Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the return of wrestling’s Monday Night Wars, the new hit single “Gilbert’s Got a Gun”, or Google’s Android/Nexus One press conference, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
A friend of mine was downloading the MAG beta yesterday when the download crapped out on him. This prompted him to write a lengthy Facebook rant on how the download experience on the Xbox 360 is way better than that of the PlayStation 3. While I agree that, in general, the Xbox 360 offers a much smoother online experience, I never had any problems downloading games, demos, movies, etc. on my PS3. I was surprised that a lot of my friend’s friends agreed with him and wrote about their annoyances with downloading on the PS3.
The whole thing had me wondering about annoying console quirks. What “features” of your beloved consoles irk you guys and gals? Personally, I hate the shutdown process of the PlayStation 3. After telling the machine that I want it turn off…it asks me if I want to turn it off. It’s a small thing, but it annoys the hell out of me! I don’t need Windows Vista-style confirmation prompts to shut down my PS3.
So yeah! I wanted to get that out of the way before starting off three totally positive Coffee Talk columns to close out the week. Ha! What about you? What are some console quirks that bother the hell out of you? And no, the Wii doesn’t count as an annoying console quirk. :P
PS3 quirk : downloading anything. Even when things you buy take too long. I really hate the mandatory updates that delay you close to half an hour.
360 : bricking
lagniappe 360 quirk : the console comes with a headset. They should sell them separately and you should have to be over 18 to purchase. Maybe the age restriction on purchase would make parents think twice about letting their kids interact that much with an online community. Also I can't stand the kids who have a conversation with their mom or talk to their sister about fighting to the death.
@Topic:
PS3 quirk: I hate the dashboard. It's unintuitive and hard to find stuff. I also hate the six-axis controls and you should be able to turn them off in lieu of more standard controls if you choose in every game that uses them. I hate the trophy system. Make it mandatory for all games or do away with it. Doing it half-ass defeats the purpose. And I hate mandatory downloads to the Hard Drive. If I wanted to play a game an hour from now, I'd put the disc in and hour from now.
360 quirk: I hate that I've had to send my console back twice for repairs. I hate that Avatars are mandatory. I hate the bombardment of advertisements on the dashboard.
Wasn't the new Dragon Age DLC supposed to be out today for the 360? I can't find it anywhere….
Yeah, trophies are lame as they are now. I think a trophy count of each variety should be displayed next to your name. I haven't ran into games that demand sixaxis or I seem to just not own any.
@Topic: Maybe I am just ultra-accepting of things, but I don't have a real problem with any of the systems.
PS3: I actually like the XMB. I am probably only one of like 5, the other 4 being the people that invented it, but it seperates out everything I need into sections that are easy to find. I want to play a game, I go to game. Easy peesy, Japaneasy. I also don't mind the downloads. Putting the game in and then having to wait 15 mins (I have never in the entirety of my gaming experience ever installed a game that has taken longer then that) just means that I have time to get a drink, settle into my chair, a relax before immersing myself into something new and hopefully cool. @Nightshade – I think trophy support has been mandatory for all games since the beginning of last year. Personally, I like them more then the gamerscore, but that's probably just because I spend more time with them.
360: When sending your hardware away to be fixed becomes a quirk rather then a horrible practice, the system has officialy jumped the nuked fridge. I think that the Dashboard for the 360 is a lot less intuitive then XMB, but the colors are nice. Everything has an avatar these days, so whatevs.
Wii: I think the fact that we moved in August and still haven't hooked it back up is pretty quirky.
Funny, Ray's quirk about the PS3 reminds me of what a trip to the gas station feels like. You walk up to the pump and there are different buttons for Debit or Credit. So you hit Credit, insert your card, and then the pump asks you if you want to use Debit or Credit…..and now I want to punch the stupid machine….
@Larcenous: Uncharted 2 took an hour. No joke. Between the mandatory download and then all the updates, I could have gone and baked cookies.
@Nightshade386 It's supposed to be out later today. I'm still in NY and I'm having a wonderful time with my family…but I want to get back to my 360. Ha!
@Ray: Later? Later when? I've had 400MS sitting on my account waiting for this to come out for over a month….
Woot, Darksiders today.
