Got my Xbox...

3

3rdman

I know that not everybody here is a fan of this paicular console seeing that the devil himself made it, but I just wanted to share my impressions of it.

First of all, this is one heavy mother! I think it's listed at 9 lbs but it's a "dense" 9 lbs.! I've heard stories of peoples Xbox's falling because the tape that holds the box together isn't strong enough to hold the machine! Anyways, I hooked up my machine to my HDTV and 5.1 system using an HD pack and booted up to the dashboard.

The dashboard is pretty freakin' neat...It's very intuitive and easily navigated. From there you can set widescreen, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 5.1 Dolby (or stereo and Dolby surround), rip CD's, playback music (from Cd's or the HDD), manage your gamesaves, and parental lock-out. One last note about the dashboard...I love the way it's laid out. The menu zoom in and out in 3D and gives the feeling of the machine being "alive." Like some kind of futuristic uber-console, it makes a rumbling noise and mechanical clicks (Hard to describe). it if you leave it alone...it starts to murmur...Cool.

Then I put in Dead or Alive 3. EVERYTHING you heard about this game is true...It has to be the most beautiful game I have ever seen. Textures so rich that you would swear they're real. Definetly the most graphically impressive of the Xbox games (Halo comes a close second). Animation is superb and good (if not great)gameplay. You really have to see this game in person, so if you're not buying, this is definetly a worthy rental just to see the graphics. (Wait 'till you see the forest level - WOW!) The only problem I noticed is that there seems to be some alaising issues. Perhaps my HDTV is trying to "upconvert" the image to 1080i which is causing the problems. Who knows?

Next game to grace my console...Halo. Game of the year...easy. Me and a friend played 5 hours non-stop in co-op mode blowing away the alien hoard...very impressive. There are times when you are in the middle of HUGE battles completely surrounded by VERY large forces. It is not uncommon to see 25+ NPC's onscreen at once. The AI is also ver impressive...the aliens co-ordinate their attacks as do your marine friends. I won't go into too much detail, but if your interested you can read any number of reviews on this game. If you play it...you'll buy it...it's that good.

Lastly, since there had been some question to the machine's stability and overheating, I can tell you this. I had the Xbox running from 9:30am to 3:30 am the next day without any problems. If you go to TechTV they posted pictures of its internals...it looks as though the GPU has a fan for active cooling...interesting. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask and please...no flaming, huh?
 
I know that not everybody here is a fan of this paicular console seeing that the devil himself made it
Click to expand...

Funny thing about that is that MS seems to see XBox as a seperate brand and is not really stressing the point that it's made by MS. I'm wondering if they're doing this to downplay the whole "It's just a PC in a console box" angle...
 
Sounds tight Harry. I'm not too into it meself 'cause the games are so #### expensive, but once software prices start coming down [or "greatest hits" are released sometime next year] I might join the club.

Congrats on your purchases, and continue to have fun.

Ah, I might fall when the new Jet Set hits the scene. 🙂
 
I will avoid the box for a single reason.

they intend to charge europe 480$ for the system, just the system, no games, no extras. they rip off europe to pay for the "low" price in USA. they don't deserve my money for that, plus, NO system is worth nearly 500$, with the memcards costing 50$ (!) and the games costing 70$. those are the officially announced prices for europe.. and the microsucker guy who announced them actually had the nerve to say "an attractive launch price is important".
 
You rich #### bastard! lol...j/k...congrats on your purchase dude. I've seen some vids of Xbox and it looks wicked. Also, ppl thinkin' about buyin a new console should really think about this one too, cuz gamecube is more aimed towards kids, and ps2 seems out of it now that Xbox stepped up.

I wish i had that kind of money to blow. haha
 
Gamecube for kids? Hehe don't see how you figure. More "adult" then SNES. Anyways I would personally say wait. If you must get one now get GCN its cheap and they ahve a lot of nice games for it, including.......drum roll plz.............SUPER MONKEY BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Hehe this game is off the heezy. For most people GCN is the way to just cause its cheap and has good SEGA support and of course you get some of those nice Nintendo games........SSB anyone? I am getting a GCN and if I ever do get a X-Box it will be for the Warsong game and thats all.

Questions.....

How is load times? I heard longer than PS2.

How big of a HD does it have? BTW GCN has an optional HD for it (speculation for the port on the bottom, all anyone can think of)

You like the controller?

Has it ever crashed to windows blue screen?

How much does it actually weight? put it on a scale.

Thansk for your time, laters.
 
ive seen elsewhere on the board that its 9lb in weight

also on the gamecube for kids comment, i would say ok, theres some games aimed at kids, but games like Resident evil isnt aimed at that audience, along with several other games bound to come along later

and as arakon says, the price in europe for xbox is horendous, coupled with the fact we probabbly wont get them before march next year (also the extra witght is going to add to the shipping, so alot of people wont import for that reason)
 
I got a gamecube this morning in the mail, with the 3 launch titles. only because I got a good trade on it (I wouldn't have bought one (yet) otherwise), tho.

well.. I'm impressed. the system and everything that is part of it is TINY. loading times are nearly not existant, except for the few seconds at boot.

the graphics are quite nice, and the controllers, while being totally ass for fighting games, are comfortable once you get used to the weird button order.

overall a pretty good deal so far.
 
