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Read Selection of Game Reviews: Home Page for Seánsshack Xbox 360 Magazine Sites: Xbox360 Official 360 360 gamer Xboxworld Updated: 09/07/2007 Looks like Microsoft and the 360 have a big problem. The levels of failures have risen to such a level that Microsoft have extended the warranty to 3 years and offering to refund people who have paid to get their machines fixed. More here: http://www.rte.ie/business/2007/0706/microsoft.html Looks like they didn't test it enough. 400 pins on the GPU and no sufficient cooling (CPU = OK) and pops a solder joint from extensive play = dead machine..... and to make matters worse Sony jumped on the bad news and dropped the ps3 by $100. Coupled with Vista sales, not good news.... Hats off to Microsoft for stepping in and offering the extended warranty. But what a crappy design fault. An extra fan or DVD placed in different position may have avoided the issue. Keep your machine well ventilated. Continued failure experience 2008...... I own two Xbox 360's. The newest model and broken down twice and the older one just failed (24th Feb. 2008). I can do the return and repair procedure in my sleep at this stage. To be honest the failure rate of the 360 is starting to piss me off no end. The first failure took about a month to get back and it appeared they sent me a replacement. Yippee...that was manufactured in 2006....bummer. The same fault, which failed January 2008. Sent it back and this time they replaced the motherboard. Now if this included the CPU/GPU and is the new chipset that "apparently" is repaired and runs cooler, then OK. If not who the F$^%k are Microsoft kidding. Each failure requires phone calls, packaging and having someone in the house for two days (collect and pickup): Why? Because they have released a defective product and appear to be fixing this defective product with defective parts. They are claiming 5 % failure rates. Which now looks at 16% and vendors are saying 33% is more accurate. Look at my machines. One gets a couple of hours use a week and has failed twice. The other is mostly use as a media streamer (extender) and DVD player and has so far failed once. Now they may prove me wrong and the last repair (and next one) may in fact be a replacement motherboard/chipset and all will be fine. But if not I've spent over 2,000 euro on machines, games and add ons. If they are attempting to carry out and waste my time every couple of months with broken consoles. I'll be making the very swift jump to the PS3. The 360... a great machine (by design) and a great online/game base. But life is too short and Microsoft have simply messed it up. They will have to do amazing things to get me to buy their next generation..... I finally gave into the "evils" of Microsoft and
invested in their Next Generation console. Why. the delay in ps3 coupled
with the delay in Ghost Recon on PC. The more reviews I read, the more it
convinced me that 360 was made up of excellent hardware that was finally
being used. So I blew up my credit card, pissed off my wife and invested in
more computer hardware that I may not need. But hell I work at it, so
keeping up to date with all technology is my job (or so I keep telling
myself).
My "gamer tag"
First impressions: As you install the 360 the
first thing that hits you, is the physical weight of the machine. Small but
weights much the same as a concrete block.
The desktop and configuration of the systems
immediately shows you there is so much more to this machine than simple
game play. It feels like a simplified computer (but in a good way). No
messing about with patches and upgrades. You logon to Xbox live and it tells
you when you need to upgrade. Easy to navigate, ability to jump in an out of
games easily.
Loading times are also very impressive. I
expected to be starring at the screen during my first run of war fighter and
was very pleasantly surprised.
Xbox live is the ace in Microsoft's deck. Their
killer app for the machine. Think of it as their internet in the internet.
It is free to just use. But you have to upgrade to gold (and pay) to play
games online and get hold of some downloads. But ALL games will have an
online mode. Meaning you will get more value and a different experience.
Microsoft have also insisted on achievement sin all the games. The more you
achieve the better you rating and points (rating can also be improved by
visits, friend, helping, messages etc). Basically they want you to play and
get involved and will reward you for such. Nice ideas. Getting people to
play more of what they paid for - rather than the modern obsession of owning
more and not actually using, is a good one.(as these games aren't cheap - 75
euro for war fighter!!!).
This page will be updated, the more I get to
actually use the system. (oh to have free time).
I will be sticking simple no B.S. reviews here, of the
games that interest me on the 360 platform. The physical build is
impressive, although the size of the power supply is staggering. Simple
little things impress: The size of the wireless controller: perfect. The 360
button on the controller, brings you back to the "desktop", as well as
powering on/off the machine (a simple feature I know, but works).
The more I mess around with this machine, the
more I like it. It seems that playing a game now that does effect you score
rating or unlock achievements is less of a, well achievement.
