Your Top 5 letdowns and positives for Xbox 360

tenzor

tenzor

CAGiversary!
I saw this thread posted over at teamxbox, and felt it would be a cool topic to post.

So here are my top 5 letdowns:

#5 - Sports 360 Launch Lineup
This may be the past, but it was something I was disappointed with when it happened. All the launch sports game were just ports of their xbox counter parts if not improved half ass in terms of graphics and gameplay. Just sucks people were paying $60 at first to play these games when the same version was like half the price on the XBOX.

#4 - XBOX BC Titles
Their are so many games I still want to play that aren't BC, and some of the games don't run that well on 360 if not at all. They should also include a feature where you can change your screen resoultion (480p,720p,1080p etc) by press the 360 guide so when I play Fable or KOTOR I don't have to go back to the dashboard to change it to 480p.

#3 DRM Issues
It just sucks when you payed for something, but have to be signed in online to play it or view it. I know this is not a issue if you are on your first and only xbox, but thanks to the shitty hardware people are probably on their 2nd xbox if not more

#2 - Not including a wireless adaptor w/ the 360
I know the 360 is about choice (which is why they have like 4/5 different types of systems), but not including a wireless adaptor with the 360 kind of sucks when every system at least next gen right now has one out of the box (except for the 20gig PS3, but that sku is history.) Even the Wii which doesn't really focus on online gameplay has one. I know some people don't use wireless, but a ethernet port can still be included along with the Wi-Fi had Microsoft implemented this instead of forcing people to fork out $99 for their brand, or money for a 3rd party one.

#1 - 3 Red Lights of Death or any hardware failure
The 360 will probably go down in history as the biggest piece of shit ever made in console history in terms of reliabilty at least in my opinion. I have gone through 3 different xboxs, and I know someone who has went through 9. The 360 has cause me to turn my xbox 360 on in fear everytime I want to play something. When I get a new game I have to wonder if my 360 is going to die anytime soon. Although the 360 has probably the best lineup of games out of any system present their hardware is a total failure at least until recently when it looks like the improved their hardware with heatsinks and new chips etc, and extended their warranty which is a excellent move on Microsoft's part however you generally only get back a refurbished system or one that was someone elses so that just makes it a letdown.


My Top 5 Positives

#5. HD-DVD Add on
Thanks to Microsoft making this a cheap alternative HD DVD Player, I am in love with HD/DVD and even Blu-Ray now that I watch my movies with so much more enjoyment in HD now, and look foward to all my favorite or new titles coming out on HD each and every week. Although my 360 HD Drive was my first love I have moved on and upgraded to the Toshiba Standalone HD players.

#4. XBOX Live Arcade
This was genius of Microsoft. I love playing Arcade games because they are a great way or reliving the past or expirencing new games that aren't necessary to put on disc. Easy to pick up and play, and have a quick fix.

#3. Excellent line up of Games
I don't know how PS3 and Wii can keep up when 360 has an excellent libary of games currently out, and coming out.

#2. Xbox Live Service/Marketplace
Sure we have to pay $50 a month or other ways, but $50 isn't to bad for the kind of service Xbox Live provides. I love exploring the Marketplace and seeing what is available to download, and its great hearing about and getting demos that are released.

#1. Achievments
Some could care less, while others live off achievments. I honestly don't think I would play most my games more then once if not twice after beating it just to unlock points for my gamerscore. This tactics has allowed me to get more out of my games, and enjoy them more. Plus coming from a PS3 owner also I usually prefer the 360 version over the PS3 because of the achievments.
 
Letdowns (I thought of 6):

Cheap Build Quality/Quality of Components

Cost of pretty much everything on the Xbox Live Marketplace

Xbox Backwards Compatbility

Horrible DRM

Keeping it a closed system (can't use flash drives for memory cards, etc) to keep accessory prices high.

The fact every 360 doesn't have a hard drive/ and the Premium hard drive is so small (core should have been 20 GB, Premium should have been 40-60 GB from day 1).


Positives:
Great game library / developer support

Xbox Live is great (aside from no dedicated servers)

The 360 pad is my favorite traditional controller

Good firmware updates twice a year that usually add some pretty cool stuff to the system. Game updates are very painless, which is nice.

Xbox Live Arcade has some great games and a promising future
 
[quote name='elsnow77']360 controller d-pad anyone?[/quote]

I never used the d-pad until I got live. For the first hour of symphony of the night I was despising that controller. I still can't do soul steals 100% effectively.


