Dead Space Extraction

[Menkor]

And on paper, Xbox games should have been quite a bit more technologically ahead than Gamecube games than they actually were. Efficiency of the technology can play a big part in it too, as we all know. With Wii basically being an even more refined Gamecube, the efficiency of the tech, plus the mere ease of developing for a console so similar in vein to one that's been available for the best part of a decade, I don't think it's too hard a stretch to want something that's a little more than Xbox assests.

 

Having said that, the above video does look very good.

 

I may be wrong here, but wasn't the XBOX's weakest point that its processor were based on Celerons? That it what I have heard at least

[Nolan]

Xbox CPU was essentially a Pentium 3@700Mhz, there were small differences, but that's basically it.

 

The Wii (and GC) is missing a very crucial graphics component that the Xbox did have. Programable Shaders/Pixel Pipelines.

 

There are ways around such a loss, but the addition of programable shaders made things like Doom 3 HL2 R:EFBB all easily possible on the Xbox. They wouldn't be impossible on the Wii or GC, but they'd be harder to accomplish.

[pedrocasilva]

Xbox CPU was essentially a Pentium 3@700Mhz, there were small differences, but that's basically it.

way less cache, and it was clocked at 733 MHz.

 

comparing GC clocks to Xbox ones (same applies to the Wii actually) is pretty useless though, the gekko was a 7 stage cpu, celeron had 17 stages.

 

Speaking of which remember when amd's at a lower clockrate raped the pentium 4? Pentium 4 was approaching the 30 stages (it actually surpassed the 30 stage barrier with p4 preston) while the AMD's were at 17 stages. It makes a big difference in efficiency.

The Wii (and GC) is missing a very crucial graphics component that the Xbox did have. Programable Shaders/Pixel Pipelines.

Wrong, it's simply not Shader Model compliant, and it's called TEV pipeline.

 

It's fixed function at the end, but pretty much everything up until that is fully programmable.

There are ways around such a loss, but the addition of programable shaders made things like Doom 3 HL2 R:EFBB all easily possible on the Xbox. They wouldn't be impossible on the Wii or GC, but they'd be harder to accomplish.

Again, roughly the same thing providing you know what you're doing. It's not even harder to do (although granted, you have to be creative if you want to achieve on a TEV pipeline shaders rivaling those of the HD platforms; but then again, so would GC/Xbox)

 

The real advantage of being shader model compliant is that a lot of developers have experience with it/there's lot of documentation and... there's library's of shaders all over where I can go steal a shader and just apply it, no such amount of data exists available for the TEV pipeline, which means if you want something, in a lot of cases you have to program it for the TEV pipeline yourself. Which sucks for lazy developers, truth to be told.

 

But it's not that the hardware isn't there.

[Nolan]

Wrong, it's simply not Shader Model compliant, and it's called TEV pipeline.

 

It's fixed function at the end, but pretty much everything up until that is fully programmable.Again, roughly the same thing providing you know what you're doing. It's not even harder to do (although granted, you have to be creative if you want to achieve on a TEV pipeline shaders rivaling those of the HD platforms; but then again, so would GC/Xbox)

 

The real advantage of being shader model compliant is that a lot of developers have experience with it/there's lot of documentation and... there's library's of shaders all over where I can go steal a shader and just apply it, no such amount of data exists available for the TEV pipeline, which means if you want something, in a lot of cases you have to program it for the TEV pipeline yourself. Which sucks for lazy developers, truth to be told.

 

But it's not that the hardware isn't there.

 

Thanks for articulating what I meant. I've never been able to remember the specifics, just that there are odd differences in the shaders.

[Shino]

I thought the shaders were associated with the GPU not the CPU?

[James McGeachie]

Fact of the matter is there's still very little on Wii that looks as good as the best top end Xbox games. I don't really feel The Conduit, Wii's technical hope, looks as good as Doom 3, for example.

