New gaming system - Lots of potential.

[batmang]

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1944&p=2

EDIT: ok after reading the article, this thing isnt really a CONSOLE, its not going to have game development like the ps2/xbox, its made for pc games, and home entertainment. so its got some power, but its not going to have its own games like the ps2, and xbox. so basically its another piece of crap. lol.

"The ApeXtreme is based on VIA's latest 0.13-micron C3 core running at 1.4GHz, although the prototypes now are running at 1.2GHz. The motherboard features VIA's CM400 chipset and a DeltaChrome S8 graphics core."

check this out. a new gaming system, with a 1.4ghz processor, to make it interesting, the xbox is only around 700mhz, thats 2x more power. badass? we'll see.

 

[MarkSpark]

it runs pC games?

 

[batmang]

havent had a chance to read the article, check it out.

i wouldnt think it would play pc games seeing how its a console, as in, gaming console for console games, not pc games. but who knows, that would be badass, but i highly doubt it.

 

[MarkSpark]

it looks interesting. It says PC game consolo on the actual casing. Hradware means nothing though. It's all about the games! I think I'm going to wait 15 years before I buy another console. At that point, the games will be crazy life-like.

 

[batmang]

only thing i can think of that would make this console REALLY suck would be game support. ps2 is still the best console imo when it comes to game support, but as of late i think the xbox has really come around and is starting to make a crapload of good games, and xbox live is fun as hell. ps2 lacks the good online support that xbox has, but you also have to pay for xbox live as well. this apex console is cool cause you plug any usb keyboard/mouse to it, as well as any pc usb controller. im hoping it makes a big dent and becomes a badass system.

 

[Low J.]

I read the article and the knock is that the system specs aren't that great....the vid and CPU and barely above X-Box specs.

 

[batmang]

yeah, i think the " pc game console " is refering to using pc devices: keyboard/mouse/controllers and it also uses a spinoff of winxp as the os. both the ps2 and xbox are the same thing, pc based consoles with an operating system, but its still for console games only im thinking. i dont see how it would support a game made strictly for pc's. those games need things like directx and a bunch of other .dll's/drivers that console cant support.

 

[batmang]

" As we mentioned before, the ApeXtreme will play any off-the-shelf PC game... "

I stand corrected, BADASS!

" The claim of support for any PC game does have one caveat the game must be supported by a special script that will install/run the game when the disc is inserted. Apex is working on developing scripts for as many games as possible, with around 600 ready right now. The script basically detects the game and handles all of the installation of the game onto the hard drive; the installation process obviously takes a while but once it is complete you can just insert the game disc and you will be able to play the game. "


" Apex is shooting for a MSRP of $399 for the ApeXtreme at launch. "

im interested.... very interested.

 

[batmang]

I read the article and the knock is that the system specs aren't that great....the vid and CPU and barely above X-Box specs.

xbox - Celeron 733mhz

apex - 1.4ghz

" The GPU is an 8 pipeline design much like the R300, and features full DirectX 9.0 pixel and vertex shader pipelines. The GPU features support for both 24-bit and 16-bit floating point values in the pixel shader pipeline. The GPU does not have support for the upcoming Pixel Shader 3.0 spec, which is a part of DirectX 9.1. The GPU on the motherboard is clocked at the same speed as the add-in cards at 300MHz, and it can be paired with anywhere from 64 - 256MB of on-board DDR memory. "

uhhh, its much quicker then an xbox... xbox has video card equivalent to about... a GeForce 3, this thing has a card equivalent to about a radeon 9700, and if you know your computer s***, a 9700 beats the crap out of a geforce 3. 1.4ghz to 733mhz is also a big jump. its got some balls.

 

[Turbo Matty P]

As a former "insider" of the video game industry I'll try to instill my wisdom here:

Specs are useless. Games sell systems. That being said, The stats are nice, but they don't want to compare theoretical output with the new generation of "the Big 3" consoles. Sony's new CELL technology is supposed to be 120X's more powerfull than the PS2's emotion engine. Does that mean anything?? Not really other than that it is "capable" of pushing around a lot of polys. Both the Xbox 2 and GCN 2 will be running off of Macintosh G5 processors which all of the graphic artists know....is the shiznit. Also, both GCN and Xbox will be running ATi's newest chipset.


