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On Xbox's Progression, Positioning For The Future
Thanks to GameSpy for its article charting the progression of the Xbox from its launch to the present day, with the author's introduction suggesting: "For Microsoft, the video-game industry has been a whiplash rollercoaster ride with lucrative peaks, costly valleys, and a changing list of passengers going along for the ride." After charting a timeline for Xbox's history so far, he concludes: "Xbox has not lived up to all of the predictions, but Microsoft has more than made its point. After two years and two months on the market, the numbers speak for themselves." Has the Xbox been all you expected and wanted it to be?
The XBOX as far as games and titles has left me feeling a little ... lacking. But as far as it's multimedia capabilities (with some creative adaptation to the hardware of course) has impressed me. Mind you that's not the obvious use for the XBOX, and thusly posed against the question, would leave a resounding "No, has not lived up..." but all in all I'm happy with my purchase.
I've always been a bit of a Microsoft hater, but I was tempted to the Xbox by Halo and Dead or Alive (I'm a DoA fanboy) and have to say I've ended up loving it. I've ended up playing on it to the exclusion of my GC and PS2.
They made a pretty powerful machine and did a great job of getting some brilliant developers to make games for it (whether by fair means or foul).
The build quality of the components is also surprisingly high. The cables that came with my console are gold-plated and very strong. The controllers are the least flimsy feeling of all the controllers on the market. As soon as it came out of its packaging, it oozed class and effort.
They even made an effort to create a better size and shape of controller. Okay they failed with their first one. But full marks for trying.
I don't think they'll win the console war, but I think they are definitely bringing some fresh thinking to the marketplace, and making Nintendo and Sony raise their standards.
(BTW My only disappointment was that it had a cheap little CD draw. When I first switched it on, I expected the whole top to raise off with a hiss of hydraulics and a glowing green light inside. I was gutted when it didn't)
and the hardware was pretty unreliable. So, I recently bought another one. I have too many games to NOT have a functioning Xbox, but having spent close to $1500 on Xbox-related purchases, I can say I am pretty dissatisfied.
By contrast, I bought a Cube for $99, and you can play most of the same games. And, you get Zelda, the new FF, and Mario Golf.
Of course, having every title on warezed DVD helps.
XBox Live, though, is where it's at.
Project Gotham on XBox live is the best racing ever. Bar none. They have multiplayer *exactly* right.
I bought Need For Speed Underground on PC at the same time and it's online system was a disappointment. It's update system uses javascript and activex ffs and so first thing I had to do was piss about bringing my I.E. up to date on a box I don't use for web browsing (being a Mozilla user on FreeBSD and all).
The controllers are an abomination and getting a force feedback steering wheel has been a long long wait.
I hope Sony get the networking sorted out on the PS3 and the xbox2 is stillborn.
It is really irksome seeing ads for MSN while playing SSX Tricky or Links2004.
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
The machine itself makes the Xbox great. For instance, have you ever ran the same title on the PS2 and the Xbox? The load-time seems to be half of that of the ps2's.
My first 2 games for the XBox were "Crimson Skies" and "Prince of Persial - SOT". I fell in love the the console after that. Since then I rented Soul Caliber II, Panzer Dragoon, and Rainbox Six III. Also, the free "XBox Live" trial sweetened the deal, as I love kicking people's asses in Crimson Skies (though I suck at Rainbox Six).
However, it's getting harder to find decent games to rent/buy after the ones I listed. Part of me wishes I had gone the Gamecube route (and saved like $200). While a lot of the GC games are corny-looking, they are pretty fun to play.
In all, I think the XBox is an alright system, but they need to make more "must have" titles. Halo 2 was looking promising, but now that's delayed until Fall. Oh well, on the PC side I have (hopefully) Half-Life 2 and UT 2004 in a month.
I think it's somewhat premature to say that "the notion that Xbox will be the center point of the livingroom... has been tested and has failed." What failure has occured, is in the creation of an attractive software package for making the Xbox a centre point of the livingroom. It's as if little to no effort was made at all in this respect, yet the Xbox management imply that they tried as best as anyone could and failed at the task.
The Xbox had no PVR functionality, didn't include the DVD player as part of basic package, had no ability to transfer media files (or at least stream media), and has a lack luster though useable interface for media playback. Furthermore, what functionality they did provide in these regards, did not even match what was availible in similar devices at the time. Even as a simple DVD player, it was only adequate at best; lowend DVD players could be obtained at a similar cost of just the Xbox DVD package and offered a better experience.... It's no wonder Xbox didn't succeed as "the centre point of the livingroom."
