Xbox 360 Delights

[Revan]

Xbox Live Arcade is very special (Xbox 360 delight #001)
The clear standout with the Xbox 360 is the Xbox Live Arcade service. We've spent quite a bit of time waxing enthusiastic about the service and its potential, so we'll pull it all together here.

First, and most excitingly, Live Arcade is a disruptive technology. It has the potential to disintermediate the retail channel that's capturing an increasingly large portion of consumer spending through used game sales. Microsoft says that over half of the money spent to purchase a game on Xbox Live Arcade goes to the developer that made the game. That's a good thing, because some retailers have a nasty habit of ripping gamers off.

Second, the managers of Xbox Live Arcade have so far done a good job of selecting quality titles to bring to the service. Though it's got the most boring name ever, Geometry Wars is a fan-friggin-tastic game .

We're hearing stories of other gamers getting addicted to Outpost Kaloki, Hexic HD, and Smash TV. There's a little something for everyone, with lots more on the way.

Some "leeter-than-thou" types who still mistakenly think graphics are the most important part of gaming see our love affair with Xbox Live Arcade as bad news for the Xbox 360. They say that the launch titles must be pretty crappy if we're choosing to play Arcade games (except they say it like this: "LoL Xbox suxx0rz!") We encourage these people to grow up. Frankly, no console experience in the last five years has provided me with as much gaming enjoyment as Geometry Wars. Games are about interactivity and game designers who know how to put together a great interactive experience are going to win us over. Nintendo gets it too: that's why they've redesigned the control scheme with the Revolution and that's why they'll be offering Nintendo's 20-year catalog of games, for a fee.

In short, Xbox Live Arcade is a superior experience. Game are inexpensive, easy to try, easy to buy, and most importantly: fun. Isn't that what gaming is about?


Microsoft points are oh-so-dangerous (Xbox 360 delight #002)
Like Xbox Live Arcade, the Xbox Live Marketplace is another underappreciated aspect of the Xbox 360 experience. Using a form of currency dubbed "Microsoft Points," gamers can buy Arcade games, gamer icons, console themes and other digital bric-a-brac to customize their gaming experience. Microsoft Points can be purchased at a rate of 80 per $1 USD.

Points are cool for a few reasons. Mostly, it's clear that they've been very carefully thought out. The exchange rate itself appears to have been carefully chosen so that points don't line up against most of the major world currencies in a simple ratio. A US Dollar buys 80. A Yen buys .67. A pound buys 120. A Euro buys about 67, and so on. That's important because it distances the gamer from the financial impact of the purchase. If the conversion to dollars is simple, every transaction will be evaluated in real dollar terms. If the conversion requires math, most people will choose not to perform the conversion and will presumably spend more freely.

Second, the structure of Marketplace minimizes credit card transaction fees that Microsoft needs to pay. They're not passing those savings on to us, but the more gamer spend that we keep out of the pockets of middlemen—credit card companies included in that category—the more money goes into the pockets of the content creators. That's good for the games industry, because it means existing developers will make more money. More money flowing to developers should also increase the number of firms developing games, which will in turn increase the variety and creativity of games that make their way onto our gaming devices. Sweet.




Third, MS Points are going to be used across all Microsoft products. You may be able to purchase a premium Hotmail subscription with points in the future. You might also be able to use points to purchase clipart for MS Word. Given Microsoft’s intent to make points ubiquitous, we could see some nifty benefits for gaming come out of it. How about a winner-takes-all Perfect Dark Zero tournament with an entry fee and prizes collected and paid in points? Microsoft has also said that they may allow points to be redeemed for Xbox 360 accessories. We’ll see some interesting new things as a result of points.

Fourth, MS Points make transactions uber-easy on the Xbox 360. After the initial annoyance of setting up the 360, points allow subsequent transactions to happen in seconds. To buy a full version of a demo game that you’ve already downloaded to your Xbox 360 hard drive takes about five seconds. It’s the fastest commerce experience anywhere online with the exception of Amazon.com’s 1-Click feature.

