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SONY PLAYSTATION (PSX) REPORT V1.0 [Date: 22-MAY-95]
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SONY PLAYSTATION (PSX) REPORT V1.0 [Date: 22-MAY-95]
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Written by : iRONCODE!
A.Introduction
B.Playstation Hardware Specifications
C.Playstation Games Available
D.Upcoming Playstation Games
E.Top 10 Most Wanted Playstation Games
F.Playstation News
G.Greetings
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Try to contact iRONCODE!
------------------------
- By E-Mail : gronm@vega.isbiel.ch
- My WWW-Page : http://www.isbiel.ch/~gronm/first.html
- On IRC : join channel #amiga!
- Or leave mail on one of these Boards:
USA : Pirates Haven
SWEDEN : Interchange
FINLAND : Wasted Time
GERMANY : Synergy
SWISS : Castle Rock, Trelli Ikojenia, Dial Hard
- If you are able to call my BBS .. do it!
* cASTLE M/F rOCK BBs
* 3 Analoge (28800/16800)
* 2 Euro-ISDN (64000)
* Private Numbers, NUP required!
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A.Introduction
--------------
Yo dudes, this is iRONCODE! with another mindblasting release:
Sony Playstation (PSX) Report V1.0.
Released : 22-MAY-95
In this first issue I wanted to write down some facts, news and infos
about the available (and not available) games of this wonderful machine.
Perhaps u know that I've never worked at Sony. So you can probably imagine
how hard it is to get some interesting Playstation-facts.
That's why I need your help! Try to contact me. (iRONCODE!)
Please support me with the informations you have.
I would like to continue this report and perhaps release a new issue every
month.
Thanx for your help!
-iRONCODE!-
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B.Playstation Hardware Specifications
-------------------------------------
1. Introduction
2. CPU
3. 3D Geometry Engine
4. Data Engine (MDEC)
5. Sound
6. Graphics
7. Memory
8. CD-ROM
1. Introduction
---------------
Thus didn't the Playstation come forth from the dark alleys of Tokyo...
This is one serious gaming machine. SNES, Megadrive, 32X, Jaguar and 3DO
all pale besides this monster. The PSX has 5 processors running
concurrently, similar to the Atari Jaguar. Then main processor is the
powerful LSI R3000A 32 bit RISC processor, running at 33.8 Mhz. In addition
to it, there is a 66 MIPS High-speed Matrix Processor for calculating 3D
polygons, there is a graphics processor for displaying sprites (2D) at 60
frames a second, a sound processor for doing CD quality sound and a 80 MIPS
Data Expansion Engine for decompressing graphics and sound data from the
CD-ROM.
What does it all mean? Well, this machine is built for 3D! And since that
is where the games are going, we're all set. (In all fairness it should be
mentioned that the Sega Saturn is on par with, if not better than, the PSX
on 2D scrolling games, note 2D only. However, this is not a problem since
these machines are lightyears ahead of the competition anyways!)
2. CPU
------
* R3000A 32bit RISC chip @ 33.8mhz - Manufactured by LSI Logic Corp.
* Clearing capacity: 30 MIPS
* Bus bandwidth: 132 Mb/sec
As stated above, a very kuel CPU, slamming the 68000 in the Jaguar and the
ARM 60 in the 3DO, even the Hitachis in the Saturn! A high bus bandwith is
important when using lots of colors in fast moving animations! (Like
Tohshinden)
3. 3D Geometry Engine
---------------------
* High speed matrix calculator
* Clearing capacity: 66 MIPS
* 1.5 million flat-shaded polygons/sec
* 500,000 texture-mapped and light-sourced polygons/sec
Ahhh, the key to the ultimate 3D performance. Note, however that the above
specs are rather optimistic. There is a slight difference between
displaying random polygons on screen and calculating whether or not a
polygon will be visible or not as the arm is lifted in defense, then shown
according to the position it is in. Toshinden achieves 80.000 of the latter
polygons, a very impressive number for such an early game. Expect this to
increase as the programmers really get to know the hardware. Luckily the
Playstation development setup is hailed as being among the best in the
industry.
4. Data Engine (MDEC)
---------------------
* Clearing capacity: 80 MIPS
* CPU, direct bus connection
* Also compatible with JPEG, MPEG1, H.261 files
A very important player. It even helps cutting down load time, since the
data can be loaded from the CD in compressed form, then uncompressed on the
fly by this baby! Note the support for industry formats, not just
proprietary.
5. Sound
--------
* ADPCM, 24 channels
* Sampling frequency: 44.1 Khz
CD quality sound! What more could you ask for... Well, since you ask, it
would have been nice if it had a little bit better sound support. By all
means, it is great for using sound of the CD, but more or less incapable of
producing sound on its own. Oh well, you won't notice it!
