The Next Xbox

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Kodos

From what I remember of your record online in Madden PS2, it's not just the Xbox controller that's the problem for you.

nicely done. i've played VPI as well, i think (in NCAA), and he wiped his ass on me. :o

[Bee]

I believe the Japanese video game market is around 15-20% of the entire market while the US is around 45%. The Japanese market isn't as big as the US market, but it's still pretty influential.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Tho, I do enjoy seeing numbers like this:

Yes, your obsessive hatred of all things Microsoft-related is well-known.

[ice4277]

Sega Saturn 2 will own you.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

i'm also supporting XBox cuz i don't want to buy foreign. i rather give Bill Gates more of my money than some foreign company, and one in Asia, no less.

i can make a premature decision about which console i'm going to buy because i'm going to get whichever console my friends get, which will most suredly be the 360. they all got better on XBox games cuz they were used to the controllers.

Someone tell me HA is just parodying himself - no one can actually be this stupid... right ?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Yes, your obsessive hatred of all things Microsoft-related is well-known.

Only difference is that I don't hide my obvious biases under the guise of neutrality.

SI

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Someone tell me HA is just parodying himself - no one can actually be this stupid... right ?

what stupid about it - for once i'd like to support an American-based company so that we can cut a shrare of the market with foreign competitors. not like XBox is inferior to what Sony will put out, by and large they're of the same quality so its not like i'm sacrificing anything. this is one of those thigns where, all things being equal, i'm going to purchase a product from an American company rather than another Japanese electronic gadget.

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

what stupid about it - for once i'd like to support an American-based company so that we can cut a shrare of the market with foreign competitors. not like XBox is inferior to what Sony will put out, by and large they're of the same quality so its not like i'm sacrificing anything. this is one of those thigns where, all things being equal, i'm going to purchase a product from an American company rather than another Japanese electronic gadget.

What if Bill Gates was black? Then what would you buy?

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

What if Bill Gates was black? Then what would you buy?

That's a funny picture.

[Coop]

http://img194.echo.cx/my.php?image=x...CEE&bor=8877AA

http://img194.echo.cx/my.php?image=x...CEE&bor=8877AA

http://img194.echo.cx/my.php?image=x...CEE&bor=8877AA

http://img194.echo.cx/my.php?image=x...CEE&bor=8877AA

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

What if Bill Gates was black? Then what would you buy?

yes. i'm not racist. in the words of Jerry Magwire:

"I LOVE BLACK PEOPLE!!!!"

[Anthony]

I like the new 360 controller. that looks like something that'd feel comfortable in my hands, like the PS2 controller.

[Coop]

- US&EU release this year, JAP release in December
- No price announced, but they know they have to price it right if they want it to sell
- Wants to be number 1 this time
- Stand up, lie down , no PS2-like stand
- 10-16 games at lauch, 40 within 6 months after launch
- Xbox Live fully integrated (stuff we alredy know, silver/gold and so)
- Same size as original PS2
- Costomizable frontplates - gamebased frontplates like Pd0m Pgr3 and halo 3.
- Controller DOES have rumble (of course)
- Wants 50% of all Xbox owners to use the LIVE-function - 8%uses it now..

*It will be released in europe 7 days after USA
*December release in Japan
*Its released in less than six months
*Release games: Perfect Dark Zero, PGR3 and Kameo
*10-16 game titles at the release. 40 games after half a year.
*The Xbox Silver thingy is correct, it will be there, and free.
*You will be able to transfer stuff from an ipod.
*You will see TV thru your Xbox.
*It can stand up and lie down.
*When you watch DVD, some stuff in the console will automaticly shut down - so its more quiet.
*You load the batteries on the controllers up via USB-cable on Xbox. You can also use simple batteries.
*The round thingy on the controller = "The ring of light". Its actually a screen, which says if there are any updates on Xbox Live. Downl. content and such. It also says which controllers there are in your hands, which number.
*Rallisport Challenge 3 will be on Xbox 360.
*The Darkness from swedish Starbreeze (Riddick).
*Peter Moore confirms Halo 3.

- Wireless is standard.
- Is a bit smaller.
- Same plastic feeling and analoge buttons.
- The old white and blak buttons now work as an extra set of shoulder buttons.
- The button in the middle is called "The Ring of Light" and indicates what controller you are holding and if you have any invites or other Live related stuff.
- Rumble.
- Rumble can be adjusted to save battery.
- Comes with two rechargeable AA batteries.
- Is recharged through on of the systems USB ports. It doesn't say anything about a cable or base.

