Gears of War

[Geoff_R]

Anyone else been playing this? I got it a few days ago and it's sucking up all my time. I should be editing, writing, the usual stuff but this damn game is so addicting!

[morten]

Starcraft almost ruined my Philosophy thesis in university. games can be truely destructive ;o)

mor10

[jeremytuttle]

Games consume me so I gave away my XBOX to prevent distraction. Now it's the evil TV that is consuming me. Must... kill... tv... but... can't... agrh!

I've actually heard Gears of War is amazing and better then Halo... so I will not play it.

[Geoff_R]

It is better than Halo... don't play it. I screwed up and now I'm paying for it. I should be working on my drama fest idea.

[Cynic821]

good thing the multiplayer is terrible and the single player short or id be playing it alot more

[Sean Michael]

I have Gears of War. Also picked up Call of Duty 3 last week. And the XBox 360 HD-DVD player today.

I need to enter a gamer's rehabilitation facility...

[Tim Miller]

I need to enter a gamer's rehabilitation facility...
http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/15/rehab-center-for-video-game-addicts-opens-in-amsterdam/

Done and done. :thumbup:

[Sean Michael]

I've been to Amsterdam. They might cure me of gaming, but I'd probably leave town with a few new addictions. :laugh:

[Tim Miller]

I don't get it????





:Drogar-Smoke(DBG):

[Bigmagic]

Wait a minute, better than Halo? I have GOW and while I like it a lot Halo's king in my house! Gotta have that new HDDVD drive though.

[Sean Michael]

The HD-DVD player is a nice unit. Comes with a well designed remote and a copy of King Kong.

My initial reaction is that if you have an upscaling DVD player with HDMI output, no need to rush and buy the new HD unit.

If, however, you want a cheap entry into HD-DVD and you own an XBox 360...at $200 it's a no brainer.

[Cynic821]

My initial reaction is that if you have an upscaling DVD player with HDMI output, no need to rush and buy the new HD unit.


I have to disagree. I cant even watch HDTV broadcasts anymore after watching HD-DVD's and Blu-Ray movies. HUGE difference. The main reason why i never collected a DVD collection, i couldnt stand how bad the movies looked.

[Sean Michael]

I have to disagree. I cant even watch HDTV broadcasts anymore after watching HD-DVD's and Blu-Ray movies. HUGE difference. The main reason why i never collected a DVD collection, i couldnt stand how bad the movies looked.

So far all I've watched is the included Kong disc, so I can't draw a definitive conclusion. But I'm pleased to hear your opinion! I'm going to load up my Netflix with HD-DVDs and do some more "research."

Are you watching 1080p or 1080i? My display is a 60" 1080i. Maybe I would be more impressed if I had a 1080p TV.

[Cynic821]

Im watching on a 720p LCD Projection at the Moment. Im guessing your set is a 1080i CRT based HDTV? Thats going to cause a few problems for any input you give it. If it actually is a CRT based Projection , those TV's just dont have the abilities of newer sets. DLP, LCD Proj. , ETC...ETC.

Ya, i just got the netflix as well, watched 16 Blocks last night, the Blacks are SO BLACK! Blacker than anything ive seen on HDTV or DVD, great contrast!

[Sean Michael]

My TV is a Sony KDF-60XS955. 60-inch 1080i LCD projection with HDMI inputs. I've had it a couple of years, so it's been surpassed by the new 1080p sets, but it's still a great TV.

I took another look at Kong. It really does look outstanding (if you like CGI). There's definitely more resolution detail in HD-DVD, as would be expected. But I also looked at Lost on the upscaling player, and it looks really good too.

I'm not sure the HD-DVD looks any better than, say, a PBS HD broadcast. On my TV, both are displayed in 1080i. It boils down to the quality of the cinematography.

Anyway, I'll watch several HD-DVDs next week. I've loaded up my Netflix queue with 'em. :thumbsup:

[Cynic821]

ahh, ok, Well its not exactly a 1080i TV. Its native resolution is 1,366 x 768, from the info on it i can find. You would be advised to give it a Progressive resolution from the devices you have hooked up to it.

The only TV's that are 'nativly' 1080i are CRT Based Projection and CRT Based Tubes (the old schoolers) LCD Projection are all progressive. Maybe if you set your 360 to 720p or BETTER YET, hook it up with the VGA cable and give it your TV's native resolution , youll see an astounding difference in video quality. Thats a nice TV, be sure to give it the correct signal to see it the best you can.

