The Xbox 360 Thread Pro Edition

[David Hingtgen]

I'm iffy on Last Remnant--looks good, but every video I've seen has tremendous slow-down, enough to turn me off from the game. And I think it's raw engine/hardware horsepower issues, not loading (based on the Youtube comparison video). Maybe the PS3 version will do better.

[mikeszekely]

I'm iffy on Last Remnant--looks good, but every video I've seen has tremendous slow-down, enough to turn me off from the game. And I think it's raw engine/hardware horsepower issues, not loading (based on the Youtube comparison video). Maybe the PS3 version will do better.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I've read... that drops in the framerate and pop-in are problems with the Unreal Engine. I'm not sure if it's a hardware thing, since Epic seems to be fine with it... maybe there's something to Silicon Knights' suit? Squeenix seems especially bad at developing with the Unreal Engine.

[CoryHolmes]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I've read... that drops in the framerate and pop-in are problems with the Unreal Engine. I'm not sure if it's a hardware thing, since Epic seems to be fine with it... maybe there's something to Silicon Knights' suit? Squeenix seems especially bad at developing with the Unreal Engine.

Not to mention Bioware had troubles with Mass Effect. Has anyone tried installing that to the HDD?

[Jeid]

I like the NXE and Avatars, but the staggered rollout of clothing is... annoying, to say the least. I'm also dreading paid clothing coming out, since they'll probably switch all the good stuff to there.

Packaging themed Avatar clothes with themes and content is a good idea, but personally I think themes and clothing should really be given free with games or other content instead of sold for money separately.

Edited November 23, 2008 by Jeid

[David Hingtgen]

I haven't done it but I do read the Bioware forums every day. ME on the HDD won't totally change the game. It will help some, but don't expect the elevators to move ANY faster... (mainly, it'll only eliminate the occasional 'loading' pause when running from place to place) Most of the issues seem to be the engine itself---it just can't handle that many textures or something. (I swear it was designed only for FPS in desolate apocalpytic games, where they only need 4 textures---brown stuff, grey stuff, player, and alien bug)

[Apollo Leader]

The Xbox 360 turned three years old yesterday. To date I've gone through two systems (the second of whuich has worked for me for nearly 2 years and 4 months) and have close to 15,000 GS (thus averaging close to 5,000 a year).

Unfortunately my gaming's bit sidelined at the moment. I think I either have developed carpal tunel and/or pulled something in my wrist while playing a few days ago. Right now I'm just tring to keep my wrist stabilized and not over-doing it. Maybe I might play some Gears or COD tonight, but I think I'm taking a serious break from GH or Rock Band type games.

[mikeszekely]

Excellent. My buddy just finished Gears of War 2, and he brought it over for me to borrow. I know what I'm doing this week...

[CoryHolmes]

Excellent. My buddy just finished Gears of War 2, and he brought it over for me to borrow. I know what I'm doing this week...

Use the game disc as a coaster...?

[Apollo Leader]

Use the game disc as a coaster...?

You are missing a fun game my friend!

BTW, Mike, if you want to play Horde mode while you have the game, I can help you out. Right now I'm up to stage 38 of 50.

[Hoptimus]

Yeah I still need to beat Horde too!

Man I gotta say the big surprise in awesomness is the Netflix service.

I signed up for the trial and its so worth it.

Easily worth the $8.99 for the unlimited streaming and unlimited one at a time DVD rentals. Add Blu Ray for $1.00 more a month.

Awesome.

Got HD streams of The Office.

[Effect]

Wait a second. I haven't tried this yet but does the install option let you play the game without the disc? It's that a wide open door to piracy in that people just have to rent the game and not bother to buy it? Or does the disc still need to be in the system?

[Hoptimus]

Wait a second. I haven't tried this yet but does the install option let you play the game without the disc? It's that a wide open door to piracy in that people just have to rent the game and not bother to buy it? Or does the disc still need to be in the system?

Disc has to be in the tray.

[mikeszekely]

You are missing a fun game my friend!

BTW, Mike, if you want to play Horde mode while you have the game, I can help you out. Right now I'm up to stage 38 of 50.

My headset's busted, and I can't promise I'll be on much this week, but I'll definitely be looking to play some Horde, especially after I finish the campaign. The buddy that loaned it to me was playing splitscreen with me, but we didn't get further than the 5th wave before he had to take off.