It's one of the few times where Microsoft could not say they dominated the market. Mind you, because it's Microsoft, people tend to be a bit more critical about their accomplishments. This is partially attributed to their marketing hype at the initial launch of the X-Box. I think from this point forward, Microsoft really needs a series of "Killer Games" (in parallel to the Killer Apps). Consumers need to be convinced that in order to play THAT game, they HAVE to buy the X-Box (just like how Gran Turismo or Final Fantasy did to the Playstation). We'll just wait and see...
The XBOX is really a fantastic console, and imo, its a huge leap in the console market.
:P
-The hard drive is absolutely fantastic; game saves are effortless, and i don't need to buy memory cards. What happens when i run out? By that time, we'll be way into XBOX3 or XBOX4
Custom soundtracks are a pretty cool feature, i love funking out to gorillaz down a mountain on Amped (Snowboarding game), when i get bored of the music in the game.
XBOX Live is, dare i say, the most fantastic, complete product that MS has ever made:
-Downloads are plentiful, and a great incentive for me to keep those single player games that are 'play through once'. The new Splinter Cell levels were great.
-Cheating protection is great. Modchips are are automatically banned, and if anyone ever finds a game exploit, patching is automatic and mandatory, and in some cases (MotoGP) scoreboards are reset.
-Voice Support completely changes everything. On PC, it's pretty much optional, but on LIVE, nearly everyone has a communicator (it comes with the kits) and EVERY GAME SUPPORTS IT. The difference in team organization in a first person shooter, for instance, is immediately clear.
-Prizes, leagues, tournaments. I don't have an XSN game myself, but from what other people have told me, the setup is pretty good. Prizes are a cool addition too; right now there is an official competition for a cool $25,000US. Nice.
On top of all this, the lineup is shaping up, too. It doesnt have the Japanese RPGs like the PS2, or the Nintendo games, but it has everything else. Its the only console for which FPSs actually work *AT ALL* (Gamecube's controls are too rigid, and PS2's analog sticks are too short), and i actually prefer (blasphemy!) the analog sticks to WASD and a mouse.. its just so much more natural.
So yeah, MS did an excellent job with the XBOX. Surprise, Surprise.
Newsie, Moderator, www.tauniverse.com
So you me a few hundred dollars and buy stuff from people who give me a few dollars as well. Then I beat your face in and you give me another few hundred dollars?
Am I missing something?
I can understand that you may have invested to much in software to be able to afford to let the x-box go unused but think about the message you are sending to MS. Wow this customer must really like our stuff. He bought TWO!!! Cancel that order to make the X-box2 hardware more rugged. Our customers love us.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Exactly how did you managed to expend $1000 in xbox "related" purchases? you paid $1200 in repairs when you could have bought a brand new one in $170? or you mean you spent $1200 in games?
Anyway if you didnt void your guaranty by modding or opening it yourself you could have just have it changed for a new one?
Go ahead MOD my day!
More opinions here
Xbox is my third current console (GC first, then PS2) and it has pretty much held its own. (Unlike the PS2, especially now that GTA3 and Vice City are out for Xbox.) I'm sometimes impressed at how many correct decisions they made, the same ones I would have made...the good controller (the smaller remake is the best on the market I think), the 4 controller ports, the way some of their top games support both Xbox Live AND 4 player split screen (Halo and Crimson Skies at least), Xbox live itself...I still think GameCube is my favorite of the three but Microsoft has made a very impressive entry into the market.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
I know of 3 people who sold their xbox in a span of about a year. The selection of games really haven't captured their attention. All 3 people are in their 20s.
The typical complaint is... there are no good RPG. Xbox put emphasis on games like halo, which for any fps belongs on a PC anyways.
Basically the general consensus is they are unhappy with xbox. Especially those giant controllers. The good games on xbox, are generally available on other consoles anyways. etc etc
the numbers speak for themselves.
Isn't the X-Box trailing behind the other two consoles in every market except for a relatively small lead over the GameCube in North America? I know they aren't flying off the shelves in Japan. Dreamcast and the PS-One were still outselling X-Box at least most of the year last year.
If I liked sports and racing games, I would likely treasure my X-box more than I do, but as it stands, I consider it a 3rd place in my collection behind the Cube and PS2. This isn't to say that I don't like it, Knights of the old Republic, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Jet Set Radio Future and other titles are great exclusives, and I am looking forward to Halo 2 and Fable just to name a couple.
