XBox 360 IS Futureproof

[bapenguin]

Engaget (http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000597043723/) has a beefy interview up with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (and Robbie Bach). In it, Ballmer gives the lowdown on backwards compatibility, how the console really is future proof, and the plan moving forward with Live for things like IPTV, etc.There are going to be some more surprises on the hardware end?

Could be! Look, for us to say we’re going to go through a whole generation without an HD capacity drive—I think that would be naive to assume that we’ll be sitting here at the end of the Xbox 360 generation and no such device will have shipped. On the other hand, we haven’t announced anything, Sony’s announced something, and who knows? You know, they could have announced support for Beta instead of VHS. We’re trying to watch and really be agile on our feet, relative to the issues between HD DVD and Blu-ray. As a platform provider we’re trying to make sure our software standards are well-supported in both places. As the provider of the Xbox, we’re sitting there saying, “Look, we’re shipping NOW.” This was not an option. Neither one of these things were an option for our first shipment, so it’s kind of a moot point. Sony’s saying, “Who knows what the standards are, but we’re going to commit to what we’re going to commit to.” I think we can be nimble and agile and that’ll be important.

Pretty informative interview. I guess the theme is, the XBox 360 isn't set in stone, and is very expandable. Just because they haven't announced it, doesn't mean it doesn't have it. Whatever it could/may be.

[vornskr]

sounds like the thing I would have said if I got beaten by the competitions' press/demo, too

"Look just cause we don't say we have it doesn't mean we wont! We might have an HD drive.. shit we might just have a WWI era Biplane you can mount on it and just fly it around, WEEE. Now won't Velocity Girl love that?!?"

[KarmaGhost]

So basically Xbox 360 is future proof because whenever something new comes along, they'll support it and you can go out and buy new parts. Sounds like a PC.

[Dirty Harry]

So basically Xbox 360 is future proof because whenever something new comes along, they'll support it and you can go out and buy new parts. Sounds like a PC.
I'm just going to say what i always say about the xbox, the xbox is a barebones pc.

update:
Regarding backwards compatibility, it seems like that’s going to be on a kind of a selective basis from what we gather—is that correct?

We are working very hard to get compatibility. Of course the prioritization in our technical work is in the leading selling games from the first generation, just like the PS2 didn’t run all PS1 games, it is unlikely we’ll ever be able to say the 360 will run all Xbox 1 games. I think there are some games if we get them to run that means many, many other games will run, and I think rather than give some statement that is either too conservative (because the engineers can do better), or a bold statement we can’t live up to, we thought we’d make our strategy clear that as we get further down the road and as our engineers do more work, the execution will speak for itself.


This is such typical crap from balmer, there is around 3 or so games that dont work on the ps2, out of 7000 games, 3 do not work. wow amazing.

[Orphiuchus]

Future proof implies that the development of new tech will just stop once this thing is at its limit. I hope I never live to see a truly future proof system.

[InstaPete]

The stuff he says about backwards compatibility is very conforting. Word like "hundreds" are being thrown around.

[Dirty Harry]

http://www.scarabgamz.com/netimages/PSP.jpg

Looks like the Xbox360 is going to be supporting the Sony PSP as well. Sony PS3 dosn't even support the PSP yet....

[bapenguin]

Yeah, they already said they'll support the PSP for getting MP3s and videos.

The good thing that was mentioned about the backwards compatibility is they are taking a smart approach to how they have to do it. They are working out the most complicated popular titles first, and by figuring them out, they get a list of other titles for "free" basically.

[Furious Wang]

Ha! Now that IS funny! PsP support for the Xbox 360! And I guess those nextgen support for ipod rumors were true, just for the wrong system.

Of the 7000 PS1 games, how many are worth playing today?

Oh, and I love how all these chicken littles are running around already whining that they won't be able to play their favorite xbox game on 360. Look people, if it was worth playing on the xbox (And by that I mean any game 7.5 and up) it will run on the 360. The games we're talking about here are the Bruce Lee Enter the Dragons and Narcs. The one's they won't be testing to make sure every little thing works, but still just might anyway. All your psychonauts and metal arms that you'll want to replay every 3 years for five minutes will run, OK? All your SNK games that are already running emulated will work, OK?

