Messages

1

Nintendo Gaming / RE:What type of games should the Rev launch with?

« on: April 24, 2005, 09:33:16 PM »

Mario 128
Super Smash Bros game, must be online
Zelda or Metroid Prime.

2

Nintendo Gaming / RE:REV's appearance and marketing

« on: April 19, 2005, 09:48:22 PM »

The problem with x86 is bandiwidth.   A good quote:

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the x86 Architecture forces every subsystem's throughput into a single fronside bus which then communicates to the CPU and Main Memory. This has worked fine, I was a Wintel user for 10 years myself before switching. The problem with that is every component of your system (USB, Ethernet, Graphics, PCI Cards, etc) is all fighting for bandwidth, so if your say trying to use multiple programs and access hardware functions (ie CD/DVD Burning) this causes system slowdown and because Windows is written the way it is (I'm not sure the tech side of the software) can cause programs to stall, crash, and freeze the system (remember when you couldn't do anything while your CD's were being burnt, that's because of x86's and Windows limitations) This is even worse due to the fact that the intel/amd CPU's only offer limited instrution sets (OK "1" on any non Hyper-Threading/Hyper-Transport System, those offer a whopping "2", Perhaps more on newer AMD's) There are more limitations I may mention later for now, lemme compare whats above to the current Power4 Architecture. Oh one more little thing before I move on, the maximum throughput of any Intel system is 6.4GBps

Power4 at it's core, allows EVERY subsystem to talk directly to the main memory and the CPU INDEPENDENTLY, NOTHING fights for bandwidth due to whats at the core of the Architecture, the System Controller. Forget Northbridge/Southbridge, The sytem controller regulates data moving through the system, it can direct data where it needs to go directly, making for efficient data throughput. On top of that, add to it, Branch Prediction Logic, with 95% accuracy (roughly), BPI can detect where data needs to go before it reaches the cpu, making dataflow even faster. Also add Enchanced Velocity engines in each CPU, DUAL INDEPENDENT SYSTEM BUSES Maxing out at 1.25GHz (For the moment) TWO CPU's with 2 Double Precision Floating Point Units per (Intel/AMD = 1) and you have a system that's total throughput max's out at 20GBps with much more efficiancy than that of any x86 system on the market today. A 3.8 GHz Pentium or for that matter a Dual Core 3.4GHz Pentium can't even compare when it comes to true RAW POWER, The Dual Core Pentiums still use a single System bus and the same architecute thats been around since 1989, ok so that's that. By the Way, Each G5 has 8 In-Flight Instruction Sets, VS 2 on any x86 system (AMD may have more as cited earlier, I'm not 100% on that)

My suspision is that is why the XBox 360 is going PowerPC now...

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I believe that only thing Nintendo needs to do is stop plastering Mario to every game that's not going to sell by itself. Then it's image will improve. Not only will the games not seem so 'tiku'd up', but Nintendo will lose it's image of a rehash company as well. I once had an idiot tell me that Nintendo never did anything original whilst he explained the merits of the Tekken series. No matter how stupid they are, if someone believes that then Nintendo has screwed up their marketing big time.

Good point there.  I had some guy once tell me that Nintendo never makes new games because we always get new Zelda, Mario, and Metroid games (ignoring that no two Mario games ever had the same engine and no two Metroid games ever had the same engine excepting MP2, and most Zelda games had different game engines every time)...  Almost burst out laughing, but the guy was serious.  

[cubist]

3

Nintendo Gaming / RE:Broadcom Announced as Partner...WiFi Confirmation

« on: April 19, 2005, 09:41:51 PM »

CRAAAAAAP.


I was hoping to install Linux on the Revolution, then go online.  Yay.

But Broadcom is one of the few companies whos chipsets do not have Linux or Mac drivers...

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Originally posted by: cubist
Looks like the new system IS going to be online based on the new report.  Iwata's message makes me feel like Nintendo is actually starting to move in the direction I thought they always tended to ignore and make their loyal fans (like me) swallow it all up.  Good stuff.

We've know it was online and WiFi since GDC.

[PaleZer0]

4

Nintendo Gaming / RE:REV's appearance and marketing

« on: April 18, 2005, 08:26:41 PM »

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Originally posted by: PaleZer0
One last thing...  My argument for PC superiority to Mac has nothing to do with operating systems.  Most people like one more than the other only because they are more used to it... and that's fine...  I just enjoy the competition in the hardware PC industry.  It allows for more flexible, upgradable, and powerful systems.

