[mjw123]

Well I was lucky enough to get a 360 today - have to say my 1st impressions are somwewhat mixed.

What i Like :-

Styling - big improvement
Functionality - really impressed how much more than a gaming system this is
Size - Big tidier than the previous one
Controller - The wireless controller is excellent and headset is much improved
HD Streaming - looks wonderful even just watching the DEMO footage
Interface - vastly improved of last xbox

Uncertain about :-

Only played PGR3 on a 32" Sammy LCD - whilst improved I don't see it as a massive jump from PGR2.
Picture quality - Again only 1 game so far but picture is a bit jaggy inplaces and redraw in the distance isn't quick enough for me. Maybe VGA will give the real sharpness

Don't like :-

NOISE - far too much of it

Early days yet and I need to see other games I think.

What do you reckon ??? or

[RajUK]

Hi all

my mate brought over :

amped 3 - looks like xbox gfx not 360, seemed same as xbox amped

condemned - slow to get going, graphics looks ok but then it may be the dark ambience of the game

perfect dark zero - multiplayer sucked ass, halo 2 on xbox1 far superior, not played single player

project gotham 3 - seems smooth, not that much more amazing than pgr2 on xbox1 from memory but not played it in ages so maybe rose tinted glasses

tony hawk - didn't play it but mate says it just looks like an xbox1 game

and we played it on my projector over component

overall not uber impressed with the games but the controllers are great (dunno about battery life), gauntlet and smash tv in the arcade were cool, console looks good, xbox live integration much better, seems very slick

i think that's about it

it's made me want one less than i thought i would, but i still want one

not tried halo 2 on it yet, but no killer app yet for it, hopefully i'll get my 360 before the must have game comes out

regards

Raj

[frozendexter]

Sorry but I have to disagree with the PGR3 comments, the grapics on the city maps are superb, the graphics in Kameo are also way ahead of what is possible on anything else (great fun too).

NFS is a bit ropey though considering Gamespot's video review made a bid deal of the visuals.

Overall I'm impressed by the whole product and the title i've purchased.

[zAndy1]

Yeah I have to say having played the Kameo demo and quite a bit of PDZ today that the graphics really are very very impressive. I've got a 6800GT in my PC and what I've seen today has blown me away to be honest, Kameo was absolutely unbelievable. I am fortunate enough to have a 720p and 1080i compatible display (plasma) which means I can see the games pretty much at their best. I am also convinced that some displays are introducing jaggies by upscaling, as jaggies have been very conspicuous by their abscence so far from what I've seen, especially on Kameo which words really can't convey just how beautiful that game is!

[willsy2]

I remember when i got a PS2 on launch day, the first lot of games weren't much of an improvement on ones on the PS1 which developers had managed to wring out the maximum performance of the machine, in fact most of them were pap. The Xbox 360 will be the same, in fact when i heard about the shortages, and read some reviews on 360 launch games i wasn't too bothered whether i got one on dec 2nd or not. (I did and i'm pleased i did). The main improvement, i think is Live which seems more polished and i feel happier if my son goes on, he's going to be able to be matched against similar players and hopefully not having to listen to foulmouthed 14 year olds (Never been on Live but always had this impression. Saying that, i can't see why they couldn't implement a similar system on the original XBox.

BTW my 360 is for my son for Christmas (I think i should really test it to make sure we haven't got a dud) so i haven't even got it out of the box

[D3ath k1ll3r]

I love my xbox 360 the system is ace and pd0 is brilliant from what I have played so far, remember that halo 2 was a later game for xbox and these titles are the first if you take the time to look at future releases we are really going to be blown away.

[mekes82]

Didnt any of you buy Call of Duty 2? I decided to pick it up today, and its just crazy. It has completely changed my view of FPS' on a console. Very immersive, pretty tough (for me anyway) and looks damn bonkers even on my standard TV. Give it a rental at least

[windfall]

Well with the 1 hr I have just spent with it of which 30 was getting my live account into the box I am really pleased. As others have said the actual dash and live integration is sweet!

PGR3 was not AS good as I thought it was gonna be, I have COD2 but as yet not played it. Kameo looked outstanding, still to put Perfect Dark in the machine, just wanna get semi decent at PGR3 as I love racing car games especially on Live.

That FAN is way too loud!

