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XBox 360 Rant

H

happydudeca

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 5, 2007
78
0
Canada
Rant on

After having numerous problems gaming on my Mac, in Windows XP and OSX, I deleted my Boot Camp partition, cast aside my PC games, and bought an XBox 360.

Here's the problem, I suck. I haven't used a video game system since playing countless hours of Goldeneye on the old N64. I picked up COD's 2, 4, and 5 (I have PC versions) but even on the easiest settings I'm getting slaughtered. It's getting better (albeit using auto-target) but I'm still expending copious amounts of ammo when I used to be more of a marksmen type of player. I spent half an hour on XBox live and mustered about 5 kills and about 50 deaths before I couldn't take any more. I just can't aim fast or accurate enough and the replays show me moving like a zombie.

I'm contemplating a XIM 360 ($200) but you need a PC to get it work properly and I don't really want to deal with Boot Camp again... but I used to love playing FPS games with a keyboard and mouse and would get very respectable kill ratios. Does it get any easier or am I just too old for this crap and should go buy a Wii?

Rant off
 
The awkward thing is the Wii has the best FPS controls but very few (good) FPS games. I agree with controllers though. I've been playing plenty of PC based FPS games, probably "invested" 600 hours into TF2 and L4D over the last few years so going to an Xbox was just terrible. I still don't like playing FPS games on it, other than Fallout 3 for obvious reasons!

Maybe go back to PC gaming? The controls are generations better and you don't need XIM360 just to make it similar to a PC.

Just give other games a shot. TF2 PC is just flat out brilliant - the graphics are superb and the gameplay is nicely paced. Plus because it's mostly a team-oriented game you can just be a lonely sniper or engineer at the back.
 
Practice.


I mean, games on console have changed dramatically since the N64 (as you have seen) so missing being part of the FPS-on-console evolution is gonna make life difficult as hell. I don't think the Wii is the answer, as those 'hardcore' games are horrid on it so you will either need to suck it up and put some hours into it getting better with the sticks or return the 360, and make an affordable gaming PC (This post of GAF seemed pretty sweet, and since you're a Canuck like me, NCIX.com or their retail stores in the Vancouver area have crazy good PC deals)
 
raggedjimmi said:
The awkward thing is the Wii has the best FPS controls but very few (good) FPS games.
Click to expand...

Sorry I really do not agree with this. I have yet to play a single Wii game where FPS controls felt anything other than uncomfortable and disconnected. This includes Metroid 3, Red Steel, Conduit, Medal of Honor etc....

Hated every single control scheme offered with the wii remote & nunchuck 'so far'... I'm hoping Motion Plus improves things, but not holding my breath, I read that Red Steel 2 still does not offer a left-handed option too at this stage (it makes the sword swinging fps sections impractical for lefties).

sikkinixx said:
Practice.
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Agreed.

The 360 control pad is IMO the best console controller for FPS games (on a console). It does take practice and when first switching over to it though.
 
You are probably competing against kids who play (name the game) as a profession, know every map, know every trick, and every loop-hole. If you are casual, they'll wipe the floor with ya. :)
 
I had some buddies that played halo before coming to work, played halo AT work (large software company...not ms....), talked about strats during lunch and played halo after work.

I couldn't hold a candle to these folks.
 
It's not even practice for most people.

I've mainly noticed that the level you start out at, will pretty much be the level you'll stay at for that game. (Does not apply to all people).


For me, I bought CoD4 late, and as soon as I got on, I was playing with people who's levels were a ton higher than me. I still beat them with one of the first weapons you unlock. I of course got a little bit better by using better guns, but not by much. It's just that I'm good with video game's. (I average, on COD4, about 30 kills, and about 10-15 deaths).
When I bought Call of Duty World at War, I was immediately good at it, because that's just how I am.


Try to find a way to get a keyboard/mouse working on the 360.

I know that I suck with a keyboard/mouse, but give me a 360 controller, and pretty much in any FPS game, I'll be good.
 
Auto-aim... :) The demo of Call of Juarez for the PC had it turned on by default. Before turning it off in the preference, I noticed that the game was playing itself. Why even bother playing a FPS, if the game is going to aim for you? This game is considered hardcore and it was more accessible than your average Mario Party.

