Topic: The everything Xbox thread

@NEStalgia That's an ACTUAL thing, or is it a mock label? Either way, it's not known in the EU, or at least not in my neck of the woods, so small wonder I've never heard of it.

As for Water Rabbit, that's what the Belgians called water rat until the late 60's - early 70's to fool people into eating rat meat. Probably also originally had something to do with meat being scarce after the second world war, and the following crisis years.

As for controller "control": of course I don't always stay clear of the sides, as you said, during frantic gameplay it certainly happens, but for example in racing games (especially sims), pushing sticks all the way left or right will sooner land you in a wall or border than actually keep you on the track that you're supposed to race on, so minute control to ace those corners and beat those track records is where it's at.

And the same goes for first person shooters: wild and/or over-exaggerated movements don't go well with precision aiming. Try sniping like that: ain't gonna work...

And I wouldn't call myself a surgeon, but I'm no stranger to precise hand movements: I used to be totally into Warhammer 40K and D&D figurines, you know, those tiny pewter ones, that you could paint, and I painted them in the most minute detail, tiny pupils and all, so that might be why I already had the muscle memory...

Don't have a Switch yet: I buy one console a year, and I was a bit behind the times, so last year it was the Wii U, this year it was the Xbox One S. Next year will be the Switch, probably.

@ThanosReXXX "Chicken of the Sea" is supposedly what sailors would sometimes describe tuna as, which was popularized by the canning company of the same name. It's been a common enough brand in America that, honestly, I always hear people describe tuna that way. I certainly don't think twice about it, and I don't even eat tuna...then again, I don't eat canned chicken, either...

@CanisWolfred Well, in case you didn't know yet: even though I am American (California original), we moved to Europe when I was 9, and nowadays, I live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, so I'm not quite up to date with the average American consumables, whether they are common or not...

And now you are. Your welcome.

@ThanosReXXX Are you living under the same rock as Ralizah who still hasn't played an AC game? Yes, that's real. That's one of the top few brands of canned tuna. It's been around forever....over 100 years I think. It's older even than you And no doubt you saw it in school lunches as a kid here. Moving the land of Heineken is no excuse for not knowing this gem www.chickenofthesea.com

Controllers: Ahh well racers, yeah you HAVE to use the analogs. Except if you're on Playstation where the sticks just snap to the frame the moment you break free the centering spring shooters, aiming won't click the frame, but snapping the camera around to see behind you will. And of course the running stick will grind, grind grind....

That's a good console purchase path. Maybe WiiU was an unfortunate side step since most of its best games are coming to Switch anyway....but there were a few gems you'd miss otherwise.

And yeah, I don't have steady hands for model building!

@NEStalgia Wii U's biggest advantage is pre-Wii U games now with Nintendo having confirmed VC is dead.

@Grumblevolcano True, though they didn't really confirm pre-WiiU games are dead. Just the Virtual Console(TM) brand. Anyone who thinks Nintendo would stop re-selling 30 year old games in one form or another probably still thinks Switch will fail.

@NEStalgia Well, Wii U wasn't a misstep for me, and I usually buy all of Nintendo's consoles and handhelds, so I had to get it to complete the collection anyways. And it's still very much its own beast, and some of its titles will definitely not come to the Switch.

But even if they do, it will always be a different experience for certain titles. So maybe I'll double dip once I get the Switch. Mario Maker won't be the same on Switch, though...

As for my pre-Europe youth: largely a blur to me, to be honest. A lot of stuff, both good and bad, happened and I've locked off certain parts, so all that remains are flashes and certain important moments, none of which have anything to do with Chicken of the Sea...

And the brand really isn't as famous as you seem to think: I've really never heard of it, and I've lived in and visited multiple European countries, and never came across it. Real top brands to me are John West, Rio Mare, Deep Blue or Princes. Those are the most prevalent brands in Europe, anyway.

It also sounds so typically American, to some extent, to give a product a somewhat derogatory or mockery-inducing name. Nobody really proud of their canned tuna would give it a name like that. Small wonder that the first association that I had with it is water rabbit, which actually IS a mockery...

Back on topic: you know what's funny? If you put all those joypad wreckers behind a steering wheel to play the very same racing game that they were madly clicking the sticks to and fro in, they all of a sudden DO understand analog controls and the logic of not having to move the controls all the way to their outer limits all the time. Go figure...

