Finally got my 360! [Archive]

wwooden

Jan 25, 2006, 08:58 AM

I have call of duty, definitely a must of game for the 360. I just barely started the american levels (play way too much Halo 2), they are intense.

I downloaded the PGR3 demo, I thought it looked nice but I got tired of constantly having to worry about hitting walls and such. I also downloaded the the Need For Speed - Wost Wanted and that was a ton of fun. I love the challenge where you have to get through 6 police barricades. While the graphics aren't quite as nice as PGR3, I think it feels faster and more exciting.

Condemned looks like a cool game, probably only worth renting though as once you play it one time, it won't be as scary the second time through.
I am going to be picking up PDZ soon, I like that you can do co-op missions with someone, that is always fun.

The Fight Night Demo is ridiculous. I was never into fighting game but this one is amazing, the most fun demo yet. The graphics are amazing and the game play is great. I will be getting that game when it is out.

Instead of buying the Play-and-charge kit and then another battery for my second controller, I just bought some rechargeable batteries and a charger. My total was $15 for some energizers, less than half of the total of the 360 batteries and I never have to worry about having a cable from the system.

Vster

Jan 25, 2006, 09:18 AM

Congrats!
DoA 4 is nice bit very hard. Also I saw a preview for Prey (a FPS coming out for 360 & PC in June). It looks really cool with crazy gravity effects and stuff.:)

Dagless

Jan 25, 2006, 09:54 AM

Congrats!
DoA 4 is nice bit very hard. Also I saw a preview for Prey (a FPS coming out for 360 & PC in June). It looks really cool with crazy gravity effects and stuff.:)

... Prey... as in the old 3D Realms game :eek: lordy I thought that was cancelled! Must get that for my PC!

yoda13

Jan 25, 2006, 10:39 AM

In addition to Call of Duty 2, I also have NBA Live 06, which I am very pleased with. Of course, I can only reccommend it to you if you like the sports games...otherwise it would be a waste for you...:p

MacRumorUser

Jan 25, 2006, 10:40 AM

Just as you get your's.. I sell my spare 360 today :)

So far games I have are

COD2 - great game, but they have to sort out the chronic lag that goes on online..

Perfect Dark Zero - Ok single player, but great onlive. I love syphilis! - oh sorry infection :D It's easy to hook up a quick match or dark ops and even if someone drops out the game contiues whilst it automatically finds the best host. How every multiplayer game should be.

Quake 4 - very average single player - very poor multiplayer. What the ****** were ID doing whilst this was in development over at Raven? I'm not holding my breath for Quake: Enemy Territory.

Need 4 Speed - Really nice graphics. One of the first launch titles that really make use of antialising on everything.. Framerate can get chuggy, the demo version is actually smoother.

Ridge Racer 6 - Bland graphics, but great gameplay. Just like the psp version and it plays great online too - bar one exception.
Do not have Windows Connect enabled on your 360 or online play will be ridiculously laggy.

PGR3 - I like the cockpit view, some of the tracks look great but the detail on people in crowds is pisspoor, some of the tree's look like they belong in need for speed on the 3D0. Online is good and I like the PGR TV 'idea' - more than the end result.

Amped 3 - It's a grower and whilst graphics aren't the hottest - remember Amped 2 ran at 1080i on the normal Xbox, it's still a good game. A rent more than a buy I think..

Kameo - See this game on a big screen in 720p or 1080i and it looks amazing. Everydetail is beautiful and it bodes well for the Next Gen machines. If a game that's basically been ported and vamped from the cube - to the xbox and then finaly onto the 360 can look this good, I can't wait to see what we'll have in the second or third generation titles.. If you like rare games like Starfox Adventures then you'll like it..

Condemned - Great, great game. From same developers Monolith as FEAR it's a corker of a launch title and one that Sega as publishers must be over the moon about aquiring. Probably the launch title we'll be talking about in a couple of years time.

Dead or Alive 4 - AAA title that is stunning to look at and play with. If your a fight buff it's a compulsory purchase.

