UPDATE: 1080p in Splinter Cell Xbox 360
- October 19, 2006 11:20 AM PST
- Email this!
GamePro can confirm that Ubisoft's next-gen stealth-action title Splinter Cell: Double Agent will support 1080 progressive scan display for the Xbox 360.
See Splinter Cell: Double Agent review
See related story: "Xbox 360 Does 1080p: A Microsoft 'Surprise' for Sony"
UPDATE: We've finally tracked down the Ubisoft representative, who misunderstood our question about the game's support of 1080p. He apologized for the confusion, noting that the game currently supports only 1080i.
Nonetheless, we're still trying to track down the reason for the pre-release review build of Splinter Cell: Double Agent enabling 1080p support on our debug Xbox 360. We expect further updates on this story soon; the original story remains intact below, but is no longer representative of the situation.
***
Our first clue was that the pre-release version of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent, which installs to the Xbox 360 debug hard drive, contained an option for 1080p support. The option was buried under the system options in the console Dashboard -- easily overlooked.
Once we noticed the new option, we immediately followed up with Ubisoft. Would the retail version of Splinter Cell: Double Agent also support 1080p output on the retail Xbox 360?
A Ubisoft representative's answer was short and to the point: "Yes."
UPDATE: No word yet on whether it's an update on the game disc or a forthcoming Xbox Live download, but Ubisoft has confirmed 1080p support to us.
1080p lands on the Xbox 360 courtesy of Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Whether 1080p support will be added on a game-by-game basis, or will be part of a larger, Microsoft-sponsored effort to make all Xbox 360 games 1080p compliant is a separate issue we'll try to sort out. We're already reaching out to Microsoft for further clarification.
But while we do our snooping, this is still big news -- 1080p support has finally hit the Xbox 360, and the first game to have the honor is Splinter Cell. And one month before the PlayStation 3 and Wii launches, no less.
This isn't the first we've heard of 1080p support for the Xbox. At September's Tokyo Game Show, Microsoft vowed to add 1080p support to the Xbox 360 as a software update. As part of the 1080p announcement, Microsoft Game Studios Shane Kim explained that "720p is the sweet-spot for high definition."
Wow! That one came out of left field.
On the flip side, it's not like many people even have 1080p displays (even us poor GamePro editors are stuck with "just" 1080i).
But this is a phenomenal boost for Microsoft -- 1080p on the Xbox 360 a month before the PS3 launch! Talk about a psychological advantage!
- Previous Page Prev
- Next Page Next
- 1
- 2
