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XBox (Games)

11 Design Mistakes of the Xbox 360 103

Posted by Zonk from the more-than-a-little-bit-snarky dept.
An anonymous reader writes "FiringSquad.com has posted an article discussing 11 design flaws of the Xbox 360, ranging from gaming to Xbox Live Marketplace issues." From the article: "Mistake #2: No MSN Music - I'm as much of a fan of DRM as everyone else (which is to say I don't like it), but with Microsoft already charging gamers for Xbox Live Gold support, it would have been possible for Microsoft to offer discount service "bundles" allowing you to buy unlimited subscriptions to the MSN Music library at rates less than you would have to pay for Napster or Rhapsody. Gamers would have had an opportunity to get music cheaper and add one extra weapon in the console battle against Sony." I'm not so sure some of these are that big a deal. I'm more than a little glad the 360 has no web browser.
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11 Design Mistakes of the Xbox 360 More

11 Design Mistakes of the Xbox 360

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  • I don't see why they couldn't include this, either. I remember being upset that Sony didn't include one with the PS2 network adapter. 360, being a Microsoft product, should surely have shipped with a bundled IE of some form or fashion.

    Even though I prefer Firefox, MS really dropped the ball without including a simple browser.
    • It's not difficult to include a stable web browser with 360; the original Xbox has a a homebrew browser (linksboks). The problem is how to keep it safe and up-to-date with the ever-evolving web exploits. The last thing MS wants to see was 30 million 360's get turned into a botnet.

      • Re:"No web browser" (Score:2, Interesting)

        by amrust ( 686727 )
        The problem is how to keep it safe and up-to-date with the ever-evolving web exploits.

        How hard would that be? They have an automatic updater in WindowsXP, couldn't they do the same for 360? And how would someone even introduce their own online virus code via the Xbox Live network?

        Not saying it couldn't happen, because I know better than that. But what's the difference in potentially exploitable Windows PCs, and potentially exploitable 360s? The potential for exploit never stopped M$ from bundling IE in

        • Automatic updater:
          Windows has had automatic update for a while now, and we still see tons of exploits. Not to mention that a lot of the patches actually break applications.

          How to spread the virus:
          Simple, just make a malicious webiste with a few bugged pictures. IE exploits didn't need Xbox Live.

          What's holding them back?
          Perhaps they realized how difficult browser security is. The difference between 1 million compromised 360 and 1 million compromised winbox is that the latter is known to be a problem, while t
          • What's holding them back? Perhaps they realized how difficult browser security is...

            I LOL'D

            The difference between 1 million compromised 360 and 1 million compromised winbox is that the latter is known to be a problem, while the consumers generally don't expect their tv to suddenly start popping up porn pictures. Expect tons of lawsuits if this happens.

            Here's what I'd expect: A couple of token lawsuits, that would get nowhere. Like the people who lawyer up and try to sue M$ when their kid "mistakenly"

          • OK, a few points:

            1) you can't break applications with browser patches if you don't call the browser in the applications. Virtually impossible under XP due to the way it's integrated with the rest of the OS, I'll grant you. But the "OS" of the 360 is just staying out of the way while you play games; it has nothing web-related to do.

            2) Would anyone really care that much if there were 'features' (the ActiveX rubbish that causes most of the holes) that they didn't put in a silly little 360 browser that wasn't d
    • If Microsoft include a web browser in the game console, it can harm their core business that is selling Windows OS for PC. What's the main usage of PC in home today, web browsing, email, and what?

      On the other hand, PSP already has a web browser embedded in its firmware and PS3 will too.
      • it can harm their core business that is selling Windows OS for PC. What's the main usage of PC in home today, web browsing, email, and what?

        Technically, they are selling some reduced version of Windows included with the XBox360 price.

        Indeed, Microsoft would like to get Windows off the PC, and onto custom hardware, where the market is less competitive. There is Linux (and maybe soon Mac) providing PC-based web browsing, which gives them lower-cost competition. Bill Gates would be most happy if the public s
  • I'm more than a little glad the 360 has no web browser.

    Why?
  • The biggest thing to me is how much potential Microsoft has each time with its consoles and how they manage to not even come close to fulfilling any of it. They have hands-down the best online system, they have the raw power, they have the money, they have the marketing, they have the glitz and glamour... yet they fall flat on their face and have a pitiful pricing structure for the marketplace, poor launch lineup (with Kameo way too overhyped), design issues/flaws, no titles supporting the multiple threads
    • Got that flamebaiting out of your system?