King Kong - Too much Skull Island, it begins to grate. Not enough City, it would have been nice to have some FPS sections rather than the poor bloody monkey. An easy way to unlock 1000 achievement points though, rent it :)

-----

Xbox Live Arcade

Geometry Wars - is simple, great fun and addictive. For 6 quid, $10 it's a steal.

Zuma - Average puzzler. Demo try - did not purchase

Bejeweled - Average puzzler. Demo try - did not purchase

Hexic - You already have :) Unless you didn't get the HD

Outpost Kaloki X - average RTS that's too simple = samey as you get on.

That's everything on my Box.

XNine

Jan 25, 2006, 11:00 AM

MacRumorUser

Jan 25, 2006, 11:20 AM

You know what games I wish they'd push into the arcade? LOADED and RELOADED from the PS X. Those were awesome games. Just run through various building shooting things everywhere. Insane.

But, yeah, I'vbe got NHL 2K6, DOA 4, PDZ, COD 2, and PGR 3. DOA 4 and COD2 are the most needed, even though for some stupid reason the RANKED MATCHES in COD2 don't rank yet. I own in multiplayer on that game. 3/5 times ina Deathmatch game I will be number one, the other 2/5 I will be In a tleast the top three. I don't know why, I just own even more than I did at Halo 2.

Agreed Loaded & ReLoaded were great and would suit Xbox Live Arcade - as long as they can cram the entire game into the 50mb arcade limit...

Mind you what makes me laugh is a game like Gauntet or Joust which you get the rom for is only a few kb, and yet on live they are 25mb?? They don't even look any better :confused:

COD2 has too many bugs on live. Come on Activision - release the patch now :D

JDOG_

Jan 25, 2006, 11:46 AM

Yes Loaded and Reloaded would be a ton of fun, although since its a Sony franchise (of sorts) don't be expecting it anytime soon.

I would love to see:

-Worms 2
-X-men (the arcade one with 4 screens)
-Sonic CD
-Duke Nukem 3D
-Pong HD (for free) \
-Breakout HD (for free) / How you could get these two in HD...I don't know.

Bubbasteve

Jan 25, 2006, 11:54 AM

MacRumorUser

Jan 25, 2006, 11:59 AM

When I had a 360 (I got the infamous red circle of death...hopefully they will send it back to me soon...:rolleyes: ) I played Kameo, COD2, and PDZ... Kameo is probably my favorite game just because I like the action/adventure type games... but COD2 isn't that far behind.

Oh yeah... download the Fight Night Round 3 demo from Marketplace... me and my buddies played that game pretty religously

I fogot to mention that on my list... It's looking sweet indeed :D

I got the three quadrant ring of death too on Dec 24th... Took till Jan 11th before I got my replacement 360.. I guess because of the holidays..... At least I had a spare to tide me over.. Now that's sold, this one better not die :)

Has Full Auto Demo arrived on marketplace in the States yet? Not here in Ireland any way and really want to give it a try..

mkubal

Jan 25, 2006, 01:42 PM

I got a 360 yesterday from Target at 8 AM. They had 6 of them which surprised me.

I bought COD2 and Condemned to start off with. COD2 is addictive, but I really enjoy Condemned. The graphics are amazing and this is the first game for me that actually scares me when I play it.

I think I'll wait and see what's on the horizon before buying any other games. If I really need one, I'll get Kameo.

BTW, I remember when the 360 first came out people were having problems with the power bricks getting really hot, but I haven't experienced that at all. I had the console on yesterday for about 4 straight hours and the brick was barely warm. Has MS fixed the problem or did I get lucky?

Laser47

Jan 25, 2006, 02:54 PM

Ive had my 360 since new years, the first game I got was kameo which looks beautiful and is a really good game. And yesterday I picked up COD2 which is amazing and addictive. Anyways have fun with your new 360.

MacRumorUser

Jan 25, 2006, 03:08 PM

BTW, I remember when the 360 first came out people were having problems with the power bricks getting really hot, but I haven't experienced that at all. I had the console on yesterday for about 4 straight hours and the brick was barely warm. Has MS fixed the problem or did I get lucky?

