@NEStalgia VCR and backwards compatibility? Either I must have been missing something back then, or it's an in-crowd joke, because right now, I'm none the wiser...
@ralphdibny Well, besides the permanent re-soldering solution, there's also another "without towels" repair option. It's definitely worth a try, just follow the steps. You already have a non-working console, so there's really nothing to lose by giving either of these a go: (or find someone in your circle of family or friends who might have the skills to do it for you)
Still use mine regularly. In fact, I usually boot it up to download the free Games with Gold on it, so I have them on both my Xbox One and on the 360: instant backup copy...
@ralphdibny How do you place the Xbox 360? Standing or lying flat? If standing, wrap it in a big, thick towel, lay it flat, and allow it to run idle for a while. You'll find that it'll get hot, and the thing that caused the RROD, a loosely soldered chip, will actually fall back into place on the PCB, instantly solving the issue.
Of course, this is just a stop-gap measure, so it does need a permanent solution. If you have the skills, you can do it yourself, because all it needs is a tougher grade of solder, so that it won't melt as easily as the original solder.
@NEStalgia And what other BC solutions exactly are we talking about?
Well, I don't know where the hell people get the money from to be able to buy several consoles at once, but for me financially, it just wasn't a priority this awful year, so I haven't been able to buy one.
And even if I would have had the money, I still wouldn't have bought one, seeing as I'm never an early adopter, so I'll let the new console alone for a while, until it has a decent enough library, and perhaps a minor price drop as well, seeing as contrary to the Xbox One, I intend to go for the premium model this time around.
Yes, sexualizing children is disgusting. BUT: fictional, unrealistic looking anime characters with cat ears and weirdly colored (and pastry saucer-sized) eyes and hair are NOT children. They are FICTIONAL characters, and as such, the usage of such characters does NOT in any way, shape or form harm any actual children.
I definitely also agree with the criticism on the ambiguity of protesting against/censoring these types of games or media, whereas there's absolutely no problem among the general audience with glorifying WAY more realistically portrayed violence and gore. That is NOT a different discussion at all, that's just another agenda point in the same "allowed or not allowed for f*****g reasons" discussion.
And PLEASE, let's not be all pretentious and sanctimonious about what is or isn't available or allowed in the States. How about those disgusting little Miss whatever pageants, where they dress and make up girls as if to look like little adults? I don't even think I'd have to be a betting man to estimate how many sleazy characters those types of events attract...
And there's plenty more examples to find, if you even bother to actually look, in plenty of other Western countries, so no: the Japanese are definitely not the only ones to point fingers at.
And I completely agree with @mousieone that once you start censoring, there's gonna be no end (still pretty disgruntled about Tokyo Mirage Sessions myself). But having said that, this right here is not so much censoring as simply a platform deciding not to offer this game, because the game itself is not altered in any way, which is why on that particular point, I tend to agree with @KelticDevil.
@KelticDevil On a side note: I do think that you heavily underestimated the draw/popularity of porn, though. You don't even have to watch it to know, you can simply get the number projections from sites like Pornhub to see how many views and/or members there are.
Most of which are State-side, by the way...
So, we're definitely not talking about only a "minimal amount of people" watching it.
@FraserG A bit late to the party, but I definitely wanted to echo the sentiments of the rest of the people here. It's great to have PureXbox back and you guys are doing a great job making this a great site and an enjoyable experience. Here's to an even better year in 2021!
@carlos82 If you like first person action adventures/shooters, then you'll probably enjoy Breakdown. I still own the original, and the story and gameplay is actually surprisingly solid and in my opinion still holds up pretty well, regardless of the obviously aged graphics.
But if the story grabs you, you'll probably forget all about that soon enough and then you'll just enjoy the game for what it is: an arcade adventure in a sci-fi setting.
@Captain_Chao5 Ah, okay. It seemed like you implied that GwG needs to go away already.
Mind you, I think it's fair enough if Game Pass is a superior service for other people, so fair enough in that regard, but for me, with a very busy private and professional life, I just don't have enough time to be able to play all these games for rent, especially not when the attached service decides when and for how long I can play them, so it's just not for me.
@Captain_Chao5 Well, maybe for you, but not for those of us who have zero interest in and no time for Game Pass. I would like to be able to actually play games when I want, instead of for how long they're available.
And of course, with Games with Gold, you have the benefit of instantly and fully owning half of them, as we can do now with OG Xbox and Xbox 360 titles, something that Game Pass doesn't offer, seeing as that's basically Netflix for games. Just as fleeting/disposable and just as uninteresting to me...
I'm kinda saddened by the still overwhelming negativity surrounding this pretty solid offering. It's definitely a LOT better than what we've seen over the last couple of months, so personally, I'm quite happy with these four great titles.
Wow, either they've finally listened to their target audience, or they decided for themselves that now might be a good time to offer us a solid pack of games, because this is definitely one of the best months since a LONG time. I always download all the free games, but this time, I'm genuinely happy with what's on offer.
