Official Xbox 360 Thread.

[Ex Ranza]

Maybe not, if the drive were ONLY used to watch hi-def movies, and no games required it. I don't think Microsoft is willing to split the market like that.

It's all just speculation at this point, anyway.

[TobalRox]

I think something needs to be done, because when dealing with hi-def, you need the extra space. There's a reason that the format is coming out. You can't do a 2 hour movie in HD with a current DVD, so people trying to do lots of things with their games will have issues (I know video is different than game content, but still).

[ChaoofNee]

Some news:

- Square Enix said the Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XI will be in 480p instead of 720p; the game will run on the PlayOnline server instead of Microsoft's servers. The game will support voice chat with the headset; and the graphics will be superior to the PS2 and PC version.

- PomPom Software announced they will release a shooting game called Mutant Storm for Xbox 360, based on the arcade shooter of the same name.

- Game Republic's Xbox 360 party game Every Party will be a launch title in Japan.

- Tecmo's Tomonobu Itagaki said Dead or Alive 4 for Xbox 360 will have online battle modes similar to Dead or Alive Ultimate; but with many new functions. The DOA4 demo shown earlier was created in 2 months.

Square: Gay.
PomPom: YUSSSSSSSS.

[Cowdisease]

Looks like no HD-DVD drive has given me a reason to hold off buying the 360 at launch, even with its supposed $300 price tag (leaked from Walmart employees).

[TobalRox]

480p? I thought Microsoft required that every game be in HD (ie at least 720p). Don't slack on a port of a shitty game, because then we'll get more 480p ports of shitty games! I'm still getting it at launch because I'm stupid and haven't got a system at launch since Sega CD.

[Korly]

This fucking sucks.

Xbox 360 May Not Include Hard Drive?
By: César A. Berardini - "Cesar"
Aug. 15th, 2005 7:22 am
The latest issue of Game Informer has an exclusive interview with J. Allard, in which the Chief XNA Architect revealed that Microsoft has not yet announced the different variations of the Xbox 360.

"I don't think it's a one-size-fits-all [approach] over the next five-year horizon." Allard told Game Informer, opening the possibility to the much rumored HD DVD replacement of the DVD drive in the near future.

Back in June, Todd Holmdahl, Corporate Vice President of the Xbox Product Group at Microsoft, revealed exclusively to TeamXbox.com that Xbox 360 games do not require the HDD or a Memory Unit for them to work. Allard seems to confirm Todd’s comments:


"We've said, 'Hey look, don't bank on the hard drive always being there,'" Allard revealed that Microsoft has instructed developers. "There may be a scenario in the future where we don't want to have a hard drive, and in that case, we have to make sure that the games that you've created are accessible to the broadest possible audience."

It has been reported by various analysts that the Xbox 360 might ship in two versions, one which will not include the detachable hard drive unit.

After the recent comments by Allard, can we expect two Xbox 360 SKUs, with one not including the hard drive unit? Would this basic SKU cost the traditional $299 launch price? What would a second SKU include? How much would it cost?

Sucks.

[marwan]

Some news:

Square: Gay.
PomPom: YUSSSSSSSS.

something tells me we'll see more and more of this crap by the time the 360 is closer to it's release date.

i wanna see 720p games, 480p doesnt cut it anymore.

PGR3 better fucking run in 720p mode, it's the only reason i'm getting the 360 for.

[Schlep]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=10777

However, at present the official line remains that the Xbox 360 will ship with a hard drive as part of its basic specification - and it seems more likely that the difference in configuration at launch will be that some models will ship with a significantly larger hard drive than the 20Gb baseline.

[Cowdisease]

PGR3 better fucking run in 720p mode, it's the only reason i'm getting the 360 for.

I'm pretty sure Microsoft said all Xbox games will support 720p mode as a standard to take advantage of HDTV, so you can calm your High-Definition murderous rage, marwan.

[marwan]

I'm pretty sure Microsoft said all Xbox games will support 720p mode as a standard to take advantage of HDTV, so you can calm your High-Definition murderous rage, marwan.

yah i know MS said all games will support 720p, but i just don't want any surprises like FFXI running in 480p!