XBox 360 to have Hidden Feature?

[bapenguin]

According to Eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=59608) the XBox 360 will launch with over 20 titles and will have a "hidden feature" that won't be unlocked until a year after launch....say what?!!?

My prediction? Upscaling DVD's for HD displays won't ship initially, but will be "unlocked" via a firmware/software upgrade via Live down the road. Or maybe it's Halo 2.5 ;)

[fitbabits]

According to Eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=59608) the XBox 360 will launch with over 20 titles and will have a "hidden feature" that won't be unlocked until a year after launch....say what?!!?

My prediction? Upscaling DVD's for HD displays won't ship initially, but will be "unlocked" via a firmware/software upgrade via Live down the road. Or maybe it's Halo 2.5 ;)

Nice find, bapenguin. I wonder how long it will be before someone reverse engineers the X360 and comes across the 'hidden' thing? I wonder though, if it may be something to do with the raw power of the machine. Perhaps the CPUs or GPU will be underclocked and their raw power will be unleashed to play Halo 3 when PS3 debuts.

[XenonCJ]

The ability to play PS3 games? heh

[BloodAngel]

I don't think it will be up scaling for HD since it was a key feature at E-3. I do believe that it will be an upgrade to the dashboard that will allow for web surfing, and email retrieval.

That or a full nude spread of Melinda Gates. :P

[Reanimated]

Interesting... Most interesting.

Hackers will have uncovered the secret 2 weeks after launch though.

[outontheporch]

haha the micrsoft revolution

[Varsity]

Hackers will have uncovered the secret 2 weeks after launch though.
Assuming it is held on the box, that is.

[automaton]

I think it will levitate invisibly 3 inches above the box.

[lowlevel]

Date: November 20th, 2006
Microsoft announces backward compatibility for another 15 original Xbox titles, bringing the total up to a whopping 25!!!

*sigh* I seriously hope my cynicism about the X360's backward compatibilty is proven to be unfounded ...

[crashedout]

Some form of streaming IPTV? Marketing rumor?

[Kamalot]

Wasn't LIVE launched a year after the original Xbox? By purchasing the live kit, you could "unlock the capabilities" of your Xbox.

[Kamalot]

*sigh* I seriously hope my cynicism about the X360's backward compatibilty is proven to be unfounded ... Me too.

You know what? If you place the timing of the "special feature" it is right around the PS3 launch in the USA, fall 2006. What is the ONE thing that Microsoft has to give away that people go nuts over?

Halo

How much you wanna bet that they will give away some kind of Halo version, probably Halo 1, for free to steal some of the PS3 thunder. Maybe even with enhanced 360 graphics!

[EvilBob46]

List of XBox 360 launch titles anyone?

[MrTA]

Hmm, they did released Xbox Live well after Xbox release, so they have proved that MS can ship stuff out after release. So who knows what it will be this time?

Maybe it has something to do with the earlier talk about Blue-Ray and that stuff we have read about? Something like MS would upgrade afterwards if it need to or something.

[Last of the Red Hot Mamas]

I don't think it will be up scaling for HD since it was a key feature at E-3.

MS demonstrated HD upscaling at E3? Where'd you hear about this? They've pretty much denied (http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1817075,00.asp) it would upscale (at least out of the box) so it seems hard to believe they would demonstrate a feature and then turn around and say "actually I don't think we have that feature," unless their VP for hardware development is totally out of the loop.

[MrTA]

List of XBox 360 launch titles anyone?

This is ofcourse not confirmed by MS, but this is what I think will be on releaseday.

Gears of War
Kameo
Project Gotham Racing 3
Perfect Dark Zero
Madden 06
NHL 06
Tiger Woods 06
Need For Speed Most Wanted
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Quake IV
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
Ghost Recon 3
Dead Rising
Frame City Killer
Saints Row
Burnout Revenge
The Outfit
The Godfather
Stranglehold
Test Drive Unilimited

They have all been confirmed for Xbox 360 and releasedates is around november as well. Except for Quake IV ofcourse, but when I saw it at E3 Activision reps said holiday season so, we will see what happens.