As per usual, nothing whatsoever in my inbox. Considering all the years I've been an Xbox Live Gold member, you'd expect otherwise, yet here we are, empty-handed once again...
No, haven't played it yet, and I'm not about to. I simply LOVED the original on the GameCube, and all this negative news surrounding this remake is exactly what made me shy away from even trying it, so I'll just keep one eye on further developments, but my expectations for them ever being able to turn it around, are pretty low, to be honest.
Yeah... not buying a single one of 'em. Between the Switch and the ol' Xbox One S, I've already bought WAY more games than I had planned on buying, so I gotta reign myself in here, otherwise I'll be spending money that I actually need for far more important things than a hobby...
Looks pretty good and you can never have enough crazy arcade racers in your life, so far as I'm concerned, bring it on!
@KelticDevil You'd be surprised how many. Across various platforms at least 5 or 6.
Although honestly speaking, most of them far less well-known compared to the Crazy Taxi series.
@NEStalgia It's funny, because I actually see it the other way around, other than agreeing that EA might have done this to take out any possible competition, or as I already mentioned in a previous comment, to monopolize the multi-platform branch of sim racers.
I don't see developers having more artistic freedom under EA than under 2K, and I actually believe that over there, they would have been able to remain their own entity within the company's eco-system, whereas EA are simply the video game publishing equivalent of the Borg, who'll assimilate your skills, and will throw away the empty husks or excess baggage.
But I guess we'll ultimately see how this will pan out. I'm hoping for the best for the developers, but right now, I wouldn't be too eager to place any bets on a too positive outcome...
@AJDarkstar Well, that's exactly what I meant: I'm okay with people making double preorders (per item/console, so your example still falls within these limits) to make sure that they'll get their hands on something, and then either canceling the second one or selling it with or without profit, but as soon as you start binging and wholesaling them, all bets are off, far as I'm concerned.
@NEStalgia Mind you, not saying 2K are choir boys either, but comparing the two, I still see them as the lesser of two evils. Sure they also do the micro-transaction dance, but their track record of taking over and then dismantling other studios is child's play compared to EA's...
@NEStalgia Well, they may be on the mend right now, for whatever that's worth, but they're still led by that idiot Wilson, who is a despicable figure both on and off camera, and the ghost of Christmas past is still haunting them.
Their bad wrap is simply too big to just wipe the slate clean because they've actually done a handful of things right in recent times.
They're still disadvantaging the Switch, they're still battling to keep their annoying micro-transaction crap in games (the Dutch government has actually sued them for it, and successfully, I might add, although EA has not yet finished their court run, but over here, it's just a matter of time, so it's just a worm wriggling on a hook) so far as I'm concerned, they've still got a LONG way to go to make themselves look like the choir boys that some apparently make them out to be...
And needless to say, I see this latest move as yet another example of their wicked ways. They had no business being in this deal, it was basically already done and dusted, so to strong-arm your way in and financially overpower an already practically signed deal is just a highly despicable move, and if you consider that it's me who says that, a sales & marketing professional, who isn't shying away from certain business tactics himself, then that should already tell you something...
It baffles the mind that in this day and age, with SO many ways to track and connect sales to addresses and individuals, these kinds of maleficent practices are still possible.
Now, I don't mind the odd individual making and actually receiving their double preorder and then making a little profit off of selling the surplus item, but people that buy much more consoles than they'll ever need, only to disadvantage poor saps who are stupid or simplistic enough to do anything to get their hands on one, need to be financially castrated, at the VERY least.
If I really were Thanos, I'd most definitely snap all of these sob's out of existence, without even spending a micro-second doubting that decision.
@KelticDevil Probably an attempt to monopolize the genre. There's very few other developers left that make racing sims, other than a couple of smaller and insignificant ones.
God, I hate Wilson. Arrogant sob with his smug, nearly always sour looking face.
I always wonder what kind of a world we live in, if deals that were already agreed upon, can suddenly be gate-crashed by newer offers. Seems like a serious backstab move to me.
Well, that's all I need or want to say about this crap, other than the fact that I will never again buy or play any of the racing games involved in this deal.
I'll leave you people with this (in my opinion) brilliant comment that I found on another website:
"Well, that's just wonderful. I can't wait to start paying 5 euros per pit stop in the upcoming F1 games, that'll have a career mode that will practically remain the same for the next 10 years... "
@KelticDevil Basically, both are bad, but as @Tharsman so correctly stated, EA does have a track record of buying up and then dismantling and/or assimilating studios, crippling their creative freedom.
Well, I'll go for the lesser evil, then: Take Two. EA getting their hands on it would basically mean the death of Codemasters racing games as we know them, whereas Take Two is probably a bit more lenient towards development teams.
@AJDarkstar True enough, and that for me is the only thing I'm looking for: improvements compared to my current box under the TV. They can be incremental, like fine-tuning what is already good in the first place, or it can be a move to something better, like now with solid state drives. Comparisons between systems and/or other generations to see if the improvements are really "revolutionary" enough, let alone comparing them to PC (because PC's could already do all that AGES ago, doh) don't interest me in the slightest.