I really buy too many games. I have Borderlands, I'm level 7. I have L4D2, haven't played it yet, MadWorld, and I need to finish Demons Souls. I need to get laid off again for about 2 months…with a generous severance again.
Just got back from Blockbuster and I rented Bayonetta and Darksiders. I'll play them later today and let you guys know what I think.
@Xbox 360
I cannot stand the new dashboard. I cannot find anything. It takes me tons of digging through advertisement laden menus just to figure out where the settings are. Also sometimes it doesn't feel like connecting to my wireless network and the console just says it cannot connect and the WiFi adapter just has a red light. Thanks for all the useful info. For some reason all 3 of my wireless controllers cannot be more than 8-10 feet from the console or the controller begins random disconnecting. I get 2 lights rotating opposite each other on the controllers. Finally the stupid hard drive situation. I still have the 20 Gb hard drive because I refuse to get ripped off anymore.
@PS3
I tried to play Borderland last night and there was a 58mb update that took 30 minutes. The updates on the 360 are by far better. But I guess unlike most people I really enjoy the XMB. Way easier to find stuff than the XBOX Dashboard (my opinion).
@Nintendo
Please provide me with the correct height Lego blocks to hold down my NES cartridges while in the system in order to play the games. lol
@Smartguy;
Your first post reminded me of this video:
… so true.
-M
@Smartguy – lol. I tend to run a game into the ground completely before buying a new one. I finished Saboteur over the weekend to make sure that I had nothing else on my plate for Darksiders, and honestly, after doing all those damn trophies for the free play, I might be happy not picking that up again for quite a while.
@Nightshade – Updates and installs are something completely different. There have been like three updates for Uncharted 2, so I understand that taking a while. I think that is more of the company not offering a concise update (where the most recent holds the coding for the others) then a quirk of the PS3. You should have baked cookies though. Never a bad time for cookies.
@Redundancy – The best is when you call into a call center, have to enter your account number on their automated menu, and then are asked for it again when you actually speak to a live person. If they can't program it to come right up for the employee, they shouldn't have the computer ask me to type it in.
@Smartguy
I feel the same way. I need to finish Uncharted 2 on Hard, Finish upgrading weapons in Ratchet & Clank Crack in Time, Get past the first level in Demon's Souls (that video from yesterday reminded me), Only at the Joining in Dragon Age Origins, Played Fairytale Fights for around 10 minutes, put Buzz! Quiz World in for 1 online match, got to Level 22 in Borderlands last night.
I just haven't had anytime to finish anything up before new stuff comes out and it just keeps piling on.
PS3 quirk: Too frequent firmware updates for small things. I wish they would wait until they get a lot of stuff worth it and then release it but not just for one small thing.
Xbox quirk: Aside from the obvious frequent bricking, it annoyed the hell out of me that I had to buy 1600 MS points just to buy a 1000 MS points game or DLC. What a scam!
@Darksiders – just finished picking up Darksiders from Gamestop. Apparently the Harvester in game weapon they were offering is more of an old school enter code then a DLC download. Apparently you go to the options, enter code screen and type in "The Hollow Lord" (case/space sensitive). It then becomes available from the Soul Shoppe/Vulgrim. Enjoy :)
Xbox 360 – I don't know about software quirks, but I hate the proprietary HDD and the fact that wireless isn't built in the most.
PS3 – The downloads are awful, even updates to games are an annoyance. something that takes 20 seconds on the 360 takes upwards of 5-10 minutes or more on the PS3. Demos are the worst, I spent more time downloading the beta for MGS4 than I did playing it. I also don't like that I have to hold down the power button for 5 seconds before the PS3 shuts off
Ah yes RROD, the point system is an annoying part about the Xbox as well
That video is perfect
@Nightshade
While the XMB is not as flashy and the NXE dashboard, it is easier to navigate. I'm shocked that you said the XMB is hard to find things. I find it simple and much less cluttered than the NXE dashboard.
@Shockwave – having a cat and a dog that have both turned off electronics, I can appreciate the 5 sec hold period. I had the same thing active on my desktop when it used to sit on the floor (dog would randomly nose the power button during WoW raids lol).
