How was everyone's week? The Vent has had quite a doozy himself, including a surprisingly unpleasant trip to the dentist, so he's extra cranky. What did he say that sounded like "Hey, would you mind jamming some surgical steel into my gums for an hour? I just haven't tasted my own blood in so long...?" Seriously. Next time The Vent'll just chew broken glass and save the vacation day. Here's a hint to any dental professionals out there -- if a patient is bleeding profusely, it's a good idea to concentrate on scraping the teeth themselves, and not the surrounding tissue. It'll make a world of difference.

Anyhow, one of the brighter notes this weekend involved the Vent's attendance of Sega's Crazy Taxi tournament this Saturday, an occasion which seemed to symbolize more and more to The Vent the more he thought about it. Simply put, for four big reasons, Crazy Taxi just became the Vent's symbol of what the industry needs to become. And no, he's not crazy. Just keep reading.

The first reason is simple: It's the first Sega game that will appear on PS2. (Not counting Vampire Night, which The Vent is told is already out in Japan. We'll ignore it for now, as The Vent has little hope of it showing up in the States). Yes, it's coming from Acclaim, but that's not the point. The point is that it's a Sega game, and The Vent will soon be able to slap it into his buddy's PlayStation2 and show off just how cool the guys over at Hitmaker really are (provided the butchers over at Acclaim don't kill the port. And God save them from the Vent's wrath if they do). The world is smaller, and two mortal enemies (Sony and Sega, not Acclaim and videogamers) have set aside their differences to give game players a shot at playing a great game (for profit, granted, but still...). It's the kind of thing that makes The Vent wish that consoles were open-sourced or something.

Secondly, there was a bit of controversy regarding what would and would not be considered fair play in the finals. Now, while controversy is not necessarily a good thing, what is noteworthy is that the contestants were wonderfully good sports about the final decision, almost without exception. Nice job, people. Well done.

Thirdly, the competitors' parents and guests were equally admirable in their enthusiasm and support. Winner Lindsay Gall's father told a hilarious story about how her family not only supported her, but incessantly encouraged her to practice, even turning her away from her homework on one occasion. Parents have come a long way since The Vent's day, when Papa Vent constantly threatened to set fire to the family Atari. Congratulations to all those in power who realized that, if given a choice between having a child who plays videogames and a child who freebases crack while turning tricks every weekend, playing videogames is actually the preferable hobby. Way to support your kids, folks.

Lastly, many of you have probably picked up on this already, but in case you didn't: The tournament was won by Lindsay Gall, a freshman at the University of Illinois, and above all, a girl. Yep. In a field of the hardest-core competitors out there, a female of the species brought home the gold. So watch it, guys -- men have joked since the beginning of time about the inability of women drivers, but there may soon come a day when you're called upon to prove your mettle. And if nine of the best Crazy Taxi players in the country can't beat her, what chance do you have?

So there you have it. Based upon the fact that Crazy Taxi is a cross-platform title that brought parents, game players and, yes, even girls closer to our industry and to one another, The Vent hereby declares that this game shall henceforth be considered a new symbol of all that video games can and will become. Now, let's all sing Kum-bay-ya (as soon as the Vent figures out how to spell it).

Venting Back

The Vent's been slacking a bit over the past couple weeks, so he's building in a huge letters column this week to make it up to you. Or to torture you. Whichever.

You have done something about Nintendo, thank you. But there is a problem, when you speak of Nintendo, which you do rarely, you only do it to make Nintendo look like a bad guy. OK, I understand that you are in the Sony column, but you really only seem to be focused on two systems, XBox & PS2. Every once in awhile I hear a thing or two about the DC, but have you forgotten about the originator of videogame consoles? Nintendo is by far the best videogame company in the world. It has been around longer than any of these other companies. I don't really know why, but I feel that you aren't very observant of Nintendo. Have you forgotten what great momentum Nintendo can build when it comes to them releasing new consoles or games? If Sony has anything to be worried about, it is the GC launch. Yeah the XBox is awesome, I can see that, but as people have stated before, it's not the graphics that makes the system successful, it's the games that do. If anything, when the GC and XBox are launched this fall Sony isn't going to need to worry about XBox, it's going to need to worry about Nintendo. So show a little compassion for Nintendo.
Thanx,
Jeremy

No offense to any companies involved, Jeremy, but The Vent is a strict consumer advocate, and so tries very hard not to have compassion for any company -- it's never a corporation's right to mistreat consumers, no matter what. That said, you should have been pleased by The Vent's column of two weeks ago, which trumpeted the valor of Game Boy Advance. And if you'll settle for The Vent's candid opinion of Gamecube, rather than blind praise, stay tuned to upcoming columns.

