I'll be the first to admit that I didn't have much enthusiasm for X-box lately.. The launch titles pretty much bored me, except for DOA3 and Halo (which I didn't expect much out of until all the positive reviews started popping up last week). I have long planned on getting a Gamecube (already pre-ordered) because Waverace and Rogue Squadron 2 will keep me busy for a long time (that and MGS2, damn).

But after watching people here at work play through Halo all day, I am now sold on X-box and will definitely be picking one up at some point. The game is very well done.. there are a lot of details, both gameplay and technical that really add to the feel.

And while I was very impressed with the game when it was hooked up with the RCA cables and the standard 2 channel sound, everything changed when we hooked it up to our 62" HDTV and 5.1 digital surround sound (yes, one of the benefits of working for a game company).

I expected it to look better, but damn.. The amount of detail you can see in the game with HDTV is significant.. It really does take advantage of the resolution and the digital surround sound is equivalent to a DVD of the best action movies. It's quite an experience to be caught in the middle of a battle in this game, and when it's on a system that takes advantage of the system specs it's a whole different level.

It's nice to see a console system with an adult approach to the system setup and the features it supports.

--Craig

are you positive?

i thought HALO was limited to 480p and 4:3 a/r - making it NON-HD

I first saw Halo being played at the local Software Etc. and one of the first things that caught my attention was the sound. The bass was strong and clear and the ambience was pretty good. Although I wasn't into Xbox at first, I think that it'll do just fine.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=158942


Check out this thread about the Halo and HDTV thing.

Halo is 480p but not 16:9. AFAIK, the only game that is both 480p and 16:9 right now is DOA3.

I'm not sure what resolution it was running at, now that you bring that point up.. The X-box was brand new.. so we set it to support all resolutions and started up HALO. All I know is it looked light years past any game I have seen before. And it was Widescreen, and filled up the entire screen. But this TV at the office I don't know all the settings on. I do know we set the system to run in widescreen mode and it filled up the full screen.

I got my system hooked up last night using the component video cables. Running Halo at 480p and 5.1 sound is so sweet. Even though it is stretched on my 65" Mits HDTV, it still looks awsome. There is alot of surrond sound going on as well. I feel like the controls are the weakest link in the Halo setup. A usb keyboard and razor boomslang mouse would have been ideal. I just started the level where you get the sniper rifle, very cool. I can't wait to show it off to my friends. They will be so jealous.

I keep telling myself, "If I only had a mouse/keyboard, the Covenant will be in for some serious whoop-ass!"

DOA3 only nativly supports 16X9 for their movies. The gameplay itself is still 4X3, but again if your TV supports one of the stretch modes it looks pretty damn good.

-Naan

I can't wait to get home and plug in my Monster cables and try out the 5.1. It put a huge dent in my checkbook I figure it's a 1-time purchase.

Unfortunately I think I only have 1 optical input on my receiver and my DVD Player is already using it... is there anything out there that splits a toslink input into two? I'm guessing no, and I'll have to switch back and forth.

I had the same problem. I am currently running a HTPC through my yamaha reciever. So, I plugged in the optical cable from the Xbox to my Game Theater XP sound card, then selected the optical input on the computer and thus we have sound. The down side is that I have to have the computer turned on to get sound but, I usually leave the beast powered on anyways. Now I just have to select which output I want to use Xbox or PowerDVD from the PC and all is good. It is not the best solution but it will work for now. I reciever with more digital inputs and DTS would be ideal.

Sony has an Optical Digital Switch box, the SBD30, but it isn't cheap. Most of the places I've seen its in the $130 range.

An option, but not necessarily a good one.

Here ya go... http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...ID=16161&DID=7

An optical switch with 3 inputs for $19 bucks...not bad.

Bo.

That's a nice find. That might be just what I need.

I'm just gonna wait for the PC version to come out in 6 months. Bungie has already confirmed that it will be a PC title, I can't believe gate$ is playing the "Xbox exclusive" card.

If the Xbox edition looks great, I can't wait to see the PC version while playing online!

-k
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I wanna add a Parts Express BOOYAH! I love that place and think they should get as much business as possible.

Barry

Holy cow, thanks! That's way cheaper than any optical switcher I've seen. That's worth a bookmark, in case I get any more components that use optical.

Deals good!