Failing the boyfriend test (Xbox 360 annoyance #011)

You need to move and find a new boyfriend. Something is wrong with those people. A girl who can't get her boyfriend into gaming, I must admit this is an original quandary. Fortunately the solution is simple, find any one of the millions of normal boys who are already addicted.

"the ability to stream music from my PC is pointless when we already have MTV."

That is when I stopped reading your post.

Heh, agree with #1...

Sadly your friends are right.. if you compare the difference between Playstation to Playstation 2.. you KNEW where your $ was going.. with the XBox 360.. it's not as obvious..

Well, obviously if they watch TV over enjoying games, their intelligence has to be brought into question.

And MTV gives you something to look at, music does not. Abstract visuals don't hold much sway with people who are enamored with Real World (or whatever MTV plays these days) I suppose.

#1 -- that's a direct quote from one of my housemates. What's the advantage in inflicting my music selection on them with visualisations, when they can watch ten or more music channels with videos? Mind you, they do have very little musical taste. ;)

ahahaha i totally read MTV as MythTV

oops

I'm no 360 fan... don't even have one... but your boyfriend and roomates sound like loads of fun.

/sarcasm

dump the loser and be my second wife

Is MTV at least slightly different in the UK? In the US it's a generally accepted fact that MTV doesn't play music.

Holy hell!! Your MTV plays music?!? What's that like?

...gotta agree with patricio... lol... the hell are you doing watching mtv on purpose? and what kind of alternate-universe-cable feed do you have that allows you to actually listen to music from mtv? mtv hasn't played music videos since god knows when...

...yr boyfriend just sounds like he's not too easily amazed by pretty eye candy... ten bucks says there's a revolution next to your good tv in a year's time while the 360's still stuck in the back room...

I used to have 2 music channels on Dutch telly (MTV and The Music Factory). I actually bought digital TV today because it would give me 5 extra channels in the Music category... and they actually play music!

I was delighted.

#8,9: Ah, that would be a cultural thing then. Here, MTV does indeed play music. :)

Having just checked my Sky box to see what was on MTV UK nowadays, we lucky people get 3 hours a day of MUSIC! In fact, looking at the 5 MTV channels (MTV1,2,Dance,Base,Hits) - we get a grand total of 48 hours of music a day - less than half of MTV's output on five channels is actually music videos.

Joy of joys.

*goes back to play marble blast ultra with ipod in full swing*

Hahhaha, very funny Jason P. My wife is addicted to MTV reality shows. I can't stand them, and it seems like that's all MTV is showing these days. Occasionally at like 3am you can still find actual music on MTV though.

I am a big gamer and when my buddy got his xbox360, I went over to check it out and I felt exactly like Jennies roommates. As in, "ok, now what?". The 360 is a good console and the launch lineup is pretty solid (at least for western tastes), but its just not a large enough improvement over origal xbox to get a reaction from anyone but xbox hardcores. Maybe its because the original xbox was ahead of its time? Maybe they just cut the generation too short to get to market first? Maybe they rushed it? Maybe the previous generational leaps have been much bigger so our expectations were too high? Maybe MS overhyped it in an effort to drive interest? I think its a combination of all of the above.

Does this mean it won't sell well or be successful? Not at all. I think it will do well and maybe if sony or nintendo screws up it will do REALLY well. It seems off to a solid start (if they can get the manufacturing issues squared away) and I look forward to watching this gen develop.

"the ability to stream music from my PC is pointless when we already have MTV."

Ha-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah!

This is one of those things that I disagree with since well, MTV is full of crappy rap artists and is only for people whose tastes in music change every month to the newest trend.

I'm usually not one to rag on other peoples' taste in music, but I cannot stress how much MTV is not a taste in music, but rather a taste in the producers' of the shows music, which is based on whichever record company pays them the most or based on money in some fashion or way.

Anyways, usually it's the boys who're trying to get the girls to play the games. You must be dating some sort of jock or something since every guy that I know and hang out with plays video games on a mildly dangerous level.

When me and my friends get together we're either watching T.V or playing video games or something. And trust me, D.O.A. makes an excellent party game with the little tournaments and such.

So no, I don't really see where you're coming from here.

Xavier, you're an idiot. Read up on the comments (#5, to be specific) before you decide to be a douchebag.

Not to be rude, but who really cares if they enjoy your passion or not? You said you were a PC gamer, which is relatively solo. Not like it's a new twist. I'd have to agree with your BF though, currently the 360 is a waste of money. Live Arcade is great and all, but it isn't worth $400+live fees+arcade fees.

I do agree with the above post of Kamalot's though(*shudder*), TV is a drag and I generally look down on people that watch anything more than like two shows a week.

Wait! I thought MTV didn't play Music Videos anymore.

I'm bored with most of my store bought games that I have right now, for the 360. I for one am patiently awaiting the upcoming releases to throw some new meat into the mix. I don't need 10-25 titles in the first three months of the release to tell me if the next 5-6 yrs are going to suck or not. Patience is a virtue, Jennie. Tell your lil boy, err boyfriend to sit down, shut up, and learn him something.

Oh, and I do envy you for your version of MTV...Ours is so commercial oriented instead of music oriented

The problem is not in the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 is a great machine. Not only is it currently the only way to get a taste of next generation gaming, it will push the game industry to create better online games.

