Technically, the article is all wrong. I've never heard of an Xbox hard-drive crashing, although I'm sure it's probably happened. Specifically, it should be referring to the faulty disc drive, which is a common problem, and normally refers to Thompson drives that were in most launch Xbox's. The warranty is 90 days, just like on most consumer level electronics. Why file a lawsuit though, when he could have just called Microsoft and bitched about it? I've read many accounts where people have complained about a faulty disc drive a few times and gotten their Xbox fixed for free.
Yeah, that's true that it's awesome that Halo 2 has veritcal splitscreen, but it's also true that Rainbow Six 3, and Black Arrow, and Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell, and all other UBIsoft games do not have a 16:9 mode. You, my friend, are wrong. They look good stretched to fill a 16:9 screen, but they are not 16:9. Seriously, go check the sites that keep track of which games are widescreen, and you'll see.
No, it's not. The game is 4:3, and just happens to look okay stretched. There is not one single 16:9 UBISoft game on the Xbox. Beyond Good and Evil is letterboxed, but not 16:9. Check out hdtvarcade.com if you don't believe me.
So do all the online Tom Clancy games on the Xbox. Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (not out yet), not to mention some racing games like ToCA Race Driver 2, and Moto GP2 (if I'm not mistaken). Oh, and Full Spectrum Warrior, Star Wars Battlefront, Star Wars Republic Commando, Brothers in Arms, and all online team-sports games. All those games have non-player controlled AI in online games that must be carefully synched across all machines on the network at the same time. I don't think the difficulty was the main problem here.
Yeah, the widescreen support is a pretty big deal, but has been known about for some time. Come to think of it, I can't recall another 16:9 FPS, at least of decent profile, on the Xbox at all. Riddick is widescreen, but doesn't really count, since the splitscreen doens't come into effect, seeing as there's no multiplayer component. That being said, vertical splitscreen in 16:9 racing games is pretty common (see PGR2).
When you go to the effort to deny that some things are in the game (like bots) when people ask, but don't deny that co-op is in when people ask, then it's actually a fairly logical assumption that co-op was in and they planned on it being there. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on Bungie, but I, like many others, did naturally assume that online co-op was going to be in the game because of their information, or lack thereof. Just explaining why it's news, really. Because many people are shocked to find out it's not, in fact, in the game.
Because Bungie never said Online Co-op wasn't in the game until now. People naturally assumed that is was in the game until they read in the newest OXM (with the review) that there was no online/Lan co-op in the game. It's not that they said is was going to be there, it's that they never said it wasn't.
Guess what? The S controller was the orginal Japanese controller. The Japanese never even saw the big pumpkin original US controller. The release of the S controller in the States was due to overwhelming requests rom US gamers to get the Japanese version.
Coming off the whole apology thing, it makes sense that they'd stop development on something they'd touted as so revolutionary and promised so many features for, many of which probably got pulled over the course of development. Sounds like he had another Fable over-hype on his hands, and wanted to save face.
A large portion of your list above is nothing but rumors, some of them incorrectly interpreted. For example, the black and white buttons may be gone as black and white buttons, but would be replaced as extra buttons above the two triggers. At this point, though, still a rumor. Secondly, it's pretty safe to assume that the controller ports will be different. The next Xbox peripherals will be compatible/plug and play with PCs. More than likely, they'll be straight USB, unless they ship with some sort of adapter. Regardless of the harddrive issue, I wouldn't expect to lose any functionality. There will be memory on the next Xbox, seeing as content download is a very important Xbox Live feature that they obviously won't be taking away. With less memory, though, there is the possibility of losing custom sountracks, which would suck. And, if I have to buy a memory card for some reason, I'd be really pissed.
Using your exact same point though, why can't they just release sofware for the Xbox that lets it connect to Media Center 10 on a non-Media Center PC? That would be pretty cool. But, nooooo, I gotta be running Windows Media Center, which is a freakin waste of money. Or, even better yet, update the Xbox dashboard to access a PC directly, without the software having to be in the disk tray. We've already got a remote.
