What is YOUR opinion of the XBox 360

[Mr.FoodMonster]

Now that we know everything about the console, how do YOU feel about it? This is how I feel.

Xbox 360. Intresting.
Well, first off, I'm going to say that I am impressed. The fact that consoles will FINALLY have wireless controllers as a standard is a very good thing, and should have been done SNES/Genesis days, if not sooner (yes, it was possible, wireless Atari 2600 controllers exist). The graphics are a little bit better then the best avalible PC games at the moment. The screenshots/video provided is very nice. List of awesome games: Perfect Dark Zero, Quake 4 (yessss), Gears of War.
Now, the bad. As you may or may not know, I'm not an XBox suporter, because there just isnt enough there to intrest me in it. If you notice the graphic differences between XBox (hell, even GC and PS2) and this 360, they are conciderably very small. If you look in the past, the jump from NES - SNES was a big graphical difference, SNES - N64 was a big jump, and N64 - GC is a bit smaller, but still a nice difference. This, however is not. And, because this is coming out THIS YEAR (less then 4 years from the release of XBox) a lot of people, besides early adoptors, wont be intrested in it. There is still a lot of juice to be pumped out of the current systems. Hopefully this WILL NOT make Sony and the big N make them rush their consoles.

I think (and, I'm not ashamed to admit, HOPE) that the XBox 360 goes the way of the Dreamcast.


All I can say, E3 will be VERY intresting this year....

[Lothars]

I honestly think that there are two main things that really will kill the xbox 360 number one lack of backwords compatibility

number 2: how early it's being released, because it's being released way to early i would say give it at least 6 more months after it's suppose to be released.

in the end xbox 360 will fail why because microsoft is full of idiots making the console, the specs look outstanding but the main thing is that I to hope it goes the way of the dreamcast because from what it seems like the the xbox 360 is that it's like an xbox 1.5 but hey I guess we will see what happens with it.

[DeputyMoniker]

Blah blah blah...I can say it isn't enough of a difference to justify buying it, it's too early and no backward comp but the fact is that I'm going to buy it as soon as I can because I'm a bitch. Which is why I work at Initech in the first place.

[Hollenscythe]

The fact that consoles will FINALLY have wireless controllers as a standard is a very good thing, and should have been done SNES/Genesis days, if not sooner (yes, it was possible, wireless Atari 2600 controllers exist).

Hmm, isn't cheap RF wireless only a relatively new thing? I know they had infrared wireless controllers way back (I almost got one for my SNES) but the signal apparently never worked right. I think really the soonest wireless controllers could have been done cheaply out of the box would be the current generation we're in - but in any case, I don't think it is a long overdue feature as far as being feasible cost wise. It probably would have added $100 to the systems if this was implemented in the SNES days.

[Promophile]

great, wireless controllers. Another thing I have to buy batteries for. Well, Its not like I'll be getting a 360 for at least 2-3 years anyway.

[goatdan]

Well, first off, I'm going to say that I am impressed. The fact that consoles will FINALLY have wireless controllers as a standard is a very good thing, and should have been done SNES/Genesis days, if not sooner (yes, it was possible, wireless Atari 2600 controllers exist).

Actually, wireless technology has until this point really been infared technology, which is pretty crappy. Yes, there were wireless 2600 controllers and Nintendo controllers, but you had to sit in a direct line to the TV, and if you moved funny it might not register keystrokes. It wasn't until this generation that "real" wireless controllers started to come into fashion. Not even the Dreamcast had them -- just the infared ones.

[Damaramu]

I'll have an opinion when I see the 3rd party support in action. I don't care how powerful a system is, without good games it might as well be a brick.

[lendelin]

Now that we know everything about the console, how do YOU feel about it?

I hope that was an ironic statement, because we know almost nothing about it.

How it looks, wireless controllers, and other stuff was already leaked. I'd have liked to see more about the hardware specs, see some games in action, the all too short and impressionistic upcoming games didn't look bad.

At this point in time, it is way too early for judgement calls. I'm very laid back when it comes to new consoles, after E3 and at launch date we'll know more.

Noteworthy is certainly the way the new console was introduced: as a TV event targeting a broader audience beyond the traditional gamer base. That is a first.

Overall, the MTV-'special' was a big circus from which we learned little about the Xbox 360.

[Yago]

I don't think the PS3 will be anything to brag about either. This is just a cut throat case of competitors battling it out. Microsoft just got the edge. I don't see a need for a new system just yet becuase as many of you have stated, graphics wise, it is not that much better than todays consoles. Unless you are a real game nut and wanted to play games on your new 100" HD TV with surround sound.

[DTJAAAAMJSLM]

Looks great, can't wait to buy it and play the games...

[Yago]

Just wanted to add that thier was not a huge difference between the Atari 2600, 5200, and 7800 either... Scammers.

[Crush Crawfish]

I, quite frankly, wasn't impressed. The graphics really weren't that much better than current-gen graphics, and I'm not big on the whole online thing either...

All in all, I didn't see anything (other than some online stuff) that couldn't be done on Xbox 1 with weaker graphics. I'd be much more interested if it actually felt like a significant step up.

That's why I'm more interested in seeing what nintendo has to offer. If anything, I at least know they're going to try to bring something new to the table. I'm not sure how well it'll work, but it's nice to see that at least one company realizes that graphics can only go so far and it's the gameplay that needs to expand with each generation.

Just my 2 cents.

(Oh, and am I the only one who thinks the 360 is ugly? It looks like a PC tower for chrissakes.... x_x ) :)

[Anthony1]

Unless you are a real game nut and wanted to play games on your new 100" HD TV with surround sound.



Certified game nut with 100" HDTV and Surround Sound reporting for duty!!!!



Actually, it's funny you mention that, because I actually do have a 100 inch HDTV. Actually it's 113 inches to be exact, and I do have a nice 7.1 surround system hooked up to it as well, and I must say that the XBOX 360 is exactly what my DLP Projector has been begging for.

I must say however, that I was quite underwhelmed by todays MTV Special, didn't see enough footage of the games to really get a good feel. Some games only looked marginally better than what we are playing now, but I did see a couple of games (for mere seconds) that did look kinda mind blowing.

The big question for me is which games am I going to be able to actually play come day 1 of launch.

Also, no mention of release date or price or any specifics on the specs. I guess they wanted to save some thunder for e3.

[Parodius]

great, wireless controllers. Another thing I have to buy batteries for.

Rechargable batteries!!

The controllers can be plugged into the system via a detachable USB cable that charges the batteries, either while you play wired or just plugged into the system when it is off.

Personally I think the line-up is great. PGR3, Quake 4, Perfect Dark finally done justice!!!!

Plus, graphically, compare early PS2 games with Gran Turismo 4.

[Anthony1]

Plus, graphically, compare early PS2 games with Gran Turismo 4.


I don't think that's a very valid comparison in this case though. The PS2 was a very bad design from an engineering standpoint, and it took developers quite some time before they got to grips with it. So the early PS2 stuff looks very weak compared to the more recent PS2 offerings.

But if you go back and look at early XBOX games, they actually hold their own pretty well with current XBOX games. Halo 1, Oddworld, Project Gotham.

I don't see any super dramatic improvements over those games with current XBOX stuff.


But again, we got pretty "brief" glimpes of these games, so it's hard to make to much of a judgement over what we saw. Actually of all the games that I saw, I thought that Perfect Dark was the least impressive. I mean the game looked like a good game, but I could have easily mistaken it for a XBOX 1 game.

