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Mistake #10: Poor DVD Playback Quality

Even if you say that all of my complaints about things left out of Xbox Live aren't fair, you'd have to agree that DVD playback is a fairly important part of the Xbox 360 as a Media Center device. The video processor in the Xbox 360 is terrible. It doesn't do good film/video detection and as a result, DVDs won't look as good as they can.

What adds salt to the wound is that ATI's algorithms are actually fairly good as can be seen with Catalyst 5.13. If Microsoft implemented these algorithms in the Xbox 360, it would probably end up being one of the best $400 DVD players on the market, despite the lack of DVI or HDMI connectivity.

We were unable to get sufficient information on the Xbox 360's GPU to make a determination if the full X1K AVIVO technology could be brought to the unit. Given the shader performance though, it should be possible to incorporate many of the most important features such as 3:2 cadence detection and possibly the diagonal filtering as well.

The main challenge is that the GPU is a Microsoft product designed by ATI. This means that ATI will not produce updated video drivers for the Xbox 360 GPU unless Microsoft commissions them to do so. Given all the other mistakes of the Xbox 360 I've discussed so far, it's unlikely to happen. Let's not forget that Microsoft completely ignored the need for high-quality music CD playback too.

Mistake #11: No pressure sensitive face buttons

I recently updated my Xbox 360 game collection with Project Gotham Racing 3 and the lack of pressure sensitive buttons generates a big problem here. Now, I love my Gran Turismo 4 and Enthusia with the Logitech Driving Force Pro, and I’ve really enjoyed playing Ridge Racer 6 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted on the Xbox 360. The problem with PGR3 is that the control scheme doesn’t work very well. Using the face buttons to shift doesn’t feel right. Ideally, moving the shifting to the right trigger (as is done in NFS:MW) would work much better. Using the shoulder buttons is problematic as well because you can’t easily do your “toe-heel-shift” equivalents in the game. The use of pressure sensitive buttons works very well in games like GT4 and I can’t help but to wonder if Microsoft made a big mistake by omitting pressure sensitive face buttons since this is a decision that will stick with the system for its entire life.

I’ll detail more issues with the control in PGR3 in a future article.

Closing thoughts

While this article is focusing on all the problems of the Xbox 360, I'm still having a blast with the system. After adding an additional cooling fan to my unit, it's been perfect, even in an enclosed space. In a way, it is because Microsoft did so well everything else such as Gamer Cards, voice chat, and downloading demos from the Xbox Live Marketplace that these mistakes seem so much more glaring. I know Microsoft can't keep up with demand yet, but hopefully they'll be able to spend some time addressing these mistakes to make the Xbox 360 even better than it currently is.

The Xbox360 and Xbox Live are still superb products and technologies. They're better than anything that has ever been offered to consumers before. But you don't want to compete against a second-tier standard. Just because you're better than your nearest competitor doesn't mean that you've got a good product. Microsoft needs to compete against themselves and go the extra mile. The enemy of “good” is “better.”