[Bubba]

I've just got a 360 and to be honest it's completely awesome. I'm not a Microsoft fanboy either.

No bugs or problems at all, the interface and integration with Live are the best I've seen and it's worth getting for one game....

...Call Of Duty 2. I'm not a big fan of WW2 games but this game is without doubt one of the best games ever made. It's just amazing, especially in High Definition (playing on my monitor with a VGA lead, can't afford an HD telly).

Considering COD2 is a PC port, I reckon the proper 360 games we'll be getting down the line will be something to behold.

Some might say, why not play COD2 on a PC then? Well, to get graphics this good, you'd need to have a state of the art PC with a graphics card that would cost more than a 360 on it's own.

[moose]

Well, to get graphics this good, you'd need to have a state of the art PC with a graphics card that would cost more than a 360 on it's own.

remember reading that some hardware gurus stripped down a 360, counted the cost of the components and found that it was around £100 more than the cost of the console.  Okay, microsoft probably get a hefty discount but when you factor in assembly and distribution they must be taking one hell of a loss   (even more than they did with the original Xbox).

[squeek]

I had a quick play on PGR3 and wasn't that impressed to be honest, although there weren't any other cars racing as it was time trial round a course.  I'm sure it's pretty good, the specs look decent, but in two years time the graphics will be equivolent to a £80 graphics card, and the games will still cost £50 (unless a good hack comes out like the xbox :wink:).  

I'm not entirely sure about xbox live knowing exactly what you're doing and telling everyone else, like watching a film or listening to mp3s etc.  It's maybe a bit too much.

I think in the end, the reason I'm not overwhelmed by it, is it's just an xbox with updated hardware and HD support, likewise that's what the PS3 will be.  Graphics aren't everything to games, and to be honest sometimes they don't even improve a game.  When we had all the latest games on a hacked xbox on a lovely TV we ended up playing MAME games more than the xbox games because ultimately they were more fun.
My friends got a 360 and a big HD tv (52") so I'll probably have a go on that after christmas and have a better opinion of it.

[squeek]

remember reading that some hardware gurus stripped down a 360, counted the cost of the components and found that it was around £100 more than the cost of the console.  Okay, microsoft probably get a hefty discount but when you factor in assembly and distribution they must be taking one hell of a loss   (even more than they did with the original Xbox).

How much do they make per game sold though?  Â£5?  how many games sold in total 50,000,000?  That's why they subsidise the consoles because they make money on every game sold even though they've paid nothing to develop or publish it.

[moose]

How much do they make per game sold though?  Â£5?  how many games sold in total 50,000,000?  That's why they subsidise the consoles because they make money on every game sold even though they've paid nothing to develop or publish it.

I do realise that (the old Gilette razor business model).  I just  thought it was an interesting mark of their determination to break the market - the phenomenal short-term losses they seem prepared to take.  Interestingly I read that in the USA only 0.9 games are being sold per console - a fair number of people must be sticking with bundled software and waiting for the killet app's... looks like Mr Gates may have to wait even longer for profit.  Incidently the Xbox never did break even (£75 loss per unit even at the orignal price and the penalty of not breaking the japanese market I guess).

[squeek]

Good points, I suppose it's still a drop (or at least a bucket) in the ocean to MS.  Maybe they should have sold them on ebay and started making profits straight away  :wink:

[Bubba]

I had a quick play on PGR3 and wasn't that impressed to be honest, although there weren't any other cars racing as it was time trial round a course

Well, to be honest, how far can racing games go anyway? Nothing recent really plays better than Gran Turismo / Forza anyway.

I think in the end, the reason I'm not overwhelmed by it, is it's just an xbox with updated hardware and HD support, likewise that's what the PS3 will be.

Well, what did you expect Consoles aren't going to suddenly start projecting holograms into the middle of your living room and sucking your dick overnight!!

Graphics aren't everything to games, and to be honest sometimes they don't even improve a game.  When we had all the latest games on a hacked xbox on a lovely TV we ended up playing MAME games more than the xbox games because ultimately they were more fun.

Absolutely - a good example is Perfect Dark Zero - looks great, but plays very average - but COD2 is awesmome for the immersion and gameplay, not just the graphics, though things like the desert heat-haze and the smoke effects are pretty impressive.

