We've got an Xbox 360 Debug

[Guest DVD Spree]

Our 360 debug came in this morning with a selection of launch game code. Can't really talk about teh games much, although Gotham 3 is amazing, Kameo is largely unchanged from the Xbox gameplay-wise but looks phenomenal and is probably the most playable launch title, and the dual-format stuff like Gun still looks nice, but is betrayed by current-gen roots.

 

Anyway, here are a few pics taken from a sadly clunky camera phone:

 

 

 

 

[Guest BrokenWings]

Are the graphics really that much improved over the consoles we have now? Any controller issues?

 

Assuming these are things you're allowed to discuss, of course.

[AndrewTS 0]

Are the graphics really that much improved over the consoles we have now? Any controller issues?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Demo units are available already--and I think graphically they're not that big of a leap right now, but they're 1st gen titles.

 

Kameo is largely unchanged from the Xbox gameplay-wise but looks phenomenal and is probably the most playable launch title

 

So I guess I'm not alone on that opinion. Every other launch title is a pretty rehash of something else, while Kameo's demo is good enough to make me want to try the full game.

 

Kameo and Rumble Roses XX are the only titles I'm really hyped for right now.

[Red Baron 0]

How many control ports are there on the XBOX 360? By the first pic, there's only two.

[Guest DVD Spree]

The graphics on the dedicated 360 games are fantastic – Gotham is jaw-dropping, Kameo is just beautiful, and Perfect Dark looks awesome… awesome but very *shiny*. It's like Rare didn't differentiate between 'light-reflective' and 'wet', so everything looks like it's been sprayed with baby oil. It's still very pretty, just… moist.

 

The controller is great – more comfortable than an S-pad. But with the white and black buttons having moved, I have to wonder how Xbox 1 games are going to play (retail code doesn't work on debugs, so I couldn't try that out, before you ask). And there are only two USB ports, so you'll only be able to connect two wired pads.

 

Kameo is a truly beautiful game – there are three people in the office who, having seen it, are now buying 360s for that game alone. It's a Rare game to a T, though, so if you don't like their garish, oversaturated games like Banjo and Conker, this ain't going to change your mind. In fact, I can see Kameo going largely unloved simply because of the 'Rare style', and that's a crying shame.

[Exslade ZX 0]

You my friend, are one lucky man.

 

(mainly referring to 3rd pic)

[jwpeer 0]

The game i want some impression of, is Oblivion...the problem is no one is getting demos of it, no one has seen it, but it's supposed to be a launch game, or if not within a few weeks of launch, and it's the single biggest reason I want a 360...I need to know if it's gonna be as awesome as it looks (it's also one of the few games that's been designed for Xbox360 from the beginning, in fact it's been targeted for nextgen xbox for almost 2 years now, it's gonna be the most nextgen game out of all them from all indications, and Bethsoft usually lives up to the hype)

[Guest DVD Spree]

The game i want some impression of, is Oblivion...the problem is no one is getting demos of it, no one has seen it, but it's supposed to be a launch game, or if not within a few weeks of launch, and it's the single biggest reason I want a 360...I need to know if it's gonna be as awesome as it looks (it's also one of the few games that's been designed for Xbox360 from the beginning, in fact it's been targeted for nextgen xbox for almost 2 years now, it's gonna be the most nextgen game out of all them from all indications, and Bethsoft usually lives up to the hype)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A couple of our guys went to see it a few weeks ago and they say it's teh game the 360 was made for. "Fable-beater, hands teh fuck down" was what I was told. So there ya go.

[k thx 0]

It still looks pretty fugly, both console and pad.

 

How does it look in person.

[jwpeer 0]

A couple of our guys went to see it a few weeks ago and they say it's teh game the 360 was made for. "Fable-beater, hands teh fuck down" was what I was told. So there ya go.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That's what I like to hear, although now I'm impatient for Nov. 22 so I can fire that baby up

(Or whenever Oblivion gets its release, I even kinda hope it gets pushed back just so they can make it as polished as possible.)

