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One Year of Xbox 360
Gaming Nexus has up an article marking (kinda) the one-year anniversary of the 360's launch. Author Charles Husemann touches on the important moments in the console's first year on the market, discusses what Microsoft has done right, and talks about where the console is probably going in the future. From the article: "Obviously digital content such as TV and movies are going to be a big deal (assuming Microsoft can get those servers running smoothly and release bigger hard drives). I know I can stream it from my PC but I'd love to have Major Nelsons' podcast automatically downloaded to my 360 every week. I'd also like to see Microsoft resist the temptation to cram a browser into the system as I know they are going to get pressure to do so with the Wii and the PS3 having that built in. Instead I'd love to have a simple, easy to use RSS reader that can stream headlines along the bottom of the screen when I'm in the dashboard."
I do kind of like the idea of having an RSS reader with "new item" updates being presented like the "your friend has logged in/out" messages. I could even see doing it in-game for some stuff, although I could see that being annoying to most people.
Much as it would pain Microsoft, some kind of YouTube integration would be a killer app for the 360, too.
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
That being said, Sony and Microsoft and taking losses to establish impenetrable market dominance and brand recognition in four of the biggest markets in the world (Gaming, Music, Entertainment[Hollywood], and Advertising). Does anyone actually think this is not the road we/they are going down?
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I really like what Microsoft has done with the integration between the 360 and MediaCenter. I ended up reformatting my machine with MediaCenter and streaming my movies and pictures with it is fantastic. Personally, I really feel like xbox has hit the nail on the head with all the "extras" and integration they did with the 360. The downloadable game videos and demos was really a breakthrough in the console world. I realize the Wii and PS3 do this as well, which is great, but you definitely have to give it to Microsoft for doing it well, and doing it first. Well... maybe not first in the sense there were hacked xboxes with XMBC (which i've used). It was nice, but this integration is just seamless now with MediaCenter. My only complaint would be the lack of native support for DiVX and XVid but you can't really blame microsoft for supporting their proprietary format.
The downloadable tv shows and movies... meh, seems like they have issues to work out, and even then it may not be my cup of tea, but at least they're trying something.
And, of course this is all my opinion based on what I'm looking for. I don't need a browser in my console, so I don't see that as an advantage for the ps3 or wii. Just like I'm sure many people see no reason to stream pictures through their console so they don't see that as an advantage for the 360. Heh, just my little disclaimer.
I've had mine for nearly a year now, and have been very satisfied. At $50 a year, I think the Live Gold membership has been well worth it. I was impressed at first with being able to download 1+ gig demos reasonably fast. Plus 'free' Live content such as Texas Hold'em and Hexic are a bonus too. Admittedly, I don't have a whole lot of friends so all the chat/com features haven't done much for me.
I have a few complaints about the speed of loading Arcade games and having demos show as 0 on your gamerscore, but all in all, Live has been a good experience. It was just on the 22nd of this month that they added TV and movies to the Live content, and so far, I'm liking that too. Already downloaded South Park's Make Love Not Warcraft and a few other choice tv shows. They cost $2.00 each and do not expire. I know you can watch them while offline, as long as you are signed in with the same user profile that downloaded them. So the liscensing for them is stored locally.
As for the machine itself, it delivers on the graphics and has some great games. The DVD tray on mine has started to stick a bit. An xbox with a shoddy disc drive, who'de imagined?
Personally, I think they did a lot right. They were first to market, got some exclusive games, and have a well organized Xbox Live interface. One thing they could do is push a few more free arcade games to combat Sony.
Where are you getting this information? MS just recently changed their sales forecast to 15 million by the end of their fiscal year. They previously forecasted 5.5 by June of 2006, which they were able to meet.
http://www.itworld.com/Tech/5051/060721xbox/
Your information is outdated.
I think I found his source: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?st ory=11555
He fails to mention the part about an estimated four million sales in the last three months.
Microsoft tried to downplay BC and then at the last minute flip flopped and tried to implement a halfassed way of manually retrofitting small batches of games.
True, but the BC was handled much better than has been reported. I should know; I've played them. Have you?
In retrospect BC didn't freaking matter. I was too busy playing the new games (Oblivion anyone?) to care.
Instead of being upfront about the insanely high defect rate for the 360...
You got a number for the "insanely high defect rate" there, fanboi?
No?
Didn't think so.
For the record, yes, there were a few hardware problems. So few, in fact, that I have yet to meet one single person who actually experienced them. When I've asked if they knew anybody who had the problem I always get "Well, I've heard about it online."
The hardware problems certainly happened. Hell, MS has taken responsibility for the early adopters who had problems by refunding or replacing their equipment. But it wasn't a huge problem. Hell, it wasn't even a large problem.
By contrast, the Wii -- which is a great system -- had problems, too. Nintendo said "oops!" and fixed them.
And the PS3 overheating issues? Bueller? Anyone? Anyone?
Going into what should have been its big holiday sales months, Microsoft only has Gears of War.
By contrast, the Playstation 3 -- all 120,000 of them out there -- has one good title and a load of shovelware so bad as to be "E.T.-buried-in-a-landfill" embarrasing.
Oh, wait; your point was that developers don't like the 360, right? Huh. Then what about this article, where an actual developer refers to the 360 as being easier to develop for than the ridiculously proprietary PS3?
We are now learning that more games besides PGR3 are being forced to run at less than 720p so they can avoid having to write tile renderers to fit inside the 360's EDRAM.
Oh, like you noticed a difference.
Seriously, if you're so wrapped up in the exact resolution that your game is running and not on the quality of the actual play, it's long past time that you went outside and talked to a real girl.
Both Nintendo and Sony are offering free online play for their systems.
In short, "Waah! Microsoft is making me pay a few dollars a month for an amazing system that is so good that the competitors can't touch it. Waaah!"
Please.
Peripherals One word: overpriced
Yes, because Sony and Nintendo have always been known for their charitable offerings when it comes to peripherals.
There is no reason Microsoft is forcing 360 owners to be able to have nothing better than a 20gig drive. Microsoft should let 360 owners upgrade their harddrive to any size they want.
Yes, isn't it terrible that MS didn't put USB 2.0 ports into their device to allow external HD's to be hooked up?
Oh, wait; they did.
Bottom line here: The 360 is a hell of a product that's worth the price and available now. I have yet to meet a single person who purchased one who hasn't come away happy with the product.
"'My Country Right or Wrong'is like saying 'My mother, drunk or sober,'" -- Chesterton