Sega serves up 'full HD' for Xbox 360

Publisher says Virtua Tennis 3 will be the first game for Microsoft's console to have native 1080p visuals.

When Sega's Virtua Tennis 3 hits the courts March 20, it will feature more than just that "new ball" smell. The publisher today confirmed that its tennis game would feature native 1080p graphics, a first for the Xbox 360.

When Microsoft first announced it would add 1080p support to the Xbox 360 by way of a system update last September, it said all existing games for the system could be upscaled to 1080p from lower resolutions, and that the system could handle games designed from the outset to be 1080p. However, Microsoft did not say which games, if any, would take advantage of the option.

Sony Computer Entertainment America spokesperson Dave Karraker later downplayed the added support, saying that upscaling lower resolution content doesn't make it "full HD" (Sony's phrase for native 1080p content, a PlayStation 3 selling point). He also said the Xbox 360's 9GB DVD format would be an obstacle for storing space-intensive 1080p content, saying a larger format like Sony's 50GB Blu-ray discs were necessary "to truly take gaming into the next generation."

Virtua Tennis 3 has been rated E for Everyone and will also be available for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3. The PS3 edition will also feature 1080p graphics. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's latest preview.

363 Comments

  • danleeah

    Posted May 18, 2007 3:58 am PT

    illisium you are stuck! Even a cheap $500 hdtv will give you so much more. If you are playing a 360 on a standard tv you are waisting your time. Most people who are critical of the 360's graphics are playing on a standard tv. The difference is like night and day. I am sick of waiting for people to go HD. Mabey if you guys would get with the times, we could find some decent hd dvd's.

  • illisium

    Posted Mar 17, 2007 2:04 pm PT

    I guess I'm stuck in the last generation, because I don't have an HDTV.

  • CapoX

    Posted Mar 15, 2007 4:07 am PT

    come on !! allready!!

  • HyperMetaDragon

    Posted Mar 10, 2007 10:11 am PT

    Sony, 360 does native 1080p, and you forgot to mention that. Errr, let me rephrase that: You PURPOSELY didn't mention that.

  • TimothyB

    Posted Feb 9, 2007 2:20 pm PT

    3D is dynamic, it can be rendered at any resolution. Scaling, happens after the image is rendered, so if a game renders at 720p, then scaled to 1080p. It's like finding an image on your computer and zooming it, nothing more. Though, rendering a game at 1080p, despite the texture resolutions and polygon detai, is a 1080p image. So if a game has the option to render at 1080p, then it is in fact 1080p, no more no less. While 360 can upscale any game to 1080p, that's totally different thing, all content on a 1080p tv has to be upscaled otherwise it would be smaller in the middle of the tv.

  • zalealb

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 2:51 pm PT

    @ theKSMM I hate Sony's emphasis on the idea of "full HD." It makes it sound as if you ain't really got high-definition unless you spent more than $3,000 on your television. So 720p is what...half HD?
    Anywho, I know Sony really, really wants to sell us high-end Bravia televisions with 1080p support (real wide margins on those), but they need to let this topic go with respect to their consoles. **
    ***
    i got me a really nice westy for $1,200 on sale last october, and now you can get it for less than a grand. 1080p on multiple inputs and loving it. You dont need to overpay for 1080p tvs(cough*sony*cough*)

  • cspiffo

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 9:38 am PT

    nazraq & ElvenArcher,
    All XBOX 360 games are technically 1080p due to the scaler used in the 360 that can upconvert everything to 1080p. that doesn't make a game, such as Lost Planet 1080p. The reason this is important is that this will be the first 360 game designed from the ground up in a 1080p environment. that's what a true 1080p game is. The 360 can upconvert original XBOX games to 1080p but would you consider those games to truely be 1080p!?

  • ElvenArcher

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 7:38 am PT

    Even the craptastic Sonic The Hedgehog 360 game has 1080p, who really cares?

  • nazraq

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 7:09 am PT

    Am I the only one that bought lost planet collectors edition? it says HDTV 720p/1080i/1080p i can't speak for the regular version, but I say that capcom has released the first 1080p 360 game. anybody wanna add to that?

  • wenbin09

    Posted Feb 8, 2007 4:56 am PT

    cool~

  • theKSMM

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 10:37 pm PT

    I hate Sony's emphasis on the idea of "full HD." It makes it sound as if you ain't really got high-definition unless you spent more than $3,000 on your television. So 720p is what...half HD?

    Marketing ploy aside, Sony is in no position to talk about who has 1080p support and who doesn't. I'm not sure how many of their games (if any) support 1080p resolutions, but it's not enough for them to be claiming the high ground. They just got the PS2 games to stop looking like PSOne games, and I'm still mad that they don't include the stupid HD cable in the box.

