[b]Xbox[/b]: Gamestop pushes up release date.

[macuis]

Gamestop.com (http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=210292) has just pushed up the release date of Phantasy Star Online. Let's hope this is a sign of the true release date.

[BotTheCrappyRAmar]

Hahahahahahahahahhahahahaha you have to wait longer. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif Thats so sad http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif (sarcasm if you didn't catch it). Why don't you just get it for GC if you can't wait, unless you like hoping and paying more money.

[SilencePSO]

It looks like that will be the final date, after all its only a week away, and gamestop actually moved it UP to that day.

[MonoxideChild]

Maybe he does not own a Gamecube, or perhaps he doesn't want to deal with problems that have screwed so many people over such as Double Save Corruption (such as me).

[ancutcho]

y does all the people who have gamecube think xbox is more expensive? i guess cause all them are babies and dun know how to calculate yet. let me teach u:

psox: $40
xboxlive:$50
total is : $90 for the first 2 month and ebgames has a deal right now where u buy xbox live and psox and save $10 or $15. i forgot how much. so u can subtract $10 so it wil be $80 for the first 2 month.


psogc:$50
bba: $35
Keyboard:$20
memory card:$15
ill let all u babies try to calculate that now and see how much it ends up. then remember to add $9 more because u only get 1 month free unlike xbox which u get 2 month free. there hasnt been any deals for psogc either.

[2Xtreme]

*Prepares for the fifty millionth flame war about which version of PSO is cheaper*

[Kalbelgarion]

Really, anyone who starts a flamewar in a well-meaning thread like this one deserves to be banned.

*Foresees another stupid GCN/XBOX flame war, and exits topic*

[s3rial_one]

Screw cheaper...

Anyone planning on playing PSOX, do yourself a favor, and play other games on XBL, first.

I was a PSOX diehard until I got MechAssault. Between XBL's connectivity issues, and the number of racists, bigots, griefers, people who feel the need to sing all the time, and other assorted idiots on XBL, I forked over all the cash for a GCN, BBA, keyboard, memory card, etc, with only 3 weeks to go until PSOX is (supposedly) going to be released.

The players on XBL really are that obnoxious.

[MoNoMaTe_MoNkEy]

I was in LIVE beta, and I met very few racists etc. Nor have I had any connection problems. My XBL experience has been very good since the beginning, so I don't know if what you said was a complete lie to urge on Gamecube fanboyishness, or what.

In order to Gamestop bumping up the release date, that shows some good progress. That is a few sites showing a release date of 4/15. Lets keep optimistic about this.

[Fate_Of_The_Art]

I have run into a few idiots on Live, but honestly no more than I run into in real life...

For the most part it was a fun experience; I've just become bored with Mech Assault and UC...

The key to Live is to use the Friends list or just know that you are taking a chance when you join a game with a random group of people...

[jerrelle]

well how is it that i paid more if i already have live? i have had it since august (beta tester) and my subscription is not up until dec 8th. i'm just wondering how you can calculate this into your equation for all the people who already have it.
$40 psox
$8.95 month (2 months free)
and that give me 6 months of play before renewal
$50 (not exact price for live renewal, yes i will be renewing my subscription because I AM VERY HAPPY with it.)

[ancutcho]

On 2003-04-08 19:14, jerrelle wrote:
well how is it that i paid more if i already have live? i have had it since august (beta tester) and my subscription is not up until dec 8th. i'm just wondering how you can calculate this into your equation for all the people who already have it.
$40 psox
$8.95 month (2 months free)
and that give me 6 months of play before renewal
$50 (not exact price for live renewal, yes i will be renewing my subscription because I AM VERY HAPPY with it.)



Well i only calculate it to show all the stuff u need to start playing psox like how i included a memory card for gc cause u need it to play. i already have live too and i love it. so after 1 year i wil just consider the live fee as a fee for other games and not pso. i dont even know if i will be playing pso that much in a year, probally be playing it off and on. i will probally be playing true fantasy live online(tflo) which is suppose to be like one of the best mmorpg for xbox.

