Xbox 360

[rabb1t]

A thread for all things Xbox 360

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Approximate world wide units - May, 09 - >30 mill

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High-Def disadvantage: Xbox 360 - Feb / 08

The HD-DVD add on drive is no longer in production. The war is basically over and HD-DVD has little to no support at this point.

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Coverage policy for the red ring of death is now extended to 3 years post purchase (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6173633.html?tag=latestnews;title;0) - 7/5/7

[rabb1t]

I'll toss up one of the few games that's actually made me look at the 360 with any sort of level of seriousness (in terms of a purchase) - Blue Dragon (http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/728/728023.html).

[Spirit]

Man, no 360 love out there? C'mon guys, someone must have one! I treated myself a few weeks ago, got the premium edition with GoW, CoD 3, Eragon and PGR 3. Very happy with it so far! My gamertag is FIPPY D (original, I know!) Hit me up if ya want to play, or just send messages to!

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Blue Dragon.. I've seen some scores for this one, and it's uniformly impressive, averaging 9 to 9.5/10. Not bad, not bad at all. The Mistwalker studio also has some impressive console RPG heavyweights that have worked on this game so it's sounding great. Added to that, it seems to be the only title that's stopping the door shutting entitely on the 360 in Japan. Microsoft have never done well over there.

The only problem I have with BD is it's graphics. I just don't dig that pre-pubescant Japanse RPG look. It's the reason I couldn't play Dragon Quest 8, and it's a failing on my part because I know I'll be missing out on something special. Bah.

With that said, I saw a link on the FoH boards which I'm shamelessly stealing for this thread... http://features.teamxbox.com/xbox/1796/Most-Anticipated-RPGs-of-2007/p1/
Now, there's some questionable titles there, but I'll give my opinions of the ones I find interesting..

* Fable 2. I wasn't all that impressed with the original, so I'm reserving judgement on this. Could be good, could be disappointing. I was kinda "meh" about the original, and becasue of that I have a sneaky feeling the new installment will fail to deliver, but we'll see.

* Warhammer Online.. could actually be my preferred MMORPG of choice in 2007, though tbh I'm not so sure about a 2007 release.. we'll see I suppose. Might be a shocker to some of you guys reading this (is anyone reading this?! wru, xbox homies!!) but I'm a gamer first and foremost, and a Vanguard fan waaaaay down the line. The community this game attracts will be the deciding factor for me, however. Interesting, that my game of choice may be based on it's community, rather than it's features. Times, they are a changin'. So am I, it seems.. ****, I'm getting emo.

* Lost Odyssey. Dunno. Really, dunno. I loved FF7 and 8 - and this game is supposed to be more than a cheap FF console rip off. But I am so attracted to it's supposed adult theming. I really hope it's good, and that it paves the way for more. A Baldurs Gate/Planescape : Torment for the console?

* Lord Of The Rings : The White Council. I'm a sucker for LOTR. I'll admit, I enjoyed the films more than the books, and this is evident if anyone reading this has seen my "A Short Story About A Rat" entries in the Fan Fiction forum. I'm not big on wordy descriptions on what a meadow looks like: I'd much rather hint at stuff and trust the reader can visualise and imagine with just a few clues. The result is usually more inspiring when you let someone's imagination fill in the blanks. That's by-the-bay though of course. There's not much information on this title atm, but I did come across this - http://uk.media.xbox360.ign.com/media/824/824724/vids_1.html - Even though this doesn't give away much information, it's funny as hell and whether you're interested in this title or not, you gotta see this. Either this is a setup (which I strongly suspect) or this is the worst interviewer in history, gaming or otherwise. Either way, it's hilarious.

* Elvelon. So, this is based on Elves, and it's called ELVElon. I see what they did there! Awesolme! Seriously, this is looking ok. Need more infoz though.

* Marvel Universe Online. Ok, so this is the title Sigil were going to work on if they stayed with MS? It will have it's fans, I won't be one of them however. Space or Tolkien, I think that's probably all the mmo world's I'm interested in.

* Eternal Sonata. Looks like more of the same. I could be wrong, but if it is, I'm bored already.

