yeah, both blu-ray and HD-DVD use blue laser, ill see if i can dig up the article.....

ok, not the one i was looking for, but just as good..

http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/t244689.html

Enter my opinion:

I *WAS* an avid PC gamer, and would tell you in a heartbeat that PC gaming is where it's at and console gaming is for kiddies. Well, I was wrong! The XBOX gives you beautiful games at a cost of a PC video card. This is my point. If you are a PC gamer, you would have to buy a new graphics card every 6 months to a year at the latest. The price is at least $300-$500. If I only have to buy an XBOX every 3 years and ALL the games are designed to work on it (no compatability issues or poor frame rates). Then I am very happy.

Take it from an ex-PC gamer - you are not being taken advantage of at ALL! See you on release day...

AMEN TO THAT W4RM4N!

I was the same exact way; I had pretty much stopped gaming by the time I got to college because I couldn't afford a new machine that would run the latest games. I played a little DC here and there when I was with friends, but then when Xbox came out and I saw PC games (and a few DC games I'd grown to love) ported to Xbox with all the bells and whistles, no compatibility issues and an enormously low price compared to what I'd have to buy for a new PC to get comparable graphics and playability, I was sold... and I've been an enormous fan ever since.

EDIT: Double Post

same boat.

on both accounts

Well, I think it's definately going to be time for xbox2 in December. I know that I will be buying it on release day, even though it took me 9 months to buy the origional xbox. They delivered a product that shows me there is no risk in me buying a xbox2 because I know the goods will be delivered again.
I hope they do support older controllers because the origional 'duke' controller is the one for me, all the others make my hands cramp up

yer, i know how you feel. the little ones are too small for me, and i find them very hard to use, and im used to the big controller.
i think ms changed over to teh small one coz ppl were sooking about teh big ones. they were used to their playstation controller, and didnt like the change.

sod getting a xbox2 when it comes out ive just bought a second xbox.not to mention that most games companys are just starting to push the hardware.lets have another 2 years with old clunky!.

its definitley high-def graphics that is teh reason for teh new xbox.

has anyone seen what ms reccomends pc specs to be to watch 1080p movies?

3ghz processor with 512mb ram, 128mb graphics card.

now i belive the xbox is just a weee bit under that. lets see

750MHZ processoer, 64mb ram, shit all graphics ram.


ummm, ppl w/a hdtv NEED a new xbox. us poor scum who dont want/cant afffoard/dont have the room for a brand spankin new tv, dont need it

Let me give you my view on this based on the XBox1 itself:

Before it was released i was a heavy PC user because 1)the DC was not a sucess and was soon to be discontinued..and i loved the DC 2)The PS2 was overhyped as it's 4MB VRam showed some serious problems rendering high res. textures and it's non-AA was another annoyance.

I had bough a new pc rig for around $1100 in early 01'(P4 1600mhz,512MB,Ge2mx..ect) and since then i bought less then 10 total pc games.
Since then i added a SB 5.1 card($90), two video bds.(4200 and a 9600 pro, total $400) a new mouse and kybd and a few gamepads(because sadly there still is no standard pc gamepad in 04'). That's easily around $1600+ and that does not include other little pc gadgets for games.

Meanwhile the XBox for $300(lol<--this is not high, the 3DO was $799 at launch<--now that is high) at launch gave me DX8.1 graphics(before any pc games did, at that time) a comparable cpu(for a console), a great gamepad for FPS's(the first good console FPS gamepad since the N64's), Live(actually it finally hit in late 02') online which had voice for all games(unlike the pc, where you need teamspeak or another program running in the background), and 480p. Ok..i was used to 800*600 at the least for pc games and up to 1280*1024, but i can easily live with 480p since it had FSAA(unlike the PS2). Add to that no hassles with pc patches/video card updates/defragging to get better load times/clearing out the registry over and over..ect

Since then:

Halo1
Shenmue2(which i loved on the DC<-- import Shenmue2)
MOH:FL
RTCW(first great Live FPS)
Riddick
Rainbow 6:3 (and BA)
Deus Ex:IW(identicle to the pc version in 640*480)
GTA3 and Vice City(better overall grfx,control,sound..ect then the pc)
Hitman2/3
GR1 and GR2
Breakdown(which i actually liked, unlike some other gamers)
Halo2
And about 20 other XBox games.