[Hikuro]

Just did the big Live update, completely forgot they made the changes to "compete" with the Wii....Hm not bad though, although I'm not big on the dash, I like the old style so much more.

[Hoptimus]

Got Street Fighter II HD Remix. In a word awesome.

[Apollo Leader]

Got Street Fighter II HD Remix. In a word awesome.

How does it play online? Is it less laggy then Street Fighter II Turbo?

I'll probably download it first thing tonight. It's funny to think that SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO when I first played the game, I would never had thought that 17 years in the future that Capcom would authorize a FIFTH incarnation of the original SF II with totally revamped, high resolution graphics. Just shows that some classics are indeed timeless.

With a four day weekend ahead, I am hoping to finally sink my teeth into the campaign/story mode of GOW 2. Just so many games to sink my teeth into. Just hope my hand continues to heal.

[David Hingtgen]

I'll probably buy SFII for the PS3 (when I get a PS3) due to the D-pad. (Same reason I'm getting MM9 for the PS3)

[Hoptimus]

I'll probably buy SFII for the PS3 (when I get a PS3) due to the D-pad. (Same reason I'm getting MM9 for the PS3)

LMAO. Buy a stick. The PS3 port is buggy as hell. Shouldnt be playing SF with a pad anyway.

[David Hingtgen]

Sorry, but that's the one thing contrary to my generally "hardcore old-school gamer" preferences--I hate joysticks, it's the reason I never play 2D (or 3D) fighters at arcades. I like my D-pad. (I grew up with NES/Genesis, not arcades)

[Hoptimus]

Sorry, but that's the one thing contrary to my generally "hardcore old-school gamer" preferences--I hate joysticks, it's the reason I never play 2D (or 3D) fighters at arcades. I like my D-pad. (I grew up with NES/Genesis, not arcades)

There is a nice 6 button pad coming for SFIV in February if you can wait that long.

[David Hingtgen]

For the 360? (since this is the 360 thread, though SF2HD's being discussed in all 3 threads) I can wait---I'd just buy SF2 and play it now, and get the controller when it comes out.

[mikeszekely]

There is a nice 6 button pad coming for SFIV in February if you can wait that long.

*crosses fingers and hopes it looks like the Saturn-ish SF controllers that came out already for the PS2 and Xbox*

[yellowlightman]

Sorry, but that's the one thing contrary to my generally "hardcore old-school gamer" preferences--I hate joysticks, it's the reason I never play 2D (or 3D) fighters at arcades. I like my D-pad. (I grew up with NES/Genesis, not arcades)

Hardcore fighting game players use arcade sticks, so I'm not sure you can pull that card.

[mikeszekely]

Hardcore fighting game players use arcade sticks, so I'm not sure you can pull that card.

I beg to differ. Just 'cause some of you had a local arcade (closest to me was maybe an hour away), transportation, and spare quarters, you think you're soooooo special. Well, some of us put a lot of time into all three versions of SFII to hit the SNES. Way too many hours, in fact. I'm sure that the stick is nice for Zangief's spinning pile driver, but frankly I find them too floaty and imprecise for charged moves. And while I almost never used Zangief, I used Vega, Guile, Balrog, Chun Li, and Bison plenty.

[Gaijin]

I beg to differ. Just 'cause some of you had a local arcade (closest to me was maybe an hour away), transportation, and spare quarters, you think you're soooooo special. Well, some of us put a lot of time into all three versions of SFII to hit the SNES. Way too many hours, in fact. I'm sure that the stick is nice for Zangief's spinning pile driver, but frankly I find them too floaty and imprecise for charged moves. And while I almost never used Zangief, I used Vega, Guile, Balrog, Chun Li, and Bison plenty.

I prefer a stick when it comes to fighters but I can do fine with a good pad just not quite as good especially with charge moves. That said, I know people who can positively rape people with a pad. Those days of the SNES and Genesis 6 button controllers raised a generation of great pad people.

[Keith]

Pad superior, jostick inferior!

[Hoptimus]

Seriously! LMMFAO. You wouldnt last 10 minutes with that at a tourney but more power to ya. I think you guys just like pads since you never learned a stick. I was a pad guy once myself. Then I got in with a group of hardcore SF players. They made me use an arcade stick. It sucked at first but now there is no way I would ever use a pad.

[Gaijin]

*crosses fingers and hopes it looks like the Saturn-ish SF controllers that came out already for the PS2 and Xbox*

The Nuby 15th anniversary ones? I bought like 3 of 'em when they were marked clearance at Gamestop a few years ago. They were ok, but really thick. Buttons were so so. The Mad catz ones sorta look like the Saturn pad as well but they also look chunkier. Hopefully it's just the angle.