* Age Of Conan. Ahhhhh. PvP (much to my surprise and dismay) is THE feature of the last 3 years. Conan's got it, and it's also got sex and violence, with decapitations and gratuitous female arse pics. Gonna be interesting where VG, AoC and WAR end up. LOTRO is in there somewhere too, but not in terms of consoles, afaik. Is PvP THE future feature of mmorpg's? And what form will it take? Take all your gold, kick your ass like a beeotch anywhere Sullon Zek stylee, or reward specific, therefore making it battleground exclusive, ala WoW? Is the face of PvP changing from hardcore wolf vs sheep to designated 'controlled' pvp? Start a topic on that one in Discussion..

* Mass Effect. Bioware -- not even open for debate, imo. Either going to be good or ****ing great. I'm sat here, Christmas pud and alcohol fuelled, struggling to find non-expletives. There is a traditionalist argument in me wanting to scream "space sims aren't rpg's". Why is this? Probably because I've experienced 10:1 tolkien:space rpg's in my time. This has all the hallmarks of being a fantastic rpg.


----

Like Blue Dragon, there's so much baggage that's attached to games I've never even played, and that's represented in these uninformed mini-reviews. I suspect I'm not the only one, but I'm hoping to be proved wrong. If you feel I've misrepresented a game YOU'RE looking forward to, please dont be shy, give your thoughts!

Happy Christmas, gamers.

[Snake]

I think its funny that you didnt like blue dragon and Dragonquest VIIIs look, did you know its the same character designer on both games, or just a coincidence?

I'll give some comments on what i think about these games, since i keep up to date on this kind of stuff.

Fable 2 - Hopefully they will put atleast 1% of what was supposed to be in the first one :P.

Lost Odyssey - Watched a long demo shown off by the creator (and ffvii creator) and it looked kickass until the game play began, and it was boring to watch, hopefully deep though.

Mass Effect - Not really a fan of single player driven fps, halo 2 and UT is all i really like.

[rabb1t]

Warhammer Online

Now that you mention it I do recall hearing they were going to put Warhammer on some console, I don't recall it being the 360 though.

Don't see anything on that at the site. With it being like a year to launch though, plenty of time to worry about it.

Marvel Universe Online. Ok, so this is the title Sigil were going to work on if they stayed with MS? It will have it's fans, I won't be one of them however. Space or Tolkien, I think that's probably all the mmo world's I'm interested in.

I don't think the Marvel Universe Online move had to do with Sigil changing to SOE. Searching around... I'm finding early May as reporting the move to SOE... Looks like move to Cryptic was in September, so I suppose it could have been a result of the SOE move, but if it was it was heavily delayed (difference of 4 months there.)

Age Of Conan.

Where did you hear AoC was coming out for any console at all? I don't ever recall hearing this.

Mass Effect

Oh wow, I could swear this already released. How odd.

[Spirit]

I think its funny that you didnt like blue dragon and Dragonquest VIIIs look, did you know its the same character designer on both games, or just a coincidence?

I did, but tbh I only found that out after researching Blue Dragon. I'll probably try a demo of it if there's one released.

Now that you mention it I do recall hearing they were going to put Warhammer on some console, I don't recall it being the 360 though.

http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/708/708426p1.html
Also mentions a PS3 version. No official announcement.. makes me wonder if they're having trouble getting it to consoles?

Where did you hear AoC was coming out for any console at all? I don't ever recall hearing this.

http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6163064.html?sid=6163064
A few sites have mentioned an official press statement, yet I can't find one -- and there's nothing on the Funcom site :confused:

[rabb1t]

http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/708/708426p1.html
Also mentions a PS3 version. No official announcement.. makes me wonder if they're having trouble getting it to consoles?

They are having trouble finishing it period. :p Translation to consoles won't happen until after it is finished for the PC and they see what they'd need to convert how to work with controllers.

Wouldn't surprise me if it made it. Thare are way more console gamers than PC gamers. But would they adopt a MMO? Guess only time will tell.

[rabb1t]

Still no replies? Sheesh.

Well, just an update - 3 mill copies of Gears of War sold. :eek: :D

Looks like Gears of War, Mass Effect, Halo 3 and Blue Dragon may be the true start of popularity for the 360. (I think the only real copies of the 360 sold in Japan were due to Gears of War's release. The 360 is way way behind everyone over there.)

[rabb1t]

Character profile of "Saren Arterius" from Mass Effect at GameSpy (http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/mass-effect/758826p1.html)

[rabb1t]

Article with music infos on Mass Effect (http://blogs.ign.com/BioWare_Games/2007/01/26/44772/)

[Pixi]

I love my 360. Best experience so far was Condemned: Criminal Origin. They really hit the spot in terms of atmosphere in that one. It was way creepy in certain places and I totally enjoyed it. Hopefully there will be more of that eventually.

