THE XBOX 360 "Fact or Fiction" Topic

[Mookyjooky]

This is where we can put together a list for all confirmed and non-confirmed ideas for the XBOX 360.
Updated 5/17/05 : 2pm

Post here, in this format:
"Xbox 360 Wireless Controllers : CONFIRMED"

And then post a link of proof. READ the article! Dont say its confirmed until MS says its confirmed. Not just IGN or Gamespot confirms it.

I'll post it in the Original Post as Fact/Confirmed - or - Fiction/Not Confirmed.

CONFIRMED:
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Custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU:

-3 symmetrical cores at 3.2 GHz each
-2 hardware threads per core
-1 VMX-128 vector unit per core
-1 MB L2 cache

CPU Game Math Performance:
-9 billion dots per second

Custom ATI Graphics Processor:
-500 MHz
-10 MB embedded DRAM
-48-way parallel floating-point shader pipelines
-unified shader architecture

Memory:
-512 MB GDDR3 RAM
-700 MHz DDR

Memory Bandwidth:
-22.4 GB/s memory interface bus bandwidth
-256 GB/s memory bandwidth to EDRAM
-21.6 GB/s frontside bus

Audio:
-Multi channel surround sound output
-Supports 48kHz 16-bit audio
-320 independent decompression channels
-32-bit processing
-256 audio channels

Xbox Live -subscriptions:
Xbox Live Silver (free) and Xbox Life Gold (paid).

Features for Gold service:
(S) Also for Silver
(O) Also for Offline

-Seamless transition to Xbox Live account from Xbox to Xbox 360
-Access to MMOs (additional fees may apply) (S)
-Free Xbox Live weekends (S)
-Multi player online game play
-Avatar for gamer profile(S)(O)
-Motto for gamer profile (S)(O)
-Personalized look for Xbox System Guide (S)(O)
-Offline achievements (S)(O)
-Online achievements (S)
-Access to other players' Gamer (http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/6412.cfm#) cards via Live (S)
-Cumulative gamer score (S)(O)
-Location/language profile (S)(O)
-Reputation (S)
-Enhanced matchmaking using above
-Skill level matchmaking
-Game play style profile (casual, competitive, etc.)
-Recent players list (S)
-Free and premium download game content(S)
-Free and premium downloadable movies, music (http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/6412.cfm#), TV (S)
-Downloadable demos/trailers (S)
-Micro transactions (S)
-Custom play list in every game (S)(O)
-Play music from portable devices (S)(O)
-View images from digital camera (S)(O)
-Stream media from Windows XP (S)(O)
-Interactive screen savers (S)(O)
-Track info for CDs (S) (O)
-Communication with voice, video or text (S)

Newest Updates:
Square Enix commits to Xbox 360
limited backward compatibility ("Starting from Halo and down the line?")
160 Xbox 360 titles in development
full EA support

Game listing in Development:
PGR 3, Ghost Recon 3, Frame City Killer, Kameo : Elements of Power, Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, Gears of War, Test Drive Unlimited, Full Auto, Condemned, Need For Speed : Most Wanted, Tiger Woods PGA Golf Tour 2K6, Quake IV, Perfect Dark : Zero, Saint's Row, Unreal 3, NBA 2K6, Madden 2006, and The Darkness, Phantagram's Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes, Mistwalker's Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, Dead or Alive 4, Dead Rising, The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Burnout Revenge, Final Fantasy XI, Star Wars Battlefront II

NOT CONFIRMED : "Fiction-for-now"
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Full Backwards Compatiblity??

Halo 2.5 will be a launch title and come pre-installed on the Xbox 360’s hard drive

Cool Pictures Area:
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http://img289.echo.cx/img289/4290/ghostrecon7pc4fz.gif http://img274.echo.cx/img274/252/xbl6eg2se.gif http://img272.echo.cx/img272/7227/xboxcontroller5er7ru.gif http://img268.echo.cx/img268/716/xboxfaceplate7ko4zx.gif

[Masterkyo]

Backwards Compatiblity is still in the air. Still making decision buy XBOX 360 if it w/o Backwards Compatiblity.

[mcwilliams132]

don't forget:
-a 20gb hd - from most reports and articles...it'll be in the box with the ability to get a bigger one down the road.
- wireless controllers will be rechargable via USB 2.0 connectors on box or standard batteries can be used.

[road3283]

Partial BC confirmed in the second sentence of this article.

"The company also confirmed that some of the top-selling current Xbox games will work with the forthcoming Xbox 360, due out later this year."

http://www.forbes.com/personaltech/2005/05/16/cx_ah_0516xbox.html

[PaulEMoz]

XBox 360 will have a built in music visualiser/interactive lightsynth, called Neon, coded by Jeff Minter and Llamasoft.

