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Hey - Vivendi!

I was going to buy the hard copy of Half Life 2 - however I just fired up steam. I don't care if it takes longer (which it probably won't) to get to play it. I am not giving you my money.

Especially after reading This article about Valve and Half Life 2. I now sympathize with Gabe and the delays the game had. I don't really fault him - people make mistakes.

Granted I understand Vivendi's side - but if a publisher only gets $7.00 from a retail game, you start to remind me of the RIAA Vivendi... Download here I come.

To quote George Broussard:

Fuck you.

Here's an interesting article about a similar "diplomatic" thought.

Gamespot

I said this yesterday. OUTSOURCING IS NOT AN OPTION IN VIDEO GAME DEVELOPMENT.

The latency between a feature request and it's implementation is too long if you outsource. Right now, a designer will come to my desk, and ask me to implement a feature to test it out. This is called iterating. Usually, that feature will take me an hour or so. The designer will have the feature to then play with, and decide if it feels better or worse then it did before.

Without this process, you get crap. All of the best games iterate. It's why Blizzard games take 3-4 years to come out.

If you outsource your game development, iteration is going to take substantially longer then it does now. Every feature request will take a day instead of a couple of hours. Games that take two years to develop will instead take ten.

There's a perfect example of what happens when you outsource video games here.

Yep, and year after year, Nintendo sells more and more consoles, yet the Sony/Microsoft fanboys keep saying it's dead.

Last year, Nintendo sold more consoles than either Sony or Microsoft during the holiday period, which is one of the most important period financially for game companies (and we're not even talking about the GBA here...). I'm a Nintendo fanboy and I'm proud of it, but I also respect Sony and Microsoft for what they do. Sony's and Microsoft's fanboys seem to have a hard time respecting Nintendo though. That's sad.

No, that doesn't work in the game industry. In the game industry requirements change WAY too quickly to outsource jobs successfully.

There have been attempts though, if you don't believe me.

The problem is that when a designer comes to me because he wants to iterate something to see how it works, he needs the answer in an hour or two--not tomorrow. If every change I made for a designer took a day, the games you get now in 2-3 years would be coming out in 10. The project requirements are just not well defined in games like they are in other areas of the software industry. Games that don't iterate (because they stick to a predefined set of requirements) generally suck ass.

Although the company is in negotiations for the license of another game, the trio said it is no secret that they want to develop the sequel to "Sam and Max" or something like it. An online petition in support of the canceled game incited the company's launch, they said.

"When we saw the petition and how upset people were, we knew we had to start Telltale Games," Bruner said.

LucasArts has a license for the game from the comic book's creator, Steve Purcell. That license expires in May, at which point Connors said he hopes to strike a deal with Purcell.

Purcell could not be reached for comment, nor could LucasArts spokeswoman Anne Marie Stein.

There were over 11 million copies of GTA3 sold and more that 13 million copied of GTA:VC sold worldwide. So what are you talking about? There is an enormous following of the GTA series and the PS2. Substantially more sales of each iteration of GTA than Halo, of which Microsoft now claims to have sold 5 million copies. The same holds true for the PS2 vs. the XBox. Actually, the sales of each GTA title, since GTA3, to date, is very close to the number of actual XBoxes in the worldwide market. With this information, there are no "...HUGE assumption(s)..." being made on my part. Sony has over 70 million PS2 units in the market compared to about 15.5 million XBoxes in the market today.

GTA: SA sold more than 3 million copies worldwide through the first weekend. This is double the "pre-orders", which is really the number of units that were shipped out by Microsoft, for Halo 2. So, in less than the first week, GTA: SA has sold three fifths of the total sales of Halo 1 since it's release.

Just see those superb gameplay movies on PSP and cry.

I just strolled into Best Buy and there were dozens, if not hundreds, of copies of Halo 2 on the shelves. Many, many copies of the "limited edition" were still there too. If this is such a huge game then why is it that at the same Best Buy on the release date of GTA: SA there were none to be found?

Gotta wonder if the pre-orders that MS has been touting is just the orders that got shipped out to all the stores or if it's actual numbers of consumer purchased units.

