Topic: The everything Xbox thread

@NEStalgia By the way: I did try Sunset Overdrive, and it was fun to play, but I'm not very good at the "gliding on rails and keeping my bearings correctly" thing, so I quickly lost interest, due to frustration with that.

Haha, almost man. There's a deal right now for a S with Fallout 4 for $199. Not interested in Fallout but is a really killer deal! Really wish the S came in black though. Still going back and forth about the gaming PC thing. Trying to find something pre-built will good specs and good price hasn't been fruitful so far, plus I'm not really a tinkerer so still weighing pros/cons. Have until the end of the summer to really decide so we will see 😉

@redd214 If I were you, I'd first wait and see what happens with the price of the One X. No worries about not being able to get a black version of that either...

I'm expecting the price of that to go down even more before the year is done. And it is still worth it, even if you don't have a 4K TV, because the benefits over the S are still to such an extent, that it is seriously worth considering.

As for PC's: I actually AM a tinkerer. Always build them myself, but regardless of that, I would STILL prefer consoles over a PC for comfortable (and more user friendly), quick start game playing every day.

@DarthNocturnal The event variety is the one thing that makes me want to like it. There's a thousand car racers, most of them better than Crew, but there isn't a single other car/boat/plane/offroad/monster truck/bike racer all in one. That's kind of cool. And it looks pretty. But the open world is almost a negative because they don't seem to DO anything with the world. Forza Horizon, NFS, even Crew 1 felt like you were existing in this bigger world and life was going on around you. But so far Crew 2's world feels like a generic traversal map of which there's no real value to not just fast traveling to event markers. It's not QUITE as broken as Steep. In Steep, you're on skis/snowboards, so the only direction you can go is down....why try to open world travel across the mountain when gravity won't let you? So you fast travel. Here it just seems like there's no actual fun in traveling the very lifeless world versus just jumping to events on the map menu. Crew 1 had a better "feeling" open world, more like Most Wanted meets Watch Dogs (but without the guns and skating rink physics.)

@ThanosReXXX I saw the horn options in the menu with all the DLC locks....that was embarrassing.

Still not sure how I feel about Horizon 4 being online-open world like The Crew. Just goofing around with Crew 1 it gives the world this weird feeling versus well placed AIs to see just random internet nametags jankily cruising by, weaving around, crashing into stuff like a player.....it breaks the immersion that you're racing around in this real world that's orderly and reminds you you're just on the internet with a bunch of gamers SEASONS(!!!!1) aside, I suspect 3 might be more "classic" than 4. But for free, sure I'll try it launch day

@Anti-Matter Wow, I never imagined I'd see you of all people in this thread! IIRC, they never made a white version of the Slim. The standard models of the original design were all white, so they switch to black when they launched Slim, and IIRC, the first model was glossy black, the second was matte black. They probably had a few limited edition skins based around specific games.....if they ever had a white one it probably would have been a Forza special edition, but it would also be very expensive if you found one. 360 S is long since discontinued, so you'd be looking for used either way. The "E" was the last model they made that replaced the Slim....the E was a 360 in an "XBox One" styled shell (also black to match the OG X1.) Even the PAL bundles, I imagine if you're seeing white ones, they're original/Pro/Arcade, not Slim models which was only made in black.

@ThanosReXXX

@redd214 I don't know man, in another thread yuawrite keeps telling me in a circular conversation that modern laptops run most modern games if companies go streaming only then their games all run on PCs, so they'll have a renewed focus on selling whole copies on PC, and so it'll be a big boon for everyone with a mediocre laptop to play the PC versions of those games locally in the most brick-meet-head conversation I've had here in months...so, just get that cheap laptop and you're all set to run superior versions in the all streaming world!

@ThanosRexx, I'm surprised a racing buff like you struggles with the rail grinding thing That game is SOOO arcade, like Metal Slug in 3D, I figured you'd be all over it.

