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View Full Version : Am I the only one who couldnt care less about the HD and BC on the XBox 2?



SmileBit
01-12-2004, 04:32 PM
HD - Hard Drive

BC - Backwords capability.

I am so sick of hearing X Bots complin about a lack of a hardrive. How many games actually used the hardrive outside of saving? There have been maybee 10 or so that have used the music ripping feauture and 2 that have used the hardrive fully. Blinx and the upcoming Fable. My point is that MS should ditch the HD because developers never used it. If it will save MS 50 bucks and keep the price down 50 bucks then Im all for buying 2 memory cards.

How many of you are planning on buying an XBox 2 for Halo and PGR2? Not me. Im going to buy it for XBox 2 games. My point? Play XBox 1 games on your XBox. Play XBox 2 games on your XBox 2.

Doesnt anyone realize MS is going to pull a Nintendo next gen and just give us a quality console for cheap? This will help MS pull out of its 2 billion+ dollar hole its in.

BananaMan
01-12-2004, 04:43 PM
yeah i think so, it HAS to have an HD, bc well it doesn't matter to me if there going to do something great with the new xbox. If it's about the same stuff then it better be.

LynxFX
01-12-2004, 04:49 PM
I agree with you on the backwards capability, but not at all on the hard drive.


How many games actually used the hardrive outside of saving?
Every single one of them.

The harddrive isn't just for saved games, or custom soundtracks. It is a caching system that allows the games to stream, load faster between levels, load the last 3 games you played even quicker, as well as store downloaded levels and additions.

Remove the harddrive and you remove any chance of BC for one thing, but you also remove one of the key features that made the xbox what it is, and you strip all of the multimedia features that MS has said they plan on for Xbox2.

All in all, the no HD is a pure internet rumor that will never happen.

BC, while still an internet rumor, is still completely up in the air, as it doesn't have anything to do with the future of the xbox, but rather its past.

odpr
01-12-2004, 04:51 PM
tell me does money grow on tree ??
if microsoft going to make the next xbox with out hard drive, and with out the ability to play old games, that will the end of xbox, and u can quote me on that.

the reason is simple, play station fans will have the ability to go back to thier old games ( this is the thing that really cost money here..)
plus they will get the best console ever in the next console gen.

I didn't spend all my money on games just to throw them to the garbage can in a year..

about the hd, it's great idea, the memory card is stuiped, not only that sony is using it too in add on..

SmileBit
01-12-2004, 04:53 PM
Originally posted by LynxFX-XBA
I agree with you on the backwards capability, but not at all on the hard drive.


Every single one of them.

The harddrive isn't just for saved games, or custom soundtracks. It is a caching system that allows the games to stream, load faster between levels, load the last 3 games you played even quicker, as well as store downloaded levels and additions.

Remove the harddrive and you remove any chance of BC for one thing, but you also remove one of the key features that made the xbox what it is, and you strip all of the multimedia features that MS has said they plan on for Xbox2.

All in all, the no HD is a pure internet rumor that will never happen.

BC, while still an internet rumor, is still completely up in the air, as it doesn't have anything to do with the future of the xbox, but rather its past.

Go play a multiplatform game on the GameCube. It loads just as as fast as the XBox version garanteed. Nintendo proved you dont need to chache to have awsome load times.

I think your stuck in 2001. I bought into the hype about the HD was going to change gaming forever. It didnt. It was a waste of Microsofts money. MS lost 150 bucks on each XBox sold in large part because the hardrive was so expensive.

If your not planning BC then why add a HD?

LiquidX
01-12-2004, 04:55 PM
I dont much care about the BC but I could NOT live without the HD now that Ive been spoiled by it. I dont want to have to buy 5+ memory cards and switch them out when I wanna play a different game. And dont tell me you dont need 5+ memory cards... I wouldnt be able to save all my custom Halo gametypes or Morrowind characters on 2 measly cards... Not to mention the other 16 games I have...