 

Some games like Splinter Cell Chaos Theory looked amazing too.

[Chris the great]

Fact of the matter is there's still very little on Wii that looks as good as the best top end Xbox games. I don't really feel The Conduit, Wii's technical hope, looks as good as Doom 3, for example.

 

Some games like Splinter Cell Chaos Theory looked amazing too.

 

i think thats more down to lazy developers and limitations of the sorce material. mii's require simplistic graphics, so games like wii sports, wii fit and wii music have to look pretty bassic.

 

mario galaxy looks very good, as does metroid prime 3. which shows what is possible, even if its not always done.

[Nolan]

I thought the shaders were associated with the GPU not the CPU?

 

Yes, that's correct.

[tapedeck]

i think thats more down to lazy developers...

 

Exactly. Where there's a will there's a way.

 

Proofs:

 

[Guest Jordan]

Exactly. Where there's a will there's a way.

 

Proofs:

 

 

That screenshot doesn't do that game justice.

[Menkor]

Fact of the matter is there's still very little on Wii that looks as good as the best top end Xbox games. I don't really feel The Conduit, Wii's technical hope, looks as good as Doom 3, for example.

 

Some games like Splinter Cell Chaos Theory looked amazing too.

 

I don't even want to try talking about bump-maps and other things that I don't understand, but I know that DOOM 3 and Resurrection of Evil had small areas...The Conduit may or may not be better in pure looks, but I have seen that the Conduit has a much bigger scale than DOOM 3 and RoE had

[pedrocasilva]

I actually think people are overblowing Doom 3 when it comes to actual looks. Bare in mind that a lot of time has passed since release and thus people might have the idea the game holds up really well compared with how it actually dies, and that before release Id only released bullshots with lots of AA, which are all over the internet.

 

proper shots (although with some compression)

 

 

 

 

Not a bad looking game per see and all, but I'd say only things really going for it are the stencil shadows and self shadowing. That and that Resident Evil 4 is more impressive by last gen standards, more enemies, bigger draw distances, better lightning (yes, I did go there; RE4 used light scattering shaders which Doom 3 didn't).

 

Also, even for Xbox standards, I'd say in the same genre Chronicles of Riddick looks better.

[Ganepark32]

^ that's the xbox version of Doom 3 isn't it? It sure as hell looked better on the PC. And definitely, Chronicles of Riddick did/does look much better.

[Nolan]

Doom 3 xbox actually lost alot of texture detail in that bump mapping wasn't exactly possible(Or at least, they didn't do it, since Riddick may have). The PC version still holds up quite well today (Except lighting) but the xbox version doesn't.

[tapedeck]

That screenshot doesn't do that game justice.

 

Let's find one that does and make all this nonsense go away

;p

[Aimless]

The

has just scuttled out of an air vent. It was dragging this bloodied press release behind it, too:

Guildford, UK; February 18, 2009 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today revealed Dead Space™ Extraction, an all-new chapter from the studio that delivered the award-winning action-horror Dead Space game. Built from the ground up and developed exclusively for the Wii™, Dead Space Extraction is a prequel that reveals the events leading up to Isaac Clarke’s mission on the USG Ishimura in the original Dead Space game released in 2008. Dead Space Extraction will marry the innovative motion controls of the Wii Remote with a frenetic first person perspective to create a new action-packed horror experience.

 

Dead Space Extraction tells the story of a handful of space colonists desperately struggling to escape from a horrific infection on the Aegis VII mining colony deep in the furthest regions of space. The game introduces a new heroine to the fiction and as the crew fall victim to a mysterious contagion aboard the ship, it becomes clear that protecting her may be their only hope for survival. Dead Space Extraction introduces all new characters, weapons, enemies, puzzles and co-operative multiplayer gameplay.

