Tagged Products - xbox

Alone in the Dark: Xbox 360

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a neat cinematic gimmick), that right thumbstick no longer functions as it did before. In combat, it gets worse. that same thumbstick changes yet again depending on the weapon. Wow, that, is, nuts.
- first person view is too slow
- controls are insane and uncontrollable. As described above, they keep changing and you have to unlearn everything you just learned and relearn what the h*ll everything does based on what perspective you are in and what the situation is. That's the problem. Your brain will still be using the layout you were able to use 2 seconds ago, because that's natural, intuitive and the way most good games work. h*ll, even really bad games have consistent controls.
- there is NO option for the gamer to map the controller as in other games. If they'd put the controls in the gamer's hands, maybe this would have been a 2 or a 3.
- even if you master the constantly changing controls, they are still slow, clunky and unresponsive. Doing things like jumping and just trying to pick something up can be goofy.
- While the inventory system is interesting and has a professional looking interface, it functions like everything else in this game, with poor unintuitive controls. Beyond that, the inventory doesn't pause the action, so you'll get your butt kicked in combat trying to figure out what to do with the inventory...nice
- the use "fire to kill everything" gimmick is overused and seems a bit silly. Fire isn't ubiquitous in real life.
- dialog not really inspired
- story not really engaging
- don't really care about the characters
- driving is horrid. I won't even talk about it.
- combat is tedious, long, difficult and silly using the clunky controls. and again, UNINTUITIVE and utterly inconsistent.
- All of the above means POOR GAME TESTING. Somebody, somewhere at some point must have mentioned the camera and controls. My guess is that somebody did, they weren't the boss, and the boss never played the game.

Usually with bad games, you have things like bad AI which runs right at you, low-rez textures, bugs, poor collision detection, stuff like that. These are hallmarks of low budgets, rushed titles, noob programmers, etc...Alone in the Dark is very bad is UNUSUAL ways. Like they had a big budget, decent developers, and had good tools in their hands, but still managed to create a monstrosity. That crazy show "Cop Rock" comes to mind. A complete disaster.

Alone in the Dark: Xbox 360

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TEDIOUS CAN THIS GET??? Another example: you're standing next to an object your wish to pick-up, an "pick-up object icon" appears telling you to press A. To pick up an object, press A. The problem with this is that turning off the flashlight you need to press A as well. So if you're holding a flashlight and you need to turn off it off (it has limited battery life by the way), you'll have to move away from the pickable object so you can turn off the flashlight.
Here's another example again: You have a zombie attacking you, controls say you have to double click the left analog stick to do a quick turn. If you're holding a gun or a melee weapon, quick turn won't work, but then sometimes it does!!!
And here's another example: Driving a car is like driving a bar of soap on a smooth glass. A slight turn on the stick will spin your car uncontrollably. There's an action sequence in this game that requires some driving. I will warn you now, prepare to do this about 200 to 500 times because you will fail.

BUGGY ACTION SEQUENCE: There's an action sequence on Episode 2 where you have to escape an earthquake. The entire driving sequence requires you to get away from the earthquake before ti swallows your car. Unfortunately, the car is just completely unresponsive. Second, there's a jump that you have to make before the entire road cracks open. Sometimes you'll make the jump sometimes you won't. What's weird is that once your car flies over the cracked road, the game will turn into a full motion video showing your car making the jump. But once your car lands, somehow the game randomly decides whether the earthquake catches the tail end of your car thus killing you instantly or by some algorithmic calculation, you do make it. But that's just half of the problem because this action sequence will continue for the next 10 minutes and if you fail halfway or even on the last part of this sequence, the game will throw you back to beginning of the sequence. TOTALLY UNFORGIVING CHECKPOINTS. By the way, you can't skip the full motion videos which means you'll be forced to watch cheesy FMVs over and over again everytime you fail an action sequence.

