arstechnica, dfyb, and drohne agree: MS is Doomed

[Tabasco]

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080817-microsoft.html

Xbox Live is a great service, but it's not clear that all of its features are needed. While the hardcore complain about Nintendo's friend codes, most mainstream gamers are more than willing to put up with them. And Microsoft's competitors aren't standing still; Home could be the silver bullet that finally gives Sony the edge in online play. The PS3 has one of the most anticipated casual games ever with LittleBigPlanet, and the branding of Sackboy is already amazingly strong.

Add idiosyncratic games, such as Flower, that are coming to the PS3 and Nintendo's absolute dominance of the casual market, and you have a gaming world where cherry-picking old franchises is no longer enough. Gears of War 2 looks great, but Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 look just as good in terms of scale, graphics, and online play.

. . .

There is also the fact that Sony's online offerings are free. Yes, Xbox Live is better. But how much better? There are large numbers of gamers out there who simply will not pay money for online play and are more than happy with Sony's offerings. So what if you can't send a voice message across games? Sony's newly-launched in-game XMB adds a ton of functionality, and the Trophies it brings seem to be gaining popularity; I know many people personally who are revisiting old games to tackle the new challenges.

  Home  Flower  LBP    XBOX 

[MrAngryFace]

I have like 50 XBL games; do these people even play games?

[bud]

eb, what happened?

[WrikaWrek]

Mgs4 won't even be in the top10 this year  

People like Dfyb and such think they can change reality by writing it. It's fucked up.

[Positive Touch]

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED CASUAL GAMES EVER

AMAZINGLY STRONG BRANDING

[Positive Touch]

reported

[drohne]

XBOX 

truer fluids were never excreted

arse technica

[WrikaWrek]

How about you guys start writing about better shit. All i see you guys is complaining, but i never saw you guys contributing much.

[MrAngryFace]

Im waiting for Valkyria Chronicles n Disgaea 3

[Tabasco]

I thought eb was about not getting all butthurt about things.  I'm trying to figure out how I could have made that post any more light-hearted.

[Van Cruncheon]

console wars are serious business, you pompous cigarillo.

[Brehvolution]

I thought eb was about not getting all butthurt about things.  I'm trying to figure out how I could have made that post any more light-hearted.

xfags don't like bad news about their system. It ruins the whole forum for them.

[Mupepe]

Home could be the silver bullet that finally gives Sony the edge in online play. The PS3 has one of the most anticipated casual games ever with LittleBigPlanet, and the branding of Sackboy is already amazingly strong.

No one outside of hardcore gamers even knows what LittleBigPlanet is.  How is it one of the most anticipated casual games?  And Home.  

I think MS needs to kick it up a notch or they will be dead, but that argument is fucking stupid.

[MCD]

i need to suck a dick.

VIZ!

[Kestastrophe]

we need our xfag emperor to lead us out of these dark times

xbox am doomed

[Van Cruncheon]

i'm not offended by the bashing of the xbox -- there's plenty to bash. i just can't fathom how sfags exist given that the ps3 has an atrocious library and no real hope for the future beyond a few nominal first-party options canted at every opportunity (r2, lbp, k2), subpar ports from the 360, inferior or at best parity hardware when compared with the 360, and a real dearth of the jappy content loved by all gaftypes.

the ONLY reasons i can imagine are:

1) fell (or fear falling) into a red ring of fire and refuse to go waggle
2) love blu-ray and do not want two giant flame-spewing consoles under the tv
3) stupid as fuck; can't separate brand history from reality
4) stupid as fuck; pointlessly contrarian
5) stupid as fuck; goes by handle dfyb

[Van Cruncheon]

we need our xfag emperor to lead us out of these dark times

xbox am doomed

he is the path and the radiance

[Kestastrophe]

i'm not offended by the bashing of the xbox -- there's plenty to bash. i just can't fathom how sfags exist given that the ps3 has an atrocious library and no real hope for the future beyond a few nominal first-party options canted at every opportunity (r2, lbp, k2), subpar ports from the 360, inferior or at best parity hardware when compared with the 360, and a real dearth of the jappy content loved by all gaftypes.

