Time to buy an XBOX360?

[leowyatt]

hahah I can try Pete but don't think that is going to happen ;D

[Haly]

It was Gamestation. That particular branch has been going downhill a while anyway so to be expected. At least he gave in soon enough which was useful :) Didn't really want an argument.

[leowyatt]

Best bit was the manager came out with this bollocks about how they'd received a communication from MS to not exchange any consoles and they they should all be sent off to MS, ORLY?????? ;D

[Haly]

Wtf? ;D

As an aside, he actually looked a fair bit younger than me too, I was surprised when he said he was the manager!

[Davey_Pitch]

If he tried that with me I'd have asked him if he'd heard of the Sales of Goods Act, and if he wanted me to ring Trading Standards there and then. I'm sure he'd have soon changed his tune :D

[NokkonWud]

Oof, you're so agressive Davey ;).

[Davey_Pitch]

Hehehe, generally not, but I hate shop owners trying to take liberties, really bugs me.

[NokkonWud]

I've sent you a message on Xbox Live Davey.

I have to pack my PC up, Psymonkee will be here in 30 minutes and if he sees I'm not packed away he might murder me.

[Haly]

I do too but I'm so crap at dealing with stuff like that these days :o I need to regain what limited assertiveness I had before. My Mum was proud of how I confidently spoke to the guy, didn't sound like it on my side ;D

[leowyatt]

Well done Jen for standing your ground :) I said before you left, you better not be leaving that store with anything other than a new console ;)

[Haly]

I made sure he knew it :D As essentially I said 'Matt phoned earlier about this, I've come to exchange it for a new one', no discussion :p

[leowyatt]

:thumbsup:

[Davey_Pitch]

I've sent you a message on Xbox Live Davey.

And replied, thank you :)

[Davey_Pitch]

A quick update regarding Dead Space. It's scary. It's jumpy. It turns the lights out when you don't expect it, then makes noises from all around you. It makes Condemned seem like a walk in the park with fluffy bunnies.

And I love it so far :D

[Haly]

:shocked:
Think I might need to desensitise myself with Condemned first then ;D

[Davey_Pitch]

It's the atmosphere that does it. The way the lights move, casting shadows around you. The noises you hear, skitterish noises making you think something is about to jump out at you. And just when you think everything is clear, something *does* jump out at you, from a vent, from the ceiling, from the floor, from anywhere. Plus the usual tactics of aiming for the head isn't as effective as usual, you have to dismember them, which is always good fun watching them crawl after you without legs :D

[Creature]

Right....won't be getting that then :(

[Daz]

Good news for all you score/completionist whores =- the new dash will let you delete any 0 point games on your gamercard :)

[Haly]

Yay :D That will boost my completion loads.

[Justsomebloke]

A quick update regarding Dead Space. It's scary. It's jumpy. It turns the lights out when you don't expect it, then makes noises from all around you. It makes Condemned seem like a walk in the park with fluffy bunnies.

And I love it so far :D

Dupsingh sent me a vid of this yesterday via MSN, Looks Pure Awesomeness, Me Wants :p

[leowyatt]

It seems there was a beta for the new dashboard open on Friday night at frickin 2am :angry: so yet again the Europeans get shafted in the arse!! It filled up extremely quickly and from the comments I've read not many got in.

[Davey_Pitch]

Yay :D That will boost my completion loads.
Not on 360voice if that's what you're thinking, it doesn't include zero point games in it's calculations :)

[Haly]

Not on 360voice if that's what you're thinking, it doesn't include zero point games in it's calculations :)

Doesn't it? Oh crap, mine's not great then anyway ;D It's about 45% iirc.

[leowyatt]

I'll be really happy with being able to get rid of the xbla trial games I've played :D

[Davey_Pitch]

Doesn't it? Oh crap, mine's not great then anyway ;D It's about 45% iirc.
Only a little less than mine, which is around 48% I think. Want to bump that up to over 50% if I can :)

[Haly]

Me too funnily enough :D

[Creature]

Hello :D

[Aboobie]

Good news for me :)

I can finally get rid of PD0, Lumines Live, Speedball 2 and Bejewled 2! :)

I'm already at 74% and this will help nicely :)

[Daz]

How many VP:TiP do we have? Thinking about the Live co-op achievement :)

[leowyatt]

Reading about GTAIV seems there might be some sort of Zombie expansion on the way which to me is just daft :(

[Haly]

How many VP:TiP do we have? Thinking about the Live co-op achievement :)

Me :D But you knew that.

[Daz]

Me :D But you knew that.
I did :D Level 92 now :o

Reading about GTAIV seems there might be some sort of Zombie expansion on the way which to me is just daft :(
Pretty sure that's just for multiplayer dude, something they're doing over Halloween :)

I'm not sure we'll see the first DLC before Christmas now. Seems a bit late in the day to get the word out and the hype train rolling, with all the other releases making noise.

[leowyatt]

Ah I read that people in MP were being infected and the article said they weren't sure what RS were planning.

I do agree with you though that it's too late now for the DLC. To be honest apart from the people like me who will still have the game I think the boat has sailed for GTA IV. No one will be interested in it unless it is an entirely new city.

[Haly]

I'll be interested in GTAIV DLC if it's a decent price :)
Really need to go back to it to complete it though :o Played it loads at first then stopped for some reason.

[Davey_Pitch]

I'll get the DLC depending on the price. I need to go back to GTA for a lot of the achievements so some DLC to play will definitely be the incentive I need :)

[leowyatt]

I need to go back and play it full stop :o ;D

[NokkonWud]

I need some new SP achievements. Got all the ones from GTA4. I didn't really like the MP though, as I expected, it sucked.