I'm really looking forward to Bioshock. Anyone who played System Shock will want to check it out. I can't wait to get my hands on it. :)

Same goes for Assassin's Creed. If it delivers on the hype then we're in for a real treat.

Alan Wake looks promising as well. The screenshots I've seen are simply jawdropping. Again, if they deliver it will be a sweet game. Their earlier games are nice (Max Payne) so I have good hopes for it.

Mass Effect is also on my "To Buy" list, for obvious reasons hehe. All in all I think we're in for a very good 360 year.

[Seasiu Laitya]

Got mine a couple days ago. Had a mediocre PC (6800 GT, 1gig ram, single core Opteron). Been playing Gears of War (surprise, surprise). The game looks stunning on my 20" WS monitor. The framerate is really smooth, and it plays as well as a much more expensive PC in my opinion.

I was expecting to be irritated by the controller movement, having played all my gaming life with mouse+keyboard (actually that's not true, I played GoldenEye and Time Splitters on the PS2). However the controllers are very nice (and comfortable), and it doesn't represent as big a drawback as I'd first thought. In addition, I love rumble pads :) The lack of rumble support on PS3 is a very bad move on their part.

In all, I'm very pleased with my investment.

[rabb1t]

I'm not one to post on rumors, but...

Rumors are a version 2 Xbox 360 is in the works and will include HDMI and possibly a 120 gig HD. Currently this is only rumor, but the "Zephyr" prototype does have fancy chips that would require research and development. Why put research and development into something if you don't plan on using it?

Zephyr prototype article at X-Box Scene (http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EEylpyZkVpwzemjZKk.php)

Also, there appear to be smaller improvement steps currently happening, such as replacing the DVD drive for a quieter version - DailyTech article (http://www.dailytech.com/Microsofts+Xbox+360+Gets+New+Internal+Optical+Driv e/article5997.htm)

The only question for me that remains is - what about optical audio with better sound capabilities? I'm all for the add on high-def drive, as that leaves it an option up to the consumer, as well as retaining flexibility in converting to whichever one wins the war, however, the native Xbox 360 has some very weak sound from what I can tell compared to today's standards due to a lack of an optical cable. (They are running a standard old-school 2 plug style, which means they aren't even getting 'true' 5.1 sounds, let alone super high-quality sound. :( )

If the revision with HDMI is true, and they do include Optical sound (which I've seen no reference for) then they could very well continue to remain solidly in 1st place due to having better hardware and options compared to PS3. (Xbox 360 has true upscaling / downscaling, that's what the chip is in the first article above, while the PS3 seems to be faking it.)

[Spirit]

Interesting stuff. The current 20gig 360 drive is woefully inadequate. I only use it for game demo's (besides the necessary profile data and such which doesn't take up much space) and it fills up really quickly. 120gb would be a blessing. And I'd give my eye-teeth (whatever they are) for a quieter dvd drive, the 360 really does make a racket :(

I wonder if there'll be some sort of degrag utility for that drive, or if it's even needed?

[rabb1t]

As far as I know consoles stream games off the drive, so you wouldn't need a defrag (as they are, in theory, uncompressed and defragged on the game disk).

Most save game files are pretty small, only being a meg or so. I think the biggest I've seen is that Resistance Fall of Man wants 120 meg of space total.

[rabb1t]

Optical connection update...

Doing some more 'window shopping' I noticed that there is a Component Cable set for the 360 with a little 'hole' on one side. With further research it does indeed look like this is a port for the digital optical cable type. I also discovered that the rights to that is owned by Sony/Philips, and as such, that could be why the basic Xbox 360 unit does not contain one (as in theory they would have to pay Sony and/or Philips royalties for including one).

I wonder if this means the same would hold true for the version 2 system if it should ever release. I'd hope they would add one as it is pretty standard these days. (I actually discovered my ~10 year old 1st gen DVD player had one.)

It looks like my initial findings were wrong though, and that the Xbox 360 does, all be it indirectly, have a digital optical port.


PS - Ah cool, it does also appear that Monster Cables has a Component + Optical Xbox 360 cable (http://www.monstercable.com/productDisplay.asp?pin=3559) as well. :D

[Seasiu Laitya]

As far as I know consoles stream games off the drive, so you wouldn't need a defrag (as they are, in theory, uncompressed and defragged on the game disk).