That said, MS has really handled the word game for this rather poorly. I guess they didn't expect so many to come out and immediately be so cynical about them.

MS: We present to you....This glass!
CL: Ahh...Well its not full, is it?
MS: Erm..Uh no, but I assure you it will contain only the finest of waters!
CL: Well what if I drink all of it and I'm still thirsty?
MS: Uh well we'll have fresher, better tasting water that you can drink!
CL: Yeah, but what if I want to drink more of that older water?
MS: You couldn't possibly be that thirsty.

[frederec]

Of the 7000 PS1 games, how many are worth playing today?
It's funny you say that. It really depends on what kind of gamer you are. Not to say this applies to you specifically, but there are a lot of people who play FPS, fighting games, and sports games. For these types of games, the newest ones available tend to be among the best, and graphics are frequently a big selling point. In these cases, I can see how there would be little reason to look back, and going back to old gen games would just be painful. But in my opinion, you can't get experiences quite like Xenogears, Persona 2, or Final Fantasy Tactics on the PS2. The graphics even then were only modest, so they don't live or die by how they measure up to current games. There are excellent and even better games on current hardware, but they're also fundamentally different.

For example, just two days ago my wife busted out Chocobo's Dungeon for the PS1. At first she said "Why's it all grainy?" because it had been a while since we'd played a PS1 game. But after a few minutes she was back into it and enjoying it.

She and I are part of a different subset of the gaming population. We bought two DS's for the promise of Animal Crossing and the fact that it's backwards compatible. I was tempted to buy a PSP back when Makai Wars was in the works, but now that it's on indefinite (very possibly permanent) hold, I can't justify dropping that kind of money when there's only one game on it that I'm interested in (Lumines). Since it doesn't have any sort of backwards compatibility, I can't easily justify buying it for just one game.

For people like us, backwards compatibility is very important in a console. It makes it just that easier to justify buying a console when most of what is out presently is 1st gen crap. So when I heard that the PS3 is going to be compatible all the way back to the PS1, that tells me it will be easier to get it that much sooner. And the 360 being backwards compatible makes it just a little more possible that a Microsoft console will find it's way into our home.

That said, MS has really handled the word game for this rather poorly. I guess they didn't expect so many to come out and immediately be so cynical about them.
It's true, no matter how much people try to stay rational, E3 is all about being flashy and catching everyone's attention. Despite the fact that these consoles aren't even close to being out, much less having good games yet, people can't help but try to declare a winner. So as far as that game goes, Sony seems to be winning. But when the dust settles, it does all come down to the games. And I think anyone can still pull the best library out of their new hardware.

[Morrolan]

Indeed. I don't think too many people would have a lot of fun playing Goldeneye, today. But RPGs are a little more timeless.

[Furious Wang]

Well said, frederec, and you named some good games, but you sort of helped my point. Of the 7000 games, how many are worth playing today? 1000? How about 3 years from now? 500? You'd have a hard time arguing a case for more than that. How many PS2 games will be worth playing 3-4 years from now? Who has time to play that many games in addition to the next gen games (which is of course, the main reason you'll be plopping down a car payment on a console)? Busting out Jumping Jack Flash for 15 minutes may be good for a laugh every now and then, but people claiming it as a primary selling point are out of their minds.

Having access to 13000 games when I could only conceivably enjoy playing 100 of those in the future is kinda like having sattelite tv with 300 channels but only ever watching 10 of them. Sure its nice to know those other channels are there and even fun to flip through them...but really....

[Phades]

Well said, frederec, and you named some good games, but you sort of helped my point. Of the 7000 games, how many are worth playing today? 1000? How about 3 years from now? 500? You'd have a hard time arguing a case for more than that. How many PS2 games will be worth playing 3-4 years from now? Who has time to play that many games in addition to the next gen games (which is of course, the main reason you'll be plopping down a car payment on a console)? Busting out Jumping Jack Flash for 15 minutes may be good for a laugh every now and then, but people claiming it as a primary selling point are out of their minds.

