$600 xbox 360 here we come! http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/11748/Microsoft-to-Release-Xbox-360-with-BuiltIn-HD-DVD-Drive/ Microsoft to Release Xbox 360 with Built-In HD DVD Drive Digi-Times reports today that Microsoft is selecting manufacturers in Taiwan to provide an internal HD DVD drive that will be used in a forthcoming Xbox 360 edition designed to compete with Sony's PlayStation 3. Microsoft will offer an external HD-DVD drive for its Xbox 360 at around the end of this year, in an attempt to compete with the Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3), which will have a built-in Blu-ray Disc (BD) drive, the sources indicated. The external HD-DVD drive, however, can only play back movies, the sources noted. The sources told Digi-Times that Microsoft plans to release this special Xbox 360 model in the first quarter of 2007. Wel'll have more on this new Xbox 360 as it develops.
harness the power of eBay, my friend. I'm just gonna take mine back to Game Crazy (bought the 1 yr warranty) and tell them it's freezing (which it does from time ttime) get a new one in the box and sell it on eBay.
Yeah I know, it still pisses me off. I'm kind of glad that I haven't popped the case to mod the ODD yet. I'm gonna wait and see what happens with this. The only thing that sucks even more about that is that it is going to slow down the modding capabilities of the new model even more.
hopefully with the internal drive, this signals some kind of migration towards games on HDDVD for the 360
by any chance, do you have a link to any available mod chips/software mods so we can play "back-ups" on the xbox360? thanks....
I sure hope so. ever since the xbox360 was publically revealed, it pissed me off that they weren't using a higher capacity disc format we clutchfans already argued about this in a thread a couple weeks ago, but I still do not understand how anyone can say that higher disc space won't make any difference in games going into the future. I don't care whether it's Blu-Ray or HD-DVD or whatever, but xbox360 needs a higher disc format
That would be interesting. I personally don't think they'll try to push the "games on HD-DVD" thing right away (especially if the diode shortage keeps up), but I guess if it must be done, better to do it earlier than later. I wonder how many 360s with DVD drives they'll have sold before switching over to HD-DVD (assuming that does happen). I think they're currently around 4M IIRC (mentioned it in the last sales thread). Of course, I guess they could use the special discs with DVD and HD-DVD layers (so it would be readable on both versions), but I'm not sure how well that would work out.
Company of Heroes (PC) http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/companyofheroes/review.html?sid=6157430 9.0 from Gamespot, 95 at Metacritic. Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run (Multi) http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/driving/spyhunter3/review.html?sid=6157769 5.5 from Gamespot, 53 at Metacritic...but it has the Roc...um Dwayne Johnson. Bomberman (PSP) http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/bomberman/review.html?sid=6157776 7.5 from Gamespot, 74 from Metacritic. Bounty Hounds (PSP) http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/bountyhounds/review.html?sid=6157562 6.9 from Gamespot, 70 at Metacritic. Mario Hoops 3 on 3 (DS) http://www.gamespot.com/ds/sports/mariobasketball/review.html?sid=6157497 7.1 from Gamespot, 71 from Metacritic. MechAssault: Phantom War (DS) http://ds.ign.com/articles/732/732101p1.html 7.0 from IGN, no score yet from Metacritic (just IGN's review). Harvest Moon DS (DS) http://ds.ign.com/articles/732/732404p1.html 6.0 from IGN, 65 from Metacritic. Okami (PS2) http://ps2.ign.com/articles/733/733122p1.html 9.1 from IGN, 93 from Metacritic. So two games with 90+ scores from Metacritic...that's pretty awesome. A bunch of mediocre titles except for those 2.
Hey guys, Anyone with a 360 and Live, you MUST check out the demo they just released for NBA2K7. AWESOME!!!
For those of you that care... I preordered a Wii at around 9am yesterday morning, just under 30 minutes after preorders went up on Amazon.com. Now to plan out my campout at Best Buy for PS3
THANKS!!! i haven't checked the demos in a while but have been waiting like crazy for a new b-ball game. i just started started downloading, very excited!
The internal hddvd drive is a big mistake for Microsoft. They should've planned it in the beginning instead of tacking it on right now. They could've cornered the market on the drives or built another blue diode factory to make the early launch for all I care. Now it's a sticky argument for the 360 because they're neck and neck with Sony on the price. That one year lead has vanished if they're boosting new users to buy the 'normal' internal version. I think the MS execs hit the panic button too early and are way over their heads. They should've built the momentum they had and took it 6 months after Christmas to decide on a third SKU. A format change is unlikely but the drive itself will give people the idea that there will be hddvd games. Now, if too many gamers complain about possible hddvd requirements, they'll have to tone down the internal drive to save face. It'll also signal customers that their DVD drive is inadequate. This is another reason why you shouldn't be an early adopter....