I doubt that Halo 2 will come close to a third of the sales expected of GTA: SA. The first weeks' sales of GTA: SA were expected to have topped 4.5 million units. Halo 2 might get somewhere near that number after it has been out for while. There will probably be a huge dropoff in sales after the release date.

Heck, Halo hasn't sold much more than 3 million copies worldwide as of last year, otherwise there would have been talk about it, and it has been out for nearly 3 years now.

From what I've read, JTL sounds like a good game and it may be enough to convince me to finally buy SWG and this expansion. Also, there is a review on Gamespot as well: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/starwarsgalaxiesjum ptolightspeed/review.html

Cutscene available here:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/wh40kdawnofwar /

In one of the demonstrations that Nintendo gave to the press a month or so ago, they demoed a 'stylus' attachment for your thumb. Essentially you could move your left thumb (or right thumb, I think the DS has ambidextrous support) over the touch screen and use it like an analog stick. The game software seemed to have a bug in it, so it wasn't demonstrated... but it seemed like a really cool. Hopefully not too uncomfortable.

Here is a link to the movie I mentioned (select the "Gameplay Demonstration" movie listed at the bottom), with the thumb 'stylus' thing is near the very end.

Well, contrary to your hope, actually gamespot and ign covered the same interview:

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gamespot

Finally, Kutaragi touched on the PSP's rechargeable battery, which is purported to last between four to six hours--on average--for games, and up to four to five hours for movies.

"The battery consumption changes depending on the memory and processor usage, aside from disk access," he said. "It'll run for a long time when playing puzzle games but shorter when playing Ridge Racer, for example. Using the wireless LAN also affects the battery consumption [...] I think that there's still some room left for power-consumption improvement through software."

IGN

Continuing on the topic of battery, he offers: "By extending the amount of battery volume, we were able to create something with very good specifications. However, based on memory and processor use, the amount of power use changes. A puzzle game will offer lengthy time, but Ridge Racer will perhaps offer less than that. Using wireless LAN will have a great effect on how long the battery lasts. However, by making adjustments on the programming side of things, we would like to make it so that for whatever game you play, the announced value is an average." This seems to suggest that SCE is telling developers to hold back on pushing the system to its limits in the interest of maintaining the battery time promise.

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Most likely thing is, GI.biz had (intentionally?) mistranslated the interview and had decided to give another negative campaign for PSP, even after its battery figures are revealed, to lure more viewers to their web site to rake more Google AdSense advertisement revenue.

More if you want to perform such specialized tasks as "saving" or "travelling"

"The PSP will also be offered in a value pack that's 5,000 yen more at 24,800 yen ($232), which, in addition to the accessories included in the normal package, will come with a 32MB Memory Stick Duo, a set of headphones with a remote control, and a carrying case."

Unless you count the iQue. But they're not terribly likely to do it here, they've already worked out that they can sell the classics one at a time.

I saw it coming too... Another sign was Sakaguchi leaving Square to create Mist Walker. Sakaguchi had expressed a desire to work with old pal Yoshitaka Amano, so I figured that a collaboration with Uematsu wouldn't that far behind, as well. Uematsu going freelance would give him the possibility to work with Sakaguchi without him burning bridges with Square. Chances are Mist Walker's first project will have Uematsu onboard.

(and that said, I wouldn't be surprised if Uemeatsu collaborated in Final Fantasy XIII - Square has no problems working with freelance composers).

I think we're all smart enough to understand it's to make a profit, and that's not why this is big news. It's big news because of Capom's announcement to keep the RE series Gamecube exclusive will no longer be honored. It's also a slap in Nintendo's face for their promise of the "Fantastic Five" which were slated to be Cube exclusives.

actually, looking at this picture, it looks like it'll be yet another proprietary headphone jack. Didn't Sony learn anything from the GBA-SP 'mistake'?

Including game titles to be released in December:
Article

I'm eluding to Eidos' new game ShellShock: Nam '67 for the pc and consoles. It depicts cutscenes with brutal violence and dismemberment, like when "a member of your squad ties a prostitute to an upright mattress, beats her mercilessly with his fists, and then takes a giant Rambo knife to her breasts before finally slitting her throat" (quote lifted from Gamespot review). No doubt there will be children out there inflicted by the horror of this game, either by directly watching it or by watching an adult play it.

