It’s a great time to be a fan of space combat games. It’s not a great time however, to be a fan of space combat games when your PC barely has enough processing power to run a game of Prince Of Persia that was optimised for Pentium 386 hardware. Still, that’s all about to change. While Star Citizen creeps in more features and ludicrous amounts of cash, at least one Space sim game has made a release date, with Elite Dangerous proving to be particularly popular. It’s got a solid following on PC. and that audience is going to grow when the game hops on over to the Xbox One.
Unfamiliar with Elite Dangerous? The premise is simple enough. You start out with a rinky-dink starship, a handful of credits and the cold, dark vacuum of space to explore. From there, you’ll fight to survive as earn enough skill, knowledge and wealth that will hopefully culminate in you not finding out what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a tachyon laser burst to the face. A massive multiplayer experience, this is actually the forth Elite game in a series that dates back all the way to 1995 in Elite: First Encounters.
The Xbox One port that was announced at GDC, will include all content added to the PC version by February’s Community Goals content update and March’s Wings content update. PC players will get the Wings content for free next week, which will unite players as they pursue new targets and rewards across the Milky Way galaxy. Hey, I can see my solar system from up here.
There’s no concrete release date yet for Elite: Dangerous on Xbox One, save for it being a 2015 game. I’m pretty damn happy about this. With Star Citizen looking unlikely to ever appear on console, and No Man’s Sky still a ways away on PC and PS4, Elite: Dangerous may just scratch a particular itch for me, as the space combat genre has been dormant for far too long.
Last Updated: March 5, 2015
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 10:08
Pentiums were after the 486. The 486 followed the 386, which followed the 286, which followed the XT, which followed the AT. And then there was the Commodore 64.
Either way, the Pentium 386 was never a thing. If you’re making up computer hardware, I don’t think you should be using one. Stick to your consoles, peasant. 😛
Matewis Jubilai
March 5, 2015 at 10:14
And Pentium 2 were those mystically powerful mini nuclear reactors for kids with rich parents 😛 Tomb Raider 2 was, uhm, interesting on a 486…
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 10:17
No, the nuclear reactors were the AMD’s at that stage. Those things were almost twice as hot as a Pentium.. Good riddance Athlon.
Matewis Jubilai
March 5, 2015 at 10:20
Oh yeah, the K6? We used to talk about them in hushed voices around the school yard: “Did you hear? Something cheaper and more powerful than a Pentium that works better with games.”
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 10:21
And then lasts an hour before it explodes from the heat. Many people fell for that.
The K7 largely fixed the heating issue, so I bit the bullet and bought an AMD Athlon 64 after my Pentium 850. Still regret it. XD
HvR
March 5, 2015 at 10:39
Just upgraded the processor fan and added a case fan, 15% more processing power and 1/4 of the price.
RustedFaith
March 5, 2015 at 11:10
Athlon was great chips for over clocking if you had the right pressing. You just needed to take a lead pencil and bridge the cache and unlock it by drawing lines between the components.
ollieclark
March 5, 2015 at 14:19
My K6 was still working a few months ago when I gave the computer it was in away to someone.
HvR
March 5, 2015 at 10:45
Next week Darryn will telling stories of his first Nvidia Voodoo and playing X-wing vs Tie with his Logitech Sidewinder joystick.
The D
March 5, 2015 at 10:47
That’s….that’s just mean. I’m going to go dry my tears in the green glow of my ancient CRT monitor.
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 10:53
I used one of those well into the HD generation. I eventually caved and bought an LCD. I sort of miss the CRT days. Then I remember what not having desk space was like, and I don’t miss it any more. 😛
Matewis Jubilai
March 5, 2015 at 10:57
Lugging a humungous 17” crt to and from LAN parties was the worst 😛
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 10:58
The good old days
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 10:59
Again, I don’t miss that. I do miss LAN parties though.
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 11:01
Last “LAN party” I had was actually just a year ago. But we were only four people.
My fiancé was the one who actually suggested it 🙂
Matewis Jubilai
March 5, 2015 at 11:03
What did you play? Was it a true LAN or did everyone have to connect to the internet first?
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 11:03
And there’s the problem with LANs for the last few years. 🙁
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 11:05
Luckily it’s all like-minded people, so you don’t have one guy who rages every time something happens.
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 11:04
True LAN. 😀 We’re old school that way.
Only one Ubisoft game required us to be online. So we just didn’t play it.
Played a lot of old school strategy and a few FPS (modded) games.
Matewis Jubilai
March 5, 2015 at 11:06
All I’m seeing in my head are swarms of Protoss carriers 😛 That used to be the only tactic I encountered from my buddies 😛
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 11:08
Haha. We even played some Total Annihilation… My personal favourite.
Weanerdog
March 5, 2015 at 15:10
Dark Templars FTW
Matewis Jubilai
March 5, 2015 at 11:02
Oh yes, although I don’t miss coaxial cables even for one second
Brady miaau
March 5, 2015 at 12:16
Urg
RustedFaith
March 5, 2015 at 11:08
have fond memories of my i386 DX
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 11:18
My first PC was a 386. My sound card had ram slots on it. XD
RustedFaith
March 5, 2015 at 11:49
wow you had a sound card ? I had that crappy pc speaker on the motherboard with the midi playing through.