      No games supporting multiple threads? PGR3 uses all 3 cores. So do almost every other launch game. Poor launch lineup? Compared to what? The PS2 or Gamecube? Which both had crap or limited number of games at launch? Pitiful pricing structure? Then why are they being sold out?

      • I was absolutely not flamebaiting, and you are completely wrong with your facts.

        PGR3 does NOT use all three cores, some launch titles are using 2 cores but only in limited capacity such as a second thread for AI. I'd love for you to show a link proving your outrageous claim.

        If you honestly think the Marketplace pricing structure is good then you are a fool. There are no price breaks for buying more points and the cost in points on certain downloads is just insane. There should be tiered price-breaks in buyi
        • Why does a game have to use both threads on all three cores to make you happy? Just enjoy the damn game.

          I'm sure after a while there'll be a tiered system for marketplace points, but how is this a flaw if it's not even an option for other consoles? So MS does something cool and new and you hate them because they didn't do it perfectly? This is MS we're talking about here.

          It's funny that you're not even debating the launch and comparing it to the PS2's or GC's because you can't. It's an average launch li
          • Why does this have to be such an angry discussion? I'm no fanboy. I actually was PART of the hardware testing of the *MICROSOFT* Xbox 360. I'm no fanboy, calling people "fanboy's" is just an easy way to end a discussion.

            My points are valid. My points are also points that were raised a number of times during the hardware testing phase, so I'm not alone nor are these just bullshit points I pulled out of my ass to look smart on /.

            I didn't compare to the PS2/GC launches because they don't compare. The PS2 and t
            • Ok, and those launches aren't really all that great. Sure, it's a smaller launch but everybody loves to act like the PS2 launched with MGS 2, FFX and GTA 3. The launch games weren't really significant, and the 360 compares more favorably when the Xbox Live arcade is taken into account, a feat many seem incapable of acheiving...

              Also, other launches are more successful because they don't have the MS logo anywhere near them. The stigma of the Xbox being a PC just because it had the same parts was such a huge
              • Not significant?!

                Armored Core 2
                Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore HUGE in Japan
                Dynasty Warriors 2
                ESPN International Track & Field
                ESPN X Games Snowboarding
                Eternal Ring
                Evergrace
                FantaVision Requisite decent puzzle game
                Gun Griffon Blaze
                Kessen Started a massive franchise
                Madden NFL 2001 Requisite football game
                Midnight Club: Street Racing Started a massive franchise
                Moto GP
                NHL 2001 Ditto Madden comment
                Orphen
                Q-Ball Billiards Master
                Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2
                Real Pool
                Ridge Racer V Ditto Japan comment
                SSX Spawned another
              • Ok, and those launches aren't really all that great. Sure, it's a smaller launch but everybody loves to act like the PS2 launched with MGS 2, FFX and GTA 3. The launch games weren't really significant, ...

                Why do you have to resort to subjective claims?

                Let's stick to the facts:

                • That both PS2 and GC had more launch titles is a fact (and which titles are "good" is subjective)
                • Microsoft selling less XBox360s during their launch than XBox1 is a fact. (They sold about twice as many XBox1 in Japan and 50% mor
                • Because a "good" launch is a subjective claim. And I consider a good launch to be different than the successful launch. Hell, if MS can keep the hype machine going until they can restock shelves, the the 360's launch might very well be considered one of the most successful ones ever. But how good it is really depends on what you're looking for and how good the games are. Also, everybody loves to forget the Xbox Live Arcade (again). When I finally do get a 360 I'm almost tempted to spend most of my time on G
                  • So you are excited to buy this "most successful" console ever to play a 20 year old NES title and a free mini-game from a generation back? That is exactly my point. Geometry wars is fun, SmashTV is OK, PGR3 is decent... but as a whole it is very minimal and certainly not anything to yell from the mountaintops about.

                    To each their own, but it seems like you may have bought into a bit too much of the hype and are not seeing things as objectively as you could. It's cool though, if the 360 rubs you right then en

        • Re:There are at least 11 (Score:4, Informative)

          by Khuffie ( 818093 ) on Thursday December 22, 2005 @03:41PM (#14321514) Homepage
          About the cores, the interview is in EDGE Magazine. Though You can find a response from Bizarre's site admin about the cores in PGR3 here [bizarreonline.net]. Geometry Wars also uses all three cores [bizarreonline.net].

