My PC boots up faster than my Xbox [Archive]

digitalpress

04-05-2004, 08:44 PM

I never thought I'd live to see the day. I have a MAME-dedicated PC that now boots up faster (right up to the point where the auto-loading MAME32 is on the screen) than my Xbox with a game loaded.

The PC is a 2.2 GHz Pentium class. While I was waiting for Links to load up on the Xbox in what seemed like forever - I asked my wife to hit the power button at the same time I hit it on the MAME PC in the next room.

The PC won by a full 8 seconds.

This really changes everything. The "convenience" of console gaming is seriously losing its edge (though I may be feeling a bit more jaded than ever after that 2-hour install of Final Fantasy XI on my PS2 the other night). I may have to play cartridge-based systems for awhile just to get that "console feel" back.

Have game consoles become too much like PC's? Or have PC's surpassed game consoles in speed and convenience?

Griking

04-05-2004, 09:15 PM

I've really never understood the arguement that PCs are slow to begin with. My PC takes about a minute to boot up when I ned to turn it on. But then again, I also tend to leave it on for days at a time. When I want to play a game it may take a few minutes to install for the first time but once its installed it only takes a few seconds to get right into playing the game.

If the arguement was that it took like 15 minutes to start a PC game than I'd understand the arguement but that just hasn't been the case sonce the DOS days.

Oh and I definately think that consoles have PC envy. In the past few years consoles have added support for;

DVD playback
MP3 playback
Speaker Systems
Keyboards
Mice
Modems
LAN Adapters
and now hard drives.

but noooooooooooo, console users don't want a PC. I got news for you, today's consoles basically are PCs, in DRAG

Darth Vader

04-05-2004, 09:26 PM

Is the Xbox having problems reading the disc or is it just doing a basic startup when it is slower than your PC?

Danny

digitalpress

04-05-2004, 10:41 PM

Is the Xbox having problems reading the disc or is it just doing a basic startup when it is slower than your PC?

Danny

No, no problems. Just that the PC is very fast and the Xbox is well... it's Xbox. I get pre-load MS logos, then the Xbox logo, then the game's logo, then the developer's logo... it's not the Xbox specifically, it's all of these next-gen systems, really.

Daria

04-05-2004, 11:05 PM

Oh and I definately think that consoles have PC envy. In the past few years consoles have added support for;

Speaker Systems

They had adaptors to hook your stereo system to your NES

Mice
Modems

Snes and Genesis both had modems, and lets not forget the snes mouse. :P

but noooooooooooo, console users don't want a PC. I got news for you, today's consoles basically are PCs, in DRAG

Personally I like both...
________
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digitalpress

04-05-2004, 11:32 PM

but noooooooooooo, console users don't want a PC. I got news for you, today's consoles basically are PCs, in DRAG

That's an interesting comment. Doesn't EVERYONE HERE have a PC? :hmm:

Griking

04-05-2004, 11:57 PM

but noooooooooooo, console users don't want a PC. I got news for you, today's consoles basically are PCs, in DRAG

That's an interesting comment. Doesn't EVERYONE HERE have a PC? :hmm:

I'm sure that everyone here does have a PC but the popular opinion seems to be that computers are inferior to consoles for some reason when it comes to gaming (which I disagree). My question is if consoles are so superior then why are they trying so hard to be PCs?

sisko

04-06-2004, 12:22 AM

Captain Wrong

04-06-2004, 12:33 AM

I get pre-load MS logos, then the Xbox logo, then the game's logo, then the developer's logo... it's not the Xbox specifically, it's all of these next-gen systems, really.

This is why I stay away from non-cart systems. Not to say that some of the later carts didn't start doing this shit too, but damn. It's like a DVD where you can't get past the trailer/FBI warning, etc. I hate that. I really don't give a damn about every little dev house that had a hand in the game or some stupid logo to remind me which system I'm playing.

GIVE ME THE DAMN GAME DAMMITTTT!!!!

Half Japanese

04-06-2004, 01:02 AM

Want a bad offender? Try playing Unreal II online for the Xbox. Great game, but the load times are about a minute and a half it seems like (haven't actually timed it). On the other hand, that's just enough time to take a piss or grab something to drink, which is really quite nice.

SirDrexl

04-06-2004, 01:20 AM

spoon

04-06-2004, 04:08 AM

@Joe- You can't skip those logo intros?

@DrJustinRamone-Try Totaled! for the X-Box. Awesome game, Horrible load times.

I myself have always preferred console gaming. My family never really had a comp. while I was growing up. I just can't get used to using a Keyboard/mouse or a cheap-o feeling controller to game.

I think most electronic devices coming out are trying to be a "buy me, I do everything" item. It slices, dices, rices, mices, and mows the lawn.

