Yup, same thing happened to me. They turned it around pretty quickly.Originally Posted by Yachtzee
Yup, same thing happened to me. They turned it around pretty quickly.
I was actually surprised at how quick and painless it was to get to the crux of the matter. Other than having to wade through their automated system "Max," I really didn't have to deal with some dolt walking me through a checklist. Once I told him what was going on and what I did, the customer service rep was quick to let me know what I needed to do and was very helpful. It was a nice change of pace from my previous dealings with Microsoft Customer Service.
Wear gaudy colors, or avoid display. Lay a million eggs or give birth to one. The fittest shall survive, yet the unfit may live. Be like your ancestors or be different. We must repeat!
I've got a gamecube, ps2, wii, and 360. 360, far and away, gets the most gameplay. I've got around 30 or so 360 games, but I still spend the majority of my time playing FIFA 07. Love the manager campaign mode.
Steel: 360's online capabilities are not necessarily more expensive. There are 2 "tiers" of online capability. Silver, which is free, allows you to play the games online etc. etc., Gold is a premium online service. Don't ask me the exact differences, haha, b/c I've only had Gold, but I know Silver is out there and is free.
I have the 360's HD player. Love it. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is definitely my favorite movie that I've watched so far. Training Day, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Waterworld, and Batman Begins are other movies well-suited to the HD experience.
I'm holding off on a PS3 until a "must-have" game is produced.
I do relish the fact that PS3's Blu Ray player now supports the upconversion of standard DVDs to near-HD quality, something the HD-DVD player on the 360 lacks, I believe. That's a huge check mark in the PS3's favor, IMO.
It'll probably be a while before that happens considering the PS3's processor can do things that aren't even completely understood by game developers. Yet. But at only six months into it's existence, it's still a ridiculous gaming and multimedia machine.
The "must-have" for me is the Blu-Ray functionality. I figured that DVD upscaling would eventually be possible via a firmware update, and that made me very happy. It also upscales PS1 and PS2 games and especially the latter look fantastic.
And right now, I'm having a whale of a good time with the Nintendo handheld technology. The DS Lite is awesome and I just picked up the web browser for that. As more public places add wi-fi functionality, having a handheld that can go online for free (well, for a one-time $35.00 investment in the browser) is huge for me. I got the DS Lite new at a great price and the game that made me open it was Hotel Dusk Room 215. Fantastic game. And I've been catching up on GB Advance games I missed (like Advance Wars) on the DS as it's backwards compatible for all GBA games. And two days ago, I found a Game Boy Micro at a local K-Mart on sale for $35.00 too and might just keep it because it's so portable.
I might end up grabbing a PSP because of its compatibility with the PS3 (I hear Remote Play is great), but that's about two or three slots down on the tech I'd like to grab right now.
Considering that Pong was the first video game I ever played, I'm completely fascinated by the latest wave of gaming tech. Completely ridiculous and just a whole heck of a lot of fun.
"The problem with strikeouts isn't that they hurt your team, it's that they hurt your feelings..." --Rob Neyer
"The single most important thing for a hitter is to get a good pitch to hit. A good hitter can hit a pitch that’s over the plate three times better than a great hitter with a ball in a tough spot.”
--Ted Williams
Whoops totally forgot about handhelds. I have a PSP and a DS (regular, not lite, I was an early purchaser).
The PSP is an awesome gadget.
Yes, I have Advance Wars for GBA. That is one really, really great game. And it gets HARD too. Very challenging.
Too bad they won't let you take the bar exam on one of those things. However, I have been able to do sample bar questions over my cell phone.
Wear gaudy colors, or avoid display. Lay a million eggs or give birth to one. The fittest shall survive, yet the unfit may live. Be like your ancestors or be different. We must repeat!
The whole "Fog of War" thing is just killing me at this point. I'm not one to use walkthroughs, but that's one game where it may be necessary because it gets very hard very early. I can't even imagine how hard Advance Wars: Dual Strike gets for the DS. It's funny, because in a world where high-def and online play rules, sometimes it's the simple games that get you caught up.
And after my next bonus check hits, I'll probably pick up the PSP just for the PS3 remote play functionality. Seems like a good system and the ability to download a lot of games to it and play media directly from the PS3 might be fun.
"The problem with strikeouts isn't that they hurt your team, it's that they hurt your feelings..." --Rob Neyer
"The single most important thing for a hitter is to get a good pitch to hit. A good hitter can hit a pitch that’s over the plate three times better than a great hitter with a ball in a tough spot.”
--Ted Williams
Ive got a PS2. Ive tried several sports games, but the best one for players like me is Madden. The baseball games rely too much on analog control. If it is too hard to play a baseball game, why play. I will try and get a ps3 this Christmas.
I don't think Silver allows you to play games, I think it only gives you access to the marketplace.
I want a 360 simply for Foza2.
Our Wii is keeping me happy though.
Just wanted to bump this one up for any PS3 owners who are Blu-Ray movie enthusiasts.
We've got two HD TV's in our home. I've got the PS3 connected to one, but I'd been thinking about grabbing a second PS3 to hook up to our 52" Sony Wega. but had been holding off because I didn't want to spend $600 on what would only be a Blu-Ray player (worried about game burn-in because the Wega is a CRT model). Tonight I walked into one of our local Wal Mart stores and they had a closeout sale on Phillips BDP9000 Blu-Ray players for only $373.00. I was floored, as was my wife. Even though she's not the enthusiastic amateur A/V enthusiast I'm becoming, she realized what kind of deal that was.
Without this sounding too much like a review:
The Pros:
-It's pretty much plug-and-play. Within 3 minutes of hooking up the cables, I had a Blu-Ray disc playing.
-The included HDMI cable equals a $10-$30 savings.
