So I guess the XBOX has made it?

IMHO, every launch for every system passed 16-bit sucked ass. (I recall getting slammed for saying the US DC launch wasn't good, but I don't know what it consisted of). The PS2 launch in Japan, although successful, was flacid central. All bullshit "middle of the road" games. The 360 launch in both regions, pretty much the same.

Translation: It's far from over, and the Japanese aren't running out and buying 360's just yet. I like a good fight though.

 

After an initial hatred for MS and their xbox...........its now one of my fave ever machines, as long as its total modded & games are free mind, its like the best gaming jukebox going.

 

The main issue with comparing launches is that it's more of a moot point when you place it in the context that the 360 launched first and built up a decent library before the PS3 launched (though since technically it hasn't even launch down here in Australia or over in Europe) with its kind of okay line up and a slightly more impress FPS then those at the 360 launch that had to the deal with Gears of War and the apparently excellent Rainbow 6 title.

Personally I see the 360 as a much more threatening competitor to Sony this time around, from underdog (albeit with enourmous financial backing) to equal footing and while it's true the Japanese aren't entirely warming to it, they have trouble even getting a PS3 atm right which doesn't help Sony.

 

Let's give the PS3 a year and then have this conversation. You can't really compare a system with a lead time of a year with one that just launched. Give the developers some time to learn the system a little.

 

I bet its going to be this generation winner, specially since PS3 seems to be suffering from the "PSP syndrome" which is bad games, weird media format, low support and well, no reason to get one at all....

Plus I just heard sony dont want porn on BR format, just like they did with the BM, and in fact that was what killed it.

If the X360 HDDVD keep selling (or the zephyr get one built-in) it may be known as the "pr0n console":lol:

Something tells me it was quite expensive, specially since many parts were outsourced to other companies, while sony did all in-house except the RSX, but that one is a souped-up 7950, while the Xenos is something completely different to ATI's lineup.

On the other hand, the original Xbox may have the cheapest R&D ever, since is basically a bunch of off the shelf PC parts...

Anyway, I'm also thinking into buying one, but this announcement of the zephyr being so close kinda worries me, since I dont know if I'll repent of not buying one now (maybe zephyr bundles will be more expensive) or having an outdated model, since the HDD is too small...

What do you guys think?

 

Well I wasn't really comparing the success of the PS3 to the 360. But I'm wondering if Sony left the door open too much and Microsoft took advantage and cemented themselves as an industry player. I thought the answer was YES, so now I'm wondering what the event was that made the XBOX a success. Would a successful PS3 launch have been a serious blow to XBOX, enough to question it's future?

I've mentioned before that even before the first XBOX was released I read an article saying that the real battle would be with the 2nd generation XBOX and 3rd generation PS3. The article claimed that Microsoft just needed to make it past the first round then put out a killer machine with it's online capabilities, something Sony couldn't match. Judging by the comments a lot of people have made on here it lookes like XBOX Live is a big attraction and one might say that they accomplished their goal (as stated by the writer.)

Anyway, like I said before, the XBOX was always in the "wait and see" file, but I think it's moved past that. Even tho sales in Japan still suck the system is doing well. It's been over a year and the 360 is still selling at it's release price. If you want to see the history of a failed console just see how long it takes to reach it's first price drop.

 

PAL/SECAM are far better than NTSC from a television point of view. For games the refresh makes things tricky (because developers are lazy).

 

Xbox 360 won me over as well, I bought it out of curiousity since Mrs's brothers told me it was great. I was not really excited at the beginning, mind I bought only with RR6 but once I received my VGA cable it got much better.

I must say GoW got me addicted a lot and only Resident Evils, Shenmue and Thunder Force managed to get me to that state, Dead Rising is great and there are plenty of great games to look forward like ray:RE5 rayaying for playing online is a bit of a bummer, when you can play Counter Strike for free anytime but Xbox live is a great service anyway.

A little downside we don't get some Jap games life Far East of Eden and Project Sylpheed translated or even multiregion let's hope it will be corrected and please get rayanzer Dragoon Ortaray: emulated.

I think the 360 is already a success but I'm sure PS3 will succeed once Sony current management leave...

Sabre

 

Wait, what GTA are you talking about here? The only one I can think of that was released near the same time as Halo 2 was GTA:SA, and it didn't sell 4 - 5 as many copies as Halo 2...

"In its first 24 hours of retail availability, the flagship title for Microsoft's Xbox gaming system sold approximately 340,000 copies more than "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" did in its first six days on shelves." *

Sure, GTA: SA may have outsold Halo 2 in the long run, but that's simply because 1. PS2 has a larger install base 2. GTA: SA went multi-platform. But during the initial runs of both games, Halo 2 was the clear victor.

