Dolby Digital and PS2 Wipeout

dfield2000

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Apologies if this has been discussed before - I've tried a search but come up zip....

I recently bought wipeout fusion for my ps2 and noticed that it said 'Dolby Digital' on the back. I moved my ps2 from the spare room into my living room and connected it up to my Dolby amp via the optical lead expecting to hear a blistering 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack, but instead the amp decoded it as pro-logic. During the load up screen it even said 'Dolby digital Pro-logic 2.

I thought that Dolby Digital and Pro-logic were two different formats - Dolby digital being 5.1, and pro-logic the less superior non-digital version.

My Question -> Is it a case of misleading labelling on the wipeout box claiming that its Dolby Digital, and are there any ps2 games out/in the pipeline that are in DD5.1 ?

Cheers
 
I think the cut scenes are 5.1 while in game is pro-logic II.

On Medal of Houner on PS2 I had to manually change the decoder to pro-logic surround as the decoder just played stereo even when surround was selected in the game menues.
 
The PS2 only outputs cut scenes in 5.1, if you want to play games in 5.1 you need an XBOX. Quantum Redshift in 5.1 is the kind of experiance you need a fag after playing its that intense!! Awesome!!

Gary
 
That's a shame.

Can anyone recommend any PS2 games that have good surround sound that make good use of the rear speakers ?
 
i think the answer to that is NO! PS2 is outdated and not really fit for the 21st century.

(disclaimer: I have an xbox, a gamecube and a PS2 but if i had to give one up it would be the PS2 its a very shoddy machine)

Gary
 
lol thats a tad harsh Garyd. The PS2 will support Pro Logic II almost as much as the Gamecube from now on, Burnout II has it bit since the platform is new to the tehcnology it isn't done quite as well. Most of the big PS2 releases should have progressive scan and Pro Logic II which is good enough IMO.

There is no doubt that DD 5.1 is better than Pro Logic II (before I get flamed to death) but it all depends on implmentation and execution.
 
Neoblade,

i share an office with a load of PS2 fanboys who believe its the best thing since sliced bread. However, i dont believe it is, i think that its now outdated and badly built (that lovely "thin" DVD tray, p*ss poor DVD performance, bad transport mechs etc etc.) Not that i would ever use a console to play DVD's

I've been using my xbox since 14th March and while i believe it has its drawbacks (big black and very very ugly) i still believe that it is better than the PS2. Indeed we are now in a postion where the majority of all format games (i.e. those which appear on all three consoles) are being written first for the least powerful of the machines (the PS2) therefore the other formats are suffering as game studios are not going the extra mile to use the bells and whistles that the xbox and gamecube are capable of. Therefore the PS2 is actually holding gaming back because of its dominant market share. However this position will change, sony will not be king of the hill forever (remember that sega and nintendo laughed at sony when the PS1 arrived?) The public buy the PS2 because of the herd instinct, frighterned of what others will say (esp teenage boys!!)

Any users out there who have played Halo, PGR or Quataum Redshift in 5.1 will tell you it is a fantastic experiance and far surpasses those of comparable games on the PS2.

As i said in a previous post i own all three consoles as i want to play the best games, but the PS2 is becoming less and less relevant to my gaming experiance (although i will blow the dust off it to play GTA: Vice City)

i expect that i will be flamed by any number of members for daring to slag off the might PS2 - Its not my intention to annoy people or get people hot under the collar but sometimes these things just have to be said.

THE PS2 IS PAST ITS SELL BY DATE and in terms of a home cinema gaming experiance its sadly lacking now.

yours cowring in a corner, waiting for the PS2 boys to flame me.

Gary
 
Correct me if im wrong but I believe there to be no separate encoding methods for Pro Logic and PLII merely a 'Dolby Surround' encoding.

Therefore all this talk about gamecube, PS2 whatever 'putting out' PLII is nonsense. Gamecube outputs Dolby Surround encoded audio, the decoders in the reicever assembling stereo rear channels making it PLII as opposed to the mono surround of Pro Logic.