I do not have a hard disk (core owner) so I ordered the hard disk and wireless adapter and I LOVE the MCE integration but it wont play all my divx files and DVD's but all else from my MCE PC streamed over no probs.

Out of 10 so far - 8. BUT I need more time with it.

LFC into second place in the premiership for a few hours tomorrow!!!

Cheers

Tone

[Monkey Alan]

I'm also abit disappointed in PGR3, I mean the graphics are still great and its amazing how smooth it runs but I expected there to be absolutely no jaggys in 720p but there is quite a few. Maybe I was expecting too much. I love the in car view and the Vegas tracks are mint, the sound effects are excellent to.

I think I’m going to be playing NFSMW mostly this weekend. Although the graphics aren’t perhaps as detailed as PGR3 they do seen cleaner and its just more fun to play and also has a better single player.

EDIT: keep Sunderland down the bottom.

[twistywizard]

I am loving mine

PLayed PGR3 and COD 2

I have a 42" Hi Def Plasma running on Composite while I wait for my VGA lead. The picture even on this was damn good.

I love the Blades and the xbox Live stuff. Took about 5-10 mins to get it all setup. Mainly played on COD 2 and its awesome. I am a pc boy for FPS but the way COD 2 playes has changed my mind

Not popped PDZ in, might pick up Kameo tommorow purely because of the graphics. Is a tad noisy.

But big thumbs up from me so far

[Eiji]

Maybe PGR3 has more jaggies than other games because its scaled internally from 1024x600 to 1280x720 unlike the other games which are rendered directly at 1280x720.

[Monkey Alan]

Originally Posted by Eiji83

Maybe PGR3 has more jaggies than other games because its scaled internally from 1024x600 to 1280x720 unlike the other games which are rendered directly at 1280x720.

That would explain it. Why the hell did they do that?

[Stereo Steve]

I'm dissapointed to be honest. Never really got into the hype but was lucky to pick up a premium with PGR3. I guess I'm dissapointed with the game really. It's far too easy for a start, although I guess Live will cure that. Also, the noise when playing is unbearable. I've had a bit more of a go tonight and everyone is in bed so I had to keep it down. The console noise is quite stressful after a while. I gather this is just PGR3 though but is this the thing pushed to it's max?

Anyway, I'll keep an open mind and await Recon, which is the real reason I'm after one. Starting to wish I had bought COD2 now instead of PGR to be honest.

I wonder is the version 2 360 will be quieter, as later versions of both Xbox and PS2 were?

Love the controller, the remote and the interface, although I can't recover my live account for some reason.

Yeah, it's a good machine, if noisy. PGR3 is a letdown though so far for me. Most challenges completed easilly on gold at first or second attempt!

love this machine, and yes the fans are noisey, dont no why microsoft didnt put in some quiter ones, controller ace, 9/10 for the console would give it 10/10 , but those fans are just to loud especially when playin pgr3, mind u some people saying there console running quite, has microsoft used 2 differnt types of fans ??

[harrisuk]

I am loving these threads The multiplayer on PDZ is awesome try playing Dark Ops

Yes Halo 2 is a great game but there is so much in Live PDZ. It would take me all night to go over it. For people that cant put the effort in its a shame because it really is amazing if you take the time to play it properly.

As for the people moaning about noise and the graphics I dont know really I have condemmed and PDZ running on my HD projector at 1080i and they look brilliant. At least as good as top end PC visuals if not better. As for the noise this is basically a PC people. I have mine in a cupboard and I cant even hear it. Maybe because I have a decent sound setup or maybe because I have a decent storage solution for my AV gear Or maybe I an deaf Or maybe because I dont sit 3 feet away from it

I havent even noticed any sound from it to be honest above the levels of the original xbox. I am sat at my P.C now and I wish people could hear the noise. It has 6 fans !

I really dont know what people expect. This is a stripped down high end P.C for £280 Quid. May I be the first to say it. I am going to have a good laugh when the PS3 is launched at the end of next year at twice the price of the 360 with no notiticable improvement in the graphics.

Some people seem to want the impossible. An enourmous leap in graphical capabilities for no money. The machine cost the same as my last graphics card for my P.C

Lets dig this thread out then and see what people say in 12 months time when the PS3 comes out shall we

Sorry if this has been a bit of a rant but I keep seing these threads. All this forum seems to be these days is moaning, about pre orders, about anything really. It could start driving away some of the core following if we are not careful.