Drinky

Pretty much EB in a nutshell

[WrikaWrek]

Xfags

[youtube=425,350]ip1zsUIosoA[/youtube]

[Eel O'Brian]

i complain about the 360 all the time - i'm on my third one, build quality is asshole bad and there's no denying that

also, endless nickel and diming on the microtransaction front, not too fond of that

the games are good, though, and that's what it's all about

[Van Cruncheon]

i'm not offended by the bashing of the xbox -- there's plenty to bash. i just can't fathom how sfags exist given that the ps3 has an atrocious library and no real hope for the future beyond a few nominal first-party options canted at every opportunity (r2, lbp, k2), subpar ports from the 360, inferior or at best parity hardware when compared with the 360, and a real dearth of the jappy content loved by all gaftypes.

Drinky

Pretty much EB in a nutshell

i am only the herald for his royal xfagness

[Van Cruncheon]

i complain about the 360 all the time - i'm on my third one, build quality is asshole bad and there's no denying that

also, endless nickel and diming on the microtransaction front, not too fond of that

the games are good, though, and that's what it's all about

eel o'brian: real gamer

[Eel O'Brian]

thanks, but i dunno about that - i just bought a sack full of electronic fail yesterday, remember

[Fragamemnon]

the entire XB live marketplace looks like some terrible cross between early to mid 90s' AOL and a cable home shopping network (with 28k modem era network speeds to boot). Other than that, if my pc snob self can find a few hours worth of gaming on the 360 a week it must be doing something right.

[AdmiralViscen]

Everyone* needs** to relax fo sho


*some people
**need

[Eel O'Brian]

also that d-pad is bullshit, did no one test it on an actual game

[Kestastrophe]

I may have won the lottery
I may have won the lottery
I may have won the lottery
I may have won the lottery
I may have won the lottery
I may have won the lottery
I may have won the lottery

.... awww, it's not working. Perhaps if i keep posting it eventually it'll be come true? sfags can you tell me if this tactic eventually works?

dcharlie

Lo, our Xfag emperor hath descended from on high. Show us the way

[drohne]

not only are ps3 and 360 mediocre consoles, they're practically the same mediocre console -- i can't think of two competing platforms that were less differentiated in terms of hardware performance or characteristic software. being a saturn fanboy meant something; being an sfag or an xbot just means you like arguing on the internet. practically everything is multiplatform anyway, and most of the interest in version comparisons is transparently feigned. xbox and xbots are convenient stand-ins for some of the things i loathe about videogames and the people who play them, but that's the extent of my interest in the matter

[WrikaWrek]

not only are ps3 and 360 mediocre consoles, they're practically the same mediocre console -- i can't think of two competing platforms that were less differentiated in terms of hardware performance or characteristic software. being a saturn fanboy meant something; being an sfag or an xbot just means you like arguing on the internet. practically everything is multiplatform anyway, and most of the interest in version comparisons is transparently feigned. xbox and xbots are convenient stand-ins for some of the things i loathe about videogames and the people who play them, but that's the extent of my interest in the matter

You just said they are both alike, why do you then go and make a distintion between them?

Hypocrite.

[Smooth Groove]

I thought eb was about not getting all butthurt about things.  I'm trying to figure out how I could have made that post any more light-hearted.

xfags don't like bad news about their system. It ruins the whole forum for them.

Read the Too Human and Braid threads recently?  Also, I'm like one of the 3 people here that liked Gears.  EB's distaste for the PS3 stems from common sense, not fanboyism.  People here are generally honest about their likes or dislikes.  Except, of course, when anyone gets too attached to a game or system.  Then EB trolls the fuck out of that person.  

