The Xbox Going Backwards and Forwards

Eurogamer has a good deal of news from Microsoft talking about this generation's interactions with the 360 and vice verse. Firstly, Robbie Bach wanted to be sure to get across that the first-gen Xbox is still a viable platform, and they hope to continue to develop games for it through next year. Secondly, 360 backwards compatibility is finally getting nailed down, with a list of backwards compatible games likely available in two weeks or so. Peter Moore wanted to make clear that the list is just the beginning; more would be added after the console's launch. Finally, J. Allard released details about the optional HD's contents, which is set to include some media and games. From the article: "You'll also get a load of wallpapers, and a video showing how Xbox 360s are put together. Allard didn't say whether that'll be the same video that's been doing the rounds for a few weeks now, or a completely new one. Perhaps most excitingly, the hard drive will also feature Hexic, the addictive puzzler created by Alexy Pajitnov - yes, him who did Tetris. Allard explained that the basic concept is to show off what the 360 can do, and to get people taking advantage of all the extra content on offer. "

Comments

The Xbox is still a viable platform, but...

[Zangief]

MS stopped producing them. Keep that in mind.

backwards compatibility

[GoNINzo]

That is such a fluff marketing peice about backwards compatibility. Basically 'Yeah we're working on it, wait two weeks!' And there's no way they can test all these games to make sure it works back to front. (I have a friend who used to test xbox games, it would take at least a week per game, and even then, it was sometimes a week per build!) I'm sure this will get modded down by the xbox fan boys but it's true. And you'll notice it requires a hard drive, which is something that we were told earlier in the week we wouldn't need. Good times.

The more actual details I learn about it, the more sour the taste in my mouth is. I also don't understand why a publisher would want to get locked into only develping for the xbox 360. I'm sure the exclusive titles like Halo, or the PS2's GTA series, yeah that helps sell boxes. But for the developer, they actually sell less over the short term. So yeah, it costs less to develop, and if they have a hit, I'm sure they could port it to another platform. But if they just develop it crossplatform to start with, you don't have the extended development time, and you hit all systems possible to get the widest distribution.

I'm still waiting for some serious gameplay footage to become available for some of these games. I've only seen the rendered stuff, a few non-textured videos of Perfect Dark: Zero, and a little gameplay of PGR3. I'm just not seeing where this is going.

I'd rather see them take their time, admit they are behind schedule, and lose the 'jump' they'll get on Sony. Because otherwise we end up with great dreamcast hardware, two good games to play (soul calibur and Armada), and a praying that it doesn't break cause we can't buy a new one.

Re:backwards compatibility

[Saige]

And you'll notice it requires a hard drive, which is something that we were told earlier in the week we wouldn't need. Good times.

It has actually been known for months that backward compatibility would require a hard drive. At least since they revealed the two-SKU approach they're following. If you thought otherwise, then you misread or misunderstood what was being said in interviews.

Re:backwards compatibility

[Stormwatch]

Because otherwise we end up with great dreamcast hardware, two good games to play (soul calibur and Armada), and a praying that it doesn't break cause we can't buy a new one.

Wait a second there... someone actually liked Armada?!

Re:backwards compatibility

[GoNINzo]

I lived in a house of geeks. Yes, we liked armada. We rocked that game multiplayer. `8r) It was a lot of fun.

You've got to be kidding

[encopitt]

"You'll also get a load of wallpapers, and a video showing how Xbox 360s are put together. I thought the bonus tracks and director commentary on DVD's was bad... You really think a Mr. Rodgersesque "this is how the 360 is made" is going to influence ANYONE to buy one of those crap piles? Jeeze!

Q&A with MS VP J. Allard

[iridium_ionizer]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6135302.html

Although I don't have an X-Box and don't plan on getting an X-Box 360 out of principle (that MS is bad for consumers, and the marketplace in its current form. I have read a few articles about J. Allard and interviews with him, and I get the idea that he is an alright guy that is one of the few people in MS that has the power and courage to change MS culture (even if most influence resides in the X-Box division). Of course in this interview he still uses exec-speak occasionally and has to tow the company line to not upset HIS bosses.

My favorite and laughable quotes are: "I hope that Sony's nervous right now"

Regarding 360 Hacks: "With 360, we said, 'Let's assume we can't stop it. How are we going to manage it?'... What can we do with connectivity to try to put a really big speed bump in place and, most importantly, protect the gamers from the hackers making it a crappy experience with them? Because that's my biggest nightmare."

