See my first point. Why are you comparing an alpha release to an ancient release?
Handling of the controller is likely how it is because Nintendo neglected to include the "Wii motion plus" peripheral in the beginning (as they should have)
Firstly the graphics code was stock standard, none of the sweet filtering options were available, it looked blocky and jagged (I tried several games, including Full Throttle) The Xbox 1 version however, the graphics code was substantially better./
What is far, far more interesting though, is how terrible the Wiimote is as a mouse device, it's not comfortable to be moving my wrist around constantly up down left right, a little left, a little right, diagnol left and up, hold this button unhold that. In a surprise result, I found playing on my Xbox 1 far more relaxing, laying back, both hands on my lap with the big old 'duke' controller in my lap just using the thumbsticks, perhaps they have better acceleration and accuracy code than you'd expect but honestly - using the XB controller is really not bad at all.
Oh one other thing, the Wii read performance from the SD card is abysmal - absoloutely frightfully abysmal, that system really shows its limitations when you start peeking under the hood. (SD only, not HDSC for example) - I wouldn't be surprised if the USB ports were 1.0 or 1.01 (I don't know?)
Good to see more releases though, Scumm VM is fantastic.
My pay goes each month into a high interest savings account (internet only accessible) Once a month, that account automatically 'pushes' a figure to the regular bank account.
From the regular bank account, my bills (including rent) are setup to either auto withdraw (direct debit) or 'bpay' automatically etc. (Note: these are Australian terms, I don't know the US equiv)
Due to the amount of cash in the high interest savings account, sadly I could probably die and no one would know for at least a two or three years. (unless the smell gets pretty nasty)
I like it like this though, I'm exceptionally disorganised (I can't tell you how chaotically disorganised I am, it's hard to put into words) - so this relieves some of the stress in my life by handling this aspect entirely for me.
Just to clarify for the Americans, checks (cheques, whatever) are virtually dead here, most things are electronic or cash.
I am a single player gamer, we still exist believe it or not. MP DM does very very little for me, I want to be sucked into a deep and rich story with a start and a finish. That being said co-op can be fun, I don't really like Halo but I've played that co-op, it was ok. Left 4 Dead looks good in co-op, even Quake 1 and Doom 1/2 (which I played not more than 3 months ago at a lan) in co-op are substantially more fun than Gears.
The formula is just broken to me and MP is the last thing I care about.
Comparing Mass Effect to Gears is.... I don't even know if I can put it into words, I'm sure the holocaust would be mentioned though.
Gears of War is a pretty game which is repetitive, boring, grey and well 'dumb' and not in the cool way Predator or God of War are, it's just plain not fun, the same mechanic over and over with a storyline that you simply just don't care about. All they had to do was make the gameplay mechanic very very fun, the feel of the gun, the recoil, the noise, the death animations, there's something simply missing. If that formula is correct, even a repetitive but pretty game is fun, especially in co-op, ultimately though, it is not, it's genuinely painful for me to play.
Mass Effect is not only a different genre but it too has amazing graphics, a very very good storyline, brilliant voice acting and possibly some of the best and most moving music in a video game in a long long time, it too suffered overhype but it's certainly a top 200 all time game for me (I've been gaming for 17 years now and likely thousands of games, top 200 is brilliant)
I know it's all opinion and such but really, Gears is for your Halo loving frat boy to sink beers, smash cans on his face and grunt while playing other grunts. Infact I can honestly say I've sat next to a buddy, sank some beers and TAKEN TURNS playing single player god of war and had MORE FUN than playing co-op gears of war (no, I'm not lying)
I got seriously hyped for Oblivion, GTA4, Doom 3 and all those games kicked ass as far I'm concerned (I admit D3 is only good, not stellar)
Halo is probably the most over-rated game of all time, it's not a bad game but it's really, really nothing special in any way, Gears however is a genuinely boring game to me.
I was under the impresion that Gears is an awesome game, I heard it on podcasts, I heard it on shacknews, I heard it EVERYWHERE, this game is more awesome than god of war, this game is 9/10'ths as good as GTA, this game is just fun, dumb, kickass bullshit - it's the predator of video games! Unlike my normal skeptical self, I went with the flow "Fuck yeah gears is awesome" - I think I've even recommended a few people to check it out, since I try to stay on top of the news in the gaming scene and what's hot, despite me not seeing it myself.
