¶ D.Vader // 11/17/2005 03:59:00 PM // PermaLink

 Anonymous
Blatant fanboyism. If you can't afford the Xbox 360 then you don't need to be convinced not to buy it.  

 ac
"Umm, most people have HD already"

Uh, they do?  

 Anonymous
Saying that most people have HD already is so completely wrong it hurts.
Less than 5% of people have an HDTV.
If you want to talk about a fanboy, look no further than post #1.
I'm getting a 360 on release day, but honestly there ARE no killer apps right now. We're getting a few good games, but there are no Halo calibur releases. Kameo is getting decent ratings at best right now. Gears of War might be great...too bad it's not going to be out until spring, and that's an EARLY estimate.

Fact is, for the average consumer - they likely SHOULD wait. It's expensive, there are only a few proven games, and if you don't have HD and Dolby 5.1 (most people don't), it's only a moderate step above the current XBox. If you DO have that setup...the situation changes a bit. It still doesn't make it a good value right now. If I had a current Xbox (which I don't), there's no way I'd get one.  

 Anonymous
For the most part, I believe the reason they are offering a lower-priced unit is for those individuals who haven't entered the XBOX arena, thus there shouldn't be a huge downside to not having the ability to play previous titles. Microsoft is targeting the newbies with the lower-priced unit, and the existing XBOX owners with the higher-priced unit.

With the FCC requiring all television to broadcast in HD by 2008, there will be quite a few HD TVs sold between now and the next generation system is released. It's called forward-thinking and anticipating the marketplace.  

 Anonymous
I agree with poster 1. all my friends have hd tvs and surround sound, theyre also getting the 360 and some are getting the ps3 as well. people have hd, not everyone, but its a whollllle lot more than 5%. try more like 65% or so and growing  

 Anonymous
I'm not sure of the percentage of people who have HD televisions in the US. However, I do and all of my friends do.

However, one report I just read said that by the end of 2005 (so basically now) 16.5 million US households will have HDTV. It wouldn't surprise me if a large percentage of those also fall into the Xbox 360 demographic.

However, aside from that, it will still look substantially better in standard definition than the xbox. It's not all about additional pixels! You only need to see the thousand or so dragons flying in the background in Kameo to see how the additional processing power can be put to good use without just pushing more pixels. So yes, HDTV is going to look great, but there is plenty to gain on standard def TVs too.

I'm going to pick up a 360 and a PS3 when it comes out. They both have a lot to offer. The 360 is going to give me some awesome gaming, for nearly a year until the PS3 comes out (if it comes out at the end of 2006 like some sources are reporting).  

 Anonymous
I doubt the number of HDTV owners is anywhere close to 65%, but it's more likely around the 20%-25% range. Regardless of current ownership, the "era" is here, and the sales of HDTVs will continue to grow while the non-HD TVs will continue to slow down.

From what I have read, the graphics of the 360 on a non-HD TV is still quite impressive, and is still noticeably better than its predecessor. To each his own, though...some people will buy it for the enhanced graphics, others for the media center features, and some for the new games. Regardless of intent, the 360 is a good buy.  

 Anonymous
Get some facts, please. Just because "all my friends have one" doesn't somehow mean everyone does. Check out some statistics before you speak up.
It's less than 10% as of this past summer.
All of my friends drive Audis, I guess everyone must have one!
In Nebraska I'm sure there are people saying that everyone they know lives on flat land and farms. I'm sure there are parts of New Mexico where EVERYONE speaks spanish...yet that's not a majority.

I don't care WHERE you live, the %'s are still relatively low for HDTV.

Right now the FCC has backtracked on the "required" HDTV date from 2005 to 2008, and just a few weeks ago they're now proposing 2010. It's mainly due to the low acceptance rate right now and the cost for studios to have to dual-broadcast.

To have an HDTV with the current spec, you had to have bought a TV in the last 3 years. Check out some sales numbers to see what % of the population has done that.

I think HD is absolutely NECESSARY for the Xbox, but the vast majority of people don't have it NOW. By the end of '06 I'd suspect we'll finally start to see more people on the trail and a lot of cases because of these systems.

Having seen an Xbox on a non-HD television (thank you EB for trying it out using multiple settings) and to say it's underwhealming isn't far from the truth.  

 Anonymous
^ ok, so don't buy one. I will because I'm not poor and I can afford HD / surround sound / xbox360 / xbox live. Just because you can't afford good things in life is no reason at all to tell people "don't buy it!" like a whiny little bitch. I'm sure you'll be able to afford one someday when you find one in a thrift store or something in 2020. hahaha  

 Anonymous
I actually have HD, 5.1 surround and DO plan on getting one.
I'd even wager I make quote a bit more than the average joe, too.
If you think $600+ is nothing for gaming, you likely have different priorities that most people. I know 300k per year advisors that would laugh at paying that much for video games.

