Xbox impressions

anthony256 · 15th March 2002, 2:46 PM

I thought I'd create this thread for everyone who brought/buys an Xbox for their impressions, ideas, etc.

I brought one here in Whyalla yesterday, and was the first one in Whyalla to actually walk out of Target (the only place stocking them) with one

. I'm very proud indeed.

I brought:
Xbox console
Halo (of course, I've been waiting YEARS for this, ever since I saw the first video on an Incite magazine cover cd).
Project Gotham Racing
and the Advanced AV Pack (for my Amplifier, for the S-Video and Digital Optical inputs).

Overall, this thing is SO GOD DAMN beautiful. Halo's graphics absolutely ball-kick PC's most advanced gfx engines at this time (Q3 engines RtCW, MOH:AA, Max Payne, etc). The sound is full on Dolby Digital 5.1 (I've got a Denon DTS/5.1 amp, speakers, sub the whole deal, and the sound is absolutely incredible).

You can hear marines behind you saying "Great shot", or "That was MY kill!" The explosions sound very bassy, and the rocks that blow out of the ground (outside levels) fly behind you and you hear them every bit of the way.

Now, the graphics...

Halo is the most awesomely detailed gaming environment ever. The levels are so detailed, and the objects (everything, walls, rocks, grass, trees, characters) are *very* highly detailed. Like in Unreal, with Detailed Textures enabled (on the pc) when you walk up to a wall, the detail is MUCH MORE detailed. You can see the waves/ripples in the water as it flows (!!!)

Walk up to a tree, and you SEE the bark textures. Walk onto the ice, and you see the icey bits shimmer. Look at the sun, walk behind a tree and the sun shines through the individual branches/leaves on the tree, seeing that is BEAUTIFUL.

It doesn't do justice until YOU'VE got control and can move around (against watching a video of Halo, or looking at a screenshot).

The menu system on the Xbox rocks, very inituative, easy, flashy, and cool. The controller... I'd say I have average sized hands, and they are big, but very, VERY comfortable after long playing times (I played Halo 7 hours straight last night, and I just came on here after a 3 hour bash at it) and my hands aren't sore at all.

The triggers on the bottom act like real triggers on a gun (not like I'd know) in Halo. The vibration is very good, being that there's 2 vibrating packs in the controller, one on each side.

I own a PS2 as well, and I'd say the Xbox controllers are definetly better, more comfortable, very easy to get used to compared to the PS2.

Now, when I first heard about Halo on the Xbox, I was pissed off. I thought "Oh, great, the ONE game I've waited for, and it's going to be a console controller, not a keyboard/mouse combo". Now, I've been using the mouse and keyboard since Quake1, YEARSSS ago, and after 15 minutes of playing Halo, I am now perfectly used to the Xbox controller. YES, it's not as fast as the PC mouse/kb combo, but it does the job perfectly.

The size of the console is not alarmingly big. I have a Toshiba SD-1300 DVD player, and it's wider from the front to the back of my DVD player (to compare size), and it's definetly bigger than the PS2.

But, think of the things that come in the Xbox that DON'T with the PS2...

8 gig HDD
4 controller ports
Broadband modem
WAY faster cpu, gfx card, DD 5.1

Overall, I think the Xbox rocks, and I will love it for years. I will be building up a very big library of games, considering most pc games are coming out on the Xbox (Unreal 2, DNF, etc, etc).

It's full on DD 5.1, which rocks, and it's got a configuarable GF3 card on it (for the software programmers to program new instructions for the chip).

I am MORE than extatic with my purchase, and don't regret it one bit. I think it's probably the best thing I've brought (and it's a damn bargain at $649 considering you get the HDD, GF3, and just there if you brought those 2 things for the PC you would've spent $649). But you get everything else too.

The Xbox is **AWESOME**!!!

talking goat · 15th March 2002, 3:53 PM

[rant]Well , I thought I might add my thoughs here also. Having owned consoles since sega master system, I have been able to see them progress though the years. I only became a pc man about 4years ago when I was living with a person with a decent pc and got onto the net. This was a big change for me and I took it on with a gusto. I am now an IT professional due to my "hobby" of messing with pc's. That said I still went out and bought a ps2 because I am a driving game fanatic and could'nt miss out on GT3. What an awesome game , and all I ever played on ps2.

Well yesterday I went and bought an xbox and halo plus an extra controle. What I would like to point out to the people who feel the need to flame console users is that many people like to have the ability to sit in a lounge chair with their BIGASS tv set with wicked sound system. Now your comback to that would be " I have a big monitor with much higher resolution and good sound card/speakers even an amp with proper stereo speakers. Thats fine. So do I. But still I love to be able to have a group of mates about and sit in my entertainment room taking turns blasting aliens or doing drift sessions , many of whom would'nt know the first thing about keyboard/mouse setups.