          Guess what? Here's your proof proving my outrageous claim. But I guess you won't believe it coming from the developers mouth?

          Just because you have problems with the launch titles, doesn't mean everyone does. Kameo's a darned good game. PDZero, while flawed, is still fun, especially in co-op online. Call of Duty 2 is absolutely outstanding. So is PGR3. Those are the games I tried, and there's plenty more from the launch lineup (ie, out on the 22nd), that I'd like to play. So just because YOU don't like the games doesn't mean they were lacklustre.

          • Please don't put words in my mouth. Kameo is not a top-notch title, everywhere reviewers responses are the same as mine. Did you read the /. review of Kameo from the other day by Zonk? Yep. same sentiments as me. PDZ is similarly weak as a total package. COD2 is available on any system and to me that doesn't make it count for much.

            PGR3 and Geometry Wars are THE two launch titles in my eyes. Both great, although when a $5 game is one of the only shining stars on a super-powerful next-gen console there should
          • actually, i know where he is coming from. its basically some marketing FUD that J Allard, majornelson and microsoft PR were spouting off trying to impress people with the power of the x360. it was immediately following launch i think. i cant find the link i read it from so...

            [update! found it]
            http://theinquirer.net/?article=27249 [theinquirer.net]

            basically he was saying that "none of the launch games even use more than one of the cores of the x360, so imagine the power of our box when developers get up to speed with their mu
      • No games supporting multiple threads? PGR3 uses all 3 cores. So do almost every other launch game.

        I don't think he was trying to flamebait. The single threaded launch games story was all over the gaming news sites.

        One example [gamespot.com]. According to that link it was an incorrect rumor, but again, it was everywhere.

        Poor launch lineup? Compared to what?

        This is bad logic. Getting punched in the nose is better than getting kicked in the nuts, but neither one could be construed as good. The launch lineup is pretty crappy
        • While I semi-agree with you (hey that's a change we normally face off in every thread, must be the Christmas vibe :) ) The statement about the cores/threading I made was NOT based on the internet rumors.

          The fact is that no 360 game is running more than three threads, most are single threaded, and a few are dual-threaded. What most people forget is that EACH of the Xbox 360 cores can run *2* threads. So all of the single and dual-threaded games are using ONE core. The ones claiming to use three threads are s

  • So, what he wants is a PC? Someone help me here. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by WidescreenFreak ( 830043 ) on Thursday December 22, 2005 @01:22PM (#14319610) Homepage Journal
    I know that I'm going to get flamed my the pro-console/anti-PC gaming group, and I really don't mean it to be. But after reading through that whole article and looking at all of the points that he made, he seems to have inadvertently said that we wants his 360 to be a PC!

    No MSN music. The PC already has it.

    No HDMI support. The PC already has it.

    No web browser -- although is that really a bad thing? I need not mention the browser options on a PC here.

    No WMV-HD or MPEG-4 AVI playback. PC has it.

    Even the point about no pressure-sensitive face buttons is equated on a PC though an analogue joystick.

    Honestly, this just adds to my confusion about why the console vs PC argument can get so heated. I am NOT saying that to be a troll or flame. I know that a lot of console fans are ready to hit me with the "troll" or "flamebait" mods, but I honestly do not understand the whole rage for consoles any more. I've never understood it from the time that PCs could be (easily) connected to TVs.

    That being said, I am fully cognizant of the arguments regarding having minimum PC specifications (CPU speed, RAM, video chipset). They're completely viable arguments and I agree that minimum system specifications are the biggest problems with PC gaming. Console games are meant to work with a single platform and that does indeed help to provide a consistency across all of the games for that particular platform onthe part of the designed. I will not argue that point.

    But now PCs can be connected to TVs easily (almost all modern video cards support DVI or at least S-Video) and do just about everything that the article's author is asking for in his 360. Even the PS3 is supposed to have keyboard and mouse support!

    Why does he not just use a console for gaming and a home theatre PC for everything else, both of which can be connected to the same audio system and same TV often through separate connections? Don't get me wrong. I still have my ol' Nintendo 64 hooked up and I do play it when I have the time and inclination. I wouldn't mind owning a PS2 or even a PS3 when it comes out. I wouldn't rule out buying a second-hand Xbox. I am *not* anti-console. But I just don't understand how someone can want so much from a console then spurn the PC that's probably sitting in an adjoining room.
    • My wife would kill me, if I tried to set up the PC in the living room.