Reportedly, there's also interactive prostitution, as well as the bad language, torture and ultra-violent gameplay. GTA: San Andreas may not be the bad kid on the block anymore.

so the DS presales are outselling the redesigned PS2 presales. perhaps that's because everyone already owns the PS2 and would prefer to pre-order something totally new over something that's just an update? (at least among first adopters.) here's the article that has the statistics. (can't seem to find the original gamespot story that is referred to)

I love the fact that the GBA, which already has an update to it, is selling at about 3 times the rate of the XBOX. I wonder where the IQue would fit on this list...

I think a just as interesting, if not more interesting story is the fact that a Gamecube + Mario Kart bundle will be coming out this holiday season for only $99.99. That's the same price just the console is selling for now.

The boxart for Freaky Flyers was changed for the GameCube version. (see below) I don't know if the graphics in the game itself were changed, but the gameplay certainly could have used more time in the oven.
GameCube boxart
Xbox boxart

The boxart for Freaky Flyers was changed for the GameCube version. (see below) I don't know if the graphics in the game itself were changed, but the gameplay certainly could have used more time in the oven.
GameCube boxart
Xbox boxart

Kind of makes me wonder if you could take the gameplay refinements we take for granted today and apply them to an old machine. I'd love to see a (top-down, obviously) C64 version of Crazy Taxi! Or going the other way, how about a totally real-time version of The Sentinel powered by a G5 or 4Ghz Pentium?

There was a Playstation and PC version of The Sentinel (called Sentinel Returns), with music by John Carpenter.

A good friend of mine (Chris White) worked on one of the ports.

Tetrisphere, on the N64, is one of the greatest game ever made. It combined all the awesome puzzle-strategy that made Tetris so wildly successful and translated into a fun 3-D environment (unlike, Wetris and Tetris3d, which just gave me headaches), with a kickass soundtrack and a collection of different play modes (including one of the best non FPS Multiplayer games, bested only by Super Puzzle Fighter II).

Nowadays you can get it for a song, and it's still just as great to play as it was when it was new. The graphics are still clean, crisp, and rendered to a modern finish. And the soundtrack just sounds killer on a good sound system.

Or are you just spreading FUD to justify this?

Then came this warning from the company: "We take the theft of our intellectual property very seriously and we are and will continue to diligently and aggressively pursue this matter."

Anyone wanna let Microsoft know that someone has substantively ripped off the text of their Halo 2-leak threat? "Microsoft takes the integrity of its intellectual property extremely seriously, and we are aggressively pursuing the source of this illegal act." http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/10/14/news_61105 39.html/

Agreed! He is working on The Movies which looks to me one of the more innovative games in recent memory. I am hotly anticipating this one. Check it out...a fansite and Gamespot

So I'll do a quick recap:

Needless to say, many more sources are reporting this already.

But to strip it down to the basics, just in case all these sites get slashdotted - it's officially gone gold (Vivendi Press Release), and it's coming out on the 16th November. Book the day off work Now!

Computer and Videogames reports that, "As far as Vivendi is concerned, the game is finished."

Valve hangs a pinata in their office to be broken when the game goes gold (Here's a picture of it in pre-broken state). Gamespot has learned from an "informed source" that the pinata has been broken.

When the game is submitted to the BBFC as this is reporting, it means it is a final build and we can expect a gold announcement on Monday.

See here for information on HL2 for the XBox.

Also IGN did mention a shipping date - probably November. If Valve is *anywhere near* done with this game, late November / early December is the latest it will ship. They do NOT want to miss Christmas.

While games aren't the center of my universe, Half Life was fun and the early technology preview demos of HL2 were very cool. With all the negativity over Steam and Valve's excuses for pushing back the schedule, I'd almost forgotten that HL2 may be a really great game after all.

Purhaps they should do what real journalists do and actually search out for the truth by contacting Valve or Vivendi Universal, rather than trying to connect the dots or use sources like "An Industry Insider". That way they don't sound like trashy womens magazines that get their sources from "Close Friends" and the like.

-

Real Life, eh?

Called Motor City Online.

