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Microsoft Xbox 360

Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

Already a few complaints about Disc size regarding mainly the use of High Quality Textures etc . But as allard said , In the first few months of development, Companies arn't aware of Techniques to be more constructive regarding there limitations.

Theres not really been one dual layer xbox game apart from Bards tale. All the rest can be ripped quite easily to dvd5 ( Even bards tale eventually )
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

Microsoft has proposed using HD-DVD at a later date - but I doubt the casual gamer will shell out again to upgrade. We can safely say, perhaps, that HD-DVD (or whatever - HVD perhaps?) is planned for the next incarnation of the XBox (if it happens that is).
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

I think they have to/will, because PS3 will have the edge with a high definition player.
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

Apparently tomorrow Microsoft will release a list of Xbox games which Xbox 360 will be compatable with.

The rest of the Xbox games will need patches downloaded from Live.
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

PES 5 is meant to be the first game that has the software for it to be played on a 360 already on the disc. :D
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

Quite a interesting interview with Microsoft's Corporate Vice President J Allard.
It's too big to put it all here so go to the source!
Source: IGN

Here's some part's that might interest us folks. :)

Q: I've spoken to several developers and they're all telling me they're filling up their DVD pretty quickly, that the media isn't big enough. What's going to be done about that?

Allard: Well, we've got to do better on compression. We're not totally where we want to be with compression. Honestly, to be frank, stuff comes in hot. We're trying to do a worldwide launch of this very ambitious program, and developers will tell you that they're not very satisfied with the DVD emulator or compression. And therefore they are layouts with DVD, they're struggling with that; they're cutting corners. Basically what happens when you get final hardware late, you're sloppy. With all deference to the developers, you've got to take every out you can and so they're not applying all their talents, as they will next year and the year after to get every little bit they can out of it. They're being a little sloppy with the CPU, they're being a little sloppy with the discs, they're being a little sloppy with their formats and compression to make launch. And next year, you'll see that they tighten that up so they can get more out of the system using the same disc capacity, using the same compression, and the same art tools, and so they'll get a lot more out of the system next year. That's why games look better year over year. It's primarily because hardware comes in hot, and developers use the deficiency of the schedule not to just learn the hardware but to cut a couple of corners.
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they are filling the DVD's but is it DVD9s or DVD5s?

Q: Your shipping schedule is very ambitious. Nobody has tried to ship to three different territories simultaneously and for a good reason. It's very difficult. You've got chip manufacturers hopefully churning out perfect chips, and how is your yield of good to bad chips? Then you have assembly, manufacturing, shipping all over the world. So, how are you going to do it? How many units will you ship to North America, and how many do you plan on shipping total in North America?

Allard: We have a term for this. It's a very technical term. It's called a very hard problem. It's just hard. So, the first thing is, I cannot comment on the numbers. You can try all you want, but I won't give any up. Partly because we're only in the beginning of manufacturing. The ramp rate we're aiming for is very, very steep. We're hoping to manufacture them at a rate that's much more aggressive than anybody's done before. And it's going very well. But until that sort of evens out, attaining a cruising altitude in manufacturing, I don't even have a very accurate forecast for my boss. And until that happens, we don't really tell anybody else. The other thing is, with the financial community, we have to be very deliberate about releasing information like that for all sorts of reasons. We have to be cautious of regulatory issues. That's why we don't comment on the numbers.

But manufacturing is going very well. And honestly we decided as a management team that we'd rather take the heat from all territories saying we wish we had more. And we'll have to say "sold out" in too many places. We'd rather take that heat, then take the heat from Europe saying, "Why do we have to wait a year?" We designed a worldwide product with worldwide partners, and with worldwide ambition, and the world deserves to see it all at the same time, and we're not going to have enough.(:() That's the fact. No matter how aggressive we are with the ramp rate, no matter how good our yields are, that's going to be the fact, which is another reason that manufacturers are worldwide. So hopefully you guys are thoughtful of that in how you report the news, and there will be "sold out" signs out there, and we know we're going to take some heat, but hopefully it's the right thing for the industry. And I think that Gerhardt Florin (Executive VP at EA Europe) said last night, "You know, sometimes the right thing to do is the gutsy thing to do, which is the hard thing to do." And our partners are certainly glad we're doing it, and I think that gamers worldwide are glad we're doing it.
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Here's the confirmation that there is going to be a shortage. Not like anyone needed confirmation.

Q: It looks like a lot of publishers are going to be releasing their games a week before the launch. A week before November 22. Those games will be stores, and it's highly unlikely that retailers are going to hold onto those games for a week.

Allard: Could happen. I don't know.
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:lol: a week b4 the launch there will already be games available.

Q: One of my favorite things about the system is that you can plug in your iPod or a portable music player into it, and stream music. Are there any worries that certain companies will update their software to somehow make their systems not work with the Xbox 360?