6. Graphics
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* 16.7 million colors
* Resolution: 256x224 - 740x480
* Sprite/BG drawing
* Adjustable frame buffer
* No line restriction
* Unlimited CLUTs (Color Look-Up Tables)
* 4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rotation
* Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling)
* 360,000 polygons/sec
Why do people question these specs? OK, so the Saturn might be a bit better
on 2D, but read the specs again. Parodius has some slowdown, NOT because of
lacking hardware, but due to programmers not used to the system. Raiden has
less slowdown, i.e. more experienced programmers. So in 6-9 months we
should see no more slowdowns in 2D scrolling games. Relax, the hardware CAN
handle it!
7. Memory
---------
* Main RAM: 2 Megabytes
* VRAM: 1 Megabyte
* Sound RAM: 512 K
* CD-ROM buffer: 256K
* Operating System ROM: 512K
* RAM cards for data save: 128K EEprom
Hey, it's more RAM than any others console out there! Stuff can be stored
in RAM in compressed form, then uncompressed on the fly in game. So don't
expect that this will limit its performance. (You just can't compare how
much RAM the PSX has vs. a PC. It is a totally different concept!)
8. CD-ROM
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* Double speed
* XA compliant
It's faster than any of ther other CD systems out there! And they sometimes
even let you play games while you are waiting. (We're talking 6-7
seconds.....)
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C.Playstation Games Available
-----------------------------
What you see here is the list of games available in Japan. No, the system
hasn't been released in the US just yet. When the US release draws close,
I'll change this to reflect what's available here....
1. Ridge Racer Just like the arcade!
2. A.IV Evolution Simulator
3. Crime Crackers RPG
4. Geom Cube Puzzle
5. Gokujyo Parodius Da! Shooter
6. Houma Hunter Lime Adventure
7. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball'95 Sports
8. Kings Field RPG
9. Mahjong Goku Tenjiku Mahjong
10. Mahjong Station Mahjong
11. Motor Toon Grand Prix Racing
12. Nekketu Oyako Fighting
13. PachiSlot Hunter Simulation
14. TAMA Action
15. Tohshinden Fighting
16. Twinbee Taisen Puzzle Dama Puzzle
17. Twin Goddess Lame Fighting
18. Kileak The Blood RPG
19. Raiden Project Shooting
20. Space Griffon VF9 3d Action RPG
21. CyberSled 3d Action Shooter
22. Myst A surrealistic adventure
23. Cosmic Race
24. Tekken "3D" fighting. Better than arcade!!!
25. Starblade Alpha 3D shoot'em up on rails
26. Uchu Seibutu Furoponkunn Space creature Furopon
27. Victory Zone Pachinko Simulator
28. Kutenkai Pinball
29. Twin Bee Yahoo Deluxe Pack Shooting
30. Jumping Flash! 3D Platform
31. Gunners Heaven Shooter
1. Ridge Racer
--------------
- Type: Racing
- Players: 1
- Released: Dec'94
- Rating(1-5): 4
- Price: 5,800Y
Description:
Wow! What a great game! If you liked the arcade, you'll like this too. The
port is as good as it gets. It's fast, cool and SMOOTH. In fact, the whole
game is loaded into memory, so only the music is played from the CD. And
you can even pop in your own CD, and it will play tracks 2-6. (More or
less.)
Another feature worth noting is the game Galaxians you can play while the
game is loading. It is a perfect port, a pity it isn't the whole game. And
if you kill all the enemies, you can choose from all the cars! Great touch,
Namco!
2. A.IV Evolution
-----------------
- Type: Simulation
- Players: 1
- Released: Dec'94
- Rating(1-5): 4
- Price: 7,800Y
Description:
A Sim City style simulation. The first game to use the Sony mouse. In fact, for
12,800 Yen you'll get the mouse and a memory card as pack ins. When you want to
see your city from a different view, you can actually ride the train through
the city! Cool! A winner for those into this genre of games!
3. Crime Crackers
-----------------
- Type: 3D RPG
- Players: 2
- Released: Dec'94
- Rating(1-5): 3
- Price: 5,800Y
Description:
None.
5. Gokujyo Parodius Da!
-----------------------
- Type: Shooter
- Players: 1
- Released: Dec'94
- Rating(1-5): 3
- Price: 5,800Y
Description:
Konamis first horizontal shooter. It's not your average sideways scroller,
you'll be surprised. It is an arcade perfect conversion, even down to the
slowdown.... Included is also the SNES version of Parodius(!)
11. Motor Toon Grand Prix
-------------------------
- Type: Racing
- Players: 2
- Released: Dec'94
- Rating(1-5): 3
- Price: 5,800Y
Description:
If you want a truly WHACKY driving game, this is the one for you! The graphics
in this game will blow your mind. It will take some patience to get the
controls right, but you'll get used to it. The kids will love this game.
