My 360 and what I think (and what you think of yours)

General Forums Off-topic Chat
1

Well, I waited in line for 13 hours last night at Walmart to buy my premium XBox 360. The wait was one of the most fun times I’ve had in a line. We played Texas Hold’em and the Walmart people brought us food and pop for free. The group I waited with was cool and no one was uptight about their spots. We knew who was where and once there were 14 of us, we just had a fun time.

Anyway, I also bought NBA Live 2006, and Perfect Dark. The graphics are quite simply unbelievable. In NBA Live 2006 there are honostly some times when you catch yourself looking at them like real players. I fooled my dad for about 15 seconds when he thought I was watching a real Blazer game. He then said, “Wait, the Blazers aren’t playing tonight. Is this a replay?” He then studied it a little closer and realized it was the XBox. He was blown away (which was good considering he kept asking me why I would spend $400 dollars on a gaming system.)

Perfect Dark left something to be desired so far, but maybe I just haven’t gotten used to it yet. Graphics weren’t all that impressive (much better than XBox, but didn’t blow me away like NBA Live.) Seemed to take forever to kill people, like unloading 3 whole clips on them. But, overall, I think that both the XBox 360 and Playstation 3 have and will really revolutionized gaming graphics. These new graphic systems have opened up a lot of possibilities that weren’t even a thought with previous systems. Anyway, anyone else have a 360 and care to share some thoughts?

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Thirteen hours? :-?

Personally, I’m still going to wait it out for Nintendo Revolution. But Perfect Dark does sound tempting…

3

Mmmmm…Jail Blazers!!!

Go Jail Blazers!

:stuck_out_tongue:

4

Amen to that.

I feel like Sony and Microsoft are just there to milk the market while Nintendo is experiementing with new stuff pretty much every new console they release.

Martin

5

interesting read here:
http://megagames.com/news/html/hardware/next-genconsoles-therealdeal.shtml

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This also suggests that the advantage in accelerated physics calculations that many expected the Cell processor to have, will not be realized.

… Aegia’s fluid simulations apparently run poorly on the xbox 360, crap on a pc [decent on one with the physx card] and quite well on the cell chip.

The Cell, on the other hand, with its SPEs out of the picture in most cases, also loses out since it also carries one such IBM design. Another problem with the PS3/Cell design has to do with the extremely limited amount of local memory available to each SPE.

just like the 2 vector units on the ps2, they are very fast [particularly for matrix-like operations] and have like no memory [16 k]. Also, if you don’t use the vector units the performance will suffer

the ps3 will be interesting to develop for, but if done properly will easily surpass the xbox 360 in performance. It is up to developers if they want to invest this much time and effort into one platform over another… just like the last generation

[besides, they’d have to do something to get the most out of the xbox 360… current techniques aren’t suited to either platform]

[the perspective of the article seemed to be from someone familiar with pc hardware more than console internals… particularly the choice quote from the end “It seems that the next-generation of gaming has not yet arrived but when it does it will probably be on the PC.”]

I didn’t consider it worth 22 pounds of quarters to buy an xbox 360 [a quarter is 5.67g, $430 [$400 after tax] weighs 21.7 or something pounds in quarters], I’m holding off until it becomes cheap [with games I can’t miss] or the other consoles come out [and probably until they reduce in price as well]

7

well from what I get from the article, the consoles sure will be powerfull. The cell still is quite awesome…but the article point out that it won’t be what they all promised us a few months, or years ago.

in any way…I won’t be buying any console soon…if ever [from this console generation anyway].

8

Amen to that.

I feel like Sony and Microsoft are just there to milk the market while Nintendo is experiementing with new stuff pretty much every new console they release.

Martin[/quote]

…but only experimenting with new stuff to them. They did bypass the cd with the 64, which Sony then used in the PS X (original PS one). The cube had tiny dvd’s hence reducing the possible size and quality of games, in comparison to the PS2 & Xbox.
I see this time they have decided to include a dvd player in the Revolution and go for a larger dvd.

Like I said, new stuff to their own products but still behind everyone else.

Nintendo should experiment with a wider age range. That and people with large hands.

They need to work harder because they’re so far behind in the console sales market. The products are good, don’t get me wrong. They’re just aimed at the wrong market. The average console purchaser in the UK is aged between 18-35, not 5-10 as Nintendo seem to think.

Sonix.

