Xbox 360 Thoughts
This time last week, I bought the Xbox and I’ll say this from the get go that I adore the Xbox. This is the first Microsoft console I partly own but previous to this I never played the Xbox.
I have no intention of using the Xbox Live software, it lures you in with a forty eight hour free trial to Gold Membership or something, eh…no thanks, I much play on my own thank you very much. If I need to use the internet I’ll use my laptop.
I’ll start with the positive aspects first and work through the list of annoyances for the Xbox.
Positive 
- Layout of the controller is slightly unexpected. The movement joystick is at the top right but the other joystick is used for camera angles in games and the like but I was surprised at how smooth the design and usability of the controller.
- Turn off the Xbox by the controller, extra lazy but a big plus.
- Works under a duvet, I was wondering if the wireless would work since any hardcore gamer knows that after a few hours hands can be icy cold whilst the rest of you is snug.
- Graphic, I’m graphics lover.
- The selection of games for the Xbox 360 platform is pretty good.
Negative 
Photo owned by I’m Fantastic (cc)
- I wasn’t expecting the console to be so heavy, it’s heavier than an electrical transformer, no not the action figures.
- It sounds like an engine about to take off but for some reason it only really gears up when I play Fable 2.
- I can even hear it vibrating in the sitting room downstairs which is almost under my room so any late night gaming can be heard. Big minus, it’s no fun if I get caught waking up people too early in the morning.
- Whatever way the games are configured for European usage, it just doesn’t seem to quite work right on my television. When I play Fable 2 the energy bar of the character which is obviously only slightly important in battles and killing sprees, gets cut off from the top of my view. I managed to fix this a bit since I can set my tv to widescreen mode but trying to read the font size becomes quite difficult.
That’s it! 
Put something underneath (e.g a small book) the four corners of the xBox. Should stop your vibratating problem
Tommy - February 13, 2009 at 4:54 pm |
One solution is to buy a hard drive, and install the games onto them, so you dont have any CD rotation.
Also the console is sooo heavy! I had to lug it through Dublin without a bag because Microsoft was too much of a cheapskate to give me a bag to carry it in.
And the Xbox controller is so great. I can’t even use a Playstation controller anymore. Its makes way more sense too, more that Sony’s controller.
Sean O' Grady - February 13, 2009 at 8:36 pm |
Installing the games to your hard drive IS the solution to the noisy console and vibration issues. Just take 10 minutes of noise to install the game and enjoy peace and quiet from there on in
I do that with all games, even those I rent from GameSenders. Although I don’t plan on doing that for Avatar, whenever I go plug it in. It takes 5 minutes to get all 1000 Gamerscore
TheChrisD - February 14, 2009 at 3:14 pm |
@Tommy
@Sean I feel slightly sad that my PS2 is abandoned beside the Xbox with no intentions of using it until the summer.
@TheChrisD I’ll check that out, I don’t think I could put up with the whirling sound very much longer anyway.
klaraflame - February 16, 2009 at 3:41 pm |