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[Roland Hood]

About the same upgrade as in Vice City? If so I'll get it.

I have the PS2 version but I lent/gave it to my nephew. Maybe I'll ask for it back if the Xbox graphics aren't that much better.

 

[_Angelus_]

Yeah some of you guys let us know cause I'm in the process of possibly buying it to. I just may trade in my GTA pack for the game.

 

[DopeyFish]

though i haven't played it for PS2, i'll say it's pretty damn jaggy for xbox

 

[siege]

It doesn't look much better. Slightly better draw distance with less orange haze. Textures are supposedly better, but I can hardly tell. And yeah, it's jaggy.

The PC version has the best visuals by far.

 

[suupabuu]

Not that much AA, but texture quality and fps have improved quite a bit.

 

[Shompola]

Havent played PS2 or the Xbox version. But I had the pleasure to play the PC version with highest settings etc. It ran pretty well, but the graphics are very outdated, and the desert scenario makes it look even worse.

 

[_Angelus_]

Is GTASA better than the previous two? I know its alot bigger,does that mean better though? For example,did they ever improve on the targeting system when youre on foot? I really liked the way True Crime had its targeting set with the videos I saw.

 

[CrimsonSkies]

Maybe I'm just remembering wrong, but I thought Vice City on the Xbox looks better than GTA:SA. It's not much of an improvement on the control side of things either. Targeting is a little better, but they force you to use the black and white buttons which are a pain for some.

 

[belgurdo]

Is GTASA better than the previous two? I know its alot bigger,does that mean better though? For example,did they ever improve on the targeting system when youre on foot? I really liked the way True Crime had its targeting set with the videos I saw.

It's much better than the previous titles, unless, of course, you have an aversion to the color brown

 

[Wario64]

Maybe I'm just remembering wrong, but I thought Vice City on the Xbox looks better than GTA:SA. It's not much of an improvement on the control side of things either. Targeting is a little better, but they force you to use the black and white buttons which are a pain for some.

i wonder how drive by shootings are with the "Duke" controller. it's pretty bad on the S-Controller but managable...the duke controller though, the buttons are too far apart. i dont understand why they didn't allow customizable controls

 

[_Angelus_]

Theres alot of mixed views in this thread. I guess I should rent first. As fr the black and white button for shooting,I can deal with it I suppose. Is it used for shooting at all times,like when youre on foot,or for driveby action mostly?

If its the former then uh oh,I'll defintely rent first then.

 

[DopeyFish]

so far i'm not liking it as much as vice city, it's mainly the story though that's my complaint (i'm only 6% done) it just hasn't started off as fun as VC

 

[Roland Hood]

Thanks for the replies.

My nephew's too young to be playing these types of games anyway

 

[Stench]

Targeting is an absolute BITCH with the black/white buttons - you're better off manually aiming.

The graphics aren't that much better, but regardless, it's still an improvement. Framerate is pretty consistent for the most part outside of a few select scenarios that I can count with one hand, in which some massive slowdown occurs.

The aliasing is quite prominent in 480p, but then again, practically all Xbox games have aliasing on my TV set when I run it in 480p. You don't really notice it after time passes. Besides, I'd rather see a game with jaggies in hi-def than a game with no jaggies in standard definition.

I say if you have an HDTV, and you're willing to put up with a slightly awkward control scheme, get it, unless the PS2 version your nephew has is extremely convienent to get ahold of... looks like you've already made up your mind, though.

 

[Wario64]

Theres alot of mixed views in this thread. I guess I should rent first. As fr the black and white button for shooting,I can deal with it I suppose. Is it used for shooting at all times,like when youre on foot,or for driveby action mostly?

