the whole gta/xbox thing

flogen · 08-09-2003 8:48pm #1

Its funny, for a few months, the rumours about gta coming to xbox were flying thick and fast, everybody had a different story. gta 3 was coming to xbox, then it was vice city, then it was a whole new game was coming to it. then it was gta: vc, but without the gta part. then it was in january, then december. then it wasnt at all.

but then rockstar announce that BOTH gta 3 and vice city are coming to xbox, by november in the USA, possibly the same here, but id say well in time for xmas at the latest. And its still called Grand Theft Auto
So what happens? does the gaming world go mad with joy???
No, nobody cares. NO-ONE.
so Why???
well its simple. firstly, everyone is tired of the different stories, and have now lost interest. secondly, gta 3 is nearly 2 years old and vice city nearly a year, so 99% of the people who want it, have it, wether its the ps2 incarnation of it or the pc version.

Now i know the xbox magazines (especially that joke of a mag xbox world) will make this coverpage material, but its not that huge, i mean, what is there in the game to get me or you, owners of the titles as it stands, to buy it again.
Well by the looks of the screenshots on www.grandtheftauto.com of gta 3, it may have been cleaned up a notch, but it will take alot more. Personally the controller will help me into buying it, as my adaptor for pc isnt working properly. they might include the custom audio feature from the pc, but its still nothing new, or nothing big enough to sell.
maybe more missions, but in a game like vc, itd be hard to just slap afew new missions on the end. new vehicles and weapons would be a start, but i doubt it will happen.
Maybe a bigger area, or downloadable features (such as an extra island!! or even the weapons and vehicles)
anyone else got any ideas? what would be enough to sell you a game you already have?

Finally, id like to ask, this double pack is out on both xbox and ps2, now i know that no matter what it will sell on xbox. two classic games in one, and there has to be some people who just have an xbox or have held out for this release. but any self respecting ps2 owner has both gta 3 and vc, so why would they go and buy it again? i doubt gta will rule the christmas market for ps2 like it has before, unless they make a new game aswell, which i doubt. ALOT.

Flogen

Seifer · 08-09-2003 10:27pm

The graphics touch up will confirm my getting it for xbox ( I dont have a pc or ps2) if they fix the horrible draw distance that exists on the ps2. Cars come out of nowhere! No-body ever mentioned it either.

Deadwing · 09-09-2003 12:35am

I doubt many people give much of a floating crap about it ***. As stated, theyre both old games, and anyone who wanted to play them has played them by now. But hey at least it gives xbox owners something to look forward to.
And yeah im an xbox owner but even i dont particularly care. Pleh

astrofool · 09-09-2003 12:54am

square coming to xbox would be far more interesting than this ***

Retr0gamer · 09-09-2003 7:44am

My prediction: They will both be the crappy PC versions with no changes except that they are on the xbox. Expect cars to disappear when they are out of line of site.

honru · 09-09-2003 6:03pm

They're still old games, but I doubt they are aimed at people who have the game already. The inclusion of both games is more than enough for people who don't own the game.

And 99% of the people who want it have it? Thats bullsh!t. Many Xbox owners have been teased with Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City since their original PS2 release. Their chance to own the game without purchasing a PS2 (I'm talking strictly video gamers here) has finally arrived, and theres no doubt it will sell well. Ports of games rarely set the world on fire, which is an obvious reason why the gaming world isn't mad with joy, but theres definetly people who are looking foward to this game.

Shinji · 09-09-2003 6:47pm

Expect cars to disappear when they are out of line of site.

Jesus christ, will you PLEASE stop pedalling this line of bullshit? I know you don't know your arse from your elbow at the best of times, but this particular point is starting to wear thin. The persistence of the city in the PC version of GTA3 and Vice City is exactly the same as the persistence in the PS2 version - it has NOT been downgraded. It's all in your head because you want a reason to have a nice irrational moan about PC games, as usual.

kensutz · 09-09-2003 9:21pm

Retrogamer - what is it with you and every XBOX post. You are making statements about how bad XBOX will port a PC game. Why dont you keep your mouth shut, you muppet. Say it once and don't keep saying the same stupid thing. I think if anyone reads a post about XBOX or which is the best console, you'll be there with the same sh1te. So now why dont you STFU please.

tman · 09-09-2003 9:30pm

lol, i think Shinji handled that one with a teency bit more tact.

Dont be at yourself · 09-09-2003 9:31pm

http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/gma/US/GMA030905Grand_theft_murders.html

Hrrng.

Anyways:

...but any self respecting ps2 owner has both gta 3 and vc, so why would they go and buy it again? i doubt gta will rule the christmas market for ps2 like it has before, unless they make a new game aswell, which i doubt. ALOT.

As far as I know, the ratio of GTA:PS2s is a fair bit lower than HALO:XBox, so I'd presume there's still a considerable market out there for it on the PS2.