9

lol dude you are aware that Nintendo used cartidges (sp) instead of CDs (which they actualyl help pioneer with Sony before a falling out) because it was much harder to illegaly copy of them, the Gamecube disks also. What you need to remember is that Nintendo makes games that appeal to all ages. Not just bloody shoot em ups (which by the way i like). However, the sales of the Xbox in Japan sucks monkeys balls. In Japan, Sony and Nintendo are at against each other like PC and Mac. Xbox is the queer one out lol. Do some research man, the Revolution is gonna have alot better specs than the new Xbox, which ironically will have the worst graphics for this console generation. Oh and the Revolution will be easily the most fun to play! :stuck_out_tongue:

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If the 360 is gonna have the worst graphics, then the others are gonna be freaking unbelievable! I played Call Of Duty 2 and I couldn’t believe how good they were. I’m probably gonna wait till I can compare it to the PS3 and then decide between the to.

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I might be totally wrong (I doubt it), but from what I heard from the revolution discussion and videos and info from the E3 and other festivals (that means info coming from nintendo itself), the revolution won’t have better graphic (or better hardware for that matter) than the 2 other that are “fighting”.

Althought, they are, as you said, aiming for the entertainment category. I mean, they are aiming the “normal person” instead of the gamer. So yea, they aim kid, but also adult and other teenager that don’t like “normal games” that much. THat mean they are aiming 75% of the population (if not more) instead of the poor 25% of true gamer (I’m exagerating). Quite intelligent if you ask me, mostly because due to the lack of next gen hardware they’ll have, their console will cost way less than its competitor and will be more tempting to buy for the “normal people” who don’t care that much about graphic.

oh and btw, this is coming from a xbox/pc gamer that hate nintendo games. Just saying the facts and obvious…

12

well, ecks great read, but there is always two sides to a story so…

I must say both consoles look amazing,
too bad the revolution is gonna suck ass.

there controller is garbage, who wants a remote looking pos to play fps, or sports games, yeah i heard it uses motion sensors, so you can have more interactivity, yeah soo
i will just swing this pos in my hand and pretend its a 10lbs bat, very realistic i must say.

I am a hardcore gamer, and i dont like how sony and microsoft are trying to get the family involved, but if nintendo could pull out some half-ass descent games, not just for effin 12 year olds…there only good game, resident evil4?

I played call of duty, and man am i impressed, and i saw on the lame spike tv ultimate gamer that they use 8,000 tris per character. Amazed by the amount of stuff happening on the screen at one time. And OMG nba06 is stunning, with all those sweaty hawt basketball players…mmmmmhmmm yummy

13

Personally, Artaures, I think you are being very closed minded. True, a 10-lb bat would feel excessively heavier than Nintendo’s controller, but keep in mind, the feel of the controller is the point Nintendo is trying to make. It molds to the hand of the player (much like the Gamecube controller) making it easier for anyone to pick up and use, plus, swinging motion (which I’m sure will be optional) feels much more authentic than pulling back on an analog stick or pressing a button to hit a ball. Besides, many gamers already move their controllers during gameplay when it becomes intense :smiley: I am guilty of doing this, but only on the Revloution will it make a difference…

Nintendo has also officially stated (as I’m sure the watchers of the Tokyo Games Show '05 know) that the graphics capabilities of the Revolution will not be as high as the other two, BUT the difference is of such a small scale, that if a regular person (as in gamer, not technical director) we’re playing the game on a normal TV (which is still the most popular, and I don’t know why Sony and Micro$oft jumped into the HD scene so fast :-? ) they can not tell any difference. This makes the Revolution still be in competition, but at a lower price. Also, the new controller design, IMHO, is extremely genius, and one step closer to “freedom” which is what gamers truely look forward to in todays games (See GTA series).

A do also think that the Revolution will be a step in the right direction, though I have been wrong before (The Virtual Boy was before my Gaming time, and I still think it’s a good idea, just not enough colors…) not just for the gaming industry, but also a step (hopefully) in the right direction for Nintendo. Alongside the DS (which is selling WAY better than the PSP AFAIK) will bring them back into the “market”.

//I Don’t want to start a flame war, but Nintendo DOES have the upper hand in the Handheld Industry (see the fall of the Gamegear and WonderSwan etc…)

I personally cannot wait for the Revolution, and think Nintendo will pull through.

I have to ask though, when I tried the Xbox 360 (demo, JSYK) it had severe AA issues that took a LOT from the gameplay. I can tell you like yours, but does it still have these issues in the full version?

Also, about the Playstation and Sony’s involvement in the game industry: The PSX originated from a project Nintendo had with Sony to create a CD addon for SNES games (Which was also attempted on the N64, see the N64DD). Nintendo decided that cartridges were the way of the future (…) because they could save on themselves (which I still enjoy about the old systems), and because they were harder to copy and hack. Nintendo gave the hardware to Sony, who further developed it into their own. Nintendo kept with the cartridges through the N64, and wrote some nifty (I had to use that word, lol) software programs that allowed for 3d “faking” on the SNES, similar to what Sony used on the PSX. (Called ARM9 or something… It’s been a long time since I studied these…)

Also, the Xbox and PS3 controllers both are terrible (IMHO), and cannot be good for gaming, as the layout makes the user have to readjust themselves before getting used to playing (which happens a lot, usually, but should try to be avoided, as with the PS1 and PS2 controllers being similar, and the GC controller melting into your hand) Xbox still has a similar controller to the last, which is good, but it is still too clunky for my taste.