      That's probably why most (married) people don't opt for it.
      • I understand that, and I once was worried about that myself. The thought of keyboard and mouse wires all over the floor was not a pleasant thought. Then I started searching for a wireless keyboard with a trackball or touchpad built into it or at least a separate, wireless trackball. So, the PC can sit in the back corner with the wireless keyboard/trackball next to the sofa. If the issue is one of having a PC case, there are a number of PCs out there that are quite small. There are a few models from HP
      • My wife would kill me, if I tried to set up the PC in the living room.

        Two words:

        Mac

        mini

        It's the ultimate "wife friendly" HTPC. Set it up properly, program your remote with the Keyspan buttons and the thing looks (and works) exactly like a DVD player when you're watching movies.

        Pull out the bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and you've got an okay game machine for World of Warcraft, the Sims, Halo, etc.

        Connect an EyeTV 500, and you've got PVR functions for the free over-the-air HDTV signals. (Yeah, yeah... box
    • Personally, the only reasons I would own a console are a) if they didn't release some uber-game for the PC, or my computer wouldn't be able to run it for years, and b) consoles just work, in general. You don't get crash bugs because you don't have the right version of video card drivers. You don't lose all the music in the game because you have an unsupported sound card. I've only EVER seen two consoles fail, my roommate's Gamecube for some bug in the specific one he owned (mine never did that), and that wa
      • Personally, the only reasons I would own a console are a) if they didn't release some uber-game for the PC, or my computer wouldn't be able to run it for years, and b) consoles just work, in general.

        Agreed on both counts, and the refusal of developers to release some console uber-games on the PC really pisses me off. But in fairness there are a lot of demographics involved as well.

        Halo, for instance. We all know how that game is effectively what sold the original Xbox in the beginning. When I playe
        • If you have Half-Life 2 for the PC, some modders are making both GoldenEye and PerfectDark into mods. I'm not sure if they will have the single player content, but the multiplayer is going to be there. It is supposed to be as close as they can get to the original, with a few extra stuff thrown in (like jumping).

          I don't think it is coming out for a while, though.
      • You don't get crash bugs because you don't have the right version of video card drivers.

        LOL, instead you get crash bugs because you have not religiously followed the manual where to put your power brick.

    • So tell me, does your keyboard and mouse rumble? Can they vibrate due to actions in the game? I've noticed this to be a difference in playing COD2 on PC vs. COD2 on 360.

      In fact this has been a problem for years now (considering many XBOX games have the rumble/vibrate feature as well)
      • I'm sorry, but you can't convince me that a vibrating controller feature is a clear reason to spends hundreds of dollars for a console as opposed to a PC. Forget graphics; forget sound; you are pleased to have spent $400+ to play CoD with a rumbling joystick?

        You're exactly the kind of hard-core console user that exacerbates my confusion. Although to be fair, I also don't understand the people who will pay $500+ for a video card for their PC, either.

      • Re:So, what he wants is a PC? Someone help me here (Score:1, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        I've had a force-feedback joystick on my PC for years and years (fighting weapon recoil pushing the stick up is much more fun than a playing with a directionless rumble pack), and you can buy PC controllers with rumble if you want them.

        Still, more software support would be nice, and a USB rumble peripheral - wristband maybe - would be cool. Apart from the endless sex-toy jokes.
    • No MSN music. The PC already has it.

      No web browser -- although is that really a bad thing? I need not mention the browser options on a PC here.

      I'm with you so far, but then...

      No HDMI support. The PC already has it.

      The PC can't play Xbox 360 games. I think the author is concerned that people with HDMI-input-only TVs are going to end up getting the short end of the stick in terms of a digital connection for their Xbox.

      No WMV-HD or MPEG-4 AVI playback. PC has it.

      Not everyone has a PC hooked up to their TV. I d
      • I agree with you on pressure sensitive face buttons, there's just no point. I've played one game so far that even used them, Star Ocean 3, and that used them in a way that was absolutely annoying (you had to press the button in four different ways to solve some puzzles, each wrong press would mean a battle). The only acceptable analog buttons are shoulder buttons with at least half a centimetre of travel distance (e.g. GC L/R buttons) and even those are used almost never.

