Xbox 360

[Jables]

In all fairness neither could Sauvemente, and where d'yeh suppose he is these days.

[Ganny McVagflaps]

I don't know but from that screen name he sounds like the kinda fella who could do some drywalling without batting an eyelid. That get me the whole grand and a half deposit back without having to lose some of it for fixing the fucking thing.

[bishopcruz]

No clue about what is wrong with the code. But if you gel SF2 let me know and we'll play online and shit.

Edited January 22, 2007 by bishopcruz

[Ganny McVagflaps]

Three different codes didn't work and then I went to just do the credit card option and the cunting thing was tryna charge me in Euros.

 

I'm dying for some Street Fighter II.

[MetalHeart]

I want.

[Jables]

You want... What?

[The NZA]

 

now that's a skin.

[The NZA]

Heads up - 360 Update coming May 7th

 

 

While the update has a plethora of new features, the biggest by far is that Microsoft is bringing instant messaging and a new snap-on controller keyboard to the console.

 

The new feature will allow Xbox 360 and PC users to text chat with on another using Windows Live Messenger.

 

"The big news we are integrating instant messaging to live," said John Rodman, Senior Product Manager for Xbox LIVE and Xbox 360. "You can instant messenger to the Xbox from anywhere in the messenger family."

 

Rodman said the new feature, free to Silver and Gold users, will allow users to have six instant message conversations going at once, each with multiple contacts. The message boxes will pop-up in an opaque box much like standard game messaging is already treated on the console.

 

Your current contacts from Live Messenger will also be added to your 360, which will let you know if your friends are on a PC or the console.

 

While the instant messaging will support the virtual keyboard and USB keyboards, Microsoft plans to release a cool-looking new keyboard attachment for the 360 in the future.

 

The QWERTY keyboard, expected to be officially announced this summer with a price and date, will fit neatly between the "horns" of the controller and allow you to play and type without having to switch devices.

 

When asked if this was a step toward the Live Anywhere feature first announced last year, Rodman said he couldn't talk directly about how that was coming.

 

"I can't speak to the progress of the overall program, but I can say this is one of the building blocks come to life," he said.

 

While instant messaging is certainly the biggest change coming with this next update, it's not the only one.

 

Other new features include:

 

• A richer Achievement notification pop-up will showcase the name of the unlocked Achievement and the gamerscore value without needing to leave the game to check the Achievements list.

• Enhanced family settings features for Xbox Live communications enable different defaults for video chat and voice chat.

• A new Xbox Live Marketplace blade lets Xbox Live members access the content they seek--whether it is game content or TV shows and movies (available in the United States)--from one place on Xbox Live.

• Updates to Xbox Live Arcade allow owners to quickly see which Xbox Live Arcade games their friends are playing and join in the fun. Xbox Live members can also compare progress of leaderboard scores and Achievements directly with all friends on their friends list. Expanded "Tell a Friend" capabilities make it easier than ever to boast about Achievements and high scores.

• A new option in Auto Downloads provides faster access to the entire collection of free, trial-version Xbox Live Arcade games.

• New progressive download controls provide easy access to optimal viewing options by letting people fast-forward, rewind, pause and resume as their video is downloaded from Xbox Live Marketplace.

• Extension of the background download functionality will allow owners to set their Xbox 360 console to turn off automatically after downloads are complete.

 

 

The update will also tweak the look of the console with some minor changes in the way the dashboard looks, including:

• The name of game in tray is now displayed in the dashboard.

• When the tray icon is highlighted, a list of achievements, game icon and gamerscore for that game is displayed.

• Video trick modes are enabled for content that is being progressively downloaded from Video Marketplace.

• Playback progress bar indicates download completion.

• Improved skip forward, skip back functionality during video playback.

• Switchable aspect ratio now available during video playback (Auto to Letterbox, Zoom, Stretch, Native).

• Background downloads can occur after the console has been turned off--the console will automatically power down when background downloads complete (not enabled by default).

• Earned Achievement notifications now show Achievement and Gamerscore details over the game without having to bring up the guide or leave the game.