[Justsomebloke]

I've not played GTA4 yet but it is one of those games I want to play through, I need a few more games for my 360, I've completed GRID, Done it in 6 days all cups won :D I'm mainly playing Fifa 08 through now on Manager mode but playing every game, It's nice to contrrol Every aspect of your team from top to bottom :cool:

[NokkonWud]

Have you done Grid in Multiplayer yet? I thought the online system worked pretty well.

Grid also has a decent trade value IIRC.

[Justsomebloke]

Only played Demo derby online, I keep meaning to go online for a race but I seem to get stuck into 1 game rather than play a few at the same time.
As for Trade it's not my game it's one of Wossis' that he popped over (Local BD'ers FTW:D)

[Daz]

Tomb Raider: Underworld Demo now on the marketplace - looking at you, Belmit :D

[leowyatt]

ooooooh saw a video of Lara in Mexico the other day, looks good.

[Davey_Pitch]

Ooh, I'll be downloading that later, I enjoyed almost every Tomb Raider game I've played so far and this also looks to be pretty good :)

[leowyatt]

I still need to play more than the first mission on Legend :o

[Daz]

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/29/video-tour-new-xbox-experience-exposed-page-3/#party-system

Loads of videos on NXE - the party one is worth a watch at least :)

[NokkonWud]

Ooh, I'll be downloading that later, I enjoyed almost every Tomb Raider game I've played so far and this also looks to be pretty good :)

I was impressed by the demo, though it does have my one biggest fear in games and that's enemies under water :(. Sharks and Crocodiles scare the crap out of me.

[Haly]

Oooh I like the look of the party system, could be really handy. Certainly easier than the current system.

Installing to hard drive seems more interesting to me now since Fable II. Anything to speed things up has to be good! And as all I've played the past week or so is Fable, it'd be nice if the option was there already as I could sacrifice some space for a little while.

[Daz]

I'll use it like that - I tend to only focus on 1 or 2 games at a time, so they'll be installed :)

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/29/video-tour-new-xbox-experience-exposed/#the-guide

The Guide video is also worth watching - this is where you can delete 0 point games if you want to :) There probably a button in the main dash for it too but they actually show it here.

[Davey_Pitch]

I'll definitely be installing Fable, Mass Effect and Fallout to the HDD, as they're all games that required loading between zones. Hopefully there'll be a nice improvement after installing them :)

[leowyatt]

If I only have the 20gig drive will I be able to install any games??

[NokkonWud]

If I only have the 20gig drive will I be able to install any games??

You have 13gb not including profiles, saves, pictures, music, movies and demos.
So yes, but you may need to make some space.

[Daz]

Depends on the size of the game, some will be larger than others. What's the size cap on a double layer dvd - ~9GB?

[NokkonWud]

No, I believe it's 8gb for game data. I remember reading something saying games don't use a full DVD9 on Xbox360.

[leowyatt]

Hmm I'll go through and delete a load of stuff today and see how much free space I have left.

[Daz]

I always kept ~11GB free on my 20GB, you just have to be good with your demo housekeeping :)

[leowyatt]

I only 2 demos left and they average just over a gig from what I can see.

[Haly]

I've got 7gb free but bound to be stuff I can clear. Not sure what's taking up room now actually as I haven't got any demos on there at the moment.

[Daz]

If you wait on the categories screen (the screen just after you select the hard drive, Games, Profiles, Demos etc), it will show you the usage of each one :)

[Haly]

Will do :D It might just be save files admittedly, or maybe arcade games, I've got far too many of those :o

[Creature]

I have about 2gig left =/

[leowyatt]

ah save files will be a good one to delete ;)

EDIT: I just deleted all my demos 8.8 gigs free space :D just check the games folder and that is 3.7gigs in size :shocked:

[NokkonWud]

Oh, forgot I had a load of Arcade games on there. Much more than I thought.

[Davey_Pitch]

I have 88GB free \o/

[Haly]

Bloody elite owners :p
I wish I had an elite :( They're exactly the same besides the HD and black goodness, but I still want one ;D

[Creature]

Hmmm, my Rock Band file is 2gb =/

[Aboobie]

I have 88GB free \o/

Bah, I only have 82GB ;)

[leowyatt]

I have 88GB free \o/

bugger off!!! :p

[Psymonkee]

a mere 89gb free here :(

[Daz]

83GB for me, but I've been downloading all the recent demos that all seem to be 1GB+. Mirrors Edge is due before the end of the week too!

[leowyatt]

Am I the only person who doesn't have a 120Gb drive :(

[Creature]

No, I don't either :(

[Daz]

The 60GB bundles seem imminent, they've just been detailed in the states :) ($99, ethernet cable, headset, 3 months live and 60GB disk - essentially upgrading an arcade to a pro at no extra cost (the difference between the 2 in the states is $99))

Maybe that'd be a feasible option if you want to upgrade? The 120 is rapingly expensive if you cant luck our on ebay or something.

[Haly]

I've only got a 20gb HD too. Not sure if/when I'll be upgrading. Whenever I have money spare, I'd rather buy a game :p

[Desmo]

I've only got a 20GB drive but I tend to only play one game at a time so as long as I can install the current one I'll be happy :)

[Desmo]

Don't know why, but I thought I'd take a look at the postcount for this thread this morning...