[Vizzys]

stopped reading at home

home

[drohne]

there's no real difference in content, but there's a difference in branding, and xbox is the official brand of smug vulgarity. thank god* that xbox will only ever appeal to a small, predominantly american set of cretins who think paying a subscription fee to be digitally curbstomped and then regaled with associated racial slurs is the best of good times

*kojima

[Fragamemnon]

I wish more people would point out what a shithole xbox live is in terms of total inappropriateness and frat boy behavior. It has, over time, developed its own subculture, which has managed to surpass MMOs and even counter-strike in its level of sheer frat boy jackassery.

[Kestastrophe]

xbox is the official brand of smug vulgarity.

And monkey diapering/diahrrea joke telling game magically exonerates itself from the "smug vulgarity" stigma? lol

You even evoked Kojima in your post

I wish more people would point out what a shithole xbox live is in terms of total inappropriateness and frat boy behavior. It has, over time, developed its own subculture, which has managed to surpass MMOs and even counter-strike in its level of sheer frat boy jackassery.

Blame Halo. I think they only know how to call people "fegs" and distinguished black fellows, I hate it

[duckman2000]

1) fell (or fear falling) into a red ring of fire and refuse to go waggle
2) love blu-ray and do not want two giant flame-spewing consoles under the tv
3) stupid as fuck; can't separate brand history from reality
4) stupid as fuck; pointlessly contrarian
5) stupid as fuck; goes by handle dfyb

6) Clever Duck; really likes games from Insomniac and Sucker Punch. I don't think I'd own a PS3 if those two jumped ship. Although there is some of 1) in it too, but that also extends to a preference for the system build, and system navigation that is fast rather than ham-smacked with content. But then I've never intended on only owning just a PS3, so I guess that cushions the fall of the many shortcomings.

I'm in all beds now, except Wii. Because the Wii is shit.

[Smooth Groove]

As much as I love MS, I've never paid them a dime for online gaming.  

xbox is the official brand of smug vulgarity.

And Sony is the official brand of overpriced mediocrity.  Their electronic products are average at best yet consistently priced more than their competitors'.  I got burned when I took a leap of faith and bought Sony's "top of the line" 1080P LCD.  It was easily the worst TV I ever owned. Adding to the insult, customer service adviced me to fix my backlighting problems by turning the backlight almost completely.  

Sony products

[Vizzys]

I dont think xbox live is anything special when it comes to assholes/racists online. I have encountered such people on PSN  just as often. The difference being you can do something about it on xbox live with its global muting/ feedback/ and reporting system.

I have heard of people being banned for being douchebag racists.

[WrikaWrek]

You know, that's not even normal hate anymore. (Dhrone)

The hate you show is a product of Anger, Anger caused by jealousy. Basically, you were always a Sony cocksucker, and when Xbox came you probably laughed at it, dismissed it, imagining it would fail quickly. But it didn't.

Still you were glad, because Ps2 had stomped the shit out of it in sales, but something happened this gen. Ps3 fucking failed, and now you are upset, like the little sony cocksucker you are, you decide to trash Xbox.

I hate to break it down to you dude but.....there's nothing about the PS3 and it's gamers that is better than Xbox360 and its gamers.

So Xbox live has a bunch of racist hatin mongols, well, everyone has an headset, everyone can talk, and you can mute them, and you can exclusively play with your friends, and you're not obligated to pay for xbox live either, you do however have to stand the fucking silence in Ps3 online gaming, because almost nobody has an headset which makes any gaming session the most boring shit, and of course, since no one talks, no one seems racist, and unlike on the Xbox you do have to pay for shit you might not even care about, like Blu Ray, but who the fuck am i kidding?

In the end, nobody is being obligated to pay for the Blu Ray player that comes with the playstation, they are being obligated to pay for the playstation that comes with the most accessible Blu Ray player in the market.

So fuck sony cocksuckers and their poor attempt at gaming elitism.