        Though I think some XBox games used
        • Pressure sensitive buttons can be useful. It's just that most games out there don't even try to do anything with them. Examples good use: Any decent racing game(that should be a no brainer) and Metal Gear Solid 2/3. In the game, when you have a weapon equiped, you press down the fire button to aim the weapon. Releasing the button makes you fire the weapon. If you take aim and decide not to fire, you can slowly let off the button and put down weapon without firing.
          • I don't know about you but I can't hold a button at 1/2mm down or something like that. Slowly releasing means different things to different people as well, I've never really figured out what Star Ocean's definition of "slowly" was. Plus it wasn't easy to repeat even if I got it right once.
        • Pressure sensitive buttons are a waste. Too little value and too much of a pain to deal with.

          Pressure sensitive TRIGGERS, however, are great. The Xbox, 360, and GC all had great implementations. The PS2, not so much, because the shoulder buttons there still don't have enough travel space or proper feedback. I get the impression that the PS3 is still going to fail in this regard.
    • Surprise!

      You mean Microsoft didn't include the features they easily could have, but which someone might argue would cut into their Windows XP Media Center Edition/Xbox 360 Media Center upgrade market?

      I'm shocked and stunned.
    • The Xbox 360 is being marketed as more than a game console, it's being shown as a digital media hub. No MSN music. The PC already has it. Yes but wouldn't you like to be able to simply download songs with a subscription service you already have and use the songs ingame. Loading your MP3 player with music from the 360 would be nice considering since you can hook up your MP3 player and play songs off it already. No HDMI support. The PC already has it. Yes and without it you won't be able to play protecte
      • Home theatre PCs are pretty nice however they are expensive

        Not trying to take your whole statement out of context, but this one struck me because it's absolutely not true. You can make a decent HTPC out of nothing more than

        * an 800 MHz Athlon
        * An ATI All-In-Wonder card (even the old AIW 7200 had everything that was necessary including remote)
        * Sound Blaster Live 5.1
        * whatever hard disk space you want

        All of these parts can be purchased on the cheap on eBay, if you don't already have them. (And w
        • As a matter of a fact I just converted my main pc into a semi-HTPC. I put Windows MCE 2005 on it and installed a Hauppauge 150MCE. I then have my Xbox connect to it both via the Xbox Media Center Extender, and with Xbox Media Center.

          Xbox Media Center is nice because it allows you to play almost any format you'll ever fun into, and the Extender software allows me to do the how Tivo pause live TV, schedule/watch recorded TV. and the other things possible with MCE. The nice thing about running these featu

          • Your listing is accurate, but you purposefully strayed from the point that I was making by intentionally selecting hardware that is way overkill for a basic HTPC. You're attempting to sell a BMW when a Ford Focus will serve the majority of the community nicely. (No comment on the vehicles listed, people. I'm just using them for comparison's sake.) You're looking at really modern hardware for a totally beefed-up system, which is totally not necessary for a lot of people. NO ONE -- repeat -- NO ONE needs
            • No this is a midrange HTPC. A true video/audio phile would be selecting a video card that supports HDTV output. And at least 1 HDTV tuner would be need. Finally a higher end Sound Blaster with an external connector box to support the various audio connectors and to help put any analog processing outside the computer case to eliminate any signal distortion.

              Yes you might be able to go lower on a part here or there on my parts list but I still stand by it. The Linux Journal even recently ran an article w

        • dont forget that your average NON-HARDCORE gamer, many females, and older people dont want to or even simply have the technical knowledge necessary to put together a decent HTPC. thats why there is a market for those windows media, and HTPC packages. some people just want everything working out of the box, and a number they can call or ship the box back if it doesnt work right.

          to date, i have not seen a HTPC package that was cheap. the reason so many people went the xbox modding route is so they can have a
      • No MSN music. The PC already has it. Yes but wouldn't you like to be able to simply download songs with a subscription service you already have and use the songs ingame.

        That's why you download them on the PC and use Windows Media Center/Windows Media Connect to stream from the PC to the 360. It's like having MSN music on the Xbox 360 - only better.
        • Music subscription songs are DRM protected, and I can't say for sure but I don't believe they are supported on the 360. I remember reading about them not being transferable off of MP3 Players, but I'm not sure about streaming them. Either way you can't use them as ingame soundtrack songs.
    • Many of the mistakes made were basic design flaws, like the following:

      Mistake #1: Overheating CPU or GPU

      I've rarely bought PC systems that had serious overheating problems. The only system I can think of off the top of my head was a white box dual Opteron server (back when they were initially intoduced) that would overheat if crammed in the closet. Like the 360, this system was built with inadaquate cooling (the problem was more egregious on the server because it was in a HUGE case to accomodate a RAID arr

  • Heating problems? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by timdorr ( 213400 ) * on Thursday December 22, 2005 @01:34PM (#14319788) Homepage
    Why is the author even trying to venture a guess into the overheating problems of the 360? He makes wild assumptions about what's going on inside and then ventures some random "20% increase in fan speed" as to the fix of it. Unless you have a spec sheet in front of you, don't try and make an "educated" guess about things like this.

