What is YOUR opinion of the XBox 360

[THATinkjar]

My personal theory all along was that the name would have a "3" in there somewhere because the new Playstation will be a PS3, so you're not going to launch an Xbox "2" to compete with a PS"3".

Makes sense. I was thinking 360 as in 360 degrees as in a "whole" as in "this is damn well everything you want in a console". Dunno. It's a stupid name if you ask me.

[DeputyMoniker]

My personal theory all along was that the name would have a "3" in there somewhere because the new Playstation will be a PS3, so you're not going to launch an Xbox "2" to compete with a PS"3".

Makes sense. I was thinking 360 as in 360 degrees as in a "whole" as in "this is damn well everything you want in a console". Dunno. It's a stupid name if you ask me.

"XBOX" sounded just as damn stupid when they announced THAT name.

[Anthony1]

I just want to comment on the whole, " I don't have a HDTV in my country, they are to expensive, wah wah wah", attitudes that people have been having.

First of all, if you have a VGA computer monitor, then you have a HDTV. It's just instead of having a 52 inch DLP, you have a 17 inch or 19 inch or 21 inch PC monitor.

But you can very easily use a PC monitor as a cheap HDTV alternative.

Back in 1998, when HDTV first appeared in the United States, I couldn't afford a HDTV. Shit, nobody could. The damn things cost like 10 grand, and that's for an average crappy one.

But they had Monday Night Football in High Def that year, and I had to experience it. So I bought a RCA DTC-100 HDTV reciever box to get the HDTV signals, and guess what?

I hooked it up to my damn 17 inch PC monitor. And you know what? It looked absoloutely awesome. It was the only way that I could afford to actually experience HDTV, and I was experiencing it way back in November of 1998 when HDTV had just barely hit the scene.

I was watching Monday Night Football games and Jay Leno in High Def on my little 17 inch PC monitor, and even though the monitor is small, the detail and resolution of everything was so far beyond anything that I had ever seen that I didn't care that it was a small monitor.


So for everybody that is crying about HDTV's being too expensive or not having any in their country, blah, blah, blah, just get a damn component to VGA cable and try hooking your current XBOX or PS2 or GameCube up to the VGA monitor that you are using to read this post and see how incredible a game like Halo 2 or Ratchet & Clank 3 or Resident Evil 4 looks in true 480p on a HDTV monitor ( ok a PC monitor, but they are basically the same thing), I'm sure you will be amazed by the results.

Here is what you need to do. Before hooking your PC monitor up to your videogame machine, you need to go into your monitors video settings and change it to 640 x 480, so it won't have any problem synching with the video frequency. So go change the settings to 640 x 480, and then shut your computer down.


Of course you are going to need a component to VGA cable. You can find these on Ebay for about $20 or so. I actually got mine for $15 shipped. Just do a search on "component to vga". Make sure that the cable has VGA on one end, and component on the other, and that it can handle 480p/720p/1080i. Then depending on whether you have a GameCube or a XBOX or a PS2, you hook it up to the appropriate cable for that system. For PS2, you just connect the component end to the PS2's component cable. Same thing with GameCube but you need Nintendo's special component cable. With the XBOX you just need the XBOX High Def adapter thing.

Now here's the trick, with the XBOX it's easy because 99 percent of all XBOX games are 480p, so if you have a game in your XBOX, and you have it connected to your monitor, when you turn it on, it should eventually sync up, and then you will see the game on your PC monitor in 480p. But with the PS2 you have to make sure it's a game that does 480p, and you need to know "before hand" how to get that game to activate it's 480p mode by heart. Because a VGA monitor is progressive scan only, so when you first turn on the PS2, you won't see a signal on your monitor, You need to know by heart what the button presses are to activiate the 480p mode, because you won't see anything on the screen until the 480p mode is actually activated.

Same thing with GameCube. When you hook your Cube up to a PC monitor like this, it has to activate it's 480p mode for you to see anything. So if you have Resident Evil 4 in there, I think when the game first loads up it asks you if you want to play in progressive scan mode. I think you just need to press the big green button twice or something like that.

Anyways, you'll eventually figure it out. But once you get used to playing games like Doom 3 (XBOX), Jak 3 (PS2) and Metroid Prime 2 (Cube) in true 480p on your PC monitor, you'll be wondering why the hell you haven't been doing it from the beginning.

[hezeuschrist]

Anyways, you'll eventually figure it out. But once you get used to playing games like Doom 3 (XBOX), Jak 3 (PS2) and Metroid Prime 2 (Cube) in true 480p on your PC monitor, you'll be wondering why the hell you haven't been doing it from the beginning.

It's not worth it at the time, and that's the end of it. It WILL be worth it by the end of this coming generation as HD's will be far more affordable to the masses, but the result produced from it will be the same.

I've been playing HL2 and Doom 3 at 1280x1024, but I still love to play my console games on a much bigger TV. I have 19" monitor and a 27" POS TV. I'd hurt myself if I had to play God of War on a 19" monitor regardless of how fantastic it looked.

