Yet More 360 Details

NubKnacker writes "With the launch of the new Xbox 360 not far away, Chris Satchell, boss of the Microsoft developer group spoke to Eurogamer.net and GamesIndustry.biz. There, he reveal a lot of information about the hardware, the operating system and the new Xbox Live functions. From the article: 'Microsoft also plans to have kiosks available - presumably in game stores and other public locations - where you can download content. Whether this will be to the detachable hard disk itself or a memory card is a detail that wasn't clarified.'"

Comments

Controls

[AsiNisiMasa]

You can specify, for example, that you prefer to invert the right analogue stick camera control and this will then be picked up on in any game you play.

Well that's certainly a plus. I always worry when a new game comes out wheter or not I'll be able to use the controls that I'm used to. It seems like a silly thing to worry about, but my worst fears came true when they took jumpy out of Halo 2. What were they thinking? These settings should encourage more of an industry (or at least, console) standard, I think.

On another note, with the XBox 360 so much like a PC and cross platform gaming planned, how long is it before there's a serious problem regarding the use of mouse versus a controller? Even if the cross platform games don't bring up too much of a problem (perhaps they're MMORPGs), but what are the chances somebody gets a mouse working on their console? That would give them quite an advantage in something like an FPS.

Various thoughts

[alvinrod]

On the issue of cooling - Satchell said he thought the system had three fans (he said he wasn't sure but thought it was three, so we'd open to correction on that one), and we couldn't hear them at all as he spoke. When you play a DVD, it powers down to just one fan. It's "a lot" better than the "wind tunnel" alpha kits, he said.

I'm not 100% sure, but I thought that the Xbox 360 used water cooling. Given that they're using some varient of a PowerPC chip, of which the latest versions run to hot to make it into a laptop, and have the clock speed cranked up as well, I wouldn't be surprised if they were using a water cooling system. Can anyone verify this?

DVDs can be played even if you don't have the remote control, unlike Xbox 1.

I'm guessing that this is the reason for the increased price in the controllers. According to the price lists on the major sites, wireless controllers were $50, and wired were $40. I'm guessing that price hike is mostly due to royalty fees necessary to include DVD functionality since MS doesn't hold the patent. That's why the Xbox couldn't play DVDs out of the box. It looks like they've given the controllers the necessary functionality to play DVDs as well, driving up the cost slightly. I'm wondering if it wouldn't have just been better to build the technology into the console though? Maybe I'm off the mark on this one and MS is just raising prices to make more money.

iPods are detected by default, as are PSPs, and by our watch it took about 2 or 3 seconds for the Xbox 360 to notice they were there. With an iPod plugged in you can play music direct through the Dashboard software, with visualisations, or you can play a slideshow of photographs.

That's a pretty nice feature, although you can just plug an iPod directly into a TV for a slideshow. I don't know if running through the Xbox 360 to a HD TV will result in better visuals or not though. I'm also interested in what interaction the Xbox 360 will be able to have with the PSP beyond what is listed.

Xbox Live will allow you to play in various Zones - there will be causal, pro, family, and underground (where "anything goes") and perhaps more - and these will allow you to go for whatever kind of experience you like.

I'm pretty big on this feature. I just got Xbox Live a short while ago so I could play with my friends online. I've noticed there are a lot of assholes on Live and would like to avoid them if possible. The current Halo 2 scene on there is generally not something for young children. It is funny to hear someone yell, "I'm going to skull rape your mother!" to someone and blast them with a shotgun, but it's probably not something I'd want any of my children to hear or repeat.

The wireless networking adapter plugs into the USB 2.0 port on the back of the console and is "like a small pack of cigarettes" in terms of size.

I'd like to know if third party wireless network adapters will be able to work. Right now I've got my Xbox on the wireless network in my apartment. I could probably just use the current setup and run a cord from ethernet jack to the wireless adapter, but it can get a little laggy at times, especially with the poor internet service. But at $99, the adapter from MS seems a little expensive.

You can plug in a keyboard but this is for text input only - including in massively-multiplayer games. You can't use it to play games and that was a design choice.

Probably a good choice. If you could get a mouse and keyboard to play an FPS, you'd probably have an edge over gamers using controllers. Point and click sniping is a lot easier than manipulating analog sticks in my opinion. It might be nice to give people the option of playing with a keyboard and mouse though. This would open up the console to more traditional PC games like RTS and other FPS games. Just don't allow keyboard//mouse users to play against controller users.

Likewise, the System blade allows greater control over family settings. Micros

Re:Various thoughts

[Keeper]

I'm not 100% sure, but I thought that the Xbox 360 used water cooling. Given that they're using some varient of a PowerPC chip, of which the latest versions run to hot to make it into a laptop, and have the clock speed cranked up as well, I wouldn't be surprised if they were using a water cooling system. Can anyone verify this?

It uses heat pipes. It is liquid cooling in the sense that fluid transfers the heat to a different location. The pipes trasfer the heat to fins in the back of the unit (where the air is cooler, and you have better airflow).

I'm guessing that this is the reason for the increased price in the controllers.

Nope. You don't have to pay a license fee based on the number of remotes you have ... With the Xbox1, you paid it with the dvd remote (which is why that stupid thing was so expensive). With the Xbox360, you pay for it when you buy the unit.

I don't know if running through the Xbox 360 to a HD TV will result in better visuals or not though

Yes, it will.

Right now I've got my Xbox on the wireless network in my apartment. I could probably just use the current setup and run a cord from ethernet jack to the wireless adapter, but it can get a little laggy at times, especially with the poor internet service. But at $99, the adapter from MS seems a little expensive.

Having a built-in wireless device isn't going to make your connection any less laggy. The $99 adapter is an 802.11a/b/g device, which is one of the reasons why it is expensive. I'd personally stick with the ethernet->wap solution.

I'd like to see a system similar to a PC where each user signs on and has certain permission levels

That's essentially what they're describing.