Xbox 360, Bundles, and Delayed Releases.

[Trippy]

A 20 gig hard drive for $100! Right now you can get a 120GB HD for $20 with rebates! Everything related to XBox is overpriced, so of course the bundles are overpriced as well.

The hard drive is a notebook 2.5" drive which are more expensive than the 3.5" desktop drives. Yes you are still being gouged on the price but not quite as bad as you might think. For example the cheapest 20 GB 2.5" drive Newegg sells is $67.00. Of course Microsoft is getting their parts for less than that but they have additional costs to create the actual SKU as well.

[schild]

It has been confirmed by Microsoft that backwards compatibility with Xbox games on Xbox 360 will require the hard drive, as Xbox games were not engineered to function without one. However, 1UP is reporting that a select few (very few, it seems) Xbox games are being programmed to function without a hard drive present, and they will include the necessary emulation code directly on the disc so it doesn't need to be read from a hard drive. However, this will apparently only be done for notable "AAA" titles that are being developed after the official Xbox 360 announcement.

So now people can play their precious fucking Halo on the Xbox 3Shitty. Yay.

[Shockeye]

However, this will apparently only be done for notable "AAA" titles that are being developed after the official Xbox 360 announcement.

So now people can play their precious fucking Halo on the Xbox 3Shitty. Yay.

No it doesn't. No Halo or Halo 2 disc out there has any kind of backwards emulation code on it yet.

[schild]

More:

What's especially interesting, though, is that select premium Xbox titles in the present and future are getting special treatment. We've learned that Microsoft is inviting some developers to make their current Xbox titles backwards compatible for both 360 SKUs -- that the games themselves will contain the Xbox 360 emulation code on them. In fact, certain Xbox titles already contain the code to boot up under emulation on the Xbox 360. Teams from Microsoft are helping developers with the project.

That means things like Jade Empire, Halo 2, Battlefield 2, etc should (read: maybe, probably not, smoke, mirrors, etc) have the emulation tags on them.

Edit: Who knows what lurks in the shadows of binary? Shockeye knows.

[shiznitz]

I think it is incredibly naive to think that Microsoft is NOT micro-managing every damn detail of this product launch. Gamestop and EB have MSFT's blessing and support.

[Margalis]

The game-specific shops have been selling first-run items as bundles for a few years now. It's not MS specific.

[schild]

Yay, developers already fucking Microsofts strategy:

FROM Software's forthcoming 360 RPG set to make extensive use of the HDD...

With Microsoft’s two-model Xbox360 strategy splitting opinion and attracting widespread criticism along with acclaim, FROM Software today urged fans to seek out the premium bundle for its forthcoming RPG.

-eNCHANT arM- is said to make extensive use of the HDD, although it’s not yet clear whether this means mandatory or not at this stage; either way the mixed message stemming from the strategy is beginning to loom larger for Microsoft.

We’ll have further information soon.

The developer of From said, in an article yesterday or the day before that the game will spread across 2, if not more DVDs. This is to say, people that like playing GAMES get the fullblown xbox. People that like playing Sports simulators get the shitty xbox.

And if you're wondering if From matters as a dev house? I'd say so. Armored Core, Tenchu, Kuon, Otogi. Japan likes them. I like them too.

[Margalis]

Hell, just playing ResEvil online on the PS2 is annoying how some people make Hard Drive only games.

And what are they going to do about MMORPGs, mods, and other such things on the no-drive XBox? I'm going to guess that FFXI, which is supposed to be a launch or near-launch title, will require the HD. (It does on the PS2) What about just stupid crap like downloading extra costumes on for DOA.

It really does not make any sense to push Live as a big deal, then sell a no-drive version of the XBox. Internet connection + built-in network infrastructure = content to download = you need some place to put it.

Personally I hope that lots of games require the HD, and the core system is revealed as the POS it is.

[schild]

The core system is admittedly a POS. They know what they've created and anyone with half a brain can see through it. The whole maneuver is brilliant - appeal to the people who say they want an Xbox360 but can't afford the real one. It's like buying a Rolex on the street of NY.

[Margalis]

Except that a Rolex you buy on a street corner doesn't cost 75% of a real Rolex, and be upgraded to a real Rolex for another 50% on top of that...

I don't think it's brilliant at all. I think it's retarded, and I doubt it's going to help them move many more XBoxes. It's probably not worth the reputation hit, as well as retailers bitching to them that people keep trying to return the core system.

[dusematic]

I'm going back to Nintendo.  I hope the Revolution is as cool as the SNES.

