My impression of 360 on SDTV. I have a 360 hocked to a 25" CRT SDTV and another one to a 32" CRT SDTV running CoD and PDZ.
GRAPHICS
In CoD, it's amazing fluid. The smokes are awesome. The load time is pretty good, at no point, I felt I had to wait for the loading screen. I like also the fact that after you die, you respawn at the last checkpoint without reloading...unlike some other games I've played (Brother in Arm). Yeah when you suck, little things like this can get annoying. Jaggies? Yes, I notice a little amount jaggies from time to time, but they're mainly because they're textured. It's pretty low res texture...I didn't notice any jaggies on polygon edges, but remember I'm running a SDTV. I love the fact during 4 ways split screen all the screens (even though much smaller) frame rate was very smooth.
In PDZ, it's definitely feels last gen (and sometimes look last gen). Yes, it's marginally better than stuff you see on the xbox. Higher details and better texture, however because of the type of the game, you won't notice it that much during game play. During the cut scene, there are some noticeable tearing, but it doesn't seem to happen during game play. The frame rate isn't great either. It doesn't feel smooth, it's passable for single player; and even then during split screen co-op gameplay the frame rate would drop drastically for less then a second..like a hiccup. (Yes, I'm regret buying this game).
So is it worth it, yet? Currently just for CoD2, I say yes. If you have an old computer or an old video card, and love to play CoD2. The 360 is to get. I would say it looks slightly better than PC version. If you're not a fan of CoD2, then it's a tough call. Base only on PDZ, I would say no.
USER INTERFACE (dashboard)
I did encounter a problem when signing up LIVE for my nephew (since it requires a guardian's approval). It would create the account, but then had problem logging into LIVE using his account...citing invalid password or account. When we tried to log on using the MS via a computer it was okay. However, on the second day, he managed to login successfully without doing anything else. My LIVE setup was uneventful. Though, the Live login, could be confusing for non-standard setup...such as multiple LIVE accounts on multiple 360's. I'm not clear if the LIVE account is tie to the box or to the person. If you're a parent, LIVE is awesome. You can control what you child can and cannot do on LIVE (using a simple three level security: everyone, friend only, none).
Overall the dashboard is easy to use. Especially, if you have a standard setup. It's something most people will pick up in matter of minutes. I know multitasking support is limited, I wish they allow you queue up all the downloads instead of downloading 'em one at a time. Each one is not long enough to just walk away and is too long to sit and wait for it. Movie trailer playback lacks good playback control. I couldn't rewind or fast forward. And where's my playback time? However beside those issues, I found the dashboard easy to use.
Downloading LIVE Arcade is insanely simple...as the matter of fact, too simple. It allowed me to download a trial version Gauntlet and play it...Soon after that, I decided it was worth a purchase, I added some MS Points, to enable the full version of Gauntlet. All was done, in less than 5 minutes (most of that time, I spent getting a USB keyboard to hookup to my 360). If my experience with Live Arcade is anything like what Nintendo will do with their downloadable games on the Revo, I'm sure the Revo will be a success. I just wish MS had more downloadable games. I noticed something...SmashTV, Geometry War and Mutant Storm Reloaded are all very similar...Can't they mix it up a little and truly give us something different.
SOUND
I noticed that 360 games sound are louder than LIVE arcade games. I had to adjust my volume whenever I switch between the games. They should normalize the sound across all the game types. Since, I don't have a fancy sound setup and I'm hopelessly tone deaf, I skip this part of the review. However, even with my deaf ears, I would like to say. The 360 is load while I was playing 360 games!
HEATER APPLIANCE
I found the external PSU to be warm not hot, so it's not so bad. As for the 360, it also get a little warm...by putting my hands over the exhaust fan, it felt warmer than my PC. I did managed to let it run in PDZ for about 24 hours without a problem...though I was only playing the game for 4 hours the rest of it, I fell asleep during the game. That's how boring the game is.
DOOR STOPPER
The unit itself seems a lot smaller than the original xbox. If you put it side by side with the original xbox, you'll notice it only slightly smaller. The overall design seem solid and heavy...VERY HEAVY. Overall, it feels more like a PC than the original xbox. It looks like one of those old Compaq computers I used to have, now sitting in my storage room stopping the door from opening up all the way. Let's hope that the next gen games could save this my 360 from becoming just that. Right now I'm not retiring my old original xbox just yet...XBMC is just too awesome of a program to get rid of.
CONCLUSION
I'm glad I managed to get 2 360 Premium without maxing out my credit card. I like what I'm seeing so far. Again, I'm very impressed with the dashboard and LIVE. My only concern is the cost of LIVE. As of now, I'm paying too much in MMO fees and whatnot, so I'm not looking forward to $50/year LIVE subscription. However, I purchased a year subscription for both consoles, and let's see how it will continue to improve over the year. I'm not so thrill about the cost of the games...In the past, I have never looked into buying USED games before...Now I'm doing just that. $60 for CoD2 is really too much. As much as I love the game, I think I will have to learn to wait and buy second hand games.
Both units have been reliable so far but I guess when summer comes around, we'll see if heat will be an issue. So does the Sony have to worry? Just a little bit, we'll have to wait to see the next batch of games.
If the current batch of 360 games really was that great a leap graphically, you wouldn't need all that fine-tuning of the set. You would be able to see a great improvement immediately.
