Think Forward

XBOX 360 is hot - Literally

As I have been playing my XBOX this past week, I have noticed that not only is it very loud because of the fans, it is also by far the hottest running piece of equipment in my electronics rack.  I was wondering last week as I was noticing this if it was going to be a problem.   Apparently there are some blog sites stating that thier XBOX 360 is crashing and overheating.   I personally have had no problems with it so far.   But I am wondering what the long term affects of running such a hot device will have on the unit.   I am continuing to talk to Microsoft about this as they monitor the issue with their support department.   

XBOX 360 - What a difference Hi-Def makes

Out of all the games I got, NBA 2k has the most noticeable graphic difference.    All the games however looked amazingly better in high definition.   I hooked it up to a non-HD TV just to see and there was definately a difference.   Some of the things I really noticed about the NBA players in this game was how realistic they looked.   Thier clothes moved and swayed as they ran or jumped.   They started off clean and got more sweaty as the game went on, it was amazing.   I could definately tell more graphical detail and things about the crowd and players on my HD set, that I couldn't see on the standard TV.    Moral of the story is gaming in HD is worth every penny of an HD set.   

XBOX Hands On - First Impressions

I can't believe it but my 360 is here and I have been glued to it for the past 24 hours.   Install was easy other then the power adapter being gigantic and the size of a brick.   On the provided component cable there is a switch that allows you to set it for an HDTV or standard TV.   Once you set it to HDTV you can then configure the display settings to 480p, 720p or 1080i.   I got it all set up for my HDTV and the menu looks great in HD.   The next thing I did was try out the glorious media features.   I plugged in my digital camera and was amazed at how quickly it discored the camera and allowed me to browse my digital photos and play a slide show.   I have to say the pictures looked awesome in HDTV as it displayed close to the true resolution of digital photo's.  Microsoft also provided me with the software for PC's that allow the XBOX to connect to any PC in the house and share digital media through the XBOX.   Set up for that was quite simple and in a short period of time I was putting movies and pictures on my XBOX.   I also have a Media Center PC and using the XBOX as a Media Center Extender is quite fantastic.   It is like having a Media Center in my living room.   I've said this before and I'll say this again, if the 360 had a bi-directional cable card in it and a duel HD tuner it would be the ultimate set top box for me. 

Now for the gaming features.    All of the games I was given were pre-retail so I am using the provided de-bug unit to play the games.    I have played, NHL 2k6, NBA 2k6, Peter Jackson's King Kong demo, and Amped 3.   I'll say one thing games in HD are fantastic.   You see so much more detail in all of the games.   The graphics are fantastic and the physics of the games are really powerful.   I'm still exploring all the graphical power so as I get more detail I will post again.

XBOX 360 is almost here

I got the word that my XBOX 360 is on it's way.   It is hard for me to believe that in a few days I will be playing the coveted 360.   I am already getting early software, burned CD's with XBOX games on it.   Hopefully I will get a couple of retail titles with the package.   Anyway I will start posting my thoughts as soon as I get it.

Three consoles three experiences

I have spoken with Microsoft and Sony regarding thier new consoles quite frequently. Nintendo however I never really get to speak with. So I was excited to get an invitation to speak with Nintendo executives in San Francisco yesterday. When I got there, they gave us a quick overview of Nintendo's plans for the holiday season. Then they let us ask questions. They answered a lot of my questions the best they good and I came away feeling comfortable of their plans for the revolution. So big picture is all three consoles are going seperate directions. Microsoft with their plans for the 360 to be a digital media hub, Sony with their cell processor and digital media capabilities and Nintendo in their own world focusing on a revoultionary experience to gaming. This time around with the new consoles I think you will generally be able to get three very seperate and very distinct experiences with the different consoles. Which is interesting becaues historically new consoles were always about better graphics and better games. That will still be the case but this time the console makers have entered better experience into the mix with some fresh new thinking about what that experience is. I am not sure what that means for the consoles except that if you have the money it will be worth it to own all three consoles.

