THE BORE

General => Video Game Bored => Topic started by: Great Rumbler on April 23, 2018, 08:15:49 PM

Title: The Xbox
Post by: Great Rumbler on April 23, 2018, 08:15:49 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/YToj7hk.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/Zk7scpe.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/5VyzhnG.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/CjWzXnt.jpg?1) (https://i.imgur.com/22YdXEo.jpg)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ord0GhprPoo https://youtu.be/3uqzXKMlB6U

https://youtu.be/XWALEOfgkuI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpy4RYPhDPM

(https://i.imgur.com/sANP3A7.jpg?1) (https://i.imgur.com/gr5iRJA.jpg?1) (https://i.imgur.com/AJGlDeM.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/2c7PY50.jpg?1)

(https://i.imgur.com/WMtdONs.jpg)
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Eel O'Brian on April 23, 2018, 09:10:24 PM
I remember a neighbor asking me to come over, that I had to see this game. Halo. Bought an Xbox that weekend. Great times. Still has the best version of Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Great Rumbler on April 23, 2018, 09:11:41 PM
Anyway, I'm making this thread because I've been collecting OG Xbox games recently and I'm gonna play some of them. Also, I guess if you've got an Xbone there's backwards compatibility or something I dunno.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: demi on April 23, 2018, 10:08:53 PM
Better make sure you rip out the time capacitor. A literal ticking timebomb for your Xbox
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: TakingBackSunday on April 23, 2018, 10:35:50 PM
I remember a neighbor asking me to come over, that I had to see this game. Halo. Bought an Xbox that weekend. Great times. Still has the best version of Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

Halo was basically the start of the only friendship I had when my family briefly lived in New Jersey.  A kid in the neighborhood just got an Xbox and invited me over to watch him play the campaign.  We didn't even play MP at first.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: tiesto on April 23, 2018, 11:02:14 PM
I was a bit pissed because like 2 or 3 months after I bought my Xbox (early 2005), MS announced the 360 and promptly ended software support for the thing... but, the fighting games on Xbox Live were pretty awesome and there were a few good exclusive games, which is more than I can say about the 'bone. The Duke was horrible, but the controller S was nice, apart from the awkward black and white button placement... I think the controller S may very well be better than the 360 controller.

95% of the reason I bought one was for the Sega exclusives, and because I was curious to see what the hype with Fable and Jade Empire was about :P
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Great Rumbler on April 23, 2018, 11:09:44 PM
One of my favorite gaming memories is playing through Halo co-op with my dad.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Trent Dole on April 23, 2018, 11:43:52 PM
I have a 360, got a copy of The Warriors for og X to play on it since I have heard it's fantastic and a bit of a proto-Bully on account of its combat system, but alas it is not back compatible and so it just hangs out on my shelf. Someday I'll cough up the $60 or whatever for an original X and stomp through it. Maybe.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Sho Nuff on April 24, 2018, 01:19:11 AM
The book GAME OF X is fucking awesome. It annihilates Dean Takahashi's book in regards to getting into the nitty-gritty of how they navigated the political minefield of Microsoft to get that shit done in under two years.

Best memories: Playing Halo coop with MrSingh for thousands of hours.
Playing Spikeout Battle Street 4-player coop with Japanese people every night for months.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Coax on April 24, 2018, 03:32:53 AM
Given how much nearly everything tech-related from that period has aged so terribly the OG 'X' graphic deserves some praise. Remains an elegant visual device.

(https://i.imgur.com/EO9zamB.png)
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on April 24, 2018, 03:35:16 AM
RIP xbox

OG and 360 where amazing (well unil the later 360 years)

Since then MS has totally fucked everything up, xbox has no USP anymore.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: mormapope on April 24, 2018, 11:23:23 AM
Thinking about it, it would've been nice to get more PC centric ports. PS2 has ports of Half Life 1 and Deus Ex, Xbox versions would be a lot closer to PC visuals and performance.

How Microsoft handles software stuff is still the main reason why I prefer Xbox consoles.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: HardcoreRetro on April 24, 2018, 12:41:02 PM
Getting this thing modded back in the early 2000s was amazing. Played basically all my favourite arcade beat em ups on this thing.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: TakingBackSunday on April 24, 2018, 03:31:58 PM
I do fondly remember learning how to use a soldering iron to install modchips back in like 2002 or 2003.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: benjipwns on April 24, 2018, 04:35:19 PM
bought the last used one at a random gamestop in like 2005 for $50, plus a copy of splinter cell for $2 to softmod it

arguably an infinitely smarter purchase than the Wii ever was, especially since i used it for a number of years to stream videos through
Better make sure you rip out the time capacitor. A literal ticking timebomb for your Xbox
gross, didn't know about this

