More 360 Coverage

[bapenguin]

HardOCP (http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzY4LDE=) has some cool coverage up of the XBox 360. This is a really good article as it lays out the features, compares them to modern day hardware and compares target markets. The Xbox 360 Guide Button, which is the round glowing “X” button at the top middle of the controller (which can’t be seen very well in the photos Microsoft sent) can be pressed at any time to bring up the Xbox Gamer Guide. This is a unified menu system that holds all of your personal settings and allows you access to some of the Xbox 360’s features. The menu will overlay onto your screen even if you are playing a game. Now it is up to the game developer as to what game action occurs when you activate the Gamer Guide, but obviously the most logical choice would be to pause the game. The beauty of this lies in the fact that you can access this Gamer Guide without stopping or unloading the game you are playing. This is a key element to the power of the Gamer Guide and this is of course supported by the massive processing power of its PowerPC based CPU.

Good to see the HD cables will be standard as well.

[darkwarrior]

Now if you can switch to the UI, switch game discs and load the new game without sitting through xbox 36o intro movies, I'll be very impressed.

[Royal Fool]

I agree, that would be impressive. It really does sound like that too, with the "Gamer Guide" being a sort of OS similar to what the dashboard was, only far more advanced.

[if76]

Will Someone Please Show Me The Back Of The Controller!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhh

[themulf]

goto xbox360.com and rotate it.

[Visitor Q]

Is anyone else totally annoyed with the idea of these microtransactions that Microsoft keeps touting?

[Rakael]

A little, yes. I'm just trying to to jump the gun and get upset over anything yet, as I'm still pretty clued as to how its all going to work.

[PacerDawn]

The beauty of this lies in the fact that you can access this Gamer Guide without stopping or unloading the game you are playing. This is a key element to the power of the Gamer Guide and this is of course supported by the massive processing power of its PowerPC based CPU.
Omg, multitasking??? A menu overlaying a running program!??? Modern technology never ceases to amaze!

</sarcasm>

Ok, maybe I'm missing something here, but this is like telling me "in our new house, you can actually go to the bathroom INDOORS!" Is the power of the PC really that far ahead of consoles in that this is amazing technology for them?

[bapenguin]

Omg, multitasking??? A menu overlaying a running program!??? Modern technology never ceases to amaze!

</sarcasm>

Ok, maybe I'm missing something here, but this is like telling me "in our new house, you can actually go to the bathroom INDOORS!" Is the power of the PC really that far ahead of consoles in that this is amazing technology for them?

I don't think the tech has ever held this back, I think the problem has been software. MS is a software company first, so it's easy for them to visualize and execute on things like this. They understand human interfaces very well.

[JudasGoat]

Am I the only one in the damned world who can't afford a HD tv setup?

[Rakael]

Nope, but I shall find a way!

Going to see about putting one on credit. This does not bode well.

[TrackZero]

Am I the only one in the damned world who can't afford a HD tv setup?

No, you're not. I'm stuck on an old 27" that I can barely see now as the brightness keeps going down further and further. I have to move my Xbox to my PC so I could actually see anything in Halo 2.

[LilAbner]

Am I the only one in the damned world who can't afford a HD tv setup?

No, but it will soon be that way. You can get a cheap HDTV (non-widescreen) for anywhere between $500-$700. I got my 30" Samsung widescreen HDTV for $775.

[Heretic Machine]

Am I the only one in the damned world who can't afford a HD tv setup?

Nope, but a lot of people like to ignore the fact that HDTV owners are in the EXTREME minority right now.

[mister_slim]

Nope, but a lot of people like to ignore the fact that HDTV owners are in the EXTREME minority right now.
I'll confess that, for the next couple of weeks anyway, I don't own a TV.

[snubber]

Included HD cables? Suh-weet.