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It’s Vegas week at IGN Xbox. Over the past five days we’ve revealed Midway’s This is Vegas, got hands-on time with Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and reviewed Poker Smash. Vegas is known as Sin City and as the name implies, the town is famous for embracing the seven deadly sins.
We decided to explore the seven sins (gluttony, pride, lust, envy, greed, sloth and wrath) as they pertain to 360 and its community. What follows is an examination of how these sins manifest on the 360 and, more importantly, why they are harmful.
Gluttony
What’s the Sin?
Gluttony is over-indulgence in anything, not just food. A gluttonous person is one obsessed with consuming far more than is necessary.How has it Manifested on 360?
Xbox 360 is an enabler for gluttonous gamers in ways unseen on PS3 or Wii. Achievement whores are those who are so obsessed with racking up Gamerpoints, they will play any game, no matter the quality. These sad, sorry sacks are the ones who rent Avatar: The Last Airbender to score its easily won 1000 Gamerpoints, who play through King Kong for its easy points, who avoid “wasting time” with great XBLA titles because they offer minimal points for considerable effort.How Does it Hurt the Industry?
There are great personal and even social rewards for having a high Gamerscore. However, true Achievement whores will play bad games just for points. And that means they are also supporting those bad games. And when companies see additional sales and rentals, it only encourages them to continue making bad games. There’s nothing wrong with playing the hell out of a good game in order to earn every last Achievement. Doing so with a game you know is terrible is a disservice to yourself and developers of worthwhile games.Known Sinners
Jeff Gerstmann
Rob “Semsational” Semsey
Will Tuttle
YouPride
What’s the Sin?
Considered the first sin, pride has brought down entire nations. Pride can consume an ego and prevent one from admitting to mistakes or backing down from an incorrect position.How has it Manifested on 360?
It was no secret that Microsoft’s first console bled a lot of money. So when Xbox 360 became a hit, the big MS understandably was beaming. But for all of Xbox 360’s success, there was one nagging problem — launch systems were dying at a rapid rate. Microsoft denied a high failure rate for well over a year. Though Microsoft initially extended the 90-day warranty to a full year, it refused to acknowledge a significant problem. In fact, executives claimed an “acceptable” fail rate of under six percent. It wasn’t until July 2007 that Microsoft finally admitted there was a serious issue. Pride broke and the one-year warranty was extended to three.How Does it Hurt the Industry?
Trust is crucial between publishers and gamers. A console is, after all, a considerable investment. Not only is a consumer spending several hundred dollars on a machine, but they are essentially promising to purchase multiple titles over the lifespan of the console. When one side can’t admit a mistake to the other, the unspoken bond between a gamer and her console of choice is frayed. Would you trust the stability of Microsoft’s next console?Known Sinners
MicrosoftLust
What’s the Sin?
Lust is an excessive desire for sexual fulfillment, sometimes at the disregard of personal safety.How has it Manifested on 360?
Sex sells. It’s an age-old adage and one that seems a constant for videogame marketing. Despite the controversy surrounding a certain blue-assed alien, Mass Effect is incorrectly categorized as a game selling sex. It is, instead, games such as DOAX 2, Saints Row and just about any street racing game that use women to sell products. Even the seemingly innocent King from BK Games’ Big Bumpin’ relied on cover girl Brooke Burke to sell a few extra copies. Sex is a mainstay of advertising across a variety of industries, but is unusually prominent in selling videogames.How Does it Hurt the Industry?
Many in mainstream America view videogames as having no redeeming values and consider the industry to lack a moral compass. Sexual imagery is culturally tied to violence. So when scantily-clad women or lewdness are used to market games (even ones that have no illicit content), it enforces the idea that games are about nothing but fulfilling adolescent fantasies both violent and sexual. Not to mention that this type of marketing objectifies women and may even ostracize a potential female audience.Known Sinners
Blood Rayne
Bullet Witch
DOAX 2
DOA 4
IGN
MX vs. ATV Untamed
Need for Speed ProStreet
Rumble Roses
Saints RowEnvy
What’s the Sin?
Envy is a desire for something possessed by someone else. That can be a material item, physical trait or anything the envious wishes belonged to them.How has it Manifested on 360?