• Player and friends lists now quickly show session presence information for quick identification of users that are joinable.

• Marketplace has now been raised to its own Dashboard blade to improve navigation.

• Added Windows Live ID management functionality to Account Management.

 

Thoughts?

as a non-owner, id say the achievement stuff sounds exciting, but that keyboard controller thing looks as comy as...the original x-box fatty gamepad, but worse. Cant you guys just use a USB wireless a la PS3? id think that would be ideal, mebbe a 3rd party will pick it up.

 

Im not sure how exciting the messaging thing is, but then im not certain what you might feel is lacking from XBL anyway, so im interested.

 

[Ganny McVagflaps]

I honestly can't say I give a fuck about any of that stuff. It doesn't really take that long to pause the game and check out your achievement if you feel the need to. Also, I haven't used MSN messenger in God knows how long and that funky keyboard thing isn't gonna get me started again. I dunno, I'm sure there's people out there that'll get alot of use out of it but it's not for me.

[MetalHeart]

I just shove a keyboard into the second player usb and use it to type shit out.

 

 

2T, you need to start getting on MSN more! I miss talking to you!

[bishopcruz]

Yeah it does support usb keyboards, so this is for those who like the convenience, better than that freakish Gamecube pad/Hybrid thingie (did that ever get released?)

[Jables]

Me-rikey the rooka this a rot.

 

I look quite forward to the update.

[The NZA]

bish - which GC hybrid you talking about? i dont know that i ever saw that one.

[bishopcruz]

 

And apparently it DID get released.

[the division of joy]

..... the fuck?

[The NZA]

that engineer mustve had the same level of love for gamers that uwe boll does.

 

its like, i close my eyes, but i can still see it there

[The NZA]

I cant really see where many are excited about the Elite either, but GamePro has a list of reasons why its not so elite that...well...its GamePro quality.

 

I mean, i was surprised they didnt include HD-DVD but some think it might not last long as a format, others appreciate not upping productiong costs by tossing out a format that most arent ready/wanting right now anyway. The lack of wifi is a valid complaint, and i honestly dont know how much of a factor noise is. Ill even give them the consumer confusion about having 3 models, but...color? 360 users are somehow getting the shaft? and what the fuck is # 2 about? youre upset it doesnt cost more?

 

I swear, i go reading through comments at kotaku & other places to try to learn about how people are enjoying what they got, what it does and doesnt do, and even with the fanboy battles eveyrwhere, i can still learn more about a sytem and its faults than i did from this article.

[Jables]

I'm tempted. Not because I need the next big shiny thing, but my unit's drivedoor's giving me grief, and my only recourse is to send my console to sydney for 3 weeks to a month to get it replaced or whatever. Right now trade-in's pretty favourable at EB, especially toward something next-gen. I'm skimming that article at the moment, 3 models my arse. Does the Core pack actually have structural differences that set it apart from the Premium? Is there an actual difference between mine & Panch's Xbox? I'm not being rhetorical incidentally, I'm unaware of any difference, and selling a barebones unit & a pack with all the bells & whistles does NOT fucking constitute differing models, whiney cunts. The Elite is a different fucking model, making it the second. These guys are cunt-mange of victorian quality.

[The NZA]

they are, but arent we talking different models, at that?

 

Bish knows this way more detailed than i, but panch and others have told me the premium's the way to go. Wiki has some good details:

 

The premium has this over the core: the headset (for live), pack-in ethernet cable, possibly some media remote (?), component/HD cable, and a month of Live (gold). The biggest thing i see is the core's lack of a hard drive, unless you had your heart set on a wireless contorller and chrome finish.

 

Given that you cant just pop in a non-Xbox drive, im guessing capacity is the biggest reason for these upgrades, depending on how much media/downloadable content you wish to keep on your drive, no? The Elite's 120 GB is the big selling point. If you wanted HDMI cables, you can get em. Unless you really like black, and 20 GB isnt nearly enough space, i dont know the elite justifies its price, but its your call.

