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Xbox FAQ Updated, Includes HD Specs...

312 views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  Rick Raymo 
#1 ·
There is a definative answer on their HD support now. With true 1920X1080 the doubt over high def output is removed [for those interested, the remaining question marks were due to the Playstation 2's refusal to output in the HD-15 or VGA flavor due to piracy questions on DVD's.)
http://www.msxbox.com/faq.php3


Rick


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#2 ·
Oh, and before anyone asks, Nintendo's GameCube has 480P output on a 640X480 progressive level.


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#4 ·
Sounds great. Been waiting to upgrade to a progressive scan DVD player, this will do the trick.


I just wish MS would re-think the decision about not allowing internet surfing and email. I know they want it to be a 'game' platform, but I REALLY wanted to be able to be fixing breakfast for the kids and 'surf' the online weather/news and check email from the kitchen via my existing cable modem.


Ah well, I would HOPE someone would develop a 'GAME' that just happens to be a browser and email package... Time will tell, because I AM going to purchase this puppy.
 
#5 ·
Actually on that topic, and broadband HD gaming... there's a new article today.

<<snip>>

“We’re not about text, we’re not about browsing, we’re not about email – we’re about online gaming.†Thus spake Robbie Bach, senior vice president and chief Xbox officer for Microsoft.

<<snip>> http://www.computerandvideogames.com/story.cfm?sid=2861


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#6 ·
I can hardly wait. In the middle of the SuperBowl, when the blue screen of death occurs, you will find mine in small pieces on the front lawn.


I hope the operating system works better than Windows, if not, you can kiss it good bye.


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"better living thru modern expensive electronics"

tm
 
#7 ·
That is the rub isn't it! Hardware launch in the 500 million dollar (marketing dollars not real dollars) region, support for muliple flavors of HD/DTV, and, um, that Win2K kernal riding happily beneath it all.


Finger's crossed.


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#8 ·
Don't forget folks, ps2 has a published maximum resolution of 1280x1024.

What's the resolution of choice w/most ps2 games? 640x240!!


The proof will be in the puddin.

What xbox has going for it is that it should have more than enough muscle to push games at those high resolutions. Also with most of the developers coming from the pc side of the gaming industry, they should have more experience w/ highres games.


As for native support of hd resolutions for dvd playback... im not holding my breadth. Im sure its gonna take someone hacking into this thing to get 1920x1080 out of it.


Let me qualify my comments by saying that I am thouroughly looking forward to slapping this thing on my tv the minute it comes out. The ps2 has been a huge disappointment so far.

Where the hell is my gt3???

k
 
#9 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by Ken H:
I can hardly wait. In the middle of the SuperBowl, when the blue screen of death occurs, you will find mine in small pieces on the front lawn.


I hope the operating system works better than Windows, if not, you can kiss it good bye.

The only superbowl that you will see on this machine is the one on the video games anyway. I don't think this will crash really though. Maybe once in a blue moon as much as any video game system does. All the variables that are normnally introduced into a pc as far as varying hardware is going to be controlled so unless they are really just idiots then we will have no issues.




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STOP DVI/HDCP!!!!!
 
#10 ·
Identical scenario in my household. My PS2 is largely unused. Even my three year-old complains about Gauntlet DC versus Gauntlet PS2 (the PS2 is the BETTER game but looks like poo-poo.)


Outputting to Progressive via VGA is the only thing that really makes sense on a good display or (gasp) on a FP TV.


In the bedroom on a 19" LCD it looks awful--and on the 200" screen in the home theater it is a throw back to the NES.


Thus, even if the Xbox games are only comparable and the GameCube at true 640X480 is good enough, the PlayStation 2 in my house is not gonna get any new software purchases and is gonna be getting dusty.


Rick


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The Proceeding Message Was Brought To You By Some Yutz Who Thinks He Knows Something. Ignore At Will.
 
#11 ·
My only remaining questions about der Xboxed are:

How bad is performance affected at high resolutions? If it can't hack smooth framerates at 1080i (or even 720p), that's gonna be disappointing. I mean, are they testing at the lowest common denominator or the highest? (My guess: lowest.)

How many games will support high res? Right now there's a list of widescreen games (don't know where the guy got his info, but I can't dispute it) and there are ... three. So just how many will support 1080i/720p?

Similarly, how many will support 5.1 sound? The same guy has a list of those... significantly more than three, but, interestingly, none of the widescreen games supports 5.1 http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif .


I can't help it... I want my cake and eat it too.




[This message has been edited by bjdupuis (edited 06-14-2001).]
 
#12 ·
Not holding my breath, but I have to admit, it's encouraging.


I doubt it's gonna displace my HTPC for 1920x1080i DVD viewing though...