Or I may be wrong.
 
Garyd don't worry i agree with y (i had a ps2 also)

When I hear people today saying I'm going to buy a PS2 I think why oh why. Hello newer, better, cheaper technology over here!!

Ok so early adoption is/was a bad idea with xbox due to lack of software but that is the same for every console. Now with the triple A titles about to flow in (and xbox live) you'd have to be stark raving bonkers to take a ps2. Especially those people with 5.1 setups.
 
I started this thread because when I hooked up my PS2 to my Sony str-db amp last week I was waiting for the lovely blue horizontal lamp to light up on the front which signifies that it's receiving a Dolby Digital signal. This currently only happens when I'm watching a DVD, although I'm considering getting a SKY+ box so I can use the optical out. When the light didn't come on and I saw the 'Pro Logic' logo come up I felt a bit conned as I was lead to believe that I was getting DD from the back of the Wipeout fusion packaging.

I don't know why, but for some reason I have some sort of 'brand loyalty' to sony products, so I'm biased in my opinion to the PS2, but I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed that it doesn't do dolby digital. That said, I still don't think that I can bring myself to buying an x-box.
 
Dom H, the issue of Pro Logic II and that (on a technical level) is a bit beyond me because I don't specialise in that field... Many peeps on the audio part of this forum know their stuff and I just listen to them basically. However it works lets say ^_^ it does a decent enough job of having 5 seperate channels from just two physical outputs. Remember Pro Logic is designed by Dolby anyway, its just that Factor 5 have been working very closely with Dolby as Microsoft has, to improve the audio on the said platform.

I might pose the question to one of the regs on the audio forum just to get a clarification on how everything works on a technical level.

Garyd, I know where you are coming from and basically anyone that thinks a certain item, whether its a console, TV, speaker, clothes etc is the best thing since sliced bread does annoy me. Sure enough the said item could be the best thing released thus far to him or her but that won't apply to everyone in the world.

The ports scene can be seen from many viewpoints but generally the developer must make the game on all platforms at least equal and since the PS2 is the market leader it does get perenficial treatment. Optimisations can be done of course but thats down to the developer in question to push the console or not. For the most part they won't since it would use up less resources and they would save money.

If you look at a console purely because of its Home Cinema qualities then naturally the PS2 and GameCube would fall rather short though... Why? Because they were not designed to be.. Especially the Gamecube (hence no DVD playback).

The PS2 aimed to be a videogame console to kick start its life then it would evolve into a multimedia hub, with net access, limited DVD playback, printer, scanner, HDD etc. It was never designed for DD 5.1 nor to be the centrepiece for HC.

The Gamecube needs to differentiate from the PS2 from the off and it has done that by purely concentrating in videogames only. No DVD playback, no fancy multimedia plans... Just games.

The Xbox has had a similar scheme to the PS2.. Start it off as a videogame console then evolve it into an entertainment hub. The major difference is the release time between the two consoles and the technology. The audio chip can handle real-time 5.1 and the console can output in progressive scan and an interlaced resolution up to 1080i - Which makes it perfect as the HC entertainment centrepiece.

All consoles have aimed at specific markets while Nintendo have aimed for a niché market, letting MS and Sony battle it out.. So basically if you have a console and you're happy with it, no-ones going to argue because its your cash at the end of the day and if its providing entertainment then something must be right. ^_^
 
I agree with everything that NeoBlade says. Some people seem to rate a games console purely by its technical spec, which seems a bit daft. Just because a console has the highest spec doesn't means that people will get more enjoyment out of playing games on it than any other console. I have enjoyed certain games on the PS1 much more than others on the PS2, even though the PS2 ones have far better graphics and sound.

Thinking back to my youth, I seem to remember having shedloads of fun playing games my on spectrum and bbc micro, much more than I've got out of any next-gen console. I think gaming is down to personal preference and anyone who says that x console is far better the y console is missing the point in game playing.
 
PS2 outdated?...

Hehe...sounds like somebody trying to justify having bought a slab of Microsoft at the MASSIVE price they were trying to punt it out at!

