XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

[Erv]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

I bet GTA 4 will have flying aircrafts.

And HD-DVD and Blu-ray drives are unlikely to be as fast as a 12x DVD drive, unless they're in multispeeds themselves, so I doubt the PS3 or Revolution will be any better off in streaming data rate either.

FYI, Saint's Row has no loading for indoor/outdoor transitions. Considering the amount of detail in the levels combined with GTA not quite removing this loading time (even with a hard drive), it seems to me that Volition tuned their engine for stuff other than flying. I would rather have no loading screens, than to have the ability to fly.

With this said, I wish the HDD came standard. I mean it's standard in Japan, so why not in NA or Europe?

I thought it's a matter of space, not speed. Developers are forced to stream because they are using up the whole disc using HD-cinemas/content on xbox360.

[Flawless]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

I thought it's a matter of space, not speed. Developers are forced to stream because they are using up the whole disc using HD-cinemas/content on xbox360.

"Last but not least, after we were told that there was no ability to fly aircrafts in the game due to the DVD drive’s inability to stream the environment fast enough in full 720p resolution."

http://www.aussiexbox.com.au/template_sec_games.cfm?

...

[Flawless]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

The problem here is it won't be supported by ALL developers like the HDD in the original Xbox was. Anytime you make something for a game system "optional" the support for it goes down the tube. This is going to hurt the Xbox2 in the long run.

The HDD in the Xbox was not utilized by every developer either. In fact it was far under-utilized.

This stuff is meaningless, and will be all forgoten once these systems come out, and people are playing these games. Nobody is going to give a **** about this.

[freezeframe]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

Yeah it sucks that the Japanese console all Xboxes come with hardrive

They will be building games for the lowest common denominator in the United States, the "core system". That means no caching content, no massive save files... It'll be restricted to saved games, music, and video. That's it. All those innovative gameplay features Microsoft hyped about the HD for the Xbox? Gone. You can sniff their butts all you want but as for me Im pissed about the Xbox not having a standard Hardrive

I think Microsoft is splintering the market and making it difficult for anyone who buys the system to feel totally confident

Scott Miller
CEO
3D Realms

"One word: Blunder. Developers will almost always cater to the lowest spec'ed system when it comes to consoles, so as to maximize the customer base. So, my guess is that few games will truly make significant use of the hard drive, given that it's an option that cannot be counted on."

[Erv]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

The HDD in the Xbox was not utilized by every developer either. In fact it was far under-utilized.

This stuff is meaningless, and will be all forgoten once these systems come out, and people are playing these games. Nobody is going to give a **** about this.

well think of the best xbox games...halo, kotor, morrowind, half-life 2, doom and the tom clancy franchises...all use heavy use of the hardrive.

[Flawless]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

well think of the best xbox games...halo, kotor, morrowind, half-life 2, doom and the tom clancy franchises...all use heavy use of the hardrive.

And...

[dagger55]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

three initals for you...

R.A.M.

xbox 360 has PLENTY of it

[Erv]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

And...

Just pointing out that the hardrive is the main thing that seperated xbox exclusives from the PS2/GC exclusive titles. Most of the highly regarded xbox exclusive used the hardrive and used it well, so not having it in the next console is a definite backwards step.

[Flawless]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

Just pointing out that the hardrive is the main thing that seperated xbox exclusives from the PS2/GC exclusive titles. Most of the highly regarded xbox exclusive used the hardrive and used it well, so not having it in the next console is a definite backwards step.

Okay, I see what you're saying, and I tend to agree with somewhat, but judging by the interviews with devs a choice had to made on wether to have 512MB of RAM or 256MB of RAM and an HDD.

All devs would take more RAM over an HDD.

[DXZeke]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

What I don't get is how a few here are slamming the 360 for not having a Hard Drive and that all this streaming will be it's downfall....

What about the PS3? They are doing the same thing.

MS is aiming for games to be in 720p and 1080i.
Sony is aiming for 1080i and 1080i dual slot.

Don't both systems have the same issues?

Why slam the 360 and MS saying they made a mistake? Sony is making the same one. Plus they have even less RAM than the 360.

Go figure. These topics on the systems make me laugh.

[Flawless]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

Plus they have even less RAM than the 360.

The PS3 has the same amount of RAM as the Xbox 360, it's just split. 256MB of XDR and 256MB of GDDR3.

[nemesis04]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

Just pointing out that the hardrive is the main thing that seperated xbox exclusives from the PS2/GC exclusive titles. Most of the highly regarded xbox exclusive used the hardrive and used it well, so not having it in the next console is a definite backwards step.

I agree! I think Microsoft is taking a big risk offering two price points. The main reason I feel there is a $299 price point, is so they can claim that they have a next gen system that does not exceed the current perceived value for a new system!

I did read that Microsoft was requiring developers to cater to both systems. People who had the hardrive would realize some faster load times and extra game features. I just hope that Microsoft holds them to it!

On a different note, I think this situation helps Sony tremendously because they get to see how the public responds to these two price points at launch time and they can react accordingly with their own next year.

This time around I do not feel that the company who releases the next system first has the major advantage.

[DXZeke]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

The PS3 has the same amount of RAM as the Xbox 360, it's just split. 256MB of XDR and 256MB of GDDR3.

True, but it's split up. The one 256 is having to take care of the cell chips. While the other 256 is taking care of the rest. That's how I thought i saw Sony and other tech sites point it out.

It's interesting to see how 360 has an extra 10meg on the video card for textures as well as the 512meg for it's main goods.

All in all, i just hope that both systems turn out good. Us consumers need it.
I PRAY, they'll cut the game prices back to 50 bucks though. Then sony talking about possibly 70 bucks for games. It just shows how money hungry this industry is getting.

[pfunk880]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

This time around I do not feel that the company who releases the next system first has the major advantage.

It didn't last time either. Dreamcast...

(I'm not saying 360 will go down the same way, just stating a fact.)

[SLAYER]

Re: XBOX 360 No Hardrive=DVD-speed affecting 720P,1080I Games

Sega was coming off some major losses before it launched the Dreamcast (Sega Saturn, Sega CD, Sega Channel, Sega 32X, Game Gear, Nomad, etc.), and the Playstation had altered the climate of gaming. The Xbox 360's chances of early and sustained dominance are MUCH better the Dreamcast, two-fold. Microsoft's petty cash is probably the net worth of Sega circa 1999. Microsoft is "in it to win it", so to speak. Will they? Who knows.

The PS3 will have most, if not all, of their games on Blu-Ray discs, and 360 games will be on DVD9. Now, I don't know exactly how it works, but I do know a BD-ROM can hold the contents of a DVD9. So even if the 360 games are developed with a HDD in mind, all of the data would still be contained on a single PS3 BD-ROM when ported over. I think..lol.