random links: https://www.reddit.com/r/originalxbox/comments/4c60th/reminder_if_you_own_an_original_xbox_remove_the/
http://myoriginalxbox.weebly.com/capacitor-removal.html

though iirc i may have a later model i'll have to remember to check that value first
Quote
How can I tell if I have a 1.6 motherboard?: Boot the Xbox in dashboard mode (by powering up without a disc in the DVD-ROM drive). Go to Settings and then System Info. A disclaimer will scroll down and will eventually show you two version numbers: a "K:" value for the kernel and a "D:" value for the dashboard. If the K value is 5838, it is a revision 1.6 motherboard and you do not need to remove the capacitor.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: thisismyusername on April 24, 2018, 04:40:33 PM
Forgetting J. Allard. :wag :wag :wag
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Great Rumbler on April 24, 2018, 05:10:36 PM
Forgetting J. Allard. :wag :wag :wag

Who says I forgot? :doge

Anyway, here's the Xbox games I currently have:

spoiler (click to show/hide)
4X4 Evo 2
Advent Rising
Aeon Flux
Armed and Dangerous
Azurik
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2
Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance
Blinx: The Time Sweeper
Blinx 2: Master of Time and Space
Blood Omen 2
Blood Wake
Blowout
BMX XXX
Breakdown
Brute Force
Burnout: Revenge
Burnout 3
Capcom Classics Collection
Capcom Fighting Evolution
Carve
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
Chase: Hollywood Stunt Driver
Circus Maximus
Conker: Live and Reloaded
Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller
Crime Life: Gang Wars
Crimson Sea
Crimson Skies
Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix
Darkwatch
Dead or Alive 3
Dead or Alive Ultimate
Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Vollyball
Dead to Rights
Dead 2 Rights
Defender
Demon Stone
Deus Ex: Invisible War
Driv3r
Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes
Dynasty Warriors 3
Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind
Final Fight Streetwise
Galleon
Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows
Genma Unimusha
Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Gunvalkyrie
Halo
Headhunter Redemption
Hunter: The Reckoning - Redemption
Intellivision Lives!
Jade Empire
Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes
Legacy of Kane: Defiance
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter
Malice
Mechassault
Mercenaries
Metal Arm: Glitch in the System
Metal Dungeon
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance
Midtown Madness 3
Midway Arcade Treasures 1
Midway Arcade Treasures 2
Midway Arcade Treasures 3
Murakumo
Namco Museum: 50th Anniversary
Night Caster
Night Caster 2
Ninja Gaiden Black
Oddworld Munch's Oddysee
Otogi: Myth of Demons
Outlaw Golf 2
Outlaw Tennis
Outlaw Volleyball
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Phantom Crash
Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection
Pro Cast: Sports Fishing Game
Project Gotham Racing 2
Pure Pinball: American Pinball Reborn
Quantum Redshift
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc
Rogue Ops
Run Like Hell
Sega GT 2002/Jet Set Radio Future
Shenmue 2
Soul Calibur 2
Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
Splashdown
Spyhunter
Stolen
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection
The Suffering
The Suffering: Ties that Bind
Taito Legends
Tecmo Classic Arcade
Tenchu: Return from Darkness
Terminator: Dawn of the Machines
Toe Jam & Earl 3: Mission to Earth
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2X
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
Tron 2.0: Killer App
True Crime: Streets of LA
Unreal 2: The Awakening
Vexx
Whiplash
Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions
XGRA - Extreme G Racing Association
[close]
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: thisismyusername on April 24, 2018, 06:10:00 PM
Also speaking of X-box:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBUPtoF9ImY

Getting one of these next week. (https://www.gamestop.com/xbox-one/accessories/hyperkin-duke-for-xbox-one-wired-controller-only-at-gamestop/158810) :-*
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: benjipwns on April 25, 2018, 12:09:06 AM
that reminds me that i need a better source for keeping track of emulator progress

along with needing to open my xbox to remove a capacitor and lick the delicious acid off the motherboard due to J. Allard's desire to provide a product that will last forever
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Human Snorenado on April 25, 2018, 12:20:36 AM
Halo was (a lot) of fun and all, but my favorite xdude memory is still the original KOTOR. My friend was over the day I came home with it, and watched me play it until like 2 in the morning. When I woke up at 8, he was playing it and hadn't slept at all.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: thisismyusername on April 25, 2018, 12:20:58 AM
If it's a 1.6, AFAIK you don't need to do that and you really can't since the motherboard and software dashboard needs it unlike 1.5 and earlier.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Great Rumbler on April 25, 2018, 12:50:45 AM
I dunno what model mine is, it was just a cheap one I picked up at a used games shop.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: pilonv1 on April 25, 2018, 12:55:07 AM
Back when Microsoft had awesome first party games