[El Psycho Diablo 0]

A couple of our guys went to see it a few weeks ago and they say it's teh game the 360 was made for. "Fable-beater, hands teh fuck down" was what I was told. So there ya go.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That's what I like to hear, although now I'm impatient for Nov. 22 so I can fire that baby up

(Or whenever Oblivion gets its release, I even kinda hope it gets pushed back just so they can make it as polished as possible.)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

They've been working on it for a few years now, so I think it should be polished enough.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I read over on Joystiq that even though the 360 has the 3 core architechture, all the launch titles will be single threaded and wont take advantage of it.

 

Thats nice of Microsoft.

 

I'm not seeing anything screenshot wise for any game that shows anything that couldn't be done on an Xbox now although that singlethreaded bit might be some reason for that. Plus all the games are supposedly still running in 30fps, which for such a powerful machine is kinda sad.

[Insane Bump Machine 0]

I'm not seeing anything screenshot wise for any game that shows anything that couldn't be done on an Xbox

 

I agree that most of the games don't look that much better yet, but PGR3, Gears of War or Oblivion would not be possible on the XBOX. Come on now...

[jwpeer 0]

I agree that most of the games don't look that much better yet, but PGR3, Gears of War or Oblivion would not be possible on the XBOX. Come on now...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Bethsoft has even stated that the best platform to play Obliviom on is Xbox360 and NOT the pc, that it is meant to be seen on the 360. That alone is a pretty telling statement

[Red Baron 0]

Kinda bummed out that there's only two ports for Controllers, Microsoft should have kept four.

[AndrewTS 0]

How's King Kong compare to the console versions? The 360 one looks amazing (watched a guy use Kong to break a Rex's jaw just like in the classic version).

 

Except for the animation, the in-game graphics in NBA 2K6 360 smoke the cgi cinemas.

[Guest DVD Spree]

I'm not seeing anything screenshot wise for any game that shows anything that couldn't be done on an Xbox now although that singlethreaded bit might be some reason for that. Plus all the games are supposedly still running in 30fps, which for such a powerful machine is kinda sad.

Dude, I don't know where you got thsoe ideas from, but they are just patently incorrect.

 

Kinda bummed out that there's only two ports for Controllers, Microsoft should have kept four.

I guess the idea is that we'll all be using the wireless pads, but yeah, I dig what you mean.

 

How's King Kong compare to the console versions? The 360 one looks amazing (watched a guy use Kong to break a Rex's jaw just like in the classic version).

The visuals really aren;t THAT much different, but again that's down to the dual-formatness of the title and the shared assets between the formats. For what it's worth, I wrote an awesome six-page review of Xbox Kong in the next issue of XBM, out Nov 10. I couldn't have cared less abotu the movie before but, once I'd completed the game, I was totally psyched for the flick. Bring it on.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I'm not seeing anything screenshot wise for any game that shows anything that couldn't be done on an Xbox now although that singlethreaded bit might be some reason for that. Plus all the games are supposedly still running in 30fps, which for such a powerful machine is kinda sad.

Dude, I don't know where you got thsoe ideas from, but they are just patently incorrect.

I've seen the screenshots of most of the launch games, and aside from a few screenshots which are impressive, most of the stuff I've seen looks like it could have easily been done on the X Box or any other console now.

 

As for the 30fps thing, Its in the thread over on Joystiq about Madden 2006 on Xbox 360 only running 30fps. The PS2/X Box versions run at 30fps, and yet you've got a supposedly much more powerful console running a supposedly built from the ground up version of Madden and its still running 30fps.

 

the thread on Joystiq

[El Psycho Diablo 0]

I'm not seeing anything screenshot wise for any game that shows anything that couldn't be done on an Xbox now although that singlethreaded bit might be some reason for that. Plus all the games are supposedly still running in 30fps, which for such a powerful machine is kinda sad.

Dude, I don't know where you got thsoe ideas from, but they are just patently incorrect.

I've seen the screenshots of most of the launch games, and aside from a few screenshots which are impressive, most of the stuff I've seen looks like it could have easily been done on the X Box or any other console now.

 

As for the 30fps thing, Its in the thread over on Joystiq about Madden 2006 on Xbox 360 only running 30fps. The PS2/X Box versions run at 30fps, and yet you've got a supposedly much more powerful console running a supposedly built from the ground up version of Madden and its still running 30fps.

