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[sangreal]

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/xbox360_inside_02.asp

 

[akascream]

There are a few areas that we think speak for themselves. Sony's lack of an online strategy continues to be this huge, glaring, bottomless pit, where meanwhile, Halo 2 is redefining how online gaming happens. And we're taking that to the next level with all these shared connected experiences in Xbox 360.

Meanwhile, Sony's going to have a bunch of PowerPoint slides and rubber ducks falling into a tub, and people aren't going to care at all.

:lol

 

[bill0527]

Meanwhile, Sony's going to have a bunch of PowerPoint slides and rubber ducks falling into a tub, and people aren't going to care at all.

I agree with the powerpoint slides and rubber ducks falling into a tub. But he'd be surprised at how many people actually care.

 

[sangreal]

With Xbox 360, you'll be able to share your music playlists, and actually broadcast your music out to your buddies who are online with Xbox Live.

I'm sure the RIAA is going to love that

 

[Chiggs]

I'm sure the RIAA is going to love that

And how is that illegal?

 

[sangreal]

And how is that illegal?

I didn't say it was illegal

 

[Ruzbeh]

And how is that illegal?

Isn't broadcasting your music to someone else the same as sending an mp3 to someone else (peer2peer-esque stuff)?

 

[sangreal]

Isn't broadcasting your music to someone else the same as sending an mp3 to someone else (peer2peer-esque stuff)?

Its more like webcasting (which the RIAA demands a license for), IMO

 

[Chiggs]

Its more like webcasting (which the RIAA demands a license for), IMO

http://www.riaa.com/issues/licensing/webcasting_faq.asp

Yep, it sure does. Reading this makes me think there might be some actual legal stipulations for what Jeff Henshaw's talking about (unless they have something worked out).

 

[GhaleonEB]

But we recognize that ... I hate to say we have a fundamental flaw ... but we have a fundamental flaw in the service today. And that flaw is, in order for us to give users access to anything on Xbox Live, they have to [first] pay a subscription fee. And that subscription is mostly targeted at hard-core, online gamers. Halo 2 guys like you. If there are people that never want to go head-to-head, that never want to shoot, or do battle, or play sports games with other people online, they can't do anything on Xbox Live today. There are tens of millions of people who play single player platform games today who would love to have a new level. Many of them would even be happy to be able to buy a new level for those games. But in order to get access to the catalog of content, they have to pay the hard-core gamer subscription fee. For them, it's not just about buying a $5 level; it's about buying a $55 subscription, plus the level. And that's a huge barrier for people.

We've fixed that with Xbox 360 by introducing what we call the Xbox Live Silver membership. It's free. If you can get broadband to your box--wired or wirelessly--you can do everything I've showed you so far. You can create an online profile, start accruing some credibility through the games that you play, send and receive messages with your friends online, and come here to the Marketplace and browse, sample, try, download, and buy content. All without having to pay a subscription fee.

This is the best explanation of the rationale for the Silver service I've read.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

This is the best explanation of the rationale for the Silver service I've read.

Yup, great article by the way

 

[sangreal]

I think the biggest thing about the Silver package is that you can still play MMOGs on it so if thats all you do online you aren't being double charged

 

[Ulairi]

They're in or a rude smack in the face with the PS3 kicks their ass.

 

[newsguy]

They're in or a rude smack in the face with the PS3 kicks their ass.

I know you were trying to sound coherent, but you failed...

 

[Redbeard]

Now that Gold subscribers will effectively be paying for less services, I hope it'll be cheaper or at least that they offer more beyond just multiplayer gaming (maybe bonus "points" to spend on dlc or something).

 

[Chiggs]

They're in or a rude smack in the face with the PS3 kicks their ass.

I'd post some of the other ones I've made, but I'm at work, so this will have to do.

 

[Striek]

Since when have people who want to play online only being 'hardcore' gamers?
Thats an interesting excuse.

Anyway, I can't get enough of that beautiful interface, its easily the most 'exciting' thing about the system for me.

 

[kaching]

Unlike Xbox 1, where you have to get up and eject the disc to get into the Dashboard, which is a pain, anytime you have the Xbox Guide up in Xbox 360 you can now press X and it will take you out of the game and drop you right into the Xbox 360 Dashboard. And you can get right back into the game, if you want, without having to get up once again and reinsert the disc. You can even power up and down the console with your wireless controller.

I know its been mentioned before, but big thumbs up to this. I'm a big fan of pervasive OS services as long as they can keep them reasonably in check in terms of resources absorbed. Don't make the same mistake Halo 2 did, for example, when you had XBL awareness running in the background of a single player game and then your connection dropped for some reason...

 

[Mrbob]

This is the best explanation of the rationale for the Silver service I've read.

True. But in a way, you can also look at it as a small smack in the face to those who pay for Live!

"Hey you. Yeah, you! Thanks for your patronage to help pay for the server structures that those with the Silver package owners can now leech off for free since you're paying the bill for them!"