Microsoft has also had the LEAST time to work on a new console. After being the last to release a system during the first great console war (Of these times, unlike the Amiga/Colecovision wars of the 80’s) they are the first to release during the second one. This gives them an edges sales-wise, when they release for all gamers to get a taste of the Next-Gen systems, and also when the others come out, prices can drop, so that it will still be in the market. On the other hand, it has had least time to prepare for this next leap, therefore it may be unfinished, and laking as opposed to when Nintendo or Sony release their systems. Sony and Nintendo also have plenty of time to improve upon different aspects of the Xbox 360 that may have been faulty to the crowd in the first place. True, Microsoft has a lot behind them software and gaming-wise, but their Console is still fairly new, and I wish they would have spent more time perfecting what they had instead of trying to make a quick buck.

Also, Microsoft will be short on Nextgen games, since developers are just now (or only recently) getting the development packages for the systems, which is why the 360’s release titles also included King Kong, which could easily have just been a port from the lowergen versions that were already released.

Overall, I think that the best of this console war is still to come, as well as a change in the gaming industry. Either Nintendo will succeed, or fail, but their place and attempt in the industry will be copied and learned upon, so the best is soon to come. I would say the best idea is to wait and see what happens, instead of buying a 360 right now, though some will.

Hold on Tight,
Ongnissim

P.S. Nintendo Rules :smiley:

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One -comment. In my life I have held many remote controls. All look just like the Revolution controller, and none have ever “molded to my hand”.

A remote control is designed to be picked up, used, put down. A controller is designed to be used for long periods.

I know which I’d rather hold for a couple of hours playing - yes, that’s right - a keyboard and mouse! :smiley:

Anyway, that article misses the point. Modern gaming IS the graphics card. Only with SLI dual GF 6800GT + do you realistically have a situation where a fastish processor is the bottleneck.

Alex

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Harder for amatures maybe, but for professional pirates or anyone with embedded systems knowledge it would have been easy. The cartidges used fairly standard EEPROM chips afterall. Any PIC microcontroller can communicate with them. %|

Keith. 8)

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Harder for amatures maybe, but for professional pirates or anyone with embedded systems knowledge it would have been easy. The cartidges used fairly standard EEPROM chips afterall. Any PIC microcontroller can communicate with them. %|

Keith. 8)[/quote]

leet |-|4><><0|2 Skillz!!!11three!!11 :o

17

I think it’s kind of funny how some of you are comparing consoles and how which ones “suck” and why, even though they haven’t even been released yet. I repeat, they haven’t been released yet. The technical specs of the other two haven’t even been finalized.

What we do know is Microsoft’s, Sony’s, and Nintendo’s strategy for their next gen systems. So we do have a good idea about the upcoming systems, and most of us have already made some decision as to which ones we like because of what each console represents. However, for those of you that are comparing console systems as if they actually exist and the battle has already been won, need to realize that they haven’t hit the market, and we have no clue if the console is going to suck or not. We have nothing solid to compare the XBOX 360 to, and same goes with the the PS3 and Revolution. There’s more that goes into the success of a console than just what’s under the hood. The things that really matter about the success of the console, and also if we as gamers will like it or not, can’t possibly be determined until it’s been out for a few months or even a year.

Opinions are good, but be a little bit open minded because we have little clue as to what system is going to be worth playing or not until the console can be bought, and the games can be played.

I’ve already posted my opinions in that other large Revolution thread here, so I’m going to summarize.

And as far as the basics of what each console represents, I’m saving up for a Revolution. Here’s why.

I am a hardcore PC gamer. Not hardcore as in I play Counter-Strike and World of Warcraft all day and have no life, I mean hardcore as in I play a video games about every day, spend money on games regularly, and go to LAN parties twice a month. I also own a few console games, and can have some kind of enjoyment with those as well.

After seeing Perfect Dark, the graphics on the XBOX are already comparible to the PC, which is my main gaming system. According to some anonymous developers (NDAs), the graphics on the PS3 and the 360 in actual games (not tech demos) are pretty close (although the PS3 is apparently better suited for a true HD experience). So, if that’s the case then I won’t be getting those two consoles for graphics, and I certainly won’t be getting them for LAN or internet play, because I already have a PC that excells at that. Will the graphics of those sytems change? Absolutley! Just because the specs stay the same, developers become more and more familar with the hardware, and can do things that were previously unobtainable with the hardware. This is very important because the Cell processor is way different to code for. Not all the cells can be used all at once easily, and developers are having to figure that out. We’ll likely see a lot of games getting progressively better throughout the live cycle fo the PS3 for that reason.

