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This is the users last post on the 360 forum.

"I have duplicate games because they are from different regions. My doubles are Moto Gp Far East, Asian Enchanted arms, Japanese Enchanted arms, German Quake 4, and German Saints row. My brother spends a couple months out of the year in Europe so I had him pick up a Pal 360 and some UK only games. If it is against MS terms of use to buy different region console and games its news to me. I have around 120 games played so that is how you get a gamerscore as high as mine I am not a modder."

http://forums.xbox.com/2/7677295/ShowPost.aspx#767 7295

http://live.xbox.com/en-US/profile/profile.aspx?pp =0&GamerTag=Furydogg

He has 77103 gamer points and his profile shows no games played?? WTF over?

-W

Here's the Original Xbox.com post about it. It seems very fishy for a few reasons:

First, he's hiding his played games. That's a very very rare thing to do, because it's just not necessary. Who cared what games you've played, unless you've modded something?

Second, he's got a Gamerscore of 77103. For those who don't have a 360, each game is given a budget of 1000 Gamerpoints which can be unlocked however the game publisher wants - usually it's points-per-level, or for unlocking things in the game. Xbox Live Arcade games get a budget of 200. Gamerankings.com gives me a total of 66 games released for the Xbox 360. That's 66,000 possible points if he finished anything and everything - and most of the games are nigh impossible for any mortal to get all 1000 points on.

Lastly, he's currently playing Cars online as I type. That game is not scheduled to be shipped until tomorrow the 31st, in-stores probably November 1st. If this were the only thing odd I'd just attribute it to a broken street date, but considering all the factors it sounds like he is using a not-quite-ethical way to play games in a way Microsoft didn't intend.

Here's the Original Xbox.com post about it. It seems very fishy for a few reasons:

First, he's hiding his played games. That's a very very rare thing to do, because it's just not necessary. Who cared what games you've played, unless you've modded something?

Second, he's got a Gamerscore of 77103. For those who don't have a 360, each game is given a budget of 1000 Gamerpoints which can be unlocked however the game publisher wants - usually it's points-per-level, or for unlocking things in the game. Xbox Live Arcade games get a budget of 200. Gamerankings.com gives me a total of 66 games released for the Xbox 360. That's 66,000 possible points if he finished anything and everything - and most of the games are nigh impossible for any mortal to get all 1000 points on.

Lastly, he's currently playing Cars online as I type. That game is not scheduled to be shipped until tomorrow the 31st, in-stores probably November 1st. If this were the only thing odd I'd just attribute it to a broken street date, but considering all the factors it sounds like he is using a not-quite-ethical way to play games in a way Microsoft didn't intend.

The full list of changes can be found here.

It used to be that if you wanted to play any game you merely had to purchase every console. Yes, it was expensive but we did it for the exclusive games that were only available on a single system.

Now they are trying to make it so that if you want to play every bit of a cross platform game you have to buy multiple copies? Screw that. When Soul Calibur II came out with exclusive characters on each system, I responded by not buying the damn game. Here it looks like Rockstar is trying to generate artificial demand for downloadable content; something else designed to extract money from gamers.

Yea, yea, feed me the line about games costing so much money to produce now. I don't care. Movies cost several million dollars to produce and you can buy the DVD for a single Andrew Jackson. Gamers are being charged three times that much for something that only cost a fraction of the price. Yes I understand that there are other factors here... I'm not that dense, it's just that they don't need to nickel-and-dime us afterwards.

I'm tired of companies raising prices and then charging more for the "privelidge" of playing online. I'm tired of companies cramming questionable tech down our throats that only raises cost and causes delays. I'm tired of games that are strictly service based even though you still have to pay full retail price. I'm tired of companies charging me yet again for games that I already own; I mean I already have two copies of Super Mario World, two copies of Super Mario 64, and three fricking copies of The Legend of Zelda and for only 23 more dollars, I can play them all on one console. Hooray for shovelware.

Yes I'm ranting. Sorry about that. The whole thing just makes me wonder why I play games anymore. Can I at least get an "amen"?

The Nyko Intercooler is not a good idea.

It does bad things.

what OS works 100% of the time on 100% of the platforms it supports?

Windows XB.

My comment was to show a direct contrast to the OP's point of "X360 doesn't have these things".
About "more quests", voila.

Surely, these mods are not as critical as cars or tracks, but it shows the X360 also has "additional content for additional pay" whilst on the PC all these mods are free as in beer and most are fan made.

About GT, I do believe the "classic" version will be relatively cheap on its own and only somewhat more pricey than the "premium" version after you buy "30 cars and 2 tracks" as that version includes, but you'll have the choice.