I have to go back and watch the tape of it, and see which game it was that totally blew me away, cause I did see one game that did totally blow me away, can't remember which one it was though.

[lendelin]

Please, don't judge games we saw for 5 secs. :) We don't know how PGR3, Perfect Dark, or Kameo will play, and what the new hardware is capable of in the hands of creative game designers.

Three things are certain:

1. This thing will be a big challenge for the PS3. The thing looks sleek including the controller, not a revolution, but so far no console system was.

2. The lineup of launch titles looks promising.

3. It is the next big push for the 'interactive entertainment center' (mp3, digital camera, of course DVD, and what else not). Console systems will be able to do much more than playing games, and the long-term goal of Sony and MS is the console as the PC-entertainment center in the living room which serves also as an Internet browser and can do all non-work related stuff a PC can do already.

[Slipdeath]

It's funny how these comments are bassically what were said four years ago before the xbox launch, "it's going to die horribly" etc. I'm not disagreeing that the graphics are not that much more advanced that the current gen from what we have seen as of today. But, I think we can expect some better graphics of course. Is Microsoft rushing this system in hopes of getting an edge in the market, yeah basically. I'm just saying we shouldn't be marking it's death without really knowing that much about it.
*Guards himself from fanboys*

[JB Lars]

Music player visualizations by Jeff Minter. That's one sold here, guaranteed.

[Dangerboy]

The Bad

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

2. Seeing several EA games and none of them read "Burnout (insert subtitle here)"....bleah.

3. When did Joanna Dark become the girl from Pandemonieum?

4. Why did Perfect Dark Zero look like it was running on a Dreamcast?

5. Am I the only one who noticed that for Xbox 360 games, the animation (NOT the graphics) in Madden STILL LOOKS LIKE ITS THE SAME since what, 2001? And how about that bizarre grass graphic glitch in Tiger Woods? But that's a stab at EA then anything.

6. This is what gaming has come down to: Being represented by Pimp My Ride, Lil' Jon, and MTV. Depression is not the right word.

7. Removable Face Plate? We're getting an Ipod 360? O_O

The Good
1. I'm actually warming up to the look of the system, but on its side. I'm not to happy about them trying to be like a PS2. I LOVE the white shade, so long as it doesn't pull a SNES on me.

2. That removable hard drive is screaming hacker heaven.

3. That rechargeable wireless controller with two DIGITAL shoulder buttons AND triggers? ROCK ON. :rocker:

4. Project Gotham 3 looked rather nice for all of its 3 seconds.

The Ugly
1. The script of the show.

2. Did anyone else sit there when the blond pulled the system out of the bag, and sat it on the table, that the audience was going gaga....over...a box. She could have put a pair of sneakers on there, and the crowd would have gone bonkers.

Overall, I can say I think jump will be significant in a year after release, but with 720p being the standard on all games (looks at his Wega) sign me up!

[SkiDragon]

Just wanted to add that thier was not a huge difference between the Atari 2600, 5200, and 7800 either... Scammers.

Yep, and we all know how well Atari did after that.

[Avenger]

they spent too much time talking to ppl like Lil-Jon and Tony Hawk, not enough time on showing the hardware and games...was only the first official showing though...more to come at E3 of course....but hell, they wanted peoples attention...now they have it...lets see what they can do.

I wish there was a bigger jump in graphics though...doesnt seem THAT impressive...But hell, new Perfect Dark finally :D...

[MegaDrive20XX]

they spent too much time talking to ppl like Lil-Jon

Eiljah Woods: You Like Xbox 360 lil Jon?

Lil Jon: WHAT?!

Eiljah Woods: You like Xbox 360 Lil Jon?

Lil Jon: WHAT?!

Eiljah Woods: I Said, do you like the Xbox 360??

Lil Jon: YEAHH!!! 8-)


Sorry, someone had to do it...that's the only thing I thought of when I saw him LOL

Seriously, this is quite impressive. Even the Madden 2006 blew me away from the insane details.

http://www.the-magicbox.com/0505/game050512h.shtml Here's a full report of the stats of Xbox 360.

It comes with a 20 GB HD that can be detached and upgraded... *hint hint* ;)

[Richter Belmount]

place your bets ladys and gentlemen , place your bets, when is xbox 360 gonna fall ~_^. place em now , seriously we should have meseta bets on this thing

[FurinkanianFrood]

I wish there was a bigger jump in graphics though


There likely won't be a huge jump until there is a true change in computer technology. Like abandoning silicon or something of that nature. There are two brick walls, though we haven't gotten there yet (Intel architecture is damn close though BTW, it was inherently flawed from the first IBM PCs and has not been fixed in any real way to the present day):

1. The manufacturing process can only be refined so far for the Si transistor based chips. Notice this multi-core stuff. After a while the scalability will make it futile as a means of adding power to game consoles. Sony will learn that the hard way with the PS3. Besides, after this generation how many cores are going to be feasible? Not many more than an the Cell, that's for sure. Power, heat, scalability, and cost have limits that may very well make the generation after this even more futile. I don't see a future console that looks like a mini IBM BlueGene prototype folks. Fundamental computer technology has not changed for decades. The upcoming multi-core console processors are no different in that regard. The real change has only been the manufacturing process, despite what corporation would have us believe.

The XBOX 2 is not as ridiculous as the Cell concept, though whether it is unneccessary cost added to win the hype war with consumers who don't understand such things remains to be seen.

2. There is only so much that developers are able to pull off design wise. Eventually you can have uber poly counts and uber texturing, resolution, framerates etc., but there is a limit how realistic digital facsimiles of objects can look using textured polys, even with ever trick in the book and next year's book and the year after that.

Nintendo has been trying to talk down the signifigance of hardware power for a long time. Few have listened.

What people fail to realize is that Nintendo is not saying that truly large jumps in tech wouldn't impress as they are saying that the new tech won't impress because the jumps are small. This IMO will be the generation when the hype machine looks stupider than ever.

Personally, I think that Sony is making critical errors this time. With MSoft it is hard to tell but it makes me nervous.

The success of the Xbox 2 will depend primarily on it's initial price point IMO. The effect that price has on the early perceptions/sale of a console has major effects on development, which in turn largely determines the later success.

It is especially important that Microsoft makes sure that it comes out at $300 or under. Based on the hardware specs that may or may not be difficult. The only component that looks overly expensive in my view is the processor, though it looks less obscene than the cell in that regard, in addition to development wise. The modularity and all of the extra features individually are not a big deal, though combined they may be a bit expensive. Of course the camera, remote, headset and such may be optional. I see no point in making the hard drive optional. That would just backfire because of age old add-ons issues, not to mention a 20Gb hard drive isn't exactly an expensive item, and the fact that people would need to buy a memory card anyway if they don't have it, making the price difference moot.

If it is $300 dollars or less I think it is the most likely winner in the next-gen. No matter what people say to the contrary, Sony doesn't know how to engineer their way out of a paper bag. MS Windows, because I know this will come up, is a different matter because of legacy issues and the fact that Microsoft's market share allows them to make crap and force people to buy it because they are locked in. Consoles are something different, the Winblows connectivity has little to do with any possible XBOX 2 pitfalls.

I havent even gotten to software. I believe that these are the main things which may stifle software development this generation.

XBOX 2: We don't know enough to say anything about specific announced games. The main pitfall here is the potential excessive price point. Even if they lower if before the PS3 launch damge will have already been significant. Basically they would have to pray that Sony is forced to do the same thing with the excessive pricing. The processor is overkill IMO.

