Xbox 360

[Sonic the Werewolf.]

As you can tell by my earlier comments, I hate Avatars and Miis. I bet they'll charge Microsoft Points for new clothing and hairstyles, similar to how they did with Gamerpics.

But honestly, I'd rather stick with my Joker gamerpic. I actually have a few Gamerpics that are just pictures that I took of random stuff. Gamerpics are more customizable than Avatars, which basically exist to make something that looks like you...and that's it.

Netflix, 8 person XBL Party (makes it much easier to chat and join games together), and saving games to your hard drive for easy access are all GREAT ideas. The rest is meh and I hate the overall look of the new Dashboard. They should've just kept the Dashboard how it is now and just add stuff.

[Alexisonfire]

Wait, wait, wait.

You can't keep the old dashboard? I thought this was like an optional thing!

I'm bummed now. I always thought the blades were the best of the three's interface.

[Sonic the Werewolf.]

You can keep the old Dashboard...if you don't mind not being able to log into Xbox Live.

They block you out until you upgrade. 

[Stephen Stills]

Gamerpics will still be in. I'm sure of it.

[The Sneak]

I seem to recall hearing that you can use your gamerpics, and you can put a picture in the background.

[Stephen Stills]

I seem to recall hearing that you can use your gamerpics, and you can put a picture in the background.

If by "the background" you mean "behind the new interface's windows" then I think that's where your theme goes. (and, yeah, you can put the pictures there.)

[Sonic the Werewolf.]

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/2008/07/23/how_long_can_microsoft_keep_charging_for_xbox_live.html

Games for Windows is free now.
Will Xbox Live go free soon?

It would be nice. After all, Microsoft's console easily has the best and most dedicated online service (be honest, the only thing PS3 and Wii have on it is that they're free) and lots of people are still willing to pay for it.

But I don't see it going free any time soon. It's still profitable.

[Stephen Stills]

I was wondering the same thing myself after I saw the free PC internet thing, but as you pointed out, xbox live is more than worth the 4 bucks I pay per month for it. I don't really mind too much.

[Alexisonfire]

I could see them dropping the price of it. It's like, what, 60 bucks for a year? I could see them dropping that to $30, making three months $10, and removing the option for a single month. That in itself would be 6x cheaper than WoW.

Question to those who didn't just get their 360's in the last week: Is the mic that comes with the Premium/Pro/Whatever bundle suppose to be absolute crap for quality? If so, is there another mic I could use that isn't the ridiculously expensive wireless one?

[Stephen Stills]

Question to those who didn't just get their 360's in the last week: Is the mic that comes with the Premium/Pro/Whatever bundle suppose to be absolute crap for quality? If so, is there another mic I could use that isn't the ridiculously expensive wireless one?

The original ones were so much better, but they've been discontinued, so I have to assume that, yes, the mics suck on purpose because Microsoft hates us.*

I don't know about replacements, though.


*They're just trying to fit in with Nintendo and Sony.

[Sonic the Werewolf.]

So, I pop in a copy of The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay into my Xbox 360...it's not backwards compatible.
Same deal with Path of Neo and Enter The Matrix.

Crap.
Hopefully they show up as Xbox Originals soon. I wanna play them.

[The Sneak]

Riddick is the one game I want to become BC. After that, I don't care.

[Alexisonfire]

Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is the only one I'm waiting for.

[Homestar Gunner]

Dear Xbox thread,

You may add my gamertag but it will be very rare that you see me online. I had a 360, realized I didn't really want it that much (Rock Band, GTA4...that's about all it had going for it to me), returned it, and migrated my account to my friend's system. So even if you do see me online, I'd only be able to play with you on his account or as a guest on his account, which I'll give to anybody that feels compelled to play with me when I am on. Okay, who came up with the "only gold can send messages" thing? The most simple thing in the world. I don't have to have an Xbox Live gold account to send an e-mail, and that's all this is. An e-mail on a different computer. This makes the Games for Windows discussion all the more important.


And that said I'd only be playing what he has, of course: Rock Band, COD4, Halo 3, and Crackdown.

[Homestar Gunner]

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/2008/07/23/how_long_can_microsoft_keep_charging_for_xbox_live.html

Games for Windows is free now.
Will Xbox Live go free soon?

It would be nice. After all, Microsoft's console easily has the best and most dedicated online service (be honest, the only thing PS3 and Wii have on it is that they're free) and lots of people are still willing to pay for it.

But I don't see it going free any time soon. It's still profitable.

GFW is free because PC gamers see no point in paying additional fees to games that aren't MMOs (and personally I don't see a point to that - at least don't sell the game for $50 new if you're gouging your customers for more every four weeks). They've never had to, and they never should have to. PC gaming comes with more than enough of a cost (parts, internet connection, repairs if necessary), and therefore shouldn't require users to pay more money just to play some shooter - and not even that, it was paying to be on ranked servers, which isn't even necessary in the first place. People could play online anyway, they just wouldn't have their points tracked, or whatever.

I doubt they made much money from GFW "subscribers," because I'm pretty sure (read: I pray that) nobody actually did.