rdrunner

Tetris is only luck-based if you expect perfect pieces. I've seen experts (I am not) who can win with whatever they get.

Figured out the "connection" issue above, though the solution is not ideal: The games all work fine if I use a different gamer profile. Turns out that every game that had this issue has a common style for saving game data, where they store it directly on a gamer profile. No separate files are created and no cloud storage is involved. The game saves are all playable, but there must be something wrong with using them on a different xbox. I created a new profile and have been testing all of the problem games. So far, they all work perfectly with this other profile, but if I switch back to my main, xbox live is not accessible. There does not appear to be anything I can do to fix the game data for these games. I tried playing the games and saving progress, but that didn't help. I also cannot delete the game data from my profile. I can delete and redownload the entire profile whenever I want, but it's just one file (at least when viewed from the console). From what I've read online, I may risk getting my user banned for even trying anything. Microsoft typically has people send their xbox in for "repairs" when this happens to get rid of "corruption". Not sure what they expect people to do now that they don't even have a fully staffed help system (they probably just don't care). I must say given the circumstances, this profile save business is one of the worst design decisions in the history of video games. Forget the xbox live stuff for a second: Most of these games don't even let you reset your data to start a game over for a new playthrough! That problem was solved in the '80s and they somehow managed to screw it up? Pathetic. Anyway, thus ends (I think) my adventure of switching between xbox 360 machines. May my new one never need replacing, so I never have to do this again.

Thanks for the advice so far! Some extra info just to cover a few more bases: When prompted, I always install whatever update. So far, doing so has not helped. Will try redownloading a couple of games to see what happens. I definitely always avoid playing any games while something is downloading. The issue is not limited to digital content. The same thing can happen when playing games off a disc. It is possible that some of my old files may not be usable on this new machine. For example, I had originally copied a (free) Castle Crashers DLC from my old machine and deleted it when the game gave me startup messages that I had corrupted data. On the other hand, the issue also occurs on games I haven't played yet and have no extra data at all.

Well, I finally downloaded all of my digital games, so I can officially say that I have my Xbox 360 back. Took a long time off and on, though most of that was the full size games at 5 to 7 GB each (Gold trials were somewhat kind to me over the years). One last question in case anyone knows: Is there anything I can do to prevent my connection to Xbox Live from dropping when I load specific games? The thing was connected enough to say "download this update" when I launch a game, but then just after that the game says "not connected". If I exit the game, connectivity is restored. I've checked a few articles and YouTube videos and have tried their suggestions, which have not worked. So far I have tried: Deleting and re-downloading my user profile Clearing the system cache Deleting and re-downloading the xbox dashboard Again, this only happens on about 20% of my games, and always the same ones (never had a failure on anything that stayed connected once). I know that Xbox Live is dying and all that, but I still expected better. Anyone see this stuff happen on their machines?

10/10 - No brainer score for me, having just played this. I can't remember the last time a game pulled me in and didn't let go the way Celeste did. Yes, it's hard. Yes, it's probably only fun if you don't mind dying a lot. But I will also say this: It's fair. The controls are perfect, the level design is top notch, and the pacing is about as good as anyone can expect. Each screen is like a training session. You always have exactly the skills you need to overcome what's in front of you, and if you need a measuring stick for how much you've learned, just go back and replay a completed chapter. You'll be amazed how much easier it feels the second time through! One other thing: Despite the obvious similarities to Super Meat Boy, I think Celeste is really its own thing and is way better for it.

Thanks. The music from Danmaku Unlimited is a bit different for me, but I still like it. Mostly just got it as a bullet hell trainer. Trying to work up to where I can finally clear the third stage of Mushi Futari on normal mode lol. Atari 8-Bit has loads of great stuff! Totally worth playing just about anything down to my C tier, especially if you like arcade ports. Lode Runner is a good game, but the NES has probably one of the worst versions of it. It only has 50 stages, where others have 150. It also makes the stage layouts too large, forcing the player to scroll the screen and blindly run into traps. All other versions I've played may use stick puppet graphics, but at least you can see everything. I have other nitpicks, but those are the biggest ones, hence the D. I will admit that it's better than nothing if it's the only platform you have access to it with. Glad you liked it!

Here is my list. I completed two main goals last year: Participate in the "8-Bit High Score Club" on a certain Atari website to celebrate the 40th anniversary of some of my favorite Atari computer games. Complete at least a couple of games on Switch even if they take longer than I usually spend (Celeste and Smash were each at least a month of dedicated game time). S Celeste (Switch) TMNT Shredder's Revenge (Switch) A Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (3DS) Frogger 2: Threedeep! (Atari 8-Bit) Super Smash Bros Ultimate (Switch) B Bruce Lee (Atari 8-Bit) Danmaku Unlimited 3 (Switch) Montezuma's Revenge (clones) (Atari 8-Bit) Mr. Do! (Atari 8-Bit) Mr. Do's Castle (Atari 8-Bit) Ms. Pac-Man (Atari 8-Bit) Necromancer (Atari 8-Bit) SNK Anniversary Collection (Switch) Pikuniku (Switch) The Tail of Beta Lyrae (Atari 8-Bit) C Bruce Lee: Return of Fury (Atari 8-Bit) Double (Atari 8-Bit) The Gardens Between (Switch) Ixion (Atari 8-Bit) James Bond 007 (Atari 8-Bit) Jungle Hunt (Atari 8-Bit) Joust (Atari 8-Bit) Meteor Storm (Atari 8-Bit) Millipede (Atari 8-Bit) Moon Patrol Redux (Atari 8-Bit) Night Knight (Atari 8-Bit) Q*Bert (Atari 8-Bit) Radical Radial (Arcade Archives/Switch) Repton (Atari 8-Bit) Rescue on Fractalus! (Atari 8-Bit) Robotron 2084 (Atari 8-Bit) Time Wizard (Atari 8-Bit) D Aquatron (Atari 8-Bit) Axis Assassin (Atari 8-Bit) Der Shranker 3 (Atari 8-Bit) Donkey Kong Jr (Atari 8-Bit) Eel Ecrub (Bruce Lee backwards) (Atari 8-Bit) Eliminator (Atari 8-Bit) Hard Hat Mack (Atari 8-Bit) Lode Runner (NES) Manic Miner (Atari 8-Bit) Maniac Miner (different game!) (Atari 8-Bit) O'Riley's Mine (Atari 8-Bit) Rockball (Atari 8-Bit) Sky Blazer (Atari 8-Bit) Warhawk (Atari 8-Bit) ZauberBall '23 (Atari 8-Bit) F Caverns of Eris (Atari 8-Bit) Dawn Raider (Atari 8-Bit) The Living Daylights (Atari 8-Bit) Wing Wars (Atari 8-Bit) Worms? (Atari 8-Bit)

