Xbox 360 Video Interview - Scott Henson

pipo

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Heads up:

Fresh from Redmond comes this thorough Xbox 360 update: a snappy video interview with Director of Microsoft's Game Technology Group, Scott Henson.

<snip>

Today, as Microsoft reveals its pre-release XNA Studio tools and the new XNA Framework at GDC in San Jose, we can bring you this new 20+ minute video interview, covering everything from Viva Piñata to HD-DVD and of course the obligatory monthly Halo 3 murmur.

Check the link for a complete overview before downloading.

http://games.kikizo.com/features/xbox360_scotthenson_videoiv_mar06.asp
 
dang

after watching, it becomes apparent that MS's strength is most definitely the software side of gaming.

I'd be interested to hear from Devs as to if MS is really making a difference with their tools compared to previous gens/other platforms.

Also interesting seeing how upgradable the X360 (LIVE) OS is including possibly adding the ability to download in the background, stream from XP and other features that can/may possibly be tweaked and changed over time to meet needs.

Also, over half of the sold 360 consoles have connected to Xbox live including 9 million downloads of some sort (including 3mil arcade & 2 mil demos), 85% of connected consoles have downloaded something and 600,000 text messages sent every DAY.

oh not to mention his only controversial comment (after a direct question by the interviewer) he said .... "ask any dev and you will find that 1080p is basically impossible" (for games this gen)
 
well the included 1 month free gold membership with every console sold would help alot i think. i played 1 month on live ..(well played... not really :p ) otherwise i would have never touched it
 
oh also,
he seems like a very interesting, likable guy... no marketing BS just some interesting candid info in response to some decent questions. I really like kikizos interviews.

He was originally involved with coordinating LIVE with developers including helping to develop the 4 technical updates to LIVE.

Now he is head of the Game Technology Group for MS.
 
Tap In said:
oh not to mention his only controversial comment (after a direct question by the interviewer) he said .... "ask any dev and you will find that 1080p is basically impossible" (for games this gen)
That's just asking for trouble. If Sony get a few 1080p games out there, 'PS3 the miracle machine can do the impossible!'
 
Shifty Geezer said:
That's just asking for trouble. If Sony get a few 1080p games out there, 'PS3 the miracle machine can do the impossible!'
agreed. I cringed when I heard it because most likely it will be done, just perhaps not on the technical scale to which he may have been referring. (for example not rendering at 1080p but upscaling to it)


edit:
oh and if it IS rendered at 1080p then it will be adding even more fuel to the "more power" fire.
 
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A simpler game could be rendered at 1080p, or even no AA. A raytraced Tetris game with advanced GI etc. could look great at 1080p, be entirely possible, and contradict these comments. And IIRC HS is going to support 1080p, though targetted at 720p. If they are managing 720p with 'a nice amount of AA' then 1080p without AA shouldn't be a far reach from that.

I don't know that all games will support it - little point at this period in time given a lack of 1080p sets. But I can well imagine a noticeable number managing it, like the few progressive scan PS2 games for example.
 
Shifty Geezer said:
That's just asking for trouble. If Sony get a few 1080p games out there, 'PS3 the miracle machine can do the impossible!'

OTOH, now that I think about it, he is a technical guy himself (not PR) and talks to hundreds of devs about what they need for developing in HiDef and he was probably speaking from what he knows to be true from that point of view.
 
Shifty Geezer said:
A simpler game could be rendered at 1080p, or even no AA. A raytraced Tetris game with advanced GI etc. could look great at 1080p, be entirely possible, and contradict these comments. And IIRC HS is going to support 1080p, though targetted at 720p. If they are managing 720p with 'a nice amount of AA' then 1080p without AA shouldn't be a far reach from that.

I don't know that all games will support it - little point at this period in time given a lack of 1080p sets. But I can well imagine a noticeable number managing it, like the few progressive scan PS2 games for example.

yes I was definitely thinking an arcade game of some sort will be output at 1080p.

as for HS or some other fully developed next gen game? Wow, that would be something if they can really render it at that Res. (I'm still doubtful)

If that becomes common this gen (on PS3) I may have to look at a 1080p TV sooner than expected. :cool:
 
Lysander said:
Sure, but he is not talking about tetris.

I don't think Shifty is either.

I'm sure a relatively small number of titles will use 1080p natively. All will likely be scaleable to 1080p, via PS3.
 
That'd be one example, if it is indeed rendering at 1080p (although the press release isn't explicitly clear on that). It's certainly not Tetris, and we have seen worse next-gen ;)
 
Titanio said:
That'd be one example, if it is indeed rendering at 1080p (although the press release isn't explicitly clear on that). It's certainly not Tetris, and we have seen worse next-gen ;)

yeah KZ wasn't all that imo ;)
 
Alstrong said:
Does anyone have an audio file or transcript?
there is a low quality video at the bottom of the page for download 36mb... smallest I could find, no transcript AFAIK
 
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