Microsoft Xbox needs to die.

[tactica]

I might be in the minority but the PC gamers can keep their mods. There is a reason game developers generate content for their own games; it's because they're good at it. I haven't seen a mod yet that isn't in some way half-arsed or stands out from the original content like dog's balls.

L.U.R.K. for STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl enhances the game without adding tons of junk or making things easy - in fact, it makes the game harder in most respects. Despite the bugs, IMHO it's the only mod worth playing for that game.

 

[MorganL4]

All that and yet you bought four of the things and continue to pay for their internet services? When you keep throwing money at them like this, you are giving them every reason to think they are doing a fantastic job.

well his first two red ringed, which means he SHOULD have gotten replacements for free. So he only actually had to pay for the original and his GoW3 version.

Personally I own an elite, that Red ringed, I got it replaced and haven't had any problems since..... That said in 2009 I got myself a gaming rig and since then my three sixty has been gathering dust. It only really comes out when my friend comes over and wants to play Halo Reach.

As to whether the 360 needs to die........meh we will probably only have 1-2 more console generations ANYWAY so I don't think it matters that much.

 

[Gatx]

You have mostly valid points, however no console allows the users to create mods, this is not only Microsofts fault.

Actually Unreal Tournament on PS3 supports mods. Not sure how many other games do though.

 

[kouriichi]

Sorry to hear that. But personally.... x: ive only had one fatal RROD.

I love my 360. And yes, my computer is more then powerful enough to run any game that hits the shelves. While i own WAAAAAY more games on PC, i do enjoy console gaming. Many games are produced for it, and id rather have a console game on a console, then a bad port on a PC.

 

[godofallu]

I on the other hand love Xbox and hope it lasts forever.

Sure I have had a few break, but Microsoft was kind enough to fix them for me for free. Plus I would gladly pay thousands of dollars for an xbox.

The controllers do have some loose battery pack problems, but the design feels so good I can't hold any other controller and smile. They just don't compare to an xbox controller and that probably is a big part of the reason its the default for gaming on PC.

Plus xbox live is revolutionary and really brings a community together.

 

[IckleMissMayhem]

So I can't contribute to this discussion if my Xbox hasn't broken in the five years I've owned it?

You can, but your console working really doesn't mean much.

By that logic, your console not working doesn't mean much either.

Surely your best bet would be to switch consoles if you're that unhappy with a 360?

 

[Vigormortis]

hahaha thats a bit fo a loaded statement

there are plently of really good mods..however Modding is not actually somthing that interests me,

1. because I havnt quite worked out how it works

2. by principle Vanilla game should be good enough, if its not I'll find somthing else to play

In most cases, it's not so much that there's something wrong with the "vanilla game" as much as it is just getting something different or extra.

Think of it in terms of, say, a car. You buy a brand new car (or have a nice one already), but you decide you want better tires. Or better rims. Or some pin-striping. Or perhaps some nicer leather seat covers.

It's not as if there was anything wrong with the car before hand. In fact, you probably loved it before. It's just that, sometimes, you want something a bit different or you want to tweak it a bit to suit your wants exactly. This is usually what modding is about.

There's also the occasions of people just wanting to make their own game, and thus use the tools made available to them by the gaming companies. In these instances, it's not about adding some content to a game, it's about making your own game using the engine and assets of the core game.

Oh, also, modding is fairly "easy". (easy is quoted because making a mod isn't that easy, but installing one is. usually.) Most of the better modders create self-installers that will set it up for you. Other, less skilled or lazy modders will just archive the files and tell you to put them in the right folders. Unless the setup of the core game makes it impossible for a self-installer to work, in which case it's the fault of the original developer and not the modders.

Plus, in most cases, you can find relatively easy instructions on how to set up a mod online. A quick google search is all you need.

I can't imagine that consoles break as often as they have for you. So maybe, just maybe it's not the company's faul? Maybe, and this will probably be hard to accept but maybe it's you?

While i adore PC gaming, it isn't cheap. you complain about going through 4 xboxs and some controlers, yeah that's 2 gaming PCs. And you will blow up your first gaming PC so yeah 4 xboxs you're still spending less.

I might be in the minority but the PC gamers can keep their mods. There is a reason game developers generate content for their own games; it's because they're good at it. I haven't seen a mod yet that isn't in some way half-arsed or stands out from the original content like dog's balls.