15. Tohshinden
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- Type: Fighting
- Players: 2
- Released: Jan'95
- Rating(1-5): 4
- Price: 5,800Y
Description:
This is what a 3D fighting game is all about. You have to see it to believe
it! It's not just a 2D game looking 3D, it is true 3D. This is the first
fighting game released for the Playstation, in fact, it's one of the first
titles of any type released. And people are comparing it to Virtua Fighter
2, not just VF. It is truly a game that must be experienced.
16. Twinbee Taisen
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- Type: Puzzle
- Players: 2
- Released: Dec'94
- Rating(1-5): 3
- Price: 5,800Y
Description:
A very nice columns type game. Made in the typical Japanese way, with lots of
funny/cute characters etc. Two player is a riot!
17. Twin Goddess
----------------
- Type: Fighting
- Players: 2
- Released: Jan'95
- Rating(1-5): 1 (lame!)
- Price: 5,800Y
Description:
The only awsome thing about this game is a very decent FMV intro. And that's
it. It is a shame the cool hardware of the Playstation can be misused in this
manner. Women fighting women, if that excites you. Looks like Kasumi Ninja on
the Jaguar, ie. lame!
18. Kileak The Blood
--------------------
- Type: 3D RPG
- Players: 1
- Released: Jan'95
- Rating(1-5): 4
- Price: 5,800Y
Description:
If you thought Alien vs. Predator on the Atari Jaguar was intense, well, then
this title is for you. Don't play alone, leave lights on, lock your doors. Your
task is to destory an alien infestation in the Antarctica. Your a mech, alone,
against their alien forces. Finally a title for us grownups! :)
19. Raiden Project
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- Type: Shooter
- Players: 2
- Released: Dec'94
- Rating(1-5): 4
- Price: 5,800Y
Description:
Another arcade perfect translation, beats the heck out of Raiden for the
Jaguar. The CD contains both Raiden and Raiden II. If you're in the mood,
you can even turn the TV on it's side to get the true arcade look, no
kidding! Again, if you liked the arcade version, well, just get it! :-) If
you wonder why it is such a good translation, well, the guys that made the
arcade version did this one too!
21. CyberSled
-------------
- Type: Shooter
- Players: 2
- Released: Jan'95
- Rating(1-5): 3
- Price: 5,800Y
Description:
If you liked the arcade game, you'll go nuts over this one! In one player
you even get texture mapping (optional) to make it look miles BETTER than
the arcade. Blast those suckers! (Two player is another story, though...)
25. Starblade Alpha
-------------------
- Type: 3D Shooter
- Players: 1
- Released: Mar'95
- Rating(1-5): 3
- Price: 5,800Y
Description:
The aracade version was cool, this is cooler! Why? Texturemapping! OK, so your
chair and joystick won't vibrate when energy is getting low, but it will be
nice. So nice, in fact, that you might forget about the fact that is game is on
rails. All you do is aim and fire... So if you liked Starfox on the SNES, this
will BLOW YOU AWAY!
30. Jumping Flash!
------------------
- Type: Platform
- Players: 1
- Released Apr'95
- Rating(1-5): 4
- Price: 5,800Y
Description:
You haven't played any platform games like this one! (Unless, of course,
you own the game...) Imagine Doom and Mario in one game, 1st person jumping
action. A truly original game, totally new concept. Try it!
31. Gunners Heaven
------------------
- Type: Shooter
- Players: 1
- Released: Apr'95
- Rating(1-5): 4
- Price: 5,800Y
Description:
More or less a blatant rip-off of Gunstar Heroes for the Genesis. Jump, run,
slide and shoot. Cool graphics, fast paced, but dang hard. Only for the truly
dedicated....
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D.Upcoming Playstation Games
----------------------------
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Spring 1995
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* 1950 American Dreams, SCE, Board Game
* Aqua Note's Holiday, ARTDINK, Simulation
* Arc the Lad, SCE, RPG
* Blue Forest Story, Right Stuff, R2PG
* Fujimaru Jigoku Hen, SCE, RPG
* Ganbare Morikawakun Vol. 2,SCE, AI Puzzle
* Poporo Kuroisu Mono Gatari, SCE, Adventure
* Rayman UBI Soft, Platform Action
* Red Plasm, SCE, Action
* Shichu Suimei Pita Graph, Datam Polystar, Divination
* Starflight Fantasy, TITLE, Simulation
* Vampire (Darkstalkers), Capcom, Fighting
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Summer 1995
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* Sazan (3x3) Eyes, Adventure
* The HordeBGM Victor, Action
* Off Road Interceptor, BGM Victor, Action
* Princess Maker 3, Gainax, Simulation
* Tokyo Shadow, TAITO, Adventure
* Total Eclipse, BGM Victor, Action
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Unknown Release Dates
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* The 11th Hour, Virgin Games, Adventure
* Alone In The Dark II, BMG Victor, Action
* Assault Rigs, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Future sports
* Black Out, Toei System, Unknown Type
* BLOXX, Technos Japan, Unknown Type
* Bounty Arms,?, Arcade Shoot'em UP
* Colors Mania, ArtPak, Puzzle
* Crazy Ivan, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, 3D Mech
* Cyber War, Coconuts Japan, Action
* Dead Heat Road, Nichibutsu, Unknown Type
* Demolition Derby, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Racing
* Demolition Man, Virgin Games, Action
* Derby Stallion PS-X, ASCII, Simulation
* Discworld, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, ?