Interestingly I got two 360's at launch. I used one mainly and put the other in the office. However the one I used often in my bedroom suffered from the three red ring of death. I rang Microsoft and they sent me a coffin to return my xbox for replacement. However whilst that was away, I brought the one from the office back into my bedroom and hooked it up to the same power supply. I have subsequently played for hours on this machine, and have a good stint on live each night and have yet to have any hardware stutter. No lock-ups of any description.

I think the powerbrick got a lot of 'heat' if you excuse the pun, but probably wasn't the main area of trouble with those faulty xboxs. Looking on the 360 forum, people blamed the power supply for the three red light failure, even though Microsoft's own documentation/knowledgebase tell you it's an internal hardware failure.

There is a chance your 360 could die, but hey Microsoft in my experience were helpful and sorted everything out. A courier to deliver a box. A courier to collect the box. A courier to deliver replacement... Must cost them a lot, but I'm grateful for that quality of service.. Well done microsoft..

markjones05

Jan 25, 2006, 05:36 PM

TheGimp

Jan 25, 2006, 06:36 PM

For all those who say DOA 4 i very hard what exactly does that mean? Do you mean hard compared to its predecessors or hard if you've never played a DOA game before. Ive played both DOA3 and DOA Ultimate and am a force to be reckoned with online.

I meant hard if you've never played a DOA game, but some original DOA veterans have complained that because the AI is so much better and also takes advantage of juggling combos more, DOA4 also seems hard for a DOA game. For example, even in the lowest difficulty setting ("normal"), once certain characters get you in a combo, you might not even get in another hit before you're down. Of course there's supposed to be a complex yet effective countering system available to cut those combos short, but learning them is supposed to be a challenge, so such a resource really can't be seen as something that totally offsets the difficulty.

Of course, if you're a "force to be reckoned with", then I'm sure you're up to the challenge, and may not even find the game all that difficult.

So I guess my warning was mainly addressed to those who, despite being generally good with fighters, may not want to invest themselves fully in one or two characters just to be able to beat the game in normal mode. I personally was hoping the game would have a slightly easier lowest-difficulty setting so that my girlfriend, who surprisingly enjoyed the old Mortal Combat games on their easiest settings, could start enjoying DOA4's eye candy by button mashing, and without getting too frustrated by being trounced by every AI opponent after the first couple in story mode.

Objectively speaking, however, games should be hard, but not be accessible only to fans of earlier installments of the particular fighter franchise.

Ninja Gaiden, for example, was considered too hard by even fairly skilled arcade fighting fans. Most complained that, while NG was not impossible, it often required 20-30 attempts or more just to beat a single boss near the beginning, which seemed to compromise the fun factor a bit by frustrating the attempt to stay immersed in the narrative.

The developers of Ninja Gaiden Black addressed this complaint by adding an easier difficulty setting, unlockable only by those who had failed repeatedly for some time early in the game. Such catering to less talented (or less committed, time-wise) players apparently didn't debase the NG's high standard of gameplay, since NG Black's overall game difficulty (in the harder modes) had been (reportedly) jacked up to accomodate experienced players hoping to "bring it on" and really get their money's worth.

Getting back to your question, I say buy DOA4 if you like challenges and are a DOA fan. Everyone else proceed appropriately informed of its no-holds-barred difficulty, or rent first if you really hate being frustrated.

reberto

Jan 25, 2006, 06:50 PM

If you are a hardcore FPS player, get Quake 4. It not all that bad (better than what Doom 3 ever was)

markjones05

Jan 26, 2006, 01:18 AM

I meant hard if you've never played a DOA game, but some original DOA veterans have complained that because the AI is so much better and also takes advantage of juggling combos more, DOA4 also seems hard for a DOA game. For example, even in the lowest difficulty setting ("normal"), once certain characters get you in a combo, you might not even get in another hit before you're down. Of course there's supposed to be a complex yet effective countering system available to cut those combos short, but learning them is supposed to be a challenge, so such a resource really can't be seen as something that totally offsets the difficulty.

Of course, if you're a "force to be reckoned with", then I'm sure you're up to the challenge, and may not even find the game all that difficult.

