TGS: Microsoft claims 1080p for Xbox 360
Plus details on HD-DVD add-on, new Live Arcade games and more
Microsoft has announced that the Xbox 360 will soon support 1080p - the so-called 'full' or 'true' high-definition content that Sony has been heavily touting as a key PlayStation 3 feature. The Redmond behemoth says the "upgrade" will be dished out via an Xbox 360 software update later this year. At present, the 360 can only display a HD signal in either 720p or 1080i.
Current Xbox 360 games, as well as your current DVD movies, will be upscaled and deinterlaced to 1080p - in much the same way that the Xbox 360 upscales original Xbox games from 480p to 720p or 1080i. This is great news for the handful of 360 owners that have an HD display capable of actually supporting 1080p fully - (rather than just downscaling to 720). However Microsoft has yet to announce an HDMI cable for the 360, so all that HD goodness is going to get a bit mashed up when transmitted over good old analogue component or VGA.
Shane Kim, General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios, told website Joystiq earlier today that the company still had no immediate plans to produce gaming content taking advantage of 1080p. But surely, as with the officially-denied rumours of a future internal HD-DVD drive in the Xbox 360, it's only a matter of time before developers start taking advantage of this.
The company has also, finally, confirmed the release and pricing details for its Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive, which will be launched in Japan on November 17th at 19,800 yen (around £90/ $168). Expect final UK and US pricing along with release details for the must have add-on (at least, for the home theatre buffs out there) to be revealed at X06 in Barcelona next week.
Microsoft also announced a bunch of new Live Arcade titles, including; Contra, Dig Dug, Gyruss and Track & Field, Yie Ar Kung Fu (Japan only at present), plus Ms. Pac-Man, Rush 'n Attack and New Rally X.
Now that Sony has seemingly lost the competitive advantage it previously had with 1080p, where now for PlayStation 3? We'll bring you the latest news on Sony's TGS showing as soon as we get it.
Current Xbox 360 games, as well as your current DVD movies, will be upscaled and deinterlaced to 1080p - in much the same way that the Xbox 360 upscales original Xbox games from 480p to 720p or 1080i. This is great news for the handful of 360 owners that have an HD display capable of actually supporting 1080p fully - (rather than just downscaling to 720). However Microsoft has yet to announce an HDMI cable for the 360, so all that HD goodness is going to get a bit mashed up when transmitted over good old analogue component or VGA.
Shane Kim, General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios, told website Joystiq earlier today that the company still had no immediate plans to produce gaming content taking advantage of 1080p. But surely, as with the officially-denied rumours of a future internal HD-DVD drive in the Xbox 360, it's only a matter of time before developers start taking advantage of this.
The company has also, finally, confirmed the release and pricing details for its Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive, which will be launched in Japan on November 17th at 19,800 yen (around £90/ $168). Expect final UK and US pricing along with release details for the must have add-on (at least, for the home theatre buffs out there) to be revealed at X06 in Barcelona next week.
Microsoft also announced a bunch of new Live Arcade titles, including; Contra, Dig Dug, Gyruss and Track & Field, Yie Ar Kung Fu (Japan only at present), plus Ms. Pac-Man, Rush 'n Attack and New Rally X.
Now that Sony has seemingly lost the competitive advantage it previously had with 1080p, where now for PlayStation 3? We'll bring you the latest news on Sony's TGS showing as soon as we get it.
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Microsoft
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Comments
SCiARA 20 Sep 2006 14:48
1/16
A couple of things, is there that much of a difference between HDMI & Component/VGA, I'm sure Sony have said in the past that there aren’t any difference.
Am I right in thinking that HD-DVD players are region free and won’t be for a good couple of years?
If so, I'd be seriously tempted to import one from Japan for my PAL 360 and play American HD-DVD's
Am I right in thinking that HD-DVD players are region free and won’t be for a good couple of years?
If so, I'd be seriously tempted to import one from Japan for my PAL 360 and play American HD-DVD's
vault 13 20 Sep 2006 15:18
2/16
SCiARA wrote:
A couple of things, is there that much of a difference between HDMI & Component/VGA, I'm sure Sony have said in the past that there aren’t any difference.