Ever heard of a game called Counter Strike? because it was a mod. lets list a few other games that started as mods.

DOTA (a mod which created an entire genre of games)
Team Fortress (started as a quake mod)
Nehrim - (Oblivion mod that is pretty much an entirely new game)

There's also the unofficial Oblivion patch. A fix to many many many (not all) of the bugs in Oblivion. A patch. Created by gamers to fix a game the developers couldn't. half arsed indeed.

Now, I don't know about that. I still have my gaming PCs from 2004 and from 1998. I still use the one from '04 on occasion to play things that, well, don't quite "agree" with Windows 7, .net framework 3, Direct X 9+, or OpenGL 3.0+.

In general, I've found you can buy much more reliable hardware for a PC when compared to the made-on-the-cheap hardware you usually get in today's consoles. I know not all Xboxes fail, but the failure rate of Microsofts console is still quite high. Higher than would usually be considered acceptable in other product lines.

Also, even if you "blow up" your first gaming rig, it's usually only one or two pieces of hardware that'll go. And you can easily replace them without having to shell out a fortune. In most cases, a good bit less than you'd pay getting a couple of controllers for a console, let along another console.

Unless you're buying pre-built. In which case, oh yeah, you're quite right. That'll cost you WAY more than getting a couple of consoles.

But then, I never recommend going pre-built. It's like buying an unreliable console, only for eight times the price.

 

[Wolfram23]

And just look at their live service, where it costs developers 40 thousand dollars for a simple patch on their games.

Got a citation for that number?

Sure: http://www.videogamer.com/news/schafer_xbox_360_patches_cost_40k.html

With the new patch we are bombarded with advertisements, and they have the guts to raise the price on live for something which really should be free.

Oh, it should? You mean like internet service? Because that's free, right?

Those services are free in PS3, Wii, and PC... Xbox is the only one charging

You cannot mod ANY game on the 360, which makes people who bought skyrim on the 360 insanely jealous of all the fun the pc community gets to have with user created content. Microsoft simply does not ALLOW us access to it because it contradicts their ideals.

No shit, Sherlock. No console lets you do that because they're consoles. And you claim to love user-generated content and update-based games, but those two things mix like sodium and water. I can't download a mod for a computer game without it invariably being rendered useless by the next update, so I choose not to use mods even when I have the opportunity to do so.

Actually that's complete crap. I've used some huge overhaul mods on many games, in particular though STALKER: CoP and Skyrim, and the vast majority of mods do not and can not break because of the update. The exceptions are things like Skyrim Script Extender and SkyBoost which vastly improve game performance and the script library (Papyrus)

And let me establish right now: I much prefer paying $400 for a console that can reliably play any game I feed it than sinking two grand into a computer that will be outdated and useless before I'm out of college. And that's assuming that it doesn't crash or get a virus or something.

...Ok. I disagree with the value assessments as well as the implication of huge instability, but we'll roll with it. Not like Xboxs ever break and need replacing. Oh... right.

Next gen microsoft NEEDS to lose the race because they are literally keeping gaming in the dark ages with their selfish tactics. In a perfect world everyone would buy games only for the pc so developers / consumers can enjoy freedom and the biggest hurdle for developers would not be the money to make the games, but only their creativity.

Oh, I see. So your idea of a "perfect world" is one where consoles don't exist? Because that will end the evil console monopoly that Microsoft has?

Implying that open source is the perfect world is vastly different than implying consoles shouldn't exist, but I'm not going to put words in his mouth

Take a quick check at your operating system for me. Is it something with 'Windows' in its name?

Sad, the way monopolies work. Want to play DirectX video games on PC? You need Windows. I personally await the day games are made on open source code like OpenGL and I can simply run Ubuntu or whatever free OS.

Anyway, my personal opinion is that consoles are good. They get more people into gaming, and as they mature games get better across the board (including PC ports). It's pretty simple to get away from consoles, really. You can get gaming on a PC for as little as $400-500 (plus a monitor, but same goes for a console). Sure, it will be outdated compared to the most modern tech in a year as new GPUs and CPUs get released, but compared to the software it will not be struggling any more than when it was new. Games just aren't really getting any more demanding on the minimum specs side of things.