Positive: TMNT, Just like the one I dumped fistfuls of quarters into 15 years ago! 4 players at once, fighting bebop and rocksteady at the same time, etc.

Negative: Charging money for downloading movie trailers
 
Positives:
1. Great games
2. XBLA
3. Custom soundtracks
4. Easy relaible online play
5. Lots of demos to try


Negatives:
1. Build quality
2. "Digital rights management"
3. No built in wireless
4. nickel and dime ya to death with downloadble content that should have been in the game or free.
5. D pad
you said 5 but toss in backwards compatibility and hard drive bullshit prices and how you can't use one off the shelf.
 
positives

1. game library
2. XBL and the content that is provided such as demo's,trailers etc
3. achievement points


negatives

1. lack of dedicated servers for online play...lack of large online players in games

2. cost of dlc
3. d pad
 
positives

1. hd dvd addon
2. xbox live (includes online play and marketplace)
3. achievements
4. better software/3rd party support
5. It is affordable

negatives
1. lack of web browser (other systems have it)
2. no group voice chats
3. early hardware woes (it looks like the elite systems got it right)
4. dpad
5. lack of wireless (not a killer but others do include it. i got the official adapter from ebay cheap so not a big issue for me)
 
The good:

1. Game lineup. Kills the Wii and PS3 dead, easily...and that won't change for the forseeable future. When it is all said and done I will probably wind up liking it more than the Dreamcast's.

2. Controller. The d-pad is ass, but everything else is flawless.

3. Marketplace surprises. Stuff like Halo 3's first teaser suddenly being on the marketplace even before it was shown at E3, or Streets of Rage 2 coming out on XBLA last week.

4. Arcade. Was the drizzling shit for about a year and a half, but now it pretty amazing. Canessa and that other guy leaving was the best thing that could have happened.

5. Achievements. I didn't think I'd care at first, but for some reason this wound up being an amazing idea.


The bad:

1. DRM bullshit. FIX IT. If I pay for it and your shitty console breaks because the hardware is flawed, I shouldn't have to be online to play what I paid for after I get a replacement. There are several options for a solution.

2. Live limitations. I know it is a closed platform, but boy do you feel caged on Live. Even a limited internet browser would be nice. And where the hell is the 4-way video chat?

3. Hardware reliability, Duh.

4. Pricing. Both software and hardware. Those recent console "price cuts" were about as useless as it gets, with only the Premium making more than a dent in the previous MSRP.

5. No wireless internet or hard drive included with every console. "Hard drive optional" is an albatross around the console's neck. Stupid, stupid, STUPID decision to make it non-mandatory...especially when the 360's older brother was the console that brought it into the mainstream. The lack of games that use custom soundtracks now is downright sad, which is too bad since that was one of the coolest things about the O.G. XBox. Not having wireless built-in just makes them seem greedy.


Undecided:

Marketing/"public face." This is much less important than the other stuff here, but it's nice when you don't shake your head in disappointed astonishment (Nintendo) or just scream "SHUT THE fuck UP!!" (Sony) during press events. J Allard disappearing has helped as well. That said, with Moore gone who knows if this area will hold up in the future.

Backwards compatibility. They have done OK so far...probably better than I would have previously guessed, honestly. However, I stil expect them to hold up to their original promise they used as a talking point for the system: "we hope to eventually have every game backwards compatible." As long as they at least keep trying it's ok with me.

Wishy-washy HD stance. It's an HD game system, but they shit on HDMI until they were practically forced to include it. They sell an HD DVD add-on but do next to no marketing for it, choosing to instead promote their inferior-quality video download service. Can't they at least do BOTH?
 
The good:

1. Game lineup. Kills the Wii and PS3 dead, easily...and that won't change for the forseeable future. When it is all said and done I will probably wind up liking it more than the Dreamcast's.

2. Controller. The d-pad is ass, but everything else is flawless.

3. Marketplace surprises. Stuff like Halo 3's first teaser suddenly being on the marketplace even before it was shown at E3, or Streets of Rage 2 coming out on XBLA last week.

4. Arcade. Was the drizzling shit for about a year and a half, but now it pretty amazing. Canessa and that other guy leaving was the best thing that could have happened.

5. Achievements. I didn't think I'd care at first, but for some reason this wound up being an amazing idea.


The bad:

1. DRM bullshit. FIX IT. If I pay for it and your shitty console breaks because the hardware is flawed, I shouldn't have to be online to play what I paid for after I get a replacement. There are several options for a solution.

2. Live limitations. I know it is a closed platform, but boy do you feel caged on Live. Even a limited internet browser would be nice. And where the hell is the 4-way video chat?

