Problems with Microsoft's Game Room?

It seems that there may be problems with Microsoft's new XBLA venture: Game Room.

Our console here at the office gets stuck at around 20% when trying to load the client, and a search on Twitter using the #GameRoom tag seems to reveal many other people experiencing a similar problem.

[ProjectVulcan]

Because paying 240 points for a license or 40 points a pop every ancient game isnt problem enough??

Ridiculous rip off. Once upon a time there were these compilations for consoles where you bought a whole bunch of ancient arcade titles 50 in 1 or whatever for 20 quid if that floated your boat. MAME exists. Mobile phone emulation exists. There is about a zillion ways to play these games on a zillion platforms, none of them involve blowing 2 quid each or 35 pence a pop to play them.

[WhittO]

lol! I thought they were free like the ones in Home ?

[ProjectVulcan]

No lol. Microsoft want 240 points for the privilege to 'own' future arcade titles and play them as you please (even if you already bought the exact SAME game off arcade marketplace in the past!!)

Alternatively they want 40 points per credit per game.

[caffman]

so whats your problem?

[Bubbles_Kitty_Cat]

Game Room has been working fine for me.

[WhittO]

how many points = real money ?

Like how much is 40 points ?

MS really need to start using normal money haha, one of the big +'s for PSN, no converting.

[AAACE5]

I was mad about having to pay for the games on Game Room, but he wasn't lying. You get 15 free games with it. Pack 1 has 8 games and pack 2 has 7. Since they gave us some free I guess it ain't so bad to start. A few of these games are pretty fun though still. I hope they will be able to get us later games that were in the arcades like Karate champ or Rygar etc.

[Diamondwolf]

40 points = 50 cents

400 points = $5

1600 = $20

etc etc.

[siyrobbo]

I get my points for £15 for 2100

Which makes each game for game room cost £1.71, which on the face of it i think isn't too bad a deal to be able to LEGALLY play the games

40 points to play each game works out at around 28p, I would have preferred a limited free trials like normal arcade games tho

They are much better value for money than the ludicrously expensive and pointless avatar marketplace items (£2.85 for a light sabre????)

[ThanatosDMC]

And they compared this to Home?

[NLGSean]

Nope, Game Room is not like Home... Game Room does not have "Gold Avatar" Outfits for $15 a pop...

Also, lets clarify something.. its 240 points to buy the games, 40 to play if you don't own the game... Not 240 and also 40 points to play each time...

Quit being hypocrites people. Home is nickle and dime'n everyone as well... Its called "Business"... People pay $3-5 for outfits on Home (lets not forget the $15 Home Gold outfit), yet if you buy an old arcade classic on the 360 for 240 points its being stupid?

Grow up people... Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo.. ALL GUILTY!

[KingME]

Why is it that seemingly PS3 Fans are the only ones complaining about what Microsoft is charging? 90% of the time when you here some crybaby whining on the internet about something Microsoft is charging for it's a PS3 Fanboy.

The weird thing is that when Sony does something similar, they find ways to rationalize it and spin it as a good thing. Please by all means hate Microsoft all you want, but can you keep it to yourself. The rest of us don't want to here it; especially in an Xbox 360 thread.

One last reminder for everyone, you don't need to complain about something that is not forced upon you. Just opt not to buy it and move on. This way everyone else can live in piece.

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

I agree. It is an option and you don't have to buy it if you don't want to. It is OPTIONAL!!!

What part of that word do people not understand?

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

Outside the convenience of the 360, there's cheaper alternatives to playing these games. I'd rather have the game on disc anyway.

Intellivision games would hook me if it wasn't for the price. Nostalgia is one thing, but those games are 30 years old. They should be owned for 50 cents.

Prices for DLC content is stupid crazy this gen.

@KingMe

He also doesn't mention that outfits in home are a dollar or less - something to do with the money left over from buying flower. The gold outfit was stupid pricey, but I never see anybody wearing one.

1UP

[BeaArthur]

The problem is people are trying to use it. I don't see what the appeal of the game room is.

[jmoneezie]

I don't see the appeal in waiting everytime I enter or exit a dwelling in Home. I don't see the appeal in JRPGs, but why should you care right?

[wicked]

I have just downloaded it and now down loading the games packs. Seems to be working for me in the UK.

Edit: just downloaded games pack2 and now it is stopping at about 20% in the loading screen.

[hill71]

at least home is free

[Bubbles_Kitty_Cat]

Home is free because nobody would actually pay for it.

Seriously.

[TheBand1t]

And you have to pay for the Game Room because MS knows you chumps will pay for arcade games that are free anywhere on the internet.

Seriously.

[DelbertGrady]

Actually, you get Game Room + 15 games for free. That's more games than you can find in all of Home. And best of all, no queueing. :)

[Chubear]

If HOME came to the 360 exactly the way it is on the PS3 with Halo themed game rooms and Commander Shephard private spaces, the 360 base would willingly pay $19.99 for each individual space w/ $59.99 a year just to access 360HOME and you know it.

Can you imagine if 360 fans could walk around in a 3D gaming forum world with Master Chief's armor on in a game space dedicated to the halo universe with all their friends or gears or ME universes? They'd go stark raving bananas with excitement. You'd see pics of the thing on gaming forum sigs and vids everywhere.

Yeah, say no all you want. You know it and I know it. If the 360fans spend money on 2D clothing for a avatar Xter that can only stand in one static spot and show it off on their gaming forum sigs... what do YOU think they'd be doing with actual 3D worlds and avatars.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Or they can play the superior version on PC.. Second Life

PS: This game room thing is lame imo. I am so burnt on the retro thing and being nickled and dimed for it is even worse.