Cooking Mama (DS) http://www.gamespot.com/ds/puzzle/cookingmama/review.html?sid=6157831 6.9 from Gamespot, 68 from Metacritic. Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/dragonquestheroesrocketslime/review.html?sid=6157915 7.8 from Gamespot, 86 from Metacritic. Pokemon Dungeon Blue (DS) http://www.gamespot.com/ds/rpg/pokemonblue/review.html?sid=6158004 5.2 from Gamespot, 65 from Metacritic. Just Cause (Multi) http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/justcause/review.html?sid=6158136 (360 Review) 7.2 from Gamespot, 75 from Metacritic. Note that the PS2 version apparently sucks...or something (it has a 69, while the other 3 versions are more like ~75). Rule of Rose (PS2) http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/ruleofrose/review.html?sid=6158385 6.0 from Gamespot, 60 from Metacritic. Mario vs Donkey Kong 2 (DS) http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/mariovsdonkeykong2/review.html?sid=6158359 8.2 from Gamespot, no score yet at Metacritic (just GS's score). NBA 2K7 (Multi) http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/733/733877p1.html (360 Review) 8.3 from IGN, no score yet from Metacritic (just the IGN review from the 360 version). *edited to be more clear* Another take from Jon Robinson of IGN:
That was a second opinion from another reviewer. The guy who reviewed it and gave it an 8.3 didn't say that it was Sports Game of the Year. I'm guessing Jon Robinson (the guy who DID say that) would have given it higher than an 8.3 based on his comments. Looking at how I formatted it, it is easy to get that confused. Sorry about that.
If you go over to operationsports, there about 5 or 6 people that have the game already and they can't say enough about how great the game is. I think the 8.3 came from someone who likes playing a more arcade-type game. Here are some vids from those posters that have the game (plays made by BOTH user and computer AI. You can tell Lebron is a favorite. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HuFfza3nLM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE9_xctpzZ4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydvm5Dc1g0s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KhJILw7dhw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phue0suJl24&eurl= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VehGL5oXxB0&eurl= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HuFfza3nLM&eurl= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydvm5Dc1g0s&eurl= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c55H3jeu8gc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE9_xctpzZ4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfGEUxbv2PA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2iaHmaOY1Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxTzWCWOPWY Impression from one of those posters... ------------------------------------------------ Obviously, this is for the full game, not the demo. I have been up playing this game for so many hours now... and let me just say, any low score or poor review must come from someone who does not watch the NBA. This has to be the most impressive NBA game I have played in my life. It's that good. From the minute you turn on the game to the minute you hit court, this game just screams HI QUALITY. The menu starts with a city fly-by similar to TNT's NBA broadcast. Music is very catch... some great old-school hip-hop beats thrown in the mix... I have had a chance to play (more like, get my butt kicked-All-Star difficulty) with the Lakers, Cavs, Knicks, Nets, and Nuggets. Probably a few others, but I quit a few games halfway through to see some more sig styles. And speaking of sig. styles... incredible. The team somehow paid attention to players that come off the bench... this isn't some 10 star player gimmick. You actually FEEL like you have the entire NBA at your disposal. The team plays is even better than last year. The CPU will punish you if you play off players defensively... plus, they run a more fluid offense. I felt last year's game would punish you by driving it to the hole to easily if you attempted steals... which doesn't happen ALL the time in the NBA. This year, they've found such a great balance that you just feel like you're playing the Suns as the fastbreak on you... or the Heat as they utilize Dwayne Wade and Shaq. Playing against the Spurs, Tony Parker and Duncan were VERY difficult to stop... and I loved every minute of it. Star players certainly shine in this game... while role players still hold their own. ------------------------------------------------ Sig Shots (not counting sig layups, free throws, passes, dunks or even sig celebrations): Default Abdur-Rahim Allen Alston Anthony Arenas Artest Atkins Baby Twist M Banks Barbosa Barry Basic Battier Bell Beluba Bent Arm Bibby Big Set Billups Bird Bogut Boozer Bosh Bowed Arm Bowen Boykins Brand Brewer Brown Bryant Butler Camby Carney Carter Cassell Catapult Cheaney Childress Clumsy Crawford Crossed Arms B. Davis R. Davis Deng Dixon Duhon Duncan Dunleavy Felton Fisher Flail Flick Ford Foward Hop Foye Francis Garnett Gasol R. Gay Ginobili Gooden Gordon A. Griffin Hamilton Hands up Hands Away Harpring Haslem High Flick High Follow High Hands High Push Hill Hinrich Horry House D. Howard Josh Howard Juwan Howard Hughes Iguodala Ilgauskas Iverson B. Jackson S. Jackson L. James M. James Jamison Jaric Jasikevicius Jefferson Jeffreis A. Johnson J. Johnson D. Jones E. Jones Common Kick Kidd Knock Knees Kirilenko Knight Korver Krstic Kukoc LaFrentz Lewis Livingston Lue Lunge Maggette Magloire Marbury Marion Marshall Martin Mason McGrady Mihm Miles A. Miller M. Miller Mobley Morrison Murphy Mutumbo Nash Nocioni Nowitzki Odom Off Balance Okafor Okur J. O'Neal Parker Paul Payton M. Peterson Pierce Pietrus Pike Pollard Prince Quick Launch Radmonovic Randolph Redd Redick J. Rich Q. Richardson Ridnour Rose Roy Salute Scissor Shaq Sheed Shot Put Side Flick Silky Simmons Sling Shot J. Smith Smooth Smush Snow Spread Legs Stackhouse Stojakovic Striaght Legs Swing Arm Szczerbiak Terry Text Book K. Thomas Tim Thomas Tyrus Thomas Turkoglu Twist Udrih Unorthodox Van Horn Vilanueva Wade Walker B. Wallace G. Wallace Webber Wells Wesley D. West J. Williams Yao
i don't trust ign's ratings at all. they gave nba live 06 a much higher rating than 2k6 which is insanity. i think it was something along the lines of 8.9 to 8.0. however, i've played both and 2k6 BLOWS live out of the water. i will expect the same quality from 2k7 this year. too bad im broke to buy a new gen console