11th March 2004, 7:14 PM
You answered your own question, DJ. The most basic thing seperating consoles is the controller. :)
For example, the Neo-Geo comes with a arcade stick as the normal controller (though there was a dpad one too)... sure you might be able to get one but it's not standard equipment and most people don't have them so they have a very, very different experience... or as SJ says how about D-Pad size? Or how about button locations? Each system is different and games are often built for the controller, and the controller shapes how you interact with the game...
For instance I haven't played OoT on the NGC but I don't know if I'd want to. The N64 controller is just so much better for the game (thinking of WW) that I'm sure the game is better on the N64.
Oh, and for Neo-Geo you have one more issue in your hypothesis. Loading. See as I said, Neo-Geo carts get up to 750 megabit. That's big. Even compressed, on a DVD you WILL have loading times. Oh, the Neo-Geo games on PS2 are nearly perfect and most people wouldn't care at all but the most detail-oriented fans can find SOMETHING different... for 99% of the population it's identical I'm sure but I am also sure that there would be small loading times. The PS1 versions of the games of course had awful loading times... but that is supporting your point --- one generation better, PS1, cannot do Neo-Geo games any justice because of loading. But the PS2 can get very close. I think the main differences are some things about sprites (and how the PS2 handles them) and the fact that for KOF2000/2001 they improved the backgrounds so they are not the same...
For example, the Neo-Geo comes with a arcade stick as the normal controller (though there was a dpad one too)... sure you might be able to get one but it's not standard equipment and most people don't have them so they have a very, very different experience... or as SJ says how about D-Pad size? Or how about button locations? Each system is different and games are often built for the controller, and the controller shapes how you interact with the game...
For instance I haven't played OoT on the NGC but I don't know if I'd want to. The N64 controller is just so much better for the game (thinking of WW) that I'm sure the game is better on the N64.
Oh, and for Neo-Geo you have one more issue in your hypothesis. Loading. See as I said, Neo-Geo carts get up to 750 megabit. That's big. Even compressed, on a DVD you WILL have loading times. Oh, the Neo-Geo games on PS2 are nearly perfect and most people wouldn't care at all but the most detail-oriented fans can find SOMETHING different... for 99% of the population it's identical I'm sure but I am also sure that there would be small loading times. The PS1 versions of the games of course had awful loading times... but that is supporting your point --- one generation better, PS1, cannot do Neo-Geo games any justice because of loading. But the PS2 can get very close. I think the main differences are some things about sprites (and how the PS2 handles them) and the fact that for KOF2000/2001 they improved the backgrounds so they are not the same...