@Anti-Matter Redd & Thanos' conversation just reminded me though: The XBox 1 S comes only on white....so if games you want to run are backward compatible, that's an option (and opens up new games too.) But I'd check compatibility, so I'm guessing a lot of games you're looking for may be more niche and not on the list.

@ThanosReXXX yeah The X I can be had for around $400 new pretty much all the time now. We do have 4K tvs but if I do end up going the Xbox route the S would be fine and still be within budget I want to spend this year. I should clarify I do like tinkering and building things just not tech wise. Never built a pc before and honestly just don't want to spend the time/effort learning how lol. I know it can be worth it but no something I wanna do. If we did get one though it would be position close to the TV in our game room so wouldn't be too much of a hassle to switch hdmi and play on the TV from the couch. Decisions decisions!

@NEStalgia which thread is this? Unlike many I don't have an issue with the game streaming thing as long as it works. I'm blessed and fortunate to live in an area with extremely fast/reliable broadband but I understand many don't. I prefer buying but if game streaming took off in a meaningful way I wouldn't turn my nose at it.

@NEStalgia

I saw the White Xbox 360 Slim was Exist.
What version of this box ?

Btw, the reason why did i look for USA version because.... i ONLY Care for Dance Dance Revolution Universe 1 - 3 (Definetely MUST in USA version due to song list preference), Little League World series Baseball 2010 (perhaps), Kinect games (Dance Evolution, Kinect Adventures, Kinect Sport vol 1 & 2, etc).
I'm looking for Casual rated Everyone games but not too Cheesy, not too Western, not too Weird.

Here are the games i have interest for XBOX 360.

I'm not really sure about these games, but somehow i still curious...

@NEStalgia Yeah, I don't exactly know why. Can't pinpoint it if my life depended on it. But even in real life, I sometimes screw up, like walking out of a store and wanting to take a right turn, instead of a left, to actually walk further along in the direction that I was supposed to go...

And to some extent, I also have the bearings issues in first person shooters, when things get too frantic, in which case I sort of spin out of control with the whole twin stick control thing, I can't see where I am anymore and I ultimately end up backing into walls WAY too close to a thrown grenade or a sniper or I fall of a cliff or something similar...

Which is also why I only play online with friends, because they more or less take that into account, whereas anonymous multi-players will just use that to prey on you even more.

But I wouldn't compare rail grinding to racing. Of course you're on a track, but your not stuck to it, and it doesn't have these annoying and instant camera perspective switches, that games such as Sunset Overdrive have, which for example actually makes me instantly glide back over the exact same rail that I just came from, making me look like a human Yo-yo...

@redd214 It's the Capcom streaming story thread from the other day. In his case it's about somehow the dominance of streaming probably killing off consoles but PC would then thrive rather than streaming killing off PC gaming hardware (if the publishers go streaming-only.) Equating the fact that server builds are PC builds the'd then be more likely to sell PC versions....ignoring the whole point of the business model is to NOT do that and lock everyone into recurring subs (so the investors can drool out both sides of their mouths simultaneously.) He's kind of fixating on the notion that I said that a move to all streaming wouldn't just end consoles but would also effectively kill the PC gaming hardware industry (and thus net the publishers very powerful enemies in Intel/AMD/nVidia+Sony/MS/Nintendo) and assuring me that people still need PCs for productivity and phones are basically PCs therefore PC gaming is fine It's one of those conversations I've stopped trying to add sense and restate that we're talking past each other and just walk away from, which I hate doing.

