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fhoubi · Nov 21, 2005, 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

So far everyone who has touched the controller has sworn it is the best controller ever which is quite ironic after how MS started off.

Sadly (as a Microsoft hater) but true, held the controller today. My Sony had the perfect layout, my Nintendo Wavebird had the perfect grip. Damn this thing has both...

Dark Helmet · Nov 21, 2005, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by fhoubi

Sadly (as a Microsoft hater) but true, held the controller today. My Sony had the perfect layout, my Nintendo Wavebird had the perfect grip. Damn this thing has both...

Hey nobody hates MS more than me, I even hated the xbox when it came out by default cuz it just had to suck. A year after launch i folded and got one, I was a instant Xbox lover MS hater.

ort888 · Nov 21, 2005, 04:46 PM

Yikes, sounds like there are people in line everywhere across the country. The message boards going crazy with reports of people coming back from their local Walmarts because there are already 50+ people in line. Same with Best Buys.

Wow. I really didn't expect this.

goMac · Nov 21, 2005, 04:48 PM

Originally Posted by ort888

Yikes, sounds like there are people in line everywhere across the country. The message boards going crazy with reports of people coming back from their local Walmarts because there are already 50+ people in line. Same with Best Buys.

Wow. I really didn't expect this.

I did. It's the first next gen console out, and it has Halo. Everyone always wants to have the latest and greatest. I think we'll see a lot of game dev's targeting the 360 now.

starman · Nov 21, 2005, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by goMac

Sure but there is a limit. You're talking about feeding the CPU textures. Once all the textures are in VRAM, or RAM, the GPU pretty much just maintains the game state again. And you don't need a crazy CPU to do this. This is why in games, graphics cards and system memory are much much more important than CPU. My P4 3.8 can run World of Warcraft at a higher framerate because of it's X700, but take it to Ironforge and it chops up. My Powerbook has a lesser graphics card, runs at a lower framerate, but take it to Ironforge and the framerate doesn't change. Why? My Powerbook has a gig of RAM, my P4 has 512. Take my P4 to Ironforge, and it's trying to load all the character modals and it's paging my hard drive to death. My Powerbook has enough RAM to avoid the swap file and stay nice and smooth. In other-words, my P4's CPU could cream my Powerbook, but a CPU has nothing to do with avoiding the choppys. Your CPU doesn't really affect your machines bandwidth all that much. Just keep the machine off the hard disk and in the memory and everything will stay nice and fast. CPU is only useful for physics calculations really (programmable GPU's do the lighting these days), and physics CPU's are coming up soon. Once we get physics CPU's, the main CPU will only be useful really for throwing textures into memory, which a G3/233 could easily do.

It's quite obvious that you know nothing about how games work.

fhoubi · Nov 21, 2005, 04:59 PM

Damn I promised myself never to buy any Microsoft product again since W95! The only thing holding me so far is that probably any racing game will not be that realistic in car physics/handling compared to GT(4). Further DVD playback and cooling fan seems to be (too) loud according to this german site...

goMac · Nov 21, 2005, 05:16 PM

Originally Posted by starman

It's quite obvious that you know nothing about how games work.

Really? I'm a CS major, I've done assembly programming, I've written my own game engines in OpenGL.

Although if you know better please enlighten me.

ryaxnb · Nov 21, 2005, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by SuvsareRetarded

I think the PS3 is going to smack the 360 pretty hard. Have fun with your dreamcast 2.0s.

Troll

(posted from aTV)

starman · Nov 21, 2005, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by goMac

Really? I'm a CS major, I've done assembly programming, I've written my own game engines in OpenGL.

Although if you know better please enlighten me.

I've written games and done graphics since 1983. That's (does the math on his abacus) 22 years more experience than you.

Dark Helmet · Nov 21, 2005, 07:42 PM

Originally Posted by goMac

Really? I'm a CS major, I've done assembly programming, I've written my own game engines in OpenGL.

Although if you know better please enlighten me.

And 19 years old. Heck you weren't even around for most video game systems.

goMac · Nov 21, 2005, 08:23 PM

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

And 19 years old. Heck you weren't even around for most video game systems.

Least I've actually coded some...

goMac · Nov 21, 2005, 08:33 PM

Originally Posted by starman

I've written games and done graphics since 1983. That's (does the math on his abacus) 22 years more experience than you.

Then once we have dedicated physics GPU's, what is going to be so intensive on the GPU? C'mon. Passing vertices to the GPU? That's not intensive. Sound? Done on the sound card. Doing rotations? Not all that intensive either. Lifting huge textures? That's more dependent on memory speeds. Shaders? Done on the GPU these days. Not to mention GPU's are programable these days meaning any graphical effects you'd normally have the CPU done are done on GPU. The physics processor takes most heavy lifting off the CPU. Heck. Half Life 2, with the most advanced physics engine available, only requires what.. a 1.5 ghz CPU? Without physics on CPU? You could probably drop it to 400 mhz.