* Formation Soccer, Human, Soccer
* G-Police, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, ?
* Game No Tatsujin, SunSoft, Unknown Type
* Giensou Suiko Den, Konami, Unknown Type
* Hissatu Pachinco, SunSoft, Pachinco
* Hyperion, TAITO, Shooting
* Hyper IGO, ASK, Igo
* Indycar Racing, Virgin Games, Racing
* Jumping Flash, SCE, Action
* Kanaderu, Success, Unknown Type
* Kidousenshi GUNDAM, Bandai, Action
* Kowloon's Gate, Adventure
* Live Remix, Pro Fire, Unknown Type
* Lupin the 3rd, Cagliostro, Asmic, Adventure
* Mortal Kombat III Fighting
* Motocross, Coconuts Japan, Sports
* Pachio kun, Coconuts Japan, Pachinco
* Pachi Slot, Coconuts Japan, Simulation
* Race Drivin', TWI, Driving
* Sentient, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, ?
* Sofel Fantasia, Sofel, Unknown Type
* Star Flight Fantasy, TAITO, Unknown Type
* Street Fighter The Movie, Capcom, Action
* Super 301 S.Q., Nichibutsu, Simulation
* Super Casino Special, Coconuts Japan, Table Games
* Taikyoku Shogi Kiwame, LOG, Shogi
* Tokyo 2020, Rainbow Japan, Unknown Type
* Virtual Reality Mahjong, Nichibutsu, Mahjong
* Virtua Mahjong, Map Japan, Mahjong
* Wipe Out, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Future Racing
* World Cup Striker, Coconuts Japan, Soccer
* Zero Divide, Zoom, Action
Mortal Kombat III
-----------------
- Type: Fighting
- Players: 2
- Release: Q3'95 ?
Description:
This must be the most eagerly awaited title in history. And aren't we lucky?
The Playstation will get MKIII six months before ANY other 32 or 64 bit system!
Ed Boon has seen the beta version of it and says it is ridiculously close to
the original! Some have even hinted that it will be the pack-in for the U.S.
release. However, this isn't very likely. Usually it takes over a year for a
port to appear after the initial arcade version. For us, it will happen about
Sep/Oct'95! :-)
Rayman
------
- Type: Platform
- Players: 1
- Release: Q2'95 ?
Description:
Join Jimmy, a 10 year old who escapes reality by entering "Hereitscool", a
fantasy kingdom he has created within the realms of his computer. When in
Hereitscool, Jimmy becomes Rayman, a superhero who gives animated life to
everything around him, (mushrooms, insects, trees, rocks, mountains...)
creating an unlimited amount of friends and kingdoms. But an evil power has
entered Hereitscool and is out to destroy everything he has created. He must
use his superhero powers to save his friends before it's too late!
Rayman has more than 10 levels, each level is 40 screens long by 4 screens high
giving it a huge capacity for horizontal and vertical scrolling, the speed is
extremely fast (minimum 25 frames per second) and the graphics are stupendous,
offering more than 16 million colors. There are more than 50 animated enemies
Rayman must face, in addition Rayman himself has more than 50 animations
including walking on his hands, doing a helicopter spin which enables him to
fly, and when he gets impatient he dances or sticks his tongue out.
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E.Top 10 Most Wanted Playstation Games
--------------------------------------
Who says? I do! Hey, it's my report, and these are the titles I look forward to.
I am , however, flexible, and if you feel that some title deserves to be on the
list, then contact me!
1. Mortal Kombat III (Q3/95) Months before the others
2. Demolition Derby (Q3/95) You thought Daytona USA was fun!
3. Descent (Q3/95) Like the PC version, just a ton better!
4. Toshinden 2 (Q4/95) An improved Toshinden? Impossible!
5. Quake (Q1/96) You thought Doom II was cool?
6. Rayman (Q3/95) A very unique platform game!
7. Gunners Heaven (Q2/95) You gotta love those shooters!
8. Indycar (Q3/95) A Pro racing game! Yes! Puts the PC to shame!
9. Ridge Racer 2 (Q4/95) Now with rear wiew mirrors and link-up multiplayer
action!
