[gameprogrammer] Re: Austin Game Developers Conference Day 1, Thoughts?

Oh, if only it were THAT easy.
I quite enjoy DirectX. PS2 coding... I loathe.
I heard that the XBox uses DirectX for its graphics system. I wouldn't mind 
getting my hands on the SDK.
Alas, Microsoft is being a dick and not allowing independent developers to 
get the dev kit... hell, they won't even allow colleges to have them. My 
teacher was on the phone with the head of the XBox division, and after 6 
months, the guy finally told him no, and that he should try phoning Bill 
"Mr. Money" Gates. What bums. They really don't see how that could possibly 
benefit them, do they? I guess not.
But, I've also heard that the Gamecube SDK is the best SDK over all of the 
other dev kits, and Nintendo provides amazing support. I wouldn't mind 
trying that SDK either.

Kevin

From: "Alan Wolfe" <atrix2@xxxxxxx>
Reply-To: gameprogrammer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: <gameprogrammer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [gameprogrammer] Re: Austin Game Developers Conference Day 1, 
Thoughts?
Date: Sun, 12 Sep 2004 13:26:03 -0700

 >There was waaaay too much stuff to learn
 > just before you could draw a triangle.

sounds to me alot like directx :P

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Fields" <drunkendruid@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <gameprogrammer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, September 12, 2004 1:10 PM
Subject: [gameprogrammer] Re: Austin Game Developers Conference Day 1,
Thoughts?


 > I'm inclined to agree on the online debate that XBox has the upper hand.
 > Almost every game I have for the XBox has online capability to either 
play
 > head-to-head or download new content.
 >
 > I haven't much about the online capabilities of the Gamecube, so I can't
 > comment on that.
 > I know how hard it is to program ANYTHING for the PS2, so it's not all
that
 > surprising that there aren't many online games for that console. The PS2
is
 > such a hard system to code for... I spent 2-3 months working on the dev
kit
 > that Sony released to the public... There was waaaay too much stuff to
learn
 > just before you could draw a triangle. I have so much respect for the
 > developers that work with that platform.
 >
 > Kevin
 >
 > From: brianevans <brianevans@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
 > Reply-To: gameprogrammer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
 > To: gameprogrammer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
 > Subject: [gameprogrammer] Re: Austin Game Developers Conference Day  1,
 > Thoughts?
 > Date: Sat, 11 Sep 2004 12:31:24 -0500
 >
 > I think my other mail got caught up in the "unvalidated" list (forgot to
 > change from addr), so just ignore that one...
 >
 >
 >  >I went last year. Decided not to go this year. The only talk I remember
 >  >out of all of last year is Lord British's talk. The rest was pretty 
much
 >  >a waste. I agree, the panel format doesn't work.
 >
 > Probably a good choice.  On the whole, I was disappointed.  My friend 
went
 > last year, and I asked if it was worth going again, and he said yes.  So
we
 > both went, and ... well-- There is some good stuff to be heard.  But its
 > rare.  Too rare to make it worth going more than once, since they also
 > REPEATED stuff from last year.
 >
 >  >They had this last year. Nothing in there that is new. You have to 
treat
 >  >the database like what it is, a large enterprise class database. This 
is
 >  >surprising to a lot of people.
 >
 > Well, there is a major difference between large enterprise APP databases
 > and GAME databases.  Because of the "really real time" nature of games,
you
 > can't really wait around for a few seconds for things to go directly to a
 > database.  And this is pretty obvious (even before the talk), as is the
 > fact that there has to be something going on in the backend to facilitate
 > real time data access.  So they have a "game state" proxy server that 
sits
 > between the game servers and the database server, and this will receive
 > game state updates, and return game state information and then regularly
 > write out "snapshots" of the game world to the database.  And this is 
good
 > because if your game server goes down you still have the state, and
 > etc.  But because it was in a panel format, they never really outline a
 > framework... you have to piece it together in your head.  And so you're
 > kind of left with a vague idea of what they're doing which I think is
 > exactly the point.
 >
 > No one here is going to give away any secrets.
 >
 >  >Hmmm... don't they actually have to *sell* some Xboxes before they take
 >  >over the world? Ok, enough flame bait. How about sharing some of the
 >  >details of what they are doing right versus what Sony is doing wrong?
 >  >
 >  >                         Bob Pendleton
 >
 > Ok... well, yes that would be fair.  Now, admittedly the MS speaker was
 > much better than the Sony one.  And I didn't say Xbox will beat Sony in
the
 > console market itself, but in the ONLINE segment, I think they have the
 > right idea.  I'll try to reconstruct the bullet points here:
 >
 > XBOX Live
 > 1) Centralized service:  All the game servers go through microsoft, using
 > MS's api for every game.
 > 2) Broadband required.  Risky as a large amount of people still have
dialup.
 > 3) No EA.  (We're microsoft, we don't need EA)
 > 4) Relatively large amount of online enabled console games out already.
 > 5) We're getting subscribers faster than time warner, hbo... etc.  1
 > million in 1.5 years.
 >
 > Argument:  Because we're a centralized service, people will be more 
likely
 > to pay for us because they get more value out of the larger amount of
games
 > that can be played on our service.  And because its centralized and uses
 > our standard API, it has a consistent look and feel with a online
community
 > that is interchangeable and that spans multiple games (think of 
battle.net
 > and the way you can message starcraft people from diablo).  And, even
 > though broadband is less prevalent, it will allow for a better experience
 > for those people who do have it.
 >
 > SONY
 > 1) We don't like Microsoft.  Neither should you.
 > 2) Hey look, we made Everquest!  The best online game ever!
 > 3) And look we made Everquest on the console!  And because Everquest PC
was
 > the best online game ever, it will be the best console online game ever.
 >           - by the way, you can actually buy a new mouse and keyboard and
 > use it with our console, but you don't need a hard drives because our
 > server technology is so good.
 > 4) AND, we made an add on to Everquest console to make the console copy 
of
 > the best even better!
 > 5) Oh yeah, and we have Final Fantasy XI.  But it requires a hard drive,
so
 > it'll cost a bit more.
 > 6) We did some market research and most people are not hardcore, some
 > people are hard core... and very few (<1%) people are ULTRACORE.
 >
 > Argument:  We don't like Microsoft.  And since we have the add-on to the
 > copy of the best online multiplayer game EVER, we'll beat them, even if
 > right now we only have 2 distinct titles and an add-on released.  Since
its
 > worked so well for us, we're retaining the PC per-game subscription 
model.
 >
 >
 > Ok, enough of that.
 >
 > Quite simply it boils down to number of online games available, and price
 > to play those games.  Sony has two titles.  Microsoft has a lot more than
 > two ( http://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/live-gameslist.htm  (not all are
 > online play, but still, more than two are) ).  And it doesn't look like 
MS
 > is charging as much as I thought they would for it (50$/year.  who knows
if
 > it will last... but...)  Right now its cheaper to sign up for all of XBOX
 > live than it is to play one game on Sony (6$/month vs 10$+)  Now XBOX
isn't
 > going to get everquest fans (I suspect everquest fans will stick to the 
pc
 > rather than go to playstation), but i think XBOX live will have that kind
 > of online "arcade" type feel, which I think is pretty cool actually.  And
 > far superior to Sony or Nintendo has at the moment.  And by the time they
 > decide to copy, it may be too late.
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >
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