I've only played DQ1-4 and a handful of Final Fantasy (1, 4, 6, 7). Voting would be a bit silly for me, so just looking for recommendations. I have DQ8 and FF9 on my bucket list already.

8/10 - Really enjoyed playing this one. Great extension of the Contra series. Also the soundtrack continues to rule my playlist. Only thing that baffles me: Why can't I shoot diagonally?

Favorite (actual) Final Boss Fight: Mike Tyson. Favorite Villain: Dark Queen!

Update: I have found myself an Xbox 360 (S) in great condition. The DVD drive plays all of my game discs on the first try and it came with a 250GB hard drive. Now the tough part: The digital content. I performed the License Transfer on the machine and it says that I'm free to download (not copy) my game library to the new console. This is doable since my history is all there, but I really just wanted to copy my existing files, which would be much faster. I don't have the special cable yet, so I experimented with a simple USB flash drive. I formatted it with the old Xbox and can copy game files to it, then plug it into the new one and get the games onto the machine. This seems to be equivalent to what the cable does, though not quite sure. When transferring the files to the new machine, there's a message that some files "may require a license transfer", but I didn't see a way to do that on a per-file basis. Anyway, it is clear that each file that I copied in this manner does not have my license associated with it. This can be proven by attempting to play offline. When I do that, most games act as if I'm playing the trial version. Some specific games give me the same treatment when online as well (ex: Braid). For each of these games, I tried re-downloading them instead (license recognized, didn't pay any money) and they all worked correctly while offline (including Braid). Is there something magical about Microsoft 's special cable that preserves the license data better than what I just did? I don't see how, but it would be good to know. I want to solve this problem as best I can in case I have to do it again someday. Thoughts?

Dragon's Lair At first: "Hey, it's a cartoon! This is awesome!" A few seconds later...

Yeah...No I don't love how my game system (and other tech) is tracking what I do and using the info to sell me stuff. On topic, I have about 30 hrs invested in Celeste and another 30 in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Those are high numbers for me!

9/10 - Lots of fond memories of this one, playing through multiple times. Not sure why it gets dinged for the spell limit system instead of traditional MP. I always thought of it as part of the game's charm! The GBA version is nice, but way too easy (they had to add the mega dungeons just to add a little challenge). Easy 9.

NFL Blitz is horrible for this. If you have the lead and the ball with a few seconds left, your team almost always fumbles when tackled. Passes are usually batted/dropped and intercepted as well. Only workaround is to try to reach the sideline, where at least you sometimes fumble out of bounds. And don't get me started on the speed of the AI cars in later levels of R.C. Pro-Am...

Thanks for the tips everyone! So it sounds like I need to just get myself a new machine and the transfer cable. Has anyone recently performed the license transfer? I saw a worrisome internet article where people were complaining that it no longer works or at least doesn't always work.

I think that Xbox hard drives have licenses tied to just one machine. I have 2 120 GB hard drives, one of which I bought used. When I first plugged the used one into the machine, I got an error message and was forced to wipe it before using.

I have the Elite, which lasted 12 years. It has served me well! Not really ready to cut losses yet.

So the DVD drive on my Xbox 360 just went kaput and I'm evaluating options. I can't open the machine myself, so I tried having someone fix the drive, but they failed. Not sure if I just need to find another expert or buy a bunch of tools and replacement parts, but I think it would be easier to just get another console. Biggest concern with this plan is what might happen to my digital games. From what I heard, I would have to transfer all my game licenses to the new machine. But it's 2023 and Microsoft isn't exactly helpful if something goes wrong. Plus, I don't know if I'll be able re-download stuff that has been delisted (ex: Scott Pilgrim, XBLIG). Does anyone know if you can access your purchase history from the console to find and download things? I thought I read somewhere that you can, but I've never found the right menu option. I would hate to have to keep all my digital stuff on my current console if I get another one, but I get the feeling it may come to that. Any help is appreciated!

Yay, someone besides me!

Shadow of the Colossus. Been sitting on just 4 completed fights for years. Good stuff, I just don't take the PS2 out very much.

Still need to play Dicey Dungeons. Got it on sale and looks really good. You'll have to let us know after: Slay the Spire or this one?

Celeste B-Side completed. Total death count including previous stuff is now just under 6500. Not sure if that's good, but it's still been a great ride.

It's definitely pretty complicated. The wizard is not invincible though. He has a digital strength gauge. The first screen ends when it runs out (unavoidable). On other screens, running out ends the game. The screens each have different goals: 1: Grow trees 2: Use trees to crush eggs 3: Destroy gravestones to defeat the Necromancer

Anyone here ever play Necromancer on Atari or Commodore? Never heard of it but just recently tried it out. Not bad for it's age, great for Halloween!