Ask X3F: Watt's up edition

Ask X3F returns this week with a new batch of questions sent in by you, our loyal, information starved readers. This week, we've got questions about the Xbox 360's power usage (hint: it's a lot), rhythm game instrument compatibility, and yet another email about the profoundly bad behavior found on Xbox Live. We've also got some new info for folks out there looking for good splitscreen games, which we were asked about last week. Click onward and enjoy.

Got a question for Ask X3F? Maybe you have a story or some information you'd like to share? Send it all to ask [att] xbox360fanboy [dawt] com.

Hi x3f, i usually just pause my game and let my x360 stay on. I hate the waiting when i turned it off, dash loading, game loading, load save game loading, game loading . . . . (really take long time in Lost odyssey and The Last Remnant)

So how much watt x360 eat while the game paused?

Sorry my bad english, i hope you can understand.

Thanks
Bayu Bramantya

We're not sure exactly how much electricity an Xbox 360 uses when a game is paused, but we do know that the Xbox 360 uses a lot of electricity compared to the other major consoles out there. We reported on an article last year that examined how much power was consumed by the Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, and PC. The end result was that the Xbox 360 and PS3 use quite a bit of power, almost as much as a PC in certain situations. The Wii hardly uses any electricity at all.

Concerning the 360 by itself, the console uses about 186 watts during gameplay and about 158 watts when idle in the Dashboard. Again, we're not sure how much power you save by pausing the game, but we'd guess it won't dip below the 158 watt minimum. Keep in mind that these tests were done before the New Xbox Experience was released, so idle wattage might be different now. Also, the test was done using the original Gears of War. Less graphically intensive games would likely require less power to run.

I just wanted to point out that a good source for finding out what
kind of multi-player modes are included in a game is www.xboxmp.com.
You can search Xbox and 360 titles and use various filters (like no
sports or arcade games) to get exactly what you're looking for. I
found a lot of co-op games to play with my fiance this way.

Nick

Thanks, Nick! Very helpful indeed. We also need to point out Co-Optimus.com, which we completely forgot to mention after last week's splitscreen question. As the name implies, Co-Optimus specializes in co-op games and also specifies which games have splitscreen support. Here's the Co-Optimus list of co-op games for 360, organized with splitscreen games listed first.

Also, since Nick was kind enough to show us XboxMP.com, here's their list of every 360 game that supports any kind of splitscreen, including versus and co-op. It doesn't look quite complete, as a few titles that do not support splitscreen play (The Orange Box, Duke Nukem 3D) are mentioned, but it's still a nice place to start.

Hey X3F,

To cut a long story short, I've never had a Guitar Hero/Rock Band game, but I want to play drums. Also, I'm in the UK. Do I shell out £150 for the GH:WT whole band pack (which I do NOT want to do), wait until the drums (RB2 or GH:WT) become available on their own, which I guess will be soon but who knows, buy the (presumably not as good) RB1 drums?

Oh and if I did option 3, do the RB1 drums work with GH:WT or RB2?

Thanks!
GT: Bamsarker

Starting with your last question first, yes, the Rock Band 1 drums will work with both Guitar Hero and Rock Band 2. In fact, the drums for Rock Band, Rock Band 2, and Guitar Hero: World Tour are all compatible with each game, so you don't have to worry about grabbing a drum set that doesn't work. If you have any other questions about any of the various instruments and their compatibility, we suggest you visit Joystiq's Instrument Compatibility Matrix. To answer your other questions, we sought out the advice of Joystiq's Ross Miller, who is something of a plastic drum guru. He said he ultimately prefers the drums for Rock Band 2. Concerning the GHWT drums, he had this to say: I don't feel like the two "cymbals" on GHWT make it better or more realistic. To me, it's just skirting the uncanny valley of plastic instruments."

Now, keep in mind we have no idea when the Rock Band 2 drums will be available separately in the UK. PS3 fanboy's own UK writer, Jem Alexander, told us he's not even sure if there are plans to release the Rock Band 2 drums separately in the UK. So, you might want to consider picking up the Rock Band 2 bundle or the original Rock Band drums. Either that, or you can wait and hope.

dear fanboy,

I am an english, self confessed FPS fanboy! I love nothing more than chilling out and pwning the noobs on Halo or COD especially with my friends. But the abusive treatment we recive online simply because we are english is ridiculous. We can not join a lobby and say something without every american gamer saying such things as "Go drink some tea" or "why dont ya watch harry potter" or my personal fave, "go speak proper english!". Why is this? Me and my friend was playing halo the other day, when it all kicked off with the useual trashtalk. But the american got so wound up and angry about my accent that he told me he was going to stab my parents. What is it that we have done to recive this abuse? Dont get me wrong, I am all for some low level trash talk and banter with the noobs i am pwning, it would be hypicritical of me to say I was offended by it, or wanted it to stop. But what is it about the english accent that sparks off the americans playing? Ill get to the main point. I am not looking for a ban on trashtalk, i am looking for an answer as to why they hate us. If you can clear upthe following questions, it would be great. As american gamers yourselfs could you tell me, do you feel any resentment towards us as a race?, or does hearing our accent, and words such and biscuit fill you with such rage you want to stab my parents?

We had a similar letter not long ago concerning the treatment of women on Xbox Live. The reasons Xbox Live gamers (the majority of which are American) can be jerks online are numerous. First, FPS games can attract some, shall we say, insular individuals. These are the people who enjoy making headshots just a bit too much. Sure, everything is great when it's all one homogeneous mass, but throw something foreign into the mix -- a woman, someone from another country -- and it can bring out the worst in some people.

Some people just enjoy picking on others. Others might do it to impress their friends or, on the other end, to not appear weak in front of their friends. The key to it all, of course, is that users on Xbox Live are completely anonymous. This anonymity empowers people to do all kinds of crazy things. Make no mistake, these people probably don't have a problem with you because you're British, they have a problem with you because you're different, which makes you the easiest target in the room.

Our advice on this subject is always the same. When you encounter a player like this, mute him. After the match, use the player review feature to report the bad behavior. Remember, once you mute someone, that person becomes just another player. There's no reason to listen to abusive language if you don't have to.


That's it for this week, folks. Keep sending your questions to: ask [att] xbox360fanboy [dawt] com.