Sure, on PC you might need to troubleshoot an issue here and there (10 minutes on Google... less time than you spend reading this forum. Or Facebook) but otherwise, keep you PC in good condition and it'll last a long time. I think the slight inconveniences are vastly, vastly out striped by the benefits - but of course not everyone feels that way and I'm ok with it.

 

[chadachada123]

I've only had one RRoD myself during the five years between purchase (right after launch) and switching to the Halo Reach 360S.

That said, it sucks that people have to move up to the new 360 just to avoid the problems that affect a lot of the old ones.

Still, I think Microsoft has a very slim edge over Sony, especially with the completely fuck-tarded controller that the PS1/2/3 has.

 

[woodaba]

I've had my Xbox since release. Never Red ring'ed. Not once.

Microsoft has no more shady business practices than EVERY SINGLE GAME COMPANY KNOWN TO MAN. It's not a problem with them, its a problem with the industry.

 

[William Ossiss]

here's where opinion and fact become eschewed. My opinion is that the xbox 360 sucks. The only redeeming quality is that they have the best library of exclusives FOR ME. I've owned a ps3, and the only time i used it was for a sony exclusive. Otherwise; it all boiled down to "do I play this on ps3 or xbox?" The latter was always chosen, simply to up my gamerscore. Now I've gone through 4 of these consoles personally. First two RRoD'd and the third went to an E74 error. I decided to test something with this last one. I refused to smoke around it, kept the area nicely ventilated and acceptably dust free. Lo and behold, it works still to this very day. It also doesn't hurt to install your games first. Oh, look. A wall of opinion.

The fact is that MS dropped the ball by bullrushing this console out as early as the did. This is probably why they're only just now revealing the consoles at next years E3 (rumored). Even then, it will be awhile till it gets released.

It damn well better be backward compatible...

 

[Chunga the Great]

What I hate about these threads is there is always one person who types this line. "This has not been a problem for me and my Xbox works just fine." Just fine and dandy random person on the internet who thinks that everybody else must treat their stuff like crap. Like how mine broke as well and is sitting in my closet never to be played again.

That one random person and bunch of other people. I have only had one 360 break down on me and that was 2 years after launch AND after being thrown down a flight of stairs. On my second 360 and it works perfectly since 2009.

And then that awkward moment where even more people back you up and say that I have owned a 360 for 4 years and it has never been a problem to me ever.... Yeah.

And possibly the most awkward moment that can be had on a forum, when yet another person says that he has owned a 360 Arcade since 2008 and has never had any issues with it.

 

[ElPatron]

I must be terribly lucky because my xbox never failed me.

I haven't seen a mod yet that isn't in some way half-arsed or stands out from the original content like dog's balls.

Battlefield 2 Project Reality (so.. much... content...)
Counter Strike
Day of Defeat
Team Fortress
Red Orchestra
Basically any well known mod for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series
Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines (the game had to be modded by the community to work, lol)

 

[The Funslinger]

I might be in the minority but the PC gamers can keep their mods. There is a reason game developers generate content for their own games; it's because they're good at it. I haven't seen a mod yet that isn't in some way half-arsed or stands out from the original content like dog's balls.

BTW I'm sorry to hear about the issues you've had with your 360's. I've got three in the house (2 Pros and a 360S) and none of them have had any problems.

While I'm fairly certain he's a troll, I agree. On my first xbox, and it's going strong.

One tip I have is keep it horizontal. It puts less pressure on the disc tray.

I'd say it's time for the whole console generation to move on, but I'd also say it's a good thing people have had time to get some real wear out of this generation. I'd hate it if they started trying to get people to shell out for a new console every couple of years (which some people really would do) I feel like we've really had a chance to explore their potential.

So while it is time for a new generation in the next couple of years, we've had a good run, and any outdatedness is hardly xbox exclusive... >_>

 

[Erttheking]

Hey, I'm still on my first xbox which I have owned for years, and from the sounds of it, you want an entire console to fail because you aren't satisfied with it. Ok then, I guess the millions of us that actually like it can go jump in a ditch then, apparently if you don't like it it has to go. Also an imperfect economic system, this has been a problem since the dawn of man, and it will be a problem when Humanity is snuffed out, even if that happens billions of years from now.