That's just ridiculous.  I would rather have a stable OS with excellent performance, better features (as in nearly a generation ahead on features), that is extremely secure and easy to use, is nearly virus proof, supports open standards, and has no slowdown, than a computer with twice the power (which is NOT true of PC's, btw, a while back benchmarks had the fastest PC outperforming the fastest Mac with equivilant RAM and graphics cards by about 10%-15% in games only, Mac won in some other categories...) and a peice of crap operating system that has more holes than swiss cheese, gets slower the more you use it, has proprietary formats, required registration, uglier interface, and is buggy in comparison.

I spend more time looking at my computer screen than most other things.  And when I do that I want to be using a good OS, not caring whether I get 300 or 330 FPS in a game (yes, that was the difference between the Mac and the PC).

And your comments about Mac upgradeability are again silly.  Okay, its true of the all in one systems somewhat, but what the heck do you think they sell TOWERS with PCI-X and AGP for?



What I'd love to see is a Nintendo/Apple teamup.  The Rev is rumored to have G5 processors, and a hard drive, right?  Can you say NintendOS X?  Imagine a package that adds a keyboard and mouse for the Rev and allows you to turn the Revolution into a full fledged Mac, complete with connectivity to the DS's PDA software if that rumor turns out to be true?

[PaleZer0]

5

Nintendo Gaming / RE:REV's appearance and marketing

« on: April 18, 2005, 08:20:09 PM »

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Originally posted by: PaleZer0
Ok now you are forcing me to...

There are two possible reasons that your Dell is slow...

1. You bought a 600 dollar machine and are comparing it to a 2k machine in a Mac.
2. You don't know how to take care of your computer.

We can't argue appearances as that is all just opinion... but the fact that you think Apple's last longer just shows how much you don't know.  Apple's may _seem_ to last longer only because it is a very closed box system.  You can't touch it.. upgrade wise....  and most people don't even install any new software other than stuff that is mass marketed and tested.

People who use PCs just don't have any concept of what a computer is.  Its something that runs programs.  period.  You get your nice shiny PC and then install any number of piece of crap software off the internet until it slows to a crawl...then chalk it up to the computer's fault.  I'm running a windows based machine that the central parts are over 5 year's old...  You show me a 5 year old Mac and my machine will blow its doors off.  I can render the same frames in Maya in half the time of a freaking G4 for christ sake and thats only 1 generation ago.

Anyway, to make a long story short, Macs are awesome little machines for what they do.  They are idiot proof and pretty.  If you want a machine that is actually powerful, you don't buy a Mac.  You buy a PC and maybe learn a thing or two about it.

Wintel Fanboy killing time.

1) Can't touch it.  Typical ignorance arguement.  In fact, many Macs are actually MORE upgradeable than a PC.  With the PowerMac G4 line especially, the processors were on a daughtercard.  You could literally turn a single 400 MHz G4 machine into a dual 1.5 GHz machine, put a much more powerful graphics card and a few PCI cards in it, and have a sweet setup.  My Pismo I routinely open up when I'm board in class (teachers don't notice), poke around the hard drive and processor and stuff, etc.

2) Show you a 5 year old Mac?  Sure.  I'm running a 5 year old PowerBook G3 running the LATEST operating system (Mac OS X 10.3 Panther) at a good speed and using it for classes every day (I learned my lesson after dropping my PB G4).  Further, my school in one room has 6-7 year old iMacs (G3, 333 and 500 MHz) running Mac OS X 10.3 and Photoshop CS.  Macs last a long time.

3) "Idiot proof and pretty but not powerful".  Stunningly ignorant statement.  Mac OS X is UNIX based and a very powerful OS.  Windows is a massive peice of crap with terrible design and disgusting security.  Don't get me started.  You can even run a number of Linux apps in Mac OS X if you recompile them from source code with the included developer tools.

And btw, all the PowerMacs went G5 two years ago.  The G4 processor hit a brick wall and was stuck for a while with almost no clockspeed increase before a massive jump with the G5.  So comparing your Maya framerates to a G4...no.


Mac OS X is the entire reason to buy a Mac.  It IS the most advanced OS on the planet.  Panther easily blows away Windows XP, and Tiger (coming out in two weeks) has almost all the features from LONGHORN (next version of Windows not coming out for another 1-2 years).