[H]ard|OCP Xbox 360 Sneak Peek

bonkrowave said:
Am I correct to assume ?

1080p = 1920x1024 1080i=960x512

This being said 1080i still has to draw the entire resolution. The 1080p displays the entire image 60 times a second, the 1080i alternates displaying between each half of the image.

This is still rather confusing .... :confused:
Click to expand...

You are halfway there. 1080p = 1920x1024. 1080i=1920x512.

At 1080p the framrate is 60 times a second. At 1080i the framerate is still technically 60 frames per second but it only displays 30 unique frames. For the display of 1080i it will show all the even lines of the frame and then all the odd lines of the frame. This means 1080p is more taxing on hardware because it needs to output 60 frames per second as opposed ot the 30 needed for 1080i. Hopefully this helps a little.

Also the PPC cores in the Xbox 360 are assumed to be simple in-order cores. See Anandtechs article on the cell CPU to get a description of the difference betweein and in-order core and and out of order core that AMD and Intel make. What this basically means is that the cores in the Xbox 360 will be great at some operations and complete crap at others. Another good read is the interview with Tim Sweeney at Anandtech where he talks about multithreading and the Unreal 3 engine.

I just love technology. It will be fun to see what this thing can do. And count me in the crowd who can't wait to hook this up the HDTV and Stereo and let it rip.
 
Anandtech alos has some good info, as well as a few good pics, that show of the Xbox, the Whit looks alot better in person, not so "grey" like in the pics
 
If it doesn't support Keyboard /mouse in the USB slots, I'm passing on it. Ditto for VGA out- I don't want to play games at 640x480 on my TV- I don't have a HDTV or plasma or LCD- I want to use my monitor. No monitor support, I'm passing on it.
 
what i think of the 360 atm..
yawn.jpg


a couple of games is looking ok but overall its a huge MEH
 
Mr. Tinker,

Dude, one guy in one video uses the term "water cooled" and you want to turn it into a conspiracy? Check out the specs as listed on xbox.com, you won't see one mention of the cooling system. This isn't some grand and evil plot by MS to pull one over on the enthusiast community. Seriously, would water cooling, or lack-there-of really factor in to anyone's buying decision? I think the guy in the video used a misnomer for the heatpipe technology, and the producers of the video weren't technically adept enough to pick up on it.
 
JethroXP said:
Mr. Tinker,

Dude, one guy in one video uses the term "water cooled" and you want to turn it into a conspiracy? Check out the specs as listed on xbox.com, you won't see one mention of the cooling system. This isn't some grand and evil plot by MS to pull one over on the enthusiast community. Seriously, would water cooling, or lack-there-of really factor in to anyone's buying decision? I think the guy in the video used a misnomer for the heatpipe technology, and the producers of the video weren't technically adept enough to pick up on it.
Click to expand...
xbox.com only says what is in stone
 
Exactly. The point I'm trying to make is that if it were a selling point, or even something they wanted to brag about, it would be listed. I seriously doubt they have gotten this far only to have the cooling solution still left undecided.
 
I find it interesting in the extreme that IBM is designing the processors for both the Microsoft console and the Nintendo console with the same Instruction Set Architecture and that ATI is designing the Video Cards for both consoles.

How much you wanna bet that they end up getting the same parts?
How much you wanna bet that I'll be playing XBox 360 games on my Nintendo :)p) and everybody else will be playing Nintendo games on their XBox 360s within the year on open source (Nintendo and Microsoft would say "illegal") emulators?
 
It does support keyboard...but for text entry only. Not gameplay.

Straight from the guy who does the XNA stuff for the Xbox360.
 
MAngelo said:
If it doesn't support Keyboard /mouse in the USB slots, I'm passing on it. Ditto for VGA out- I don't want to play games at 640x480 on my TV- I don't have a HDTV or plasma or LCD- I want to use my monitor. No monitor support, I'm passing on it.
Click to expand...

Same here!!!
 
peltman78 said:
You are halfway there. 1080p = 1920x1024. 1080i=1920x512.