[Vizzys]

damn for a minute I almost thought this was a serious thread, my mistake

:home

[Smooth Groove]

1) fell (or fear falling) into a red ring of fire and refuse to go waggle
2) love blu-ray and do not want two giant flame-spewing consoles under the tv
3) stupid as fuck; can't separate brand history from reality
4) stupid as fuck; pointlessly contrarian
5) stupid as fuck; goes by handle dfyb

6) Clever Duck; really likes games from Insomniac and Sucker Punch. I don't think I'd own a PS3 if those two jumped ship. Although there is some of 1) in it too, but that also extends to a preference for the system build, and system navigation that is fast rather than ham-smacked with content. But then I've never intended on only owning just a PS3, so I guess that cushions the fall of the many shortcomings.

I'm in all beds now, except Wii. Because the Wii is shit.

I'm curious as to why you're still a fan of Insomniac.  Sure, their games look good but their platformers have barely evolved in gameplay and there are far better FPS devs out there.  

[WrikaWrek]

Insomniac is a great dev in the sense that they are consistent. They produce a lot very quickly.

Unfortunately, they never produce anything great, but it's always good.

[Kestastrophe]

^ I disagree, Going Commando remains my favorite game of all-time, and UYA was great as well. Haven't played any of their PS3 offerings

[Smooth Groove]

^ I disagree, Going Commando remains my favorite game of all-time, and UYA was great as well. Haven't played any of their PS3 offerings

Resistance was average by FPS standards but R&C PS3 was pretty fun for people who've not played much of R&C previouisly.   

[Brehvolution]

I thought eb was about not getting all butthurt about things.  I'm trying to figure out how I could have made that post any more light-hearted.

xfags don't like bad news about their system. It ruins the whole forum for them.

Read the Too Human and Braid threads recently? We are talking about systems
  Also, I'm like one of the 3 people here that liked Gears.  EB's distaste for the PS3 stems from common sense, not fanboyism. Funny, that is a mammoth fanboy sentence.. common sense lol

 People here are generally honest about their likes or dislikes.  Except, of course, when anyone gets too attached to a game or system.  Then EB trolls the fuck out of that person. As it should be

[Bocsius]

Xbots vs. Sonytards

The fight for irrelevancy continues.

[CurseoftheGods]

Xbots vs. Sonytards

The fight for irrelevancy continues.

Yup.

[Eel O'Brian]

I wish more people would point out what a shithole xbox live is in terms of total inappropriateness and frat boy behavior. It has, over time, developed its own subculture, which has managed to surpass MMOs and even counter-strike in its level of sheer frat boy jackassery.

never wear my headset, ever

global mute

edit:  there are just as many shitheads on pslive, from my experiences playing cod4

[Smooth Groove]

I never use a headset, just 'cause that was always how I played PC games online. 

[Eel O'Brian]

I never use a headset, just 'cause that was always how I played PC games online. 

yeah, the first cod, bf1942, good times, and when some douche typed in a bunch of cursing or gibberish they were always booted

for most games, you really don't need a headset

if you're with a bunch of jackoffs, talking to them isn't going to make a difference

[WrikaWrek]

You guys must play a lot of random matches. I always play with friends, unless it's pro evolution.

I got addicted with gears of war because of that. Every night, after dinner, it was gears of war time with the friends on xbox live.

But then it started cutting a bit into other things and i stopped playing, then i stopped paying for xbox live, and now....i miss the good old days

[duckman2000]

I'm curious as to why you're still a fan of Insomniac.  Sure, their games look good but their platformers have barely evolved in gameplay and there are far better FPS devs out there.

I thought Resistance was about as well designed and smooth of an FPS as I've ever played, it had a very satisfying multiplayer component, but it lacked any particular element of greatness that other, far less consistent developers have managed to put in their games. I also realize that it's a competitive landscape and for that reason, I think Insomniac basically played that one far too safe. I already know from a game like Ratchet Deadlocked that they can create battle scenarios that are about as good as they come, so now they just need to unshackle themselves and put their balls on the line, so to speak. Ratchet was incredible to look at, and there's some personality, good humor and obviously excellent artistic qualities to especially the character design. It too, however, felt like a very safe ride, which was a shame. But at the very least, it was a very good Ratchet game. Not sure if one of those were needed, though.