Most save game files are pretty small, only being a meg or so. I think the biggest I've seen is that Resistance Fall of Man wants 120 meg of space total.
HDD is also used to cache files for improved loading times.

I've don't have any complaints about 20gig being too small. Since most game demos are 1gig or less, you won't run out of space if you delete them once you've played them.

And if you like them enough to keep you'd probably get (or rent) the full game anyhow :D

[rabb1t]

Yeeeeeaaaa fun. Dev chat with Rare.

I loved the original Banjo-Kazooie game and seeing Rare working on a new one is like "yeeeeaaaa fun"!

http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?id=17131&type=mov

Haven't kept up with them. Didn't know they did Kameo and Viva Pinata. :D

[Spirit]

Wow, nice find rabb1t. Rare are notoriously camera shy and never do interviews. These guys are my freakin hero's, maybe not so much in recent years (though i did like Kameo), but certainly during their Ultimate Play The Game era. Check out this list of gaming classics..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Rare_Ltd._games

They pretty much fed my gaming passion as a youngster. Legends!

[rabb1t]

Good god that's a long list. Leme see... what did I play... hummmm...

Banjo-Kazooie, Blast Corps (though I recall that frustrated me and I wound up selling/returning it), Diddy Kong Racing was one of my fav games for the 64, GoldenEye 007... hum guess I haven't played all that many. :)

[rabb1t]

Mass Effect dev blog (http://blogs.ign.com/BioWare_Games/2007/02/23/47642/)

Mass Effect (story) book in the works (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/767/767397p1.html)

[rabb1t]

Wing Commander is coming to the 360... sort of. The franchise looks to be taking a turn similar to the one Mechwarrior did to MechAssault. "Wing Commander Arena" will be set in the WC universe, but instead of the 1st person view of a serious flight sim we are used to seeing with the WC series, Arena will be an online multiplayer arena battle from a top-down (2d plane) perspective in arcade fashion made available through Xbox Live.

Looks cute, but this is most certainly not the sequel most of us have been waiting for.

IGN article (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/767/767515p1.html)

Wing Commander Arena will be on the 360 network and is due in Summer.

[rabb1t]

Blue Dragon U.S. release date set - August 2007 (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/770/770662p1.html)

New screen shots (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/728/728023/imgs_1.html)

[Seasiu Laitya]

Blue Dragon U.S. release date set - August 2007 (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/770/770662p1.html)

New screen shots (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/728/728023/imgs_1.html)
So, lots of neat stuff will be coming out Q3 2007. For now, there's not much I actually want to play :(

[rabb1t]

GameSpot at GDC - Castle Crashers (http://www.gamespot.com/events/gdc07/story.html?sid=6166991&pid=934458&tag=topslot;title;1). Looks cute and silly. Yea fun!

Looks like lots of vids up on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=castle+crashers).

[Spirit]

Q&A with Hironobu Sakaguchi (http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2007/03/08/fancast-xtra-qanda-with-hironobu-sakaguchi/) (Main man from Square, now Mistwalker, talks about Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and more)

Some snippets..

"we have huge downloadable content in store for Blue Dragon... there's a set of 3 downloadable content post launch"

"what's next.. action rpg game called Cry On on the 360.."

[rabb1t]

IGN Blue Dragon article (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/772/772809p1.html)

[rabb1t]

And the 3rd parties leaving PS3 exclusivity continues...

The Devil May Cry 4 announced for Xbox 360 and PC (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/774/774093p1.html)

[Spirit]

Speaking of exclusivity.. (http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2007/03/21/after-dmc4-ms-germany-wants-mgs-and-ff/)

Not sure if this is a good thing really, and I say that as a 360 owner.

[rabb1t]

Although this technically belongs in the "yet to release" thread, the new black "Xbox 360 Elite" has been spotted on the assembly line.

Rumors (MS has not officially announced the unit) are that it will be priced in the U.S. at $480 and it features HDMI and a 120 gig hd. The HD-DVD unit will remain an add-on unit. (So yeah, that's a bit pricey for a console that doesn't have a next gen drive.)