PGR 2
Amped 2
Links 2004
Quantum Redshift
Midtown Madness 3
Crimson Skies

:rejoice

Early Xbox Live was so great because everyone was playing the same games
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: benjipwns on April 25, 2018, 01:24:40 AM
If it's a 1.6, AFAIK you don't need to do that and you really can't since the motherboard and software dashboard needs it unlike 1.5 and earlier.
I dunno what model mine is, it was just a cheap one I picked up at a used games shop.
the part from the reddit/site i quoted above has an easy way to check the code for if it's a 1.6 or not

mine was like 3944 or whatever instead of 5838, and when i turned it on it was asking for me to set the date and time, which could be related to the power outage for like a day we had last week or a sign that mine's dropping acid, either way prolly should take a look see

i love that dumb big black box, i can pop it open and clean em out, shame it's not as simple as the Dreamcast's usual fix

my only fear is that it goes like when i tried to replace the wii's bluetooth module, in which i took off the front, couldn't get it to attach properly, said i'd come back to it later, and later is now three years or so and i might as well just use dolphin at this point, especially since they killed off the internet and such, i think i can live without the mario kart 64 VC they gave me due to a mess up with fixing the GPUs in the first batches of Wii's (they sent me one worse than the one i sent them, so they sent me a new one and code for one of like five VC games)

though i realized i have an awful lot of my Xbox games duplicated on Steam/GOG now...stuff like Armed and Dangerous that i never even knew had a PC version before...Fable, Jade Empire, KOTORs, Riddick, Strangers Wrath, etc.

and for most other stuff, owning a used copy of an Xbox version means i can pirate the PS2/GCN version to use in an emulator right, that's how copyright law applies iirc
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Rufus on April 25, 2018, 02:14:28 AM
that reminds me that i need a better source for keeping track of emulator progress
r/emulation
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: benjipwns on April 25, 2018, 02:59:57 AM
sorry i don't visit places with rude or uncouth comments
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Olivia Wilde Homo on April 25, 2018, 06:54:54 AM
Rallisport 2 is still one of my favorite games of all time
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: thisismyusername on April 25, 2018, 11:11:09 AM
Rallisport 2 is still one of my favorite games of all time

:bow DICE before EA. :bow
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: demi on April 25, 2018, 11:49:26 AM
I bought a bunch of stuff used for softmodding Xboxes, I have 3 of them here. Want to learn how to softmod so the option is out there.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: thisismyusername on April 25, 2018, 11:51:45 AM
I bought a bunch of stuff used for softmodding Xboxes, I have 3 of them here. Want to learn how to softmod so the option is out there.

1. Splinter Cell (non-GH though some GH will work)/MechAssault/Rogue Agent: 007 (or whatever it's called)
2. Xbins their exploit
3. ????
4. PROFIT!
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: demi on April 25, 2018, 12:23:48 PM
Its a lot more involved than that, but that's a pretty short tldr
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: thisismyusername on April 25, 2018, 04:31:29 PM
Its a lot more involved than that

:neogaf :neogaf :neogaf :neogaf :neogaf

No, it isn't at all. You put the save on the harddrive. You load the game, you load the save. You go away for 15-30 mins, and come back to a dashboard modded. That's literally it. It's by far (outside of the PSP) the most distinguished mentally-challenged fellow-proof hack you can do.

It only gets "involved" if you want to hardware mod (eg: bigger harddrive, unlocked drive). The "software hack" is automatic and nothing needs to be done beyond loading the game/save.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Great Rumbler on April 25, 2018, 04:32:18 PM
What are some good non-US Xbox games that I need to mod the system to play?
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: thisismyusername on April 25, 2018, 04:34:36 PM
What are some good non-US Xbox games that I need to mod the system to play?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Wolf_Chaos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_a_Hero (supposedly an English translation was done by Sega and scrapped, I think the iso is floating around out there)
There is a Shin Megami Tensai for the X-box that is Japan only, but supposedly bad. YMMV if you're able to read Japanese and willing to slog through it.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Akala on April 25, 2018, 04:50:53 PM
OG Xbox was pretty good once it got going.

I mean, the system was basically a Rallisport Challenge 2 and Burnout 3 box for me personally, but a lot of the Sega games on it were pretty good too. I never modded it and this acid thing is news to me so may dig it out one of these weekends.

It was killed off too early, but early 360 made it seem like a good idea as that early stretch was fantastic. Then they shat the bed around Kinect and have been pretty trash ever since, although I did pick up a bone when the deals got good enough.