I read your article about the console war thing. The Gamecube WILL obviously take the kids and then you went to the mature games for the older people. You seem to think that there is no way that three systems can survive in a market. Do you still think that either the Xbox or ps2 is gonna go down like the Dreamcast? You make it sound like the ps2 is gonna lose the console wars. I know you have an opinion and I want to hear it...... Do you think that ps2 or Xbox will win the console wars or there will be three systems?? Answer me this question and I will have a new respect for you.
Unsigned (What, The Vent is earning your respect and you can't tell him your name?)

You know, if there was one question The Vent would most like to know the answer to, it would be whether the market can support three systems. Sure, "who will win the console war?" is important, but not nearly as far-reaching -- if three consoles can survive, that will indicate just how large our industry has grown (though it must be said that the number sold of each console is also a huge indicator). Honestly, the Vent thinks it is entirely possible for three systems to remain viable this generation, just as there are far more than three major automobile manufacturers. It's all going to depend upon great, exclusive games -- if all three systems have them, all three can survive. But he doubts they will. Someone is going to drop the ball -- it's just not clear who. In fact, it may be a case of everybody screwing up, and the guy with the most teeth left at the end of the round is the winner by default. So while we could use the auto industry as a model, it's more likely going to resemble this last presidential election, in which there were three major parties and nobody was perfect.

I just like to comment on the hardware issues of PS2 and X-box. PS2 is designed from the ground up to be a console, and X-box looks like a "salad-console" made from PC components. X-box is really not that much faster than PS2, the emotion chip is a RISC processor, it can do more per MHz than the P3. Also, the 128-bit emotion chip is designed for PS2, it is built for gaming ... P3 on the other hand is based on ancient 32-bit PC. I know for a fact that the emotion chip is optimized for lots of gaming functions like AI, physics and animations. The P3 though is a generic PC chip that is used to run crappy OS like Windows, DOS and office applications. On the graphical side of the console, PS2 has just as fast a T&L; engine as X-box. There are nine vector engines on the PS2 and the particle effects specification exceeded the X-box. X-box uses unified memory just like the PC, where program codes, sounds and textures are allocated into their own address space within the 64MB ram. There is a disadvantage to this system, if a game has buggy codes it can cause memory leak. MS runs a modified Win2k on X-box to have memory-protection, but as an MS product, you never know. (It maybe the first console to generate the Blue screen of death! -- joking... or not.) There are more restrictions on dividing the memory up in PS2, but it is more efficient in many cases.
I for one would like to see X-box and Gamecube succeed in the market because this would diminish the chance of Sony being a monopoly. By the time X-box is launched, PS2 games would have entered their second generation. I think MS would have a difficult time keeping up the pace with Sony.
Chris

Thanks for the letter, Chris. Unfortunately, arguing tech stats is exactly like trying to prove water is better than air because of its higher percentage of oxygen. Ultimately, the numbers don't mean anything. And the Vent knows for a fact that there are quite a few games on every system that look amazing. So none of us should rely upon our favored console's theoretical strengths to give it market dominance. Which is more fun: Crazy Taxi on the Dreamcast, or Minesweeper on a P4 with a GeForce 3?

I can't point you to anything on the web, but I have first-hand knowledge of Sony pressuring retailers about the X-Box. I work at a big retailer, and around the time Microsoft unveiled the X-Box finally, our corporate offices sent us a bunch of promo materials about it. Mainly just the specs and a list of developers. Well, we'd had these things up for about a week when our Sony rep came in for a visit. She immediately pointed them out and said that we should've gotten a memo that we weren't to post any promo materials about the X-Box. I just shrugged and told her sorry, but I didn't, and corporate hadn't told us anything. This is just promo materials. We're not even preselling the system. Just letting people know that they can ask us about the X-Box.
Travis D.