I love my pc , and always keep it cutting edge cpu/gpu and while I think that mohaa etc do look better than halo, I can see the advantages of playing it on a machine where you bang the cd in the drive and pick up the controler while sitting back in my fav lounge chair with awesome sound and bigscreen goodness. Add to this the fact that this console has brought the internet capabilities and that I have O@H, and its starting to look like a pretty good little (not as big as I thought after some comments I had read) console. Is just a shame my pc is so far away from the entertainment room , I have to set it up for gamespy up here then toddle off down the stairs to get into the action.

Now on the game/console. I must say that the game does'nt live up to MY expectations , but this is common. I would have hoped for a more free roaming environment and more outside missions. Honestly fed up with all the inside missions, but lovin every minute of the outside ones. Got 2 levels yet to complete. A friend and I have been at it since yesterday in co-operative mode mowing through the levels on the medium level. The single player seems much harder and I will enjoy doing it all over by myself once I can get rid of my mate

. the visuals are great , the sound is great, I did notice some slowdown in 2 player split in parts where heaps of actions , explosions etc were happening but not realy effecting the gameplay, just looking through the eyes of a crytic.

OVERALL I give the XBOX and HALO 8/10.
Lets see what they can do with the box once they can fully use all of its power. Another point of contention is , Why does HALO and other online games need a full 128kbs per player/console? To play CS or DOD or MOPHAA all you need is about 16kbs upstream so long as it is constant good latency. This dissapoints me. Not that I am going to share my screen with anyone when going online anyway but it seems a bit wrong to me. [rant/]

[KEi]SoVeReIgN · 15th March 2002, 4:12 PM

bastards.

neogeo · 17th March 2002, 1:03 AM

haahhaha...bastards i rekon
man i've been following halo ever since it was originally intended for the pc back in the days of tnt1-tnt2 , but f@#$ all i've been doing is reading about it neva even saw it in real life!!!!!!!!

anthony256 · 17th March 2002, 5:47 PM

neogeo - I just got off of my Xbox playing Halo, I just completed the game on Normal (that is the 2nd diffuculty of 4). I also heard 4 is supposed to be MAD. Very hard.

It kicked arse. Lived up to all of my expectations

I guarantee there will be a movie of Halo, because that would be awesome.

The graphics are simply kick arse, and the sound is just as great. The only thing I didn't like is that most of the game was confined to indoor levels... all the video's I saw of it ages ago were all outside with the trees/dirt/warthogs (the vehicles you see with the chaingun on the back).

Other than that, it's going to be sick on a LAN

15th March 2002, 2:46 PM	#1
anthony256 Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Adelaide Posts: 10,787	Xbox impressions I thought I'd create this thread for everyone who brought/buys an Xbox for their impressions, ideas, etc. I brought one here in Whyalla yesterday, and was the first one in Whyalla to actually walk out of Target (the only place stocking them) with one . I'm very proud indeed. I brought: Xbox console Halo (of course, I've been waiting YEARS for this, ever since I saw the first video on an Incite magazine cover cd). Project Gotham Racing and the Advanced AV Pack (for my Amplifier, for the S-Video and Digital Optical inputs). Overall, this thing is SO GOD DAMN beautiful. Halo's graphics absolutely ball-kick PC's most advanced gfx engines at this time (Q3 engines RtCW, MOH:AA, Max Payne, etc). The sound is full on Dolby Digital 5.1 (I've got a Denon DTS/5.1 amp, speakers, sub the whole deal, and the sound is absolutely incredible). You can hear marines behind you saying "Great shot", or "That was MY kill!" The explosions sound very bassy, and the rocks that blow out of the ground (outside levels) fly behind you and you hear them every bit of the way. Now, the graphics... Halo is the most awesomely detailed gaming environment ever. The levels are so detailed, and the objects (everything, walls, rocks, grass, trees, characters) are very highly detailed. Like in Unreal, with Detailed Textures enabled (on the pc) when you walk up to a wall, the detail is MUCH MORE detailed. You can see the waves/ripples in the water as it flows (!!!) Walk up to a tree, and you SEE the bark textures. Walk onto the ice, and you see the icey bits shimmer. Look at the sun, walk behind a tree and the sun shines through the individual branches/leaves on the tree, seeing that is BEAUTIFUL. It doesn't do justice until YOU'VE got control and can move around (against watching a video of Halo, or looking at a screenshot). The menu system on the Xbox rocks, very inituative, easy, flashy, and cool. The controller... I'd say I have average sized hands, and they are big, but very, VERY comfortable after long playing times (I played Halo 7 hours straight last night, and I just came on here after a 3 hour bash at it) and my hands aren't sore at all. The triggers on the bottom act like real triggers on a gun (not like I'd know) in Halo. The vibration is very good, being that there's 2 vibrating packs in the controller, one on each side. I own a PS2 as well, and I'd say the Xbox controllers are definetly better, more comfortable, very easy to get used to compared to the PS2. Now, when I first heard about Halo on the Xbox, I was pissed off. I thought "Oh, great, the ONE game I've waited for, and it's going to be a console controller, not a keyboard/mouse combo". Now, I've been using the mouse and keyboard since Quake1, YEARSSS ago, and after 15 minutes of playing Halo, I am now perfectly used to the Xbox controller. YES, it's not as fast as the PC mouse/kb combo, but it does the job perfectly. The size of the console is not alarmingly big. I have a Toshiba SD-1300 DVD player, and it's wider from the front to the back of my DVD player (to compare size), and it's definetly bigger than the PS2. But, think of the things that come in the Xbox that DON'T with the PS2... 8 gig HDD 4 controller ports Broadband modem WAY faster cpu, gfx card, DD 5.1 Overall, I think the Xbox rocks, and I will love it for years. I will be building up a very big library of games, considering most pc games are coming out on the Xbox (Unreal 2, DNF, etc, etc). It's full on DD 5.1, which rocks, and it's got a configuarable GF3 card on it (for the software programmers to program new instructions for the chip). I am MORE than extatic with my purchase, and don't regret it one bit. I think it's probably the best thing I've brought (and it's a damn bargain at $649 considering you get the HDD, GF3, and just there if you brought those 2 things for the PC you would've spent $649). But you get everything else too. The Xbox is AWESOME!!!