Personally, I think, here in the states most of all, the XBOX had already "made it" with the first system. I know when I first bought mine, the only reason I got it was for SB, but then I branched out and now it has become my favorite system of the last generation. As for the XBOX 360, I think it's done/doing quite well so far. It went from an iffy launch to having more than several games that I'm interested in, improved upon the already awesome XBOX Live, oh and with Halo 3 looming on the horizon, well the XBOX is something that just can't be ignored.

* http://money.cnn.com/2004/11/11/technology/halosales/

 

Microsoft cemented themselves as an industry player the minute people realized that they were in it for the long haul. It really didn't have anything with Sony leaving the door open too much at least when it come to the last generation. As for what event made the Xbox a success? Halo be thy name.

I also think some of your perceptions regarding the Xbox and 360 have to do with residing where it performs the poorest. In the US at least there was never really any doubt that Microsoft wouldn't make it past the first round.

As for this generation Sony very well may have "left the door open too much" as you say. That price is going to keep a lot of people away and putting a Blu-Ray in it gave Microsoft time to put the 360 in plenty of homes. On the other hand Microsoft might end up cursing themselves down the road for sticking with DVD if the size of games becomes an issue. The fact that Blue Dragon had to be packed on 3 DVD's so early in the 360's life isn't a good sign.

 

Actually the other way around. MS had to pay a lot to Intel and nVidia for the chips in the original Xbox. Since the Xbox's CPU is a modified P3 733 MHz chip (modified to 133 MHz bus), that cost more then using the normal CPU. The GPU (as well as the motherboard general design in general) was from nVidia (the GPU being a modified GeForce3 and the MCPx being from an early MCP design available for PC).

The CPU for the 360 was designed by MS (and IBM?), and put together by IBM, which in fact saves them money in the long-run since MS owns the design specs of the chip. ATi collaborated with MS on the GPU to be Xbox 360 specific (but based on ATi's design of the RS580 GPU). The southbridge, while from SiS, can be considered 360-only design.

"Zephyr" is a prototype, not an actual upcoming model. It was admitted that MS's Xbox division likes to "play with" ideas with the 360. As far as this prototype becoming reality...when it's on retail shelves, then it's an actual product in my eyes.

 

I wonder why Sony didn't care about porn on UMD. But I have to agree a console that a years lead time on another isn't a fair comparison. The contempt that Sony has shown towards gamers might just be backfiring a little.

 

I know all that, but one thing is R&D and another one are production costs. The CPU in the Xbox was in fact a celeron coppermine-based, and the GPU was a souped up GF3, so R&D was pretty cheap, but since intel and nvidia were the only providers the components prices were fixed by them, and also the design, thats why we didnt see a smaller Xbox with a CPU+GPU like the PStwo.

On the PS3, the CELL was a project carried by several companies for multiple products, not just the PS3, so the R&D costs must be lower.

About zephyr, I wouldnt call it a "prototype" since the upscaler is already there, and it has been announced more than a year ago that the 65nm X360 will be in the market during Q1 2007.

And spot, making pr0n available in the PSP would be a terrible idea since while consoles arent just for kids anymore, portables still are in the hands of more kids than adults, and therefore try to imagine the PR impact in a kids toy being able to play porn:lol:

 

Only if you've grown up in PAL-land and have been conditioned to think that a lower framerate is an "advantage."

-hl718

 

I ll take NTSC any day over PAL or SECAM, even PAL-M. The reason lies not in the refresh rate alone, but it's a matter of compatibility. Especially in the older times, processing of most video material was done in NTSC anyway. I ll take it native, thank you

 

I never said it was an advantage. When you watch normal TV the refresh has zero difference and the truer colour and higher resolution of the PAL format owns over NTSC. For games, the only downpoint of lower refresh (the difference between 50hz and 60hz is tiny to the brain) is that developers for the most part wouldn't adjust their games to reflect the change in speed, meaning PAL ports were slow.

Now adays PAL60 is the best you can get for SD.

 

PAL-M was there long before PAL60 ;p (they re both 60hz)

 

He actually means it already is available. I can vouch for that, being we had a big box of unsold Hentai UMDs at my work over christmas. The manager didn't even want to put them on the shelves, being afraid that some Parents would get offended.

 

But those UMDs were japanese right?

I mean, the western branch of sony wouldnt let it happen, since they didnt let pr0n get into betamax and now they want to ban it from bluray.

 

Nope. They were European.

Here is the hentai one.

And here is some other one just to round it off.