If its the former then uh oh,I'll defintely rent first then.

ok. when you're on foot and targeting enemies with your weapons, you have to press the black and white buttons to auto-target the next enemy. this isn't too big of a problem (it isn't for me at least)

for drive by shootings, you have to press black/white button AND press either A or B to shoot. the white and black buttons makes CJ look left and right respectively, while the A or B buttons shoots your weapon. you can see that this can be a big problem for some people. you basically have to use the middle of your thumb to hit the black or white button, while using the tip of your thumb to press A or B. for the "Duke" controller, i have no idea how you can look left and initiate a drive by shooting. the buttons are too far apart. and to look behind you in the car, you have to press BOTH the black and white buttons. very shitty. this is my main complaint about the Xbox version. other than the controls, everything else seems marginally better than the PS2 version


btw, GTA:SA will be $29.99 at compusa starting tomorrow. PC or Xbox version.

 

[U.2.K. Tha Greate$t]

People look into things too much, because i played the psx version over my friend house and it looks and plays perfect. What am i missing here, really?

I'm buying the xbox version tho, but waiting till the price drops down to 20 bucks at blockbuster.

 

[Do The Mario]

I am hesitant about buying GTA:SA at full price, three titles from the same franchise/series seems a bit much for me in one gen. The game play of GTA and VC doesn’t thrill me that much too, the games are still fun and the radio stations great (worth a budget price on there own) but I think I will wait for a price drop (that might not happen anytime soon in Australia) with my current backlog.

 

[Ranger X]

I am hesitant about buying GTA:SA at full price, three titles from the same franchise/series seems a bit much for me in one gen. The game play of GTA and VC doesn’t thrill me that much too, the games are still fun and the radio stations great (worth a budget price on there own) but I think I will wait for a price drop (that might not happen anytime soon in Australia) with my current backlog.

Well there's actually more gameplay and stuff to in GTASA compared to Vice City then when step from GTA3 to Vice City.
But i guess that if you're not all that fond of Vice City or GTA3 maybe you should wait for a price drop or pass. The game is not bad by all means mind you, its EASILY my GOTY 2k4. I just mean that the game in itself didn't really changed, it's GTA.

 

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

This is my first time through GTA:SA (I tried to avoid playin' the PS2 version while waiting for this one) and this is my first GTA experience on the Xbox (I own GTA3 and GTA:VC for the PS2) and to be honest, I really can't see much of a visual upgrade here. Of course I haven't got any experience with the PS2 version but it looks pretty comparable from the footage I've seen.

But saying that, this is definately the best GTA game I've played. I wasn't sure if I could really get into the whole 'gangsta' setting but so far it's been a blast. Especially so when you get "relocated" outside of Los Santos. The missions just seem to be much more interesting and fun when compared to the previous games.

GTA3 was great but Vice City kinda stunk imo. So far, San Andreas is looking like it'll make up for that one.

 

[Solid]

head 2 head at ign

http://insider.ign.com/articles/624/624202p1.html

 

[Lakitu]

I've been playing the Xbox version of the game, the graphics are much smoother this time round, although the story is weak, I like CJ!

I'm doing the mission "Jizzy" in San Fierro and people weren't kidding when they said drive by aiming is screwed up, it's absolutely horrendous, I can barely shoot in the right position!

 

[Gattsu25]

PC version is a great port...shadows up the wazoo but the lighting IMO took a hit (less colorful sunsets, day lighting, etc)

the ability to change soundtracks in the XB and PC versions is prolly a huge draw (I've never used the feature outside of Vice City, though)

PC draw distance is tits

 

[eso76]

I just did a side by side comparison; my multiscart allowes me to switch between ps2 and xbx in no time, so i just put CJ on a cliff and compared the draw distance.
Which, despite the developers' claims, is *absolutely identical*. Trust me, the horizon fades at the exact same distance, the only better draw distance on xbx is for trees, palms and small object, which fade in a bit farther.
Other than that, frame rate is definately better, texture are very slightly improved and loading times are faster. Very small upgrade all in all.

 

[Lyte Edge]

head 2 head at ign

http://insider.ign.com/articles/624/624202p1.html

That just sold me on the PC version. Might be time to head to Comp USA...