[Hoax]

What really really really pisses me off about all this is if they release a really well done Battletech game with a really cool online persistent campaign I'm going to have to buy a fucking xbox.  Just thought I would share my disgust with that idea with the rest of you.


P.S.  Stupid consoles...

[schild]

I'm going back to Nintendo.  I hope the Revolution is as cool as the SNES.

That's cute. Because the N64 and Gamecube were so well thought out, rite?

Anyway, I just talked to the guys at Gamestop, they aren't doing those stupid bundles in store. THat's ONLY for the website. Go, preorder, enjoy.

[Megrim]

What really really really pisses me off about all this is if they release a really well done Battletech game with a really cool online persistent campaign I'm going to have to buy a fucking xbox.  Just thought I would share my disgust with that idea with the rest of you.


P.S.  Stupid consoles...

Well, you know, EA had a version of that which everyone played and though was very cool. But you know, EA and all.

 - meg

[ahoythematey]

I'm going back to Nintendo.  I hope the Revolution is as cool as the SNES.

That's cute. Because the N64 and Gamecube were so well thought out, rite?

Anyway, I just talked to the guys at Gamestop, they aren't doing those stupid bundles in store. THat's ONLY for the website. Go, preorder, enjoy.

Meh.  At least I won't have to worry about which version of Revolution to get, aside from maybe color.  There will be one version, and at the least I know it will have awesome games available.  There is simply nothing I want to play more right now than SSBM online.

[Hoax]

What really really really pisses me off about all this is if they release a really well done Battletech game with a really cool online persistent campaign I'm going to have to buy a fucking xbox.  Just thought I would share my disgust with that idea with the rest of you.


P.S.  Stupid consoles...

Well, you know, EA had a version of that which everyone played and though was very cool. But you know, EA and all.

 - meg

I know, in fact everyone 2 months or so I get an email from the Marik email list...  But its been quite for about a year now.

I loved my ppc vindicator in that game, such an underused medium.  The one flaw was that an atlas was easier to kill then an hbk because its head was so big that you really were a bad pilot if got anything other then headshots.  I think they might have changed that right at the end though.

[dusematic]

I'm going back to Nintendo.  I hope the Revolution is as cool as the SNES.

That's cute. Because the N64 and Gamecube were so well thought out, rite?

Anyway, I just talked to the guys at Gamestop, they aren't doing those stupid bundles in store. THat's ONLY for the website. Go, preorder, enjoy.

Aside from that comment clearly being a stab at humor, the real issue is a confluence of my unwillingness to pay $400 dollars for a console, and a lack of time to play but sot many games.  I really wouldn't know from personal experience how well thought out N64 or GC were, because I never owned either.  Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, but I do/did  like Nintendo first party games, and even if that's all that was released for the system, I doubt I'd finish them all.

[dusematic]

By the way, I recognize your antipathy for Nintendo from reading this site as I often do.  So, maybe from your perspective anyone who shills for Nintendo is pretty lame.  If I had my druthers I'd buy every system ever along with the complete library of all said systems and I'd beat every game.  But I'm in law school, and I can't do that.  I have an Xbox and I bought like 7 games, 3 of them sucked.  So, with that in mind, a a new Mario, a new Zelda, a new Metroid, possibly some form of RPG, and the obvious Madden would be all I may ever need (if not desire).

[schild]

People keep harping on my antipathy towards Nintendo despite the fact I probably own, play and have beaten more Nintendo games than most if not all of the people yelling at me. And the biggest object of my hatred, the DS, by the second week of it's release I'd BEATEN (to a bloody pulp), over 50% of its launch titles. And right now I've gotten a Blue DS and 7 [new] games to exhaust. Getting an exclusive for 8 months on RE4 was the only thing that dug the Gamecube out of a box for me. I just recently started playing Baten Kaitos - which I bought on release day - and if it weren't for Killer 7, the cube would have gone back in zee box after I was done with RE4.

I like Nintendo - but this extra hardware bullshit for 5-10 games in the life of a system is just something I can't cope with. And now that they've decided to not go high-definition, they've just pissed me off further. They like rubbing salt in the wounds of their fanbase. They need to stop making consoles for the house and just make portable gear and software for the other systems. I don't care how many times someone says that the Gamecube was and is profitable - it only has an installed base of like 13% worldwide or someshit - if I were them, I'd want to be making games for the other 87% of the world. Seriously. Fuckers.

[dusematic]

When you refer to "their" fanbase, do you really mean you, or people like you?  I would contend that you (obviously a pretty hardcore dude) aren't what they would consider their fanbase.  Now maybe they should, I don't know.  But they clearly have a different strategy, and I think for them, not having a huge parent company behind them, selling cheaper shit so they can profit from the systems is one of their priorities.  They then try to differentiate their products to make up for lower tech specs.  But I'm really just talking out of my ass at this point.  I don't know that much to really argue, but we have similiar interests.