Not that I support a system like that but that was probably what made Sony think it is worthwhile for consumers.

Do either the Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable or Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable support 1080p ?

My guess is they don't - they certainly don't list it on the product pages in the links - so 360 owners will need to pony up for another cable, one capable of the 124MHz signalling needed to do 1080p/60 (so spec'd at ~350MHz).

Another question is, what about 1080p movies (if Microsoft sell a lot of the HD DVD add-on drives)? There's no HDCP path on the 360, so either the movie studios forget all about their latest copy-protection scheme and don't set the ICT flag on the discs (sh'yeah, right) or 360 owners could have an Xbox HD DVD player that does 1080p but have to watch the movies they buy at 480p. Ouch.

Do either the Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable or Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable support 1080p ?

My guess is they don't - they certainly don't list it on the product pages in the links - so 360 owners will need to pony up for another cable, one capable of the 124MHz signalling needed to do 1080p/60 (so spec'd at ~350MHz).

Another question is, what about 1080p movies (if Microsoft sell a lot of the HD DVD add-on drives)? There's no HDCP path on the 360, so either the movie studios forget all about their latest copy-protection scheme and don't set the ICT flag on the discs (sh'yeah, right) or 360 owners could have an Xbox HD DVD player that does 1080p but have to watch the movies they buy at 480p. Ouch.

XBL has six available for sale - a few new really hard dungeons, etc. See them listed here. There is also an add-on for ?? horse armor ??.

"Most consoles also didn't brag about how they can provide the best picture/graphics possible and then not provide that capability straight out of the box."

No, just THE ONLY OTHER CONSOLE THAT DOES HD

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backwardcompatibil itygameslist.htm

Your information is old

These guys are hardcore gamers, that's not the kind of comment you want from guys that have this much clout.

Of course, having read PA for some time, I seem to pretty clearly remember them strongly endorsing the Sega Dreamcast over the Sony PS2, and later strongly endorsing the Sony PSP over the Nintendo DS.

It doesn't seem to have helped in either of those cases.

Gabe and Tycho are an extremely good barometer of what the "average gamer" thinks-- they speak their mind, they aren't afraid to point out that the emperor has no clothes, and they aren't afraid to change their minds when it's appropriate (witness their reversal on the Nintendo DS, or how they went from mocking the XBox relentlessly when it came out to going in on licensing deals with Microsoft by the time the 360 hit). But I'm not sure they're terribly influential since, after all, most of their "clout" comes from their ability to say exactly what everyone else was already wanting to say. In this case they seem to be reflecting public opinion, not shaping it. I think Gabe and Tycho's comments, in that barometer-of-the-public sense, tell us pretty clearly that Sony is botching the PS3 launch and nobody wants to pay the prices Sony is charging. But we all already knew that, so I don't really think that Sony's PR disaster with the PS3 could possibly get any worse because of this.

Xbox 360! It's got USB, you can add wifi and it basically has the music store built in (Live Marketplace). And really no PC is needed.

Of course PC users have Windows Media Player, RealPlayer and other services to choose from. The difference is that Microsoft's option, oddly enough, offers more options when it comes to music stores. You can use Napster, Rhapsody, Surge, Wal-Mart's music store and others.

I don't own an iPod, so I'd be more likely to buy a "Zune" because I'm not going to be limited to iTunes only. (And I'm no MS fanboi, but what works, works.) Sadly, Zune will offer more options.

People call lawyers sharks not only becuase of how large their bill is but also because of it's contents, charges for photcopying, make call, answer call, read letter, write letter, say hello to client in hallway etc. Contrary to your leet speak, the law will make a close inspection of these kinds of practices, run out of gold , buy some more to continue playing, build up a quantity via luck and skill (any radom generated results add a touch of gambling) and cash out.

Dumb companies fall into the trap, and all their investment into the product is detroyed, rather than the childish name calling it is simply the result of evil via stupidity (microsoft at least 50% of the time). Last time I checked the xbox was marketed to a younger audience than 16 to 25 year olds i.e. to what age group is your use of leet speak generally limited to (apert from the odd childsih exceptions) or do you think this title is aimed at 25 year old men http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/v/vivapinata/defau lt.htm or check out this web site http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/familycentral.htm those are some pretty weird looking 25 year olds. Microsoft and marketing, truth has no meaning.

People call lawyers sharks not only becuase of how large their bill is but also because of it's contents, charges for photcopying, make call, answer call, read letter, write letter, say hello to client in hallway etc. Contrary to your leet speak, the law will make a close inspection of these kinds of practices, run out of gold , buy some more to continue playing, build up a quantity via luck and skill (any radom generated results add a touch of gambling) and cash out.

