Worst moments in console gaming

n10sity wrote:
hannibals wrote:

What happened? Anti-matter explosion? I'll have to make a note to read the manual someday too...

Yeah, like someone already mentioned, it scratched up my disc pretty bad. It doesn't take much either. I said I moved it, but it's more like I adjusted it. But that all it takes apparently. Microsoft tried to dummy proof it by placing a sticker on the tray. But they underestimated my stupidity. I managed to open the tray without even noticing the sticker until after the damage was done.

Don't worry man, happens to the best of us. I live in a part of the world where it floods so rarely people will drive into a river because hey, there wasn't a river there yesterday, I'll probably be fine.

Whenever Sony announces the price of a it's latest piece of hardware!

Seriously. Every time there's a Sony launch event I have to decide whether to sell a kidney or allow the local priest to touch me in unmentionable ways for money.

What I find amazing is the way that Sony has so conditioned us to expect ludicrous launch prices that - collectively - we gamers offer scarcely a murmur of protest when they're merely ridiculous (like the £229 launch price of the forthcoming Playstation Vita).

detroit20 wrote:

Whenever Sony announces the price of a it's latest piece of hardware!

Seriously. Every time there's a Sony launch event I have to decide whether to sell a kidney or allow the local priest to touch me in unmentionable ways for money.

What I find amazing is the way that Sony has so conditioned us to expect ludicrous launch prices that - collectively - we gamers offer scarcely a murmur of protest when they're merely ridiculous (like the £229 launch price of the forthcoming Playstation Vita).

The PS3 and PSPGo announcements were almost insulting, but the Vita announce seems pretty reasonable. Stateside it's going to be $249, which was the launch price of the PSPGo (except the Vita actually does MORE than the PSP, instead of less).

I disagree about the peripherals arms race (because they're so optional), but KingGorilla did make me realize something I've really disliked in the history of console gaming: the death of the pack-in game. It's actually a lot better these days, with the consoles at the end of their lives so publishers are shoving two or three games in each box, but when I bought my 360 in 2007, I was a bit put-off that it didn't come with a game at all. I guess I just grew up with the NES, Genesis, Sega CD, and N64 all having at least a game in the box. What was the first console without one? The PS1?

LobsterMobster wrote:

The PS3 and PSPGo announcements were almost insulting, but the Vita announce seems pretty reasonable. Stateside it's going to be $249, which was the launch price of the PSPGo (except the Vita actually does MORE than the PSP, instead of less).

I'm with you on the camparison with the PS3 and PSPGone, but you've inadvertently confirmed by point; we live in a world where asking home console money for a portable meets the test of reasonableness!

One of the reasons why Sony gets away with it is that they're experts at suckering us with inflated claims for their tech. I should know - I own two PSP 1000s and a PS3. However, even as the PSP breathes its last it still hasn't delivered the 'PS2-graphics-on-a-handheld' that were promised 6 years ago.

Well, that really depends on how you define "home console money." The PS3 didn't launch at $250. The X360 launched at $300, but only if you paid for the gimped, HD-less version that kneecapped the entire catalog for everyone. The "real" version was $400. The Wii was cheap, but it was also arguably underpowered at launch.

You're right that home consoles SHOULD cost about $250, but they don't anymore. Instead you pay $400-$600 for cheap tech that needs another year or two before there's anything to play and any guarantee your console won't break when you try.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I disagree about the peripherals arms race (because they're so optional), but KingGorilla did make me realize something I've really disliked in the history of console gaming: the death of the pack-in game. It's actually a lot better these days, with the consoles at the end of their lives so publishers are shoving two or three games in each box, but when I bought my 360 in 2007, I was a bit put-off that it didn't come with a game at all. I guess I just grew up with the NES, Genesis, Sega CD, and N64 all having at least a game in the box. What was the first console without one? The PS1?

You know, I didn't actually get a pack in game for either the NES or N64.

It really sucked because I had to wait a few weeks with a useless NES until I got enough money to buy a game for it. For some reason it was Rad Racer.