So I guess my warning was mainly addressed to those who, despite being generally good with fighters, may not want to invest themselves fully in one or two characters just to be able to beat the game in normal mode. I personally was hoping the game would have a slightly easier lowest-difficulty setting so that my girlfriend, who surprisingly enjoyed the old Mortal Combat games on their easiest settings, could start enjoying DOA4's eye candy by button mashing, and without getting too frustrated by being trounced by every AI opponent after the first couple in story mode.

Objectively speaking, however, games should be hard, but not be accessible only to fans of earlier installments of the particular fighter franchise.

Ninja Gaiden, for example, was considered too hard by even fairly skilled arcade fighting fans. Most complained that, while NG was not impossible, it often required 20-30 attempts or more just to beat a single boss near the beginning, which seemed to compromise the fun factor a bit by frustrating the attempt to stay immersed in the narrative.

The developers of Ninja Gaiden Black addressed this complaint by adding an easier difficulty setting, unlockable only by those who had failed repeatedly for some time early in the game. Such catering to less talented (or less committed, time-wise) players apparently didn't debase the NG's high standard of gameplay, since NG Black's overall game difficulty (in the harder modes) had been (reportedly) jacked up to accomodate experienced players hoping to "bring it on" and really get their money's worth.

Getting back to your question, I say buy DOA4 if you like challenges and are a DOA fan. Everyone else proceed appropriately informed of its no-holds-barred difficulty, or rent first if you really hate being frustrated.

WOW really great response. When posting on a forum you never really know what kind of feedbak you're going to recieve, but every once in a while you get something like this. I appreciate the info and time spent on writing such a thoughtfull response. It really answred my question in full, above and beyond what I had hoped for. Knowing this, I cannot wait to buy this game. I hope to see you online.
Gamertage: LoyalDAWG

TheGimp

Jan 26, 2006, 01:36 AM

WOW really great response. When posting on a forum you never really know what kind of feedbak you're going to recieve, but every once in a while you get something like this. I appreciate the info and time spent on writing such a thoughtfull response. It really answred my question in full, above and beyond what I had hoped for. Knowing this, I cannot wait to buy this game. I hope to see you online.
Gamertage: LoyalDAWG

Don't mention it. (ok, glad you mentioned it :)

Anyway, I haven't played online yet, and am only beginning to memorize some of the special character moves. So maybe we can have the arrangement that, for the first 10 times or so you beat me, you can't say they word "pwned" or any of its variants. After that you're free to brag left and right like any typical live player.

cheers

gamertag:Aphexor

markjones05

Jan 26, 2006, 02:18 PM

XNine

Jan 26, 2006, 03:32 PM

So im dyin to get DOA4 but both my roomates are sayin they dont really like fighting games blah blah blah. How do i show them that this game is fun? I dont want to buy it and not have anyone to play against. I have Live but my connection here has been really shotty.

Honestly, I don't have anyone to play wioth either. Tell your room mates to get some taste.

I've beaten DOA 4 with every character. The AI in the normal game isextremely hard the higher you go. The last character is a pain in the ass. She has two moves of which can take your health down by half. Get hit with each one once in a match and your dead. She's quick, but a running attack can generally catch her off guard. Don't try to back hger into a corner, because she'll teleport directly behind you and beat the piss out of you.

There are a lot of secrets in the game too. DOA 4 is a great game. Even for someone like me, who had no difficulty on the previous isntallments (I've been a HUGE fan of DOA since the 2nd one) beating it on the hardest level, yet the new countering system has left me a little uneasy and the difficulty is notched up significantly. The addition of more objects to jump over/throw opponants over and into is nice. Especially when fighting in traffic, or being able to jump on top of a rope and do a special attack coming down.

Great game.

TheGimp

Jan 26, 2006, 04:40 PM

So im dyin to get DOA4 but both my roomates are sayin they dont really like fighting games blah blah blah. How do i show them that this game is fun? I dont want to buy it and not have anyone to play against. I have Live but my connection here has been really shotty.

Couldn't you rent it first? Gamefly.com is a great service, a lot like netflix except for games and not movies. One monthy rate lets you keep several games out at a time, as long as you like, and whenever you mail one back they automatically send you the next game in your "Q" (queue)

Or what about Blockbuster video? They must have something like that in Brooklyn.

