I'm finally back from the X05. I do not have as much videos as originally planned because of a very busy schedule today, but still there should be enough footage to keep my PCs busy with encoding tomorrow. So while I'm working on the videos, here are my quick impressions of the games there.
Kameo : The games looks even better than during TGS, thanks to self shadowing and depth of fields effects! Kameo is now my most anticipated title (with PGR3) for this launch. I would never have thought this possible just one month ago. PGR3 : The build we got to play (2-3 weeks old) still had a few framerate and texture streaming issues, but the gameplay was as good as antipated. If you liked PGR2, you'll love PGR3. Can't wait for a finalized version ! PDZ : I have mixed feeling about this game. The gameplay seems very solid with some very nice coop features, some levels look great, but there also some very strange "art" issues, especially with how the characters look. For me, this one is a Wait&See title. Top Spin 2 : The game was running at 60 fps on the showfloor, with some nice graphics. The gameplay was still a bit buggy, but otherwise it was very good. Amped 3: They killed my Amped ! Amped 1&2 have been some of my most played titles on Xbox, and this Amped 3 is simply a different game. The mountains are huge now with a good framerate, but I'm not sure I'll actually want to play on them anymore... King Kong : Activision should take some notes. For a port from a Xbox game, this 360 version looked very nice ! The art direction is excellent as expected, and the gameplay seemed quite tight. Oblivion : Looked as nice as excepted, but it's difficult to get an idea of how it will play in just a few minutes Condemned : The game was running quite well now. It seems like a more "intelligent" game than your average FPS, with some very nice gadgets and effects. Very oppressive atmosphere, not unlike Se7en. Full Auto : Just a few seconds are enough to understand this game. A quite mindless but very fun racing game. It was running at 60 fps with some huge framerate drops, but the devs still have some time to fix this. A very likeable game. Test Drive Unlimited : Much better than the horrible TGS demo. This game is full of excellent ideas, making it (I guess) the first MMO-racing game. Very nice concept, and it looks like the devs will actually manage to pull it off. A game I will try to follow as closely as possible until its release in Q1 2006. Fifa 360 : The graphics are nice, but something is off with the players lighting. Otherwise it's still Fifa, some people will like it, others will hate it.
I'm about done with the games I've been able to play. I'll update this news if I have forgotten some. Overall I think Microsoft managed to have a very nice game sho, with lots of nice titles being playable and enjoyable.
Sweet. With Kameo getting all the pub lately I may have to check into that and hold off on PDZ in exchange for this. Too bad nothing has been said or leaked about Ghost Recon 3 in quite sometime now. :(
IGN has some footage of GR3 but...well the voices are all about 4 times as low as they should be and the sound is a good 20 seconds off with the end of the videos being a black screen with sound, doesnt look all that great, but hopefully it will improve
Posted by boricua87 what bout my #1 games ghost recon and madden...where they looking ne good??
Both are games I simply don't know how to play so I can't comment about them. GR:AW was a very early build (in fact the first completely playable build of the game ever) so it was *very* buggy graphically. As is, it did not look that nice. I'm sure the final game will have everything sorted.
As for madden, it was good from what the few US people who were there told me. It looked quite nice.
Posted by BlimBlim Both are games I simply don't know how to play so I can't comment about them. GR:AW was a very early build (in fact the first completely playable build of the game ever) so it was *very* buggy graphically. As is, it did not look that nice. I'm sure the final game will have everything sorted.
As for madden, it was good from what the few US people who were there told me. It looked quite nice.
Just wondering ... I am very much anticipating Tiger Woods 2006. I know it is only going to have 6 courses and only 10 PGA players, but I was just wondering if you had a chance to play it or see it in action, and if so, could you comment on it? Thanks blim.
One more thing.
I am worried about the aliasing in these games because every screen shot I have seen recently has a bunch of Jaggies. Can you comment on whether or not AA was turned on in these games that you played? Thanks again.
This has rapidly become my favorite Xbox site. The updates and the people in the forums make up an overall excellent experience.
Excellent work Blim!
I have really enjoyed the vids and impressions. You seem to have the same prespective that alot of us have on PD0. I just don't know about that one. It is not creating the positive waves it needs to be a success.
Just wondering ... I am very much anticipating Tiger Woods 2006. I know it is only going to have 6 courses and only 10 PGA players, but I was just wondering if you had a chance to play it or see it in action, and if so, could you comment on it? Thanks blim.
One more thing.
I am worried about the aliasing in these games because every screen shot I have seen recently has a bunch of Jaggies. Can you comment on whether or not AA was turned on in these games that you played? Thanks again.
