The X-Box 360

[Brother Shatterstone]

Well, actually, Sony always planned to release the PS3 info now at E3. It was MS that moved up releasing details on the Xbox 360 in that stupid MTV special to avoid a conflict with Sony.

Sony, actually released the specs before E3 Today... Maybe it was in error but I heard about it on the radio on my way to work today... Of course you can't link to a radio transmission so you can either believe more or not Sony released the new early.

And you of course can have your own opinion as to why they did it also.

 

[trancejeremy]

Well, apparently both Sony & MS had originally planned to release the specs on their new consoles on the same day before E3 (which would be monday) - it's something of a tradition to release info just before E3. But when MS learned of those plans by Sony to have it on the same day, they moved the Xbox 360 debut to that MTV special.


http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=pub&aid=7919

 

[driver8]

Well Ive seen the Xbox 360, specs for the PS3, and seen pics and general info of the Revolution. I must be getting jaded, since Im not that excited. I keep hearing about online play, wireless networking, high def, and the other buzzwords of this generation of tech, but I keep getting the feeling that the companies-MS especially- are trying to make the uber tv top box that does a whole lot of things..the digital hub thingee.

Me I want games..I want a box that does games well. And I want innovation. All that memory and high def means zilch if all we get is updates of franchises. At least the Nintendo DS offers new ways to interact and view games..and I want all this new hardware to do the same for consoles.

I had all 3 consoles this generation but I played relatively few games. There were sone killer games, original ones as well, but so much was just the same ole thing prettied up. Maybe I am getting jaded.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

I had all 3 consoles this generation but I played relatively few games. There were sone killer games, original ones as well, but so much was just the same ole thing prettied up. Maybe I am getting jaded.

Maybe it ways you are... Success mimics success. Both GFA and KotoR have spawned successors that have been alot like the ones before them but they have all sold very, very well. While I think Bioware and, oh I forgot there name, should be able to reap this and reward themselves, and the players, with more of the same thing but other companies are trying to copy that successes also…

But really except for few things, mostly do to an increase in performance, games haven’t really changed all that much.

Note: I know that last line is very board and I'm not trying to say its the end all of be all of things so don’t hate me for it.

 

[Kri8or]

I'm not sure about Quake 4, but Halo 3 isn't an Xbox 360 launch title ("launch title" means within three months of release; expected 360 release is November). The plan they're going with is to release Halo 3 when the PS3 releases in Spring '06 (guessing that means a release around May).

Elder Scrolls IV is also going to be released for the 360. I don't know if it's a "launch title," but the ES4 promo sheet just has PC and XBox 360 listed on it.

 

[Gilwen]

I think that the 360 is more flexible as it is made to be a home entertianment center piece and the PS3 is more advanced at specfic things and designed more to be a console. In practice I think overall the two machines are well matched and will deliver a great deal of performance. The real fight and issue isn't whose machine is the most technically greater but whose system is easy to develop for, having uber hardware and crappy software tools means mediocore performance and games that do not utilize that uber hardware. I am sure both companies are addressing this issue but ultimately the game publishers will decide which console is better by the quality of the games and how well the games they pump out utilize the hardware. I think MS has and edge in this area, like MS or not they do have some really good tools. I think MS console market share will catch up to sony's this time around. One industry analyst predicts MS's share growing to 38% with Sony's dropping to 32%, while I don't think it'll grow that much I do think that Sony and MS will be more evenly distributed. One thing is for sure, it will be one helluva fight and I am gonna watch it blow by blow!

Gilwen

 

[Lazybones]

I'd love to see the market share distributed 35/35/30 between MS, Sony, and Nintendo. More competition = better choices for gamers, and I think that the revelations thus far on the nextgen consoles from e3 bears this out.

I skipped the last generation of consoles entirely, but I was already thinking Xbox360 before e3. Now I'm thinking I may wait until the PS3 is released, but either way, my chances of getting one of the nextgen consoles is pretty good.

The things I like about my PC: graphics, online multiplayer gaming, wireless networking, multimedia... I am pleased to see more of this in the next generation of consoles. I'm not going to give up my PC gaming anytime soon, but I miss having a living room system where friends can kick back and play games.

Now, to begin the campaign of spouse-persuasion...

 

[Truth Seeker]

As it stands, after seeing it in print *check the SCI FI news section* and checking at the XBox site, itself *just finished viewing E3 press release for Microsoft & XB 360*, certain best seller games for the Original XBox, will be backward compatible. No list has been provided as of yet. but you can research within your stock, and count which games are considered high sellers, that will be making the transition to XB 360.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

As it stands, after seeing it in print *check the SCI FI news section*

The what? (aka got a link?)

 

[TwistedBishop]

I'm betting this "top rated games" qualifier to backwards compatibility is just to cover the fact that, inevitably, some games don't work on new systems. It happened on the PS2 as well, from what I read. I'd be really surprised if they had decided "okay only Halo, Fable, and KotoR will be playable on the 360".