I have downloaded a lot of demos such as fight
night 3 and Battlefield modern combat (very impressive, with no lag in
sight).
Updates: A few weeks of usage
I signed up for xbox live gold: 60.00
for 12 months unlimited use. The amount of media and the ability to download
clips and demos, means you really need this to make full use of the machine.
Also from what I can tell, people are playing games to just build up their
game score: offline play (even single player) is just the same these days if
you don't improve your rating as a result. Very clever option.
Actually, it is quite amazing how much time you actually spend browsing,
downloading and playing with items in Xbox live.
Extending the experience: Media Centre
I built a Windows Media Centre 2005 (repaired an old fried motherboard). And
tested the interface between this the 360. Amazed to see you get the full
Media centre console on the 360 when you have a machine to connect to
(across you network). You can only stream video in WMV format at present.
But you can find an app on the web that will allow you to convert divx to
wmv on the fly(check out transcode 360!!!). Tested streaming video, images and music from one side of
the house to the other. Easy to config and use and impressive
interface/image quality.
Basically transform you 360 into much more that a gaming machine. You can do
music and images only connecting to extender on an XP machine. But to make
full use you need windows media centre 2005.
Combining the power of the 360, with Xbox live and the media centre options;
Sony really have their work cut out for them. As there is so much more to
Microsoft's machine than playing games.
In all, a great "home entertainment system". Great for gaming, online play
is easy and solid, god support for music, images and other media
(particularly is you own a media centre PC). Only downside: just don't be
surprised when you are using your gaming console for a lot more than just
games.
What I would have liked to see:
The biggest omission is the ability to browse web pages. Granted, doing such
with a controller or remote with an on screen keyboard would have been a
pain. But considering the experience is dependant on you already owning a PC
(to get full potential), why not have the option of a 360 browser and the
ability to sync your favourites sites from your PC? That way you don't have
to type your www.mywebsite.com just
browse a list and update as you wish.
The limitation of media extender to just music and images is a sadly
lacking. They should provide some way of copying video to and from the 360.
The ability to benchmark your machine to insure it is running 3 cores etc
etc. A simple benchmark app would do the trick.
Support for more formats like Divx, mpeg4 etc. I Know Microsoft is saving
money by not including these codecs. But imagine using a PC that would only
play WMV movies?
High Definition:
The image quality on a standard TV is good, but to make full use you really
need a High Definition television. the 360 has become the "killer app" for
high def tv's; meaning more high def tv's are being sold now, purely to use
with the 360. Think 32 "" + screen on your PC and you get an idea of the
difference it will make (and you can also plug your pc into one).
DVD player:
The movie player is very impressive player all brands of DVD's without a
hitch. Easy to manage interface and excellent image/sound (this is also a
progressive scan unit for improved image quality). Only pity, no multi
region support.
Tips:
Did you want to download different Xbox live content? Go to system and
change you locale to American and log out/on to Xbox live and away you go
(you also need an email address with mail address in that location) .
Different demos and trailers.
Xbox Live arcade:
A strange addiction indeed. The ability to play older arcade games that use
little or none of the power of the worlds most powerful console. But, it
works. Allowing you to play exact arcade emulations such as joust, gauntlet
etc adds another dimension to your 360. My four year just loves playing
Marble Blast on live.
Online Play:
I have tried many multiplayer games on the PC platform and mixed enjoyment
has been had. Get a good server and all is well. but often or not you waste
time looking and waiting for a "none lagging" game. So far I have only tried
(briefly) advanced warfighter online. A quick half hour game using a headset
with some blokes from the UK. Was it any good. Amazing! Great game, very
little lag, no time wasting just simple game selection and a couple of
minutes wait and away you go. Voice over IP works well: no silly button
presses, just talk. Although a strange experience allowing everyone hear you
shout at yourself when you get killed (usually swear words in disgust). But
will have to try it again as this single game ranked as one of the best
gaming experiences I have had on any platform.....
Wish List:
Conclusion:
Well how do I feel about the 360 six weeks after purchase? To be honest, very,
very impressed. Excellent build quality, fantastic interface. Wealth of
multimedia and gaming options. Xbox live is great. Software updates that
show they actually listen to the users (all those features that you wanted
in or removed appeared in the June update. But what about the games: what it
was built for?
Online play with the head set is excellent. Easy to jump in and out of
"friend" games. Achievements and game score is a master stroke. Gaming
without these feature feels a little pointless now. I have played games such
as Advanced Warfighter, Table Tennis, Battlefield 2, Top spin 2, Dead or
alive 4 and to be fair, have had some of THE best gaming experiences I have
had on any system (and I have been playing since the days of zx-81: yes I'm
and old fart).
