First 1UP asked “What the cell is going on?” and now Gamespot is doing their own comparison as well. What they found was that the Xbox 360 actually had better graphics in the majority of the games they compared. Some of the games that look substantially better on the 360 are: Call of Duty 3, Madden 07, and Fight Night Round 3. In the end, Gamespot concluded:
The Xbox 360 had better graphics in almost all the games we examined. The 360’s biggest victories were in Madden 07 and Fight Night Round 3, where the differences in texture detail and lighting stood out in our comparison shots. We couldn’t capture this in the screenshots, but the Xbox 360 games generally offered better framerates too.
GT did a great video feature on the history of the Zelda games and how they all might fit together. They did it in six parts over a few weeks. I decided to edit them all together real quickly and post them here. Its almost an hour long, so make sure you have the time to watch it before you start:
Registration for the beta program begins today at the Halo 3 Web site. The beta is open to North American gamers, but not everyone who applies is guaranteed a spot. Europe will run a beta program for the game separately.
Also, a 60-second ad for the game will air sometime today between 5:50 p.m. and 6:20 p.m. PST during the Monday Night Football matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Carolina Panthers. The ad will be a mix of computer graphics and live-action, and will air on television only once. After its TV broadcast, the ad will be made available on Xbox Live Marketplace and Xbox.com.
Even though the Xbox 360 has launched, don’t overlook the original Xbox. There are still some amazing (and cheap) games on that platform that you might have overlooked. Here are some of the best Xbox games that you can still buy new (in no particular order):
The best Splinter Cell game overall and possibly the best game on the Xbox. With a great single player campaign, solid multiplayer and great co-op, Chaos Theory offers hours of entertainment.
It’s easily one of the most-impressive games on the Xbox and seems destined to be remembered as the most inspiring collaboration between Hollywood and the gaming industry yet. It flawlessly combines FPS, RPG and stealth gameplay into one compelling action game.
An amazing Xbox Live FPS. Unreal Championship 2 brings you the bone-crunching melee combat you’ve come to expect, with some added bonuses and faster action. Become a warrior with superhuman agility as you arm up for battle against the toughest and most unique adversaries you’ve ever seen.
Advent Rising is the first in an trilogy of action/adventure games. It features an epic story written by Orson Scott Card and some truly great combat. If you can look past some of the games technical problems, you will find an excellent game underneath.
One of the most difficult-yet most rewarding-action games ever made. The Black edition of the game comes with all-new difficulty settings (read: virtually impossible for anyone with less-than-catlike reflexes), loads of bonus missions to complete, and all the extra downloadable content made available for the original Ninja Gaiden.
If you own an Xbox and don’t own this game, no one likes you. You’re not cool in the least.Halo 2 features an interesting single-player mode and some of the best online multiplayer action you’ll find anywhere. It sets the gold standard even today, and people who don’t even like first-person shooters will find something to like in Halo 2.
When Forza was announced, a collective snicker went up from the hardcore racing community, since everyone knew it could never compare to Sony’s Gran Turismo series. Then the game came out, and not only did it compare to GT, but it completely blew it out of the water in a number of key areas-particularly by including car damage and a robust online game.
Fable is an imaginative game that’s got enough remarkable, unique moments in it to make it shine. The combat and mission structure in the game is great. The fighting feels good, and the magic system allowed you to create some pretty vicious combos. The storyline is also great and really makes you care about the characters.
You don’t need to be a fan of Star Wars or of RPGs to appreciate all the impressive qualities of this game–but if you are, all the better. KOTOR is the best RPG on the console and one of the finest RPGs ever created.
A visceral action packed first person shooter with amazing graphics. A new two-player cooperative mode really helps round out the experience, and those amazing good looks survived the translation to the Xbox well intact–along with pretty much everything else.
It has been a real long time since I have played any real time strategy games. I used to play them a lot back in the mid to early 90s. I was addicted the original Command & Conquer games and Red Alert (and its expansions) as well. After that I played a bunch of Tiberian Sun and Firestorm. But since then I have not seriously played any RTS games. It’s not because there was a lack of good games. Warcraft III and Ground Control II both came out between then and now, but none of them really grabbed my interest. I was looking forward to Earth 2160 for a while, but it turned out to be only decent (although it is veryprettylooking).
But I have finally found a game. It looks like Tiberium Wars is turning out to be pretty cool after all. I lost hope in the franchise ever since Westwood closed its doors, but it looks like EA might not screw it up this time and actually make something cool. One of the best things about the Command & Conquer games was the story (even if it was cheesy) and how the blended in live actors with CG to tell it. In Tiberian Sun they had actors like Michael Biehn (Terminator, The Abyss) and James Earl Jones (The voice of Darth Vader, The Meteor Man). This time around they have actors like Josh Holloway (Lost’s Sawyer), Billy Dee Williams (the Star Wars films’ Lando Calrissian), Michael Ironside (the voice of Splinter Cell’s Sam Fisher and Top Gun’s Jester), Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica’s Number Six), and Grace Park (Battlestar Galactica’s Sharon). With this cast and some gameplay that looks to be pretty solid, EA might actually be able to put C&C back up on the RTS throne.