 

you can paint it black all you want, still aint a ps3

 

jokes aside, congrats to Bish on getting backwards compatibility on Jet Set Radio, Panzer Orta & others, i figure he's a happy panda.

[Jables]

Oh, very nice. It's a pity I can't make the controllers look that little more generic and sans friction, then I really could be living the dream instead of a horrible lie.

 

And Backward compatability is a fucking non-point until they port Xmen Legends 1 & 2.

 

And no, if Panch can throw bulk-cash at Microsoft to make his identical to mine, there's no fucking model difference. PS3 has different models. Oz only saw the 60Gig, but there are folks out there who have 20gig ones that are minus HDMI input at all, yes? Without fucking with the internals they'll always have an inferior unit. My point being, the core pack is simply a no-frills option, the premium pack being an optional bundle. They're not different models at all. The elite will be a different model. And in terms of performance, it'll apparently negate the heating issue, run sharper graphics and mow my lawn of a sunday if I figure out the 6-letter combination that lock's Bill Gates' private vault where he swims in dollar coins ala Scrooge McDuck. As I said with my situation, where I'm looking at replacing my unit anyways, it'd probably just make sense to upgrade to an Elite.

[The NZA]

quiet, you! the immersion suit's been settled, our precious sixaxis will again rumble soon.

 

few things tho:

 

And Backward compatability is a fucking non-point until they port Xmen Legends 1 & 2.

 

I gotta admit, i love those games, but i sold em back recently...once you unlock deadpool, play through a bit on hard etc, youll really go back? there's too many other titles to catch up on, i think. Now, the downloadable content you guys get for Utlimate Alliance (whenever it presents), that'd get me to go through a game again.

 

And no, if Panch can throw bulk-cash at Microsoft to make his identical to mine, there's no fucking model difference. PS3 has different models. Oz only saw the 60Gig, but there are folks out there who have 20gig ones that are minus HDMI input at all, yes? Without fucking with the internals they'll always have an inferior unit. My point being, the core pack is simply a no-frills option, the premium pack being an optional bundle. They're not different models at all.

 

I see what youre saying...that if you can spend more and piecemeal (sp?) it to the next model, its not a huge thing. Well, the 20GB PS3 did get HDMI in the end, actually. What it didnt get, space aside, was wifi (which i dig, but im curious as to speeds it gets...if i play online and it lags, im gonna be tempted to LAN it), and flash card readers, which is an option thats only important to me if you use that kinda tech - im not sure what the applications are, unless you can store PS3 game/etc data on a flash card. I mean, how often do i look at digi cam pics on a console? so you basically lost that and the chrome, which some folks dindt mind. But youre right that there's a difference that cant necessarily be upgraded.

 

The elite will be a different model. And in terms of performance, it'll apparently negate the heating issue, run sharper graphics and mow my lawn of a sunday if I figure out the 6-letter combination that lock's Bill Gates' private vault where he swims in dollar coins ala Scrooge McDuck. As I said with my situation, where I'm looking at replacing my unit anyways, it'd probably just make sense to upgrade to an Elite.

 

That's the thing i think is confusing...i dont see it negating heating issues one bit. Did the 360 have such issues? ive heard of a lot of errors but i didnt know that to be a popular one, nor something the elite's trying to address. Noise, however, it wont do anything for, as ive read the newer, quieter chips wont be produced (supposedly) till fall.

As for running sharper graphics...now, if your TV is HDMI, i can see this point. But,

1) can you not get an adapter for the premium?

2) How many of your games run in 720p/1080p? I dont know of any that run in the later.

 

Again, bish might be more helpful here, but i dont think youre getting a crap version on components and a good TV. Tho i admit, i refuse to use components on my future PS3 since it and my TV take HDMI. So if all thats true, its up to you if the extra $ is worth it.

you should just admit you dig black. racist. i mean, you got options.

[The NZA]

quiet, you! the immersion suit's been settled, our precious sixaxis will again rumble soon.

 

few things tho:

 

And Backward compatability is a fucking non-point until they port Xmen Legends 1 & 2.