I like my convenience, so I'll always be a console gamer first and foremost. But both my free time and budget is limited, so I've opted to go for two platforms, ever since two generations ago, when I bought the Wii and the Xbox 360, and I've gone for the same two brands in the following generation as well.
Coupled with that comes the fact that most of Sony's first party stuff doesn't interest me at all, save for Spider-Man and God of War, which for me does not validate having to buy another box for, and there's no incentive for me whatsoever to consider adding that system to my home as well.
Which in turn makes any and all comparisons in what they do or do not offer game- or tech/hardware wise completely irrelevant, because it'll only ever be a list of numbers on paper, seeing as I'm not going to reap any benefits from them.
Anyway, I think I've personally said all I can or want to say about the topic, so I hope you don't mind me taking my leave of this article comments section...
Good discussion though, in general. It's always comforting to know that there actually are still people online that can express themselves in an eloquent manner, and can engage in a normal, adult discussion without letting their raging fanboy out, even if they don't necessarily agree on everything...
@AJDarkstar No offense, but you still seem to miss my point(s) and we're drifting off into off topic stuff that is irrelevant to the discussion, which makes the discussion itself borderline useless.
I would hope that even if we'll never completely agree, that we'd at least be able to meet in the middle at some point, but that doesn't seem to be happening.
The final thing I'll say about this, and I'll try to make it as clear as possible, is that my F1 analogy was also meant to point out that both systems are fast, so if one is even faster still, that it doesn't matter in the grander scheme of things, seeing as both are faster than their predecessors.
So, if one has near-instant loading and the other has instant loading, then both are a MASSIVE improvement over the previous generation and to me and many others, any other numerical or physical difference is therefore negligible.
Online, I see entire populations of idiot fanboys going crazy over a difference of a handful of seconds and to me, that's just completely insane and beyond stupid.
Any additional title is welcome, far as I'm concerned, but personally, I would be a VERY happy camper if they would add Rise of the Argonauts to the list...
@Tharsman Yay! A fellow Stubs the Zombie fan! You get a like for that. I still have that game installed on my Xbox 360, so I definitely wouldn't mind seeing it return on Series X.
@AJDarkstar You can cross off that faster SSD, since that has already been debunked. Yes, the numbers say its faster, but it's crippled by weaker processing power and some other weaker components, so in practice/actual usage, the difference is more or less negligible.
Besides, both systems load games incredibly fast, so I don't think most people will really notice or be bothered by it. That's more something for number fetishists, or saying that your Ferrari F1 car is faster than the MacLaren F1 car, while both of them are more than capable of reaching speeds of more than 200mph...
(Edit: and having a faster engine also doesn't matter much if your tires and brake system aren't up to scratch)
I've indeed read about PS4 BC being pretty good, but why not go the extra mile like Microsoft, and also offer BC for older games? They even have an extra generation to offer compared to Microsoft, so that could potentially be a huge plus.
Meanwhile, Microsoft only had to make minor tweaks to an online service and BC catalog that was already nearly flawless, and even after all this time, Sony is still lagging behind in that regard.
@AJDarkstar I know, and I'm not debating that, so that also wasn't my point. My actual point is that, besides some minor mistakes, Microsoft is doing everything right with this new generation, while Sony is most definitely dropping the ball by leaving a number of opportunities behind, multi-generational backwards compatibility being one of the most glaring omissions.
@AJDarkstar True, but it's only one additional chip, needed for processing/emulating, but it's not a self-contained SoC, and that's a BIG difference.
@Kamalen No offense but no, my premise is not wrong. You're either looking at it in the wrong way, or I haven't explained it well enough, but either way: my point stands firmly.
@Kamalen I'm gonna have to agree with @KelticDevil there. The fact that older games are still so popular on a multitude of systems, speaks volumes. The fact that Sony chooses to not take a piece of that pie is to their own disadvantage, so the foot is most definitely NOT missed.
Regardless of results/ratings, the counter is now back to zero, so how successful they were doesn't count anymore. You're only as good as your last success and currently, even while still making some small mistakes along the way, Microsoft is surpassing them on several fronts and levels.
So, they need to step up and (partial) emulation of PS4 titles definitely isn't going to cut it.
@Kamalen Yeah, I know, but they definitely shot themselves in the foot there. And besides: current and last gen Xboxes also don't have a SoC anymore, so that's no excuse either.
Haha, that's hilarious. I have to wonder though, why Sony is always holding back so much/investing so little in backwards compatibility. On PS3 it started out right, but then they slowly dialed it down until it all but disappeared, and like on Xbox, I'm pretty sure that there's an audience for playing these older games on PlayStation as well, so far as I'm concerned, it's a HUGE missed opportunity for them.
Vice City, no contest. The newer ones are all overblown dross that took themselves WAY too seriously. Vice City was the perfect spitting image of the 80s pop culture and all the obvious references to series like Miami Vice were simply spot on.