In The States, NES came with Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt, a controller (or was it two?) and a lightgun zapper.

But I also remember the N64 and Playstation consoles launching with no pack-in games.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Instead you pay $400-$600 for cheap tech that needs another year or two before there's anything to play and any guarantee your console won't break when you try.

And if you invested in Microsoft, then you're STILL not guaranteed that your console won't implode at random no matter how long you waited.

Aaron D. wrote:

In The States, NES came with Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt, a controller (or was it two?) and a lightgun zapper.

But I also remember the N64 and Playstation consoles launching with no pack-in games.

Yeah, a lightgun zapper that was all gray, which became a MASSIVE SECURITY CONCERN because everyone knows a real gun looks just like this:

IMAGE(http://www.geeked.info/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/zapper.jpg)

They made the dark gray parts red. Crisis averted.

Aaron D. wrote:

In The States, NES came with Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt, a controller (or was it two?) and a lightgun zapper.

The bundle we got had two controllers. There was no way that my parents were going to spring for anything not in that box for a long time.....

Norfair wrote:

You know, I didn't actually get a pack in game for either the NES or N64.

Huh. I got the NES Action Bundle with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. I didn't know until now that they ever sold the console without games. Apparently they did near the end of its lifespan.

As to the N64, I'm sure I got a game with it, but I have no idea what it was. I didn't buy it at launch, though, so that might have had something to do with it.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

As to the N64, I'm sure I got a game with it, but I have no idea what it was.

Was it a special bundle or something? Where do you live?

I remember having to buy a game separately with the N64 (Mario 64) at launch 'cause there was no pack-in. Plus Nintendo only launched the system with 2 or 3 games anyway (Mario, PilotWings, don't remember the 3rd).

MilkmanDanimal wrote:
KingGorilla wrote:

The thing that bugs me is the accessory and peripheral arms race. Microsoft and Nintendo are chief offenders. It started a few years ago with memory cards for storage. Nintendo then had rumble packs, RAM expansions. We then move on to the 360-pay more for batteries in the controller, wick adapter, hard discs. The Wii has a 2 or 3 piece controller, takes AA batteries.

Remember when your console came with 2 controllers and a game?

I guess I consider those a positive; you don't *need* batteries for a 360, you can always buy a wired controller. The hard drive isn't necessary, but it improves the experience. As for peripherals, remember this?

IMAGE(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Super_Action_Controller_Coleco_DSCF0353.JPG/800px-Super_Action_Controller_Coleco_DSCF0353.JPG)

Or this:

IMAGE(http://www.colecovision.dk/images/turbo-modul-stor.JPG)

Additional items to change and/or improve your gaming have always been around.

I just got a care package from my sister with the wheel, controlers and deck yesterday. Its only been about 30 years since I last saw it...

Even though it been so long I can still remember how hard it was to control anything.

Aaron D. wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

As to the N64, I'm sure I got a game with it, but I have no idea what it was.

Was it a special bundle or something? Where do you live?

I remember having to buy a game separately with the N64 (Mario 64) at launch 'cause there was no pack-in. Plus Nintendo only launched the system with 2 or 3 games anyway (Mario, PilotWings, don't remember the 3rd).

I went back and edited in that I didn't buy the console at launch. You're right that it didn't have a pack-in at launch. I got some silly bundle down the road.

I got my N64 Christmas Day in the launch year and it came with Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

mcdonis wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:
KingGorilla wrote:

The thing that bugs me is the accessory and peripheral arms race. Microsoft and Nintendo are chief offenders. It started a few years ago with memory cards for storage. Nintendo then had rumble packs, RAM expansions. We then move on to the 360-pay more for batteries in the controller, wick adapter, hard discs. The Wii has a 2 or 3 piece controller, takes AA batteries.

Remember when your console came with 2 controllers and a game?

I guess I consider those a positive; you don't *need* batteries for a 360, you can always buy a wired controller. The hard drive isn't necessary, but it improves the experience. As for peripherals, remember this?