As far as PS2, my roomate's unit is sitting in the closet collecting dust. Compared to the HTPC games, it simply BITES!!! and for sports (which is lame on the HTPC), it's Dreamcast VGA baby! Weird that the PS2 and not the DC is sitting in the closet collecting dust, he?


BTW- we gave the PS2 a chance by hooking it up to dTV and upcoverting it to 1280x720p. STILL no go compared to VGA output from DC.


MMAfia


[This message has been edited by MonkeyMafia (edited 06-14-2001).]
 
#13 ·
A friend of mine brought his PS2 over to see what it looked like on my Sampo 16x9... not being a console owner I didn't know what to expect. Quite a few titles had significant aliasing effects, and only 2 had widescreen support. But one, SSX was reasonably attractive and fun. I'm holding out (great) hope for the Xbox as being my progressive DVD/high-res gaming solution http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif .
 
#16 ·
At the E3 show, Sony was demonstrating HDTV AV kit for PlayStation 2. It's due this year, as well as the UNIX kit (hard disk, ethernet/modem, keyboard, mouse, VGA out).


I saw PlayStation 2 running UNIX at 1024x768 running Java applications and was surprisingly impressed by the performance.
 
#18 ·
Quote:
At the E3 show, Sony was demonstrating HDTV AV kit for PlayStation 2. It's due this year, as well as the UNIX kit (hard disk, ethernet/modem, keyboard, mouse, VGA out).
Any more info on this HDTV kit? Will it be used to play games at progressive output or used for DVD playback? What connectors?


Thanks - If this pans out, I just might have reason to keep my PS2.
 
#19 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by Bryan J. Lee:
With the X-box you have to buy a remote to get the DVD player to work. Only problem they never say how much the remote is.
Brand new info from the press conference today. No URL, but here's the quote:


"You buy [the DVD package] for $29, and that enables DVD movie playback," Bach said. "And the reason we did that is because for those of you who follow the DVD market, there's actually cost in including that in the box, and we didn't want everybody who bought the Xbox, which is a game device, to pay that cost. So it's only for about 10 or 15 percent of the people who we think are going to want to play DVD movies on the box--for $29 they get DVD playback fully enabled with a really nice controller."


 
#20 ·
Yep. That's right. Peripheral pricing. But I would be DEEPLY surprised if there were anything more than 480P output.


Not that the GPU (Nvidia's Graphics Processor) couldn't take the resolution up without much trauma, but there are all kinds of other issues.


Rick


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The Proceeding Message Was Brought To You By Some Yutz Who Thinks He Knows Something. Ignore At Will.
 
#22 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by kyungkim:
The proof will be in the puddin.
I couldn't agree more. Before the PS2 came out, everyone was talking about not buying a standalone DVD player because their PS2 was going to support DVD playback. Guess what? It blows. You can buy a $99 DVD player with more features and higher quality playback. Sadly, I think the same thing will happen with the XBox with respect to it's 480p output of DVD's and the "HDTV adaptor" that can be added. I won't be holding my breath on how it will look on an HD ready set. As for the games, at this point they don't look any better than a moderately equipt PC or a PS2. Look at some of these Madden 2002 screenshots for the Xbox:
http://www.sportplanet.com/features/...ks/madden2002/



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Jon
Home_Theater_Pics
My_DVD_Profiler
 
#23 ·
I, as well, am eagerly awaiting the Xbox. My PS2 has been an utter dissappointment. I've had it since Christmas and it is rarely played.


While some of the PS2 games are quite good and really show the power that the unit has, they are CRIPPLED by the poor display. I use a RCA MM36100 as my video game monitor. After playing DC games in VGA on this unit, I can barely bring myself back to NTSC in all it's interlace glory (ugh!). However, what really irks me is the video game maker that insists on pushing the 60fps garbage. To the best of my knowledge, you CANNOT achieve 60 frames per second on NTSC. Rather, they treat each of the 60 fields as a frame and ultimately decrease the resolution from 480 to 240. Big mistake. At 36" and higher, this looks awful...not to mention the flicker.


My mindset right now is that if the power of the Xbox is only just as good as the PS2, the PS2 is going to be blown away. Why? The progressive display of the Xbox will look fantastic. Even though the DC was less powerfull than the PS2, the DC via VGA still looks massively superior to the PS2. Either Sony needs to offer a VGA adapter like the DC (not just a line doubler), or I need to sell my PS2.


I can only imagine playing a game in true HDTV resolution. I'd move the Xbox to my Mitsubishi WS55807 in a heartbeat! Bring on the Xbox.
 
#24 ·
Yes. The Xbox can do flavors of Dolby, Widescreen games, and up to 1920X1080 for games.


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