Posts filed under 'accessories'
Positively ecstatic feedback continues to come in for the new Xbox360 Wireless Racing Wheel. We are due to receive ours soon, and will post our findings. For now, check out some of the coverage:
Gizmodo: Fans of driving games traditionally either had to put up with filmsy wheels that made racing less convenient than using the standard analog stick controllers. With the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel from Microsoft, lousy first party racing accessories are a thing of the past.
In all honesty, this was the best racing experience we’ve ever had.
and a solid endorsement from Techie Musings with a few complaints I hope get addressed in the next version:
The wheel feels very solid and “real” - when you hold it, you feel like you can throw it around and it has a satisfying length of travel (270 degrees)…. all in all, if you’re into driving games, this is highly recommended.
Technorati Tags: Xbox360, Racing Wheel
November 27th, 2006
several sources are now confirming two big HD updates to the Xbox 360 platform:
1) 1080p support coming soon — kinda. What does this mean ? Engadget HD breaks it down
VGA:
- HD DVD - 1080p resolution and all others
- DVD - Upscaled as high as 1080p resolution and all others
- Games - 720p games upscaled to 1080p, also supports native-1080p games in the future
Component:
- HD DVD - 1080i resolution maximum, limited by AACS
- DVD - Upscaled to 480p maximum, limited by CSS
- Games - 720p games upscaled to 1080p, also supports native-1080p games in the future
2) The much rumored HD-DVD now has a date and pricing — at least in Japan. About $180 and scheduled for Nov 22. We hope to have US pricing and dates soon.
September 23rd, 2006
Some pretty cool new camera tech for Xbox 360 was demo’d at Gamefest Expo recently.
Gamasutra has a great write-up, so instead of trying to summarize here, just click over and read for yourself — very cool stuff.
August 19th, 2006
Joystick has a post saying that:
IT Wire in Australia has spoken with Mark Whittard, general manager of Toshiba’s Information Systems Division in Australia, about the possibility of an internal HD-DVD drive making it into next generations of the Xbox 360 before the end of the year.
More speculation than reality at this point, but given all the cluter we have in our own living rooms, it makes perfect sense to move this HD-DVD USB add-on into the actual console itself.
Here is the quote from the Toshiba GM that has everyone excited:
“The Xbox [360] is coming out with an HD-DVD player towards the end of this year. … I would imagine that there are plans in place to put an HD-DVD drive internally in future revisions of the product. They’re not speaking about it publicly at the moment but I would expect them to do that and fairly soon.”
Could be a good PR move to have that ready before the PS3 ships.
7/7/06 Update: Microsoft is flat out denying this: Cesar Menendez of the Microsoft’s Global Games Marketing Team wrote in the team’s blog:
Saw a few stories online about an Xbox 360 with a built-in HD DVD drive: not true. We have no plans to release an Xbox 360 with an internal HD DVD. What we showcased at E3 was an external HD DVD drive, and we’re sticking with that.
source
July 3rd, 2006
As we reported back in April, this is now official:
This new accessory will connect to the Xbox 360 console with a USB cable, enabling it to harness the power of the Xbox 360 console for the HD video outputs and digital surround sound. As an accessory, it becomes another shining example of the flexibility of Xbox 360 designed into the console in order to grow and add new features. It’s also just one of several new accessories being announced at E3.
“There aren’t any Blu-ray players available to test, but if you compare the requirements on paper it’s going to be a wash in terms of video quality,” said Albert Penello, Director of Global Marketing at Xbox. “At Microsoft, we’ve known that for some time. But the major difference is going to be price, and all the leading indicators point to HD DVD winning.”
Let’s hope the footprint of this external drive isn’t too significant. You can read the full Microsoft announcement here
Technorati Tags: xbox360, hd-dvd
May 8th, 2006
Chris Lewis — Microsot’s regional vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Xbox 360 gaming console business in Europe — gave a very revealing interview to SPIEGEL ONLINE.
In the interview he spoke very openly about the forthcoming plans for an HD-DVD drive:
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Is the HD-DVD-drive for the Xbox 360 still in the pipeline?
Lewis: Absolutely, yes. We’ll say a little bit more about it at E3. It will give people access to HD DVD.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: But the 360 doesn’t have an HDMI-Interface — so you won’t actually be able to watch any HD DVD Movies on it because the obligatory copy protection mechanisms are missing.
Lewis: All I can say to you is — there are interesting developments in the pipeline. We will make sure that the HD-DVD-peripheral device will meet all the requirements for consumers to enjoy high-definition DVD playback.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Meaning, you will be able to watch Hollywood movies in HD through your Xbox?
Lewis: Yes.
Lewis kept referring to E3, which will be in May, as the time and the place where microsoft will make their announcements.
The HDMI issue is very real, so I’m sure everyone is curious as to what microsoft will come up with. But overall this is great news for those who plan on jumping on the HD-DVD format.
HD-DVD, E3
April 18th, 2006
The folks at hdbeat put the Netgear XE104 through it’s paces, and have a very complete review of it. Devices like this Netgear, in theory, allow you to stream HD content over your network from a media center PC to your Xbox360. Makes a lot of sense, given how distributed our content is these days, and how we are trying to keep the living rooms as un-cluttered as possible. Unfortunately this device did not pass the test. The review concludes with this blurb:
There could be other factors involved and yes, one of them is the wiring in your house. Our house used for the test is only two years old, so it’s unlikely that the wiring is the culprit. Our XE104’s cost us $85 each, but we’re getting our money back. Simply put, these units just won’t cut it for HDTV streaming between a Windows Media Center PC and an Xbox 360 in our environment.
Read more.
February 4th, 2006
Microsoft announced that it will offer an external HD-DVD drive to Xbox 360 owners. After much speculation and publicly battling Sony backed Blu-Ray DVD format, the news was received with a mixed response.
On the one hand, many analysts voiced concerns that a next generation console should support next generation media formats — something the Xbox 360 did not at launch. But adding an external device puts it in competition for those who may opt to use a standalone DVD drive, let alone from a competing format of Blu-Ray (which appears to have stronger hollywood support).
Statement by Bill Gates that “this will be the last format war” suggested to some that perhaps Microsoft would push for delivery based video content via their Xbox Live service. Gates told the Daily Princetonian:
For us it’s not the physical format. Understand that this is the last physical format there will ever be. Everything’s going to be streamed directly or on a hard disk. So, in this way, it’s even unclear how much this one counts.
And finally, over at the sportsgamer blog, they echo what many recent purchasers of the Xbox 360 must feel right now:
Just out of curiousity, how many of you that dropped $1,000 on an Xbox 360 bundle are going to drop another $1,000 on an HD DVD external drive for your Xbox360? I think I’ll pass, and it’s pretty stupid, even if it has Final Fantasy 23HD on it.
We’ll have to wait and see how this turns out :)
Technorati Tags: xbox360, hd-dvd, xbox live, blu-ray
January 8th, 2006