10. Ace Driver (Q4/95) REAL Formula 1!
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F.Playstation News
------------------
1. The Sony Playstation II & III?
2. Is it possible to copy PSX-CD's ?
3. Playstation VS Saturn
4. Funny text of a PSX-Fan!
1. The Sony Playstation II & III?
---------------------------------
What? There is a Playstation II and III coming? Well, should you wait for
the "next" next generation? Absolutely 100% NOT! The Playstation II is
slated for release in 1998 and the Paystation III in 2003. In the videogame
industry, that is a very long time from now! Get the current Playstation
when it is released, and rack up your software library. Rest assured that
your software also will work on the new systems, years from now! By then,
Tekken will bring fond memories from the past...
Of course Sony is working on faster hardware. Who aren't? They haven't
released any specs. of the new systems yet, and it will probably be some
time before they do. But developers have been briefed on what is happening.
Don't you worry, Sony is 100% comitted to the Playstation, and will not
leave you out in the cold in 6 months. Get it know, before your neighbor
does! (This fall, that is! :)
2. Is it possible to copy PSX-CD's ?
------------------------------------
[Text by : Darren at Dragon Video]
The blackness is to keep counterfeiting from happening at all.
You see, Sony writes "unformatted tracks" to the disk that the O/S
checks for, you have to be able to write bad tracks to copy the disk
but if you don't know where the bad tracks are, then you can't copy it.
The blackness is so that you can't physically "eye-ball" where the
bad tracks are to start looking to where to create your own on the
bootlegs. They can be all over the CD. Try and read a Sony disk with
Norton Disk Edit and you will see what I mean. Be warned, your computer
will lock up solid so you will have to cold boot.
Contrary to what has been said, there isn't any bootlegs going around
of Playstation games. Sony wrote the book on CD technology so
they know what they are doing to anyone from copying the disks.
We've tried to copy the disks for shits and grins. You can't because
of the bad tracks/sectors.
Pretty damn smart/sneaky if you ask me.
What I understand is that each disk is actually different. When Sony
cuts the CD's they use an code that is internatl to the machine that cuts
the CD's. No human knows this code and is random. Not even the operator
of the machine knows the code and where the bad tracks/sectors are being
written. When the CD's are read into the Playstation the decryption code
on the header is then checked to see where the tracks/sectors are. If
they are not exactly where they are supposed to be....lockup.
To copy the disks, they would have to dump and decode the encryption
scheme in the Playstation and then figure out where all the bad tracks
are on the CD and then figure out what algerbra was used on that specific
disk.
All this takes minimal amount of time during playback on the Playstation.
Smart. Very....Very...Smart.
Darren at Dragon Video
3. Playstation VS Saturn
------------------------
[Author unknown!]
I managed to pick up both the Sega Saturn, and Sony
Playstation (P.S for brevity) upon their release dates.
I also picked up what software looked good. Here are some
random observations (as usual, unstructured..)
Tire kicking:
P.S (Playstation) wins hands down. Its smaller than the
Saturn, pleasingly thin, it just feels higher quality.
The Saturn box is better, coloured a nice gold, but boxes get
thrown away, so thats a win for the P.S. I also got a 3 year
guarantee with it for $10, so more points to the P.S.
I noticed there is no s-video socket on the Saturn, but there
is on the P.S. The P.S has three ports, a larger bus-type one
behind a panel and two smaller ones. The Saturn has just one,
marked "communication".
Controllers:
The Saturn controller is basically a slightly enhanced Genisis
controller, otherwise unremarkable. Of course, both machines
invent new standards for controller ports, so no using old
controllers..
The sony controller, while looking a little awkward, feels
great, the extrusions fit into the palms of both hands.
We're still at the madly unwrapping plastic bag stage here,
.. I wonder how the four buttons replacing the joypad
will go in games?
First Turn on:
Turned on the Saturn, (both the units plug directly into
the mains thank god, no power packs).
The Saturn startup screen is nice, a swoopy control panel
appears over a star field, with two spinning colored cubes.
Very straight-forward to use, first surprise: a language
feature: select "english" and all the instructions are
in English! Bonus! [But, as the manuals state, both units
are FOR SALE AND USE ONLY IN JAPAN, this doesnt bode well
for international software swaps..].
Tried an audio CD, all the usual CD functions available,
plus, the cubes pulsate in time to the music, if you
dismiss the control panel, the starfield dominates the
screen over a rotating nebula picture, and a spacey shuttle
kinda plane makes random runs back and forth. Nice, but
not as good as the 3DO light-synth. Oh well, maybe someone
will write a light synth...
Over the to the P.S: turn it on, and a lovely gold logo
appears, to a very showy sound effect, all surround and
echo. The resolution difference between the two machines
is obvious straight away, the P.S stomps on the Saturn,
delicate copyright-righting at the bottom show the finest
of pixel sizes....
