The fourth and final part of gameplayer's look into the current pros and cons of the Xbox 360 and PS3 has gone live, delving into the not so cool side of Microsoft's machine.
"If Microsoft is to realise its grand corporate vision of total media dominance, then it's going to have to stop doing things wrong, and start doing them right."
A brutal reset, a smarter story, and a return to what made it great—Mortal Kombat (2011) revived the series.
Underrated comment. I used to hate that game so much that any time my siblings asked me to play it, I just picked Hom and shut myself down mid-match.
15 years went by so fast. I remember playing through the story mode at launch.
The name "Hewson" carries a special weight for anyone who grew up during the golden age of British computing. As the son of Andrew Hewson—the man behind legendary publisher Hewson Consultants—Rob Hewson didn't just grow up playing video games; he learned to spell his name from their title screens. However, Rob didn't just rest on his family's 8-bit laurels. From leading major LEGO franchises at TT Games to tackling the high-stakes world of technical porting at Huey Games, Rob has carved out a unique path in an ever-evolving industry. In this candid interview Rob to discussed the burden and beauty of a family legacy, the technical "scar tissue" left by the ambitious Hydrophobia, and why porting a masterpiece like Inscryption to consoles is far more than a simple copy-paste job.
To celebrate Tomb Raider: Legend's 20th anniversary, the official channels have shared an early in-development gameplay demo.
I can't work out how to add other sources, but the other three parts of this article can also be found on n4g.
The two things that bug me the most are the sign in controllers and the format lock in, because for SOME REASON we can't upgrade our Media Center 04 to 05, so I can't stream when my friend is over.
This is more a case of what Microsoft does wrong than the console itself, but the point is still valid. In many ways, the Xbox line has brought out the worst of Microsoft’s well-earned reputation for corporate duplicity. This extends to self-delusion. Desktop users of the world were not enamoured of Windows 2000, ME, or Vista, yet they have been pushed to the hilt regardless. So too with Rare. Its acquisition cost Microsoft ten times what Bungie did, and that premium has bought a handful of console exclusives; poor-selling, and consistently scoring (or deserving) 7s and 8s.
In the one-eyed world of the console wars, it’s easy to forget how normal businesses do things. Any rational listed company would have sold, down-sized, or dismantled Rare by now. With Banjo Kazooie 3 nowhere in sight, even the most bullish Microsoft shareholders must be asking serious questions. Specifically, about what the heads of the Xbox division think they’re doing.
Well, there you have it. It’s not a pretty picture.
It crashes and it dies
This is the billion-dollar question. How could Microsoft get this so very, very wrong? The dreaded Red Ring of Death effect indicates a fundamental engineering failure – through ordinary use, the 360 gets hotter than its designers expected. Hence the high failure rate. Hence the mortal dread gamers feel when those red LEDs glow.
The moving parts don’t work as they should. A DVD that provokes corrupted visuals and/or system failure when viewed in a 360 will typically work just fine in a PS3. This console quantifiably can’t play discs as well as the competition. And while it doesn’t gouge circular grooves into every disc you put in it, this has happened to enough people for it to be a serious issue.
JUNK
This is gonna end up like the PS3 article yesterday... get out, while you still can!
muhahahaha
2. It crashes and it dies
This is the billion-dollar question. How could Microsoft get this so very, very wrong? The dreaded Red Ring of Death effect indicates a fundamental engineering failure – through ordinary use, the 360 gets hotter than its designers expected. Hence the high failure rate. Hence the mortal dread gamers feel when those red LEDs glow.
The moving parts don’t work as they should. A DVD that provokes corrupted visuals and/or system failure when viewed in a 360 will typically work just fine in a PS3. This console quantifiably can’t play discs as well as the competition. And while it doesn’t gouge circular grooves into every disc you put in it, this has happened to enough people for it to be a serious issue.
3. Noise
Let’s not forget those noisy, noisy fans, firing-up as the tasks given the machine get more complex. We are constantly surprised when users tell us that they don’t notice the sound, or don’t find it an issue. Clearly they haven’t enjoyed the blissful serenity of the console’s competitors.
While the machine can, technically, play DVD movies, it’s one of the worst possible ways to do it. The noise generated can drown out the dialogue. The same is true for games, detracting massively from the whole experience.
Similar to a dripping tap, the noise of the 360 is a splinter in the mind’s eye. And nothing is worse than an itch you can never scratch.