[SakSquash]

I'm sure that's all it is, talk. There's no way in hell they could release a game machine with one format then switch fomats halfway through the game. Common sense will tell you that won't happen.

[Aj_]

Originally Posted by temporaryscars

I'm sure that's all it is, talk. There's no way in hell they could release a game machine with one format then switch fomats halfway through the game. Common sense will tell you that won't happen.

I think it will, not games, but there will be a HD-DVD drive version for playing movies, and for any developer that really needs the extra capacity for a game for it, although not having as big a market. Compatability won't be an issue if games are still DVD.

[UPtimist]

Seriously, what is the ethernet cable? I have a feeling and definitely a hope what it would be, but I'm not sure...

[Intrepid Homoludens]

It's the cable that connects the console to the modem for internet and online purposes.

[UPtimist]

So... Without it you can't use Live?

That's really nice, I have my XBox downstairs and my computer upstairs. It'll be a bit hard to connect to the modem. Unless it of course is just plugged in just anywhere...

(Shows what I know... I know nothing of the hardware stuff, just about using the computer )

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Or you buy a wi-fi router.

[bigjko]

Originally Posted by SoccerDude28

If you are referring to the hard drive, I think there is a push not to use it by developers. The PS2 had a hard drive, but only one game ended up using it, FF.
The hard drive in the 360 will be used to store music, and to store patches to old games, to support backward compatibility. At least that's the plan.

If I'm referring to the hard drive? It says right there in my post. Did you read it, or just skim over it very, very quickly?

I'm saying, if half the market owns a 360 with a HDD, and the other half doesn't, who's the developers going to cater to? And what's that going to end up doing? Piss off one half of the customers.

One of the versions also doesn't come with a high-definition cable. So what does that mean for developers? Especially small developers?

"Hey, let's spend all our budget catering to both groups of people. The ones with a shitty XBox 360 and the ones with a good XBox 360. That way, everyone will be happy to buy our game of reasonably high quality!"

"Ehm, sir. Our budget is dangerously low. We've spent everything on actually making a good game. Sadly, no one will buy the game because it uses the hard-drive, but doesn't use high-definition graphics."

Maybe it won't be a problem. But it's certainly a little bit of a weird decision.

[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by bigjko

If I'm referring to the hard drive? It says right there in my post. Did you read it, or just skim over it very, very quickly?

I'm saying, if half the market owns a 360 with a HDD, and the other half doesn't, who's the developers going to cater to? And what's that going to end up doing? Piss off one half of the customers.

One of the versions also doesn't come with a high-definition cable. So what does that mean for developers? Especially small developers?

No I read it and it was just a manner of speech. Sorry if it sounded that I skimmed over your post, but it was just a misunderstanding.

As far as the harddrive goes, the worst case scenario is that developers will just go for the lowest common denominator and code as if there was no hard drive (i.e. not make use of it for caching, or larger file storage). In the best case, and if developers can afford it, they would make use of the hard drive if it exists and ignore it if it doesn't. The same problem was present today with multi-platform development. The PC and XBOX had a hard drive whereas the PS2 didn't, so it is nothing new developers haven't faced before. Usually you saw mulit-platform games on the PS2 (like Psychonauts) having limited save slots, and no true save anywhere features, whereas games on the XBOX and PC like KOTOR, provided a save anywhere feature. One good feature about the XBOX (which was a wise decision) was to provide a very fast DVD player, so that streaming will be faster and hopefully less loading times across the board.

As far as the connection goes, every game will have to support normal TV resolution as well as High definition, so that will not be a problem.

And yes the platform is expensive to program for, so smaller developers will have to stick to PC's or just find a publisher. It sucks for the small guy, and I hate it as well, but that's the direction the whole industry is heading.

[TigerShard]

Anybody else going to cancel his/her pre-order at Gamestop/EBGames because of the ridiculous bundle prices?

[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by TigerShard

Anybody else going to cancel his/her pre-order at Gamestop/EBGames because of the ridiculous bundle prices?

I already cancelled my pre-order. I will order it when things calm down a little and when it drops down in price.

But I went to the EBGames store yesterday, and if you have pre-ordered it from an EBGames store physically, you will still get the premium package only with no games. These bundles are only for online pre-orders.