At 1080p the framrate is 60 times a second. At 1080i the framerate is still technically 60 frames per second but it only displays 30 unique frames. For the display of 1080i it will show all the even lines of the frame and then all the odd lines of the frame. This means 1080p is more taxing on hardware because it needs to output 60 frames per second as opposed ot the 30 needed for 1080i. Hopefully this helps a little.

Also the PPC cores in the Xbox 360 are assumed to be simple in-order cores. See Anandtechs article on the cell CPU to get a description of the difference betweein and in-order core and and out of order core that AMD and Intel make. What this basically means is that the cores in the Xbox 360 will be great at some operations and complete crap at others. Another good read is the interview with Tim Sweeney at Anandtech where he talks about multithreading and the Unreal 3 engine.

I just love technology. It will be fun to see what this thing can do. And count me in the crowd who can't wait to hook this up the HDTV and Stereo and let it rip.
Click to expand...


1080i has a resolution of 1920 by 1080, hence the 1080. I don't think its at all correct to say that 1080i has a resolution of 1920 x 540 because the lines are only alternately refreshed. For one thing the monitor has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, and no matter when you take a snapshot of the monitor you will be looking at an image that is 1920 x 1080 pixels. Also look at it this way; a 1920 x 1080 interlaced signal will look much better than a 1920 x 540 progressive scan signal and will look almost as good as a progressive scan 1920 x 1080 signal.
 
WickedAngel, stop with your flaming and read this:
http://cube.ign.com/articles/611/611192p1.html

While it still offers NOTHING but speculation, if you use a few percantage points of your IQ, you can easily figure it out that Nintendo will do its best not to charge a single penny for online gaming.

Oh, and do you really think that Gamespy won't run a completely separate set of servers for Nintendo Online? It would be pretty dumb to think they'll use the PC-game servers.
 
Kevin Lowe said:
Looking at the back of the case on the official site, it looks like there's only a single proprietary a/v port - and it's not the same as the original Xbox.

So, if there's HDMI or DVI, it's an add-on cable. And don't forget to pick up a new HD cable, even if you've already got one on Xbox.
Click to expand...

Doesn't anyone else think it's kind of ridiculous to call the Xbox 360 the push of the "HD Era" but then have the Xbox 360 come WITHOUT HD cables out of the box? Come on guys...
 
I've got a question for everyone here. With the coming of USB 2.0 ports on the Xbox 360, is any one else worried that if (IF... keyword is IF) a mouse is useable in games that it would kind of ruin the console experience? Now, not saying that it wouldn't be great to use a mouse for shooting games on the console, but one thing I like about playing a console is the challenge of having to play with the controllers (or the comfort of playing with one...). I for one would like to see consoles remain mouse free (I could care less about keyboard).

I mean, it would be really nice to hit those headshots every time, but then again it would be just unfair I think. Same goes for the other way around. If I'm using a controller and someone else is using a mouse, I would hate to be beat by the one guy with the mouse.

By no means am I an "anti mouse" person. Most of the games I play are PC and I prefer the mouse by leagues over controllers for first person shooters. But one of the reasons why I even play consoles is the simple fact that I use a controller.
 
Does the Xbox360 upscale DVD 480p to 720p or 1080i via HDMI to an HDTV?

Can I surf the web with a wireless keyboard and mouse via the USB?

Can I use a MCE remote?

Can I get DD5.1 or greater for games and movies on my audio reciever.

If the answer is no to any of the above I will pass on the Xbox360 and just build a HTPC. I hope Microsoft has been paying attention.

Does anybody know the answer to these questions?
 
xSnowmaNx said:
Doesn't anyone else think it's kind of ridiculous to call the Xbox 360 the push of the "HD Era" but then have the Xbox 360 come WITHOUT HD cables out of the box? Come on guys...
Click to expand...

Composite(RCA) and COMPONENT(RGB) come in the box.

edit*** It said VGA after the Composite cord, and although the RCA plugs are sometime referred to as VGA in TV terms...I changed it so as not to confuse.
 
Tiny said:
Composit(VGA) and COMPONENT(RGB) come in the box.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clearing that up. I knew there was something fishy between what I read from articles and the stuff here on the forums.
 