[NLGSean]

Home is Free...

Game Room itself is Free...

You have the options to PAY for items in both...

Quit being hypocrites people...

[Arnon]

Uh no... I would not use HOME on my 360. I've used it on my PS3, and it was quite possibly the biggest waste of my time on that console. There was absolutely nothing to do, and buying "clothing" and "spaces" is just silly. I'd rather that money go towards owning games.

With that being said, I couldn't care about either of them. However, I feel Microsoft's approach is much more practical and worth your money compared to HOME.

[plb]

I liked gameroom better when I thought you could actually walk around like home. I guess showing the bottom of an avatars foot is just too much trouble though. I don't like this menu system thing.

[Godmars290]

This arcade space is and has only been a 3D menu.

And its hilarious that after all the criticisms Home has gotten for being in beta, that this dumbed down copy isn't working day-one.

[Memo-Xen x3100]

http://support.xbox.com/sup...

Should be resolved within maximum 24 hours, you can contact xbox customer support at 1-800-4MY-XBOX and they'll tell you the same thing!

[Foliage]

OMG LET'S BLOW THIS OUT OF PROPORTION!!! WE NEED A MILLION ARTICLES ON THIS!!! AHHHHHHHHH!

360 ARMAGEDDON... WORST MISTAKE EVER!!! AHHH!!!

Wouldn't it be funny if the media reacted the same way to all the 360 failures as the few non-issues seen from the PS3? I guess it would get pretty repetitice with how much failure the 360 sees.

[DarkBlood]

so these packs that go with the gamerooms are the games already selected or do u choose the amount given by a pack?

[Socomer 1979]

if the media went all squeeky geeky like they do for ps3 for xbox360 failures, it would be a daily routine. it might even get boring.

i know the first problem with this game room already. Its Sucks.

[AliTheBrit19]

I highly doubt you have even tried The Game Room yourself

So talking about something you have no first hand experience with yourself makes your comment almost as lame and disposable as you are.

[TehChef]

You gotta love the carnival points system that MS gives its customers, seriously, no one is going to make a points system like that without the ulterior motive of deceiving customers. Only the Virtual Console service is a bigger scam than this glorified PS Home service!

[maxcer]

ugh, who cares. nobody asked for this service MS. i hope it dies a quick death so MS realizes it wasted money on this venture. What is next, charging us for every kb of downloaded data? oh wait they already do that.

This is why publishers are creating their own download services, like Cerberus Network, UbiStore, and the dice storefront. apart from deterring used games sales, the stores allow publishers to bypass mandatory "paid DLC", good work keep it up.

[ironmonkey]

lol lame still gotta pay to play

[Memo-Xen x3100]

Yesterday morning you couldn't purchase Microsoft Points, Recover Gamertags and some people couldn't even SIGN IN. Happy march break! Trust me I know, I spoke to at least 20 disgruntled Live users!

[midgard227]

.....wait no u dont

[Memo-Xen x3100]

Enjoy the game room.

[T9X69]

@Foliage - You neee a reality check, you dont pay to connect to your own internet you pay to use there service. Also they cant nickle and dime you for something thats optional, stop being stupid.

[Godmars290]

They nickel and dime you in the sense that this arcade of theirs is set up so that it recommends games that other people have that you don't. Exploits the nature of competition reflex buying.

[DelbertGrady]

It would be a great idea if they used newer arcade games from the 90's and later, and sold them really cheap. I'd be willing to pay for some of Capcoms classic beat-em ups (online co-op would be great) but the games presented in Game Room are just too old and outdated to be any fun.

After spending some time with it I actually hope it flops. A big waste of resources.

[Godmars290]

Its not like its MEME, they have to buy the right to put the games up. There may also be a limit to the graphical quality the arcade system can do.

[DelbertGrady]

You mean MAME? That's kind of what I mean, but with some other non-MAME games as well.

I just don't see who they are aiming this at? Who's their target audience? People in their 40's who are hardcore gamers? If anything they should have made it a free service for gold members. Would be a nice incentive for people who pay for Live, and would make them a couple of extra dollars as well.

As it stands now I think it will be the biggest flop of the year.

[Godmars290]

Its a casual hook that uses your friend's list, a gamer's natural competitiveness, to sell games old cheap titles that MS had nothing to do with.

You play a game, finish a game and you either automatically get a recommendation to a similar game, or you get a notice that one of your friends got a high score for a game with a notice asking if you'd like to buy it and beat their score.

Granted its a brilliant idea, gives MS credibility and history in an industry that really don't have much of either, but still exploitive. That they're asking 50 cents for one play should say that.

[DelbertGrady]

The pay-to-play thing is just beyond stupid. They really shot themselves in the foot with that one. Too much greed not enough effort. That's why I want it to flop. On top of that, the games they put in there are godawful. Shaolins Road was probably the best game and it felt like a poor mans Yie-Are Kung Fu.

[Redgehammer]

find it enjoyable, I like the presentation of the arcade, the free achievement points even if you don't purchase,and overall feel of the arcades (which reminded me of a youth spent in alladin's castle burning up tokens . I picked up Crystal Castles and hope that games like Sinistar, Bump & Jump, Spy Hunter, and Road Blasters make their way to MSGR because they will certainly be in mine.

[devilhunterx]

PS Home ripoff

[Socomer 1979]

I buy xbox360 every weekend and throw em away on mondays.

i use it as a great joke in parties. we turn it on. mess with the avatars. check out demos. laugh at all the dvd's for games. then we take it to the roof, rape it and throw if off the building.

we then proceed to play ps3 and enjoy the real system.

[Redrum059]

its trying to be too much like pshome arcade but with noncontrolable stupid looking avatars. lame.