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Xof

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A Consideration of the Xbox 360 Platform

Xof|5156d ago |Blog Post|26|

Like the boring title?

I'd like to waste a bit of my time (and yours) considering the Xbox 360 as a gaming platform. Oh, you know what to expect here--console war flamebait. After all, it's impossible to try and criticize any console these days without setting off a riot, or being dismissed for attempting to start a riot. Content and intent are irrelevant.

But I don't care: I'm here to vent.

I own a 360, and I have to say, I don't like it. Not one bit. And I'm not a recent convert, no no no, I've had the thing for years, and my opinion has soured with each passing month. The thing of it is, the 360 has a lot of potential to be a great gaming machine, but Microsoft has completely squandered most (if not all) of that potential.

I wont bore you with the litany of legitimate complaints about Microsoft's console--the microcurrency, hardware failure rates, costly peripherals, etc., etc.--like I said, I'm really only here vent. I'm not pushing an agenda or advocating one platform at the expense of another: I'm just whining. And what, in all of my verbose meanderings, am I whining about?

My 360 has no games. Not now, not in the future.

Content. That's it. Library-wise is where the 360 fails as a platform. There's simply too few top-tier games on the platform right now, and as far as I can tell, absolutely nothing to ever look forward to in the future. I don't like this. I've mentioned this before, and been insulted for it: apparently, people assume I somehow enjoy purchasing electronics and never using them. In 2011 I've spent more time cleaning dust of my 360 than playing games.

Why? Because I've got a PC. And a PS3. And when it comes to exclusive (legitimately exclusive) games, the 360 is getting less and less. In the begining, things were great. We were getting top-quality titles from a variety of genres--Ace Combat 6, Chromehounds, Lost Odyssey, Tales of Vesperia, Halo Wars... but now, nothing.

Yes, the 360 has some decent shooters. Personally, that's not a genre I'm particularly fond of. And you know what, even if you ARE that kind of person, even if you adore every Halo game out there, you should STILL be irritated by the lack of variety. Where are the 360's new RPGs? I've seen nothing worthwhile since Fable III, and what a stinker that was. Where are the flight simulators worth looking at? The mech games? The strategy games? The adventure games? The platformer games?

I don't care who you are or what kind of games you like, if you own a 360 you ought to be disappointed at the line-up of future titles, and you ought to have been disappointed at that line up for the past long while. People need to calm down and realize that not every complaint is about perpetuating some juvenile "console war." That kind of hostile environment is detrimental to EVERY consumer. These complaints MUST be verbalized by gamers, or else we run the risk of the exact same thing happening with the next console generation.

And if it can happen to Microsoft, it can happen to Sony and Nintendo, too.

newgamernation5155d ago

Granted I am a PS3 fan myself, but to say the Xbox360 has no games is a bit harsh no? I get you like the PS3 and PC more and that's cool but to overlook games like Halo Reach, Mass Effect (up until recently), Gears of War 3 is a bit over critical. You may not have liked Fable 3 but it sold over 3 million copies, thats immense. You want to know were all the games are? They are available on both consoles and thats just the way today works. Why get exclusives when you can sell consoles with 3rd party games hence Call of Duty helping to push Xbox360 consoles.

r1sh125155d ago (Edited 5155d ago )

i agree...
I love my 360 a little more than the ps3, I find gaming on it is just easier.
I had mw2 on both consoles and on the ps3 parties kept getting dropped, not to say the xbox was perfect but IMO xbox live is more stable.
I also think that things that tend to matter in slightly more competitive games like voice chat quality are better on the xbox.
I have astro A40's so its even more noticeable that the xbox is better in that department.
I do agree that the entertainment part of the xbox is pretty weak - In the UK the film library on the xbox is pretty small compared with the PSN film library.
I persoanlly dont use them but if I wanted to I would use it on my ps3.
Also I feel that the PS3 in the UK on demand channels are just a bookmarked browser, why cant those channels create actual software which runs smoother?
Both have pros and cons but its good to have both....
Its not a problem when someone prefers one over the other, for me shooters and driving games are better on the xbox, but sports games are better on the ps3.