Must say in theory i like the idea of the X (and cross-buy with PC) and the continuation of backcompat/semi-open generation design in the console space. They really need more games though. I don't plan on getting an X unless it's in crazy black friday territory without more exclusives, but who knows. Forza Horizon 4 (and 3, Multiplats, etc) on X just might tempt me. I've spent more money on less.  :lol
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: demi on April 25, 2018, 09:09:50 PM
Its a lot more involved than that

:neogaf :neogaf :neogaf :neogaf :neogaf

No, it isn't at all. You put the save on the harddrive. You load the game, you load the save. You go away for 15-30 mins, and come back to a dashboard modded. That's literally it. It's by far (outside of the PSP) the most distinguished mentally-challenged fellow-proof hack you can do.

It only gets "involved" if you want to hardware mod (eg: bigger harddrive, unlocked drive). The "software hack" is automatic and nothing needs to be done beyond loading the game/save.

Idk what point u r trying to prove, I looked all this up and bought what I needed. Theres no point softmodding without the intent of putting in a bigger drive, imo.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: benjipwns on April 25, 2018, 11:11:12 PM
getting the save on the hard drive is the hardest part

i have a 32MB FAT16 flash drive somewhere so the xbox thinks it's a memory card (also a connector cable i bought since i didn't want to strip one or the port to get to the usb)

after you get the save on the hard drive you can run it endlessly, at least the splinter cell version, then once any softmod is in place you can really screw everything up with dashboards, etc. if you want and just reset it from the mod screen

since you can just connect to stuff over your network i never put anything on the hard drive, i think some games can screw up if you put them on it? but i dunno i just use the dvd drive for them... unless you're trying PS1 or N64 emulation everything can load into memory with those anyway

xbmc used to have a built-in screen for downloading and installing various programs like the wii homebrew channel, but i have no idea if that'd still work, and it was pretty clunky even ten years ago, i usually just ftp'd stuff onto the hard drive myself since it was already on the network

i think you can also do samba sharing? there was a little app you could run for windows to let the xbox see a folder or something you designated to it and the xbox will think it's a usable partition on the drive, that was how i streamed video to it for years, xbmc could handle a surprising number of codecs, no idea if it can do 264 or 265 tho, those would really hammer the ol celeron and you can't use the gpu for anything
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: thisismyusername on April 26, 2018, 10:42:13 PM
Its a lot more involved than that

:neogaf :neogaf :neogaf :neogaf :neogaf

No, it isn't at all. You put the save on the harddrive. You load the game, you load the save. You go away for 15-30 mins, and come back to a dashboard modded. That's literally it. It's by far (outside of the PSP) the most distinguished mentally-challenged fellow-proof hack you can do.

It only gets "involved" if you want to hardware mod (eg: bigger harddrive, unlocked drive). The "software hack" is automatic and nothing needs to be done beyond loading the game/save.

Idk what point u r trying to prove, I looked all this up and bought what I needed. Theres no point softmodding without the intent of putting in a bigger drive, imo.

The point is that it's not "involved" until you hit the actual shit you're wanting to do. Softmodding an X-box is literally a save overflow automated to install the custom dashboard.

ONCE that's done, you start to get into the "involved" shit if you're wanting a bigger harddrive or unlocking the drive and other ricer bullshit.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: demi on April 26, 2018, 11:52:02 PM
Seems pretty involved to me, and a much different scenario than softmodding a Wii and PSP. But it's "just" a save overflow, its no big
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: headwalk on April 27, 2018, 08:57:14 AM
always impressed me that microsoft had the guile to persist with the name "xbox" and neon green colour scheme past 1999.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: seagrams hotsauce on April 27, 2018, 08:59:38 AM
when are they gonna figure out how to emulate this thing?
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Sho Nuff on April 27, 2018, 02:25:40 PM
when are they gonna figure out how to emulate this thing?

It's still tricky. I think the audio chipset is a bespoke thing without much of any documentation.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: benjipwns on April 28, 2018, 12:21:55 AM
when are they gonna figure out how to emulate this thing?
well, Microsoft has now, and with improved IQ/resolutions, which is more important than it seems

the Xbox is "off the shelf" parts except for the NVIDIA chip and some others, which Microsoft had locked up tight and most developers never really took advantage of to where the thing has never had extensive documentation floating around out there, and literally most of the calls are apparently wildly different from the chips its based on