RealMyst, which despite the game being lackluster, has an extremely nice engine, and it only requires a 400 mhz CPU. The highest requirement right now is Lost Coast, which requires a 3.2 ghz CPU, probably because they're doing HDR on CPU.

Dark Helmet · Nov 21, 2005, 09:25 PM

Originally Posted by goMac

Least I've actually coded some...

At least I own or even used the systems I claim to know something about.

Dark Helmet · Nov 21, 2005, 09:26 PM

Originally Posted by goMac

Least I've actually coded some...

At least I own or even used the systems I claim to know something about.

Face Ache · Nov 22, 2005, 03:47 AM

Microsoft has revealed that the Xbox 360, its latest weapon in the gaming console wars, will hit Australian shelves at midnight on March 2.

The new unit, which was rolled out this week in North America, will cost Australian gamers either $499.95 for a "core" system or $649.95 for a unit bundled with additional features such as wireless capabilities, high-definition access and backward compatibility to current Xbox games.

Methinks I shall wait until they're in the bargain bins.

goMac · Nov 22, 2005, 04:03 AM

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

At least I own or even used the systems I claim to know something about.

I've owned a NES, Genesis, Game Gear, Game Boy, GBC, DS, n64 and Gamecube. And I've played all the others quite a bit. Am I missing something here?

Link · Nov 22, 2005, 06:30 AM

Originally Posted by Face Ache

Methinks I shall wait until they're in the bargain bins.

Big Lots or bust!!

Methinks no new consoles for me until next year at the earliest!

Railroader · Nov 22, 2005, 06:40 AM

I remember playing pong when your mothers were in diapers [/CROTCHETYOLDMANVOICE]

Dark Helmet · Nov 22, 2005, 08:01 AM

Originally Posted by goMac

I've owned a NES, Genesis, Game Gear, Game Boy, GBC, DS, n64 and Gamecube. And I've played all the others quite a bit. Am I missing something here?

Current systems like Xbox, Ps2 and PSP for example

Railroader · Nov 22, 2005, 09:21 AM

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Current systems like Xbox, Ps2 and PSP for example

I think you missed this line:

Originally Posted by goMac

And I've played all the others quite a bit...

ort888 · Nov 22, 2005, 09:34 AM

The demand for the 360 is nuts. There is a line around the building at the best buy, and I have reports of near riots at Walmarts last night.

I got mine at Sam's this morning and I was talking to some guys who were driving around trying to get one. The said that there were huge lines everywhere.

I got to Sams at 5:45am and there were already about 20 people lined up. Everyone seemed to think that they had exactly 20 Xboxes. Soon after I arrived, the line tripled in size. Luckily, I got the third to last Xbox. The weird thing was though, that they let everyone else stay in line. They let us in one by one and handed us tickets with SKUs to guarantee us a system. But after the last ticket was handed out, they let everyone else in and they all got in line. I have no idea why, but they could have an ugly scene on their hands. Oh well, that's there problem, because I have mine. Of course, Sams only had Madden for sale, so I guess I'll have to pick up some games later today.

Dark Helmet · Nov 22, 2005, 03:35 PM

OMG this thing is amazing! Kameo is stunning beyond all words!

goMac · Nov 22, 2005, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Current systems like Xbox, Ps2 and PSP for example

Right, I nearly bought an XBox instead of my Gamecube (which implies I probably have played quite a bit, it's almost impossible not to back home in Seattle), nearly everyone has a PS2 (there's one just one room over from where I'm sitting) and my best friend back home has a PSP (and DS), and I helped him set up his PSP with his computer and WiFi.

I might like Nintendo but that doesn't mean I don't play the other systems. I like to think I'm pretty good at XBox Halo actually.

starman · Nov 22, 2005, 04:13 PM

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE IT!

Post your gamertags!

StarmanTHX

ort888 · Nov 22, 2005, 04:22 PM

You suck. I'm stuck at work all day while my 360 sits in a box at home. Bah. I went to Best Buy on my lunch break to pick up some games (Sam's had none for their launch?) and they were sold out of almost everything I wanted... so the only game I have is PGR. Should be a good game to show off the systems capabilities.

Actually, I want to finish Half Life 2 before I buy any more games, since it is spectacular. I wish they had just made it a 360 launch title though. It's going to suck knowing that I'm breaking in my console playing an Xbox game. It could have been so much nicer on the 360...

Oh well, the cool thing about this launch is that while there is no killer-app, there are about 5-6 games worth buying. Pretty unusual, but I still think I would rather have one AAA title.