The 2011 lineup for the xbox has been tiny comapred to the ps3, but most multi plat games tend to have better numbers on the ps3.
2011 for the ps3 is massive, but there wont be any sequels to the games which have 2011 release dates until on/after 2012 so maybe 2012 might be a quieter year for ps3 and xbox may have a better line up.
Its a matter of timing, who knows maybe MS have games lined up for next year??

rob60215155d ago

I've found Call of Duty usually runs a little better on Xbox live - but I believe that's largely based on what Activision does. Voice quality varies quite a bit from game to game.

I don't see a lot of evidence that 2012 will be a quiet year for PS3 and a loud one for 360. Sony still has almost all of their studies (now doing 2 year cycles), and unless they suddenly deflect massively to NGP or something weird 2012 will no doubt be another strong year for Sony.

There isn't much evidence at this point to suggest MS has anything lined up that isn't kinect(and likely for casuals) or called kingdoms or Halo. Plain and clear MS hasn't invested in exclusive studios - they depend on people being interested in multi-platform games and those games being critically acclaimed. It's too expensive and late in the game to buy out a multiplatform game into an exclusive.

r1sh125155d ago

I did say maybe...
who knows its too early to announce any 2012 titles anyway

Godmars2905155d ago

Not as likely to happen to Sony or Nintendo. Example has proven that their in-house resources are far better than MS's. They may spend more money in advertising a proven asset such as Halo to make several other project, but that's their problem: they're more concerned with proven titles than making new ones.

NeverEnding19895155d ago (Edited 5155d ago )

Come on buddy. You say you've owned an Xbox 360 for years? So do you just enjoy wasting money or are you just unintelligent?

You've always hated the Xbox 360. Your arguments against the Xbox 360 are poor, old, and outdated. If you're going to be a fanboy that's fine. Just do better at it.

I was looking to play some DC Universe this week, but I can't. So instead I picked up DA2. Along with the better version of multiplatform games, the Xbox 360 has exclusives this year that should be mind blowing. I expect a big E3 from Microsoft and hopefully some announcements from Sony regarding when PSN will be back.

GodofSackboy5154d ago

Xbox 360 exclusives this year: 2 (and "kingdoms" which we know nothing about

The_Ultimate_Guy5153d ago

I guess we are going to ignore kinect games as well.

1. Wait and see what MS announce at E3 before you "assume" only 2 exclusive games.

2. Just because a game is exclusive doesn't mean it's a good game. Sony may have released more exclusives this year but look at their reviews. Quality over Quantity and right now Sony is only delivering on the quantity.

Troll_Police5153d ago

Exclusives are the reason to own both systems. If both systems had all the same games then why own both? I primarily game on my PS3 which means I buy all multi plats on my PS3 and have an Xbox for exclusives and my Xbox hasn't been turned on all year and won't get turned on until Gears 3 in September. The PS3 offers more variety. I've bought Killzone 3(89 meta), LBP2(92meta), and MLB 11: The Show(89 meta) and love all three and they can only be played on the PS3. Those are good scores whether you like it or not. The only games the Xbox has released this year are Fantastic Pets and Carnival Games(trust me, you don't want to see the metascores). See, it always "wait til E3, wait til E3" with you guys. What about January - June? And don't give me this crap about MS don't announce games until they're close to release(see Kingdom's and Gears 3).

The_Ultimate_Guy5153d ago

"Exclusives are the reason to own both systems."

- I disagree, how about a working and secure Online? How about certain features that an online service offers?

- If I don't care about KZ3 (meat 84) http://www.metacritic.com/g... then how does that game being exclusive benefit me? If I am not a fan of certain exclusives on the PS3 then how do those PS3 exclusives help influence me on which system to purchase? Just because a game is exclusive doesn't mean it automatically equals quality.