Ford Mustang
01-12-2004, 05:19 PM
Originally posted by SmileBit


I am so sick of hearing X Bots complin about a lack of a hardrive. How many games actually used the hardrive outside of saving? There have been maybee 10 or so that have used the music ripping feauture and 2 that have used the hardrive fully. Blinx and the upcoming Fable. My point is that MS should ditch the HD because developers never used it. If it will save MS 50 bucks and keep the price down 50 bucks then Im all for buying 2 memory cards.

Ah. You are quite the ignorant one. By this idea, we don't really need hard drives on our computers, but just lots of CDs, right? Yeah ok.

You obviously do not know how the Xbox uses it's hard drive. Sure, it uses it to save and for music ripping, but it is also used for something else. When games are loaded into the Xbox, information is spooled onto the hard drive, where it waits to be loaded into RAM (cache). This way, it's a hell of alot faster than taking it right from the CD. You didn't know that games always run faster when they don't have to rely on the CD-ROM keeping up? I guess not. :rolleyes:

Also, I'd like to see a link to a credible source that says MS lost $150 on each XBOX. Until then, it's BS. You're saying it cost $450 for Microsoft to create one Xbox? That can't be true. Especially with the price of wholesale electronics these days. Dell probably makes it's computers for less than $200 each. I really doubt MS spent $450 on each XBox.

Also, you must not know much about the console market at all, either. The money is not made in hardware sales, in case you didn't know. Practically all of the money is made on software sales.

Also, how about a link to a credible source that says MS is in 2 billion dollars of debt?

wbio
01-12-2004, 05:28 PM
2 memory cards= about 2 halo saves. the consumer would be spending much more than the money saved by buying memory cards. And like Lynx said, that would mean that all the multimedia features would not work. I would hate not having a HDD, but I could live without the BC

BunnyRabbit
01-12-2004, 05:47 PM
Xbox 2.. Needs to be everything the first Xbox was with some good enhancements of some sort. I dont want anything taken away.

Make better durability... Have Backwards compatibility. Good Hard drive. Better and more of everything... Cool XB2 Games..

All of that. A full package plus like 20 bags of chips.. Doritos...:)

l Maximus l
01-12-2004, 06:10 PM
First and foremost, it's Nintendo and Sony's fault for brainwashing us console gamers that using memory cards is the way to play games. That's a load of crock if you ask me. Remember Zelda back in the NES days? The cartridge actually had a memory on it...that's the way to go....not on a stupid plastic memory card. The entire concept of memory cards is idiotic...and the 21st century is the time we currently live in...so, bring on the hard-drives...that's what it's all about.

Backwards compatibility? Personally, I can care less...I already own an XBox..in fact, 2 of them, however, I think it would be important to have the XBox 2 backwards compatible despite my opinion. I believe that there are thousands of others who may need it or want it.

I remember having an Atari 5200 and I had the adapter that connected to it so I could play my Atari 2600 games on it. Couldn't MS come out with an adapter instead of special software to read the first XBox games while playing on an XBox 2?

Peepers
01-12-2004, 06:50 PM
HD's significantly enhance what dev's can do. If you look at your Xbox games, you'll find that many of them have save files that are too big for memory cards.

KOTOR and Morrowind save files are far too big to fit on memory cards. In the next generation of consoles, I suspect that game sizes will only get bigger and memory cards stay about the same.

I'll say it right now: I will NOT buy the Xbox 2 if it doesn't have a HD.

dances with broom sticks
01-12-2004, 07:10 PM
I was in complete shock at what I was reading, then about half way through I looked to the left and saw Smilebit... it all made sense after that.

IF you honestly think you dont need the harddrive, just rip yours out. Sell it on ebay, and make some money off it. Its obvious it is a waste of space in your box.