PS3: The Cell chip is BS. The design does not lend itself to allowing game software to use it at anywhere near full capacity. Attempts by developers to use it's capacity may result in rushed games that abandon efforts to do so and have to be sloppily reconfigured in time for launch, or delayed. Price point is even more of a factor potentially than XBOX 2 because of Cell and Bluray.

Revolution:

1. Depends on if the gimmick is good or if it will hose development and/or perception in the eyes of consumers.
2. Depends on the success of the other consoles. If one of the other trips up like I expect to happen (with at least one of the two), they should be in OK shape assuming the gimmick isn't a huge problem.

As far as the Xbox2 (yes, I will keep calling it that forever now, they chose a silly name which scares me about the multi-tiering rumours and the price point), the dpad on the controller looks awful, but that alone isn't a fatal flaw by any means.

If the thing is $300 or less and launches with actual good games and not just mediocre stuff (I am not a Rare fan but I will keep giving them chances until the end of time), I will get one, assuming there isn't a higher tier model, and it comes with the hard drive.

Also, I am a bit worried that MS may up the cost of normal online play over XBOX live. The main online feature I want (normal online play) is the one that still requires a subscription. If it goes past $10 I will be ticked off, If it goes past $15 they can fornicate themselve with an iron stick.

It's all up to whether Microsoft chooses to be stupid or not. The hardware looks passable, but the final reality is up to them.

As for the brick wall, my hope is that it will bring about some sort of renaissance, whether it happens in the coming genrtion or the one after that. But it IS coming. There will be a reckoning. There may be a partial crash of sorts.

Despite what people think, Nintendo is the least likely of the 3 to leave the game business in the long run (possibly very long, but long nonetheless).

Unless they botch the gimmick. In that case, long live the Saturn and PC Engine, and to hell with the braindead cyber-yuppie wannabe price-trauma EA infested crap, unless of course the Xbox2 is actually nice... Which is a coin flip as far as I can tell at this point with jack worth of info. LOL

[Anthony1]

ok, if we are going to discuss the whole MTV aspect of this, then yes, I totally agree, almost everything about that whole MTV thing blew big time. I mean that dorky dude that was all up in those programmers faces asking them how many polygons for the characters and how many polygons for the backgrounds ,etc, etc.

I would have just got up and punched that dude.

Although on a side note, I was very suprised to hear that programmer say 5,000 polygons for the characters. I thought that with these next gen systems we were going to enter the realm of like 20,000 polygons per character.

No wonder Perfect Dark Zero looked like one of the worst games (visually speaking) that they displayed.

Anyways, enough of the MTV stupidity, let's get down to the meat of things....


1. Final name is XBOX 360 : Duh, little suprise there. I actually preferred Xbox NEXT, but I had a strong feeling that they wanted to go the 360 route. Actually, after hearing XBOX 360 over and over again, over the last few weeks, I've gotten used to it. But it is a name that takes some time getting used to. Ultimately most people will just end up calling it the 360.

2. Final design of the cosole reaction : Personally, I don't really like how they stand the console up vertically like that. I've always thought that was kinda dumb. Plus it's like copying the old PS2 idea. I'm also not a huge fan of the white color, I was hoping for a more metallic silver color. Also, with the concave design, it becomes problematic in the future for us pack rats that like to stack a bunch of crap on top of stuff.

3. Wireless controller confirmation - nice, it's cool to not worry about wires anymore.

4. Madden 2006 - This was pretty dissapointing to me. I was really expecting a total revolution with the new madden game, but it appears to be virtually the same old game with a nice shinny new coat of paint on top. I agree that the animations don't exactly look next generation. The graphics are definitely an improvement, but still, it kinda looks premature. I wonder if this game is actually going to come out in 2005, or if this is going to be like the very first Madden for PSone, when it ended up being cancelled at the last minute. EA could decide to hold their Next Generation Madden back until fall 2006, to make sure that it gets off on the right foot with the new generation of consoles. Even if you can't stand sports games, they are incredibly important to the long term success of a console. Especially football.

5. Need for Speed: Most Wanted - Need for Speed: Most Wanted is appropriately titled, because this could be the most wanted game at launch, if it is actually ready for the launch. Although I only saw a few brief seconds of this game, it was enough to leave a small puddle of drool on the ground below me.

6. Tiger Woods - This game looked like crap. Why did they show this piece of garbage?

7. Gears of War - I don't have the slightest idea what the hell this game is, but the graphics on it were absolutely mind blowing. If this is what High Definition gaming is all about then sign me the F up!!!

8. Tony Hawk: American Wasteland - Is it just me or does this look pretty damn similar to other Tony Hawk games with just smoother graphics? I think I'll be passing on this one.

9. Saint's Row - This looked like the first Next Gen GTA clone, but I've heard that the footage shown is a cut scene and not the actual game graphics. If that was the actual game graphics, then there really would be a huge gigantic leap in graphical quality, but apparently that isn't the case. Still I'm very intrigued by how GTA games are going to work on the next level.

10. Project Gotham Racing 3 - This game looked phenomenal. No question about that. Still it was hard to get a real good look at it, it was only on screen for a few seconds. Also, most of the views appear to be from the replay camera, I'm interested in what the game looks like from the normal gameplay camera. It will be interesting to see which of the two big racers will be the one to get, Gotham or Most Wanted.

11. NBA 2K6 - I'm guessing they were showing some Full Motion Video or something when they showed this game. So, it's pretty hard to comment on this one. But if Visual Concepts is the developer, I can't wait to see what they can do on the next level. In fact, Madden has the NFL license, but Visual should make an amazing High School Football game or something. Make it almost RPG like in the fact that you have to try to make the team and score with the Cheerleader, etc, etc.

12. Kameo: Elements of Power - Any game that has been bumped from system to system has a big red flag on it in my opinion. Wasn't this originally a N64 game? Or a GameCube game? Or a XBOX 1 game? So I'm not too excited about this one. So far Rare has been a major dissapointment, even with their 360 offerings, at least from what little I've seen of them. Where is the Banjo Kazooie game that looks like Toy Story?

13. Ghost Recon 3 - At first when I first saw the show, I thought that Ghost Recon just looked like more of the same, similar to the XBOX 1 game, but after seeing the show again, this could actually be the dream game for the launch. Maybe it isn't the most graphically intense game ever, but it looks like it's going to have some very good gameplay and a very high fun factor.

14. Quake 4 - Hard to comment on this one, didn't see much of it at all.

15. The Darkeness - Same as Quake 4, really don't know what to make of it from the very brief glimpse of it.

16. Call of Duty 2 - Ok, this looks pretty good graphically, but similar to Madden the animation looked pretty weak. Need to see more of it.

17. Perfect Dark Zero - Ok, to me this game was pretty dissapointing, at least from what I saw of it. I mean the game should be mind shattering, but it just didn't seem that incredible. To me it looked like a 720p XBOX 1 game or something. Supposedly this is the major launch title that Microsoft will be promoting, along with Gotham 3, so the playability will probably be pretty tight, but to me it looked kinda like Halo 2 on the XBOX 1 but in 720p with the Perfect Dark theme. Not earth shattering. Hopefully I'm mistaken

I think that covers pretty much ever game that was shown, and my initial take.


Reaction?

[poopnes]

They have my attention. I'm now waiting for the price point. Maybe we'll find out Monday. There's really nothing I don't agree with, besides the fact that its only been 4 years. The hardware is there. The software looks good. Give me DVD playback out of the box and a $299 price point and I just might start saving up for launch.