Who Posted?
Total Posts: 4,341
User Name Posts
Haly 911
leowyatt 781
Daz 775
Davey_Pitch 558
petemc 214
Creature 184
Desmo 167
NokkonWud 99
Feek 94
Belmit 74

Look at you spammers up top.

[Psymonkee]

Damn I'd best get catching up :(

[Davey_Pitch]

Surprised I'm not higher tbh, this forum is pretty much all I post in lately :)

[leowyatt]

only a few posts between me and Davey ;D whereas Jen is just spamming away at the top :p

[Matblack]

I've only got a 20GB drive but I tend to only play one game at a time so as long as I can install the current one I'll be happy :)

Same as, its just not worth me upgrading to an Elite although I am tempted I'd have to run an HDMI cable to the projector and get an HDMI equipped amp and I don't really want to go through the hassle :(

MB

[leowyatt]

Well I now have over 11Gb free after clearing up all the arcade games I don't play ;D

[Davey_Pitch]

I still need to clear out some of the demo's and arcade games I don't play. My main problem is that I download demo's that look good and then forget to play then. I must have about 10 demo's there I've still yet to play.

[leowyatt]

I just wiped everything because I don't have time to play demos at the moment ;D

[NokkonWud]

I'd be interested to see number of posts over a short period of time :p.

[Davey_Pitch]

I'd be interested to see number of posts over a short period of time :p.
Dirty spammer :p

[leowyatt]

Dirty spammer :p

that is the only reason he's asked ;)

[Daz]

Ok then stat fans, posts in this whole forum by user:

Daz 3389
Jen 3258
Leo 2767
Davey 2258
Desmo 1388
Creature 613
MB 568
Nokkon 488
:cool:

Later, if you want, I'll do posts since Nokkon's join date :p

[NokkonWud]

lol, it's just that I seem to post here many times a day now as I prefer it so much more here. I only had ~200 posts last month :p

Later, if you want, I'll do posts since Nokkon's join date :p
Laying down the gauntlet eh?

[Davey_Pitch]

Heh, over half my posts have been in this forum alone. I'm surprised it's not higher tbh! :)

[loki]

Slightly O/T but what ports are there on an Xbox 360 Arcade, 20gb, 60gb and Elite Versions. My friend at work thinks it's only the Elite that has HDMI & Optical out :confused:

[Daz]

They all have HDMI now, only the Elite comes with the dongle to get optical out. If you want that on the other models you have to buy the official HDMI cable pack which comes with one.

It does output 5.1 over HDMI though :)

[leowyatt]

I do spend most of my time in this part :o

[NokkonWud]

Slightly O/T but what ports are there on an Xbox 360 Arcade, 20gb, 60gb and Elite Versions. My friend at work thinks it's only the Elite that has HDMI & Optical out :confused:

All have HDMI out. Normally all cables have an optical port on them (Component and VGA for example), but with the Elite you get a dongle which is thin at the end and fits under the HDMI port (why they didn't move the port I don't know) so that you can use HDMI and Optical at the same time.

You will get a Component cable as long as you get a Pro, so it's possible to 'gimp' it by cracking the protective plastic around the input to make it fit. It's not hard and is really simple - I know a lot of people have gone this route.

Optical and HDMI both output at 5.1 though, so if you have an HDMI amp w/ 5.1 output you're laughing.

[Haly]

I'm only second on postcounts for this forum? Tsk :p
Main place I reside in these days :D Nice for it to be booming.

[loki]

All have HDMI out. Normally all cables have an optical port on them (Component and VGA for example), but with the Elite you get a dongle which is thin at the end and fits under the HDMI port (why they didn't move the port I don't know) so that you can use HDMI and Optical at the same time.

You will get a Component cable as long as you get a Pro, so it's possible to 'gimp' it by cracking the protective plastic around the input to make it fit. It's not hard and is really simple - I know a lot of people have gone this route.

Optical and HDMI both output at 5.1 though, so if you have an HDMI amp w/ 5.1 output you're laughing.


Cheers

Was thinking of getting one from gameStation next week. They got some good bundle deals on

[NokkonWud]

Don't hesitate! Worth every penny! Get fallout 3 on it rather than PC.

[Daz]

Don't hesitate! Worth every penny! Get fallout 3 on it rather than PC.
I endorse this pimpage, join us :)

[Davey_Pitch]

Get the Xbox, get Fallout, Fable, Gears 2, and Call of Duty 4, and never need to leave the house again :D

[Matblack]

Cheers

Was thinking of getting one from gameStation next week. They got some good bundle deals on

I never thought I would move from my PC to a console, it was Oblivion that sold me on it, I would have had to pay the cost of a 360 to upgrade my old PC to a state where it would have played it well, now all the games I get play perfectly on my machine and I never worry about having to get a new graphics card to experience games to their full :)

Now I have one I wouldn't go back

MB

[loki]

I think I will but I need to develop a cunning plan to get it past Mrs L. Other than saying that its a pretty big external Hard Drive, I am going to have to come up with something real good to get it past the front door. Her gadget alarm will be doing overtime :p

[Aboobie]

Tell her about Lips or DDR... good old family entertainment, spend more time together etc etc. :)

[Daz]

And Scene It!

[NokkonWud]

Scene It? Is great, new one out soon too!

[Creature]

I've still not played the original, might pick it up for cheap soon.

[Daz]

£15 (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5686838.htm) in Argos if your local has stock :)

Will mean you dont have to buy the pads for new one either.

[Creature]

Sounds good.

As a side note, how many of us are actually at work at the moment?