 

[MrSingh]

I know its been mentioned before, but big thumbs up to this. I'm a big fan of pervasive OS services as long as they can keep them reasonably in check in terms of resources absorbed. Don't make the same mistake Halo 2 did, for example, when you had XBL awareness running in the background of a single player game and then your connection dropped for some reason...

but but.. it costs 0.4% CPU time and 64MB of RAM!

 

[GhaleonEB]

True. But in a way, you can also look at it as a small smack in the face to those who pay for Live!

"Hey you. Yeah, you! Thanks for your patronage to help pay for the server structures that those with the Silver package owners can now leech off for free since you're paying the bill for them!"

I suppose you could have the view that extra features for free means you are getting less for the subcription fee, and in a way it's true. But at the same time, I'm basically playing Live now just for the online play, and everything else is gravy. So getting the 'extras' for free does not bug me, since online play is what I see as the entire point of the service - for me.

 

[Kleegamefan]

Everybody knows SCEI are the market leader and are favored to have dominant market share next get *but* the X360 product+Live services are a potent combo.....

Without question, Sony are in for a fight....


MS and Sony push each other and make each other better, imo....good news for us

 

[Pimpwerx]

Everybody knows SCEI are the market leader and are favored to have dominant market share next get *but* the X360 product+Live services are a potent combo.....

Without question, Sony are in for a fight....


MS and Sony push each other and make each other better, imo....good news for us

I love what MS is doing with Live. But I have my doubts of the relevance of online gaming and HDTV this gen. Online gaming will be more important than last, but still, the current online userbases are a single-digit percentage of the total userbases of either the Xbox or the PS2. It's a particularly depressing ratio when you look at the PS2. There will still be far more non-online gamers than online gamers this coming gen IMO, so online still won't make a difference. Again, just my opinion, but until broadband penetration explodes, and people start getting into the impersonal nature of online gaming, then I question how important Live will be in the grand scheme. This is ignoring the fact that Sony will indeed have an online plan. It may not be an AOL-esque scheme similar to Live, but many PC gamers get online through individual games just fine, and I see that being the approach Sony takes again.

Personally, I think the only way online gaming makes a difference is if one of the three companies grows the balls to offer a Seganet/Live-style community for free. The annual fees (even when broken down to tiny monthly fees) are still turn some people like me off. I hate any sort of PPV program. I want to have my cake and eat it too. If MS wants to take it to Sony, they let everyone who buys a 360 on Live for free, and try and slow the bleeding with those lameass microtransactions. Otherwise, I expect another 100M people to be happy playing their games offline come 2010. PEACE.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

Killzone 3 w/ free on-line play = Buttery fanboy tears as Sony assrapes you another generation.

I'd say Nintendo stands to make the biggest splash with the combination of free on-line play, and if there's a brain in their head - Pokemon-line! WoW who? Halo who?

And for the record, not all Sony sheep are AZN sweetboys.

 

[sangreal]

I love how Killzone suddenly has a good reputation again

 

[BigBoss]

Meanwhile, Sony's going to have a bunch of PowerPoint slides and rubber ducks falling into a tub, and people aren't going to care at all.

One things for sure, I'd rather watch the rubber duck tech demo than hear more about Velocity Girl and Stryker hyping up microtransactions.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

I love how Killzone suddenly has a good reputation again

I've always appreciated Killzone for what it was. I also didn't go along with the gaming media hype that lead to it's imminent critical failure. It's a fun game set in a world I like.

The fact that the KZ3 demo has people cumming themselves is fun, but you know - it's worth it. And I hope the game is just that damned gorgeous, because that is what I expect of a next generation system.

Expecting anything less is just selling youself short, or indicative of your own low personal standards.

 

[Guy LeDouche]

I love how Killzone suddenly has a good reputation again

Killzone was a solid game. Reviews will tell you that. The PS2 just wasn't really powerful enough. More power = solid framerate, which was the big problem.

 

[sangreal]

I'll admit to having never played Killzone. I just recall reading about how bad it was when it came out.

 

[Mrbob]

I'll admit to having never played Killzone. I just recall reading about how bad it was when it came out.

If you're a FPS fan Killzone isn't going to cut it. But if all you have to game on is a PS2 I guess it can suffice as decent.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

If you're a FPS fan Killzone isn't going to cut it. But if all you have to game on is a PS2 I guess it can suffice as decent.

Best FPS game on the PS2 is MoH: Frontline

 

[Pimpwerx]

If you like to play FPS, there's only one place to go, the PC. This has been known for the last decade and longer. Keyboard+mouse+more variety in the genre+more maps and user mods+you don't need another reason. Consoles are decent substitutes I guess. But the PC still got the FPS racket on LOCKDOWN IMO. PEACE.

 

[rastex]

There is no big FPS out on PC that isn't out for Xbox (HL2 and BF are gonna be released in the fall). So all it comes down to is patience and preference in control scheme.