[s3rial_one]

I was in LIVE beta

That's why. It's Beta; the masses hadn't been let in yet.

I swear, every single game of MechAssault I played would have synch issues that would cause players to drop, insuring an uneven match. Every game had at least one asshole that needed to yell, scream, harass the other players, or spend the entire match talking about how awesome he was. Then you had the whiny 5 year-olds, the guys with the (intentionally) obnoxious voice masks... and there's no way to tell who's who, so your only recourse was to mute everyone in the game. I admit, the racists and singers were comparitively uncommon, but hardly a rarity.

[SilencePSO]

On 2003-04-08 19:38, s3rial_one wrote:
I was in LIVE beta

That's why. It's Beta; the masses hadn't been let in yet.

I swear, every single game of MechAssault I played would have synch issues that would cause players to drop, insuring an uneven match. Every game had at least one asshole that needed to yell, scream, harass the other players, or spend the entire match talking about how awesome he was. Then you had the whiny 5 year-olds, the guys with the (intentionally) obnoxious voice masks... and there's no way to tell who's who, so your only recourse was to mute everyone in the game. I admit, the racists and singers were comparitively uncommon, but hardly a rarity.



I was also in live beta, and I have played it ever since. If people are rude, leave them bad feedback and mute them, problem solved. I have ran into very, very few bad users on live, the vast majority are great. Also people can be just as rude with a keyboard as they are with voice chat, and with a keyboard I can't just mute that person.

If you are having connection problems, it's your ISP it certainly isn't live. All my friends and I have great connections to live, and little to no lag. The only time I lag is when someone hosts more people then they can handle on their (usually) cable connection. This won't affect PSO at all with only 4 players in a room.

So why get PSOX? Well, I don't have a gamecube, and I don't plan to buy one and a modem for one game (even if that game is PSO), especially when there is already cheating and corruption problems up the wazzo. So there are plenty of reasons to get PSOX, if you don't have an Xbox and you have a cube, then hell yeah PSO GC is the way to go, but guess what? More people have live than a GC modem, so I expect it's gonna be a great online community.

I can't wait!

[Captain_Dude]

On 2003-04-08 19:38, s3rial_one wrote:
I was in LIVE beta

That's why. It's Beta; the masses hadn't been let in yet.

I swear, every single game of MechAssault I played would have synch issues that would cause players to drop, insuring an uneven match. Every game had at least one asshole that needed to yell, scream, harass the other players, or spend the entire match talking about how awesome he was. Then you had the whiny 5 year-olds, the guys with the (intentionally) obnoxious voice masks... and there's no way to tell who's who, so your only recourse was to mute everyone in the game. I admit, the racists and singers were comparitively uncommon, but hardly a rarity.



Well, a while ago, I had rented a copy of Unreal Championship. And I decided to go online with it.

I joined a gmae for "n00bs" and proceeded to kick some tail. But I was expecting worse than what I got from the other players. Most of them we're just chatting, and talking the occasional smack. Other than that the chat wasn't too bad. I had some nice conversations, there were one or two irritating voice mask, but everyone told them to shut up, and they eventually did. There was one 7-year-old who was playing on his brother's Xbox, who was an irritating putz, who was shooting everyone(including those on his own team) with a rocket launcher. But we scared him off (by all gnaging up on him).

Other than that playing on live was a completely pleasant experiance. Much nicer than some of the chats I've had on Counter-Strike... Altho I've had some nice conversations of CS aswell...

[s3rial_one]

I was also in live beta, and I have played it ever since. If people are rude, leave them bad feedback and mute them, problem solved.

Not if you don't know who's being rude.

If you are having connection problems, it's your ISP it certainly isn't live.