* Circle of light button takes you directly to the dashboard.
* Starbreeze, the Swedish team behind Riddick, are working on a The Darkness (comic) title that's supposed to be great
* Fable, directors cut is supposedly being worked on by Peter Molyneux. Live enabled.
* (PS2 news) God of War 2 is being, created. Not known if its to PS2 or 3.
* No HD-DVD support mentioned in article, all other formats though, +JPEG CD.
* Prepared for WiFi 802.11 and high definiton video camera (1280 pixels wide).
* Upgradeable, removable 20GB harddrive (!).
* 12x DVD
* Some kind of memory card, atleast 64mb...?
* Every game ever made for the X360 will support 16:9, 720p, 1080i and the possibility to listen to a personal soundtrack while playing

Sorry if some things repeat i was copying and pasting from various sites

[Anthony]

wow...thanks Coop. i like where the 360 is going. i went from wanting a 360 so i could trade in my current XBox that's collecting dust to wanting it because its awesome.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

I like the new 360 controller. that looks like something that'd feel comfortable in my hands, like the PS2 controller.

Looks almost identical to a Wavebird mimus the little ridge at the bottom. Three control sticks at identical locations. The only big difference is that the Gamecube went with one big button and three around it rather than 4 buttons in a diamond shape.

SI

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Looks almost identical to a Wavebird mimus the little ridge at the bottom. Three control sticks at identical locations. The only big difference is that the Gamecube went with one big button and three around it rather than 4 buttons in a diamond shape.

SI

the big clunky XBox controller just isn't intuitive for playing sports games. just aren't placed well. no need for it to be that big. i liked the smaller controller, fwiw, but i still struggled to play games on it.

[Bee]

Originally Posted by Coop

*You will see TV thru your Xbox.

Whoa! It's translucent!

Originally Posted by Coop

*It can stand up and lie down.

And it obeys orders!

Count me in!

[Coop]

It has tivo on it IIRC..that's what it means

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Coop

- Costomizable frontplates - gamebased frontplates like Pd0m Pgr3 and halo 3.

This will prove to be a decent marketing gimmick, I think. GBA, Gamecube, and now DS sales have each experienced a little jump whenever they released new colors. To have entirely new skins, this should work well. Great job to go after an untapped market. Certainly not a killer ap, but some people will see "shiny" and buy, plus you can make a few bucks on the side later on in the X360's life when people are getting bored with their skin. Like idiots who pay money for ringtones or cell phone skins.

- Controller DOES have rumble (of course)

Ugh. I'll have to see this in action, provided they're talking about the wireless. Wireless controllers with rumble eat batteries. I love my Wavebird to death. One of the reasons why is that I replace my batteries maybe once every 15 hours and that's a huge selling point to me. Also, this begs the question about the PS2 rumble lawsuit a while back...

*Release games: Perfect Dark Zero, PGR3 and Kameo

About freaking time. Then again, from what I understand, Rare is a mess right now. Or at least they were a couple of years ago and that's why a lot of their good devs left for Free Radical (Timesplitters).

*You will see TV thru your Xbox.

Huh?

*The round thingy on the controller = "The ring of light". Its actually a screen, which says if there are any updates on Xbox Live. Downl. content and such. It also says which controllers there are in your hands, which number.

Interesting gimmick. Again, I wonder how long the batteries will last on the wireless controllers.

- Is recharged through on of the systems USB ports. It doesn't say anything about a cable or base.

That's pretty nifty. Recharges like a Palm or some digicams. Do you have to have the XBox on for it to charge?

* Fable, directors cut is supposedly being worked on by Peter Molyneux. Live enabled.

Way back when, Nintendo lost a lot of "street cred" early because it doesn't have a DVD player. Yet the DVD players for both the PS2 and XBox kindof suck and very few people I know still use theirs- maybe as a 2nd or 3rd in their room, but not a good primary one. Same with no reverse compatibility to the N64 or older systems. Will XBox have that same problem? They seem to have good spin doctors so they may just throw this away.

In that case, I wonder if the non-backwards compatibility was a good idea, in some respects. They can then sell "remastered" editions of games like Halo or KOTOR for $20 with minimal cost to remake them. I bet we will see this in the near future: "Classic Remake". Hell, Nintendo already does it with NES games on the GBA and it has been done in the past (FF collections on PSX, Dreamcast games on all systems, etc).