[lowlevel]

List of XBox 360 launch titles anyone?

EDIT: Beat to the list.

[Kamalot]

This is ofcourse not confirmed by MS, but this is what I think will be on releaseday.

Gears of War
Kameo
Project Gotham Racing 3
Perfect Dark Zero
Madden 06
NHL 06
Tiger Woods 06
Need For Speed Most Wanted
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Quake IV
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
Ghost Recon 3
Dead Rising
Frame City Killer
Saints Row
Burnout Revenge
The Outfit
The Godfather
Stranglehold
Test Drive Unilimited

While quite a long list, it seems rather uninspiring. Lots of driving and shooting with standard EA shovelware thrown in for good measure. :(

I still remember Kameo screen shots on the back of my GameCube box when I picked it up on Launch day. ;-)

All in all, this lineup only hits a really narrow demographic.

[eatme]

A year? That's a mistake-- it'll be unlocked by the h4x0rz well before that.

[Reanimated]

Gears of War is an 06 title.

[Goronmon]

HD-DVD support... ;)

[ÜberJumper]

The Outfit's not neccesarily a launch title... they're aiming for the holiday 2005 timeframe though.

[Kamalot]

I think something went wrong in the translation.

It really says, "Xbox 360 provides secret powers!"

After playing with the Xbox 360 for a year, many gamers will be mystically imbued with secret powers. These powers, one of which will be chosen at random include: Cheesing People Off, Indian-Giving, Cutting Ones, Doing Some Other Things, Home Invasion, Cracking Wise, World Domination, Sending Me a Dollar, Total Spaceship Guy, TV / VCR Repair, or GET YOUR DEGREE! (http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail26.html)

[KNOTE]

You forgot Condemned.

[Derwin]

A year after you buy it a bald guy with bad glasses will come out of the XBox and tell you that he wants to have your babies. All XBox 360 warrantees expire on that day.

[fitbabits]

A year after you buy it a bald guy with bad glasses will come out of the XBox and tell you that he wants to have your babies. All XBox 360 warrantees expire on that day.

Microsoft is predicting sales in the millions by that time – that sure is a lot of bald guys with glasses! I urge you to keep an eye out for friends and/or relatives that fit the above description and report their disappearance to the proper authorities immediately. There’s no way that we can let Microsoft away with this.

[hideouslywrinkled]

I've got it...

X360 "Battle Mode" will be unlocked.

Your Xbox will gain the power to send a special program to all rival video game consoles and Macintosh computers on your home network... rendering them inoperable.

[MasterEvilAce]

That would be cool if a year after launch, the xbox360 was able to overclock itself... sort of a "ha ha" to PS3 and NinRev.. We've released earlier, and we're still more powerful.

[Mason]

While quite a long list, it seems rather uninspiring. Lots of driving and shooting with standard EA shovelware thrown in for good measure. :(

I still remember Kameo screen shots on the back of my GameCube box when I picked it up on Launch day. ;-)

All in all, this lineup only hits a really narrow demographic.

I don't know, Oblivion is pretty big news. And before Doom 3 people would've considered Quake IV to be big news. But you're right, it isn't very diverse beyond shooting/sports/driving. American developers don't seem interested in much else.

Is Kameo the only platformer? And Oblivion the only RPG? I'm not familiar with some of the games.

[falak]

A year after you buy it a bald guy with bad glasses will come out of the XBox and tell you that he wants to have your babies. All XBox 360 warrantees expire on that day.I urge you to keep an eye out for friends and/or relatives that fit the above description and report their disappearance to the proper authorities immediately.Maybe they're cloning Ballmer? That must be their mission statement: "A dancing monkey in every living room by 2007. Ballmer wants to have your babies."

[falak]

That would be cool if a year after launch, the xbox360 was able to overclock itself... sort of a "ha ha" to PS3 and NinRev.. We've released earlier, and we're still more powerful.If the X360 had the ability to overclock itself, it might open itself up to all sorts of new creative malicious attacks. You hear that sound? That's the sound of 10 million X360s asploding. That would be awesome.