    I haven't had one crash with my 360 related to the heating of it. I had a scratch on my PDZ disc that caused it to freeze up, but got a new copy and everything's been clear sailing since. Saying there have been constant problems is a little bit unfounded. If there was something *seriously* wrong with the console, they would have recalled it a long while ago. Maybe MS's 3% figure is a little low, but it's not 99% like the author wants to believe...

  • This MSN music thing is not a design flaw (Score:4, Insightful)

    by pappy97 ( 784268 ) on Thursday December 22, 2005 @01:55PM (#14320096)
    How is this MSN music thing the author mentions a DESIGN flaw?

    After all, it could be added to XBOX 360's via an update if MS decided to do it. I figure many things will be added over the lifespan of the 360.
    • MOST of these things aren't "design flaws".

      Simply because a certain product doesn't include features that you wish it included, doesn't mean that not including those features constitutes a design flaw.

      A design flaw is poor ergonomics. A design flaw is over heating because there isn't enough airflow in the product (when used according to directions). A design flaw is something that prohibits the proper use of the product as intended by the manufacturer.

      Not something that was excluded and never promised, or
    • its not about design flaws per se... its about launch flaws. i assumed that these gripes were things that he felt microsoft should have fixed or had finished by launch. if you go back and re-read the article, with the exception of the pressure sensitive buttons on the controller and maybe the systemwide video calibration... youll notice that none of the items mentioned could not be fixed in a future upgrade of the console.

      i agree with you, and can guarantee you one thing... before the x360 sees the end of i
  • Microsoft seems to make it a habit to offer no compatibility, sometimes even between their own products. Another example is that godforsaken winmail.dat [gpc.edu] file I'm always getting when newbies send me attachments in Outlook 97/2000. Gmail and yahoo transparently convert these for me, but good ole MS's hotmail.com doesn't. With hotmail, you need to download your own winmail.dat decoder and extract the files if you don't have access to Outlook.

    Why doesn't MS offer compatibility between their own formats???
    • Why doesn't MS offer compatibility between their own formats??? The world may never know...

      Sometimes it happens within a given app's features. For several generations, Word's outline and style features were quite incompatible with one another. Apply one, you couldn't use the other without messing everything up. That's just good old lack of communication between groups developing in parallel.

    • Microsoft actually tends to do the opposite with their platforms. Office is sort-of a compatability miscreant(and it's all backwards compatable).

      It causes all sorts of problems, because tons of legacy stuff is supported across OS versions and patches for exactly that. You could still run almost all DOS stuff as late as Windows 98. You can still run 95/98 stuff on 2k/XP. Etc. Etc.

  • Analog Face Buttons Don't Work (Score:5, Insightful)

    by EvlG ( 24576 ) on Thursday December 22, 2005 @02:05PM (#14320252)
    Mistake #11: No pressure sensitive face buttons

    I disagree this is a mistake. Most games don't make use of this feature because for the user, there is little feedback regarding what is going on. How exactly do I push the face button half-way down? 1/4 way? All the way? I can't, really. I can just mash it with my thumb, and hope that I am getting what I want.
    • Yeah, I didn't even know the original Xbox had analog facebuttons until I played DOA Volleyball or whatever its called..that game used it for some reason...
    • There are only 2 settings, lightly held and pressed hard. I see them as an additional element of skill. They are by no means necessary, just something more. There was little reason to not include them save for cost.
    • well, just because developers havent used them properly yet, doesnt mean that a good feature should be totally eradicated in future revisions.

      some games make for good use of the pressure, but those are few and far inbetween. and the really good ones do it transparently, so you dont even realize.

      i agree with the author. keep pressure sensitivity. its just waiting for its first real killer app. driving games come to mind, where the presure sensitivity translates well into use in racing games. im sure there ar
      • It has been used in racing games, and IMO it didn't work.