How about weapons you ask? Forget about using guns. Guns are completely ineffective against zombies (which you will be battling the entire game). So if ever you decide to collect ammo, well...it's pretty much useless and waste of space. Zombies can only be killed by fire. If you do have to use your gun to kill zombies, you'll have to find gasoline or any flammable liquid, combine it with your bullets, load your gun with said "gasoline dipped" bullets and then shoot the zombies. But wait, you can't just shoot them anywhere. Zombies have this glowing yellow areas of their body that's vulnerable to fire. So on top of mixing and matching items to make fire, you'll have to be a sharpshooter to hit the zombies where it hurts. Otherwise, you'll just be wasting time and ammo.

I think I've said enough. This game is the worst ever for 2008. Do not waste your money on this. Believe me, when I read the poor reviews, I told myself "Nah, I don't believe these reviews, I will buy it and try it myself." So now, I am $60.00 poorer, and my blood pressure just skyrocketed after playing this game. Avoid this game. Stick to the DOS version of Alone in the Dark.

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit: Xbox 360

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TEDIOUS CAN THIS GET??? Another example: you're standing next to an object your wish to pick-up, an "pick-up object icon" appears telling you to press A. To pick up an object, press A. The problem with this is that turning off the flashlight you need to press A as well. So if you're holding a flashlight and you need to turn off it off (it has limited battery life by the way), you'll have to move away from the pickable object so you can turn off the flashlight.

Here's another example again: You have a zombie attacking you, controls say you have to double click the left analog stick to do a quick turn. If you're holding a gun or a melee weapon, quick turn won't work, but then sometimes it does!!!

And here's another example: Driving a car is like driving a bar of soap on a smooth glass. A slight turn on the stick will spin your car uncontrollably. There's an action sequence in this game that requires some driving. I will warn you now, prepare to do this about 200 to 500 times because you will fail.



BUGGY ACTION SEQUENCE: There's an action sequence on Episode 2 where you have to escape an earthquake. The entire driving sequence requires you to get away from the earthquake before ti swallows your car. Unfortunately, the car is just completely unresponsive. Second, there's a jump that you have to make before the entire road cracks open. Sometimes you'll make the jump sometimes you won't. What's weird is that once your car flies over the cracked road, the game will turn into a full motion video showing your car making the jump. But once your car lands, somehow the game randomly decides whether the earthquake catches the tail end of your car thus killing you instantly or by some algorithmic calculation, you do make it. But that's just half of the problem because this action sequence will continue for the next 10 minutes and if you fail halfway or even on the last part of this sequence, the game will throw you back to beginning of the sequence. TOTALLY UNFORGIVING CHECKPOINTS. By the way, you can't skip the full motion videos which means you'll be forced to watch cheesy FMVs over and over again everytime you fail an action sequence.



How about weapons you ask? Forget about using guns. Guns are completely ineffective against zombies (which you will be battling the entire game). So if ever you decide to collect ammo, well...it's pretty much useless and waste of space. Zombies can only be killed by fire. If you do have to use your gun to kill zombies, you'll have to find gasoline or any flammable liquid, combine it with your bullets, load your gun with said "gasoline dipped" bullets and then shoot the zombies. But wait, you can't just shoot them anywhere. Zombies have this glowing yellow areas of their body that's vulnerable to fire. So on top of mixing and matching items to make fire, you'll have to be a sharpshooter to hit the zombies where it hurts. Otherwise, you'll just be wasting time and ammo.



I think I've said enough. This game is the worst ever for 2008. Do not waste your money on this. Believe me, when I read the poor reviews, I told myself "Nah, I don't believe these reviews, I will buy it and try it myself." So now, I am $60.00 poorer, and my blood pressure just skyrocketed after playing this game. Avoid this game. Stick to the DOS version of Alone in the Dark.

Xbox 360 - Command & Conquer Kane's Wrath

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games have never been known for deep stories, but this game really has the most confusing one. In the end, you watch the cut scenes for what they are and enjoy what follows after them.
- My favorite faction is GDI and this game only covers NOD. However - again, the good thing is that the missions bring the best out of what NOD can do, so this works out pretty good in the end.