And in every case i liked the XBox version over the pc:

for instance:

-Had the pc versions of GTA3/VC but i went through 8 gamepads before settling on a RS-->PS2 adapter, and still it's in car control was too loose.

Then , I was in heaven with the XBox DP.

-Had R6: Raven Shield for the pc, but online had no voice and while it's character detail is much better, the XBox version had better lighting and other effects. Main thing was Live was so much better then finding a game on the pc version.

DX:IW came out(my fav. FP game series) and was identicle to the pc version(or visa versa) with the ease of plug and play on my new 27" HDTV.

I can go on and on, but the Xbox1 easily saved me over $1000 in pc updates(cpu upgrades/more video cd. upgrades/new motherbd & ps for the higher end ATI 9800 bds...ect), and the only game i regret not having on it now are HL1(but i need to play this on my HDTV in my recliner..not hunched over my pc monitor). Far Cry(coming soon to the XBox), a BF 1942 like Live game,and a good conversion of SOF2(which they shredded up) .

With that savings i got that 27" HDTV($800) which i use in my LR and den(via a cart) and can save up for a PSP..a new bedroom HDTV(26" Samsung comes to mind-->w/720p) and the XBox2.

My only regret was not going with a cheaper pc on 01'(say $500) to get for the normal pc e-mail/net/ect.., and saving another $1000 in those few years.

So i say bring the XBox 2 on, 720p and 1080i for all games, with a DX9/10 GPU and good memory for better textures all around. I can finally say goodbye to all pc gaming forever. (thankfully)

Then i can put that would be new pc and updates(say $2000 every 2-3 yrs) to a new plasma HDTV or better yet more toys for my baby boy

and me...

I know huh? Halo 1 sucks ass

I see a lot of guys on here are speaking about the current xbox controller being compatible with the next generation xbox console. Personally, I think that MS will release an adapter that will allow you to connect your current xbox controller to the next gen console.

This will not only keep us current xbox console owners semi-happy because the adapter shouldn't be no more than $9.99 retail, but in addition it will generate more profit margin for MS.

That's my prediction. Any thoughts?

haha nice one

i agree!

I think M$ should wait until 2006 when the PS3 and Revolution get released. The Xbox can do so much now. Why a new system in 4 years? The average life for a console these days in supposed to be 7 years. M$ has the money to throw away and they will do just that. Personally, I'd keep making games for the current Xbox and wait until 2007.

thats tru. they should do what they did with the ps2. wait untill its out, then make a system thats a hundred times better. the xbox will last for years yet. the only thign that will mark its dissaperence will be the xbox2

personally im gona buy both ps3 and xbox 2 . thats for sure. but i wont buy them the moment they are released . i'll wait about six months when a decent amount of games will be avaible and then buy them also im really happy about the upcoming price drop of xbox and when xbox 2 is released i'll be able to buy loads of cheap second hand xboxs .and finally i'll make my own xbox cluster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeah.....

Well eventhough xbox can stay for quite some time, maybe it is a good thing that it is going to make way for a better system. With time comes progress, and who doesnt want that?

Although the life of a console used to be 7 years ... look at how much faster pc products (processors, and especially video cards) have come ... it's going down ... 4-5 years is what it will start to be...

MS has already said they dont want to do that, they wont let ps3 have an exclusive market for any amount of time

fair enough. about the only good thign that teh ps2 had over teh xbox was the fact that it was out of a bit first, so everyoen devolped games for it.
xbox is onyl starting to come back in that sector

i agree i love my xbox but im psyched to see what types of things can be done with it and how the graphics and speed of the system will be upgraded and how the games are and what they will be. Ya know theres just those little things that are going to get you all psyched up.

I think it's a fantastic idea that MS wants to release long before Sony launches the PS3...

Right now the Xbox has an obvious "power" advantage over the PS2. When The Xbox 2 comes out and Sony is stuck still using the already archaic PS2 for another 6 months - year. there will be a short while where the Xbox will essentially be 2 generations ahead.