[netcraazzy]

This is ofcourse not confirmed by MS, but this is what I think will be on releaseday.

Gears of War
Kameo
Project Gotham Racing 3
Perfect Dark Zero
Madden 06
NHL 06
Tiger Woods 06
Need For Speed Most Wanted
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Quake IV
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
Ghost Recon 3
Dead Rising
Frame City Killer
Saints Row
Burnout Revenge
The Outfit
The Godfather
Stranglehold
Test Drive Unilimited

They have all been confirmed for Xbox 360 and releasedates is around november as well. Except for Quake IV ofcourse, but when I saw it at E3 Activision reps said holiday season so, we will see what happens.

That looks like the list of games I've seen handed out to Gamestop stores. They were showing it to me when I preordered my 360. This is NOT a list of launch titles, it's simply a list of confirmed upcomming games. Gears of War is proof enough that this is not a launch title list.

[bapenguin]

While quite a long list, it seems rather uninspiring. Lots of driving and shooting with standard EA shovelware thrown in for good measure. :(

I still remember Kameo screen shots on the back of my GameCube box when I picked it up on Launch day. ;-)

All in all, this lineup only hits a really narrow demographic.

A narrow demographic? What you just mentioned is 90% of the console demographic. EA Sports games and FPS. There's 50% right there.

[kokyunage]

"hidden feature" that won't be unlocked until a year after launch.

The hidden feature will be the first good game for the system. =P

[Reanimated]

Yeah, because consoles usually have 5 games from every genre at launch.

Dipshits.

What was the last console to launch with a serious RPG? I'd say MS has all bases covered for launch. Shooters, racing, RPG, platform, sports, survival horror, action adventure...

[score]

That would be cool if a year after launch, the xbox360 was able to overclock itself... sort of a "ha ha" to PS3 and NinRev.. We've released earlier, and we're still more powerful.

I'de be pretty pissed if they purposefuly shipped a box underclocked just so that they can get one up on Sony when the PS3 is released!

[Derwin]

I always wanted to see the madness that would ensue if a company like Sony or Microsoft developed, made games for, and completed entirely in secret, then released an announcement at E3 like, "The PS3 is available in stores RIGHT NOW" and all major retailers open their doors right then.

[EL CABONG]

maybe it will be able to grill like the ps3 "the fat just drips off"

[Mondopest]

Hopefully Dead Rising will also be available at launch.

[SteveRage]

A screen will pop up in the middle of the game you are playing and say, "coming fall '07, Xbox 720. Reserve yours now."

[bapenguin]

I always wanted to see the madness that would ensue if a company like Sony or Microsoft developed, made games for, and completed entirely in secret, then released an announcement at E3 like, "The PS3 is available in stores RIGHT NOW" and all major retailers open their doors right then.

I always thought this would be interesting for a major game or something. A whole console? that's crazy....but a game would be interesting.

[SteveRage]

I always wanted to see the madness that would ensue if a company like Sony or Microsoft developed, made games for, and completed entirely in secret, then released an announcement at E3 like, "The PS3 is available in stores RIGHT NOW" and all major retailers open their doors right then.

Didn't they do that with the Saturn?

[MasterEvilAce]

I'de be pretty pissed if they purposefuly shipped a box underclocked just so that they can get one up on Sony when the PS3 is released!
... I don't see how that's any different than any processor you buy, today. A lot of processors are just the previous processor with an upped FSB/multiplier and/or voltage..

[Last of the Red Hot Mamas]

Didn't they do that with the Saturn?

Yes. Sega of America was planning to launch the system in September of '95, but then the Japanese office got the bright idea to do a surprise early launch (over the objections of pretty much everyone at SoA). So Sega held their big E3 press conference and announced that the Saturn was shipping to retailers at that very moment, which surprised the hell out of pretty much everyone. Unfortunately the early launch also meant they didn't have any real promotion (severely limiting mainstream awareness of the system), there was hardly any third-party support, many of the available games were buggy or otherwise rushed, and immediately after Sega made their surprise announcement, the Sony rep got up and said the Playstation would be launching a few months later for $100 less. There's just way too many logistical problems with a surprise launch -- how do you get promotional material ready beforehand without blowing the surprise? How do you tell third parties to have their launch titles ready by the surprise date without blowing the surprise? The more people you tell the less likely it'll be a "surprise."