Bottom line: If you like C&C games, you will like this one too. Until Red Alert 3 is released, there is enough material here to keep you busy, from Multiplayer, to Skirmish and Kane's Challenge matches. If you are new to this game, maybe C&C3 would be a better starting point, because it has more missions and more variety. In any case - C&C games continue to be the best RTS offering on consoles.

Alone in the Dark: Xbox 360

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around can be a chore. The control issues that present themselves during combat and puzzle solving only add layers of frustration to the game, which is a crying shame. Despite it's flaws, Alone in the Dark does present some innovation in terms of it's item inventory use and some dramatic moments that will jolt you out of your chair. The game's story is intriguing, and there are some great lighting effects too. All in all, Alone in the Dark is a worthwhile trip that could have been something truly great, but in the end is brought down thanks to it's technical issues. Still, for survival horror fans, Alone in the Dark is definitely worth a look.

NASCAR 09: Xbox 360

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around can be a chore. The control issues that present themselves during combat and puzzle solving only add layers of frustration to the game, which is a crying shame. Despite it's flaws, Alone in the Dark does present some innovation in terms of it's item inventory use and some dramatic moments that will jolt you out of your chair. The game's story is intriguing, and there are some great lighting effects too. All in all, Alone in the Dark is a worthwhile trip that could have been something truly great, but in the end is brought down thanks to it's technical issues. Still, for survival horror fans, Alone in the Dark is definitely worth a look.

Top Spin 3: Xbox 360

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movements have been slowed down, putting a greater emphasis on timing and precision. Two buttons have been mapped to have your character quickly run to either the center of the baseline or the net, but at the expense of stamina. This new stamina system ratchets up the tension and realism of the matches. Play well and run your opponent ragged, and he will start making loose errors as his heart rate increases. Likewise, your own timing and concentration must be maintained as your avatar's stamina decreases and his potential for making mistakes becomes greater. This gives a heightened sense of drama to the longer matches that was missing in previous games.

Other high points are a very well-done character customization feature and the usage of fictional characters on the tour (so that one isn't playing an inexplicably unskilled Federer in the first round of some random tournament). Tennis aficionados will appreciate the detailed stat sheets after matches, the increased frequency of aces, and the improved effectiveness of the service game. No longer are serves just a perfunctory start of a point - now it is much easier to hold when serving well, and conversely much more difficult to simply pound returns into corners.

For me, the flaws of this game are a period of frustration when learning the controls, and a rather dull presentation to the career mode, especially compared to the globe interface of Virtua Tennis 3. I don't play online, so I can't comment on that.

In all, this is an excellent game that achieves its goal of being a detailed tennis sim. As long as one is not expecting a pick-up-and-play experience like that of the older games or the Virtua Tennis series, and is willing to put in the effort to learn the new gameplay system, the benefits of the increased complexity quickly pay off.

Battlefield: Bad Company: Xbox 360

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the very poor design of team chat and not being able to invite anymore than three of your friends into a game, despite both RB6 and COD4 letting you do 6 or more, it appears many clans will not play until this is fixed.

Single player- *** Who buys BF games for single player?*** BF is all about online team fps. It appears EA thought that if we get to blow stuff up we would ignore the glaring mistakes.

This game still needs some serious work.

Battlefield: Bad Company: Xbox 360

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they immediately run and hide behind something. They have try to out flank me and they have tried to sneaked behind me a few times. I love the part where a enemy soldier runs into a building to hide from you and you can use your weapon to blow a good size hole into a building to waste the enemy soldier. It is also so much fun to just take your weapon and shoot down all the trees that enemy soldiers are hiding behind. You can do so much damage to the terrain with your weapons in this game.

The maps to this game are huge. The maps are ten times bigger than the maps to Call of Duty 4. I love the sandbox settings to this game where you can go any where on the maps.