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 11:50
Oh god I remember those too. Fucking hated them. I always just unplugged them right off the bat.
Brady miaau
March 5, 2015 at 12:01
I thought he as being deliberate in his wording. Did I miss something
“Pentium 386”, is awesome
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 12:09
He was; I was just being a dick. 😛
Brady miaau
March 5, 2015 at 12:16
Ah. Um. Ok.
🙂
I figured, but someone has to play the game you started
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 12:17
gg wp 😛
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 10:09
Also,
SPACE IN YO FACE!!!!
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltjj7gI7nk1qlheay.gif
Spathi
March 5, 2015 at 10:15
Wow, this is kinda awesome!
CAE9872
March 5, 2015 at 10:17
That is pretty good news. Have been seeing quite a few interesting announcements for Xbox One recently. PS4 has great upcoming library of its own as well…so things sound good.
RinceThis
March 5, 2015 at 10:18
That is awesome. Love me some space games.
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 10:19
Well, since MS is going for cross-play this doesn’t surprise me too much. Now because it’s basically an MMO, will PC and Xbone players be able to travel for hours through space without encountering each other?
Pieter Kruger
March 6, 2015 at 10:45
Yes, yes they will, the will also miss encounters with other Mac players as these 3 platforms will apparently run in the same galaxy! But ponies will get their very own galaxy in where they can miss encounters with fellow ponies! ????
Pieter Kruger
March 5, 2015 at 10:27
WOW, saw the IGN review last night, looks awesome! One of many previous PC only games to move to Xbox One! How many new PC games coming out in future will also be coming to Xbox One? Kinda nullifies buying an expensive gaming PC right? ????
Lord Chaos
March 5, 2015 at 10:28
Seeing as console games are around R900 the price evens out quickly.
Pieter Kruger
March 5, 2015 at 10:31
Still waiting to see how cross buy/pc/ and console game prices will pan out…..!????
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 10:55
Pretty much. 5 games and that’s a new graphics card. One that’s more powerful than either console.
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 11:23
I’m sticking to pc because it’s more affordable for me.
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 11:25
It’s more affordable for everyone. lol. That’s the real joke whenever a peasant pipes up “consolez aer teh cheapez”
CAE9872
March 5, 2015 at 11:39
No consoles ain’t cheap and nor are games BUT they pretty convenient. And that is why us peasants like them. Do I need pin-sharp visuals = No. Would it be nice = Sure. Will I live = YES.
Pariah
March 5, 2015 at 11:45
Don’t get me wrong, I understand why consoles are awesome (I own one, and have owned one for decades, shifting through the generations as I went). What I don’t appreciate is the cost argument. Last generation it was relevant and true, this generation it’s not. As for convenience, that’s in a bit of question too – day 1 patches, updates, installs etc. – no more “pop in and play”.
But local on-the-couch co-op? How about sitting on your couch with a controller without annoying setups (ala PC). And what about those lovely exclusives, and knowing that your hardware will run the game you just bought? Those are all legit, good reasons to have and love a console.
CAE9872
March 5, 2015 at 11:49
Yeah I just find the PC vs console argument a total borefest…you like what you like, I like what I like = cool. Who really gives a shit in truth; and if one does…really?
RustedFaith
March 5, 2015 at 11:15
R475 a game vs R900 a game …
L337J1MB0B
March 5, 2015 at 14:26
Love how PC guys always exaggerate a little on these things to make the situation seem a lot more dire. Not sure where you think people buy console games from, but I have a PS4 and have never paid more than R600 for a game, and always get them as new releases. Add to that the fact we have this little thing in the console sphere called the used games market, and no DRM, which means the games I buy on console are actually worth infinitely more than your DRM box’s games.
RustedFaith
March 5, 2015 at 14:44
R475 any AAA from Amazon. You should do some research before having a fanny wobble here.
L337J1MB0B
March 5, 2015 at 16:14
I’m not going to bust out a calculator here, but if you can tell me a way that I can buy all the new games on PC day 1, and effectively spend no more R200 on each because of used games market, then I’m there like a bear. But no, instead you guys have to be super selective about your purchases because of the risk involved due to DRM, or wait 12 months till it becomes affordable in a Steam sale. In other words, either pay a fortune or become a second rate gamer living off the scraps.
RustedFaith
March 6, 2015 at 10:23
I am going to say this again DO YOU REALIZE THAT PAYING TO PLAY MULTIPLAYER ON CONSOLE MONTHLY IS DRM.
“but if you can tell me a way that I can buy all the new games on PC day 1, and effectively spend no more R200 on each because of used games market, then I’m there like a bear.”
I suggest you read that sentence again and reformat into English. You compare the PC day 1 market with console used games market ?