@topic
i have both PS3 and 360. I dont have an issue with the PS3. The longest updates i've had is when i first got uncharted 2 and i had to download the 3 updates but that only took me about 20 mins to dl and install, besides that i don't have an issue with it.
My 360 though i guess nothing besides having to pay for xbox gold. *sighs* luckily i haven't had anything bad happen to it *knocks on wood*
@larcenous. I used to work at a call center and the only reason they do that is to buy time. sometimes you'll get calls back to back, (majority of the time), and the company wants you to put notes for the nature of the call and resolution if any. You can't do that if a call comes in right away, once you finish typing close out the account and just make sure the account information matches up when the customer is repeating.
@RROD did you use the rent 1 get 1 free coupon from ESPN, they're good until the end of the month.
@Power on/off
My cats are constantly turning my PS3 on by laying down on the remote or stepping on the controllers. Damn bluetooth can turn it on through walls. lol
@Nightshade386 The DLC has been delayed.
@Rpad – I hadn't seen anything like that. bummer.
Speaking of MAG, I played the beta last night and enjoyed it. It was pretty good and has a LOT of potential but there is one HUGE problem. Communication is a must. Very few people were using mics. You HAVE to work as a team to complete objectives. You can't go Rambo like in COD. I hope they pack in the Sony Headset like they did with Socom. If played right the game will be amazing.
@tokz_21
I didn't know anything about that deal.
I think bad company 2 will be the shooter to get this year. Building destruction and vehicles ftw.
I hate how it takes forever for the Xbox 360 blades to come up, and the friends list takes forever to show. I also hate how I can not customize what I can and cannot see on the blades. oh, and I hate how it covers the whole damn picture up, I used to have a great picture of my daughter, but I can not have stuff like that now without editing my photos to show at the top 2% of the screen.
@ Slicky – ya the PS button is fragile, with 3 dogs I've had to get used to putting all the remotes and controllers in a hutch when I'm done playing.
@RROD – interesting to know about MAG. I personally don't like to wear a mic when I play online but with that many people I'm sure there has to be some strategy going on.
@Shockwave562 https://rpad.tv/2010/01/05/dragon-age-origins-retu…
@RROD
yeah, it's located under the radio tab under contests. I've printed a lot. I think i have the pdf file saved somewhere. Maybe i can have Rpad post it until it's over. Or i can e-mail it to you if you can find it or anyone else that's interested.
@Nightshade – I'm so used to the NXE dashboard that I really enjoy it. both my tv and the PS3 us the Media Bar and it's both good and bad. usually it's easy to find friends and games but settings and updates are difficult to find at times. I think it works better for the Sony TV because there are a lot less configuration options for it.
@RRod: If I've gotta stand up and walk across the room to read the stupid dashboard on my 50" Plasma, it's a flawed design. I hated it on the PSP, and I still hate it. The NXE is significantly more user friendly.
Who watched RAW and TNA Impact last night? TNA put on a pretty good show I thought but I couldn't miss Brett Hart and Shawn Michaels face to face. Hogan can barely walk not and Scott Hall is so out of shape it's ridiculous. It was good to see Flair though. I don't know what Jeff Hardy's problem is but both companies play volley ball with him. It was also good to see the Nasty Boyz on TNA. What did you guys think?
@Nightshade
?????? What do you mean by "If I’ve gotta stand up and walk across the room to read the stupid dashboard on my 50? Plasma"? I have a 42" and sit 6 ' away and I can see fine, if that's what you meant.
@RRODisHere There's some discussion on the shows here:
https://rpad.tv/2010/01/04/tna-vs-wwe-the-monday-n…
@RRoD: You know, it's ok to have a difference of opinion sometimes. I hate the dashboard. I can't see it half the time, and the settings are impossible to figure out. If you like it, hey, fine. But stop talking down to everyone who disagrees with you.
So I bought some L2 R2 shoulder button attachments for my PS3 controllers. I am in love with them and it makes me wonder why the controller itself isn't just designed that way. My fingers have been slipping off of the shoulder buttons for 3 years and now they aren't
QUESTION: When you use a controller do you control the shoulder buttons with 4 fingers or just 2? I cannot seem to use 4 fingers to use them I use only my index fingers to control all 4.
