Microsoft Gets Elite

I'll explain why someone would want HDMI. I'm not trying to convince each of you you are missing something by not having HDMI, merely to help you understand that there is a difference.

Reason 1: DVDCCA, AACS consortium & ICT (& 360 VGA wonkiness)
The DVDCCA prohibits outputting upconverted DVDs (beyond 480p) over component video.
The AACS consortium prohibits outputting 1080i->1080p upconverted HD-DVD/BluRay over component video.
If an HD-DVD or BluRay has the ICT (image constraint token) set, you cannot the content over component video without downscaling it to 960x540 resolution (1/4 the proper resolution). Note that at this time there are no such HD-DVDs or BluRays and there may never be any.
Due to loopholes, you can do all these things over VGA, but unfortunately due to how VGA works and how implementations happen, the VGA output of the 360 does not always appear on screen with the same quality component video or HDMI can.

2. Very few HDTVs will not accept 1080p over component, and most will not take it over VGA.
This applies to 1080p TVs which can render 1080p. Most can only accept it over HDMI. A larger number (but still small) can accept it over VGA.

3. HDMI 1.3 provides audio options that optical or coaxial audio do not.
Optical and coaxial audio (typically used with component) can only send about 1.5mpbs of audio data per second. This means they can send 48KHz 2-channel 16-bit uncompressed audio or various (Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS-ES 6.1) lossily compressed multi-channel formats. HDMI can send many higher quality formats like 96KHz/16-bit/2 channel uncompressed audio, 96KHz/16-bit/5.1 uncompressed audio and 96KHz/16-bit/7.1 uncompressed audio. Many of these formats are available on BluRay and HD-DVD discs and would be useable in games too.

4. HDMI can carry higher quality video.
HDMI 1.3 allows 12-bit video samples and 6 or 7 color channels (CMYRGB, etc.). There is none of this content on discs at this time nor in games or downloads. Very few TVs can reproduce this anyway, so this isn't a big factor.

5. HDMI is a wonderful cabling solution. If you have 4 component video devices on a switch box (4:1), like I do, you have at least 20 cables on the back of that box. I can't even get my box to lay flat, it lies whichever way all those cables want to push it. An HDMI 4:1 switch has only 5 thin cables.

So I'm not saying all of you need to run out and get HDMI, or that you're necessarily having a worse experience because you don't have it. But there is a value to HDMI to other people, and this is why Sony put it on and why MS put it on too. As you might be able to tell from above, it is extra important for HD disc or downloadable content players, and this also comes into play as this console war is also an HD content format war.

Sega: Pigs Have Flown, Hell Has Frozen Over

Aw man, Sonic's going to screw it all up.

Sony Working On PS3 "Elite" Model?

January, 2009: Microsoft and Sony release competing $1,000 systems that each hold five games at once, can support the new 1620p standard, and have 500GB of HD space.

Analysts are baffled as the $129 Wii continues to sell 750,000 units a month.

Nintendo launches the "Joke of the Day" channel in response to the developments. First joke: "How do you know policemen are strong?" "They can hold up traffic."

GO3: Mizuguchi Address

"His final inspiration: a sponge. It's where the future lies."

Wait. Maybe what he's saying is that one day we're all going to be playing our video games in our pineapple houses under the sea.

NiGHTS Sequel Confirmed

I don't want to create polemic or anything but I have 2 questions:

- How many of you actualy PLAYED nights? I see too many people hyping it without ever having played any saturn game (Nights included.)

- What exactly in the game make of it a great candidate for a "next-gen" game?

Nights had awesome graphics and production values back then, that deformable soft scene was awesome. But this values don't translate in a new version of the game .. done YEARS later with a totaly (or mostly) new team. Even the old team today could be outdated or something.

So we get the gameplay style.. (Which ironicaly mario galaxy took some of .. considering Nights was the Mario 64 Killer! LOL) and the character/background design ..

We love it that much? dunno ..

Let's see how they will bring this thing to life.

by Ludwig

Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer Out, Internet Crawls

FINALLY!

A 'Moscow On The Hudson' video game!

America! What a country!

Interested in commenting? Click here to find out how. Just know: We'll ban ya once you slip into tool territory.

Contact information for this author is not available.