Xbox forum - XBOX 360 Impressions...Great...Not so much

Author

XBOX 360 Impressions...Great...Not so much

Rorschach

2005-11-02, 7:32 pm

As an owner of the original XBOX I've been enthusiastically waiting for the
arrival of the next itineration of the machine ever since I first read about
its development. Although I am not a hard core XBOX disciple I firmly
believe that the original XBOX is superior in every way to the PS2. After
sampling the XBOX 360 at a retail kiosk I have to admit that at this point I
am really unimpressed with the quality of the games. This may be due to the
fact that I currently run PC games on a high end P4 3.4/Nvidia 6800 Ultra
gaming rig and I have become accustomed to a certain level of graphical
prowess. This is a standard that the XBOX 360 has yet to surpass. Kameo
looked superior to the other demos that were available but failed to produce
that "WOW" factor. My girlfriend even remarked that the games look "just
like the ones at home". Call of Duty 2 appeared inferior to the PC version.
I will have to admit that the monitor that was used to display the XBOX 360
was desperately in need of calibration. This store was not using the Samsung
monitor I've seen online. The sharpness was turned up so high that there
were halos around every onscreen object and I believe that it was an EDTV
which only displays images at 480p (I may be wrong). Understand that I am
basing this dialogue on my impressions of the games which are available on
the retail kiosk. I've seen other demos online that look simply stunning.
Regrettably, most consumers' initial impression of the XBOX 360 will be
shaped by the same rather unspectacular kiosk demos.

Since this is such a significant investment for most consumers it is
critical to the product's survival that there are at least a few release
titles that blow you away. I understand Microsoft's position but I really
think that they should have delayed the release in order to give the
developer's more time. But, I still have faith that the games will improve
rather quickly. Does anyone remember the initial release titles for the XBOX
such as Shrek? Some of these games looked like previous generation titles.
Compare the original Splinter Cell, which was great, to the recent and quite
spectacular Splinter Cell Chaos Theory. The difference between these two
games is nothing short of amazing. I just hope that there is enough of a
difference in this generation of releases to a warrant a purchase. A person
who is used to an XBOX or PS2 level of graphics and game play may be
impressed with the current XBOX 360 offerings but unfortunately I'm betting
most will not. Microsoft must provide consumer's with a significant reason
to purchase a $500.00 gaming machine this Xmas season. If they don't then
they've wasted this opportunity to gain ground on Sony as most gamers will
just wait for the PS3.

As for Sony, I really don't think that there will be any valid debate until
the hardware is available for play testing. Sony has made some absurd claims
regarding the capabilities of their machine. We've seen them eat their
words in the past so let's just hold off on the "which one is better"
arguments until both machines are available. Unless Sony has developed
something revolutionary then they are facing the same harsh criticism as the
XBOX 360, perhaps even more so due to the extended development time
available.

Fizzlestix

2005-11-02, 7:32 pm

speaking of eating words, i think you meant "iteration" and not
"itineration."

just saying. =o)

but yeah, i have to agree with what you are saying. i checked out a
kiosk recently and did not feel anything special in my gaming heart.
perhaps it was the hype, but i guess i was expecting something larger
than life or at least something radically different from the XBox i've
had since 2000 or so.

if the retailers, in fact, are setting the displays to "ho-hum," then i
guess that's a problem for both them and for MS. i think i'm gonna wait
until 2008 to get one, despite a lot of drooling between now and then.

Jordan

2005-11-02, 7:32 pm

The sharpness setting is always a problem... People erroneously think
that "Well of course I want it to be as sharp as possible!"

http://timefordvd.com/faqs/FAQsDigitalTVSetup.shtml

"Until you can calibrate your Digital TV or HDTV with a calibration
source material, adjust the color and tint for natural skin tones by
"eyeing it". Turn the sharpness control all the down to its lowest
setting. This minimizes or eliminates picture artifacts caused by the
sharpness function. Turn the contrast control to the middle. Finally,
turn the brightness control down to about the middle as well,
particularly for CRT-based TVs to minimize the risk of burn-in."

As for the 480p vs 720p thing... I don't know if it makes that big a
difference. Most of the folks buying game machines this year aren't
going to have HDTV at home in the first place. It would border on false
advertising to show them an HDTV image in the store when you know
that's not what they're going to see when they get it home.

- Jordan

Jordan

2005-11-02, 7:32 pm

listermonocle@hotmail.com wrote:

quote:

> On a progressive display, which these definitely are regardless of the
> settings, the image will look worse than an interlaced display if the
> image isn't high quality/high resolution enough.

Yeah, I noticed that with the PS2 and Gamecube on my HDTV, particularly
with the PS1 and Gameboy games. Some stuff just isn't meant to be fed
into an HDTV.

- Jordan