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When The 360 Dies.

InzignaInzigna Registered User regular
edited September 2008 in Games and Technology
So I've been having this fear. We all know consoles eventually die out, such as the Playstation, the Dreamcast and the Xbox, just to name a few recent console exits. And thus I have been thinking, this will eventually happen to the Xbox 360, and we all know how temperamental this console is, the RRODs, the disc drive problems and all kinds of shit; but we haven't really been too hot about it since Microsoft has been nice about replacements and repairing the 360.

But... What happens when the 360 has run its course? What if the next console has no backward compatibility? Will Microsoft stop providing support for the 360?

Will we ever get to play [Insert Game Here] on the 360 in 10 years time?

I'm sorry if this has already been answered, but I'm just worried that everything that I've invested in this console will go to waste once this fragile console dies. Unlike my PS2 and my Dreamcast, which are both holding up extremely well.

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Inzigna on
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Posts

  • mooshoeporkmooshoepork Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    It's the same for anything really. Aren't the newer 360's pretty much bulletproof? Or are they prone to the RROD too?

    Think about the similar problems with the NES cartridges and the batteries dying. How was the solved?

    mooshoepork on
  • JastJast Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I'll tell you, if the successor to the 360 doesn't have BC, I won't be buying it. I've already been burned once on that front.

    Jast on
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  • Waka LakaWaka Laka Riding the stuffed Unicorn If ya know what I mean.Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Its the way all consoles are, how can this not be something simple to figure out - you move onto the next console of choice. No one knows the answer only the console creators and if they leave BC in/out its their own choice.

    I'm fresh out of Crystal balls here, so it is just wait and see.

    Waka Laka on
  • PeregrineFalconPeregrineFalcon Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Inzigna wrote: »
    So I've been having this fear. We all know consoles eventually die out, such as the Playstation, the Dreamcast and the Xbox, just to name a few recent console exits. And thus I have been thinking, this will eventually happen to the Xbox 360, and we all know how temperamental this console is, the RRODs, the disc drive problems and all kinds of shit; but we haven't really been too hot about it since Microsoft has been nice about replacements and repairing the 360.

    But... What happens when the 360 has run its course? What if the next console has no backward compatibility? Will Microsoft stop providing support for the 360?

    Will we ever get to play [Insert Game Here] on the 360 in 10 years time?

    I'm sorry if this has already been answered, but I'm just worried that everything that I've invested in this console will go to waste once this fragile console dies. Unlike my PS2 and my Dreamcast, which are both holding up extremely well.

    Lies!

    /hugs his Dreamcast

    PeregrineFalcon on
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  • InzignaInzigna Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    It's the same for anything really. Aren't the newer 360's pretty much bulletproof? Or are they prone to the RROD too?

    Think about the similar problems with the NES cartridges and the batteries dying. How was the solved?
    I erh, never experienced the NES.

    Do companies like SEGA and Nintendo still provide support for their 'dead' systems?

    Inzigna on
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  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Well most of the older games are now available either on virtual console and other such services. Eventually, any console becomes playable on a PC.

    Evil Multifarious on
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Video games haven't been around long enough that we're seeing their natural end coming en masse. Well, I guess most battery-based NES RPGs are going or gone. Someday every CD/DVD will reach its expiration, the foil will peel off, and your PS1 games will quit. And someday you'll quit, too. Stuff happens.

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  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Eventually, any console becomes playable on a PC.

    We don't like to talk about it much, but yeah, that's generally how it works.

    Daedalus on
  • DeMoNDeMoN twitch.tv/toxic_cizzle Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Video games haven't been around long enough that we're seeing their natural end coming en masse. Well, I guess most battery-based NES RPGs are going or gone. Someday every CD/DVD will reach its expiration, the foil will peel off, and your PS1 games will quit. And someday you'll quit, too. Stuff happens.

    You shut up right now

    DeMoN on
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  • wasted pixelswasted pixels Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    DeMoN wrote: »
    Video games haven't been around long enough that we're seeing their natural end coming en masse. Well, I guess most battery-based NES RPGs are going or gone. Someday every CD/DVD will reach its expiration, the foil will peel off, and your PS1 games will quit. And someday you'll quit, too. Stuff happens.

    You shut up right now

    No kidding, I was having such a nice morning, too. :(

    wasted pixels on
  • AntihippyAntihippy Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Video games haven't been around long enough that we're seeing their natural end coming en masse. Well, I guess most battery-based NES RPGs are going or gone. Someday every CD/DVD will reach its expiration, the foil will peel off, and your PS1 games will quit. And someday you'll quit, too. Stuff happens.