[Zubiac666]

Although on a side note, I was very suprised to hear that programmer say 5,000 polygons for the characters. I thought that with these next gen systems we were going to enter the realm of like 20,000 polygons per character.



what?
I haven't seen it but are you sure they said that?
You know that RE4 uses 10000 polygons for Leon alone?
Hell, MGS3 uses 5000 for Snake!

[THATinkjar]

It hasn't stopped me from not buying at launch. I want to buy at launch, but it will be too expensive (especially considering the expected game price hike!). It looks nice. It looks like fun. It's going to be a very capable machine. I definately want one, but I don't know when I will finally get one.

Wireless is cool. Though it depends on battery life. The Live features don't interest me quite so much. I'd need to see the console on my shelf before I'm absolutely sold on the design. We still don't know about the pricing and model range.

I'm looking forward to finally not upgrading my PC every few years. Consoles are right up to date, now. Long live console gaming!

[FurinkanianFrood]

Give me DVD playback out of the box


Erm... Eh.. Why? It just adds an automatic extra (licensing racket) cost for people who have no use for an extra DVD player.


Although on a side note, I was very suprised to hear that programmer say 5,000 polygons for the characters.


Maybe in Kameo, sadly, but other than that.....

I'm not much of a Rare fan, I didn't like the first Perfect Dark much so basically there is no way they have enough time to make this one all that compelling. Though the gameply will probably be solid, so I will pick it up once it becomes cheap probably (I'm assuming that MS won't mess up too badly).

As I stated earlier. It is the price point that will decide everything, especially for me.

Over $300 = definite no go. They may be able to pull it off though (The $300 dollars at launchas the price, I don't think Sony can, but that's another topic).



Personally, I don't really like how they stand the console up vertically like that. I've always thought that was kinda dumb. Plus it's like copying the old PS2 idea.


I don't like it either but it's not like Sony doesn't take ideas.



Even if you can't stand sports games


I can stand sports games, but not Madden. I feel that true gamers should boycott EA for what they did to destroy sports games, not to mention a lot of other things they did. I hate EA. They are evil. Don't fool yourself. Of course, yes sports games are important in the market (I hate the modern games market, polluted by mainsteam pop culture @#$%), but the PS3 version own't be any better (trust me on this, I'm not as crazy as I seem), but people will buy it regardless. And now there is no competition.



I was really expecting a total revolution with the new madden game


Your joking right? I have heard some arguments in favor of this franchise before, but I refuse to buy them. I'm not the thought police, so play what ya want.



Need for Speed: Most Wanted


.... will be complete garbage like Underground.

There hasn't been a remotely decent NFS game since 3 on PS. It may help the system regardless. People eat that Underground crap like candy. EA really knows the right way to polish it's turds for matrketing purposes, the old saying aside.



NBA 2K6


Visual Concepts = Great. Not Visual Concepts = Junk even just on principle.



Kameo: Elements of Power


Was a N64 game at one time I am pretty sure......

Will be unimpressive, whether it will be play OK? Possible but not likely to be worthwhile.

I am sick of FPS. And I will leave it at that for those type games. If the only exclusive FPS is PFZ I think it will be kind of sad......

Project Gotham Racing 3 will be really nice in all likelihood, but I want new series, not just more infinite sequel mills.

I will buy it with the system if I get one though.....



That removable hard drive is screaming hacker heaven.


And that isn't the only thing screaming that from the looks of it...... I don't think they are capable of fighting of the hackers entriely. They may be dumb enough to think that it won't be a piece of cake to port open source operating systems to this thing. It should be a relative breeze, though not quite as automatic as with XBOX1 obviously. It depends on how customized the processors are (i.e. Instruction set, do they still have registers that are accessible in a manner analogous to related processors besides the extra ones, etc).



Music player visualizations by Jeff Minter.


Whoa. Beautiful, simply fantastic......



Console systems will be able to do much more than playing games, and the long-term goal of Sony and MS is the console as the PC-entertainment center in the living room which serves also as an Internet browser and can do all non-work related stuff a PC can do already.


Convergence should have been a casualty of the '90s. If it gets successfully revived then I will know that there truly is a sucker born every minute. Added hype, needless added cost, more profit of those punks (you know....).



The lineup of launch titles looks promising.


Historically speaking it's pretty darn good IMO. So yeah. Of course the DC had the greatest launch lineup ever..... (and that ever shall be. Sony is a damned POS whether you like it or not. So is MS but that hasn't spilled over into gaming so far. Keep thinking those Sony tvs are worth the money folks, it's freakin' hilarious.

I'm more interested in Blue Dragon and Ninety-nine Nights though......



I'm just saying we shouldn't be marking it's death without really knowing that much about it.


Was someone marking it's death?

I think that it is 90% likely the next gen market leader. I simply point out theoretical pitfalls that could make it less successful than it could be.

The only true pitfall (and this seems to be a common opinion) is that the price can't be too high (this includes the tier concept, which would have a similiar effect IMO).

I laughed at those who said it was doomede then as I do with the 360 now. (The name doesn't matter to me, and I don't think it will make any real difference, but damn is it lame.)


That rechargeable wireless controller with two DIGITAL shoulder buttons AND triggers? ROCK ON.


Why do we want digital shoulder buttons? I like 6 face and two analog triggers (for racing games). The dpad looks just as rotten IMO as the controlller S one, but I'll porbably get over it.

I personally like Lil' Jon (that part isn't a joke mind you, I do like the guy).

He really should see someone about that multiple personality problem though. Talikng to onself on the phone on TV was clearly a cry for help. And how peculiar that one of his personalities looks EXACTLY like Dave Chapelle. Uncanny.

The MTV show was great. And not just great, almost as great as the PS2 launch titles.....
LOL

[zmweasel]

MSNBC.com ran a piece on the Xbox 360 with this fascinating graf:

"Sony now has 43 percent of the U.S. video game console market with PlayStation 2, compared with Xbox at 19 percent and GameCube at 14 percent, according to Jay Horwitz, an analyst with Jupiter Research. He predicts the new Xbox will grab 38 percent of the U.S. market by 2010, overtaking PlayStation 3 by 6 percentage points."

I have no idea how Mr. Horwitz formulated his predictions of 38% for Xbox 360 and 32% for PlayStation 3, but it's significant that at least one game-industry watcher believes Microsoft is poised to take over first place in America. (MS will always be dead last in Japan, but that market's hurting so badly that MS could become #1 worldwide anyway.)

-- Z.

[PS2Hawk]

With Developers continuously praising PS3 being more powerfull and Capsom bringing its big GUNS to Nintendo and SONY I doubt that Xbox 2 will succeed.

None of my friends are buying xbox 2, they are waiting for he next halo.

[RCM]

(MS will always be dead last in Japan, but that market's hurting so badly that MS could become #1 worldwide anyway.)

I will bet you a dollar that 360 does far better than the original. It can only take a game to change the course of a system. I guess we will have to define "far better." I heard they that MS is about to sell it's 360th Xbox in Japan later this year.

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[SirDrexl]

I'm disappointed that it won't use the same A/V output as the original Xbox. I do not look forward to spending another $70 (or maybe even more) for a VGA adapter. I hope there will be some way to make the current A/V packs and VGA adapters compatible with the new system.

I also hope the current controllers are compatible also, since I strongly prefer having the black/white buttons on the face rather than the top near the triggers.

[THATinkjar]

I've got a 42" Toshiba widescreen. It isn't HD. I'm not buying another tele for a VERY long time. This better bloody work on my current setup.

[felix]

I will try and keep mine short because I got really bored reading the novel-esq posts above..