Any time someone critisized Gears, you would see a response saying 'you've gotta try co-op dude' well,....I did. I actually purchased it about 5 months ago but left it on the shelf, saving it for when a friend would come over so I could play it co-op, I just let it age like a fine wine, after all it was a foregone conclusion that it's a wicked game, right?
So a pal came over and I popped in gears - we played co-op for about 90 minutes. I was forcing myself to like it, infact I was forcing my pal to like it, he was bored shitless and I felt the same but I kept saying stuff like oh sweet and hey look out and all that shit - but in the end I could convince neither of us it was good. So I figured my friend was busted, or maybe out mood was wrong. I tried the same thing with another pal a week later, we played for about 60 minutes, I did the same thing, tried to like it and... no - it just didn't click, it wasn't really fun to be honest. I've since tried a 3'rd friend - again about 90 minutes and guess what - it felt boring, un-inspired and meh.:( I was crushed, I got this awesome awesome game which couldn't possibly be bad and it was well boring, like really boring - the only exciting thing was that cool camera angle / cinematic feel when running. I have to wonder if half the hype for the game is the graphics? At the time they rocked but I missed out on them. I'd seen Crysis, GTA4, Heavenly Sword, Mass Effect, Quake 4 all before I saw gears - maybe that's why it didn't impress.
Definitely a very very over rated game and yes I love my dumb action crap like God of War etc.
Please explain how I'm double dipping, infact what the hell are you talking about, is my post not clear or are you not reading it correctly? Microsoft have been paid for TWO windows licenses for each machine we have effectively, one is never, ever used - I'm making use of the sticker on the side of the machine.
As the majority of you slashdotters know, it's almost impossible to purchase a PC from Dell, Compaq / HP, etc without getting a CD key stuck on the side of the machine. Now Microsoft have us forced on to a proper corp licensing scheme, so we pay some kind of special business key for every machine on the network. Every single computer in the office has a Windows sticker on the side of the machine which is NEVER used.
I tracked down a copy of the Windows XP retail CD (which is surprisingly hard to find, most of us on the internet seem to have 'liberated' the corp) I install Windows on my machine(s) my friends machines and my families machines using completely genuine and valid CD keys that Microsoft themselves issued to Dell / HP, the keys are never, ever going to be used - good old double dipping by Microsoft:/
I've got no doubt I'm bending the rules and in a grey area, however now all my computers / friends / family computers I work on are completely 100% legitimate with genuine copies of Windows, no more WGA problems, no more activation problems etc.
Quite handy, Microsoft wouldn't be impressed but I'm sure they have bigger fish to fry than me.
I wouldn't say I 'care' as a PS3 enthusiast nor am I seriously interested but I will say I'm curious and that's all they need (I THINK it's free isn't it? you only pay for addons or something?)
So if it's free, curious people will check, if it's a killer app, bingo - huge adoption, fast, in theory anyhow.
If Sony get home right, it could be absoloutely brilliant, in an addictive, chatroom kind of way, it could be the next second life, without a doubt. That being said, it's a huge concept and a lot of work, especially on a closed platform, I know this post will be a bit of a 'duh!' but I'm betting home is either extremely successful or a huge failure, not much room inbetween.
I love my PS3 but I am betting on failure mind you, getting the formula right first try would be incredibly difficult and considering how well Sony copy other companies (Xbox Live for example) well, they clearly suck at copying a good product when it's right there in front of them to just copy, nope they have to slowly, slowly get there, bit by bit:/
The comments at that site are absoloutely inane, I am at a loss over there, my stupid internet addiction has me posting in the odd comment, occassionally I get a +5 or +8 but often I'm dugg down for no reason whatsoever!? Do not even go slightly against the grain over there, if you don't all agree or aren't making a joke, then you're dugg down.
Informative post, dugg down, correcting an error, dugg down. I posted yesterday agreeing with someone on something - dugg down (while his post was up high) ?!
Yep, they could change the default theme colours to tubgirl brown for all I care, I'll keep coming back like a battered housewife* for more of that awesomebar action, god it's awesome
Owning both, I'm really disappointed with the PS3 - mostly because the game library STILL sucks (well, that and the buy-online game selection has its issues).