I did play a couple of the newer ones, but they were never able to hold my interest for long enough, so I've never finished any of them. I've found more joy in playing the Saints Row games. At least they know how to make entertaining games that definitely do NOT take themselves too seriously. Just as it should be...
@KelticDevil No, you got it all wrong, you see. The Xbox has been the console for losers, ever since it lost the last generation to almighty Sony, according to popular belief, so no matter how much good Phil Spencer does, it'll never be enough. Once a loser, and so on....
@KelticDevil Thanks. I guess we long-standing members understand each other. Just enjoy what you want to enjoy, and be sensible enough to forego bashing the other team, just because of "reasons".
But, eh... you can't win them all, right? So, I guess that means that I'm a toxic Xbox "fanboy" now, even though I'm WAY too old to be a boy, and have always been, and will always be, a multi-platform owner...
@TRU3_100 And no, I did not report you, because you come across as a reasonable human being, with a well thought out set of comments, whereas the other guy instantly came across as a salty Sony troll, starting almost all of his comments with "lmfao", and not just towards me, but also towards others, such as @KelticDevil.
And I do mean almost ALL of his comments. I checked his profile, and leafed through most of them, and there was hardly a normal reaction between them.
Look, I'm perfectly fine with people preferring one system over the other, but I don't understand people coming to a dedicated site of the opposing platform to act as an abbrassive troll.
And besides: if me reporting him had no validity according to this site's moderators, then they would have told me off and/or they would have left his comments be.
And for the record: when I reported him, I personally did not ask for them to remove all of his comments, only to address him about the trolling.
@TRU3_100 Well, my point was nothing other than what I already mentioned, but I'll try to be more clear: just because Sony has now shown/proven to be better at running certain third party titles on their hardware, doesn't mean that we can assume that any and all third party titles will run better on the PS5, an assumption that now seems to be gaining traction among some people.
And speaking of gaining traction: that is something that the Xbox is now already doing, so the current difference in and advantage of running third party titles on PS5 will soon be completely nullified.
@KelticDevil I already reported his @ss, because literally ALL his comments were pro Sony/anti Xbox, and apparently, the mods have already acted upon it, seeing as he and his comments are gone now.
@TRU3_100 True, to some extent, but I wasn't just talking about Teraflops and the answer here is that the equation is greater than just the sum of its parts.
The Xbox Series X actually IS the more powerful platform, whichever way you look at it, but just like in a Formula 1 race: just because you drive the Ferrari, doesn't mean you will always win, but you'll still have the strongest team regardless...
Comments 531
Re: Poll: When Was The Last Time You Turned On An Xbox 360?
@ralphdibny You're very welcome. Be sure to let me know whenever you get to that point if you've managed to successfully repair it.
Re: Poll: When Was The Last Time You Turned On An Xbox 360?
@NEStalgia VCR and backwards compatibility? Either I must have been missing something back then, or it's an in-crowd joke, because right now, I'm none the wiser...
@ralphdibny Well, besides the permanent re-soldering solution, there's also another "without towels" repair option. It's definitely worth a try, just follow the steps. You already have a non-working console, so there's really nothing to lose by giving either of these a go:
(or find someone in your circle of family or friends who might have the skills to do it for you)
There's plenty of "repair RROD" videos on YouTube as well, most of them pretty extensive and hands-on.
Re: Poll: When Was The Last Time You Turned On An Xbox 360?
Still use mine regularly. In fact, I usually boot it up to download the free Games with Gold on it, so I have them on both my Xbox One and on the 360: instant backup copy...
@ralphdibny How do you place the Xbox 360? Standing or lying flat? If standing, wrap it in a big, thick towel, lay it flat, and allow it to run idle for a while. You'll find that it'll get hot, and the thing that caused the RROD, a loosely soldered chip, will actually fall back into place on the PCB, instantly solving the issue.
Of course, this is just a stop-gap measure, so it does need a permanent solution. If you have the skills, you can do it yourself, because all it needs is a tougher grade of solder, so that it won't melt as easily as the original solder.
@NEStalgia And what other BC solutions exactly are we talking about?
Re: Deals With Gold: All Ten Xbox 360 Games In This Week's Sale (Jan 5-12)
Yay, Renegade Ops!
Re: Reminder: The Huge Xbox Countdown Sale Ends Today (Jan 3rd)
@NEStalgia Haha, good on you my friend. Enjoy.
Re: Phil Spencer: 2021 Is Going To Be An Incredible Year For Xbox Game Pass
Well, that's great news for all the other people, Phil. But how about the stuff that I actually AM interested in?
Re: Feature: Happy New Year From The Pure Xbox Team
Happy New Year and the best wishes for 2021 to the team and members of PureXbox.
Re: Poll: Did You Buy An Xbox In 2020?
Well, I don't know where the hell people get the money from to be able to buy several consoles at once, but for me financially, it just wasn't a priority this awful year, so I haven't been able to buy one.
And even if I would have had the money, I still wouldn't have bought one, seeing as I'm never an early adopter, so I'll let the new console alone for a while, until it has a decent enough library, and perhaps a minor price drop as well, seeing as contrary to the Xbox One, I intend to go for the premium model this time around.
