Vegeta wrote: The more I see of the 360 the happier I am I didn't buy one, might buy one in a year when there are good games and its cheaper, my house mate has one and it has not impressed me one bit. PGR3 has ok graphics for a fifth generation console but not much else, it plays well but so do other driving games on older consoles like forza and gran turismo series He argues that to get the same level of gaming anywhere else you need to buy a PC worth around 1500 euro, well fair argument but an xbox 360 needs a hdtv or computer monitor (it looks pretty average otherwise) with VGA cable so that hikes the price up a nice chunk plus a PC of that price can do many other things that a 360 cant. Also can someone please tell me why the games are so expensive, I know they sell the consoles at a loss to make money on the games but is the result of this coughing up 70 euro a pop for the games? There is the argument that they are "next gen" so therefor cost more to develop, I say how come games like Half Life 2 (which is a better game in terms or graphics, technical merit and game play than any FPS on the 360) cost less, it was years in development and was "next gen" in its own right on the PC. This leads to only one conclusion and that is profit, Microsoft are losing lots of money on the console and making loads of it back on the games. With the current quality of the games I don't think these prices are justified. Am I getting too old for this or is my rant a valid one??
Tank Top Fever! wrote: how old do you have to be to be an ageing gamer?
Alnilam wrote: I'm 32 does that make me a silver gamer? :P But seriously kids, The SRP (suggested retail price) for x-box 360 games in Ireland is €65.00 inc vat. if you are paying more than that, don't, there is at least 1 online store shipping games to ireland for less than that (play.com) so why pay joe retail their €70-€80 for a game that you can have delivered to your home for less all you have to do is wait a few days! and if you preorder a game they ship it to be with you on the release date. If we as the buying public don't spend our money in retail stores they will have to bring there prices back in line or go out of business. It's not microsoft who are charging you the silly amount of cash it's the retailers I'm really tired of hearing about "rip-off" ireland, it's so easy to blame the retailers or the government or whoever rather than admitting that the reason it's so bloody expensive is that the irish public are willing to pay it. As for Value, Live adds so much to a game like PGR3 (I'd like to say COD2 here but the lag kills the game online for me:( ) The game could be completed on it's easiest level in a few hours and only the truly dedicated would go back to beat it again at the higher levels but with online racing you need to go back and beat it at the higher levels to get your skills to a level where you can compete with some dignity on line I'm still losing far to much for my liking and It's 3 weeks since the first time I competed all the trophies. Maybe peeps are forgetting the days of multiplayer games meaning you had to wait your turn to play! :P
so to fully enjoy the live experience you have to pay 60 euro a year for live and at least 200 euro (being very optimistic there) a year for broadband.
KerranJast wrote: It's probably a testament to how better off we are these days but I remember when I was young (I'm the same age as Vegata) my Dad rented us a Megadrive with Sonic, Golden Axe and Desert Strike for a weekend. It was like a second Christmas. I also remember my next door neighbour had a Commodore 64 and we used to spend what now seems like hours waiting for the tape drive to load games. I've young cousins now the same age I was then and they'd laugh if I tried to explain why that was so good.
Vegeta wrote: Exactly, ya see that is what I'm talking about, I just don't get the same oh my god factor anymore. I could partly blame it on the marketing for building it up and up and then it turns out to be average, quite an expensive.
People have commented that you don't need a HDTV or that I just happened to have broadband anyway so I got Live. Yes these expenses aren't necessary but what a mediocore/let down of a system without them. You get average graphics (look at god of war on PS2 and then tell me the xbox 360 looks good on a standard tv, it is nearly matched by a PS2) and average games.
Not a bad console but not great or worth 410 euro. Thats just my opinion of course
VeVeX wrote: The PS2 is highly dated at this stage. The original xbox in my opinion was a far better piece of equipment. The day I bought an xbox on release was the last time I bought a game for the PS2 bar Gran Turismo and GTA. Maybe the 360 looks average on a SDTV but at the end of the day its a next gen console that requires next generation HDTv to take advantage of its capabilities. Within the 360s perceived lifespan nearly everybody will have a HDTV anyway.
Alnilam wrote: maybe cause your not a child??? or maybe your afraid to release the child within as has already been said, the TV is the limitation and the PS2 (my last console) really did push the limits of what SDTV could display, I am lucky in so much as when my old telly died earlier this year I was able to replace it with one that was HD ready. but no next gen console is going to get better results on SDTV than the 360 because the telly is the problem. SKY are planning to introduce HDTV broadcasts this year, will you moan about that not being any better cause you don't have a HDTV as well??? Your entitled to your opinion but I to disagree (having used a 360 on going since the 8/12/2005) , By far my best new product/out of the box consumer electronics experience since my commodore 64. As for your other comment, don't you think loyalty and those odd games that sell in Japan and nowhere else might have something to do with both xboxes performance in that market?
Vegeta wrote: the only area at the moment in which the 360 is better is graphically,
Clank wrote: You disregard PGR3 because "the engine pales in comparison to GT4", surely you dont play it just to look at it.(Id disagree with you though on the engine)
