Chris_D

Too many games to play but I will definitely pick this up eventually.

Josh H

It will be interesting to see how it will sell on the PS2 this fall and how the sequel will do on the 360.

I'm curious as to whether it just didn't sell well to the GCs younger audience, or if the series has just lost it's popularity to the point that even a major re-working like RE4 couldn't get it to the million plus sales level.

HoosierPapa

Live is HUGE for 360. They are really trying to take advantage of this competitive advantage over PS2 and Nin. You'll notice Live being talked about more by MS than anything else.

The more people hooked to Live, the better it is for MS. It's also a real sneaky way for them to deliver for-pay content (map packs, etc.) directly and avoiding the added costs of retail distribution..... All that profit goes directly into their pockets.

joshd2012

They are going to need huge increases in Live users to be sucessful. They just hit their 2M user, and WoW just said they have 3.5M in less time.

mrpayroll

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=10300

Xbox 360 to feature parental control system
Ellie Gibson 14:44 22/07/2005

Microsoft's next-gen console to check software for age rating restrictions

The Xbox 360 will feature a parental locking system that can be used to prevent children from accessing games unsuitable for their age range, according to Japanese website Mainichi.

Parents will be able to set-up the console so it will only play games with appropriate age ratings. When users attempt to load a game, the machine will read data from the disk to determine whether it falls into the correct category.

In addition, parents will be able to programme the 360 to restrict children's access to online chatrooms.

The Mainichi article states that the new features, which have never been included in a games console before, will be built-in to US and European machines as well as Japanese units. There has recently been a storm of controversy in Japan surrounding Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto, before even the Hot Coffee scandal emerged.


This is good news! Though I hope parents are serious enough to set it up properly. They should also learn the ratings beforehand before they assume something rated Teens 14 & over is suitable for their 10 year old.

Chris

joshd2012

What 14 year old kid is not going to beable to unlock it by visiting a forum on the Internet? PS2 had this for DVDs, but they also included the master code in the manual (in case you forgot what your password was). This is a joke at best. If a kid wants to play GTA, they'll figure out a way to do it.

mrpayroll

Well, let's wait and see how Microsoft implements this!

Chris

Centurion

Still, the attempt at addressing the issue is better than ignoring it altogether.
All we need is for a better system to be created.

Even yet, from a marketing standpoint, I could see how the inclusion of a parental control system would make the 360 more appealing to parents who are concerned with sensitive material in a videogame.

Good move on Microsoft's behalf whether or not the idea works. I just hope they don't charge us extra for it.

mrpayroll

I REALLY doubt that! There would be such an outcry, that they would have to drop any plans for charging extra, right away.

Chris

joshd2012

What they should do is include a 8"x8" sign that says "I EXIST" for the kids to wear. That way, the parents will start paying attention to their kids and what they are playing, instead of outsoursing it to a machine or organization.

kakihara1

Nice I couldn't possibly agree with you more

asianxcore

good question. I also wonder if Capcom's early announcement of RE4 being ported to the PS2 hurt sales at all for RE4 on Gamecube. it's kind of disheartening that the game didn't sell better. It is hands down my favorite game that has been released this year, and if RE5 is anything like RE4 I will definitely be picking up a 360 for that.

Adam Tyner

The Xbox 360 will have some preloaded video content. Here's a list:

A lot of these look to be music videos, including "Punk Rock Superstar" by Marcy Playground, "Take It Away" by The Used, "Streetcar" by Funeral for a Friend, "Band Girls Money" by Tsar (I really like their debut album, so that's cool), and "Furious", as the file name suggests, by DJ Z-Trip. Head Automatica has a song called "The Razor", but I don't know if that's a video or what. Likewise for New Order's "Krafty". "Pressure", "Shallow", and "Helicopter" return too many results to find a match, if those even are music videos. Too lazy to look up the rest.

The lengthiest of the bunch, "DVD of Game", is presumably a trailer of a bunch of different Xbox 360 games.

DJ_Longfellow

that's neat....anything more is a bonus.

amped

IGN has a report from last nights 2005 Xbox Summit in Japan. From an update on the 360 version of RE5, a PGR3 trailer as well as Team Ninja news:

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/636/636130p1.html

TXB also has some in depth coverage: http://www.teamxbox.com/index/today/xbox-2-news/#news

Also, here's a screenshot of Ninety Nine Nights:




And check out the
PGR3 trailer

joshd2012

Unfortunately, the only PLAYABLE game at the Summit was FFXI - and it clearly looks its age. Not Next-gen in any sense. Comparing what Sony had playable - Gundam - to what Microsoft had playable - FFXI - is not what MS should have been aiming to do.

dick_grayson

How many people have pre-ordered one? I was at Game Spot and they said they still had some available to pre-order (which a friend of mine told me that we had missed our window). Also, if I have free wireless internet, but no adapter, will I be able to get to xbox live? That's the only thing that's keeping me back (some sort of adapter)--I have a wireless card for my laptop, but can't get to xbox live.....although I don't have an account anyway.

DJ_Longfellow

Microsoft is selling a wireless adaptor for XBOX. It's small and plugs into the USB port (I believe). That's all you need, since you already have wireless...not sure how it's free though. You will also need to pay for the service....since only LIVE GOLD will allow users to play online. SILVER is just to d/l stuff and other things

dick_grayson

yeah, because I live so close to the city hall, I have free wireless internet (and it's legal- according to them). Maybe I'll get a wireless adapter then for my xbox....although it's 100 bones. maybe I'll hold off for xbox live if/when I get xbox360.

DJ_Longfellow

The 360 has a small little adaptor...hopefully it'll be a LOT cheaper than $100. I would assume it would be. (There is a picture of it on the first page...under peripherals)

joshd2012

That wireless Internet adapter looks very similar to the Linksys WUSB54GP in size and specs. That is a $70 item, so I imagine the 360 version will be around that price as well.

lotsofdvds

They really better make the original XBOX LIVE wireless adapter compatible with the 360. I'm not buying ANOTHER wireless device.

joshd2012

Best I can tell, the Xbox Wireless Adapter was made by D-Link. As long as they use D-Link again, I see no reason why it should be a problem.

dick_grayson

well, if it'll work for xbox 360, I might as well pick one up now. I guess I'll also have to get Halo 2 (rented it before) for the online.

lotsofdvds

Well the current one connects via ethernet cable, and the one for the 360 connects by USB. I can sense the trouble already...