DailyTech's article (http://www.dailytech.com/Report+Xbox+360+Elite+Systems+Spied+on+Chinese+Pro duction+Line/article6641.htm)

[Almighty God]

Although this technically belongs in the "yet to release" thread, the new black "Xbox 360 Elite" has been spotted on the assembly line.

Rumors (MS has not officially announced the unit) are that it will be priced in the U.S. at $480 and it features HDMI and a 120 gig hd. The HD-DVD unit will remain an add-on unit. (So yeah, that's a bit pricey for a console that doesn't have a next gen drive.)

DailyTech's article (http://www.dailytech.com/Report+Xbox+360+Elite+Systems+Spied+on+Chinese+Pro duction+Line/article6641.htm)

Yeah. What they really ought to do with these overpriced next-gen machines is start marketing them as a combination PC replacement/console. If the Xbox had a few added features in addition to the music player and internet browser, many people might look at it as a cheap PC alternative...in which case the price goes from inflated to reasonable.

[rabb1t]

The "Elite" is now official.

Official Xbox 360 page featuring the Elite specs (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360elitesystem/default.htm)

Ship date - April 29th, 2007
Price $480
Black casing
HDMI and RGP port
120 gig HD
Ethernet cable, HDMI cable, Component cable
Headset
Black wireless controller
Black rechargeable battery pack
Black play & charge kit
Xbox live Silver Membership - 1 moth sub to Gold membership

Added note - news has surfaced that the HDMI port is the 1.2 standard, not the 1.3. This may or may not become important later on. (The 1.3 standard has a higher bandwidth, offering a slightly better quality.)

[Spirit]

Looks awesome and would sit with other av equipment nicely now. I just wish the ring of light was blue and not green. I might actually mod that sucker and do just that, though it would mean bye bye to any warrantee :(

[Severoth]

The "Elite" is now official.

Official Xbox 360 page featuring the Elite specs (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360elitesystem/default.htm)

Ship date - April 29th, 2007
Price $480


Heh, I just bought an XBox 360 two weeks ago. I saw this news release today, and I packed back up my XBox 360 and returned it before my 30-day reutrn period expired. I'll now wait a month and lay down the extra $80 for the extra 100 Gigs of hard drive space. It's better than having bought the $400 Xbox 360 and then shelling out another $180 for the separate 120 gig hard drive. Not to mention, the new "elite" is black.

[Seasiu Laitya]

I don't really see the need for more than 20gig on a console. I don't use it as a media player; just a console. Even if 360 games started requirig a full HD install, you could still fit two or three games on before running out of space.

120gig for me is just so much overkill. My PC only has 160gig and I've never really been close to filling that up. Guess I don't have enough furry pr0n? :p

[rabb1t]

There have been articles saying they still will not exceed their current storage requirements.

Though I wouldn't be surprised if some games eventually took most of the 20 gig hd. It would probably be a MOG though. I think WoW is up around 17 gig and FFXi was like 15.

[rabb1t]

Totally free stuff with the "Elite"

DailyTech article (http://www.dailytech.com/Xbox+360+120GB+HDD+Preloaded+With+More+Content/article6638.htm)

Ok, most of it is just junk you'll delete immediately. However... there is one totally free complete game, Hexic HD (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/777/777184/vids_1.html), and it totally looks fun. :) Though, I think that from what I've seen Geometry Wars would be my fav. Old school arcade style for the win.

In other news... Microsoft reasures peeps that if Blu-Ray becomes the dominant next-gen DVD format they will happily make an add-on Blu-Ray player. DailyTech article (http://www.dailytech.com/Microsoft+Says+Bluray+is+Unnecessary+But+May+Offer +Support/article6714.htm)

[rabb1t]

ooooh yeeeaaa fun! Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/puzzle/superpuzzlefighteriiturbohdremix/news.html?sid=6169101&om_act=convert&om_clk=multimodule&tag=multimodule;picks;img;1) hehehe

[rabb1t]

Tons of coverage on Too Human at IGN (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/781/781085p1.html)

[kcxiv]

Totally free stuff with the "Elite"

DailyTech article (http://www.dailytech.com/Xbox+360+120GB+HDD+Preloaded+With+More+Content/article6638.htm)

Ok, most of it is just junk you'll delete immediately. However... there is one totally free complete game, Hexic HD (http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/777/777184/vids_1.html), and it totally looks fun. :) Though, I think that from what I've seen Geometry Wars would be my fav. Old school arcade style for the win.