And that’s why they’re dangerous. The marketplace user interface makes spending so much easier than any other shopping experience most of us have ever experienced that it’s quite possible to deplete your MSP balance before you’ve really even considered what you’re doing. It’s also just as easy to replenish your points balance with your credit card, which the Xbox 360 remembers for you.

That’s how shopping should be. Now if only the geniuses at Microsoft could figure out a way to keep those pesky credit card bills from showing up.


Philadelphia goes to war with Tokyo (Xbox 360 delight #003)
In the midst of all of this doom and gloom about Xbox 360 in Japan, there are some positive developments. You know what's cool? I'm in Philadelphia. My buddy CheapyD of CheapAssGamer.com is in Tokyo, but today I played Perfect Dark Zero with him schooled him in Perfect Dark Zero.

It's not that I haven't been playing PC games with Ventrilio or TeamSpeak for years, but this was simple. No IP addresses to enter. No software to install. No fussy push-to-talk settings to toggle. One minute I'm playing on the empty subway map with a dude from London, the next moment the server is filling up with all sorts of people from my buddy list, including the aforementioned nubcake that got his cheap ass handed to him. The multiplayer online experience has never been so seamless.

Granted, there are significant issues with some aspects of the way that Perfect Dark Zero handles online play, but we'll save that for an annoyance post because this evening everything worked flawlessly. We were hurling smacktalk, shrapnel, and lead back and forth between Tokyo and Philadelphia and having a quality online gaming experience.

A quick disclaimer: if you see gamertag Joystiq in your online game and Joystiq is doing really well… that was me. If Joystiq is losing, it's my roommate. Or my brother. Or I've got a broken hand. Or I forgot to turn the monitor on. Are we straight on that? Good.


Oh my god, it is so big! (Xbox 360 delight #004)
Size does matter. Computer screens are swell and all, but they're tiny. We sit close to computers because we have to. Ever since purchasing an HD projector (and managing to stay married after my sugar mommy saw the credit card bill!) I've had a number of guests over at Joystiq's outpost in the city of brotherly love and the reaction from one and all has been unanimous: gaming in HD is friggin' sweet.

Guests have been bowled over not just by the "whoosh whoosh" of the Xbox 360 interface but by the visual accompaniment: crisp text and vibrant colors projected in 1080i, 8.4 feet wide. It's enough to make even my most hardcore gamer friends giddily wax enthusiastic in a way that none of them had ever done before. One said, "whoa, instant party" when I streamed an MP3 file off of my computer with full-screen visualizations.

With guests in the bag, I turned to bigger game. How about the better half who has steadfastly refused to game with me for over 13 years? The last time I even tried to turn her on to gaming was 1998 when I showed her the Half-Life opening sequence on my 19-inch CRT monitor, thinking she'd be impressed. Her response: "So small! Let's go watch a movie."

Yesterday, I convinced her to play Project Gotham Racing 3. For the first time ever, my wife not only willingly held a controller, she actually refused to let me take it away from her. If HD gaming can convince her to finally play, I'm delighted. She wouldn't have bothered to play if the display weren't quite so large and beautiful, if the visuals weren't so inviting, and if the controllers weren't so darned easy to pick up and hold.


It's great at parties (Xbox 360 delight #005)
Having a crowd of non-gamers over for a party is always hard work. Do you try to convince them of the myriad temptations of World of Warcraft? Thrust a PSP or DS into their clammy, alcohol-filled hands? Load up Halo 2 and watch as they try to get to grips with look inversion? Or do you give up on what is undeniably a golden opportunity to recruit newbies to the gaming banner, and get out a DVD instead?

None of the above: all you need is an Xbox 360.

The wireless controller, a perfect addition to any modern coffee table, kicks off the festivities by looking so tempting that someone at the party will invariably press random buttons until they hit the Guide button, turning both the controller and the console on. The tactile whooshing of the Dashboard and its blades encourage further experimentation, and this is where it gets good.

None of the launch titles are particularly party-friendly, although depending on your guests you may be able to get away with a bit of PGR3 (for example). However, the Xbox Live Arcade is perfect for parties, quickly making the 360 the centrepiece of your gathering. With a little gentle encouragement, you can get a reluctant friend to try out Geometry Wars, and voilà -- suddenly everyone wants a try.

