Xbox 360 Ειδήσεις {News Topic}

[Pytzamarama]

Xbox 360 Direct3D and GPU Performance Update

Speakers: Andrew Goossen and Michael Dougherty

Are you craving a deep understanding of Direct3D and GPU performance features for Xbox 360? Learn about Xbox 360 enhancements to Direct3D, including accelerated predicated tiling and z-prepass, precompiled command buffers, and significant runtime performance improvements. We will also discuss the usage and under-the-hood architecture of a new PIX (Performance Investigator for Xbox) feature: the GPU analysis tab. This analyzer inspects over a hundred hardware GPU counters in conjunction with an accurate GPU simulation to generate a detailed performance analysis of GPU events.

 

HLSL Shader Compiler Update for Xbox 360 and Windows

Speakers: Jack Palevich and John Rapp

Several recent enhancements have been made to HLSL to support the new graphics features available in Xbox 360 and on Windows. This talk covers the HLSL language additions that expose the full power of the Xbox 360 GPU, as well as new annotations, flags, and runtime changes that can make your shaders run faster on Xbox 360. For Windows, the presentation covers the HLSL language enhancements that expose the new features of Direct3D 10, how the new features map onto down-level hardware, and basic strategies for writing high-performance, cross-platform HLSL code.

 

http://www.microsoftgamefest.com/ses...s.htm#GRAPHICS

 

Ξεκλειδωμα δυνατοτητων,XNA XDK βελτιωσεις και extra performance tweaking!!

NOT BAD AT ALL!!!

[privateer]

Anoixe to XBL. To Lumines einai dia8esimo epishs

[poromenos]

diapistosame kamia diafora-veltiwsh?

[Freakster]

Mpaaaa... Pantos emena de mou ekane autosign in, i moni diafora pou eida

[privateer]

Need for Speed Carbon video

 

http://www.xboxyde.com/news_3708_en.html

[privateer]

Review / Pro Evolution Soccer 6

 

Itʼs that time of the year again. The birds are chirping, the Christmas release schedules are filling up with all sorts of tat that will be sitting in the bargain bucket during January, and Pro Evolution Soccer is trotted out once more. This sixth version of Pro Evo is the first to make an appearance on the Xbox 360, and weʼve been waiting for what seems like an eternity to play it.

 

Based on what I played at Microsoftʼs X06 conference last month, this was due to be a glowing review. The game ran well, looked awesome in widescreen on a HDTV, and was everything I could hope for. On closer inspection, it seems that Pro Evolution Soccer maybe hasnʼt come on as far as it maybe should or could have done. Take the slowdown as an example. When youʼre taking a goal kick, or lining up a free kick from anywhere on the pitch, the game starts to stutter and stumble, as if you were playing the PS2 version of the previous title in the series. Or, take the Xbox Live modes as your point of focus. Konami have made it easier to get a game, by providing an indicator that lets you know when a player is unavailable or is considering another challenge – but that seems to be about it. No custom cups, no custom leagues…although you can now leave feedback on a player from the “Final Score” screen, instead of having to wait until youʼre returned to the menu system. Wow. If thatʼs all that the step up to a next-gen console that is highly integrated with its online service can provide us with, then surely something is amiss.

 

Thankfully the game engine still shines, and as mentioned, Pro Evolution Soccer 6 in high-definition widescreen is like being in gaming heaven. New player animations fall into the mix to give everything a wonderfully polished feel when the ball is in play and seeing Peter Crouch tuck away a goal for England from just inside the box, with arms flailing and both feet ending up off the ground for a split second is something to behold. The overly-strict referees of the previous version have been told to keep their whistle in their hand for the more innocuous challenges that really didnʼt need to be blown up for, and this makes for a game that flows a lot more than before. Another nice touch is the instant dead-ball situations that occur. You used to have to wait for an animation to play out, or for something to load whilst you stared at a black screen when you got a throw-in but now, the game just “flicks” forward to the set-piece, without any delay to the action and without any black screen shenanigans. The ability to take a quick restart when a free kick is called also helps with the speed of play.

 

When I say that the game flows better, I mean that the referees donʼt blow up every three seconds. The play itself is a lot tighter, and there is a lot less space to be going on with. In single player, on the harder game modes (the “star” system has been replaced with traditional difficulty level names), the CPU defence seem to be a lot more aware of whatʼs going on, and counter your attacking moves well. This means that you have to actually FIND a space and exploit it, rather than just playing the through ball constantly. It also means that your “Xbox Live goals” (where the opposition would simply run up to the keeper, then play a square ball to a striker who could tap it into an empty net) occur much less often, simply because the defenders are wise to the play. It can be done, but not anything like as easily as before.

 

Looking at the way PES6 controls, there have been changes made. The “Dash” button which used to be mapped to your right trigger in the days of the original Xbox, has been switched to the right bumper button. The “change player” button has been switched from the left trigger to the left bumper button. And this is where fans of the series will be split. In my opinion, the bumper buttons arenʼt designed to be used that often, and are there for use as switches – so Iʼve remapped the controls to put things back to how they should be. Other points of note include the stacks and stacks of new moves and variations on old moves that can be pulled off. Indeed, the “Game Controls” section of the manual now stretches to six pages, and Iʼd highly recommend that you read them since the game doesnʼt provide any real tutorial mode. The training mode is as useful as ever to try and master those new skills.