X-Box live on the otherhand is a bit Underwhelming (my Live ID is Underwhelmed, perhaps this is a self-fufiling prophecy?) Crimson Skies and Rainbow Six 3 have been the only recent games I have bothered to play with, and neither of them were enjoyable enough for me to put up with the army of 8 year-olds that just discovered the wonders of 4 letter words who usually inhabit most of the public games. This is more an issue of game library versus quality of the service though. I want some multiplayer RPGS or action games or something beyond glorified Death Matches and capture the Flag.
Am I happy with my Purchase? Yes, I am happy enough that I bought a new x-box when my old one died last week.
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
I did the solder TSOP thingy on 2 of my xbox's, I got one cheap server for Mail and DNS as well as one very cool entertainment system which includes MP3, DVD (Multi Region) loads of cool emulators as well as some pretty good XBox games and online play (XLink Messenger).
A Highly spec'd PC (which im probably getting for Doom3) could do all this, but the XBox is way more social with interfaces that are good on TV. I also often stick the thing in a backpack and it round to a friends house for some great 2 lan gaming which would be a much bigger operation with PC's.
So yes, the XBox has far outweighed my expectations.
Business-way, yeah, they have been having some sucess. A very sucessful ad campaign, as well, focusing on specific genres gave them good inroads into both the gamer and casual console market.
Quality-wise? It's a very mixed bag. No X-Box only title has really hit a home-run so far. Halo was only half-finished (still a very good engine, but the single-player was under-developed level design wise and the mutli-player feels like an add-on.) Project Gotham Racing is fun, but hardly a deal maker (Burnout/NfS:Underground are just as good) Amped is boring. They've had some success with their sports games, but in my mind they are a dime a dozen.
The multi-media features had possibility, but came out as kind of bleh. The In-system MP3 player is nice, but not really a deal-clencher.
Some of the grey-market front ends are really sweet 'tho.. those are a deal-clencher.
In the future? Fable will either be really good or really bad. Take your pick. (I bet that different people will see it either way.). Halo 2 should be THE killer ap on the X-Box, if it's not overshadowed by Half-Life 2 and Doom 3. (If Half-Life 2 comes with Counter-Strike 2.0 and Day of Defeat 2.0 ON THE DISK, then Halo 2 will be overlooked.)
What else is there? Not much that I can see. And that's a shame.
I traded my PS2 for the XBox. I'd been thinking about it for a while since really all the PS2 was doing was playing DVD's for me. Then the decision really cemented itself when our step-daughter got one for her dad's house and we decided to get one for ours so she could play the same games over here.
I also hate the PS2 controller with a passion. Nothing has made my hands hurt more than trying to use the shoulder buttons on it. I thought MGS2 was going to give me arthritis. Then I see that KOTOR was coming out for XBox and PC only. Combine that with Halo, MechAssault, Burnout, and a controller that doesn't leave me crippled is a huge win to me.
I've also never had problems with the hardware on the XBox and I've run it for a long time on end too playing Halo/KOTOR (16 hours on the day it came out alone).
There were doubters about Nintendo's philosophy back in 2002, but I guess that's a +5 Insightful in retrospect.
Now I've had my xbox a little more than a year, I bought xbox live last summer and to my disappointment, my university broadband connection is too slow to play Xbox live with, so much for high "technology" fees. I've been waiting for a new game to turn my head and be amazing to play on xbox, but I'm still waiting. Halo? Finished it, awesome game, good multiplayer, but I'm getting bored with it. GTA3 double pack, finished it. So instead of buying a new game, I dug out my Dreamcast and my vast selection of titles with high replay values, Samba de Amigo (with 2 sets of maracas), Virtual Tennis, NFL 2k2, Soul Caliber, MSR, Tony Hawk 2, Crazy Taxi 1&2, and JSR. Right now, my Gamecube gets most of the action with NFS: Underground (yes, its available on xbox, but its identical and no special features), Super Monkey Ball 1&2 (can you say addicting), Mario Kart DD, and Mario Sunshine (some of those classic style levels are pretty tough).
In summary, here's my xbox pluses:
Amigori"The quality of life is determined by its activites."--Aristotle
Problem: The original Xbox had 8 or maybe 10G of disc space. An hour recording at top quality (with the PVR software of my TV card) is probably close to 2G (I tend to record 40-minute blocks, at 1.4-1.6). Nobody wants a Tivo with less capacity than a T-120 VHS.
It's just like a fascist dictatorship, without the punctual rail service!