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Halo 2 Graphics Comparison: Windows Vista vs. XBox

gamespot.com — Might be reason enough to give Halo 2 another shot.

Who dugg this? Made popular Apr 26, 2007

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  • quomen, on 10/12/2007, -4/+115It looks like they tightened up the graphics a bit.
  • zaid, on 10/12/2007, -16/+89^ which is an artificial constraint.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+72No, it does not need DX10. But it needs vista.

    Someones obviously gonna make a XP patch though, just wait like a month.
  • Kachu, on 10/12/2007, -7/+71It needs vista not DX10.
  • hadimirza, on 03/26/2008, -3/+56What else would you expect? Come on....it's your powerful P4/Conroe processors, better vid card, and more memory vs the xbox/xbox360's specs
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -20/+55Halo 2 on PC looks extremely outdated. The only people who'll pick it up are those who are curious about what all the hype was about three years ago.

    Coincidentally, the videos we've seen of Halo 3 also make it look extremely outdated, considering what's already out there or in development. I mean, honestly, this game hasn't *looked* good since the original Halo was released many moons ago, and even then I remember being very unimpressed.

    I think Microsoft (and fans of Halo) greatly overestimate how much PC gamers care about this port. I doubt they'll be able to recuperate the money they sunk into porting this aging game.
  • Ahnteis, on 10/12/2007, -5/+27You'd spend your money on that when games like this
    http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/01/crysis_ces07-thumb.jpg
    are coming out?

    Halo2 had a very bland and boring SP game, and there are certainly better MP games on the PC.
  • JorgeGT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21I was wondering "where are the comparison screenshots? they all look the same!"
    Eventually I left the pointer over one image 3 or 4 seconds and when I looked again, voilà!
  • estvir, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20Because Games for Windows Live is Vista only.
  • rumor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19@FallenOmen (#6365298)

    fear came out on pc first sir.
  • btgoss, on 10/12/2007, -11/+27Why is zaid getting dugg down? He is correct. This is an artificial constraint by Microsoft, and they say as much... trying to force people into getting Vista.
  • strictnein, on 10/12/2007, -19/+35@dolemite: It saddens me that you're still not wearing glasses like you should.

    This whole "Halo 3's graphics are teh suxorz!" meme is getting really old. Sorry, but Bungie doesn't play the "release really sweet screenshots that in no way reflect what the final product will look like". The idea that Halo 3's graphics, even the leaked ones, look worse or even on the same level as Halo/Halo 2's graphics is also tiring. Just give it up.
  • av4rice, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20@yoshi39: Because MS likes to make money. An OS upgrade doesn't have to be necessary or even sensical for them to require it
  • chris9902, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20the reason it needs Vista is for the Live multiplayer platform.
  • mojoel, on 10/12/2007, -5/+20Count on it.
    http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39095
  • dolemite5005, on 10/12/2007, -32/+45It saddens me that the Halo 2 PC screens look better than the screens from the leaked beta build of Halo 3.
  • onidraky, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11You've been playing Halo 2 all this time on a TV, not a PC monitor. TV's always look better because they naturally blur images to make them look better at the 640x480 resolution that would look much much worse on any PC monitor.
  • Aharoni, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11I'm tired of hearing all those PC fanboys talk about how better the PC is over anything else.
    I have a PC. I play my PC. I've also owned a few consoled back in the days and I don't know how you can even compare. Sure, both run games, but the experience is totally different.
    The PC has the disadvantage of costing a f***load of money, which they will become obsolete just a couple of years later. A console is a computer dedicated just for games, but for what its worth ($400, well, in the US at least) - and it lasts for several years. You can go to the store even 5 years later and know that you can play everything you see on the shelf! The disadvantage that if eye candy and processing power is all that matters to you, the consoles would be bested by a desktop computer every time.

    But the differences are more than that. Sitting on the couch, playing video games on your TV, is totally different than sitting right next to your computer and using a mouse and a keyboard. I think the great advantage of consoles is that you can hook up several controllers and play with your friends. Sure, there's LAN parties and stuff, but its just not the same (you're not looking at the same screen, the action doesn't happen in the same place).

    I personally played Halo on the PC first until I felt sick of it. Then I tried it on the Xbox and it blew me away. I think the Halo sucks on a PC mainly because it was, well, a game dedicated to a console. And since these experiences are fundamentally different, you get a lousy port.
  • Gunrun, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12I really like the sharper textures, and apparently the shaders are better too.
    Going to buy this, as I don't own an Xbox.
  • Gunrun, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11One of the main reasons this is a Vista only title: The game will play out of the box, while installing, using something they call "Tray & Play".
    This is one of the game developers' blogs, which has a bit more info.
    http://blogs.ign.com/MGS_HiredGun/2007/04/05/51370/

  • Haohmaru, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Another sad example of Digg Article Illiteracy.
  • spudnic, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13I've played Far Cry, and it's easily one of my favorite FPS ever. Unless the makers have had a lobotomy in the meantime Crysis should be incredible.
  • rnelsonee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Or, Option 2 - Read the damn article, or at least the line right above the pictures.

    "Roll over each screenshot to see the comparison image."

    This is standard for screenshot comparisons, as you can roll on and roll of to see the differences better.

    And because you may be new to this, wait 10 seconds or so for the rollover pic to load - it's not prefetched on pageload.

  • aazn, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12Those rollovers suck. Should have at least had preloading.

    Also, for all those Halo 2 bashes out there, WE GET IT. It might not be the greatest game, or even a good game, but that doesn't change the fact that Diablo 2 is amazing.