Allard: You can't worry about stuff like that. I'm pro consumer on this one to the end. Anybody in my company who thought this was a bad idea to plug in Sony or Apple devices into this thing, I ended that conversation pretty quickly. This is the right thing to do for consumers. Once they invest $500 in their digital media library, you can't ask them to go buy a 360 music player and a 360 digital camera, and a 360...NO! They got their stuff. They're going to want to plug it in. We're going to be open here, guys. And if anything, I wish we could be more cooperative with the other companies that are doing those things. And if Sony or Apple were to call me up and say, "Hey, we want to some special things with the 360," I'm on it. I think it would not be in anybody's interest to say, we're not going to work with 360. It's good for them, it's good for us, and it's good for consumers.
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This is definitely a good thing. Nice going M$.

Q: Do you think PS3 is still coming out in spring 06?

Allard: I keep reading spring 06. You keep writing it. He keeps saying it, you keep writing it, and I keep reading it. I don't know what to believe. The only console I have seen doesn't have holes in it. You can't have a 200-watt-plus system and not have air flow through it. You know? Nobody has tried the boomerang yet. I hope they do something better than that.
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Yeah, the controller looks awfull, and I didn't even notice the lack of ventilation, but that's way it may not be a final design.

Edit: That's great news Holio! :D
 
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Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

Found on Torrentspy.com

First up, IBM has been talking about the 3-core PowerPC chip that's in the 360. The guys over at the Inquirer have the scoop. Some interesting info: the design and construction of the Xbox CPU took about 24 months from the deal being done to the chip being produced; the chips were fully operation straight off the production line, first time; the front side bus has a bandwidth of 21.6GB/s. The three cores run at 3.2GHz.

Halo and Halo 2 may look better on the 360, according to rumours started by Bungie. On their website, they suggest that 'We're going to have more to tell you about how Halo one and two look on the 360 - and it's all good news." I guess we're all hoping for full 720p, and perhaps even some hi-res textures shipping on the hard drive to replace the ones in game?

Joystiq has an update on the kiosk situation in the US. There were reports that the wireless controllers and the wireless networking were interfering with Walmart pricing guns. These reports appear to be sporadic, but there's plenty of other goss - 15,000 kiosks will ship in total across the states, a single 360 can support 4 wireless controllers, and you can network four consoles together for LAN play with 16 wireless controllers, without interference.

Xbox.com is now redesigned with a 360 spin. Gone is the narrow, text-based formatting of the previous site - the new 360 site is in glorious widescreen and is graphics heavy. Looks good.
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Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

The latest Major Nelson podcast has very interesting interviews about the XBox 360 features, eg. the Media Center and Media Connect. You can subscribe or just get the MP3 here:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/MajorNelsonblogcast

The second interview is probably the most interesting, it starts around 21 minutes in the file.
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

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Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

XBox 360 Tour Details


Do you want to experience Xbox 360™ before its official launch next month.

Well now’s your chance.



4 Cities, 4 Events, 360 Hours

The 360 Hour Tour will be the public’s first chance to play Xbox 360, the start of the next generation of gaming and entertainment - before it is available in the UK on December 2nd.

Things kick off at The Lighthouse in Glasgow on the 4th November, before making it’s way southwards to Birmingham’s Custard Factory, stopping off at The Light in Leeds and culminating in London’s Mercer Street Studios – a week before launch.

Play Perfect Dark Zero, beat your best mate on Project Gotham Racing 3, go solo on Kameo, its up to you. You just need to turn up at the venue, at the times below and get that head start on your mates by tuning your skills on Xbox 360.

We’ll also offer you the chance to play tonnes of other games, so come along and be the first to experience the next generation of gaming and entertainment.

Event Details

Glasgow 4th -6th November
The Lighthouse, Gallery 5, Scotland’s Centre for Architecture, Glasgow
Friday 4th 12.00 pm – 6.00 pm
Saturday 5th 10.30am – 6.00pm
Sunday 6th 10.30am – 6.00pm

Birmingham 11th – 13th November
The Old Library, The Custard Factory, Gibb Square, Birmingham
Friday 11th 12.00pm – 6.30pm
Saturday 12th 10.00am – 6.30pm
Sunday 13th 10.00am -6.30pm

Leeds 18th – 20th November
Upper Balcony, Next to Vue Cinema, The Light Centre, Headrow, Leeds
Friday 18th 9.30am – 7.30pm
Saturday 19th 9.30am – 7.30pm
Sunday 20th 9.30am – 6pm

London 25th – 27th November
Mercer Street Studios, 16 Mercer Street, London, WC2
Friday 25th 10.00am – 6.30pm
Saturday 26th 10.00am – 6.30pm
Sunday 27th 10.00am – 7.00pm
Monday 28th 10.00 am - 7.00pm


Link - http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/community/news/360tour.htm


I shall be attending the one in Brum :)
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

today announced that microsoft wont be bringing out a new hd-dvd drive for its games. It might bring the drive out to support new movies on HD-DVD format, but games will defo stay dual layered.