 

[Vigormortis]

A couple of things.

1) Screw mods. Most are cheats of some kind and while I enjoy SOME mods, most just don't improve my game-play experience enough for me to make the switch to PC. And this IS NOT an invitation for you to suggest ANYTHING!!! I know about ALL the mods you are so dying to tell me about.

2) I, like many others, didn't have much of a problem with the RROD. One time about a year into use, sent it in, had it back for free in less than a month.

3) Power for price. A brand new 360 was $400. A laptop(I move too much to have a desktop) that could do the same thing would have cost around 1000-1500. And I REALLY don't feel like debating this one. In addition to this, PC just isn't as reliable. There is always a problem. With install, with the graphics card, with the in-game content, with the performance. And if you found some deal/computer that blows what I just said away, quite frankly I don't care. I am talking from experience.

4) Exclusive games and ease of use. Not only are there several games I LOVE that are only on 360, but I feel that Xbox LIVE is completely worth it for excellent service, good servers and great accessibility.

If you feel differently, that's fine. I however, will be playing my 360 for a VERY long time.

So...basically what I'm reading here is, "I'm a console fan who doesn't like someone talking trash about my platform. So here are my (ill-informed) thoughts on the matter and I don't care what you have to say because I'm right and don't want someone to prove me wrong."

That's just...just...wow. Not even sure how to respond to that.

Don't worry though, I'm not going to debate any of this with you. It's clear you've no intention on hearing anything but what Microsoft feeds you.

Also, to take a page from your book of 'posting rules', feel free to NOT respond as I'll be extending you the same courtesy you give to others. By that I mean ignoring you.

(Oh, and for the record, I'm NOT a PC elitist. I've owned one or two consoles from every generation since the NES era. So I don't hate consoles. Well, until this current generation that is.)

snip

For someone who calls into question the validity of someone's claims for lack of 'citations', you seem to make a lot of your own.

Regardless, I'm done with this whole "consoles vs PC" debate. It's beyond childish at this point. Not to mention the sheer level of condescension is just staggering. It's like watching a bunch of Russel Brand clones all arguing with each other.

However, I really must refute one of your "claims". Getting a PC that's at least twice as powerful as the 360 will actually cost you less than a 360. For that matter, building one that can play any game currently available will NOT cost you two grand. Good God man, what? Are you buying some top-of-the-line gaming laptop from Alienware? If so, then you deserve to have the thing die out in a year or two.

As I said in my previous post, I still have my gaming PCs from 2004 and from 1998. They didn't cost me an arm-and-a-leg to build, and they still work fine. I still use the one from '04, in fact.

Likewise, I've had FAR fewer issues with my PCs than I have with my 360. I constantly have to connect to Xbox Live to get my arcade games and DLC to work. I can't even recall how many times I've had to connect to Live just so I could access the DLC for Halo Wars or other games.

PC's don't 'magically' become outdated every few years. Unless your some techophile who just HAS to have the latest tech. Which, if you are, then you really wouldn't be playing on a console, would you?

As for "getting a virus", well, that's all user negligence. If you get one it's your own fault. Not the computers.

If anything, consoles are holding game design back. And I don't just me graphically. (which I'm not too arsed about anyway) Faster, more powerful CPUs and greater RAM/memory capacities would allow for larger, faster, smarter games and NPCs. Just for starters.

 

[Iron Criterion]

So I can't contribute to this discussion if my Xbox hasn't broken in the five years I've owned it?

You can, but your console working really doesn't mean much.

Oh so I'm only allowed to quote my personal experiences if they support the "we hate Microsoft" argument.

Quote mining for the win. I mean, his statement was only three sentences long, surely the middle one wasn't so confusing that you couldn't grasp it, or see the continuity involved.

Further, I always have to posit: So what if your system works? What does that mean to this thread?

It means a lot to the thread actually. It's called healthy debate, and for a debate to be successful and not just a flame-war you need differing opinions backed up by personal experience. If we only had a bunch of people with consoles that didn't work berating Microsoft it would paint a very inaccurate but dangerous picture.

And considering you have designated yourself 'intelligent' enough to be condescending toward me, than I hope you can see I was more pointing out how hypocritical and unfair his "your personal experience doesn't count but mine does because it bashes Microsoft" argument was. Really now.

