MTV http://www.mtv.com/games/video_games/xbox/index.jhtml
After watching all those trailers, all I can say is WOW WOW WOW! Some great Next Gen gaming footage in there. Really, just WOW.
Below I have details on my impressions. Just quick hits for those who do not want to wait through the bull MTV makes you click through.
But I have to ask: What is J Allard and Rare smoking?? I mean really, PDZ was the WORSE game shown. Worst models, worst textures, worst art direction. And it was 20FPS??!!! BBQ! How does the worst looking game have the worst framerate??
It has to be a joke... I mean, the games shown clearly demonstrate the Xbox 360 is a MONSTER. PGR3? Condemned? Quake 4? GEARS OF WAR! Just wow. The system really is killer. But two things became clear: You need GOOD artists (and a lot of them) and you need a GOOD engine.
PDZ had neither. The Xbox 360 is not at fault, it obviously is a monster of a machine. So how in the world does PDZ look so bad? And why did MS even bother showing it? The press hated it and 99% of us were not happy either. All the other games really rocked to a degree and some of them made me put $400 into my checking account!
No excuses about next gen games not looking earth shattering--because they can, and obviously do. Xbox 360 creams current gen games. So what is the deal with PDZ?
Anyhow, if anyone can answer that question, I would be oblidged. The only thing I can think of is PDZ was faked footage to scam Sony and they will show real next gen footage at E3.
On with my thoughts on the games:
==========================
Need for Speed: Cool!! Next gen feel, nice textures and lighting. Just a car game, but it looked excellent.
Madden: Recut video from the draft. MUCH better cut--sweet animation this time. EA said back then next gen Madden would look even better. This looked EXCELLENT. Better snow, linemen had linemen body this time. Great motion blur. Just wow.
Gears of War:
HOLY COW!!!! That guy is from UE3 demo shots from last year... WOW WOW WOW! :droll: Sign me up! The animation and graphics are totally immersive.
PGR3: You GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! That was way better than NFS. Wow! Great lighting, models looked A+, even realish. Wow!
Kameo: Short, but colorful, varied, and a LOT of enemies on one scene. Looks like a cute next gen title.
Ghost Recon 3: I have my doubts if that is real time... but if it is, it blew me away. It looks outstanding. The rendering quality is out of this world, the texture quality is great, and the models are very detailed. Seemed to be very immersive. Blows a game like BF2 or CS:S away.
Saints Row: Looked OK. Not great, seemed bland. But it was high quality rendering and lighting. The models looked like low end CGI people, sort of what you would expect.
Condemned: Looked out of this world. Great lighting. Great animations. RE4 like feel to gameplay, the graphics looked similar to RE, but with D3 lighting/shadowing without all the dark! Did I mention the lighting was great? Only complaint was the weak sauce gun sounds. Tazer was great though! Excellent texture work on people and the slum areas. Felt like I was there. Looks like a fun, but very scary, game.
Quake 4: Not sure if it is a Xbox 360 title, but it is listed on the MTV page. The video is great. Great looking, looks action packed. There are outdoors with large creatures. Does not seem to be stuck inside like D3 and has a lot better art, style, and direction. Really nice. Some scenes were only ok (by high end PC standards, head and shoulders compared to consoles) other parts were just as good as the best stuff shown.
NBA 2k6: Cloth that moves like cloth The rendering on the player (Iverson? James? Hard to see) is great, but the animation is what sticks out. KILLER animation. The environment looks real (backstreet hoops).
Full Auto: Looks like an upgraded Xbox port. FAST, but not as pretty as the other racers. BUT everything seems to explode and there are guns. Did I mention very fast? Looks like a mix of Twisted Metal and Burnout. Looked like it could be done on the Xbox, but it was silky smooth in the video with a lot of stuff and interaction.
Tiger Woods: Looked like a port. Nice rendering and all, but flat grass and low quality color pallete. Looked like it was stuck with 16bit color.
CoD 2: Looked just like the PC.
The Darkness: Looked like pre-rendered but the models and detail were excellent, as were the animation.
Tony Hawk: Another game that looked like a port, but very VERY clean, very smooth, and looked fun. It looked like a game that was clean, detailed, but was more aimed toward a fast/smooth game focused on gameplay than looks.
http://www.gametrailers.com/ has some videos also.
Only title that was bad, imo, was PDZ. All the rest were in these categories:
Ground shattering (PGR3, Gears of War, GR3, Condemned, maybe Quake 4 if I saw more of the good stuff)
Great (Madden, NBA 2K6, Need For Speed, CoD 2)
OK for next gen, but not wow inspiring (Kameo, Saints Row, Full Auto, Tiger Woods, Tony Hawk)
PDZ looked like a N64 to Xbox port, then glossed with some new particles and high res and AA (PR shot).