Owning both, I'm really disapointed with the 360. Mostly because the good games on the system are either, also on PC or also on PS3, there's few 360 ONLY exclusives, infact the PS3 has many good games which have come to neither system. Furthermore it's been out for less time. Oh and the ones I do pick up, I don't need to pay a fee to play them online! (Well, I no longer own both, I sold one of them because it was so frustratingly loud, I found myself genuinely not using the system due to the noise, no I'm not joking)
I have my issues with the 360 as well, but I deal with it. A solid library of games, PLUS all my XBLA titles (including the fantastic original Prince of Persia release with the updated graphics),
PSN has it's fair share of good games, PJ:E, PJ:M as well as others available to both systems. Also, yes it is a brilliant DVD upscaler and it allows the user to play back blu-rays as a bonus. Did I mention I can play back HDMI video and optical audio, without a bullshit 50$ 'dongle' or having to physically hack my cable?
I really do wish it weren't the case... but Sony dropped the ball with the PS3.
The original expectations of the system, coupled with the stupid, terrible, ridiculous marketing and overconfidence from Sony caused the system to be an absoloute shambles, I purchased mine purely for the potential in the future of God of War 3 and the fact that it was going cheap when I got it. I fully expected to use my 360 substantially more (both purchased a week apart, Dec 07) - fast forward 9 months and the 360 has been sold due to appalling noise issues, lack of games I want to play (Don't like Halo and Gears is incredibly over-rated) - my PS3 however is being used frequently.
Now, if Sony would open up the Linux support so that they had 100% access to the video board and I could load on something like XBMC... then they might have something to get me to use it more
I won't argue that for a millisecond, that's one of the reasons I purchased it:( the morons patched out the exploit a few weeks later, stupid stupid move. XBMC for PS3 would have been incredible, absoloutely incredible.
3 my XBMC box, btw it looks like the newer mac mini's might end up being the next cheap, easy XBMC unit, it has almost everything you could need (optical out, usb 2.0, hdd, wifi, gigabit ethernet, a processor capable of 1080p output and even infra red ports for a remote, so I hear) I just want a simple, easy, XBMC HD replacement - virtually identical to my Xbox 1 but with high def abilities.
MS are on the other hand already muttering about a Xbox 720:)
I am not entirely sure you're right about this, Microsoft totally soiled their name with the Xbox 1 when they dropped it like a sack of dead babies (admitedly, I do know why they did it and financially, they had to) however consumers are tired of buying overpriced consoles to get overpriced games.
The 10 year lifecycle rumours for the PS3 also partially extend to the 360 as far as I know, I've got no doubt they are researching new machines already but I think you'll find we won't see them on shelves for at least 3+ years (making the 360 close to 6 years old, unlike the 4 years of the Xbox 1) With economic slowdown kicking in, I'm thinking that hopefully we get some value for money out of these things.
I recently sold my X360 due to all the noise it makes, however there's several other reasons I'm glad I've stuck with my PS3. (although I'm sure I'll be labelled the PS3 fanboy, surprise surprise)
Free wifi built in Non proprietary hard disk, substantially cheaper to change over. Free online service (slowly improving too) No stupid timed demo releases (Xbox Live Gold vs Silver) The standard 'official' MS headset had worse sound quality than a 4'rd party cheapo bluetooth headset on my PS3 (I was surprised too) The PS3 virtually silent, the 360 is noisy WITHOUT a disc spinning due to noisy fans, let alone once a disc spins. I can use a HDMI video cable and optical audio cable without needing to butcher cables or purchase some dopey dongle. (See: http://www.chadledford.com/?p=50 and http://www.google.com.au/search?q=xbox%20360%20switches%20off%20changing%20inputs%20hdmi&hl=en&meta= (second hit) RROD's!
The list could go on for ages, depending on how biased I am. PS3 is far from flawless (bluetooth only remote? jesus!) but ultimately, I think the days of giving the PS3 shit are long since over, I am seeing fewer and fewer vehement Microsoft defenders bashing the PS3 nowadays and the 360 sales are starting to wane. I have a feeling these 2 will actually end up even in the end, unlike how it is now.
Most people thought XP was rubbish for the first couple of years that it was out for, and now those same people are proclaiming it to be Microsoft's best OS to date.