Having access to 13000 games when I could only conceivably enjoy playing 100 of those in the future is kinda like having sattelite tv with 300 channels but only ever watching 10 of them. Sure its nice to know those other channels are there and even fun to flip through them...but really....

I think your Satellite TV example is perfect. Having every game work is nice on paper but not that big of a deal. Heck, I bet the PS3 won't work with every single game, they've just chosen not to point that out. It's why the Xbox360 not having complete backward compatibility isn't a big deal. Most will work, and most likely any game you'd want to play will work. Sadly, you may not be able to play Drake of the 99 Dragons.... perhaps we should actually be thanking MS.

The only system I can see having complete compatibility is the Revolution. And that's because there are so few games for the Gamecube :p

[benson]

So basically Xbox 360 is future proof because whenever something new comes along, they'll support it and you can go out and buy new parts. Sounds like a PC.
This is what I was thinking.

It also is similar to the HD for the PS2, and any other announced peripherals that never work out because game developers usually make games for the lowest common denominator so they can maximize profits. As a simple example, say they sell 10k of the HD-DVD drives, but have sold 1 million Xbox 360's. Would you design your game for the 1 million Xbox 360's in general, or would you design your game for the 10k Xbox 360's with the HD-DVD drive? Even if it is 100k HD-DVD drives, would you design a game for only 10% of the market, or would you make it available to 100% of the market?

I hate this philosophy. I'm sticking to what I said in another thread, if I only buy one of the next gen, I am leaning towards the PS3 so far.

Looks like the Xbox360 is going to be supporting the Sony PSP as well. Sony PS3 dosn't even support the PSP yet....
Yes it does. Sony has said the PSP will function as a controller and/or a separate screen for the PS3. Hence the wifi out of the box for the PS3.

[[HATE]MyLife]

Would you design your game for the 1 million Xbox 360's in general, or would you design your game for the 10k Xbox 360's with the HD-DVD drive? Even if it is 100k HD-DVD drives, would you design a game for only 10% of the market, or would you make it available to 100% of the market?


I think that the only benefit to including Blu-Ray in the PS3 is the ability to play Blu-Ray movies. If MS were to release an HD-DVD attachment to allow me to play HD-DVD movies, and it was cheaper than a stand-alone player, you bet your ass I'd buy one. Especially if it meant that the console didn't cost a million dollars to begin with.

[benson]

MyLife']I think that the only benefit to including Blu-Ray in the PS3 is the ability to play Blu-Ray movies. If MS were to release an HD-DVD attachment to allow me to play HD-DVD movies, and it was cheaper than a stand-alone player, you bet your ass I'd buy one. Especially if it meant that the console didn't cost a million dollars to begin with.
You are totally correct. I was leaning toward the fact Blu-Ray can offer a large amount of storage space for some huge games. Do any current games fill up a DVD? I imagine that next gen games with the higher number and larger sizes of the textures and worlds would benefit from this.

In regards to movie playback, if HD-DVD does take off, I'd imagine both Microsoft and Sony would offer HD-DVD drives as "upgrades" or attachments. And if Blu-Ray is the next gen, Sony will have that covered, and Microsoft would need to offer a Blu-Ray drive as an "upgrade" or attachment.

[mister_slim]

You are totally correct. I was leaning toward the fact Blu-Ray can offer a large amount of storage space for some huge games. Do any current games fill up a DVD? I imagine that next gen games with the higher number and larger sizes of the textures and worlds would benefit from this.

In regards to movie playback, if HD-DVD does take off, I'd imagine both Microsoft and Sony would offer HD-DVD drives as "upgrades" or attachments. And if Blu-Ray is the next gen, Sony will have that covered, and Microsoft would need to offer a Blu-Ray drive as an "upgrade" or attachment.
MGS3 lost some content because the PS2 only supports single-layer DVD. But Kojima loves FMV. All of RE4 fits in 3 gigs, so who knows?

[Tyrant]

MGS3 lost some content because the PS2 only supports single-layer DVD. But Kojima loves FMV. All of RE4 fits in 3 gigs, so who knows?

Xenosaga used a dual layer disc, along with a few others.

[mister_slim]

Xenosaga used a dual layer disc, along with a few others.
You're right. Huh. That's really strange.