NVIDIA themselves basically made the thing and never futzed with it after, to where the kerfuffle years ago where Microsoft had to threaten a suit because they weren't putting out the chips fast enough was in part because NVIDIA didn't give a shit

from all accounts it's essentially a GF2/GF3 hybrid with a pair of shaders bolted on, BUT, it shares the main memory with everything else, and this is the Xbox's bottleneck, the bandwidth to and from memory from literally every part of the system is very slow (compared to the competitor consoles), this was part of the major divergence between PS2 and Xbox, if you wanted to apply textures and effects to a model on the Xbox you sent it to the GPU and had it do all of them before sending back, on the PS2 because the bandwidth for this was absurd, you just drew it a thousand times if need be...everybody's PS2 tools and such got better and better at this while the Xbox was mostly a port where the team used the texture and pixel advantages to just draw in higher resolutions or stick in PC version models or something

to take one of the big debates of the era, Doom 3 pretty much can't be done on the PS2 because Carmack's design is totally inverse to the assumptions the PS2 is built around, Carmack was convinced the Xbox couldn't do it either despite having the shader units but Splinter Cell changed his mind and they let Vicarious attempt it, interestingly Splinter Cell on PS2 has a bunch of post-process effects that aren't even in Chaos Theory because the PS2 can do a screenwide post-process effect for comparatively free quite simply versus even the PS3, this is part of why GTA:SA's "heat haze" and other similar effects aren't in the Xbox (or PC) version or is highly diminished, drawing the screen again on the Xbox is too costly and the B team doing those ports didn't see it as necessary

but tl;dr, last year when these Microsoft emulation efforts really took off, there were a lot of rumors about unsolicited and weirdly complete (if undocumented) code and fixes being submitted by burner accounts to xenia (360) and cxbx (xbox) both of which made some fairly large leaps in compatibility shortly there after, which certainly gives the impression that Microsoft's newfound interest in emulating the old Xboxes may have led them to unofficially help out the unofficial independent non-console efforts

PSP emulation similarly went almost overnight from basically unplayable to woah, everything works? with a rumor attached to it that some going out of business dev sending parts of the devkit which included an emulator and documentation which helped fill in long baffling gaps
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: benjipwns on April 28, 2018, 12:29:36 AM
another long held rumor is that Microsoft's implementations of all the APIs and even DirectX on the Xbox had all sorts of stuff changed, just for changes sake, so as to prevent PC port dumps...there was for a number of years a Microsoft policy not to approve any game that had a recent PC release nor that "looked too much like a PC game" to try and position the Xbox separately in the marketplace

obviously this went away at some point near the end of its life, but early on it was a major part of the Xbox department

one of the emulator developers, i think for a now defunct emulator, explained this was part of why you couldn't just run the seemingly written for an x86 Celeron code on any x86 processor, because MS had changed a whole bunch of the low level calls

this probably was also part of a security measure against people just running the games on a PC too, i would assume the provided compiler eventually probably "replaced" the calls automatically

edit: iirc, Gearbox's post-mortem on Halo PC has a number of vague comments along these lines, that they couldn't just take the code and run it on PC

i think Halo PC even has a significantly different physics model
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Sho Nuff on April 29, 2018, 10:05:08 PM
I remember working on an XB launch game in Japan, my first real game dev job. It was fucking nuts, the craziest time of my life. The Japanese documentation wasn't ready yet so we'd literally feed the English docs into a E-->J auto-translator and the engineer, one of the few dudes in Japan who knew DirectX, would go from there. There were also some hilarious misunderstandings regarding what was an "install", and I was in on some super hilarious calls with Ed Fries asking just what in heaven's name we were doing.

And Seamus Blackley would call me on my personal cell phone on my train rides in the morning saying how our lighting looked sucky like a PS2 game and that he wanted to send Abrash over to fix it (sadly this never happened because of deadlines).

Damn I'm old. I love talking about this stuff
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: benjipwns on April 29, 2018, 10:24:03 PM
I was in on some super hilarious calls with Ed Fries asking just what in heaven's name we were doing.
Considering the first year or so of Xbox exclusives/"first party" titles, I have a feeling this was a common event for Ed Fries. :lol
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Nintex on April 30, 2018, 06:20:08 PM
when are they gonna figure out how to emulate this thing?
well, Microsoft has now, and with improved IQ/resolutions, which is more important than it seems

the Xbox is "off the shelf" parts except for the NVIDIA chip and some others, which Microsoft had locked up tight and most developers never really took advantage of to where the thing has never had extensive documentation floating around out there, and literally most of the calls are apparently wildly different from the chips its based on