How many people actually have Windows Media Center PCs? I don't see why they can't get rid of this hybrid OS, and just release a single application you can download to allow this. I seriously doubt anyone is going to run out and buy the Xbox software and a new OS (Windows Media Center) just to do this. Giving me Xbox software that directly interfaced with a standard XP/XP-Pro machine, however, sounds a little more tempting.
I don't think anyone who follows the industry find this all that particularly surprising, since it's been talked about for a while now. I too agree it might be a little early for a new Xbox, but it all depends on the games it launches with. Right now, after the winter quarter of next year, there's not a lot of high profile titles that have been announced, so it sort of feels fitting for a good time to release a new system the next fall. I hope there's backwards compatibility too, but it's not too likely at this point, and is a feature that very quickly loses its appeal as the library grows. Definitely not a maker/breaker. The stuff I care about more is what we already have in the current Xbox, particulary the local storage that prevents me from having to buy memory cards and allows for custom soundtracks and content downloads.
Dude, you said Killer Instinct, and that's not fair. Killer Instinct isn't one either of Midway's discs, and the characters are jointly owned by Rare and Nintendo, if I'm not mistaken. I'd pay 50 dollars easy for an arcade perfect version of the first Killer Instinct that was online enabled.
What the hell does this article have to do with Microsoft? Any excuse I guess. And this also has absolutely nothing to do with the product being decent or not. It has to do with games being available for said product. Gee, they won't release the system until there are games for it, big shocker.
In my opinion, it's a really cool service. The concept of being able to play online poker, Galaga, Pac-Man, whathaveyou, is awesome as a way to play something fun that's less demanding than most online games. That being said, their pricing structure is way too high. It's not about the cost of the Xbox or Xbox Live, which their target audience already has, but the concept of playing Dig-Dug online for around twenty bucks is too rich for my blood. Around five dollars for a title sounds a lot easier to swallow.
Slashdot Mirror
Technically, the article is all wrong. I've never heard of an Xbox hard-drive crashing, although I'm sure it's probably happened. Specifically, it should be referring to the faulty disc drive, which is a common problem, and normally refers to Thompson drives that were in most launch Xbox's. The warranty is 90 days, just like on most consumer level electronics. Why file a lawsuit though, when he could have just called Microsoft and bitched about it? I've read many accounts where people have complained about a faulty disc drive a few times and gotten their Xbox fixed for free.
Yeah, that's true that it's awesome that Halo 2 has veritcal splitscreen, but it's also true that Rainbow Six 3, and Black Arrow, and Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell, and all other UBIsoft games do not have a 16:9 mode. You, my friend, are wrong. They look good stretched to fill a 16:9 screen, but they are not 16:9. Seriously, go check the sites that keep track of which games are widescreen, and you'll see.
No, it's not. The game is 4:3, and just happens to look okay stretched. There is not one single 16:9 UBISoft game on the Xbox. Beyond Good and Evil is letterboxed, but not 16:9. Check out hdtvarcade.com if you don't believe me.
You're the dumbass that posted a link to a pirated game torrent on slashdot. You asked for it.
Ghost Recon 2 comes out November 30th-ish too. Definitely on my must-have list.
So do all the online Tom Clancy games on the Xbox. Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (not out yet), not to mention some racing games like ToCA Race Driver 2, and Moto GP2 (if I'm not mistaken). Oh, and Full Spectrum Warrior, Star Wars Battlefront, Star Wars Republic Commando, Brothers in Arms, and all online team-sports games. All those games have non-player controlled AI in online games that must be carefully synched across all machines on the network at the same time. I don't think the difficulty was the main problem here.
Yeah, the widescreen support is a pretty big deal, but has been known about for some time. Come to think of it, I can't recall another 16:9 FPS, at least of decent profile, on the Xbox at all. Riddick is widescreen, but doesn't really count, since the splitscreen doens't come into effect, seeing as there's no multiplayer component. That being said, vertical splitscreen in 16:9 racing games is pretty common (see PGR2).
When you go to the effort to deny that some things are in the game (like bots) when people ask, but don't deny that co-op is in when people ask, then it's actually a fairly logical assumption that co-op was in and they planned on it being there. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on Bungie, but I, like many others, did naturally assume that online co-op was going to be in the game because of their information, or lack thereof. Just explaining why it's news, really. Because many people are shocked to find out it's not, in fact, in the game.