    Anywho, I know Sony really, really wants to sell us high-end Bravia televisions with 1080p support (real wide margins on those), but they need to let this topic go with respect to their consoles.

  • Ejex

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 9:23 pm PT

    The 360 uses a hardware scalar chip ("Ana" which is supposedly being replaced by "Hana" in the HDMI version) to handle resolution output which is why no matter what the native resolution of a game it can resample the image vertically and horizontally to fit the output signal. The PS3 does not have a hardware scalar. It can downsample to a lower resolution, but until recent software updates, it cannot upsample at least in hardware (I know there's rumor that the PS3 has a hardware scalar but Sony has "turned off" the functionality, which to me would make no sense.) I know from personal experience that the PS3 changes resolutions on the fly based on the game or the type of media (Blu-ray, DVD, game etc). I can pop in a DVD and it changes the resolution of the TV not just downsampling the image. I can pop in Resistance and it changes the resolution to 720p. If I pop in a Blu-ray movie it keeps the resolution at the default 1080p. The 360 keeps the output steady by using the hardware scalar. In EVERY case it's not whether the PS3 or 360 can do a certain resolution. Technically they both can whether over component, VGA or HDMI. The limitation in EVERY case is software whether it's through copyright provisions, software scalars (which in turn have to create memory buffers and use up a portion of system RAM) or by design (some games might choose a lower resolution to get a better frame rate). Given time Sony should be able to improve the software scalar to handle on the fly resampling without having to switch resolutions. They've already improved PS2 game output. While the 360 can technically handle analog 1080p output at this time it cannot do digital signal output. Of course that'll be moot once the HDMI/Hana version of the 360 is out. Bottom line? With the scalar technology very VERY few people will be able to tell the difference between the native resolution and the resampled resolution as to which is which. That is until UHD is standarized. Then we get to do it all over again.

  • cspiffo

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 9:12 pm PT

    blaster710,
    SDTV is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!! You don't have to deal with all of this other B.S.

    Let's all give a shout out to SDTV!!!!The format that lasted 60 years and counting!

  • blaster710

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 9:09 pm PT

    HD seems over hyped to me and I've checked it out. At the moment I'm using my 1988 RF connection TV so when I can get a new console, then a game that's full HD, this news will effect me in no way.

  • cspiffo

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 8:46 pm PT

    chamber303,
    Not hardly. Sony has been flinging mud from the start. M$ has hardly flung as much as Sony has. I didn't like it in Nov. and I don't like it now. Sony is not doing well. They are failing at the moment. Who knows though. Maybe after they ACTUALLY start making good games things will turn around. Sony created all this misinformation by telling everybody that their system was the be all and end all of HD gaming when it wasn't true...OOOOH, OOOOH we're the only ones who've got 1080p and 1080p is the only true HD format. Look at us! Tell that to ABC and FOX and, for that matter all of the other HD TV channels. Well we finally start getting games and what is this! most have native 720p texture mapping! and on top of that the PS3 can't even upscale those games, unlike another game console that can upscale everything to 1080p! All this b.s. about how HDMI is the only true HD connection! They sure like to shove stuff down our throats don't they. It's all lies and people like you fall for it. Before the system was released all we saw were FMV footage that Sony tried to pass off as real gameplay. We see the games and they're nowhere close! Sony was way too ambitious. Since they couldn't truely deliver what they promised they made up for it by starting a smear campaign. We don't need this b.s. Sony. Tell us about the games instead. I don't want Sony to fail. I just want them to cut the bull. I'm tired of having to correct misinformation because of false rhetoric!

    You say, "composite, s-video, component, vga, dvi, HDMI.
    witch of these cables support a 1080p feed?"

    Uhhhhhh... component,vga,dvi,HDMI. Take your pick. Why do you still insist that HDMI is the only cable that can do 1080p. It's not true and you just add to the rhetoric!

  • Fire_Zealot

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 8:42 pm PT

    componrnt, dvi, hdmi do. I am not sure for vga...

    we sure need 50 gigs of space for 1080p, Sony!

  • chamber303

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 8:14 pm PT

    composite, s-video, component, vga, dvi, HDMI.
    witch of these cables support a 1080p feed?

  • chamber303

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 8:11 pm PT

    cspiffo
    go back to Nov 17 when there were problems of availability and that only 100000 units came to US and CAN.
    How many people,magazines,talk shows,internet,newpapers were bashing SONY? and about the system not producing better quality than the 360?
    but now that more and more people are relizing that the ps3 and SONY are once again coming up in a VERY good pace, you don't seem to like it.

