headcasting is nutty and impractical feature

[labrador]

I've looked at the features and it appears the only new thing that could possibly matter for me (already have G400) is headcasting.

This concept is a novelty that solves not one problem facing computer users today. If I want to talk to someone over the internet and I don't have available bandwidth, I'm going to want everything I've got to ensure the sound comes through well. Having some plastic looking head isn't going to substitute for a real picture of the person I am speaking with.

This one goes into the same bit bin as the Gamecam software and the 3D talking internet newscaster that appeared last year. You might try them once, laugh, and then never use it again.

Bump mapping never made anything really interesting happen in 3D games, and now it looks like Matrox have gone fishing for some "unique to us" concept again.

I give up, I'm going Radeon for my next 3D upgrade. I want Quake III and flight sims to run in 1024x768. My current G400's are doing well for the web design role they have - no need to upgrade them at all.

[mdhome]

labrador
I have a Radeon and generally find it an excellent card. However if you buy one please dont come back in 6 months time complaining that it doesnt have the latest and greatest gimmick on the marketHeadcasting. I for one cant wait to be one of the first Kids on the block with this feature and am looking forward to having my animated head on the internet
Sorry man couldnt resist. The G550 must have put me in a funny mood


regards MD

[labrador]

Perhaps I'm getting too old to get excited about the latest play things, but I am finding we are getting too much technology in which the performance is borderline in terms of it being useful.

We have $100 webcams that delay 1/2 second between the picture and the sound (nothing to do with lag - viewed on same machine), slide adapters on flatbed scanners that don't properly focus on the slide and are therefore blurry at any resolution, digital cameras which produce pictures only as good as those from disposable camera, and expensive PDAs that take longer to use than a pen and notebook and until very recently could not even display color (they should incorporate digital sound recording, hand held scanning or voice to text recognition to be anywhere near time saving). These technologies are produced by major brand names, so are not talking about the usually questionable value of deeply discounted goods.

There are people who really enjoy any novelty and pick up stuff like microphones that transmit over FM radio for car to car party craziness from their Radio Shack as soon as it appears in flyers. I think the headcasting will appeal to the same people and it won't even get anyone's interest six months after the novelty has appeared.

I do get excited about useful thresholds of technology being made available. I am looking forward to the day a flight sim requires a full DVD of data for the terrain information and perhaps we can actually see grass blades whipped around from the prop wash on taxi and take off.