Graphic Cards Through Thunderbolt

[RCBH928]

They tend to look pretty damn good on PCSX2 using higher internal resolutions (as opposed to the PS1, which had textures that looked blurry even if the internal resolution is bumped). Check out Valkyrie Profile 2 on 1080p:

Wow that looks really really nice. At that resolution I'd have no trouble believing it was an early 360 or ps3 game.

My jaw hurts!
this is amazing! Thats even better than I thought a ps2 game looks like! More like best Wii graphics.

I doubt that a ps2 can push such graphics though, it seems that an emulator is used with modification for it to be able to put on such textures?

[tintinmayo]

Yup, it's a PS2 emulator, but there's no post processing or mods other than an increase in the internal resolution. It just affects the polygons, not the textures.

ePSXe can do the same for PS1 games, except with PS1, the textures end up looking blurry or pixelated unless post processing is used.

[AppleQueso]

I really do not consider GC or the PS2 consoles "retro" yet, but I do consider the Xbox obscure, not retro.

Xbox is hardly what I'd call 'obscure', as I knew tons and tons of people who owned one. Maybe it's different where you live though.

I find the wording you used a bit odd though. Why can't something be both obscure and retro?

1) No it wasn't obscure in its time(though seemed fewer than ps2/GC back then) but I mean its obscure NOW because as far as I know and see, many people still have thier ps2's and GCs while its really an awkward scene to see an original Xbox. Also many people still remember and talk about GC and ps2 games, but other than Halo, no one seems to mention any Xbox game.

2) It can be obscure AND retro, but I do not consider Xbox to be retro yet. Just obscure due to its rarity around here, and I am guessing in the USA too. Rarity means it comes up a lot less than a ps2 or GC, it does not mean that you wont find it even if you go looking for it.

I generally find far, far more xbox games in the wild than I do gamecube games. I see original Xboxes piled up at pawn shops, etc all the time. It's far from rare or obscure in the US.

[RCBH928]

I generally find far, far more xbox games in the wild than I do gamecube games. I see original Xboxes piled up at pawn shops, etc all the time. It's far from rare or obscure in the US.

Maybe this means people play less and less Xbox games than gamecube, making xbox more obscure and GC more relevant?

[GSZX1337]

Even though I find this iOS vs. PS2 debate riveting, I'm going to try to steer this thread back on topic since I have something to say.

Seems like there is a way to add a graphics card through thunderbolt to your laptops. This means your laptop can run the latest games!

Sure, as long as your laptop is plugged into this other big box which also needs to be plugged into the wall. So you can only use it to your advantage to play shinier games while at home, or if you lug all this extra stuff and have access to a wall plug. You'd still be better off with a real desktop setup while at home and you'd lose a lot of the advantages of a laptop if you tried to take it with you.

While it may be cumbersome to use a Thunderbolt GPU on the go like in an airport, you could always use it at a hotel or a LAN party. Imagine going on a trip to say QuakeCon and during the plane flight/wait at the terminal, you use the laptop with only the internal GPU to check email/browse YouTube/post on Racketboy/etc. When you get to the venue for the LAN, you set your laptop up with the Thunderbolt GPU so you can play your game of choice at the right settings.

[AppleQueso]

I generally find far, far more xbox games in the wild than I do gamecube games. I see original Xboxes piled up at pawn shops, etc all the time. It's far from rare or obscure in the US.

Maybe this means people play less and less Xbox games than gamecube, making xbox more obscure and GC more relevant?

...I think you have a very strange definition of "obscure"

[isiolia]

I generally find far, far more xbox games in the wild than I do gamecube games. I see original Xboxes piled up at pawn shops, etc all the time. It's far from rare or obscure in the US.

Maybe this means people play less and less Xbox games than gamecube, making xbox more obscure and GC more relevant?

The XBox outsold the Gamecube worldwide, if only marginally. Granted, that probably owes a lot more to sales in the U.S, and perhaps Europe, than a worldwide trend...but for many of us that would mean that XBoxes would be a more common sight.

There are probably demographics to look at regarding the hows and whys of XBoxes landing at pawn shops more than Gamecubes. Personally, I saw a lot of dorm/college apartment community consoles go from N64s or Dreamcasts to XBoxes due to Halo, Madden, and so on.

While it may be cumbersome to use a Thunderbolt GPU on the go like in an airport, you could always use it at a hotel or a LAN party. Imagine going on a trip to say QuakeCon and during the plane flight/wait at the terminal, you use the laptop with only the internal GPU to check email/browse YouTube/post on Racketboy/etc. When you get to the venue for the LAN, you set your laptop up with the Thunderbolt GPU so you can play your game of choice at the right settings.

Definitely a possibility, and it'd (eventually, theoretically) be more universal than a dock connector. I still would look at expense, of course.