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[onesvenus]

Yes, it's another x360 kiosk impressions post

I'm from Barcelona and those lasts weeks I've read different kind of impressions from the demo kiosk and I was looking to try it, because I had great hopes for the x360. Today, i've had the oportunity to try one, and it wasn't what I was expecting... Kameo looked pretty but not a generational leap from what we have today on xbox, at least the level I played. Then I proceed to play the pg3 video, and I thought that would be better, but i was wrong, there are ugly textures on the road!!

But even with my impressions I'm looking to the x360 because I think that without being glued to the screen like on the kiosk the graphics are prettier. Another thing that surprised me was the scrren, I'd never seen a HDTV before and I thought the IQ would be a lot better than an SDTV, and at least on the x360 it wasn't.

 

[bill0527]

Yes, it's another x360 kiosk impressions post

I'm from Barcelona and those lasts weeks I've read different kind of impressions from the demo kiosk and I was looking to try it, because I had great hopes for the x360. Today, i've had the oportunity to try one, and it wasn't what I was expecting... Kameo looked pretty but not a generational leap from what we have today on xbox, at least the level I played. Then I proceed to play the pg3 video, and I thought that would be better, but i was wrong, there are ugly textures on the road!!

But even with my impressions I'm looking to the x360 because I think that without being glued to the screen like on the kiosk the graphics are prettier. Another thing that surprised me was the scrren, I'd never seen a HDTV before and I thought the IQ would be a lot better than an SDTV, and at least on the x360 it wasn't.

I've had one here in the U.S. for a week now. I picked up PD0, PGR3, and CoD2. I haven't played that much of PD0 yet, the graphical improvements haven't blown me away from the other 2 games. They are clearly better than the original Xbox, especially on my 1080i Hi-Def TV. The thing that has blown me away the most is the new Xbox dashboard GUI and the integration of Live along with downloadable game demos, trailers, music, and of course, the Xbox Live arcade where you can purchase some of the arcade games for about 5 bucks. The gamercard and the achievements are a stroke of innovative genius because now you can tell the real players from the people who play a game for 5 minutes, then write a 6 page article on the internet about how the game sucks and they beat it in 30 minutes. Plus if you've got a media center PC like I do, the Xbox360 is heaven in a box because now you have a fuctional media center for video, music, and photos that can be streamed right to your TV.

 

[Phranky]

I didn't want to mention it before, because there were already plenty of negative xbox 360 impressions, but when I went to check out the 360 for the first time I was somewhat disappointed with COD 2 and Kameo. COD, mainly because the textures were flat and really awful... textures can [visually] make or break a game in my opinion, and COD is lacking in that regard. I spotted a few jaggies here and there, but I decided to forgive and forget as they say; it was a demo afterall.

Kameo looks very pretty, perhaps a bit too shiny for my liking, but the Zelda and Metroid "inspiration" was blatantly apparant. In the demo, there was a bit where you have to roll up into a ball and roll through pipes, I mean come on... The gameplay felt a bit empty, I had no real desire to use Chilla to throw orcs, or use them as bats... I can imagine it becoming a bit tiresome after a while.

And before you mention it, I started to lose interest in games a while ago, steadily buying less and less, so it isn't any kind of blind loyality to Nintendo, although I do pretty much only buy Nintendo games now, but that's only because I enjoy playing them.

I know Nintendo games have them too, but predictable NPC's annoy me. In one of the gameplay videos I saw on Kameo, there was some kind of water creature who wouldn't talk to you if you looked like Kameo. So she changed into another water creature a few metres away and low and behold, the NPC started chatting to her... even though realistically it would have more than likely have seen her change from Kameo. A tiny bit of realism in NPC's would be nice, and a change in the set predictable paths they walk along ingame would do nicely too.

Just like with movies, we've become too acquainted with genres, and how things work ingame e.g. What kind of answers will trigger an event. The more experienced gamers can usually predict the events of a game with an almost preternatural ability. Hence, why they find it so easy compared to casual gamers.

This was about the Xbox 360 right? I've lost track.

 

[Jerkface]

MS really need to get a new demo disc in the kiosks because the one they have is totally underselling the system. Not that they are going to lose any sales at the moment anyway!

 

[dorio]

I hope we're not going to go through the whole "kiosk are underwhelming because they have crappy demos in them" thing that we went through here in America. Judge the system by final games people.

 

[Beer Monkey]

I thought the IQ would be a lot better than an SDTV, and at least on the x360 it wasn't.

Your kiosk is probably not hooked up right. I've seen that problem here in the States as well.

 

[terrene]

I didn't want to mention it before, because there were already plenty of negative xbox 360 impressions, but when I went to check out the 360 for the first time I was somewhat disappointed with COD 2 and Kameo. COD, mainly because the textures were flat and really awful... textures can [visually] make or break a game in my opinion, and COD is lacking in that regard. I spotted a few jaggies here and there, but I decided to forgive and forget as they say; it was a demo afterall.

They definitely need new kiosk content. COD 2 is a PC port and Kameo started life as an N64 game (then it went to GC, then Xbox, now finally the 360). Neither are really showing us what the machine can do. The Best Buy in Redmond, WA has PGR3 running, though, and that's a different matter entirely.

Actually, the Kong demo on the kiosk is worth a look.

 

[JMPovoa]

Errrr.... Do they even configure the kiosks to run in 720p? :lol

 

[Blimblim]

Errrr.... Do they even configure the kiosks to run in 720p? :lol

I've been at a games store here in France where the Kiosk was in 480i. I told the manager about it, and he told me that he had done it himself so the people see for themselves how the game would look on their own SDTV.
Of course, 480i (with 4:3 ratio to boot), deinterlaced and scaled to 1366x768 by a rather low end LCD TV is a VERY VERY bad idea. But that guy simply would not listen. Kameo looked like a blurry mess, with characters as large as they were tall. MS should have locked up the demo units to 720p or something like that.

 

[Phranky]

Judge the system by final games people.

How can we judge the system based on its final games, if we [who are still deciding whether to buy an Xbox 360] don't have access to them. Think about it.

 

[cybamerc]

I've tried the demo games on two kiosk. Both were running in hi def. None of the games looked particularly good. The lack of AA is extremely apparent on an LCD screen.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

Errrr.... Do they even configure the kiosks to run in 720p? :lol

Most haven't

 

[dorio]

How can we judge the system based on its final games, if we [who are still deciding whether to buy an Xbox 360] don't have access to them. Think about it.

You have friends, you have stores that have actual games in them, you have the internet with movies and pics of people playing final games.

 

[hyp]

these kiosks don't do the system any justice. they need to run these suckers on a sharp aquos hdtv. my home experience has been much better.

 

[Newduck]

That Samsungs a low end LCD? I damn well hope not, i have a 32incher. Hope i didn't make a poor choice, i thought it was one of the better ones within that pricerange.

 

[Phranky]

You have friends, you have stores that have actual games in them

1. My friends and I are students, we can't afford a brand new console.
2. No, we don't. Just demos.