[Matblack]

Scene It! is a revelation, I think its better for my group of friends than the Wii, they really need to get more games out that use the buttons, its an untapped market for the 360. When Desmo and Piggy come round we usually play it and I don't think we've even visited all the puzzle locations let alone had a repeat question!

MB

[Daz]

Sounds good.

As a side note, how many of us are actually at work at the moment?
Me :D I'm posting while waiting for tests to complete though, so it's ok.... at least thats what I tell myself :D

Scene It! is a revelation, I think its better for my group of friends than the Wii
Same here dude, the 360 has seen so much more usage than the Wii when we've had friends round, even with the non gamers, and Scene It started it really :)

[Matblack]

I'm in a training session which is trying to teach me the elementry functions of file copying in XP :/

I thought people were born knowing this stuff! I do know how to use MS Sharepoint now, but its so Gateified that its pretty much self explainatory anyway :sigh:

MB

[leowyatt]

Not a chance of picking one up here :( they are all sold out.

[Aboobie]

Work... lol.

I'm off as a full time parent at the moment. Got a just turned 4 year old daughter and have a 14 week old so I'll not be going back any time soon.

Just need 3 years to work on plan C so I get even more time off after that!

[Matblack]

Work... lol.

I'm off as a full time parent at the moment. Got a just turned 4 year old daughter and have a 14 week old so I'll not be going back any time soon.

Just need 3 years to work on plan C so I get even more time off after that!

That might be my route in the future depending on how things go with Aitch's work and how she feels once we start a family. Be interested to know how you get on with it at some point :)

MB

[NokkonWud]

Scene It! is a revelation, I think its better for my group of friends than the Wii, they really need to get more games out that use the buttons, its an untapped market for the 360. When Desmo and Piggy come round we usually play it and I don't think we've even visited all the puzzle locations let alone had a repeat question!

MB

Yep, it's fantastic fun. It's also ace for achievements ;).

[Matblack]

Bah! I'm not an achievement whore like you lot :p

MB

[Aboobie]

That might be my route in the future depending on how things go with Aitch's work and how she feels once we start a family. Be interested to know how you get on with it at some point :)

MB

I've been off 4 years now (scary when I put it like that). I gave up quite a good software development career but don't regret it one bit. My wife loves her career and didn't really want to stay off where-as I could in all honesty take or it or leave it. Like all 'jobs' it has it's good and bad days. A day out with the kids in the sun, long walks is great. Rainy days, cleaning sick out the car (Trust me, this is a grim task) and missing the office banter isn't.

Anyway, off topic a tad!

[Creature]

Well, I say i'm in work, i'm sat at a pc saying "Golf Victor Juliett roger" every 5 minutes into a radio.

[leowyatt]

Anyone here got scene it in stock at your local Argos??

[Matblack]

Anyone here got scene it in stock at your local Argos??

Sorry no, I did look for you :(

MB

[Creature]

Nope, none of mine do....out of 8 =/

[leowyatt]

cheers MB :) might be a case like PC world where if their stock is below 10 it says there isn't any. I might try the local one and see if I can grab a copy :)

[Haly]

Anyone here got scene it in stock at your local Argos??

Afraid not :( Just checked a 25 mile radius in case, all sold out.

[Daz]

Same here :/

http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/3438853/Scene-It-The-Movie-Trivia-Game/Product.html?ptsl=1&ob=Price&fb=1

£15.50 from a Play trader though :)

[NokkonWud]

http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/3438853/-/Product.html?P36=AGSFLC

From £15.50 w/ free delivery.

Oi Daz! :(.

[NokkonWud]

Only £20 for Scene It? Box Office Smash when that comes out (or £30 w/ 4 buzzers). Brilliant prices!

[Davey_Pitch]

I'm at work as well, but things are so quiet I might as well be at home!

[NokkonWud]

Isn't it the school holidays?

[Matblack]

Isn't it the school holidays?

Support staff like Davey and I usually have a full year contract, if I went term time only I've have my salary pro rata'ed :(

MB

[NokkonWud]

Ah, that absolutely sucks. At least you still have times to do really productive things like post in here and giving me something to do ;D.

[Davey_Pitch]

Isn't it the school holidays?
Last week was half term for most Liverpool schools, but like MB said I was in anyway. It's actually quieter this week with everyone back in than it was in half term last week! :)

[Creature]

Things for nokkon to do....like write the update I was promised on Monday :(

[NokkonWud]

Good point. I must write something on my blog. I will after Fallout 3 arrives as I might photo it and post about it all :D.

[Daz]

http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/3438853/-/Product.html?P36=AGSFLC

From £15.50 w/ free delivery.

Oi Daz! :(.
Sorry :D

Only £20 for Scene It? Box Office Smash when that comes out (or £30 w/ 4 buzzers). Brilliant prices!
Same at Game, I'm picking it up on the day :) You can find Lips for £35 with both Mic's which is a good price too.

[Davey_Pitch]

I'll be pre-ordering the new Scene It from Gameplay, as I can get Quidco on it then :)

[NokkonWud]

Not good if you'd heard me sing. :p
I think I'll pick up Box Office Smash too.

The achievement list was announced yesterday I believe and they are very similar and work really well, but there are a couple of multiplayer ones over Xbox Live too, so that has me excited. Right up my street.

[Creature]

I'll probably pick them both up then, i'm sure my local Blockbuster will have the original in.

You can tell we're all really bored today can't you.

[Daz]

Scene It multiplayer will be cool. Dee wants to have a a team competition with some of the other couples over Live :D

[NokkonWud]

Think I'll just order it. Can't really go wrong for £20! I'll borrow the buzzers from a friend.