-Price. It's the least expensive Blu-Ray player I've ever seen at this price.
-Built in CF, Microdrive, and SD memory card slots conveniently hidden from dust behind a flip-down front panel. With the right adapters, it'll even allow for Memory Stick Duo and Mini SD connectivity.
-Upconversion of regular DVDs to 720p, 1080i, and 1080p resolution.
-The remote is super. I haven't tested universal functionality, but it's there.
-The picture is great playing Blu-Ray discs even on a 52" 1080i CRT screen. Just fantastic.
-The load times, while longer than the PS3, are less than what I've seen reported for most other standalone Blu-Ray players.
The Cons
-Analog audio output won't push full surround sound for regular DVDs. I don't see that as a big deal as pretty much anyone will want to output to surround sound via HDMI, digital optical cable, or digital coaxial cable at this point. The player has outputs for all of those, but some older surround sound receivers may not so I'll note it.
-One will most likely need a firmware update to play some of the newer Blu-Ray discs requiring BD Java like Pirates I and II. But firmware updates are the norm for the PS3 and they're downloadable for the BDP9000 player on their website or via CD if one wants to contact Phillips.
-The BDP9000 doesn't appear to be HDMI 1.3 compatible. I don't know of any input devices (receivers or TVs) that are HDMI 1.3 compatible, so i don't know how big a deal that is other than being a "futureproofing" item.
Price used to be a big "con" for pretty much any standalone Blu Ray player but $373.00 is a huge value. Check your local Wal-Mart pronto if you've been thinking about becoming a multiple Blu-Ray player household.
"The problem with strikeouts isn't that they hurt your team, it's that they hurt your feelings..." --Rob Neyer
"The single most important thing for a hitter is to get a good pitch to hit. A good hitter can hit a pitch that’s over the plate three times better than a great hitter with a ball in a tough spot.”
--Ted Williams
Still haven't finished GBA Advance Wars. I'd like to and would also like to find Advance Wars 2 But I've been playing "Adance Wars: Dual Strike" on the DS and after the first few levels it becomes one of the most difficult strategy games I've ever played. I'm near the end, but I've played one of the final two or three levels for about an hour and a half each twice. Both times, I just end up getting by butt kicked even when it looks like I'm well ahead. Apparently, it's a difficult game to find for the DS and I can see why- it's as addictive as anything I've ever played.
"The problem with strikeouts isn't that they hurt your team, it's that they hurt your feelings..." --Rob Neyer
"The single most important thing for a hitter is to get a good pitch to hit. A good hitter can hit a pitch that’s over the plate three times better than a great hitter with a ball in a tough spot.”
--Ted Williams
Another bump for anyone who has a PSP. The Psyclone Nodus speaker system is on sale at Target for $24.99. That's the same speaker system Best Buy wants $200.00 for. It's got a Sonic T-Amp. The sound is rich and extremely clear. The best thing is that it has an audio-in input that takes signals from any source (MP3 player, computer, television) with a 3.5MM headphone jack (included).
Even though we don't have a PSP, we purchased two of these at $24.99 as the sound quality is excellent for MP3 players (Creative Zen V and V Plus) as well as my computer. The wife uses hers for pushing MP3 audio out in our back yard when she's gardening. Using the audio in for mlb.tv creates sound quality I've rarely heard for baseball games. The announcers are crystal clear and the sound of the crowd and bat are as well. At high volue levels the bass isn't anything to write home about, but this unit is so clear that you might hear sounds and lyrics that are distorted on other systems.
At $24.99, there's a lot to like and pretty much nothing nothing not to like about the Nodus system. And if you've got a PSP system, the Nodus should frame it nicely.
"The problem with strikeouts isn't that they hurt your team, it's that they hurt your feelings..." --Rob Neyer
"The single most important thing for a hitter is to get a good pitch to hit. A good hitter can hit a pitch that’s over the plate three times better than a great hitter with a ball in a tough spot.”
--Ted Williams
I just picked up a refurbished 60 gig PS3 for $400 with a 1 year warranty from a Gamestop. I'm liking it so far. I've got Resistance: Fall of Man and Armored Core 4. Mostly I'm catching up with a number of PS2 games I haven't gotten around to finishing (or even starting).
Ok. Guitar Hero II. I have a PS2 and as the local pawn shop was having a 30% off sale on used video games, I figured I'd pick up Guitar Hero II for $22 last Saturday. Thought it was an interesting concept and I'd heard a lot about it so I picked up a wireless guitar controller at Sam's Club for 40 bucks and let fly.
Good God is this an addictive game. I've been playing in "Easy" mode just to learn and I can barely put the controller down. The tips of my fingers are numb. The wife has a music background and is hyper-competitive. She watched at first, but couldn't pull herself away. Tonight she played for the first time and ended up finishing a song I couldn't even though I've tried at least five times. That'll keep her coming back as will her obsession with beating her last high score on a song.
BTW, I love pawn shops. They generally have no idea what they have and most (especially chains) are willing to sell stuff for way under retail or secondary market value just to move it. Because most have antiquated pricing systems, they're easy pickings for specialists because they're generalists and they're way slow in the areas of tech and software. Double that for pawn chain stores who are motivated by dollar volume and, therefore, will consistently cut prices if they can move stuff. I've recently been able to build a large Dreamcast rare game collection for pennies on the dollar (ditto Nintendo DS, PS1, and PS2 games) due to pawn brokers who simply don't have a clue.
"The problem with strikeouts isn't that they hurt your team, it's that they hurt your feelings..." --Rob Neyer
"The single most important thing for a hitter is to get a good pitch to hit. A good hitter can hit a pitch that’s over the plate three times better than a great hitter with a ball in a tough spot.”
--Ted Williams
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