Re: Anime Rail Shooter Gal Gun Returns Cancelled For Xbox One
My two cents:
Yes, sexualizing children is disgusting.
BUT: fictional, unrealistic looking anime characters with cat ears and weirdly colored (and pastry saucer-sized) eyes and hair are NOT children. They are FICTIONAL characters, and as such, the usage of such characters does NOT in any way, shape or form harm any actual children.
I definitely also agree with the criticism on the ambiguity of protesting against/censoring these types of games or media, whereas there's absolutely no problem among the general audience with glorifying WAY more realistically portrayed violence and gore. That is NOT a different discussion at all, that's just another agenda point in the same "allowed or not allowed for f*****g reasons" discussion.
And PLEASE, let's not be all pretentious and sanctimonious about what is or isn't available or allowed in the States. How about those disgusting little Miss whatever pageants, where they dress and make up girls as if to look like little adults?
I don't even think I'd have to be a betting man to estimate how many sleazy characters those types of events attract...
And there's plenty more examples to find, if you even bother to actually look, in plenty of other Western countries, so no: the Japanese are definitely not the only ones to point fingers at.
And I completely agree with @mousieone that once you start censoring, there's gonna be no end (still pretty disgruntled about Tokyo Mirage Sessions myself). But having said that, this right here is not so much censoring as simply a platform deciding not to offer this game, because the game itself is not altered in any way, which is why on that particular point, I tend to agree with @KelticDevil.
@KelticDevil On a side note: I do think that you heavily underestimated the draw/popularity of porn, though. You don't even have to watch it to know, you can simply get the number projections from sites like Pornhub to see how many views and/or members there are.
Most of which are State-side, by the way...
So, we're definitely not talking about only a "minimal amount of people" watching it.
Re: Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays From The Pure Xbox Team
Re: Poll: How Many Xbox Games Have You Completed In 2020?
Probably 2, maybe 3. I've just bought too many games, adding to my already massive back log...
Re: Site News: Thank You For Your Fantastic Support In 2020
@FraserG A bit late to the party, but I definitely wanted to echo the sentiments of the rest of the people here. It's great to have PureXbox back and you guys are doing a great job making this a great site and an enjoyable experience. Here's to an even better year in 2021!
Re: Poll: Are You Happy With January 2021's Xbox Games With Gold?
@carlos82 If you like first person action adventures/shooters, then you'll probably enjoy Breakdown. I still own the original, and the story and gameplay is actually surprisingly solid and in my opinion still holds up pretty well, regardless of the obviously aged graphics.
But if the story grabs you, you'll probably forget all about that soon enough and then you'll just enjoy the game for what it is: an arcade adventure in a sci-fi setting.
Re: Poll: Are You Happy With January 2021's Xbox Games With Gold?
@Captain_Chao5 Ah, okay. It seemed like you implied that GwG needs to go away already.
Mind you, I think it's fair enough if Game Pass is a superior service for other people, so fair enough in that regard, but for me, with a very busy private and professional life, I just don't have enough time to be able to play all these games for rent, especially not when the attached service decides when and for how long I can play them, so it's just not for me.
Re: Poll: Are You Happy With January 2021's Xbox Games With Gold?
@Captain_Chao5 Well, maybe for you, but not for those of us who have zero interest in and no time for Game Pass. I would like to be able to actually play games when I want, instead of for how long they're available.
And of course, with Games with Gold, you have the benefit of instantly and fully owning half of them, as we can do now with OG Xbox and Xbox 360 titles, something that Game Pass doesn't offer, seeing as that's basically Netflix for games. Just as fleeting/disposable and just as uninteresting to me...
Re: Poll: Are You Happy With January 2021's Xbox Games With Gold?
I'm kinda saddened by the still overwhelming negativity surrounding this pretty solid offering. It's definitely a LOT better than what we've seen over the last couple of months, so personally, I'm quite happy with these four great titles.
Re: KFC Unveils The KFConsole Using The Xbox Series X Marketing Slogan
Wait, WHAT???
Re: Here Are Your Xbox Games With Gold For January 2021
Wow, either they've finally listened to their target audience, or they decided for themselves that now might be a good time to offer us a solid pack of games, because this is definitely one of the best months since a LONG time. I always download all the free games, but this time, I'm genuinely happy with what's on offer.
Re: Xbox Is Giving Away Free Gift Cards For The Countdown Sale 2020
As per usual, nothing whatsoever in my inbox. Considering all the years I've been an Xbox Live Gold member, you'd expect otherwise, yet here we are, empty-handed once again...
Re: Metacritic Calls The XIII Remake The Worst Xbox Game Of 2020
No, haven't played it yet, and I'm not about to. I simply LOVED the original on the GameCube, and all this negative news surrounding this remake is exactly what made me shy away from even trying it, so I'll just keep one eye on further developments, but my expectations for them ever being able to turn it around, are pretty low, to be honest.