I'm not talking of connectivity issues, I'm talking of client synch issues. XBL, in order to stay lag-free, drops players from a game when the client doesn't respond quickly enough. Essentially, one lag spike during the game loading phase, and someone's dropped. But you won't know that until the game's already launching. That's why MechAssault matches are so rarely even. What starts as a 4-on-4 usually winds up 4-on-3 or 3-on-2 or even 4-on-1. Hopefully that won't be an issue with PSO, but... ya never know.

[Blenjar]

That's like so last month dude. Its old news.

[SilencePSO]

Not if you don't know who's being rude.


PSO and most other live games have a little speaker Icon appear over the head of the person speaking, maybe Mechassault doesn't have this, I don't know, but most live games do.


I'm not talking of connectivity issues, I'm talking of client synch issues. XBL, in order to stay lag-free, drops players from a game when the client doesn't respond quickly enough. Essentially, one lag spike during the game loading phase, and someone's dropped. But you won't know that until the game's already launching. That's why MechAssault matches are so rarely even. What starts as a 4-on-4 usually winds up 4-on-3 or 3-on-2 or even 4-on-1. Hopefully that won't be an issue with PSO, but... ya never know.


I know the problem you are talking about now, and it seems to effect everyone, but only in Mechassault. My friend had the same problem with Mech (but has no problems with anyother games, except the ocassional dirty disc error), I really don't think this will effect PSO with the way you join games at any time, instead of everyone joining at once like Mechassault. I played Mech once and found it to be a mess, and I think most other live players do as well. It was poorly designed as far as lobbys go, and isn't the only game you should base your entire live experiance on.

[s3rial_one]

Actually, Whacked and MotoGP (full versions and demos) don't have the icon to let you know who's speaking, either.

I guess my point was just that I think Live fell WAY short of my expectations. I think people should get a bit of experience with it before they jump into PSO. My experiences just happened to be negative. Then again, no one plays Whacked online, and MechAssault is just a trainwreck of a game to begin with.

I hope that PSOX does really well. I have my reservations, but I've still got an Xbox and 8 months left on my XBL account. If it turns out well, I may very well switch over... especially if it gets extra content. The XBox's hard drive is just begging to have a game take advantage of it.

Speaking of which, does PSOX support custom soundtracks?

[macuis]

Speaking of which, does PSOX support custom soundtracks?

No, PSOX doesn't support custom sound tracks. Here's the back (http://www.ebgames.com/ebx_assets/product_backs/232746_back.jpg) of the PSOX cover if your interested.

[Tensama]

On 2003-04-08 20:54, s3rial_one wrote:
Actually, Whacked and MotoGP (full versions and demos) don't have the icon to let you know who's speaking, either.

I guess my point was just that I think Live fell WAY short of my expectations. I think people should get a bit of experience with it before they jump into PSO. My experiences just happened to be negative. Then again, no one plays Whacked online, and MechAssault is just a trainwreck of a game to begin with.

I hope that PSOX does really well. I have my reservations, but I've still got an Xbox and 8 months left on my XBL account. If it turns out well, I may very well switch over... especially if it gets extra content. The XBox's hard drive is just begging to have a game take advantage of it.

Speaking of which, does PSOX support custom soundtracks?


I just bought my xbox live starter kit a few days ago, and I must say I'm quite impressed. One of the first things I noticed while playing moto gp online was the fact that you can tell who exactly is speaking while waiting in the lobby and during the actual race. During my first online session with motto gp, a certain gamer entered the lobby and started screaming nonsense into the mic. On top of that he was using a voice mask that was irritating everyone in the room. I and other players in the lobby immediately knew who it was because his little speaker icon would turn yellow every time he spoke. The player was asked to leave but he refused; eventually he was booted by the host of the game. After the session I decided to leave that certain gamer some negative feedback, and while I was at it, I left some positive feedback to the other players. I haven't played any other xbox games online such as mech assault, so I'm sure others have had experiences totally opposite from mine. It would be cool though if a similar system is used for psox. I have high hopes for psox, and I'm looking forward to gaming with everyone from psow!

April 15th seems to be the day; I really hope this date sticks!!