 

[boag]

I am now on my fourth xbox where my first 2 had RROD and third had trouble with the huge bar thing continously turning off and the dvd driver not closing properly. My fourth xbox is the limited gears 3 one which comes with 2 gears of war controllers both of which are screwy. The one had its b button get caved in after 2 weeks and the second continously loses battery power over and over. This is my 5th xbox controller to mess up.

And just look at their live service, where it costs developers 40 thousand dollars for a simple patch on their games. They lured a bunch of small independent developers and with the new update beat them in a corner and charge developers huge amounts of money to put games on the arcade.

With the new patch we are bombarded with advertisements, and they have the guts to raise the price on live for something which really should be free. You have to have an active live account to have access to "perks" like netflix (thats a JOKE) and live ruined any communication with their community with their games. Just look at the sorry state of the dungeon defender dlc, microsoft acts like bloody money grubbing tyrants and just look at how it ruins games that thrive on dlc like l4d or team fortress 2. You cannot mod ANY game on the 360, which makes people who bought skyrim on the 360 insanely jealous of all the fun the pc community gets to have with user created content. Microsoft simply does not ALLOW us access to it because it contradicts their ideals.

Enough is enough! all microsoft accomplishes is strangling developers with their bullshit, and get away with releasing GARBAGE hardware so you have to re-buy the console and controller over and over and they actually have the guts to charge you almost 100$ a year to play games online.

Next gen microsoft NEEDS to lose the race because they are literally keeping gaming in the dark ages with their selfish tactics. In a perfect world everyone would buy games only for the pc so developers / consumers can enjoy freedom and the biggest hurdle for developers would not be the money to make the games, but only their creativity. Will microsoft ever have gems like Cave Story, SOL exodus which is trying to make a space combat comeback, or Terraria? NO, because they ask for way too much money. Microsoft is the equivalent of the church in the dark ages.

What is there to defend about the 360 other then brand loyalty?

4 consoles? that is either incredibly bad luck, or the environment where you put your console is high in salt and or dust.

Also, I understand your anger over the Company, but unless you had a very big and extensive title collection to being with, why in the hell would you buy 4 consoles from the same company if you have had such a dreadful experience?

As a consumer I would have stopped by the 2nd time the console quit on me, or I would have gotten one of those extended guarantees that so many stores want to sell to you these days.

Finally, I understand that you want make people aware of these EVILZ of the company, but the best thing YOU can do as a consumer is just stop buying their products and go to their competition, and if you really want to stick it to them, instead of making a fuzz over it on an internet forum and leaving it at that, i would start talking directly with M$ customer support, recording the calls and posting them for all to see, these usually give you better results and often times free swag to try and shut you up about your nightmarish predicament.

 

[Daffy F]

To be honest, I think you've probably just been treating it badly. I've had a few problems with squashed buttons and such on my controllers, but I freely admit that they were all caused by my own hand - When I got overly aggressive playing CoD4 when I was a bit younger.

I've had my xbox for 4 years now, and it has even had the 3 Red rings - I managed to get it working again, and it's now working perfectly again.

Basically I think you've had very bad luck, or you've been treating your consoles badly.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

A couple of things.

1) Screw mods. Most are cheats of some kind and while I enjoy SOME mods, most just don't improve my game-play experience enough for me to make the switch to PC. And this IS NOT an invitation for you to suggest ANYTHING!!! I know about ALL the mods you are so dying to tell me about.

2) I, like many others, didn't have much of a problem with the RROD. One time about a year into use, sent it in, had it back for free in less than a month.

3) Power for price. A brand new 360 was $400. A laptop(I move too much to have a desktop) that could do the same thing would have cost around 1000-1500. And I REALLY don't feel like debating this one. In addition to this, PC just isn't as reliable. There is always a problem. With install, with the graphics card, with the in-game content, with the performance. And if you found some deal/computer that blows what I just said away, quite frankly I don't care. I am talking from experience.

4) Exclusive games and ease of use. Not only are there several games I LOVE that are only on 360, but I feel that Xbox LIVE is completely worth it for excellent service, good servers and great accessibility.

If you feel differently, that's fine. I however, will be playing my 360 for a VERY long time.

Reading this has made my brain malfunction and given me a headache.