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Xbox 360 Ειδήσεις {News Topic}

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john2gr Grand Master

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Gears Of War

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=66314

 

"[The E3 demo] was using our single-threaded rendered. We have our new Gemini multi-threaded rendered working in the engine right now," Rein explained. "The final game's built on it, it gives us better frame rates and more fluidity - UT 2007 will also benefit from it. It only gets better from here. So if you were impressed with Gears of War at E3, the finished game's going to be much better, it's going to be spectacular."

Daredevil Veteran

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Xbox 360 Piracy Spreading Fast In China

 

Gamasutra have an exclusive feature which looks at how fast 360 piracy is spreading through China. There are a whole host of vendors offering pirated titles for as little as $3.50 per piece. This all comes off the back of the ODD firmware hack, with individuals or stores in Shanghai perhaps offering to flash the drive for free.

 

quote:

 
As part of Gamasutra's visit to Shanghai for this week's ChinaJoy game exhibition, we've discovered that Xbox 360 game piracy appears to be spreading notably in the country, with at least one vendor offering Xbox 360 titles such as Hitman: Blood Money for around 30 Chinese yuan ($3.50).

 

This development has occurred after an incident in March 2006, in which hackers managed to flash changes to the BIOS on the Xbox 360's Optical Disc Drive which allowed non-authenticated (copied) games to be played. Further information on the hack surfaced in late May, when other parties appear to have released a public version of the exploit, and Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog published an
response to the problem.

 

At the time, the company's John Porcaro noted: "The core security system has not been broken. However, on some Xbox 360 consoles the authentication protocol between the optical disc drive and the console may be attacked via a complex software and hardware modification which could allow people to play illegally copied and modified games. We continue to invest in the security of the platform and will respond appropriately as unauthorized activity is identified."

 

Obviously, it seems likely that connecting to Xbox Live will, at some point, download system updates which will prevent continued playing of pirate titles. In addition, it appears that pirated versions of PlayStation 2 and Xbox discs are much more common on the market stalls throughout Shanghai, thanks to the high cost of the Xbox 360 relative to average Chinese wages.

Read More: Gamasutra.com

Daredevil Veteran

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Vroom Vroom -- The Sound of Forza Motorsport 2

We hit the Portland International Speedway for a rubber-burning recording session.

by Levi Buchanan readmyblog.gif

 

July 26, 2006 - Much digital ink has been spilt this generation over the concept of the "uncanny valley," the phenomenon of making the artificial so realistic that it actually breaks the spell, making you more aware than ever that what you are looking at is indeed artificial representation. A lot of genres stand to suffer from this theory, such as first-person shooters that could easily slip from fantasy to uneasy simulation. Racing games, however, are poised to avoid such problems, as the accepted goal of developers (and desire of many gamers) is to create as realistic of a driving experience as possible without having to shell out tens of thousands of dollars for an unattainable ride.

 

 

Microsoft's Forza Motorsport 2 is seeking to use the Xbox 360 hardware to deliver just such realism. And to do so, the development team needs to deliver on more than just sharp visuals that faithfully approximate the look of being behind the wheel of a 150mph Ferrari Enzo. Audio has always been a major part of the car lifestyle -- just ask any auto fanatic. They'll talk about the throatiness of an exhaust sound. And saying an engine "purrs" may be an overused cliché, but if you stand next to some of the world's finest automobiles, there really is no more apt description.

 

forza-motorsport-2-20060726053856513-000.jpg

Can you hear the purr?

Last week, at the Portland International Speedway, car audio lead Mike Caviezel braved 106-degree heat to record real-world sound for Forza fans. The team is determined to use the additional audio processing of the Xbox 360 to deliver as close to a lifelike aural experience for Forza 2 players. "We want gamers who can't afford Lamborghinis to feel like they're racing Lamborghinis," said Caviezel, taking a break from hauling heavy recording equipment around the raceway under the blistering sun.

 

At the Portland speedway, Caviezel had a list of sounds and noises he wanted to capture for the game, including a pit stop. Due to the hustle and manic pace of an actual in-race pit, there is no feasible (or safe) way to get a whole recording team into thick of it. So Caviezel placed a small mic on a fuel rig used in the pits to capture the entire pit stop with plans to go through the audio later and distill it into the necessary components. Also at the track, Caviezel sought out as much ambience as possible, such as crowd noise. "I like to get crowd reactions to different cars," noted Caviezel, referring to the fact that different rides illicit different pops from fans.

 

The developers are working through a giant wish list for audio, including engine noises from over 300 cars, crowd sounds, turbocharger noise, and exhaust notes. They've been checking off a lot of boxes lately -- Caveizel and his team have been busy recording hundreds of audio sessions. Recently, the team scheduled time at an accident reconstruction facility to record car wreck audio. The team placed mics inside different old cars and then asked the facility specialists to put the autos through a series of smashes and collisions. They recorded sideswipes at 30 miles per hour and then at 60, knowing that there is a major difference in the sound of the scrapes. Head-on collisions were also laboriously set up and recorded so each sickening crash and crumple would accompany those moments in Forza 2 when you and traffic mix it up.