IMAGE(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Super_Action_Controller_Coleco_DSCF0353.JPG/800px-Super_Action_Controller_Coleco_DSCF0353.JPG)

Or this:

IMAGE(http://www.colecovision.dk/images/turbo-modul-stor.JPG)

Additional items to change and/or improve your gaming have always been around.

I just got a care package from my sister with the wheel, controlers and deck yesterday. Its only been about 30 years since I last saw it...

Even though it been so long I can still remember how hard it was to control anything.

mcdonis wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:
KingGorilla wrote:

The thing that bugs me is the accessory and peripheral arms race. Microsoft and Nintendo are chief offenders. It started a few years ago with memory cards for storage. Nintendo then had rumble packs, RAM expansions. We then move on to the 360-pay more for batteries in the controller, wick adapter, hard discs. The Wii has a 2 or 3 piece controller, takes AA batteries.

Remember when your console came with 2 controllers and a game?

I guess I consider those a positive; you don't *need* batteries for a 360, you can always buy a wired controller. The hard drive isn't necessary, but it improves the experience. As for peripherals, remember this?

IMAGE(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Super_Action_Controller_Coleco_DSCF0353.JPG/800px-Super_Action_Controller_Coleco_DSCF0353.JPG)

Or this:

IMAGE(http://www.colecovision.dk/images/turbo-modul-stor.JPG)

Additional items to change and/or improve your gaming have always been around.

I just got a care package from my sister with the wheel, controlers and deck yesterday. Its only been about 30 years since I last saw it...

Even though it been so long I can still remember how hard it was to control anything.

Is the keypad from the first controller taken from a phone? They sure had some funky design ideas back in the day.

Well, the built-in Colecovision controller was this:

IMAGE(http://files.sharenator.com/coleco_colecovision_controller_For_all_you_gamers_out_there_What_was_the_first_video_game_you_remember_playing-s450x474-85349-580.jpg)

Early controller design was . . . often tragically creative.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Well, the built-in Colecovision controller was this:

Early controller design was . . . often tragically creative.

And Intellivision's controller was quite similar.

IMAGE(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3266/2616407024_a8e0ee4965.jpg)

Each game came with slip-in overlays that could re-skin the button grid.

Not pictured: tiny buttons on the sides.

The introduction of disc-based media was mentioned earlier in the thread, but I'd like to specifically call out the PlayStation 2 for "popularizing" the hardware failure trend in the console space. I'm not sure how the Slim models of the PS2 hold up now, but the original PS2 models were notorious for frequent Disc Read Errors, so much so that Sony actually had to settle a class-action lawsuit as a result.

Fast forward to today, where all three of my consoles have required service/repair at least once. I especially appreciate how, even after nearly a half-dozen repairs over the last six months, my 360 Elite still requires an offering of pig's blood and a thirty-minute voodoo incantation to play any 3D accelerated game for longer than an hour.

It's almost enough to make a guy want to be a PC gamer...and, believe me, I'll be holding off on the next round of consoles for a long while, just to make sure they don't erupt into flames whenever I think about playing video games on them.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I disagree about the peripherals arms race (because they're so optional), but KingGorilla did make me realize something I've really disliked in the history of console gaming: the death of the pack-in game. It's actually a lot better these days, with the consoles at the end of their lives so publishers are shoving two or three games in each box, but when I bought my 360 in 2007, I was a bit put-off that it didn't come with a game at all.

There are a ton of factors that led to the Wii's success in this generation, but I think their inclusion of a pack-in with the system never gets the attention that it deserves. Sure, there's a lot of focus on the fact that the pack-in game (Wii Sports) was a spectacular showcase of the system's capabilities, but the inclusion itself was a major win for Nintendo, especially at that price point.

The christmas when i was a kid and got Duck Tales and Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers for NES and beat chip and dale in 23 minutes and duck tales in about 70.

The 00's escalation of PC game DRM. I object to being forced to break the law to make my games work.

pignoli wrote:

The 00's escalation of PC game DRM. I object to being forced to break the law to make my games work.

