General Chat / The Xbox 360

This topic is mainly about what you guys think of the new console. Is it truely next generation, or the Xbox 1.5?

As for me, I've been a huge Xbox fan ever since I got it 3 years ago. After watching the debut on MTV I began to contemplate whether or not I would continue with the Xbox franchise or maybe switch to another company, say Nintendo or Playstation. Well, around October at one of my friend's LAN parties me and a good fellow friend decided that we were going to actually commit to getting one. We knew everything about the console, the pricing, the difference in bundling and the launch date. Unfortunately, we also knew that it was next to impossible to obtain a pre-order in October, and that we were going to have to find a way to get one of these things when the launch came on November 22nd.

Launch hit, with the shortage following. We couldn't camp because we had school that day and it was also a school night. An overwhelming amount of hype, yet so little supply. I had about 10 pages bookmarked under my favorites, and two trackers which I checked on the hour usually daily for about a month. Once in a while I would find something, but the forced bundles companies were selling were just too expensive. The prices on Ebay were even worse for even less amount of substance. I made rounds of calls to Target, Wal-Mart, Toys 'R Us, Costco, Best Buy, Radio Shack, and Circuit City every other day never getting lucky. About once a week I would go out and spend the night searching these stores to see whether or not they had them. Of course, no luck. One would think statistically, by chance, I should have found one, but I wasn't that fortunate. I knew most stores recieved their shipments in the morning, but I couldn't get myself their before opening due to regulations set by my parents.

During the process of the search, I would check the GameSpot forums regularly to keep up on shipment rumors. As everyone should know, there was a huge rumor about Best Buy recieving shipments on the 18th. This rumor spread like wildfire, and when I got their on the 18th at 5:30 a.m. they had already handed out vouchers to people who camped out the night before. Of course I thought about camping, but I couldn't because of the weather and nor would my parents let me. After all this I still was unable to find one.

Christmas morning hit, we had opened all our presents out of which I got Call of Duty 2 and Amped 3 for the 360, yet no console. Then, one of the gifts my dad gave to my brother and who he had planned this act earlier with him, pretended to act confused and finally handed me the gift which was the plan all along. I opened it to reveal an Xbox 360 Premium, I was on the verge of crying.

After all this, I have to say all the work I put into the search was worth it even though I, myself, never succeeded. Call of Duty 2, besides F.E.A.R., is the most impressive game I have ever played. The graphics are amazing, especially on 1080i. The framerates never slow down and run at a constant 60 f.p.s. The wireless controllers are as responsive as its wired brothers and yet feels more comfortable and offers more freedom. The only thing that I am not fully satisfied with is the game selection. Of course there are some decent launch titles, Perfect Dark Zero, PGR3, and Kameo, but none of these offer any live experience even close to the games available on the original Xbox (except Perfect Dark which has a poor single player campaign).

Anyways, that's my story. What do you guys think about the console?

[font="Arial"]I love my XBOX 360. Ever since I heard news of the XBOX 360, I've been waitin' for it to hit the stores' shelves. But then thanks to Mountain Dew, I won mine for free, which was awesome. People always say this, but I've never won anythin' (expensive) in my life, and when my XBOX 360 came to my house, I just about hugged the UPS man.

I love the idea of being able to power the console on and off with the controller. It makes it a lot easier for me to be lazy. Hehe... And the wireless controllers don't lag, and they rest comfortably in my hands. It's probably the best controller I've ever used on a console, even better than the GameCube controllers.

And game-wise, I'm very happy. I own Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo: Elements of Power, Condemned: Criminal Origins, Dead or Alive 4, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and Project Gotham Racing 3, and I've never been bored with any of them. I enjoy playing PDZ on Live and when friends come over, I enjoy kicking their asses in DOA4 or PGR3.

I just can't wait for the new games this year, such as Gears of War, Mass Effect, Dead Rising, Full Auto, and more. Plus, further along in it's life, the XBOX 360 will offer even better games than the ones we can play now. It should be a pretty exciting year for the XBOX 360. I'm lookin' forward to E3 and what Microsoft has in store for us.