NVIDIA themselves basically made the thing and never futzed with it after, to where the kerfuffle years ago where Microsoft had to threaten a suit because they weren't putting out the chips fast enough was in part because NVIDIA didn't give a shit

from all accounts it's essentially a GF2/GF3 hybrid with a pair of shaders bolted on, BUT, it shares the main memory with everything else, and this is the Xbox's bottleneck, the bandwidth to and from memory from literally every part of the system is very slow (compared to the competitor consoles), this was part of the major divergence between PS2 and Xbox, if you wanted to apply textures and effects to a model on the Xbox you sent it to the GPU and had it do all of them before sending back, on the PS2 because the bandwidth for this was absurd, you just drew it a thousand times if need be...everybody's PS2 tools and such got better and better at this while the Xbox was mostly a port where the team used the texture and pixel advantages to just draw in higher resolutions or stick in PC version models or something

to take one of the big debates of the era, Doom 3 pretty much can't be done on the PS2 because Carmack's design is totally inverse to the assumptions the PS2 is built around, Carmack was convinced the Xbox couldn't do it either despite having the shader units but Splinter Cell changed his mind and they let Vicarious attempt it, interestingly Splinter Cell on PS2 has a bunch of post-process effects that aren't even in Chaos Theory because the PS2 can do a screenwide post-process effect for comparatively free quite simply versus even the PS3, this is part of why GTA:SA's "heat haze" and other similar effects aren't in the Xbox (or PC) version or is highly diminished, drawing the screen again on the Xbox is too costly and the B team doing those ports didn't see it as necessary

but tl;dr, last year when these Microsoft emulation efforts really took off, there were a lot of rumors about unsolicited and weirdly complete (if undocumented) code and fixes being submitted by burner accounts to xenia (360) and cxbx (xbox) both of which made some fairly large leaps in compatibility shortly there after, which certainly gives the impression that Microsoft's newfound interest in emulating the old Xboxes may have led them to unofficially help out the unofficial independent non-console efforts

PSP emulation similarly went almost overnight from basically unplayable to woah, everything works? with a rumor attached to it that some going out of business dev sending parts of the devkit which included an emulator and documentation which helped fill in long baffling gaps
So what you're saying is once Rare folds the Xbox will be perfectly emulated.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: benjipwns on October 22, 2018, 01:11:05 AM
So, I was moving junk around to clean up where my consoles sit, mainly because they're mostly used to just having stuff stacked on them until I realize it's uncouth. And after uncovering the Xbox, I remembered, oh yeah, that capacitor thing!

First off, I was blown away by the fact that I could open and disassemble practically the entire thing with a single screwdriver, like it was the frickin Dreamcast or something. Or a PC shoved into a box. Certainly not like consoles of recent times.

Then I had a sensible chuckle at how much work they did to wind up the IDE cables so it wouldn't obstruct airflow and connect both the DVD and HD to the mobo while staying within the slim area allotted. The switch to SATA made me forget just how terrible those things were. Then I had less of a chuckle when I had to do this myself to get the case back together because the thing did have to be placed almost exactly as they originally had it to get the top of the case back on the thing.

Capacitor was totally fine despite this being a second batch after launch Xbox and the original motherboard design. I took it off anyway using the highly technical "wobble back and forth until it snaps off" method. Like I'm going to get out a soldering kit and pull out the motherboard like the dopes on YouTube lol

Sucked the near 20 years worth of dust out of the machine. Especially the fan on the CPU which was packed full, the back fan seemed alright surprisingly, but everywhere else in the case were gatherings of the stuff. When I turned it on it was like jet engines taking off, I hadn't realized how quiet it had gotten. And could hear the HD again, not just the DVD drive.

Put in a random game and had forgotten how the Xbox games had demos on them, so played some VOODOO VINCE and CONKER LIVE AND RELOADED demos instead of whatever game I put in originally.

Also nearly died from shame because I had forgotten exactly how ugly all the UI stuff in anything made by Microsoft was. :lol

So now my Xbox is forever protected and will work for centuries to come. (Or when one of the drives dies.)
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Himu on October 22, 2018, 01:14:22 AM
Is an underrated system no one talks about.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: naff on October 22, 2018, 06:01:56 AM
halo lan parties were an integral part of my mid teens :lawd

morrowind, half life 2, halo, top spin, dead or alive 3, fable, splinter cell and kotor are what i remember playing on the thing.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on October 22, 2018, 07:47:54 AM
Midtown Madness on Live brehs
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: bork on October 22, 2018, 10:48:22 AM
halo lan parties were an integral part of my mid teens :lawd


 :respect

3-on-3 or 4-on-4 matches on two or more Xboxes was a weekly thing for a few years.  Really miss those days...it's a hell of a lot more convenient to just play online but I miss everyone getting together.  Nobody near me does that anymore.  :'(
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Joe Molotov on October 22, 2018, 11:14:03 AM
https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/1054170247366918146
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: MMaRsu on October 22, 2018, 11:46:07 AM
I still have mine
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: tiesto on October 22, 2018, 12:09:22 PM
Recently got some official component cables to hook up to the OSSC. Outrun 2 looks pretty sweet!!