[Sean Michael]

Thanks, I will try switching the HD-DVD output resolution to progressive. The 1,366 x 768 of the TV is (I believe) a proprietary Sony resolution...Sony as usual going their own way. The TV has been fantastic though.

I don't really mean to disparage HD-DVD, but for me the real "wow factor" was supplied by over-the-air HD broadcasts a couple of years ago. HD-DVD seemed to be just marginally better than what we already had.

[Cynic821]

Cool. Alot of TV's have the 1366 x 768 resolution, it is a resolution found alot in LCD based TV's. Mainly 23 - 26 inch LCD panels, but also in alot of bigger LCD's like yours. When 720 was main stream, having a 1366 x 768 screen was a nice luxery, added resolution and all ya know. And sony is a brand leader so they offered that before everyone else.

Good time Sean, i cant recommend the VGA cable enough for the XBox 360. Biggest difference you will find anywhere.

[Kholi]

I want an XBOX HD-DVD drive as well. I've found out that you can actually use it in a PC and all that good stuff. Neato.

[FourStarCinema]

I've gotta agree about getting the VGA cable with the add-on. Don't forget that the Xbox HD-DVD player is currently the only HD-DVD player that will actually output 1080p, so when that resolution becomes standard on televisions, you'll be good to go. Plus, all HD-DVDs are encoded at 1080p. I'm currently using the add-on on a 1080p LCD, and the picture quality is an overwhelming improvement versus an upscaled SD-DVD. The drive is quick and quiet, and definitely worth the $200.

[Geoff_R]

Maybe I'm mistaken but I was under the impression that HD-DVD could only do 1080i or 720p and not 1080p. I seem to remember that being one of the upsides of Blue-Ray; that you'd have native 1080p content whereas HD-DVD was limited to 720p or 1080i.

[Sean Michael]

The Kong packaging indicates it is 1080p.

The audio is "Dolby Digital Plus 5.1." I looked at a Blu-Ray disc today; apparently Blu-Ray audio is uncompressed.

My friend has a new 62-inch 1080p set. Next week I may see how HD-DVD looks on his TV. I haven't viewed a true 1080p signal yet.

[Rich Lee]

GoW is tight...im at the scene where you have to kill a berserker...and as soon as the berserker slammed through a wall and killed me...i have been too scared to play it...

[FourStarCinema]

Maybe I'm mistaken but I was under the impression that HD-DVD could only do 1080i or 720p and not 1080p. I seem to remember that being one of the upsides of Blue-Ray; that you'd have native 1080p content whereas HD-DVD was limited to 720p or 1080i.
All HD-DVDs are encoded in native 1080p. Before the XBOX-360 add-on, there were no HD-DVD players on the market that could actually pass the 1080p signal. Microsoft recently added a downloadable update for the 360 to convert everything to 1080p. The games for the system have to be upscalled to 1080p, but not the HD-DVDs, since they are native 1080p.

Blu-Ray has a larger disc capacity (50GB Dual Layer) as oppossed to HD-DVD (35GB Dual Layer), but movies on both formats are being encoded at native 1080p.

[Geoff_R]

GoW is tight...im at the scene where you have to kill a berserker...and as soon as the berserker slammed through a wall and killed me...i have been too scared to play it...

That scene totally freaked me out the first time around. They've got awesome sound design across the board for the game. I've been playing mostly in the middle of the night on a 50in HD DLP w/ surround sound, dousing the lights and cranking the speakers. It gets real creepy fast!

[Rich Lee]

That scene totally freaked me out the first time around. They've got awesome sound design across the board for the game. I've been playing mostly in the middle of the night on a 50in HD DLP w/ surround sound, dousing the lights and cranking the speakers. It gets real creepy fast!

yeah same here...50" hd w/surround...

the game is really great...

GoW and ghost recon are really well done.

[Geoff_R]

I haven't played Ghost Recon yet, I need to rent it or something. I can't afford any more games right now. lol

[griffin]

I have Gears of War. Also picked up Call of Duty 3 last week. And the XBox 360 HD-DVD player today.

I need to enter a gamer's rehabilitation facility...

How is Call of Duty 3? I have 2 (for ps2) and don't relaly like it too much. I don't think the controls are that great and the game isn't as fun as some others.