    One day all the universe suns are going to die too, leaving a lifeless universe.

    Stuff happens.

    Antihippy on
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  • SheepSheep Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    edited September 2008
    Do companies like SEGA and Nintendo still provide support for their 'dead' systems?

    Generally, yes.

    I think Nintendo recently quit supporting the SNES and N64. SEGA recently stopped support for the Dreamcast.

    You can usually get a good 10 - 15 years of tech support for a console, depending on popularity.

    Hell, the Mega Drive 3 was recently release in Brazil.

    Sheep on
  • apotheosapotheos Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited September 2008
    It's the same for anything really. Aren't the newer 360's pretty much bulletproof? Or are they prone to the RROD too?

    Think about the similar problems with the NES cartridges and the batteries dying. How was the solved?

    You open the cart and replace the battery.

    You lose your saves, but if it has died you've already crossed that bridge.

    apotheos on


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  • PeregrineFalconPeregrineFalcon Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Antihippy wrote: »
    Video games haven't been around long enough that we're seeing their natural end coming en masse. Well, I guess most battery-based NES RPGs are going or gone. Someday every CD/DVD will reach its expiration, the foil will peel off, and your PS1 games will quit. And someday you'll quit, too. Stuff happens.

    One day all the universe suns are going to die too, leaving a lifeless universe.

    Stuff happens.

    We're going to nuke ourselves into oblivion long before that.

    Stuff will happen and it will be awesome.

    PeregrineFalcon on
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  • JustinSane07JustinSane07 Really, stupid? Brockton__BANNED USERS regular
    edited September 2008
    What a depressing thread.

    Thanks, dicks.

    JustinSane07 on
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    What a depressing thread.

    Thanks, dicks.

    Is it depressing that technology progresses such that all games eventually become portable and playable? Later computers will no doubt be able to store an entire 360 game on the future equivalent of a USB key. People on their consoles two generations from now will be downloading Halo 3 on their Live or PSN equivalent and thinking "ahhh, I remember this one! hahahah, look at how pixellated these graphics are. this was back when they called their displays 'high definition.' those were the days, eh?"

    Hell I can already download games from last generation directly onto my xbox, supplied by Microsoft themselves. I wouldn't worry too much.

    Evil Multifarious on
  • DeMoNDeMoN twitch.tv/toxic_cizzle Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    It's depressing that my multitude of games might cease functioning somewhere down the road, and all those hours and hours of "progress" will be lost.

    DeMoN on
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  • LunkerLunker Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    DeMoN wrote: »
    It's depressing that my multitude of games might cease functioning somewhere down the road, and all those hours and hours of "progress" will be lost.

    If you enjoyed all of those games for years and years, though, is it ever really lost?

    Lunker on
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  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    That's probably the biggest advantage of the PC as a gaming platform. Old games don't really go away, they just require bigger workarounds to use. :)

    Dehumanized on
  • Shoegaze99Shoegaze99 Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Jast wrote: »
    I'll tell you, if the successor to the 360 doesn't have BC, I won't be buying it. I've already been burned once on that front.

    Yeah, BC is a pretty big selling point for me. I actually do go back and play the older games.

    Shoegaze99 on
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I know piracy is verboten on these boards, but I think the ethics and dynamics of it are interesting. In a capitalist society, commodities have to be property and their exchange must be controlled. Simultaneously, though, piracy allows the preservation of those games which would otherwise never again be playable. It indisputably harms current game companies, especially smaller ones, but the games themselves as pieces of entertainment or, god help me, art, are actually disseminated and preserved by pirates.

    I wonder, if we were all a bunch of commie reds after a revolution, would "pirates" become legitimate civilian distribution methods? Or is there only appeal or profit in that form of distribution when it's illegal or at least too difficult for your average non-"hacker" to manage?

    Evil Multifarious on
  • AntihippyAntihippy Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    You play when you should be working? The Motherland is ashamed that such sloths like you are our comrade.

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  • psyck0psyck0 Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Backwards compatibility is pretty recent for consoles. Nothing had it before the PS2, and we were fine.

    psyck0 on
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  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    psyck0 wrote: »
    Backwards compatibility is pretty recent for consoles. Nothing had it before the PS2, and we were fine.