Trying an audio CD in the P.S is more disappointing, it
also has all the normal CD functions, but absolutely nothing
to look at while it plays. Oh well, the 3DO really spoiled
me I guess..
Closer analysis:
So, no S-video connection on the Saturn, you gotta buy
a converter cable. There is one on the P.S! hooray! The
Saturn cables are nice and long, but still both controllers
sprout from the box in both units, so no daisy chain
here. The P.S cables are very short, the machine begs to
be put on the coffee table, rather than next to the TV. This
isnt so stupid actually, as you do tend to do a lot of CD
changing and so on with game machines, so its a pain to
install it far away from the couch.
The Saturn manual shows off some available peripherals,
a multi-way controller box, a mouse, a joystick multi-button
console, a ram pack. Sadly, all the extra controllers got
sold out immediately, with no date for a refresh shipment,
so there goes VF against a human for a while.
The P.S shows off a mouse, cute little memory cards and,
an RGB cable!!! I want to try *that* on the NEC multisync!
Opening the covers of both units with a CD inside slows
the CD to a halt almost straight away. The "access" light
on the Saturn is almost invisible, certainly from a distance,
and non-existant on the P.S. This is a good idea, as it
doesnt get you fixated on the CD loading delay...
Both units have a "reset" button.
Strangeness! The P.S game CDS are BLACK on the non-label
side!! actually, not black, if you hold them to the light
you can just see thru them, the laser must be able to scan
thru them..... I just tried one in the stereo and it works
fine, so they must be standard anyway.
Memory manager:
Both units have a memory manager built in to the startup
consoles, while the P.S also offers card->card
transfer of data, which might become interesting in future.
The P.S has no internal SRAM for save-games, you gotta buy
at least one $24 ram-card.
The Saturn used "17" of "500" I think, for storing VF high
scores and play-results matrix, whatever that means!
Playing the main Title:
Virtua Fighter was first. Well, what can I say, "identical
to the arcade" comes to mind. A few times, body polygons
flicker out or disappear, but nothing bothering, the
speed is certainly identical to the arcade, and all the
characters and moves are there.
While impressive, and certainly fun, its not texture
mapped, and does not prove the Saturn can hold it against
the P.S... it does prove however that its got it all over
the 3DO at least for plain polygon rates.
Ok, Switch to P.S, and try Ridge Racer.
AWESOME.. oops, got ahead of myself! While its loading,
(no more than 10 seconds), you get to play Galaxian...
now _this_ is creative use of dead time. First surprise to
me was, having loaded Ridge Racer, you can open the P.S,
take out the CD, and put it away!!!! Ahh, what a joy after
3DO CD access blues!
Of course, the Ridge Racer techno soundtracks are on the
CD (5 tracks), but, guess what? you can put in _your_own
_favourite_cd !! I just replaced the game CD with the best
audio CD I could think of to match the racing, and listened
to that instead of the Rotterdam hard-core which was getting
a little annoying after the 20th repetition.
I dont actually think they "designed this in", because
the tracks are limited to the 2-6 from your CD, but its
pretty cool feature/bug...
Anyway, back to the game. Well, its Ridge Racer, almost
a carbon copy.. The differences I could tell are:
the textures are not quite as perfect as the arcade, the
polygons are obviously a little larger (ie, there aren't
as many). One other point of difference was distant
skyline usually "pops up" when on the horizon,
rather than always being visible, and the glass building
over the tunnel doesn't reflect the scene in realtime,
otherwise its ALL there, Smooth rounded car bodies
with decals, the airplane taking off, night falling,
the helicopter, the earth moving machinery.
Its all there, with the announcer sound-bites, sound
effects and so on ALL IN RAM, all read off the CD
during an initial sub-10 second load!
And of course you can drive backwards..
Plus, last but not least, the frame rate is there!
Its LIQUID SMOOTH, it must be 24fps or more, from across
the room from where I'm typing this, it looks like a
movie! Actually, smoother than a movie, you know: when
a movie pans, you notice the frames, well, with Playstation
Ridge Racer there is no perception of frame-by-frame
scene generation at all, anymore than there is in Sonic
or any other 16bit platform game, it is just totally smooth.
There also seem to be a few extras, at dusk, the buildings
get yellow from the sunset, you can drive a mirror image
of the course by driving at speed through a certain
barrier, you can get a chase-car view whilst driving
and you don't get wacked from behind as often as the original.
Oh yes, the roadside 'ads have changed, they now advertise
Starblade and CyberSled upcoming for Playstation.
This was also the first test of the controller
and it works really well: at least with buttons for
directions you know exactly what you are pressing and
when... I rate it far better than the 3DO controller
and a better than the Saturn one also. Of course, RR could
do with a proportional joystick or wheel, but, its still
easy to drive it smoothly with buttons.