[Heretic Machine]

The Saturn had many more problems than just a silly surprise party. That whole console was pretty much junk. The Dreamcast on the other hand...

[Chagrinful]

Akira, thats the secret.

Ya the list of crapware looks pretty bad for the Xbox 360 lots of shiny shit for the drooling masses but nothing for people looking for original games that show real innovation.

Oh and backward compatability for ONLY 25 Xbox titles :( dayum! Thats pretty shity. Does the Xbox have 25 good titles? LOL!!!!

[MosBen]

Chagrinful, I hope that was a joke man...

As to the hypothetical list of games, it's way to long. I think Pete Moore said he sees the perfect launch being somewhere between 10-15 games. That way, he says, you can cover most if not all of the major genres, but you don't have so many games that some of them get lost in the shuffle. I bet the only sports game released on launch day will be Madden, and the others will come out in the two months or so following launch day. Same for the rest, I bet you get maybe one or two games for each genre and then the rest are staggered out between then and Christmas.

[kickmybum]

UGH! NHL 06 on release day!! Now I have to buy one, sheesh.

[Kefkataran]

Launches have never been very pretty to me, but I don't mind. Gives me time to wait out for the price drop on new consoles. By the time that happens I've hopefully finished all I really want to on my old consoles and their are at least several worthwhile games to pick up on the new ones.

[Achilles]

It’ll sprout two DVI outs, 7 USB ports and give you the ability to send your movies to the internet where they will be turned into HD movies by adding “bytes of information”. These same bytes of information can also be used to turn your 2d photographs into easily manipulated 3d scenes, and will allow you to seamlessly walk from the real-world to that of computer games. These features will open up a brave new world that looks like a Sprint commercial.

Reanimated is right, this launch lineup is amazing. Just having Quake IV, Call of Duty, Kameo, Madden, PG2, Burnout 4, and Oblivion would make it the best launch ever. These aren’t your average rushed launch titles, they’ve been working on this stuff for years (compare Oblivion to Azruik and Evergrace for example). And for those who dis Madden keep in mind that the sports game fans are a huge category of early adopters.

[Hellstorm]

A windows menu appears that reads: "Ok, Ken you beat us again. We quit. Say we have this nice video game middleware package we can sell you for the PS4. Give us a call."

[SPBTooL]

I believe that it will be full HD-TVR support or full media center capabilities.
MS's hope is to get the 360 into millions of homes and attract those that have never owned a game system. A game system can't do that. Plus, look at that Xbox 360 media center remote control. There seems to bee a lot of money spent there for the very few people that have a media center PC.

The browser and email idea sounds good to me too but why not include this from the outset? It also doesn't sound like a feature that would be touted as an Ooh, Ahh type of secrete.

I don't expect Halo 3 to come out as a fight against the PS3. MS took such a beating for the lack lust H2 that H3 wont be out till it is more than done. The thing that I expect MS to do to try to hurt the PS3 launch is a price reduction.

[Reanimated]

Yeah, they took a real beating on Halo 2

http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/562116.asp?q=halo%202

:rolleyes:

[Furious Wang]

Nice find, bapenguin. I wonder how long it will be before someone reverse engineers the X360 and comes across the 'hidden' thing? I wonder though, if it may be something to do with the raw power of the machine. Perhaps the CPUs or GPU will be underclocked and their raw power will be unleashed to play Halo 3 when PS3 debuts.


That's just ridiculous.

Anyway, it will probably be some sort of WebTV/Tivo service and will utilize that mysterious green button on the remote. The service probably isn't done yet and/or they want to release at the same time as PS3 and then be all like, "Oh yeah??? Who's the real home entertainment super console system now?"