As for streaming itself, the laws of physics prevent it from being quality. Even streaming over a LAN kind of sucks let alone internet. Some people are reporting good results with nVidia's new streaming beta (PS Now is gross), but of course they must be located near the datacenter. When competitive gamers use wired controlers because the 1-2ms latency of a wired controller is too much, 200+ms latency (round trip, so 400ms from rendering for you to see the image and then your input to return to them.) ain't going to be fun. Streaming video is buffered up to a few SECONDS minimum. I have wonderful low latency internet....to the ISP. But once it leaves the ISP to get to the streaming servers all bets are off in "the cloud". I mean, that's the entire point of Game Pass....streaming sucks and nobody buys PS Now. Yeah MS is introducing streaming too, but I loved the presntation "Yeah soon you'll get console quality gaming streamed to any device hey look at NX...errr new XBox which is waaay better! "

I get the point of cloud streaming as an option for people not into gaming enough to spend the up front cost of entry on hardware but want to mess with it. But the industry has been talking in absolute terms that the future is streaming, down with dedicated hardware! And that's just bizarre thinking. Sure, pay for 3 months and play Fifa or Madden, or the latest Assassin's Creed if you're not into it enough to spend $200 on a 1S or PS4......but the notion it'll actually replace the PS6/XBox Threeie (as Yves Guillemot said) is insanity.

Gaming remains the absolute worse use of cloud/streaming I could possibly think of. It's not a limitation of technology that gets in the way, it's a limitation of natural physics. Until we can fold space-time, it's just not going to be the same quality. You don't try to fly across the Pacific in a train, and you don't try to instantaneously react to a moment in a video over the cloud. That's with ideal internet. Now move to the 80% of the world (heck just the US alone...) that doesn't have ideal internet. I think publishers are banking on the internet being magically "great" by then....but these publishers need a trip to Comcast Tower before coming to that conclusion.

@Anti-Matter Interesting, yeah it was a limited edition, so if you see one in the wild, it will be very expensive since it's kind of semi "collectible." It was never a basic model.

And also, yes, most of those games aren't on the BC list, so you'll need real 360 hardware, not a One. The catch is: You'll either have to pick up a black console bundle, pick up an RROD prone white model (if it's Jasper based it should be safe, but finding that specific model used will be challenging.) or an expensive white Slim limited edition which may be difficult to locate.) Or I guess buy it in black and mod the case white? I think I remember you doing some controller mods so that might not be a big deal for you. You can actually paint in straight lines....I can't

@ThanosRexxx Haha, well I think in frantic shooters everyone does that...it's designed to do that to you. I have a good sense of direction and even I end up there more often than I'd like Then again my FPS skill was raised on Quake on PC where "mouse flick" was standard (before lasers, we had ball mice.....and used the trick where you flick it hard and the ball still rolls while you lift and reset the mouse....so that screen would spin....and you learn to stop it on the dime I wasn't the best at it but it sure got me used to knowing the timing of where my turn will end up. Cover shooters drive me crazy though (looking at you, Gears.)

Nice thing with Overdrive, is you're actually SUPPOSED to do the human yo-yo thing

@NEStalgia ahh gotcha. Like I said I personally don't have issues with game streaming Mainly because of where i live. Verizon (one of if not the largest telecoms in the US) has a headquarters literally 8 minutes from my house so we have really above average Internet quality. As I know that's not the case for majority of gamers I don't see streaming being a viable option for everyone for a long LONG time if ever. I've tried ps now on a couple of occasions and didn't have any issues with it. I played a lot of Dirt 3 online with it and had no issues with lag or latency at all and that was years ago. Like you said, it's a great option but certainly shouldn't be the main one.

In terms of getting a pc/laptop, the main motivation for a new one is for my kids so they have something robust to do homework on. Gaming on it is kind of a secondary objective tbh. That's one of the reasons I'm kind of back and forth. Do I get a stout gaming pc that can do both or get an S and get a slightly above average desktop for them to use. Never really been into gaming on pcs but at the same time wouldn't have to buy new peripherals or go "simpler" route and just add more stuff/clutter to the house lol. 1st world problems I know, we are very blessed 😂

