What are the chinks in XB360's armour?
- Thread starter Shifty Geezer
- Start date
blakjedi said:
besides my hope posted in this previous post:
I also wonder, if since your LIVE account activity is tied to your user name and credit card, perhaps when getting a replacement HDD from MS that they will just enable your account to re-download any previously paid content at no charge.
it doesn't help with game saves of course unless they allow you to back up to your windows machine.
some HD stuff
Hello to all,
As this is my first post let me get some things out of the way, for sake of full disclosure. I absolutely love my xbox so you could definitely say I am biased, I also skipped the entire Sony generations (I choose Dreamcast). Having said that I consider myself fair and reasonable.
Now as someone who actually owns multiple HD devices I would like to clear up some possible misconceptions people seem to have regarding HD. First, I have a 2.5/3yr old 30" CRT tube HDTV, I am an early-adopter, so MSFTs choice to go with Component cables in the box bodes well for those of us that have HDTVs older than a couple months. It seems to me that most of the people requesting DVI/HDMI ports have no HD devices outside of their trusy computer LCD monitors (which will give you a great looking screen). I also saw someone say that there were only "connectors" for DVI to analog, that is absolutely false, as many of the brilliant people here know there have been/are many styles of DVI and there was definitely one that was only analog (some Compaq laptops used it). Do a search on DVI cables.
For entirely selfish reasons, I hope that all games will be 1080i, even though I would say 720p would be better looking for fast motion games, but I am hoping the general public sees the larger number and pushes in that direction. I say this because most CRT tube HDTVs will only do 480i/p or 1080i.
I am also one of the few people who have been enjoying HD movies for some time now, I have a DH-HM40000U D-VHS, care to take a guess at what its HD output is....Component (the newest of the D-VHS players HAS moved to HDMI), like I said I am an early adopter. I also have a 26" HD LCD TV that does have DVI on it. Here is the catch, there are many people who cannot see the visual difference between component and DVI (single or dual-link) all they see is the difference between DVD and HIDEF and even then, as usual, it depends on source material.
Try visiting the avsforum.com forum where, like ps3 vs. xbox360, things get heated in a hurry, lol. Or just do a search on DVI vs Component, you will be overwhelmed. There are also some HDTVs that while they have DVI on them they are still doing a analog to digital conversion, which defeats the purpose of the DVI. So, long story short, depending on all of your equipment, component is by far the cheapest method for MSFT and us as consumers; have your priced HDMI cables recently???
Oh and as a side note, dealing with DVI-HDCP and HDMI with its copy protection, can be a PITA a REAL PITA.
If it has taken half a decade or longer to get to what could technically be considered HD, how long do you think it would take for 1080p to take off, it it is in the neighborhood of 3-5 years....won't the next next gen be coming around then...then again maybe the PS3 will help usher in more options. Forgot to mention I have 2 x360s on preorder, can't wait! So the chinks in the armor for some are a boon for others of us, just something to keep in mind. My apologies for my brain jumping everywhere.
Hello to all,
As this is my first post let me get some things out of the way, for sake of full disclosure. I absolutely love my xbox so you could definitely say I am biased, I also skipped the entire Sony generations (I choose Dreamcast). Having said that I consider myself fair and reasonable.
Now as someone who actually owns multiple HD devices I would like to clear up some possible misconceptions people seem to have regarding HD. First, I have a 2.5/3yr old 30" CRT tube HDTV, I am an early-adopter, so MSFTs choice to go with Component cables in the box bodes well for those of us that have HDTVs older than a couple months. It seems to me that most of the people requesting DVI/HDMI ports have no HD devices outside of their trusy computer LCD monitors (which will give you a great looking screen). I also saw someone say that there were only "connectors" for DVI to analog, that is absolutely false, as many of the brilliant people here know there have been/are many styles of DVI and there was definitely one that was only analog (some Compaq laptops used it). Do a search on DVI cables.
For entirely selfish reasons, I hope that all games will be 1080i, even though I would say 720p would be better looking for fast motion games, but I am hoping the general public sees the larger number and pushes in that direction. I say this because most CRT tube HDTVs will only do 480i/p or 1080i.