3. Hardware reliability, Duh.

4. Pricing. Both software and hardware. Those recent console "price cuts" were about as useless as it gets, with only the Premium making more than a dent in the previous MSRP. Marketplace rape on many items doesn't help either.

5. No wireless internet or hard drive included with every console. "Hard drive optional" is an albatross around the console's neck. Stupid, stupid, STUPID decision to make it non-mandatory...especially when the 360's older brother was the console that brought it into the mainstream. The lack of games that use custom soundtracks now is downright sad, which is too bad since that was one of the coolest things about the O.G. XBox. Not having wireless built-in just makes them seem greedy.


Undecided:

Marketing/"public face." This is much less important than the other stuff here, but it's nice when you don't shake your head in disappointed astonishment (Nintendo) or just scream "SHUT THE fuck UP!!" (Sony) during press events. J Allard disappearing has helped as well. That said, with Moore gone who knows if this area will hold up in the future.

Backwards compatibility. They have done OK so far...probably better than I would have previously guessed, honestly. However, I stil expect them to hold up to their original promise they used as a talking point for the system: "we hope to eventually have every game backwards compatible." As long as they at least keep trying it's ok with me.

Wishy-washy HD stance. It's an HD game system, but they shit on HDMI until they were practically forced to include it. They sell an HD DVD add-on but do next to no marketing for it, choosing to instead promote their inferior-quality video download service. Can't they at least do BOTH?
 
I have mixed feelings about the 360. For every positive change that has been made, there's a negative that really bugs me.

1) + It's a wireless controller with better button placement than the controller S!

1) - The Dpad is not as good as it ought to be, and the batteries tend to drain rather quickly.

2) + The controller is a step forward in the ergonomics department!

2) - Where are my analog buttons all over the controller? I liked having them when playing racing games on my Xbox. . . Is this progress?

3) + Many of my old Xbox games are BC!

3) - Microsoft made the memory card slot in the 360 incompatible with the old Xbox memory cards. Now I have to start every BC compatible game FROM THE BEGINNING!!!

4) + They made the 360 able to get positioned either vertically or horizontally!

4) - When my child decided to take it from vertical to horizontal while a game was playing, the disc inside got ruined. . . I think this is a definite design flaw.

5) + The 360 has a ton of great games already out, and many more getting released soon.

5) - They are almost all $60, and the preowned games I'm interested in are almost always above $50. (I have a job, but I'm pretty strapped with debt unfortanately.)

6) + You can turn the console on with the controller!

6) - I get worried that leaving the game system on for a few hours will decrease its lifespan considerably due to heat buildup which is known to warp the workings inside. . .

See what I mean?

Steve
 
Positive:
1. Marketplace, lots of great free demos and videos to download.
2. VGA Support, one of the few systems to have cheap official VGA cables (Dreamcast is the other) and that is what I mainly use.
3. Great software lineup, it blows PS3 and Wii out of the water.
4. Great WMV and MP4 media player, I love watching HD videos and my PC certainly can't handle them.
5. Built in music player in guide that works with every game.

Negative:
1. Build Quality, but I've had PS2s and Xboxs break as well so this wasn't suprising.
2. Proprietary Harddrives and memory cards, again not suprising but it makes storage far more expensive than the PS3.
3. Optional Harddrives, prevents caching and increases loadtimes.
4. No pricedrops on most of the Live Arcade games, there is no way I'm paying a full $5-$10 for any of those. We also need more Arcade Unplugged sets.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I have no problem with the backwards compatibility at all as most working games look great and it is one of the most powerful hardware emulators I know (can you think of anything else emulating 733mhz hardware)?
 
positives

1. demo's to nearly everything
2. in game dashboard access (music)
3. superior game library
4. has rumble
5. achievements (but, i still haven't figured out why i care)



negatives

1. having a 120gb hard drive that i can't copy music or movies to (yes, streaming is great for music, not so hot for videos though)
2. cost of downloadable content ($10 for maps, why do we pay $50 a year for xbox live?), peripherals ($100 for a wireless adapter??? you can buy a modem and router for less than that... 120gb for $180) and games ($60 for a game)
3. hardware failures, i just count the days until my next xbox overheating incident, or it starts cracking disks
4. loading times for certain games (need to make games require hard drives.. we have them)
5. not making achievements more rewarding. again, why do i care? I like the idea, the execution could be better


also, i'd like to note that the presence of an online gaming community is a positive, however, you can't get into a game without people trash talking, quitting or both. I could never let my daughter play online games, there is just too many people out there with no common sense whatsoever.
 