15th March 2002, 3:53 PM	#2
talking goat Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Brisbane Posts: 1,331	[rant]Well , I thought I might add my thoughs here also. Having owned consoles since sega master system, I have been able to see them progress though the years. I only became a pc man about 4years ago when I was living with a person with a decent pc and got onto the net. This was a big change for me and I took it on with a gusto. I am now an IT professional due to my "hobby" of messing with pc's. That said I still went out and bought a ps2 because I am a driving game fanatic and could'nt miss out on GT3. What an awesome game , and all I ever played on ps2. Well yesterday I went and bought an xbox and halo plus an extra controle. What I would like to point out to the people who feel the need to flame console users is that many people like to have the ability to sit in a lounge chair with their BIGASS tv set with wicked sound system. Now your comback to that would be " I have a big monitor with much higher resolution and good sound card/speakers even an amp with proper stereo speakers. Thats fine. So do I. But still I love to be able to have a group of mates about and sit in my entertainment room taking turns blasting aliens or doing drift sessions , many of whom would'nt know the first thing about keyboard/mouse setups. I love my pc , and always keep it cutting edge cpu/gpu and while I think that mohaa etc do look better than halo, I can see the advantages of playing it on a machine where you bang the cd in the drive and pick up the controler while sitting back in my fav lounge chair with awesome sound and bigscreen goodness. Add to this the fact that this console has brought the internet capabilities and that I have O@H, and its starting to look like a pretty good little (not as big as I thought after some comments I had read) console. Is just a shame my pc is so far away from the entertainment room , I have to set it up for gamespy up here then toddle off down the stairs to get into the action. Now on the game/console. I must say that the game does'nt live up to MY expectations , but this is common. I would have hoped for a more free roaming environment and more outside missions. Honestly fed up with all the inside missions, but lovin every minute of the outside ones. Got 2 levels yet to complete. A friend and I have been at it since yesterday in co-operative mode mowing through the levels on the medium level. The single player seems much harder and I will enjoy doing it all over by myself once I can get rid of my mate . the visuals are great , the sound is great, I did notice some slowdown in 2 player split in parts where heaps of actions , explosions etc were happening but not realy effecting the gameplay, just looking through the eyes of a crytic. OVERALL I give the XBOX and HALO 8/10. Lets see what they can do with the box once they can fully use all of its power. Another point of contention is , Why does HALO and other online games need a full 128kbs per player/console? To play CS or DOD or MOPHAA all you need is about 16kbs upstream so long as it is constant good latency. This dissapoints me. Not that I am going to share my screen with anyone when going online anyway but it seems a bit wrong to me. [rant/]

15th March 2002, 4:12 PM	#3
[KEi]SoVeReIgN Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Sydney Posts: 7,272	bastards.

17th March 2002, 1:03 AM	#4
neogeo Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Sydney Posts: 795	haahhaha...bastards i rekon man i've been following halo ever since it was originally intended for the pc back in the days of tnt1-tnt2 , but f@#$ all i've been doing is reading about it neva even saw it in real life!!!!!!!!

17th March 2002, 5:47 PM	#5
anthony256 Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Adelaide Posts: 10,787	neogeo - I just got off of my Xbox playing Halo, I just completed the game on Normal (that is the 2nd diffuculty of 4). I also heard 4 is supposed to be MAD. Very hard. It kicked arse. Lived up to all of my expectations I guarantee there will be a movie of Halo, because that would be awesome. The graphics are simply kick arse, and the sound is just as great. The only thing I didn't like is that most of the game was confined to indoor levels... all the video's I saw of it ages ago were all outside with the trees/dirt/warthogs (the vehicles you see with the chaingun on the back). Other than that, it's going to be sick on a LAN