You would race for pink slips (that's Yank for certificate of ownership of a car), build up money to mod your car, and so forth.

Here is a Gamespot review. Little point in buying it now, though.

I never played it, but at its peak it in Summer of '02 it had around 36,000 subscribers according to this study of MMORPG subscriber trends.

It fell sharply from its peak and Electronic Arts shut it down a year later.

Why is 90% of MMO games (notablyu MMORPGs) are about wizards, elves, spells, warriors and assorted fantasy? City of heroes was a notable exception, but it seems like every new game is a copycat of the one before it.

Something like the Fallout series translated to an online game would be quite nice.

If you were really a Final Fantasy fan, you'd know that's a bogus answer. Squaresoft had plenty of games going for them at the time, and was not nearing bankruptcy.

It's great for Microsoft, since Fable and Halo are pretty much the only reasons for a gamer to own an XBox.

That's a little short-sighted. As another poster pointed out, Ninja Gaiden (and indeed, all of Team Ninja's recent and known-future work) is exclusive to XBox. If you're into racing, it's hard to beat Project: Gotham Racing 2 (no, it's not a psuedo-simulation like the Gran Turismo series, but it has the best XBox Live! online play I've seen to date, and the physics engine backing the cars seems much more powerful than Gran Turismo's) or the Rallisport Challenge series. If you're looking for a GT killer, Forza Motorsports is shaping up nicely. Cross-platform games are better on the XBox (Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and now that EA has finally pulled their heads out of their asses and embraced Live!, the EA titles).

I guess the real question here is, what games do you like? The Xbox is currently weak in RPG games, with only KOTOR and, to a lesser extent, Fable representing the genre with any sense of style. That's set to change (Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, The Bard's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Third Age, etc) in the near future. If you like FPS, it's hard to do better than PC, so long as you don't mind the constant hardware upgrade treadmill. However, for action/adventure games (PoP and NG of course, but also lesser-known titles like Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy, Metal Arms, Otogi, Beyond Good & Evil, etc) it's hard to beat XBox. As I mentioned before, the XBox also shines with racing games, though noone has successfully produced a "GT3-killer" yet (Sega GT 2002 tried, and was a fun game in and of itself, but it fell short of the Gran Turismo mark). Forza Motorsports looks to be a serious contender for the racing simulation crown, however, especially since Gran Turismo 4 doesn't look like it will expand much on Gran Turismo 3. Sports games are also better on XBox, especially Sega's ESPN lineup (and at $20 per game for the 2005 season, it's pretty damned hard to beat -- better graphics than the EA games, comparable gameplay, much better online implementation, and $20+ cheaper than EA's offerings). RTS games don't translate well to consoles, but Full Spectrum Warrior could be considered in the RTS genre and is quite enjoyable (yes, it's now out on the PC).

So, what do you like?

(disclaimer: All of the links are from Gamespot, but I have no affiliation with them. I'm not even a Gamespot Complete member. I simply didn't feel like trolling around for links from various different web sites. I don't necessarily agree with all of Gamespot's reviews, either. Also, I realize that many of the games I mentioned are available on multiple platforms. My intent is not to show the number of exclusive titles for XBox, but to show that these multi-platform games are best on XBox.)

It's great for Microsoft, since Fable and Halo are pretty much the only reasons for a gamer to own an XBox.

That's a little short-sighted. As another poster pointed out, Ninja Gaiden (and indeed, all of Team Ninja's recent and known-future work) is exclusive to XBox. If you're into racing, it's hard to beat Project: Gotham Racing 2 (no, it's not a psuedo-simulation like the Gran Turismo series, but it has the best XBox Live! online play I've seen to date, and the physics engine backing the cars seems much more powerful than Gran Turismo's) or the Rallisport Challenge series. If you're looking for a GT killer, Forza Motorsports is shaping up nicely. Cross-platform games are better on the XBox (Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and now that EA has finally pulled their heads out of their asses and embraced Live!, the EA titles).