I highly recommend getting this game. Battlefield: Bad Company is a fun game to play and the game has a lot of replay value to it.

Alone in the Dark: Xbox 360

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the camera fixes itself behind your back, but it pulls back to give you a wider viewing area. You control the me lee weapons with the right stick in this situation, pulling it one way, then another to get the desired swing; You can also lock on to a desired enemy in order to strafe him. This in my opinion is not too bad, and definitely a step up from traditional SvH combat.

The ability to combine items on the fly (Two sided tape, flamible oil) opens up a lot of combos for combat and puzzle solving (Take the taped oil, puncture it an toss it where you want it, then light the oil trail on fire) This definitely adds to the strategy department here,and allows for creative ways to solve your problems.

The story telling is taken up a noche, and is on par with many of the current Gen games in that area, the graphics are beautiful, and the ability to finally bash down the infamous indestructible locked door that has plagued gaming for nigh over a decade or more are all nice features that update traditional SvH for the current Gen. The music is spectacular whether its your mood setting background for SvH segments, the sudden dangerous shift for fight sequences, or the Hauntingly beautiful choir music that sets the pace for the major action sequences.

What blows me away the most is the presentation of AITD. Combining all the best elements of Survival Horror, dark atmosphere, rich story telling, mystery, amazing action segments, and some disturbing enemies, accompanied by one of the most beautiful sound tracks in gaming history, this game is a solid title that is a good buy.

Again I state this is not a Balls to the Wall action game. If thats what you want, go play Halo or Gears of War. This is a solid SvH with Appropriately placed action segments that help keep the pace of the game from going stale. This game is 4 stars easily. I would give it 5, but there are occasional glitches, but they are forgivable.

Grand Theft Auto IV: Xbox 360

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it anyway. It's stupid let's just throw it out." It's part of what made me feel more into the game. Without that I don't own the character, I'm just playing as him. It's a disconnection.

Next, I hate the fact they removed custom cars. I loved boosting cars and then pimping them out. You drive around the city find some insanely cool car then make it even more awesome. I really really miss that from GTA. You can't even select what color the car changes to. What's up with that? No Nitrous either. That means no insanely insane car stunts.

Now one I've always hated about GTA and is just worse in this one. If you ever see Zero Punctuation you know. I can ram through giant light poles with nothing more than a tap. I can topple hot dog stands with a scooter. Yet a tiny tree or the smallest of metal rods holding up an awning and I go flying out of the windshield. Can't tell you how many times that happened running from the cops after a 30 minute mission... then having to do it all over again. Consistency rockstar? Maybe just once?

How about the worst peeve of them all. Save points. I don't know if it changes but for the first 15 hours of the game your one and only save point is always a 10 minute drive away from where your mission ends. Every time you think you should save you find yourself halfway through the city and you have to drive all the way back and on top of it, pay a $5 toll. What? So I basically have to pay to save or run from the cops but either way I can't just save. No that would be too easy.

I hate the fact that rockstar tries its hardest to make the game realistic while living just outside the realm of reality but still manages to keep you from doing what would be considered actual realism. Like paring my own clothes, or driving through a tree. Oh but I can sit and watch my character watching television. The level of realism has hit sitting on a recliner but I still can't get my hair cut. Not to mention I have to eat to gain health but food is nearly impossible to find in the city of NEW YORK! It's New York and it takes me like 20 minutes to find a stupid hamburger. Can't it be on the map? Because in the real NY, you walk one block and you'll find a sandwich shop of some kind. Or how about the fact I carry thousands of dollars with me but my fridge is always empty?

I pre-ordered this game. I wanted this game. I was hoping to love this game. However, this is a step backwards. It's not as good as San Andreas and not as fun. There are less weapons, less vehicles, less options, and less of a sandbox. This game is in every way less than San Andreas. Way to let me down.