DOA4 is awesome eye candy (much of it), and has the largest arenas I've ever seen by far, but if your room mates *really* don't like fighting games, then chances are they won't loike this one either - especially if you're a DOA veteran and kicking both their arsches from the moment you boot the game.

0s and 1s

Jan 26, 2006, 05:27 PM

Congrats!

I just sold mine. It was just collecting dust... :(

markjones05

Jan 26, 2006, 05:31 PM

Congrats!

I just sold mine. It was just collecting dust... :(

Whyd you buy one?

0s and 1s

Jan 26, 2006, 06:05 PM

Why'd you buy one?

I had time when I purchased it (release day). In fact, I bought 3 that day, but sold 2 on eBay for a ~$3100 profit. I thoroughly enjoyed COD2 and TW, but the online play was disappointing. The biggest reason I purchased one was for XBL, and when you have a laggy experience on COD2, not to mention the lack of a lobby, your interest dwindles.

I'll probably buy one later. Ghost Recon:AF looks amazing...and I hope the online lobbies are similar to past GR lobbies.

Enjoy.

markjones05

Jan 26, 2006, 08:15 PM

Does anyone know what the relevance of your gamerscore is?

JDOG_

Jan 26, 2006, 08:33 PM

Does anyone know what the relevance of your gamerscore is?

Your gamerscore just keeps track of your achievements from various games you play. The more games you play and complete or dig into to get achievements, the more gamerpoints you'll get.

The relevance isn't really how good you are (most of the time), rather its just how many achievements you've had. At this point in the game though (no pun intended) people with high gamerscores either have played a bunch of games or have really worked hard to get achievements in the games they have.

It's also worth noting achievement points vary quite a bit. For example getting 800 pts. in Call of Duty 2 is incredibly difficult, wheras in King Kong or NBA2k6 you can pick up 1,000 achievement points in mere hours.

Schmittroth

Jan 26, 2006, 08:56 PM

Buy:
PGR3
Condemned
Geometry Wars $5 (free demo included in PGR3)
Mutant Storm:Reloaded $5
Dead or Alive 4 (only if you love fighting games - very hard!)

rent:
King Kong
Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Play Hexic every now and then, between FPS sessions, to stay smart!

gamertag: aphexor
Everyone should note that Mutant Storm is available for your Mac. Great game. http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/games/action_adventure/mutantstorm.html

markjones05

Jan 26, 2006, 09:55 PM

Your gamerscore just keeps track of your achievements from various games you play. The more games you play and complete or dig into to get achievements, the more gamerpoints you'll get.

The relevance isn't really how good you are (most of the time), rather its just how many achievements you've had. At this point in the game though (no pun intended) people with high gamerscores either have played a bunch of games or have really worked hard to get achievements in the games they have.

It's also worth noting achievement points vary quite a bit. For example getting 800 pts. in Call of Duty 2 is incredibly difficult, wheras in King Kong or NBA2k6 you can pick up 1,000 achievement points in mere hours.

Sounds like pointless score keeping. If it's an innacurate way to rank or even tell how many games youve played, what's the point? They should at least make it like your aquiring miles to your credit card. A certain amount of points should translate into credits to by arcade games and such.

HiRez

Jan 27, 2006, 06:57 AM

greatdevourer

Jan 27, 2006, 10:49 AM

Mine arrives within a week! W00t! Gamertag - greatdevourer

Abulia

Jan 27, 2006, 11:13 AM

What is the big deal with the 360?Go read this (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=164310) and come back if you have questions.

And I can apply your comments to any game console.