:eek:

Reclaimer
01-12-2004, 07:30 PM
Well....
You can certainly bet that if the Xbox doesn't have a hard drive, then you couldn't make Xbox Live happen.
Yeah, Sony pulls off online without a hard drive... at first... but guess what's being offered now, if not soon? Take a hard guess....
Does anyone's brain hurt yet?
A hard drive!
Yup.. Sony's own hard drive. Now, they too can have downloadable content.
You tell me who's stuck on 2001 when the major leader in the gaming industry follows suite with it's major rival.

PapaSKooT
01-12-2004, 07:44 PM
Originally posted by Maximus-XBA
Remember Zelda back in the NES days? The cartridge actually had a memory on it...that's the way to go....

While we're on this topic...

My dad was telling me about how back in the day, him and his cousin were addicted to Zelda, and would play marathon sessions to finish it. Well, some BG info here, to save the game, you had to hold down the reset button while pressing power. If you just pressed power, your save would be lost. Well, my dad and his cousin were a few days, give or take, (:rofl:) into the game, and I (Age : 1) crawled up to the NES and pushed the power button while they were playing. Yes, without pushing the reset button too. Needless to say, well, they were pissed. To make a long story short, my dad played for the next 3-4 days, almost straight, to catch up :rofl:

RichVGS
01-12-2004, 07:53 PM
You know, I'd buy the Xbox 2 without BC and the HD...for about $100. If they expect to charge like $300 or more at the launch, it had better have BC and the HD if it wants to be a strong force in the game war.

Trento52
01-12-2004, 08:47 PM
well i don't know if anyone mentioned this but with the hardrive you can install or download stuff to it such as those downloadables for games and different displays and stuff. Also i just love custom tracks but there are way more then 10 games that support it.

CharlieHustle
01-12-2004, 08:49 PM
I really dont think that MS is in dept. This is MS we are talkin about. 2 billion is nothin to them, and by now im more than sure that they are reapin the benefits of the xbox and LIVE by now. The HD is a must, for downloaded contents and saved games, as many games i have, i would need probably about 5 cards for sure. Also if you have played HALO or morrowind, you would have noticed the minimal to no loading times between areas. Thats called cache(2gigs of your xbox HD is dedicated to it), where the next area is loaded to the HD then streamed off the hd instead of a long loading screen. I seriously doubt that MS will scratch that for the less conventional method of Nintendo or Sony. As i said before, B.C. i can care less about, i know a lot of people demand it, but i wouldnt complain if it doesnt happen, they dont even have to make the HD larger, ill take the same size HD thats in mine now. Also i dont recall MS sayin that they are debating about taking out that HD....

xboxman_1
01-12-2004, 08:54 PM
Am I the only one who couldnt care less about the HD and BC on the XBox 2?

Since I know you have reading comprehension problems SmileBit, I'll sum up what everyone else has said.

Yes.

Brimstone D.
01-12-2004, 09:10 PM
Why are you people taking what Smilebit said so serious? He is a Nintendo fanboy after all, it's all just to get you pissed off, wtf does he care? It's kind of interesting that a Nintendo Fanboy is on a XBOX forum...just food for thought.

X-Fan
01-12-2004, 10:00 PM
i really m getting ****ed at this ****ing moron why dont u just ban this ****ing pos.

themoosearmy
01-12-2004, 11:31 PM
All I ave to say is this, xbox depends on teh HD, i've never been able to play a console that saves all the information from about 7 games (including 3 madden seasons +2 custom rosters) about 5 custom Halo types + 10 or more profiles, crimson skies data, kotor, XIII, on and on, and it still says 50000+ blocks free. My friend with PS2 needs a memory card for each madden season.