Re: Xbox Countdown Sale 2020 Now Live, 800+ Games Discounted
Yeah... not buying a single one of 'em. Between the Switch and the ol' Xbox One S, I've already bought WAY more games than I had planned on buying, so I gotta reign myself in here, otherwise I'll be spending money that I actually need for far more important things than a hobby...
Re: Liked Crazy Taxi? Keep An Eye Out For Taxi Chaos Next February
Looks pretty good and you can never have enough crazy arcade racers in your life, so far as I'm concerned, bring it on!
@KelticDevil You'd be surprised how many. Across various platforms at least 5 or 6.
Although honestly speaking, most of them far less well-known compared to the Crazy Taxi series.
Re: EA Agrees $1.2 Billion Deal To Acquire Codemasters
@KelticDevil Haha, yeah. I once theorized that he may be sleeping on pillows drenched in vinegar, hence the continuously sour face...
Re: eBay Scalpers Have Reportedly Made Around $10m From The Xbox Series X
@AJDarkstar True, but I only point fingers at the mass market scalpers, not the average Joe who buys two or three consoles.
@NEStalgia Hey, no argument there. Then again: I already made my point...
Re: EA Agrees $1.2 Billion Deal To Acquire Codemasters
@NEStalgia It's funny, because I actually see it the other way around, other than agreeing that EA might have done this to take out any possible competition, or as I already mentioned in a previous comment, to monopolize the multi-platform branch of sim racers.
I don't see developers having more artistic freedom under EA than under 2K, and I actually believe that over there, they would have been able to remain their own entity within the company's eco-system, whereas EA are simply the video game publishing equivalent of the Borg, who'll assimilate your skills, and will throw away the empty husks or excess baggage.
But I guess we'll ultimately see how this will pan out. I'm hoping for the best for the developers, but right now, I wouldn't be too eager to place any bets on a too positive outcome...
Re: eBay Scalpers Have Reportedly Made Around $10m From The Xbox Series X
@AJDarkstar Well, that's exactly what I meant: I'm okay with people making double preorders (per item/console, so your example still falls within these limits) to make sure that they'll get their hands on something, and then either canceling the second one or selling it with or without profit, but as soon as you start binging and wholesaling them, all bets are off, far as I'm concerned.
Re: EA Agrees $1.2 Billion Deal To Acquire Codemasters
@NEStalgia Mind you, not saying 2K are choir boys either, but comparing the two, I still see them as the lesser of two evils. Sure they also do the micro-transaction dance, but their track record of taking over and then dismantling other studios is child's play compared to EA's...
Re: EA Agrees $1.2 Billion Deal To Acquire Codemasters
@NEStalgia Well, they may be on the mend right now, for whatever that's worth, but they're still led by that idiot Wilson, who is a despicable figure both on and off camera, and the ghost of Christmas past is still haunting them.
Their bad wrap is simply too big to just wipe the slate clean because they've actually done a handful of things right in recent times.
They're still disadvantaging the Switch, they're still battling to keep their annoying micro-transaction crap in games (the Dutch government has actually sued them for it, and successfully, I might add, although EA has not yet finished their court run, but over here, it's just a matter of time, so it's just a worm wriggling on a hook) so far as I'm concerned, they've still got a LONG way to go to make themselves look like the choir boys that some apparently make them out to be...
And needless to say, I see this latest move as yet another example of their wicked ways. They had no business being in this deal, it was basically already done and dusted, so to strong-arm your way in and financially overpower an already practically signed deal is just a highly despicable move, and if you consider that it's me who says that, a sales & marketing professional, who isn't shying away from certain business tactics himself, then that should already tell you something...
Re: eBay Scalpers Have Reportedly Made Around $10m From The Xbox Series X
It baffles the mind that in this day and age, with SO many ways to track and connect sales to addresses and individuals, these kinds of maleficent practices are still possible.
Now, I don't mind the odd individual making and actually receiving their double preorder and then making a little profit off of selling the surplus item, but people that buy much more consoles than they'll ever need, only to disadvantage poor saps who are stupid or simplistic enough to do anything to get their hands on one, need to be financially castrated, at the VERY least.
If I really were Thanos, I'd most definitely snap all of these sob's out of existence, without even spending a micro-second doubting that decision.
Re: EA Agrees $1.2 Billion Deal To Acquire Codemasters
@KelticDevil Probably an attempt to monopolize the genre. There's very few other developers left that make racing sims, other than a couple of smaller and insignificant ones.
Re: EA Agrees $1.2 Billion Deal To Acquire Codemasters
God, I hate Wilson. Arrogant sob with his smug, nearly always sour looking face.
I always wonder what kind of a world we live in, if deals that were already agreed upon, can suddenly be gate-crashed by newer offers. Seems like a serious backstab move to me.
Well, that's all I need or want to say about this crap, other than the fact that I will never again buy or play any of the racing games involved in this deal.
