Haha! The response might as well have been "Yeah, well..." Hopefully $10/yr isn't a trend.

Which means "Screw what we said about our titles remaining $49.99. If the other guys can charge $59.99 and get away with it, damnit, we will too!"

I've bought far less games for this system then other because even when on sale, it is still full price compared to the orginal xbox prices.

a $10 off sale on $49.99 is easier to swallow then a $10 off sale from $59.99

Yeah, it's a shame...but really. If the game plays as well as it's hyping up, then I have no problem with a $60 title. Sad to say, but it's true.

That's not really the point though. The real problem here is the fact they'll say whatever they want and there's no recourse when they prove it was all just empty promises. I also don't have a problem with $60 price points, but I do have a problem with being flat out lied to.

Based on the TeamXbox link that was provided, I wouldn't take that phrasing as a promise to be under $50. It said they "want" to keep it around there, and in marketing speak that's as good as saying it'll be $60.

Looks like a copy/paste canned response.

You should hear the 1up/egm guys rip into Cliffy B(gears of war designer) about it in last weeks podcast. Cliffy B. had previously said he never wanted to pay more than $50 for a game and even that is pushing it for an untested franchise. So they ripped him a new one in the podcast even though he has nothing to do with pricing. It was kinda funny.

Oh, without a doubt. I totally copy/pasted it from my email.

I think I paid $60 for Perfect Dark on N64.

Worth. Every. Penny.

http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-6103...3069&subj=news

I wanted to see a picture of the back and the hook ups.

This is crazy.

New kind of Xbox360

Haha, that's just wrong.

http://www.gamingbits.com/content/view/964/2/


This sounds like it could be fun!

Chris

Has there been any new news or release infor for the Half Life 2 package?

Yes it does!

Every now and then I seem to have a hell of a time joining games on Live. Tonight I tried joining matches in two different games. PDZ has ALWAYS been problematic when it came to joining games but now the issue seems to be worse and far more annoying. Now comes the fun of figuring out the problem and hoping there is a way to fix it.

The problem with dropouts and disconnects with Halo 2 have gotten worse in the last couple of months. Whether it is by a player leaving the game (they should be severely penalized) or if it is network problems, I don't know.

I hope when Halo 3 comes out, that they come out with a system to penalize people that continually quit the game because they are losing. Hell, the 4 of us that play at my house always stay in the game (I make them), because it is poor sportsmanship to quit just because you are losing.

And my friends are slowly getting better, because they know they have to play to the end. And sometimes they are winning the games.


Chris

I totally agree. I suck at games but even when I'm getting my ass handed to me and I'm ready to cry on LIVE, I stay till the end even when it's unranked matches.

Dropping out is chickenshit.

^ ditto. I played Halo 2 last weekend for the first time since before Christmas. There were games where we lost big and won big. There was one we were winning 35-15 and of course they all drop out. Fuckers. Take your beating like a man!

My Pac-Man review for those interested in today's Live Arcade release: http://videogametalk.com/read.php?ID=445

I finally played the Saints Row demo (just got a 360 this weekend). I must say even though it is a total clone of GTA, at least it's a good clone. A lot of the GTA wannabes want it both ways... they want to rip off GTA but they also try to be different. And usually the new elements end up hurting the gameplay. Saints sticks so close to the formula as to not risk screwing it up. On one hand I'm shocked at the blatant ripoff, on the other I'm excited to get a new (almost) GTA game for the 360 since the real one won't appear for over a year.

I like that the demo actually lets you take a deep look into the gameplay and elements. You can actually screw around for a long time to get a good feel, unlike the Dead Rising demo which cuts you off just as you start to get into it.

As for the game itself, there's no choice for me to compare it directly to GTA. As for what it gets right and what it gets wrong...

Pros:
- The navigation system is a lot nicer. The maps are easier to follow. I also love how they indicate 'targets' on the display at all times (and not just in a mission), whether they are friends, foes, or cops.
- The respect system is a lot more clear and meaningful.
- The fact you have to hit Y to trigger a mission or event when you step on the mark. I am always accidentally hitting those spots in GTA when I don't want to.
- The targeting system is more effective, at least for me. It works especially well in a vehicle. And shooting over your shoulder while running from the enemy is an especially awesome idea.
- The health regenerating system adds some level of strategy in that you can lay low when hurt. Seems better than frantically running into danger to find a health item when you are on your last bar of vitality. On the other hand those frantic runs are crazy fun if you're successful...
- The run meter is great. It works the same way as GTA, but gives you a better visual indicator.
- The gang recruiting system and partner AI are much improved over GTA. I actually found my recruitee to be useful, and I actually felt like he "had my back", whereas in San Andreas it felt like I was babysitting my gang members half the time.

Cons:
- The city seems large, but so far based on the area available in the demo it's sort of boring. I'm not sure if it is just a lack of variety or what... but so far it's not as fun to explore as even GTA3.
- Driving feels constricted a bit. I didn't get that feel on driving wrecklessly at top speeds with wild abandon, even with the fast cars. Maybe this was because of the area limitations, though. I suppose a residential neighborhood isn't the greatest place to let loose.
- So far there seem to be less in the way of side missions and fun 'extras'.
- The weapon selection wheel isn't as precise as I'd like. When in a gunfight I was taking a lot of hits just trying to switch weapons when I ran out of ammo. I sort of prefer the 'cycling through the weapons' method of GTA, at least for now.
- I can't attack cars? Hopefully that's just a glitch in the demo.
- The cops are too easy to evade. A lot of times I would cap 2 or 3 cops and a minute later I had no wanted level. It's nice not to be bothered by them, but in the long run it kills some of that manic energy of having to worry about rival gang members and the cops at the same time.

- Check out some of the videos over at Xboxyde. There are side missions like escorting politicians while they get serviced by hookers, bilking hostages out of more money while you terrorize them in your car, insurance scams, etc. Seems like there are more extras than GTA to me.

- You can attack cars, but you won't do much damage with a handgun. You can bust out glass and shoot out the tires. But if you really want to have some fun, buy some pipe bombs and watch one of those cars explode into several pieces.

- I agree on the cops and the gangs for that part too. I can only hope they put a cap on the number of stars you can get in the demo.

I was thinking more along the lines of stuff like the arcade games you can play, the basketball court, the DDR-ish stuff, tipping the strippers, etc. When I wandered around San Andreas for the first time it felt like I was discovering dumb little fun things everywhere I went. It's those random "easter eggs" that I'm missing on this one (or at least I haven't found them). Granted they're pointless to the overall story, and they all get old after awhile, but they all add to that "living world" feel.

I was talking just about going up and punching and kicking cars, Street Fighter 2 style. Of course, it's probably just a personal pleasure of mine - but I love just beating the hell out of someone's car while they're driving by in GTA. In the SR demo my punches just whiffed through the cars like I was punching air.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/periphera...dup-193142.php


Looking at the size of that drive, there is no way that thing is going to be around $200 or whatever the price was that was floating around.

Chris

I would expect it to be around the $250 mark. Still a good deal as long as it offers all the features of one of the stand-alone players (specifically upscaling DVDs to 1080i). I'm sure people will complain that it's almost as expensive as the 360 itself but it will still be a cheaper option for people who already own a 360. I don't think they're expecting people to buy this and a 360 just to play HD-DVDs.

theres a quote from the guy saying it will be the cheapest HD-DVD on the market when it comes out.