I'd rather pay the extra for the HD right off the top rather than but 80 mem cards.

oldi1knoby
01-12-2004, 11:34 PM
I personally don't care as much about Backwards Compatability as I do about getting a hard drive. I love not needing memory cards. I allways hated keeping track of those damn PS1 memory cards...

dd deeznuts
01-13-2004, 01:41 AM
the xbox could not have such huge games like halo or morrowind with out the hard drive. there is no way they could do morrowind on the gamecube or playstation. thats what is so awsome about the xbox is that it can play pc type games that you could never play with out a hard drive. and you are a dumbass smilebit I hate you. did you know the recommended age for the gamecube is 3-7. and I'am going to take this out on your mom, so from now on you can call me daddy ***** !!!! :cuss:

l Maximus l
01-13-2004, 01:47 AM
What I don't understand is Smilebit's take on gaming. The Gamecube really is a peice of junk...I mean, if that D-Pad were any smaller, it would be ridiculous...even more than it already is. The yellow analog stick is extremely dinky and the button pattern is designed for complete idiots.

The XBox controller is, by far, the best controller out there. I hate PS2s controller for the simple fact that it has two R and L buttons instead of triggers. Imagine playing Halo with that thing?

BWAHAHAHAHA...imagine playing Halo with a Gamecube controller! Oh man...

XBox 2 will very likely have a HD and will likely be Backwards Compatible...just wait and see.

LynxFX
01-13-2004, 01:48 AM
First off, enough with the personal attacks coming from both sides. Anymore and you will get a strike and a temp ban. No second warnings.

Back ontopic, also without a harddrive we wouldn't be able to have games such as Blinx that is only capable of timeshifting like can because of the harddrive.

The harddrive was the biggest innovation of the Xbox and pushed consoles into a whole new area that they have never been before. It isn't going anywhere.

X-Factor
01-13-2004, 03:10 AM
The HD is used for more than saves and custom soundtracks...do you think games like Halo 1 & 2, Morrowind, Fable, BC, True Fantasy, etc. would be possible on PS2 or GCN?

X-Factor
01-13-2004, 03:18 AM
Originally posted by themoosearmy
All I ave to say is this, xbox depends on teh HD, i've never been able to play a console that saves all the information from about 7 games (including 3 madden seasons +2 custom rosters) about 5 custom Halo types + 10 or more profiles, crimson skies data, kotor, XIII, on and on, and it still says 50000+ blocks free. My friend with PS2 needs a memory card for each madden season.

I'd rather pay the extra for the HD right off the top rather than but 80 mem cards. I'd much rather have all of my saves on a HD than divided on dozens of memory cards; I have 50+ custom profiles on Halo...that would fun to have to sort through all the memory cards just to find the right profile (w/ Xbox you have all your saves on the same screen).

Plus, with Xbox you can have more saves- the save slots on many Xbox titles are bottomless, so you can save in a new slot each time...which is nice if you make a mistake so you can go back and fix it.

Yup, that Xbox HD is definitely a breath of fresh air in the gaming biz'.

BCan
01-13-2004, 05:08 AM
One reason why the HDD isn't used very heavily in the XBOX is due to MULTI-PLATFORM games. How many games are specifically designed for the XBOX and to use FULL advantage of the HDD????
Blinx, and then what???

Have a crack at the software developers for developing too many PS2 friendly console games that have either been ported to or from the XBOX.
I don't think that too many developers have the XBOX coders in with their PC counterparts, instead they are with the GC and PS2 guys....

Once all of the next gen consoles have them, expect something along the line of PC's - 80-100GB drives in a console, to handle everything that all of the systems will want to chuck at the processor..

BORNGD
01-13-2004, 02:02 PM
yes you are

Trento52
01-13-2004, 06:48 PM
i can bet ps3 will have a harddrive and maybe nintendo will but all consoles will try and get more online stuff especially nintendo for i think they realise if they are just gonna be a game only they might as well have an online service to make those games even better.

oh yeah and another thing i would like is fast forward or rewind when you are playing music from the hard drive or cd because some songs suck at the beginning or you might accidentaly skip a song in the middle and stuff.

c_a_i_l_l_o_u
01-13-2004, 07:42 PM
memory cards suck and should never be used in another console again, and I think bc is a good idea because then you don't have to collect consoles to play old games.

