with you before DM    i\'d much rather see the graphical quality lowered to even the lowly standard of something in the mould of.. Twisted Metal: Black as far as graphics are concerned if it had the fluidity and smoothness of TM:B

Most important factor? Howabout that Bungie managed to make an excellent game in a genre that is filled with stale and mediocre \'same ole concept first-person shooters?

i was referring to the graphical engine that runs the game.. see above for details  

so should we blame bungie or xbox for 30 fps hiatus?

Most likely Bungie, and the fact that it\'s their first attempt on the Xbox with a first-gen game.

we shouldnt make excuses for a "next gen" $300 top of the line console that m$ tells you its a "ps2 killer" and the "be all - end all" of console gaming

Right, like all the excuses made for the PS2 when it was supposed to be the ultimate Dreamcast killer, and 2 years later the PS2 still cannot match the Dreamcast in image quality and textures. Is that Sony\'s fault for hyping their console? Or the mindless and ignorant masses who fall for it?

And aside from first-person shooters,. since this seems to be a testament of a console\'s power.. whom should we blame for FFX running @ 30fps and sometimes dropping in framerate? Square? Or Sony\'s complicated and unknown architecture? I mean, all things considered, Square are Gods right? Shouldn\'t they have managed to make FFX run @ 60 fps? It doesn\'t matter if it\'s a FPS or a driving game, if you want to discuss framerate issues we bring all kinds of games into play.

yeah the screen gets fill and the fps lows to a crawl, the comparison is????

Not all the time, there are plenty of instances when the game is filled with action and the framerate is still stable.


Bob,

I was disappointed as well when Halo was going to be 30fps, and I agree, I wish every single game ran @ 60fps, but sometimes we have to take things how they are. Red Faction had framerate issues, and the game was lacking in many areas, IMO.