I've found a notable difference in battery life (both overall longevity and each session length) based on whether I plug the device into the PC for charging via USB or I take out the batteries and use a purpose-built charger. With the mouse, which uses up battery life fastest, it is fairly simple, and it means I always have one ready to go, so I can crank up report speeds without worrying about making it to the end of a gaming session. Unfortunately, it is a PITA on my keyboard, so I usually just charge via USB, and only pull those batteries for a proper charge on occasion.
Well, they did abandon some of their original specifications, so this could make it up to the people that are waiting for a better console. But they would really piss off a lot of people with the latest xbox who always want the latest systems...I doubt they would have any way of upgrading the old units. Retailers could get in on it and offer better deals for buying your used console to upgrade to one of the newer xbox systems, but the value of the old opnes is either going to go way down, or the new ones are going to be priced astronomically.
That is, if the rumors are true...
Live definitely has the ability to update each user's xbox, which sounds like their main beef. However, it is very slow (at least with the old xbox). The other issue I see is how the games are hosted.
I don't know if this is true for all games, but Halo 2 isn't hosted by a central server, and I think the same is true of Forza. Each game is hosted by a random member of the group in any given game. To run MMOGs, you can't rely on a random person's xbox to run the whole game for everyone. A central server is required. I don't see why this couldn't be implemented for a future game with better equipment at Live, but perhaps the issue is that it just hasn't been done before.
I agree whole-heartedly. It is a lot easier to carry your game and maybe a memory card over to a friend's house than your whole console. I would hate to see used games and rentals go away. A lot of simple-minded games only need to be played for one or two evenings for full enjoyment, but sometimes that's all we're looking for.
But even games that don't allow memory cards to be used have caused us to have to do that in order to continue on in someone's current game. they should at least allow you to move the game if they don't want you to be able to make copies...
The game developers have been trying to figure out how to dip into the used game market that the retailers have exclusively owned. This has a lot to do with that, even though the article doesn't mention it. They want people to think it is all about convenience, but a lot of it has to do with defending their ability to sell you the games and not getting taken out of the loop.
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I'm pretty sure former Uber drivers can still fit in the trunk of a self-driving car.
I've found a notable difference in battery life (both overall longevity and each session length) based on whether I plug the device into the PC for charging via USB or I take out the batteries and use a purpose-built charger. With the mouse, which uses up battery life fastest, it is fairly simple, and it means I always have one ready to go, so I can crank up report speeds without worrying about making it to the end of a gaming session. Unfortunately, it is a PITA on my keyboard, so I usually just charge via USB, and only pull those batteries for a proper charge on occasion.
Well, they did abandon some of their original specifications, so this could make it up to the people that are waiting for a better console. But they would really piss off a lot of people with the latest xbox who always want the latest systems...I doubt they would have any way of upgrading the old units. Retailers could get in on it and offer better deals for buying your used console to upgrade to one of the newer xbox systems, but the value of the old opnes is either going to go way down, or the new ones are going to be priced astronomically. That is, if the rumors are true...
Live definitely has the ability to update each user's xbox, which sounds like their main beef. However, it is very slow (at least with the old xbox). The other issue I see is how the games are hosted. I don't know if this is true for all games, but Halo 2 isn't hosted by a central server, and I think the same is true of Forza. Each game is hosted by a random member of the group in any given game. To run MMOGs, you can't rely on a random person's xbox to run the whole game for everyone. A central server is required. I don't see why this couldn't be implemented for a future game with better equipment at Live, but perhaps the issue is that it just hasn't been done before.
I agree whole-heartedly. It is a lot easier to carry your game and maybe a memory card over to a friend's house than your whole console. I would hate to see used games and rentals go away. A lot of simple-minded games only need to be played for one or two evenings for full enjoyment, but sometimes that's all we're looking for. But even games that don't allow memory cards to be used have caused us to have to do that in order to continue on in someone's current game. they should at least allow you to move the game if they don't want you to be able to make copies...
The game developers have been trying to figure out how to dip into the used game market that the retailers have exclusively owned. This has a lot to do with that, even though the article doesn't mention it. They want people to think it is all about convenience, but a lot of it has to do with defending their ability to sell you the games and not getting taken out of the loop.