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit: Xbox 360

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it anyway. It's stupid let's just throw it out." It's part of what made me feel more into the game. Without that I don't own the character, I'm just playing as him. It's a disconnection.



Next, I hate the fact they removed custom cars. I loved boosting cars and then pimping them out. You drive around the city find some insanely cool car then make it even more awesome. I really really miss that from GTA. You can't even select what color the car changes to. What's up with that? No Nitrous either. That means no insanely insane car stunts.



Now one I've always hated about GTA and is just worse in this one. If you ever see Zero Punctuation you know. I can ram through giant light poles with nothing more than a tap. I can topple hot dog stands with a scooter. Yet a tiny tree or the smallest of metal rods holding up an awning and I go flying out of the windshield. Can't tell you how many times that happened running from the cops after a 30 minute mission... then having to do it all over again. Consistency rockstar? Maybe just once?



How about the worst peeve of them all. Save points. I don't know if it changes but for the first 15 hours of the game your one and only save point is always a 10 minute drive away from where your mission ends. Every time you think you should save you find yourself halfway through the city and you have to drive all the way back and on top of it, pay a $5 toll. What? So I basically have to pay to save or run from the cops but either way I can't just save. No that would be too easy.



I hate the fact that rockstar tries its hardest to make the game realistic while living just outside the realm of reality but still manages to keep you from doing what would be considered actual realism. Like paring my own clothes, or driving through a tree. Oh but I can sit and watch my character watching television. The level of realism has hit sitting on a recliner but I still can't get my hair cut. Not to mention I have to eat to gain health but food is nearly impossible to find in the city of NEW YORK! It's New York and it takes me like 20 minutes to find a stupid hamburger. Can't it be on the map? Because in the real NY, you walk one block and you'll find a sandwich shop of some kind. Or how about the fact I carry thousands of dollars with me but my fridge is always empty?



I pre-ordered this game. I wanted this game. I was hoping to love this game. However, this is a step backwards. It's not as good as San Andreas and not as fun. There are less weapons, less vehicles, less options, and less of a sandbox. This game is in every way less than San Andreas. Way to let me down.

NASCAR 09: Xbox 360

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Gordon-haters moaning and groaning about it. Don't worry, Jeff is not the only driver you encounter in the game. In NASCAR 09 you can do more with the car in the garage. Actually, the biggest change is that there is a garage.

Pros:
- Better car "feel" creates a way more interesting experience
- Better graphics
- More adjustments to the cars
- More to do off track

Cons:
- Same old terrible music (I just turn it off completely)
- Still not quite a total sim experience

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit: Xbox 360

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the complete set. What are we going to do with one out of six disks in a set. Just a way to get ppl to sink more money into this franchise. I strongly urge everyone to rent this game before buying so you can see exactly what its worth. Maybe $[...] tops if you dont have a good budokai to play. "time to hook back up the ps2"

Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit: Xbox 360

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few levels and they should be more difficult, but not jump such as this.

The fighting system is fluid and unique. You have a light attack for speed/light damage and a heavy attack for slow/high damage. There is one block button which can block attacks as well as counter attacks. You zip behind your opponent and you can attack them. Be careful though! They can counter your counter. Lastly is you Ki button which can do special moves depending on which way you move the left thumbstick. For example, if you press B while moving the thumbstick towards your opponent, you can do a Kamehameha attack. If you press the stick up and press B (when your energy bar is full) you will unleash a special Ultimate Attack. This deals huge amounts of damage!

There is also a few other modes you can play including Survival, Time Attack, and Verses Mode (VS Mode is against the CPU or a Human). I tried Xbox Live around 10:30PM EST. I had no lag what-so-ever. This may change if you try to play it during peak hours of 3-9PM.

The graphics are amazing. I've always loved cell-shading and this is very crisp and colorful. The cut-scenes are a little underdone but the gameplay graphics are to die for.