GOOD: Another console that raised the bar. Even if you dont like the xbox and are never going to buy one you have to be happy with how microsoft has raised the bar that the other systems are going to have to match/ improve on. RF controllers out of box, HD compaidble out of the box, solid release titles (even if they dont look good yet) and "full time networking" are all things that sony and nintendo are going to have to match or do better than in order to secure sales. Chances are they are going to take the things that MS screw up on and make them better in their respective systems.

BAD: umm, didnt dell, compaq and ever other mass cpu maker make xbox360s?
http://software.hirschintl.com/graphics/workstation/dell_workstations.jpg
Get rid of the monitor and keyboard.. hmm.. look familiar?
The more advanced consoles get, the closer they get to just being a stripped down, midrange basic computer. 2nd off, I dont really like microsoft OR the xbox system as a whole.. I dont think this system will make me stray from my ps2 and computer.

[hydr0x]

MSNBC.com ran a piece on the Xbox 360 with this fascinating graf:

"Sony now has 43 percent of the U.S. video game console market with PlayStation 2, compared with Xbox at 19 percent and GameCube at 14 percent, according to Jay Horwitz, an analyst with Jupiter Research. He predicts the new Xbox will grab 38 percent of the U.S. market by 2010, overtaking PlayStation 3 by 6 percentage points."

I have no idea how Mr. Horwitz formulated his predictions of 38% for Xbox 360 and 32% for PlayStation 3, but it's significant that at least one game-industry watcher believes Microsoft is poised to take over first place in America. (MS will always be dead last in Japan, but that market's hurting so badly that MS could become #1 worldwide anyway.)

-- Z.

the REALLY interesting point in that quote is the fact that he thinks the Nintendo Revolution will get a market share of 30%, i can't remember any other analyst or journalist not saying the Revolution doesn't have a chance

if he's right the market share will be 38/32/30 for the US which is pretty even, if you add that with a similar share in Europe and a "worse for the Xbox 360" share in Japan that makes an incredibly even world-wide situation that we have never seen before for 3 systems on the market

[hydr0x]

RF controllers out of box

i'm not too sure WHO was first with this though, sure, the Xbox 360 will be the first system on the market with them, but as you may have noticed Nintendo had the Wavebird for the Cube (a full update of the system to completely wireless controll would cost you an extra $70, you have to exchange one controller ($40) and the other 3 controller cost you just $10 extra for the RF-technology, so basically, if you want it to be, the Cube already IS a RF controll system, of course not out of the box) and as soon as the RF for Xbox 360 was announced Nintendo announced they have it too. We probably will never know for sure which company had the idea first, but i'm guessing Nintendo because of the Wavebird.

[THATinkjar]

Wireless controllers have been about for a very long time, now. But a launching a console with wireless as standard, designing the console and games around it, is completely new. I think it's very cool. I especially like the on button being on the controller. I saw that coming, though, but its still damn neat.

[hydr0x]

Wireless controllers have been about for a very long time, now. But a launching a console with wireless as standard, designing the console and games around it, is completely new. I think it's very cool. I especially like the on button being on the controller. I saw that coming, though, but its still damn neat.

you do not REALLY think the RF controllers do have any influence on the games, do you? it's just more comfort that's all, and i wasn't talking about wireless controllers, the Cube is a completely first-party wireless system for just 40-70 bucks more than the actual system and the Revolution will have wireless too.

i'm not saying it isn't a smart move by MS, but they are not the only one

[felix]

Wireless controllers have been about for a very long time, now. But a launching a console with wireless as standard, designing the console and games around it, is completely new. I think it's very cool. I especially like the on button being on the controller. I saw that coming, though, but its still damn neat.

you do not REALLY think the RF controllers do have any influence on the games, do you? it's just more comfort that's all, and i wasn't talking about wireless controllers, the Cube is a completely first-party wireless system for just 40-70 bucks more than the actual system and the Revolution will have wireless too.

i'm not saying it isn't a smart move by MS, but they are not the only one



I agree with you. I think that the BEST rf controller of all time was the wavebird. Nintendo did a great job with it and I wouldnt change a thing on them (they are that good). The only downside was like you said was the price. MS having RF bundled with the system is a good job and will change a lot of things if they do it as well as Nintendo did. Only downside to the controllers being wireless is the price. RF technology isnt cheap by any sence of the word. With NORMAL wired contorllers for xbox going for $30 imagine how much it will cost for a basic RF controller.. Im sorry, but I dont want to pay $70 for 1 contorller.. :bad-words: :bad-words: :bad-words: :bad-words: BAD DESIGNERS!! NO BISCUT!!!!

[SirDrexl]

I've got a 42" Toshiba widescreen. It isn't HD. I'm not buying another tele for a VERY long time. This better bloody work on my current setup.

Oh, I'm sure it will, as long as you don't mind using composite video and analog audio. If you want S-Video or better and digital audio (for surround sound) you'll probably have to buy another A/V pack. We'll have to wait and see what comes with the system.

[THATinkjar]

We'll have to wait and see what comes with the system.

Precisely. I'm all for the "HD-era" but I'm not willing to move down that road just yet.

[The-Bavis]

My only feeling after watching that 30 minute concert featuring songs I hear on the radio every ten minutes and a computer in a man-purse is that I need to know more. Also, I learned that Elijah Wood is even more annoying than his character in those movies.

Games looked fine, but not impressive. The main thing I now know about the new live setup is I can piss away money on an Ecko T-shirt on my Tony Hawk character.

I was becoming a moderate fan of the XBOX, but this "special" was a big turn off. I'm not ruling out buying this console first (but not at launch), but the special didn't even increase my interest. That's bad.

[The-Bavis]

My only feeling after watching that 30 minute concert featuring songs I hear on the radio every ten minutes and a computer in a man-purse is that I need to know more. Also, I learned that Elijah Wood is even more annoying than his character in those movies.

Games looked fine, but not impressive. The main thing I now know about the new live setup is I can piss away money on an Ecko T-shirt on my Tony Hawk character.

I was becoming a moderate fan of the XBOX, but this "special" was a big turn off. I'm not ruling out buying this console first (but not at launch), but the special didn't even increase my interest. That's bad.

[Oobgarm]

The special was a waste of time. While I do enjoy the music from The Killers, it had no place in the show. The system was only displayed-no specs, no real info on anything at all. Even the 'interview' with Rare seemed scripted.

The machine looks impressive, but I need to see more to get me excited for it.

[Promophile]

Also, I learned that Elijah Wood is even more annoying than his character in those movies.


http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/14896.jpg

Enough said (if you've seen Sin City that is). Elijah = death in a sweater vest.

[zmweasel]

the REALLY interesting point in that quote is the fact that he thinks the Nintendo Revolution will get a market share of 30%, i can't remember any other analyst or journalist not saying the Revolution doesn't have a chance

Actually, the analyst didn't mention the Revolution at all, and certainly didn't imply that the Revolution would hold 30% of the market.

The article cites current percentages of 43% for the PS2, 19% for the Xbox, and 14% for the GameCube. That adds up to 76%, with the other 24% presumably handhelds (GBA, DS, PSP).

Extrapolating these numbers to the 2010 market, the PS3 and Xbox 360 would hold 70% between them, and the handhelds another 20%, leaving 10% or less for the Revolution.

This is strictly referring to the North American market, however; Nintendo will always be strong and MS will always be weak in Japan. Whether the ailing Japanese market is enough on its own to support the Revolution remains to be seen.

-- Z.