 

[123rl]

I've played both. I hoped the XBox version would look much better than this...it looks terrible, IMO. Horrible textures, crap framerate, and some of the modelling and animation is horrible. I can't believe this is one of the last big XBox games, and sold so much when it's such a sloppy, horrible game on a technical level

 

[Sega]

I've played both. I hoped the XBox version would look much better than this...it looks terrible, IMO. Horrible textures, crap framerate, and some of the modelling and animation is horrible. I can't believe this is one of the last big XBox games, and sold so much when it's such a sloppy, horrible game on a technical level

Yeah, I don't think Rockstar is that talented. They happened upon a good and popular concept though. It's too bad they haven't really pushed it further. I agree with the earlier post that said 3 GTAs in the same gen is a bit much.

About the graphics, the Xbox version runs at a much smoother framerate than the PS2 version (I'm not sure why more people didn't notice this). Though, I only watched someone play the PS2 version for a while, so I'm no expert. I'm not familiar enough to see a big difference in the draw distance, though objects look like they draw further. Even though the graphics are better on the PC version, it just feels better to me, playing console games on a console.

It's too bad you have to play missions to get to certain areas of the map. I wanna skip missions entirely and just ride my bicycle around. I'm not too wild about the gangsta theme. I'm having fun so far though.

 

[123rl]

I'm having fun with it too. It's not as good as the other GTA games but it's ok so far (about 10% completion, so that's probably 15-20% of the story mode)

I just think it should look far better than this. There's no excuse for such dreadful pop-up, tearing and jaggies. The textures are far too monotonous and plain as well. And the animation in the cutscenes...I've never seen anything so bad. Watch any cutscene that shows someone shooting a gun to see what I mean :lol

 

[Gattsu25]

I'm not too wild about the gangsta theme. I'm having fun so far though.

The theme almost entirely dies out pretty early in the game

 

[Minotauro]

I think it's worth getting purely for the framerate upgrade. With the PS2 version, I actually had trouble on some of the missions because of slowdown. In particular, that early mission where you needed to follow the guy on the motorcycle through traffic all over town was a real bitch. I found just driving the fastest motorcycle to be a major pain. I have none of these problems with the XBox version. It just seems more responsive.

Still, it would've been nice to have some more upgrades. What's R* been doing all these months?

 

[Lyte Edge]

Just got back from Comp USA...they seemed to have sold a bunch of GTA SA copies already; only a few were left. It's on one DVD, too, which is always nice.

The lady that rung me up actually said to me "Can I see your I.D.? You look a little too young." I started laughing; that's never happened to me before. :lol

 

[Kabuki Waq]

The lady that rung me up actually said to me "Can I see your I.D.? You look a little too young." I started laughing; that's never happened to me before. :lol

yea im shocked too, especially with that manly voice you have.

 

[Lyte Edge]

yea im shocked too, especially with that manly voice you have.

Huh? Are we STILL going on about the filter I used on XBL that one time in Midtown Madness 3 TWO YEARS AGO?? :lol

 

[dskillzhtown]

Huh? Are we STILL going on about the filter I used on XBL that one time in Midtown Madness 3 TWO YEARS AGO?? :lol

I still remember the fun times I had in those gaming sessions. Those were good times.

 

[Lyte Edge]

Anyone have any problems getting the PC version to run? It installed fine, but then kept giving me a message that it couldn't detect the disc in time to run whenever I tried to play it. I downloaded a no-DVD fix which solved the problem, but just wondering.

 

[Gattsu25]

hmm...not sure...have any Virtual Drives?

 

[DJ_Tet]

I'm running it on this pc here and it's running pretty good. It looks a lot better than the PS2 version I sold. It chugs here and there and would probably be labeled unplayable by the pc elite, but it's working great for me. I can't wait to see what it looks like with my new graphics card. I haven't seen the XBox version in person, but the PC version looks miles better. Unfortunately it doesn't sound like those improvements made it over to the XBox.