Or it could be something dumb.

It won't be a pre-loaded Halo.

And the hackers will probably figure out what it is 2 weeks *before* launch.

[lowlevel]

I don't expect Halo 3 to come out as a fight against the PS3. MS took such a beating for the lack lust H2 that H3 wont be out till it is more than done.
I'm not so sure ... just with the content chopped off from the end of Halo 2, Halo 3 should already be one quarter of the way complete! ;)

I'd like to see DVR functionality added to the X360 eventually, as a free service (no monthly or lifetime sub). That, to me, would be something to get new users onboard after a year and keep early adopters excited about their investment.

[SPBTooL]

Yeah, they took a real beating on Halo 2

http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/562116.asp?q=halo%202

:rolleyes:

I am in no way say that it is a bad game. Yet if you read the boards you find that most people were disappointed in the game. Many think that Halo was better than Halo 2.

A quote from Peter Moore (http://xbox360.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3140498) "Halo 3 will ship when Halo 3 is of a magnitude of quality that the Halo nation will not string us up from the flagpole outside,"

Why did he say that? Maybe because there were such high hopes for the game that a less than 8 hour single player game and a crappie ending not only disappointed a lot of people but actually pissed them off. The pissed off make more noise than the happy.

MS learned a lot from Xbox. One thing being the need for great first party games and that great franchises lead to long term survival. The thing that has been impressing me the most about the 360 is MS's developer support and how they are selling the experience of gamming not the prettiness of it.

[Cha-Ka]

The thing that has been impressing me the most about the 360 is MS's developer support and how they are selling the experience of gamming not the prettiness of it.

Well I enjoy gamming as much as the next person, but I think hyping up an unspecified "special feature" that won't go live until a year after 360 goes live is lame. I'm going to get real excited about that. Hoo boy.

[InstaPete]

I would be satisfied with picking up PD0 and Burnout: Revenge (after buying Burnout 3 on a whim and loving it) on launch. If Oblivion was out too, that would be pretty much perfect.

[Mr.Green]

Ya the list of crapware looks pretty bad for the Xbox 360 lots of shiny shit for the drooling masses but nothing for people looking for original games that show real innovation.
I'm pretty damn happy with that list, man.

If you want real originality and innovation I suggest you try going out. Of course there are bears but there are also girls! Who knows pal, you might even be able to score with a fat one. ;)

[B_Money]

At 12:01 AM EST on 11/30/2006 all networked 360's link together and become self aware. At 12:02 they analize all potential threats to Microsoft's dominance.
At 12:03 Man is determined to be a threat.
...

[Blue]

Hidden feature, eh? My predition: it'll be just like in the Spongebob Squarepants movie when Plankton uses all those buckets he gave away to create a super army of mindless drones. Good times.

[*Legion*]

Let's see...

Feature to unlock in (late) 2006.
"Longhorn" to release in (late) 2006.

No genius needed. I'd bet good money that it is some kind of interoperation with Longhorn. Probably much of the same functionality as will be available to PCs running XP Media Center Edition - as most people won't be running that - as well as a couple added bonuses in the form of all new features.

Not to mention that MS always has trouble marketing a new OS well enough to defeat the "what I have is good enough" sentiment. Leveraging the X360 in cross-marketing with Longhorn is a "duh".

Of course, Longhorn could still slip into 2007, but other than that worst-case scenario, the timings match up very obviously.

[Last of the Red Hot Mamas]

It’ll sprout two DVI outs, 7 USB ports and give you the ability to send your movies to the internet where they will be turned into HD movies by adding “bytes of information”.

You mean like, uh, upscaling DVDs?

[mister_slim]

Date: November 20th, 2006
Microsoft announces backward compatibility for another 15 original Xbox titles, bringing the total up to a whopping 25!!!

*sigh* I seriously hope my cynicism about the X360's backward compatibilty is proven to be unfounded ...
Don't worry. I was at GameStop today, and the manager said the MS rep was in yesterday and the rep promised 100% backwards compatibility.