Milk

04-06-2004, 06:16 AM

With all due respect, I'd imagine that a PC dedicated entirely to gaming would be a bit quicker loading games than a bog-standard PC which most people use to play their games on.

wberdan

04-06-2004, 09:00 AM

yeah the first time i became iritated with the xbox was playing morrowind. i basically gave up on that game because of the roughly one minute long load times when you die.
that takes any entertainment youd get out of raising hell in a town right out.

willie

Griking

04-06-2004, 09:46 AM

I can't stand gaming on a PC. Plain and simple. Word games are fine, and little arcade-esque games I can deal with. But I will not play a game like Quake on the PC. I just don't like it.

Convenience aside, I prefer the comfort and feel of playing a game on the TV.

I just don't care for the "dumbed down" feel of console games where 101 control options have to be consoladated into a 10 button gamepad. But ultimately I supposed its all about what kind of games you want to play. The consoles seem to have the market on sports titles (and they can have them) and fighting games. While on the other hand, I greatly prefer to play RPGs, strategy games and first person shooters on a PC. I think that they just control better on a PC and usually look better too.

calthaer

04-06-2004, 11:06 AM

Load times in Morrowind? What's that? Oh wait - I'm playing it on a PC...

It's not like the PC doesn't have the option of plugging in a controller to play the game, either...which is what I've done for things like Metal Gear Solid for the PC or with Hype: The Time Quest or Mega Man X or FF7 or Max Payne whatever game happened to work best with one.

Using a mouse and keyboard, however, is really the only way (IMO) to play a FPS or RTS - just like a joystick is really the best way to play a flight sim (or something like Wing Commander).

I prefer playing games on the PC whenever I can. Besides the load times and the fact that you almost always have to use a controller on the console, I think multiplayer cooperative gaming is just better on the PC - I don't have to pay an additional fee on top of my ISP to connect to any servers, I just hook right in and the two or three or more of us are up and running.

What's interesting too is how some console ports of good PC games are worth so much. Isn't XCom for PS1 going for $50+ all the time? I just got the PC version for $10, and I'm sure it works way better with a mouse than a controller.

digitalpress

04-06-2004, 11:23 AM

FWIW, I wasn't making a commentary on PC gaming VS. Console gaming. Obviously I like both, what with both machines running at the same time and all. This topic was started to inspire thought about whether console gaming is getting more like PC's (which clearly Griking feels) or PC's getting more like consoles, and what I had hoped to see was discussion on how the landscape is changing, in what ways, and when if ever we won't be able to tell the difference between them any longer.

Two previous comments I'd like to address.

1. I'm smarter than I look. I KNOW that pressing a button skips past the intros, and yes that was taken into account.

2. Just because consoles are "trying to be more like PCs" doesn't mean that all console gamers want them to. Even if I really really enjoy PC gaming, it's aggravating to me that my PS2 has a hard drive and that I have to connect via broadband to download patches to a game. If THAT's what consoles "want to be" then I'm going to be going back to my old consoles for good pretty soon, because they didn't "want to be" anything but quality, convenient, gaming experiences.

ManekiNeko

04-06-2004, 11:36 AM

This is why I stay away from non-cart systems. Not to say that some of the later carts didn't start doing this shit too, but damn. It's like a DVD where you can't get past the trailer/FBI warning, etc. I hate that. I really don't give a damn about every little dev house that had a hand in the game or some stupid logo to remind me which system I'm playing.

GIVE ME THE DAMN GAME DAMMITTTT!!!!

Are you kidding? That's a trend that was popularized by the Sega Genesis. It's hard to find a game on that system without a flashy Sega logo, with an equally distracting developer logo trailing behind it.

JR

bigdaddychester

04-06-2004, 11:41 AM

but noooooooooooo, console users don't want a PC. I got news for you, today's consoles basically are PCs, in DRAG

That's an interesting comment. Doesn't EVERYONE HERE have a PC? :hmm:

Uhhhh, yeah, ya see, I uhhh got this friend, yeah and ,uhh, he still doesn't own a ,ummmm, computer. Seriously, he's some friend I know :embarrassed:

Cmosfm

04-06-2004, 12:46 PM

This topic is actually very interesting. Personally, I don't like PC games because I have to install them, uninstall them, etc etc. That's why I don't play em.

Anyways, as for the load times. Somoene pick up Gravity Games for PS2...I swear I kept questioning whether the PS2 froze or not while this game was loading....I went a made a SANDWICH while it was loading! I'm serious....it's just that long. Then the game sucked.

SoulBlazer

04-06-2004, 01:12 PM

Geesh, I'm glad I got FF XI for my PC when it first came out! :D

Dr. Morbis

04-07-2004, 01:01 AM

This reminds me of the search engine wars in the mid '90's on the internet. There were so many new ones popping up every day and each new one had 20,000 new features. Then along came Google. Where are all the others now? With the exception of Yahoo, they are just a memory. Google won out because it is a search engine with an extremely simple userface and NOTHING MORE (with minor exceptions).

