I've been into gaming for most of my life. I still have all of my systems hooked up to my TV through switchboxes, from my old NES to my PS2. I still think SNES is the greatest system ever.
That having been said, Nintendo rarely gets credit for something that was done first on THEIR machine. The Super Nintendo was the first to have online console gaming. Most people think that the Xbox is the first, but SNES had Xband, a big purple 2400 baud modem that plugged into the cartridge slot of the SNES. The game cartridge itself then plugged into the top of the modem. Xband was awesome - the people were generally friendly, and being able to play Street Fighter, Killer Instinct, or Super Mario Kart online was just awesome. Sadly, Catapult (the company that produced Xband) went under, and the service was discontinued.
So, when Xbox Live was announced, I was ecstatic. It was the second coming of console gaming online - this time with voice! I couldn't wait for it, but now that I have it, I am horribly disappointed. Not because of the service, and not because of the games, but because of the people. If you have Xbox Live, you probably know what I'm talking about. If you don't, don't bother. The people on there do nothing but swear, scream, sing, and make sexually vulgar statements the whole time you're playing. It is absolutely rediculous. It's nearly impossible to find a game where people are just playing for fun, and are good natured friendly gamers. Then, of course, you get the 12 year old kid who thinks he's "cool" enough to join in, so you have HIM making sex jokes and proclaiming that he's had sex with 20 girls in his eighth grade class or whatever... and no one is even paying attention to the game. I figured, "OK, forget the mic. I'll unplug the mic and won't have to deal with it." Wrong. If you don't have your mic plugged in, more often then not you will be booted from the game. There's no fun at all in it.
So, I guess my whole point is: Beware of Xbox Live. The idea is great, and the system is great. The people on Live, however, aren't.
That having been said, Nintendo rarely gets credit for something that was done first on THEIR machine. The Super Nintendo was the first to have online console gaming. Most people think that the Xbox is the first, but SNES had Xband, a big purple 2400 baud modem that plugged into the cartridge slot of the SNES. The game cartridge itself then plugged into the top of the modem. Xband was awesome - the people were generally friendly, and being able to play Street Fighter, Killer Instinct, or Super Mario Kart online was just awesome. Sadly, Catapult (the company that produced Xband) went under, and the service was discontinued.
So, when Xbox Live was announced, I was ecstatic. It was the second coming of console gaming online - this time with voice! I couldn't wait for it, but now that I have it, I am horribly disappointed. Not because of the service, and not because of the games, but because of the people. If you have Xbox Live, you probably know what I'm talking about. If you don't, don't bother. The people on there do nothing but swear, scream, sing, and make sexually vulgar statements the whole time you're playing. It is absolutely rediculous. It's nearly impossible to find a game where people are just playing for fun, and are good natured friendly gamers. Then, of course, you get the 12 year old kid who thinks he's "cool" enough to join in, so you have HIM making sex jokes and proclaiming that he's had sex with 20 girls in his eighth grade class or whatever... and no one is even paying attention to the game. I figured, "OK, forget the mic. I'll unplug the mic and won't have to deal with it." Wrong. If you don't have your mic plugged in, more often then not you will be booted from the game. There's no fun at all in it.
So, I guess my whole point is: Beware of Xbox Live. The idea is great, and the system is great. The people on Live, however, aren't.
