The Console Wars: Xbox vs. Xbox 360: Do You Really Need HD? | Xbox 360, Playstation 3 PS3, Revolution

Friday, December 02, 2005

Xbox vs. Xbox 360: Do You Really Need HD?

"All this talk about the HD era and the Xbox 360's wonderful high-definition resolutions may promise a wonderful future for console graphics, but it's also a cause for concern for many game enthusiasts. There are a number of standard-definition-television owners wondering if Xbox 360 games offer any graphical improvements for gamers who don't have a television that can support 720p or 1080i video.

Madden 06 Xbox vs. Xbox 360

Last time we checked, almost all of us still have standard television sets at home. We'd be lucky to have 480p support let alone any real HDTV resolutions. With that in mind, we've gathered together nine Xbox 360 launch games that also have Xbox versions for a head-to-head graphical comparison between games developed for both systems. We kept resolutions at 480p, so the 360 won't be able to hide behind the image-quality advantages a higher resolution gives you. Normal televisions support 480i, but the image quality should be close to 480p, especially if we're looking only at still images.

Tony Hawk American Wasteland Xbox vs. Xbox 360

Note that the quality of the screenshots in this feature aren't as nice as the usual game screenshots we obtain using special cables and image capture devices. With the exception of one Need for Speed Most Wanted shot, we used normal component cables with both systems to keep the comparison even." [more]

King Kong Xbox vs. Xbox 360

¶ D.Vader // 12/02/2005 01:19:00 PM // PermaLink

Anonymous
Madden clearly looks a ton better. Tony Hawk and King Kong are just ports of the xbox version - the don't use completely new engines and graphics...too bad really.

Anonymous
Yeah, it even makes a visual difference from when you swap resolution on the XBox itself. My first day I didn't notice that you had to "turn on" the HD function on the cable. I'd say it's at least 1/3 better with it. The system will let you turn on the resolution and 1080i with no error, but if you go back into the setup screen it'll inform you that HD isn't turned on.
What's also nice is seeing XBox games on the 360. Ninja Gaiden looks better than several of the native games...'cept it does bog down in open areas.