So am I correct in saying that the 360 upconverts the 720 signal to 1080?

Yes, you are correct.

The games are rendered internally at 720p (or lower if you believe some of the rumours), but the XBOX will output them at whichever resolution you choose from the dashboard.

The original xbox wasn't quite as cooperative in this regard due to it's lack of a video scaler, and 720p games could only be output in 720p.

Once I get home from work and get everything set-up, I'll post a mini review of the system and the game.

Can't wait!

Are you running an HDTV Becks?

Well I received my xbox360 from pepsi yesterday, my brother got his this afternoon from chum. I played a bit of kameo last night for about 30 mins but then I had to go study, I have it hooked up to my panny 47" CRT RPTV running at 1080i, looks outstanding! Kameo's colours are so vivid, and the water effects are like none I've ever seen before.

The console's power supply is a brick! And the cord wasn't long enuf to reach from the top shelf of my tv to the ground, I had to place it on the box. It seems to run louder than the older xbox, might just be mine though. The wireless controller and media remote are very slick, they operate flawlessly and turning the system on with the controller is a welcome feature.

I haven't played around with all the features yet, though I did hook my ipod up thru the USB ports and stream some music. From what I've read xbox live for 360 won't be available til the 22nd so no chance to test that. Now I just have to sell my brothers xbox360 to pay for some games/peripherals lol.

Can't wait!

Are you running an HDTV Becks?

Yes I'm using an HDTV. I hooked it up first to my Toshiba 62" DLP and then my Toshiba 57" HD RPTV and the picture was outstanding on both. Like T Shirt Ninja mentioned, the colours are so vivid and I couldn't find any jaggies. Kameo, looks like a great game if you enjoy those type's of games, but I'm trying to get my hands on COD 2 and PGR 3 :)

As mentioned, the power supply is HUGE and weighs a ton. The 360's fans are also pretty loud (no louder then most gaming pc's, but if you have a quiet HTPC like me, it sounds really loud). Also, the 360 seems to get really hot after just an hour or so of being on.

The wireless controller has to be one of the best controllers ever made and even tops the Gamecube one.

I should be getting a hold of more games today or tomorrow, so I'll post back with some feedback on them.

If you haven't decided yet if you should get a 360, I would highly recommend it if you're going to hook it up to an HD set, otherwise I don't see why you need a next gen console as you won't be using it's full potential.

I'd definitely be insterested in seeing a mini-review on how the final version of Kameo looks. I played the demo vesion at a Best Buy a while back and was very disappointed at the amount of visible 'jaggies' on all of the background stuff.

For instance, when you roll through the hole in the wall and into the enclosed area inside, I could see very apparent jagged edges on the top of the dividing walls. The jaggies in the COD2 demo were horrible too (looked worse than my PC running 720p with no AA), so I hope this was just due to them being early builds of the games...

The reason you saw so many jaggies on the in-store kiosk was that it was running at 480i or 480p (can't remember which) on a 720p Samsung HD monitor. Between running at a lower, non-native resolution and the internal upscaling, the picture was terrible. Supposedly MS reps have gone around to each kiosk and updated them with a new disc from Microsoft that resets the output resolution to 720p. If that kiosk has since had that update, Kameo should look just as stunning as it's supposed to.

You won't be disappointed.

The reason you saw so many jaggies on the in-store kiosk was that it was running at 480i or 480p

I've heard about that problem, but I'm almost positive that this was displaying a 720p signal...

Also I don't think it had anything to do with the disk that was being used, it's just that the correct resoultion wasn' set in the dashboard for those bad setups.

I mean, it did look great, COD2 looked almost identical to the PC version running at 720p on my 27" LCD, but there just didn't seem to be enough AA for my tastes. In my experience 2xFSAA at 720p is not really enough to clean up everything. The jaggies weren't severe, just enough to be distracting.

A friend of mine works for MS and is supposed to be brining a console by my place next weekend, so I guess I'll get a chance to have a look for myself :)

The disc merely did the dashboard setup change for the MS reps, rather than them having to go through each step themselves. I.E. put the disc in, turn the console on, load, and voila, 720p. AFAIK there was no difference in the disc content.

The interview I saw with the COD 2 guy on G4TV (some kinda head honcho on the project forget exactly what) said there was virtually no difference in the content of the game on the PC vs. 360, but that the 360 would play smoother with higher framerates than even top end pc's today because it made use of the three cpus to split things like AI and physics. Once PCs start using dual core and the developers start creating multithreaded games then they will begin to catch up.

I'd still like a mouse and keyboard though!

My brother got ahold of Call of Duty 2 last night at microplay square one, he was playing it for an hour on my setup, I was quite impressed. The A.I. smart, flanking, jumping out of the way of tossed grenades, tossing their own, ducking for cover from incoming fire. He spent 15 minutes trying to plant explosives on a tank because it kept anticipating his moves lol.