[LEEMJONES]

Glad you all (well most) seem to be enjoying your 360. Im off to bed now to dream about where my ASDA order is?? NO damn parcel tracking!

[SoleFever]

I would give the console a solid 9/10 it's briliant and i have yet to huck it up to High Def . I dident get PGR3 as im not a racing fan so i went with PDO instead and again the game rocks when you get into it , also has a great online mode. I love the controller it gets a 10/10 from me. About the fan issue i did notice that mine was noiser when it was on it's side and alot more quiet when standing, i actually expected it to make a fair bit of noise but it;s nothing that spoils anything for me, and i imagine the PS3 may suffer from the same problem.So all in all i am 100% happy with my XBox 360

[glazza]

I am loving the 360 and the games i bought with it today and from what ive seen theres been nothing that has been short of stunning.I have a ATI 800xt in my pc with 2 gig of ram and a intel 64 3.2 processor but when i seen call of duty 2 today on 360 it blew me away and took the mick out of the pc version.As for the noise not as bad as some make out and Live is cool also much slicker.Controllers are fantastic and PDZ is awesome and cant understand why so many peeps dont like it the game has so much to offer its frightning.

Can go on all night but for me im over the moon as they say.

G.

[Sunshinewelly]

I have to say that i have spent the last 4 hours with a large grin on my face.

i was lucky enough to have a good mate pick up a premium pack with kameo and PDZ from ASDA. He even let me have 10% off the price. ( i still have on eon preorder from Amazon - 18th August 2005 - but i had to change my card details and lost my place in the queue.)

I also ordered PGR3 from tesco which arrived this morning.

Anyway what can i say i have just had the most amazing time ever on this machine.

I have had consoles ever since i was a kid ie spectrum 48, commodore 64 etc and have purchased every console since. I even bought a Amiga 32 and a 3D0 which are now sitting in my garrage.

The xbox 360 has made more of an impact om me than any other system.

I base this judgement on simply playing PGR3 (haven't played nothing else yet).

For the last 6 months i have been heavilly into my PC gaming (and i admit a large portion of the games i have played have been downloaded- i thought that i had given enough to the games industry over the years so why not get something back).

Anyway i have a fairly new spec PC which before i played the 360 was the ultimate gaming rig i had played.

This evening though i found i could not stop smiling. I have played PC online games for a while but that pales into comparison with xbox live. Just had the most amazing time just playing PG3 live simply listening to the players comments - i had a ball.

My original intention was to get the xbox360 and make a quick buck on ebay. That is not going to happen now however. I now intend to keep this badboy and enjoy it.

[Munkey Boy]

So my impressions after a good solid 13 hour session on and off...

Hardware: Alot smaller than I was expecting actually, the concave sides really give the impression of a compact machine. Looks pretty good overall, but the controllers are designed to perfection.

Dashboard: Is there anything MS haven't thought of? Well, actually yes, it'd be nice if you could download Marketplace stuff in the background, but aside from that, there's so much to see and try out - mostly for free. Options galore. Streaming from PC works great. HD trailers are great. Guide blade that is ever present works really well, and can be called up any time except in back compat mode.

Games: PGR3 - what can I say - stunning. Such a leap forward, the detail if you look is incredible, and it just feels so right to drive.
CoD2 - blown away again; a real cinematic experience and so intense.
PDZ - not got me yet, I'm having trouble getting into it. Can't seem to progress really.
Condemned - maybe the biggest surprise for me, I'm really enjoying it, even more than I thought I might, and the visuals and audio are outstanding, really adds to the atmos.
Live Arcade - played a few, the mrs loves the idea of this.
Back compat - played a few flawless games of Pro Evo 5, online and off. Slight improvement in gfx, but not so you'd notice really.

All in all, I'm even more impressed than I hoped I would be as it all works so well together, though the naysayers had me doubting for a while. How anyone can claim this isn't a massive leap forward from Xbox is beyond me - see it in proper 720p on a 32" screen or up, and it's gorgeous. Not really been online much yet, so that comes tomorrow!

Munkey Boy =

[windfall]

I guess with regards to the comments I made about PGR3 I am running the game via the crappy composite cables that you get with the core package.

By about wed of next week I should get my order for the Component cables so I will try the xbox 360 on my Sony PJ in my lounge again.