If, however, one of the non-gamers should beat your high score, you might want to take advantage of the 360's media streaming functionality to turn it into a jukebox, thus hiding your shame. After all, there are plenty of other party games available--SingStar, Donkey Konga and anything involving DDR all go down extremely well with non-gamers, but the Xbox 360 somehow manages to get them using the controller and interacting with the console on a far more involved level. Three or four parties later, you may even have a new Xbox 360 fanboy or two.


Getting the girlfriend to join in (Xbox 360 Delight #006)
Last night the Xbox 360 finally managed to get the girlfriend to crack a smile. No big deal, right? Wrong. The longstanding feud between the little lady and the Box began last generation, spurred by my ill choice of words:

Girlfriend: "You gonna bring your game with you to your parents' house this weekend?" ["Game" is her generic term for "Xbox"]
Me: "Nah, I think I'll leave her here."
Girlfriend: "Her?"
Me: "..."

Relations only grew worse with the recent introduction of the Xbox 360 into the bedroom, its soft white exterior and subtle concave curves beckoning from the corner. My attempts to charm the girlfriend with the ease and accessibility of Xbox Live Arcade fell flat... "I'm going into the other room to read the newspaper." And let's not forget the time I tried to show her how cool it was that I could download the Fight Night demo and play it right then and there... "I don't understand boxing. Why would you want to hit someone like that?" Things finally boiled over when she awoke to find me clutching the controller during an early Saturday morning session. And all hopes for one big happy family ceased to exist.
And then, just last night, a funny thing happened... We were lying in bed when she suggested we put on some music. So, knowing that my iPod was connected to the Box, I grabbed the 360 controller and powered up the system. "Why are you turning that thing on?"

"'Cause the iPod's connected to it."

"Oh, well can't you just hook it up directly to the speakers?"

"Yeah, but look, it's really easy to do it like this..." And I went through the motions, shifting to the Media blade, selecting the Music option, and opening up the iPod's contents.

"It's all there? Everything on your iPod?"

I selected a playlist I'd compiled for her birthday party last summer. "Yeah, check it out."

"Cool."

"And look, I can just turn off the screen and the music will keep playing through the speakers."

I reached for the TV remote. "Hold on. What's that?"


She was pointing at the minimized version of the visualization application, running in the lower left corner. "Oh, that's just the little visualization thingy."


"Like on iTunes?"


"Yeah. You can even make it like full screen and mess with it using the controller."


"Really?"


"Uh-huh."


"Let me see!"


"Okay..." I switched the visualization to full screen mode and twirled the thumbsticks around.


"Woah... that's awesome," she giggled.


"You wanna—"


"Yeah, give it to me!" She snatched the controller and went to work. Twisting and turning, burrowing through infinite vortexes of swirling lines, seduced by the bright flashes of light. And she sat and she played. And she smiled and she laughed. And I marveled at her newfound acceptance.


Do-it-yourself repair (Xbox 360 delight #007)
Since my dysfunctional Xbox 360 was scheduled to ship for repair early this week, I figured some light investigation beforehand couldn't make matters worse. I had no intentions of cracking the console open, but I did want to surf around the Dashboard for any solutions I—or Xbox Support—might have overlooked. I found an intriguing option, "Initial Setup," in the System Blade.

The description explained that by selecting "Initial Setup," the console would run the system setup it executed the first time the Xbox 360 was used. With my HDD and memory unit detached, I knew my profile and saved game data were safe from deletion, so I went ahead with the procedure. The console did its thing and then prompted me to insert a HDD or memory unit. I declined. I was taken to the default Dashboard screen. I picked up my wireless controller and attempted to sync it to the console. It works! I plugged in my iPod and scrolled over to the Media blade. Yes!

I shut the 360 down, reattached the HDD, and turned the console back on (using the controller). This time, everything really was all good. I called my homeboy and fired up PDZ for a couple missions of co-op. Repair cancelled.


The demo (Xbox 360 delight #008)
We knew that the ability to download playable demos via the Xbox Live Marketplace was a key feature of the Xbox 360, but we never imaged that one not-so-tiny-download could pack this kinda punch. Enter: Fight Night Round 3 demo, two controllers, and a room full of old pals with never ending scores to settle.