Regarding the differences between gaming on PCs and on consoles: "On my console, I sit around the couch. There's usually some beer on the table. There's usually other people on the couch. It's a big-screen TV and it's usually action where there's a lot less precision required and I'm less bummed out if my army's wiped out because I just press restart and start again. "

Regarding developers complaining about DVDs limited capacity: "That's why games look better year over year. It's primarily because hardware comes in hot and developers, use the deficiency of the schedule not just to learn about hardware but also cut a couple of corners. "

Regarding the X-Box 360 not being a big enough departure from the original X-Box: "And if you go too far and you say, 'I'm going to change the category out completely and we're going to give you a wacky controller. And we're going to give you wacky games that you don't really understand, and we're going to market it or price it in a wacky way, I think that would have been very much a failing.'"

Regarding the approachability of the Revolution controller: "It's the same reason behind our DVD remote. At the press conference, I could have done my whole demo on the DVD remote."

Not really sure how bright Allred is.

[papaver1]

"I don't know who we've let down. There isn't a game on 360 that you can't play without a hard drive, so I think that's a good thing for consumers. ... So that seems like a win for developers - I'm not sure who's supposed to be disappointed." Ok seriously want to know who is disappointed about not having an HD included? EVERYONE !@!#@! Its a total lose situation for developers. No developer in thier right mind will create games that need an HD because they don't want to be prejudice against users that don't have one. There are not many games that a user is willing to pump out another $100 for a hd. Now this means that no developer can take advantage of having an internal HD like they could in the original xbox. How is this a win for developers again? If you talk to almost any developer they will tell you the same thing, no hd really suks. Oh, and there is a 360 game you can't play without a HD final fantasy !!@

halo 2.5

[Anonymous Coward]

wheres the damn halo 2.5 they promised would be on the harddrive?!

Re:halo 2.5

[jasko]

I've never seen any promises until now about what would be on the HD, and any references to Halo 2.5 have been pure speculation. Quit whining that the rumor you made up was false.

Backwards compatibility is not just HDD bound

[Rolman]

HDD presence is not the only obstacle for backwards compatibility. True, the Xbox 360 would most surely need an HDD for compatibility just because the Xbox used the HDD for many things like virtual memory, file saves, custom soundtracks and whatnot. Hey, even some games (Halo included) would copy whole levels and other game assets from the DVD to the HDD in order to speed up load times, thanks to the HDD's faster access time and data transfer speed.

Maybe some games could do fine with just a Ramdisk, due to the 8x RAM increase in the console. But let's also remember where the real problems are: the ISA has changed from x86 to PPC with different memory and cache architecture, and the GPU extensions to the 3D APIs are different from Nvidia to ATI. Even sound and input devices may have differences in the API. Things don't look pretty.

Building an emulator or collection of wrappers is no small feat. I simply don't think it's even possible to make some layer that can run 100% of the current generation games at full speed and glitch-free. The best option, and the one more likely to happen, is that you'll need to download new builds of the game code to the HDD, compiled against a set of compatibility libraries and drivers. These builds don't need to be too big, since all game assets can still be taken from the original disk, but I doubt those could just fit in RAM or a Memory Card.

Even a hybrid approach that combined both emulation/wrapper and compatibility builds is possible. But an HDD would definitely be mandatory if they want to have more than just a handful of games compatible.

Glad he's finally gonna see some pennies.

[Konrad9]

"Hey it's a microsoft product let's bash it because it's Microsoft!!!!" Nah.. that's not me. Seriously though, I'm glad the man who made TETRIS of all things is finally going to get some money, I've always been unhappy at how he got screwed by ye olde Soviet Russia.

Re:Q&A Sony vs. MS

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't understand Having a beef with MS because Sony every bit as big and mean remember the Sega is No longer because of SONY who purposely set out to crush its compatition bought out most who worked for Sega and did everything in its power to stop Nintendo. Not to mention the music industry which is almost solely owned by Sony through many shady deals which they are now paying massive fines for. Radio and the gameing industry has been forever lessened by Sony's power mongering it's nice to see MS cut into their share and create compition once again. Personally Xbox by far the most relaiable and payable of the consules due to MS inside track on computers which are the center of making video games what they are. MS and Sony are both massive corp. bent on making money but I have much more fun on my Xbox then PS2 and expect that will be the same for xbox360. Video games have come very far and there's little left to out do. Everything I've wanted to play is out and just look forward to new versions.

Do you really think Sony would be any better?

[elrous0]

Sony is just as bad for the marketplace as MS, with their draconian DRM scheme for Blu-ray and the PS3. They'll probably be much worse, in fact (especially for hackers and anyone wanting more player-generated content).

Or do you fancy the idea of your gaming console having to be connected to the internet so it can call back to the mothership before it will let you play a game or watch a movie?

-Eric