I see the current console situation as fairly analogous to the search engine epidemic of yesteryear. If consoles continue to imitate PC's, why not just buy a PC to begin with? I think that's why Nintendo was trying to "keep it simple" with the Cube. Then again, they were in last place out of the gate, so who knows...

Tom61

04-07-2004, 05:21 PM

Consoles have been trying to merge with computers since home computers became popular. The Adam expansion module for ColecoVision, various ad ons for the Atari 2600, coputer expansion for Intelevision were just the start.

� Gideon �

04-07-2004, 06:07 PM

Dr. Morris has an interesting observation, although I don't think it's entirely parallel. Video games are being perceived less and less as a specialized commodity and more as a status symbol. Hence, load times can be tolerated, as long as the perception (illusion?) of a superior game experience remains. In this light, it's easy to see why the GameCube was "last place out of the gate."

Consoles will probably begin to more closely resemble PCs. Honestly, though, I had no idea such problems existed. (Joe mentioned a 2 hour install of Final Fantasy XI! Jeez.) The only current generation console I play regularly is my GameCube. I didn't realize how happy I am.

Jasoco

04-08-2004, 03:25 AM

I still prefer Consoles for gaming. I'd MUCH rather play on a TV (Even my relatively miniscule 20-24" TV.) with a controller. Convenience and lack of conflicts is what it's about.

hezeuschrist

04-08-2004, 03:55 AM

PC gaming is an always will be superior to console gaming, as a whole. I haven't been able to play PC games for the past few years, as I've lacked the funds for a new system, but now that I've got it I realize all the fantastic glory I'm missing out on. Super high resolution, AA, AF, 120 fps, beautiful. It all looks amazing and plays even better with the precision of a mouse and keyboard. And it's not as expensive as you think it is. $1500 will get you an absolute top of the line PC, with a gigantic monitor to boot. It just isn't that expensive anymore, and $900 will get you one hell of a gaming rig.

There are just so many more options, and anyone with half a brain can optimise their current PC to get a reasonably admirable performance out of their computer when it comes to gaming... unless you're trying to play Far Cry. That game in itself is a whole different beast. As for the booting up argument, I definitely see your point. I can be in a bot match of UT2k4 in under 30 seconds after I start my computer. It only takes my system 7 seconds to boot. It took at least 40 seconds, if not longer to start playing FFX-2, or Suikoden III.

esquire

04-08-2004, 10:40 AM

I don't know that this comparison is entirely fair. I don't have Links so I don't know what that game does, but I know a lot of games have introductory video clips that play before you see the game's main menu. Of course, you can usually skip ahead to the next video by pressing a button, but it sounds like you just let the game go on its own. Some of the Activision O2 games have four or five different video clips that play, and if you don't press the button each time you see one, it can take three minutes or more to get to the title menu. If the game is designed to show video clips when it starts before you get to the main menu, I don't think it's fair to say that means the XBox boots slowly.

I am in complete agreement here. On one system you are only loading MAME 32, and the other you are loading Links 2004.

I have my Xbox modded and run MAME OX. I think a fairer comparison would be to boot up an Xbox without a CD/DVD game inserted and boot into the EVOX browser to load MAME OX versus turning on your MAME32 dedicated PC. Sure you have to navigate a few windows and press the X button a couple of times, but booting up the Xbox without a CD/DVD inserted is much quicker. That does not say that PCs are catching up with consoles in start up speed.

Captain Wrong

04-08-2004, 01:48 PM

Are you kidding? That's a trend that was popularized by the Sega Genesis. It's hard to find a game on that system without a flashy Sega logo, with an equally distracting developer logo trailing behind it.

JR

Which is why I said...

Not to say that some of the later carts didn't start doing this shit too, but damn.

The Genny is a system I had in mind as a "later" one. I'd still take 99% of the loadup bs on a Genny over what's being put out there today. I'd bet you that most of the Genny stuff clocks in at way less than a minute, where as the modern stuff has to be coming close to two or three.

PapaStu

04-08-2004, 01:52 PM

@ DP: Well at least youve gotten your FF XI to load. Im still trying to get that done. 2 hours my ass, its been over a week now for me and its still not up. (now i cant get into the Playonline system to register, and ive still yet to install the game either)

In regards to the XBox I think that its partially based on what games your playing. Some of them seem to load right quick and some dont. I am bothered more by they not being able to skip intros, more than anything else. Cant you see that ive played the game, and that I dont need to see this again for the 5millionth time? When the PS came out I remember saying to the parents that i wanted a N64 because of load times, and that i wasnt going to put up with that shit, cause when I put the game in, I want to play it, not wait 20 minutes for it to load.

Oh and I just recently got a PC for gaming, and thats my first one. Ive been a Mac user my whole life and have come to accept the shunning that it recieves for games and everything. Oh well.