  • chamber303

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 8:06 pm PT

    cspiffo
    you don't seem to understand.
    were are you getting your info from?

  • cspiffo

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 6:27 pm PT

    lostn,

    That's not true. You don't understand the technology or the copyright issues. The PS3 can't output at 1080p component if the tv input does not accept 1080p. It works the same for the 360. Why are people such fanboys. I mean really, why do people choose sides like this. I pick on both of the companies that produce these consoles. Sony put out a lot of misinformation this time around and they are now paying for it. All I hear on this site is either how biased gamespot is or how this console pwns that one. The reality with these consoles is that they are very similar in different ways. One happens to be cheaper. The other happens to have more standard options. At the end of the day it is about the games that play on these two consoles. I'd say that the 360 is kicking Sony in the rear right now. It's been two months and there has been almost nothing from Sony. That is the problem right now. M$ is showing us what their console can do while Sony is telling us what their console can do (and it's usually misinformation and hyperbole). I have no doubt that the PS3 is a good machine but stop bashing the competition and enough with all the extra crap (ie bluray, card readers and such) show me some games Sony and then maybe I'll buy your console. My PS2 just died and I want a reason to buy your overpriced console. If Sony doesn't start telling us the truth then I might just have to move on!

  • lostn

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 5:18 pm PT

    "Ejex
    cspiffo,

    Exactly. It's a limitation of either the hardware that's receiving the signal or the hardware that's outputting the signal. The 360 can output a native 1080p signal over component cables. However that doesn't mean one's TV can accept it."

    Who says it can't? The PS3 can play games in 1080p through component. On the same TV that doesn't accept it from 360. I think the problem lies in the 360, not the TV or component. It can still do 1080p from VGA.

  • FstBrk342

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 5:04 pm PT

    how many people can afford 1080p TVs to begin with, not to mention HD TVs. nither of my 2 TVs reaches 1080p both are 720p and can do 1080i but thats it. sadly i doubt my parents would let me play on either one

  • williamwu1985

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 4:58 pm PT

    i told people that there are no 1080p game up to today. but people are just dont believe me and told me that mostly game does support. it was wrong

  • Jebril

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 3:19 pm PT

    Thats just what we need a tennis game no one plays in 1080p. Sega is wasting its money by doing this.

  • groce_j

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 3:00 pm PT

    How could XBOX 360 be able to output at 1080p when the HDDVD does not output at that resolution. That means you would probably have to buy an HDDVD add on and also have to buy a new set of component cables that handles the 1080p resolution.

  • X_CAPCOM_X

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 2:24 pm PT

    MS owns Sony again!

    MS didn't do this. Sega did. Unless you're referring to the bribe that was given to sega by MS to bring this game to X360.

  • LosDaddie

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 12:47 pm PT

    MS owns Sony again!

  • TimothyB

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 11:11 am PT

    Ejex,

    How would you guess the 360 would handle a game that can render 1080p if you picked 1080i? Would the game render at 1080p and then convert it to teceline 1080i60, which then a 1080p tv can inverse teceline back into 1080p (limited to 30fps)? That's how it's done with blu-ray and hd-dvd, as even the PS3 when doing 1080p blu-ray movies first converts 1080p24 off the disc to 1080i60 then to 1080p60 since it does not do straight 1080p24 off the disc. The thing is, can that process be fast enough to cause no delay for games to atleast give someone 1080p on a 1080p tv that can only accept 1080i60 over component?

  • lamplan

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 11:11 am PT

    Tennis games are a logical start to an HD exploration, there really isn't too much to graphically have to deal with, game play hardly moves from the main camera angle. A smart place to start, good thinking.

  • JLCrogue

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 10:14 am PT

    I got a Westinghouse 1080p LCD too!!

  • k2rolla503

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 10:06 am PT

    Good news for me, my Westinghouse lcd accepts 1080p over component, although 1080p on its HDMI inputs is fudged >

  • history2b

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 9:52 am PT

    Panasonic doesn't make a 50 inch 1080p set....

  • PhilElsen

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 9:36 am PT

    i dont cair for tennis games in 1080p i just want to play GTA IV and Halo 3 in 1080p on our new 50 inch 1080p panasonic.

  • onlineps2player

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 9:29 am PT

    Oh I want to be HD !

  • cspiffo

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 9:24 am PT

    Ejex,

    We should all just boycott all forms of media that incorporates copyprotection schemes!!!LOL! JK!

