A little more complicated then one would think…
I’ve been trying to make sense of this for sometime now, and only finally understood it. Microsoft have tried to get one over Sony in the HD (High Definition) war, and to be honest they’re hammering them hilariously. Although MS forgot to mention that 1080p wouldn’t be as simple as most people would have thought. The techy geeks knew it would be a complicated matter, and to be fair - it bloomin is. Depending on the method you’re using to connect the Xbox 360 to your TV set, you’ll obtain various results while watching films and playing games. I’ve been staring at a forum for what felt like hours last night and finally got my head around it.
360 with component cables:
- Xbox 360 games will be upscaled to 1080p, and games which are 1080p native will run without a hitch.
- HD-DVDs will run at a maximum of 1080i, which is due to the AACS DRM implemented into HD-DVD’s.
- DVD’s will only play at 480p, due to the CSS inside DVD’s, which prevents upscaling any higher…bummer.
360 with a VGA cable:
- DVD’s, games, as well as HD-DVD’s will display in full 1080p. Sweet!
Microsoft has been very quiet about this, and it’s obvious why. They know a lot of people use Component cables to connect the 360 to their HDTV, and to have DVD’s playing at 480p is quite frankly pathetic. However most people will already have separate DVD players anyway, so this situation isn’t that bad. MS were quite foolish not to have seen the HDMI bandwagon coming when they released the 360, and even bumbling giants Sony saw it. I wonder what the video quality will be like on the HD-DVD drive coming next month in November for the 360?
A weekend of gaming fun!
Two of my most long awaited titles for the Xbox 360 came out on Friday 8th. Dead Rising from Capcom and Test Drive: Unlimited from Atari. I can’t even say how long I’ve been looking forward to playing these two titles. So much so, that I ended up taking a holiday on Friday just so I could play them.
In Dead Rising you play the role of a freelance photographer Frank West. Trapped in a huge mall…teeming with zombies. I literally mean thousands and thousands of the buggers. There’s no way out, the US Military have barricaded the town so Frank and a handful of survivors have to fight for their very lives until the rescue chopper arrives in 72hrs. So you’ve got to survive for 72hrs and unravel just what on earth is going on here. EVERYTHING is your weapon!
Furniture, garden tools, toys, plates, chairs, knifes and the odd firearms here and there - use anything at your disposal to wipe out the zombie hoards. Sounds good doesn’t it? It’s all too similar to Dawn of the Dead too even though the developers say that the game isn’t related.
Test Drive: Unlimited is even more fun! Atari have seen fit to map out the entire island of Oahu with remarkable accuracy. There’s many car dealerships on the island and you can visit any of them at will, purchase a car, then a house to store your cars in and take part in a rather large array of races. The island is home to 60,000 players worldwide all hooked up by Xbox Live, and you can race against them at anytime you wish. It’s a brilliant game and hugely enjoyable, even though it’s suffered from teething problems right now with server issues.
Cruising down a beachside road in a Shelby GT500 during a sunset is a lovely experience. Ever dreamt of driving a supercar in a paradise island? You can now!
My 360 has never had a more thorough workout this weekend, and I’ve had a total blast playing both these games. Sadly the weekend ends now as I’ve got another busy week packed with meetings ahead of me. Boo 
My most recent purchase for my Xbox 360? Decalgirl.com has a lovely limited edition Mirrored Chrome Faceplate for purchase. It’s amazing metallic finish is just gorgeous and at night the 360 just looks utterly stunning. It’s a major fingerprint magnet though and I just know I’ll end up polishing the thing every couple of days!
Qj.net have a report up detailing one of the largest water balloon events in Australia. The Water Balloon Challenge was held on Coogee Beach, Sydney and celebrated the launch of the Xbox 360 in Oz! It’s stated that 50,000 water balloons were thrown on that day too! Major Nelson, Director of Xbox Live has updated his Flickr site with photo’s from the event.
In other news, the first batch of games for my Xbox 360 have kept me busy for roughly a week so far. Fight Night 3 is so sodding good, that Ghost Recon aka GRAW has hardly had a look in. Too many games on the way and no time for them, it sucks!
France trip which was meant to begin 8th March has been delayed till later this month - nerf. Life is great! Sort of, until I buggered things up with lovely Tasmin by not agreeing to go to a restaurant with her. Hey, not my fault I don’t like Thai food that much! So I shall apologise here and say that I am er sorry and we can go out wherever…just not the london eye *grumble*
Lastly, while most of the Uk has fun in the snow, I ask one simple question - Where the hell is the snow in London I ask!? Over this weekend we’ve had clear blue skies and a warm breeze!
Arrghh just ooone more lap of project gotham racing! I’ve become an addict already playing it over xbox live! For two days upon returning home from work I have played for hours non stop and completely forgotten to eat some dinner. It’s so bad that I may not even work this weekend, must get a faster car!
Feel cold and sweaty while I await my VGA cable from play.com, just so I can actually use the sodding console on my decent TFT screens instead of a piddly 14" TV with a mono speaker. It’s so bad that I cannot bear to play Project Gotham Racing 3 in such horrible fashion. Urgh! Bring on Tuesday 13th!