I have started getting into PGR3 but will get stuck into COD2 tomorrow, I know my Son will be on it for a while,so no doubt he will teach me!!

Is it true that we cant play xbox games on it until a hard drive is fitted?

Cheers

Tone

[Munkey Boy]

Originally Posted by tonetrainer

Is it true that we cant play xbox games on it until a hard drive is fitted?

Yeah, unfortunately the emulation software is on the hard drive, so no backwards compatability without a hard drive.

[windfall]

Originally Posted by Lorenzini

Yeah, unfortunately the emulation software is on the hard drive, so no backwards compatability without a hard drive.

Well I did order the hard disk today after a trawl around the shops in central Milton Keynes!

I couldnt get one anywhere! I went online this eve and the usual suspect did not have them, went on ebay - saw one for sale for Buy Now at £120.P**s taking martha foc*er!!

So I checked theold woolies site and it will now be here on Tuesday along with the wireless bridge.

Thanks for putting me straight on that!

Tone
Better go to bed now!!

[corh5]

Originally Posted by harrisuk

Sorry if this has been a bit of a rant but I keep seing these threads. All this forum seems to be these days is moaning, about pre orders, about anything really. It could start driving away some of the core following if we are not careful.

It's ok for you to say that when you've got one. Trying tell that to people who ordered months ago from Amazon and are left empty handed or even worse a load of games and no console

[recruit]

Very impressed with the XBOX 360 Kameo has the best looking graphics IMO and i love the gameplay on it, also i am enjoying Need for Speed which is very fast.

Overall top console and Microsoft must be very pleased at what is the most advanced console on the Planet and i am sure it will give the PS3 a good run for it's money

In every way this is an impressive piece of kit, from the fabulous menu structure to the graphic splendour to the seamless integration with Xbox Live.

All the software I have bought, PGR3, COD2 and Madden 06 is absolutely first rate stuff and in an overall different class to anything I've played before.

I would be even more impressed, however, if I had been able to spend more time yesterday playing games rather than chasing an HD lead.

My original pre-order fell through and I managed to find a Premium system last week that turned out to be a Core system when the store manager actually saw what had been delivered...

I was still happy about this - how many people who want to be in my shoes, after all - but this meant a day long search for an HDD and HD lead, wireless controller etc.

The HDD and controller were quite easy to source but the HD lead was virtually impossible to find.

I can maybe see that producing consoles in high volumes is not an easy task, but an HD lead - purleese!

360's a great, great console, but Microsoft has clearly not covered all the logistical bases.

Originally Posted by corh5

It's ok for you to say that when you've got one. Trying tell that to people who ordered months ago from Amazon and are left empty handed or even worse a load of games and no console

I agree completely.

I managed to track down a 360, but my views stay the same that this is a botched up launch that has let down many hundreds of thousands of people on a global scale.

The ridiculously small amount of hardware that was available yesterday was totally unacceptable when one considers we are talking about one of the world's largest and most successful companies here.

The 360 is just a stupendous achievement, completely compromised by a premature arrival on World markets.

[mjw123]

Wow - fantastic thread guys, superb feedback...keep it coming. In the main it would seem everyone is pretty impressed. Just one or two niggless over the Jaggies on PGR3.....i'm using 720p on my LCD screen & am seeing it a bit. Sounds like COD2 & PDZ are big favourites....as one guy said we need to remember this is effectively a high end PC for just £280 so we need to put things in perspective.

Out of interest has anyone tried the DVD player (i somehow doubt it !)....just wondered how that performs via component.

Is the remote control up to much haven't even bothered with it......so much to it....so little time so far !!

Finally the ability to turn it off from the wireless controller is just awesome...lovely touch

[Malone]

Not going to go overboard,


but its AWSOME everything about the 360 fulfills expectations (which were really high) seamless live integration is fantastic, graphics and gameplay on both PDZ and PGR3 are brilliant, played some PDZ deathmatch last night which was immense fun .

The 1 and only gripe which no doubt will get sorted was the live talk which was echoey for the most part.

All in all an essential purchase for any gamer bloody brilliant

Matt

[The Ironduke]

I think its a quality piece of kit with great potential, but im letting a work mate have mine at rrp as hes a die hard gamer and has been a complete sadgit since his preorder got cancelled.

I shall get one when the catalogue is abit bigger and has more variety, probably in late January