Namco is a filthy whore

[ETR]

Does your local games shop not let you try games before buying them?

Not in America, atleast all the game stores I've been to. The only way you're going to be able to try it is if it's one of the new games they have in a kiosk or something.

GameJunkie does. And they sell Bawls. Great store, they have an atari 2600 hooked up to a 70 inch TV,

[bizzle]

Does your local games shop not let you try games before buying them?

Not in America, atleast all the game stores I've been to. The only way you're going to be able to try it is if it's one of the new games they have in a kiosk or something.

GameJunkie does. And they sell Bawls. Great store, they have an atari 2600 hooked up to a 70 inch TV,

Sounds like a local shop. I'm talking about the big retail chains like Gamestop. Good luck getting them to break a seal on a game if you aren't buying it.

[Wagh]

Eitherway. People shouldn't bash those who may not be able to afford the consoles.

I have happened to have played all three versions so i have a fair idea about each one, I like em all but i don't agree that the Xbox version is the better of the three. how is that bashing someone?
.

We actually prefer to try games out first than to read about them on some lame website.

because your comment was incredibly rude.

[Lartrak]

Does your local games shop not let you try games before buying them?

Not in America, atleast all the game stores I've been to. The only way you're going to be able to try it is if it's one of the new games they have in a kiosk or something.

GameJunkie does. And they sell Bawls. Great store, they have an atari 2600 hooked up to a 70 inch TV,

Sounds like a local shop. I'm talking about the big retail chains like Gamestop. Good luck getting them to break a seal on a game if you aren't buying it.

GameStop breaks the seal on one copy of ALL new games, remember? But you're right, you rarely get the chance to play them. Funco Land used to let you play used games, but they're now a part of gamestop. That was the only chain I ever went to that let you play games other than on those demo discs they display.

[Matisfaction]

Eitherway. People shouldn't bash those who may not be able to afford the consoles.

I have happened to have played all three versions so i have a fair idea about each one, I like em all but i don't agree that the Xbox version is the better of the three. how is that bashing someone?
.

We actually prefer to try games out first than to read about them on some lame website.

because your comment was incredibly rude.

And the first response from lunchbox wasnt?

Still not bashing in the slightest.

[Wagh]

Eitherway. People shouldn't bash those who may not be able to afford the consoles.

I have happened to have played all three versions so i have a fair idea about each one, I like em all but i don't agree that the Xbox version is the better of the three. how is that bashing someone?
.

We actually prefer to try games out first than to read about them on some lame website.

because your comment was incredibly rude.

And the first response from lunchbox wasnt?

Still not bashing in the slightest.

"beleive what you will " isn't rude at all.

I'm not saying your opinion is wrong in anyway shape or form. Just try not to be an ass when you express yourself.

[Matisfaction]

It was the highlighted i responded to. the "believe what you will" bit doesn't really figure.

meh, believe what you will. They've played all 3 versions and wrote a 6-page comparison article. I highly doubt you've played 2 versions, let alone all 3 to make such a statement

It would be kinda stupid of someone to comment on something they haven't played, My points were valid about IGN and SCII, Just because the guy doesn't like it.

Nevermind, There's better things to be doing than going over this guess.

[Lunchbox]

If you haven't played the other games how can you possibly form an argument? Don't form an opinion by referring to questionable second hand accounts like IGN.

That's the point. Not " look at me i have access too all three consoles, i'm great" what kinda loser does that?

You have an Xbox + SCII then great, it's a great game on Xbox.
but don't go round saying it's better than this and better than that coz you read about it on a website. Play it yourself then form an opinion.

Why? Whats wrong with IGN Head-to-head? You obviously haven't read any of their comparisons, let alone the SCII article in question. You act like they pull everything out of thin air which is not the case. All of their claims regarding graphics in the SCII article are backed up with photographic evidence as well, and yet they're "questionable" and I shouldn't believe them?

In fact, here's a snip for your reading pleasure from the graphics section of the SCII article:

Graphics
Being videogames, the visuals are always the high-point of our Head-to-Head comparisons for most. In the case of Soul Calibur II there are certainly differences, drawbacks, and advantages to discuss, but they are not as prominent as you may think. The fact is, each console version looks great and has a few pros and cons. There is a "best-looking" version, of course.


Click for detailed image.


Without seeing Soul Calibur II in motion, you might very well easily mistake one version for the other. Here you can see the beautifully rendered Ivy model, and there really are no clear advantages on any of the consoles in this area. Can you really spot the differences? Unlikely, but they do exist.

The PlayStation 2, while Namco has taken advantage of it quite well, still features some flicker and aliasing -- it's not nearly as noticeable as other titles, however. In fact, Soul Calibur II is certainly one of the best-looking PS2 titles out there.