Tiny said:
It does support keyboard...but for text entry only. Not gameplay.

Straight from the guy who does the XNA stuff for the Xbox360.
Click to expand...

Thanks Tiny for the info.
 
Wait, am I missing something here? Do we know anything about mouse support? I honestly don't want to see it...
 
xSnowmaNx said:
Wait, am I missing something here? Do we know anything about mouse support? I honestly don't want to see it...
Click to expand...

Keyboard support for text entry only...no mouse.

That is all done in software so MS could change that in the future.
 
I'm all for new features and added services the XBOX will bring to the table. I guess this is what's to come....not just a video game console, but an entertainment device composed of everything you need into one unit. Games, music, movies, pictures, internet and blah blah blah.

Make way for the 'entertainment consoles'.

I will miss the days of what a video game console was. Pop a game in and play. No hassels. No fuss. Just hours and hours of fun.
 
Tiny -


Can you confirm whether the Xbox360 will be backwards compatible with original Xbox games? Honestly this is a bigger concern to me than if it is going to be able to use an MCE remote or if it has an hdmi output.
 
Not yet.

So far as I have heard...they are still seeing if they can do it. I don't know if that is true or the few people that I know are really sticking to their NDA's.

I guess we will all find out at e3.
 
ImJacksAmygdala said:
Does the Xbox360 upscale DVD 480p to 720p or 1080i via HDMI to an HDTV?
Click to expand...
Probably not, but maybe through the component video cables.

ImJacksAmygdala said:
Can I surf the web with a wireless keyboard and mouse via the USB?
Click to expand...
Probably restricted to XBOX Live content only.

ImJacksAmygdala said:
Can I use a MCE remote?
Click to expand...
I hope so

ImJacksAmygdala said:
Can I get DD5.1 or greater for games and movies on my audio reciever.
Click to expand...
Yes. Its got an SPDIF port for Dolby and DTS passthrough when watching movies, and its got a Dolby Digital Live encoder, so all game content will be in DD5.1

ImJacksAmygdala said:
If the answer is no to any of the above I will pass on the Xbox360 and just build a HTPC. I hope Microsoft has been paying attention.
Click to expand...
That's quite the list of demands for a gaming console.... If you want to buy an HTPC, why don't you buy one of the many pre-assembled Media Center PCs? The primary function of the XBOX is a gaming console remember? Its not meant to compete with microsoft's other HTPCs.

ImJacksAmygdala said:
Does anybody know the answer to these questions?
Click to expand...
some.
 
peltman78 said:
You are halfway there. 1080p = 1920x1024. 1080i=1920x512.

At 1080p the framrate is 60 times a second. At 1080i the framerate is still technically 60 frames per second but it only displays 30 unique frames. For the display of 1080i it will show all the even lines of the frame and then all the odd lines of the frame. This means 1080p is more taxing on hardware because it needs to output 60 frames per second as opposed ot the 30 needed for 1080i. Hopefully this helps a little.
Click to expand...

So in order If I want to play these consoles on high definition I have to buy a $3500AUD TV (not even one of the larger ones)? Add to that the cost of the console on release (probably around $1000) and in total you would have to spend 4500AUD to get one of these setups if you dont already have a 1080p high def tv?

I would rather build a top of the line computer and then take an overseas holiday for that amount of money
 
defiant said:
So in order If I want to play these consoles on high definition I have to buy a $3500AUD TV (not even one of the larger ones)? Add to that the cost of the console on release (probably around $1000) and in total you would have to spend 4500AUD to get one of these setups if you dont already have a 1080p high def tv?

I would rather build a top of the line computer and then take an overseas holiday for that amount of money
Click to expand...

$1000? Are you kidding me? No one would buy it if it were $1000.
 
xSnowmaNx said:
$1000? Are you kidding me? No one would buy it if it were $1000.
Click to expand...

1000 AUD, not USD. Thats generally the price that new consoles debut at here in Australia, which takes into account relative exchange rates and the fact that computer and video game hardware is always more expensive in Australia for some reason.