Video game release history tells us that the first console to market takes the market, the only thing that can hurt this is weak launch titles. Just look at The Saturn, they were first before the PSX but there was maybe 2 titles and months before we saw anything else, same with the Jaguar. Similarly the PSX beat the N64 to market and squished it in the long run, Also the PS2 beat the Xbox to market and Xbox Still Hasn't caught up.

The reason the first to market takes the market is simple, think about it, by the time the PS3 is released the Xenon will probably have already gone through a price cut, and have loads of game available. If you were looking at a next generation system and one was $100 cheaper and had 100 games already available opposed the the competitors 10 or so.... it makes the decision a lot easier. Not to mention by that time it's already started developing a following gotten air play in commercials, word of mouth, seen in various movies, and places like MTV cribs.... It's hard to catch up when you're competitor has already established themselves.

If the Xbox beats Sony to market with the Xenon over the PS3 (and they will), and they have strong launch titles (which I'm sure they will), you will most likely see MS start to take majority of the market over Sony and Nintendo (at least in the US and Europe) and keep that lead well into the next generation race.

Now the real question is can MS take Japan? The backing from Tecmo is a big help I'm sure, but they need some other big guns too, like Square-Enix, and Capcom (more for the RE, and Devil May Cry type series).

A lot of developers go with the most powerful system available, where most of their contracts are ending with Sony, Xbox is currently the most powerful, and with the Xenon they will DEFINITELY be the most powerful, I think we'll see some of that support.

i wouldnt count on that any time soon.

remmeber, another quirk about the asian market is the emphasis they place on aesthitics, a console must LOOK good sitting on a shelf, the big clunky xbox doesnt (no, custom case mods dont count)

xenon will have to have a sleeker, more refined look to take japan (as well as more japanese developer support)


and on a side note, just because a console comes out later doesnt mean it will be more powerful, look at xbox vs gamecube (ok, so the gamecube only came out like a week later, but its still a much less powerful system than the xbox) sony may decide to cut corners and rush ps3 to the market to cut down xenons head start

i think its the same laser, but you will need a new drive that is hd-dvd enabled, wont you? or will iut play off a normal dvd laser?

no, both HD-DVD and blu-ray use blue lasers, so you need a new drive with a new laser

oh, ok then.

so ehrn they start makign movies on HD-DVD, evenyone will need to get a new dvd player...

great scam

welcome to world of technology and business

Graphics Xbox Next promises* (don't quote me on that) to dish out.

http://www.areaxbnext.com/misc/watermark.php?src=5_1

http://www.areaxbnext.com/misc/watermark.php?src=6_1

I would never use backwards compatible, it's not like im throwing my xbox out the window as soon as I get a xbox next.


Xbox next will own. period.

fuck it.. im going to "holy shit it took over my link to a dead siteDOTorg" and downloading xbox 2

Actually HD-DVDs and now Blue-Ray discs (forgot the link but I saw an article about it i think on X-S) are supposed to be able to be backwards compatible with current dvd players. I.E. There is a layer that a normal red laser player will read that contains the dvd format movie and then an aditional layer or two that are only read by a blue laser that contains the HD quality video.

for everyone who says the xbox has the power for todays and future games um for one id like to see it run half life 2 or doom3 as good as a "budget" gaming pc, or even the unreal 3 engine yes we need an update the xbox is obselete the best it could pump out is graphics in halo2(while stunning still arent up to par with pc's) it has a gf3ti equivelent graphics card in it, we have the gf6 series the are roughly over 10 times faster with more complex and higher quality shadeing and speacial effects. besides halo games i havent bought a game on the xbox that has been on the pc for almost a years now because of those reasons. so i say bring on the xenon

btw doom3 ultra quality setting uses 512mb of video ram, low quality uses 64mb just what the xbox has and at 640x480 the screenshots arent pretty

if you cant afford it get a f****** job, and if you have one and still cant afford it oh well guess you gots to wait to xmas Best Buy geek squad gets $11.50 and hour real techs gets upwards to $60

so its the high quality graphics that are forcing the xbox2.

for a good comparison, play halo for a while, then swap to halo 2. even on a normat tv, you can see the detail level grow dramatically.

if i had the dough to get a new hd tv, 5 or 6.1 speaker system, and an xbox 2, i would. but i dont, so i wont.