Also, on your last point, Rockstar have recently confirmed that the next installment of GTA will be appearing on the PS2. It probably won't be this Christmas, but I wouldn't be totally surprised if it was.

tman · 09-09-2003 9:39pm

Originally posted by NekkidBibleMan
Also, on your last point, Rockstar have recently confirmed that the next installment of GTA will be appearing on the PS2. It probably won't be this Christmas, but I wouldn't be totally surprised if it was.

nah, november 2004 is the date for the, as yet unnamed, third gta3 engine game.
chances are itt'l be named san andreas, i'd be surprised if they call it anything else anyway.

Retr0gamer · 10-09-2003 7:55am

Well Shinji I've noticed them disappearing. Play it yourself and you find it's true.

As for Kensuckz, you are right, most developers don't do lazy ports to the xbox.

Shinji · 10-09-2003 10:37am

Well Shinji I've noticed them disappearing. Play it yourself and you find it's true.

I have played it myself. I've played both versions of both games. The persistence of the world is exactly the same in both of them. Of COURSE it bloody is - they both use the same logic code sitting on top of a Renderware graphics engine. Do you honestly think there's any CONCEIVABLE reason why someone at Rockstar North would have dropped into that logic code and spent time and effort decreasing the persistence of the vehicles in the PC version - given that the PC version actually has at least five times as much RAM in which to store the persistence data?

Of course they DO disappear, but they do exactly the same in the PS2 version. Neither version of the game stores persistence data for stuff that's out of LOS for more than a few seconds. You're just desperately seeking something to make A Point about, as usual.

Retr0gamer · 10-09-2003 11:53am

I'm not talking about when the cars disappear when they are a certain distance away. My problem is when the cars drive past you and you look behind you and the car has disappeared and theres completely new traffic behind you even though theres no way the car could have gotten far enough to be out of the area where the cars disappear. In the PS2 version you could look behind you and they would still be there.

jesus_thats_gre · 10-09-2003 12:59pm

I'm not talking about when the cars disappear when they are a certain distance away. My problem is when the cars drive past you and you look behind you and the car has disappeared and theres completely new traffic behind you even though theres no way the car could have gotten far enough to be out of the area where the cars disappear. In the PS2 version you could look behind you and they would still be there.

Did someone mention Line of Sight.... Ohh they did!!

Of course they DO disappear, but they do exactly the same in the PS2 version. Neither version of the game stores persistence data for stuff that's out of LOS for more than a few seconds. You're just desperately seeking something to make A Point about, as usual.

So now this debate is why to actually bother releasing GTA for the Xbox.. Why the **** not I say.

Praetorian · 10-09-2003 1:03pm

Of course they DO disappear, but they do exactly the same in the PS2 version

I have played both the PC version and the PS2 version. The cars disappear instantly on the PC. This is not the case on the PS2. This is a fact.

You're just desperately seeking something to make A Point about, as usual.

Retrogamer is wrong frequently, but not this time.

jesus_thats_gre · 10-09-2003 1:12pm

Its interesting that they are not being launched on the GC.

moridin · 10-09-2003 1:27pm

Not really... Nintendo are a bit cutesy, I don't think they like the violence against people as depicted in the GTA series...

Cake Fiend · 10-09-2003 1:42pm

Originally posted by Retr0gamer
My prediction: They will both be the crappy PC versions with no changes except that they are on the xbox. Expect cars to disappear when they are out of line of site.

If they found some way to port GTA3 to Colecovision I doubt you'd be giving out about it :rolleyes:

<Retr0gamer> weh weh, it's not the graphics that are important, whine

Shinji · 10-09-2003 2:01pm

I have played both the PC version and the PS2 version. The cars disappear instantly on the PC. This is not the case on the PS2. This is a fact.

Surprise surprise, Retrogamers best mate pops up to spout the same line of bullshit. It is not "a fact", or anything of the sort. The persistence and line of sight code is exactly the same. In BOTH games it is entirely possible to put the player in situations where if you turn around, the traffic changes - mostly because both games, as far as I know, only store a limited number of world objects persistently, based on your LOS, rather than storing a fixed distance around you (since this would break on large open roads).

There's no doubt that it's a shame that the PC version didn't fix this problem, since it has the resources available to it to do so. There's also no doubt that it's slightly more obvious on the PC since you can do a 180 degree turn a lot faster with the mouse. However, the "bug" is present in the PS2 code to exactly the same degree as the PC code.

Amazing that out of all the people who play GTA and VC on the PC, the ONLY people who notice this amazing glaring problem are Retrogamer (who hates PC games in the first place) and his best buddy. I suppose you noticed it independently of each other too, eh?

DiscoStu · 10-09-2003 2:17pm

Ladies, put away the handbags

anyway wasnt this about whether or not gta3 and vice city are enough to save the xbox's bacon? it will most likely will and also be another nail in the almost sealed tight coffin that nintendo has so skillfully crafted for its little cube of goodness.

flogen · 10-09-2003 2:35pm

xbox dont need this to save their bacon, now I am an xbox fan, but no-one can deny the strenght of the line up for the next 6 months or so on the big-black lovemachine.

halo 2, PGR 2, fable, halflife 2, doom 3, star wars KOTOR, BC, splinter cell 2
and theyre just the exculsives, they also have plenty of titles that are multi format.

all this does is knock off one of the titles that ps2 owners could brag about, and that xbox owners wanted desperatly.
and lets be honest, there isnt alot more that ps2 has to offer, besides maybe GT4 or the getaway 2, if youre a fan.

