Why is everyone so impressed with Halo on Xbox?

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VBboy

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 2000
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Everyone seems to be impressed by that game, Halo, running on Xbox. "Wow, amazing graphics, etc".

Game developers knew they only had to support a very low TV resolution (what, 640x480, max?). Also, they didn't have to have the "slower" 32-bit color mode because you can't even see that many colors on an average TV set. So they probably did 24-bit color or less.

Even an older PC (say, 1 GHz with a GeForce2 Pro) should be able to run that kind of a game at 640x480x"24". Therefore, we can conclude that Xbox is not all that impressive :)

I have nothing against Halo, it looks cool, but I don't think it's something unimaginable by today's PC standards..
 
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Wingznut

Elite Member
Dec 28, 1999
16,968
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Think you can build a PC for $300 that'll run that game and many others very well, and look that good?
 
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Novgrod

Golden Member
Mar 3, 2001
1,142
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Well, to be fair, not even Microsoft is putting the x-box together for $300. $400 was the figure I heard, but that's still a heck of a system for such a price. Anyway, Halo must have polygons out the yin-yang and it really does look impressive, even for 640x480. I would be surprised if it weren't at 32 bit color; should have asked. When the PC port comes out in god-only-knows how many months, you'll see something impressive.

Regardless of the resolution, you'll be hard-pressed to find a smoother, more detailed world anywhere but out the window.

Just an aside: I don't suppose anyone knows how the x-box works with hdtv?

 
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VBboy

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 2000
5,793
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Yeah, I think I can put together a PC for $400 (Microsoft is actually losing money selling it at $300) that will run Quake3 at 640x480x24.

All you need is a Duron 800 or so, 128 MB RAM, the cheapest Mobo, the cheapest case + average AMD-certified PSU, DVD-ROM, 10-GB HD, GeForce2 Ti and some peripherals. You can even go with a GeForce2 MX if you like. You can definitely do it under $400. It won't be a great gaming system, but it will run any low-res game out there..

But I bet they will still make you go out and buy a GeForce5 when the game comes out for the PC ;)
 
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Katana

Senior member
Jan 8, 2001
561
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From what I've read every game plays at 480p and some can be played at 1080i or 720p.

Check out this post at the AVS forums.
 
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AthlonMan

Member
Jun 27, 2001
160
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Do remember 32-bit graphics are all that important, for one the eye can't even see 32-bit to begin with, and another gaming consoles now and before have always done amazing things with low res's. Look at the Nintendo 64, with Mario 64 the graphics in that game are amazing for 1996 and they were not done in high res (640*480), but in low res which is 320*240.

The one thing thou is the X-box is not like most gaming consoles, it's a PC realy that hooks in a TV with a P3 cpu inside. Most gaming consoles like nintendo, or sony dont use intel cpus in there consoles. For example the gamecube uses a gekco powerpc cpu. The X-box might have a higher clock speed at 733 but do remember powerpc chip's are a lot more robust then intel cpus. Gamecubes clock is 485 on the powerpc chip.

Here is a little performace test to show the differance between intel and powerpc chips.

Cpu 1 - duel p3 600
Cpu 2 - g4 500
Cpu 3 - duel g4 500

cpu 1 did test 50 seconds, cpu 2 did test 51 seconds, and cpu 3 did it 30 seconds.
 
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EdipisReks

Platinum Member
Sep 30, 2000
2,722
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not to get off topic, but what was the "test", and how how were the systems set up for this "test"? just spitting out numbers without saying what the test was happens to be pretty meaningless. also, why were the cpu's dueling ?:p its duAl, buddy, not duEl.

--jacob
 
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AthlonMan

Member
Jun 27, 2001
160
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Sorry for the bad english whatever duel dual dont matter. This test was done a long time ago I just remembered the numbers, I think it was a database of some sort.
 
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Pacinamac23

Senior member
Feb 23, 2001
585
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Halo looks by far better then any PC game out there right now. Of course, Halo will be coming to the PC soon enough. We will see how well PCs can run it. It will be a challenge for sure, everything is bump mapped, huge amount of polys, ultra high detail and the biggest factor -- draw distance. The outdoor levels have a massive draw distance and when there is a lot of action expect chugging.
 
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Wingznut

Elite Member
Dec 28, 1999
16,968
2
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"You can even go with a GeForce2 MX if you like. "

Sorry, but Halo on a GF2 certainly wouldn't look as good as Halo on an Xbox.


"I have nothing against Halo, it looks cool, but I don't think it's something unimaginable by today's PC standards."