    The Genesis was BC with Master System games, and the Atari 7200 could play Atari 2600 titles.

    Daedalus on
  • Dark BlotusDark Blotus Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    psyck0 wrote: »
    Backwards compatibility is pretty recent for consoles. Nothing had it before the PS2, and we were fine.


    Not quite. Up until the DS came out, every iteration of the gameboy system was backwards compatible with all previous games.

    Also, the sega master system games were compatible with the genesis with an adapter (the power base converter)

    Nintendo pissed off *alot* of parents when the SNES wasnt BC with NES games, but us kids didnt care :P

    Dark Blotus on
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  • Dark BlotusDark Blotus Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    It's the same for anything really. Aren't the newer 360's pretty much bulletproof? Or are they prone to the RROD too?

    Think about the similar problems with the NES cartridges and the batteries dying. How was the solved?

    All 360s are still prone to RROD, its a fundamental design flaw. The newer chips lessen the chances somewhat, but its still a valid concern.

    batteries in NES cartridges arent a problem at all, you can replace them yourself, just need a screwdriver, or a bit to fit the screws. The really old carts use standard phillips screws, but those were around the release of the NES and had the internal 60 to 72 pin adapter in them. Dont think any of those used batteries.

    Dark Blotus on
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  • wasted pixelswasted pixels Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Daedalus wrote: »
    psyck0 wrote: »
    Backwards compatibility is pretty recent for consoles. Nothing had it before the PS2, and we were fine.

    The Genesis was BC with Master System games, and the Atari 7200 could play Atari 2600 titles.

    I also sort of disagree with this notion that we were "fine" before BC. These young'ns who think their Nintendo was the beginning of gaming history may have been fine in the late 90's, but us vintage console owners have been scavanging parts for years.

    wasted pixels on
  • Lave IILave II Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Copyright was originally devised to give people a temporary protection of their ideas to allow them to generate revenue on it, whilst passing it into the public domain fast enough that it has survived till then. And still is in principle, but will Mickey Mouse ever become public domain? No. Too much money is as stake for that ever to be the case. That is why we have vinyl records from the 20's to 50's that are rotting, the CR owners have gone bust, the performers are dead but yet it's illegal (in principle) to preserve them.

    Nevertheless taking the idea and running with, whilst adding in a little bit of IP/trademark laws protect it or lose it and factoring in the fact that one computer year is about 5 real life years, then I think it should be a rule that once a company stops releasing products that can play a game, then that game enters the public domain.

    If nintendo isn't making N64s then all N64 games should be passed into the public domain to ensure their protection and preservation. That is what happens in effect due to emulators and piracy, but it should be enshrined in law.

    Then it becomes an issue if Wii VC reissues prevent the originals entering public domain. Which is a much more rational argument to be having, as it forces the company to archive its content or lose it. Which is in the public interest.

    Lave II on
  • maximumzeromaximumzero I...wait, what? New Orleans, LARegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    My Dreamcast's GD-Rom drive went out a few months ago. I brought it into a local used Videogame shop that repairs consoles and for $30 it worked like new.

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  • wasted pixelswasted pixels Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Lave II wrote: »
    Copyright was originally devised to give people a temporary protection of their ideas to allow them to generate revenue on it, whilst passing it into the public domain fast enough that it has survived till then. And still is in principle, but will Mickey Mouse ever become public domain? No. Too much money is as stake for that ever to be the case. That is why we have vinyl records from the 20's to 50's that are rotting, the CR owners have gone bust, the performers are dead but yet it's illegal (in principle) to preserve them.

    Nevertheless taking the idea and running with, whilst adding in a little bit of IP/trademark laws protect it or lose it and factoring in the fact that one computer year is about 5 real life years, then I think it should be a rule that once a company stops releasing products that can play a game, then that game enters the public domain.

    If nintendo isn't making N64s then all N64 games should be passed into the public domain to ensure their protection and preservation. That is what happens in effect due to emulators and piracy, but it should be enshrined in law.

    Then it becomes an issue if Wii VC reissues prevent the originals entering public domain. Which is a much more rational argument to be having, as it forces the company to archive its content or lose it. Which is in the public interest.

    I like this idea in principle, but it just isn't practical on a few levels.

    It fucks smaller third parties pretty hard, as indies just don't have the resources to keep continually porting a game (and paying the licensing fees to get it on a DRM platform) over and over, so many classics will inevitably lapse into public domain. From there, you'll start seeing the "1,001 classic NES and SNES games" compilation cash-ins.