Nonetheless, in a scene like this, it's tough to tell without seeing it motion.


Click for detailed image.


Looking at the above screenshot, you should probably find yourself stumped by their similarity again. Look closely at the grass and dirt textures, and you'll see some slightly different filtering, but what should stand out the most is the color saturation. PlayStation 2 is pretty standard looking, GameCube has a deeper green tone, and Xbox tends to wash out a little more. This is nit picking, though. Anyone has to be searching for these things to catch them (which you should really only leave to us).


Click for detailed image.


By far, though, the biggest and most noticeable differences can be discerned more by examining the above scene. The carpet provides a good example of a complicated texture; you can see lighting differences, and you can see artifacting issues. The PlayStation 2 carpet, as you can see, is more pixilated and not as detailed up close. In motion, the textures dance around on the PS2 version which heightens the effect of the shimmering inherent to the hardware. As for GameCube, this particular texture doesn't budge and is perfectly filtered. It looks great. The catch is that as you push your field of vision towards the back of the scene, you can see the textures get a bit blurrier. On Xbox, this texture actually shifts slightly, but not nearly as much as the PS2 version. The strength on Xbox is its ability to display sharper textures in the background thanks to the larger amount of memory.

Then there is the framerate. Namco renders the action out at 60 frames per second on all three consoles, but unfortunately none of them are perfectly stable. The PlayStation 2 frequently slows down in the face of complicated particle effects and more detailed levels. GameCube and Xbox run very smoothly except for a hitch occasionally, but we noticed that the last boss, which throws off tons of effects, actually slows down the Xbox version. So, the GCN version seems to handle what's thrown at it a bit better.

All three versions run in widescreen, but only the GameCube and Xbox support progressive scan (480p). On top of this, the Xbox version supports the ultra high-end 720p (no 1080i) format. The latter looks very sharp, but only runs in 4:3 format -- a sad limitation, since most 4:3 DTVs don't support 720p and the HDTVs that do are widescreen format sets and thus display the game letterboxed in this mode.

In sum, the Xbox version takes the graphics award, but just barely. It and the GameCube version look spectacular, but the added texture detail on Xbox -- despite the slowdown with the last boss -- and 720p support pushes it over the edge. As for the PS2 version, if you're not bothered by framerate hitches occasionally, it's pretty solid, but it just doesn't have the same crisp look to it.

But you feel like you can waste your time and effort comparing them, even when there's 2 versions you haven't played.

But i've already got the facts in front of me. What am I going to find out on my own that isn't already mentioned in Head-to-head?

+ I don't control what my buddies buy, I can't look in to the future and see that my future housemates will have a copy of the same game on a different console. So it's not my time and money is it.

But you said you and your buddies "prefer to try out games first than read about them on some lame website". So I guess this rule only applies to when you and your buddies just happen to get the same game for different systems?

Does your local games shop not let you try games before buying them?

No they don't. My only option would be to rent every version, which as I stated before, is a waste of money and time IMO. I own an Xbox, GC, and a PS2, and there's no way i'm going to rent the same game 3 times when Head-to-head already tells me what I need to know.

[Nick]

IGN is generally full of crap, and this discussion in pretty pointless; afterall, for all intents and purposes, the three versions are identical.

[Matisfaction]

this discussion in pretty pointless

Very true.

afterall, for all intents and purposes, the three versions are identical.

Well basically yeah. only minor differences set them apart i guess.

[Smiley]

There used to be a small chain in maryland called Video Game Exchange that used to let you try before you buy, and they also used to have a crap load of old turbo grafz games and cds. I miss them, they used to be down near Baltimore. VGE was were I finally tracked down a duo console.

Nowadays, the only way I play before I buy are with those kiosks that gamestop,bestbuy,walmart, and target,among others, have.

[Orange_Ribbon]

Does your local games shop not let you try games before buying them?

Nope, but we pay less for gas so we win We have to wait for a used copy here to try out.

[Specially Cork]

Back when I had more than one console I just bought the same game on both from GAME, played both and took the crapper one back and got my money back.

I guess that wouldn't work in the US though because of this "precious seal" thing.

[Nyarlathotep]

I'd actually rather have a 'you can't play it before buying, because we will not break the seal for any reason' ethos at game, rather than their frankly shoddy 'open every game they get in, then reseal in a crappy plastic bag so we can sell games returned as new' policy

[Ominous 0nionfrog]

Yes and them letting the employees take home and play "New" Games.. Gamestop disgusts me

Anyways, you cant spell Ignorant without IGN...