In other news... Microsoft reasures peeps that if Blu-Ray becomes the dominant next-gen DVD format they will happily make an add-on Blu-Ray player. DailyTech article (http://www.dailytech.com/Microsoft+Says+Bluray+is+Unnecessary+But+May+Offer +Support/article6714.htm)

I really got stuck on Hexic when i got my xbox a few months ago. Its a really fun game. I got a pretty decent high school. Downloading xbox arcade games are addicting. Spent quite a bit of money on them already.

[Sepp]

Yea, Hexic HD came free on the original launch premium 360s as well, and also preinstalled on the HDD upgrade for Core Systems, so thats nothing too awful new =) The demos are free to download anytime from Live as well, but I guess it looks good for them to say its prepackaged, and saves on some downloading time.

I think the Elite 360 looks great, but unless my current 360 bricks (again) and my warranty has finally run out (they keep extending it for us unlucky souls that bought on launch day, not sure when its done) I can't see "upgrading" to it.

[rabb1t]

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/puzzle/puzzlequestchallenge/news.html?sid=6170347&tag=topslot;title;1)

oooh looks fun. :)

Video Review on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xTw2zzLKHc) - not sure which version this review is on (it is already out for the PSP and DS), nor how close to this version the Xbox 360 version will be, but there it is.

[rhagz]

Played the PC demo of it .. and it's not being released on PC which is really lame. It's awesome fun. It's like Bejewled mixed with an RPG.

[rabb1t]

Played the PC demo of it .. and it's not being released on PC which is really lame.

What? hahahaha makes no sense to have a PC demo without releasing there. :rolleyes:

[rhagz]

What? hahahaha makes no sense to have a PC demo without releasing there. :rolleyes:

Yeah I know. Something about publishers and licensing or something. Supposedly the PC version will come down the line, but nothing is certain. I think they just want to sell all the console version they can before they let people pirate it like mad. ;)

[rabb1t]

Halo 3 multiplayer bla bla abounds today.

IGN (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/787/787935p1.html)

GameSpy (http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/halo-3/787987p1.html)

GameSpot (http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/halo3/news.html?sid=6170611&tag=topslot;title;1)

[rabb1t]

Blue Dragon article on IGN (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/791/791769p1.html)

[rabb1t]

Blue Dragon preview at GameSpy (http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/mistwalker-rpg/797558p1.html)

[akuthia]

so, not even a month after my warranty ex[ires, my 360 has bit the dust :( now im looking at either getting it repaired for 140 bucks, and 2 weeks time, or seeing if i can get a basic system for something reasonable, but used.

this sucks

[rabb1t]

How totally lame. :( :cry:

[rabb1t]

Coverage policy for the red ring of death is now extended to 3 years post purchase (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6173633.html?tag=latestnews;title;0)

After mounting anecdotal evidence of the system's failure rate due to the dreaded "red ring of death" (three flashing red lights on the console's front panel), the publisher is changing its warranty to cover systems affected by the red ring for three years from the date of purchase. Any console which suffers the aforementioned failure--and only the aforementioned failure--can be returned to Microsoft for repair for free, as the warranty also includes shipping charges.

[akuthia]

can i bear your children?


ignoring that whole not having ovaries thing?

[rabb1t]

hehe I just report the news action. I think it's Gates you want to do. :eek:

[akuthia]

mm, no, because im pretty sure Gate's wont give me a call letting me know the good news, despite i just called last week, and was pondering over my options. i even considered getting a refurbed from gamestop, but still, 140 was better than 250, so i was gonna call today to arrange it. now i'm gonna wait a couple more days while things get sorted out, and the call volume goes down

[Spirit]

Yup, just got the 3 red rings of death here too, after having it for 6 or 7 months. Contacted MS support and I'm arranging to send the box in for repair.

The PS3 may have no games right now, but at least the bugger's reliable. You don't realise how important a 'feature' that is until what you have breaks. 20-25 business days.. I hope I get it back and working before Bioshock launches :(

[rabb1t]

Yup, just got the 3 red rings of death here too, after having it for 6 or 7 months.

Their failure rate is truly amazing. I guess we can't blame them a whole lot because it seems to have come up post-launch, so it seems like it's a time bomb kind of thing, but good god, it has to be the highest failure rate of any mechanical part that's released in the last 20 years. :eek:

The PS3 may have no games right now, but at least the bugger's reliable.