@ThanosReXXX I imagine most canned food is a domestic (continental) product. I doubt many US brands of canned food are in Europe, and similarly I doubt many European brands are in the US (except in the imported foods aisle.) None of the 3 you mention have I ever heard of for example. But that's not surprising. Why ship canned tuna (which is typically not actually even tuna) across an ocean? Cheaper just to package it there.

Yeah, it's a century old as a brand based on a colloquialism...the brand name being what it is is almost its own punchline in the modern world. In 1918, I'm sure the name made perfect sense as the Doughboys went out I imagine back then the phrase was probably fairly common. NOW it's just a brand with a silly name, but it's probably an expression everyone heard back at the time. And branding was still a new concept then! But your water rabbit analogy is probably righter than you think. Every look up what's actually in canned tuna? On second thought, don't. Just consider, that tuna is actually generally pretty expensive. And canned tuna is quite the opposite. Food for thought

LOL, well arguably analog thumb sticks are just awful controls for racing games Similarly I played flight/space sim games with a full HOTAS back in the day. The same game on thumb sticks wouldn't play nearly as well. Remember Force Feedback sticks? They were amazing. MS Sidewinder was the best. They discontinued it. It had epidemic centering issues. OHai, XBox Elite....didn't see you there!.

@NEStalgia Whààààààt??? You don't know John West?
They're like... so famous and their commercials are so legendary...

So, canned tuna actually IS salted chicken in the States? No such thing here. Our food laws are just as strict, if not stricter, as our medicine laws, which are CONSIDERABLY stricter. Which, coincidentally, is also the reason why a lot of Dutch people (or at least the ones that can afford it) decide to go to the States to get treated there, because certain types of medicine and treatments aren't allowed or approved here...

A good example of the local food laws is a fairly well-known butcher delivering meat to both the Netherlands and Belgium, being penalized for selling horse meat (which is forbidden here), passing it off as normal steak, resulting in him losing his biggest vendors, and ultimately ended up in him having to file for bankruptcy.

But enough of these tuna shenanigans already.

I'm now imagining you as one of those characters that actually bought that monstrous Mech Assault controller for the OG Xbox... A friend of mine actually did buy it, and it was cool to play with, but ultimately, it only being useful (or even only compatible with) only that one game, went "a bit" too far for me.

I do own various steering wheels and pedals, and (light)guns, but that is probably still well within the boundaries of the average console collector... (isn't it?)

@DarthNocturnal Blame @NEStalgia for confusing me with the whole "Chicken of the Sea" mystery...

@DarthNocturnal at least there's activity in the xbox thread, even if it's a bit fishy. Maybe the xbox thread will overtake the Atari thread for popularity soon!

So the wife got me an Xbox s for my birthday!! Such a great surprise, not sure I will keep it but it's always exciting getting a new console!! Will see if Microsoft gives me enough reasons to keep this thing at e3!!!

@redd214 Wow, that's a nice surprise indeed. Lucky devil, you...

Don't know if you have had an Xbox before, or if you still have an active Xbox Live membership (which, by the way, you can use on two consoles at a time, so if you still have the old Xbox 360, you can share that profile between that and the One S) or not, but in any case, I'll just go ahead and quote myself from a page back, because the following could come in real handy, especially to benefit from all those free games from the Games with Gold initiative:

If you grab a subscription now, you can still enjoy the entire month's worth of free games. After the 16th, two of the four games available this month, will be removed.

And another tip that I also already gave to @NEStalgia: if you don't have any head phones with a small jack, you can just use your smart phone earphones/mic, well at least: if they're Android/Windows phone, seeing as Apple connectors are not supported on Microsoft's controllers...

And if you don't have any, you can get those for $10 - $15 bucks from just about any web shop.

As for E3, that is actually looking pretty decent, if all the predictions are true:

And let's not forget about Microsoft's continued efforts to improve their backward compatibility: not only with a lot of great Xbox 360 titles still worth playing today, but also OG Xbox games. And if you've never played those either, then it's good to know that there are still plenty of those too, who are still worth playing, and they can be bought from any second hand game shop for a couple of bucks a piece.

And on the Xbox One, they run in a massively improved frame rate and resolution (60fps and upscale x 4), so even if E3 isn't going to deliver all that is rumored, there will STILL be more than enough left to play.

And seriously: you can't give away/sell something that someone else, especially a loved one/better half has given you...

@ThanosReXXX Thanks!

