The XBOX 360 revelation thingy

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Actually I've printed them out and pasted them on the ceiling over my bed and late at night I.......

[Tanukitsune]

That don't impress me much...

So it's got the looks but does it have the touch?

Don't get me wrong, yeah I think it's alright...

But that won't keep me warm in the middle of the night!

Sorry, a game can look so "purdy" you have 3 orgasms just buy watching the intro, but it's the gameplay that counts...

[Kolzig]

The Xbox reloaded at Wired.

One thing that I surely agree with that article is that when I saw that new J.Allard pic in Idle T, the first guy that came to my mind was REM's Michael Stipe. Allard looks like a clone of Stipe.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Allard looks like a clone of Stipe.

With much better skin.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Heh, heh, I'm such a whore. I love watching this major pissing match between the giant console lords:

Sony Considers 2005 PS3 Release

A company rep hints at the possibility of a release this year.

May 12, 2005 - In a surprising twist on the next generation hardware race, a Sony representative has stated that a year 2005 release for the next generation PlayStation is a possibility. Responding to questions from Jiji news service, Sony Chief Financial Officer Takao Yuhara states, "For the year end sales season, simultaneously building up both the PlayStation Portable system in America and Europe as well as the next generation PlayStation is one option that we have."

Most industry speculation calls for a next generation PlayStation release in 2006. Sony's third party developers have backed this assumption up with a strong list of PlayStation 2 titles planned for the rest of the year and early next.

The state of the next generation PlayStation software shown at next week's E3 show should reveal if a 2005 release is a possibility for the new system, or if Yuhara's comments were designed to take some steam out of Microsoft's Xbox 360 unveiling later today.

IGN.com

[Dingo Chavez]

Those pics look like current Xbox screenshots precisely because they're early builds, and because the developers don't yet have full access to ALL the development amenities MS promised them.

But if you need a better reminder, look at some screens from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion:

I agree, Oblivion is a great looking game, but it's not exclusive to Xbox 360.

Another point that I forgot to mention yesterday is about the generation after the next. Graphics are going to be more about what the developers can do in the next generation and not what the console can do. So what about the next next generation of consoles? Are they also going to be about the graphics improving, if so; what's the point? The performance of the next consoles is going to be photo realistic and much more expensive to produce. What about outstanding companies like Double Fine that doesn't have that many resources and only want to make games because they want to make stunning games (not just graphically, but mainly in the concept)? Are they going to get into financial trouble because gamers won't buy their dated looking games?

I hate the direction this industy is going, companies like Microsoft tell the mainstream crowd what's cool and the brainless crowd seems to agree with then. What happened to individual thinking and creativity? What happened to making games because you want to make something fun and unique? I know that it still exists in companies like Nintendo, Double Fine, Clover Studios (that Okami developer), and various other companies, but the lack of originality is growing and companies that are trying to make something fun and creative see their sales declining.

In this year's GDC all I heard from developers is how terrible the publishers behave and how frustrating and agonizing game developing is these days. Now let's say ten years from now this same pattern continues, we'll have one big problem in the toilet.

[jokemaster]

I agree, Oblivion is a great looking game, but it's not exclusive to Xbox 360.

Another point that I forgot to mention yesterday is about the generation after the next. Graphics are going to be more about what the developers can do in the next generation and not what the console can do. So what about the next next generation of consoles? Are they also going to be about the graphics improving, if so; what's the point? The performance of the next consoles is going to be photo realistic and much more expensive to produce. What about outstanding companies like Double Fine that doesn't have that many resources and only want to make games because they want to make stunning games (not just graphically, but mainly in the concept)? Are they going to get into financial trouble because gamers won't buy their dated looking games?

I hate the direction this industy is going, companies like Microsoft tell the mainstream crowd what's cool and the brainless crowd seems to agree with then. What happened to individual thinking and creativity? What happened to making games because you want to make something fun and unique? I know that it still exists in companies like Nintendo, Double Fine, Clover Studios (that Okami developer), and various other companies, but the lack of originality is growing and companies that are trying to make something fun and creative see their sales declining.

In this year's GDC all I heard from developers is how terrible the publishers behave and how frustrating and agonizing game developing is these days. Now let's say ten years from now this same pattern continues, we'll have one big problem in the toilet.

Amen Brother. A perfect example is, well, this show. Since when are video games MTV material? I mean, I remember when you could tell one console from another, even if you didn't play video games (my parents could, now they get confused between the PS2 and the XBOX). Console desigins are starting to look like either PCs or VCRs, except for Nintendo. In fact, this generation, I thought that their console had the best design, but for some reason everyone complained that it was too small.....Tell me, since when does the SIZE of a console matter?

[Intrepid Homoludens]

If I'm right in my prediction, the market 'demand' for better and better graphics (at the expense of creative gameplay, etc.) will eventually be oversaturated. The demand will swing away from it. After all, how many ultra-photorealistic racers and Madden games can people take before they get bored with it, with the exact same gameplay?

Those kinds of games will, of course, never go away, but there will be a buildup of a reactionary market. It won't be led by EA or even Ubisoft, but by comparably smaller developers looking to fill that increasing market. They will scout for small talented developers that turn out edgy, more original game concepts and court them with support and market exposure. By then high end graphics will be more accessible to mid level devs, and original IPs will have a much greater chance at flourishing. And that is when the big, big companies will take notice of this expanding market and finally follow suit.

Much like the upscale realty people and yuppies following after us poor starving artists who they perceive as cutting edge and hip as we move from cheap neighbourhood to cheap neighbourhood just to be able to afford rent, in hopes that they could be perceived as cutting edge and hip by others, and in their wake the rents skyrocket in those neighbourhoods.