Why the Nintendo controller may truely be a revolutionary gaming experience

So in case you haven't seen this it is a picture of the new Nintendo Revolution game console controller. Now if any of you are like me your first impression was "how in the world am I supposed to play a game with this controller." Well here is a scenario a Nintedo executive laid out:

You're playing a first person shooter (perhaps the latest "Metroid" game). The controller would act as a virtual pistol in your hand, letting you point at and shoot objects on screen, using that aforementioned trigger button near your index finger.

Also picture playing Tiger Woods golf and using the remote like a club for swing power and accuracy. Or a baseball game and swinging your hand like you are holding a bat trying to hit the pitch. What is interesting is how the controller works as a more interactive tool for your gaming experience. Developers have always been looking for how to create a more immersive game experience. With Nintendo embedding this type of immersive game experience into the overall console, developers stand to gain a lot and push the envelope creatively. I may just have to have all three consoles now.

XBOX 360 is going to be sweet

Now people may disagree with me but the XBOX 360 is going to fit beautifully into my digital home. Many of the features beyond gaming appeal to me greatly. Now to keep this in perspective I purposely do things in my home very few consumers actually do. However what I am doing in my home I believe consumers will be doing with great ease in the future. To better explain this let me detail my digital home a little. Make no mistake I am a Mac user and lover, they are my primary machines. I am also an HDTV lover as many other people out there. I am also a DVR lover but not just any DVR lover only a dual tuner HD DVR will do it for me. So I have the dual tuner HD DVR from Comcast and record all my HD shows in the living room. However one peeve I have is that I can not move my recorded DVR shows to my bedroom so my wife and I can watch recorded TV shows in bed. So my solution is an HP Media Center PC with dual tuners tucked away in a closet. This PC has no monitor and is accessed from my G5 using remote desktop. This PC also records many of the shows I record on our living room DVR. The difference is using an HP Media Center Extender I can watch shows recorded on my Media Center in our bedroom. So where will the XBOX 360 come in. Well do date no product including any existing Media Center Extender can play recorded HDTV recorded on the PC. Until the XBOX 360. Now I can record HDTV on my Media Center and watch it on whatever TV my XBOX, or XBOX's in this case, are connected to. This is huge for me because I absolutely hate watching SDTV on an high def set. So to be able to watch HDTV in our bedroom that was recorded on the PC in the closet will be huge. So for me XBOX 360 will be sweet, only thing that could make it sweeter and for me the end all would be a Bi-directional cable card so I can use it as my cable box and DVR. Oh yeah the games will be great as well.

XBOX 360 and HD-DVD

Not sure if who all saw the news a couple weeks back but this news is interesting to me for several reasons. According to statements by Bill Gates the XBOX 360 will include an HD-DVD drive. Since the HD-DVD drives will not be ready by the initial 360 launch, Microsoft will beginning selling the 360 with HD-DVD sometime next year. I find this interesting for several reasons. To me this says Microsoft will make modifications to the 360 over the life of the product. Meaning the 360 that launches in Nov will not be the same 360 at the end of the product lifecycle. Microsoft is allowing itself the flexibility to update the 360 to stay inoovative and competitive. I also find it interesting that they even mentioned this. Why tell people a better version will be out next year, causing some people to wait on buying the hardware. Microsoft's whole Nov push was to beat Sony to market and gain market share early. By saying this I believe there will be a batch of gamers that wait to buy the 360 now or even at all. Lastly I am dissappointed that they choose HD-DVD because I feel Blue-Ray will win this one in the long run. So let's hope when that happens Microsoft puts a Blue-Ray drive in the 360.

Late nights with John Madden

So I have been playing a lot of Madden 06 lately. I am addicted to a few of the new features. One of the new features I love is Superstar mode. I get to create myself and take him from rookie to superstar. It is very tedious work to do so but also a lot of fun in the process. The only thing I don't like about this game mode the lack of control over the strategic moves of your football team like trades, the draft and other great features of franchise mode. I do however hate, no loath, the new QB vision feature. It is very difficult to pass with and takes much getting used to. This feature really sucks when you want to play action pass and leads to many sacks unless your O-line is amazing. Anyway Madden has locked up the NFL and is the only football option on the market and will be for years to come. My advice to EA, either evolve QB vision and make it more fun to use and mix superstar and franchise mode. None the less I am still up late playing Madden.