Admiral Chief
March 5, 2015 at 10:27
Well after the MS announcement it would be weird for it NOT to be cross platform
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 10:33
This looks really cool
BacchusZA
March 5, 2015 at 10:52
The first Elite game was the 1984 release actually, which I invested MANY hours in on my old mans’ trusty BBC Model B (2.4MHz, 32Kb RAM….) instead of doing my homework 😛
I’ve been playing the new one since the Beta, and I’ve been loving every minute of it, though it probably helps that I played the original as much as I did. It’s definitely light on features right now, though it’s getting regular & frequent content updates, and there’s some very exciting stuff on the horizon, such as planetary landings, & a first person component which should make it later this year.
It’s also one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played, and if you have the slightest interest in space and our galaxy – it’s a fairly accurate representation of it, with known stars, planets, & so on appearing in the game – it’ll blow your socks right off. And it even runs quite well on very modest hardware if you turn the settings down, yet still remains very tasty to look at.
Andrew vd Walt
March 5, 2015 at 13:55
Yeah 1984. Darryn should be doing his homework >.>
Weanerdog
March 5, 2015 at 15:16
The graphics look like they have had an update from the old BBC days. Watched a documentary which had in a segment about Elite and the guys that developed it and how they spent months optimizing it to save a couple of bytes of resources to get it to run.
Matewis Jubilai
March 5, 2015 at 11:01
It’s space games such as these that makes me want to save up and buy a 4k gaming setup, and Homeworld, KSP especially
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 11:02
Yes.
I just bought Starpoint Gemini 2 the other day. Actually also quite a decent game. Like a space RPG.
Matewis Jubilai
March 5, 2015 at 11:05
Looks aces!
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 11:06
I’ve only played a bit at someone else, so still need to try it on my pc. I’ll let you know how it is when you get deeper into it. All the user reviews are good though, so I’m happy.
Matewis Jubilai
March 5, 2015 at 11:08
I’ll jump right back into a space flight sim/rpg thing if I come across anything that reminds me of Freelancer 😛 But first I have to actually beat an old foe of mine : Wing Commander IV : Price of Freedom. Never got past disc 6 😛
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 11:09
I have Galaxy on Fire 2 that I happened to get on a humble bundle. It’s alright. Not great, but I got about 14 hours out of it before I got bored. It’s a lot of grinding to really get the cash up to buy decent stuff.
Matewis Jubilai
March 5, 2015 at 11:13
I don’t necessarily mind if there is some grind, sometimes it works. Like Sunless Sea I’ve been playing recently that got some flack due to the difficulty of obtaining any real cash, but I found that struggling to achieve anything really fitted the game’s tense terror-filled atmosphere. Thing is, I never got bored
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 11:15
Galaxy of Fire 2 is a lot of rinse and repeat, but it’s not actually as bad as I’m making it sound. It’s only SP but it’s some nice fun to just sit back and fly around space, killing pirates, doing random jobs and buying better ships/upgrades.
BacchusZA
March 5, 2015 at 11:12
The best way to describe E: D is a more fleshed out version of the Freelancer open play mode. If you enjoyed that, then you’ll love E: D .
Matewis Jubilai
March 5, 2015 at 11:18
Ooh excellent, I’ll keep that in mind for when I’ve fixed my desktop – these space games deserve more than a 15” laptop screen 😛
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 11:12
I still remember playing X-Wing when I was younger. Loved that game so much.
Matewis Jubilai
March 5, 2015 at 11:14
Oh yes, as soon as I get some down time, I’m going to grab Rogue Squadron from gog!
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 11:16
I’d love to get that myself and then some Galactic Battlegrounds to fill my strategy need.
Matewis Jubilai
March 5, 2015 at 11:19
I’ve tried it, but I just can’t wash the Age of Empires taste from my mouth 😛 I’d much rather play Age of Empires 2 HD and go for Empire at War for my SW strategy need
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 11:21
I used to play both games all the time, so I’m still okay with it. 🙂
Empire at War is great, but it’s a bit of a different approach. Hopefully Disney has some plans for decent new SW games.
Matewis Jubilai
March 5, 2015 at 11:23
Yeah, but sadly I think there is 0% chance Disney will OK a strategy game 🙁
Captain JJ the damned
March 5, 2015 at 11:23
I think you’re right about that.
Brady miaau
March 5, 2015 at 12:00
Looked at it a few times. Not so sure yet
Andrew vd Walt
March 5, 2015 at 13:57
I bought SG2 during early access and was worried about it, but it has turned out pretty good.
GooseZA
March 5, 2015 at 11:43
I gotta say, I’m more than a little excited for this.
RustedFaith
March 5, 2015 at 11:51
Oi that Avatar is in use 🙂 Infidel !!! Now I have to change it
Brady miaau
March 5, 2015 at 12:00
I will get it. At day one? Maybe, depends on gaming needs, finances and so forth. But this looks AWESOME.
I loved Elite+ back in the late 80’s. Nostalgia alone could account for a purchase.
but no on PC
Wyzak
March 5, 2015 at 13:13
Be careful, this company is known to break promises. Wait until it’s out and fully complies with your needs before buying it.
Francois Knoetze
March 5, 2015 at 14:26
Hazaaa!!! Fantesticle NEWS!!! now I can play No Mans Sky on PS4 and this on my Xbox One!