[The-Bavis]

My only feeling after watching that 30 minute concert featuring songs I hear on the radio every ten minutes and a computer in a man-purse is that I need to know more. Also, I learned that Elijah Wood is even more annoying than his character in those movies.

Games looked fine, but not impressive. The main thing I now know about the new live setup is I can piss away money on an Ecko T-shirt on my Tony Hawk character.

I was becoming a moderate fan of the XBOX, but this "special" was a big turn off. I'm not ruling out buying this console first (but not at launch), but the special didn't even increase my interest. That's bad.

[buttasuperb]

I don't like the fact that it's wireless controllers only. I'd like the option to use wired or wireless.

XBL better be backwards compatable. I'd like to be able to play xbox games online as long as possible.

Besides that, there's gonna have to be a game I REALLY want to play for me to buy one on launch.

[THATinkjar]

I don't like the fact that it's wireless controllers only. I'd like the option to use wired or wireless.

That option is there. When battery is low, you can plug the cable in. And it will recharge at the same time. Nice.

[Avatard]

zmweasel, I'd throw all those figures out the window. Lots of households have multiple consoles anyways, did they figure in that? DId the sample more than 50 people? Did they send all their surveys to different places? Most any projectional survey like that is completely bogus.

And where are ya'll getting the "xbox won't be backwards compatable", and other things like that from? An official press release has never come about. Just wait, thats all we can do.

Now if you want opinions, I think the xbox 360 is going to be a nice peice of hardware. I don't htink it will lead the market, and I don't want one, but still nice.

But the REAL issue are they going to have a Halo3 at release? Probably not. Which is a bigger blunder than the Titanic with too little life boats. If not for Halo then we probably wouldn't even know what an xbox is nowadays. Its the killer app.

RF controllers are gonna suck unless they have about 100+ channels, how are you gonna have huge Halo parties with only 16 channels if its like the wavebird.

I hope MS is thinking, otherwise this is gonna bomb....they better eat some profet loss on these to get 'em out on the market again....

[buttasuperb]

I don't like the fact that it's wireless controllers only. I'd like the option to use wired or wireless.

That option is there. When battery is low, you can plug the cable in. And it will recharge at the same time. Nice.

Really? Cool.

Good to know, I really have no use for wireless controllers.

[petewhitley]

But the REAL issue are they going to have a Halo3 at release? Probably not. Which is a bigger blunder than the Titanic with too little life boats. If not for Halo then we probably wouldn't even know what an xbox is nowadays. Its the killer app.

It won't be a blunder if they release it the same day as the PS3 launches, as per the current rumour. That's damn smart IMO, and gives them needed time to get a little bit of 360 programming experience under their belt in order to really take advantage of the hardware.

[downfall]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20050513/tc_usatoday/gaminghitsnextlevelwithxbox360


"Remember going from 2-D games to 3-D? We're going from today's 3-D worlds to high-definition worlds that really will look like a movie or television show," chief Xbox officer Robbie Bach says. All games will be in HD, but only HDTVs will show them at highest quality. Microsoft estimates that 100 million homes worldwide will have advanced TV sets by 2008. "That is going to lead to fundamental changes in expectations, and Xbox 360 is going to deliver."

I don't see the comparison between 2-D/3-D and 3-D/H-D. It's just not the same at all - the jump just isn't there. 2-D to 3-D changed the way we played video games - it opened up experiences that I never ever thought about. New ideas, new types of games, etc. From what I can see, if I buy an XBox 360, I'll be playing Project Gotham 3, Tony Hawk 6, and Halo 3 - games that will undoubtedly look very pretty, and play very well, but aren't anything that will make me say "I have to play that." - unlike that jump from 2-D to 3-D.

I'm not saying that I can't see a difference, because anyone can look at the screenshots and see that there's more detail - I just haven't felt that *wow* feeling that I used to when I'd pop open a game magazine and see the first info on the latest and greatest system - I haven't had that "man, I absolutely have to play this" feeling yet. Graphics just don't make a game great, and I doubt they ever will.

And it makes no sense to me that they say the XBox 360 will deliver on the fundamental changes in expectations. At this rate, by 2008, we'll only be a year or a year and a half out from the next new generation of consoles. Where's that going to leave the 360? I don't get it.

[THATinkjar]

HD-TVs in the UK aren't going to be standard for probably ten years. I'm no expert, thats just my opinion. Microsoft shouldn't over-sell the HD aspect - it isn't going to be the deciding factor for buying the console for the majority of people.

[wberdan]

i dont think we will ever see a graphics revolution like any of us lived through.
now that systems have defined pretty much what they want to do, it will be finer and finer detail work that gets improved upon (my opinion).
these finer details will make a difference to those gamers that use an hdtv.
to the rest of us, it probably wont matter a whole lot.


willie

[legov8]

The machine looks very very very nice, and I like the wireless controllers.

[YoshiM]

I've watched the videos on MTV.com. Until I actually SEE someone playing a bonefide game demo, all that stuff looked like CGI movies and not real-time. Even if the graphics were real time (like the NBA2K6 supposedly is), the scenarios they are being run under are not "real", game wise. Think back to when the Xbox was first shown at the GDC conference back in 2000 (for example they had shown the video of the gal and huge robot dancing together). Supposedly all that was real time but nothing looked that good until maybe a year or so later.

However I will reserve total judgement until after E3. At this point I'm not impressed.

[hydr0x]

HD-TVs in the UK aren't going to be standard for probably ten years. I'm no expert, thats just my opinion. Microsoft shouldn't over-sell the HD aspect - it isn't going to be the deciding factor for buying the console for the majority of people.

absolutely agreed, during that MTV show i was thinking "so, you are telling us that the HD is the difference between 360 and Xbox?? ooooooh..." all the time, has anyone at MS even bothered to look at the market share of HDTVs over here in Europe?? i'd be surprised if more than 1-2% have got them, and in 5 years maybe 10-20% will. HDTV is high-tech stuff 75% of the population over here has never even heard of yet. It's good and i'll buy a HDTV as soon as they get cheap enough and i have the money but no way is this going to be a deciding factor over here, it's not even something people will consider when selecting their system

[felix]

Everybodys concern seems to be that they didnt spend much time on specs and tech issues with the system. You have to understand that this was just an unveiling and that it was done on MTV all for hype. They wanted this to appeal to your "typical" mtv audience ("OMG!! i would like to request the killers because I love their music and the guy is like totally sexy and I wanna shout out to my girls back at home SHANEQUA, TREY, JENEQUGA, RANDEL AND ALSDFAKLSDFLKAJSDFLK AAAHAHAHAHAHAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"... this audience have taken that r34LLy 4|\|0y!ng "733t5p33k" and put it into spoken word form...). If you want the 411 on all the tech issues, your going to have to wait till e3 when a REAL unveiling will happen..

And yes, Elija woods haunts us all....
I personally think it would have been 100000x better if they canned elija woods and "unveilled" the new xbox AND Liv Tyler... yummy..
http://echicas.i-net.com.mx/archives/liv_tyler.jpg She doesnt need RF controllers to get my going like the xbox360 did :snuggle:

[Slipdeath]

There's a lot more detail on the system on Ign.com, but it still leaves some unanswered questions.

[SuperNES]

they spent too much time talking to ppl like Lil-Jon and Tony Hawk,

yEEAh!


6. This is what gaming has come down to: Being represented by Pimp My Ride, Lil' Jon, and MTV. Depression is not the right word.