Not to mention, the hassle is astronomical. Most people don't have their consoles and home theatre setups anywhere near their computers. Mine are close, but if I wanted to leave everything where it is, I'd need at least 20 feet of cable to run a hardline from my Xbox to my PC monitor, not to mention getting somekind of switch to be able to get between my PC, Xbox, GC, and PS2. It's not worth it, and yes, I've seen plenty of shows in HD and I've seen games firsthand played at 1080i.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I'm going to go ahead and say that FurinkanianFrood is a moron.

Are you saying the reason the DC failed is because the media liked the PS2 better? You are stupid for even concidering to type that, let alone actually do it. And, I'm glad the PS2 had a DVD player in it, because if it didnt, you wouldnt get bigger games, and I wouldnt have ended up getting a DVD player until a few years after its release. How do you know how good/bad the Cell chip is? Have you used one? No, so stfu. and the 360 is whats CAUSING the forced change in generations. They keep boasting about how they are going to be the first Next-Gen console, and if they hadnt, Sony and big N wouldnt be rushing on any of their plans, like they inevitably will now. "Newer PC hardware is usually pointless, as is stupid Blu-ray, HDTV, PDAs, MP3 players, etc. " YOU'RE A MORON.

[Anthony1]

I'd hurt myself if I had to play God of War on a 19" monitor regardless of how fantastic it looked.

Not to mention, the hassle is astronomical.


Well, actually, if you tried to play God of War on your PC monitor via the method I described, you wouldn't see anything at all. Your monitor wouldn't sync to the signal because God of War isn't a 480p game. So yes, one of the big downsides is that this would only work with games that actually have a 480p mode, and on the PS2, there aren't that many great games that have it.

In regards to the whole hassle thing, I beg to differ if you don't have any of your consoles hooked up to a HDTV somewhere else in your house. A VGA switchbox is super cheap, but actually I wouldn't share my computers monitor with my video game systems, I would probably just get a seperate monitor for my game systems. Think about it, how many people play their games on some crappy 20 inch television.

If you are going to hook up a XBOX to a 20 inch TV, you might as well get a 21 inch CRT monitor. Get a used one for dirt cheap. All it needs to do is handle 480p and any old monitor will handle that. If you can find a black one it's even better, cause it will actually almost look like a TV.


The main point that I'm trying to make, is that there are lots of people complaining about how HDTV's are way too expensive, etc, etc. But that just isn't the case. People don't realize that you can get a very nice, used black 21 inch CRT monitor, for under $100 (prob. just under a $100), and you can get a component to VGA cable for under $20. So you are talking $120 for a nice 21 inch HDTV.

I can guarantee you that this 21 inch HDTV will blow away any non HDTV under 40 inches. If I set up Amped 2 for XBOX in 720p on that black 21 inch monitor, and I set up Amped 2 in 480i on a 36 inch TV, 9 out of 10 people will prefer Amped 2 in 720p on the 21 inch monitor, because the picture quality will be totally out of this world.

So what I'm trying to say is that the excuse of HDTV's costing too much is out the window. So don't use it.

Anybody that has a XBOX try my experiment. It will only set you back $140. Go buy a used 21 inch black CRT monitor and then go buy a component to VGA cable. Then get a XBOX High Def A/V adapter. The whole thing will set you back $120. $100 for the monitor,(of course you might be able to get a used one much cheaper than $100) $20 for the component to VGA cable (I actually got mine off of Ebay for $15 shipped) and $20 for the XBOX High Def Adapter (probably get one on Ebay much cheaper).


But really, if you have a XBOX, try this. Go rent Amped 2 from Blockbuster, set your XBOX to 720p output, and then see what it looks like. I'm guessing your reaction will be, "Oh my Fudging God!!!, I can't believe this looks so good, man I wish I knew about this a long time ago, man this is so cheap and I have a nice full fledged HDTV sitting in my house for under $150!!!!"

[hezeuschrist]

So what I'm trying to say is that the excuse of HDTV's costing too much is out the window. So don't use it.

No, it's not. You're wrong. And try it out, it's only $140! Now you just need to find space to put your new shitty monitor next to your TV or somewhere near your entertainment center and you're off!

That's WAY more hassle than it's worth. Simply put, if you're going to do HD, do it right, don't do some janky rig that while it'll work and likely look great, will be: you guessed it, more hassle than it's worth. Not only is this solution complicated to SET UP, most people that don't have intimate knowledge of computer hardware would have no idea this is even possible. I know people that can't send an email, I'd hate for them to try to set up any kind of converter to get their PC monitor to display Xbox games.

[Slipdeath]

I guess were not getting this http://methodstudios.com/mot156? :(

[Anthony1]

most people that don't have intimate knowledge of computer hardware would have no idea this is even possible.