        Read my post. The user doesn't have enough control over mashing the face button to be able to execute anything more than 3 rough options

        Not on (thumb off button)
        Somewhat on (thumb resting idle on button, or thumb slightly pressing button)
        Mostly on (thumb pressing button in)

        I say mostly on because sometimes buttons stick or you aren't pressing squarely down, and so the button registers something like 90%.

        Some controllers had 8 bit resolution - can you

  • Unrealistic Expectations (Score:3, Informative)

    by Sux2BU ( 20893 ) * on Thursday December 22, 2005 @02:11PM (#14320332)

    Some of the author's expectations would cost too much to add into the system at this time. Perhaps if MS waited longer the price would drop on adding them, but not right now. Cases in point:

    • Mistake #3: No HDMI support
    • Mistake #4: 20GB is too small

    Other items would have added to the development time of the product. If you work in software development you should be familiar with the concept of having to cut features in order to release in time. I think these items are of this category:

    • Mistake #2: No MSN Music
    • Mistake #6: No Web Browser
    • Mistake #7: No WMV-HD DVD Playback
    • Mistake #8: No MPEG-4 AVI playback (i.e. XviD, etc)
    • Mistake #9: No System-Wide Video Calibration

    Then there's just design decisions that the author disliked:

    • Mistake #5: Microtransaction Security
    • Mistake #11: No pressure sensitive face buttons

    Then the one that are probably licensing related (if not it probably belongs with "No WMV-HD DVD Playback" above):

    • Mistake #10: Poor DVD Playback Quality

    That leaves us with a real flaw:

    • Mistake #1: Overheating CPU or GPU
    • Harddrives are VERY cheap to go from 20GB to 40 or 60, you pay almost the entire price only for the drive assembly, not the actual platters. MS doesn't want a larger HD because there's no point for a console to have more than 20GB and because users would only use that space to dump game discs on modded systems.

  • Unfortunately, its not their fault (Score:3, Informative)

    by TheSkepticalOptimist ( 898384 ) on Thursday December 22, 2005 @02:19PM (#14320439)
    With regards to MSN music, this isn't a design flaw of MS, its a design flaw of the RIAA.

    ANY new music distribution system, even that mirroring avialable Internet services, must be approved by the RIAA. Even though the Xbox Live service uses the Internet as a backbone, the RIAA considers it a different medium for music distribution, and so must agonize over whether the Xbox360 has appropriate DRM protection and cannot be used as a platform to pirate music. The bottom line is, there is probably some pending approval for the idea of selling/subscribing to music on the Xbox360 stuck on some RIAA desk.

    Like the PSP and its obvious lack of online music integration, to believe that it is simple to establish a new market for online music sales suggests a total lack of understanding of the process of getting approval by the RIAA. Is MS had to wait for RIAA approval before integrating online music sales in the Xbox360, then we may have seen Windows Vista 2 long before the Xbox360.

    Apple fought tooth and nail to get their iTMS established, and in other markets around the world, the process for getting approval by the appropriate local music cartel is slow, painful, and full of ignorance it isn't even funny. Even with the well established and successful iTMS in the US, it took Canada 2 years to get into the game, and some places like Australia and Japan are still pending or have just been approved. Every other legit online music service has had to jump through hoops to prove that their service will not be used as a sorce of piracy.

    I doubt MS ignored the potential for the Xbox360 to be used as a retail marketplace for music and video, they did bank on the Live to have improved services for game sales. If it was entirely up to MS, they would have integrated MSN Music directly in the XBox360 at launch. Just as I would assume that Sony would have integrated a Sony based music store for their PSP product.

    This is yet another example of how far behind the times the music industry is, how anal and overprotective they are of their copyrights and the fact they are stagnating the music industry by stonewalling any new innovative services or markets for online music sales.
    • Like the PSP and its obvious lack of online music integration
      I don't own a PSP but last one of the key items in the v2.0 firmware was that it was supported under SonicStage which is Sony's verion of iTunes. It's not a great program but it's usable with my Network Walkman. And before you complain it's no different than the iPod only supporting DRM'd music from iTunes.

  • Reality (Score:3, Interesting)

    by the computer guy nex ( 916959 ) on Thursday December 22, 2005 @03:36PM (#14321452)
    Mistake #1: Overheating CPU or GPU
    -Actually it is the separated power brick.

    Mistake #2: No MSN Music
    -This can be incorporated at any time through the marketplace. When the legal issues are sorted I expect it.