[Davey_Pitch]

I'm happy to play over Live with some of the movie buffs, as I'd love the challenge. Managed over 100k in the long game on the original so I hope I know the films in the next game as well!

[Daz]

You can play with a pad if you need to, it's just not as accessible to casual types :)

[edit] You'll like this one Davey...

Home Alone 40
Score 300,000 + points in a Solo Game.

[Haly]

You can tell we're all really bored today can't you.

Yup ;D

I'll be getting the new Scene It at some point but not at launch, played the original at Christmas and Easter with the family so it's a bit of a sore subject and has been untouched since April. Probably not that much fun with two people who have very similar film knowledge too :p

Live play will be good though.

[Davey_Pitch]

[edit] You'll like this one Davey...

Yup, I like the look of that one, should be a good challenge to get :)

[leowyatt]

Think I'll probably just buy it from the play place later :)

[NokkonWud]

Thankfully there is no 'answer 60 questions without getting one wrong' achievement. Drove me mad that did, especially when I got 64 right, then got one wrong and I didn't get it as it was worded poorly in the information.

[Daz]

They're the only 2 I haven't got from the first one, just not been arsed really :p

[NokkonWud]

I hate being so close to completion and not getting it. It would drive me mad.
I know a lot of people don't have the 'answer 3 questions about documentaries correctly' because they are so rarely seen - I was lucky and got 2 in a row! :D.

[Daz]

I do have that itch with the first Viva Pinata. 980 points, just missing play for 50 hours... but I'm not even close and I'm not just leaving the console on :p

[Davey_Pitch]

I do have that itch with the first Viva Pinata. 980 points, just missing play for 50 hours... but I'm not even close and I'm not just leaving the console on :p
I'm sad enough that I would, probably for a couple of hours a night while watching TV or something :/

[Creature]

I hate playing games I can't get 100% on, so any games with ranked achievements are out, as are really, REALLY hard games. Saying that, Quantum of Solace looks tempting.

[NokkonWud]

It's a shame you feel that way, I know I'll play some games and really enjoy them even though I don't think I'll get 100%, but I'll always try to get close. Battlefield Bad Company is a good example as one of the ranked achievements in particular is incredibly time consuming to get and elements of it are made from luck or extraordinary skill, but despite that I love playing it.

[Creature]

Well, they're not out as such, there are just other games i'll pick over them. GOW is still one of my favourites, despite being heavily MP based achievement wise.

[Davey_Pitch]

I hate playing games I can't get 100% on, so any games with ranked achievements are out, as are really, REALLY hard games. Saying that, Quantum of Solace looks tempting.
I'm similar to a degree, but for me it's games that are heavily MP based for the achievements. I don't mind MP achievements generally, but if I can't get 600-700 through single player stuff I often won't bother. Exceptions would be games like Rock Band that I just love regardless :)

[Haly]

I'm sad enough that I would, probably for a couple of hours a night while watching TV or something :/

Snap :D

I'm also not keen on acheivements focused more on MP, it doesn't stop me playing a game but it is a minor thing that I'd prefer to be different. Despite how it may look, I haven't played a game deliberately for achievements in agessssssssss. Just got bored of it, and the games I have been playing have been giving me plenty of achievements anyhow :D
I'll no doubt return to some easy 1ks at some point though.

[NokkonWud]

I must admit, I am from the oldschool of gamers. I always believe SP should be the bread and butter, the quality content of the game unless it's a MP only game (Quake 3, Unreal Tournament, Battlefield series etc..), all too often you get a naff SP tacked on to something where they've put effort into the MP. Again, this is the case for several games for achievements where you get 50 achievements to a game, 45 of them will be for SP, many at 5 or 10 points, but the last 5, ranked only achievements will be 100 points each or so, and that annoys the hell out of me.

[Haly]

Yeah that's daft.
SP > MP every time imo :D

[Davey_Pitch]

Snap :D

I'm also not keen on acheivements focused more on MP, it doesn't stop me playing a game but it is a minor thing that I'd prefer to be different. Despite how it may look, I haven't played a game deliberately for achievements in agessssssssss. Just got bored of it, and the games I have been playing have been giving me plenty of achievements anyhow :D
I'll no doubt return to some easy 1ks at some point though.
I started whoring again a week or so ago (Jumper was the game of choice), and even though I have Lost there as a rental, I'm just not in the mood to play it. I know it'll only take me about 3-4 hours to get another game 1k'd, but I really can't be arsed. I should try to catch you up a little though before you get your whoring mojo back :p

[Creature]

I don't mind MP points, as long as they're not ranked. Player match ones are good as you can do it with a group of friends, but ranked is a lot harder to get organised.

[NokkonWud]

I think Gears of War 2 has it perfectly.

[Creature]

Aye, lots of mp points, but almost all can be gained in regular play, and in social matches \o/

[Haly]

I started whoring again a week or so ago (Jumper was the game of choice), and even though I have Lost there as a rental, I'm just not in the mood to play it. I know it'll only take me about 3-4 hours to get another game 1k'd, but I really can't be arsed. I should try to catch you up a little though before you get your whoring mojo back :p

Both shocking games! I've played through half of Jumper but couldn't face finishing it. Lost I suffered through as it only took 3hrs or so but another terrible game.