Man, I love retail clerks.


I still remember Kameo screen shots on the back of my GameCube box when I picked it up on Launch day. ;-)

All in all, this lineup only hits a really narrow demographic.
To be honest, Kameo looked much more interesting before they rebuilt it for the 360. All the videos I've seen looked pretty blah.

[gojira]

I'll go with "Unlocks your checkbook when you have to pay for shipping to get the DVD player repaired" for 500, Alex.

[Furious Wang]

Don't worry. I was at GameStop today, and the manager said the MS rep was in yesterday and the rep promised 100% backwards compatibility.

Man, I love retail clerks.


To be honest, Kameo looked much more interesting before they rebuilt it for the 360. All the videos I've seen looked pretty blah.

Ah, the mister slim trolling continues. I sense sarcasm in your post so I'll use the same arguments you use to defend Sony.

How do you know 360 won't be 100% compatible? What makes your crystal ball so great? Why don't you STFU, quit speculating, and just wait and see?

And you must be kidding about Kameo pre360 makeover.

It looked like an N64 game.

The blandest most generic graphics and gameplay I've ever seen.

I'm still not interested in the 360 title, but the graphics are without a doubt very pretty. Gameplay will still probably be generic though.

[MosBen]

I just don't understand why people can't wrap their minds around how emulation works. Yes, MS may only certify 15-25 games as "100% compatible", but that doesn't mean that only those games will work. It means that MS has gone through the games and made sure that there aren't any graphical tricks that the 360 can't do, that there aren't any crashes, etc. When they do this, however, they'll be fixing things in game 1 that many other games did in exactly the same way. They may not be testing Death Row, but Death Row may do many things in the same way that Halo does them, so fixing Halo fixes Death Row. Even though they may not certify Death Row as "100% compatible" it will still work. Not all PS1 or PS2 games are going to work as perfectly on the PS3 as they did on their original systems, and with so many legacy games Sony can't possibly be expected to check them all to be sure of compatibility, but there will be a select few that they do check and most others will work pretty well because of that.

[Kamalot]

To be honest, Kameo looked much more interesting before they rebuilt it for the 360. All the videos I've seen looked pretty blah.

I can't agree with you more.

[AnthraxKitty]

I don't really think the hidden feature will be something techies would be too excited about. Given MS's weird, almost fictional demographic, I'm guessing it'll be something everyone will be able to enjoy, casual gamer or not...and I doubt the casual gamer knows or cares about upscaling DVD's.

As for the launch titles for the 360, I don't see a problem. I'm not sure if Full Auto and Condemned are launch, but I'm pretty sure they're around the launch period, and I'll have to pick those up. Plus, Oblivion gives me my RPG fix (not to mention a sequal to game I've spent months on), Burnout, and possibly PD0 (I'd have to rent it first, if it sucks I'll wait for Quake and Gears of War).

[A Lusty Alien]

My guess is full compatibility with old X-Box titles, mostly because they're goint to discontinue selling/supporting old X-Box units.

(Hey, I said it was a guess.)

[mister_slim]

How do you know 360 won't be 100% compatible? What makes your crystal ball so great? Why don't you STFU, quit speculating, and just wait and see?

I imagine if MS can guarantee 100% they would announce it. You know, so people would shut up about it?

And you must be kidding about Kameo pre360 makeover.

It looked like an N64 game.

The blandest most generic graphics and gameplay I've ever seen.

The Xbox videos looked pretty good. Large, interesting environments and fast, tactical gameplay. Most of the 360 shots look like a Dynasty Warriors clone.

[RicoSuave77]

Let's see...

Feature to unlock in (late) 2006.
"Longhorn" to release in (late) 2006.

No genius needed. I'd bet good money that it is some kind of interoperation with Longhorn. Probably much of the same functionality as will be available to PCs running XP Media Center Edition - as most people won't be running that - as well as a couple added bonuses in the form of all new features.

Microsoft has already announced that Longhorn will include the next version of Media Center, and that the Xbox 360 can act as an MCE Extender...