I saw Tiger Woods running. It did not impress me that much that's for sure. I did not spend much time with the EA games, so I can't really comment more.
As for the AA, I asked J. Allard himself about it. He told me that they were quite flexible about this, unlike with the requirements of the first Xbox. If a developer can justify not having FSAA (by using HDR/Depth of field like Kameo for example, or their own AA technique) then they can be allowed not to use it. Honestly, I had a very hard time noticing any jaggies on Kameo running in 720p.
Posted by BlimBlim I saw Tiger Woods running. It did not impress me that much that's for sure. I did not spend much time with the EA games, so I can't really comment more.
As for the AA, I asked J. Allard himself about it. He told me that they were quite flexible about this, unlike with the requirements of the first Xbox. If a developer can justify not having FSAA (by using HDR/Depth of field like Kameo for example, or their own AA technique) then they can be allowed not to use it. Honestly, I had a very hard time noticing any jaggies on Kameo running in 720p.
This is just me wondering... COD2 has been getting excellent media buzz from the get go. PDZ is as we all know a roller coaster ride of thoughts and speculation. I'm wondering what game will be the more A+ title to own. I liked both Halo/Halo2 and GR and GR2.
Thanks for the overall impressions on X05 Blim.
I would never have considered Kameo, but maybe once it drops in price or goes on sale I might have to give it a looksee, and probably rent it.
Posted by BlimBlim I saw Tiger Woods running. It did not impress me that much that's for sure. I did not spend much time with the EA games, so I can't really comment more.
As for the AA, I asked J. Allard himself about it. He told me that they were quite flexible about this, unlike with the requirements of the first Xbox. If a developer can justify not having FSAA (by using HDR/Depth of field like Kameo for example, or their own AA technique) then they can be allowed not to use it. Honestly, I had a very hard time noticing any jaggies on Kameo running in 720p.
Thanks a lot for the reply :)
But as someone else posted, I thought that one of the 3 cores allowed the developers to get virtually "free" AA in their games. If thats the case, why would they not put it on? I also remember hearing that AA was a standard for each and every xbox360 game, just as 16:9 @ 720p is as well, so is this now not the case?
(of course, i have an HDTV so I am just loving this whole HD stuff, and glad to hear its not noticeable on Kameo, especially since its from the final build)
notice that the jaggies have been reduced considerably, as much as 4xAA
Do you understand now
i understand fully hdr has nothing to do with smoting out the jaggies its lighting the jaggies are exactly the same on both of those shots, ie the landing vehicle on the left
but htere is obviously a performance hit or why not use it as well as hdr as the jaggies are still there, i know from using 4xAA on BF2 they jaggies diaapear on my X800XL card
Posted by miketuck3r i understand fully hdr has nothing to do with smoting out the jaggies its lighting the jaggies are exactly the same on both of those shots, ie the landing vehicle on the left
but htere is obviously a performance hit or why not use it as well as hdr as the jaggies are still there, i know from using 4xAA on BF2 they jaggies diaapear on my X800XL card
Project Gotham Racing 3 uses Full AA and HDR at the same time. they trick they use is D3D compression, which Rare hasnt used.
digi_matrix
Paranormal Activity was insane, totally deserves being the most profiting indie film ever made. I saw the original version, not the theatrical one. WAY BETTER! (13 minutes ago)
SimonM7
Nope, no such prestige I'm afraid. Just 1½ year of comic making and ICQ channel community on quakenet of all places. :) 2002 doesn't sound far back but it's soon 8 years ago. Time sure does roar past. (6 Hours ago)
Megido
Did you make comics and stuff for kong back in the day? The art looks similar :) (7 Hours ago)
SimonM7
Thanks a lot, it's great to hear that it's appreciated. :) (7 Hours ago)
alimokrane
@SimonM7: Well keep it up mate. U certainly have what the talent ;) (8 Hours ago)
SimonM7
Thanks :D and yeah I do. M7 was originally a webcomic, and the idea now is to make it a bit of an entertainment blog in general and a webcomic. Only done two strips so far since I rebooted it in may. (8 Hours ago)
alimokrane
@SimonM7: Dude That's amazing. Do u draw that stuff ?? (8 Hours ago)
All comments
Page 1 2 3 4 >>Sounds like it was...nice.
BTW, when can we expect some new videos?
what bout my #1 games ghost recon and madden...where they looking ne good??
As for madden, it was good from what the few US people who were there told me. It looked quite nice.
Both are games I simply don't know how to play so I can't comment about them. GR:AW was a very early build (in fact the first completely playable build of the game ever) so it was *very* buggy graphically. As is, it did not look that nice. I'm sure the final game will have everything sorted.
