gone

360 patches are still nothing like the pc patches. your turn on the system. It says " a patch is available for this game/system do you want to download now" yes or no... you click yes and it does it and will reboot if needed. nothing like a PC.

360 patches are still nothing like the pc patches. your turn on the system. It says " a patch is available for this game/system do you want to download now" yes or no... you click yes and it does it and will reboot if needed. nothing like a PC.


Sounds a lot like a PC to me.

^Yeah but it's not as often-- you won't even notice.

Sounds a lot like a PC to me.


Well it's not a toaster, if that's what you mean.

Occasionally game makers will update their products by a patch. If one find's that objectionable, then perhaps they should sell their 360 on the ebay, because I don't think it's going to stop. I personally prefer support after a product has shipped, but I understand that others don't.

Unfortunately as games get more and more complex, patches are going to be needed.

In previous generations, games that did have bugs usually COULDN'T be patched at all so you were SOL if it was one that erased your save or wouldn't let you progress, etc. At least now you are given the ability to (and you don't have to except if you want to play online in a Live enabled game). Also patches for games on consoles in general are a lot more stable as in you don't get the case where a PC patch might hose the NVIDIA people, or such and such sound card, etc.

I thought if i purchased a 360 i wouldnt have to deal with patches and updates. I get that with the PC. I dont want to have to deal with it on the 360. how often do you have to download patches with/for games on an average? I want the 360 for simplification.

It's nothing to be concerned about. The Xbox 360 patches are very infrequent and they're very small in file size (it always takes me less than 30 seconds to download the patches on a 10mb/s cable connection).

Now, there are also game patches that are released by the game studios. For the games that I own, the patches have been good because they either fixed bugs or improved gameplay or both. Of course, there are some game patches that may cause issues but I haven't come across those.

To answer your question, I've had my 360 since Feb 2006 and I think there were around 3 Xbox 360 patches since then (most of which added features).

When you think about it, the patches are actually a *good* thing, in that they can address major game issues dynamically over time. This is particularly important for multiplayer games, where cheating, exploits, and balance are all issues over time, but is still useful even for strictly offline games.

Think about all the bugs reported in Knights of the Old Republic II... Some of them were minor, but some were pretty nasty; if a patch had been able to be released to correct just a few of the larger bugs, the perceived quality of the title probably would have been a good bit higher.

Patches are a problem if developers use them as a crutch to release unfinished games to be patched later.

This hasn't really been the case with the 360, and as stated patches are pretty transparent and oftentimes offer new functionality and content.

if it's a patch for a game it will install when the game starts (assuming you're connected to Live). It will tell you there's a patch available and ask if you want to install it. It will download, install, and restart the game.

If it's a system update it will ask when you turn the machine on.

Both will prevent you from being on Live if you don't update.

Patches are a problem if developers use them as a crutch to release unfinished games to be patched later.

This hasn't really been the case with the 360, and as stated patches are pretty transparent and oftentimes offer new functionality and content.

Consoles all have higher QA than PCs because MS, Sony or Nintendo have to approve the game before it ships. On PCs MS doesn't run through every program that gets released just to make sure it is good code. Pc developers can put out much buggier games than console makers which is why pc games get so many more patches.

Patches?..... Patches? We don't need no stinkin' patches!!!
:D

Consoles all have higher QA than PCs because MS, Sony or Nintendo have to approve the game before it ships. On PCs MS doesn't run through every program that gets released just to make sure it is good code. Pc developers can put out much buggier games than console makers which is why pc games get so many more patches.

I understand that.

Having the ability to patch games later makes it a concern, though.

LOL ... just a concern? im still having WoW flashbacks, a PC game i had for 2 weeks and just gave up on as i couldnt get it running for more then 4 hours at a time. (but when it ran it was good.) But the way its talked about i dont think i have anything to worry about with patches and the 360. I just dont want to be running into that type of experience anymore so i ask questions.

If i am downloading a patch and my cable modem drops out can the patch get corrupted and if so what then? just erase the patch and download it again? is the patch installed on a harddrive? and if the harddrive becomes corrupted then what happens?

Yes, just a concern. Until there are games blatantly released unfinished that require frequent patching, it's just a concern.

I've never heard of anyone having any problems with corrupted patches. This isn't analagous to WoW in any way.

If your hard drive becomes corrupted then you'd replace it and redownload the patches. Losing your saved games would be a much bigger problem then having to repatch a game. Again, it's pretty painless and happens automatically.

Well it's not a toaster, if that's what you mean.

Occasionally game makers will update their products by a patch. If one find's that objectionable, then perhaps they should sell their 360 on the ebay, because I don't think it's going to stop. I personally prefer support after a product has shipped, but I understand that others don't.

Your toaster doesn't require a patch??? I thought EVERYTHING required patches these days? :p

Do they ever release patches to update rosters for NBA2k7 or NBA Live?