 

forza-motorsport-2-20060726053846919-000.jpg

Everybody loves a Ferrari.

Caviezel, who worked on the original Forza, is using the 360 hardware to deliver improved audio that just wasn't possible on the previous console. "The audio was hardware-based," said Caviezel about the original Xbox. "It was powerful, but not flexible. The 360 allows you to divvy up resources." Giving effects their own equalizer on the first Xbox consumed CPU usage, but the 360 allows for more effects without taking away resources from other components, like graphics, frame rate, or AI. And when artificial effects just won't do -- for example, on the original Xbox, many exhaust sounds were just actually just a single recorded snippet altered with a series of effects -- the 360 allows Caviezel and his team ample enough memory and streaming horsepower to record multiple real world sounds of different cars with different exhausts. According to Caviezel, the results will sound less manipulated and more authentic.

 

However, not every sound in Forza 2 will be purely ripped out of the real world. Caviezel acknowledges that the actual sound of racing some of these cars is just too much. "We do temper certain elements," said Caviezel. Noting the exotics to be raced at the weekend event, "Gear sound is miserably loud. We want it to be as realistic as possible. As cool as possible. But without wanting to turn the sound down."

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Daredevil

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The Arcade That Microsoft Built, Part 1

IGN mines Microsoft's Arcade division for a deep look into the future of Xbox Live Arcade. The first of a five-part feature.

by Douglass C. Perry readmyblog.gif

 

July 26, 2006 - Having returned from Microsoft's offices in Redmond, Washington yesterday, I re-realized something about the folks who launched Xbox 360 just this past fall. Microsoft is like a determined, sharp-toothed terrier. It doesn't let go easily. Back in the 1990s, Microsoft tried and tried to get into the arcade business with its Windows Operating system as the structure upon which coin-op games could, potentially, be built. It never happened, even though several campaigns were launched with fervor and passion arguing for a real change in that once-flourish business. The fact was, the arcades were dying, and neither Microsoft nor anybody else could have steered it away from its downward spiral.

 

 

Ten years later, however, Microsoft found its in. Using the first Xbox as a dress rehearsal for Xbox Live Arcade on Xbox 360, Microsoft's XBLA Group Manager Greg Canessa, a dedicated console junkie (34 systems and thousands of games in his collection), Magic card player, retro game fanatic, and businessman, wrote a business plan to bring the arcade to Microsoft's next-gen consoles -- Xbox Live Arcade. Launching with about 10 games and a handful more before year's end on Xbox 360 in November 22, 2005, Microsoft created a frictionless distribution vehicle that snugly sat on top of Xbox Live Marketplace. Led by Bizarre Creation's Geometry Wars Evolved, and bolstered by games such as Joust, Zuma Deluxe, Smash TV and Gauntlet, Xbox Live Arcade caught not only the casual gamer's eye, but the hardcore gamer's too.

 

the-arcade-that-microsoft-built-part-1-20060726070900053-000.jpg

Microsoft used its experiences with the first Xbox as a dress rehearsal for Xbox Live Arcade on 360.

 

It's not so strange how persistence pays off, but it's always fascinating how and why someone or something succeeds. Within weeks of the system's launch, Xbox Live Arcade began a fruitful, perhaps even revolutionary, new cycle. Gamers started and continued to download demos, trailers, and $5 and $10 XBLA games with fervor. Microsoft saw general download conversion rates of around 20%, with arcade leader Geometry Wars Evolved grabbing a conversion rate of 44%, a stunning set of numbers that forced Microsoft to recheck its computer systems for accuracy. Their systems were perfectly accurate. Xbox Live Arcade was bringing in outstanding numbers and the executives at Microsoft, who might have had headaches in other areas (with breaking or not enough systems), saw these numbers and knew they had something big going on.

 

In short, Xbox Live Arcade, a portion of Xbox Live Marketplace, was hooking casual and hardcore gamers with great conversion rates, people liked the games and they simply wanted more. Microsoft's system-within-a-system, however, still has remained a little bit of a mystery. What constitutes an Xbox Live Arcade game? Does GoldenEye 007? Does Madden? Will Bungie make a Halo side-scroller on XBLA? When will we see more games, new game genres, and what's this about Lumines Live?

 

We'll tell you. In this five-part feature, IGN delves into Xbox Live Arcade, chronicling retro games, established arcade franchises, independent developers, new game development, we will explain how to make an XBLA game, what the parameters are, and more. We'll reveal new games, post exclusives, and get to the heart of the matter from multiple perspectives. In today's first story, we talk with Canessa in the first part of a two-part interview.

polakis21 Veteran

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