S-Video Cable and Halo 2

adam20

Member
Hey guys. I just got back into the console gaming thing after getting my xbox back from someone. S-Video Cable is second half of the post.

I been excited for Halo 2. I picked it up last week or so. Been playing a bit. Great game. Single player could be better but I am playong on Normal difficulty right now. so it's no wonder they drop like flies =). I tried heroic for a bit. Its lots of fun. I just wish the Brutes were not so dull. They seem incomplete or something. They do the same weapon attack over and over and never hit you if you are moving. The Brutes from Halo 1 seemed like a bigger threat. And I once saw a brute in the first earth level trying to hit a crouching marine. and he just kept going at it. pushing the marine back... for like 8 seconds and he couldnt do it. he couldnt hit the marine! whatever. I only noticed maybe a few bugs of this type. But it's a great game.

One issue which leads me to this topic is... the graphics were very quite um jaggilicious. Jaggyville I am talking about. And just seemed low resolution. It was a let down to see the game looking so much worse than what some of the great screenshots would lead me to believe. But I knew from the beginning.... that I should find my s-video cable.

Well I couldn't. So I just went out and got a different one. From madcatz. About 10 dollars it was.


So I hook up this up to my sister's large JVC tv. just your typical semi new tv. So I started playing and loaded up my save point at Level 8 I believe. Wish I could recall the name. The first level you play that has a decent number of trees and yellowish/green terrian. Level 8 =). The one with grass textures.

And WOW the difference was huge. The game looked so underwhelming before. Jaggies would be very much gone. Minimal jaggies noticable but you have to look for them to ever notice. Before the jaggies would just jump out in my face. And it also seems the resolution is improved. The color seperation is improved. etc etc.

So I am just trying to say anyone who doesnt have an S-Video cable... do yourself a favor and spend that extra 10 dollars. It will be well worth it. I am more clearly able to see enemies in the distance and various other features. Just simply incredible.

Who else in here has S-video for their consoles?

It is great when you can have crystal clear picture without jaggies on some games that really deserve it. I remember when I had my more expensive ''Monster" brand or whichever brand S-video cable and Panzer Dragoon Orta looked just like those high res screens we saw a week before the game came out. Just incredible.

If I ever find that other more expensive S-video cable (perhaps the difference is there) I would be glad to test.

My question would be who has tried the really expensive ones? I seen Monster S-video going for like 30 bucks or something. Is the difference significant enough over madcatz or cheaper s-video cables to warrent such a purchase?
 
OMG! ADAM20? :rollin

Lets be happy that he did not discover RGB and HDTV.

He'd lead an NWO and have an American Revolution
 
Um I hate to break it to you but if it doesnt come with the system most ppl dont have it. That is a market fact. None of my friends even know what an S-video cable is. So whatever. No need to be a prick

I wish the mods still banned the opa-age retards that post on this forum. And I suppose everyone has HDTV's as well right.
 
I have s video and a decent telly and I think the madcatz cable is ass. I see colour bleed on it (worst offender being the namco logo on black background) maybe it's because I have been spoiled due to Component with my GC, but I have trouble reading my rank on multiplayer, can't tell whether it's a 6 or an 8 etc. which isn't a problem for me, as I know mine, but for who I am matched with....
 
adam20 said:
Um I hate to break it to you but if it doesnt come with the system most ppl dont have it. That is a market fact. None of my friends even know what an S-video cable is. So whatever. No need to be a prick

I wish the mods still banned the opa-age retards that post on this forum. And I suppose everyone has HDTV's as well right.
yeah, but that's average people... this is GAF

and hey, i don't have a HDTV, but i do use my VDigi VD-Z3 to play on my monitor!
 
while s-video certainly does make a very big difference i can't help but think that her newer TV made an even larger difference.

you should see the game on my professionally ISF calibrated 36" Sony Direct View HDTV with progressive scan on, through my Monster component cables, in widescreen mode. you would shit lol, it actually looks better than the released pics to me... it is an amazing looking game.

your post brings up a good point though, i wonder how many people that post on this forum (or any forum really) who state they are not impressed is due to having crappy TV's using the standard crappy composite cable (?) who would change their tune had they seen the game on a decent setup. granted there's not many people out there unimpressed with how Halo 2 looks, but i'm sure there are lots who like you have yet to see Halo 2 in all its glory by seeing it played on a display that takes advantage of what it has to offer. the way it was meant to be seen.

also, you should try to play the game on a decent 5.1 dolby digital surround sound setup, you will again be amazed at the difference.
 
catfish have you used any other s-video cables for the xbox? it did look questionable quality but it was the only s-video cable they had at my location on that given day. I didn't want to wait til later in the week to pick up a different brand. Huge improvement over default cables but I imagine other brands would be superior.
 
Spanky,

Yeah I'd love to see how the game looks on a really good HDTV set up. Hopefully soon enough we will be able to pick up an HDTV. Be it in 2 years or whenever.

We got this hobby store were we play cards and such on weekends. But we also got an xbox hooked up to a tv there. This tv is from a brand I didn't even know existed. Citizen. Anyway the game looks pretty bad as you'd imagine on this set up =). In fact everything does. I wonder if the s-video could remedy the problem enough... I guess we'll see =p i'm hopeful for a 40% improvement on that monstrosity of a television set.
 
This would be a good thread to comment on the "Monster" Component Xbox cables. I had some cheap-o 5$ cables hooked up before and after I got the 35$ "Monster" ones guess what?...

I cant see a difference. My TV is a Sony Super-Fine Pitch 29" HDTV. Maybe its too small to notice the improvement.

Also anyone else think Halo-2 is a touch too dark? The blacks on my TV are superb but damn, half the time I cant see shit when I play that game. I should probally go get it ISF calibrated.
 
:lol This sounds like me a few months ago when the Star Wars DVDs released. I was really wanted a nice picture for them and was looking for some kind of way to get out of my constant use of shitty composite. Funny though, we had an S-Video cable since we got our TV years ago, and I never bothered to use it. Found it, hooked it up, and noitced quite a bit of increase indetail, color, and brightness. Wish we had component though and a HDTV... as Star Wars doesn't show very well in interlace (feathering :().

I'm thinking of getting s-video hook ups for my systems, but with next gen coming I don't feel it's worth it at the moment.
 
adam20 said:
brutes? put it this way. the big guys with the big shield. those =). lugoy or something in instruction manual.

Hunters (in human)

Lekgolo (in Alien)

The brutes are the ape like dudes!
 
adam20 said:
brutes? put it this way. the big guys with the big shield. those =). lugoy or something in instruction manual.

So, are you actually talking about the brutes here or the Halo 2 hunters? The hunters in Halo 2 are certainly a bit more challenging to combat, I think. Neither is particularly tough if you know what to do, but in Halo 1, you could pop them with the pistol so easily. They have more attacks in Halo 2...

Brutes are only encountered near the end of the game.
 
i meant the hunters then. i dunno they seem to just have thier standard charged up green plasma attack and their melee attack. maybe on heroic they do more =)
 
adam20 said:
i meant the hunters then. i dunno they seem to just have thier standard charged up green plasma attack and their melee attack. maybe on heroic they do more =)

They didn't exactly do a whole lot in Halo either and it was much easier to waste them.
 
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