Sure this demo has been available for over a month now, but this past weekend was my first chance to introduce it to a room full of old friends, some of whom had sworn off gaming years ago. The result was electrifying. It was like being transported back to the late 90s, when weekend afternoons dissolved into ceaseless Tekken 2 tournaments. And we're talking about a demo here, folks. A demo.

The fact that we were limited to four round fights and a choice between Bernard Hopkins or Roy Jones Jr. wasn't an issue. Perhaps this speaks more to the exceptional gameplay mechanics and design that EA has implemented into Fight Night for the 360, but keep in mind that few of us would be privy to this without the Xbox Live Marketplace feature. The availability of online downloadable demos isn't a groundbreaking concept, but it's new to the console gaming scene, and when done right, a demo can be more than enough to satisfy old friends with an afternoon to kill.


Online co-op (Xbox 360 delight #009)
We know you were bummed when Bungie was unable to include online co-op in Halo 2. We were. As simple as it sounds, including two-, three-, or even four-player gameplay can add an immeasurable fun factor to an otherwise solitary practice. Online PvP modes are one thing, but the ability to work your way through a virtual story with other human beings is an entirely different experience that has been almost exclusively limited to offline play. The problem is, the people I grew up gaming with now live hundreds, even thousands of miles away. The hope is that the Xbox 360 and its Xbox Live service will do something about this.

I've already played through the PDZ co-op campaign over Live, and while the gameplay is mediocre and the plot atrocious, I genuinely enjoyed the experience—one can only imagine how brilliant a Call of Duty 2 online co-op mode could have been... barring any lag or setup issues. THQ's The Outfit will feature an online co-op mode. And what if Konami gets it together and re-releases Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for XBLA?

The Xbox 360 coupled with the Live service brings us the technology to not only play against each other, but to play together. We know Bungie knows this, let's hope plenty of other developers have taken notice too.


Gamer Points -- we're addicted (Xbox 360 delight #010)
It occurred to me, late last night, that I wasn't playing Need For Speed: Most Wanted to have fun. No, I was recklessly building my bounty score in order to challenge and defeat Kira “Kaze” Nakazato (#7 spot on the Blacklist 15), so I could net another 25 gamer points. With the introduction of gamer points and their accumulation into the "Gamerscore," Microsoft has invented a new level of gaming addiction.

The Gamerscore is actually a manipulation of one of the founding concepts of video games, the High Score. Until now, the High Score has steadily lost its importance in mainstream console gaming. Most games in the current generation don't even keep High Scores, and if they do, they're secondary statistics that often go unnoticed. After all, what good is a High Score saved on your living room Xbox or uploaded to an obscure leaderboard? No one sees it.
Enter the Gamerscore. A universal High Score plastered on your Xbox Live Gamertag. A measure of your overall skill. The ultimate bragging right.

Just consider Vladimir Cole, the man behind the "Joystiq" gamertag, and open Gamerscore addict. He practically forfeited his fall semester at Wharton in order to earn that glowing achievement pictured above (Geometry Wars Evolved: Survived 1,000,000) and cop another 30 gamer points. And then we found him playing Quake levels using only the blaster, again, not because it was fun, but because it meant another 15 gamer points. Sure, it may not sound like much, but those points add up.

[It's been rumored that Vlad forces Christopher Grant to use the Joystiq gamertag whenever he's at Vlad's apartment in order to pad the Gamerscore—this, despite the fact that Chris owns a MU that carries his own gamertag. The plot thickens...]


Media remote controls in-game custom music (Xbox 360 delight #011)
We'd overlooked this handy little maneuver until just last night. For those of you that like to stream custom music into your games, you can use the media remote to pause, stop, or cycle through the playlist, avoiding the Xbox 360 guide altogether. It's a handy trick if you want to quickly pause the music to catch some important dialogue or switch to a different audio track on the fly. The Xbox 360 guide pop-out menu is certainly no hassle (and calling it up usually pauses the game), but having the media remote by your side makes controlling your custom music even easier.

joystiq.com <- Original source