As for madden, it was good from what the few US people who were there told me. It looked quite nice.
Just wondering ... I am very much anticipating Tiger Woods 2006. I know it is only going to have 6 courses and only 10 PGA players, but I was just wondering if you had a chance to play it or see it in action, and if so, could you comment on it? Thanks blim.
One more thing.
I am worried about the aliasing in these games because every screen shot I have seen recently has a bunch of Jaggies. Can you comment on whether or not AA was turned on in these games that you played? Thanks again.
Excellent work Blim!
I have really enjoyed the vids and impressions. You seem to have the same prespective that alot of us have on PD0. I just don't know about that one. It is not creating the positive waves it needs to be a success.
Thanks for the update man.
Just wondering ... I am very much anticipating Tiger Woods 2006. I know it is only going to have 6 courses and only 10 PGA players, but I was just wondering if you had a chance to play it or see it in action, and if so, could you comment on it? Thanks blim.
One more thing.
I am worried about the aliasing in these games because every screen shot I have seen recently has a bunch of Jaggies. Can you comment on whether or not AA was turned on in these games that you played? Thanks again.
As for the AA, I asked J. Allard himself about it. He told me that they were quite flexible about this, unlike with the requirements of the first Xbox. If a developer can justify not having FSAA (by using HDR/Depth of field like Kameo for example, or their own AA technique) then they can be allowed not to use it. Honestly, I had a very hard time noticing any jaggies on Kameo running in 720p.
I saw Tiger Woods running. It did not impress me that much that's for sure. I did not spend much time with the EA games, so I can't really comment more.
As for the AA, I asked J. Allard himself about it. He told me that they were quite flexible about this, unlike with the requirements of the first Xbox. If a developer can justify not having FSAA (by using HDR/Depth of field like Kameo for example, or their own AA technique) then they can be allowed not to use it. Honestly, I had a very hard time noticing any jaggies on Kameo running in 720p.
Thanks for the overall impressions on X05 Blim.
I would never have considered Kameo, but maybe once it drops in price or goes on sale I might have to give it a looksee, and probably rent it.
I saw Tiger Woods running. It did not impress me that much that's for sure. I did not spend much time with the EA games, so I can't really comment more.
As for the AA, I asked J. Allard himself about it. He told me that they were quite flexible about this, unlike with the requirements of the first Xbox. If a developer can justify not having FSAA (by using HDR/Depth of field like Kameo for example, or their own AA technique) then they can be allowed not to use it. Honestly, I had a very hard time noticing any jaggies on Kameo running in 720p.
But as someone else posted, I thought that one of the 3 cores allowed the developers to get virtually "free" AA in their games. If thats the case, why would they not put it on? I also remember hearing that AA was a standard for each and every xbox360 game, just as 16:9 @ 720p is as well, so is this now not the case?
(of course, i have an HDTV so I am just loving this whole HD stuff, and glad to hear its not noticeable on Kameo, especially since its from the final build)
doesnt the Xenos GPU automatically apply AA?
doesnt the Xenos GPU automatically apply AA?
yeh that was the hype they said it did not hit on perofrmance but we know BS sorry MS sometimes say a few porkies
here is an example:
Here is a picture of Valve's DoD in NON HDR:
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/video/valve_hd...
notice so many jaggies around every object? thats with a 7800 Nvidia Card with AA disabled
Now look at this
Here is the SAME image with Full HDR:
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/video/valve_hd...
notice that the jaggies have been reduced considerably, as much as 4xAA
Do you understand now
acctually there is no performance hit. if you apply HDR, Aliasing becomes less visible. HDR seems to abe an alternative of AA.
here is an example:
Here is a picture of Valve's DoD in NON HDR:
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/video/valve_hd...
notice so many jaggies around every object? thats with a 7800 Nvidia Card with AA disabled
Now look at this
Here is the SAME image with Full HDR:
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/video/valve_hd...
notice that the jaggies have been reduced considerably, as much as 4xAA
Do you understand now
but htere is obviously a performance hit or why not use it as well as hdr as the jaggies are still there, i know from using 4xAA on BF2 they jaggies diaapear on my X800XL card
i understand fully hdr has nothing to do with smoting out the jaggies its lighting the jaggies are exactly the same on both of those shots, ie the landing vehicle on the left
but htere is obviously a performance hit or why not use it as well as hdr as the jaggies are still there, i know from using 4xAA on BF2 they jaggies diaapear on my X800XL card
X800 generation of cards didnt have HDR capacity