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Darkzero: A-Train HX Review

Darkzero writes: "Here we are with Artdink's latest foray into train management. A specialised yet popular genre that's seen fairly large sales by the likes of Transport and Railroad Tycoon. I appreciate this is a weird genre in some respects, especially on a hardcore gaming console, but clearly there's a market. The original series started life on the Amiga and PC, while A-Train 6 was released on the PS2 three years ago. Climb aboard as I take you around what this game has to offer.

The basic premise in a-Train is a simple one. Rather then make money as such, the idea is to make money AND increase the size of your city. So the population grows and you achieve your targets, and to do this you have to build a railway. You'll initially start with a town or two and from there you can decide the types of area you wish to promote. The initial towns will provide some housing and some people but you also need various business sectors to make them work for you. You also need money, and you need resources. Initially you'll see that your railway disappears off the fairly large map you inhabit."

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darkzero.co.uk
260°

Xbox 360 Emulator "Xenia" Runs Real Game "A-Train HX" at 60FPS

Ben Vanik, creator of the Xbox 360 Emulator “Xenia” has released a new video, showcasing his emulator running A-Train HX at 60 frames per second.

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dsogaming.com
ArtificiallyYours4074d ago

I'm hoping something like this comes to the Xbox One. The 360 has gotten better with age.

ArtificiallyYours4074d ago (Edited 4074d ago )

Who cares why not?

If this emulator is solid it would fit the bill of Microsoft's latest console. Especially with Windows 10. Why does that not make any sense?

mikeslemonade4074d ago

The X1 is to weak to emulate the 360.

Aloren4074d ago

So is the PS4. Emulators usually take an insane amount of resources...

NuggetsOfGod4074d ago

sorry backwards compatibility and xbox 360 are pc exclusive.

the-pi-guy4074d ago

There are usually 2 difficulties with programming.
One: hardware, usually has to be much much better than the target platform.
Two: software, the quality of the software can greatly impact the quality of the hardware required.

So could the X1 emulate the 360?

Probably not, but I'm not going to straight out say no, and here's why. The second reason is easy to take care of for MS. They built the console and know all the ins and outs and could very well make a great emulator that runs better than even this emulator on much much worse hardware.

If you look at the PS3, the PS2 classics you downloaded were emulated software wise on the newer systems. Despite the gigantic gap between PC and PS3 hardware, the PS3 was able to run PS2 games more reliably because Sony knew the PS2 and was able to make a far superior emulator for it.

deSSy27244073d ago

http://s30.postimg.org/8cq3...
http://s14.postimg.org/eqej...
http://s30.postimg.org/kv6p...

Basically, its possible to emulate Xbox360 games or PS3 games on PC with amazing speeds (1-10 times slower than the hardware you want to emulate) but its very hard to code such an emulator.

the-pi-guy4068d ago

@deSSy
Basically that means that you need 1-10x more power than a PS3 to emulate a PS3. Something like The Last of Us will be a few years away. The CPU in the PS3 is really a lot more powerful than some give it credit for. The PCs are in the lower area of 1-10x. We aren't quite at 10x even.
And even regardless of that, the software just isn't there yet. 9 years after the launch of the Xbox 360, and 1 year after the launch of this emulator, and this is where we are.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 4068d ago
Bodge4074d ago Show
Kumomeme4074d ago

enable emulator support as solution for backward compability?

as if xbox one can run it
even pcsx2 was struggle to run on decent pc before

Dark_king4074d ago

Really people the XBox One's processor cant emulate the Xenon of the 360 just cant do it.Hell if your thinking your gaming rig can emulate it accurately just know it cant nothing on the market right now can.

Just think it takes a 3GHz CPU to perfectly emulate the SNES.
http://www.tested.com/tech/...

WitWolfy4074d ago

@Darkling, my xbox original says hi...

Dark_king4074d ago

@WitWolfy What are you talking about?You kind of got me confused there.

WitWolfy4074d ago (Edited 4074d ago )

My softmod xbox original had less than 300Mhz with 64mb of RAM and could emulate SNES perfectly. Heck it could even emulate PSX games.

Dark_king4074d ago

WitWolfy I see that's what you where talking about.It was good but no where near perfect emulation.Not that you would even notice a difference though.

Apollosupreme4074d ago

I was playing SNES emulators smoothly like 15 years ago. Come on man, I'm not even clicking that link.

deSSy27244073d ago (Edited 4073d ago )

If you want to emulare an specific system without any hacks and as much accurately as possible, the CPU needs to be MUCH MUCH stronger than the system you want to emulate. BUT if you know how to optimize the code, fix all bugs... basically, if you have amazing programming skills you could speed up the emulation but its really hard to do it.

CMon ppl, learn some things:

1. ACCURATE EMULATION = SLOW aka you need a really strong CPU
2. NOT PROPER EMULATION WITH TRICKS SUCH AS HACKS, PATCHES ETC = FASTER aka you can run it with relatively good speed even with low end hardware

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 4073d ago
trywizardo4074d ago

what's the minimum requirements to run it ?!

Lon3wolf4074d ago

What kind of machine do I need to run this?

You'll need 64-bit Windows 8 with a processor supporting at least AVX2 - in other words, a Haswell. In general if you have to ask if your machine is good enough to run games at a decent speed the answer is no.

What about Linux/OSX?

The project is designed to support non-Windows platforms but until it's running games it's not worth the maintenance burden. OSX will likely remain unsupported until Apple supports OpenGL 4.3 or higher.

What kind of GPU do I need?

OpenGL 4.5 support and drivers are required. To get full speed and compatibility GL-next may eventually be required.

4074d ago
SporadikStyles4074d ago

I still want a good original Xbox emu. When the system launched the first thing I thought was, this PIII, Gforce 3 will be so easy to emulate in 10 years time. Joke is on me 14 years later.

I see emulating a custom 3.2gHz PowerPC multicore CPU/GPU a very hard task with modern CPUs even with visualization CPU modes. Hopefully they can get help from the Dolphin community because wOw, Dolphin is amazing!

Can't wait for a 360 emu, but for now I'd rather just turn my jet engine 360 on and just use it instead which we still do all the time. Otherwise the AAA games I really like on 360 other than Gears2+ I do have on my HTPC and can play in 3D.

sungam3d4074d ago

WEW! Hopefully in ~10 years I can play Red Dead Redemption on my PC!

the-pi-guy4074d ago

Doubtful.
Xenia came out a year ago, and is only running games like this. 10 years? Doubt it'll take that long, but I fully expect it to take longer than 2 years.

A game like RDR will be further off.

Show all comments (29)
130°

Bargain Raiders: A-TRAIN HX HIGH DEFINITION 720P

Al from StickTwiddlers returns to Bargain Raiders with A-TRAIN HX HIGH DEFINITION 720P as he tries to work out just what the hell is actually going on in this 'game'.

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sticktwiddlers.com
30°

Xbox LIVE Games on Demand: Brave, Skate, A-Train HX

Major Nelson's Blog writes:

"Content: Brave- Warrior's Tale
Price: Check pricing for your region
Availability: Australia, New Zealand and North America
Dash Text: The exciting coming of age story of a young native american, set in a fantastic world of magic and mythology! Re-live the tales of your elders, and learn the skills you'll need to defeat the evil Wendigo.

Content: skate.
Price: Check pricing for your region
Availability: Not available in Australia and Japan
Dash Text: The authentic skate experience.

Also, Xbox LIVE members in Japan, can now purchase A-Train HX"

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majornelson.com