Yea. I've only seen a few mentions in reviews of systems getting bricked if you did something funky while it was updating.

20-25 business days.. I hope I get it back and working before Bioshock launches :(

Doubtful unless it's delayed. It's slated to launch around 15 business days from now.

You aren't going to get the PC version of it?

[akuthia]

im waiting on mine now, sent it back to them last week

[Spirit]

Their failure rate is truly amazing. I guess we can't blame them a whole lot because it seems to have come up post-launch, so it seems like it's a time bomb kind of thing, but good god, it has to be the highest failure rate of any mechanical part that's released in the last 20 years. :eek:

It /is/ bad, no doubt about it. I've read horror stories of some people on their 7th 360. That's wrong on every level.

Yea. I've only seen a few mentions in reviews of systems getting bricked if you did something funky while it was updating.

I have to say, my experiences with the PS hardware has been great in the past. My PS1, solid as a rock. PS2, solid as a rock. PSP even, solid as a rock. Sony might be guilty of doing a lot of stuff wrong, but they cannot be faulted on the build of their hardware. The lack of games is the only drag for me, but that should rectify itself in time, hopefully.

Doubtful unless it's delayed. It's slated to launch around 15 business days from now.

You aren't going to get the PC version of it?

Nah, not crossed my mind. Not ripping on the PC, but I'm more comfortable with console gaming now. If you'd have told me I'd be saying that last year, I'd have laughed. It's funny how things turn out. My specs are a bit old hat these days too and I can't afford to upgrade.

im waiting on mine now, sent it back to them last week

Fingers crossed they'll sort it. GL!

[rabb1t]

It /is/ bad, no doubt about it. I've read horror stories of some people on their 7th 360. That's wrong on every level.

Yeah, I think they have like a 30% failure rate. If I recall correctly, more than 3% failure rate on hardware is highly irregular and companies target closer to between 1% and 3%.

The lack of games is the only drag for me, but that should rectify itself in time, hopefully.

Heavenly Sword demo just came out. But yeah, I'm totally upset at them for delaying all of the big games. It's like nothing is coming out for the system at all anytime soon.

Though, I moved my system into the living room a couple of months ago and the roomies have been goin crazy over the uber Blu-Ray movie action. :D

My specs are a bit old hat these days too and I can't afford to upgrade.

Ah so probably better on the 360 then. Yeah, on the PC they'll have DX10 and X-Fi uberness, so if you have those, you'd be way better off with the PC version. :D

[rabb1t]

IGN - The Skills of Blue Dragon
A detailed look at the flexible skill and class system. (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/810/810032p1.html)

[rabb1t]

It's Official: Xbox 360 Sees Price Drop
All system types to see cost reduction. (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/811/811056p1.html)

Beginning August 8, the "Premium" system will retail for $349.99 (down from $399.99) and will still come complete with a headset, controller and 20GB hard drive. The Xbox 360 core system, which is the system only, has dropped $20 itself -- down to $279.99 from $299.99.

In "special package land," gamers with extra money to spend can pick up the Elite version of the Xbox 360 for $449.99 (down thirty bucks from its original $479.99 pricing). The Halo 3 Xbox 360 will ship in September for $399.99. ...

[rabb1t]

Looks like the HDMI port may be standard on all new Xbox 360s.

DailyTech - Report: Xbox 360 Premiums Now Shipping With HDMI Port (http://www.dailytech.com/Report+Xbox+360+Premiums+Now+Shipping+With+HDMI+Po rt/article8373.htm)

[akuthia]

blue dragon...... omg, im in freaking love.... screw all these new hack an slash rpgs anymore.... i have barely stopped playing since i got it saturday night...

[Spirit]

Get your red ring of death T-shirts here. (http://www.splitreason.com/productdetail.php?id=468)

[rabb1t]

DailyTech - The Falcon Has Landed: 65nm CPUs Appear in Xbox 360 (http://www.dailytech.com/The+Falcon+Has+Landed+65nm+CPUs+Appear+in+Xbox+360/article9100.htm)

[AsheMan]

I recently got my Xbox 360 and am only using it for single player purposes. I wondered though if it would be worth it for me to logon to Xbox Live just for any system updates or anything like that. Is it worth going online even if you plan to play offline?

For example, I got Mass Effect and the box says Xbox Live for content download. Is that like a patch for the game that I need or will it just be ads and demos?