Dumb companies fall into the trap, and all their investment into the product is detroyed, rather than the childish name calling it is simply the result of evil via stupidity (microsoft at least 50% of the time). Last time I checked the xbox was marketed to a younger audience than 16 to 25 year olds i.e. to what age group is your use of leet speak generally limited to (apert from the odd childsih exceptions) or do you think this title is aimed at 25 year old men http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/v/vivapinata/defau lt.htm or check out this web site http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/familycentral.htm those are some pretty weird looking 25 year olds. Microsoft and marketing, truth has no meaning.

I would also hope that browsing these games would be free as well (unlike Xbox Live Arcade, where you must first pay for XBL and then pay again for XBLA games)

Xbox 360(TM) and the new Xbox Live® feature two levels of membership, the premium Gold service and the free--yes, free--Silver status that is available to all Xbox 360 owners (if you purchase the Core system you will need an additional memory unit or hard drive). All you need to do is plug in to your broadband Internet connection, register for Xbox Live Silver (accepting the Terms of Use), and you're online with Xbox Live Silver. ...

Xbox Live Arcade and Marketplace
You'll find the the Xbox Live Arcade in the Marketplace, where you can purchase great casual arcade games like the classic Galaga or the smash hit Bejeweled. Just download them to Xbox 360, and they're yours to play again and again. They're perfect for casual gamers or anyone who loves great game play.

More people buying the 360+subscription to live.

Since when did a 360+subscription become one of the essentials of life along with air, food, and water?

This live.

And whoosh goes the joke.

More people buying the 360+subscription to live.

Since when did a 360+subscription become one of the essentials of life along with air, food, and water?

This live.

I'm waiting for Pacman to get to the Live Arcade. They've announced they're working on it, but I don't know anything about a date.

While no specific date has been set, Pac-Man is one of the games on the list for this summer's "Xbox Live Wednesdays" arcade releases. The list is:

• Frogger
• Cloning Clyde
• Galaga
• Street Fighter 2
• Pac-Man

You can use your 360 to listen to the music on your computer via your home network quite easily. This is probably one of the dashboard features I use the most. Xbox 360 Media Setup

Backwards compatibility for the Xbox360 has been extremely hit-and-miss -- Dubious at best, certainly over-hyped

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360quickc hargekit/default.htm

The play and charge doesn't really excite me. I use it, but when it runs down, I just grab my other controller with 2 AAs in it while the play and charge charges from my iPod USB power supply.

The play and charge has two major flaws:
1. If you charge your controller off your 360 while the 360 is "off", the 360 isn't really off, it is taking over 80W of power. It basically just turns off the video out. It gets hot and wastes a lot of power.
2. If you charge your controller off your 360 while the 360 is on, you must use that controller as player 1. That is, if any controller is attached by the play n charge kit to the 360, it becomes controller 1. If you turn it off (perhaps to make another controller #1), it just turns right back on and becomes #1 again. This sucks. This forces you to use the tethered controller to play, even if you have another that is charged. That is, unless you want to wait until your 360 is "off" to charge, in which case you end up at #1 again.

That's why I have to plug my controller into my iPod power supply (via the play n charge cable) to charge it. Weak.

Still, all in all it is a good controller, Sony will have trouble matching it with their PS3 controller.

Warning: You will be disturbed if you click this link! You have been warned!

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/b/barbiehorseadven tures/default.htm

At least the first one sold enough to become one of MS's Platinum Hits rereleases. Interestingly it seems to have sold mainly due to the appeal of the setting, since the gameplay certainly wasn't any good when I tried it and it definitely doesn't succeed on any kind of aesthetic level. It's not even remotely realistic, even by the gamey standards of something like Call of Duty. I'm pretty sure the enemies don't even speak the correct language (apparently they grabbed Egyptian voice actors, IIRC).

I have no idea about the quality of the sequel, but I suspect it didn't sell that well after players experienced the first one.

Why not just buy the Street Fighter Collection for 10 bucks at Toys R Us?

Because the XBox 360's "partial" backward compatibility feature doesn't support it.

Gotcha!

(Interestingly, some people have not learned this lesson yet; read: Microsoft's Xbox 360's HD-DVD rumored add on).

1. It's not rumored, it was offically announced long ago. http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/events/e3 2006/articles/20060507-hddvdexplained.htm

2. It's a movie addon, not a game addon, so it doesn't matter at all to the overall xbox 360 strategy whether it succeeds or fails. Microsoft has said that they will not have hd-dvd games. Compare it to buying the dvd remote for a ps2 or an xbox 1 (or that whacky silver gamecube put out by some third party which also played dvds), don't compare it to the 32x. It simply allows you to watch hd-dvd movies, nothing more or less.