Here are my pros and cons, Not in any order:

Pros:

1: Xbox live
2: Private chat
3: Awesome games
4: Rumble
5: Achievements
6: Being able to listen to MY music while playing ANY 360 game

Cons:

1: Backwards compatibility (Some games that I'd like to play still don't work)
2: The data swap. I'm still on my first 360, But when it happens, Bye bye XBLA Offline play.
3: The DVD Drive not opening and GH2 thinking that it is in a DVD player
4: No private group chat
5: Buying the HD DVD Add on

That is all I can think of at the moment.
 
Oh, a big negative I forgot is the ability to have the machine get the LIVE subscription so all the family members gamertag can play online instead of needing to get a gold account for each person that wants to play online.
 
Positives

  1. Game Library
  2. Live
  3. XBLA
  4. Achievements
  5. Console/Controller design (ok maybe not the D-pad)
Negatives

  1. Build Quality - I'm amazed mine has lasted this long
  2. Micro-transactions - If I buy a game I expect to get the whole game
  3. Still no Web browser ??
  4. DRM Issues/ Some games being region locked
  5. Introduction of $60 games - HD Burnout Revenge $60 ???
 
I'll try to do 10...don't have one yet, so these are the pros and cons I'm weighing while sitting on the fence

Pros:

1. Game Library- really starting to tempt me finally
2. X-box Live-best online system hands down
3. Controller-best traditional controller I've ever used

Cons:

1. Red Ring of Death--just a ridiculous failure rate, probably will wait for a model with the heat sink and the Falcon Motherboard

2. Price-- never paid more than $250 for a console, so the $400 launch price and current price of $350 is hard to swallow

3. Microtransactions--ok if it's truly added content, not when it's shit that should have been in the game

4. Not full backwards compatible--still some X-box games I didn't get around too, annoying to have to check the list and the still possibly have glitches since it is emulation based.

5. $60 games introduced. I seldom will pay $50 for a game, much less $60. So that's another reason I'm still on the fence. Might as well wait for more games I'm intereseted in to see price drops to the $20-30 range before buying one.
 
negatives:
1. $50 a year for muliplayer without a cut in costs on any dlc. Gold membership should get more benefits for the price...
2. Games are being shipped incomplete to add dlc charges to games
3. XBL Arcade...but it's getting better
4. Hardware quality i.e. RROD
5. HD-DVD Add-on - They shell sony for making everything optional on the PS2 and how every Xbox comes with a HDD, but then pull the exact same tactic with the 360.. They had a chance to correct the issue with the Elite and didn't...

Positives:
1. Game library
2. Chat across different games
3. Sharing Music from your computer. Although it would be cool if you can transfer them to your 360.
4. Achievements
5. Online betas for gamers...
 
Positive
Achievements
Game Library
Live Arcade
Controller design (sans d-pad)
Xbox Live Service

Negatives
Poor hardware quality
proprietary wirless (I want a fuckin wireless guitar)
Shitty Backwards compatability (I want to play Mercenaries)
Overpriced DLC
hard-drive size and lack of ability to get a larger correctly priced drive
 
Just some negatives nobody has mentioned yet:

Region locked.
Virtually no support for 16:10 displays, despite how tremendously easy it would be to impliment.
UI for music playback could be a million times better.
No fast-forward or rewind in music playback? What the fuck???
Not many video codecs supported, though actually not bad compared to other systems.


And a positive (and the only thing that matters at all):

Games.





And for those of you mentioning a web browser, how about they fucking fix issues that actually matter before wasting time on a novelty nobody in their right mind would ever use.
 
negatives
1. overpriced accessories - WTF $50 for a controller? $100 for a 20GB HDD?
2. Not region free - Would love to import Idol Master but there is no way to play it.
3. $60 new games, $30 PH games
4. weak hardware
5. crap dpad

pro
xbox live
 
in no particular order:
Negatives

--Crappy D-Pad
--Outrageous Accessory prices
--Small problems in the dashboard haven't been fixed
--No menus or lists are searchable alphabetically
--Xbox Live is quickly becoming a rip off because they won't drop prices on anything and are making companies charge more for DLC and XBLA games

--Need better quality control for BC games (they shouldn't be up until they're fully playable.)
--Need more frequent updates for small fixes like the PS3

Positives
--Live Arcade has really turned around

--Lots of great features for online multiplayer that I'm missing on the PS3

--Lots of games, though none have been keepers for me so far (as in, keep "forever." I beat the games then sell them almost immediately.)
 