After watching all those trailers, all I can say is WOW WOW WOW! Some great Next Gen gaming footage in there. Really, just WOW.
Below I have details on my impressions. Just quick hits for those who do not want to wait through the bull MTV makes you click through.
But I have to ask: What is J Allard and Rare smoking?? I mean really, PDZ was the WORSE game shown. Worst models, worst textures, worst art direction. And it was 20FPS??!!! BBQ! How does the worst looking game have the worst framerate??
It has to be a joke... I mean, the games shown clearly demonstrate the Xbox 360 is a MONSTER. PGR3? Condemned? Quake 4? GEARS OF WAR! Just wow. The system really is killer. But two things became clear: You need GOOD artists (and a lot of them) and you need a GOOD engine.
PDZ had neither. The Xbox 360 is not at fault, it obviously is a monster of a machine. So how in the world does PDZ look so bad? And why did MS even bother showing it? The press hated it and 99% of us were not happy either. All the other games really rocked to a degree and some of them made me put $400 into my checking account!
No excuses about next gen games not looking earth shattering--because they can, and obviously do. Xbox 360 creams current gen games. So what is the deal with PDZ?
Anyhow, if anyone can answer that question, I would be oblidged. The only thing I can think of is PDZ was faked footage to scam Sony and they will show real next gen footage at E3.
On with my thoughts on the games:
==========================
Need for Speed: Cool!! Next gen feel, nice textures and lighting. Just a car game, but it looked excellent.
Madden: Recut video from the draft. MUCH better cut--sweet animation this time. EA said back then next gen Madden would look even better. This looked EXCELLENT. Better snow, linemen had linemen body this time. Great motion blur. Just wow.
Gears of War:
HOLY COW!!!! That guy is from UE3 demo shots from last year... WOW WOW WOW! :droll: Sign me up! The animation and graphics are totally immersive.PGR3:
You GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! That was way better than NFS. Wow! Great lighting, models looked A+, even realish. Wow!Kameo: Short, but colorful, varied, and a LOT of enemies on one scene. Looks like a cute next gen title.
Ghost Recon 3: I have my doubts if that is real time... but if it is, it blew me away. It looks outstanding. The rendering quality is out of this world, the texture quality is great, and the models are very detailed. Seemed to be very immersive. Blows a game like BF2 or CS:S away.
Saints Row: Looked OK. Not great, seemed bland. But it was high quality rendering and lighting. The models looked like low end CGI people, sort of what you would expect.
Condemned:
Looked out of this world. Great lighting. Great animations. RE4 like feel to gameplay, the graphics looked similar to RE, but with D3 lighting/shadowing without all the dark! Did I mention the lighting was great? Only complaint was the weak sauce gun sounds. Tazer was great though! Excellent texture work on people and the slum areas. Felt like I was there. Looks like a fun, but very scary, game.Quake 4: Not sure if it is a Xbox 360 title, but it is listed on the MTV page. The video is great. Great looking, looks action packed. There are outdoors with large creatures. Does not seem to be stuck inside like D3 and has a lot better art, style, and direction. Really nice. Some scenes were only ok (by high end PC standards, head and shoulders compared to consoles) other parts were just as good as the best stuff shown.
NBA 2k6: Cloth that moves like cloth
The rendering on the player (Iverson? James? Hard to see) is great, but the animation is what sticks out. KILLER animation. The environment looks real (backstreet hoops).Full Auto: Looks like an upgraded Xbox port. FAST, but not as pretty as the other racers. BUT everything seems to explode and there are guns. Did I mention very fast? Looks like a mix of Twisted Metal and Burnout. Looked like it could be done on the Xbox, but it was silky smooth in the video with a lot of stuff and interaction.
Tiger Woods: Looked like a port. Nice rendering and all, but flat grass and low quality color pallete. Looked like it was stuck with 16bit color.
CoD 2: Looked just like the PC.
The Darkness: Looked like pre-rendered but the models and detail were excellent, as were the animation.
Tony Hawk: Another game that looked like a port, but very VERY clean, very smooth, and looked fun. It looked like a game that was clean, detailed, but was more aimed toward a fast/smooth game focused on gameplay than looks.
http://www.gametrailers.com/ has some videos also.
Only title that was bad, imo, was PDZ. All the rest were in these categories:
Ground shattering (PGR3, Gears of War, GR3, Condemned, maybe Quake 4 if I saw more of the good stuff)
Great (Madden, NBA 2K6, Need For Speed, CoD 2)
OK for next gen, but not wow inspiring (Kameo, Saints Row, Full Auto, Tiger Woods, Tony Hawk)
PDZ looked like a N64 to Xbox port, then glossed with some new particles and high res and AA (PR shot).
