The FNG-Spot

• Visuals / Graphics -  The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Street Fighter IV are nearly indistinguishable. Both games are gorgeous and the overall artistic "cell-shaded" look definitely bring this 2D fighter into the new millennium.
• Load Times -  This is where the differences between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are really noticeable. Out of the box, without installing the game to the hard drive of either console, the Xbox 360 version of Street Fighter IV blows away its PlayStation 3 counterpart.

  

Load Times Test 1: Load from DVD / Blu-Ray Disc:

• Xbox 360 ........ 5.3 seconds
• PlayStation 3 .. 21.3 Seconds

Load Times Test 1: Load from Hard Disc Drive:

• Xbox 360 ........ 8.5 seconds
• PlayStation 3 .. 8.4 Seconds

• Controls - This one is a tough call. The controls in Street Fighter IV are excellent; wether you're a seasoned Street Fighter player or it's your first time takin' it to the streets, you'll be pulling off supers and ultras in no time. So the in-game controls are pretty much spot-on, so why is it a "tough call"?
  
  The downfall isn't with the game, it's with the controllers used to play the game.  The direction pad (D-Pad) on the Xbox 360 controller is horrible, while the L2 / R2 triggers on the PlayStation 3 controller are just as bad. (Yes, this is my personal opinion... but then again, this is MY blog.) So, if you don't own an Arcade Stick, you may find yourself enjoying the PS3 version a bit more.... if you own an arcade stick for either console, there's really not much difference.

[ more to come]

1. We've seen videos on YouTube of Vader vs. Yoda.
   (They could be from an early version of the game, but I doubt it.)
     
2. Character locations in the character select menu.
   (Based upon screen captures on Sony's website & seeing the Xbox 360 version in action)
   • Character Slot 1 - Yoda (Xbox 360)
   • Character Slot 1 - BLANK (PS3)
   • Character Slot 2 - BLANK (Xbox 360)
   • Character Slot 2 - Vader (PS3)
   • Character Slot 3 - Apprentice (Xbox 360) - Unlockable via completing Arcade Mode
   • Character Slot 3 - Apprentice (PS3) - Unlockable via completing Arcade Mode
3. Pics.... Who knows, these MAY be photoshop jobs of the french version, but I can't be 100% sure.
   NOTE: Darth Vader is translated to Dark Vader in the French version.
   

"Next-gen.biz: Last year Xbox 360 owners got a spring dashboard update in early May. It's now late May and you still haven't announced anything regarding this year's update. Should 360 owners be holding their breath for it?

Marc Whitten:We have taken a different approach this spring and spent a lot of our time and resources of building the proper infrastructure and scale for the service not just today but also into the future. So while most users will not notice any significant changes to the dashboard this spring, I can tell you that the team will be releasing a new digital rights management (DRM) tool next month that will allow you to better consolidate your licenses for downloaded content to a single Xbox and allow you the freedom to be able to play your content both online and offline.  
 
Next-gen.biz: There have been some high profile complaints on the web about how difficult it is to transfer things like XBLA game licenses to replacement 360s in the wake of an under warranty hardware failure. Would these changes to DRM policy address these issues, letting people who have experienced such failure re-license their purchases on their new Xbox so they don't have to be connected to Live to play? Are there any other sorts of changes to DRM policy being made here that would affect the end-user experience?

Marc Whitten: Yes, this new tool will officially launch next month on Xbox.com and will allow you to be able to consolidate these licenses onto one box so you can access things like Xbox LIVE Arcade games and TV show you have downloaded even if you are not online.  Because this involved allowing users to re-download licenses for content that belongs to our partners it has taken some time to work out the agreements with them to allow this, but we have heard the concerns from folks about DRM and are happy to announce that everything is nearly in place to roll this out in June."

 

Source: "MS to Delist XBLA Titles" - next-gen.biz

 

 

  

    - Jay 

Here's an early image of what the Special Edition would come with:

GTA IV Special Edition - What We Got:

Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition - Box

GTA IV Special Edition - What's In The Box:

Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition - Lockbox

Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition - Duffel Bag

Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition - Audio CD (not entire soundtrack)

Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition - Art Book

Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition - Game Disc & Key Chain

I checked my Xbox Live Friends List at one point last night and there were 19 out of 95 people online; 19 of those 19 people were playing GTA IV!! (This is going to be so much fun!!)