Am I right in thinking that HD-DVD players are region free and won’t be for a good couple of years?
If so, I'd be seriously tempted to import one from Japan for my PAL 360 and play American HD-DVD's
Am I right in thinking that HD-DVD players are region free and won’t be for a good couple of years?
If so, I'd be seriously tempted to import one from Japan for my PAL 360 and play American HD-DVD's
Well Ciara, I mean Scurrvy, errr... Scar, whatever that name is..., the difference is there.
It depends on alot of factors; the quality of the signal, the quality of the TV, the quality of the cable used, and the overall outside inteference. If you have a s**tty Westinghouse or RCA tv or whatever, the net gain will be minimal. If you use poorly made HDMI cable or poorly made component cables, the net gain will be minimal. All things being equal, there is a noticable difference. But not the in the same way of SD vs. HD. Or progressive vs. interlaced.
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vault 13 20 Sep 2006 15:21
3/16
SCiARA wrote:
A couple of things, is there that much of a difference between HDMI & Component/VGA, I'm sure Sony have said in the past that there aren’t any difference.
Am I right in thinking that HD-DVD players are region free and won’t be for a good couple of years?
If so, I'd be seriously tempted to import one from Japan for my PAL 360 and play American HD-DVD's
Am I right in thinking that HD-DVD players are region free and won’t be for a good couple of years?
If so, I'd be seriously tempted to import one from Japan for my PAL 360 and play American HD-DVD's
Well Ciara, I mean Scurrvy, errr... Scar, whatever that name is..., the difference is there.
It depends on alot of factors; the quality of the signal, the quality of the TV, the quality of the cable used, and the overall outside inteference. If you have a s**tty Westinghouse or RCA tv or whatever, the net gain will be minimal. If you use poorly made HDMI cable or poorly made component cables, the net gain will be minimal. All things being equal, there is a noticable difference. But not the in the same way of SD vs. HD. Or progressive vs. interlaced.
I don't know what your HD-DVD comment was trying to say. Did you ask if HD players are region free? If so then why would you also say ask if it was good to wait on them? It seems like two different ideas mashed together. As of now, HD players follow the same region coding as regular players, same for Blu-Ray. As always, you can get a region free one..., for a price. As for waiting, WAIT GODAMMIT WAIT! Don't spend a $1,000 to be a guniea pig test subject. Suckers game. Wait and let the rich buy there overpriced crap DVD players that freeze every few minutes.
SCiARA 20 Sep 2006 15:27
4/16
what i meant to say was:
Am I right in thinking that HD-DVD players are region free (including the 360 drive) and won’t be locked for a good couple of years?
If so, I'd be seriously tempted to import one from Japan for my PAL 360 and play American HD-DVD's
my dumb arse english
Am I right in thinking that HD-DVD players are region free (including the 360 drive) and won’t be locked for a good couple of years?
If so, I'd be seriously tempted to import one from Japan for my PAL 360 and play American HD-DVD's
my dumb arse english
GameGod 20 Sep 2006 16:52
5/16
Great article on n-europe.com:
http://www.n-europe.com/news.php?nid=9582
Really worth the read, someone that knows how to think & speak!!!
http://www.n-europe.com/news.php?nid=9582
Really worth the read, someone that knows how to think & speak!!!
tg0006 20 Sep 2006 21:25
6/16
the diffrence is that hdmi has a much faster transfer rait than Component/VGA. This allows for 1080p images and much better sound. as for sony saying theirs no diffrence, they have actually been hypeing up that the ps3 has an hdmi 1.3 which is the newest hdmi standard which makes the picture much better. in all, unless you have a very high quality surround sound system or a 1080p tv, the hdmi wont make much of a diffrence.
fella 21 Sep 2006 08:02
7/16
Regarding the HDMI / Component issue. Component actualey provides a better video transfer than HDMI as anybody with SKY HD will be able to tell you. The reason for this is hdmi cables are very thin so are unbale to provide as clean a signal as component. The advantage provided by hdmi cable is it can cary digitial sound and picture over one cable with better sound quality. That advantage is gone however if you connect your xbox to an external amp.