All in all, the game is great. I have to give it 4 stars due to the short story mode. For the $60 price tag, it's just too short. I have to suggest renting it first and you truly like it, buy it. DBZ fans will be in their glory but for the fighting game junkies (like myself), it's something which is nice to play; not a must have in your library.

Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite Console - Black

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to PS3's XMB and PS Store, the XB menus are a bit cluttered and confusing.

- Fear of RRoD, but hopefully with this newer model (manufactured Mar 2008) there won't be any problems.

- You can't copy anything to your hard drive from an external device, like flash drive or hard drive. You have to download everything from the Marketplace.

- No built-in rechargeable battery pack on controller. You have to either get rechargeable batteries or buy that play and charge pack. I had a bunch of rechargeable NIMH AAs already, so I'll be using those.

- No wireless?! This is a $450 console and there's no wireless. That's what I love about the PS3- it has two wires - power and HDMI, that's it. You could get the ridiculously overpriced proprietary MS wireless adapter for $100 or spend $5 on a long ethernet cable (I'm doing the latter). I want my router to be near my computer, not my console.

- Most themes and wallpapers cost money. No thanks to the micro-transactions.

I'm generally happy with it. Can't wait to play more games on it!

Microsoft Xbox Live Vision

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to PS3's XMB and PS Store, the XB menus are a bit cluttered and confusing.



- Fear of RRoD, but hopefully with this newer model (manufactured Mar 2008) there won't be any problems.



- You can't copy anything to your hard drive from an external device, like flash drive or hard drive. You have to download everything from the Marketplace.



- No built-in rechargeable battery pack on controller. You have to either get rechargeable batteries or buy that play and charge pack. I had a bunch of rechargeable NIMH AAs already, so I'll be using those.



- No wireless?! This is a $450 console and there's no wireless. That's what I love about the PS3- it has two wires - power and HDMI, that's it. You could get the ridiculously overpriced proprietary MS wireless adapter for $100 or spend $5 on a long ethernet cable (I'm doing the latter). I want my router to be near my computer, not my console.



- Most themes and wallpapers cost money. No thanks to the micro-transactions.



I'm generally happy with it. Can't wait to play more games on it!

Microsoft Xbox 360 Console System

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to PS3's XMB and PS Store, the XB menus are a bit cluttered and confusing.





- Fear of RRoD, but hopefully with this newer model (manufactured Mar 2008) there won't be any problems.





- You can't copy anything to your hard drive from an external device, like flash drive or hard drive. You have to download everything from the Marketplace.





- No built-in rechargeable battery pack on controller. You have to either get rechargeable batteries or buy that play and charge pack. I had a bunch of rechargeable NIMH AAs already, so I'll be using those.





- No wireless?! This is a $450 console and there's no wireless. That's what I love about the PS3- it has two wires - power and HDMI, that's it. You could get the ridiculously overpriced proprietary MS wireless adapter for $100 or spend $5 on a long ethernet cable (I'm doing the latter). I want my router to be near my computer, not my console.





- Most themes and wallpapers cost money. No thanks to the micro-transactions.





I'm generally happy with it. Can't wait to play more games on it!

Microsoft Xbox 360 Console System

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had to worry about that with the Playstation.

2. The other main issue with the 360 is the noise. I find I have to turn up the TV volume to hear the game. In very quite games the Xbox 360 noise can get annoying.

3. I am not too worried about the lack of blue-ray player although this may be an issue in future years.

4. Proprietary hard drive & not being able to save 360 games to the drive.

5. No Wi-Fi built in to the console. You have to buy the adaptor.

6. Power brick. Yuk!! Should be built into console like PS3.

7. Value for money. While the initial outlay for the 20GB unit seems like good value when compared with the PS3 this soon erodes once you buy the wireless adaptor, chargeable pack for controllers, and upgrade the proprietary 20gb hard drive for the expensive 120gb unit. The PS3 is actually better value.