Ok, if it's not all that impressive, then what game on the PC looks and plays as good as NFL Fever 2002, or DOA 3, or Halo, or... ?
 
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Yihaa

Member
Nov 6, 2001
157
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If you think about it, XBOX is actually a bargain since it uses a custom GeForce3 as its GPU. Buying a GF3 card for the PC
is almost the same price as the XBOX.
 
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ghetto buck

Senior member
Feb 29, 2000
544
0
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AthlonMan, You do realize that every game console ever was a computer do you not? I'm so sick of hearing "Xbox is a PC". Well no more than the NES was, just because it has an intel chip doesn't change anything.

Also take into consideration that as good as Halo looks, it's still a first generation title that only had 5 months development on final hardware. In 6 months to a year, other xbox games are going to put Halo to shame, graphically anyway. Also the 640 x 480 argument is a fair enough complaint but lets not forget how good dvd's look at that resolution. You could technically have Toy Story quality graphics at 640 x 480, resolution isn't everything.

Novgrod, to use HDTV on the Xbox you just have to buy the Advanced HD pack ($20). It hooks up to component inputs as well as optical dolby receivers.
 
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Degenerate

Platinum Member
Dec 17, 2000
2,271
0
0
My view...

XBox supports HDTv, then it would look nice (depending on frames)
Personally, i think Counter-strike beats all other games.
 
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ghetto buck

Senior member
Feb 29, 2000
544
0
0
Regarding resolution, I always look at Starcraft which was 640 x 480 and 256 colors! However it still looks better than these new RTS games with 1024 x 768+ res. and 32 bit color. It's all about what your doing with what you have.

Anyways the issue is really a pointless discussion since most Xbox games will support 1080i or 720p and all will support 480p. And I guarantee playing games on a Bigscreen HDTV at 1080i or 720p will blow away your 19" monitor no matter how high you set the resolution :)
 
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nortexoid

Diamond Member
May 1, 2000
4,096
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actually i believe that console game developers are creating games intended for higher resolution due to HDTV and such...

but anyway, that's almost beside the point...
 
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AMDPwred

Diamond Member
Mar 22, 2001
3,593
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I'm not too impressed with the XBox. If I were to buy either of the new consoles it would be the Cube. But I like my PC better;)
 
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Pariah

Elite Member
Apr 16, 2000
7,357
20
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"AthlonMan, You do realize that every game console ever was a computer do you not? I'm so sick of hearing "Xbox is a PC"."

Every PC is a computer, every computer is not a PC. Laptops, Apples, SGI rendering farms, IBM mainframes are all computers, but are not PC's. The XBox is by far the closest thing to a PC we have seen in a console.
 
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samgau

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 1999
2,403
0
0
Hey guys... my pc is a o/c 850 celeron II with a TNT2 Ultra... and Quake 3 runs at 800x600x32 just fine.... and a basic machine can be put together for under $300 with close to those specs...
mobo=60 (bx board or amd)
cpu=40 (cel 700 or Duron 800)
ram=20 (128 Mb pc100 or DDR)
HD=60 (about 10gb drive)
vid=40 (geforce mx)
snd=30 (Sb live value)
case=20 ( generic case with 300w atx AMD approved)
Nic=10 (generic 10/100 pci)
dvd drive = 35 (10x)
about $315 no? can trim some $ by buying combos (88 for a Duron 800 + Mobo) or barebones... :)
 
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JackBurton

Lifer
Jul 18, 2000
15,993
14
81


<< Even an older PC (say, 1 GHz with a GeForce2 Pro) should be able to run that kind of a game at 640x480x"24". Therefore, we can conclude that Xbox is not all that impressive >>


OK, so you are telling me you don't know the difference between polygons and resolution?! You AIN'T building a PC that can run Halo for $300-400. What is the point of having 3billions colors with 5 polygons? The X-Box is a polygons pushing machine and it also has the capability to run on an HDTV. Sh!t, if you want, plug the X-Box into a nice monitor if you don't like the TV's resolution. Trust me, it gets even better on a monitor. ;)
 
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ghetto buck

Senior member
Feb 29, 2000
544
0
0
Well anyone who thinks being closer to a PC than any previous console is bad has got a few screws loose. They removed all that is bad about PC's and left in most of what is good.
 
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samgau

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 1999
2,403
0
0
*muhahahaha*

Yeah.. MS is still there.... thats the worse part....

seriously... I think the Xbox is gonna be a great gaming platform... as long as it doesn't suffer from the "green" screen of death... it may be a pretty GSOD.. but its still a GSOD.... *laffs*

 
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