Also anyone play Metal Dungeon or Sudeki? Seem to be some of the few (only?) Japanese rpgs on the platform. Worth picking up?
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Great Rumbler on October 22, 2018, 12:15:33 PM
I've played Sudeki on PC. It's an alright third-person action game, definitely better than it seems like at first glance.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: bork on October 22, 2018, 02:34:17 PM
Sudeki isn't a Japanese game- it was made by the UK(?)-based Climax Studios and not the Japanese Climax who made Landstalker and the like.   It was one of those games that tried to ape the art style and didn't succeed very well IMO.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: demi on October 22, 2018, 02:55:24 PM
Is an underrated system no one talks about.

Except for Microsoft themselves supporting backwards compatibility for the system, yeah, nobody talks about it
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Himu on October 22, 2018, 02:58:16 PM
I meant gamers but yea
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: demi on October 22, 2018, 03:09:00 PM
Here's my current library. What do u think I am missing. I think I have most of the bases covered

Quote
Advent Rising
Azurik: Rise of Perathia
Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance
Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space
Blinx: The Time Sweeper
Breakdown
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds
Cold Fear
Conker: Live & Reloaded
Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller
Crimson Skies
Dead to Rights
Destroy All Humans!
Dino Crisis 3
Dungeons & Dragons Heroes
Enclave
Fable: The Lost Chapters
Galleon
Genma Onimusha
Ghost Recon: Island Thunder
Grabbed By The Ghoulies
Halo 2
Headhunter: Redemption
House of the Dead 3
Jade Empire
Jet Set Radio Future
Metal Dungeon
Nightcaster
Nightcaster 2: Equinox
Ninja Gaiden Black
Obscure
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors
Otogi: Myth of Demons
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Phantom Dust
RLH: Run Like Hell
Shenmue 2
Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams
Silent Hill 4: The Room
Sneakers
Splinter Cell
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Sudeki
The Chronicles of Riddick
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
The Suffering
The Suffering: Ties That Bind
The Thing
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2X
Voodoo Vince
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: tiesto on October 22, 2018, 03:11:37 PM
Definitely Outrun 2... also there's a Daisenryaku game if you're into hardcore military sims.

Demi, how's Metal Dungeon?
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Himu on October 22, 2018, 03:19:15 PM
Here's my current library. What do u think I am missing. I think I have most of the bases covered

Quote
Advent Rising
Azurik: Rise of Perathia
Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance
Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space
Blinx: The Time Sweeper
Breakdown
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds
Cold Fear
Conker: Live & Reloaded
Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller
Crimson Skies
Dead to Rights
Destroy All Humans!
Dino Crisis 3
Dungeons & Dragons Heroes
Enclave
Fable: The Lost Chapters
Galleon
Genma Onimusha
Ghost Recon: Island Thunder
Grabbed By The Ghoulies
Halo 2
Headhunter: Redemption
House of the Dead 3
Jade Empire
Jet Set Radio Future
Metal Dungeon
Nightcaster
Nightcaster 2: Equinox
Ninja Gaiden Black
Obscure
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee
Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors
Otogi: Myth of Demons
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Phantom Dust
RLH: Run Like Hell
Shenmue 2
Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams
Silent Hill 4: The Room
Sneakers
Splinter Cell
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
Sudeki
The Chronicles of Riddick
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
The Suffering
The Suffering: Ties That Bind
The Thing
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2X
Voodoo Vince

The Warriors, Top Spin, Outrun 2.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Akala on October 22, 2018, 08:55:07 PM
Rallisport 2 (maybe Burnout 3).

Is 2x BC?
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Himu on October 23, 2018, 09:09:05 AM
Sega rally
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: bork on October 23, 2018, 08:49:38 PM
Wasn't Splinter Cell: Double Agent supposed to be the best on Xbox?  I remember reading that it was a different game than all the other versions (more like Chaos Theory?).
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: benjipwns on October 23, 2018, 11:49:37 PM
Yeah, the "last gen" version of Double Agent is more like prior Splinter Cell's than the changes the "next gen" version had. The plots are different too, I think only the main kidnapping or whatever is the same.

demi's already got a good chunk of my "hidden gems" type list for the thing like Buffy and such, but a couple I like missing:
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
Armed and Dangerous

I preferred the Burnouts better on Xbox, cuz controller at minimum, graphics and stuff aren't too different. There's a couple of series like X-Men Legends (especially 2) where the Xbox just has better frame rate or whatever so I'd add that to the list but if you already have it on PS2 or GCN it's probably not really worth it. (He says like these games cost much.) Burnout could go in that category, even their swan song Black is barely different on PS2. Some stuff like Mercenaries, The Simpsons: Hit and Run, Metal Arms, Freedom Fighters, NBA Street Vol. 2  :-[, etc. also fall into this "better on Xbox but fine on PS2/GCN" category as it's mostly just framerate and sometimes textures. Occasionally controller preference.