[SilencePSO]

On 2003-04-08 20:54, s3rial_one wrote:
Actually, Whacked and MotoGP (full versions and demos) don't have the icon to let you know who's speaking, either.

MotoGP does have the icons in the lobby, and in the race the name of the person speaking is printed in yellow in the upper left corner of your screen. As for Wacked, who cares? That game was aweful! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif


I guess my point was just that I think Live fell WAY short of my expectations. I think people should get a bit of experience with it before they jump into PSO. My experiences just happened to be negative. Then again, no one plays Whacked online, and MechAssault is just a trainwreck of a game to begin with.

I hope that PSOX does really well. I have my reservations, but I've still got an Xbox and 8 months left on my XBL account. If it turns out well, I may very well switch over... especially if it gets extra content. The XBox's hard drive is just begging to have a game take advantage of it.

Speaking of which, does PSOX support custom soundtracks?


Otherwise you make some good points. Not everyone is gonna love live, but you have to admit it's the best online gaming you can get in the console world right now. Sure some people are jerks, but that's the same on GC PS2 and it's much worse in my experiance on the PC (counter-strike anyone?). At least MS has the feedback option, it's not much, but it's definatly something in the right direction, online console gaming is still in it's infancy, and MS has done a hell of a job so far.

[GuerillaPimp]

y does all the people who have gamecube think xbox is more expensive

We call them "fanboys".

As far as problems with XBL, ive yet to come across any racists, bigots or whatever else people have been complaining about. Of course i havent played in a few weeks, but personally i havent come across any. Connectivity? No problems there as well, and im using a router to connect my xbox

[s3rial_one]

Not everyone is gonna love live, but you have to admit it's the best online gaming you can get in the console world right now.

Having the best online gaming platform in the console world is like winning a footrace against someone with no legs. Sure, you won the race, but it's definitely not anything to be proud of. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

it's much worse in my experiance on the PC (counter-strike anyone?)

Counter-Strike was awesome, back in the day. But then they must've advertised on the wrong website or something, because all of the sudden, Beta4's released, and there's this massive influx of idiot players. The same people that play today. Counter-Strike may still be a good game, but I honestly believe that it's the largest collection of assholes anywhere on the net. If me judging XBL based primarily on MechAssault isn't accurate, then judging online PC gaming by Counter-Strike is off by several orders of magnitude. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

But MMOGs offer an (arguably) excellent online gaming experience; Jumpgate in particular was very good. The console market hasn't even come close.

At least MS has the feedback option, it's not much, but it's definatly something in the right direction, online console gaming is still in it's infancy, and MS has done a hell of a job so far.

I disagree. No doubt, Microsoft's done better than Sony and Nintendo, but XBL's interface is utter crap. Feedback seems to do nothing, and I've yet to see a game with administrative options for the host.

So, yeah... XBL's the best out there, but stacking up against PC gaming, it's certainly not very good.

[SilencePSO]

Having the best online gaming platform in the console world is like winning a footrace against someone with no legs. Sure, you won the race, but it's definitely not anything to be proud of. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif


Good point, and actually pretty funny, but actually I think Live is better than my PC (which I never play anymore), who wouldn't rather play on a big TV than a little monitor?!


Counter-Strike was awesome, back in the day. But then they must've advertised on the wrong website or something, because all of the sudden, Beta4's released, and there's this massive influx of idiot players. The same people that play today. Counter-Strike may still be a good game, but I honestly believe that it's the largest collection of assholes anywhere on the net. If me judging XBL based primarily on MechAssault isn't accurate, then judging online PC gaming by Counter-Strike is off by several orders of magnitude. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

But MMOGs offer an (arguably) excellent online gaming experience; Jumpgate in particular was very good. The console market hasn't even come close.

I totally agree, and that's my point. CS rules and was one of my favorite PC games of all time, but idiots absolutly ruined it, and I don't base my entire PC experiance on that, people where exactly the same on any game you played on The Zone, or Gamespy, and mostly anywhere else.

