Xbox360 Update
Got an email update from EB Games regarding my Xbox360 order. The launch date for the console — 11/22 — is right around the corner, and the email confirmed that preordered bundles would be shipping out on Monday the 21st. Meaning, with overnight shipping, I’ll be getting another new console on launch day thanks to EB. These guys have their act together.
Thanks to Microsoft deliberately controlling supplies of the 360 to generate massive hype, unless you preordered before August 30th, you won’t even get the bundle until next year. (Fortunately, I ordered on August 24th.) I’m completely astounded at this marketing move. I understand MS’s motives, but it seems they may have overdone it — I’m hearing talk of each Best Buy store in the country getting only 50 Xbox360s for the rest of the calendar year, for example. I fear there’s going to be people going to extreme measures to get one of these things. Meaning, of course, that when I receive mine, I could leave it in the box, put it on eBay in the second week of December and probably get filthy rich in short order.
I was tempted to do that with the PS2 back in 2001. In retrospect, I should have. The launch games for the PS2 were abysmal, and it took a long time for a game I cared about to be released. Even today, I only own four native PS2 games. I suppose I could buy more, since I’ve found that I like the Jak & Daxter series and soforth, but that’s beside the point. With the 360, though, there are a ton of games I want (just check my Christmas list) that will be available at or near launch, making it even harder for me to justify a pure-profit sale of the console to prey on the holiday crowd. Besides, I really want this thing. More than I want money. If I had money, I’m not sure what I’d do with it other than…well, buy an Xbox360. I don’t have the GTO yet, and the only mod I’m thinking about getting (that I can’t finance into the purchase price) is a $500 gauge pod and a set of window tint. No cause for alarm there.
EB’s email did inform me of one bad thing. Dead or Alive 4 has been delayed until December 1st and thus won’t be immediately available for the 360’s launch. Needless to say, I want that game bad, so I’ve added it to my Christmas list. Fortunately, EB is swapping in another game that was on my list, Call of Duty 2, in its place in my bundle. In fact, just yesterday I got to play COD2 at the local EB; they just got their Xbox360 demo unit set up. Pretty fun. Graphics are amazing. Some design decisions about the game itself are somewhat odd — like, no health meter, and health that apparently regenerates on its own, WTF? — but the cinematic WWII experience is alive and well, and will look great in high-def on my big screen TV.
Going to be a fun Thanksgiving weekend, that’s for sure.
Categorized as Games/Console, Games
Wow. I have twice as many games for the PS2 as you do? And I’ve only had mine for a matter of months. In fact, my PS2 game collection has risen by 25% in the last two days alone — I picked up Fatal Frame 3 yesterday (getting rid of Metal Gear Solid 2 and that atrocious Resident Evil: Outbreak in the process), and traded in Midnight Club 3 for Fatal Frame today — because, let’s face it, I hadn’t touched MC3 since you were here in May, and Forza blows it out of the water anyway. So I’m enjoying my 1-2 punch of Fatal Frames — DAMN, I didn’t realize how intertwined each of the three games were backstory-wise.
As for the 360, that’s horrid news (in a not-so-related note, did you see that Sony is toying with the idea of making it so the PS3 can’t play used games or rentals? Way to lose your market there) about how little of them are shipping. As for me, sure, I’d like to have one, but I’m not dying for one anymore. I’d like DOA4, but until the day the 360 doesn’t cost $500 and DOA4 doesn’t cost $60, I’ve got my Xbox and DOA 1, 2 and 3 to keep me company (as well as beach volleyball =P).
Totally random trivia of the day: I found out the other day that, of all the ludicrous things, some company in Japan actually made a live-action porno based on Fatal Frame 2, even using the same character names and everything. I mean…WTF??!? Do Japanese companies not care about their copyrights and property? Maybe that’s just the American in me talking.
Maybe in Japan, pr0n is like parody — meaning some sort of fair use style laws apply?
But yeah, Xbox360 madness is not for the faint of heart. Only the hardcore are getting in early, in fact if you were jonesing for one I would advise you not to mess with it right now, it’s too much of a hassle. Even I can admit that in about four months’ time, you will be able to walk into any store and get just the console by itself for $300, which is still a lot, but is expected to be the base price range for the thing for at least the next year. They might drop the price a bit when the PS3 emerges, as an incentive. I figure you should wait till the PS3 comes out, then make a choice. You may find yourself picking up a PS3. Can’t say for certain since I know nothing of its upcoming games, but I’m sure there will be some good adventure/RPG stuff. Surprisingly, Square/Enix has also put their support behind the Xbox 360, meaning that the new ‘Box has a chance of getting some decent games from that genre too.
Speaking of the PS3, Sony wants to prevent people from playing used games or rentals??? Uh…do they want to flush their market share down the commode? What assholes. Plus, I wonder how they would do it? Rentals I could see — Sony could try to make sure that rental chains can’t legally get their hands on PS3 software — but how do you prevent a used copy from playing? A used copy is just a new copy that’s been played a few times. At what point would the software somehow decide, “Okay, I’m not new anymore!” Seems like Sony is spending way too much time lately trying to figure out how to prevent people from using their shit in any way except how Sony wants them to use it. First their rootkit-style CD copy protection debacle of last week, now this? They’re going to run out of feet to put bullets through.
But yeah, I never really bought too many PS2 games. Seemed like the titles I really wanted, if they weren’t Xbox exclusive, were at least on Xbox as well, so I went with that version because the graphics were almost always superior (or at least identical, with the added bonus of faster loading times and saving to a hard drive instead of a memory card). I’m now discovering a bunch of exclusive PS2 games (mostly adventure and platformers) that are quite good, thanks to a colleague of mine who has a PS2 (but no Xbox) with an extensive library of titles at his disposal. I’m not sorry I bought the PS2, because without it I wouldn’t have the few titles which I do enjoy (FFX, GT4, et al.), but I’ve certainly focused more on Microshaft’s green machine.
Despite the corporate DRM wanking, I have no doubt that the PS3 will be worth getting as well; but which console (360 or PS3) I spend my money supporting will again depend on a combination of the software library and the hardware-specific features.
Now, to DOA4. I want the damn 2006 calendar.
The whole PS3 is speculation at this point, based on a patent that Sony apparently applied for. According to the article I read:
“The technology would allow an authentication code to be read and then rendered unreadable, making the software unplayable on any machine but the one which first read it.”
Again, mostly speculation at this point. But with the whole rootkit thing, it’s not totally beyond the realm of possibility. And speaking of the rootkit thing, did you see that California is suing Sony over it, and New York isn’t far behind? I mean, I’m all for protecting your copyrights and ideas (to an extent), but it always seems that these things result in the customer getting screwed.
As for the Xbox and PS2, I agree about the “if it’s on both systems, get the Xbox version”. I tried doing that with Fatal Frame, but practically nobody has the Xbox version (I think the closest store to me with one was out in Lincoln Park somewhere), while every Gamestop in a 30 mile radius had at least one copy of the PS2 version — no EB had either version, believe it or not (and I read it’s the PS2 version that’s the more rare of the two!).
But now I’m rambling. Gotta go play games!