Some interesting Xbox 360 grapevine news

[ASSEMbler]

Some interesting bits I've heard.

Xbox 360 dev kits are having problems with devware and aren't delivering even
1/2 the power of the full hardware. It seems to be something they just can't get right.

This is causing problems obviously.

The other info is that most first gen 360 titles are in fact xbox titles with specular mapping, and why so many of the games in planning look like xbox 1.5. They ARE xbox, but modified a bit.

Oh yeah, all of the updates to the beta hardware is costing microsoft a ton of money.

[SuperGrafx]

Somehow I get the feeling that you're not a big fan of the Xbox.

[madhatter256]

Its a mac PC, what did you expect?

[Jasonkhowell]

Well, that would explain Kameo: Elements of Power looking like crap...

[Kotodama]

About the porting for Xbox, wasn't that mentioned by Itagaki and others as why their games look the way they do.

Seriously Kameo has been ported from GCN to Xbox to 360..

Also all the news has stated that they've been running on Alpha kits which were around 30%-ish, so that not even at 1/2 their power is a given, isn't it?

From a recent interview at GameWatch (translation), it was mentioned that they were suppose to have the beta kits before E3, but they were running late. What you say would explain it some what, but still Allard says this falls inline with how the original Xbox Devkit release path (could be spin -P).

[Topic Archive]

Some interesting bits I've heard.

Xbox 360 dev kits are having problems with devware and aren't delivering even
1/2 the power of the full hardware. It seems to be something they just can't get right.

This is causing problems obviously.

The other info is that most first gen 360 titles are in fact xbox titles with specular mapping, and why so many of the games in planning look like xbox 1.5. They ARE xbox, but modified a bit.

Oh yeah, all of the updates to the beta hardware is costing microsoft a ton of money.

...Lol, None of the above is any different from problems encountered with implementing the original Xbox.

...Relax :)

[geelw]

well, serves 'em right for rushing this thing to market when the original xbox hasn't been maxed out. i guess they can't wait to see those "velocity girl" created t-shirts and tchotchkes (sp?) for sale online, i guess, lol.

g.

[Funkstar De Luxe]

Oh yeah, all of the updates to the beta hardware is costing microsoft a ton of money.

I can only imagine. this doesn't look good. Hehe :-)

[idc]

I can only imagine. this doesn't look good. Hehe :-)

Don't forget that Microsoft have more cash than anyone anywhere, so I'm sure they are willing to spend whatever it takes to attempt to win the "console war". ;)

[ASSEMbler]

...Lol, None of the above is any different from problems encountered with implementing the original Xbox.

...Relax :)

Yes, but they weren't porting playstation games with minor upgrades to xbox.

We all remember the "quality" first gen xbox titles.

I can do without bloodwake 360

[Topic Archive]

How did you guess?

...Bloodwake 360 is going to be one of the launch titles, so they say ;)

[SuperGrafx]

We all remember the "quality" first gen xbox titles.

I can do without bloodwake 360

I thought most of the first gen titles were surprisingly good. They showed a marked leap over what was possible on the Dreamcast and PS2. PGR, Halo, and NFL Fever 2002 proved that the extra horsepower afforded by the Xbox was real as well as some nice uses for the hard drive.

Compared to the PS2 launch titles (who could forget Ridge Racer 5 and Tekken Tag with their infamous jaggies, the numerous pool games, and the laughably bad Summoner and Evergrace (which started life as a PS1 game nad featured some dodgy texture problems) the first crop of Xbox games showed a good deal of polish and quality control. And don't forget the sad Japanese debut of the Dreamcast which was spearheaded by the ultra glitchy Sonic Adventure and Godzilla to name a few...

[devilredeemed]

Yes, but they weren't porting playstation games with minor upgrades to xbox.

We all remember the "quality" first gen xbox titles.

I can do without bloodwake 360

in the history of video gaming how many release titles where spectacular? I can only think of the Super Famicom (and that's probably because I have pink tainted shades on).

I just hope they do a House Of The Dead that is worth buying the system for. I may be crap at lightgun games but I love HOTD (not too fond of HOTDIII though)

[sayin999]

i remember in the early days of ps2 alot games coming out were just slightly higher resoloution ps1 games, this was very apparent with 989 studios sports games which hardly looked that much better from their original ps1 release.

[cahaz]

this generation is coming far too quickly, i could have stayed with my curent consoles for a while, i would like to see my systems pushed to the limits, sense that a new generation is really needed and nearly hate them next time please.

[GaijinPunch]

this generation is coming far too quickly

No way. PS2 is 5 years old, and that's where almost all the games are coming out and they look dated. I think the GC and Xbox have some potential that can last, but the number of games coming out on them is so low.

[cahaz]

with the exeption of the ps2, of course.
and people in general are yelling about the fact that nintendo won't show their revolution before next e3.

[Baseley09]

Ridge Racer V is a great game btw.

Xbox & GC could well ggo on for a while with their power, but reports suggest upcmoming PS2 titles (including the touted "Black") will be the best looking of this generation.

[Kotodama]

I don't know, but to me it seemed like the Xbox and Gamecube, heck the Dreamcast for that matter, really seemed to tap out their graphically potential early. Me thinkst it was because they were easy to program for or perhaps because they had a dedicated graphics card. From a purely graphically standpoint what is left for the Xbox and GCN to do, or what less can they do? Perhaps it's better to start out with crap and show marked improvement at the end, similiar to the PS2 with it's jaggies in the begin.

[Fabrizo]

PS2 has been maxed out for a while now.

Dreamcast never got the chance to be maxed out (and don't try saying that Shenmue 2's frame rate issues were due to it being maxed out, that was just unoptomized code).

Gamecube never has been maxed out in a commercialy available product (some unreleased games and tech demos show what the system is capable of).

Xbox hasn't been maxed out yet, but it's very close. If any games come out that push it further then it already has been, it won't be by much.