l Maximus l
01-13-2004, 08:17 PM
Here's an idea for the next XBox: They should design it in a way that would be upgradable...let's say the latest graphics card could be put in it...for a price, down the road. That would be sweet :)

MikeMan91389
01-13-2004, 09:49 PM
Originally posted by Maximus-XBA
Here's an idea for the next XBox: They should design it in a way that would be upgradable...let's say the latest graphics card could be put in it...for a price, down the road. That would be sweet :) I could see that in the future, i could also see computers being solely on tvs as the monitors. Technology is goin places, and i dunno whether to be happy or mad... this tech. is great, but im afraid of sum other tech. we're gaining knowledge in.... ex. cloning, nuclear energy

l Maximus l
01-13-2004, 09:55 PM
Originally posted by MikeMan91389
... this tech. is great, but im afraid of sum other tech. we're gaining knowledge in.... ex. cloning, nuclear energy

lol, dude....BUZZ KILL!!! :huh: :D

LynxFX
01-13-2004, 10:11 PM
Originally posted by Maximus-XBA
Here's an idea for the next XBox: They should design it in a way that would be upgradable...let's say the latest graphics card could be put in it...for a price, down the road. That would be sweet :)
The problem with that is that now developers would have to make their games work with multiple configurations and then take advantage of the new hardware, as well as scale back down to older hardware, ala pc's. Also consoles aren't meant to be opened. They are a sealed product. I just don't see that ever happening. It would be cool, but that's why you own pc's.

l Maximus l
01-13-2004, 10:16 PM
Originally posted by LynxFX-XBA

The problem with that is that now developers would have to make their games work with multiple configurations and then take advantage of the new hardware, as well as scale back down to older hardware, ala pc's. Also consoles aren't meant to be opened. They are a sealed product. I just don't see that ever happening. It would be cool, but that's why you own pc's.

True...I may be jumping the gun...but, I believe that it will eventually happen....similar to PCs...but, by then, likely much more stable...especially if the machine was dedicated for gaming...which, currently, is unlike PCs.

Duke
01-13-2004, 10:19 PM
Yeah, that'd be fantastic. Then I could spend a ton more dough upgrading my console every time something new comes out. :twirls finger:

l Maximus l
01-13-2004, 10:23 PM
Originally posted by DukeBuckhorn
Yeah, that'd be fantastic. Then I could spend a ton more dough upgrading my console every time something new comes out. :twirls finger:

lol, dude. Hopefully, by then, it would be like buying a memory card instead of having to purchase a new console every 2-3 years ;)

WynnFire
01-13-2004, 10:49 PM
Originally posted by LynxFX-XBA
I agree with you on the backwards capability, but not at all on the hard drive.

Yeah, same here. I could care less about the backwards compatibility. I think it needs a hard drive. Actually for the backwards compatibility, I hope they let you use the current Xbox controllers on Xbox2. Because I like the BIG DUKE controllers.

Variation-XBA
01-14-2004, 12:09 AM
Wow another smilebit thread, going in the same direction.. whats new?

http://www.xboxaddict.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48513

LynxFX
01-14-2004, 12:31 AM
Originally posted by WynnFire


Yeah, same here. I could care less about the backwards compatibility. I think it needs a hard drive. Actually for the backwards compatibility, I hope they let you use the current Xbox controllers on Xbox2. Because I like the BIG DUKE controllers.
Good point about the controllers. I like the original the best too. We can pretty much assume that the Xbox2 will have s-controller or similar to that bundled. :(

themoosearmy
01-14-2004, 12:44 AM
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by themoosearmy
All I ave to say is this, xbox depends on teh HD, i've never been able to play a console that saves all the information from about 7 games (including 3 madden seasons +2 custom rosters) about 5 custom Halo types + 10 or more profiles, crimson skies data, kotor, XIII, on and on, and it still says 50000+ blocks free. My friend with PS2 needs a memory card for each madden season.