I guess the real question here is, what games do you like? The Xbox is currently weak in RPG games, with only KOTOR and, to a lesser extent, Fable representing the genre with any sense of style. That's set to change (Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, The Bard's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Third Age, etc) in the near future. If you like FPS, it's hard to do better than PC, so long as you don't mind the constant hardware upgrade treadmill. However, for action/adventure games (PoP and NG of course, but also lesser-known titles like Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy, Metal Arms, Otogi, Beyond Good & Evil, etc) it's hard to beat XBox. As I mentioned before, the XBox also shines with racing games, though noone has successfully produced a "GT3-killer" yet (Sega GT 2002 tried, and was a fun game in and of itself, but it fell short of the Gran Turismo mark). Forza Motorsports looks to be a serious contender for the racing simulation crown, however, especially since Gran Turismo 4 doesn't look like it will expand much on Gran Turismo 3. Sports games are also better on XBox, especially Sega's ESPN lineup (and at $20 per game for the 2005 season, it's pretty damned hard to beat -- better graphics than the EA games, comparable gameplay, much better online implementation, and $20+ cheaper than EA's offerings). RTS games don't translate well to consoles, but Full Spectrum Warrior could be considered in the RTS genre and is quite enjoyable (yes, it's now out on the PC).

So, what do you like?

(disclaimer: All of the links are from Gamespot, but I have no affiliation with them. I'm not even a Gamespot Complete member. I simply didn't feel like trolling around for links from various different web sites. I don't necessarily agree with all of Gamespot's reviews, either. Also, I realize that many of the games I mentioned are available on multiple platforms. My intent is not to show the number of exclusive titles for XBox, but to show that these multi-platform games are best on XBox.)

It's great for Microsoft, since Fable and Halo are pretty much the only reasons for a gamer to own an XBox.

That's a little short-sighted. As another poster pointed out, Ninja Gaiden (and indeed, all of Team Ninja's recent and known-future work) is exclusive to XBox. If you're into racing, it's hard to beat Project: Gotham Racing 2 (no, it's not a psuedo-simulation like the Gran Turismo series, but it has the best XBox Live! online play I've seen to date, and the physics engine backing the cars seems much more powerful than Gran Turismo's) or the Rallisport Challenge series. If you're looking for a GT killer, Forza Motorsports is shaping up nicely. Cross-platform games are better on the XBox (Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and now that EA has finally pulled their heads out of their asses and embraced Live!, the EA titles).

I guess the real question here is, what games do you like? The Xbox is currently weak in RPG games, with only KOTOR and, to a lesser extent, Fable representing the genre with any sense of style. That's set to change (Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, The Bard's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Third Age, etc) in the near future. If you like FPS, it's hard to do better than PC, so long as you don't mind the constant hardware upgrade treadmill. However, for action/adventure games (PoP and NG of course, but also lesser-known titles like Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy, Metal Arms, Otogi, Beyond Good & Evil, etc) it's hard to beat XBox. As I mentioned before, the XBox also shines with racing games, though noone has successfully produced a "GT3-killer" yet (Sega GT 2002 tried, and was a fun game in and of itself, but it fell short of the Gran Turismo mark). Forza Motorsports looks to be a serious contender for the racing simulation crown, however, especially since Gran Turismo 4 doesn't look like it will expand much on Gran Turismo 3. Sports games are also better on XBox, especially Sega's ESPN lineup (and at $20 per game for the 2005 season, it's pretty damned hard to beat -- better graphics than the EA games, comparable gameplay, much better online implementation, and $20+ cheaper than EA's offerings). RTS games don't translate well to consoles, but Full Spectrum Warrior could be considered in the RTS genre and is quite enjoyable (yes, it's now out on the PC).

So, what do you like?

(disclaimer: All of the links are from Gamespot, but I have no affiliation with them. I'm not even a Gamespot Complete member. I simply didn't feel like trolling around for links from various different web sites. I don't necessarily agree with all of Gamespot's reviews, either. Also, I realize that many of the games I mentioned are available on multiple platforms. My intent is not to show the number of exclusive titles for XBox, but to show that these multi-platform games are best on XBox.)

It's great for Microsoft, since Fable and Halo are pretty much the only reasons for a gamer to own an XBox.