I'm not currently with any rental companies (need to try to get another Lovefilm trial sorted :D) so my whoring options are limited. But as I have Fable 2, Viva Pinata, Viva Pinata: TiP, Brothers in Arms, Too Human and Mercs 2 to play (as well as Fifa 09 to review!), I don't really need more right now ;D

[Davey_Pitch]

Jumper only took me about 4 hours to be honest. I didn't think it was *that* bad. It had some good ideas, but it could have been done so much better. Still, it was exactly what I expected from a movie tie-in - not much at all.

And I know what you mean about the rental companies. I may start getting more films from Lovefilm instead of games as I've got far too much to play as it is :/

[Haly]

We were getting lots of films near the end of our last trial. So much crap on the TV, it was worth it :D Now, we've picked up a few films for £1.99 from our local Blockbuster so we'll have to work our way through that lot (it includes The Bourne trilogy Nokkon, honest :p).

[NokkonWud]

You need to watch The Shawshank Redemption too.

[Aboobie]

Both shocking games! I've played through half of Jumper but couldn't face finishing it. Lost I suffered through as it only took 3hrs or so but another terrible game.

I'm not currently with any rental companies (need to try to get another Lovefilm trial sorted :D) so my whoring options are limited. But as I have Fable 2, Viva Pinata, Viva Pinata: TiP, Brothers in Arms, Too Human and Mercs 2 to play (as well as Fifa 09 to review!), I don't really need more right now ;D

I bought LOST as I thought it was something the Mrs and I would enjoy playing together.
I can honestly say it's the worst 360 game I've played. We played through the first 3 chapters together but she gave up after that and I whored the rest of the poingts and sold it the next day. Save yourself the pain imo.

Stopped using rental companies a long time ago. I'd much rather pick very solid titles, feel no rush to complete them and have fewer games to concentrate on.

re. whoring, am I the only one here without the Avatar 1000?

[leowyatt]

I don't have it :D

[NokkonWud]

It's nothing to be proud of Abooie. :p

[Psymonkee]

I do now :(

I feel so cheap :(

[Haly]

You need to watch The Shawshank Redemption too.

I will :p

[Psymonkee]

Hey I've not seen that film yet either! :D

[Haly]

Finally got round to clearing some HD space.
Just found I still have the Halo 3 beta that came with Crackdown :o Oops :D That cleared off a handy 911mb :D

[NokkonWud]

Ooh, I think I'll clear up my HDD now.
I thought you'd just gotten a 20gb HDD from MS?

[Haly]

Ooh, I think I'll clear up my HDD now.
I thought you'd just gotten a 20gb HDD from MS?

Yeah that's not for me. I used the cheap deal so that if I can afford to buy my Mum a 360, I only have to save up for an Arcade :) £20 for a 20gb HDD and 3 months of Live was too good to be missed as it'd be the ideal starter pack for her :D

[NokkonWud]

Ah, that makes sense then :). Good thunking.

[Haly]

I thought so :D
We're bound to have one eventually if not for Christmas, and there's some great deals about.

[Daz]

For those that were interested, the 60GB hard drive bundle will be out on the 19th (same day as the new dash), and is RRP £59.99. For that you get a 60GB hard drive, a three month Gold card, a headset and an ethernet cable.

[NokkonWud]

Not too bad, pretty good by MS's previous HDD pricing scheme. If they'd put a chatpad in there rather than the headset and ethernet cable I'd have really thought about it.

[Haly]

Not bad. They do love to bung a headset in with everything though! I've already got 3.

[NokkonWud]

Perhaps by the Xbox 3 we may get a decent quality one then as the ones on Xbox and Xbox360 are awful (though improving).

[leowyatt]

How are the wireless headsets people? I hate having to carry round my controller if we're waiting for games to start ;D

[Daz]

I'm getting one for Christmas :D

[leowyatt]

where from? I might ask Santa Kitten for one ;D

[Daz]

I dont know, ask Santa Dee :D

[leowyatt]

Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee pah she never comes in here will need to PM her and ask. Does your still work on Des? I know you and MB got wireless ones ages back.

[NokkonWud]

How are the wireless headsets people? I hate having to carry round my controller if we're waiting for games to start ;D

They are definitely clearer and much louder, but they only released it with 'small' and 'medium' ear pieces. Now I don't have Rory Delap sized ears, but they're not baby small either and have to wear Medium and if I don't get lucky after 15 or so minutes it really starts to ache and I have to swap ears. Had they made medium a little larger or just bundled a large it would have been much easier - this is also the case with all my friends too.

Other than that though it's great (unless you're one of the unlucky ones who can't sync the headset to their pads).

[Daz]

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/267520/xbox-360-120-gb-hdd-for-59-99-insto/

120GB HDD for £59.99 in Comet apparently ;D

[Psymonkee]

They are definitely clearer and much louder, but they only released it with 'small' and 'medium' ear pieces. Now I don't have Rory Delap sized ears, but they're not baby small either and have to wear Medium and if I don't get lucky after 15 or so minutes it really starts to ache and I have to swap ears. Had they made medium a little larger or just bundled a large it would have been much easier - this is also the case with all my friends too.

Other than that though it's great (unless you're one of the unlucky ones who can't sync the headset to their pads).

Snap! :|

Frustrating. And now I've lost the charger :/

[Aboobie]

I'm seriously considering some of these; call it an early xmas present. I have the main 360 set up in the spare room and I'm not going to get a dedicated 5.1 speaker solution and would prefer a headphone solution.

http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/efx4/home.aspx

They come out here soon. What do people think? Does anyone have experience with 5.1 headphones? I'm currently using a pair of Stereo Sennheiser and they seem ok but aren't really conducive with the headset.

