Show #168 The one about GDC and XNA

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uber fragger — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 13:58:56 GMT

Nice podcast major. I just wanted to say that region free is not on the xbox or 360. If it were then I would be buying games from Japan where their 40 bucks at playasia.com.

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donkeydrop — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 05:44:37 GMT

You're making my point for me. The interview you are referring to made perfect sense and explained why running 720p at 60fps is better than running 1080p at 30fps, that it would require a lot more processing power to achieve 1080p at 60 fps, and that TVs supporting 1080p were only just coming to market. This was the proper way to discuss the issue.

What it never said was that running 1080p at 60fps was 'impossible', or that 1080p TVs don't exist. The subtlety you and many people apparently missed was regarding the standard for connecting 1080p devices. There is an HDMI standard for 1080p connections, but it is optional. This means that some manufacturers of 1080p TVs are using HDMI connectors that can only accept 1080i, which is then up-converted to 1080p in software. This just means you have to be careful in buying a 1080p TV to be sure its supports 1080p connections. PS3 isn't the only the device that will use this connection; both HD-DVD and Blu-ray disks (available starting next month) support 1080p so you will want this for the future to get the best image when watching movies. Even Microsoft is marketing 1080p discs (IMAX movies), although these are on regular DVDs and wont play on set top boxes.

Bottom-line, yes 1080p is a real standard, there are TVs that accept a 1080p signal and within a month there will be 1080p movies available to play on those TVs. So, lets have facts and not speculations based on a willful misinterpretation of what others said.

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JamShady — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 00:18:36 GMT

Dude, there's no Sony bashing going on at all. Anyone can make a comment, positive or negative, bashing is when it's always negative for the sake of being negative. Personally I agree with the Major's points.

Secondly, the comments about 1080p are not snide, they're fact. Did you not listen to the interview a few weels back? It's impossible. Sony are advertising something that doesn't exist, and doesn't conform to standards (for TV's anyway, PC's are a whole different matter).

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donkeydrop — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 12:57:30 GMT

Major,

Enjoy the podcast, but whats with the Sony bashing the last couple of weeks? I know Sony has a tendency to stretch the truth in its marketing, but the whole 'fanboi' mentality is really annoying. Xbox 360 is not region-free and even Xbox Live is restricted by region, so that those in Europe and Japan cant download even free demos and trailers that are available in North America. The only Xbox 360 developer that has decided to release region-free is Sports Interactive. I applaud them for this, but this is exactly why a completely region-free console is appealing. Niche products that can't justify a US release will still be available; 5000, 10000, 20000 sales that may not be a lot in terms of profit, but its still a lot a gamers that would have been shut-out otherwise, and at essentially no cost to the publisher.

The snide comments about 1080p were just foolish. If GT4 can run on the PS2 in 1080i at 60 fps, of course 1080p is possible on PS3 (and for that matter Xbox 360 if it were a supported format). My 2 year old PC can run games in 1080p at a decent frame rate. If you want to say it will be a challenge given the architecture of PS3 fine, but I'm sure getting Oblivion to run at a good framerate on the 360 was a challenge too.

Going back to the previous podcast, what was this stuff about the blu-ray drive in the PS3 being so slow? The 1x spec is a just a benchmark and no-one will release a 1x drive because its not even within the BD specs; the minimum to meet the BD standards is 1.5x, and all announced drives will be running at least 2x. This will be about the same speed as the 12x DVD drive in the 360 (a bit slower on average if the DVD disc is full since DVD drives read faster from the outside of the disc).

I suggest a bit more care in checking out the anti-Sony stories to find out what is really true. I'm sure Sony will make more than enough real mistakes without repeating obviously false claims.

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Chris Krumpack — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 08:53:18 GMT

WERE ARE THE CONCEPT PHOTOS OF PS3 ONLINE?

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Slickman Elite — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 08:24:33 GMT

I was really hoping there would be an update on backwards compatibility, maybe next week. :(

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Keith — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 07:22:48 GMT

Man he was annoying wasn't he, you can't really blame it on him just being 13 though, at 13 you should be able to string together a sentence and be able to judge if your comment is informative, entertaining or comprehensible, of which his was none of these!

Thanks for the pod/blogcast Larry really, appreciate it, keep up the good work.

Everyone try this video for some entertainment of a boy playing on Live; dear o dear there is something wrong with him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fKmgJhb7U0&search=halo%203

From keith aged 17 in the U.K!��

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QuezcatoL — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 07:11:41 GMT

people who dont understand the greatness with region free games are fucked up :S
For ex N3 who is one of my mos twanted games,are soon out in JPN,and has been announced for america now,however no european relase has been heard of,if this was a ps3 game,i could have imported it from USA,now i can't and im screwed...

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Major Newbie — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 04:36:16 GMT

Hahahaha the fag got his name from I Dream Of Jeannie!!! LOL

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me — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 04:03:48 GMT

I had given up on it thinking they screwed up. It wasn't worth pursuing much...

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Anevil scotsman — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 03:17:25 GMT

I must agree

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Steve — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 02:18:48 GMT

Wow that kid was painfully annoying...sorry you had to endure that Major

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ExEBGuy — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 02:09:36 GMT

That would rock! I certainly have my fingers crossed for this!

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Spin — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 02:03:32 GMT

Wow, this show was the attack of the kids. The kid with the "southern accent" was completely faking it. Before Major cut him off, he started to lose the horrible accent. He was also doing the "lip smack" thing you have a tendency to do Major during your blogcasts and I think he was making fun of it. Anyways, kids will be kids I guess. The region free situation is as follows and as some people have already said. Region free to the people that are "hyped" about it don't care if the game is in another language, don't care about localization, etc. They just want to play this one (or more) games that are only available in another country. You wouldn't get slammed for laws, political or other reasons because the game you released is only officially being sold in the country it was released in. So if someone in another region were to get the game it'd be through the internet, or if they were to travel to that country buy the game, etc. It's not like you make a game for Japan or France (without blood) and sell it in US stores. The people that would take advantage of region free already know what they're getting into and anyone that would buy a game out of region because of price or they want it early might be the people you need to be concerned about because they usually just want to play and will be upset if they can't understand it. I hope some of that makes sense. Anyways, if it doesn't I'll just say this. I don't see why there's such a commotion over region free. The amount of people that would actually take advantage of region free I believe is a relatively small group of people. Leave it to the internet though to make a big deal over something so minuscule. Also Major I'd like to see your TIMS! Good show man, regulate on those kids though :)
"more importantly though, look at the album cover" haha. I have the original on a 33, yes the record. Great album!

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Knuckles Dawson — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 01:54:20 GMT

"Holy CRAP!" was what I shouted in my office the second I heard Major say my 'tag. My boss gave me a weird look or two. But it was really cool getting mentioned on the show. As for waking up, getting an achievement, then going to bed again, that's kinda bit of a stretch. I'm 20, I work full time, and go snowboarding and stuff here in BC Canada, and just find the time to unlock at least one achievement a day. Once I get one (in either The Outfit, or GRAW) today, I'll be at 126 days and counting. In any case, thanks for the mention, Major, and if you want to have a guy on your Friend's List who is on pretty much everyday, I'd be happy to take that spot. As for anyone else, you're welcome to hit me up for Private Chat, friend requests or whatever if you want.
So, Major, keep up the great work, know that the intelligent crowd out there appreciate what you're doing, and things for bringing the community in touch with your end of the industry.

Catch you later,

KD

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Smis7 — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 01:46:15 GMT

Cars Trailer
Stay Alive Trailer
Pirates of the Carribean Trailer on

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