As a point of reference, both the Xbox and Ps2 were released at about 750-800, and finding places selling upwards of 900 and 1000 AUD was common. Given the specs of the xbox 2 I wouldnt be surprised if it retailed at 1000 here
 
defiant said:
1000 AUD, not USD. Thats generally the price that new consoles debut at here in Australia, which takes into account relative exchange rates and the fact that computer and video game hardware is always more expensive in Australia for some reason.

As a point of reference, both the Xbox and Ps2 were released at about 750-800, and finding places selling upwards of 900 and 1000 AUD was common. Given the specs of the xbox 2 I wouldnt be surprised if it retailed at 1000 here
Click to expand...

Man I was gonna say... Outright insane if it were $1000 USD.
 
1,000.00 AUD = 760.659 USD

still...that is a lot!

But then again...the price of electronics should be offset by the fact that you have pretty blonde women who talk sexy.
 
$750 is the cost I would expect it to open at. Even at that price Microsoft would be losing money on each unit sold. Just look at the PSP, it's $450 and has no where near the manufacturing costs the 360 would need. It's a trend for prices on new tech to be extremely high these days and I think that people are willing enough to paying under certain circumstances. There is no way in hell it's going to be in the $200-300 dollar range IMO. With enough hype people will buy it at any cost, Microsoft could manufacture a select amount, sell them out at an inflated price and create more demand creating "shortages" to make people think that since they've sold out everyone HAS to own one, that's a trend I've noticed with new expencive and hyped technology when it is first released.

And to the person that mentioned entertainment consoles, I completely agree. I don't want a video game console, or to pay the extra costs, with a 3rd rate dvd player and half ass media center pc capabilities. I just want something to play games.
 
peacetilence said:
$750 is the cost I would expect it to open at. Even at that price Microsoft would be losing money on each unit sold. Just look at the PSP, it's $450 and has no where near the manufacturing costs the 360 would need. It's a trend for prices on new tech to be extremely high these days and I think that people are willing enough to paying under certain circumstances. There is no way in hell it's going to be in the $200-300 dollar range IMO. With enough hype people will buy it at any cost, Microsoft could manufacture a select amount, sell them out at an inflated price and create more demand creating "shortages" to make people think that since they've sold out everyone HAS to own one, that's a trend I've noticed with new expencive and hyped technology when it is first released.

And to the person that mentioned entertainment consoles, I completely agree. I don't want a video game console, or to pay the extra costs, with a 3rd rate dvd player and half ass media center pc capabilities. I just want something to play games.
Click to expand...

There is no way in hell that Microsoft would ever price the Xbox 360 at over $400. No system has ever sold well at that price. Even the original Playstation was selling poorly before they dropped the price several times.

They're not going to create artificial shortages because that would eat up the time they're counting on to establish a userbase before Sony and Nintendo get their products out in 2006.
 
WickedAngel said:
There is no way in hell that Microsoft would ever price the Xbox 360 at over $400. No system has ever sold well at that price. Even the original Playstation was selling poorly before they dropped the price several times.

They're not going to create artificial shortages because that would eat up the time they're counting on to establish a userbase before Sony and Nintendo get their products out in 2006.
Click to expand...

They took a reeming with the sales on the original Xbox, and I could really fathom how much more this system will cost to produce compared to the older. If they price it at $300, I honestly don't see Microsoft ever seeing a dime on this system during it's prime life span. I wonder if they've even see returns on the original Xbox, as they're already moving on to another system.
 
They're not trying to get returns on the system. They're trying to get marketshare. The point of gaining marketshare is that you will raise your third-party support, which in turn raises your royalties for software (Which is where most money is made in this industry) and eventually shut out your competition.

Consoles are risky business because of this. You rarely ever make money on them (Nintendo did with the Gamecube for a time until they dropped the prices). Sony and Microsoft have been losing money on their hardware since each was launched.
 
Going along with that, I would like to see what the linux community can do with this. I can see 3 powerPC cores handling heavy application serving/multithreaded processing.

I have not bought a game console since the sega genesis, I am planning on purchasing this soon after release as long as I am not spending over 400. I am intrigued.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top