While I was away from the site I managed to get a replacement 360 from the States. After the third one died I was fairly miffed at Microsoft, but once I got the new Slim up and running, with my old saves restored, I was back where I was a couple of years ago -- loving my 360.
How great can a product be that after having three of them fail you are happy, excited even, to get a fourth one? I've had two Mitsubishi's in my life, an Eclipse and a Pajero (Montero in some markets). After having electrical problems with the first one I swore I'd never buy another. I buy the Pajero and what do I find? Electrical problems. I swear, I'll now not only ever buy a Mitsubishi ever again, but I'll campaign against them when ever someone asks my advice.
But here I am loving my 360. It charges for online, it steals my saves, it sells me games online then, when licensing agreements change, takes them away.But I still love it. I've had four of them while my original PS3 shows no sign of slowing down... but still.
So what makes it so great? The controller is not as comfortable as the Dual Shock (what with that battery pack on the back), but the sticks are so much better than those found on the Sony competitor. Having the sticks be concave makes sure that when the action gets frantic in a game your thumbs don't slide off.  Having them off center, also balances the weight of the controller. And, at least when the controller is new, it has those four little dimples that help you keep the orientation of your thumbs. The controller is the most important part of any console, after the software, and Microsoft nailed it.
Also on the plus side is the GUI. I think the latest version of the desktop is the best so far. Clearly organized, with the stuff I use the most in the most obvious places. What was genius though is Microsoft's courage to keep changing it. It makes the console always seem new -- even though the hardware is almost archaic at this point.
The built-in HDMI has mostly closed the gap with the PS3 in terms of graphics. Most developers use it as the lead platform, so it makes sense the graphics were comparable, but without HDMI it was impossible to tell before.
Finally, what I love about the 360 is the SILENCE. It is quieter than a Wii now (since the Wii does a lot more disc access). While my PS3 is healthy, if I have it on for more than 5 minutes it sounds like an Apache getting ready for take off.
Paying for online play is more complicated for me than it is annoying (because of my bi-continental tendencies) so I won't bash them for that, but I will lay out my quibbles with MS:
- They seem to be taking the XBOX into the multiverse of media. Along with the Kinect, that's fine if they want to expand the base on the back end of the console cycle, so long as it doesn't take away resources from the core gaming group.
- Which leads to my second gripe. Where are the games? More importantly where are the developer relationships and in-house development programs? Microsoft once had a solid stable of in-house talent, now they seem adrift.
- This is not on MS, but it's fans.  You haven't won anything. There are 61 million PS3s, 66 million 360s. It got a years head start and everyone has had to own at least 2 360's. And Japan hates you. Oh and the Wii.
So that's my story. I'm happy to have a 360 again, hopefully this will be the last one.
For me I will always be a Playstation guy. I actually perfer the DS3, I cannot stand how hard and plasticy the buttons on the 360 are. I dont like the triggers, really hurts your finger when you press them for a long time. Plus I cannot rapid fire them like I can R1. Dpad sucks of course.
The menus are much nicer to look at but the PS3 is way more organized. It took me a month to find out how to change a theme. I still have no clue how to switch player 1 to player 2. I just cant find info as quick as the XMB. I think PSN does nearly everything just as good, I never use cross game chat so that doesnt matter to me.
Where the 360 wins is of course graphics as most 3rd party games look better. The patches and updates are so much quicker, downloading is way faster.
Cool to know, thanks Bear. Dunno about the ones they sell in stores here. I know the Playasia ones are usually NTSC and PAL compliant (which is where I plan on getting my 360 and Wii games from now on). I am not sure about the ones sold here in Australia (I thought not). At least everything I found on the web indicated that a US 360 won't play games from the PAL regions.
http://www.play-asia.com/SSX/paOS-13-71-dw-49-en-70-4idi.html
http://www.play-asia.com/Syndicate/paOS-13-71-dw-49-en-70-4idk.html
http://www.play-asia.com/UFC_Undisputed_3/paOS-13-71-dw-49-en-70-4hr9.html
90% of all new games are region free and cheaper than the states AP so really no excuses ok?LOL
Well in fairness, I said I was going to get my 360 games from Playasia -- which is still importing -- which is still more difficult than just strolling into a store and taking PS3 games off the shelf.
Asain version though is best price wise since you have a US 360 no reason to get the pal one right?
Well in fairness, I said I was going to get my 360 games from Playasia -- which is still importing -- which is still more difficult than just strolling into a store and taking PS3 games off the shelf.
True enough...
Well also the whole pal thing is mute these days with the onset of HDTV 50 60 HRTZ deal does not factor anymore because all HDTV are 60 HRTZ or above now...So yes pal games will play on US 360 as long as they ar eregion free games.
Is anyone other than me having issues with backward compatible games on Xbox One? I cannot get any of them to work, even ones I have previously installed and played in the past on the same console.
I thought maybe Xbox with the latest update made backward compatibility region locked (I have Australian Xbox One and US XBOX and XBOX 360 games).
No help can be found on the internet.
Tried five of my games and they all worked fine. Perhaps check to see if you need to download a patch for the games although it should have asked you to do that when you tried to start them.