 

the thread on Joystiq

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

This -is- EA we're talking about. They half-ass anything they can.

[Red Baron 0]

Exactly, that is what EA has done since 96. Half-ass for a few years, wait till next console, come out with something great and then repeat cycle.

 

So expect 2007 to come out with something large from them.

[Anya 0]

I just want to know if they're ever going to say which games are making the launch and which old games will be backwards compatable. It's like, 4 weeks from launch...

[AndrewTS 0]

I'd love MS to cut the BS and say "we can't really do the X-Box 1 emulation well now, so rather than have customers put up with a sick mockery of emulation for the games, we're not making it a priority. We'll try to resolve it with a firmware upgrade (yeah, unlikely, but *shrug*), but for now, we encourage our customers to look to the future."

 

It beats having support for 6 games that will get 360 sequels anyway.

[El Psycho Diablo 0]

Personally, I don't know what the big deal is with backwards compatibility, especially because an Xbox isn't that expensive..

[Anya 0]

It's convienent. I have so many systems hooked up now it's nice having the PSX in the closet somewhere. I don't want to have the huge Xbox sitting there when 360 comes out.

 

 

I played 360 at Walmart tonight. VERY underwhelming. King Kong looked the best but even that didn't look much better then Doom 3. I played a bit of Kameo but it was hard to get into, not the kind of game I like playing a demo of. Seemed kind of lame though, I have no interest in another Rare kiddy collect-a-thon. But I did like the controller's feel. If it had 6 face buttons it'd be great. It'll be fine for most games, except Street Fighter style fighters that need a lot of buttons close together.

 

I think the demo machine actually lowered anticipation instead of getting me hyped and that's pretty bad since I was already kind of apathetic. I think it'll be worth owning in the long run years from now but the launch looks weak.

 

The choice of games to showcase was very poor too. No PDZ or DOA4.

[BHK 0]

How many control ports are there on the XBOX 360? By the first pic, there's only two.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I don't know how many there are, but if there actually are only two, i'm assuming it's becasue they're encouraging you to buy the wireless controllers, as opossed to the wired.

[Matt Young 0]

So Kameo plays as well as it looks? I watched the demo at E3 and it looked gorgeous, but aftetr waiting in line for so many other things and having already played Need For Speed on the 360, I didn't want to wait in another long ass line to play it.

[AndrewTS 0]

Kameo's pretty darn good considering it was just a demo, but I'm not 100% sold on the final game yet. It's not really a Rare "collectathon", not that anyone really considers Anya an authority on the genre anyway. The multiple forms, puzzle solving, relatively little focus on precision jumping: game Informer wasn't totally off when they compared it to Zelda. However, I don't see it stacking up to Twilight Princess.

 

However, play the game first before you label it, Anya. Say, what did you collect in Kameo? I don't remember that aspect of the demo I played, but maybe it is a different one.

 

The whole main-character-transforms-into-multiple-creatures premise makes it sound, on paper, as derivative as anything Rare's done in the past, but considering how well the game plays so far, the art direction and apparently a decent story, I'd probably spend more time on the demo if it were longer.

 

I agree that it makes little sense to only have *videos* of your launch titles instead of something playable.

[Anya 0]

Hey I have some experience with the genre. I even liked Banjo and DKC is one of my all time favorite games. But yeah, it was just my first impression. It looks like another Rare adventure game but like I said, it was just a demo. If it gets really good reviews I might check it out but me saying I have no interest in it has more to do with just being tired of those games then it's actual quality.

 

The machine I played didn't even have vids of PDZ or DOA4. It was just Kameo, King Kong and a racing game then a bunch of vids of sports games, yet more racing games, Call of Duty 2 and some Tom Clancy game.

 

 

Playing Doom 3 ROE on Xbox the past two nights has really made me feel like they're launching this way too early. I haven't seen anything from 360 that looks that much better. I am totally not ready for next gen. Really same goes for PS3 or anything else. I know it's first gen software and it'll eventually get better but even TTT on PS2 and SC on DC looked a generation ahead of Tekken 3 and Soul Blade.