TheGimp

Jan 27, 2006, 01:42 PM

What is the big deal with the 360? I've seen it, I've played it a few times, and I'm underwhelmed. It just seems like an XBOX with slightly better graphics. The games I've see look good, but nothing has really blown me away, same old stuff we've been seeing for the last 5 years or so with, as I said, marginally improved graphics. Meh. I'm not knocking you guys for buying it, it's cool if it makes you happy, I'm just wondering what's so compelling about it for you. *slinks back to his PS2*

Did you play Condemned at one of the true HDTV resolutions, such as 720P, with quality headphones and/or surround sound? If you had, whether or not you actually like that kind of game, you would see what the big deal is. I make this point opnly because, for my first few times playing the 360, I played it either on a normal non-HDTV, listening through the speakers, and was blown away by the same games later on when using either my gf's 23" Sony Bravia LCD HDTV or my current 26" Sony XBR Bravia HDTV using high-quality Shure E4C heaphones. Condemned is a good game for showing off the 360, because both the graphics and sound are 9/10. The Samsung LCD they use in the 360 kiosks, while a very good display for its price, doesn't properly represent what the 360 can do visually. The kiosks don't even have the 360 hooked up via the VGA cable, which I tested even on that same Samsung and made a big difference in visual quality (i.e. removed most of the jaggies, improved dark area visibility and shadow detail). Also, most HDTVs displaying the 360 are not adjusted properly, with things such as sharpness and contrast WAY out of whack, exaggerating jaggies, making the image look flatter and less 3D, and hiding the finer details.

Many people seem to value only graphics and gameplay, but for me sound processing (i.e. # of sound channels, surround sound, overall hi-fi fidelity) weighs heavily into the equation. In fact, the sound of the 360 alone blows away the xbox.

JDOG_

Jan 27, 2006, 01:59 PM

Sounds like pointless score keeping. If it's an innacurate way to rank or even tell how many games youve played, what's the point?

It's actually the exact opposite of pointless. You don't just get gamerpoints by playing, you have to unlock achievements to get those points and for many of those games it's exceedingly difficult (i.e. 1m points in Geo Wars, Winning COD2 on Veteran, etc.).

And yes you do see how many games you've played and more specifically, how well you've done in each one of them which is pretty nifty.

They should at least make it like your aquiring miles to your credit card. A certain amount of points should translate into credits to by arcade games and such.

Ahhh yes, that would be nice, but where's the business model in that? The system as it stands now is a pretty fair and reasonable way for both MS and developers to get a good profit margin and gamers to get fun, cheap and enjoyable games without having to leave their home. :D

markjones05

Jan 27, 2006, 10:32 PM

It's actually the exact opposite of pointless. You don't just get gamerpoints by playing, you have to unlock achievements to get those points and for many of those games it's exceedingly difficult (i.e. 1m points in Geo Wars, Winning COD2 on Veteran, etc.).

And yes you do see how many games you've played and more specifically, how well you've done in each one of them which is pretty nifty.

Ahhh yes, that would be nice, but where's the business model in that? The system as it stands now is a pretty fair and reasonable way for both MS and developers to get a good profit margin and gamers to get fun, cheap and enjoyable games without having to leave their home. :D

I really don't think its unreasonable to throw a bone or 2 to the consumer after purchasing multiple games. If they offered say 50 credits for beating a game on the hardest difficulty setting, it would be like giving 50 cents back to the consumer, maybe not even that much. They might even sell more games that way and strengthen thier fan base in doing so.

TheGimp

Jan 28, 2006, 12:58 AM

I really don't think its unreasonable to throw a bone or 2 to the consumer after purchasing multiple games. If they offered say 50 credits for beating a game on the hardest difficulty setting, it would be like giving 50 cents back to the consumer, maybe not even that much. They might even sell more games that way and strengthen thier fan base in doing so.

They might, but then again, they did sell the 360 hardware at below cost, and also have provided a good deal of free and very low cost entertainment - such as playable demos and $5-$10 games which worth easily twice that in the best examples - which at least for me has greatly supplemented the usual $60 fare.

Two good examples are the free playable Fight Night 3 demo and the $5 Geometry Wars. The former allows one to play 4 rounds of a boxing match an unlimited number of times, and allows one to fight as either of the two fighters available in the demo either against the AI or against a friend. Demo is extremely well polished for a demo, including full commentary and decent (if with somewhat glitchy timing) to excellent replays that even taken alone are good entertainment value. In fact, the demo is such a good throwaway from MS, that it not only allows prospective buyers a substantial taste of the full game, but it is also provides a substantial enough experience to completely satisfy someone who really isn't a big boxing fan and therefore just wants the occasional next-gen fighter fix.