The future releases also look VERY bright. Gears of War, Dead Rising and
Lost Planet to name a few, all look amazing. Incredible to see how quickly
developers and getting these type of results considering how new this system
is. Perhaps it is testament to how good a platform it is to develop for.
Also Xbox live anywhere looks very interesting indeed (allow 360 and pc
users to play and use Xbox live together: as well as mobile device options).
Without Xbox live the 360 is an amazing piece of kit. Combined with the Xbox
live option it is indeed the killer app of the next generation consoles.
My advice?
To borrow their own catch phrase. Jump in, you'll have a ball and
hats off to those you developed this machine. I for one am glad you did. THE
single most impressive piece of hardware I have EVER purchased.
Gaming Tags:
When you sign up for Xbox live, you must assigned yourself a gamer tag. With
such you can be uniquely identified and people can keep track of or as a
friend (or foe). Also handy is you stats (all stored online on Microsoft's
servers).
Mine is a light play on words. Private S Ryan or Privates Ryan: depending
how you read it. But yes the Ryan brother that didn't make it off that beach
in the movie was Sean Ryan.
 So nice way of using my own name.
You can keep track of your own stats (in my case very poor, but I have three
kids: hence limited play time).
My tag: on http://www.top360tag.com
(old info displayed)
Other gamers can see the games you have, play, are good at and what achievements you have unlocked (discussed earlier). Update October 2006: Several X06 videos on the net
(Xbox live and fileplanet). Some impressive scenes in these.
Of particular interest
Rainbow Six Vegas
(November): Looks very visual. Great motion capture and sort
of "war fighter" indoor.
Call of Duty
3 (November/December): Looks excellent and may even knock call
of duty 2 from it multiplayer perch.
Assassins creed (2007):
Was tipped to be Playstation only title. Looks impressive.
Halo Wars (2007): Need
I say too much. Halo meets quake wars.
Half Life 2 (November -
2007): The P.C.'s main franchise comes to 360.
Gears of War (November):
Will sell by the truck load. The first killer game for the 360?
Well until Halo 3 at least.
Double Agent(October):
Perhaps not 100% next gen, but will be a xbox live smash.
Dashboard update (Nov 2006): The coders at Microsoft are at it again. What did they change? Quite a bit actually. Support for 1080p, Hd dvd player, wireless headset, stream Wmv video using "only" windows media player, updates for game save cheating etc etc etc. Full details here Divx (limited) Support One option that most users complain about, is the inability to stream Divx movies from Media centre to your 360. Now a free option fixes this. Download and install Transcode 360. Can also do this with Mce encoder(but failed for me). Transcode 260 is a simple to use app. Install on your media centre PC. Select a video on your 360, info on your remote, - which bring up an option listing. Select "more info" and transcode 360. Give it a few seconds and the video will play(stream). Simple to install and use, just a pity that you can't just select as video. Not sure if you can stream audio above stereo sound (i.e. 5.1), as I just get basic stereo (but could be video). In all saves a lot of time converting the files first. Full link, instructions and links here. It appears the games score and thus leader boards are now dead. Why? Cheating as always. People using "game saves" transferring to PC's, editing and copying back with achievements unlocked. No longer a thing to brag about. Because how can you prove you earned them? I haven't figured out which is sadder, destroying this good option with cheating or the poor sods who wasted their life's buying and playing every game (even buying Japanese 360's) to boost their scores. But why? God knows. How does it reflect when you have spent a large portion of your life playing every single level of every game, for a score on a server? Know no on even cares (even the ones that once did), because the little sod who has not even played know has a higher score than you. This has been (thankfully) reduced as a result of the dashboard update. As you can see from my tag, I still have a very, very sad score......
Christmas is looking like a good time to own a 360 Releases are coming thick and fast:
Check out reviews for these in the online magazines (linked above). So stick them on your Santy list... Tested the video streaming of WMV videos(thanks to the Dashboard) update (November 2006). Works really well with less needs with windows media centre at the PC end. If we now had Divx support, the 360 would make for a very affordable "streaming video" computer device. With the inclusion of simplified interface and gaming power. If you don't think so, check the price of a triple core (or DUO) type machine with 500 megs/3d-graphics. You may get a bigger hard-disk - but just stick and external (formatted to fat32) hard drive into the 360's USB port and away you go. Use the 20 gb local drive for game saves.
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