All posts tagged “xbox 360”

IM with X360 is a pain in the ass

The Xbox 360 Spring Update is here, and with it comes instant messaging in the form of Windows Live Messenger. Naturally I wanted to try it out, so I clicked on the new ‘Chat and IM’ tab, which then prompted me to enter my password, that’s when I realized I was using two different Windows Live IDs for Xbox Live and Windows Live Messenger. And it’s not like I don’t want to use the same ID, but here’s why Microsoft wouldn’t let me: When I bought the console I was already using my Messenger ID (fookhar [at] gmail.com) and therefore I wanted to use this ID with my Xbox, but if you use existing IDs you can’t use the free month of Xbox Live Gold that comes with the console, which meant I had to create a new ID (marcus.mattsson [at] gmail.com), I even called the support center, no help there either.

Now, when I want to use the integrated Windows Live Messenger client in Xbox 360 I must use marcus.mattsson [at] gmail.com because it’s locked to my Xbox 360 account, which means I have to transfer all my Messenger-contacts to this ID (a feature that doesn’t seem to work very well at the moment) or use fookhar [at] gmail.com with my Xbox 360 which means I lose all contacts on my friends list, achievements, etc.

Smart move MicroSoft, why the hell can’t I just be allowed to sign in to Messenger on the 360 with whatever ID I want? Jeez. Well, all this doesn’t matter much to me at the moment anyway, since my 360 has started freezing few seconds after I’ve loaded savegames. Feck.

Crackdown will crack you up

Look, he’s gonna step on your face! He’s THAT cool.

I never liked the Grand Theft Auto series that much, great games, but I found them boring pretty quickly. They lacked a couple of things that would’ve kept me interested: no co-op mode, nothing to do other than driving around killing stuff and doing missions and none of the games had any cool physics, when it comes to human bodies and explosions. Crackdown has it all: the co-op mode is extremely well incorporated, friends can join ongoing singleplayer campaigns, you can enhance skills in various categories (and not boring ones like in San Andres, but stuff like throwing busses and jumping over building) and lastly the explosions look fricking cool! Throw a bunch of cars together, flick a grenade into the mess and KABOOM the entire thing erupts, littering the area with debris, just take a look at this:

[youtube]eaWqseH2A60[/youtube]

My first PS3 experience

The local games shop in town had put up a PlayStation 3, so I got to play a little MotorStorm and some Formula 1 game. The console was running on a Sony Bravia LCD-TV with 720p. The employee immediately started bullshitting me about the incredible 1080p resolution he had seen at some Sony conference a few days earlier, too bad no games are able to use it yet numbnuts. Anyway…

Hardware
I actually don’t like the controller that much, the trigger buttons seemed a bit slippery, seeing as the buttons themselves are turning outwards and not in, which is the case with the Xbox 360 controller, which I like better overall, mostly because it has a better grip. I still prefer the design and D-pad of the DualShock 2 though. The design of the console itself is pretty neat too, pretty big, but doesn’t seem that much bigger (or smaller) than the 360.

Interface
The interface seems good enough, I’m used to it on the PSP, and didn’t get enough chance to browse around with it to be sure of what I think about it.

Games
As I mentioned I tried MotorStorm, and what a disappointment, the graphics don’t really look next-gen, and even though it was running in 720p I wasn’t impressed with the details. Same goes for the Formula 1 game, God I hate that genre.

My Xbox 360 wants a HD-TV

And it's probably gonna get one. Been wanting to upgrade my old 28" CRT TV from Philips, and now seemed to be a fitting time. Probably won't be able to afford one when I start studying. Anyway, I'm thinking about a 32" LCD-TV, and at the moment I've narrowed it down to these two:

Sony KDL-32S2530

Specs:

Resolution: 1366 x 768.
Connections: 2 x HDMI, 1 x Component, 2 x SCART.
Price: appr. 10.000 DKK.

Philips 32PF9541

Specs:

Resolution: 1366 x 768.
Connections: 2 x HDMI, 1 x Component, 2 x SCART.
Price: appr. 10.000 DKK.

As you can see the specs are pretty much identical, I went to the local store and watched them in action, the picture is incredible. Surprising how big a different there is between HD-TVs with almost the same specifications, there was no visible difference between the picture quality on these two though.

Got Xbox 360?

Yup!

I first thought of buying one of the next-gen consoles last year, when I realized I had to upgrade my PC to continue playing the best games, and I just didn't bother. So, I had to choose between Xbox 360 and Wii, in the end, Wii won on account of numerous reasons. First of all I didn't want to pay much, this wasn't in the Wii's favor much though, since the Xbox 360 is down to 2.700 DKK, and a Wii Remote with a Nunchuck attachment cost approx. 600 DKK. Secondly I also wanted to play some of the classic GameCube games, especially Resident Evil 4 and Metroid Prime, which I've done now, and my desire to play games wasn't that big, therefore I didn't expect to buy that many games. Finally I really wanted to try the new controller.

I've owned Wii for almost two months now and it's probably been two weeks since I played games on it. I completed Twilight Princess, great game, Wii Sports has given me the best multiplayer experiences ever, but the rest of the Wii games haven't been that impressive. Madden NFL 07 just isn't me, Marvel Ultimate Alliance is pretty boring, Rayman was fun until completion and Call of Duty 3 would've been awesome if it wasn't for the big amount of ridiculous bugs. The only games I play now is the two mentioned GameCube games. When I bought the console I knew I had to wait for the big games, Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, etc., but my desire for playing has increased since then, and I'm not really that patient anyway. :P

The biggest reason for buying the console: I've got the money! Making more than 10.000 DKK each month, and my only 'expense' is the fact I'm saving most of it for my education. 2.700 DKK is only a week's work, I can live with that. Also, I will still keep the Wii, but only buy the big blockbuster games and the fun multiplayer ones.