Graphics were also very nice looking imo, being a war game it doesn't allow for the colours I've seen in kameo but it has the war-torn look environments down pat. The smoke effects from the grenades are very cool.

The sound is where this game shines, it really adds to the immersive atmosphere of the game, bullets and explosions blasting from every channel, awesome dialog coming from your comrades, you feel for them when they get taken out by enemy troops.

So far so good, hopefully I can get ahold of a few more games before the 22nd, specifically PGR3 but I hear that's not due til the 22nd. Might go get Amped3 or NHL 2K6.

Oh and the xbox arcade game that comes on the HDD, Hexic, is a great time killer like bejeweled. I spent a good 30 mins playing one game til a bomb set off and ended the game.

"Now I just have to sell my brothers xbox360 to pay for some games/peripherals lol."

Hey.... how much are you selling it for!!

For digital audio, is it optical (toslink) only or is there a coax option as well?
Also can someone tell me how long the component cables are?

For digital audio, is it optical (toslink) only or is there a coax option as well?
Also can someone tell me how long the component cables are?

It's optical only. Not sure exactly how long the cables are (mine are all hidden now) but it's at least 6ft.

Graphics were also very nice looking imo, being a war game it doesn't allow for the colours I've seen in kameo but it has the war-torn look environments down pat. The smoke effects from the grenades are very cool.

If you've made it that far yet, would you mind letting me know how the introduction scene in the 'End of the Beginning' stage looks on your setup?

This is the stage that was in the kiosk demo units, and on the samsung monitors I was very disappointed to see that the edges of the tank in front of me showed some very distracting aliasing. This wasn't really a case of horrible jaggies, but it was enough of an eye sore to temper my exitement for this new system...

If you've made it that far yet, would you mind letting me know how the introduction scene in the 'End of the Beginning' stage looks on your setup?

This is the stage that was in the kiosk demo units, and on the samsung monitors I was very disappointed to see that the edges of the tank in front of me showed some very distracting aliasing. This wasn't really a case of horrible jaggies, but it was enough of an eye sore to temper my exitement for this new system...

a large number of the kiosks are set up incorrectly, the futureshop here I went to had a 360 set up and it looked like pure ASS. I went to bestbuy down the street and it looked like a totally different game/unit.

I think a large majority of the monkeys they have assembling the unit didn't bother to do it properly.

Yes I'm using an HDTV. I hooked it up first to my Toshiba 62" DLP and then my Toshiba 57" HD RPTV and the picture was outstanding on both. Like T Shirt Ninja mentioned, the colours are so vivid and I couldn't find any jaggies.

Did you have a previous (old) Xbox hooked up to your HDTV? How does the 360/HD colours compare to the Xbox/HD output? Is it even more 'vivid'?

protovision

Did you have a previous (old) Xbox hooked up to your HDTV? How does the 360/HD colours compare to the Xbox/HD output? Is it even more 'vivid'?

protovision

Yes I had the old xbox and PS2 hooked up to my HDTV and the 360 blows it away. In a game like Kameo, the colours and detail is amazing. Hopefully I'll get a hold of PGR3 soon, so I can see how the cars look compared to PGR2 on the xbox.

If you've made it that far yet, would you mind letting me know how the introduction scene in the 'End of the Beginning' stage looks on your setup?

This is the stage that was in the kiosk demo units, and on the samsung monitors I was very disappointed to see that the edges of the tank in front of me showed some very distracting aliasing. This wasn't really a case of horrible jaggies, but it was enough of an eye sore to temper my exitement for this new system...

I'm not too sure which scene that is since I personally haven't played it, but the tanks my brother encountered had no noticeable jaggies to me, even on a standard CRT television (JVC 36") it still looks fairly crisp although the minute details don't show up when compared to my panny.

Audio is key in the game tho, without a 5.1 system the game loses a lot of its appeal. Listening to the audio coming out of just the JVC's speakers was terrible you lose the environmental effect.

Definitely going to have to do something about my basement's setup. My brother sold his 360 for a little under a grand, so we're looking at picking up a budget projector (1500ish). Does anyone here have the Infocus SP4805? I'm wondering how the 360 would look on it...

Still trying to find PGR3 no one will sell it to me before launch even though some places have it in stock, might try my luck at the downtown location the workers there seem to be a little less strict about selling before the 22nd.

Question for the Grand Guru Of Pepsi contest!

My 56" Pana doesn't do 720P, It does only 1080i.
Did you try both 720P and 1080i?
Is there a big difference in PQ quality?

I hope not!!

Question for the Grand Guru Of Pepsi contest!

My 56" Pana doesn't do 720P, It does only 1080i.
Did you try both 720P and 1080i?
Is there a big difference in PQ quality?

I hope not!!

You can set your xbox360 to 1080i in the dashboard. And xbox360 will up scable everything to 1080i then output to your tv

You can set your xbox360 to 1080i in the dashboard. And xbox360 will up scable everything to 1080i then output to your tv

Yeah but will the PQ be the same?