By now, I’m sure that most of you are familiar with the Xbox 360. It’s made a few head waves with its slightly peculiar look, bold predictions, ambitious online stance, the bizarre silence surrounding backwards compatability and the seemingly desperate move to get out first and attempt to conquer Japan along the way. However, there still may be a reason to get excited.
Showing off the Xbox 360
The core of the presentation concentrated on the functionality of the Xbox 360, or why it is so much better than the current Xbox. This centered around four functional groups, Xbox Live, Games, Media and Setting.
Firstly, why is this Xbox Live so much better than the last one? Microsoft was keen on touting a lot of the matchmaking options. The updated Xbox Live is supposed to have numerous options by which the player can customise and allow the system to better select your most favorable opponents. No, not by taking on six year-olds (unless your gaming skill matches that of PALGN staff), but by choosing your games and keeping the stats from the game you play, Microsoft hope for much better match-making in the future. However, Live is not restricted to games. As well as chat and social activities, you’ll now be able to download demos for games and trailers for both game and feature films. Just some of many new features that Microsoft is hoping will expand their online community.
So close!
Secondly, there are some nifty features concerning games. The panel will have an extensive amount of stats kept on the player. These stats will indicate how long you’ve been playing a game or whether you have finished it or not. Sure, you really can’t add that much but we’re sure that there will be some people that appreciate a greater deal of control and management of these issues. Then again, others may not care at all.
Thirdly, the Xbox 360 has an impressive amount of media capabilities. Virtually everything that you could do with your Windows Media Player can now be done on the Xbox 360. On top of that, movies, music and picture can be imported from your PC (by wire or wirelessly) or from any device that can be connected via a USB cable. As most know by now, this includes iPods and PSPs. It’s interesting that in some games, you’ll be able to take pictures and record movies, then import them to the media panel and either show off to friends at home or distribute them through Live.
Finally, given the perennial debate over censorship, Microsoft was very keen on touting their parental settings. The Australian version of the Xbox 360 has been fitted with up-to-date classifications from the OFLC and parents will be able to restrict which kinds of games their kids can play. However, I have never known that many parents with the will or technical know-how to try and implement these kinds of things. A good thought maybe but there are SO many instances where this may fall down. Developers aren’t out of the virtual woods just yet. No other settings options were shown
New Controller
Four shoulder buttons
With all that out of the way, let’s get into the crux of the matter. That is, the games of the Xbox 360. Microsoft demonstrated a demo of Project Gotham 3 and unlike the EA games, you can see why it needs the next generation technology. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take pictures or film, so you can only take our word when we say that the game is looking very good.
We had Project Gotham 2 running on a projector next to us so we had a side-by-side comparison of the two games. While we can’t really commit to saying that the graphics are a quantum leap, there is definitely a pronounced difference. It was pointed out to us that all of the crowd members individually rendered and each of them moved as individuals. They even sported some quick reaction times if the vehicles got too close to the edge. While the car was moving, there wasn't immediate difference between it and a current generation racing title - except for one difference - there was great use of a blur effect to 'focus' on the car and track, and it made it much easier to pick up that turns are coming up. Anyone who's tred to pick where the corner is when they're playing a new level in Burnout knows wht we mean. The car itself generally looked great, with the most detail and best fake light mapping yet. But unfortunately there was still dithering and updating around the edges of the car, as a constant reminder that it was still far from photo realsim.
A face plate, limited edition
When you were playing from the driver’s seat view, it was noticeable that the windscreen was getting residuals of dust and dirt gathering in the corners. From the driver’s viewpoint, it was very realistic. While the city that we were driving was hardly the most exciting, there was still enough eye-candy to divulge on. When train passed over us, it felt totally seamless. An interesting feature was that the game had a built in camera feature where you could take pictures of your car. By pausing the game, you had remarkable control of EVERY angle around the car. You turn, twist, zoom-in, zoom-out and take a picture from anywhere. The demonstration involved taking a picture of the hubcap and then another picture where we witnessed the picture editing capabilities. Meaning brightness, contrast, etc.
In all, the demonstration was not the blow away that we could have hoped for but it was by no means a disappointment. The camera feature was definitely impressive but really, it borderlines on useless. Some may argue that Gran Turismo 4 is even as impressive but even this unfinished build was looking very nice. For more information on the title, you can check out our preview
Old and new, which is which?
We didn’t get to play the system but we had a good amount of time with a debug unit, just checking it out, as well as the controller. The unit itself looks and feels quite sturdy but we wouldn’t recommend putting anything on top of it anyway. While some people may still remember the initial shock of seeing the unit for the first time, in the flesh (or plastic/metal) it looks quite nice. The “inhale” isn’t really pronounced and everything is slickly designed so that there aren’t really any jagged or protruding bits. It’s sort of a cross between a minimalist and artistic approach. As good as it is wouldn’t really suit everyone’s décor.
The controller is very comfortable. The plastic, colour and feel of the handles are actually all similar to a Dreamcast controller. However, anyone who has managed to get used to the original Xbox controller will probably have a slightly harder time adjusting than those who played all the way through with controller S. The major difference between the two is removal of the black and white face buttons, effectively placing them on the shoulder. Despite the clicky feel, they felt as if in the right place. Some games will obviously be helped by this new setup (like Tony Hawk) with only real losers being the fighting games that miss out on the six buttons on the face. Other things to note is that the analog sticks were on the loose side. There may be future issues with the lack of grip that a person may have over the analog sticks. That and people with really big hands mightn’t be too comfortable. Anyone willing to bet on a chunky version?
Detachable Harddrive
Another big difference is the inclusion of the “home” button. The demonstrators had forgotten to disable it, so we found out first hand that the button, among other things, can remotely turn on the machine. While getting the feel of the controller, we pressed the home button; only to have the some sounds come blaring over the speakers and it shocked the heck out of everyone. That happened to be the start-up music. [Does that mean Jeremy played it? He pressed a button and it did something - ED]. After that, they took out the batteries, leaving us to divulge in the new controller.
During the event, there were a few other interesting things that the Microsoft people said:
-The faceplates will be plentiful in supply and design. They’re meant to add a whole new dimension to customisation. But how will people utilise it?
-Interestingly, Microsoft are expecting that there will be a sizable amount of people that buy an Xbox 360 purely on the media functions (that is, not to play games). Hence this justifies the sale of the two separate packs.
-Backwards compatibility still is still up in the air and not particularly clear. However, the “list” of compatible games is meant to be announced just before the release in about three weeks.
-Xbox 360 is still due for a March release but all the details and confirmations are meant to be revealed in the next two weeks.
Front
Back
After all this, we still haven’t had a chance to actually play the machine. None of the features of the machine were extremely innovative or endearing but they could be at least considered useful. It’s too early to tell but if future prices are right, it may be that the Xbox 360 will occupy homes without the purpose of playing games. Let’s face it, not everyone has the time to dedicate to games. The parental settings looked like a good idea on paper. Whether it will work, is another matter due to the many loopholes that could be possibly exposed.
The controller is good but it feels essentially like the same controller. The home button is hardly likely to take gameplay to new and exciting places. Project Gotham Racing 3 at least looked the part and looked like it played reasonably well. As long as games are able to greatly surpass PGR3, we could be in for some good times. While our European staff will be getting access to the machine in the near future, hopefully we’re able to get some more Aussie impressions before the actual release in March.
We felt that we need a bit more time with the system. Make that a lot more time... RUN!
It isn’t all bleak for Christmas, as we will soon be launching our impressions for some of the leading games coming to the Xbox. But for more hands-on pictures, check out the media panel.
And 
@ that last picture.
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