If the Revolution will have only one CPU (which seems very likely), it would be easier to developers to utitilize all that power. Developers want one powerful CPU. Manufactures want Cell because it’s cheaper for the power you can potentially get out of it.

Because I have a PC, graphics are a non issue for consoles, but games are. I like Conker’s Bad Fur Day: Live and Reloaded. I like Metriod Prime 2. I like Tekken. That’s why we buy consoles. There are some games that I want to play that are not on the PC. But most FPS games that are out for consoles don’t interest me much, because of the control.

So, what am I saving up for? Right now it’s a Revolution. Will my decision change? It depends on what happens when those consoles are released. But for what each company stands for, I really like Nintendo this time around. XBOX 360 and PS3 don’t seem to offer me anything that I don’t already have. Nintendo is making what could be a great secondary system that offers something that my PC can’t give me. Whether I will like the actual games or not is still unanswered (because it hasn’t been released yet!), but I like what it represents. It’s not trying to take over my living room multimedia experience. It’s not going to cost me $400 to get the non-watered-down console. I want something that my girl friends can be interested in, and games that they won’t be grossed-out by. They understand that playing with real friends is more fun then some random foul-mouthed 14 year-olds. And I can’t wait to get my mom into gaming, which neither of the other two systems will likely do. So, which company is actually going for mass market appeal? It’s not Microsoft or Sony.

Yes, 18-35 year old males are the gaming majority. That doesn’t mean that you have to keep on making M-Rated games. They can play T or E-rated games too, you know. Just because The Incredibles was rated PG didn’t mean that anyone over 13 years old didn’t want to watch it. And that applies to video games as well.

So, if I don’t want a Revolution what will I get? Probably a PS3 because of the Blu-Ray. However, I, as a consumer, proably won’t get an true HD TV any time soon (dispite Microsoft’s self-proclaimed HD-Era which doesn’t literally exist yet), so I might wait.

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christ child in a chicken basket. Are graphics the only thing that matters? I would rather play SNES or PSONE than anything on these new systems. Gameplay used to mean something. Now everything is "OMFG L00kz a7 7h0s3 5w337 gFx!!!1111111111111111oneoneoneoneoneI n33d t3h be57 gFx $$$ c4n buY!!!11111111111111111111111oneoneoneoneoneoneoneoneoneoneoneoneoneoneoneone…

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It’s not so much that they only care about graphics, it’s just that they are following the marketing machine. Graphics is a device that not only can enhance the gaming experience, but is also a great way to measure the superiority of a product when you need to market it to consumers. After companies hype it enough, and game journalists talk about it enough, people begin to think that same way. Monkey see, monkey do.

This is almost completely off topic for this thread, but may I suggest a new way of thinking about games? Games are not about graphics. Games are not about gameplay. Games are about emotional response. Everything we do as human beings is for emotional response.

Doom 3: cookie-cutter gameplay, but scary as heck. I loved it. Final Fantasy: Most RPGs have the worst gameplay of all time. If the game was all about the RPG turn-style combat, then no one would play it. But the storylines are awesome, and thus loved by many.

How do you feel playing the game? Is it stimulating you emotionally? If the answer is yes, then you’ll want to play it. The graphics do help set the mood and is a device used in giving you an emotional response. Doom 3 wouldnt’ have been as scary if they didn’t have the technology to cast shadows the way they did, being able to use lighting tricks that have been used to scare people in the theaters for ages. Gameplay is the same way. Puzzle games are a great example of that. With only an effective gameplay mechanism, you can give someone a strong emotional response, and then adding some spiffy visuals and music can accent that experience. And of course, everyone can enjoy a good story, and for those same reasons.

Being able to play the game with friends adds a whole new layer of that emotional impact that you otherwise couldn’t have with just the game alone. People like to hang out. Add that with a simple gameplay mechanism (see Mario Party), and you have something golden. Is Mario Party fun to play on your own? No, not really. Is it still the same gameplay? Yes. Why isn’t it as fun? Emotional response.

So, think about games that way. Think deeper than what the MTV-style marketing wants you to think is important.

It’s all about emotional response.

20

The main thing I look for in a console is the controller. Cuz i’m going to be going on Vault-Induced 12 hour fragging sprees. So if the controller is teh suxor cough Gamecube cough cough anything Nitendo makes cough then it just ruins it. That sole factor is what brought me to be a xbox monk. that and halo.

AND FOR ALL OF YOU ABOUT TO YELL AT ME FOR DISSING THE GAMECUBE CONTROLLER
It’s way too freakin’ small for my hands. I have an 11 inch hand span, so fitting two of these things just don’t work with even the mega-controller Gamecube quit making.