[NokkonWud]

Hear XBOX Live Chat plus stereo game sound
Does that mean you won't get 5.1? How would 5.1 work as surely you'd need to connect it via optical?

[Wyrdo]

They are definitely clearer and much louder, but they only released it with 'small' and 'medium' ear pieces. Now I don't have Rory Delap sized ears, but they're not baby small either and have to wear Medium and if I don't get lucky after 15 or so minutes it really starts to ache and I have to swap ears. Had they made medium a little larger or just bundled a large it would have been much easier - this is also the case with all my friends too.

Other than that though it's great (unless you're one of the unlucky ones who can't sync the headset to their pads).

Exactly the same for me, I stopped using mine and went back to the wired headset purely for comfort.

[Haly]

I have small ears, so I'm quite tempted now :D Might have to keep an eye out.

[Wyrdo]

I have small ears, so I'm quite tempted now :D Might have to keep an eye out.

Curse you and your small ears!

[Haly]

Don't go cursing them into big ears :shocked: :p

[NokkonWud]

http://images.teamtalk.com/08/07/800x600/rory-delap_1005404.jpg
Curse them into Delap-esque ears!

[Creature]

OI! Mine are nearly that big!

[Psymonkee]

^^^He should not be allowed a mic :|

[Creature]

:D

[Daz]

http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/8054952/Xbox-360-60GB-Live-Starter-Kit/Product.html?P36=AKTSH5

Starter kit for £49.99. Sell or trade your old 20GB and it's not a bad deal. It's even better if you flogged the live subs and headset sa well :)

[Haly]

Nice deal! Quite tempting really.

[loki]

Where is the best place to buy an XBL membership from ?

[leowyatt]

there should be a thread in this section knocking around with links.

here (http://www.boat-drinks.co.uk/showthread.php?t=9632)

[NokkonWud]

Where is the best place to buy an XBL membership from ?

You've joined the revolution? :D

[loki]

Yeah. Picked it up at lunchtime. Bought it off CDJ Rossi

[Aboobie]

I'm such a 360 fan boy I bought a 2nd one today!

Sold my Wii privately then went into Hull and picked up an Arcade with Dancing Stage Universe 2 for the lounge.

Played all night with my wife and daughter and had a great laugh; the music might not be what I'd choose to listen to on my Zune but it complemented the experience well and as it was my first time on a dance mat my girls though my epileptic dance style was hilarious.

I've also preordered the new Scene It! and Lips to complete the family experience.

Pushing the hardcore games aside for the night reminded me why I enjoy gaming so much :)

[NokkonWud]

Yeah. Picked it up at lunchtime. Bought it off CDJ Rossi

Is it a new model?

[Haly]

I'm such a 360 fan boy I bought a 2nd one today!

Sold my Wii privately then went into Hull and picked up an Arcade with Dancing Stage Universe 2 for the lounge.

Played all night with my wife and daughter and had a great laugh; the music might not be what I'd choose to listen to on my Zune but it complemented the experience well and as it was my first time on a dance mat my girls though my epileptic dance style was hilarious.

I've also preordered the new Scene It! and Lips to complete the family experience.

Pushing the hardcore games aside for the night reminded me why I enjoy gaming so much :)
Sounds good to me :D Seems to be becoming a great all rounder system.

[NokkonWud]

I think the PS3 and Xbox360 have a stronger all-round list than the Wii and that's what the Wii is known for. In fact GamesTM makes a good point about Nintendo in their latest issue which would take far too long to type on this PS3

[Psymonkee]

Type it anyway :p

(PSU en route to hub according to the tracking :))

[loki]

Is it a new model?

Nope got it off MM.

It's new in the fact that it has HDMI and the Falcon chipset. Basically it's the bundle that has

X360
20gb HDD
Headset
Wireless Black Controller
GTAIV

Got some other games with as well. Probably trade them all in. GTA is not really my bag, FIFA 08 is past its sell by date and I would probably trade in Forza 2 for Project Gotham. I want to get FIFA 09 and Gears of War 2

[Daz]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=290745

But the real question for 360 owners is: just how much of an impact does the optional install make? With so many games streaming data from the DVD on the fly, do we actually see any improvements to gameplay as well as loading times? Do all games benefit with shorter loading times? We set out to find out.
Not quite what we thought. Some games benefit lots (take a look at The Orange Box), some not so much, but in the case of Halo 3, loading times were worse when installed to the HDD.

[leowyatt]

Gears 2 was going to be my install game but I don't know if I can be bothered for those improvements :/

[Haly]

Hmm I guess every little helps.
I'd have installed Fable 2 but by the time the NXE comes out, I'll have finished it.

[Davey_Pitch]

Might install a few games after seeing those results, but more for the loudness issues rather than pure speed issues. I've got all this space to use, might as well make gaming a bit quieter where I can.

[Daz]

Tbh I never expected a great leap in performance. I'm like a broken record but the noise reduction is enough for me!

[leowyatt]

Oh no I agree noise is the way forward but unfortunately with only being able to have 1 game on a drive at a time is going to be a pia for me :(

EDIT: not too sure what performance increase I was expecting but I thought it would be better than that for other games such as Halo 3.

[Haly]

Lack of space is also my problem. Ah well, guess it's MS's way of encouraging me to buy a bigger HD :D

[Daz]

Expect the older games to see bigger benefits, for the most part new games are already pretty well optimised, though what Bungie have done to make it worse I dont know! Definitely wasn't expecting that.

Generally speaking it does look like game startups are improved which is a good thing. 8-10 seconds is long enough when you're sitting there itching to play.

