main site topic idea

[aaron]

you know how a LOT of games are multi-platform? retro all the way up until now there are tons of games released for multiple systems. this is a huge "duh" i know, but what happens when someone wants the best version of said game available? i propose racketboy start a series on the "best version available" covering all eras up to last-gen (xb, ps2, gc). i'd happily contribute to something like that.

any believers? any additional ideas?

flames?

[Mozgus]

I'd love it.

[racketboy]

Like a port comparison?

We've done attempts at that a couple times.
I personally love the idea, but just haven't had the time myself.
If anybody wants to do a thorough comparison of games, just let me know.

[ott0bot]

That would be cool. Unfortunetly, I think most people try to avoid buying multiple copies of the same game. So unless you can find a serious collector with time on their hands or have a few peole willing to do some lending I may be tricky to pull off. It's usually somewhat easy to tell if they have additional levels, features, or characters...but gameplay? sheesh....who has time to play all the SF or MK ports. It may be easier to pick a game at a time and see if there are some people in the forum willing to help. i will if i can.

[aaron]

Unfortately.

haha, sorry, couldn't resist.

i'm mainly just talking about appearance (graphics), ease of availability, control, etc. all of these things i'm sure can be found through the magic of teh internetz. i wouldn't expect anyone to sit through each and every game.

the doom topic is what really piqued my interest about this. i wonder if it'd be better to have a couple stand alone articles for major games/series?

i just know i prefer beyond good and evil on xbox, i prefer tony hawk on PS2, and i prefer all the spongebob games i've got on gamecube. not really sure why, but it'd be neat to share everyone's preferences. maybe a vote on specific games w/ comments?

[roushimsx]

i propose racketboy start a series on the "best version available" covering all eras up to last-gen (xb, ps2, gc).

For most of the games of the last generation, with very few exceptions, it'd be the Xbox port (generally they had smoother framerates, better multiplayer, and/or higher quality graphics). Every now and then you'd come across a hotly debated one like Beyond Good & Evil (many people, including Ancel, consider it to be superior) or a sloppy oddity (Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance on Xbox), so I guess it'd be pretty interesting to see just those particular games dug up. Otherwise, it'd be a fairly predictable and dull series of articles that basically say, "The Xbox port is clearly superior and the only advantage that the GC port has over the PS2 release is progressive scan support".

It'd be neat seeing how the difficulty of getting the otherwise clearly superior PC versions of various games factored in there, too. I mean, people can debate all day long about Saturn vs 3DO vs Playstation versions of games, but without fail the better version was (at the time) the PC release. Now a days though? hmmm....

tl;dr - Anyone else duped into buying Ubisoft Shanghai's versions of the Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon games? Jesus fucking christ do I hate that studio with a passion.

[corn619]

I think it would be a great idea to compile which version is the ulimate version from various publications or websites. I don't know the legality of it all but it would be great to get all that info from one source. Also which games and versions of games will hold its value for example, Atlus games are known for low print runs but other publishers do low print runs of certain games it would be great to have that info. And why the Xbox versions of Metal Gear and Fatal Frame look better on Xbox but the PS2 versions are worth a lot more for some reason.

[Mozgus]

Anyone else duped into buying Ubisoft Shanghai's versions of the Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon games? Jesus fucking christ do I hate that studio with a passion.

Splinter Cell 2 and 4 right? Yeah, they felt like really sloppy ports.

And I just want to point out, there's quite a demand for these types of comparisons. When I did one for Resident Evil, and racket featured it, it proved very popular (and very hated by some. Sony fanboys just didn't want the Saturn to get any praise at all.) It can be very time consuming, depending on the type of game, to actually play through and take good shots and capture noteworthy footage, but at least in this one case, I felt like I was fairly answering questions that people had been asking for many years. It was kinda fulfilling.

[roushimsx]

Splinter Cell 2 and 4 right? Yeah, they felt like really sloppy ports.

No, Pandora Tomorrow and the PS3/PC/360 versions of Double Agent were actually developed by those ass clowns. They did the Gamecube and PS2 ports of the first and third game though, and they were tragically bug infested messes. Man do I hate that studio.

Thank GOD Ubisoft Montreal is working on Conviction, though word of mouth indicates that the game isn't really panning out that well

And why the Xbox versions of Metal Gear and Fatal Frame look better on Xbox but the PS2 versions are worth a lot more for some reason.

Collectors are weird and that's all there is to it.

[fastbilly1]

I was going to start doing something like this with screenshot comparisons. But after taking a gigs worth of shots of Bubble Bobbles the harddrive crashed (unrelated error). Kinda soured it for me.