I'll leave you people with this (in my opinion) brilliant comment that I found on another website:
"Well, that's just wonderful. I can't wait to start paying 5 euros per pit stop in the upcoming F1 games, that'll have a career mode that will practically remain the same for the next 10 years... "
Re: EA Reportedly Now Wants To Gatecrash The Codemasters Takeover
@KelticDevil Basically, both are bad, but as @Tharsman so correctly stated, EA does have a track record of buying up and then dismantling and/or assimilating studios, crippling their creative freedom.
Re: EA Reportedly Now Wants To Gatecrash The Codemasters Takeover
Well, I'll go for the lesser evil, then: Take Two. EA getting their hands on it would basically mean the death of Codemasters racing games as we know them, whereas Take Two is probably a bit more lenient towards development teams.
Re: Sony Still Seems Confident The Elder Scrolls VI Is Coming To PS5
@NEStalgia Comment #24, nail square on the head right there, my friend. Right on the head...
Re: Turns Out The Xbox Series S Is Really Good At Playing PS2 Games
@AJDarkstar True enough, and that for me is the only thing I'm looking for: improvements compared to my current box under the TV. They can be incremental, like fine-tuning what is already good in the first place, or it can be a move to something better, like now with solid state drives. Comparisons between systems and/or other generations to see if the improvements are really "revolutionary" enough, let alone comparing them to PC (because PC's could already do all that AGES ago, doh) don't interest me in the slightest.
I like my convenience, so I'll always be a console gamer first and foremost. But both my free time and budget is limited, so I've opted to go for two platforms, ever since two generations ago, when I bought the Wii and the Xbox 360, and I've gone for the same two brands in the following generation as well.
Coupled with that comes the fact that most of Sony's first party stuff doesn't interest me at all, save for Spider-Man and God of War, which for me does not validate having to buy another box for, and there's no incentive for me whatsoever to consider adding that system to my home as well.
Which in turn makes any and all comparisons in what they do or do not offer game- or tech/hardware wise completely irrelevant, because it'll only ever be a list of numbers on paper, seeing as I'm not going to reap any benefits from them.
Anyway, I think I've personally said all I can or want to say about the topic, so I hope you don't mind me taking my leave of this article comments section...
Good discussion though, in general. It's always comforting to know that there actually are still people online that can express themselves in an eloquent manner, and can engage in a normal, adult discussion without letting their raging fanboy out, even if they don't necessarily agree on everything...
Re: Turns Out The Xbox Series S Is Really Good At Playing PS2 Games
@AJDarkstar No offense, but you still seem to miss my point(s) and we're drifting off into off topic stuff that is irrelevant to the discussion, which makes the discussion itself borderline useless.
I would hope that even if we'll never completely agree, that we'd at least be able to meet in the middle at some point, but that doesn't seem to be happening.
The final thing I'll say about this, and I'll try to make it as clear as possible, is that my F1 analogy was also meant to point out that both systems are fast, so if one is even faster still, that it doesn't matter in the grander scheme of things, seeing as both are faster than their predecessors.
So, if one has near-instant loading and the other has instant loading, then both are a MASSIVE improvement over the previous generation and to me and many others, any other numerical or physical difference is therefore negligible.
Online, I see entire populations of idiot fanboys going crazy over a difference of a handful of seconds and to me, that's just completely insane and beyond stupid.
Re: Guide: Will More Games Be Added To Xbox Backwards Compatibility?
Any additional title is welcome, far as I'm concerned, but personally, I would be a VERY happy camper if they would add Rise of the Argonauts to the list...
@Tharsman Yay! A fellow Stubs the Zombie fan! You get a like for that. I still have that game installed on my Xbox 360, so I definitely wouldn't mind seeing it return on Series X.
Re: Turns Out The Xbox Series S Is Really Good At Playing PS2 Games
@AJDarkstar You can cross off that faster SSD, since that has already been debunked. Yes, the numbers say its faster, but it's crippled by weaker processing power and some other weaker components, so in practice/actual usage, the difference is more or less negligible.
Besides, both systems load games incredibly fast, so I don't think most people will really notice or be bothered by it. That's more something for number fetishists, or saying that your Ferrari F1 car is faster than the MacLaren F1 car, while both of them are more than capable of reaching speeds of more than 200mph...
(Edit: and having a faster engine also doesn't matter much if your tires and brake system aren't up to scratch)
I've indeed read about PS4 BC being pretty good, but why not go the extra mile like Microsoft, and also offer BC for older games? They even have an extra generation to offer compared to Microsoft, so that could potentially be a huge plus.
Meanwhile, Microsoft only had to make minor tweaks to an online service and BC catalog that was already nearly flawless, and even after all this time, Sony is still lagging behind in that regard.
Re: Turns Out The Xbox Series S Is Really Good At Playing PS2 Games
@AJDarkstar I know, and I'm not debating that, so that also wasn't my point. My actual point is that, besides some minor mistakes, Microsoft is doing everything right with this new generation, while Sony is most definitely dropping the ball by leaving a number of opportunities behind, multi-generational backwards compatibility being one of the most glaring omissions.