[Spirit]

I recently got my Xbox 360 and am only using it for single player purposes. I wondered though if it would be worth it for me to logon to Xbox Live just for any system updates or anything like that. Is it worth going online even if you plan to play offline?

For example, I got Mass Effect and the box says Xbox Live for content download. Is that like a patch for the game that I need or will it just be ads and demos?

I don't think there's a patch out for ME yet, usually if there is a patch for any game you'll see a pop up asking you if you want to apply it if you're connected to Live at the time. The content download option in ME's menu will be selectable when additional content like extra missions, weapons, etc becomes available.

Twice a year MS roll out some system updates that add a few new features to Live -- there's one next month as it happens. Nothing to write home about tbh, mostly a re-ordering of menu's etc. Next month they're introducing a "Friend of a Friend" feature that lets you look at your friends list and see who their friends are. A bit useless, tbh. I think MS want to eventually move Live into a sort of lite console version of Facebook/Myspace, that sort of thing. Note: with the Xbox Silver account (see below) you can download system updates and game patches.

A lot of games with online support tend to offer downloadable content, some of it is free, some of it isn't. For example, if you have Call of Duty 3, there's some free map packs, Crackdown has some extra character skins, etc. The pay-for stuff is paid by spending Microsoft points -- read about that here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Points

You should definitely try Live, however. There's two Live account models.. Silver and Gold. The difference between them is with Silver you cannot play multiplayer games online. But Silver still allows you to download game demos, and you really really do want to take advantage of that (plus, Silver is free). Silver info is here - http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/features/silverage.htm -- and Gold here -- http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/features/goldenage.htm

You also really really need to look at Xbox Live Arcade, here -- http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/livearcadexbox360/ -- Free demos of all the games, but you pay Microsoft points to unlock the full versions.

Bottom line is online multiplayer is only a tiny part of Xbox Live, and it's fine if multiplayer is not your bag. But don't miss out on all the other gaming goodness Live offers. (There's also Marketplace which lets you download movies and tv series but I don't know much about it or if it's any good... it's not available in Europe, meh).

Good luck!

[AsheMan]

Lost Odyssey is set to release next Tuesday, February 12th. It looks like it's a classic JRPG setup and made by Hironobu Sakaguchi, father of Final Fantasy.

IGN Review (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/849/849927p1.html)

It looks like a lot of the reviews range from 7.5-8.5. I think I'll pick this one up.

[AsheMan]

Got a chance to play Guitar Hero III this week and all I can say is, "What's the big freakin' deal?"

It's a huge button mash fest with barely any interactive environmental shit. I mean Parappa the Rappa on the Playstation 1 had more environmental shit happen as you mashed your buttons to the beats. It looked like it might be fun when you are drunk and with friends... kind of on par with a kareoke machine.

[Dedley]

I recently got my Xbox 360 and am only using it for single player purposes. I wondered though if it would be worth it for me to logon to Xbox Live just for any system updates or anything like that. Is it worth going online even if you plan to play offline?

For example, I got Mass Effect and the box says Xbox Live for content download. Is that like a patch for the game that I need or will it just be ads and demos?

AsheMan, Did you ever get at least a silver Xbox Live account? There has been downloadable content for Mass Effect which is a pretty good add on (although not very long, but what do you want for about $5)

There is also downloadable content for some other games as well. Like you, I play games on my xbox local only, so I only have a silver account.

[AsheMan]

AsheMan, Did you ever get at least a silver Xbox Live account? There has been downloadable content for Mass Effect which is a pretty good add on (although not very long, but what do you want for about $5)

There is also downloadable content for some other games as well. Like you, I play games on my xbox local only, so I only have a silver account.

I do have a silver account but still have not bothered to do anything with it. A coworker bought the extra solar system for Mass Effect and said that it had one planet which you could land on. That seems pretty meager for $5.

[rabb1t]

Former release and yet to release threads merged into a single thread.

Hopefully nothing exploded. :D

[rabb1t]

Heh, console threads don't get touched much eh?

- - -

For those of us who can't play, the first hour of Halo: Reach (http://www.gametrailers.com/hour-one/halo-reach/)

[AsheMan]

I own the 360 and PS3 but do not have any interest in Halo. That whole series gets way too much praise. It's mediocre at best. I think it stems from the fact that it was the first decent FPS on the Xbox, but it falls flat in comparison to so many other great FPS games on the computer.