I'm really curious as to what exactly is under the hood of the PS2. I know it has something like an "emotion chip", but what exactly is so special about it?
In terms of graphics, I tend to notice that a lot of PS2 titles like to use some kind of "sparkle" effect, where the light seems to shimmer off everything, hiding bland textures, like in FFX. It looks pretty specific to me, because when they try to do the same thing on computer games, it becomes resource intensive. Also, a lot of games love to use that distance "shimmer" effect as well. And, a lot, I mean a lot, of games also use a "slo-mo" function, apparently to hide a frame rate drop I guess. It's all speculation to me.
Now, I've heard that programming for the PS2 is a major pain in the ass, but you can do some amazing things with it, as in the case with MGS2. What's so special about it?
I'm asking about the PS2 on this board because I've read a lot of really technical discussions about the Dreamcast and the Saturn, and I'm really curious as to what the PS2 can do. A guy at Gamestop told me (ok, like I can trust him) that Sony plans to release games for the PS2 until at least 2008, meaning that they plan to capitalize on the hardware even after the PS3 is released. I find it interesting the MGS3 is being released on the PS2, instead of waiting for the next-gen system. Well, if the PS3 isn't coming out until 2006, ok so I'm not so surprised, but nowadays I have the feeling that a next-gen system is coming soon (it seems about the right time for me for some reason).
Bleh, I leave this thread to the technically-proficient.
In terms of graphics, I tend to notice that a lot of PS2 titles like to use some kind of "sparkle" effect, where the light seems to shimmer off everything, hiding bland textures, like in FFX. It looks pretty specific to me, because when they try to do the same thing on computer games, it becomes resource intensive. Also, a lot of games love to use that distance "shimmer" effect as well. And, a lot, I mean a lot, of games also use a "slo-mo" function, apparently to hide a frame rate drop I guess. It's all speculation to me.
Now, I've heard that programming for the PS2 is a major pain in the ass, but you can do some amazing things with it, as in the case with MGS2. What's so special about it?
I'm asking about the PS2 on this board because I've read a lot of really technical discussions about the Dreamcast and the Saturn, and I'm really curious as to what the PS2 can do. A guy at Gamestop told me (ok, like I can trust him) that Sony plans to release games for the PS2 until at least 2008, meaning that they plan to capitalize on the hardware even after the PS3 is released. I find it interesting the MGS3 is being released on the PS2, instead of waiting for the next-gen system. Well, if the PS3 isn't coming out until 2006, ok so I'm not so surprised, but nowadays I have the feeling that a next-gen system is coming soon (it seems about the right time for me for some reason).
Bleh, I leave this thread to the technically-proficient.