Part of it is because I know, without doubt, that whatever Insomniac game I'll pick up, it will be entertaining and well designed. It's just, as said, they lack whatever it is that elevated something like Halo to greatness. Something even Bungie seemed to have lost track of for Halo 2, although what little I played of Halo 3 suggested that Bungie might have relocated it. And going by what we know about Resistance 2, and how far ahead of Resistance 1 it seems in its featureset, I think Insomniac too might be on the right track.

edit:  there are just as many shitheads on pslive, from my experiences playing cod4

Yep. It's just that fewer of them have headsets, but when it comes right down to it, it's about the same douchy types. Of course, fucking voice masking can potentially make it even worse. The first time I encountered that in a COD4 match, I felt like I was back in the MechAssault days.

[Eel O'Brian]

well, yes, i do use a headset when i know the people i am playing with, but most of my friends aren't really gamers

i know one person who has all three current systems, and two people with ps3s - the person with all three systems isn't online, and the two ps3 owners bought it mainly for blu ray

[Smooth Groove]

I'm curious as to why you're still a fan of Insomniac.  Sure, their games look good but their platformers have barely evolved in gameplay and there are far better FPS devs out there.

I thought Resistance was about as well designed and smooth of an FPS as I've ever played, it had a very satisfying multiplayer component,

I was impressed by how well Resistance looked and ran in MP mode.  Too bad, the PS3 analog sticks prevented me from investing too much time in it.  I just can't get used to them for some reason. 

Is R2 compatible with KB+M?  If I'm going to play R2 online, I'll need KB+M or at least a FragFX controller. 

[WrikaWrek]

well, yes, i do use a headset when i know the people i am playing with, but most of my friends aren't really gamers

i know one person who has all three current systems, and two people with ps3s - the person with all three systems isn't online, and the two ps3 owners bought it mainly for blu ray

I only knew 1 dude with xbox360. We started playing together and quickly we started finding other portuguese dudes on xbox live, and those dudes knew other dudes, and we formed a community, it was awesome.

But i guess it's easier when it's like that. If i was from the US for example it probably would've been harder to build that community, because, it's not like "hey that dude is portuguese, i'll send him an invite", so i guess it's harder to pick.

In contrast, it's much harder on PSN for me, because nobody talks so it's much harder to build a community.

PSN is like this city where people go there, do their thing and leave. Xbox live is like this city where you enter and everyone is making parties, and people are making group lunches and shit like that, and it's noisy and while it might be a bit overwhelming at first, once you loosen up a bit, you are in the party with them.

[duckman2000]

I was impressed by how well Resistance looked and ran in MP mode.  Too bad, the PS3 analog sticks prevented me from investing too much time in it.  I just can't get used to them for some reason. 

Is R2 compatible with KB+M?  If I'm going to play R2 online, I'll need KB+M or at least a FragFX controller. 

I doubt it will have kb+m support, unfortunately. The FragFX might be good, although I could never get used to the one I had. When you have a mouse, you expect to use your other hand to navigate keys. Instead, you have a thumbstick. Works great for moving around, and I probably didn't give it enough time, but it felt off to me.

[AdmiralViscen]

I dont think xbox live is anything special when it comes to assholes/racists online. I have encountered such people on PSN  just as often. The difference being you can do something about it on xbox live with its global muting/ feedback/ and reporting system.

I have heard of people being banned for being douchebag racists.

Plus private chat, soon to be spread across 8 player parties

Holla

[Tabasco]

XBL is pretty bad.  I stopped playing Halo 2 many times b/c I just couldn't take it.  But I don't know if it's worse than CS.  CS was pretty fucking awful.

[Mupepe]

also, more people just seem to have headsets on xbl.

[Mupepe]

also, more people just seem to have headsets on xbl.

I believe that is because they gave them away with the xbox.

not with the arcade unit! (right?)

[Oblivion]

I can understand seeing some people at say, GAF or whatever take insults to their console of choice to heart. But I would have expected people on EB to have thicker skin. Smh.