@redd214 The trouble with game streaming is: It only removes one barrier if you have a 4ms ping to your telecom. The telecom still has to get to Sony/Ubisoft/EA/2k's servers....which may be 3 states away. Or on the opposite coast. And to get there, the main trunk from Manhattan may be at traffic capacity, and slow, or you may get routed through the S/E connection, either way cutting some mountains over long winding trails. Bottom line is, It's 3-10MS over fiber from you to the telco. But from the telco to the game server (and back again) may be way worse. Packets get dropped. your jump may route through NY and the sierra-nevada, but your "activate landing control" pressed 2s later may get routed through Dallas. Meanwhile a wireless controller is near-instant. It works well enough for walking simulators. Nobody would complain playing Life is Strange over a stream. I don't think I'd want to play CoD, For Honor, or Sushi Striker that way It's possible Sony has a NY datacenter though so you may get relatively local access to it. I can just imagine Ubisoft opening (or paying Amazon/MS to run) servers in every city in the world The biggest thing I've noticed with PS Now is the compression. It's like watching freaking youtube on a 1995 PC, with the resolution drops and compression. And it's definitely on their end, not mine. They lowered the price which makes it more tempting, but of course for now sub services are mostly legacy games that I've already bought for $15 or less

@NEStalgia I'll be honest I don't know what most of that even means lol all I can say is that my limited personal experience with game streaming hasn't been bad. Playing racing, action, fighting games I don't remember ever thinking it's too laggy to be viable (for me)

Maybe, but more than likely not on the same rail the whole time...
Guess it's just not my kinda game, then. I'm also not gonna try anymore either. Running and jumping towards aliens, instead of from them half of the time, just annoys the living daylights out of me, destroying any pleasure I might experience in playing it.

And I can get disoriented in ANY first person shooter, so I didn't mean only frantic ones, but simply in frantic situations, which can happen in any shooter, in online multi-player. That's probably also why I don't play Battle Royale games. Too many people at the same damn time...

As for Gears of War: no problems for me there, whatsoever. In fact, I'm pretty darn good at those kinds of games. Come to think of it, that might be due to the difference in perspective, albeit only for shooters, since with third person rail gliders, I don't do nearly as good...

@redd214 I'd bet one of Sony's datacenters is pretty near you then. That's not a common experience...enjoy it!

@ThanosReXXX Interesting, yeah for me the cover shooters like gears, I end up losing track of cover. Uncharted I do ok since it's more like a Hogan's Alley shooting gallery, but Gears and such I do lose track of position. It amazes me just how easy it is to die in Gears.

Overdrive is definitely experimental. There are times I think the grinding mechanic doesn't work as well/reliably as it ought to with the hordes. And I run out of ammo WAAAY too much. And it does get old just trying to stay in motion all the time....But there's enough cool/arcade/Jet Set Radio mixed with Ratchet & Clank/Doom/Left4Dead to keep me enthralled

@NEStalgia You mentioning running out of ammo suddenly reminded of why my head couldn't keep up with the controls in even more ways than just the camera and rails: also having to keep a steady aim, while doing all that, which is even more frustrating, and for me personally, a possible reason to send controllers flying into walls...

Now, we wouldn't want that to happen, now would we? Even with the bog-standard Xbox One controller...

From the looks of it, we do have to play a bit of Gears soon, though...

@ThanosReXXX LOL, yeah....I don't have too big a problem with keeping the aim (then again I have that awesome wired Razer controller. Coincidence? but it does get you seasick after a while

That's another good argument for good wired controllers though. If you rage-throw it, you won't hadouken your TV.

After playing Mario Tennis: Aces single player, no other game is rage inducing by comparison. The plastic of my controller was stressing and probably turning white.: P

Haha, yeah, I'm still trying to get a handle on the gameplay loop of gears. I didn't play much (it's the remastered version of 1)....it's cool....but dang is that hard! I've been playing XBox games like 20 minutes at a time lately just to try them all out and see what they're like (I went crazy on the sale...I have like 72 XBox games now between that sale, the few weeks before, bundles, BC, GamePass, etc. (Sonic & Knuckles, on the closest thing to a Sega console....that's cool ) Switch is my "main" platform for now...I like playing outdoors with my Nintendo handhelds whenever I can, so that takes priority when the weather is nice

@NEStalgia Wired controllers? No, these were even worse. My N64 is full of scrapes and scratches, due to controller abuse, and don't get me started on broken internals on the cables themselves...