There's a handful of games where Xbox beats PC because PC is a PS2 up-port. But I never remember the list. I think the Prince of Persia trilology might be like that. IIRC, even the PS3 collection is PS2 running at higher res, so worse textures, etc. compared to Xbox. One I remember is Mace Griffin Bounty Hunter, less because the PC version is a PS2 port and more that it's a buggy mess and looks no better than the Xbox version anyway even at higher resolutions which are prone to cause the game to crash anyway. Fans have probably patched it up at this point, but the story about why it isn't on the transphobic GOG.com was because GOG looked at it and said "nah, not even gonna try to fix that garbage." I think it's also one of those PC games that freaks out at you not having a newer Windows version than 98 if you have a Windows version newer than XP.

Dead to Rights if you really like it on one console is worth owning on both Xbox and PS2 imo because it had a six month exclusive on it, and they used the feedback on the Xbox version to rework the PS2 one. I also like the first Splinter Cell on PS2 for similar reasons, most notably it has properly set hitboxes on things like lights. :lol

Return to Castle Wolfenstein is definitive on the original PC version, but if you want it for console, the Xbox is the way to go by far. The PS2 version has like all the levels cut in half, crappy framerates and two minute loading times or some shit.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: demi on October 24, 2018, 02:44:41 AM
I get third party games on gamecube. My list is stuff that is xbox only or never released on gamecube. Like the suffering, cold fear, etc...

I think I have most of the bases covered, but there are some games offhand I would like to get. Need toejam and earl 3 still.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: pilonv1 on October 24, 2018, 04:40:58 AM
Amped
Amped 2
Midtown Madness 3
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: naff on October 24, 2018, 07:24:19 AM
Dead or Alive Ultimate

DoA2 ultimate  :lawd

I played it later on 360, but it is on par with or better than DoA3. One of my favourite fighters (v casual fg player).
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: bork on October 24, 2018, 09:36:47 AM
Dead or Alive Ultimate

DoA2 ultimate  :lawd

I played it later on 360, but it is on par with or better than DoA3. One of my favourite fighters (v casual fg player).

I liked DOA3 better since some moves were removed when they released DOA2 Ultimate from the returning characters.  But man...that game was so awesome.  It played really well online for the time, too. 
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: thisismyusername on November 01, 2018, 09:16:13 AM
Dead or Alive Ultimate

DoA2 ultimate  :lawd

I played it later on 360, but it is on par with or better than DoA3. One of my favourite fighters (v casual fg player).

I liked DOA3 better since some moves were removed when they released DOA2 Ultimate from the returning characters.  But man...that game was so awesome.  It played really well online for the time, too.

It's still the gold standard for netcode, IMO.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: benjipwns on December 11, 2018, 05:25:32 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/5bCA7JG.png)
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Fifstar on December 11, 2018, 06:36:46 AM
I remember borrowing a modded Xbox in my first year in university. Filled to the brim with games and porn. Great console and library. I especially loved Project Gotham Racing 2, maybe my favourite racing game of all time. No mention of it so far in this thread? You disappoint me Borians. There also was a fantastic tennis game, Top Spin. I think that's another game that hasn't been surpassed since then. Lot's of best versions of 3rd party games as well.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: kingv on December 11, 2018, 11:22:48 AM
Amped
Amped 2
Midtown Madness 3

The amped games were pretty good. I forgot about those.

I feel like there hasnt been a good snowboarding game in like a decade.
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: MMaRsu on December 11, 2018, 01:30:31 PM
I remember borrowing a modded Xbox in my first year in university. Filled to the brim with games and porn. Great console and library. I especially loved Project Gotham Racing 2, maybe my favourite racing game of all time. No mention of it so far in this thread? You disappoint me Borians. There also was a fantastic tennis game, Top Spin. I think that's another game that hasn't been surpassed since then. Lot's of best versions of 3rd party games as well.

Virtua Tennis is better than any top spin
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: CatsCatsCats on December 11, 2018, 03:09:24 PM
Virtua Tennis on Dreamcast was so fuckin lit
Title: Re: The Xbox
Post by: Maiden Voyage on December 13, 2018, 08:08:20 PM
Below is available for download for Game Pass members.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/below/c3twvmk3bnnj?activetab=pivot:overviewtab