No for the first 6 months maybe - possibly even 9 months. Also people had a problem with XP's compatibility problems (patched out) performance (same as Vista, just upgrade) and the user interface could be dropped back to classic mode.
Problem with Vista is primarily usability and performance, the performance of Vista is ghastly compared to XP, with 4gb, quad cores and fast disks it still thrashes the HDD too often, the user interface in classic mode is confusing, messy and frustrating compared to XP in classic mode.
Sorry about replying to my own post but in the thread I link there, someone has posted a response linking to this movie. It's a little over the top I admit and it's not from the Han / Leigha / Luke era which I prefer, none the less this shows how good an animated movie can be, 6 minutes of this is likely more entertaining than 90 minutes of the new movie (and most definitely many times more interesting than the poor trailer for the new one)
I am not in any way a Star Wars nerd anymore, take note of that.
I saw a link to the trailer on a website I frequent back in May this year, I didn't even know a SW animated movie was coming out and honestly didn't care. However, I'm open to try a movie of any kind, animated, puppets, I don't care if it's good - I like pixar movies, I once liked Star Wars, I even tried the final fantasy movie.
When the link was posted, within minutes people mocked it and laughed, it's got nothing to do with being untrue to the Star Wars franchise, if anything that may make some hardcore Star Wars fans 'forgive it' - I just saw a trailer for an absoloutely laughable looking kids film, not what I'm interested in, when "Jabba's son has been kidnapped!" is a plot element they feel worthy enough to put in a movie, I figure it's not going places. http://www.shacknews.com/laryn.x?id=16928277#itemanchor_16928277
Here is something of note which I figure most of you will agree with and sadly hollywood will never read, nor understand. Ever since the 3 new movies, Star Wars has been forever tarnished, changing from a great story and universe I am interested in, to something I look at in my mind as simply a 'franchise' or a product. It's a fascinating transition and one I'm sure marketing people would love to know more about, maybe it's to do with my age or cynicism? Ultimately from my perspective the entire universe is now un-interesting to me, they've caused themselves a massive dis-service as I do not salivate at the thought of any Star Wars products, I don't even fondly remember the originals as I simply can't watch them in the same way. Yes they are still good but deep down I know that whole universe is diluted. I had the same feeling from the Matrix sequels, I have no interest even in the first film now.
Just to clarify my stance, I was never ever a huge SW nerd, but I was I guess a light fan (I'm 30 btw) so I saw ROTJ in the cinema, too young for ANH and don't recall empire. I was never a major hardcore fan, I never purchased the toys or anything but I did like the universe, I did really love the movies and I would've purchased them on DVD for example. Even the changes to the old 3 movies, made it feel like a product (A New hope 1.01, buy it now!)
Anyhow people go check out the new movie, word on the st is JABBAS SON HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED (oh noes!):/
I don't think I need to speak for myself, I speak for a vast majority of users who suffered the problem, the 133A was the fixed version of the KT133 - both were a problem, the A slightly better but still buggy.
I don't know how you can make a claim when infact my claim is essentially gospel for anyone who was using PC's durign that era. Your post is like saying 'The celeron 300a was a poor overclocker' it's just straight up incorrect.
I was so badly 'wounded' by this chipset as most enthusiasts were that to this day I've never considered a VIA chipset since, most likely an irrational fear but one thing I can't stand is an unstable computer.
I've used nvidia chipsets, intel chipsets, even SIS chipsets but VIA only once and it stung, I have to wonder how many enthusiasts avoided them due to the 133a fiasco.
To be honest, I know it's stupid but it's a spreadsheet containing my usernames and passwords to most forums (slashdot for example) It's unlikely my password will ever be compromised but it is a concern.
Again: yes, I know it's not clever but damn it's handy, anyone who has been using the net for a while (most slashdotters) would realise after 10 years you can really chock up a huge amount of accounts on the internet (I'd estimate I have over 250 passwords, seriously)
Slashdot Mirror
See my first point. Why are you comparing an alpha release to an ancient release?
Handling of the controller is likely how it is because Nintendo neglected to include the "Wii motion plus" peripheral in the beginning (as they should have)
Firstly the graphics code was stock standard, none of the sweet filtering options were available, it looked blocky and jagged (I tried several games, including Full Throttle)
The Xbox 1 version however, the graphics code was substantially better./
What is far, far more interesting though, is how terrible the Wiimote is as a mouse device, it's not comfortable to be moving my wrist around constantly up down left right, a little left, a little right, diagnol left and up, hold this button unhold that.