 

I gotta admit, i love those games, but i sold em back recently...once you unlock deadpool, play through a bit on hard etc, youll really go back? there's too many other titles to catch up on, i think. Now, the downloadable content you guys get for Utlimate Alliance (whenever it presents), that'd get me to go through a game again.

 

And no, if Panch can throw bulk-cash at Microsoft to make his identical to mine, there's no fucking model difference. PS3 has different models. Oz only saw the 60Gig, but there are folks out there who have 20gig ones that are minus HDMI input at all, yes? Without fucking with the internals they'll always have an inferior unit. My point being, the core pack is simply a no-frills option, the premium pack being an optional bundle. They're not different models at all.

 

I see what youre saying...that if you can spend more and piecemeal (sp?) it to the next model, its not a huge thing. Well, the 20GB PS3 did get HDMI in the end, actually. What it didnt get, space aside, was wifi (which i dig, but im curious as to speeds it gets...if i play online and it lags, im gonna be tempted to LAN it), and flash card readers, which is an option thats only important to me if you use that kinda tech - im not sure what the applications are, unless you can store PS3 game/etc data on a flash card. I mean, how often do i look at digi cam pics on a console? so you basically lost that and the chrome, which some folks dindt mind. But youre right that there's a difference that cant necessarily be upgraded.

 

The elite will be a different model. And in terms of performance, it'll apparently negate the heating issue, run sharper graphics and mow my lawn of a sunday if I figure out the 6-letter combination that lock's Bill Gates' private vault where he swims in dollar coins ala Scrooge McDuck. As I said with my situation, where I'm looking at replacing my unit anyways, it'd probably just make sense to upgrade to an Elite.

 

That's the thing i think is confusing...i dont see it negating heating issues one bit. Did the 360 have such issues? ive heard of a lot of errors but i didnt know that to be a popular one, nor something the elite's trying to address. Noise, however, it wont do anything for, as ive read the newer, quieter chips wont be produced (supposedly) till fall.

As for running sharper graphics...now, if your TV is HDMI, i can see this point. But,

1) can you not get an adapter for the premium?

2) How many of your games run in 720p/1080p? I dont know of any that run in the later.

 

Again, bish might be more helpful here, but i dont think youre getting a crap version on components and a good TV. Tho i admit, i refuse to use components on my future PS3 since it and my TV take HDMI. So if all thats true, its up to you if the extra $ is worth it.

you should just admit you dig black. racist. i mean, you got options.

[Jables]

Week beginning May 7th for the update!! Wooohooot!!

[Ganny McVagflaps]

My fucking Winning 11 has these hardcore scratches around the edges. What the fuck? Fucking thing won't let me get far into the second half before it crashes and I keep thinking it'll be okay...it'll be okay...but it always fucks up. Thanks to my wishful thinking I've fallen two fucking divisions down. What the fuck is the score.

 

I'm pretty anal about DVDs/games and tend to keep them immaculate so what the fuck gives. A mate was telling me a while ago about this but I thought he was just bullshitting. Does this happen alot?

 

Man, I'm pissed. I've been looking for somewhere that rents it so I can trade my copy for theirs but nobody fucking has it. What the shit?

 

Fuck ya'll...I'm getting a PS3*.

 

 

*it'd probably be a Wii but that's another story in itself. Once I hit the Jerze it'll be Wii-ago-go. Cunting tourists.

[Jables]

We're talking about a soccer game yes? Sorry to say mate, noone outside Dago-bah(italy-bwahahha) and the Limeyland gives a fuck about the sport, so it's not suprising. And secondly, are you outinely knocking the console over? Çause I've gone through no less than 3 copies of Gears of War that way. I heard that the 360 can just chew up games for the very sake of it, but it hasn't happened to me yet thankfully. Hell, some EB's down here have started refusing scratch guarantees for that very reason so...

 

Crack a copy of C&C in or something. That's make you feel better.

 

Ooooh. Has anyone else checked out the C&C demo on live? Soooo-fucking-wonderful...