Thanks Travis. Venter Bob S. actually sent a link to a story on Fatbabies about Sony bullying retailers. It's at http://www.fatbabies.com/story_jan-feb01.html#sony_bullies if you're interested. The Vent really hates when companies can't just let their products speak for themselves, and he's furious when marketing is able to foist crap games onto the bestseller list.

I realize you are not here to offer a debating service, but nonetheless...
The main developers on the Xbox will be US based, like id or Bungie etc. They will NOT be hand tweaking their code -- they have even derided or ridiculed the console/Japanese developers for having to do this in the first place! Carmack will be running his 3D engine in OpenGL on the Xbox; Bungie and the majority of other developers will use Direct3D. The Japanese developers will also be using one of these APIs (probably the MS-endorsed Direct3D) to develop their games.
So while it may be technically true to say you can write "close to the metal" on the XBox, if no one will be doing this it is totally irrelevant! In fact, one of the main selling points of the XBox for developers was its ease of development because of the use of Direct3D. Hence I confidently predict over 95% of developers will be using an existing API, with little or no hardware optimization.
Quote: "The premise that the graphic quality of Xbox will not gain appreciably over time is based on a fallacy. First of all, the code underlying the APIs is not cast in stone, nor is it found in ROM on the machine. All such code is loaded as needed from the game disc. Thus future generations of the DirectX APIs will be available to Xbox developers, as well as revisions to the current code. This is no different from the improvements in development kits for previous consoles." Again, while this is theoretically true, you cannot realistically compare the slow advancement of development kits for a complex machine like the PS2 with the decidedly standard combination of Direct3D + nVidia. What real further optimization is left for Direct3D? While new features could possibly be added using the programmable GPU, are many developers likely to do this? I have my doubts... PC games have a long history of poor programming and low levels of optimization (hence the ridiculous hardware demands of recent games), and I expect many Xbox developers to use the awesome power of the NV20 to compensate for their lack of optimization work.
My whole point is that it is the difficulty of developing for systems such as the PS2 which forces the better developers to have a much better understanding of the capabilities of the system over time. This is simply not something which will happen with Xbox developers.
Please feel free to edit this for length if necessary.
Peter K.

Hmm. Well, you're right about the majority of Xbox developers being American at this point (much to Microsoft's distress). However, please remember that the APIs themselves can change drastically. Whether the features are incorporated via individual game engines being written to the metal or through the use of better APIs and middleware is immaterial. Fundamentally, The Vent thinks this is a question of degrees. Yes, PS2 software is likely, at least initially, to improve more drastically from one generation to the next than Xbox's because of the unique hardware. But the Xbox too will improve, despite its easier-to-use architecture, and to speculate that the PS2 will ultimately have better graphics because of this is not a statement The Vent is willing to support. At all. This is all just way too similar to the Saturn/PSOne debate of five years ago.

Of the 10 million current PS2 owners, I am indeed a rarity. Yes, dare I say it, I enjoy my PS2 and the current selection of games ::gasp!::. I know it's unheard of as of late, but I must confess I am happy with my PS2. No, I am not biased towards other systems (well, naturally everyone is, but I don't make it a habit to ignore news stories involving other consoles). I am, however, an avid visitor to the Vent, which I also enjoy. I mean not to bash this column by any means, for I praise the Vent for producing such a truly excellent site. But I have noticed, what I perceive, a bit of bias against Sony's little black box from the Vent.
Now the Vent may pass me off as a Sony enthusiast, but I am merely stating an opinion you may not agree with. On all other fronts, I would side with the Vent, except on the negativity and pessimism portrayed in every update against the PS2. Perhaps I am completely mistaken, and if so, I apologize. But, anytime I read a letter with slightest inkling of optimism towards Sony, it is answered with a flood of reasons designed to persuade the writer to think otherwise. On several occasions, X-Box enthusiasts share their thoughts with only consent and support on behalf of the Vent. Of course, this could be perceived as telling it like it is, a statement so stressed by the Vent as the cause for such negativity. I have yet to see such consent and support for the rare optimistic Sony letter as there is for the other letters. If this is a way to decrease the hype brought forth by Sony PR, I commend the Vent. But in the six months since launch, I find positive press hard to find anywhere about the once highly regarded console.
The PS2 isn't as bad as all the press has indicated in midst of the newer, more powerful consoles. There is a hype machine surrounding the PS2, but not the one brought forth by Sony PR. The negative press is far more influential at this point in time, and whether or not the Vent is aware, it is a part of such a machine. Is telling it like it is synonymous with killing all hopes and dreams an enjoyable PS2? I sincerely hope not.
Well, that's my rant for the day. Respond what you will to this letter (if at all). I hope not to be said wrong without an explanation of this judgment. Other than that, continue the excellent journalism so often seen in the Vent.
Unsigned What's the deal with you people? At least make something up. Jeez.