[leowyatt]

I just wish I could bung any HD in there :( as a 250Gb laptop HD is around £40-50

[NokkonWud]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=290745


Not quite what we thought. Some games benefit lots (take a look at The Orange Box), some not so much, but in the case of Halo 3, loading times were worse when installed to the HDD.

I already stated I wouldn't use it because it wasn't necessary on the XBox360, the DVD streams so fast already. It's different to the PS3 where Blu-Ray is slow or PC where data is massively compressed.

[loki]

60gb HDD, Ethernet Cable and Headset for £49.99 at Game (http://www.game.co.uk/Xbox360/Hardware/Accessory/~r338570/Xbox-Live-60GB-Starter-Kit/?s=60gb%20starter)

[Aboobie]

I typed in the serial code for the brand new Arcade 360 I bought for the lounge and managed to snag a 20GB HD and 3 months live! (needed a top up) for £19.99 off MS. Only took 3 days to come as well.

[Daz]

Bargain dude :)

[Haly]

Nice one :) I did the same thing with mine a few weeks back in preparation for getting the new 360, really does bring the costs down!

[Aboobie]

Uh oh.

Went to play some more Fallout 3 and 3RROD...

Thank F I picked up an arcade last weekend. Still buggers my plans up for a few weeks and means I now have to compete for TV time with the family!

[NokkonWud]

Just take that Xbox360 away :p.

[Haly]

That sucks :(

[Davey_Pitch]

Unlucky dude. I rang MS tonight to finally get my 2nd Xbox fixed (it only died a year ago), and they were great on the phone, so hopefully you'll be able to get yours fixed quickly :)

[Aboobie]

And to rub salt in the wound...

"Xbox 360 NXE - You have been selected"
The Xbox 360 Fall Flash update will be available to you by 2pm PST on November 14th (5pm EST on November 14th, 10pm GMT on November 14th).

it's linked to console serial number...

[Aboobie]

Now I've tried my 360 a few times this morning and it seems to be working?!?

Going to give it a few hours of Fallout 3 while littlen is in preschool and see what happens...

[Wyrdo]

I typed in the serial code for the brand new Arcade 360 I bought for the lounge and managed to snag a 20GB HD and 3 months live! (needed a top up) for £19.99 off MS. Only took 3 days to come as well.

I did the same the other week and have since taken the arcade back for a refund and also sold the hard drive on for £35 :p

[Davey_Pitch]

Woot, I've been selected to get the NXE today, should have it by 10pm. Will post opinions when it updates :)

[petemc]

So, who's up for a power cutting trip in the Liverpool area? Shall we say 9:59pm? ;)

[Davey_Pitch]

Git :p

[Haly]

Nice one :D

[leowyatt]

How did you manage that??? Did you get in the original draft?

[NokkonWud]

How have people got these NXE things?! I want it! I've spent a fricking fortune Microsoft, pick me you bastids.

[Daz]

Must have. Sod :D

Still, only a few days till we all get it :)

[leowyatt]

You needed to be up at daft o'clock a few weeks back Nokkon. If you didn't sign up in a certain time frame from about 2am till 6am our time you were shafted.

[Haly]

Lego Indy's good fun :)
Kung Fu Panda's not bad for a kid's game either.

[Aboobie]

Console was picked up this morning so no early NXE for me :( It teased me with green lights but when I went with Fallout in hand it was well and truly borked.

On the other hand UPS were something else. Booked it for collection on the interweb at 11:05 and a van pulled up at 11:30!!

To cheers myself up I grabbed Scene It from woolies :)

[NokkonWud]

You needed to be up at daft o'clock a few weeks back Nokkon. If you didn't sign up in a certain time frame from about 2am till 6am our time you were shafted.

Maaan, those are my prime hours of work too. Shame my PSU had blown.

[leowyatt]

I only found out the following morning around 8am but by that time it was full :'(

[cheets]

Just got the green light for the NXE early update, 10 PM tonight :D

[leowyatt]

all of you with the NXE early!! You're a bunch of arseholes!!!! ;D

[Davey_Pitch]

Anyone know is UPS do evening pick ups? I want them to pick up my console next week but I don't get home until around 4:15pm.

[Psymonkee]

I'd get it but I'm the only person in my family thats remotely interested - not much of a SP game tbh :(

[Davey_Pitch]

I'd get it but I'm the only person in my family thats remotely interested - not much of a SP game tbh :(
Get it and play it online, I'll give you a whooping any time you want :p

[Psymonkee]

That's what worries me :p

I like films and have reasonable knowledge about them but some people I think must be IMDB servers or whatnot.....

[petemc]

Maaan, those are my prime hours of work too. Shame my PSU had blown.

Ditto. Fairly sure I was up at that time but talk about bad PR. Didn't hear about it till after. As Daz says, only a few days anyway.

[leowyatt]

I only found out about it from avforums, seems it was on majornelson.com

[Davey_Pitch]

I only found out about it from avforums, seems it was on majornelson.com
Major Nelson was how I caught it, through my RSS. Meant to post about it here but forgot :o

Edit: I also forgot I applied until Abooie mentioned it, which is when I went to check my Hotmail and found I was lucky.

[petemc]

Major Nelson was how I caught it, through my RSS. Meant to post about it here but forgot :o

Sure sure :p I used to subscribe to that but got bored of it. Didn't seem fun to read compared to other sources with the same info.

[Daz]

By the sounds of it they've let the whole preview program in. As good a load test they'll get before Wednesday.