Here are some links you'll find useful:

Backwards compatible title list:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backwardcompatibil itygameslist.htm
Launch titles:
http://www.majornelson.com/2005/11/14/xbox-360-lau nch-day-titles/
Arcade titles:
http://www.majornelson.com/2005/11/15/xbox-live-ma rketplace-launch-content/

The list of backwards compatible games will grow over time, so if you're not already signed up for Xbox Live (even Silver, which is free), you should do so. Enjoy your 360!

I mean, the most important game on the list has backwards compatibility already.

They've created patches for over 200 games for back compat. I wouldn't necessarily call that "ignoring backwards compatibility"...

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backwardcompatibil itygameslist.htm

But you're right...720p is great for KOTOR :)

It's more than a farce. It's an atrocity! Microsoft Xbox executives should be brought before the Hague! I can't find a single game in this entire list worth playing, nor can I find an original Xbox anywhere! Unless every remaining Xbox game is added to the list immediately, I don't think we have any choice but to get the UN involved.

This rule becomes more true as you move towards consoles, since there is no way to grab an indie game demo on a quick download for your 360, and hence there is no development for consoles.

Sure, some of them are just old arcade games (like Joust) updated for online play. But games like Outpost Kaloki X looks like a good example of an indie game developer making a name for themselves on the Xbox 360.

Again, I'm not a console gamer. I just read about this in a rather glowing Extremetech opinion article by Loyd Case.

The latest worldwide sales numbers are 1.7 million after six months.

Wow, where do you get your numbers from? ;-) The confirmed numbers were 1.5 million sold (not shipped) in 2005 (so just over a month not 6 months). All of the later numbers I've been able to find are in MS's financial statements, but those tend to reference number shipped not sold. All other numbers are pretty much speculation, but the last somewhat solid numbers for units sold was something like 3.3 million through April (I think.. it was either March or April). Anyway, you are WAY off ;-)

The backwards compatibility thing... well your retarded. Here is the list of original games supported on the 360 through March (and more added all the time). The only original xbox game I have which doesn't currently work is Morrowwind (and I have close to 50).

Manufacturing defects are still rampant with the consensus putting the failure rate at 15-20 percent with huge numbers of people on their third, fourth, and fifth 360 units. And the most troubling is reports from 360 developers complaining about the graphics system which seems like it was never designed to handle 720p but instead 480p.

Have any reputable links to back up either of those made up issues? Didn't think so. Sorry for feeding the troll! I was just a bit board.

According to this page. The warranty is only 90 days on the 360, which means that if you bought it on or around the launch day, in November, your warranty expired 3 months ago.

To be unbiased, the PS2 also had a 90 day warranty as well. The gamecube has a twelve month warranty.

> XBMC is absolutely the killer app of Xbox

Why haven't they registered here, and aquired real developer license then?
If it really is killer application, I'm sure all users wouldn't mind donating few $/ for good cause(say, to pay the neccessary license fee for developers to get their code signed).

If microsoft refuses XBMC as a suitable software, just slap them with monopoly lawsuit.

Or at least, that's what I'm getting out of the whole thing. We already knew the PS3 was going to be expensive to produce. The only question was how much Sony would charge for the machine.

"However, when released, both [PlayStation and PlayStation 2] had sales that were unthinkable for previous game machines. This is because both offered experiences that could not be had on previous machines." [SCEI president Ken Kutaragi said.] "Things like next-generation graphics and various services via the network. And, as with the PS and PS2, we believe people who like games will, without question, purchase it."

Right... no one's ever seen next generation graphics before, or even various services via the network.

Seriously, I never had any intention of buying any of the next-gen consoles when they were released (that includes the Wii; by the time it comes out, I may finally get around to getting a DS :)), but the more I hear about the PS3, the more I realize I'm definitely not going to be buying any of the first-generation PS3s. Two versions, one an un-upgradable "cheap" version, weird controllers without force feedback, and the $500/$600 price tag all are making me that much more willing to wait for a PS3.

I'm more than willing to wait until the PSThwii gets released, with a single version that supports everything, and hopefully with wireless controllers that support force feedback. Oops, sorry, that's supposed to be "PSthree" in the style of the "PStwo" and "PSone" rereleases.

And to think, if anything, I'm a Sony fanboy...