    Mistake #3: No HDMI support
    -Not needed. Microsoft has tested HDMI with the 360 and found there was no improvement in quality.

    Mistake #4: 20GB is too small
    -What? The hard drive was designed for XBOX Live Arcade games and MP3's (to play during games). Anything larger should be streamed from a media center.

    Mistake #5: Microtransaction Security
    -Have to do more research here.

    Mistake #6: No Web Browser
    -This introduces more problems than it's worth.

    Mistake #7: No WMV-HD DVD Playback
    -About .5% of the 360 target market cares. Not worth the extra development $$.

    Mistake #8: No MPEG-4 AVI playback (i.e. XviD, etc)
    -See #7

    Mistake #9: No System-Wide Video Calibration
    -This is just false. There is a universal option to change from Full/Wide screen and -420p/720p/1080i.

    Mistake #10: Poor DVD Playback Quality
    -Probably representative of your TV. I see the same quality on mine as any other DVD player that doesn't upconvert.

    Mistake #11: No pressure sensitive face buttons
    -yawn
    • I believe the author is speaking of things like color bars [mediacollege.com] and Pluge patterns [mediacollege.com].

      You know, things that anyone with an HDTV should already have and have used, and come with different DVD movies (Fight Club and The Incredibles are two off of the top of my head).

      Yeah, it might have been nice to have thrown in there, but a design mistake? No.

      • Yeah, it might have been nice to have thrown in there, but a design mistake? No.

        So, you think that the fact that the programmers for King Kong tell people to buy the PS2 version instead of the Xbox360 doesn't indicate any kind of flaw in the latter console?

        Indeed, this error is a classic case of a software design flaw. There is a feature (gamma adjustment) which is needed by almost every program on the platform. But instead of the platform's OS providing the feature, it's up to each individual game to imp
        • It's a problem with one game on one system. If the problem were across all software on the platform, then that would be a design flaw with the 360. As it is, the developers of King Kong are the only ones to blame, as they are the only ones who dropped the ball.
          • As it is, the developers of King Kong are the only ones to blame, as they are the only ones who dropped the ball.

            No. They're the only one you know of so far, but there will probably be more.

            But even if 100% of future games looked to this example and carefully put in their own gamma-adjustment feature, this would still count as a design flaw.

            Time is wasted by hundreds of developers reinventing the wheel, and by millions of players who now have to individually tweak each separate game, instead of recalibrati
    • XBox360 has an extender built into it. I haven't gotten my hands on the 360, but I have a hardware media center extender, and some of the points made in this article are fixed by simply having a MediaCenter somewhere in the house (I recently read that 50% of new home PCs sold now run Media Center Edition)

      #2 - MSN Music is on MCE.
      #6 - Seems like it would be easy to write an MCE HTML app to make browsing reasonable on an xbox. I've been planning on getting around to writing this myself, just haven't wanted
    • >Mistake #3: No HDMI support
      >-Not needed. Microsoft has tested HDMI with the 360 and found there
      >was no improvement in quality.

      Is this a joke? Never met a person who denies the goodness of digital output for this 10 years.
    • Mistake #10: Poor DVD Playback Quality -Probably representative of your TV. I see the same quality on mine as any other DVD player that doesn't upconvert.

      Christ. Please RTFA next time, and do at least the most marginal of Googling.

      Avivo does a HELL of a lot more than merely try to blend interlacing lines, which is the best your TV is gonna do by itself, and is something it'll only do with a composite input signal.

      With that in mind, please read this list of fine points :

      http://www.hqv.com/technology/index1/c [hqv.com]
  • ... most of those things can be addressed by software updates.

    In fact, I am willing to bet that, right around the time of the PS3 launch, several of those "missing" features will be announced - specifically, MSN music and web browsing.

    As for the other stuff - small hard-drive, for example - I can see MSFT selling upgrades for people who've run out of space.

    The 360 is designed to allow plenty of room for upsales. Would I spend $1000 on a console in one shot? Hell no. Would I spend $1000 on a console if it we
  • This was a big point Microsoft harped on with the original Xbox, and it's clear they retain the same vision here. Despite the fact that the system has a lot in common with a PC, Microsoft has clearly wanted to differentiate the console from a (dumbed down) PC. That's why they released no keyboard, or mice, or web browsers, or email clients.

    Despite the lack of some features, I actually agree with this strategy. It's a console whose main purpsoe is playing games. They also expanded it to do some other t

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