Just gotta throw in that I played Jumpgate also, and that was an EXCELLENT example of an online community, but think about why? Cause it was tiny! You where lucky if there were 300 pilots online on a busy day. With a community that small, of course everyone has to get along! It was almost all hardcore gamers. (it's a shame though, that game deserved more!).


I disagree. No doubt, Microsoft's done better than Sony and Nintendo, but XBL's interface is utter crap. Feedback seems to do nothing, and I've yet to see a game with administrative options for the host.

So, yeah... XBL's the best out there, but stacking up against PC gaming, it's certainly not very good.


Again I have to disagree. XBL's interface is as good as anything in the PC world, of course it won't be as easy to do everything without a mouse, but at least I can lay back on my couch and just hold a small contoller in my hands (I use an s-controller, so no controller jokes! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif ).

You should try some of the quality Live games like Ghost Recon, it's quite well set up, the community is much better than almost any online game (PC or console) that I have ever played.

Anyway, of course things aren't perfect, it's been barely 6 months and we are really just getting into the 2nd generation of live games. Developers have figured out what a Live game needs and doesn't need, and I'm sure we'll start to see more and better features, I can't wait!

-Cheers

[s3rial_one]

Good point, and actually pretty funny, but actually I think Live is better than my PC (which I never play anymore), who wouldn't rather play on a big TV than a little monitor?!

Right now, I'd rather play PSO on my PC. My TV's such a flaming piece of crap... http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif Seriously, I agree. Between the upgrade cycles and difficulty of it all, I'd rather go completely console, but it just isn't there, yet, and I think it'll take the next generation of consoles to really make an impressive showing against the PC for online gaming.

With a community that small, of course everyone has to get along! It was almost all hardcore gamers. (it's a shame though, that game deserved more!).

I think the fact that the game was designed in a way that you could be hunted down for being an idiot lended itself well to getting rid of idiots, too. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

Again I have to disagree. XBL's interface is as good as anything in the PC world, of course it won't be as easy to do everything without a mouse, but at least I can lay back on my couch and just hold a small contoller in my hands (I use an s-controller, so no controller jokes! ).

Are there any games with administrative options? Customizable servers? That's what I'm talking about with interface. Sure, the standard XBL interface is good for playing games, but that's it. You can't ban idiots from games you host, you can't kick people. Your only reprisal against idiots is bad feedback, which apparently does nothing, and password-protected games.

You should try some of the quality Live games like Ghost Recon, it's quite well set up, the community is much better than almost any online game (PC or console) that I have ever played.

My girlfriend rented Ghost Recon for me. I thought it was an abomination of a game. The controls frustrated me, there were literally no online games to play, and it just wasn't much fun. I'm a bit of a purist, though -- I don't think FPS games are meant for anything other than a keyboard/mouse setup... at the very least until someone gets the sensetivity on the analog sticks right. Those things freaking suck, right now. They have a huge deadzone, and then all their sensetivity is bunched into about 50% of the stick's complete range of motion, and I've never seen a way to adjust that; it doesn't exactly lend itself to playing FPS games.

Developers have figured out what a Live game needs and doesn't need, and I'm sure we'll start to see more and better features, I can't wait!

I really hope you're right. The only reason I haven't traded-in my Xbox is because I still have so much longer left on my XBL account, and I'm hoping something that doesn't suck is released for it, soon. But I think developers have a much longer way to go than just the second generation of games. We need settings like adjustable texture/detail levels and games that support more than a handful of players. We need administrative options and the like.

[Twofold]

Na,on Live there are ALOT of racists...and it's annoying when Im trying to play in Ghost Recon..and Im murking alot of people..and Im in the "Murder,Death,Kill" Mode..and I hear someone shout out the "N-word/Huden and other racial or sexual obsenities as they shoot a Russian in the head. I just get upset because I cant do anything about it and some of ya'll would say block/mute him..but it still is an issue that has to be touched in some way.