Tell me, how loud do you have to play your system to drown out the XBox? ;)

And I have Every Games system mentioned thus far...and many you won't have ever heard of.
The Xbox is a waste of a LOT of space.
The games are the most disjointed affairs ever to slip out of software houses...funny, it seems to play just like the PC it is!

Maybe you should check out some of the fantastic games available for the Sony Playstation....it's amazing..they are actually immersive!

And you can hear the soundtrack with the volume low too!
 
The PS2 does not have the out and out power of the Xbox or gamecube but I have yet to see an Xbox/Gamecube game with better graphics than GT3, MGS2, Timesplitters 2, Burnout 2. These graphics have been equalled but I don't think they have been bettered, yet.

In time they may well be bettered but buy them I will have already had 4 years good service from my PS2 and will be looking forward to the PS3. Will all the graphics junkies suddenly switch to the PS3 when it is released.

When the Xbox was released I seriously considered buying it but apart from Halo and Project Gotham no other games appealed to me. Even at its current low price point I am still holding back as the most exciting releases GTA:Vice City, CM3, Timesplitter 2, Burnout 2, red Faction2, Auto modelista, Pro Evolution 2, WRCII, The Getaway, XIII, Devil May Cry 2 are either PS2 exclusive or out on PS2 first.

I have long got over having an inferiority complex because a new console has sligtly smoother/better graphics. Because lets face it until you have a new generation of console released i.e. PS1 - PS2 or N64 - Gamecube there are no revolutionary new graphics that no one has ever seen before.

Finally just because something is popular does not mean it is inferior or not worthy of its number one position. Its has got there, usually because overall it is the best. you then get the mainstreem tagging along.
 
Hear Hear stewarth, at the end of the day videogames is about videogames and not about hardware. Hardware can only lower the boundaries for a gaming concept but it cannot hide a poor videogame, no matter how much eye candy there is.

At this stage of the console wars I was hoping for a bit more innovation because there isn't many barriers left to recreate a gaming concept. Sure you can have sharper textures, FSAA, blah blah but any good gaming concept would shine through all of it. The only thing that IMO seems interesting is the re-named Project Ego since it makes full use of the Xbox's HDD...

I suppose its to be expected since now there are next to no small developers now and just large corporate businesses buying each other out, vying to be the next big franchise like Final Fantasy and FIFA. I just hope that one day a publisher will have the balls to help release a unique product, even on the GBA so it can help provide something different. A genre can only improve by so much before it becomes stale, which is why we are looking at more genre hybrids incorporating RPG elements to everything just to be different.

I guess I'm just having another rant and again I'm going off topic ^_^ I just hope that there is enough real talent out there that will keep us old gamers keen because its been a while since I've been honestly impressed by a title or have been looking forward to something. The last time I had a real anticipation for a videogame was Zelda: Ocarina of Time (and Mario 64 before that) and both didn't disappoint.
 
i'm not saying that gaming is about hardware, i dont slag off the ps2 because i'm anti sony or anything i just dont think that its as good as it cracked up to be. sony have been promising online gaming and hard drives for the ps2 for the last two years but where are they? nowhere thats where, sony think that they have an unbreachable position, but they haven't PS3 is not set to hit these shores for at least another 3 years i doubt that most of the ps2's out there will not last that long they are so badly built.

As for the xbox being loud it certainly quiter than the ps2, which to quote a friend of mine "sounds like having a hovercraft in the living room"

I can see that this is turning into a "my c*cks bigger than your c*ck" debate. dfield2000's orginal question was about 5.1 clearly the Ps2 doesn't have 5.1 game playback therefore it is clearly outdated. its is also misleading of sony to publish games stating that they use Dolby Digital.

i am not a slave to the xbox as i've said before it does have its drawbacks and i'm as disappointed as the next gamer with the games line up since launch. but within a year of lauch it will have a number of must have titles. The PS2 has been with us for over two years now and it still cant come up with 10 -15 triple a titles. which is really poor for a console that has been with us so long.