I'd rather pay the extra for the HD right off the top rather than but 80 mem cards.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd much rather have all of my saves on a HD than divided on dozens of memory cards; I have 50+ custom profiles on Halo...that would fun to have to sort through all the memory cards just to find the right profile (w/ Xbox you have all your saves on the same screen).

Plus, with Xbox you can have more saves- the save slots on many Xbox titles are bottomless, so you can save in a new slot each time...which is nice if you make a mistake so you can go back and fix it.

Yup, that Xbox HD is definitely a breath of fresh air in the gaming biz'.


Dude, you said the exact same thing I did, unless you were just reinforcing what I said...

levelzero
01-14-2004, 08:42 AM
Well, I seem to be the voice of dissension here, but backwards compatibility is a huge deal for me. In fact, it is a 'must have feature' in my opinion for the next Xbox to continue to chip away at the 60 million install base of the PS2. The next Xbox console will have to have this feature for me to consider purchasing it at all. And I would guess, I am in the majority of the purchasing public. Most parents are not going to purchase a new system for their children if they have rendered all of the previous games null and void. "Just keep your old Xbox for playing those games." -- Did the PS1 owners have to keep their old systems? No?....Then I shouldn't have to.

I have 40 Xbox games, and I want to be able to play every single one on the next version of the Xbox. And for the technically challenged, it will not be a hardware hit to allow backwards compatibility. The process is called EMULATION. Look into products like VMWARE, WIN4LIN, or VIRTUAL PC for OSX. The ability to run applications on hardware they were not coded / designed for has been around for years. MAME...hello?? The next console must be backwards compatible. It should not affect the hardware specs at all.

As for as the harddrive goes, the unit would not sell without the inclusion of a hard drive. It is a MUST HAVE feature. The gaming console WAS changed forever by the Xbox's hard drive, and there is no going back. The public just wouldn't allow it. The next Xbox console will have some type of platter storage.

My guess is that the next console will use PCMCIA type drives to reduce the size of the console. And hell, drives are getting smaller by the day. With companies like Cornice and Hitachi making drives that measure an inch across holding up to 4 gig, who knows where the tech will be in 2006 when the next Xbox console ships (or is it getting released in 2005, or end 2004, or next week? or is it just before PS3, who knows....)

At any rate, I still can't understand why everyone would not want backwards compatibility? That is what made the PS2 so successful! People could just upgrade their system, and still play the game library they had amassed. If it doesn't ship with this feature, it will have a very hard road ahead of it. Just my two cents, feel free to flame on!

Raiko
01-14-2004, 09:48 AM
Backwards compatibility is a nice feature, though I doubt I would play old games on a new console.

As it is now, I rarely play any games on any old console anymore after I bought newer consoles, no matter how much I loved some of the old games. Then again, if any of my old consoles stop working anymore, it'll be difficult to find a (working) replacement console :)

Don't get me wrong, it would be a pity if MS didn't add it, but I for one would probably only play the Xbox2 games on it.

The harddrive rocks though, it's like some infinite memorycard, only without the memorycard :eek:

mattgame
01-14-2004, 12:22 PM
Originally posted by Peepers
HD's significantly enhance what dev's can do. If you look at your Xbox games, you'll find that many of them have save files that are too big for memory cards.

KOTOR and Morrowind save files are far too big to fit on memory cards. In the next generation of consoles, I suspect that game sizes will only get bigger and memory cards stay about the same.

I'll say it right now: I will NOT buy the Xbox 2 if it doesn't have a HD.

I'll second that. I would not buy a Xbox without the hd. I read in the recent GMR that this may be the case. I can't believe it. I won't believe it until the next box is unveiled in a couple of months. It just doesn't seem like a good business decision. If the Xbox is to compete with the PS2 and GC, they have to be different and better. The HD did that. I love playing games to my own soundtrack. I love what the devs can do with memory and the speed of the game. That's why I am an advocate of the Xbox. I mean are they gonna keep making games that are compatible with the present xbox because if not and they decide to do this I will stop buying them altogether.