* Upgradeable, removable 20GB harddrive (!).

I think this is a decent gamble- it's a way to get people to pay $400+ for a system at startup. "Mom, it's only $300, now go get me a hard drive, second controller, mem card, and a couple of games". It worked last gen: everyone was ok with paying extra for a mem card, this time people will do the same for a hard drive.

SI

[Pyser]

seeing your tv through the xbox sounds like a dvr function to me....especially since it should play mpeg4 and has a harddrive...

[Bee]

Originally Posted by Coop

It has tivo on it IIRC..that's what it means

That was my guess, but it was too funny of a statement to let pass.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I think this is a decent gamble- it's a way to get people to pay $400+ for a system at startup. "Mom, it's only $300, now go get me a hard drive, second controller, mem card, and a couple of games". It worked last gen: everyone was ok with paying extra for a mem card, this time people will do the same for a hard drive.

But if the hard drive is removeable and portable, why would you bother with a memory card if you're gonna drop some scratch on the HD in the first place?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

But if the hard drive is removeable and portable, why would you bother with a memory card if you're gonna drop some scratch on the HD in the first place?

I think they're just offering the mem card just because that's expected but they really expect people to eat up the hard drive. So, this time around, everyone has to buy a hard drive instead of a mem card.

Just like when you buy a camera these days, they come with a 16 or 32mb media card but you just accept that you have to buy a 256/512/1GB as an expense.

SI

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I think they're just offering the mem card just because that's expected but they really expect people to eat up the hard drive. So, this time around, everyone has to buy a hard drive instead of a mem card.

Just like when you buy a camera these days, they come with a 16 or 32mb media card but you just accept that you have to buy a 256/512/1GB as an expense.

SI

Hmm. Wouldn't it make a certain amount of sense, then, if you're trying to encourage people to buy the hard drive, to pack in the 64 MB memory card, and then sell the various HD sizes separately? Why sell a 64 MB memory card if you're going to have various HD's starting at 20 gigs also on the market separately?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Hmm. Wouldn't it make a certain amount of sense, then, if you're trying to encourage people to buy the hard drive, to pack in the 64 MB memory card, and then sell the various HD sizes separately? Why sell a 64 MB memory card if you're going to have various HD's starting at 20 gigs also on the market separately?

You've still gotta hit the bargain market- the people who don't sit there and play franchise modes on Madden and who don't care about downloading levels of games that weren't good enough to make it into the game originally. I'm guessing the hard drive will be $50+ so throwing a $20 mem card out there for those people who wanted to have an XBox the first day but don't want to spend the $50+ have an alternative.

I think we will still see some various HD sizes at some point but it's early.

SI

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Only difference is that I don't hide my obvious biases under the guise of neutrality.

SI

What the fuck are you talking about? I never hid the fact I worked for Microsoft or claimed neutrality at that time. I'm obviously not going to be neutral having worked there before, but since I no longer have a personal stake in the success of the Xbox, my interest has shifted to being a lot more neutral than it was before. Do I favor the Xbox over anything Sony produces? At this point, yes - but if Sony (or Nintendo) makes a clearly superior system in the PS3 (or Revolution) compared to the Xbox360 I'll say so. My interest in this area is primarily about having the best gaming system to choose from.

[Anthony]

i love lamp.

[Marc Vaughan]

The new Xbox rocks imho - its a cool bit of kit, got an incredible amount of power, decent memory available and the development is based upon pseudo-Mac hardware (its basically a multi-processor G4 system with a nifty graphics unit).

I have an Xbox I at home and have been very impressed with it, from what I know of the Xbox II it'll be a great system - especially if its got a hard-disk and backward compatibility with Xbox I (would require the HD, but emulation via. a G4 processor is definitely possible).

[dawgfan]

Perhaps backward compatibility is a big carrot to get people to buy the hard drive add-on...

[General Mike]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I'm with you on the HD TV, we are getting a new house in the next 1-3 years and I'll have to wait.. but I have been saving.

I'll get the Xbox 360 and the big jump on Sony will put Microsoft on the map. The "next gen" games will have the new Xbox 360 flying off shelves.


Todd

I don't know about that one. I really think alot of people will hold out for the PS3, just like when the Dreamcast came out, alot held out for the PS2.