  • blackace

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 9:18 am PT

    This is good news even though I don't have a 1080p HDTV. Like Ejex said, you need to have the right HDTV to view these games in 1080p and most gamers don't. The same can be said for the PS3 as well. Whether it's native or upscaling, if you don't have the proper hardware (which most gamers don't) you're not going to see the full graphical effect anyways. I suggest people wait 1-2yrs until a great 1080p HDTV is released with all the options needed.

  • Ejex

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 9:17 am PT

    One other note. DVD will upscale to 1080p on the 360 but only over VGA. Again this is a limitation of CSS copyright provisions and not the hardware. Over component the video only outputs at 480p. Again, blame copy provisions for limiting the hardware not the hardware itself.

  • Ejex

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 9:10 am PT

    cspiffo,

    Exactly. It's a limitation of either the hardware that's receiving the signal or the hardware that's outputting the signal. The 360 can output a native 1080p signal over component cables. However that doesn't mean one's TV can accept it.

  • cspiffo

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 9:06 am PT

    Ejex,

    Your right. That's what I've been saying as well. The problem though is indeed with copyright protection. I think the confusion between whether component is capable of 1080p comes from the fact that many of the TV manufacturers were bullied into shutting off the component inputs on their sets for anything higher than a 1080i signal. Samsung and Westinghouse are two that I know buck this trend. Their are probably others though. Most TV's simply don't accept 1080p over component which sucks btw!

  • Ejex

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 8:56 am PT

    Good grief. There is SO much WRONG information here about HD resolutions and outputs. 1080 and 720 merely refer to the number of vertical lines output to a television. Interlace and Progressive merely refer to how the signal is output. In fact with LCD and plasma technology it's moot. Interlaced video was designed for CRTs to save on bandwidth at a time when signal bandwidth was limited. Interlace just tells the electron gun to draw the image in two passes instead of one. LCD and plasma sets CANNOT display an interlaced (no electron gun) signal without de-interlacing it. That's why both technologies have no flicker. 1080p CAN be done on analog outputs. Both VGA and component video are analog outputs. Component cables CAN output to 1080p whether we're talking about digital or analog component cables. It is merely a limitation of hardware as to whether or not the signal can be output. Heck, PCs have been outputting higher resolutions over VGA for years. As a matter of fact if you want to get technical the Xbox cable is a WUXGA cable, a subset of VGA. WUXGA has output capabilities of up to 1920x1080. The major confusion comes from HD-DVD not being able to output to 1080p over component. It can't output to 1080p because of the AACS copyright provisions. Games aren't limited by AACS and can therefore output to 1080p over component. You can set the 360 for 1080p support over component but it will downsample when playing back an HD-DVD. It's because AACS won't allow for 1080p over unprotected analog cables. The 360 automatically knows what kind of cable is connected to it and outputs the appropriate signal. It wouldn't even give you 1080p as an option if you couldn't output to it. As a matter fo fact with the VGA cable 1080p isn't even listed. Instead PC resolutions are listed. Again the 1080i limit on the component cables ONLY refers to HD-DVD and not games.

  • Lepuke

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 8:18 am PT

    I got a 57" 1080i HDTV to play on, (though I set it to 720p for some games) good enough for me.

    Until the new HDMI ready version of the 360 comes out the only way to display 1080p on most tv's is using the VGA cable.

  • imortiferus

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 8:10 am PT

    I willing to bet there ill be more 1080P games for 360 than PS3, simply because of the better video card in the 360. Now all MS needs is to bring out their HDMI adaptor.

  • EmperorSupreme

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 8:01 am PT

    Can anyone answer this? How do you display 1080p with X360 since it doesn't have HDMI? I know it's possible thru component but most TV's only support 1080i thru component.

  • ReaperXxxx

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 7:47 am PT

    I'm perfectly happy with 55" of 1080i for now, but 65" of 1080p would certainly look nice

  • RamiRaider

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 6:14 am PT

    YESSSS xbox live plus 1080p on the 360 my gosh i would sell all of the games in the world for this

  • BlackdogGT

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 5:15 am PT

    For the record, Ryan-06, I'll agree with you. I won't deny the beauty of 1080, but 720 does me just fine. That's what my LCD is capable of, and so, I'm satisfied.

  • Ryan-06

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 4:28 am PT

    To mrsickvisionz:

    Lol I meant that I've played the 360 already, but what I really want right now is a PS3, I was referring to my friends 360 lol.

  • Ryan-06

    Posted Feb 7, 2007 4:20 am PT

    Dang... those guys, TimothyB and cspiffo, long and detailed conversation!!

    let's just all agree that HD looks GOOD! Period! I have absolutely no problem playing games at 720p! anyone else agree??

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