WHHAt!

i think they showed way too much of those stupid retards playing perfect dark. i honestly could care less about perfect dark, i want to see more close-ups of the 360's hardware, and more video of it's games. unfortunately, the feature was really short to begin with, and i only cared about half of it. whatever. i kinda laughed too when elijah wood said "it's the first time you've seen the Xbox 360" LOL

also the killers ruled.

[Anthony1]

I'm disappointed that it won't use the same A/V output as the original Xbox. I do not look forward to spending another $70 (or maybe even more) for a VGA adapter. I hope there will be some way to make the current A/V packs and VGA adapters compatible with the new system.

I also hope the current controllers are compatible also, since I strongly prefer having the black/white buttons on the face rather than the top near the triggers.


Why would you spend $70 on a VGA Adapter? All you need is a component to VGA Adapter and I can get one of those off of Ebay for $15 shipped. In fact, I just bought one recently to connect my XBOX to my DLP Projector which accepts VGA input. I plug my XBOX High Def AV pack into the back of the XBOX, then I connect the make component cables to a female component conncetor that I got that has VGA on the other end. It's as easy as pie. You can do the same thing with GameCube and PS2 for the games that use 480p. I've hooked my PS2 and by Cube up to a PC monitor with this adapter and it looks fantastic.

Just do a search on Ebay for "component to VGA" I got mine for $10 plus $5 shipping.

[Promophile]

Comon did any actually expect ANY different from this? Its MTV for god sakes. I'm suprised they didn't have Half Dollar or 50 cents or whoevers the current "thug" rapper is gold plate the 360 and wear it around his neck.

[Anthony1]

HD-TVs in the UK aren't going to be standard for probably ten years. I'm no expert, thats just my opinion. Microsoft shouldn't over-sell the HD aspect - it isn't going to be the deciding factor for buying the console for the majority of people.


Do you have VGA computer monitors in the UK?

If so, then just get a damn component to VGA cable. Will cost you $15, and you'll be playing your games in High Def.

HDTV's are just basically giant computer monitors.

I have a 21 inch PC monitor and I've hooked my XBOX up to it in High Def, via the High Def AV pack and then a component to VGA Adapter and I've played games like Amped 2 on it in 720p, and the resulting image is freaking amazing.

How much did that 21 inch PC monitor set me back? A whopping $100. And $15 for the component to VGA cable.

So you are talking about $115 for a 21 inch HDTV!!

[DCVision]

Comon did any actually expect ANY different from this? Its MTV for god sakes. I'm suprised they didn't have Half Dollar or 50 cents or whoevers the current "thug" rapper is gold plate the 360 and wear it around his neck.

It's around the corner very soon, guaranteed someone out there is gonna do it! hahaha... LOL

[hezeuschrist]

I just watched two 10 minute videos detailing all that's currently known about the system (I missed the MTV special... DAMN) and I must say that I'm completely unmoved by the entire ordeal. Sure I'm glad that the speculation can take a hike, but the "future" of gaming looks bleak. Very, very bleak.

Answer me this. In terms of gaming, what does the Xbox 360 offer over the current Xbox?

The only point I'll give the new system in all validity is persistant HD and 6.1 or 7.1 surround, or whatever crazy audio it promises. There's a counterpoint to this about the market penetration for such setups, but that's got nothing to do with this. On to the rest.

Graphics: For the past two decades, graphical improvements meant something. The jump from 'flashing' atari sprites to 8-bit nintendo sprites allowed game developers to do so much more with the games. Same with the jump between 8 to 16, 16 to 32, and now to the current. Each generation has allowed developers to represent their ideas in a more robust and true-to-the-vision way. When Soul Calibur hit for the Dreamcast, that barrier was shattered. It ran flawlessly, looked stunning and no graphical improvement could possibly improve the gameplay itself. This generation can already run whatever it wants at solid and high enough framerates and very accurately represent what the developers were thinking of. Now it's strictly vanity, and what we've seen so far really isn't all that jaw dropping.

Audio: Can it get any better than what we've got? The games that warrant such an experience already have great 5.1 tracks and sound fantastic. 6 or 7 would be nice, but I'd like the development team to spend more time on the gameplay than three seperate audio tracks to accommodate all setups.

Gameplay: The controller is the exact same, except the black and white buttons have been moved to the shoulders. Woo. Oh oh, wait wait, the little sphere that tells me what quadrant of the multiplayer game I'm in just incase I'm totally inept and can't remember what position I was at in the lobby 4 seconds ago.

Community: Do any of you really care to know what 'SlapNuTz69' looks like, or portrays himself to be? I'm sure we've all found some great online gaming communities, but in all honesty, talking to these people is enough and is sometimes too much. I just can't wait until I'm in a game of MechAssault 4 and some 8 year old moons me at the end of a game. Awesome.

Media Center: I can share pictures of my balls with the world? How lucky the world is. The only way I can see this being at all interesting is if we can screencap games and send those wherever we please. Oh yeah, can we get a fucking keyboard too? Seriously. There's not too much to be said about this other than we all own Windows XP PC's. Really, we do. We can do all that crap and more with the boxes designed for it and it's completely superfluous to the gaming experience and will add next to nothing. Bonus points for letting me plug in my iPod and stream seamlessly in any game though. But this may have gone too far. Some games don't need hardcore metal in them, could you imagine ICO or God of War without the original soundtracks? It would totally kill the experience, and I feel this might cause some developers to slack off on the original scores that are starting to really come into their own. Definitely a fantastic evolution of gaming in the past decade, and it's a shame it might be taking a backseat.

Long rant I'm sorry, but I just realized that I can sum it all up in one word: Meh.

[DCVision]

For me... it'll give me a chance to play all my friends in multiplayer games live. I know I know... the xbox already does this now... but I don't have an xbox 1 nor do some of my friends and the ones who do already stated they would get a 360 (just because they will... and I know it).

So.... for my friends who can't cough up $800+ for a good gaming PC but can manage to squeeze out $300 from their penny pinching m@sses - this is for us.... (them).

I'll be able to play the next-gen multiplayer games with about 6 good buddies online.... and I see it opening up doors for other media related content (yea I know, we have PC's).

This is ease of use really... you don't have to go through all the loops of installing software it's you sign up once with a user name and bam... access with a simple UI. Many friends I know don't really understand all the software running behind the PC such as teamspeak and how to connect to servers and update patches, fix minor game glitches, etc. etc. (course this is starting to sound like a PC vs. Xbox (in general) debate as it was for the first xbox.

I don't care for the design of the case but I like the specs and the games will follow.

Mostly however is I'm a huge fan of Jeff Minter's work and being the VLM is going to be within each box is both awesome and appealing to me.

I'm sure Sony will have something similar up their sleeve that will be a multi-featured console that does more then just play games.... as long as they can get original titles and not port all the old shit with newer graphics it should do just fine.

[FurinkanianFrood]

Developers continuously praising PS3 being more powerfull


Who? The ones who have been Sony's bitches for the last decade?

It's the same hype that we saw before the PS2 launch, and that thing is weaker than the DC. It really is weaker than DC, the DC just didn't live long enough to reach it's full potential. It only got a couple years to grow because Sony's moronic cultish followers in the media and in the general public killed it. The PS2 is, was, and shall be a waste of silicon.

The DC had much better games, and yet people are willing to pay $100 more for inferior hardware that runs inferiro software because it plays DVDs.

WTF do people care about DVD playback. It's a F'ing game console. The same year the PS2 arrived I bought another, much better DVD player for about $100, the cost difference between the two consoles.

The PS3 is worse. The Cell chip is obvious hype. It is not anything near what any of the parties involved say it is.



