XBOX Rant

[Atari 5200 Guy]

Hey Guys,

 

Before I go into my "rant" I wanted to express beforehand that I understand times change, things change, or else we wouldn't be able to move forward with more "advanced" technology.  Now...on with my rant.

I know that this is an Atari website where Atari is first and foremost.  In today's modern world XBOX could be considered the modern "Atari" for a few reasons with the first one being that it is an American-based hardware/software producer.  It's the ONLY America-based console gaming company, period.  With that said it should be obvious to see how I feel about XBOX.  I love the consoles almost as much as I love the old Atari consoles.  The Original XBOX still holds up well these days with tons of games that are fun.  At times you could tell that the XBOX team was trying out new things will still learning the ropes of making video games.  Seriously, there's a HUGE difference between RallySport Challenge 1 and it's sequel not only in the game play but in the mechanics of the game as well.  

It's arguably easy to see that Microsoft's XBOX brand is the largest, if not the number one, game brand in the industry.  And it has the 360 and XBOX One to thank for that plus the billions of people who own one of those machines and still continue to pick up the controller and play their games.  Without the customer's support XBOX would not be the success it is today.  XBOX kept taunting how it wanted to bring players together no matter where they were in the world during this years E3 (E3 Conference 2019).  But I believe something else is going on.

I understand the 360 is a 14-year old platform.  That is a very respectable lifespan for any piece of electronics.  For a game console that's a milestone!  Just having an XBOX One in the house has not stopped me from playing the 360 on a regular basis.  Actually, almost everyday for hours on end.  It's still a most used device in my house.  I'm usually on mine playing Forza or some other game while my wife is on hers playing things like Monopoly Streets, Terraria, things like that.  And since owning them they are constantly turned on.  I think the only time we turn them off is during a major storm or if the power goes out.  That's it...otherwise they are on 24/7.

I've been recently discovering something things that I feel are the starts to the final nail in the 360's coffin.  I know...the 360 has not been in production for three years now and most games can play on the XBOX One.  But I still play my 360 daily.  Owning an XBOX One did not make me take down the 360 and throw it in a closet.  It's still setup ready for some game time when ever I feel like picking up the controller which is quite often.  I have too many 360 games I like to play that are still not on XBOX One.  And even if they were I'd still like to play them on original hardware.  

The rant?  I'm discovering that some of the games and online stuff for 360 are slowly starting to disappear.  Without warning XBOX pulled Forza Horizon from their online store.  Once a Game with Gold title the game is now absent.  However, those who purchased the game can still download and play it.  To claim a Game with Gold title you go through a purchase procedure.  Even though I claimed the game during its time as a Games With Gold title I can not find it nor is it in my account download or purchase history.  It simply isn't there.  It is, however, on my wife's console so we can still play it there but, again, it is not on that console's purchase or download history.  I'm assuming it would be listed, if it was there, where the console lists Content Not Available.  There are three of these listed.  So the only way I could play Forza Horizon is if I own a physical copy of the game.  Not a big deal but I was under the impression that once the game is claimed it's yours to keep and play indefinitely.  XBOX's reason for pulling the game?  It had reached the end of its life.

Another issue I've noticed also deals with Forza but I've also noticed it on some other 360 titles as well.  Turn 10 has a dedicated Forza website.  There you can keep up with related news, activities, get rewards weekly like in-game currency to buy cars and such, and upload photos taken in-game to your profile's gallery.  Today I attempted to upload FH2 photos to show off a car I put decals on.  The game saved the photo locally and then asked if I would like to upload the photo to Forza's website.  I said yes.  A few seconds later I get the message that it was uploaded successfully.  I visit the website and...no images have been uploaded.  Those that I have taken and shared here in the past are also missing.  I check the forums to see if others are having issues and, low and behold, some of them are.  Knowing the age of the 360 and it's library of games I would say that the game was pulled from the site even if it is still showing the site support its.  Most likely, since the game is also available on XBOX One, that XBOX One versions of the games are still supported, just not 360 versions.

I cringe to think how the 360 would perform if/when XBOX decides to stop support altogether followed by any in-game online content.  I know EA does its own support on its own servers but even these can go at anytime if some haven't already.  The 360 when it first came out didn't rely on the LIVE service as much.  After many updates the current XBOX 360 Dashboard centers around LIVE support being present even if it is a free account.  

If it sounds like I'm bashing XBOX for their political practices I'm not.  I know the day is coming when the 360 will not have any online abilities simply because they will no longer exist.  A new XBOX is coming, XBOX One is the current console being most supported, and the original XBOX lost support almost as soon as the 360 hit the market.  Since the XBOX One is backwards compatible not only with 360 games but with the original XBOX as well, it would make more sense to continue support for the 360 console and its library of games.  It would also make sense to allow same title games on both XBOX One and 360 to share data online so that those on one console can still play a good game against/with those on the other.  It would also make sense to bring back original XBOX online support for those that would like to play their original XBOX online again against others playing those games on either the 360 or XBOX One.  It just makes sense and I do believe it would cause more to want to jump on the LIVE Gold bandwagon. At least it makes sense to me.  Am I wrong thinking this way?

[RickR]

Your rant seems right on the money to me.  We always think about what will happen in the future for games that don't have physical media and use on-line features...and now we're starting to see it happen. 

 

[MaximumRD]

I will try to keep it short, first I agree 100% , I been against the loss of physical media from the start and I suspected where it would lead. From online activation to requiring servers to "authentic" a game purchase I seen red flags. I bought it, I know I own it so WTF do I need some server to verify that? That would even be acceptable IF they had put in place a simple means to basically allow one to keep playing even if servers go down, I trust MY hard drives or MY media, I NEVER have trusted a big corporation to decide if I can play a game I own or not and that is really what it boils down to.