Wrong thread!

Buying a Game Gear because I knew it had to be better than the Game Boy because it had a color screen.

OzymandiasAV wrote:

The introduction of disc-based media was mentioned earlier in the thread, but I'd like to specifically call out the PlayStation 2 for "popularizing" the hardware failure trend in the console space. I'm not sure how the Slim models of the PS2 hold up now, but the original PS2 models were notorious for frequent Disc Read Errors, so much so that Sony actually had to settle a class-action lawsuit as a result.

Fast forward to today, where all three of my consoles have required service/repair at least once. I especially appreciate how, even after nearly a half-dozen repairs over the last six months, my 360 Elite still requires an offering of pig's blood and a thirty-minute voodoo incantation to play any 3D accelerated game for longer than an hour.

It's almost enough to make a guy want to be a PC gamer...and, believe me, I'll be holding off on the next round of consoles for a long while, just to make sure they don't erupt into flames whenever I think about playing video games on them.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I disagree about the peripherals arms race (because they're so optional), but KingGorilla did make me realize something I've really disliked in the history of console gaming: the death of the pack-in game. It's actually a lot better these days, with the consoles at the end of their lives so publishers are shoving two or three games in each box, but when I bought my 360 in 2007, I was a bit put-off that it didn't come with a game at all.

There are a ton of factors that led to the Wii's success in this generation, but I think their inclusion of a pack-in with the system never gets the attention that it deserves. Sure, there's a lot of focus on the fact that the pack-in game (Wii Sports) was a spectacular showcase of the system's capabilities, but the inclusion itself was a major win for Nintendo, especially at that price point.

What's the deal with hardware console failure now anyway? Are the Playstation, 360 and Wii equally plagued with hardware failure issues? Perhaps it's just the result of games that require increasing amounts of horsepower, but it's weird because consoles aren't that different that PCs and my 5-6 year old Pentium IV has been holding up just fine for everyday tasks. And it was a gaming PC for years before that.

I read that the latest batch of 360 consoles are less failure prone, but I don't know if there's hard data to back that up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_36...

Since its release on November 22, 2005, many articles have appeared in the media portraying the Xbox 360's failure rates, with the latest estimate by warranty provider SquareTrade to be 23.7% nearly three years ago, and currently the highest estimate being 54.2% by a Game Informer survey.

I think for most consumer electronics 5-10% failure rate is generally 'acceptable', obviously this is going for a long hike in the other direction.

To be fair, 360s manufactured after 2008 (when the Jasper chipset was introduced) have a 4% failure rate, only slightly higher than the Wii (2.7%) and significantly lower than the PS3 (10%).

Granted, that doesn't make it okay that it took them three years to fix the problem, but as of right now it IS fixed.

Just talking about myself, but the MS RROD has permanently etched in my mind the type of company they are, that they will ruthlessly cut quality for goals such as being first to market, and then deny there's a problem for as long as they can get away with it. I know there will always be people that will queue up at midnight for the new shiny thing as soon as it's released, but it makes me very hesitant to buy something from them without it being tested by real world people (rather than game sites fawning over the new shiny thing) for a good long while.

Vrikk wrote:

Buying a Game Gear because I knew it had to be better than the Game Boy because it had a color screen.

You know man, I had both at some point or another and I still think the Game Gear WAS better because it had a color screen. You just needed to plug it in and hope you had one of the four good games.

When you look at a first generation Gameboy these days it's amazing we didn't all go blind.

There are a ton of factors that led to the Wii's success in this generation, but I think their inclusion of a pack-in with the system never gets the attention that it deserves. Sure, there's a lot of focus on the fact that the pack-in game (Wii Sports) was a spectacular showcase of the system's capabilities, but the inclusion itself was a major win for Nintendo, especially at that price point.

Absolutely. One thing I hope the console manufacturers do with the next generation is to pack some title in with the console. I think it's important for consumers, especially less hardcore ones, to be able to take their purchase home, plug it in, and use it without having to buy anything else.