Professor S
11-03-2005, 12:02 PM
Well, I've been posting thoughts and previews for various Xbox 360 games, but I haven't really touched the hardware. What exactly will you be getting for your $299 or $399 consoles or more likely $499 and $599 bundles?
Well, that answer is complicated. All the stats are located here along with a lengthy but thorough explanation:
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/663/663045p1.html
I won't bore you with all the stats or even my opinion on every little thing (mainly because I don't know what the Hell half of it is or what it does), but I'll hit on a few points.
HARD DRIVE
As everyone know that hard drive is no longer going to be included with the core system. At first I was very (very) angry about this and noted on several occasions on this site that I was basically boycotting the system. Well, I've had time to think it over and I've reconsidered, basically for one reason:
My issue with the hard drive being non-standard was not that I feared being "jipped", I was worried that developers would be disinclined to use it in in their games seeing as not every 360 gamer would have it. Then I thought: "Were developers using the hard drive as more than just a giant memory card when the hard drive was standard?" The answer is an easy "no", and the few that did develop their games around the HD tended to suck out loud. Remember when Blinx was the next big thing? It turns out that having a cat who controls time and does battle with a vacuum cleaner is a bad idea afterall. The HD is necessary for one central function, and this will upset many MS gamers, and that is the fact that you need it for your 360 to be...
BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE
Yes, the 360 will be backwards compatible, but that is with a huge asterisk. You need to HD. Now before you start flipping out about MS gouging you, there is a definite reason why beyond sucking more money out of you, although the money is definitely a factor.
The internal structure of the 360 is completely, and I mean completely, different from the original Xbox. The 360 runs on a three tiered series of 3+ Ghz processors, each with 2 threads for processing information parallel to each other. What this means is that while the capabilities of the 360 dwarf the original, the games also need to developed under an entirely different coding structure.
What all that means to you is that if you want to play an old game on the 360, you'll need to download a "patch" or sorts from Xbox Live that will allow your Halo to run on the stratified hardware. A memory card can sustain enough information for one or two game "patches", but if you really want to open up your old library you'll need the HD to save all of that coding.
SHADING
Yes, the Xbox can push a rediculous amount of polygons and pixels, but the areas that have always been the more important to me when it comes to presentation are Lighting and Sound. Nothing immerses me in a game more that realistic lighting and great sound effects and music. Sound has always tweaked my berries, since the first playing Call if Duty and hearing the uber-realistic sounds of war, and Halo with its foreboding and exciting score (if a game can make me pee myself a little by just cuing music at the right time, its doing something right). The preview didn't go into sound very much, but since the Xbox was the console leader in this area I'll give MS the beneft of the doubt.
Apparently the 360 is a true beast when it comes to lighting. The Xbox was the king of this as well, but from what is being reported the shaders in the 360 make it look downright ancient. Lighting adds life and dimension to a game like no pixel or polygon can. It takes a flat looking game and can make it nearly photorealistic. Even the much maligned Madden 360 footage I've seen is helped out a ton by dynamic lighting effects. If the 360 can do half of what the preview is claiming, it should be a real leap forward.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
I'm a bit more optimistic about the 360 now. While MS probably could have made one system with everything, we also have to remember that they are trying to make a profit. Many of you here delight to post MS's losses when it comes to the Xbox, so you shouldn't then profane them for trying to make one. Also, by even offering the $399 version, they are losing potential profits as the cost of all that is included would greatly exceed the $100 you are paying over the core system. So I view that as a concession to the consumer on their part, but thats debatable I guess.
Mainly I'm more optimistic because of all the speculation about the PS3 pricing. The 360 is looking downright cheap and looks to give you a good amount for the money. If Sony is not careful, they could price themselves out of the next generation, rabid fanbase or no, but I'll wait to pass judgement until the real numbers come out. What about the Revolution, you say? Well I can't count on them to keep ****ing Mario out of my ****ing games, so **** `em. :D
Well, that answer is complicated. All the stats are located here along with a lengthy but thorough explanation:
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/663/663045p1.html
I won't bore you with all the stats or even my opinion on every little thing (mainly because I don't know what the Hell half of it is or what it does), but I'll hit on a few points.
HARD DRIVE
As everyone know that hard drive is no longer going to be included with the core system. At first I was very (very) angry about this and noted on several occasions on this site that I was basically boycotting the system. Well, I've had time to think it over and I've reconsidered, basically for one reason:
My issue with the hard drive being non-standard was not that I feared being "jipped", I was worried that developers would be disinclined to use it in in their games seeing as not every 360 gamer would have it. Then I thought: "Were developers using the hard drive as more than just a giant memory card when the hard drive was standard?" The answer is an easy "no", and the few that did develop their games around the HD tended to suck out loud. Remember when Blinx was the next big thing? It turns out that having a cat who controls time and does battle with a vacuum cleaner is a bad idea afterall. The HD is necessary for one central function, and this will upset many MS gamers, and that is the fact that you need it for your 360 to be...
BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE
Yes, the 360 will be backwards compatible, but that is with a huge asterisk. You need to HD. Now before you start flipping out about MS gouging you, there is a definite reason why beyond sucking more money out of you, although the money is definitely a factor.
The internal structure of the 360 is completely, and I mean completely, different from the original Xbox. The 360 runs on a three tiered series of 3+ Ghz processors, each with 2 threads for processing information parallel to each other. What this means is that while the capabilities of the 360 dwarf the original, the games also need to developed under an entirely different coding structure.
What all that means to you is that if you want to play an old game on the 360, you'll need to download a "patch" or sorts from Xbox Live that will allow your Halo to run on the stratified hardware. A memory card can sustain enough information for one or two game "patches", but if you really want to open up your old library you'll need the HD to save all of that coding.
SHADING
Yes, the Xbox can push a rediculous amount of polygons and pixels, but the areas that have always been the more important to me when it comes to presentation are Lighting and Sound. Nothing immerses me in a game more that realistic lighting and great sound effects and music. Sound has always tweaked my berries, since the first playing Call if Duty and hearing the uber-realistic sounds of war, and Halo with its foreboding and exciting score (if a game can make me pee myself a little by just cuing music at the right time, its doing something right). The preview didn't go into sound very much, but since the Xbox was the console leader in this area I'll give MS the beneft of the doubt.
Apparently the 360 is a true beast when it comes to lighting. The Xbox was the king of this as well, but from what is being reported the shaders in the 360 make it look downright ancient. Lighting adds life and dimension to a game like no pixel or polygon can. It takes a flat looking game and can make it nearly photorealistic. Even the much maligned Madden 360 footage I've seen is helped out a ton by dynamic lighting effects. If the 360 can do half of what the preview is claiming, it should be a real leap forward.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
I'm a bit more optimistic about the 360 now. While MS probably could have made one system with everything, we also have to remember that they are trying to make a profit. Many of you here delight to post MS's losses when it comes to the Xbox, so you shouldn't then profane them for trying to make one. Also, by even offering the $399 version, they are losing potential profits as the cost of all that is included would greatly exceed the $100 you are paying over the core system. So I view that as a concession to the consumer on their part, but thats debatable I guess.
Mainly I'm more optimistic because of all the speculation about the PS3 pricing. The 360 is looking downright cheap and looks to give you a good amount for the money. If Sony is not careful, they could price themselves out of the next generation, rabid fanbase or no, but I'll wait to pass judgement until the real numbers come out. What about the Revolution, you say? Well I can't count on them to keep ****ing Mario out of my ****ing games, so **** `em. :D