Pictures and videos are available here: Llamasoft (http://www.llamasoft.co.uk)

[BIG5]

I never got Xbox, so if it is backwards compatible, that will be a big plus for me.

[Scorch]

Full backwards compatiblity is confirmed by both Gamespot and the Microsoft conference tonight

[Ruined]

Full backwards compatiblity is confirmed by both Gamespot and the Microsoft conference tonight

You have a link to that? All the articles i see say "top selling xbox games" not complete BC.

[Ledhed]

You have a link to that? All the articles i see say "top selling xbox games" not complete BC.

Yeah. I've never fully trusted GameSpot or IGN, but IGN says limited BC.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/614/614498p1.html

[Ruined]

Yeah. I've never fully trusted GameSpot or IGN, but IGN says limited BC.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/614/614498p1.html

some clarification:

http://news.com.com/A+gaggle+of+new+games+for+Xbox+360/2100-1043_3-5709353.html?tag=st_lh

"At Monday's event, Microsoft also announced plans to make all games from its previous console compatible with the upcoming Xbox 360. However, few details were given regarding how, or when, updated support for Xbox titles would be achieved. Microsoft representatives did say they would start with more popular titles such as "Halo," then move down the line."

Now thats what I like to hear! I bet you money each game will likely need a "profile" of sorts to be stored on the hard drive in order to work right, and users will be able to download more profiles as time goes on over XBOX Live. As long as MS plans to keep up work to make most games BC eventually through Live updates, I'll buy the console.

[Mookyjooky]

Added more info to the Original Post....thanks for adding info guys!

[dafoomie]

You can confirm that these titles will eventually exist for the 360, just not when they'll be released. Very important, since people still throw out the age old, "it has no games besides Halo".

[Mookyjooky]

Updated.

[Mookyjooky]

Updated the pics as well...easier on the eyes now.

[PaulEMoz]

Did you not add mine because I didn't post a link, or because it's not important enough?

[Mookyjooky]

Did you not add mine because I didn't post a link, or because it's not important enough?

I didnt post yours because the link you posted said nothing of it....I'm trying to this very close to the real truth...

You can check out other users threads and they say shit is confirmed when its clearly not...so I'm asking for proof before I post it in the Original Post.

[PaulEMoz]

Link to interview with Barry Steinglass and Ryan Gunn, confirming Jeff Minter provides music visualiser/lightsynth for XBox 360. (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox360/musicplayer.htm?level1=enushome&level2=behindxbox2&level3=musicplayer)

Link to the Llamasoft page for Neon, the music visualiser/lightsynth built into XBox 360. (http://llamasoft.co.uk/neon.php)

Link to the thread on the Llamasoft forum where Jeff Minter announces Llamasoft have provided the music visualiser/lightsynth built into XBox 360. (http://www.yakyak.org/viewtopic.php?t=36596)

[Mookyjooky]

Meh, this thread died....guess people care more about the PS3. ;-)

[mcwilliams132]

Backwards compatability explained...

http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=8996

Xbox 1 titles will need to be recompiled for 360...no native support. If you want to play your 1st gen titles, keep your xbox or repurchase them... :(

[epobirs]

Backwards compatability explained...

http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=8996

Xbox 1 titles will need to be recompiled for 360...no native support. If you want to play your 1st gen titles, keep your xbox or repurchase them... :(

They got it completely wrong.
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showpost.php?p=987532&postcount=58

[wubb]

I thought a HDD out of the box was confirmed? IGN has it listed on their specs, but I guess I don't know if MS has confirmed that it will be included with every Xbox 360 out of the box, or just an optional enhancement. I just checked a few other sites and they list it as rumored to possibly not be included out of the box, so I guess this definitely isn't confirmed.

(An optional HDD will never be a worthwhile feature for a console IMO as developers have to code every game assuming it's not there.)

[epobirs]

I thought a HDD out of the box was confirmed? IGN has it listed on their specs, but I guess I don't know if MS has confirmed that it will be included with every Xbox 360 out of the box, or just an optional enhancement. I just checked a few other sites and they list it as rumored to possibly not be included out of the box, so I guess this definitely isn't confirmed.

(An optional HDD will never be a worthwhile feature for a console IMO as developers have to code every game assuming it's not there.)

So long as it is available for purchase at or near launch developers won't complain. Sony went THREE YEARS in the US before releasing their drive. For quite a long time developers had no idea if there would ever be a produc tor how exactly it was to be used.