Exactly. In fact even people with intimate knowledge of computer hardware don't even know it's possible. This is like the best kept secret. Why would anybody buy a 20 inch color TV for $150, when they can get the same thing except with High Definition for the same price. Yet nobody knows that it's possible. And it isn't at all hard to set up. It's very easy. If you can plug a red male plug into a red female male plug and a green male plug into a green female plug and a blue male plue into a blue female plug, than you can hook it up, it's that freaking easy. Plus the vast majority of monitors out there will auto sync to 640 x 480p when they recieve that kind of signal, and some monitors have a menu button on the front where you can select the resolution without even using a computer. So really, it's easy as pie. I could hook one up in a matter of minutes.

It's super cheap, easy to hook up, and you won't get any better picture quality for that size display period.


As for where to hook it up? How about the spot where you have a crappy 20 inch color TV hooked up? Take that crappy 20 inch color TV and put it in the garage.

Plus if you want, you could actually use the monitor for TV use as well. You just get one of those cheapo upconverters that will covert composite and S-Video to VGA. They actually make them for video game systems saying that it makes your video game systems "high resolution" of course it doesn't do anything but upconvert the composite and S-Video signals to 640 x 480 so the monitor will understand them, so don't actually use it with a video game system, unless it's a pre Dreamcast video game system (from Dreamcast on every system is capable of 480p), but it would work great for VCR's and DVD players and Cable TV etc.

Also, if you get a High Definition decoder box, like one from Direct TV or your cable company, you can actually watch true freaking HDTV television on these monitors. You just need a cheapo Mad Catz component switcher thing. I got one at GameStop for $15.

This isn't freaking rocket science people!

[Sebastian]

The Bad
1. Seeing how The Killers got more air time than any of the games did, that blows.

LOL... that is funny cuz i just wanted to see The Killers...and the X-box was more like an extra to me

...cuz not like i will ever support the evil microsoft

not after years of puting up with Windows @_@

[The_EniGma]

The Bad
1. Seeing how The Killers got more air time than any of the games did, that blows.

LOL... that is funny cuz i just wanted to see The Killers...and the X-box was more like an extra to me

...cuz not like i will ever support the evil microsoft

not after years of puting up with Windows @_@

What are you on about! I love windows *no sarcasm ethier*

btw, you guys might be interested in this link
http://msxb.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ourcolony/TheColony_v2_750k.zip

And for 56kers

www.getdamnbroadbandalready.com

No really this time :p

http://msxb.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ourcolony/TheColony_v2_300k.zip

More tech specs, less killers *hears all the roars of joy* :)

[Mr Mort]

Well, I for one am very excited about it. So much, that I've already put a deposit down on one at my local EB.

I very much like how Live is integrated into everything you do. You can chat and receive invites while playing different games, watching, movies, listening to music, and even chat with your friends while the two of you are playing completely different games.
There was a time when I would have shunned the media center aspects, but I now realize that all consoles are gravitating towards doing more than just being a gaming machine, and it's all great as long as it doens't comprimise my gaming experience, or even better, somehow enhances it.
I don't mind the design of the console or controller at all. I think MS has thought it out very well, with the Live integration, removeable HDD, wireless controllers, media center functionality, wireless LAN, and other features, and I'm all but positive it will be backwards-compatible as long as you have the HDD.


On a different note, I'm very intrigued by what Nintendo has to offer. As stated earlier, it seems they are the only one who realizes an upgrade in graphics really does not fundamentally change the gaming experience. If the rumours of gyroscopic controllers is true, I dare to say I would buy their console as well. A new way of playing games is what we need and is a very bold and exciting prospect.

I have a feeling the battle will not be so one-sided in Sony's favor this generation. They really need to pull out all the stops at E3 and show us something truly great if they hope to keep up with MS and especially Nintendo. I'm guessing wireless connectivity with the PSP will happen, part of me is hoping they can make it so you can watch your UMD movies on your TV by wirelessly linking your PSP to your PS3. That would entice me to actually buy PSP movies, but I doubt it will happen.

Well, enough babbling, hopefully E3 will answer all our questions about all 3 consoles...

[Mr Mort]

They are pushing the online angle but without support for non-wireless internet then a lot of people will not be able to access it, i want to be able to stick a normal ethernet cable in there as well.

The system DOES have a standard RJ-45 LAN port so you can hook up a network cable the old-fashioned way. You have to buy an adapter to get wireless net access.

[Promophile]

Sorry I don't want my X-box to be a computer.

[Skueeee]

www.xbox360.com has a 3D view of the controller AND console. Very interesting. :)

[sabre2922]

since my THIRD PS2 just fried :angry: Im definitely getting an XBOX360 upon launch.

Im impressed by the games on the new Xbox and have been burned by Sony to many freakin times with their shotty hardware O_O

for me the next generation is going to be all about the Xbox360 and Revolution f%$# Sony.

[josekortez]

After watching the Xbox 360 special at my local EB yesterday (I don't have cable in my new apartment yet), I'm excited about what the system could offer, but I still need to see more than Tony Hawk, Tiger Woods, Dead or Alive, and Madden to buy one on day one. The Darkness looked relatively cool, but I'm not really a fan of the comic book. And Perfect Dark damn well better be...perfect.

Frankly, I just keep thinking about how cheap the Xbox 1 games are going to be after that sucker launches and drooling all over myself...aaawhhh...