QUOTE
Taken from TeamXBOX forum.. original link at bottom:
"X360 - Verdict so far.
Well, I'm having a little break for lunch here at the GME.
I haven't had much chance to play a lot of the games here yet as the place is huge... but I have had my first taste of the X360.
I had to Q up 25 mins to get my first go on one of the games, and as it approached I was hearing the "Woah"'s and the compliments to the system and was getting more and more excited... whilst I was looking at the gorgeous PGR3 being played.
Then came my turn...
X360 was infront of me encased in transparent plastic. Before the game kicked off we were shown how the controllers have changed since XB1 (we got wired pads for demo, so I dunno how the wireless works).
First off, it's marginally thicker on the grips than the S pad, but still much smaller than the original pad.
It took next to no time to get accustomed to the pad... it fits PERFECTLY in my hands. The analog trickers are softer, yet more responsive, the LB and RB buttons are easy to access and are very responsive.. and the Ring of Light is superb.
Not only does it show you which player you are by lighting up one of the 4 quadrants of the circle... but it also tells you so many other things ingame too, like proximity of other players, and it also flashes when someone talks to you, showing the color of the player who's talking with you.
The headset is back to traditional headset style. rather then putting it around the back of your head like you did with XB1, it goes over the crown of your head instead... it's ok and quite comfy, but I prefer the original (which is also compatible by using the plug at the bottom of the pad).
Now, the analog sticks.... absolute bliss... NO deadzone, NO slipping off the stick, comfy at all times... Quite simply all in all this is the best controller I've ever used. Yep, even better than the Saturn and Snes pads.
And onto the game itself... All 8 of us were ready after a few minutes and were prepped to race, so the MS guy kicked us off, selected a random racecourse and loaded the game.
And my god, it took less than 5 seconds to load the flyover of the course... and thats when my jaw hit the floor.
You quite simply will not believe the detail and fluidity of this thing.
Each spectator is fully 3D and all look different.. Even things like birds flying over trafalgar square are fully detailed, even down to the map being reflected in the bird's eyes. Then as smooth as silk it swoops down to the cars... and they quite simply have to be seen to be believed.
They look 15 times better moving than they do on the screenies. There are NO jaggies ANYWHERE, and effects like heat haze and small puffs of smoke from the exhausts dissipitating the higher it rises in the air, and droplets water dripping and rolling slowly from the exhaust before dropping onto the road.
And we were off... silky smooth, effects up the arse, REAL TIME DAMAGE AND DEBRIS!, Tire tracks wearing off the further you race... oh man this thing is AWESOME... It has the feeling of burnout as you tap the back wheel of a car, hear its tires scream as it careens infront of you and smashes in to the barriers as the spectators leap, scream and try to run out of the way of the crash.
It's more of the same type of game as PGR2, but so realistic, smooth, and FAST that it has you hooked from the moment the cars scream off the finishing line.
And if that's the other games are as good, I'm gonna have one helluva week here.
Anyway, lunch is done, and the GR3 stall seems quiet, gonna play that now.
I'll post my pics up when I get back on the 2nd.
Laters"
"Apparently this was the first showing of actual hardware. Definitely no macs hidden behind the corner, these were proper pods encased in transparent plastic, with controllers hooked directly in them.. Dunno if they were SDKs or final machines, but all I know was the games were running off them...well most games were.. Ghost Recon was running off an SDK for sure... black system.
And that game is AWESOME as well...although I only got 5 mins with it, it was a joy to play, and to watch the scenery get absolutely demolished with a misplaced rocket Fully deformable scenery in this one... spent half my time blowing shyte up! It is SUCH a good feeling to see 2 guys on patrol next to a half damaged building... so you chuck a satchel charge on the wall, run and hide, and as they walk past it, set off the charge and watch them getting crushed by the crumbling walls.
Graphics are a little ropey still (the actual images are cool, but the animation is very similar to GR2, i.e your character and your NPC's move beautifully, everyone else in the game doesn't quite move as lifelike.), but the movement, controls, and sound are perfect (you hear the whizz of the bullets fly past, the gravel under your boots, and rumbling of a nearby tank - which also rumbles the pad in varying strengths depending on how close you are)
Texture detail is amazingly crisp.. I love the way you blow up a tank and the dust tracks it was stationed on blow out a cloud of dust that hits your helmet, blurring your vision till your character gets a moment to wipe it off... all the while dodging the debris that flies all over the place.
GR3 feels much more like being part of a movie like Black Hawk Down.. the sense of being in the middle of a warzone is the most intense yet... I'm loving it... definitely gonna be one of my purchased launch titles.
Now.... the biggie.. PERFECT DARK ZERO.
The only way I can put the game into words is... imagine a gameplay cross between Goldeneye and Halo, with the physics of HL2, the graphics of a 3D Version of Akira the movie, and single player campaign maps the size of the entire playfield of GTA 3... the game is EPIC.
Playing the game gives such a euphoric feeling, you can't help but smile when you play it... the slight touches of humour, the animation, the speed, the graphics... it's one helluva package.
I dunno if it's better than Halo 2 or not (need more time with it before I figure that out), but it sure as hell blows any other FPS out the water.
X360's must-have game of the show.
It's not all good news though...
Kameo is not what I was hoping for.
Graphics don't look anything better than what can be done on current XB1, there was noticeable slowdown when loads of characters came on screen, and it just didn't hold my attention like the other games did... feels like it's gonna be delayed again... it just doesn't feel like a game that's almost ready for release."