[Easy Mac]

But before the Dreamcast, Sega had the Saturn, which was a bust, while Sony had the Playstation. The gap between perceptions of the Xbox-PS2 isn't nearly as big as Saturn-PS.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by General Mike

I don't know about that one. I really think alot of people will hold out for the PS3, just like when the Dreamcast came out, alot held out for the PS2.

Could be, but part of that was lack of support from some major game publishers - no EA Sports titles for example. It will obviously be critical for Microsoft to have some kick-ass titles available early on to drive early adoption and get some momentum going before the PS3 hits the market, and so far they're in a better position with regard to 3rd part game support than Sega was with the Dreamcast.

[ice4277]

At this point in time, I favor my Xbox over my PS2. Does that make me more likely to buy the 360 at launch? A little. But since I only see in my future enough of a budget for one console, I probably will wait and see. I think a lot of people will do the same.

That being said, I think both systems are going to be pretty damn good, and I can't see being disappointed with either.

[MizzouRah]

http://msxb.wmod.llnwd.net/a274/o2/ourcolony/TheColony_v1_750k.wmv

Yeah, I'll be in line on release day.


Todd

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Coop

*Release games: Perfect Dark Zero, PGR3 and Kameo
*Rallisport Challenge 3 will be on Xbox 360.
*The Darkness from swedish Starbreeze (Riddick).
*Peter Moore confirms Halo 3.

Aww, no mention of the Ghost Recon 3 shots they showed in the MTV bit tonight? I feel left out...

[Coop]

Wow, all the games expect for maybe 2 or 3 looked like this gen.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by Coop

Wow, all the games expect for maybe 2 or 3 looked like this gen.

I would expect them to look like that. Since the MTV broadcast wasn't in HD, added detail from HD would be lost. I'd be willing to bet it will look 100% better in person. In fact, I think I saw something about a partnership with Samsung, where there will be a HD set in every store for live demos.

[SackAttack]

Just got this in my inbox. I'll bold the amusing or otherwise interesting parts. I trust determining which is which will be self-explanatory.

Originally Posted by Microsoft Press Release

NEW YORK — May 12, 2005 — Celebrating the dawn of a new era in entertainment, millions of game fanatics around the globe came together tonight for the televised unveiling of the Xbox 360™ future-generation game and entertainment system from Microsoft. An audience of millions watched “MTV Presents: The Next-Generation Xbox Revealed” as celebrities, professional athletes, musicians and Xbox officials took the wraps off the much-anticipated system, ending months of intense speculation and satiating consumers worldwide.

The new Xbox 360 system places players at the center of powerful next-generation games and entertainment experiences. The elegant design features a breakthrough wireless controller and an array of Faces, interchangeable faceplates that let gamers personalize their console. The unveiling spotlighted some of the groundbreaking games in development for the new Xbox 360 system, advancements for the Xbox Live™ service — the only unified console gaming service— and new digital media experiences that only Xbox 360 can deliver.

“With the first generation of Xbox, our ambition was to change the way people think about video games,” said Robbie Bach, chief Xbox officer at Microsoft. “Starting today with Xbox 360, our ambition is to transform the way people play games and have fun.”

Xbox 360 will unleash the greatest game lineup in the history of video games when it launches in North America, Europe and Japan this Christmas holiday. The games that captured the color, drama and fun of high-definition gameplay at the MTV unveiling included 2K Sports’ “NBA 2K6”; Activision Publishing Inc.’s “Call of Duty® 2” and “Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland™”, along with id Software’s “QUAKE 4™”; Electronic Arts’ “Madden NFL 06,” “Need for Speed™ Most Wanted” and “Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 06”; Majesco Entertainment’s “The Darkness”; Microsoft Game Studios’ “Perfect Dark: Zero™,” “Kameo™: Elements of Power™,” “Project Gotham Racing™ 3” and “Gears of War”; THQ Inc.’s “Saint’s Row”; and Ubisoft Entertainment’s “Ghost Recon 3.”

The Platform and Partners Power the Portfolio

Xbox 360 ignites a new era of digital entertainment that is always connected, always personalized and always in high definition. It is the only system designed with a singular platform vision that combines the most-powerful hardware with intelligent software and services advancements.

Every Xbox 360 game is designed for high-definition, wide-screen televisions. Regardless of the television Xbox 360 connects to, gamers will experience smooth, cinematic experiences that far exceed anything they’ve seen or felt in games before. And these experiences are never more than a click away. The Xbox Guide Button is the launch pad that connects gamers to their games, friends and music from the wireless controller.