Nobody has mentioned that this entire generation of consoles, thus far, has sucked ass in terms of RPGs? The 360 is no exception.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']Nobody has mentioned that this entire generation of consoles, thus far, has sucked ass in terms of RPGs? The 360 is no exception.[/QUOTE]

It's still early. RPGs take a long time to develop, so you usually don't see any top notch ones for 2-3 years into the race.

The 360 is just coming up on the 2 year mark, and it's really not the place to be for RPGs anyway (at least not Japanese RPGs) given the poor sales of the console in Japan.
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']Just some negatives nobody has mentioned yet:

Region locked.
Virtually no support for 16:10 displays, despite how tremendously easy it would be to impliment.
UI for music playback could be a million times better.
No fast-forward or rewind in music playback? What the fuck???
Not many video codecs supported, though actually not bad compared to other systems.


And a positive (and the only thing that matters at all):

Games.





And for those of you mentioning a web browser, how about they fucking fix issues that actually matter before wasting time on a novelty nobody in their right mind would ever use.[/quote]


the 360 is region free its up to the developers to choose if they want the game to be region free or not but the majority of game are region free
 
Positives:
1) Awesome Library
2) XBLA
3) XBLM
4) Live
5) Recognizes iPod and other media players.

Negatives:
1) That damned D-Pad
2) Core Package is Retarded (literally)
3) Doesn't play video off said Media devices
4) HD-DVD only available through ad-on & only for movies
5) Early systems prone to malfunctions

[quote name='dmaul1114']It's still early. RPGs take a long time to develop, so you usually don't see any top notch ones for 2-3 years into the race.

The 360 is just coming up on the 2 year mark, and it's really not the place to be for RPGs anyway (at least not Japanese RPGs) given the poor sales of the console in Japan.[/QUOTE]

Which is why the 360 has the most RPGs of *any* next-gen console, both now and on the horizon . . . wait what?
 
Not sure if I saw this, but for positives the first party wireless controllers take the Wavebird one step further. Plus being able to customize themes and gamerpics (if that's your thing).

Negatives I didn't see - LOUD disc drive and multiple skews (too confusing for consumers).
 
[quote name='RudyPants']Not sure if I saw this, but for positives the first party wireless controllers take the Wavebird one step further. Plus being able to customize themes and gamerpics (if that's your thing).

Negatives I didn't see - LOUD disc drive and multiple skews (too confusing for consumers).[/quote]

ditto on too many skus although its not a big deal, and may just be a letdown for someone who isn't aware of the better deal (i.e. regular premium to new premium w/hdmi chip etc)....lets see how many we have

XBOX 360 Core
XBOX 360 Premium
XBOX 360 Premium w/HDMI
XBOX 360 Elite


XBOX 360 Arcade ? (rumored to replace Core)
XBOX 360 Ultimate? (rumored for IPTV)


PS3 is catching up also

PS3 20gb
PS3 60gb
PS3 80gb
 
Positives

1. XBL Marketplace - Lots of demos, trailers, and XBLA games. I have really enjoyed what they have done with this.
2. Custom Soundtrack - helps nullify those games with lousy/non-existing soundtracks. I hope they add more customization to it in the future (ff,rw,etc.)
3. Favorite Game Lineup - enjoy the current lineup and the future looks good
4. Wireless controllers - no more worrying about wires
5. Achievements - helps me play games in ways I normally wouldn't bother trying (like multiple difficulties, high scores, etc...)

Letdowns

1. Hardware Quality - easily my biggest letdown. I've never had a console break on me (NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, DC, PS2, GC, XBX) but I'm on my 4th 360 since launch.
2. D-pad - unresponsive and just flatout sucks
3. Optional Hardrives - the one good thing that came out of this is when a 360 craps out I can at least keep my previous saves, but if MS built a reliable system to begin with I wouldn't have to worry about that
4. Micro transactions
5. XBL Players - first time playing online, and there is a lot of quitters, cheaters, and foul mouth players that damper the experience
 
[quote name='-Never4ever-']
Which is why the 360 has the most RPGs of *any* next-gen console, both now and on the horizon . . . wait what?[/QUOTE]

But all mediocre from offshoot developers. Call me when there's a major one from someone like Square-Enix etc.

The X-box had shit for RPGs, and I don't see the 360 doing much better since J-RPGs sell better in Japan usually, and the 360 hasn't sold for shit there.

There will be some where MS has paid for exclusivity, but the big ones will still probably be on the PS3, or maybe the Wii or even DS (like DQ IX).
 
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