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XBox (Games)

Yet More 360 Details 50

Posted by Zonk from the tired-of-them-yet? dept.
NubKnacker writes "With the launch of the new Xbox 360 not far away, Chris Satchell, boss of the Microsoft developer group spoke to Eurogamer.net and GamesIndustry.biz. There, he reveal a lot of information about the hardware, the operating system and the new Xbox Live functions. From the article: 'Microsoft also plans to have kiosks available - presumably in game stores and other public locations - where you can download content. Whether this will be to the detachable hard disk itself or a memory card is a detail that wasn't clarified.'"
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Yet More 360 Details More

Yet More 360 Details

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  • What I dont understand is why isnt Nintendo releasing any of their revolution tech specs as leaked. The obvious advantage is ofcourse that people will go 'hmm Revolution looks cooler than xbox369 do I want to use this pretty cool console or should I wait till couple of years and get a really kickass console'
    • Oh, they will. Except it Nintendo doesn't really use lame "leaks" they go straight for your balls. Sony and MS use all the hype and obfuscation and viral marketing and leaks. Nintendo just walks softly and carries a big stick when they want to.

      TGS is coming up soon, Nintendo will be stealing quite a bit of thunder I'm sure. I also look for them to actually beat the PS3 to market when all is said and done. Nintendo knows that no matter how badly MS wants to break into Japan, they never will. I have many frie

      • Except it Nintendo doesn't really use lame "leaks" they go straight for your balls. Sony and MS use all the hype and obfuscation and viral marketing and leaks. Nintendo just walks softly and carries a big stick when they want to.

        I can't think of any Nintendo leaks off the top of my head, but ... don't imply they don't use hype, obfuscation, or "viral marketing". What do you think E3 was? The Revolution so far as we know is: A black box. It has some blue light or something. It will play games. It

      • And what are the two competing formats of media? I'm guessing you are basing some of your points on very old (and incorrect) news.

        Sony is going with a next-gen format: BlueRay

        Microsoft is sticking with current DVD tech. They are calling it DVD 9.

        It doesn't seem like much of a battle when one of the players is using the exact same format they used in their previous console. Now, I wish that MS was using HD-DVD. But they aren't starting that way.

        There are belly-button fetish sites on the web, and some are
    • Nintendo is trying to sell the DS at the moment, it doesn't want gamers saving up for next-gen consoles, it wants them buying DS games.

      What's the point then in fighting a vapourware war? Sony are flinging enough mud at MS for all but the most hardened fanboys to be undecided about which console to get until they actually see the launch line-ups for PS3 and XB360. Nintendo are probably saving up all the good stuff for a big splash right around the launch of the other 2 consoles.
    • Some speculate that Nintendo will do their big reveal right after MS's opening keynote at TGS this month. The main idea is to let the initial ps3 and xbox2 hype die down and then have the spotlight solely on them at some point in the road.

      If Nintendo does reveal the Rev at TGS, who do you think all the coverage will be on? And since the hardware for the ps3 and xbox2 were revealed at e3, I think Nintendo will debut the Rev with playable games. Then suddenly all the coverage isnt about how three consoles
      • If Nintendo does reveal the Rev at TGS, who do you think all the coverage will be on?

        It won't last. For whatever reason all the gaming magazines and stores hate Nintendo with the same amount of fervor that they love the Xbox.
    • Has there ever been a Slashdot article about Xbox360 that doesn't start out with a slew of Nintendo fans claiming how Revolution will be superior???
    • Nintendo is playing it smart. They haven't released much info because they are waiting for MS and Sony to give out all their information about their systems. Right before MS releases its 360 I'm sure Nintendo will pull a couple rabbits out of it's hat and try to make people think, "Wow, that Nintendo is pretty cool... Maybe I should wait...?"

      If MS has already showed everything it has to offer they can't counter with anything new to make gamers want to buy the system now rather than wait to check out what N

  • Controls (Score:3, Interesting)

    by AsiNisiMasa ( 910721 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @12:16PM (#13464464) Homepage
    You can specify, for example, that you prefer to invert the right analogue stick camera control and this will then be picked up on in any game you play.

    Well that's certainly a plus. I always worry when a new game comes out wheter or not I'll be able to use the controls that I'm used to. It seems like a silly thing to worry about, but my worst fears came true when they took jumpy out of Halo 2. What were they thinking? These settings should encourage more of an industry (or at least, console) standard, I think.

    On another note, with the XBox 360 so much like a PC and cross platform gaming planned, how long is it before there's a serious problem regarding the use of mouse versus a controller? Even if the cross platform games don't bring up too much of a problem (perhaps they're MMORPGs), but what are the chances somebody gets a mouse working on their console? That would give them quite an advantage in something like an FPS.

  • Ring o' light (Score:2, Interesting)

    by timmahtron ( 908593 )
    "The "ring of light" around the power button highlights which wireless controller is being used, highlighting player one's activity in the top-left quadrant. When the console is laid on its side, it senses this and starts using the top-left quadrant as you see it with the console laid flat. What's more, the ring of light motif is spread throughout the Xbox 360 interface, so you can see which player pulled up the "Guide" page as you're watching a film or playing a game and, in the words of Satchell, "slap hi

  • Kiosks (Score:2)

    by TEMM ( 731243 )
    Wont the Kiosks be great once someone figures how to load viruses onto them from whatever media is used to transfer content from kiosk to xbox. XBox Kiosk virus with a Xbox 360 virus payload.