[Yegolev]

The anger, it seems to stem from not enough Nintendo.  I agree, except for the part about not making a console.

[dusematic]

I guess, deep down, we all have a sick, sick love for Nintendo and want to seem them rule the world like its 1993.

[Nija]

They're not going to rule shit by not supporting the HD features of my 3+ year old HDTV.

Much hate.

[schild]

Agreed. Unfortunately they seem intent on making sure that never happens again.

Megaman Network Transmission was no Megaman 2 or 3.
Final Fantasy? Not for Nintendo.
Metroid Prime? Great stuff but no Metroid or Super Metroid.
Castlevania? Dead to them.
The nipponese strategy stuff? (Romance, Nobunaga, etc) Jumped ship to Sony.

Thing about Nintendo is I was always about their third party stuff as much if not more than the first party stuff.

[dusematic]

I concede the above points.  Although, I must question whether not supporting HDTV is that big of a deal.  I guess for some it is, but those some are a (I would think) small minority. 

[schild]

I concede the above points.  Although, I must question whether not supporting HDTV is that big of a deal.  I guess for some it is, but those some are a (I would think) small minority. 

Let's put it this way. The hardcore of the hardcore gamers have HDTVs or will have them this christmas. Once people see how much better it is and all the support MS and Sony are giving them, it will be at the top of the list for necessary gadgets. Add to that the revolution is a full christmas or two away (they are notorious for delaying consoles, NOTORIOUS - that spring release date is nothing more than smoke & mirrors to scare Sony for being last to release, imo). Nintendo basically bent over and inserted a cactus all on their own.

[Rasix]

I concede the above points.  Although, I must question whether not supporting HDTV is that big of a deal.  I guess for some it is, but those some are a (I would think) small minority. 

It's a big deal for those of us that are looking to buy an HDTV.  I've owned the NES, SNES, N64 (uggg) and Gamecube.  I never bought another console brand until my Xbox and PSP.  I was given a Playstation but never caved to buying a PS2 (wish I had). 

And now, I probably won't buy the Revolution at all.  I can live without the exclusive Nintendo titles.  They're simply not getting the games I want to play. I thank them for bringing me the joys of video gaming in my youth and beyond, but it's time for them to go the way of Sega.

[dusematic]

I wish I knew some of you in real life...you're all just so hardcore.  I saw a dude playing WoW in the law library today, but he is kind of a douche.

[schild]

8 of us live in Phoenix. Yet we've never gamed together. Ironic that. If shockeye would get his bitchass over here, we'd get some Mario Power Tennis Golf Baseball going.

[Margalis]

HD support is definitely overrated. That said, everyone know's what Nintendo's problem is. The first party games generally kick ass, but the 3rd party games are sparse.

That's a holdover of the days of NES and SNES when Nintendo had a lot of power and pushed devs around. Now that those devs have other options they are taking them. That wasn't a viable choice in the mid 90s.

Nintendo really needs to offer an olive branch to devs. Lower the price of the dev setups, make it easier to get them, etc. The game making side of Nintendo absolutely kicks ass. (I would say it is the best console game maker, by far) It's really the biz-dev side that is the problem.

[Jain Zar]

I guess, deep down, we all have a sick, sick love for Nintendo and want to seem them rule the world like its 1993.

I want Sega to rule consoles, and Commodore to rule the computer roost.

I only like Nintendo now that their ego has been smashed up and they have to stop bossing gamers and developers around. 

[schild]

Nintendo really needs to offer an olive branch to devs. Lower the price of the dev setups, make it easier to get them, etc. The game making side of Nintendo absolutely kicks ass. (I would say it is the best console game maker, by far) It's really the biz-dev side that is the problem.

Aren't God of War and ICO inhouse SCE/A products? Sorry, but those are better than anything Nintendo has put out in a decade. Also, Capcom continues to impress nonstop - and they have since the days of NES. Nintendo's stuff is top-tier definately, but they haven't made anything on the level of the previously mentioned games since the Super Nintendo.

[Strazos]

I will cry when the day comes that a console Requires HDTV. There are 3 TVs in my house. None of them are HD.

Hell, my TV is from 1987. It gets the job done fine, though I will cry when it dies.

It's really heavy.

[schild]

There are so many reasons I quit playing games for nearly the entirety of college.

Upgrading shit was the big one. Thank god the Dreamcast had such terrible copy protection.

[Strazos]

Black Sharpie Magic?