<Rant>
Was wondering how the heck Microsoft expects people to buy such damned expensive television sets to play their latest console system the way it was meant to be played?
'tis my b-day today, so I took a hike down to my not-so-local video store FutureShop, lo-and-behold, plenty of Premium XBX360s in stock, problem was, the system itself was expensive @ $499.99 (CDN currency), that and the fact I'd have to spend another $129.99 just to get it online wirelessly (dont got anymore lan cables to tether anything else to my wireless router).....along with the fact I'd need a second controller, a memory card (although it does have an HD built in..), and a couple games...
Then I realized the fact that the majority of 360 games were built for running on HD systems, or anything above a standard TV set, and from what I've read reviews of for some games, some dev's failed at making their games even readable on older TVs because of the limited resolution, and them not being able to bump up the font size and what not...
That and the fact the system is beefy and I'd be missing alot of the finer details of the graphics, which is what the thing was built for....but seriously, when I took a trip down HDTV alley at FutureShop, all I could see are $2000+ price-tags for anything that was a wise-screen that actually appeared slightly larger then my current old 21" CRT which is really showing its age. (bright colors warp the screen, can see little vertical lines crawling up the screen, clarity aint too great, etc)
Being an Average Joe, and see'ing how awful the "cheaper" models looked image-quality wise, I really wish to know how Microsoft expected people to buy into this crap that dont have deep wallets? As much as I'd like a 360, I cant keep up with the prices people are setting their products at, I mean, just to play something simple like Geometry Wars on Live!Arcade will cost me about $750 minimum with using my current crappy TV..., that and the fact I'd have to pay monthly fee's on Live!, as well as get my parents credit hooked up (really should look into getting my own credit...) so I can even purchase Marketplace points... /sigh.
</Rant>
So what's yer guys views on this subject, too expensive for its own good? Just seems like a rich-mans toy to me atm which doesn't appear to be really worth the premium price.
(tried me a couple kiosks, and the games played exactly last last-gens games, just prettier...was surprised Fight Night3 was the "best" 1st-gen 360 games could offer in human models....I wasn't impressed)
On another subject.....how many more "gen"'s do you think it'll be before loading times are non-existant? I think I've been spoiled by my DS for having next to 0 loading times in any of the games I own (any of the good ones that is, not the crappy cheap rushed projects).
Was wondering how the heck Microsoft expects people to buy such damned expensive television sets to play their latest console system the way it was meant to be played?
'tis my b-day today, so I took a hike down to my not-so-local video store FutureShop, lo-and-behold, plenty of Premium XBX360s in stock, problem was, the system itself was expensive @ $499.99 (CDN currency), that and the fact I'd have to spend another $129.99 just to get it online wirelessly (dont got anymore lan cables to tether anything else to my wireless router).....along with the fact I'd need a second controller, a memory card (although it does have an HD built in..), and a couple games...
Then I realized the fact that the majority of 360 games were built for running on HD systems, or anything above a standard TV set, and from what I've read reviews of for some games, some dev's failed at making their games even readable on older TVs because of the limited resolution, and them not being able to bump up the font size and what not...
That and the fact the system is beefy and I'd be missing alot of the finer details of the graphics, which is what the thing was built for....but seriously, when I took a trip down HDTV alley at FutureShop, all I could see are $2000+ price-tags for anything that was a wise-screen that actually appeared slightly larger then my current old 21" CRT which is really showing its age. (bright colors warp the screen, can see little vertical lines crawling up the screen, clarity aint too great, etc)
Being an Average Joe, and see'ing how awful the "cheaper" models looked image-quality wise, I really wish to know how Microsoft expected people to buy into this crap that dont have deep wallets? As much as I'd like a 360, I cant keep up with the prices people are setting their products at, I mean, just to play something simple like Geometry Wars on Live!Arcade will cost me about $750 minimum with using my current crappy TV..., that and the fact I'd have to pay monthly fee's on Live!, as well as get my parents credit hooked up (really should look into getting my own credit...) so I can even purchase Marketplace points... /sigh.
</Rant>
So what's yer guys views on this subject, too expensive for its own good? Just seems like a rich-mans toy to me atm which doesn't appear to be really worth the premium price.
(tried me a couple kiosks, and the games played exactly last last-gens games, just prettier...was surprised Fight Night3 was the "best" 1st-gen 360 games could offer in human models....I wasn't impressed)
On another subject.....how many more "gen"'s do you think it'll be before loading times are non-existant? I think I've been spoiled by my DS for having next to 0 loading times in any of the games I own (any of the good ones that is, not the crappy cheap rushed projects).