Joji 21 Sep 2006 12:17
8/16
Yeah, whatever on the techy bit. So long as I have a tv and can see well that's good enough for me.
As for the Live Arcade games, Yie Ar Kung Fu, Track and Field, Contra, Rush n Attack, damn good list there. Brings those Speccy memories rushing back.
As for the Live Arcade games, Yie Ar Kung Fu, Track and Field, Contra, Rush n Attack, damn good list there. Brings those Speccy memories rushing back.
SCiARA 21 Sep 2006 12:22
9/16
Joji wrote:
Yeah, whatever on the techy bit. So long as I have a tv and can see well that's good enough for me.
As for the Live Arcade games, Yie Ar Kung Fu, Track and Field, Contra, Rush n Attack, damn good list there. Brings those Speccy memories rushing back.
As for the Live Arcade games, Yie Ar Kung Fu, Track and Field, Contra, Rush n Attack, damn good list there. Brings those Speccy memories rushing back.
I'm sure Yie Ar Kung Fu is Japan only
OptimusP 21 Sep 2006 15:22
10/16
Everyone forgets the key isseu here...running X360-games at 1080p, you'll get lucky if they run at 20fps...that's next-gen?
SCiARA 21 Sep 2006 15:24
11/16
OptimusP wrote:
Everyone forgets the key isseu here...running X360-games at 1080p, you'll get lucky if they run at 20fps...that's next-gen?
i dont think thats the case if your upscaling from 720p
horngreen 21 Sep 2006 23:59
12/16
Now Sony will say that next gen gaming doesn't start until the PS3 with all new 2160P definition!
vault 13 22 Sep 2006 05:38
13/16
I don't know about all this talk about transfer rates and all, but I what I do know is this: HDMI is digital and will suffer much less interference from outside sources. Also HDMI is has only two states, on or off, so that's a much more controlled signal. Also the quality of the cable matters the most. <snicker>S**tty component cables don't do anything justice, even your crappy little inexpensive Westinghouse or RCA you just bought because it was "a good deal". </snicker>
Three things ultimately determine the quality of your image: Screen, Source, and Connection. Remember, a PS3 on a 20,000 1080p tv ain't gonna look good on $2 cables. It's a fact.
Three things ultimately determine the quality of your image: Screen, Source, and Connection. Remember, a PS3 on a 20,000 1080p tv ain't gonna look good on $2 cables. It's a fact.
PreciousRoi 24 Sep 2006 14:49
14/16
are you wiiwillwin as well?
Because hes been spamming the whole text of that nonsense (n-europe article) in at least two threads.
Naw, you make about as much sense as him, but you're more clever. At least its relevant to this thread.
Because hes been spamming the whole text of that nonsense (n-europe article) in at least two threads.
Naw, you make about as much sense as him, but you're more clever. At least its relevant to this thread.
vault 13 25 Sep 2006 02:52
15/16
PreciousRoi wrote:
are you wiiwillwin as well?
Because hes been spamming the whole text of that nonsense (n-europe article) in at least two threads.
Naw, you make about as much sense as him, but you're more clever. At least its relevant to this thread.
Because hes been spamming the whole text of that nonsense (n-europe article) in at least two threads.
Naw, you make about as much sense as him, but you're more clever. At least its relevant to this thread.
(*cough, cough) s**tty retort (*cough cough)
Explain Mr. It's Pronunced Wah.
PreciousRoi 25 Sep 2006 02:57
16/16
not really a retort, the full reply I gave to the spammed text in another thread was a retort...and also...wtf?
the threads wiiwillwin found it appropriate to post the full text of the article in question are:
TGS: Sony Announces Five New PS3 Titles
and
Latest Bully info, plus GTA:VCS Trailer Splurge
it wasn't even peripherially relevant to either.
the threads wiiwillwin found it appropriate to post the full text of the article in question are:
TGS: Sony Announces Five New PS3 Titles
and
Latest Bully info, plus GTA:VCS Trailer Splurge
it wasn't even peripherially relevant to either.