Thanks for the letter. The Vent gets tons of "bias" letters (though they're rarely this polite and eloquent), because he is admittedly hard on Sony. He's hard on everyone. But he's actually preaching tolerance, and the value of a great game over a name brand. However, he does think that Sony has screwed up quite a bit lately. And, this being a Sony Radar column, he's often inundated with letters from die-hard Sony advocates, and this may lead to what seems like a disproportionate number of letters in which The Vent tells a Sony fan to sit down and shut up. And if you look back through recent lettercols, he's actually told a few people to hang onto their PS2s, hunt down the good games, and enjoy it.

Ok, just read your latest article... You mentioned that you don't understand why Doom3 is not being shown at E3, I think this is a great idea from what John Carmack has said in the past. The game will definitely not be coming out this year, if even next year. So, by showing it off at E3, he would be putting himself in the same position as say, 3D Realms has with Duke Forever. In fact, Carmack said it was probably a mistake to even show the game at all yet. Besides, for the game to be shown at this year's expo, it would only be a tech demo...definitely not playable yet.
-Derick E

Not showing a game until it's ready to be shown -- Hey, there's an idea. Seriously, if John thinks it was a mistake to show it at MacWorld, then The Vent understands why he doesn't want to show it now. And The Vent thinks John is right -- it was definitely a mistake to give the first look at one of the most anticipated PC games of recent years to a bunch of Mac users. Seriously -- what was he thinking? Mac users! For Pete's sake...

Nonexistent (For Now) Game Design Of The Week

Game design idea --
My dream game would be an off-road race game set on a distant moon with an earthlike atmosphere. The goal would be to race the entire distance around the moon, ending up where it all started. The race would be broken up into sub-races. Maybe 24 or something.
Then just as you beat the game, an alien presence would reveal itself. It turns out the moon is not a moon at all, but a large bio-mechanical lifeform that over the years living in space had gathered dust and dirt and rock and had been covered up to look like a moon. The activity on the surface gets it attention and it shakes off all the grime and dirt it had collected, revealing its true form. Curious about the people who were living on it, it sets up a new race. It seems the Alien had been watching all along and had gotten into the spirit of the race. It "grows" a track all the way around its surface. The people are forced to race against each other and a single "Alien" car (picture a biomechanical Batmobile) that represents the Alien planet. Picture weird organic landscapes, and breathing hills and roads, horrible bony structures lining the racetrack. Maybe even attacking you if you manage to get in front of the Alien car. If you win, you live and maybe get to do a final showdown fight with the driver of the Alien car. The presence of the Alien made flesh or something.
unknown (Sigh. You've got to be kidding.)

You know, one of the most interesting things The Vent ever read was this book that talked about how the face at Cydonia was actually two faces superimposed over one another, and all these mountains and pyramids on Mars were actually all precisely arranged, and Earth's moon is actually hollow, and our moon shots were followed from a distance by something unknown, and it's shooting down our Mars probes too, and... oh, it just went on and on. No idea if there's a shred of truth in any of it, but it was fascinating reading.
But enough about that. Well-done racing games are always cool, and the off-road outer space thing could lead the way to creative tracks and some great options for creative physics. (Remember EA's lost classic Racing Destruction Set, where you could pick the beefed-up street bike, turn the gravity to Moon, and jump right off the screen? Why the hell hasn't that game been remade?) And your ending twist is interesting, although for the alien world to grow a track for an off-road race is kind of peculiar. Maybe it could just plot out a very rudimentary route.

Okay, that's it for this week. Thanks for sticking around. Until next week, remember: Game smarter, and harder. Peace.

- The Vent