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An Xbox 360 Peripheral Rundown
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has been talked about its future plans at GameFest in Seattle, and revealed that its Xbox 360 Live Vision camera will ship next month with a free game, TotemBall, which uses gestural technology to control an on-screen avatar, much like Sony's EyeToy games. In addition, the camera will also be used for facemapping technology in Activision's World Series Of Poker game." Gamespot is reporting on other, equally interesting peripherals for the Xbox 360, many of which have come up in recent rumormongering. They discuss the price point for the HD-DVD drive (probably about $200), support for 1080p (likely), a new media jukebox for the console (quite possible), and the likelihood that Microsoft will release a new controller designed specifically for FPSes (would make sense).
Shut up and deliver.
Christ, I swear if I see one more concept that is unfinished or "in development" I'm going to wig out.
You're only pissing me off by showing me what will be release a year or two later. I urge everyone to only purchase a console based on the current released games and peripherals available.
I hate to knitpick, but how can the included game be "free" if you have to buy the camera to use it?
Information wants a fueled airplane waiting at the hangar and no one gets hurt.
I'm still waiting to see what happens in games when you sneeze. Also, I'll believe an intuitive system for movement is possible with this sort of technology when I see it. I mean, can you picture trying to control Mario or some other platform hopping character with this sort of system? How would you turn around (intuitively, mind you) without losing sight of the TV, but also actually making a 180 degree turn instead of a 90 degree turn? How would you make Luigi run around without running around yourself? I'm all for exercise, but I just don't think this kind of technology can be applied to many existing console genres - which so far are the ones that will probably sell best. I view this as a niche market technology with a very small niche. :P
Can someone release some more ps3 pictures (Just color some up with ms paint or something), so these guys can go back to wacking off to their pictures while we play some games and get on with it?
till genitals start showing up? I give about a week before someone's "poker face" mysteriously only has 1 eye...
Monstar L
The only console peripherals/accessories I remember taking off at all were the rumble pack and memory expansion for the N64. Everything else was either bundled with a certain game (and generally only used with that specific game) or was sold with the intent of being useful in lots of games, but never really was any good with any game. Hell, even the lightguns were only useful for a few games, and usually didn't work quite right.
Accessories are rarely ever successful because game developers rarely ever want to take the risk to require that their game use a certain accessory, unless that accessory has already become widely popular. The ones they do take a risk with often only add some minor improvement or novelty to the game; the game would otherwise be no different if the user did not have the accessory.
Everything I say is a lie. Except that... and that... and that, and that, and that, and that... and that.
The 1080p referenced is in regards to movies, not games - mentioned by the HD-DVD player.
In theory Microsoft cannot support 1080p since the copy protection used by both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is AACS, which mandates a maximum resolution of 1080i when using component outputs (this is not the same as the ICT flag restriction). Since the 360 has no HDMI out, it would seem they might have ot redefine the standard a bit to support this (which the PS3 would benefit from as well).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Unless you want to get a console manufactured before the security updates that lock out homebrew.
In addition, the camera will also be used for facemapping technology in Activision's World Series Of Poker game.
It's really too bad, because this sounds like an excellent use of technology and will make for a great poker game. Too bad no one will play it, because there is almost guarenteed no realmoney involved.
If Activision wanted to make a mint off this, they would allow you to deposit real money into an account associated with your Live account, so you could play in tournaments online for real cash. This would put them into the same space as Party Poker etc, except the Activision software would be way more advanced and would draw in more players probably.
Of course, they would never do this since it would be illegal in the US. Maybe a European only version of the game?
They claim the support for 1080p is "likley" with a special cable - but then say there is no HDMI in sight.
1080P does not require a special cable, it could use the existing component output of the 360. If the 360 could support 1080p, why would it not have done so before now? If 1080p is to be supported at all, it would seem to be soley by the HD-DVD drive althoguh there they run into the problem that the AACS standard used by both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD mandates no video signal greater than 1080i for analog output of signals - possibly they may drop that aspect of the standard though just as ICT has dropped out of sight from titles put out by movie publishers.
Even at $200, it still seems to me that uptake of the external HD-DVD drives would be low unless some games (or at least game content) makes use of the drive.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
1. so you can see up close the pimply teenagers trash talking you while you're playing Live
2. so you can see the not dressed over 40 guys playing WoW as skimpily clad young women with breasts defying gravity and basic physics
3. so you can see pics of your second cousin twice removed (you know, the really ugly side of the family) from the birthday party your mom made you watch.
Um, no thanks. I mean, I'm glad this is a Seattle story and all, but really, no interest at all here on my side.