Because Bungie never said Online Co-op wasn't in the game until now. People naturally assumed that is was in the game until they read in the newest OXM (with the review) that there was no online/Lan co-op in the game. It's not that they said is was going to be there, it's that they never said it wasn't.
Guess what? The S controller was the orginal Japanese controller. The Japanese never even saw the big pumpkin original US controller. The release of the S controller in the States was due to overwhelming requests rom US gamers to get the Japanese version.
Coming off the whole apology thing, it makes sense that they'd stop development on something they'd touted as so revolutionary and promised so many features for, many of which probably got pulled over the course of development. Sounds like he had another Fable over-hype on his hands, and wanted to save face.
You also have to remember that the person who's developing something is also testing it as well, independent of the budget.
This might be the next red laser pointer. Built with a good purpose, but annoying as hell for everyone else.
Let's starting hyping them now. I'm betting that they'll be the BEST EVER in their respective genres. But what if they're in the same genre? Arrgh!
It still looks just like a regular PS2, only smaller. I've personally thought that odd assymetrical design was pretty ugly.
A large portion of your list above is nothing but rumors, some of them incorrectly interpreted. For example, the black and white buttons may be gone as black and white buttons, but would be replaced as extra buttons above the two triggers. At this point, though, still a rumor. Secondly, it's pretty safe to assume that the controller ports will be different. The next Xbox peripherals will be compatible/plug and play with PCs. More than likely, they'll be straight USB, unless they ship with some sort of adapter. Regardless of the harddrive issue, I wouldn't expect to lose any functionality. There will be memory on the next Xbox, seeing as content download is a very important Xbox Live feature that they obviously won't be taking away. With less memory, though, there is the possibility of losing custom sountracks, which would suck. And, if I have to buy a memory card for some reason, I'd be really pissed.
Using your exact same point though, why can't they just release sofware for the Xbox that lets it connect to Media Center 10 on a non-Media Center PC? That would be pretty cool. But, nooooo, I gotta be running Windows Media Center, which is a freakin waste of money. Or, even better yet, update the Xbox dashboard to access a PC directly, without the software having to be in the disk tray. We've already got a remote.
How many people actually have Windows Media Center PCs? I don't see why they can't get rid of this hybrid OS, and just release a single application you can download to allow this. I seriously doubt anyone is going to run out and buy the Xbox software and a new OS (Windows Media Center) just to do this. Giving me Xbox software that directly interfaced with a standard XP/XP-Pro machine, however, sounds a little more tempting.
I don't think anyone who follows the industry find this all that particularly surprising, since it's been talked about for a while now. I too agree it might be a little early for a new Xbox, but it all depends on the games it launches with. Right now, after the winter quarter of next year, there's not a lot of high profile titles that have been announced, so it sort of feels fitting for a good time to release a new system the next fall. I hope there's backwards compatibility too, but it's not too likely at this point, and is a feature that very quickly loses its appeal as the library grows. Definitely not a maker/breaker. The stuff I care about more is what we already have in the current Xbox, particulary the local storage that prevents me from having to buy memory cards and allows for custom soundtracks and content downloads.
There are people without broadband connections? Woah.
You sir, are an ass. Full of crap or not, it does not matter.
Dude, you said Killer Instinct, and that's not fair. Killer Instinct isn't one either of Midway's discs, and the characters are jointly owned by Rare and Nintendo, if I'm not mistaken. I'd pay 50 dollars easy for an arcade perfect version of the first Killer Instinct that was online enabled.
What the hell does this article have to do with Microsoft? Any excuse I guess. And this also has absolutely nothing to do with the product being decent or not. It has to do with games being available for said product. Gee, they won't release the system until there are games for it, big shocker.
In my opinion, it's a really cool service. The concept of being able to play online poker, Galaga, Pac-Man, whathaveyou, is awesome as a way to play something fun that's less demanding than most online games. That being said, their pricing structure is way too high. It's not about the cost of the Xbox or Xbox Live, which their target audience already has, but the concept of playing Dig-Dug online for around twenty bucks is too rich for my blood. Around five dollars for a title sounds a lot easier to swallow.
That was Pete Parsons, I believe. The studio manager at Bungie.