XBox 360
Finally broke down and picked up an Xbox 360 Premium system for $399 today. Happy birthday to me (my wife said she could get one for my birthday, but I figured I'd just wait...then changed my mind). There were some sales on the wireless controller today for $39 as well, so picked up two more of those. Also, got Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, which is a pretty good/complex tactical shooter, Project Gotham Racing 3, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Topspin 2. Also already bought some Microsoft XBox Live Arcade games (like Zuma) for the wife...uh...yeah...I don't play those sort of games...

What I really want, though, is Burnout Revenge. There is something so visceral about that game. Yes, it isn't a realistic race sim, but the speed seems so real, and there is a really good fealing about crashing into those other racers in the face of oncoming traffic. I never thought I would like this game series, but I have...a lot.

The 360 sure does get hot in my audio cabinet, and I'm going to have to get a temp-sensor fan to put on the back of the cabinet to help out (it has always been a problem, but the 360 really puts it over the top). I also really miss not being able to play all the games from the HDD, like I do on my current XBox with the mod, though it is nice to have the 360 power up from the wireless controllers. The XBox 360 media streaming is extremely limited on the audio formats that are supported, and even WORSE on what is supported for video. My Sony PSP will plug into the 360 and detect through the USB, but you can't share video files...just audio. Not sure how to copy stuff between the two.

For the most part, I do like the 360 dashboard and the Live features. The demo downloads are a pretty good way to push stuff, though I wish they had a way to que the download and just trickle stream it while you played and did other things (or at least an option to "power off when done" option). Some of these downloads are >600MB. I think the Xbox Live! Marketplace is an awesome idea. There are some very reasonably priced games that are pretty fun there, and it is a pretty cool way to showcase some new developer talent, without going for a full blown published game.

Update 12/3/06: Well, I've been playing 360 for almost 9 months now, and while I still have my original XBox hooked up in my living room to watch all sorts of movies and use the great XBMC, I rarely play many games on it anymore (which is a shame, because I LOVE having the games on the HDD, and there are a BUNCH I still need to play: Fable, CoD, Mercenaries, Republic Commando, Strangers Wrath, Xmen Legends I & II, Black Hawk Down, KotOR II, Van Helsing, XIII, Rothers in Arms, Psychonauts, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory, Men of Valor, Mech Assault 2, Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City...wow). Anyway, we have Lego Star Wars II for the 360, but the other day, my son wanted to play Lego Star Wars I. So, I started up the old XBox and got the game rolling for him. I was sort of like "ewww...why is that so jaggie and why isn't it widescreen?" I was pretty sure it had been widescreen, but I guess not, and the picture was very jaggie and not anti-aliased. Well, I remembered that they had finally gotten the Backward Compatibility updated to include Lego Star Wars on the 360. So, I popped it in and took a look, since it is suppose to allow the game to render in full res on the 360 (1080i on my setup). I started both the original and the new 360 up (after updating the 360 with a patch for the game). Took a look in the opening area, and was amazed at how much better it looks in the 360. I tried getting some snap shots on my camera (sorry, the quality isn't very good, and I only am showing a small portion of the screen here, but it should convey the general difference in the games). Note mostly the table edges, the stool in the background, the details on Qui Gon Jinn, and the rear wall edge. The original has obvious jaggies, while the new 360 has significantly better anti-aliasing (as well as higher resolution to begin with). The photo is sort of washed out and blurry, but that is just the light conditions, and is an artifact of me just snapping some quick shots. It looks better than that on both platforms, but I had to turn off the flash to keep it from reflecting in the TV screen. Too bad it still doesn't work with Psychonauts, Black Hawk Down, Van Helsing, XMen Lgends I & II, Brothers in Arms, or a number of other original XBox games.

Original XBox in 480p	XBox 360 in 1080i

- posted by Jeff @ 9:37 PM | 4 comments