The XIM 360 is not going to give you real mouse input, all it's going to do is translate the mouse's movement onto the stick. The problem with this, is that when you go to move quickly to get where you want to point, which is the mouse's strengths, the XIM won't register every point the mouse reads, it will skip over them with latency. An example of this, is if you go to to move your hand in a quick circular motion, the cursor on the screen will cut corners and track more of a polygonal shape. This is bad when you need to aim quickly and precisely. It will have some advantages over a straight stick, but it's not a real mouse solution on the 360.

And $200 is the price of a GTX 275 right now. Add in the cost of the 360 and games, and you can buy a good mobo and a QuadCore CPU. You already have the OS, so all you would need is the PSU, case, memory, and HD, so a couple of hundred more, give or take depending on quality. This PC will eat a 360 for breakfast.

I'm with Jimmi on the Wii and FPSs. The Wiimote on a good setup is closer to a mouse. It's not as accurate, but it still allows for a fast reaction, which a thumb-stick can not, so it won't hinder your play style.

Anyways, hopefully things work out with the 360, but you're never going to match a PC for FPSs, not when MS won't allow a mouse on their console. Even if that were the case, most developers would just ignore it, like they do on the PS3.

OK, I have a rant about the 360, well it's influence on PC gaming. I FREAKING HATE ACHIEVEMENTS!! :mad: I didn't mind them before, as in my other games they didn't get in my way, but after finally playing Street Fighter IV in one of the most atrocious online services on the PC; GFWL, the bombardment of achievements telling me every 5 seconds that I did something, was FREAKING annoying. Why on earth some of you younger guys like this silly whatever the crap it is, is beyond me? It's stupid when it comes down to it. No one cares that I got a multi-hit combo on my oponent, so why it needed to register something that superficial is DUMB. And at the end of each match I couldn't just move on to play another match with my friend, it had to wait while it flashed dozens of stupid windows in my face telling me about everything that was being added to my profile. LAME!!! And this is what those self proclaimed hardcore gamers are into?
 
I remember years ago when I used to switch the control setup in Halo to play like GoldenEye 007 for quite a while, then was encouraged by others during a LAN party to use the default dual analog controls and I just couldn't do it.

After much practice though, dual analog control now feels completely natural to me and I definitely can hold my own in COD4 and COD:WaW.

So just takes some practice.
 
fireshot91 said:
I know that I suck with a keyboard/mouse, but give me a 360 controller, and pretty much in any FPS game, I'll be good.
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Believe it or not you on you controller are at a disadvantage against anyone using a keyboard/mouse. You may be better than they are, but you had to overcome the hardware handy cap. Or to reverse the perspective, they had an easier time than you.
 
i suppose some players are, unfortunately, just not good at some games. you could play for hours and hours, and still not be on par with the average player. some users are lucky enough to pick it up quickly.

COD4 i play ok online, and sometimes you do good and sometimes bad. i do think that the skill, once you get it, does not go away. like riding a bike. i went to a LAN party, and we played CSS for hours. i hadnt player for over 2 years, and even on the first match i was top out of 36 players, and some were in clans and had their own clan shirts and all that rubbish. its a skill you can acquire, or are simply, so to speak, 'born' with.
 
It will take a while to get use to it. Practice does help. I know if I don't play a game for a while I get worse and if I play it heaps i get better. Make sense.

Not sure about other games but halo has ranked playlist. i.e you will vs only people on the same level as you unless they have bought a new account just to go back to level 1 and beat everyone. So if you suck you will be versing people who also suck.


But if you don't get better turn your xbox into this:
 

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The XFPS isn't a real mouse solution either, as it's also tied into the limitations of a stick. So it's slow, has a dead-zone, and it doesn't track nearly as accurately as a mouse on a PC.
 
The XIM 360 seems to rate very well but I'm not convinced that spending $250 is worth it. At the same time, I am NOT spending any money building a PC, I bought a Mac for a reason! We'll see.
 
Returned my XBox ($300), my battery charger kit ($30), and wireless adapter ($100) back to Best Buy today....

... took my $430, bought a PS3 (120gb slim for $300), sold my 3 XBox games at a loss, bought the same 3 games plus Fallout 3 for the PS3, and still came out ahead.

