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11 Design Mistakes of the Xbox 360
An anonymous reader writes "FiringSquad.com has posted an article discussing 11 design flaws of the Xbox 360, ranging from gaming to Xbox Live Marketplace issues." From the article: "Mistake #2: No MSN Music - I'm as much of a fan of DRM as everyone else (which is to say I don't like it), but with Microsoft already charging gamers for Xbox Live Gold support, it would have been possible for Microsoft to offer discount service "bundles" allowing you to buy unlimited subscriptions to the MSN Music library at rates less than you would have to pay for Napster or Rhapsody. Gamers would have had an opportunity to get music cheaper and add one extra weapon in the console battle against Sony." I'm not so sure some of these are that big a deal. I'm more than a little glad the 360 has no web browser.
I know that I'm going to get flamed my the pro-console/anti-PC gaming group, and I really don't mean it to be. But after reading through that whole article and looking at all of the points that he made, he seems to have inadvertently said that we wants his 360 to be a PC!
No MSN music. The PC already has it.
No HDMI support. The PC already has it.
No web browser -- although is that really a bad thing? I need not mention the browser options on a PC here.
No WMV-HD or MPEG-4 AVI playback. PC has it.
Even the point about no pressure-sensitive face buttons is equated on a PC though an analogue joystick.
Honestly, this just adds to my confusion about why the console vs PC argument can get so heated. I am NOT saying that to be a troll or flame. I know that a lot of console fans are ready to hit me with the "troll" or "flamebait" mods, but I honestly do not understand the whole rage for consoles any more. I've never understood it from the time that PCs could be (easily) connected to TVs.
That being said, I am fully cognizant of the arguments regarding having minimum PC specifications (CPU speed, RAM, video chipset). They're completely viable arguments and I agree that minimum system specifications are the biggest problems with PC gaming. Console games are meant to work with a single platform and that does indeed help to provide a consistency across all of the games for that particular platform onthe part of the designed. I will not argue that point.
But now PCs can be connected to TVs easily (almost all modern video cards support DVI or at least S-Video) and do just about everything that the article's author is asking for in his 360. Even the PS3 is supposed to have keyboard and mouse support!
Why does he not just use a console for gaming and a home theatre PC for everything else, both of which can be connected to the same audio system and same TV often through separate connections? Don't get me wrong. I still have my ol' Nintendo 64 hooked up and I do play it when I have the time and inclination. I wouldn't mind owning a PS2 or even a PS3 when it comes out. I wouldn't rule out buying a second-hand Xbox. I am *not* anti-console. But I just don't understand how someone can want so much from a console then spurn the PC that's probably sitting in an adjoining room.
The Overrated mod is for reversing inappropriate, positive mods, not for voicing disagreement with a post.
Mistake #1: Overheating CPU or GPU
.5% of the 360 target market cares. Not worth the extra development $$.
-Actually it is the separated power brick.
Mistake #2: No MSN Music
-This can be incorporated at any time through the marketplace. When the legal issues are sorted I expect it.
Mistake #3: No HDMI support
-Not needed. Microsoft has tested HDMI with the 360 and found there was no improvement in quality.
Mistake #4: 20GB is too small
-What? The hard drive was designed for XBOX Live Arcade games and MP3's (to play during games). Anything larger should be streamed from a media center.
Mistake #5: Microtransaction Security
-Have to do more research here.
Mistake #6: No Web Browser
-This introduces more problems than it's worth.
Mistake #7: No WMV-HD DVD Playback
-About
Mistake #8: No MPEG-4 AVI playback (i.e. XviD, etc)
-See #7
Mistake #9: No System-Wide Video Calibration
-This is just false. There is a universal option to change from Full/Wide screen and -420p/720p/1080i.
Mistake #10: Poor DVD Playback Quality
-Probably representative of your TV. I see the same quality on mine as any other DVD player that doesn't upconvert.
Mistake #11: No pressure sensitive face buttons
-yawn
How hard would that be? They have an automatic updater in WindowsXP, couldn't they do the same for 360? And how would someone even introduce their own online virus code via the Xbox Live network?
Not saying it couldn't happen, because I know better than that. But what's the difference in potentially exploitable Windows PCs, and potentially exploitable 360s? The potential for exploit never stopped M$ from bundling IE in Windows. "Why should it hold them back on the 360?", was basically my question.
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