I personally will preorder xbox 2 and buy it on launch day, but I am really looking forward to seeing more information on different versions of xbox 2 (if there are any). I would love to see a version of the xbox with a hard drive and tv tuner card to use the xbox to record tv shows etc...

Also, I am looking forward to the connectivity of xbox 2 to computers. I remember hearing something a while back about a standard gamepad for xbox 2 and for PC's. Another HUGE selling point would be halo 2.5 as a launch title. The whole PC/xbox version of the xbox sounds cool too.

i agree with Ballz2TheWallz.

the xbox is great, but come on, the specs could have been alot better. if the xbox had specs similar to your basic p4 now a days, we wouldn't even be having this talk

hey dont forget.. the box came out in 2001..its almost 4 years ago..how could it have P4 specs!

yes, and the price could have been alot higher, 300 dollars for a 733 with 64mb RAM was pretty damn good in 2001

Yea, I mean they are already selling the console at a loss and trying to make it up with game sales so you cant expect much better without paying a lot more.

at least the ram could have been higher imo

Total RAM

PS2 = 36mb
Gamecube = 43mb
Xbox = 64mb

i think MS was right where they should have been to keep costs downa dn remain competitive, remember RAM and flash memory is one of the more expensive components in PC building

thats the reason MS dropped the samsung RAm chips in favour of generic brand ones. it was one of teh most expensive parts of the xbox, and they can now make more profit out of each xbox they make

For me it totally depends on what titles are available when it launches. Unless there is a new Halo title, I'll most likely wait to get it untill the price drops or there is a must have title.

thats a good point.
after all, wheres the point in buying a new console, if there arnt any good games to play on it? that does change a little bit, though, if it will be backward compatible with xbox1 games. im sure that woudl hasten xbox 2's sales.
i cant see why ms would even thin k of not having backward compability in teh xbox2. with the hardware its going to have, it surly cant be that hard to make it able to play xbox1 games.

yeah, backwards compatibility would definately make me consider purchasing it even before there is a killer title. Another thing is what other features it has. Since M$ is supposed to making it more than just a gaming console...I suppose that a killer feature would go just as far as a killer title.

The hardware is exactly the reason why its hard to do. The xbox is built off of an intel cpu with an nvidia gpu. The xbox 2 has a powerpc processor and an ati gpu. There are a lot of nvidia specific coding in xbox games and it would be hard to implement because its proprietary code. Not to mention the fact that the intel cpu has to be emulated (which isnt that hard because the xbox processor is fast and MS owns Virtual PC). So really it comes down to emulating the nvidia specific commands. Plus they would probably have to pay nvida royalties to do it which means more cost.

yeah, i think the proprietary nvidia code is whats gonna prevent backward compatiblility, MS doesnt want to pay royalties to nvidia, and nvidia surely wants to make MS pay out the as for them if they do go that way (remember MS switched to an ATI GPU for xenon, nvidia = )

I am looking forward to it, and plan on buying the xbox 2 about the time when the ps3 comes out, because by then the price will be lower than at launch, as for backwards compatability, I could care less about that, I won't be junking my current Xbox any time soon, I only have like 6 games that are actually originals, the rest are backups and stuff. I had my xbox for 2 years before i got around to modding it, i just played my few games alot, and rented and borrowed a butt load of games. As far as the HDTV goes, I just bought a new TV about a year ago, and it does 720 lines of resolution, but still not HD, it does not do Progressive scan, and i cant see shelling out the bucks for a new TV just for HD, when my TV works perfectly with my Xbox, Movies, and my Dish network. Hell, my TV even has the Vport for hooking up the Xbox, even more reason to keep my xbox and TV around. But i still want to see what the new console will be capable of and what kind of mod and media player solutions the underground world will come up with.

i wouldnt go around saying that here, piracy is both illegal and against forum rules

I mean, I run mostly home brew games and apps, yeah, thats it