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The component cables are pretty hard to mess up. The three video cables come bundled and the audio cables are in a separate bundle, so they don't look that similar. Also, most people who will be hooking up with component cables are probably using the fiber optic cable to hook it to there receiver, for surround sound
Go right ahead. I really like the 360 games I have, the Live Arcade, and the ability to take advantage of the 1080i widescreen set I already have.
I don't use my gamecube much because it's restricted to SDTV aspect ratio, and doesn't look as nice to me. I can't imagine Wii will be any better in that regard. I'm still likely to buy one, but it wouldn't be my primary system by any stretch of the imagination.
I use the HD set and the Home Theatre set up for more than just the 360 anyhow.
But hey, if you want to stick with the 19" CRT and keep telling yourself how much more "fun" you're having than the rest of us, knock yourself out!
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
You don't have to shell out for the speakers or the TV. It will work fine on a normal TV. It won't look as pretty without the HDTV, but conversely, the Wii won't look as pretty even if you do have an HDTV
I don't use my gamecube much because it's restricted to SDTV aspect ratio
I take it, then, that you either have a newer 'Cube from after the Digital A/V port was removed, or have a Digital A/V port but can't find the component cable adapter to hook it up to your TV with. The GameCube was capable of outputting in progressive and widescreen, but support for these features was not all that widespread.
The Wii should (I hope) be better in this regard; with other consoles touting the virtues of HD gaming, Nintendo really ought to support something better than NTSC video over S-Video.
THQ had a demonstration of some Wii titles the other day in New York City. IGN's photos of the event show games running off a Wii devkit, in true widescreen. This is promising.
But hey, if you want to stick with the 19" CRT and keep telling yourself how much more "fun" you're having than the rest of us, knock yourself out!
Umm, my TV is at least 24 inch. It works fine as is with just a GameCube, an xBox, and a PS2. I think the Wii will be even cooler, but the game selection for the 360 just underwhelms me - I don't really care about sports (unless I'm playing, then I LOVE it, or watching baseball at the Mariner's stadium) and I don't care about car races and FPS bores me to tears (used to be in the Army, too much like work and too unrealistic, nobody screams and moans, no smell or bullets whizzing past your head, no explosions right next to you).
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I would soooo buy one, just so I can stop sucking so bad at Halo 2. It's embarrassing. I don't even have an Xbox and I would seriously consider buying one. I hate playing FPSes on the console...
dude, I'm not going to spend more than $300 on my HDTV. My first degree was Business, with Sales and Marketing as my cores. I'm not going to shell out $2K for something that will cost $300 in two to three years.
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"The rest of us"? Just how common do you think it is to own an HDTV set? I know exactly one person in real life who has one, and it's an old projection unit; every other widescreen TV I've ever seen has been in a business.
We are the rest of us, the people who don't want to shell out $1000+ for a television (OK, $600+ for a tiny one). I'm sure it'd be "fun" to have a high definition TV, but it's even more fun to have gas in your car and a roof over your head, you know?
Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
and Action Replay Max for the 360.
What ever happened to "I own this console now"? Nowdays it's "you buy this console but WE decide how you use it".
I'm sure glad they don't do that with cars! Imagine no Toyotas Celicas being allowed to have spoilers..
Oh wait, bad example.......
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
My point was: You don't HAVE to buy the HDTV. The 360 will take advantage of that. The Wii will not.
You gain something if you have the 360 and the HDTV. If you have the Wii, you don't get that gain
I never use AR for anything online, I didn't even think that was possible. All my uses of AR or Gameshark are for single player games; I don't ever want to play via X Box Live and have to pay for it. Perhaps AR should regulate themselves better with regards to this?
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
ah, good point. My point was that I also not only don't need to but the 360, and am going to buy the Wii, because the games are more fun.
But I'm sure as heck not spending $5000 on an HDTV, massive speakers, and other things I have no interest in - even if they "make the xBox360 experience better". I can kind of see why having an add-on for FPS that's more weapon-like might make sense, but I'm still not interested.
I'll wait until all this costs (total package) way less than $500 instead of $5000, quite frankly.
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Google "actually breaks Tetris" or "such wonderful bullshit" to see what people think of the latest Tetris® brand games, and you'll see why some people would rather play a clone.
But hey, if you want to stick with the 19" CRT and keep telling yourself how much more "fun" you're having than the rest of us, knock yourself out!
My 19" CRT is currently running at 1280x960 and 85 Hz, no interlacing. Looks a hell of a lot better than most TVs I've seen and cost me 150€.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
The following interaction between infinite spin and the scoring system was recently discovered on tetrisconcept.com: Go into Tetris DS and start a standard game. Place any tetromino except O over a flat surface. Hold down, and before the tetromino locks, rapidly press B A B A B A. Watch the score go up. The only time infinite spin is turned off is when you play multiplayer, in which case the tetromino locks after a preset number of seconds.