Re: Turns Out The Xbox Series S Is Really Good At Playing PS2 Games
@AJDarkstar True, but it's only one additional chip, needed for processing/emulating, but it's not a self-contained SoC, and that's a BIG difference.
@Kamalen No offense but no, my premise is not wrong. You're either looking at it in the wrong way, or I haven't explained it well enough, but either way: my point stands firmly.
Re: Turns Out The Xbox Series S Is Really Good At Playing PS2 Games
@Kamalen I'm gonna have to agree with @KelticDevil there. The fact that older games are still so popular on a multitude of systems, speaks volumes. The fact that Sony chooses to not take a piece of that pie is to their own disadvantage, so the foot is most definitely NOT missed.
Regardless of results/ratings, the counter is now back to zero, so how successful they were doesn't count anymore. You're only as good as your last success and currently, even while still making some small mistakes along the way, Microsoft is surpassing them on several fronts and levels.
So, they need to step up and (partial) emulation of PS4 titles definitely isn't going to cut it.
Re: Turns Out The Xbox Series S Is Really Good At Playing PS2 Games
@Kamalen Yeah, I know, but they definitely shot themselves in the foot there. And besides: current and last gen Xboxes also don't have a SoC anymore, so that's no excuse either.
Re: Turns Out The Xbox Series S Is Really Good At Playing PS2 Games
Haha, that's hilarious. I have to wonder though, why Sony is always holding back so much/investing so little in backwards compatibility. On PS3 it started out right, but then they slowly dialed it down until it all but disappeared, and like on Xbox, I'm pretty sure that there's an audience for playing these older games on PlayStation as well, so far as I'm concerned, it's a HUGE missed opportunity for them.
Re: Pick One: Which Is Your Favourite Xbox Grand Theft Auto Game?
Vice City, no contest. The newer ones are all overblown dross that took themselves WAY too seriously. Vice City was the perfect spitting image of the 80s pop culture and all the obvious references to series like Miami Vice were simply spot on.
I did play a couple of the newer ones, but they were never able to hold my interest for long enough, so I've never finished any of them. I've found more joy in playing the Saints Row games. At least they know how to make entertaining games that definitely do NOT take themselves too seriously. Just as it should be...
Re: Xbox Responds To Reports Of Games Running Better On PS5 Than Series X
@KelticDevil No, you got it all wrong, you see. The Xbox has been the console for losers, ever since it lost the last generation to almighty Sony, according to popular belief, so no matter how much good Phil Spencer does, it'll never be enough. Once a loser, and so on....
/end sarcasm
Re: Xbox Responds To Reports Of Games Running Better On PS5 Than Series X
@KelticDevil Thanks. I guess we long-standing members understand each other. Just enjoy what you want to enjoy, and be sensible enough to forego bashing the other team, just because of "reasons".
But, eh... you can't win them all, right? So, I guess that means that I'm a toxic Xbox "fanboy" now, even though I'm WAY too old to be a boy, and have always been, and will always be, a multi-platform owner...
Re: Xbox Responds To Reports Of Games Running Better On PS5 Than Series X
@TRU3_100 And no, I did not report you, because you come across as a reasonable human being, with a well thought out set of comments, whereas the other guy instantly came across as a salty Sony troll, starting almost all of his comments with "lmfao", and not just towards me, but also towards others, such as @KelticDevil.
And I do mean almost ALL of his comments. I checked his profile, and leafed through most of them, and there was hardly a normal reaction between them.
Look, I'm perfectly fine with people preferring one system over the other, but I don't understand people coming to a dedicated site of the opposing platform to act as an abbrassive troll.
And besides: if me reporting him had no validity according to this site's moderators, then they would have told me off and/or they would have left his comments be.
And for the record: when I reported him, I personally did not ask for them to remove all of his comments, only to address him about the trolling.
Re: Xbox Responds To Reports Of Games Running Better On PS5 Than Series X
@TRU3_100 Well, my point was nothing other than what I already mentioned, but I'll try to be more clear: just because Sony has now shown/proven to be better at running certain third party titles on their hardware, doesn't mean that we can assume that any and all third party titles will run better on the PS5, an assumption that now seems to be gaining traction among some people.
And speaking of gaining traction: that is something that the Xbox is now already doing, so the current difference in and advantage of running third party titles on PS5 will soon be completely nullified.
Re: Xbox Responds To Reports Of Games Running Better On PS5 Than Series X
@KelticDevil I already reported his @ss, because literally ALL his comments were pro Sony/anti Xbox, and apparently, the mods have already acted upon it, seeing as he and his comments are gone now.
@TRU3_100 True, to some extent, but I wasn't just talking about Teraflops and the answer here is that the equation is greater than just the sum of its parts.
The Xbox Series X actually IS the more powerful platform, whichever way you look at it, but just like in a Formula 1 race: just because you drive the Ferrari, doesn't mean you will always win, but you'll still have the strongest team regardless...
Re: Xbox Responds To Reports Of Games Running Better On PS5 Than Series X
@KelticDevil Be sure not to feed the troll...