With more than one teraflop of system-floating point performance, a three-core PowerPC-based CPU for the most-advanced artificial intelligence and physics processing, a custom ATI graphics processor, and more than 512 MB of memory for the ultimate in visual fidelity, the Xbox 360 hardware is a perfect blend of power, elegance and balance. Xbox 360 also features software so smart it remembers what gamers have achieved, continually evolving and enhancing the game experience. When the system is combined with unrivaled Microsoft® XNA™ software development tools, game creators can produce truly believable, thriving worlds.

Fabled game studios such as BioWare Corp., Bizarre Creations Ltd., Bungie Studios and Rare Ltd., as well as legendary Japanese game creators Hironobu Sakaguchi, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, and Yoshiki Okamoto, are harnessing the powerful Xbox 360 platform to create exclusive games for Microsoft Game Studios. Equally commanding, game-changing publishers such as 2K Games, Activision Publishing Inc., Capcom Co. Ltd., Electronic Arts, Tecmo Inc., Namco Hometek Inc., Rockstar Games, SEGA of America Inc., THQ and Ubisoft Entertainment — just to name a few — are flocking to Xbox 360.

“Xbox 360 marks the beginning of a renaissance in video games,” said Don Mattrick, president of Worldwide Studios for Electronic Arts. “The unbelievable Xbox 360 games in development at Electronic Arts will accelerate the industry’s mission to make video games the pre-eminent form of all entertainment.”

“With Xbox 360, a new chapter in video game history is being written,” said Kathy Vrabeck, president of Activision Publishing. “The platform liberates us to achieve new levels of graphics and gameplay so our audiences connect emotionally with more riveting stories, more believable characters and more open, living worlds.”

Xbox Live: New Levels of Service Get Everyone in the Game

Connect Xbox 360 to a broadband connection and get instant access to Xbox Live Silver, available for no monthly service charge with an Xbox 360 system. Players can express their digital identity through their Gamer Profile; connect with friends anytime, anywhere through Xbox Live voice chat; send and receive text and voice message; and access Xbox Live Marketplace to download demos and trailers along with new game levels, maps, weapons, vehicles, skins, classic arcade and card and board games, community-created content, and more to the detachable Xbox 360 hard drive — all right out of the box at no extra cost. Composed of user-generated information such as Achievements (rewards players have earned in games), Gamerzone (style of play), and a custom-created Gamertile (a visual icon to represent the gamer online), the Gamer Profile makes it easy to connect with the Xbox Live community.

Gamers who subscribe to the premium service, Xbox Live Gold, can experience the thrill of multiplayer online gameplay. Gamer Profiles will provide a foundation for intelligent matchmaking, so players of similar skill levels and interests can quickly and easily connect, and the Xbox Live Camera peripheral will let gamers add their faces into games and see their friends while they play. Other Xbox Live Gold features for premium members include video messaging; online tournaments and ladders; and exclusive, original programming such as playing with celebrities online and joining sponsored tournaments to win prizes. And all Xbox 360 owners new to Xbox Live will kick-start their experience with a free month of the full subscription service, which will let them experience the full power of Xbox Live.

Unlock a New World of Digital Entertainment

With Xbox 360, gamers are always on. At its core, Xbox 360 is an amazing game machine with a wide selection of titles. But it is also an entertainment system that lets people power new experiences. Every Xbox 360 system has built-in progressive-scan DVD movie, CD music and photo playback support. The integration of Xbox Live into the system lets players receive game invitations from friends while they’re watching movies or listening to music. And every MP3 player, digital camera and Windows® XP-based PC with a Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 port can plug right into an Xbox 360 system to stream music and photos.

In addition, with built-in Media Center Extender functionality in every system, Xbox 360 players can access recorded TV and digital movies, music, video and photos stored on Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005-based PCs through any Xbox 360 system in the house.

Xbox 360 also opens the door to incredible, new high-definition entertainment. In addition to optimizing all Xbox 360 games for high definition, Xbox 360 will stream high-definition TV and movies stored on Media Center PCs starting this holiday season. As high-definition entertainment becomes more pervasive, Microsoft will offer more ways to experience HDTV and movies in any room in the house, any way people want it. Whether it’s by the dropping of an optical disc in a drive, streaming to Xbox 360, or through broadband distribution, Xbox 360 will let players choose how to light up their high-definition content.