Some might believe that fanboys display the sin of pride. However, if you consider the psychology of fanboyism, it is more likely envy that fuels the bitter tirades on message boards. Envy is as much about wanting what another has as it is about your own insecurities. If you have faith and confidence in your console or favorite game, there is no need to react with vitriol to the comments of others. When a 360 fanboy rants about PlayStation Home or Killzone 2 or the success of the Wii, are we to believe that they wouldn’t welcome these things if they were on 360? And if we accept this, then it is clear that these fine young zealots are in fact envious of the things not available on their console of choice. To paraphrase Shakespeare, “The fanboy doth protest too much.”How Does it Hurt the Industry?
It is rare that anything constructive comes from dialogue motivated by envy. Rather than espousing the positive aspects of their console of choice, envious rants offer only negativity. In the end, we are one global gaming community. And whether you prefer 360, PS3 or Wii, ultimately we all are just seeking great gaming experiences. Envy clouds common sense and can close us off to what would otherwise be great moments in gaming.Known Sinners
Say hi for usGreed
What’s the Sin?
Excess leads to sin and in the case of greed that excess is the extreme desire for more wealth.How has it Manifested on 360?
Have you taken a look at some of the outrageous prices for downloadable content on the Xbox Live Marketplace? Paying for extra content is one thing, but some companies are asking inflated prices for content that should be free or sold for considerably less. The desire to take every last penny from the consumer doesn’t always end at the cash register.How Does it Hurt the Industry?
Overpriced downloads can sour consumers on the entire concept of digital distribution. The ease and convenience of downloading extras, expansions and entire games should be great news for both gamers and publishers. It only takes a few greedy publishers to keep the entire community wary of being taken. What’s more, some downloads can give those who pay for them a competitive edge in online gaming by offering cheats and bonuses. That’s bad.Known Sinners
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Horse Armor
Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack
Guitar Hero II Song Packs
Tiger Woods ’07 Cheats (and other EA Games)
Ace Combat 6 Planes
All Themes and GamerpicsSloth
What’s the Sin?
Laziness, indifference and reluctance to take action are all attributes of the slothful.How has it Manifested on 360?
Now we’re not one to call developers lazy, especially after we’ve seen some of the great lengths they go to complete games during crunch time. But there are those games that seem to be delayed perpetually. A good game takes time, but sometimes you have to wonder if some games are taking too long to make it out of the gate. Many of these titles are announced for one system but then end up finally releasing on another. Others get delayed into oblivion and never see the light of day.How Does it Hurt the Industry?
We don’t get to play the games.Known Sinners
Kameo
Too Human
Huxley
Alan WakeWrath
What’s the Sin?
Wrath is uncontrollable anger. We’re talking Incredible Hulk on a bad day.How has it Manifested on 360?
Xbox Live has become a forum for bigotry and hate-spew. Play a few hours on Xbox Live against random opponents and you are bound to come across at least one idiot screaming racial slurs, making death threats or otherwise being verbally abusive to his fellow gamers. This level and unabashed anger and hatred is widespread and largely unavoidable, despite Microsoft’s filtration measures.
How Does it Hurt the Industry?
Xbox 360 is centered around its online community. While PS3 can tout a Blu-ray drive and built-in Wifi, 360 is the undisputed king of online play. But the growing Xbox Live community at times seems under siege by immature boys with no respect for others. These fools drive away worthy online competitors who would rather play offline than have to listen to some of the garbage on Xbox Live. That’s not healthy for a growing online community. Or humanity as a whole.Known Sinners
You know who you areTwitter.com/scatigno1
Youtube.com/scatigno9
@Scatigno 8302 wrote:
Gluttony
What’s the Sin?
Gluttony is over-indulgence in anything, not just food. A gluttonous person is one obsessed with consuming far more than is necessary.How has it Manifested on 360?
Xbox 360 is an enabler for gluttonous gamers in ways unseen on PS3 or Wii. Achievement whores are those who are so obsessed with racking up Gamerpoints, they will play any game, no matter the quality. These sad, sorry sacks are the ones who rent Avatar: The Last Airbender to score its easily won 1000 Gamerpoints, who play through King Kong for its easy points, who avoid “wasting time” with great XBLA titles because they offer minimal points for considerable effort.Did you ever find Avatar to Rent Talon.
You told me you couldn’t find it anywhere Hahahahahaha.Twitter.com/scatigno1
Youtube.com/scatigno9
I’m getting tired of all these first person shooters… I want a good RPG like Oblivion but better… even more involving. Maybe an Oblivion MMO for ‘360 :eek:
@THEBRICK 973 8305 wrote:
i love getting acievements but i play good games
Same here man i’ve beaten games on the hardest level and that’s some shit that I never did before acheivement points.
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