And if anyone wants to play some games on Live, my gamertag is fr33kincag3.[/font]

I think that companies today are trying too much to focus on Graphics and Innovation, and forgetting what really made the great games (StreetFighter, Mario Kart, Super Mario, all the greats...). Thus, the only new console I'll be buying will be a Sega Megadrive.

Fair enough, there have been a few good games in this new generation...but really, in my opinion, none of them are a spot on the Pre PS2/Xbox times.

Edited by Atlus, 03 January 2006 - 03:34 PM.

Have either of you encountered any errors? Overheating, disk read errors, etc?
I'm sure you've heard about such errors, and I wondered how true they are.

So far, the only game I'm excited about for the 360 is Oblivion, and that isn't out yet. So I'll be waiting for that to hit, and then about a year later, I'll probably pick up the 360. I just hope Microsoft doesn't forget about their first console in the meantime.

My system hasn't experienced any overheating. Nor have I had any problems when playing any games. My advice to anyone about to pick one up, make sure it's on a hard surface and in a well ventilated area, unlike the Xbox, you can't put it on a carpet or in a cabinet. That goes for the power brick also.

I think that companies today are trying too much to focus on Graphics and Innovation, and forgetting what really made the great games (StreetFighter, Mario Kart, Super Mario, all the greats...). Thus, the only new console I'll be buying will be a Sega Megadrive.

Fair enough, there have been a few good games in this new generation...but really, in my opinion, none of them are a spot on the Pre PS2/Xbox times.

Care to elaborate about what made them so good?

I've seen people camping outside the local Best Buy on a few nights since its release. Thought it a bit pathetic myself. I mean really, can't people contain themselves for another few weeks, when the fervor dies down? I'm sure you'll get by just fine if you can wait a bit longer for your Xbox 360, rather than risking hypothermia and dignity waiting overnight outside Best Buy.

I just hope Microsoft doesn't forget about their first console in the meantime.

They said they wouldn't be publishing any more first-party games for Xbox...

Edited by laz0rz, 03 January 2006 - 06:21 PM.

Well I'll hope for third-party support then.

Well I'll hope for third-party support then.

And you got it. I remember hearing that about 100 games were still scheduled to hit the original Xbox after the 360 launch (Black being one of them).

I my 360.

Call of Duty 2 is such a great game. Blowing away Nazis has never been this much fun. And Dead or Alive 4 is giving Tekken a run for its money. And believe me, I love Tekken.

Edited by Dixon Steele, 03 January 2006 - 09:09 PM.

I've been playin my SNES more than anything lately. Them were graphics!

i got one for free. my dad wrote a recomendation for one of my friends and when she got into her first choice, the girl's mom got me an xbox 360. the more expensive one with hardrive and a wireless controller and shit. its pretty rediculous.

i got nba 2k6 and perfect dark. both are beautiful and fun. i dont game that much though.

What school? And I thought you Dad was a doctor?

yeah, he is a doctor.

he went to holy cross for undergrad and she thought it would help if a grad of the school wrote her a letter. apparently it did. either way, i don't care, i got a free xbox.

LOOK WHAT YOU DONE TO MY HOUSE!

Did, not done. "You did," or "You have done."

As for the Xbox, I stopped playing games when I was like 15... Not saying that to do so after that age is particularly sad or anything.. Just that I don't play 'em anymore - the only reason I felt the urge to reply was to point out the did/done error

Fools.

I'm sticking with my sega genesis.

Did, not done. "You did," or "You have done."

Okay thanks for that. :' />

I think that companies today are trying too much to focus on Graphics and Innovation

Damn you, innovation! DAMN YOU !!!

I'll just do what I've done 'til now: wait and see what the others have and possibly buy when the prices calm down a little. Sort of relevant case in point (maybe not, I just have to brag about it): I'm currently winning an auction that's going to net me Rez for a little over ten dollars.

What is so bad about innovation? If people kept on making the same game over and over again nothing new would be created.