  • Various thoughts (Score:4, Interesting)

    by alvinrod ( 889928 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @01:11PM (#13464781)
    On the issue of cooling - Satchell said he thought the system had three fans (he said he wasn't sure but thought it was three, so we'd open to correction on that one), and we couldn't hear them at all as he spoke. When you play a DVD, it powers down to just one fan. It's "a lot" better than the "wind tunnel" alpha kits, he said.

    I'm not 100% sure, but I thought that the Xbox 360 used water cooling. Given that they're using some varient of a PowerPC chip, of which the latest versions run to hot to make it into a laptop, and have the clock speed cranked up as well, I wouldn't be surprised if they were using a water cooling system. Can anyone verify this?

    DVDs can be played even if you don't have the remote control, unlike Xbox 1.

    I'm guessing that this is the reason for the increased price in the controllers. According to the price lists on the major sites, wireless controllers were $50, and wired were $40. I'm guessing that price hike is mostly due to royalty fees necessary to include DVD functionality since MS doesn't hold the patent. That's why the Xbox couldn't play DVDs out of the box. It looks like they've given the controllers the necessary functionality to play DVDs as well, driving up the cost slightly. I'm wondering if it wouldn't have just been better to build the technology into the console though? Maybe I'm off the mark on this one and MS is just raising prices to make more money.

    iPods are detected by default, as are PSPs, and by our watch it took about 2 or 3 seconds for the Xbox 360 to notice they were there. With an iPod plugged in you can play music direct through the Dashboard software, with visualisations, or you can play a slideshow of photographs.

    That's a pretty nice feature, although you can just plug an iPod directly into a TV for a slideshow. I don't know if running through the Xbox 360 to a HD TV will result in better visuals or not though. I'm also interested in what interaction the Xbox 360 will be able to have with the PSP beyond what is listed.

    Xbox Live will allow you to play in various Zones - there will be causal, pro, family, and underground (where "anything goes") and perhaps more - and these will allow you to go for whatever kind of experience you like.

    I'm pretty big on this feature. I just got Xbox Live a short while ago so I could play with my friends online. I've noticed there are a lot of assholes on Live and would like to avoid them if possible. The current Halo 2 scene on there is generally not something for young children. It is funny to hear someone yell, "I'm going to skull rape your mother!" to someone and blast them with a shotgun, but it's probably not something I'd want any of my children to hear or repeat.

    The wireless networking adapter plugs into the USB 2.0 port on the back of the console and is "like a small pack of cigarettes" in terms of size.

    I'd like to know if third party wireless network adapters will be able to work. Right now I've got my Xbox on the wireless network in my apartment. I could probably just use the current setup and run a cord from ethernet jack to the wireless adapter, but it can get a little laggy at times, especially with the poor internet service. But at $99, the adapter from MS seems a little expensive.

    You can plug in a keyboard but this is for text input only - including in massively-multiplayer games. You can't use it to play games and that was a design choice.

    Probably a good choice. If you could get a mouse and keyboard to play an FPS, you'd probably have an edge over gamers using controllers. Point and click sniping is a lot easier than manipulating analog sticks in my opinion. It might be nice to give people the option of playing with a keyboard and mouse though. This would open up the console to more traditional PC games like RTS and other FPS games. Just don't allow keyboard//mouse users to play against controller users.

    Likewise, the System blade allows greater control over family settings. Micros

    • I'm not 100% sure, but I thought that the Xbox 360 used water cooling. Given that they're using some varient of a PowerPC chip, of which the latest versions run to hot to make it into a laptop, and have the clock speed cranked up as well, I wouldn't be surprised if they were using a water cooling system. Can anyone verify this?

      I've read about water cooling too, but early OurColony.net images had two fans on a motherboard, and it's been said a few times that both chips and fans would power up and down ba

    • Re:Various thoughts (Score:4, Informative)

      by Keeper ( 56691 ) on Friday September 02, 2005 @02:16PM (#13465309)
      I'm not 100% sure, but I thought that the Xbox 360 used water cooling. Given that they're using some varient of a PowerPC chip, of which the latest versions run to hot to make it into a laptop, and have the clock speed cranked up as well, I wouldn't be surprised if they were using a water cooling system. Can anyone verify this?

      It uses heat pipes. It is liquid cooling in the sense that fluid transfers the heat to a different location. The pipes trasfer the heat to fins in the back of the unit (where the air is cooler, and you have better airflow).

      I'm guessing that this is the reason for the increased price in the controllers.

      Nope. You don't have to pay a license fee based on the number of remotes you have ... With the Xbox1, you paid it with the dvd remote (which is why that stupid thing was so expensive). With the Xbox360, you pay for it when you buy the unit.

      I don't know if running through the Xbox 360 to a HD TV will result in better visuals or not though

      Yes, it will.

      Right now I've got my Xbox on the wireless network in my apartment. I could probably just use the current setup and run a cord from ethernet jack to the wireless adapter, but it can get a little laggy at times, especially with the poor internet service. But at $99, the adapter from MS seems a little expensive.

      Having a built-in wireless device isn't going to make your connection any less laggy. The $99 adapter is an 802.11a/b/g device, which is one of the reasons why it is expensive. I'd personally stick with the ethernet->wap solution.

      I'd like to see a system similar to a PC where each user signs on and has certain permission levels

      That's essentially what they're describing.

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