Everything Microsoft has been saying suggest the hard drive is critical to their plans and will almost certainly be standard in the US. Retaining the ability to unbundle it could be important to reaching mor eprice sensitive markets but the US is more feature driven so long as the price stays within reason.

[spoo]

some clarification:

http://news.com.com/A+gaggle+of+new+games+for+Xbox+360/2100-1043_3-5709353.html?tag=st_lh

"At Monday's event, Microsoft also announced plans to make all games from its previous console compatible with the upcoming Xbox 360. However, few details were given regarding how, or when, updated support for Xbox titles would be achieved. Microsoft representatives did say they would start with more popular titles such as "Halo," then move down the line."

Now thats what I like to hear! I bet you money each game will likely need a "profile" of sorts to be stored on the hard drive in order to work right, and users will be able to download more profiles as time goes on over XBOX Live. As long as MS plans to keep up work to make most games BC eventually through Live updates, I'll buy the console.

Also in that article is states:
"Backward-compatibility is not the reason people buy a new system," said David Hufford, Microsoft Xbox group product manager. "The perception is that it is significant. We've put all our energy into new titles, but since our consumers have asked for it...we've made it a goal to make all titles backward-compatible."

That is good news even if it turns out to be a load of crap.

[mcwilliams132]

They got it completely wrong.
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showpost.php?p=987532&postcount=58


I doubt it...

Think about it... in order to issue a patch for umteen games, they'd have to be Live aware and we all know not every xbox game is live aware, nor are developers going to go back and retool their game - hense the phrase from MS, ".. Top selling titles will be backward compatible".

Are they going to charge to download a patch for each game to make it compatible with 360?

How would that work?

I think they'd have to repackage the game.

The fact is we don't know yet but I think this article has some legs to it.

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As far as HD...from all the latest reports I've read, the HD is in the box with the option in the future to get a bigger drive as they become available, but I doubt I'd need more that 20gigs if I can streem content from my pc.

[Ozzkev55]

I doubt it...

Think about it... in order to issue a patch for umteen games, they'd have to be Live aware and we all know not every xbox game is live aware, nor are developers going to go back and retool their game - hense the phrase from MS, ".. Top selling titles will be backward compatible".

Are they going to charge to download a patch for each game to make it compatible with 360?

How would that work?

I think they'd have to repackage the game.

The fact is we don't know yet but I think this article has some legs to it.

----
As far as HD...from all the latest reports I've read, the HD is in the box with the option in the future to get a bigger drive as they become available, but I doubt I'd need more that 20gigs if I can streem content from my pc.

That would mean Halo woudlnt be Backwards Compatible, because it does have no online enabling...they'll probably end up dealing with that

[spoo]

It will be an emulation patch not a game patch. It will not change game files but it will change the way every game is emulated. It will have nothing to do with live enabled games.

[vherub]

If the xbox is not backwards compatible, and by that I mean with all games, just by putting the disc in, not by downloading/rebuying the game or any other smoke and mirrors backwards compatibility, that changes how i buy games NOW.

At the moment, i would rather pickup a title like megaman collection or alien hominid because it has more features or is xbox live worthy. If 6 months from now, xbox1 live dries up because the games cannot be played on 360, meaning even less players for a lot of already dying games and i cannot easily play a game, especially an older one which i got specifically so it could be played without havng to bust out an old system, then it lessens the value of an xbox title.

All the moreso because the xbox is not portable, and would not be easy if i want to get it out to play street fighter, etc. In that case it is a shame because it will splinter the live community and kill off the enjoyment of a lot of these games that much faster.

[Ruined]

XBOX Backwards Compatibility Facts:

* XBOX360 will have backwards compatibility with XBOX1
* You will not have to "re-buy" games, it will play your original XBOX1 discs
* The titles that will be initially backwards compatible at launch are unknown, but the popular titles will likely be at a minimum
* Microsoft is working to make all titles backwards compatible over time
* However Microsoft cannot guarantee at this point that all titles will work
* Over time, Microsoft will add more titles for backwards compatibility until all titles that can possibly be BC are made BC, via both XBOX Live and another unknown distribution method
* All in all its too early to say exactly which titles will work initially, which will work eventually, and which won't work. Remember, PS2 also had some PS1 titles that it could not run.
* Therefore Microsoft is not talking specifics nor claiming "full backwards compatibility" at this point so that they can live up to what they do say.

sources:

Post-E3 Interview with MS including a lot of detail on BC:
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000597043723/

Most accurate E3 summary of BC abilities:
http://news.com.com/A+gaggle+of+new+games+for+Xbox+360/2100-1043_3-5709353.html?tag=st_lh