Haven't had an Xbox since the original way back but having been in the ps ecosystem for a decade I know all about the GWG system. BC is a neat feature but not something I'm really overly fussed about, played pretty much everything I wanted to last gen and doubt I would use it at all. Forza Horizon 3 is the only game Ive really been jealous to play, many of the other tent pole ms franchises don't do it for me Gears, Halo etc. Sunset Overdrive looks interesting though. Got a game pass voucher with it so gonna check that out when I set it up tonight. We shall see, if Ms can give me 3 or 4 exclusives to get excited ted about at e3 will keep it around!

And as many times as I've gotten her things and she has returned/exchanged them I doubt she would be mad, but then again I still haven't figured out the female brain yet after 34 years on this earth lol😂

@redd214 Wouldn't worry about that too much: I'm 14 years ahead of you, and I STILL don't understand 'em... (and doubt I ever will, at least completely)
Oh, and NEVER trust them if they explicitly say they aren't mad, because in that case, they probably actually ARE...

And yes, Forza Horizon 3 is definitely a great game, especially with the Hot Wheels expansion. Have you seen that?

As for Games with Gold and/or backward compatibility: the nice thing is that it's optional. I like having options. I don't grab ALL the free games all the time, just the ones I'm interested in, so the same goes for you or anyone else. But you do have to have Xbox Live to at least be able to pick what you like.

For now, I also still have Game Pass (also came with the console for me), but I find it a bit too disposable, seeing as the games you play, are only available during your subscription and will never be yours, whereas with Games with Gold, that's partially different, in that the free Xbox 360 and Arcade titles are yours to keep, and Xbox One titles on offer can be bought at a discount, if you decide to keep them.

@ThanosReXXX yeah when I can tell she's mad I try not to engage lol. My latest tactic is don't make eye contact put on some music and just start cleaning something, anything!🤣

The Hot Wheels expansion does look rad! Will most likely spring for the complete edition which ever one has all the dlc.

As far as the GWG, game pass ownership thing. Doesn't really bother me at all. I've gotten hundreds of games with PS plus and only a handful have stayed on the system for more than a couple months after beating them so nbd. Probably wouldn't keep a sub of live anyway since I already have plus and they get the same games really over time for same price.

@redd214 When not making eye contact, also remember to back away slowly and not making any sudden moves or comments...

Yeah man, if the whole Hot Wheels thing is even remotely interesting to you, then I'd go for it. Mine came as a bundle, with the console, so the Xbox One S, Game Pass, Forza Horizon 3 + Hot Wheels DLC and COD WW2. Bought it last Christmas.

As for Xbox Live: for me, it's more about the options. I can't have options if I don't have Live, even if I would only play these games once. And Game Pass just doesn't compare, which is why I labeled it as being too disposable for me. And then there's of course being able to play online. So even if you're not interested in Games with Gold at all, there's still that. Can't play online without Gold...

And one tiny thing I have to correct you on: I don't have a PS4, but I do keep tabs on their offers, just for comparison's sake, and it's definitely NOT always the same, or even more or less the same, so you are certainly missing out on some stuff here and there. And obviously on the console exclusive stuff.

For example: last year, the entire Killer Instinct bundle was offered. Beat em ups may not be for everyone, but if it is, then you'd only find that on Microsoft's console, so good luck waiting for stuff like that to appear on the PS4...

And there are a number of other titles I can name that will also never appear on the PS4. In the end, it's obviously up to each individual and their personal choices and/or preferences, but all I'm saying is that it really isn't as simple or black & white as "well, I've already got the same thing on PS4, so I'm not missing out on anything"...

@redd214

P.S.

Another great Forza Horizon 3 expansion is Blizzard Mountain, which will probably be my next purchase.
Here's a trailer, in case you haven't seen any of it yet:

@ThanosReXXX For me it is that simple lol, the same is true in reverse also. The point I was trying to make was that majority of the games offered in GWG will eventually be free on ps plus and vice versa. Even the weekly discounts are the same on both sometimes when the do publisher sales. Sure it may take a year and it's not 100% identical but there is a lot of parity which for me makes them redundant.

From where I sit the services are virtually identical out side of exclusives. Play online, get discounts, get free games, cloud saves.

As I said very little xbox exclusive content interest me so the only thing I would be missing would be playing online. Even if offered free if I don't care about it am I really missing out? I don't think so.

Thanks for the vids. I've watched a lot of Forza Horizon gameplay with envy over the last year haha. Cool that I will be able to sink my teeth into it finally!