You'd probably like a lot of the Xbox Live Arcade games - old 2d games but with lots of polish and very cheap to buy.

Your comments about xbox live...well, you can just show yourself as offline if you prefer it...

[Falling Down]

Well, what did you expect Consoles aren't going to suddenly start projecting holograms into the middle of your living room and sucking your dick overnight!!....

 

Damn Bubba - you should patent that idea before Sony get their mitts on it...

[squeek]

I think in the end, the reason I'm not overwhelmed by it, is it's just an xbox with updated hardware and HD support, likewise that's what the PS3 will be.

Well, what did you expect Consoles aren't going to suddenly start projecting holograms into the middle of your living room and sucking your dick overnight!!

Every other generation of console has tried to improve the interface, with shoulder buttons, triggers, quad-buttons, anaolgue joysticks.  This one hasn't, in fact by stating no game can assume the xbox has a hard drive it might have taken something away from it.

Absolutely - a good example is Perfect Dark Zero - looks great, but plays very average -

Shame from Rare they've made some of the best games there are, I hope this isn't a start of their downfall.

You'd probably like a lot of the Xbox Live Arcade games - old 2d games but with lots of polish and very cheap to buy.

Sounds good I didn't know you could do that.

I'm not saying they're awful, or am stubbornly against the xbox for no reason.  It just hasn't, so far, inspired me to get one from what I've seen and heard.  The beige one I played looked like a PC with a slightly fancy case, they're huge.  I haven't played it anywhere near enough to formulate a fair opinion, I'm sure they'll have lots of great games and given the spec they should run very well.  The revolution sounds like a great idea and is the only 'next-gen' console that might drag me off my  PC to play games.

[Bubba]

Every other generation of console has tried to improve the interface, with shoulder buttons, triggers, quad-buttons, anaolgue joysticks.  This one hasn't, in fact by stating no game can assume the xbox has a hard drive it might have taken something away from it.

The 360s software interface is the best yet on any console, and the new controllers are a big improvment (and have new shoulder buttons). Wireless controller is very nice too.

The hard-drive thing is weird, and to use the core system you have to buy a memory card, which should really be included.

That said, the DVD drive is dual layer so can contain 9gb per disk or thereabouts - the hard drive is really just for downloadable content. We'll have to see what blu-ray offers on ps3.

Shame from Rare they've made some of the best games there are, I hope this isn't a start of their downfall.

Given that they've taken 6 years to produce what is a pretty average game, it may well be.

I haven't played it anywhere near enough to formulate a fair opinion, I'm sure they'll have lots of great games and given the spec they should run very well.

It's going to take time for these consoles to show their real potential. As far as launch games go, COD2 is the most impressive, and Condemned is meant to be fully terrifying, but I think it'll take a year or two for the really awesome stuff to appear - stuff coming out on PS2 is still pushing the limits of that console, and it took years from the Xbox launch 'til we got Halo2 multiplayer. The developers kits were only released by MS fairly recently, so no developer has had all that much time to get to grips with them.

I'm really just looking forward to Halo 3 multiplayer....and playing Halo 2 in HD when I can find a hard drive...

[moose]

Every other generation of console has tried to improve the interface, with shoulder buttons, triggers, quad-buttons, anaolgue joysticks.  

I think all of those interface leaps were invented by Nintendo - the D-pad certainly was (thats why no other console makers can use a plain cross shape), I also suspect shoulder buttons first appeared on the SNES, and triggers and analogue sticks on the N64.  The touch-screen on the DS and the tilt-sensing pad for the Revolution shows they are thankfully still commited to going their own way.  Innovation is not really Microsoft's bag, though they are pretty good at refining things given a few generations: the new 360's joypad is very nice... But then it had to be as one of the main japanese gripes about the original Xbox was the size and cumbersomeness of it's pad  (admittedly they did bring out a smaller version but the damage to their reputation had been done).

Shame from Rare they've made some of the best games there are, I hope this isn't a start of their downfall.

I think the downfall has been well underway for a while.... they've done bugger all of any worth since being bought by microsoft .  Their last few games for Nintendo were critically panned as I recall too.  I suspect most of the people responsible for their classics (Goldeneye etc) left to form new studios.