My Gamertag is Buttercup X

goMac · Nov 22, 2005, 04:24 PM

Yeah, I don't get why HL2 wasn't a 360 title.

ort888 · Nov 22, 2005, 04:26 PM

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...360&category0=

Have you guys seen this crap! Wow.

I think the 360 might be the toughest launch yet. Worse then the PS2.

ort888 · Nov 22, 2005, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by goMac

Yeah, I don't get why HL2 wasn't a 360 title.

They should have put it out for both consoles, like King Kong or Tony Hawk.

Shaddim · Nov 22, 2005, 04:36 PM

Originally Posted by ort888

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...360&category0=

Have you guys seen this crap! Wow.

I think the 360 might be the toughest launch yet. Worse then the PS2.

I just went down to EB and got one for my nephew for Xmas, they still had 5 left. What's the big deal?

goMac · Nov 22, 2005, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by MacNStein

I just went down to EB and got one for my nephew for Xmas, they still had 5 left. What's the big deal?

I wish you were my uncle.

Dark Helmet · Nov 22, 2005, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by ort888

so the only game I have is PGR. Should be a good game to show off the systems capabilities.

It's not, doesn't look much better than GT4 in hi-def. The cars look the same the buildings and landscape is just more detailed.

Perfect dark doesn't look that exciting visually. It's ok, but shows its first generation meh.

Kameo, the most visually stunning game ever. If you love Zelda/banjo, kazooie you'll die for this game. I love it to death.

Shaddim · Nov 22, 2005, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by goMac

I wish you were my uncle.

His parents can't afford it, so we're giving it to him from "all of us". He's a good kid, and part of the requirement is that he maintains a B avg, which he has.

SShoot3r · Nov 22, 2005, 04:55 PM

I got my 360 this morning. Woke up at 4:15, went to my local Target at 5. waited til 8, and i was one of the last that got the system (whew). So far, im loving it. Madden is really great graphically. I love the new 360 controller. I LOVE XBOX.

ort888 · 05:35 PM

I'm not sure if Kameo is the game for me. I think I'm going to rent it from Gamefly. It looks cool, but not "buy it now" cool. If I buy too many games my wife is going to kill me. I think I'm going to be stuck with two until Xmas.

I want Call of Duty 2 or Perfect Dark Zero. I love FPS games. Condemned also looks pretty nice.

Dark Helmet · Nov 22, 2005, 07:23 PM

GamerTag = Silly Hoe

tracemhunter · Nov 22, 2005, 10:55 PM

i waited in line yesterday at a wal-mart in a small town south of dallas at 4pm to 12am. i got one of the only 2 premiums they had. after that i went to best buy at around 130am and waited there until 9am but ended up with a core

. my gma got a core for me and i have a premium reserved at gamestop. all of this is going on ebay even though i want to keep one of the premiums but i would rather have the hdtv im buying with the money and get a 360 when they work out the bugs and drop the prices.

Jim Paradise · Nov 23, 2005, 12:10 AM

Originally Posted by tracemhunter

i waited in line yesterday at a wal-mart in a small town south of dallas at 4pm to 12am. i got one of the only 2 premiums they had. after that i went to best buy at around 130am and waited there until 9am but ended up with a core

. my gma got a core for me and i have a premium reserved at gamestop. all of this is going on ebay even though i want to keep one of the premiums but i would rather have the hdtv im buying with the money and get a 360 when they work out the bugs and drop the prices.

Sounds like someone should have just waited a little...

Dark Helmet · 12:40 AM

Here is my experience after playing the following games most of the day:

Kameo, PGR3, Perfect dark.

All look stunning in HD. Like noting you have seen before.

In regards to the hardware.
- It is sexy
- It LOOKS much smaller than the last Xbox but if you count the huge power supply it is actually larger.
- The powerbar is the most ridiculously large thing in any consumer electronic product ever.
- It gets hot
- The cd spinning is loud as hell. The fans are rather quite.
- The system has crashed on me in 2 different games 4-5 times today. Not happy about that one.
- The controller is incredibly well balanced and well thought out.
- The controller can be charged with ANY USB port (not just on the Xbox). Require play and change kit.

Anyone else have loud spinning sounds or crashing?

Some pics: http://www.bitflydesign.com/misc/360_2.jpg
http://www.bitflydesign.com/misc/360_1.jpg

Jim Paradise · Nov 23, 2005, 01:28 AM

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Here is my experience after playing the following games most of the day:

Kameo, PGR3, Perfect dark.

All look stunning in HD. Like noting you have seen before.

