All 5 entries tagged Xbox 360

Having said that…

Follow-up to That's one problem solved from The randomness of tomorrow, today!

The first time I played GTA IV online, there was only one other person there. This, I suspect, was the problem; they were solely concerned with killing me.

I played a few games yesterday afternoon, and actually managed to win two and hold my own on another. I believe this was related to the fact that there were around 4 people this time, so they were distracted with killing the others and I was able to prepare myself and get a few good shots in.

This does, unfortunately, mean that the expiration of my 1 month Gold trial is now a problem again. Damn you Microsoft, and your evil money-grabbing ways!

: 01 Jun 2008 16:54 |  Tags: Bastards Crap Gta Iv Microsoft Online Gaming Problems Randomness Win Xbox 360 |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

That's one problem solved

I've just solved the problem of Microsoft charging for playing games online: it's not actually a problem. Allow me to explain...

I'm quite good at most of the games I own; I usually have little trouble beating the computer and/or completing them. I also believe being able to play online is awesome, and find it hard to resist the option if it's present. This is where we hit a snag: past experience has demonstrated that I seem to be crap in comparison to most other players.

And this is why it's a good thing that I won't be able to play GTA IV online after this month: I won't feel compelled to spend countless hours being "pwned", because I won't be able to...

: 24 May 2008 03:07 |  Tags: Crap Gta Iv Online Gaming Problems Randomness Xbox 360 |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

What can I say? I'm weak…

Follow-up to Damn you GTA IV! from The randomness of tomorrow, today!

So I gave in to temptation on Tuesday and bought Grand Theft Auto IV. It cost a little over £200 with all the extras I needed to play it... which was basically the Xbox 360.

The game is, of course, fantastic. It really is a brilliant game. I also have to say that I'm quite impressed with the console itself, too. Microsoft seem to have done a much better job with it than they do with Windows...

I still remember the first time I saw an original Xbox; it was in Currys. I'd just rounded a corner and literally did a double take; I glanced at the display stand, looked away, and then looked back in genuine surprise at how massive the damn thing was.

I knew the 360 was slightly smaller than the original, but it's still huge. I mean its transformer alone almost dwarfs my Wii:

It's huge! Also, for completeness, the size comparison between the two consoles themselves:

The controller is the only part of it that's a normal size:

I assume this is because the controller is designed to fit in your hands, whereas the 360 is designed to fit in your house...

So, overall, I'm quite impressed. My only complaint so far is that the 360 doesn't come with wireless; I'm having to wait a couple of days to acquire a cable to get it online.

: 22 May 2008 00:33 |  Tags: Grand Theft Auto Gta Gta Iv Impressive Randomness Temptation Weak Xbox 360 |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Damn you GTA IV!

Follow-up to Wii, Xbox 360, or PS3? from The randomness of tomorrow, today!

When I was still at Uni, one of my housemates had a PS2 and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. It was the first GTA I'd played, and I really enjoyed it. He'd acquired it from a friend who'd already completed it, and I had no end of fun just driving around, exploring the world, and spawning countless Harrier Jump Jets (Triangle, Triangle, Square, Circle, X, L1, L1, Down, Up).

This leads me on to Grand Theft Auto IV...

I own neither an Xbox 360 nor a PlayStation 3, and I also don't particular feel the need to buy them. However, GTA IV looks really good. I don't have enough spare cash at the moment to buy one anyway, but GTA IV still looks really good.

• Everyone that prefers the Wii only owns the Wii
• Everyone that prefers the PlayStation 3 doesn’t have an Xbox 360 (they may have a Wii)
• Everyone who owns an Xbox 360 (some own all three) prefers the Xbox 360
• One person doesn’t own any, but still prefers the Xbox 360. Presumably a friend has one...

This leads me on to my main point:

Why, if I were going to buy either, I would buy an Xbox 360

The main problem I have with the Xbox is that it's from Microsoft, and I'm not a big fan of Microsoft. But GTA IV looks really good. So, on to the list...

• When the PlayStation was first released, there were some demo units in one of the central sections of the MetroCentre. I can't remember exact details, because it was of course several years ago, but I got a poor first impression.
• The main problem I have with the PlayStation is the symbols; I just cannot quickly recall which symbol is where (I remember the code I mentioned above as "Top Top Left Right Bottom etc." - the actual symbols don't enter into it). I tried playing a game on the aforementioned PS2 that required you to quickly press certain buttons, and I couldn't do it; for some reason I just can't recall the positions of the symbols anywhere near as quickly as I can recall the position of letter-labelled buttons. And that is where the Xbox wins over the PlayStation for me: it uses letters, and past experience has shown that I have no problems using a controller with letters.
• The Xbox 360 has achievement points. It's a somewhat minor point, but in discussions comparing 360 and PS3 games the achievements are often cited as a decent enough way of extending the life of a game.

I'm sure that was at least one more, but I can't remember what it was...

: 07 May 2008 14:51 |  Tags: Grand Theft Auto Gta Gta Iv Playstation 3 Ps3 Randomness Xbox 360 |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Wii, Xbox 360, or PS3?

Writing about web page https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pHtXzcM6CuvXRcuCZJ0pcMA

Which of the three current home consoles do you own, and which is your favourite?

So please fill in the form, and enjoy the graph (which is slightly prettier this time since it has multiple colours):

UPDATE: I've just done a couple of graphs comparing the preferences.

The first one is the number of people who said they prefer a particular console, given as a percentage of the total number of responses. These three figures will, of course, add up to 100%, and so can accurately be represented as a pie chart (that's one reason I wanted to add them: I hadn't had a pie chart yet...):

This second one shows what consoles people prefer against what console they own:

: 06 May 2008 11:00 |  Tags: Chart Google Docs Graph New Poll Playstation 3 Poll Ps3 Randomness Result Wii Xbox 360 |  Comments (14) |  Close comments |  Report a problem