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Xbox 360 Blue-Ray Support, Achievement Addiction

Posted by Zonk on from the still-waiting-on-the-great-games dept.

Fibonasty_Sequence wrote to mention a piece on Gamespy looking into the Achievement addiction that the 360 can provoke in gamers. Playing games with specific goals in mind can be lots of fun. In related news, these heady post-launch days have seen a lot of rumors that need to be sorted out. One that keeps turning up is the possible support of the Blue-Ray standard by the 360. From that article: "Microsoft clearly - and very understandably - doesn't want to risk lumbering Xbox 360 with an internal drive format consumers don't want, and while it's favouring HD DVD by announcing an external drive that can read that disc format, it wants to ensure it's free to support the BD if it has to."

6 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. This is a must by ecryder · · Score: 2, Insightful

    for the 360 if it is not to be relegated to the junk pile within 18 mos. I spoke with 2 major US dvd manufacturers in southern california yesterday who have both phased out the pre-press operations for the hd-dvd format and are concentrating almost solely on Blu-ray. However MS wants to support Blu-ray - they need to do it...soon, too.

  2. Achievements by Saige · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I actually rented King Kong through GameFly just to play through it one evening and get the 1000 gamerscore. I'm actually going to pick up NBA 2k6 for the same reason - all 1000 points are easily achievable in only a game or two.

    And I don't mind padding my gamerscore where available, because I still have plenty of noteworthy achievements to show that I do have my gaming prowess. My Grand Pearh Pooh-Bah achievement last night in Hexic is significant, and the Survive 1,000,000 in Geo Wars is a VERY HARD one to get - and I have it.

    Whoever came up with the idea for achievements and gamerscore really needs to get a raise. This is huge - and not just for the increased competitiveness to gaming I'm sure it's going to bring, but I suspect it increases attach rate and helps out with game rentals, too. It's also wonderful being able to actually see which people run off at the mouth about their gaming skills and can't back it up, and those which can. You say you're good at DOA4? Let's see the grade achievements to prove it.

    (Currently at 3185 and growing. Should hit 3200 tonite with another chapter of Condemned.)

    --
    "You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do."
  3. High def dvd not really necessary in my eyes by dividedsky319 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is slightly off topic, but it's something I've had on my mind.

    Is anyone really THAT excited over high definition DVD? I mean... my progressive scan DVD player going into my DLP HDTV looks impressive as it is. I'd go as far as saying that anamorphic DVDs look just as good as watching a tv show in high definition.

    Standard definition to High def for tv broadcasts is a huge jump... I couldn't go back. But, I really don't see how there can be as big a jump from DVD to HD DVD/Blue Ray when in my eyes, anamorphic DVDs look fairly high def already.

    Therefore... When I do eventually buy a next gen system (Well, I'll be buying Revolution, but I may purchase PS3 or Xbox360 eventually once they drop in price) it won't be for its ability to play HD DVDs... that's just an added perk that I may or may not use. I don't really see these systems defining which will be the "winner" in the high def DVD debate.

    We'll see, I guess.

    1. Re:High def dvd not really necessary in my eyes by systmoadownfreak · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm less interested in so-called "quality upgrades" going from DVD to HD-DVD, than I am the increased capacity of the discs. So honestly I don't care if it plays them or not. I'm thinking more along the lines of greater backup or transfer capabilities via dvd.

  4. Oh, hell yeah. by misfit13b · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Achivements make me do all sorts of stuff I would have never thought of trying in games. They're most certainly the only reason I'm playing Call of Duty 2 on "Veteran" (the highest) difficulty!

    As long as they aren't all set too easy (EA Sports games, King Kong) or too hard (Bejeweled 2, NHL 2K6), achievements are a great addition to my personal gaming experience, and will keep me playing games I might not have stuck with for as long.

  5. Achievements + Scores = Next-Gen by CaseM · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Achievements and scores on the 360 are the real "next-gen" feature of the XBox 360.

    Forget the graphics (although they're great) and forget the other much-touted features of the 360 - achievements and high scores take that old-school high score competitiveness from yesterday's old-school arcades and make them relevant once again!

    This is great for someone like me - a guy in his early 30's who doesn't have many gamer friends anymore and certainly none on XBL - because it brings back that arcade competitiveness right to my living room: enhancing replayability, upping the tension factor, and generally just making the games more fun. Whoever decided to make integrated Live and Achievements mandatory for all XBox 360 games was a genius.