Xbox 360 Press Event News

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All sorts of fun facts coming out of Microsoft's E3 2005 Xbox 360 press event. Story will be updated as they come in.

  • Xbox 360 will have limited backward compatability. Only the most popular Xbox games will be supported, through an emulator.
  • Square Enix is releasing Final Fantasy XI on the 360, with Live support. First of several Square Enix games on the platform.
  • More than 160 games are in development.
  • During a 90 day launch window Microsoft hopes that between 25 and 40 Xbox 360 games are released.
  • You can buy movies and music online through the 360
  • All games must support 720p, a 16:9 aspect ratio, anti-aliasing and 5.1 multi channel sound.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    May 16, 2005 8:01 PM


    selective backwards compatiblity? wtf?

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      May 16, 2005 8:06 PM

      i think that means titles that sold under 5k copies wont be emulated ;)

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      May 16, 2005 8:09 PM

      Yeah, that makes no sense to me. Is it a licensing agreement with nVidia that is stopping this from happening? Really annoying (esp since I've been thompson'd and would like to play some of the games that I've been unable to play).

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        May 16, 2005 8:17 PM

        It makes perfect sence, it probably takes a lot of game specific hacks to acheive full speed emulation so they're only going to expend the effort with the most popular games. Either that or they're just going to recompile/port the games using an api level compatability layer.

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          May 16, 2005 8:23 PM

          and yet Sony boasts of 100% backwards compatibility even with games from the ancient Playstation. Guess who gets my $400.

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            May 16, 2005 8:24 PM

            because of that?

            wow. just save yourself the 400 and buy a ps2.

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              May 16, 2005 8:28 PM

              Already have one but it's first generation and I'd like to upgrade and with 100% compatibility there's no question I'll buy Sony again. There'll be a few titles in the first 6 months of course but there are games that beg to be played and I don't want to wait for years for the next sequel ... you know what I mean.

              The MS has some nice specs but no HD-DVD, limited backwards compatibility and the white box which doesn't fit in with the rest of my entertainment centre... well, suffice it to say that I was leaning Sony anyway but this is the proverbial straw that broke the dinosaur's back.

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                May 16, 2005 8:31 PM

                I'm pretty HD-DVD playback was confirmed the other day, wasn't it?

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                  May 17, 2005 1:20 AM

                  Only DVD playing so far for the Xbox. MSFT wants to take the safe and cheaper bet.

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                May 16, 2005 8:41 PM

                sooooo basically you're concerned with the looks and how it handles the previous generation more than you are with what kind of titles the system is gonna pump out?

                man some of you guys have some FUCKED UP priorities when it comes to console purchases.

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                  May 16, 2005 8:43 PM

                  Translation: I'm a Sony Fanboy.

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                    May 16, 2005 8:45 PM

                    ps2 never took this much shit, ps3 isn't getting this much shit.

                    xbox got tons of this shit, xbox 360 is getting all this shit.

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            May 16, 2005 8:26 PM

            yea, and I'm guessing you've already got your PS2, which is still backwards compatible with the PS1. I know it's nice to have it, but I rarely use it. It's DEFINATELY a feature I wouldn't care THAT much about. Not to mention Sony's track record of shitty unreliable hardware for the first gen. Anyone I knew that bought a PS2 Launch has sent the thing back for the DVD Drive being dead.

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            May 16, 2005 8:26 PM

            i ran into problems playing some ps1 games on several ps2's it was really odd.

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            May 16, 2005 8:45 PM

            Will the ps3 reun ps2 and ps games at a higher rez?

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              May 17, 2005 1:24 AM

              I seriously doubt this. They really didn't improve that much for PS1 games on the PS2, so it's highly doubtful for the PS3. Some games depend on the graphics to look certain ways and I don't think they even want to increase the framerate because some games depend on certain timings. You get the games as they were originally intended (or at least developed).

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            May 16, 2005 8:57 PM

            no - no they don't.

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        May 16, 2005 8:19 PM

        it runs an emulator, if you've ever used one they require tons of specific tweaks for individual games to run right, they wouldn't have time to support the whole x-box library by the time 360 comes out

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        May 16, 2005 8:20 PM

        No. I would expect they are doing HLE (High Level Emulation). The only way to rapidly develop an emulator is to do it this way. Additionally, when you develop a HLE, you're bound to run into tons of compatibility issues.

        The emulation need to make different "exceptions" to run games correctly. Therefore, instead of spending tons of time working on patches for games that aren't very widespread. So, it's logical from a time standpoint to only emulate games that are extremely popular (READ: Halo).

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        May 16, 2005 8:46 PM

        I think its a clever way of saying "We're not going to guarantee that all of the old 480i XBOX launch titles are going to work."

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      May 16, 2005 8:22 PM

      This alone sells me the PS3. End of story.

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        May 16, 2005 8:34 PM

        Yeah we all know it'll be all of EA's games and Halo - that's it.

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        May 16, 2005 8:47 PM

        Who the hell buys a new console so they can play their old games? If that's your greatest concern then you must be banking on one seriously shitty software launch for the PS3.

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          May 16, 2005 8:51 PM

          I'm considering a PS3. I don't have a PS2. I'd love to play the classic PS2 games (Katamari Damacy, Rez) without shelling out for another console.

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            May 16, 2005 8:52 PM

            Why didn't you buy a PS2? It had the capability of playing all those classic PS1 games!

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              May 16, 2005 9:01 PM

              I didn't have the money to buy one. Now I'm older, I have a job.

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          May 16, 2005 10:11 PM

          Easy. I sold my ps1 for a sizeable chunk off my ps2. This allowed me to upgrade much earlier in the cycle. I'll do the same with ps3. You can keep your xbox and your xbox 360 if you want, but you'll need a new entertainment center because with both stacked there you won't have much room for anything else.

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            May 17, 2005 6:31 AM

            I dont need both because I dont see myself playing any xbox games when I've got my 360. Plus they said they are having selective compatibility anyways. Do you REALLY think that you are going to find some random xbox game you just HAVE to play that it wont support? I highly doubt it. You can pretty much guarantee its going to support any game that was worth playing (OMG no air force delta emulation in xbox 360! PS3 FOR ME!).

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      May 16, 2005 8:25 PM

      Well that sucks- no Otogi 2 or Breakdown for me :( I bet no Panzer Dragoon Orta either.

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      May 16, 2005 8:38 PM

      Fuck you, Microsoft.

      total_xbox360_sales--;

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      May 16, 2005 8:45 PM

      this does not make me happy...M$ still has the better system though

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      May 16, 2005 10:14 PM

      yes because I used my PS2 to play all of 3 PS1 games, I could have just pulled out the PS1 for that...

      I dont intend to get rid of my (modded) xbox, I will just relegate it to the bedroom as a Media client... i dont expect to be playing too many more xbox1 games when this beast comes out!

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