Flogen

jesus_thats_gre · 10-09-2003 2:40pm

This is gonna turn into another **** argument is it.

The Xbox has not failed and will never be allowed too. It purely there is establish the brand a bit for the real and even fight of the PS3 and Xbox 2. The Xbox couldnt and wont ever outsell the PS2, its as sinple as that.

Praetorian · 10-09-2003 2:53pm

I wouldn't lie to defend Retrogamer. We both noticed it on my pc, my 2nd pc and on his pc. You should know by now that I rarely have the same opinion that he has. We like completely different games, and I frequently argue with him because he's constantly saying that almost all pc games are crap. His Nintendo 'can do no wrong' attitude really gets up my nose.

We first noticed the problem when I with supreme confidence decided to show Retrogamer, 'how superior the pc version is in everyway'. It's possible, although completely unlikely, that our version is bugged in some sort of way. We actually ran the PS2 version and PC version side by side to compare.

I don't think you would ever admit when you’re wrong Shinji.

you don't know your arse from your elbow at the best of times

Does the moderator status give you the right to insult people?

Shinji · 10-09-2003 3:52pm

I don't think you would ever admit when you’re wrong Shinji.

I think you'll find that I do, regularly. I have no problem with admitting when I'm wrong. I do have a problem with doing so when I'm right, though...

Does the moderator status give you the right to insult people?

No. My status as someone who's been listening to that idiot spout nonsense for months gives me the right to point this out, however. I'm sure if either of my fellow moderators thought that was out of line they'd delete it, just as they would with any other poster.

As it stands this is a long way off-topic. I'm clearly not going to convince you that you're delusional, you're patently not going to convince me that you weren't on the wacky baccy when you did your scientific analysis of GTA3, so let's go back on topic here eh?

koneko · 10-09-2003 4:03pm

Hmm, I would have bought the Xbox version if I didn't already get the PC one. There are people out there though that might have just one console (and no decent PC) and that one console is the Xbox for them so there might be a market for it. I don't think it's a huge one though, as the game isn't new at this stage so I think interest is starting to fade.

Retrogamer, if you hate the PC and Xbox so much, why don't you please please stop replying to these threads in future?

tman · 10-09-2003 4:23pm

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=pub&aid=2204

looks like the next gta will be a sony exclusive again:(
(i'd say sony letting them release gta3 & vice on xbox had something to do with this)

jesus_thats_gre · 10-09-2003 6:46pm

It will probably be realeased on other platforms eventually too!

Seeminly Halo is being released on the PS2 soons too, as per EDGE magazine anyway.

Dont be at yourself · 10-09-2003 7:04pm

Really? Gosh, that's awful kind of Microsoft, eh? Paying big money for Bungee, and then letting them release the Xbox's only killer app on its main competition! Perhaps its a PR exercise, designed to shake off their image as a ruthless, money-grabbing corporation. We all know they're in it for the games, this is obviously just how they're showing it!

If you actually read EDGE, and I mean read it, as opposed to flicking through it in the local newsagents, they mention nothing of the sort. You may be confusing it with a feature EDGE ran on a game called Killzone, a PS2 exclusive billed as a "HALO-beater".

tman · 10-09-2003 7:06pm

Originally posted by jesus_thats_gre
It will probably be realeased on other platforms eventually too!

aye, of course.
sonys deal with rockstar was supposed to run out at the end of this year, meaning that san andreas should've recieved a simultaneous multiformat release, it will still get released on the pc/xbox - possibly the cube, doesn't look too hopeful - but just not at the same time as the ps2 version

Retr0gamer · 10-09-2003 7:08pm

Retrogamer, if you hate the PC and Xbox so much, why don't you please please stop replying to these threads in future?

Sorry but it isn't my fault. I don't hate the xbox or PC, I just think that they aren't offering enough decent games at the moment. However every time I try to state that my arguments get attacked by muppets who use insults instead of backing up their arguments.

jesus_thats_gre · 10-09-2003 7:10pm

If you actually read EDGE, and I mean read it, as opposed to flicking through it in the local newsagents, they mention nothing of the sort. You may be confusing it with a feature EDGE ran on a game called Killzone, a PS2 exclusive billed as a "HALO-beater".

Granted, I didnt read it in detail.. woops

Its nice that we are sort of back on topic now isnt it ;o)

flogen · 11-09-2003 3:24pm

Sorry for pushing things slightly off topic again, but I really get pissed off at magazines that claim every 1st person shooter is a 'halo-beater'...... even ones that have totally different options, settings and weapons....

its just like (and heres a push back on topic) every game involving gansters or any hint of free roaming ability is a gta-beater, ie getaway and True Crime

Flogen

the whole gta/xbox thing

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