Power is not the determining factor in gaming now. It's how well developers will be able to use that power. The PS2 is a very powerful machine (at only 300Mhz), however the Emotion engine is so damn difficult to work with that the games come out like crap. Developers are forced to make games for PS2 if they want to stay in business, but everyone has stated if Sony wasn't the number 1 console they wouldn't be making game for it. That says a lot about system power. The GCN is supposedly the easiest of all systems to write for, but it's also the least installed (was before christmas...it's changed now and is in #2 behind PS2) base. Once more people pick up the nintendo system you'll start seeing a slew of great looking titles. The Xbox is a cool system. I've said so from before it's launch. It lacks quality software though. The games that are on the market today don't even fully utilize the systems abilities. Wait until you can max out your current hardware before lining up specs for your next big system. Both the GCN and Xbox have a ways to go, but expect to see Nintendo make a new console jump with a year and a half.


"I pratically invented Video gaming and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" as written on a t-shirt gift given to Shigeryu Miyamoto on the 20th anniversary of Mario, Donkey Kong, and Link.

 

[Leadfoot]

if you want a gaming PC buy Alienware....the best PC for gaming out there:

http://www.alienware.com/

 

[RyanJayG]

this + Ps2 and Xbox emulator = golden, but we all already own computers anyway dont we

 

[Leadfoot]

this + Ps2 and Xbox emulator = golden, but we all already own computers anyway dont we

yeah..but I'm gonna try to convince my boss that I need an Alienware Area-51 Extreme to do my job more efficiently....3.2 GHz processor 1GB DDR SDRAM PC-3200 120GB Seagate Serial ATA 8MB Cache NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra 256MB
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
*droools*....and you can pick you colors too....sooooo sweeeet!

 

[Low J.]

xbox - Celeron 733mhz

apex - 1.4ghz

" The GPU is an 8 pipeline design much like the R300, and features full DirectX 9.0 pixel and vertex shader pipelines. The GPU features support for both 24-bit and 16-bit floating point values in the pixel shader pipeline. The GPU does not have support for the upcoming Pixel Shader 3.0 spec, which is a part of DirectX 9.1. The GPU on the motherboard is clocked at the same speed as the add-in cards at 300MHz, and it can be paired with anywhere from 64 - 256MB of on-board DDR memory. "

uhhh, its much quicker then an xbox... xbox has video card equivalent to about... a GeForce 3, this thing has a card equivalent to about a radeon 9700, and if you know your computer s***, a 9700 beats the crap out of a geforce 3. 1.4ghz to 733mhz is also a big jump. its got some balls.

I was just going by what they said here:

"The hardware specifications of the ApeXtreme will also limit its success as a long term gaming product; although they are similar to the Xbox specifications, the ApeXtreme is being released over two years after the Xbox. Basically, don't expect the ApeXtreme to have the usual 3 - 5 year console lifespan."

They said Madden Football was "far from smooth" in their testing. I think that thing would be hard pressed to play Doom III or something when it comes out but should be good for other stuff that isn't so graphics hungry.

 

[Turbo Matty P]

I persoanly think Pc gaming is stale and dead. Sure it's got good FPS and RTS games, but thats about it. The MMORPG's are all moving over to consoles. The thing pc's do better than anything else out there....flight sims.....and I hate those. I'll gladly stick to my $99 Gamecube and library of great games.

 

[Leadfoot]

I persoanly think Pc gaming is stale and dead. Sure it's got good FPS and RTS games, but thats about it. The MMORPG's are all moving over to consoles. The thing pc's do better than anything else out there....flight sims.....and I hate those. I'll gladly stick to my $99 Gamecube and library of great games.

I definitely agree w/ you here...although RPG gaming is still bigger on PC's w/ the Anarchy Online, Everquest & Neverwinter Nights being PC exclusive (at least at this point)...I personally like more than just RPG games, though (I do like them, just not enough to play them exclusively)...I enjoy my Gran Turismo way too much!

 

[Low J.]

I just hate trying to play FPS games with a joystick.....it's impossible!!! PS2's have USB ports for mice and keyboards so why don't more FPS games support them? All I know of that does now is HalfLife and Deus Ex.......if only Medal of Honor did