@nightshade – I've never really had trouble reading the bar, but I've been using it since the ps3 launched so a lot of it is habit by now. It is odd that they only use 20% of the screen when they could use the whole thing.
Sony is really in to the picture and sound that the background shows when you put a game in. it's a pretty cool touch but I'd like to see more of the screen used like the NXE
@Slicky – it's probably because I'm so used to the 360 but my pointer has always been my trigger finger. in most games I don't find it necessary to push L1,L2 or R1, R2 at the same time so I'll usually just move the pointer finger
I think the xmb should be a tad larger
@slicky
4 fingers.
@fingers – come to think of it I bet sometimes I do use my middle fingers on R2 and L2. seems like there were times I needed to do that in Uncharted 2.
@Nightshade
How did you come to the conclusion that I'm talking down on you guys? Of course people will disagree, but in Coffee Talk we can discuss disagreements in a mature manner.
@Slickyfats
I have those shoulder buttons too and love them. The buttons should have been designed that way in the first place.
@Shockwave
Yeah thats why I was asking, some games almost require it. I just seem to have a hard time holding 4 fingers on the buttons all the time, I only do it when absolutely necessary.
@everyone
i'm hoping this works, i was able to find the PDF file I saved from that ESPN promotion with Blockbuster, in case someone is interested in renting some games before they buy. It's a rent 1 get 1 free coupon, good until the end of the month. i hope the link works. I wasn't sure how i would be able to share this and remembered that Windows had a skydrive portal where you can share files.
http://cid-7f2996e8cefe331f.skydrive.live.com/bro…
thanks tokz. it worked
@Slicky – I can only think of a few instances of having to use two of the buttons at once, and normally as long as I am quickly pressing the R2/L2 I can drop my middle finger into and out of position pretty quick. I always have a problem when the main action is the trigger button and the quick action is either l1/r1. Normal positioning just doesnt work for that.
now I just have to be lucky in order to snag a copy of MAG with this deal. the 26th – the 31st doesn't give me a lot of time. Plus I don't think Blockbuster gets new games on release day.
I have to hold the Sony controller with 4 fingers on the shoulder. The 360 the same way. Works out for me
@shockwave you're welcome. I think they do get them. RROD said he rented Bayonetta and Darksiders earlier.
@Tokz – well I would hope that Blockbuster does now, if they want to keep storefronts alive they're going to have to do things like that.
@shockwave I agree, especially if i'm going to go later. unfortunately, the holiday has thrown off my netflix and i have long waits for jennifer's body and the final destination. I would go to the redbox but for some reason they do not carry jennifer's body and the final destination is all rented out by me. Luckily, i have two new releases coupon for $1.99 each but they can't be used at the same time. :( i'll be going to two stores to get them.
@Tokz – I hear that Netflix wait. I have had Public Eemies on the top of my queue for weeks. I think the first 9 things I have listed are all Short to Very Long waits. It's kind of exciting now as to what I may or may not get next lol.
@Shockwave
It's true. I rented Bayonetta and Darksiders this morning so Blockbuster does get games on release day.
@larcenous. I've been on a roll of getting the new releases to me on Tuesday. I've timed it perfectly. I send them back on Saturday morning, Netflix gets them on Monday and send out the new releases to me on Tuesday. The lousy holiday has screwed me up and i forgot to send them out on Saturday. I checked into Netflix and they didn't get my returns yet. I can't wait to get back to normalcy with my Netflix.
@RROD – thanks, that's good to know, it wasn't always that way, but I gave up blockbuster a long time ago for those reasons. I guess it's a good time to give them another try. Besides, BD movies come out for rental a week before digital copies are available for some stupid reason.
@Tokz – that weekend timing is pretty ingenious. I might have to try that schedule out for myself.
@Larcenous thanks. I just thought i wonder what would happen if i return the movies back on Saturday instead of Monday and it worked. It also helps that i live in area where i'm close to 2 main post offices, where the sorting and mail trucks come out of.
I've got no complaints about PS3 quirks.
My complaints on the 360 are far and beyond annoying quirks.
Wii I just hate that they refuse to add DVD support even tho they could effortlessly do it.