 

Shooting seems to have undergone an overhaul, too. You can still power the ball over the bar from two feet in front of goal if youʼre too ham-fisted with the controller, but in general, shots seem to fire off somewhat lower than they used to do. Volleys are now properly playable, based on your timing, rather than the gameʼs decision as to whether or not youʼre allowed to spank one this time. The whole thing feels more “real” than it did before, and when youʼve got five players all sliding for the same ball in the penalty area, and youʼre screaming at the screen as if itʼll help your striker be the one to get his boot to it first – youʼll have to remind yourself that itʼs only a game.

 

Youʼll be initially shocked at the slowdown and minor issues that Pro Evolution Soccer 6 contains, but extended play reveals that the improvements made in this latest edition are firstly much more numerous than youʼd initially imagined, and secondly not of the kind that can be emblazoned across the back of the box as “this yearʼs greatest feature.” It runs much deeper. It runs to the core of the game mechanic and canʼt be summed up in just one line. Seabass has been hard at work for sure, and yet again, heʼs made a game that youʼll be playing right up until the day before next yearʼs edition is released. Maybe the lack of any real innovation on the Xbox Live front is for the best, since some of us need to eat and sleep.

 

Pro Evolution Soccer 6 is the best football game available for any format. Period.

 

Addendum: To clear things up a little regarding the "Edit" mode - you CAN edit players and create them, but you can't edit or create teams. So you can't change Manchester United into Exeter City, but you can change Wayne Rooney into Steve Flack.

 

Words: Ken Barnes 9 out of 10

 

http://www.rewiredmind.com/review/proevolutionsoccer6

[alou]

^

biased και πολυ μάλιστα.

[poromenos]

xbox.com ksana online!

 

to komati omws me ta gamertags einai akoma down:(

[privateer]

Def Jam: Icon images

 

http://www.xboxyde.com/news_3710_en.html

[privateer]

30 minutes with Viva Pinata, impressions..

http://www.rare-extreme.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8073

[privateer]

Lumines Live Goes Hogwild for Microtransactions

 

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3154507

[privateer]

Splinter Cell supports 1080p

 

GamePro can confirm that Ubisoft's next-gen stealth title Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent will support 1080 progressive scan display for the Xbox 360.

 

 

Full Text:

Our first clue was that the pre-release version released for the press contained an option for 1080p support, found under the system options in the console Dashboard.

 

We followed up with Ubisoft immediately. Would the retail version of Splinter Cell: Double Agent also support 1080p output on the retail Xbox 360?

 

Our answer was short and to the point: "Yes."

 

Whether 1080p support will be added on a game-by-game basis, or will be part of a larger, Microsoft-sponsored effort to make all Xbox 360 games 1080p compliant is a separate issue we'll try to sort out.

 

But while we do our digging, it's official -- 1080p support has hit the Xbox 360, and the first game to have the honor is Splinter Cell.

 

 

1080p support lands on the Xbox 360 thanks to Splinter Cell: Double Agent

 

Splinter Cell: Double Agent was released yesterday for the Xbox 360, Xbox, and PS2, but the Xbox 360 version will be the only one to support 1080p.

 

1080p support, short for "1080 progressive scan," is the latest and most advanced home theater display resolution available. Though employed by only high-end HD TVs, the resolution is slowly creeping into more and more mass market-grade HD TVs.

 

Sony is heavily betting on 1080p support, which was originally thought to be a PlayStation 3 exclusive feature. At this year's X06 conference, Microsoft confirmed that they would add 1080p support to the Xbox 360 via a software update.

 

[The_Sheep]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[privateer]

XBOX LIVE FACTS & STATS

 

 

 

* Xbox Live has now reached more than 4 million members and is growing every day. We anticipate by June 2007 more than 6 million gamers will be connected to the Xbox Live network.

 

 

* Xbox Live is the worldʼs largest platform for high-definition, on-demand content with gamers downloading over 70 million pieces of gaming and entertainment content from Xbox Live Marketplace in just the first 11 months of launch.

 

 

 

* More than 70 percent of connected Xbox 360 consoles are downloading content from Xbox Live Marketplace, home to 2,000 pieces of gaming and entertainment content.

 

 

 

* Xbox Live Arcade has now surpassed 12 million downloads in less than a year. The popularity of Xbox Live has driven major publishers and independent game developers to submit more than a thousand Xbox Live Arcade game concepts to Microsoft for review.

 

 

 

* Xbox Live Arcade games average a phenomenal 24 percent trial-to-purchase conversion rate with #1 title UNO reaching a trial-to-purchase conversion rate of over 50 percent.

 

 

 

* Since the launch of Xbox Live in November 2002, gamers have spent more than two billion hours on the network playing games online with their friends around the world.

 

 

 

* Over 9 million text and voice messages are sent via Xbox Live every week.

[xrest]

Blue Dragon Bundle Sold out in Japanese Amazon

 

On Amazon Japan, it sold out... Sold 10,000 unit in 10-20min (Previously in japan, these figures could ony be obtained in weeks)

 

http://blog.livedoor.jp/widappy/archives/51217696.html