    (You're like "wtf how does that ???")
  • SteveMax, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12Why wouldn't it be able to handle Live? Unless it's yet another artificial constraint from a company that wants to sell their shiny new operational system, of course; but far from it, Microsoft would never artificially cripple software to force people to buy something else. There's no such thing as a Microsoft Windows Starter Edition or something.

    Oh wait...
  • ever, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Kind of off-topic, but here's a picture prior to the Xbox release of Halo 2:

    http://xboxmedia.gamespy.com/xbox/image/article/546/546615/halo-2-20040909100524574.jpg

    .. and tons of screenshots like that were released back then. Seems like the engine for the PC version was pretty much ready as far as graphics go back in 2004 :). Bungie just needed to simplify stuff to make it run on Xbox. :P

    What made Halo 2 special when it was released was in my opinion its online play, which at least for me was something pretty new and shiny back then - on a console. If you take away the control scheme (_perfect_ example of a gamepad controlled first person shooter! :)), the hot seat cooperative mode and the possibility to play on Live with friends using split screen there's not much left than just another first person shooter in my opinion. Sure it's a great game but meh, it's not 2004 anymore. A lot of people are saying the graphics don't matter if the game kicks ass but It's not really the same game anymore, is it? Different platform, control scheme, etc.
  • venom8599, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I don't think we'll be needing it. Gamespot.com is part of Cnet. They usually have enough bandwidth to withstand the Digg effect.
  • Ahnteis, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12I don't, but I have played Halo2 and I KNOW it's bland. Crysis *looks* better, and I can wait and see for reviews about Cyrsis. If Crysis gets poor reviews, there are at least 10 other good games in the near future. I used the example of Crysis specifically because this article was talking about how "good" Halo2 for PC was going to look.
  • venom8599, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Actually, I'd be willing to bet that it was exactly as bad on the Xbox as it was in the screenshots. The thing is, you weren't looking at Halo 2 on the Xbox when it was inches from your face. You were looking at it from a few feet away.
  • venom8599, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Um...right. So you want to compare them to compare Halo 2 on Vista to Halo 2 on the Xbox by cutting down the resolution to 640x480 (Standard Def. TV Res.) and cutting off AA and AF? Yeah... Guess what? The whole point is to show that it looks better at better resolutions and better effects on Vista than it did on the Xbox.
  • venom8599, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8@stevemax

    Windows Starter Edition is for low-income markets. It's only available in certain countries, and they impose limitations so that other people won't buy the super-cheap subsidized version they make for those markets and run them on machines here.

    While I agree that Games for Windows Live is an artificial limitation, Windows Starter Edition isn't a real example of that same practice. Windows Vista Basic might be, but not Starter.
  • darthsuo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8I agree with ilyag: Microsoft is overshooting it with Halo 2. PC gamers have had similar games for years, and in my opinion they're much better (Onslaught . . . yum). Most gamers who care about Halo 2 have already bought an Xbox anyway, and probably don't plan on upgrading to Vista to play a game they already have. The inertia generated by massive sales can only go so far.
  • Ahnteis, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8IIRC, Direct X 9 is basically emulated through Direct X 10 in Vista.
  • Guagloves, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6better graphics don't always make games more fun, just look at Doom 3.
  • venom8599, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4There are already better activation hacks for Vista than there ever were for XP btw.

    Anyway, I got an actual legit copy of Business edition, so I'm not really worried about it, though it was kind of annoying when they made it Vista only.
  • wafflesomd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3No it doesn't. The pc version clearly has higher-res textures.
  • Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5This looks like just the killer app to drive Vista adoption--an aged console port.
  • spudnic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The PC images don't pre-load, so leave your cursor over the image for a few seconds, if you think there's very little graphical difference between the two you must be blind
  • slaystench, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4They both look like crap.
  • kingace, on 10/12/2007, -6/+9You're gonna buy it, and then 6 months later Halo 3 is gonna come out. Just get an Xbox.
  • Vironex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That 320px-wide video was amazingly helpful in drawing the difference in resolution...
  • McGrude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Or making maps.
  • Sabin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3They may have looked dated compared to what PC games were doing at the time but Halo 2 is easily one of the better looking xbox games.
  • Gunrun, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I'm afraid thats what Standard Definition will do to an image. Those are pretty much exactly what the game looks like on my mates PC monitor, running his Xbox through his TV card.
  • Codename, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4The only reason I'd consider buying Halo 2 for PC is you get achievements, but whatever.
  • McGrude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2640x768?
  • brister, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4This release is 2yrs too late. Halo2's graphics looked dated when it first came out on the xbox. Just look at half life 2 which was released for the pc at the same time for comparison. Crysis will make halo3's graphics look just as bad i imagine.
  • jockser, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2xp owners don't worry
    you will be able to play the game with no xp (via crack) that's a promise (no bs)
  • SteveMax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@venom8599
    I live in Brazil (one of the target markets for Starter Edition), and it's almost impossible to find a computer with preinstalled "full" Windows now. At the same time, more and more copies of "Full" XP started to appear in retail. In some stores, they even tell you that "the computer comes with Starter Edition, but you can buy a less basic version and install it with no problems".

    So basically, they get money from the OEM Starter Edition you have to get with your computer, and from the full Windows you'll buy in retail after you realize you need more than three applications and more than six windows open at the same time to do anything serious. If that's not the exact same practice, I don't know what it is.

    PS1: A computer with Windows SE preinstalled costs ~R$100,00 (~US$50,00) more than the same machine with Linux preinstalled, so Microsoft makes a fair amount of money on each copy
    PS2: There is a correlation between piracy and the preinstallation of Windows SE. Since most people aren't aware that they'll need to pay more money besides the computer cost to have it functional, they usually can't afford a retail XP, so they have to resort to piracy to be productive. It's somewhat like the Vista Basic case, but affecting productivity and not eye-candy.
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