That's a little short-sighted. As another poster pointed out, Ninja Gaiden (and indeed, all of Team Ninja's recent and known-future work) is exclusive to XBox. If you're into racing, it's hard to beat Project: Gotham Racing 2 (no, it's not a psuedo-simulation like the Gran Turismo series, but it has the best XBox Live! online play I've seen to date, and the physics engine backing the cars seems much more powerful than Gran Turismo's) or the Rallisport Challenge series. If you're looking for a GT killer, Forza Motorsports is shaping up nicely. Cross-platform games are better on the XBox (Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and now that EA has finally pulled their heads out of their asses and embraced Live!, the EA titles).

I guess the real question here is, what games do you like? The Xbox is currently weak in RPG games, with only KOTOR and, to a lesser extent, Fable representing the genre with any sense of style. That's set to change (Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, The Bard's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Third Age, etc) in the near future. If you like FPS, it's hard to do better than PC, so long as you don't mind the constant hardware upgrade treadmill. However, for action/adventure games (PoP and NG of course, but also lesser-known titles like Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy, Metal Arms, Otogi, Beyond Good & Evil, etc) it's hard to beat XBox. As I mentioned before, the XBox also shines with racing games, though noone has successfully produced a "GT3-killer" yet (Sega GT 2002 tried, and was a fun game in and of itself, but it fell short of the Gran Turismo mark). Forza Motorsports looks to be a serious contender for the racing simulation crown, however, especially since Gran Turismo 4 doesn't look like it will expand much on Gran Turismo 3. Sports games are also better on XBox, especially Sega's ESPN lineup (and at $20 per game for the 2005 season, it's pretty damned hard to beat -- better graphics than the EA games, comparable gameplay, much better online implementation, and $20+ cheaper than EA's offerings). RTS games don't translate well to consoles, but Full Spectrum Warrior could be considered in the RTS genre and is quite enjoyable (yes, it's now out on the PC).

So, what do you like?

(disclaimer: All of the links are from Gamespot, but I have no affiliation with them. I'm not even a Gamespot Complete member. I simply didn't feel like trolling around for links from various different web sites. I don't necessarily agree with all of Gamespot's reviews, either. Also, I realize that many of the games I mentioned are available on multiple platforms. My intent is not to show the number of exclusive titles for XBox, but to show that these multi-platform games are best on XBox.)

It's great for Microsoft, since Fable and Halo are pretty much the only reasons for a gamer to own an XBox.

That's a little short-sighted. As another poster pointed out, Ninja Gaiden (and indeed, all of Team Ninja's recent and known-future work) is exclusive to XBox. If you're into racing, it's hard to beat Project: Gotham Racing 2 (no, it's not a psuedo-simulation like the Gran Turismo series, but it has the best XBox Live! online play I've seen to date, and the physics engine backing the cars seems much more powerful than Gran Turismo's) or the Rallisport Challenge series. If you're looking for a GT killer, Forza Motorsports is shaping up nicely. Cross-platform games are better on the XBox (Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and now that EA has finally pulled their heads out of their asses and embraced Live!, the EA titles).

I guess the real question here is, what games do you like? The Xbox is currently weak in RPG games, with only KOTOR and, to a lesser extent, Fable representing the genre with any sense of style. That's set to change (Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, The Bard's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Third Age, etc) in the near future. If you like FPS, it's hard to do better than PC, so long as you don't mind the constant hardware upgrade treadmill. However, for action/adventure games (PoP and NG of course, but also lesser-known titles like Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy, Metal Arms, Otogi, Beyond Good & Evil, etc) it's hard to beat XBox. As I mentioned before, the XBox also shines with racing games, though noone has successfully produced a "GT3-killer" yet (Sega GT 2002 tried, and was a fun game in and of itself, but it fell short of the Gran Turismo mark). Forza Motorsports looks to be a serious contender for the racing simulation crown, however, especially since Gran Turismo 4 doesn't look like it will expand much on Gran Turismo 3. Sports games are also better on XBox, especially Sega's ESPN lineup (and at $20 per game for the 2005 season, it's pretty damned hard to beat -- better graphics than the EA games, comparable gameplay, much better online implementation, and $20+ cheaper than EA's offerings). RTS games don't translate well to consoles, but Full Spectrum Warrior could be considered in the RTS genre and is quite enjoyable (yes, it's now out on the PC).

So, what do you like?