Let me repeat. Its so amazing to sit in your lounge
room playing Ridge Racer on your own TV, learning the
tricks that the arcade was too expensive to allow, all
from a cream box 1/3rd the size of the 3DO...
Anyway, so as you can tell, I'm mucho impressed with
Playstation Ridge Racer, based on this evidence, the Sony
can handle perfectly ALL the arcade titles currently
out there, excepting maybe Virtua Fighter II.
As if to prove a point, another title available on
release date that I picked up was Gokujou Parodyusu-da,
which is a two-pack, the original Paradyosu and
the latest 1994 version. Well, I played the arcade 94
version a month ago, and this is a carbon copy, huge boss
creatures, super power-ups, sound effects music and all.
On the 3DO or any other console, this title would be a
smash, with literally hundreds of sprites animating their
way around the screen at once and two players simultaneously
blasting everything to oblivion, but on the P.S, it is
outshone by Ridge Racer and the upcoming title list.
Other released titles: P.S
The P.S has another killer title: A-IV. This is A-train
version 4, it needs the mouse..
I didn't buy this, as its an intense sim-city style train
construction simulation with probably an inch thick of Japanese
documentation, but the queue in the shop testified to its
popularity. A-train got ported by Maxis? I think to the Mac,
and was pretty good as version 1. Version 4 is awesome.
One feature of this game is that after your railways are up and running
you can take a 3D ride on your any of your trains, through
the cities and towns that have grown up around the railroad.
Ah, well, I hope they do an english port...
The other titles for P.S included a Mahjong game with
Virtua Fighter II type animated players, complete with
finger tapping as they ponder the next move... Plus Nekketsu
Oyaku, a one or two player beat-em-up. A few others also.
Other released titles: Saturn
Myst! yes, Myst for Saturn came out on release date.
Probably same as a PC, but lower rez. Also, a car racing
game, Gale Racer, which was ok, but not great, and a 3D
1st person adventure, "Shinsetsu Memikan", which sadly
involves pre-rendered graphics, so is more a testiment
to the CD storage capacity than the Saturn hardware.
Thats basically it for the Saturn, and the expected
release schedule is looking a little lame, save for the
Sega titles like Daytona, and a Shockwave-style game where
you get to fly a dragon.
Other title info:
Oh, P.S gets Myst also. (those Myst guys must be well into their
3rd million by now)..
P.S has an AMAZING fighting game called Takara. This is
Virtua Fighter with Weapons. I played it on the Playstations sitting
for demo at the Ginza Sony Plaza [I recommend anyone in Tokyo
to visit this place, if only to try this game]. The graphics
are great, the characters are far nicer than VF style polygon
robots, some of he clothes are translucent for example. The
weapons and spells look and work great. I had far more fun
playing this against a friend for 10 minutes than I ever had
struggling with VF! This title is out Jan 2nd, and will be
a smash, the mags are already raving about it, its more than
an answer to the Saturns VF and Segas arcade-only VFII.
Also noteworthy is a pachinko simulation, noteworthy because,
of course, this is Playstation, so the entire pinball surface
is 3D, you can twist and zoom right down to the level of
the silver pins..
Also, a 1st person dungeon RPG, which I saw on the Playstation
promo video, and it looks very smooth. Actually, there are two,
one is kind of RPG oriented with orthogonal walls, and the other
looks more system shock style, complex interior 3D.
Summary:
The Saturn is slightly disappointing, but these things almost
never live up to the hype, so all in all, its still a pretty
cool machine. There is definite power lurking there, twin Risc
30mip CPUS can do a lot, but its not earned its stripes yet.
For me, the low res is annoying. I just got a 32" Sony wide-screen
TV, and with all that screen real estate the Saturn looks a little
pixellated. But, if Sega manages a reasonable Daytona, or the
dragon game looks as fun as the video promo, owners will be well
happy.
The Playstation, on the other hand, EXCEEDS the hype. (there
wasn't that much hype really). Its one awesome machine, and
watching Ridge Racer spool away in the background the somewhat
arbitrary "500 mips" listed for the graphics accelerator
printed in the fine specs at the end of the manual don't look
nearly so crazy. A R3000 CPU at 33mhz does the housekeeping,
and this mysterious fat LSI is obviously doing an amazing amount
of work... and the best thing of all ? Its the SMALLEST and
the CHEAPEST of the 4 supposed "next generation" consoles.
The other three are all at the $440-$500 price point in Japan,
and the PS is sitting nicely at around $380. By the way, the
P.S is a sellout.. Now we wait for the 28-odd titles spread
throughout December/January, and the further 30-odd coming out
through February...
