Got my first taste of 360 yesterday!

[wraggster]

Jaz Posted this:

I attended a VIP Press event yesterday to showcase the Xbox 360. It basically consisted of lots of 360's, and hot chicks serving you free food and free beer. It doesn't get much better than this.

Sadly I wasn't allowed to take photos, because of this:



But I did take a few sneaky ones with my phone, which I'll put at the end.

Firstly, the controller. It's a bit smaller than the 'S' pad on the original Xbox, and it takes a bit of getting used to (especially the Start and Back buttons, and the White and Black now moved to the top of the pad), but once you get used to it, it's perfection.

They also had an original Xbox there connected to Live. After about 2 hours of playing on the 360, I went and sat down and picked up the pad. The old pad feels so wrong after using the new one!

The games. Basically I spent around 20-30 mins on each game (and maybe a lot more on PGR3!), so I'll give them a quick mark out of 10 based on those first impressions.

PGR3 - This was easilly my favourite game of the party. The graphics were superb, presentation was awesome, and the cars handly so perfect it's unbelievable. It's still got that PGR-feel to it, but the cars are much more predictable and handle so smoothly. Awesome to finally play it, and I can't wait to pick it up on release day. First Impression - 10/10.

Perfect Dark Zero - Before I went to the party, PGR3 and Perfect Dark were the two games that I couldn't wait to play. Whilst PGR3 went out of it's way to impress me, it would appear that PDZ went out of it's way to dissapoint me. Visuals are stunning, but gameplay seems tired, old and slow. Very unresponsive, and the lack of a jump button is criminal. The code I played was only 70% complete, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. For now. First Impression - 5/10.

Call of Duty 2 - The best FPS there. I think this was the game that showed off the 360's graphical powers the best. Superb textures, awesome effects, all in all, just awesomness. Now on my wish list. First Impression - 9/10.

Kameo - Again, superb graphics and top gameplay. Not really my type of game, but it still impressed. My girlfriend spent all of the night playing it, so it must be doing something right! First Impression - 8/10.

Dead or Alive 4 - As far as beat-em-up's go, I've not seen a more polished one than this. Crisp visuals and well annimated. Not to mention the chicks and those bouncing breasts! First Impression - 7.5/10.

Tony Hawks American Wasteland - Plays like every other Tony Hawk, but the visuals are superb. One level I played had a large bit of tarmac with puddles everwhere, and they looked awesome. Could be a nice one to buy for pick up and play moments. First Impression - 7/10.

Condemmed - I'd not really heard much about this before I went to the party, but having played it, I'll be keeping a much closer eye on it from now on! Super classy visuals and very very spooky! Looking forward. First Impression - 9/10.

NBA Live 2006 - If you've seen those "sweat" screenshots that have been around the 'net, you'll know what I'm on about! One of the best looking sports titles that's ever been mate, and plays like a dream too. Crowd looks super real as well! First Impression - 8/10.

I did play on a few other games like Need for Speed and Fifa, but not for long enough to comment on.

So there you have it. All in all it was a superb night. Excellent hospitality, and for that I thank Microsoft. They really did look after us.

My game of the show: PGR3, without a doubt.
Biggest surprise of the show: Call of Duty 2, I didn't expect it to be that pretty!
Biggest disappointment: Perfect Dark Zero. Must improve.
Best video-game breasts: Dead or Alive 4. Who else?

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[Hevyduty]

I keep hearing that the last few months of PDZ development have done wonders for the game, but quite frankly, to save this dud, Rare would need to have run the equivalent of a 4-minute marathon in that time to save it. I'm only interested in one turkey this Thanksgiving, and it ain't PDZ. I advise people to stay away.

PGR3 is probably the only game I'll get at launch. I can't wait.

Kameo looks good, but reviews say it's short, so it's probably best as a rental.

Condemned looks awesome, but with no replayability and no multiplayer, again, just a rental.

CoD2 looks good, but it's not my type of game. Not on consoles anyway.

Everything else is either a sports game (yawn) or title that's out on other consoles and the PC already (double yawn).

Other than PGR3, it's a terrible launch. But that doesn't mean much. The DS launch lineup was horrific, but a year later, it's the hottest system on the planet. A crappy launch doesn't mean much in the end. IN the long run, the XB360 will be fine.