[Bubba]

I think all of those interface leaps were invented by Nintendo

They may be great innovators but it hasn't got them that far, and they're now very much in 3rd place. I was really suprised that the Revolution was specced so low, given that it could have been a good chance to rejoin the next console war, but at least they have their loyal following.
To me though, that seems bizarre - it's like all the xbox fanboys who hate ps2, et vica versa - I don't get it, I just want to play the best games irrespective of platform.

Innovation is not really Microsoft's bag, though they are pretty good at refining things given a few generations

I dunno, there's xbox live, but then innovation is no use if you've not got the resources to bring it to market.

[squeek]

There was a very good article about the Revolution and Nintendo's thinking behind it in Edge a few months ago.  Saying they think the gaming market might be reaching saturation point, ie the people who already play games will buy the new consoles and new games, but it won't appeal to anyone else.  Nintendo's vision of having people play games that are more 'fun' and a lot quicker and easier to develop, than having massively expensive and developed games is interesting.  The revolution pricing is quite different too, they will actually make money on the hardware from the word go, and it will (apparently) be a lot cheaper than MS and Sony.  I hope they do reasonably well and don't completely lose out, as I think they make great games (even if sometimes they're a little too cute and kiddy) and the gaming world would be worse without them as a driving force.

I quite like Edge magazine it's written for adults instead of kids, although the vocabulary is sometimes a little flowery.

[Carnage]

This looks damn good for the 360 -

http://xboxmovies.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/2029/Huxley-Trailer/

 :D

[Bubba]

It looks nice, but there was no gameplay footage in there I don't think.

[Carnage]

Yeah, its a bit of a shame. Its a good concept tho and should be pretty awesome online if they pull it off.

[Palomides]

... But in the meantime...

Battlezone 2.

Blade Of Darkness.

Undying.

Return To Castle Wolfenstein.

....are what you need in your life, in that order. All should run reasonably, maybe not at the very highest setting but they will still look nice. I played them all on a P3 600 with either Voodoo3 or GF2. Oh and good to remind people of Deus Ex - squeek and anyone else, you really should play that. Dated graphics and kinda cliched idea but top-notch exploration and sneaking and stuff and one of the very few games to really deliver what it promised.

Well, just to bring this thread back to life (alright, alright, I know it's been too long..)

Recently I have subjected my creaky ol'PC to the downloadable demo of RTCW. It's OK I suppose, but I don't really go for that horror-style gothic ting.

However, I managed to pick up No-One Lives Forever (NOLF) in a supermarket for 6€.
O
M
G!!!

How did I miss this - a 60s Spy caper with a cracking 3D engine, a plot that's right out of Bond (erm, maybe more Man from UNCLE  :D ), cool weapons, vehicles, and jokes that are funnier than Austin Powers. And goats too.

I even managed to kill a couple of hours on internet multiplayer last night - yes, other people are still playing this too. Quality.

[Bubba]

Recent goodness on the console front has been;

- GRAW
- COD2 Multiplayer Patch - it now plays like it always should
- Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion - this game is amazing.

[Fiend]

I got thoroughly addicted to Guild Wars last year. Great game.

Haven't played much this year due to various life crisises  :roll:

[andy_e]

I've found it.

The holy grail of retro gaming is right here, in my sweaty hands.

Oh yes. I can feel the huge pixels oozing out of it as we speak.

It's the hard drive off an old 386 that died about six years ago- and right now, ti contains my childhood's gaming obsessions.

Lemmings, Outrun, Llamatron, Willy Beamish, Accolade Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500, Duke Nukem, Commander Keen, Xenon 2, the whole works...

 

[Moo]

don't get me started on duke nukem 

[Dr T]

commander keen...
so cool...
must get me another copy.....

[Will Hunt]

Enjoyed all the Halflife games and replayed the second one over the past few days. Would agree with Andi_e that Transport Tycoon was a master stroke.

[Richie Crouch]

I wish I could find my disks for James Pond, Quake 1/quakeworld, Champ Manager 96/97, Unreal Tournament and Syndicate... Classics!

The original Tribes was awesome too along with half life 1 + tfc/cs/dod/s&i/action hl mods 

[Moo]

i can't believe its actually here