In a surprise result, I found playing on my Xbox 1 far more relaxing, laying back, both hands on my lap with the big old 'duke' controller in my lap just using the thumbsticks, perhaps they have better acceleration and accuracy code than you'd expect but honestly - using the XB controller is really not bad at all.
Oh one other thing, the Wii read performance from the SD card is abysmal - absoloutely frightfully abysmal, that system really shows its limitations when you start peeking under the hood. (SD only, not HDSC for example) - I wouldn't be surprised if the USB ports were 1.0 or 1.01 (I don't know?)
Good to see more releases though, Scumm VM is fantastic.
My pay goes each month into a high interest savings account (internet only accessible)
Once a month, that account automatically 'pushes' a figure to the regular bank account.
From the regular bank account, my bills (including rent) are setup to either auto withdraw (direct debit) or 'bpay' automatically etc.
(Note: these are Australian terms, I don't know the US equiv)
Due to the amount of cash in the high interest savings account, sadly I could probably die and no one would know for at least a two or three years. (unless the smell gets pretty nasty)
I like it like this though, I'm exceptionally disorganised (I can't tell you how chaotically disorganised I am, it's hard to put into words) - so this relieves some of the stress in my life by handling this aspect entirely for me.
Just to clarify for the Americans, checks (cheques, whatever) are virtually dead here, most things are electronic or cash.
I am a single player gamer, we still exist believe it or not.
MP DM does very very little for me, I want to be sucked into a deep and rich story with a start and a finish.
That being said co-op can be fun, I don't really like Halo but I've played that co-op, it was ok.
Left 4 Dead looks good in co-op, even Quake 1 and Doom 1/2 (which I played not more than 3 months ago at a lan) in co-op are substantially more fun than Gears.
The formula is just broken to me and MP is the last thing I care about.
Comparing Mass Effect to Gears is .... I don't even know if I can put it into words, I'm sure the holocaust would be mentioned though.
Gears of War is a pretty game which is repetitive, boring, grey and well 'dumb' and not in the cool way Predator or God of War are, it's just plain not fun, the same mechanic over and over with a storyline that you simply just don't care about.
All they had to do was make the gameplay mechanic very very fun, the feel of the gun, the recoil, the noise, the death animations, there's something simply missing.
If that formula is correct, even a repetitive but pretty game is fun, especially in co-op, ultimately though, it is not, it's genuinely painful for me to play.
Mass Effect is not only a different genre but it too has amazing graphics, a very very good storyline, brilliant voice acting and possibly some of the best and most moving music in a video game in a long long time, it too suffered overhype but it's certainly a top 200 all time game for me (I've been gaming for 17 years now and likely thousands of games, top 200 is brilliant)
I know it's all opinion and such but really, Gears is for your Halo loving frat boy to sink beers, smash cans on his face and grunt while playing other grunts.
Infact I can honestly say I've sat next to a buddy, sank some beers and TAKEN TURNS playing single player god of war and had MORE FUN than playing co-op gears of war (no, I'm not lying)
meh.
I got seriously hyped for Oblivion, GTA4, Doom 3 and all those games kicked ass as far I'm concerned (I admit D3 is only good, not stellar)
Halo is probably the most over-rated game of all time, it's not a bad game but it's really, really nothing special in any way, Gears however is a genuinely boring game to me.
My opinion FWIW
I was under the impresion that Gears is an awesome game, I heard it on podcasts, I heard it on shacknews, I heard it EVERYWHERE, this game is more awesome than god of war, this game is 9/10'ths as good as GTA, this game is just fun, dumb, kickass bullshit - it's the predator of video games!
Unlike my normal skeptical self, I went with the flow "Fuck yeah gears is awesome" - I think I've even recommended a few people to check it out, since I try to stay on top of the news in the gaming scene and what's hot, despite me not seeing it myself.
Any time someone critisized Gears, you would see a response saying 'you've gotta try co-op dude' well,....I did.
I actually purchased it about 5 months ago but left it on the shelf, saving it for when a friend would come over so I could play it co-op, I just let it age like a fine wine, after all it was a foregone conclusion that it's a wicked game, right?