I am also one of the few people who have been enjoying HD movies for some time now, I have a DH-HM40000U D-VHS, care to take a guess at what its HD output is....Component (the newest of the D-VHS players HAS moved to HDMI), like I said I am an early adopter. I also have a 26" HD LCD TV that does have DVI on it. Here is the catch, there are many people who cannot see the visual difference between component and DVI (single or dual-link) all they see is the difference between DVD and HIDEF and even then, as usual, it depends on source material.
Try visiting the avsforum.com forum where, like ps3 vs. xbox360, things get heated in a hurry, lol. Or just do a search on DVI vs Component, you will be overwhelmed. There are also some HDTVs that while they have DVI on them they are still doing a analog to digital conversion, which defeats the purpose of the DVI. So, long story short, depending on all of your equipment, component is by far the cheapest method for MSFT and us as consumers; have your priced HDMI cables recently???
Oh and as a side note, dealing with DVI-HDCP and HDMI with its copy protection, can be a PITA a REAL PITA.
If it has taken half a decade or longer to get to what could technically be considered HD, how long do you think it would take for 1080p to take off, it it is in the neighborhood of 3-5 years....won't the next next gen be coming around then...then again maybe the PS3 will help usher in more options. Forgot to mention I have 2 x360s on preorder, can't wait! So the chinks in the armor for some are a boon for others of us, just something to keep in mind. My apologies for my brain jumping everywhere.
Tap In said:
After taking some x360 training awhile back, I believe the new system will not be tied to a credit card, MSFT feels that was a major drawback for live on the xbox. Retail stores will have the live cards for purchase. It would be great to have a backup system...
On a barely similar note, iTunes will remember what I bought, however, if I loose it I have to buy it again (but it does give me a nice warning that I have bought it before
)EDIT: I found what I was talking about
"Credit Card Requirement
One of the top concerns and barriers to Xbox Live access today is the credit card requirement. Future Xbox Live gamers will no longer be required to provide credit card information when creating their account!"
jvd said:
micropayement are certainly huge ... but for whom ?
most devs will simply sell via micropayement some of the content they made for the game, content which would have been otherwise included in the retail version... in the end we'll pay more for the same thing.
that and we should at least be able to play for free to the games that are hosted on individuals consoles..
the perspective of being milked like a cow doesn't make me happy.
scooby_dooby
Legend
Magnum PI said:
You sound completely paranoid to me.
If dev's hold back content they risk getting lower reviews, and having lower overall sales.
The prospect of not having my games gather dust 2 weeks after I've bought them does make me happy.
Most games I buy I get bored of and don't play anymore, downloadable content/add-ons are awesome and really give you more value for your initial purchase. you can revisit that game with renewed interest.
mckmas8808
Legend
Like what scooby. To me the little added stuff more than likely wouldn't make a game worst. If thats the case then nobody would want the downloadable content.
Magnum PI said:
A Micropayment model is needed for online games like Counter-Strike. A key reason why Counter Strike flourished is due to having one version constantly upgraded. This has kept the online community intact. If publishers can make enough money from selling new content such as maps for games like Ghost Recon 3 and Perfect Dark Zero, they will support the game longer. The community will remain united.
I find it very frustrating how things currently work on LIVE as far as updates. The lack of a Micropayment model on the current LIVE system is the greatest weakness of LIVE. It's in Publishers intrest to release an entire new game as soon as possible once sales evaporate. Counter Strike on the other hand for years steadily grew larger and larger.
Confidence-Man
Newcomer
Brimstone said:
What wrong with the way it works, exactly? Developers can and have charged small amounts of money for new content.
Confidence-Man said:
Microsoft has done it with Halo 2 but they own LIVE. What 3rd party Publisher has charged for downloadable content? All the UBI Soft stuff I've gotten has been free.
If I recall correctly Microsoft has proposed a model for Microtransactions only recently to 3rd party publishers.
3rd party publishers have always had the option of charging for content on live. This wasn't a MS only feature and it's certainly not a recent change.
I think people that complain about the option (and it is an option) of charging for content aren't really looking at the entire picture.
I think people that complain about the option (and it is an option) of charging for content aren't really looking at the entire picture.
scooby_dooby
Legend
mckmas8808 said:
The little added stuff is not what I'm talking about. I don't think dev's are going to plan their income sources around 10cent micro-transactions.