"How is load times? I heard longer than PS2. "

Load times are really good. The games all seem to load faster than on the kiosks if you can believe it. Halo load in about 30 seconds and then during the game everything loads on the fly.

"How big of a HD does it have? BTW GCN has an optional HD for it (speculation for the port on the bottom, all anyone can think of) "

8 Gigs. Weird thing though...I've got 3 gamesaves and it still says I have 50,000 free blocks.

"You like the controller? "

Getting used to it. I like it more now than yesterday...It's perfect for Halo.

"Has it ever crashed to windows blue screen? "

I had it running for 18 hours non-stop without problems.

"How much does it actually weight? put it on a scale. "

Can't...too busy playin' 😛
 
Arakon...what were the titles you got? Rouge Leader is the one title I'd really like to play. Is that one of the three?
 
The presence of kiddie games on GC is a strength, not a weakness. Why people see the presence of kiddie games and assume that there's an absence of non-kiddie games (aside from the old "family-friendly guarantee" that was tossed out with the release of Mortal Kombat II), I'll probably never know...

As for PS2 being "out of it" now that XBox is launched, could you explain your reasoning? Maybe if technological superiority determined market success, this would be the case, but PS2 has already had a year to settle into the market, and unlike Dreamcast (which I can only hope will live on through hobbyist development), a number of developers were investing into the platform heavily during that time. PS2 is incumbent, and I think XBox is going to need a lot more than it has right now to dethrone it...
 
True. But then you have all those people who couldn't get a PS2 last year and might have just ended up waiting for a few more months for an XBox or a GC. Seems, to me at least, that Sony's in a similar situation to Sega. I'm sure there were a lot of people who held out on buying a DC just to get a PS2. Let's face it, the vast majority of gamers buy into hype (in the US at least). It's sad, but true. When people buy a PSone for $100 and not a DC for $70 it's quite sad.

Personally I would never pay $300 for a system. Ever. I can't imagine it. And $50 for a controller? $50 and up per game? That's damned expensive. I didn't even get a DC until it went under $100 and now everything is cheap. I plan on doing the same for these new systems. I'll pick up an XBox when they cost $100 or so and used games are everywhere.

One thing's for #### sure though: it will be interesting to see what happens over the next year or so. I think they all have staying power for quite some time, but I thought the same for the DC. It remains to be seen. Until then, everyone have fun with your new systems. I hope you find them worth their price tags 🙂
 
Arakon, I got to play RL for GC today, and I can definetly tell you that you will be very pleased when you get it. The games Grafics are an outright 10 in my book, their high res, cast shadows on themselfs, and look almost identicle to those in the movies. The gameplay and control are also quite good, its nice.

As for the XBox vs GC vs PS2, I would have to say each system has its own strengths and weaknesses, im not talking graficly, but in the types of games its built for. If you like RPG's PS2 is the way to go, If you like Racing games or any type of game where you have vehicles at your command youl want XBox, and if you like just typicly fun and classicle gameplay, or you just have to get mario (sonic to now), Gamecube is what you want. Personaly Im getting PS2 this christmass I hope, Gamcube later, and XBox last. I tried the Xbox out today as well as the Gamecube, and I can say that I didn't like the controlers much at all. They felt high quality, but were a bit too big and bulky. I might change my mind when I get to play some actualy good games for the system (the one I played was some football game), like Dead or Alive 3, or maybe the new oddworld. I am hoping the next Panzer Dragoon is good for the system, if it is, it might just be enough to make me want to get an Xbox. Till then, PS2 is the way for me (go to NX's board on GC for more info why I chose the PS2 as my next console).
 
While i pledge whole hearted support to the GCN, I am getting a PS2 this year. I waited on the PS2 last year (I could have gotten it for X-mas, but instead I got a PC engine Duo 😀) so that way I could get good games with it (silent hill 2 and MGS2 baby!!!). This is the exact reason I'm waiting on the GCN, resident evil, Zelda (maybe), Sonic 2 baby!!! Then I'll get an x-box (by then, which will be 2 years from now, the price will have to had come down, and there will be alot of good games)... all part of my plan.... heh heh heh....
 
Quadriflax, you read my mind. I may be drooling over the graphics and gameplay, but I'm also sticking to my rule of never paying more than $100 new or used for a console.

My worry about X-Box is that the price will drive it to be the next 3DO. Remember that really freaking expensive system you drooled over but nobody could afford? By the time 3DO's price came down, it was too late and PSX had control of the market. Even though MS lowered the launch price to $300, the only way I've seen to actualy get one is in a pre-ordered package containing an extra controler, memory card, and games, all for over $500. The stores that have gotten the system in around here are not selling them, just holding them for their pre-order customers.
 
Man, I can't wait to get my X-Box......all I can say, is that it has the best support from Sega! That's enough for me to want one! Plus a MGS game will come out for it. Even though I want one, I'm still gonna wait a little longer to see how things play out. But I know one thing, Game Cube won't be one of my systems until later...nothing new on that system in my opinion. PS2.....too expensive for one good game, MGS 2, and I don't feel like spending more money just to get net games going if they have anything good.

That's my opinion of course, I mainly want the X-Box for its good Sega games! Plus, I thnk it will be a good system to use in emulation due to the Win2k OS.
 
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