Camp
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Dec 3, 1999
- Messages
- 2,301
I own a high-def television and, while I would love to see console games in 1080i, I just don't see the forthcoming generation of consoles as being the providers of that dream.
A high percentage of threads on this forum concern high-def gaming. Am I wrong to be skeptical of Microsoft's claims of Xbox's HD support? Should I be more excited about this possibility?
I see no reason to get excited just because Microsoft said Xbox will have HD support. There is just too much conflicting information at this point. I have yet to read any solid report of real world use of these supposed features. I question the Xbox's real world ability to maximize it's graphical power at 1080i and I question the report that Xbox will be able to scale video to HD resolutions. I also question whether software developers will incur any added expense (or development time) to release games in HD when so few Americans have access to HD televisions.
Don't get me wrong, from a technical point of view I have no doubt that Xbox can output HD games to some degree. I wonder how the real world application of HD gaming will compare in terms of graphical detail to what we'll see on the NTSC standard which Xbox was really designed for. (For example: Will we really want Xbox in 1080i if it means we loose bump mapping or other features?)
I seem to remember Sega touting the Saturn as HD-compatible too. Certainly that's a different fish entirely but that pre-release hype surrounding the Saturn's launch has a similar echo -one that is yet unproven.
[Edited last by Camp on August 01, 2001 at 10:47 PM]
A high percentage of threads on this forum concern high-def gaming. Am I wrong to be skeptical of Microsoft's claims of Xbox's HD support? Should I be more excited about this possibility?
I see no reason to get excited just because Microsoft said Xbox will have HD support. There is just too much conflicting information at this point. I have yet to read any solid report of real world use of these supposed features. I question the Xbox's real world ability to maximize it's graphical power at 1080i and I question the report that Xbox will be able to scale video to HD resolutions. I also question whether software developers will incur any added expense (or development time) to release games in HD when so few Americans have access to HD televisions.
Don't get me wrong, from a technical point of view I have no doubt that Xbox can output HD games to some degree. I wonder how the real world application of HD gaming will compare in terms of graphical detail to what we'll see on the NTSC standard which Xbox was really designed for. (For example: Will we really want Xbox in 1080i if it means we loose bump mapping or other features?)
I seem to remember Sega touting the Saturn as HD-compatible too. Certainly that's a different fish entirely but that pre-release hype surrounding the Saturn's launch has a similar echo -one that is yet unproven.
[Edited last by Camp on August 01, 2001 at 10:47 PM]