On the plus side (and there are many I think):

1. Excellent graphics - at least on par if not better than PS3 at present
2. Excellent games & gameplay
3. Far better range of games & exclusive titles. Xbox 360 is worth buying for Gears of War, Mass Effect, Bioshock & Halo alone.
4. Better controller for my money. Feels better in your hand. Triggers are better. Microsoft wireless controllers are very reliable (unlike the console) and connect every time with no loss of connection in gameplay.
5. Xbox Live. Say no more. In my opinion this service easily justifies the annual fee. It has a huge community, is very well integrated and consistent across games. It just works.

For the next Xbox I would suggest:

1. Has to be ultra reliable - no more worrying about the red rings.
2. Must run QUITE!! At least on par with computer.
3. Must be backwards compatible with 360 games. Too many out there now.
4. Non proprietary hard drive so you can upgrade to larger drive easily.
5. Able to save games and other media to hard drive.
6. Work better with your digital photos and home video.
7. Blue-ray for games & movies. HD-DVD is dead.
8. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi built in for wireless internet & accessories.
9. Looks like a high quality piece of kit that would look good in your TV cabinet.
10. Power transformer built into console like PS3. That brick is painful.
11. Usual upgrade in graphics & other specs.
12. HDMI ports
13. 4 USB ports
14. Motion sensing controller.
15. Small info display on console like a DVD player so you can see what is going on.
16. Universal slot on console for CF and SD cards from digital camera (like laptops).
17. Disc insertion like PS3.

In summary I really like the Xbox 360 & once the reliability and noise issues are corrected still think it is the best overall gaming experience (at least for now).

That will do for now. Thanks.

Kung Fu Panda: The Game: Xbox 360

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had to worry about that with the Playstation.



2. The other main issue with the 360 is the noise. I find I have to turn up the TV volume to hear the game. In very quite games the Xbox 360 noise can get annoying.



3. I am not too worried about the lack of blue-ray player although this may be an issue in future years.



4. Proprietary hard drive & not being able to save 360 games to the drive.



5. No Wi-Fi built in to the console. You have to buy the adaptor.



6. Power brick. Yuk!! Should be built into console like PS3.



7. Value for money. While the initial outlay for the 20GB unit seems like good value when compared with the PS3 this soon erodes once you buy the wireless adaptor, chargeable pack for controllers, and upgrade the proprietary 20gb hard drive for the expensive 120gb unit. The PS3 is actually better value.



On the plus side (and there are many I think):



1. Excellent graphics - at least on par if not better than PS3 at present

2. Excellent games & gameplay

3. Far better range of games & exclusive titles. Xbox 360 is worth buying for Gears of War, Mass Effect, Bioshock & Halo alone.

4. Better controller for my money. Feels better in your hand. Triggers are better. Microsoft wireless controllers are very reliable (unlike the console) and connect every time with no loss of connection in gameplay.

5. Xbox Live. Say no more. In my opinion this service easily justifies the annual fee. It has a huge community, is very well integrated and consistent across games. It just works.



For the next Xbox I would suggest:



1. Has to be ultra reliable - no more worrying about the red rings.

2. Must run QUITE!! At least on par with computer.

3. Must be backwards compatible with 360 games. Too many out there now.

4. Non proprietary hard drive so you can upgrade to larger drive easily.

5. Able to save games and other media to hard drive.

6. Work better with your digital photos and home video.

7. Blue-ray for games & movies. HD-DVD is dead.

8. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi built in for wireless internet & accessories.

9. Looks like a high quality piece of kit that would look good in your TV cabinet.

10. Power transformer built into console like PS3. That brick is painful.

11. Usual upgrade in graphics & other specs.

12. HDMI ports

13. 4 USB ports

14. Motion sensing controller.

15. Small info display on console like a DVD player so you can see what is going on.

16. Universal slot on console for CF and SD cards from digital camera (like laptops).

17. Disc insertion like PS3.



In summary I really like the Xbox 360 & once the reliability and noise issues are corrected still think it is the best overall gaming experience (at least for now).



That will do for now. Thanks.