I should have just got a PS3 in the first place. I find the controls on this thing so much more intuitive and precise I neither need nor want a mouse.

Microsoft and their noisy, over-priced junk can shove it!
 
Wait what. I thought UT3 was the only PS3 game that supported keyboard/mice?
 
I guess it comes down to what you're comfortable with, I can not play FPS on a PC because I find the controls awkward and would rather the controller because of the button layout.

Congrats on finding a middle point which seems to be the PS3 for you.



Bless
 
happydudeca said:
Returned my XBox ($300), my battery charger kit ($30), and wireless adapter ($100) back to Best Buy today....

... took my $430, bought a PS3 (120gb slim for $300), sold my 3 XBox games at a loss, bought the same 3 games plus Fallout 3 for the PS3, and still came out ahead.

I should have just got a PS3 in the first place. I find the controls on this thing so much more intuitive and precise I neither need nor want a mouse.

Microsoft and their noisy, over-priced junk can shove it!
Click to expand...

Haha, we've been trolled by another fanboy...
 
Hermolicious84 said:
Haha, we've been trolled by another fanboy...
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Grow up and get a life. I'm not a "fanboy". :rolleyes:

I don't give a flying f--- about what console anyone thinks is 'best', which one sells most in a year, or whatever else you gamers seem to care about. I really don't understand why people feel the need to proclaim their system of choice as superior to another. Each console has strengths and weaknesses. The XBox has a poor reliability history, is over-priced (especially the wireless adapter), and is a loud machine but the online experience is top notch the game selection and quality is excellent. The PS3 is now an excellent bargain, online is free, and doubles as a Blue Ray player but there are some technical glitches with games, smaller game selection, and the online experience is inferior.

I tried an XBox and didn't like it, I tried a PS3 and liked it... that simple.
 
happydudeca said:
Grow up and get a life. I'm not a "fanboy". :rolleyes:

I don't give a flying f--- about what console anyone thinks is 'best', which one sells most in a year, or whatever else you gamers seem to care about. I really don't understand why people feel the need to proclaim their system of choice as superior to another. Each console has strengths and weaknesses. The XBox has a poor reliability history, is over-priced (especially the wireless adapter), and is a loud machine but the online experience is top notch the game selection and quality is excellent. The PS3 is now an excellent bargain, online is free, and doubles as a Blue Ray player but there are some technical glitches with games, smaller game selection, and the online experience is inferior.

I tried an XBox and didn't like it, I tried a PS3 and liked it... that simple.
Click to expand...

Your whole first post was about how you hadn't played console games in a while and weren't very good without the mouse and keyboard. I was going to tell you to stop playing multiplayer and just practice in single player and you'd get used to it quickly! You know, a supportive gesture.

But no, you wait to see what people have to say, then come out with your speech about how the Xbox 360 is loud and expensive and blah blah. Guess what, the PS3 controller is a lot closer to the 360 controller than it is to a keyboard and mouse. You're not going to be any better at the games, you really just wanted to whine about the 360.
 
It was a rant about the XBox, thus the title of the thread :p . What can I say, I just like the PS3 better. I find the controls to be more precise to the point that I feel much closer to where I was with a mouse, I like the lack of online voice-over plus it's free, the machine itself is quieter, and it's a Blue Ray player.

In any event, different consoles appeal to different people and neither is better than the other. Us arguing over it accomplishes nothing. You like your console, I like mine. We're both happy.

Still, neither a fanboy nor a troll. :cool:
 
I never liked the Xbox. The controllers are just way to big for my hands. Then again. People just say its because Im a 13 year old girly girl >> But saying that does not make the controllers smaller.

I grew up with PS2 Gamecube and N64 so I would probably get a PS3 and a Wii even though I always like my PS2 more then my Gamecube :eek:

And yes. My friend has a 360. A black one and it sounds like a jet taking off when you turn it on >< It is almost louder then are Performa and that thing is very loud! :eek:
 
Kristenn said:
I never liked the Xbox. The controllers are just way to big for my hands. Then again. People just say its because Im a 13 year old girly girl
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The original xbox controllers were way too big for most people. The newer ones aren't that bad, just play on it and practice, you will get used to it. I thought the N64 controllers were clunkers.
 
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