So a pal came over and I popped in gears - we played co-op for about 90 minutes. :( I was crushed, I got this awesome awesome game which couldn't possibly be bad and it was well boring, like really boring - the only exciting thing was that cool camera angle / cinematic feel when running.
I was forcing myself to like it, infact I was forcing my pal to like it, he was bored shitless and I felt the same but I kept saying stuff like oh sweet and hey look out and all that shit - but in the end I could convince neither of us it was good.
So I figured my friend was busted, or maybe out mood was wrong.
I tried the same thing with another pal a week later, we played for about 60 minutes, I did the same thing, tried to like it and... no - it just didn't click, it wasn't really fun to be honest.
I've since tried a 3'rd friend - again about 90 minutes and guess what - it felt boring, un-inspired and meh.
I have to wonder if half the hype for the game is the graphics? At the time they rocked but I missed out on them. I'd seen Crysis, GTA4, Heavenly Sword, Mass Effect, Quake 4 all before I saw gears - maybe that's why it didn't impress.
Definitely a very very over rated game and yes I love my dumb action crap like God of War etc.
Please explain how I'm double dipping, infact what the hell are you talking about, is my post not clear or are you not reading it correctly?
Microsoft have been paid for TWO windows licenses for each machine we have effectively, one is never, ever used - I'm making use of the sticker on the side of the machine.
As the majority of you slashdotters know, it's almost impossible to purchase a PC from Dell, Compaq / HP, etc without getting a CD key stuck on the side of the machine.
Now Microsoft have us forced on to a proper corp licensing scheme, so we pay some kind of special business key for every machine on the network.
Every single computer in the office has a Windows sticker on the side of the machine which is NEVER used.
I tracked down a copy of the Windows XP retail CD (which is surprisingly hard to find, most of us on the internet seem to have 'liberated' the corp) :/
I install Windows on my machine(s) my friends machines and my families machines using completely genuine and valid CD keys that Microsoft themselves issued to Dell / HP, the keys are never, ever going to be used - good old double dipping by Microsoft
I've got no doubt I'm bending the rules and in a grey area, however now all my computers / friends / family computers I work on are completely 100% legitimate with genuine copies of Windows, no more WGA problems, no more activation problems etc.
Quite handy, Microsoft wouldn't be impressed but I'm sure they have bigger fish to fry than me.
I wouldn't say I 'care' as a PS3 enthusiast nor am I seriously interested but I will say I'm curious and that's all they need (I THINK it's free isn't it? you only pay for addons or something?)
So if it's free, curious people will check, if it's a killer app, bingo - huge adoption, fast, in theory anyhow.
If Sony get home right, it could be absoloutely brilliant, in an addictive, chatroom kind of way, it could be the next second life, without a doubt.
That being said, it's a huge concept and a lot of work, especially on a closed platform, I know this post will be a bit of a 'duh!' but I'm betting home is either extremely successful or a huge failure, not much room inbetween.
I love my PS3 but I am betting on failure mind you, getting the formula right first try would be incredibly difficult and considering how well Sony copy other companies (Xbox Live for example) well, they clearly suck at copying a good product when it's right there in front of them to just copy, nope they have to slowly, slowly get there, bit by bit :/
The comments at that site are absoloutely inane, I am at a loss over there, my stupid internet addiction has me posting in the odd comment, occassionally I get a +5 or +8 but often I'm dugg down for no reason whatsoever!? Do not even go slightly against the grain over there, if you don't all agree or aren't making a joke, then you're dugg down.
Informative post, dugg down, correcting an error, dugg down.
I posted yesterday agreeing with someone on something - dugg down (while his post was up high) ?!
Fuck digg comments.
Yep, they could change the default theme colours to tubgirl brown for all I care, I'll keep coming back like a battered housewife* for more of that awesomebar action, god it's awesome
*
any chance to post a link to this picture is worth it, my humour to an absoloute t.
http://bp0.blogger.com/_jPTv6pMUj9o/SDXQil2DH-I/AAAAAAAAADg/ZDWMwUNZEYg/s320/funny-t-shirt-battered-women-joke-guys-top.jpg
Damnit on number 2 there!
I knew something was fishy when the guy from the gas company started rummaging through my wifes underwear drawer.
This was more from a universal remote perspective, 99% of universal remotes don't speak to bluetooth devices.