And I'm probably talking out of my ass.

[MrHoatzin]

Maybe it is just the Marxist in me talking, but I don't foresee this as a slow and gradual transition. The present pile of bullshit will rise and rise until the proverbial Industry keels over under the weights of its own injustice and imbalance of power. The whole industry will have to be burned down to its very rotten and fallacious premises by its very rank and file before anything better can be built in its place. Long live the proletariat!

[Intrepid Homoludens]

You call that Marxist? Smells more like fire and brimstone romanticism to me.

Can I **** you?

[jokemaster]

Can I **** you?

Looks like we're going to have to have you neutered

[lailoken]

When I hear talk about the rising level of detail in games my mind instinctively turns to World of Warcraft, a game that is more beautifull than anything I have played in a loooong time, including Halflife2 and Doom 3. I think Trep is spot on with his prediction of a quiet revolution. As soon as we hit that mark (photorealism) there is going to be a huge re-evaluation of this prize the whole industry appears to be after. Question is obviously when that is going to be. The real problem is "game-design" as the term COULD be applied to the look and feel of a title, as opposed to the gameplay. This idea of focusing on a very discreet and narrowly defined concept and following through on that is something that is very prominent in product design and brand image management. Another example for me have always been the wipEout games (to varying degrees). In other markets Mini and Apple come to mind as examples of this total approach to brand advertising. So I believe that is going to be the future...

As far as the Xbox 360 is concerned, I agree with most of you. It is obvious that the idea behind this product launch is to create synergy by allowing for more "benign" customization of your "product experience", i.e. allowing for more optional uses and handing more control over the experience over to the customer. The problem with this, to me, is going to be how natural and easy the interfaces are going to be. If it is going to be the typical Microsoft Office experience, it won't work. By that I mean the problem I have with Office, that all those "great" extra features that I can access by following through four drop-down-menues, have a feel of "afterthought" to them. So I am very sceptical with the chances off success for this concept.

As far as the presentation goes, I was struck dumb with disbelieve. They go to all these lenghts to make it cool and hip, just to have some fourty-something people tell me how much they are into games?! (talking about the 360 preview on the colony site) There is no way they will be able to get Sony with this, or at least that's what I hope (because they don't deserve to).

Finally, it is obviously still early days and there is no way to know how things are going to turn out. Software, as always, will decide that.

Concerning that WIRED article: I had no idea that the 360 was going to be so close to regular Gaming PCs at the launch! That is quite disappointing!

[MrHoatzin]

I think the strive for photo-realism (whatever the hell that means -- people use it all too lightly without knowing what exactly they mean by it) is connected to the general lack of creativity which is a product of a hegemonic system that will not wilfully reform or alter its hierarchy. Ergo revolution.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I think the strive for photo-realism (whatever the hell that means -- people use it all too lightly without knowing what exactly they mean by it) is connected to the general lack of creativity which is a product of a hegemonic system that will not wilfully reform or alter its hierarchy. Ergo revolution.

Don't worry, Kingz. It'll end up eating itself and the focus[es] will shift elsewhere.

[MrHoatzin]

Don't worry, Kingz. It'll end up eating itself and the focus[es] will shift elsewhere.

Hey, I want a revolution.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

You can pre-order it once Nintendo announces it.

[SiN]

everybody's talking about "photo-realistic" graphics, and "when we get there" things will change, but the fact of the matter is, we'll never actually reach photo-realism ... the world isnt made out of little triangles, so no matter how many polygons we push at a model, it STILL won't be photo-realistic.

furthermore, no matter how close we get to this "photo-realism" there'll always be something more to simulate ... a couple of years ago, doing silly things like simulating dust particles and having pixel shaders for teeth (yes hl2, im talking to you) would have been laughed at! the games of the future may boast "the most realistic dust to date!" ... isn't that ridiculous?

and even if photo-realism IS possible i doubt creativity will come next ... i'd say complete realism would be next ... physics mainly ... and thats another impossible one to achieve, so we'll be back in this horrible cycle all over again.

no, the revolution wont come when we achieve photo-realism, it'll come when the consumers demand a revolution!

SiN

[jokemaster]

I think that the games industry is also leaning a bit too much toward becoming 'interactive movies'. I mean, like some developers have said, movies are great, a lot of them have influenced games, but games aren't supposed to be interactive movies. OK, I'm not saying that they shouldn't be at all like movies, and I'm not saying that cinematic games, like MGS and some others, aren't good, but, well being a cinema maniac I'm going to compare it to the early movie industry. At first movies were mostly just enhanced stage plays shot on film, they were mostly like stage plays until Citizen Kane, that's when they started coming out on their own, or so I've read.

They should also stop marketing for what is 'cool' and just keep doing what they were doing 1985-1997ish. Now some of my friends who bashed video games in the SNES era claim they love them, when one of them's game collection consists of Halo, GTA doublepack, Project Gotham Racing, Splinter Cell. Good games sure, but those aren't the REAL games, y'know gamer games like the old LEC adventure games, or Katamari Damacy, or the old Sega and Nintendo games, those are games for mainstream crouds more than anything. I don't know, it just ruffles my feathers that I used to consider video games 'my thing' and now people just waste 350 bucks on an XBOX and Halo 2 and they claim they're gamers. They've never even HEARD of Half Life 2!

[OftenK]

I didn't feel like starting a new 360 thread, but check this out:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=8996

So much for backwards compatibility. "Sure, you can play Halo 2 on your Xbox 360! But, uh, you'll have to buy the Xbox 360 version first."

Fuck.