- What about January - June? What a stupid questions. Mortal Kombat, MvC3, Brink, Crysis 2, not to mention games from last year that are still being played like Halo Reach, NHL 11, Battlefield BC 2, CoD BO. Just because a new game comes out doesn't mean older games suddenly become less relevant. Just because you don't want to hear the truth about MS waiting for E3's to announce games that are coming out within a year (Gears was delayed and was suppose to have come out earlier since the announcement BTW) doesn't mean that it's not the truth.

- People like different aspects about consoles and what they have to offer other than just games. XBL is a much better online service than PSN...don't believe me...how is your current online gaming going on the PS3? Achievements > Trophies since not every game has Trophies. Party chat and private chat > txt messages over PSN.

TheColbertinator5155d ago

I disagree.I play my 360 3 times more than my PS3 or Wii anymore.After GT5 released for PS3 and Metroid Other M for Wii,I'm mainly done with those two.PS3 has 1 game that interests me a year and 360 always has something for me on Arcade,an exclusive or a sweet multiplatform.

Its ok though,different strokes for different folks.

DelbertGrady5153d ago

"I play my 360 3 times more than my PS3"

And you got 4 times more disagrees for saying that.

TheColbertinator5153d ago

@DelbertGrady

lol yeah this crazy site

It doesn't bother me though,I am proud of the gaming I have done and have made my choices.I will stand by them regardless of fanboys or console war paranoia

HolyOrangeCows5155d ago

I hear ya, Xof.

Among all the issues I've had with the 360...

...hardware issues, accessory prices, slaughtering RARE Ltd. classics, increasing LIVE prices, strangling developers, ruining a nice simple main menu with a less navigable and over-advertised one...

...the main problem with the 360 comes down to the games. It's lacking in games exclusive and otherwise, failing to bring variety.

And the 360 has less games that make you think "Wow, there's nothing like that on the other platforms" these days. I remember playing games like Dead Rising, Crackdown, Gears of War, etc and thinking just that. But then time went by. Exclusives from publishers like Capcom pretty much disappeared, franchises like Crackdown went belly up, games like Gears of War were answered to with the likes of the much more fluid Uncharted 2.....what happened to the unique sort of lineup that the 360 used to have?

And other consoles like the Ps3 are releasing games like Infamous, Last Guardian, God of War 3. All variety and no substitutes.

You can go ahead and drag "TEh Conzole warz!!" into this, but what complaint here isn't legitimate? You're answering to an unhappy customer. I feel cheated. After probably $200 worth of LIVE fees, waiting for unique titles, having hardware issues....what do I have? Who are you to tell me I'm a fanboy?

Show all comments (26)
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repsahj1d 7h ago

I am happy for CDPR. Their hard work paid off because the Switch 2 version are always in the top 5 Switch 2 launch game sales.

jznrpg3h ago

Not much launched with it besides ports so it should be expected I guess.

DivineHand1253h ago(Edited 3h ago)

This may be one of the weakest launch lineups Nintendo has ever had, with Mario Kart being the only first party game, but Cyberpunk 2077 will definitely give you tremendous value for your money.

One tip I can give people who have never played the game is to first read books from the cyberpunk subgenre. This will allow you to appreciate the story much better. If you find yourself asking which life path is the best to take at the start of the game, in this case it is Corpo, Streetkid, and Nomad. You likely don't know enough about the genre, and certain things will fly right over your head. While it is not mandatory, the game will be 10 times better if you read or listen to some books first.

Some books I have enjoyed in that genre are:
Cyber Dreams by Plum Parrot,
Stray Cat Strut by RavensDagger
Tower of Somnus by Cale Plamann
Mist Runner by Nicholas Searcy

If you can only read or listen to 1 book, then I recommend Cyber Dreams by Plum Parrot. It is the closest thing to Cyberpunk 2077.

badz1492h ago

40 vs 60 fps is not something that I would even consider calling "competitive"

Good-Smurf1h ago

DF are Nintendo's occasional bootlickers after that blatant Zelda games ad scandal.
Games like CP2077 are meant to be played on big console or powerful PC on a big screen.
Got to love how they're simp for full price purchase of 5-year-old game and still getting the worst version to play on.