Very dissapointed.
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

It may or may not be a very bad move by M$.
It will all depend on how good will the HD-DVD/blu-ray acceptance be with the public. And if game creators will complain about the lack of space.
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

I had a shot of one this morning, at the event Flawless posted above. You got 30 minutes allocated, and they had a few games on show:

PGR3
Kameo
Call of Duty 2
GUN
FIFA
DOA4
NBA

and a golf game. I spent 10 minutes playing FIFA, 10 minutes playing PGR and 10 minutes waiting to play PGR. FIFA looked nice, but I'm sorry guys it still plays as poorly as ever. PGR didn't blow me away at all. It looks nice, but it just doesn't seem that fast. Maybe it was an older build or something, because it didn't look as good as in the HD trailers shown so far (road textures looked a little blurry at times, and the amount of aliasing on the car was alarming). Same goes for CoD2 which I watched others play, I have this game on PC and it's better anti-aliased on that than it was here.

I really hope these weren't the most up to date versions, if they are then they're a bit of a letdown.

The pad was pretty good though.
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

I was at Glasgow and in the twelve o'clock viewing also. Thanks to all the staff and other people attending for making it a pleasurable experience.

Heres the lowdown

PGR3 - The vids do not do this game justice! Amazing graphics fluid and responsive gameplay. Keeps its playability and looks fantastic. 10/10 in the wow factor

DOA4 - Graphics are superb again vids do no justice! Great fun to play.

COD2 - Great graphics and great to play, can see this being a hit!

TIGER WOODS 06 - Surprisingly really really good. Looks amazing as expected but the gameplay is fun but still unforgiving, could see this being a surprise live favourite.

FIFA 06 RTWC - Plays much better than FIFA 06 Current Gen, AI is much improved and it also looks fantastic, was pleasantly surprised.

CONDEMNED - Looks and plays well, a deep and involving game that will hook people i've no doubt.

HARDWARE - Machine looks fantastic and the new dashboard etc are inovative and colourful, making the more boring tasks lively. The controller was amazing, very light, very comfortable and natural, definately better than the S-Pad. Can't think of anything else but if I do i'll update you all.

Overall I'm very excited about gettting mine now and videos definately don't do it justice, worth getting to a roadshow if you can as it will blow you away! I've still not calmed down!
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

Don't get me wrong, I didn't think they looked bad, but I expected to be bowled over, to be blown away and I wasn't. The gap between generations this time is far smaller than usual. It's hard to gauge the quality of the games given only 30 minutes in total, for example I only got one half of FIFA and two laps of PGR3.
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

ClassicD said:
Don't get me wrong, I didn't think they looked bad, but I expected to be bowled over, to be blown away and I wasn't. The gap between generations this time is far smaller than usual. It's hard to gauge the quality of the games given only 30 minutes in total, for example I only got one half of FIFA and two laps of PGR3.
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I think that has alot to do with the fact that MS had the most powerful console of the current gen, and now they are going early as such to try and get a lead on Sony for the Next Gen wars, has production even started on the Sony chip yet? Nevermind Ninty coming to the next gen last again? Who really knows from the rumours, MS have shot their bolt, thy have went early, and why shouldnt they really, I mean when the PS3 comes you can take it from me that alot of the games at launch or yearly updates will really be XB360 ports, just the same as the XB suffered PS2 ports without graphical updates.

All developers will work to the bottom spec, then maybe add a few graphical enhances here and there for about the 1st year until they can get to grips with a machine, but first off they want games for the early adopters, it's a case of putting them on the shelves. MS has the hardware there, and some decent games to launch with, it'll depend on the hype and the buying public whether then can achieve a lead and then hold on to it.
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

I really can't get excited about the 360. I mean, the console looks really smart, the features are great, and eventually I'll get on to play my old Xbox games on.

There's not one 360 game I've seen that can get me excited. Maybe when they show off Halo 3 I'll be a bit excited, but as for now the line up stinks.
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

ReActor said:
If you have that opinion then please post in the PS3 thread.
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Second that!

Want a PS3 but 360 in 25 days cant wait
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

ReActor said:
If you have that opinion then please post in the PS3 thread.
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sry, i didnt know that this thread was only for "facts" . :roll:
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

NickSCFC said:
I really can't get excited about the 360. I mean, the console looks really smart, the features are great, and eventually I'll get on to play my old Xbox games on.

There's not one 360 game I've seen that can get me excited. Maybe when they show off Halo 3 I'll be a bit excited, but as for now the line up stinks.
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Agreed. Games such as PGR3 look stunning, but I still see it as the same game as PGR, as the concept is the same, controls and gameplay the same aswell.
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

Massacre_1907 said:
sry, i didnt know that this thread was only for "facts" . :roll:
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It isn't just for facts, I never said that, it's for Xbox360 discussion. Your comment provided no value to the thread - if the PS3 is the console for you then great I'm really pleased, but discuss it in the PS3 thread.

I don't want either this thread or the PS3 thread turning into console flame wars.
 
Re: XBox 360 - Official Thread

Milanista said:
Agreed. Games such as PGR3 look stunning, but I still see it as the same game as PGR, as the concept is the same, controls and gameplay the same aswell.
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It's a racing game, how much does it need to evolve?? GT4 is the same as GT1 except with different graphics, the AI is identical and the format is almost identical.

With regards to launch games it really is about whatever floats your boat. I'm really interested in PGR3, Kameo and PD0 - I think they are all significantly better than the current gen. For me its about what interests me, not about how many times better the graphics etc etc are.
 
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