Just because we're shelling out for it doesn't make it a smart buy for most people now does it? That's what the article is about if you'd actually read it.
There are a lot of parents and misc. people who aren't huge gamers that have seen the hype behind the machine but don't know much beyond it's the "next big thing."
This article gives a clear breakdown of that. It also gives an honest take from the perspective of someone who isn't a fanatical gamer.  

 D.Vader
Well it seems only the Nintendo Revo seems to be the only one that will be supporting Standard resolution native. The fact of the matter is, they really have to put HD in now. By the time these systems hit their prime, HiDef will be more comman. I have seen prices of 30" CRT MFR Refurbished HiDef TVs for less them $400 - http://www.outlet.philips.com/b2c_redesign/b2c/productdetail.do?productguid=41907ABB9A6F008D00000000828BD472427D96A29FB6423300000000828BD443&productarea=41907ABB9A6F008D00000000828BD472&scenario=catalog&shop=OUTLET

It's no LCD or Plasma, but hell that would get you by Plenty Fine on a Budget. Now it doens't seem either unit requires the HiDef display. Even without it, the experience still will be far superior to our current game systems.

Xbox 360 is looking good. But the lack of truely exclusives games is a bit of an issue for me. PS3 still looks like the superior hardware. We are all still waiting for an official price annoucement.  

 Anonymous
Keep in mind that the article wasn't written by the owner of the site, rather from a journalist for Fox News. He was merely re-posting the article.  

 Anonymous
For the person who said "Get some facts", well I mentioned some earlier...
"However, one report I just read said that by the end of 2005 (so basically now) 16.5 million US households will have HDTV."

Although that is a small percentage of total US households, as I said earlier, it wouldn't surprise me if many of them fit the target demographic of the 360. So the point is, although only a small percentage of US households own HD televisions it may be that a larger percentage of those interested in buying a game console, like the 360, own an HD set. If I look at the people I know personally who are going to purchase one, the percentage of them who have HD televisions is much greater than 5% or what ever.

Secondly, as I said earlier, playing a 360 on a standard definition tv is still going to be a vastly improved experience over the xbox, ps2 etc. 5000 individually animated, unique trolls on screen on Kameo. Hundreds of spectators attending your events in PGR3. Massive amounts of events firing in Call of Duty 2, with thick smoke able to be used as cover. Cloth moving realistically when a player jumps in NBA2K6. Should I go on? Not all of these things are tied to how many pixels your TV can render.  

 Anonymous
360 is expensive? your going to faint when u find out how much the PS3 will go for! ie: cell and blu ray  

 Anonymous
why bother posting shitty news like this

and i have hdtv

and i knowloads that do too

plus you dont needa hdtv to play a 360

and 50cent a hot game lol ..what ever!!  

 Anonymous
you dont need to have a hd tv true but if you buy it you should ps3 is way better than the 360 fact not only graphics but you can hold 5 360 games on just one blue ray. Sonys not going no where for those who just jumped on the 360 bandwaggon 4 years ago. true next gen will be sony. not some standard ass dvd drive you already have.  

 Anonymous
It remains to be seen how much better the PS3 will be. Personally I think Sony will have failed if it isn't better! They are coming to market later, they have the opportunity to study the Xbox 360 and make sure they offer more. However, I don't think we'll see as much of a gap in capabilities as some claim. Many sources have claimed the Xbox 360's GPU to be more powerful than the PS3s. ATI really went back to the drawing board with the 360 GPU where as it seems Nvidia has simply extended the current PC architecture. I think we're going to see developers extracting some amazing stuff out of the 360 even if the PS3 has more power on paper. Although the PS3 may still have the edge graphically, it won't be a huge gap. Check out the Xbox 360 vs PS3 videos of Armored Core, it's not a huge difference (if any).

As for the blue ray drive... that is certainly an advantage for the PS3 (part of the reason I'll buy one!). However, what concerns me is that some of the transfer rates for the blue ray player have been low. Even lower than the transfer rates for the DVD players in the Xbox 360. The problem is that you can have 50 GB on the blue ray disc, but if you can't stream it off the disc fast enough, then you may as well not have all that extra capacity. Sony may end up putting in a faster drive, hopefully they will.  

 Anonymous
Master Chief

even with the advantage of the blue ray discs we havenet been able to fill a regular dvd to its fullest. not even san andreas has filled one and you would think all of that game would be the one to hold that nomination. so what is the point of blue ray. more technical specifications than microsoft. oooooohhhhhhhh were all very scared. and all this bullshit about HDTV. you dont need it but yes it would be nice. Xbox already has hi def do we take that and abuse it? NO.  

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