Owning both, I'm really disappointed with the PS3 - mostly because the game library STILL sucks (well, that and the buy-online game selection has its issues).
Owning both, I'm really disapointed with the 360.
Mostly because the good games on the system are either, also on PC or also on PS3, there's few 360 ONLY exclusives, infact the PS3 has many good games which have come to neither system.
Furthermore it's been out for less time.
Oh and the ones I do pick up, I don't need to pay a fee to play them online!
(Well, I no longer own both, I sold one of them because it was so frustratingly loud, I found myself genuinely not using the system due to the noise, no I'm not joking)
I have my issues with the 360 as well, but I deal with it. A solid library of games, PLUS all my XBLA titles (including the fantastic original Prince of Persia release with the updated graphics),
PSN has it's fair share of good games, PJ:E, PJ:M as well as others available to both systems.
Also, yes it is a brilliant DVD upscaler and it allows the user to play back blu-rays as a bonus.
Did I mention I can play back HDMI video and optical audio, without a bullshit 50$ 'dongle' or having to physically hack my cable?
I really do wish it weren't the case... but Sony dropped the ball with the PS3.
The original expectations of the system, coupled with the stupid, terrible, ridiculous marketing and overconfidence from Sony caused the system to be an absoloute shambles, I purchased mine purely for the potential in the future of God of War 3 and the fact that it was going cheap when I got it.
I fully expected to use my 360 substantially more (both purchased a week apart, Dec 07) - fast forward 9 months and the 360 has been sold due to appalling noise issues, lack of games I want to play (Don't like Halo and Gears is incredibly over-rated) - my PS3 however is being used frequently.
Now, if Sony would open up the Linux support so that they had 100% access to the video board and I could load on something like XBMC... then they might have something to get me to use it more
I won't argue that for a millisecond, that's one of the reasons I purchased it :( the morons patched out the exploit a few weeks later, stupid stupid move.
XBMC for PS3 would have been incredible, absoloutely incredible.
3 my XBMC box, btw it looks like the newer mac mini's might end up being the next cheap, easy XBMC unit, it has almost everything you could need (optical out, usb 2.0, hdd, wifi, gigabit ethernet, a processor capable of 1080p output and even infra red ports for a remote, so I hear)
I just want a simple, easy, XBMC HD replacement - virtually identical to my Xbox 1 but with high def abilities.
MS are on the other hand already muttering about a Xbox 720 :)
I am not entirely sure you're right about this, Microsoft totally soiled their name with the Xbox 1 when they dropped it like a sack of dead babies (admitedly, I do know why they did it and financially, they had to) however consumers are tired of buying overpriced consoles to get overpriced games.
The 10 year lifecycle rumours for the PS3 also partially extend to the 360 as far as I know, I've got no doubt they are researching new machines already but I think you'll find we won't see them on shelves for at least 3+ years (making the 360 close to 6 years old, unlike the 4 years of the Xbox 1)
With economic slowdown kicking in, I'm thinking that hopefully we get some value for money out of these things.
I recently sold my X360 due to all the noise it makes, however there's several other reasons I'm glad I've stuck with my PS3. (although I'm sure I'll be labelled the PS3 fanboy, surprise surprise)
Free wifi built in
Non proprietary hard disk, substantially cheaper to change over.
Free online service (slowly improving too)
No stupid timed demo releases (Xbox Live Gold vs Silver)
The standard 'official' MS headset had worse sound quality than a 4'rd party cheapo bluetooth headset on my PS3 (I was surprised too)
The PS3 virtually silent, the 360 is noisy WITHOUT a disc spinning due to noisy fans, let alone once a disc spins.
I can use a HDMI video cable and optical audio cable without needing to butcher cables or purchase some dopey dongle.
(See: http://www.chadledford.com/?p=50 and http://www.google.com.au/search?q=xbox%20360%20switches%20off%20changing%20inputs%20hdmi&hl=en&meta= (second hit)
RROD's!
The list could go on for ages, depending on how biased I am.
PS3 is far from flawless (bluetooth only remote? jesus!) but ultimately, I think the days of giving the PS3 shit are long since over, I am seeing fewer and fewer vehement Microsoft defenders bashing the PS3 nowadays and the 360 sales are starting to wane. I have a feeling these 2 will actually end up even in the end, unlike how it is now.