I think the problem is that your boyfriend does not appreciate gaming as much as you do. It’s kind of like how some people need to spend $400.00 USD on a purse. You look at it and expect it to do something special, but it doesn’t. How does it compare to other purses? It doesn’t really. At least not to you…

It’s okay that the kinds of games that he likes are Mario Kart DS, Singstar, and the Monkey Island series. It’s okay that he’d rather watch Neighbours and Eastenders (what are those shows?) instead of play PGR3 or Perfect Dark Zero. You don’t need to blame that on him or the Xbox 360. He just has different tastes. Not everyone is the same.

The problem is that game console development companies cater to the majority of people who will be interested in buying their product. Even if a company were to create a console that would cater primarily to the interests of your boyfriend, most people would not buy it considering the type of games that the majority of people like. I’m sure that there eventually will be games on the Xbox 360 that your boyfriend will like. In the meantime, try getting him to play some Hexic HD or Geometry Wars. My girlfriend does not find PGR3 or Perfect Dark Zero interesting either, but she plays Hexic HD and Geometry Wars just as much as I do. It’s worth a try at least!

You are a woman, who spent money on a 360 to play games on? You are every gamers dream yet you're boyfriend blows you off when you want to spend time with him? Not to get to much in personal life but ither whip him into shape or find some one who will appreciate you for who you are. I would love to have a 360 let alone a girl to spend alot of time playing games with on it :(

So let me get this straight. Your boyfriend:

* likes karaoke
* uses MTV as is his go-to source for good music
* digs pirates
* watches daytime australian soap operas
* enjoys fooling around with male italian plumbers
* isn't interested in cool cars
* doesn't like blowing things up
* turns the girlfriend down when she wants to spend "quality" time with him

I hate to be the one to tell you, but your boyfriend is gay.

"It’s okay that he’d rather watch Neighbours and Eastenders (what are those shows?) "

neighbours is an australian import soap for the uk. crock of shit
eastenders is the bbcs biggest program, yet again a crock of shit watched by mums and grans all over the country (also, jennies boyfriend. doesnt play games, watches soaps all day

where the hells the rest of my previous comment gone?

basicaly jennie, like mirobin says, your boyfriend is gay! dump him, find a normal guy, who'll tell you to turn that crap (eastenders) off the tv, and fire up that white box of wonders.

im in scotland, we must live close ;-)

gt- RJD2two

I'm assuming everyone that's making fun of the MTV comment forgot about the channel labeled as MTV2...where they actually do nothing but play music for almost 95% of the day.

Unlike MTV where you might get music 5% of the day. *shrugs*

I'd rather watch grass grow or paint dry either way, but the point does stand and that's probably the channel she meant.

Glad to see such great relationship advice ;)

I never actually said he doesn't spend time with me. I love having a non-gamer boyfriend--it's great for many different reasons. He just doesn't understand why I bought an Xbox 360 rather than spending a fraction of the price on a couple of games for my Xbox, PS2, PSP, DS, PC, Dreamcast, N64 or other consoles. A crucial part of the Xbox 360's success in the mainstream is to win over people like James' girlfriend and my housemates -- and yet from this perspective it's failed dismally so far.

My god, how bitchy some of the comments on here are.

Im embarrassed to be considered a Joystiq reader now, seriously

Oh yeah, where did you get that pic of a broken 360 from?

If the preson didnt like it s/he could of givien it to me!

Wow, gamer girlfriends are so hard to find, and this jock has one and doesn't even appreciate it.

What the funk.

These lists are just getting stupid now. Also, don't know what kind of DVDs you are watching but none ov mine have had the slightest problem playing on the 360.

This stupid xbox 360 stuff isn't done? We get the point, you guys can't get enough of the xbox 360.. it's not the best system in the world. I hope you guys do the same for PS3 and Revolution.

"This stupid xbox 360 stuff isn't done? We get the point, you guys can't get enough of the xbox 360.. it's not the best system in the world. I hope you guys do the same for PS3 and Revolution."

maybe they will... NEXT YEAR.

i think the nintendo will get a lot of attention, but the ps3 is just going to be a year late 360 with a stupid looking controller, same games (except GT and MGS (yawn)) and blu-ray (

Here's a bit of advice for the haters out there:

1.) Hook your 360 up to an HDTV- the bigger the better.
2.) Play games on it.
3.) Hook your original xbox, ps2, or cube up to the same TV.
4.) Play games on it.
5.) Think about what you said about the 360 not being much of a technological leap over the last generation on systems.
6.) Feel stupid for opening you uninformed mouth.
7.) Repeat as needed.

While it's true a 360 game played at standard def doesn't seem like much of a leap over the current gen, the PS3's gonna look about the same. Time to buy new TV's people.

As far as the rest of the article goes, seriously considering the opinions of people who choose to watch MTV (or their associates), no matter what country you're in, is always a bad idea.

Well its too bad that your boyfriend and other friends just don't understand and participate in your fun with the system. I have fun with mine and it is only allowed to live on my 64" HDTV while on the nice surround sound system that was rebuilt for it (as I had a power surge that killed my previous ES reciever).

I opened mine and played it on Thanksgiving day with some friends, but since then noone has really made noises about wanting to play it anymore. Some people will probably consider it a travesty, but I only play mine for between 2 and 5 hours a week. I enjoy it a lot, but I don't live and breath to play games.

But just as your boyfriend doesn't get you and your 360, I don't get people who have to have sound in the background. I'm one of those people that prefers silence if what I'm doing isn't specifically part of the sound. Though I do listen to music when I'm driving, either on the console or IRL.