    It also exacerbates the "Mickey Mouse" dillema; on the one hand, Mickey Mouse is long past due to enter the public domain, but on the other, he's the centerpiece of the Disney brand. The minute Mickey Mouse drops out of copyright protection, he'll be plastered all over cheap watches, made-for-TV movies, and shady hentai websites. Not only will Disney lose control over the financial rights to the character, they'll lose the quality control over how their mascot is used. Imagine a world where anyone who wants to make and sell a Zelda game is free to plaster Link all over their shovelware -- it's pretty obvious to see how that directly harms Nintendo and the consumer.

    We need SOME mechanism in copyright law to protect a consumer's right to continue legally using the software they've purchased after the hardware or storage medium is past prime, but I think simply scaling back some of the more draconian provisions of the DMCA would do the job.

    wasted pixels on
  • yurnamehereyurnamehere Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I think the "Mickey Mouse" dilemma is based on a misunderstanding of copyright law. Sure, people may eventually be able to make copies of "Steamboat Willie" in their garages and sell them to everyone that walks by, but Mickey Mouse the character is trademarked, and trademarks (to my knowledge) don't expire, as long as the company defends it.

    (As an offtopic side note, this is why companies like Disney end up suing daycare centers for painting Mickey on the wall and whatnot. Not because they enjoy doing it, but because the trademark would be voided if they knew about it and chose not to defend their trademark.)

    yurnamehere on
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I think the "Mickey Mouse" dilemma is based on a misunderstanding of copyright law. Sure, people may eventually be able to make copies of "Steamboat Willie" in their garages and sell them to everyone that walks by, but Mickey Mouse the character is trademarked, and trademarks (to my knowledge) don't expire, as long as the company defends it.

    (As an offtopic side note, this is why companies like Disney end up suing daycare centers for painting Mickey on the wall and whatnot. Not because they enjoy doing it, but because the trademark would be voided if they knew about it and chose not to defend their trademark.)

    No, you've got a fundamental misunderstanding of how trademark law works. Mickey Mouse the trademark can't prevent people from making artistic works.

    Here's a good example. Peter Pan is a valid trademark for peanut butter and bus lines, but anyone can make a Peter Pan movie, book, video game, etc, because the original work has hit public domain (except in England where there's this weird, Peter Pan-specific exception codified into law for some reason, but you get the idea).

    (this is probably a good thing, because otherwise Link's character design would infringe on copyrights held by the J. M. Barrie estate).

    Daedalus on
  • yurnamehereyurnamehere Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Daedalus wrote: »
    I think the "Mickey Mouse" dilemma is based on a misunderstanding of copyright law. Sure, people may eventually be able to make copies of "Steamboat Willie" in their garages and sell them to everyone that walks by, but Mickey Mouse the character is trademarked, and trademarks (to my knowledge) don't expire, as long as the company defends it.

    (As an offtopic side note, this is why companies like Disney end up suing daycare centers for painting Mickey on the wall and whatnot. Not because they enjoy doing it, but because the trademark would be voided if they knew about it and chose not to defend their trademark.)

    No, you've got a fundamental misunderstanding of how trademark law works. Mickey Mouse the trademark can't prevent people from making artistic works.

    Here's a good example. Peter Pan is a valid trademark for peanut butter and bus lines, but anyone can make a Peter Pan movie, book, video game, etc, because the original work has hit public domain (except in England where there's this weird, Peter Pan-specific exception codified into law for some reason, but you get the idea).

    (this is probably a good thing, because otherwise Link's character design would infringe on copyrights held by the J. M. Barrie estate).

    Fair enough. I'm not an IP lawyer, after all. Does only the very first appearance of a character "protect" that character? How does it all work when there's still a zillion other (original, not licensed) works based around the character, as with Mickey Mouse?

    yurnamehere on
  • wasted pixelswasted pixels Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I think the "Mickey Mouse" dilemma is based on a misunderstanding of copyright law. Sure, people may eventually be able to make copies of "Steamboat Willie" in their garages and sell them to everyone that walks by, but Mickey Mouse the character is trademarked, and trademarks (to my knowledge) don't expire, as long as the company defends it.