 

“We could not be more excited to extend Dead Space into an experience exclusive to the Wii. Nintendo has a wonderful history in the horror genre and we are thrilled to build on that tradition with Dead Space Extraction,” said Glen Schofield, VP and General Manager of EA Redwood Shores studio. “As we were developing Dead Space, we realized that there was so much of the story going untold. Dead Space Extraction tells that story with all of the intensity, blood and gore that fans would expect.”

 

Dead Space Extraction is an EA Redwood Shores title and is scheduled to ship in Autumn 2009. This product has not yet rated by ESRB or PEGI.

So there you go, new name, new game, and a new perspective. So much for it being a rubbish Wii port, eh? (Unless it turns out to be on-rails, but let's assume it isn't.)

[jammy2211]

The game is on-rails.

[Retro_Link]

The

has just scuttled out of an air vent. It was dragging this bloodied press release behind it, too:

 

So there you go, new name, new game, and a new perspective. So much for it being a rubbish Wii port, eh? (Unless it turns out to be on-rails, but let's assume it isn't.)

 

 

OMFG!! EA...

 

On rails or not, that looks awesome! and it's even better that it's a prequel and not an on-rails remake, as it means the Wii gets an exclusive part of the story and that should help sales.

The quality already apparent in this bodes well for EA's other planned games on Wii, such as the Wii MotionPlus Tennis game.

 

“We could not be more excited to extend Dead Space into an experience exclusive to the Wii. Nintendo has a wonderful history in the horror genre and we are thrilled to build on that tradition with Dead Space Extraction,”

What?! Not sure I really agree as I can only think of the Resi series and Eternal Darkness that have done great on Nintendo platforms, but hey if they believe it, and it leads us to getting an awesome exclusive like this, I'm all for it!

[panmusic]

Pretty dissapointed about the on-rails aspect.

They have a high production franchise that is brought casualized for the Wii audience.It actually reminds me Capcom's stance with RE UC.

As if we didn't have already enough rail shooters for Wii.

EA,listen to this.We don't want another Umbrella Cronicles,we want a new 3d person shooter a la RE4 Wii Edition.

Missed opportunity,missed sales.

[Retro_Link]

Oh come on!

From that very first teaser trailer it's already one of the best looking games on the Wii; it has a Metroid Prime quality about it. Plus it will be more than your standard on-rails shooter as it will be pretty story driven and be full of atmosphere.

Just be thankfull the Wii is getting a go at this franchise, as it could lead to us getting Dead Space 2 at some point further down the line.

[jammy2211]

RE:UC was a story driven on-rails shooter and didn't really offer that much more. I can't see this offering a great deal better, except better graphics and more refined gameplay.

 

It's good but I've no real interest in an on-rails shooter personally. Seems like a step back from Dead Space, which I think i'll be buying tommorow 0_o.

[Retro_Link]

RE:UC was a story driven on-rails shooter and didn't really offer that much more. I can't see this offering a great deal better, except better graphics and more refined gameplay.

So RE:UC with a better story, better graphics, better gameplay and more atmosphere; sound like a win to me!

 

RE:UC didn't do much for me, felt too slow, wasn't scary, and the 'new' story chapter felt a bit lame.

 

I think Dead Space Wii will be in a different league, but I guess it's important to wait and see/hear more before getting too carried away.

But I have faith in EA, I think they're very much committed to Wii now [half their efforts] and in producing quality efforts [as infact they have been in the past].

[dazzybee]

Since when was this confirmed as onrails? Will be a bit of a shame, but I LOVE on rails game and loved Umbrella Chronicles.

 

So effing happy this is a new chapter in the story. I'll buy it now

[Ren of Heavens]

Ah, really excited when I found out is was an exclusive prequel and saw the trailer... then equally disappointed when I read the IGN interview that it's basically just a on-rails shooter.

 

Well, better than nothing...

[david.dakota]

IGN are reporting it as on-rails, Bingo!.

 

Its worth bearing in mind that they're promising some new ideas, so hopefully they'll pay off. Still, it would have been nice to see a fully fledged, full 3D experience a la the original.