Either would be probably be better than the stock pads for either 360 or DS3 in playing fighting games.

That said, I'm personally still a stick person. But if I had to use a pad, I'd want something other than the stock for sure. The Mad Catz pads coming hopefully will be good. One thing about the 360 one is that the pad is wired and still costs $40 and the PS3 version is wireless for the same price. Boo. 360 version should be wireless too for the same price.

[mikeszekely]

The Nuby 15th anniversary ones?

Yep

That said, I'm personally still a stick person.

That's cool. I'm a pad person myself. As I mentioned in one of the other threads, I spent a lot of hours on all three SNES versions of Street Fighter II. I also had all the Alphas for the original PlayStation. Everyone talks about how great the Saturn controller was (never owned a Saturn), but I'd be fine with the SNES d-pad, honestly. The PlayStation d-pad was sketchy, but doable, so I guess I could use the Dualshock 3, but the 360 pad is out. As much time as I put into SFII back in the day, I'm not particularly excited to shell out $15 bucks for it again, let alone even more money on a controller.

360 version should be wireless too for the same price.

Agreed. But maybe it can be used for PC, too? Then again, if the PS3 controller uses a dongle, like the Logitech controller I have for it, it might be able to be used on the PS3 as well.

Which begs the question... PS3 controllers are Bluetooth, but some third-party controllers have dongles. Microsoft went with a proprietary encryption for their wireless controllers to corner the market on wireless controllers for the 360, but why not use a dongle there to get around it?

[yellowlightman]

Everyone talks about how great the Saturn controller was (never owned a Saturn), but I'd be fine with the SNES d-pad, honestly.

That's because the Saturn's d-pad is the best.

[David Hingtgen]

And it needs to be repeated--the Saturn D-pad is the best ever. Probably has the best buttons, too. I think the main thing the Saturn D-pad has going for it is how it rolls.

[Macross_Fanboy]

Anybody have any problems recently as far as having people join your party or playing online? When my buddy and I tried a party it would kick us out almost instantly and when we started playing SC4 or COD WaW it would be really really laggy and would take a few minutes to sync up. The other time we played SC4, it kicked us off completely and I wasn't able to connect to XBL for a few minutes even though I had a signal with it. I'm thinking Yahoo BB is fixing their servers or NXE is just being f'n difficult.

[JB0]

Awww, did I miss a stick VS pad war?

Personally, I view it all as using the right tool for the right game.

I tend towards sticks for action games. 'Cept for games designed around the pad layout, and games that need more than one directional control(switching between thumbstick and d-pad, or using both thumbsticks).

A good pad beats the hell out of a bad stick, though. And most arcade machines have bad sticks. At least, the standard american black sticks. Japanese cabs seem to use fairly nice devices(not that I've had a lot of experience with them).

As for what I grew up on...

TI 99/4a joysticks. Horrid devices, and nothing like an arcade stick. If you ever use one, you'll understand.

Then I got an SNES, and used the stock pads.

THEN I got an NES and an Advantage stick.

God, I love the Advantage.

Not a masterpiece controller in terms of engineering, but the layout was just about perfect, right down to the quick-access turbo-fire toggles.

I actually can't play my copy of Mars Matrix anymore.

I used to have a servicable Dreamcast joystick. Now I have a crappy joystick that sticks.

But I can't go back to playing with a pad. It drives me crazy when I try.

Really need to grab some scrap controllers and some parts and build a quality multi-system stick.

[Apollo Leader]

I know I'm a few days late into this whole joystick vs. pad debate, but I am definitely with MilkManX that joysticks are the way to go for a lot of fighting games, especially any requiring circular motions.

Hori's had a joystiq for the 360 for a number of years now. Earlier versions had DOA4 artwork (I have this version); there's also a Soul Calibur IV variant. I don't know exactly who all carries it, but I was pretty impressed to see 3 or 4 of them out for sale at the Nebraska Furniture Mart here in Omaha recently. There was also a joystick out a year or two ago that was designed specifically with XBLA games in mind.

There are two Street Fighter IV joysticks up for preorder at Gamestop's website. The Mad Catz one runs $150!

[CoryHolmes]

I'm on the fence when it comes to pads vs sticks. I like the pads, but the way my thumb is rubbed raw afterwords...