Ok.. The ps3 is more expensive.. However maybe MS should compair it to their xbox 360 premium (400$) + the unanounced price of there HD-DVD drive (say 200$) + cost of xbox live (which makes xbox "better" __$ x each month + additional stuff you can buy).
Most people are quite happy with DVD and feel no need for blu-ray. Both the PS2 and Xbox where only marginal DVD players, my samsung is substancially better a good TV. So, in this case, I am glad MS doesn't force people to buy a expensive unproven drive.

And MS can affort to loose more money on each box (windows/office cash cow), so the more they sell the more they loose. Plus the 360 isn't even backward compatible so you'll have to buy alot of your older xbox games again or keep both units.. Until the older one breaks.
The 360 is backwords compatable with several hundred original Xbox games. We will see how compatable the ps3 is with original games. Microsoft is ok with losing mone on each 360 because they want to make it back on live subscriptions and game sales.

PS3 is really expensive, but should come down in price in a year as those blu-ray drives get cheaper. Plus since all ps3s have hard drives they are probably more likely to be used by game developers (maybe blu-ray disk is slow in its first generation?). The larger blu-ray discs might be usefull for some games. It took 19 months for the original to drop in price. I seriously doubt they will drop the price before 2 years, they are losing hundreds on each sale and the hardware is very new. So, in two years, it will cost what the 360 does now?

I'll probably get one when the price drops, as I have a number of ps2 games we like to play. That prior investment is a little of what Sony is banking on.
Considering the radical change in hardware, I imagine they will have the same emulation issues the 360 had.

~nate

The 360 has an xbox emulator now? Wow.. have to look out for that.

This functionality has been available since launch. I think there were like 200 original XBox games playable on the 360 at launch. Anyway, here is the current list of original games playable on the 360.

b) the X360 core with a memory card can play every Xbox 360 game released so far for $160

Ehh-Err[1]

Football Manager 2006 requires the Xbox 360 Hard Drive (check the feature list). So you can play most of Xbox 360 games without the hard drive, but there will be some you do need it for.

[1] Is that the correct way to put the Family Fortunes buzzer?

Xbox 360 related coverage will be available here on Microsoft's Xbox site. I also believe that you will be able to download demos and videos via Xbox Live Marketplace directly from your 360.

I don't understand these articles. I can't follow why someone making comments about trying to get a more 'family' image for the console & not mention the fact the the 360 actually has very good parental controls.

So you'd be interested to know about the 360 and you don't already know because your NOT interested in the 360? ;-)

Here is a pretty complete list of all the announced 360 games and release dates (if they haven't already been released).

Buying points online through the dashboard would save both time and money. And since you don't need a Gold membership to get points (Silver will do), charging more in stores is a crap move.

I was hoping to see support added for "Deadly Alliance", but it seems that "Decpetion" has even been removed from the list.

I know this article was featured on Slashdot, but for a really good explanation of why hardware specs aren't going to mean much anymore, I highly recommend reading Life After the Crash by David Wong

The essence of the article is that the direction that video games are moving in can't hold up much longer. Sure, Call of Duty 2 on the Xbox360 looks beautiful. You can see slightly better fog effects than previous generation consoles, and you can see beads of sweat dripping down the enemy soldiers' faces, but does this really make it a better game? For about 10 minutes your jaw hangs open at the realism of the game, but then you get used to it and realize it's exactly like every other first person shooter ever made. OK, instead of shooting demon possessed aliens from another dimension, you are shooting nazis, but does that really make the game any different once you adjust to your surroundings? Or, even more to the point, does it make it better than the last CoD title that you played?

The bottom line is that Nintendo is trying to do something that's actually different. They're betting the farm on the fact that gamers like myself are getting tired of shelling out more and more money for consoles that are less and less innovative. It's a gamble, and it's possible that they could be doing this too early, but they have proven in the past that they have a pretty good sense about the industry. I, for one, will stand in line to buy my Revolution, even if the fog effects aren't quite as good as the significantly more expensive Xbox360.

Are they designing an OS, or a video game??!

Rejected name for Codename Longhorn: "Windows XB".

Classics had 2 things going for them. they either:
A. Left a lot to your imagination in terms of graphics or story, or
B. Gave you fantastic twitch gameplay

But the classics that still stand today are the ones with the twitch game play: Pac Man, Galaxan, Mario Bros, Tetris, etc.

I think we'll see a revival of "new classics" soon through venues like the Xbox Live arcade. I mean look at Geometry Wars or Wik. Those games totally embody what made the twitch type classic games great but they're done with and actually utilize modern technology.

As for MS allowing people to make their own content, it's coming soon.

I always thought that was a pretty good area of attack right there.