[x2]

i was in beta as well and it seemed just about every game you joined there was no A$$ holes or ignorant people.

now theres some everywhere...

[ALPHAM0F0]

well if you get enough bad response you get a warning.

oh and yes with Ghost Recon, you can kick people out of your game, and make it so that they cant enter again.

[SilencePSO]

Right now, I'd rather play PSO on my PC. My TV's such a flaming piece of crap... http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif Seriously, I agree. Between the upgrade cycles and difficulty of it all, I'd rather go completely console, but it just isn't there, yet, and I think it'll take the next generation of consoles to really make an impressive showing against the PC for online gaming.

To bad about your TV bro, time for a new one! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif It's much cheaper in the long run to get yourself a good TV than upgrade your PC all the time (like you said yourself, I'm just agreeing with you) http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif


I think the fact that the game was designed in a way that you could be hunted down for being an idiot lended itself well to getting rid of idiots, too. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

Another good point! Jumpgate was fantastic, wasn't it just so amazing how real it seemed? Some people took things very seriously, but that made it a lot of fun, when people would take over stations and others would fight for them in the Nutreal Space, and the TRI protests, too funny! Makes me want to play it again http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif


Are there any games with administrative options? Customizable servers? That's what I'm talking about with interface. Sure, the standard XBL interface is good for playing games, but that's it. You can't ban idiots from games you host, you can't kick people. Your only reprisal against idiots is bad feedback, which apparently does nothing, and password-protected games.

Ghost has all these options! Passwords work a bit differantly, what you do is reserve every slot for people only on your friends list, then invite them, it sounds weird, but it acutally works extreamly well.


My girlfriend rented Ghost Recon for me. I thought it was an abomination of a game. The controls frustrated me, there were literally no online games to play, and it just wasn't much fun. I'm a bit of a purist, though -- I don't think FPS games are meant for anything other than a keyboard/mouse setup... at the very least until someone gets the sensetivity on the analog sticks right. Those things freaking suck, right now. They have a huge deadzone, and then all their sensetivity is bunched into about 50% of the stick's complete range of motion, and I've never seen a way to adjust that; it doesn't exactly lend itself to playing FPS games.

I can understand what you mean, I guess I'm a differant story. My first real FPS was Goldeneye on the N64, so I have never minded using a contoler or a mouse (and the Xbox controller blows the N64 out of the water for FPS).

Honestly I have always been a huge fan of the Rainbow games from Redstorm, when I got Ghost on the PC I was real dissapointed in it, and when it came out on Live I thought I would give it another shot. It really changed my opinion of live, people were nice (well, nicer than the PC versions of Ghost), it ran at a good framerate without a $400 video card, I loved it, and it's a big part of the reason I think Live can be so good.

You said earlier about not being able to find games sometimes, and you are right, that was a bug, but it has since been patched and GR is a great Live experiance.


I really hope you're right. The only reason I haven't traded-in my Xbox is because I still have so much longer left on my XBL account, and I'm hoping something that doesn't suck is released for it, soon. But I think developers have a much longer way to go than just the second generation of games. We need settings like adjustable texture/detail levels and games that support more than a handful of players. We need administrative options and the like.


I hope I'm right too, or else I'll look pretty silly, along with MS and the dev's who just don't get a clue http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif (I'm sure some will still screw it up, they always do...)

I know Halo 2 is a ways off, but I think it will be a turning point for live, Bungie knows how to make Multi-player work, and work well, with customizable server options and map creators, I think we could see a whole new live, much more like what PC gamers enjoy (If anyone doubt's what Bungie can do, I have one word for you: Marathon. If you don't know what it is, look it up kiddies http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif ). Once other people see the high bar Bungie sets, more will have to meet it.

Hey man it's been great talking to you, it's nice meeting someone who can have an opposing viewpoint without just disrespecting the other persons view! I wish the work was more like that...

Take care of yourself http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: SilencePSO on 2003-04-09 23:26 ]</font>