Stalefish, a question for you, please explain why xbox games are disjointed and which ones? then explain why PS2 games are so much better?


Gary
 
Originally posted by Garyd
i think the answer to that is NO! PS2 is outdated and not really fit for the 21st century.

(disclaimer: I have an xbox, a gamecube and a PS2 but if i had to give one up it would be the PS2 its a very shoddy machine)

Gary

lol and the gamecube is for kiddies and the xbox has crap games blah blah blah.

anyway I hear the PS2 can do DTS 4.0 is that right?
 
And the prize goes to ironduke for taking the debate to a whole new level.

nice to see a fanboy arrive.......
 
As a gamer for 20 years..with amlost every system imaginable (anorak)...I can safely say that the Xbox is the most unplayable system ever...simply because it plays like the PC it is

And yes..I do own a PC

Games machines are all about playability (or should be)
And the XBox simply has less than the rest.

Halo looks good though.

But then so does Unreal 3 on the PC.
 
Also, I must have a Quiet PS2 by all accounts
Plus a very well built one!

Mine is solid as a rock!
Also it's 5db quieter at 1m than the Xbox
Therefore more than twice as quiet.
 
Originally posted by Garyd
And the prize goes to ironduke for taking the debate to a whole new level.

nice to see a fanboy arrive.......

Takes one to know one Jerky!
 
If the Xbox comes out 2 to 3 years after the PS2 it is bound to have more powerful technology. This doesn't mean the PS2 is outdated. Just look at the games, show me anything better on Xbox than GT3, Auto Modelista, Timesplitters 2, Burnout 2, Pro Evo 2, CM3, WRC II, FFX, XIII.

The only time I seriously consider upgrading due to better technology, even if I am happy with my present console, is when a new generation of console comes out with a big step forward in graphics, not just for slightly smoother versions of the same games.

What would you sooner have an outdated Jaguar E-Type or a state of the art Ford Fiesta?

BTW Dolby Digital does not have to be 5.1.
 
stalefish, "As a gamer for 20 years..with almost every system imaginable" so you must have an xbox then? right? if so then why do you not have Halo? it is the best FPS ever written (bar none!) - so do i sense that you have not played it? If so have you played it 5.1? also you didn't answer my question, you say that the xbox is unplayable because it plays like a PC!? what does that mean? why are PC games any more disjointed than PS2 games?

Ironduke, you debating skills are second to none. "the gamecube is for kiddes" wise words my friend, you must be a REAL gamer?

stewarth, as i said yesterday, this is turning into a "my c*cks bigger than your c*ck" debate which is not was intended. while i wont despute that some of the games you have mentioned are undoubtably great games (there are some in your list i would argue with but its not worth the argument about specifics titles), but like all games systems for the most part there is 90% dross on the shelves, each system has its own strengths and weaknesses, which is why i have all three. However, the best gaming experiance i've ever had is halo in co-op mode, no other system can touch it and if thats disjointed then bring on more disjointed games!!!

Gary:)
 
Originally posted by Garyd
stalefish, "As a gamer for 20 years..with almost every system imaginable" so you must have an xbox then? right? if so then why do you not have Halo? it is the best FPS ever written (bar none!) - so do i sense that you have not played it? If so have you played it 5.1? also you didn't answer my question, you say that the xbox is unplayable because it plays like a PC!? what does that mean? why are PC games any more disjointed than PS2 games?

Ironduke, you debating skills are second to none. "the gamecube is for kiddes" wise words my friend, you must be a REAL gamer?

stewarth, as i said yesterday, this is turning into a "my c*cks bigger than your c*ck" debate which is not was intended. while i wont despute that some of the games you have mentioned are undoubtably great games (there are some in your list i would argue with but its not worth the argument about specifics titles), but like all games systems for the most part there is 90% dross on the shelves, each system has its own strengths and weaknesses, which is why i have all three. However, the best gaming experiance i've ever had is halo in co-op mode, no other system can touch it and if thats disjointed then bring on more disjointed games!!!

Gary:)

who dis guy:rolleyes:
 

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