I try to keep my anger in check, though. It's not good in general, bur especially not for me, since it used to be a real problem for me, half a lifetime ago, but I managed to overcome it. But it's only contained, not gone...

Either way, not having to crawl under all types of furniture to try and find my rechargeable batteries, is also a good incentive to not throw the controller...

But ehm... 72 games? All voluntarily bought or do you also count Games with Gold games? I do have more, seeing as I have already been collecting free Xbox One games for over two years now, even though I didn't have one yet, but I knew I was going to get it eventually, so might as well start to collect the free games while we were at it, no?

So, as a result, I had an instant library once the One was up and running in the House of Thanos...
Sad thing is that back then, I saw myself putting just as much time in it as I have done with the Xbox 360, but I also started my business two years ago, and ever since then, I just haven't found as much time for gaming as I used to. I'm actually glad and content to just sit and relax in front of the TV, once the working day is done and I've finished my evening meal.

So, gaming is mostly for the weekends, on Fridays and Saturdays, and sometimes a Sunday, but not too long, because we have to get up in the morning again for the next working week...

And when the weather is nice, I don't game at all. I just go biking, walking, or sitting on a terrace with a cold beer or a cuba libre...

Right now, I'm watching the Soccer World Championship, so that means even less time for gaming, what with the three matches a day in the last two weeks, and the double matches since today. And at the end of the month, I'll also be spending my time with other activities, because then, my pre-ordered NES Classic Mini arrives, which I'll need to hack, obviously, to complement the library until it is completely to my personal taste...

Haha, my NES and SNES gear survived some abuse back in the day, that's for sure!

That includes GwG, and GamePass games (though not many of those yet.) Mostly it's outright bought games, but few for over $20 (and several were bundles of 3 games or so in there like NFS.) But I pre-paid for 3 years of Game Pass at half price, so I get to keep those for some time It includes some 360 BC games too. And a number of re-buys I had on PS4 before I knew I was getting a 1 but would much rather have on the X1. I pretty much caught up on everything from the past 5 years that interests me for 80% off

I just discovered Halo: ODST's campaign is available as $5 DLC for the MCC!! Awesome, that for some reason is my favorite Halo!

@ThanosReXXX I take it back, the wired controller actually has a magnetic break-away cable....so you'd still hadouken your TV. Ah well!

Also, Horizon 3, I fear I should not have picked the Bimmer. No wonder everyone on the roads with a blue BMW drives like a maniac, the things handle like a walrus on skates (And I don't mean the "Orange Crush" ), they're not reckless, they're just only barely in control. "German engineering." Pfft. I finished 12th in one of those random races, then finished 3rd on retrying. Had a satisfying "run through the dirt, take out some signposts, and knock everyone away from the outside left, more than slightly forcibly" chasing through the pack. Like a true blue Bimmer owner on the way to the doggie daycare.

Got to my first "festival" you have to unlock by winning other races (I spent 3 sessions in the customization garage not understanding how to start the race....then figured out I couldn't yet.)

One thing I'm confused about: One big feature they showcased for Horizon 4 is that it's shared world and the other cars are players too, like The Crew. But....I realized during my race that there were gamertags above the other cars....and in the open world, I saw plenty of gamertags going by....so if they're in 3, what's special about 4? Or are these just "ghosts", AIs using real player names for scoring purposes?

Edit: I also discovered that after buying the season pass, Hot Wheels downloaded but Blizzard Mountain inexplicably didn't. I had to grab it manually. No biggie but I may have never noticed I was missing what I paid for!