Registered: Nov 2002
Location:
Posts: 3

I used to post a lot here on the Summoner BB (a long time ago), but I guess they've gone to this new UBB thing.

Anyway, I really like Summoner, Summoner 2, and Red Faction (I have'nt played 2 yet), but I was dissapointed that none of them support any kind of digital sound format (either Dolby Digital, DTS, etc.) or progressive scan. Are there plans to develop future games with any of these formats?

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location: Mizzou (thats the university of Missouri-Columbia)
Posts: 38

Most likely developers will take advantage of DTS and progressive scan when those functions are in a majority of households...after all, would you market something that cost millions to 1% of the population?

If you were Bill Gates, yes (look at the GOD-DAMN XBOX)

I sure as HELL wouldnt...

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Registered: Sep 2001
Location: Northam, W.A. Australia
Posts: 235

Only one console currently does progressive scan in games and thats the Gamecube. The Xbox can output progressive scan when viewing DVDs but oddly enough, not for games where it supports HDTV but only the interlaced resolutions (up to 1080i). Given that HDTV programming satill isn't established in many countries and HD sets still prohibitively priced it's not something that'll really have broad appeal with this generation of consoles and possibly the next (depending on which side of 2005, when the US plans to stop analogue broadcasting, this generation ends and the next begins).

As for sound, only the Xbox does Dolby Digital out of the box (its audio processor is effectively the nForce MCP). The PS2 can do DTS, SSX Tricky is proof of that, but its done in software using one of the Emotion Engines Vector units. I'm not quite sure how much this affects total gaming performance though. Rogue Leader for the Gamecube had Dolby Pro Logic II (which, if I'm not mistaken, is an analogue surround format like its predecessor) but doesn't have any hardware surround support like the Xbox. A software solution might be possible like with the PS2 but I'm not sure.

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Wasurenaide...
"Don't stop, baby, dreamin'"
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Registered: Nov 2002
Location:
Posts: 3

I thought there were a few games out for PSX2 that supported progressive scan (SoCom and NFL2K3 and NBA2K3). I can't remember which of the three formats they support, but I could have sworn it was one of the three.

Yes, Dolby Pro Logic 2 is an analog Dolby that can be obtained from just a R/L jack using frequencies above 20Khz for rear speakers and extrapolating the center channel based on the L/R inputs.

Also, there are PSX2 games that output DD5.1--Metal Gear Solid for example. SSX Tricky does do DTS (and it sounds pretty good ).

So as far as I know, those games are already out there--there are just not that many of them yet.

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Registered: Sep 2001
Location: Northam, W.A. Australia
Posts: 235

The PS2 being capable of progressive scan is news to me, I thought it was only the Gamecube that supported progressive scan.

I saw the 5.1 option in MGS2 but thought it was only for the cutscenes and not the game itself.

__________________
"Don't stop, baby, dreamin'"
"Don't stop, baby, lovin'"
"Don't stop, babe, believin'"
Wasurenaide...
"Don't stop, baby, dreamin'"
"Don't stop, baby, lovin'"
"Don't stop, babe, believin'"
...Watashi ga iru koto o.
Itsudatte soba ni iru yo.

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Registered: Sep 2001
Location: Northam, W.A. Australia
Posts: 235

Hmm... I just read a review of Tekken 4 (for PS2) and they mention it supports progressive scan output. I wonder how they managed that...

__________________
"Don't stop, baby, dreamin'"
"Don't stop, baby, lovin'"
"Don't stop, babe, believin'"
Wasurenaide...
"Don't stop, baby, dreamin'"
"Don't stop, baby, lovin'"
"Don't stop, babe, believin'"
...Watashi ga iru koto o.
Itsudatte soba ni iru yo.

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Registered: Nov 2002
Location:
Posts: 3

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure. I still can't get my receiver to recognize Dolby Digital coming from my playstation 2 during cutscenes or otherwise, so I'm not even convinced yet that the Playstation can output formats other than PCM.

As for progressive scan, it could just be tricky advertising. What I mean is the game itself may be progressive scan enabled, but the PSX2 may not support it.

To be honest, all of this seems pretty hazy to me, and no one seems to be able to give me a straight answer. As for picture quality, I do have to say that component video cables make a difference, and progressive scan in movies also makes a difference. I'm not quite so gung ho that I'd go buy Tekken 4 just to see if it does make a difference--not at least until more games start coming out that support progressive scan.

I get a lot of errors on this site, but it's great for determining what games support what formats on this generation of systems:
http://144.92.43.200/hdg/hdg.asp?submit=ShowGames&System=PS2&Sort=480p

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