(disclaimer: All of the links are from Gamespot, but I have no affiliation with them. I'm not even a Gamespot Complete member. I simply didn't feel like trolling around for links from various different web sites. I don't necessarily agree with all of Gamespot's reviews, either. Also, I realize that many of the games I mentioned are available on multiple platforms. My intent is not to show the number of exclusive titles for XBox, but to show that these multi-platform games are best on XBox.)

It's great for Microsoft, since Fable and Halo are pretty much the only reasons for a gamer to own an XBox.

That's a little short-sighted. As another poster pointed out, Ninja Gaiden (and indeed, all of Team Ninja's recent and known-future work) is exclusive to XBox. If you're into racing, it's hard to beat Project: Gotham Racing 2 (no, it's not a psuedo-simulation like the Gran Turismo series, but it has the best XBox Live! online play I've seen to date, and the physics engine backing the cars seems much more powerful than Gran Turismo's) or the Rallisport Challenge series. If you're looking for a GT killer, Forza Motorsports is shaping up nicely. Cross-platform games are better on the XBox (Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and now that EA has finally pulled their heads out of their asses and embraced Live!, the EA titles).

I guess the real question here is, what games do you like? The Xbox is currently weak in RPG games, with only KOTOR and, to a lesser extent, Fable representing the genre with any sense of style. That's set to change (Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, The Bard's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Third Age, etc) in the near future. If you like FPS, it's hard to do better than PC, so long as you don't mind the constant hardware upgrade treadmill. However, for action/adventure games (PoP and NG of course, but also lesser-known titles like Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy, Metal Arms, Otogi, Beyond Good & Evil, etc) it's hard to beat XBox. As I mentioned before, the XBox also shines with racing games, though noone has successfully produced a "GT3-killer" yet (Sega GT 2002 tried, and was a fun game in and of itself, but it fell short of the Gran Turismo mark). Forza Motorsports looks to be a serious contender for the racing simulation crown, however, especially since Gran Turismo 4 doesn't look like it will expand much on Gran Turismo 3. Sports games are also better on XBox, especially Sega's ESPN lineup (and at $20 per game for the 2005 season, it's pretty damned hard to beat -- better graphics than the EA games, comparable gameplay, much better online implementation, and $20+ cheaper than EA's offerings). RTS games don't translate well to consoles, but Full Spectrum Warrior could be considered in the RTS genre and is quite enjoyable (yes, it's now out on the PC).

So, what do you like?

(disclaimer: All of the links are from Gamespot, but I have no affiliation with them. I'm not even a Gamespot Complete member. I simply didn't feel like trolling around for links from various different web sites. I don't necessarily agree with all of Gamespot's reviews, either. Also, I realize that many of the games I mentioned are available on multiple platforms. My intent is not to show the number of exclusive titles for XBox, but to show that these multi-platform games are best on XBox.)

It's great for Microsoft, since Fable and Halo are pretty much the only reasons for a gamer to own an XBox.

That's a little short-sighted. As another poster pointed out, Ninja Gaiden (and indeed, all of Team Ninja's recent and known-future work) is exclusive to XBox. If you're into racing, it's hard to beat Project: Gotham Racing 2 (no, it's not a psuedo-simulation like the Gran Turismo series, but it has the best XBox Live! online play I've seen to date, and the physics engine backing the cars seems much more powerful than Gran Turismo's) or the Rallisport Challenge series. If you're looking for a GT killer, Forza Motorsports is shaping up nicely. Cross-platform games are better on the XBox (Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and now that EA has finally pulled their heads out of their asses and embraced Live!, the EA titles).