[insane_cobra]

Originally Posted by SoccerDude28

And yes the platform is expensive to program for, so smaller developers will have to stick to PC's or just find a publisher.

That remains to be seen. According to some developers, developing for Xbox 360 might end up being just about 20% more expensive than developing for Xbox.

And there's always Xbox Live Arcade.

[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by insane_cobra

That remains to be seen. According to some developers, developing for Xbox 360 might end up being just about 20% more expensive than developing for Xbox.

And there's always Xbox Live Arcade.

It really depends what developer you ask. If you ask Epic's Mark Rein, everything is easy to program for, whereas Valve's Gabe Newell disagrees vehemently.
Whatever you do, you have to support HD which means a lot more artists so that definitely translates to higher costs.

And XBOX live arcade is free. Not sure what you mean by that or how developers can make money of that?

[insane_cobra]

Originally Posted by SoccerDude28

And XBOX live arcade is free. Not sure what you mean by that or how developers can make money of that?

Are you sure? I though you can only play demo/trial versions and some games for free. But I don't have an Xbox yet so that's just what I think I read somewhere.

Anyway, even if MS offers all those games for free, they have to pay someone to make them, right?

EDIT: Actually, turns out I was right.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

From what I've read some time ago, 360 Live will be free to all on weekends only for mulitplayer gaming and spectating. If you don't pay for it you still get to do that on weekends, while the Arcade will be free everyday. It might have changed since then.

[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by insane_cobra

Are you sure? I though you can only play demo/trial versions and some games for free. But I don't have an Xbox yet so that's just what I think I read somewhere.

Anyway, even if MS offers all those games for free, they have to pay someone to make them, right?

EDIT: Actually, turns out I was right.

Nevermind you could be right. I have no clue

[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

From what I've read some time ago, 360 Live will be free to all on weekends only for mulitplayer gaming and spectating. If you don't pay for it you still get to do that on weekends, while the Arcade will be free everyday. It might have changed since then.

After looking up on the web, it turns out the old XBOX needed a CD to play XBOX live arcade. You needed to buy some of these games so you pay something like 10 dollars for one of the XBOX live arcade games.

In the 360, XBOX live arcade will be available to you, without a CD on the silver package as well as the gold one. But it's not free. You still have to pay for some of the games to play them. Lame

Here is a link I saw about this

[insane_cobra]

Originally Posted by SoccerDude28

You still have to pay for some of the games to play them. Lame

Well not for small developers, is it?

And they're pretty cheap. I mean, those games may not have the glitz of big commercial titles, but as far as fun factor is concerned, some of them can easily compete with anything out there. In my book, anyway.

[Kolorabi]

Originally Posted by insane_cobra

Well not for small developers, is it?

I agree. The PC is blessed with a strong and vibrant scene of independent game developers, and if these can sell their stuff over Xbox Live Arcade, then that's a good thing both for them, the Xbox and the customers.

These games have their place in the Xbox line-up, and if they were free, it wouldn't be possible to make them (because even though they're made by smaller teams, they still cost money to make).

As for the HD-thing, I wonder how backwards compatible an Xbox 360 without a HD will be.

[insane_cobra]

Originally Posted by Kolorabi

As for the HD-thing, I wonder how backwards compatible an Xbox 360 without a HD will be.

It won't, except for some games that aren't even out yet.

But I think MS is doing the right thing here, from a strictly business standpoint. The key thing is that the base model of Xbox 360 is upgradable. Unlike hardcore gamers, casual customers are less likely to complain about having to buy additional equipment to get additional functionality. They'll probably accept is as a normal thing, just like DVD kits in current generation consoles. Hardcore gamers would probably consider it cheap tactics (which it is) and cheating (which it isn't), they're the ones who would complain the most if they had to buy additional equipment to play some games, but they're more likely to go with the premium package from the get-go anyway. And now MS can say their console is cheaper than PS3 (which will almost certainly cost way more than $300), even without reducing the prices at PS3 launch (which they still might do) and the casual customers will buy it, both figuratively and literally.

[Kolorabi]

What I heard earlier was that they were going to provide emulation profiles for the most popular games, and that these were going to be stored on the hd. It was also said, I think, that the hd would come with profiles for most of the major games installed at launch.