 

[Pachinko]

From what I've played graphical improvements include the following-

Framerate stays at 30 FPS 90% of the time instead of 50% of the time
80% of the textures have been upgraded to slightly higher quality
Draw distance is better
Obnoxious pop up isn't has common but does still happen(the kind where you hit a wall you literally couldn't see until you were right in front of it)

Other improvements-
The initial loadtime is like 10 seconds or so instead of nearly a full minute, loadtimes while playing the game are practically nonexistent despite the addition of an actual pointless loading screen for entering buildings. On the ps2 version spraying tags would cause a 2 second load to finish the job, xbox just does it instantly.

Custom soundtracks- so if you do get bored of the many songs in san andreas you can listen to your own music.

Replay feature- watch the previous 30 seconds of your game over again.

Negatives-
Apparently due to the addition of a 480P mode , when played on an HDTV the game looks kind of jaggtacular , this I cannot confirm however becuase I dont' have my own HDTV.

Control- most people would prolly consider the xbox gamepad controls worse then the dual shock, I happen to prefer it but ther eyou have been warned.

 

[Roland Hood]

From what I've played graphical improvements include the following-

Framerate stays at 30 FPS 90% of the time instead of 50% of the time
80% of the textures have been upgraded to slightly higher quality
Draw distance is better
Obnoxious pop up isn't has common but does still happen(the kind where you hit a wall you literally couldn't see until you were right in front of it)

Other improvements-
The initial loadtime is like 10 seconds or so instead of nearly a full minute, loadtimes while playing the game are practically nonexistent despite the addition of an actual pointless loading screen for entering buildings. On the ps2 version spraying tags would cause a 2 second load to finish the job, xbox just does it instantly.

Custom soundtracks- so if you do get bored of the many songs in san andreas you can listen to your own music.

Replay feature- watch the previous 30 seconds of your game over again.

Negatives-
Apparently due to the addition of a 480P mode , when played on an HDTV the game looks kind of jaggtacular , this I cannot confirm however becuase I dont' have my own HDTV.

Control- most people would prolly consider the xbox gamepad controls worse then the dual shock, I happen to prefer it but ther eyou have been warned.

Thanks a lot for the info.

I actually just got back from Fry's and they had SA for 29.99, I had it in my hand and put it back.

But the load times and framerate improvements sound enticing...

 

[Kabuki Waq]

Huh? Are we STILL going on about the filter I used on XBL that one time in Midtown Madness 3 TWO YEARS AGO?? :lol

yea right voice filter :lol i just rember coming in expecting clint eastwood and instead got a Aaron carter Hilary duff hybrid. SHOCKING!

although 2 years is a long time i am willing to except that puberty has taken its course. Looking forward to XBL 360 gaming with you.

 

[Ranger X]

Many people here are forgetting AGAIN that this gen runs the fucking world before you eyes. I don't blame you even PS2 guys thought the game looked like shit.

Mistake 1:
There's too much stuff going on, forget about high polygon objects and high res textures. I'm still waiting for a game of this type showing me better graphics while doing everything GTA does. It didn't happened yet so i say those graphics are nice. Graphics are CONTEXTUAL and people tend to forget it.

Mistake 2:
I don't know what difference in graphic some of you were expecting.... i don't know why there should have been more improvement than from the previous GTA translations. Don't you forget that PS2 and Xbox power doesn't compare like night and day...

Anyway, i saw the game running on the Xbox and while it's obviously more beautifull on PC, it still run just as great as Vice City did compared to their PS2 cousins. I was an Xbox owner, i wouldn't be deceived.

 

[Lyte Edge]

hmm...not sure...have any Virtual Drives?

Yeah, I am using Alcohol 120% right now. Could that be the problem?

yea right voice filter :lol i just rember coming in expecting clint eastwood and instead got a Aaron carter Hilary duff hybrid. SHOCKING!

although 2 years is a long time i am willing to except that puberty has taken its course. Looking forward to XBL 360 gaming with you.

Riiiiiiiiiight. I wonder if you think I'm someone else talking or something then. I was 22 back then BTW. I don't think I know anyone in my age range with a real voice that high. Do You?