    There was actually a really interesting piece about this in the LA Times a while back: link

    Their interpretation (which is still a matter of controversy, I've listened to IP lawyers argue about this over beers for well over an hour at a time) is that the "current-era" Mickey Mouse would be protected, but the "early" Mickey Mouse probably wouldn't be. "Well, big deal, you have the half-retarded-looking Steamboat Willie character", you might be thinking, but hang on! As Daedalus pointed out, a public domain character like Peter Pan can be "reimagined" in any number of ways, resulting in increasingly intricate webs of IP. Somebody could "reimagine" Mickey Mouse, create their own "Mickey Mouse Peanut Butter" with their own stylized (but still identifiable) Mickey Mouse design, and they'd theoretically be in the clear.

    Modern copyright law is soul-crushingly complicated.

    wasted pixels on
  • Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I think that the preservation of games isn't really going to be an issue. Off the top of my head, the only console games that are really, really to come by are those who largely passed out of the public eye before data storage become cheap. The old Nintendo stuff hung around long enough to get thrown onto the internet, so those games are largely preserved. Since data storage is so cheap these days, the important games get archived pretty easily (albeit illegally), so I don't think we need to worry about that.

    I'm actually more concerned about what will happen with older PC games than console games. Console games get programs written for them that can make them playable on most PCs given enough time, but old PC games can have some serious issues with OS changes, hardware changes, etc. Take the Xcom series. It runs fine on XP, but not on Vista. Steam has a pre-configured version that works on Vista, but now I can't get Terror from the Deep to run.

    I think a federal database of games might not be a bad idea. It sounds a little odd, but games are a bigger industry than Hollywood nowadays and vastly more influential by the very nature of the medium. It wouldn't even be that expensive to set up because of how cheap hard drive space is these days. If and when the original company that made the game dissolves, the game can become public domain. Companies would still be able to protect their IP, but no more of this stupid garbage where we can't get a sequel or even a rerelease of the original game because some corporation or another is squatting on the rights.

    Ninja Snarl P on
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I'm actually more concerned about what will happen with older PC games than console games. Console games get programs written for them that can make them playable on most PCs given enough time, but old PC games can have some serious issues with OS changes, hardware changes, etc. Take the Xcom series. It runs fine on XP, but not on Vista. Steam has a pre-configured version that works on Vista, but now I can't get Terror from the Deep to run.

    The same way we get old console games to run. DosBox isn't a compatibility layer, it's a full x86 machine emulator. If Microsoft finally kills support for programs built on the Win95/98/ME libraries, I'm sure something similar will pop up for that.

    Daedalus on
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    In copyright law, isn't there a difference between that which can be easily copied and therefore needs to be protected from theft for a few years while you make some money on it, and that which is a trade secret or necessity that ought to never pass into public domain, lest your entire business be compromised?

    Of course everyone would want their own creation categorized the second way.

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  • DeMoNDeMoN twitch.tv/toxic_cizzle Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Lunker wrote: »
    DeMoN wrote: »
    It's depressing that my multitude of games might cease functioning somewhere down the road, and all those hours and hours of "progress" will be lost.

    If you enjoyed all of those games for years and years, though, is it ever really lost?

    Yes.

    DeMoN on
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  • DeathPrawnDeathPrawn Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Generally speaking, I am not too worried. Thus far there have been hardware fixes (replacing dead batteries, new NES 72-pin connectors) as well as plenty of less-than-legal archiving.

    What worries me is the XBLA. If your 360 dies twenty years from now, after Microsoft has stopped supporting it, you can get your XBLA games onto a new Xbox, but you won't be able to play them without MS's activation servers. I assume clever hackers will find a solution (as they tend to do) but this generation is really the first one where a software solution is necessary to solve this problem rather than just fixing up old hardware.

    DeathPrawn on
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  • ArcticMonkeyArcticMonkey Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    It also exacerbates the "Mickey Mouse" dillema; on the one hand, Mickey Mouse is long past due to enter the public domain, but on the other, he's the centerpiece of the Disney brand. The minute Mickey Mouse drops out of copyright protection, he'll be plastered all over cheap watches, made-for-TV movies, and shady hentai websites. Not only will Disney lose control over the financial rights to the character, they'll lose the quality control over how their mascot is used. Imagine a world where anyone who wants to make and sell a Zelda game is free to plaster Link all over their shovelware -- it's pretty obvious to see how that directly harms Nintendo and the consumer.
    Cheap Watches and made for TV movies is why Disney wants to protect Mickey. And people who make Disney porn on hentai sites probably don't care about copyright laws anyway.

    ArcticMonkey on
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