I'm talking expansion packs, extra levels, more content. These are all things that would make a game better, and for a Dev to purposefully cut them would be a big gamble that i just don't see happening.
i think it's a non-issue, we're still gonna get the same great level of gaming, the only difference is consoles finally have a delivery mechanism for expansion packs and add-ons, which is great.
[quote="scooby_doobyThe little added stuff is not what I'm talking about. I don't think dev's are going to plan their income sources around 10cent micro-transactions.
[/quote]
I think the things will be very good if the Devs arent greedy for example, a new Halo map for 10 cents would be bought for almost every halo gamers (with free Live market place) that would be 6MX10=60Mcents=600k$ for a map , but that is not, by far, close to the cost of a map, so it is a lot of proffit.
A cheap console would make their scenario a very nice to this new market.
BUT I think that there is a need to creat a free and indepedent comunity.
[/quote]
I think the things will be very good if the Devs arent greedy for example, a new Halo map for 10 cents would be bought for almost every halo gamers (with free Live market place) that would be 6MX10=60Mcents=600k$ for a map
, but that is not, by far, close to the cost of a map, so it is a lot of proffit.A cheap console would make their scenario a very nice to this new market.
BUT I think that there is a need to creat a free and indepedent comunity.
Confidence-Man
Newcomer
Brimstone said:
Ubi charged $4.99 for two Splinter Cell maps (multiplayer). Off the top of my head I don't know that anyone else has, but if they can do it everyone else should be able to.
It may be that there's a minimum amount they can charge for a transaction (I don't think I've ever seen DLC for less than $4.99), so a more flexible model where they can offer, say, individual cars for $1 each may be preferable.
I'm not spending $5.00 on two new weapons and a new outfit for a game.
I would love to pay upwards of $20 for something that adds real value to a game in terms of overall experience and not something minor. Sort of how MMORPG's bring out new worlds or locations and you buy this and there you go. That would be somewhat feasible.
For a game like Halo on Xbox 360 to really lure in users who will go ahead and buy the downloadable content then it should be something that is worthwhile. A few levels isn't enough to get most people in on it. An additional 5 or 6 levels that are just as good as what comes packed in with the game and a continuing storyline seems like a much better deal as far as I'm concernd. I would pay $20 for something like that. I can keep it on my hard drive and play them offline.
What am I getting at? Micropayments are something that are a nice addition, but they don't really bring a lot of reason to continue playing a game. A large payment for downloadable content (even if it takes 1 hour to download) is more than worth it for what you get out of it. Maybe I'm a cheap bastard.
Some people lose interest in games rather quickly. This could be a number of reasons. It's mostly the gamer has lost interest, but it could be something like the game has little replay value. If a company really wants to keep gamers in the community then it should offer bulk packages that bring a new experience to the gamer.
I would love to pay upwards of $20 for something that adds real value to a game in terms of overall experience and not something minor. Sort of how MMORPG's bring out new worlds or locations and you buy this and there you go. That would be somewhat feasible.
For a game like Halo on Xbox 360 to really lure in users who will go ahead and buy the downloadable content then it should be something that is worthwhile. A few levels isn't enough to get most people in on it. An additional 5 or 6 levels that are just as good as what comes packed in with the game and a continuing storyline seems like a much better deal as far as I'm concernd. I would pay $20 for something like that. I can keep it on my hard drive and play them offline.
What am I getting at? Micropayments are something that are a nice addition, but they don't really bring a lot of reason to continue playing a game. A large payment for downloadable content (even if it takes 1 hour to download) is more than worth it for what you get out of it. Maybe I'm a cheap bastard.
Some people lose interest in games rather quickly. This could be a number of reasons. It's mostly the gamer has lost interest, but it could be something like the game has little replay value. If a company really wants to keep gamers in the community then it should offer bulk packages that bring a new experience to the gamer.
Sonic said:
I think you'll be very disappointed with microtransactions then. Current Xbox games with maps for sale on average are around $2.00 per map. (ex. 10 Halo maps for $20) I bought some other content earlier this gen but I dont remember exact price. With next gen I see those prices atleast staying the same. We can't go back to the quake1-2 days where 1 person makes a map in a few hours. The art involved of making something of quality is incredibly time consuming now and will only increase exponentially. So save those quarters for a cup a coffee.
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