Sounds a lot like a PC to me.
Funny but there are MANY other devices that are updated and patched these days.
TIVO
HD DVD Players
BLU Ray Players
Smart Phones
Universal Remotes

I'm sure people can name a few more.
Get used to it

Funny but there are MANY other devices that are updated and patched these days.
TIVO
HD DVD Players
BLU Ray Players
Smart Phones
Universal Remotes

I'm sure people can name a few more.
Get used to it

Almost EVERYTHING electronics based receives a patch or firmware update nowadays. Routers, AV Receivers, MP3 players, Satellite/Cable boxes, etc.

Welcome to the software world! :D

if you got some time i would love some xbox360 101.
can you give me a kind of play by the numbers? like do i have to?
1. insert game
2. install game?
3. register game?
4. insert 20 digit code for authentification?
5 download patches (which you said is automatic so thats nice)
6. then jump in the game and play or are there more steps?

?

Here's what I do:

1. Insert game
2. Play game

If the game requires a patch, and I am connected to XBL (which is always, even if I am not officially 'signed in' yet), it asks 'do you want to download the patch now?' and I select 'yes.' It then downloads the patch and restarts the game, and so then I

2. Play game

If there is a dashboard update, it asks 'there is a dashboard update available; do you want to download this now?' and I select 'yes' and it downloads the patch and restarts the dashboard.

analagous? dont know that word... but it sounds like a good thing. you aint got a definitiion do ya?

if you got some time i would love some xbox360 101.
can you give me a kind of play by the numbers? like do i have to?
1. insert game
2. install game?
3. register game?
4. insert 20 digit code for authentification?
5 download patches (which you said is automatic so thats nice)
6. then jump in the game and play or are there more steps?

First, I have to say that is a great sig line - which I will now commit to my memory.

Second, all you do is put in your game and play it. If there is a patch, it is really simple. You don't install, register, or authenticate games like you do on a PC. Just put it in and play, the 360 takes care of everything for you.

analagous? dont know that word... but it sounds like a good thing. you aint got a definitiion do ya?

if you got some time i would love some xbox360 101.
can you give me a kind of play by the numbers? like do i have to?
1. insert game
2. install game?
3. register game?
4. insert 20 digit code for authentification?
5 download patches (which you said is automatic so thats nice)
6. then jump in the game and play or are there more steps?


Cadbury, it's nothing like that at all! No install, no registration or serial code. Plus you have your XBOX Live ID and friends list so you don't have to set them up totally from scratch with every new game.

I had a dog named Patches once, she got hit by a bus.

cool... very cool. Simple is the way for me.
and thanks for the compliment on the sig line. :) feel free to use it as its not mine. it belongs to Edgar Allen Poe.


EDIT
Thanks for all the usefull info people. it is truely useful to me. it also instills confidence that i am going to really like thing. i aint had a console since SNES. lol so i am out of date and am going to be filling these threads up with all kinds of questions. So BEWARE OF THE NOOOB! LOL.

Don't worry, consoles haven't changed direction. They've gotten a lot more features, and gone way up in tech, but they still work the same way. Plug in the cables, turn console on, put a game in, play it, turn off.

Except now we have a bunch of extra cables, like component video, optical audio, and ethernet thrown in there, and the games are on DVD's now, and you can rip music to your console and play it in game. Oh, and controllers are wireless now.



Honestly, I think you will grow to like the Xbox Dashboard patches. Those are mainly used to add features fans complained that the console lacked, like 1080p support, volume controls in the music player, the ability to stream videos from a PC, changing confusing menu layouts, adding drivers for new accessories, that sort of thing.

The consoles have added a lot in the last few years and those who desire too can go in and do a lot of other stuff then just play the game. But a console is still designed for the masses and is meant to be simple. Put the game in and play it. No upgrading everytime a new game comes out. No hunting down drivers or the one game update that fixes your issue. Put it in, if the developer or MS released a patch you select yes to update, and play.

Initial setup is only a little tricky (apparently) if you have an HDTV. And thats only because a lot of people forget to flip the little switch right on the cable and then set their display settings to the HD resolution. Note setting the display resolution is part of the initial console setup that MS walks you through when you first plug it in. It is very, very simple. I would say this game system was designed so even a "caveman can do it" ;).

Patches?..... Patches? We don't need no stinkin' patches!!!
:DDang you! I was coming here to bring that quote. Except I would've used "esteenken" instead of "stinkin'".

Yeah, don't worry, the patch is not really an "installation" per se, it's just a monolothic object which is downloaded and stashed on the hard drive. When the game boots, the OS (firmware) or some common piece of software checks to see if there are any authenticated files on the hard drive which should replace those in the game. If so, it just goes ahead and uses those files when needed instead of the ones on the disk. It's entirely transparent and happens at runtime.

Only Microsoft can sign the patches, to avoid any sort of backdoor issues (and also to make sure that the quality level is preserved; developers can't release random untested patches)...