Most people thought XP was rubbish for the first couple of years that it was out for, and now those same people are proclaiming it to be Microsoft's best OS to date.
No for the first 6 months maybe - possibly even 9 months.
Also people had a problem with XP's compatibility problems (patched out) performance (same as Vista, just upgrade) and the user interface could be dropped back to classic mode.
Problem with Vista is primarily usability and performance, the performance of Vista is ghastly compared to XP, with 4gb, quad cores and fast disks it still thrashes the HDD too often, the user interface in classic mode is confusing, messy and frustrating compared to XP in classic mode.
I have to sadly admit in my case, a google documents spreadsheet - there must be over 400 email / password / usernames in there. (EACH)
Sorry about replying to my own post but in the thread I link there, someone has posted a response linking to this movie.
It's a little over the top I admit and it's not from the Han / Leigha / Luke era which I prefer, none the less this shows how good an animated movie can be, 6 minutes of this is likely more entertaining than 90 minutes of the new movie (and most definitely many times more interesting than the poor trailer for the new one)
Enjoy.
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=8348415574440242412
I am not in any way a Star Wars nerd anymore, take note of that.
I saw a link to the trailer on a website I frequent back in May this year, I didn't even know a SW animated movie was coming out and honestly didn't care.
However, I'm open to try a movie of any kind, animated, puppets, I don't care if it's good - I like pixar movies, I once liked Star Wars, I even tried the final fantasy movie.
When the link was posted, within minutes people mocked it and laughed, it's got nothing to do with being untrue to the Star Wars franchise, if anything that may make some hardcore Star Wars fans 'forgive it' - I just saw a trailer for an absoloutely laughable looking kids film, not what I'm interested in, when "Jabba's son has been kidnapped!" is a plot element they feel worthy enough to put in a movie, I figure it's not going places.
http://www.shacknews.com/laryn.x?id=16928277#itemanchor_16928277
Here is something of note which I figure most of you will agree with and sadly hollywood will never read, nor understand.
Ever since the 3 new movies, Star Wars has been forever tarnished, changing from a great story and universe I am interested in, to something I look at in my mind as simply a 'franchise' or a product.
It's a fascinating transition and one I'm sure marketing people would love to know more about, maybe it's to do with my age or cynicism? Ultimately from my perspective the entire universe is now un-interesting to me, they've caused themselves a massive dis-service as I do not salivate at the thought of any Star Wars products, I don't even fondly remember the originals as I simply can't watch them in the same way.
Yes they are still good but deep down I know that whole universe is diluted.
I had the same feeling from the Matrix sequels, I have no interest even in the first film now.
Just to clarify my stance, I was never ever a huge SW nerd, but I was I guess a light fan (I'm 30 btw) so I saw ROTJ in the cinema, too young for ANH and don't recall empire.
I was never a major hardcore fan, I never purchased the toys or anything but I did like the universe, I did really love the movies and I would've purchased them on DVD for example.
Even the changes to the old 3 movies, made it feel like a product (A New hope 1.01, buy it now!)
Anyhow people go check out the new movie, word on the st is JABBAS SON HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED (oh noes!) :/
I don't think I need to speak for myself, I speak for a vast majority of users who suffered the problem, the 133A was the fixed version of the KT133 - both were a problem, the A slightly better but still buggy.
I don't know how you can make a claim when infact my claim is essentially gospel for anyone who was using PC's durign that era.
Your post is like saying 'The celeron 300a was a poor overclocker' it's just straight up incorrect.
I was so badly 'wounded' by this chipset as most enthusiasts were that to this day I've never considered a VIA chipset since, most likely an irrational fear but one thing I can't stand is an unstable computer.
I've used nvidia chipsets, intel chipsets, even SIS chipsets but VIA only once and it stung, I have to wonder how many enthusiasts avoided them due to the 133a fiasco.
To be honest, I know it's stupid but it's a spreadsheet containing my usernames and passwords to most forums (slashdot for example)
It's unlikely my password will ever be compromised but it is a concern.
Again: yes, I know it's not clever but damn it's handy, anyone who has been using the net for a while (most slashdotters) would realise after 10 years you can really chock up a huge amount of accounts on the internet (I'd estimate I have over 250 passwords, seriously)