In regards to the hardware.
- It is sexy
- It LOOKS much smaller than the last Xbox but if you count the huge power supply it is actually larger.
- The powerbar is the most ridiculously large thing in any consumer electronic product ever.
- It gets hot
- The cd spinning is loud as hell. The fans are rather quite.
- The system has crashed on me in 2 different games 4-5 times today. Not happy about that one.
- The controller is incredibly well balanced and well thought out.
- The controller can be charged with ANY USB port (not just on the Xbox). Require play and change kit.

Anyone else have loud spinning sounds or crashing?

Some pics: http://www.bitflydesign.com/misc/360_2.jpg
http://www.bitflydesign.com/misc/360_1.jpg

A Globe and Mail reviewer said a few days ago that one of his complaints was that the system was really loud.

OwlBoy · Nov 23, 2005, 02:20 AM

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Here is my experience after playing the following games most of the day:

Kameo, PGR3, Perfect dark.

All look stunning in HD. Like noting you have seen before.

In regards to the hardware.
- It is sexy
- It LOOKS much smaller than the last Xbox but if you count the huge power supply it is actually larger.
- The powerbar is the most ridiculously large thing in any consumer electronic product ever.
- It gets hot
- The cd spinning is loud as hell. The fans are rather quite.
- The system has crashed on me in 2 different games 4-5 times today. Not happy about that one.
- The controller is incredibly well balanced and well thought out.
- The controller can be charged with ANY USB port (not just on the Xbox). Require play and change kit.

Anyone else have loud spinning sounds or crashing?

Some pics: http://www.bitflydesign.com/misc/360_2.jpg
http://www.bitflydesign.com/misc/360_1.jpg

Your setup looks hot as ever

-Owl

bembol · Nov 23, 2005, 03:03 AM

My XBOX, Mac Mini and XBOX 360 they all sound the same/loud and get hot. This was my issue why I thought about not buying the frist batch, "crashing." But I've been lucky with XBOX's (I sold 2 and bought the Crystal LE a few months back) and *knock*on*wood* with this...!!! Also if I didn't have an HDTV, I don't think I would've pick it up.

But I did and I'm loving it.

DOA4 was delayed so I picked up ( :angry: ) Madden '06 and Call of Duty 2...I also picked up a second Wireless Pad

Cubeoid · Nov 23, 2005, 03:09 AM

Congratulations bembol. It looks wonderful. I hope you're having an awesome time with your new XBox 360!

... but could you please make your bed before you start playing.

MaxPower2k3 · Nov 23, 2005, 03:11 AM

how's COD2 on there? it's great on PC, and i hear it looks even better on the 360. i don't think i'm getting a 360 myself (at least, not in the near future) but i'll probably rent COD2 to play on a friend's machine. looks like a real nice setup both you and SWG have there.

Dark Helmet · Nov 23, 2005, 03:18 AM

I still hate the way it looks standing up, like a gateway PC.
The PS2 and PS3 look great standing.

Gee4orce · Nov 23, 2005, 05:52 AM

I want to live at Dark Helmet's house and have MacNStein as my uncle ! Can you guys adopt me ?

We don't get the 360 over here until December 4th - and no doubt we'll have the shortages. Plus, few people have HDTV over here, as there are no broadcasts yet, everything costs us more than you guys, and in any case my significant other would probably break my fingers if I actually bought one........

Link · Nov 23, 2005, 06:30 AM

bembol: Why is your surge protector mounted on the wall like some kinda decoration?

ort888 · 09:46 AM

I can tell you guys this, they claim that Half Life 2 is backwards compatible, but I had major problems with it last night. First of all, the frame rate and slow down problems are even worse then they were on the XBox, and second... the physics engine broke on me twice in about a half hour of play. I ended up getting stuck in a room by one of the first puzzles in the game because the bricks were no longer effected by gravity. I would pick up a brick, and if I tried to put it down, it would just float in the air... and if I tried to throw it, it would slowly move away from my body in a straight line and then fly through the wall, disappearing forever.

Pretty disappointing. They need to either patch that crap or stop claiming that HL2 has backwards compatibility. I wonder what's wrong with the other games on the list? I've heard reports that Ninja Gaiden has frame rate issues that didn't exist on the original Xbox.

Good thing that I really don't care that much about backwards compatibility... but even still, it's lame.

ort888 · Nov 23, 2005, 09:43 AM

One more bitch... downloading trailers takes forever. It takes an hour to get a high def trailer, which wouldn't be a problem if I was able to do other things while I waited for the download. But, nope... you can't do anything. You just have to sit there and wait rather then have the Xbox download things in the background.

Insurgent · Nov 23, 2005, 09:55 AM

Anyone tried Halo 2 on it yet?

Insurgent · Nov 23, 2005, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by ort888

I can tell you guys this, they claim that Half Life 2 is backwards compatible, but I had major problems with it last night. F

Seems like there could be some stability problems with the new XBoxes.
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl...38200&from=rss