Answer me this. In terms of gaming, what does the Xbox 360 offer over the current Xbox?


Nothing really. Companies have to release a new console to compete with the other new consoles. It's insane. Stupid forced obsolescence. Essentially it ties in to the larger picture of needless products that perform a function for which previous ones were already sufficient.

Newer PC hardware is usually pointless, as is stupid Blu-ray, HDTV, PDAs, MP3 players, etc.

There was nothing wrong with analog audio via vinyl records either.

There have been only a handful of true advances in consumer electronics in recent years, decades in some cases. Higher spec stuff is typically highly wasteful of money the of high people who are easily impressed.

Everything else is an effort to take your money.

Honestly,the reason to buy a system is for the games.

All of this convergence crap is cropping up because corporations see it as another oppotunity to rob people blind.



50 cents or whoevers the current "thug" rapper


That sums up the stupidity of MTV in a nutshell. MTV is dumb enough to pretend that 50 cent is "thug."

They are white bread. They are brain dead.

And Elijah Wood? He almost killed the LotR movies along with Orlandork Bloom, that agent Smith guy, all the Arwen crap, the way they made Faramir a complete tool, etc.

Peter Jackson was but a hair's breadth away from being seen as the hack he is......

[Zubiac666]

Comon did any actually expect ANY different from this? Its MTV for god sakes. I'm suprised they didn't have Half Dollar or 50 cents or whoevers the current "thug" rapper is gold plate the 360 and wear it around his neck.

rofl that made me laugh
good one

and HDTV is a joke here in europe and it will stay a joke for the next 10 years.HDTVs cost way too much and as hydrox stated: 75(likely more I think)% of the people don't know it or don't give a shit on it(like me).
Hell, the first "show" ever(!) which will feature HDTV-picture(here in germany,austria etc) will be "Soccer Worldcup" in 2006.

just gimme a normal-sized color TV with speakers and I'm done.
HDTV my ass

[hezeuschrist]

And Elijah Wood? He almost killed the LotR movies along with Orlandork Bloom, that agent Smith guy, all the Arwen crap, the way they made Faramir a complete tool, etc.

Peter Jackson was but a hair's breadth away from being seen as the hack he is.......

a hair's breath and eleven oscars away from being seen as a hack...

really, something else has to be bothering you because you are really bitter about... well, everything in this thread.

[THATinkjar]

Do you have VGA computer monitors in the UK?

Why would I want to use my 19" LCD screen when I have a 42" widescreen TV? I don't.

[Julio III]

I don't like the way they are pushing the HD and surround sound, its good to have those features but they want market penetration so need a cheap price point and games still need to look good for people with old TVs and stereo sound. As many people have said, HDTV is a long way off in Europe. As for connectivity, I have a monitor and a 5.1 system on my computer so it would be good if out of the box I could attach the 360 to these.

They say that every game will have online facilities and custom soundtracks. I don't like this. I like the ideas for both but they are frankly unneccesary for most games. 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. And forced online, what about for single-player games? Custom soundtracks, again good for multiplayer but bad for single-player games.

The controller. It doesn't look as good as the xbox one. I don't need shoulder buttons as well as triggers. The d-pad looks even further away (don't they realise that most games apart from FPS and racing games are better with the d-pad?) and why put start, back and that new button (what does it even do and why does it look so weird?) in the middle? Wireless as standard, I guess thats good but isn't a major selling point for me, I can deal with wires.

I like the design, it looks good. Memory cards though, I thought it had a hard disc? I hope you can run downloaded content, emulators, homebrew etc as well as have a Live account.

What I want: cheap pricepoint, free online capabilities, backwards compatibility (also with free online), and as it has a hard-disc, i should be able to use it to record TV programs, DVD capabilities without having to pay extra (don't need a remote, controllers are wireless anyway).

As for the games, I haven't seen any yet but Project Gotham 3 is a definite seller. Perfect Dark, why this and where's Halo? I'd definitely be tempted to get this console if Sega will support it.[/i]

[jdc]

My opinion?

The new machine is going to kick the shit out of the competition....just as the current Xbox has snuck up and bashed Sony and Nintendo over their collective heads. The only difference being is that THIS time there won't be a need for sneaking. This thing will launch out of the gate breathing fire. :evil:

Gamers have taken a real shine to the Xbox over the years.....and the legions of Xbox fans will rejoice over this monster.

I won't need to buy one ASAP. I have far too many Xbox games to wallow through first. I'll wait for a while....but I want one.

[Flack]

Might as well jump into the fray ...

On the name Xbox 360
It doesn't surprise me at all. 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". It makes sense that Xbox would pick a name that had a 3 in it. Maybe their next-next generation console will be the Xbox 4D. ;)

On the games
So far, unimpressed. It seems like in all the hooplah, the games have take a back seat to all the features. The best comparison I can come up with is the "new" Volkswagen. When it came out people were like WOW look at the body and WOW look at all the options and so on and I wanted to know about the engine and the chassis and they go "well it's just a VW Golf with a different body on it." Well that's not exciting. That's kind of how I feel with the Xbox 360 so far. I'm sure there are some improvements under the hood, but wireless controllers and removable hard drives and other accessories aren't going to sell me on a next gen console. I was blown away in the difference between the PS1 and the PS2, and so far I'm not blown away in what little footage I've seen between the Xbox and the Xbox 360. Maybe that will change before launch.

On the MTV Special
I thought it did exactly what MTV's been doing for the past 20+ years, it took "something" (whether it's a next generation console or a rapper or a whatever) and marketed it to millions of kids wanting the next "it" thing. They stuck a bunch of beautiful people and celebrities in a room together and to highly impressionable youth that's enough reason to go buy something. I'm sure Pariss Hiltonn will have a diamond encrusted pink one launch day. I was disappointed by the lack of information, but not surprised. MTV isn't G4. The only real surprise was that they didn't have the people from Road Rules and Real World competing to try and win one live on the show.

On the wireless and on button
It's a bigger deal than you guys are realizing. Yes, IR has been around for a long time and RF has been around for a bit (I love you Messiah!) but no one's done it out of the box, and that power button on the controller is a BIG deal. They have just turned your next gen console into part of your entertainment center by adding those two things. My Xbox will play movies, but I hate getting up, standing three feet away from my television, going through menus while I'm standing there, and then starting a movie. Guess what. Now you'll be sitting on your couch, reach over for your remote, fire up your 360 and starting a movie without ever getting up. Wireless and that "on" button just changed the way that console works. Someday people will say, "remember when you had to get up and turn on your console, hah!"

On bashing MS for stealing Sony's "lie down/stand up" console design:
Nintendo Revolution is doing it too. It's an incredibly simple feature to add (just make the left side of the console flat, voila!) that people seem to enjoy. It's a no brainer. As for the changable color faceplates, Nokia did it way before iPod, and HP did it before that (I remember selling swappable color trim for Packard Bells in 94). Again, it's a super simple thing to include that kids will love (OMG My XBOX 360 is green like my shoes -- that's hot!) so why not include it? Personally I'd rather see a hypercolor console that changes color depending on the room temperature.

On final note: on video signals
It's the same jockeying that's going on between blu-ray and hd-dvd and everything else. Putting out a console tomorrow that supports HDTV isn't really that important. It doesn't affect a huge market share. The problem is, if consoles are supposed to stretch to that magical 5 year mark, it WILL be important for this next generation to work with HDTV and start designing games for it. Those who say HDTV isn't important will be changing your mind in 3-4 years, and if the console under your current television already supports it and has games ready to support it, that might be a winning long term strategy.