I am hoping PS3 and Xbox 360 store servers never go down. Those will be tremendous losses.
360 was my go to system for couch Co op. Shame not many of them exist this gen.
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Fortunately, the Switch has everyone covered for local multiplayer.
Can’t wait for Super Mario Party.
most of swtich multiplayer is pvp. I miss full length campaign co-ops
If you have an xb1 or 360 grab splinter cell blacklist. It’s fantastic for coop
I’m gutted some of the more arcade-like experiences have been delisted due to licensing issues. Stuff like OutRun Online, the Sega Rally game after Revo (forgot its name), and GTI Club+: Rally Côte d’Azur.
I think that’s all it is though, man. It’s hope. At some point they’re going to take them down and we will all have stuff we cannot keep because we won’t have room to save it.
I guess the other hope is that over time every one of these systems can be emulated or made to run on a computer of some kind so games are never lost forever, but I guess that’s just questionable.
The only good way to keep it all is if it were on discs/carts and even then there will be games that never play the same due to missing patches, DLC, etc. We are truly moving toward a future where you don’t own the games you play.
This stuff is all backed up already by piracy sites (I’m assuming).
But really, as long as Microsoft continues with its approach to BC I don’t see why this stuff ever needs to come down.
Hopefully Sony follows suit and tries to compete with that.
And Nintendo - well, they’ll likely still do their own thing I’m sure. But here’s hoping for the best. I cannot imagine it costs that much to have servers for this stuff, especially as the servers are accessed less often in a system’s twilight years.
Our subscriptions should be used, in part, to keep these titles available. I don’t think it’s asking for much. (I know I’m preaching to the choir right now).
I used to think the current modern platforms might spell the end of the traditional generational shifts that were so obvious in the past. But, from a retro lens, I could see there being one more as publishers push for more and more code to be run on a server rather than locally on your device.
I agree that subscription services can and should supplement traditional offerings in the future, but I also see a sector of the industry making more games which either partially don’t run locally off your device or wholly require streaming of some sort. And money spent there will ultimately mean less money spent in the old markets - just look at the handheld space this generation after games as a service on mobile took off.
My other worry is companies like Google entering the market not due to a love of the medium but as a means of bolstering customer lock-in to their ever all-encompassing platforms. This is also why Project Yeti (so far introduced as a Project Stream test) will use the Chrome browser - anything that will reduce people’s dependence on the traditional locally operated Windows desktop is a win for Google. If Google treats games like they do videos on YouTube - indespensible entertainment funded by advertising I can’t see that being good disruption in the long run. As a sceptic I see ending up being a subscription service (AAA content can’t be cheap to acquire or produce), and when they get enough users, they’ll introduce video adverts during loading screens.
The good news is that streaming - functionally - only really seems necessary for the AAA space to expand their markets. Most competitive or non-competitive game ideas really don’t need to run off someone else’s compute resources.
It’s just a shame that the major publishers and platform holders clearly don’t see something like the Switch - which allows many extravagant AAA games to be played locally - as the new model for doing things.
I just feel like the more gaming move forwards - the more they loose me, and I retreat into retro gaming and retro gaming boards.
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See… I don’t really understand why game companies are so interested in the streaming idea. Powerful hardware is getting cheaper and cheaper to make.
Our phones are more powerful these days than previous gen consoles. There’s really no benefit to operating expensive servers for videogames.
I totally see the value of a subscription service. But I don’t see why streaming should be a component of that.
I think ultimately most companies would like to exit selling hardware and move towards a more profitable service model. Less overhead and exposure to vulnerabilities. Their service being hardware agnostic would be a huge plus for them as well, I would imagine.
In the streaming future I will just game where I can own my hardware. Probably just go back to PC gaming if that’s the way the wind blows and if that dies I will have 40+ years of retro to keep me occupied. Or maybe I will just do something else with my free time like sleep ans read.
For me the Xbox 360 is my second most favourite console ever after the Saturn. For a machine that was a flop in Japan is sure had the best Japanese games that weren’t quirky games. So many great shooters, so many fighting games and so many multiplatform games that were best on the 360. Yep, a fantastic console and mine has never ever broken. A black elite model that’s still going strong even now.
Welp, my investment in an Xbox One X with backwards compatibility has resulted in a ton of redundant games that I now have from both the PS3 and 360 library. Microsoft, what the fuck have you done to me?
Y’all got anymore of the X patches?
I hear ya! I’ve been kinda craving a replay of Castlevania Lords of Shadow… It was uncapped 60fps on 360 and PS3. The problem is I have the game on PS3 from when it launched. But it’s Backwards Compatible, and I can only assume it hangs pretty close to 60fps on the X…
Pretty strong praise, but deserved. I definitely place the Xbox 360 very high in my “favorite console of all time” rank. It’s just, I’m on my 3rd one already. And I hate how often they die. The disc drive gets stuck closed too! And the D-Pad on the controller is really bad. And it outputs a slightly black-crushed image. And it’s loud.
It’s those slight hardware issues that make me really dislike using mine despite the amazing library. Microsoft got everything right except the fundamentals.
I have a love-hate relationship with 360. The Xbox One X shows that they can do things right and are headed in a great direction now though.
Still, nothing really beats when I brought Xbox 360 home the first day and saw the HD visuals in person. It really felt like we achieved genuine realism in games. And in many ways, we reached a saturation point with the Xbox 360 where I never felt like graphics needed to be much better.
Even today, a lot of Xbox 360 games look good enough to me even if a few of them have poor framerates.
And the biggest contribution that the Xbox 360 made to videogames, in my opinion, is the expansion of Xbox Live Arcade. Smaller downloadable non-retail titles on a console. It changed everything. Seriously. It breathed life into old genres and helped breed new ones. And it opened up the market to independant videogame development that was limited to PCs previously.
To me, Xbox 360 was all about that XBLA.
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Totally agree with all of that. XBLA was the bomb it’s heyday. I bought one in fall 07. I brought a copy of Bioshock home from the store with the console, along with a $20 card of MS points (remember those?). I got Pac Man CE, Geometry Wars and Space Giraffe. NONE of those would have been possible on a console the previous gen. And they got so much exposure because of it. Today, zillions of small titles are released each week.
I love my 360, too. It’s definitely in the top 3 for me as well. It’s aged better than the PS3 somehow. I love that many of the games support LAN multiplayer, and considering that they are so cheap now, you can do cool shit in your house like throw together little LAN-parties for familiar favourites like MW2, HALO 3 and Outrun 2 (via BC) that even casuals will enjoy.
Having revisited the PS3 this year by picking up one of the last Super Slims in PS4-style packaging, I can attest to the 360 having aged better. The execution of all the modern service-y stuff that 360 brought to the table is miles better on the 360, and the system itself just has immediacy that the PS3 doesn’t.
Redownloading my PS3 games and installing patches and discs was a massive timesink, whereas whenever I do boot up my 360 it just immediately starts downloading any 360 games I bought for my Xbox One. All easily cancelled or managed.
I think the 360 had the superior lineup of games, globally, for the first half of the generation. Especially so when you consider the XBLA support from Japanese developers like Sega, Cave and Treasure. PS3 had longer legs, though I ended up picking up a lot of the curios on the Vita anyway by that time.
If there’s one thing I don’t like that MS brought to the table with the 360 though…
This. It was a much needed diversion from the graphical arms race that MS and Sony were pursuing at the time, and a lot of my most fond 360 games were presumably made possible thanks to XBLA offering a separate channel for publishers and developers to go through.