So what about 3DO:
3DO has a catalog of titles, there is no doubt, but the action
is with P.S. The new model 3DO looks very cheap, cheap plastic,
cheap controllers. It needs a massive price drop, it doesn't
have a killer game [SFII is not it], most of the title catalog
looks, well, strange. Too few familiar titles, either arcade
conversions or game themes, pick up the boxes, where are the
shootemups? the platforms? the 3D flight sims? There are just
a few, and they are hard to find in all the dross. In Japan,
I think, the war is over. Thanks, 3DO, for providing interest
in '94, but its worn out now. In homeland USA, it may last
longer, but just because the Sony wont be available till 95
wont stop the news getting around....
In the local game shop here, the 3DO title rack, previously in
prime real estate area near the cash desk has been shifted
back next to the dusty Genesis CD rack. I'm sure the new
location is coincidental.... on the other hand.... :-)
happy gaming...
4. Funny text of a PSX-Fan!
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Hi video game players!
Well, as I posted a few weeks ago (where has the time gone?) I said I
will be getting my Sony PlayStation. I've been waiting for a while and
finally got it! :) You can't tell how happy I was. I got mine directly
imported from Japan for a considerably good price. If I had to buy it
from another crummy import store, I wouldn't have bought it at all
(Diehard, hint...hint). I received it yesterday (Tuesday) February 21st, I
thought I would have to wait until (Friday) February 24th. So it came as
a big supprize for me to get it yesterday. Of course I was extremely
excited to get home and rip open the package.
I arrived at home and ran for the PlayStation. I picked up the
box and found it was VERY light (as well as a very small box!). It's
about 1/2 the weight of the 3DO (or 1/4). My first thought was, "What's
missing??" I imediatly ripped open the box and found that everything was
there (2 controllers, TohShinDen, 1 PlayStation). First I ripped open the
bag for a controller and put my hands around it....PERFECT! It takes some
getting used to (the place of the buttons and design of the control), but
once your used to it...Your in gaming heaven. The system and controller
is very compact, sleek and sexy. The CDs are very interesting and match
the the system and controller in being sleek and sexy, they have pitch
black bottoms wich is really cool looking! The system and controllers look
very high-tech to boot (which of course they are). I then hooked up the
system fairly easily to my brand spankin' new Sony KV-20TS32 with SVIDEO,
stereo the works... (a great TV allaround, also for a great price! if you
want a 20' TV for video games look for this at a Good Guys near you).
First I plugged in my Ridge Racer CD that I pre-purchased. I
played RidgeRacer and my roommates began to gather around my TV... Soon
everyone was yelling and screaming to watch out for a wall, speed up,
slow down! Even the people who don't like video games were enthused.
Everyone then was asking for there turns at RidgeRacer. Once they played
they seemed in a trance, :) It was great. I then plugged in TohShinDen to
see my dreams come true. TohShinDen was all I wanted and more, I had been
dreaming about having it ever since I got a video of direct footage of
it. I played Vs. Human mode with my bro for a while...to say the least,
WE HAD A BLAST! Once used to the controller, we found it to be amazing for
this fighting game and RidgeRacer. We got used to it's gameplay within
minutes (of course we changed the options of doing special moves by the
touch of a button to just rolling). TohShinDen is the BEST fighting game
in history (Yep, including against VF & VF2). I loved it, my brother
loved it. It is AMAZING. Whoever says it lacks in gameplay...NO WAY, it
rocks in all aspects. I especially liked the Gameplay, graphics, music,
moves EVERYTHING. OVERALL we enjoy playing TohShinDen more than
RidgeRacer.
I am proud with my purchase of the Sony PlayStation. It is by far
the favorite game system I have ever played...and to think these are only
the first batch of games! This machine has to be seen to be believed...
-Ben
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7.Sum Messages: (A-Z order)
---------------------------
AIRFORCE! - Hey! Where's Nadja? h0h0!
BROS - Nice Snes-coding! Go on!
DDT - Hey masta! Accession Rules!
DIGITAL EXPRESSION - How was Eva's blow job?
DRAGON - PSX - Thats our world .. rite?
FLAG! - Snap your fingers, snap your neck!
FURY - What about another Perfect Eleven ?!
GAZZER - Did you see THE STAND ?
HARDRIDER - Salu, Comment ca va?
ICE TEA - Classic ? Whats that?
KAMENSKI - Where's the tape? cum-on!
PANINARO - Thanx for the Snes-sources. Cool Voice-chat!
PhIL - What about sum PCA-Cookies ? :)
PRINCIPE - Cya on Interchange soon :)
RASH - Tekkno suxx :)
ROPPE - eh hu snyg eller sˆt?
SLAVER! - Hey Cosy .. Where are the warez :)
SLEDGE - Hey Mr.Console .. guess what?
SNIKE - Military suxx .. I know!
STEVE - Na wie isses so im Red Bull Land? :)
STORM - Back from military ?
THE INVISIBLE - Thanx for the tape
ULI - Hey olda! Open your BBS!
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Also greetings to every user of Castle M/F Rock and all I've forgotten.
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