“Xbox 360 is a revolution that promises to ignite new levels of creativity, community and competition,” Bach said. “Tonight’s unveiling is a signal to the world that the next generation of gaming is here.”

About Xbox 360

Xbox 360 is the future-generation video game and entertainment system that places gamers at the center of the experience. Available this holiday season in North America, Europe and Japan, Xbox 360 will ignite a new era of digital entertainment that is always connected, always personalized and always in high definition.

About Xbox Live

Now in its third generation of transforming and uniting Xbox game communities, with more than 300 games planned by end of holiday 2005 and now with presence in 24 countries worldwide, Xbox Live has set the bar for online games entertainment. As the first global, unified online console games service, Xbox Live continues to take online gameplay and entertainment to unprecedented heights. With a rapidly growing global community, Xbox Live offers best-in-class games, intelligent matchmaking, tournaments, unique programming and integration with Xbox.com — there is simply nothing else like it. The service continues to provide more and more ways for members to meet, interact and stay engaged with each other.

The mention of downloadable content for Xbox Live Silver subscribers "right out of the box at no additional cost" intrigues. It *almost* suggests that the 20 GB HD might be built in, and perhaps larger units will be sold separately?

[Easy Mac]

I'm still pissed they don't open up media extenders beyond MCE. I paid good money to have XP Pro on my system, and I have no way of upgrading to MCE without completely uninstalling the OS and starting over from scratch. If they really want the media capabilities to shine, they need to open it up to streaming content from regular Windows instead of just MCE. Not that I really have use for it in the near future, since my TV will be about 5 feet away from my computer and I can just video out from the video card, it would still be nice.

[Coop]

The hd comes with every xbox 360

[SackAttack]

Yeah, Coop, that's what it sounds like. GameSpot is reporting that the spec sheet says as much, so that's encouraging.

Whether or not I buy at launch will probably just depend on the price thanks to that little tidbit.

[Chubby]

the press release suggests the HD comes with every XBox but I'd like to see something a little more concrete in firming up that detail.

[MizzouRah]

Yes, a 20GB HD in all Xbox 360's.


Todd

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by ice4277

Yeah but at the same time, most people, at least at this point, don't own HD sets.

Oh go do some work. I need traffic updates!

[ice4277]

Originally Posted by cartman

I would expect them to look like that. Since the MTV broadcast wasn't in HD, added detail from HD would be lost. I'd be willing to bet it will look 100% better in person. In fact, I think I saw something about a partnership with Samsung, where there will be a HD set in every store for live demos.

Yeah but at the same time, most people, at least at this point, don't own HD sets.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by ice4277

Yeah but at the same time, most people, at least at this point, don't own HD sets.

I think a lot more people will this Christmas. You can already get decent wide-screen versions of typical living room TV sizes (27" - 32") for well under $1000, and they are fast approaching $500. I think this Christmas will be the first season that people looking to replace a TV will mostly choose widescreen HD over 4:3 SD. I don't think it's quite to the point where people will replace a working TV with an HD just because, but if you're in the market for a TV, HD will be a much more likely choice. This looks like the season that HD ownership begins its steady climb.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by ice4277

Yeah but at the same time, most people, at least at this point, don't own HD sets.

To echo the other statement, pretty much all TVs that are sold now have HD capability, so anyone getting a new TV will get one that is HD capable. I forget the exact time frame, but I think it is by 2008 or 2009, all programming will have to be HD, so by that time just about everyone will have a HD set.

I was just pointing out that the games wouldn't look too impressive or revolutionary on the MTV show last night because the broadcast wasn't in HD.

[RPI-Fan]

Originally Posted by cartman

To echo the other statement, pretty much all TVs that are sold now have HD capability, so anyone getting a new TV will get one that is HD capable. I forget the exact time frame, but I think it is by 2008 or 2009, all programming will have to be HD, so by that time just about everyone will have a HD set.

I was just pointing out that the games wouldn't look too impressive or revolutionary on the MTV show last night because the broadcast wasn't in HD.

I don't agree with this. I bought a TV at Christmas time, a 32" flat-tube, and less than half in that size range were HD.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Ghost Recon 3 looks....good.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

I don't agree with this. I bought a TV at Christmas time, a 32" flat-tube, and less than half in that size range were HD.

That was last Christmas. And while they are still selling SD sets in that range, the price difference is narrowing fast. My prediction is that this coming Christmas you'll be able to buy a 32" flat-tube HDTV for pretty close to the same price you bought your SD set last Christmas.