Add to the above the other playable demos, inexpensive xbox live arcade games, and the bundled game Hexic, which I played and enjoyed immensely for several days almost nonstop until reaching the top ten in both the timed and marathon variations (have fallen quite a bit since December!), and you've got one of the best launch values of all time.

So even though I've traditionally hated Microsoft, I have to admit that their current business model - perhaps supported by their prior cut throat competitiveness and trust violations that have amassed them enough $$$ to 'dump' a console (below cost) onthe market - has really resulted in consumers such as me being provided with a completely affordable option to less affordable alternatives.

markjones05

Jan 29, 2006, 01:02 AM

It's a demo... nothing special just trying to sell the game. I don't consider a demo some sort of bonus by any means...

TheGimp

Jan 29, 2006, 02:04 AM

It's a demo... nothing special just trying to sell the game. I don't consider a demo some sort of bonus by any means...

They may not have intended FNR3 demo as a bonus, but it certainly is, considering how much more limited many other demos are.
Moreover they could have whetted appetites just as easily by allowing only 2 rounds of boxing, or by making one exit and restart the game every so often.

Anyway, why should they structure things so as to throw us fifty cent' here and there for the so called "achievements" when , as you said, "we ain't dealin wit no broke niggaz..."

Getting back to the significance of gamerpoints, there really isn't any. Anyone with half a brain knows that one's total doesn't reflect one's universal gaming skill. For what it's worth, one's 'live status is at best a factor of how highly one ranks on particular leaderboards, and possibly how many gamerpoints one has earned in those games that are known to give out few points without one putting in hard effort. One of the best examples is Geometry Wars. If I see you have more points in that game than I do (still not that many), you've got my instant respect as a gamer! Likewise PGR3....

If a quick glance at your gamer points for PGR3 shows one to have most of the available points for that game, then it says such things , "that person actually got a platinum medal while using manual shift..." or " he/she actually managed to win 10 races in a row consisting of mostly high ranked players. ("Damn, I can't seem to to that", etc")

I guess my point is that the only point of gamerpoints is to boost one's rep in the eyes of those who know how to interpret them. Kind of lame, I guess, but then hey...we're spending some of our free time in Mac video game forum discussing 360 particulars, so it's hard to get much geekier than that!

Foxer

Jan 31, 2006, 09:24 AM

FYI. I just put mine up in the marketplace thread.

I hope this type of post is allowed. Mods - feel free to delete if it is against forum rules.

markjones05

Jan 31, 2006, 10:45 PM

Does anyone know if the game "Black" that is supposed to come out Feb 26th by Criterion will be backwards compatible with 360?

wwooden

Jan 31, 2006, 11:22 PM

Does anyone know if the game "Black" that is supposed to come out Feb 26th by Criterion will be backwards compatible with 360?

I thought i read on the XBox website that most games releases for the original XBox now after the 360 has been released will work. I feel like a game like that, which looks awesome, will work.

wwooden

Jan 31, 2006, 11:24 PM

It's a demo... nothing special just trying to sell the game. I don't consider a demo some sort of bonus by any means...

Well, how many demos do you have to try for games for free? I guess renting from blockbuster or something is sorta like a demo, but you still have to play $7.99 or something to try it. This is free and I think, an awesome feature of the 360. The demos have made me want to get games I never thought I would be interested in (Need for Speed, Condemned, Fight Night). I think in the long run, they might make more money buy releasing these.

bitfactory

Feb 1, 2006, 11:00 AM

I had time when I purchased it (release day). In fact, I bought 3 that day, but sold 2 on eBay for a ~$3100 profit.

Unfortunately, MS screwed the pooch in more than one way with the launch. They could have protected consumers a bit by enforcing a 1 per customer purchase limit to avoid a**hole stunts like this. It wouldn't be difficult. Hell, they are enforcing a bundling policy with some retailers that can run up the bill to 1K by the time you buy 10 games you don't want.

They should have set up an online purchase site and sold them exclusively for the first few months - would have made a bit more money up front as well.