I guess the real question here is, what games do you like? The Xbox is currently weak in RPG games, with only KOTOR and, to a lesser extent, Fable representing the genre with any sense of style. That's set to change (Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, The Bard's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Third Age, etc) in the near future. If you like FPS, it's hard to do better than PC, so long as you don't mind the constant hardware upgrade treadmill. However, for action/adventure games (PoP and NG of course, but also lesser-known titles like Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy, Metal Arms, Otogi, Beyond Good & Evil, etc) it's hard to beat XBox. As I mentioned before, the XBox also shines with racing games, though noone has successfully produced a "GT3-killer" yet (Sega GT 2002 tried, and was a fun game in and of itself, but it fell short of the Gran Turismo mark). Forza Motorsports looks to be a serious contender for the racing simulation crown, however, especially since Gran Turismo 4 doesn't look like it will expand much on Gran Turismo 3. Sports games are also better on XBox, especially Sega's ESPN lineup (and at $20 per game for the 2005 season, it's pretty damned hard to beat -- better graphics than the EA games, comparable gameplay, much better online implementation, and $20+ cheaper than EA's offerings). RTS games don't translate well to consoles, but Full Spectrum Warrior could be considered in the RTS genre and is quite enjoyable (yes, it's now out on the PC).

So, what do you like?

(disclaimer: All of the links are from Gamespot, but I have no affiliation with them. I'm not even a Gamespot Complete member. I simply didn't feel like trolling around for links from various different web sites. I don't necessarily agree with all of Gamespot's reviews, either. Also, I realize that many of the games I mentioned are available on multiple platforms. My intent is not to show the number of exclusive titles for XBox, but to show that these multi-platform games are best on XBox.)

It's great for Microsoft, since Fable and Halo are pretty much the only reasons for a gamer to own an XBox.

That's a little short-sighted. As another poster pointed out, Ninja Gaiden (and indeed, all of Team Ninja's recent and known-future work) is exclusive to XBox. If you're into racing, it's hard to beat Project: Gotham Racing 2 (no, it's not a psuedo-simulation like the Gran Turismo series, but it has the best XBox Live! online play I've seen to date, and the physics engine backing the cars seems much more powerful than Gran Turismo's) or the Rallisport Challenge series. If you're looking for a GT killer, Forza Motorsports is shaping up nicely. Cross-platform games are better on the XBox (Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and now that EA has finally pulled their heads out of their asses and embraced Live!, the EA titles).

I guess the real question here is, what games do you like? The Xbox is currently weak in RPG games, with only KOTOR and, to a lesser extent, Fable representing the genre with any sense of style. That's set to change (Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, The Bard's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Third Age, etc) in the near future. If you like FPS, it's hard to do better than PC, so long as you don't mind the constant hardware upgrade treadmill. However, for action/adventure games (PoP and NG of course, but also lesser-known titles like Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy, Metal Arms, Otogi, Beyond Good & Evil, etc) it's hard to beat XBox. As I mentioned before, the XBox also shines with racing games, though noone has successfully produced a "GT3-killer" yet (Sega GT 2002 tried, and was a fun game in and of itself, but it fell short of the Gran Turismo mark). Forza Motorsports looks to be a serious contender for the racing simulation crown, however, especially since Gran Turismo 4 doesn't look like it will expand much on Gran Turismo 3. Sports games are also better on XBox, especially Sega's ESPN lineup (and at $20 per game for the 2005 season, it's pretty damned hard to beat -- better graphics than the EA games, comparable gameplay, much better online implementation, and $20+ cheaper than EA's offerings). RTS games don't translate well to consoles, but Full Spectrum Warrior could be considered in the RTS genre and is quite enjoyable (yes, it's now out on the PC).

So, what do you like?

(disclaimer: All of the links are from Gamespot, but I have no affiliation with them. I'm not even a Gamespot Complete member. I simply didn't feel like trolling around for links from various different web sites. I don't necessarily agree with all of Gamespot's reviews, either. Also, I realize that many of the games I mentioned are available on multiple platforms. My intent is not to show the number of exclusive titles for XBox, but to show that these multi-platform games are best on XBox.)

It's great for Microsoft, since Fable and Halo are pretty much the only reasons for a gamer to own an XBox.

That's a little short-sighted. As another poster pointed out, Ninja Gaiden (and indeed, all of Team Ninja's recent and known-future work) is exclusive to XBox. If you're into racing, it's hard to beat Project: Gotham Racing 2 (no, it's not a psuedo-simulation like the Gran Turismo series, but it has the best XBox Live! online play I've seen to date, and the physics engine backing the cars seems much more powerful than Gran Turismo's) or the Rallisport Challenge series. If you're looking for a GT killer, Forza Motorsports is shaping up nicely. Cross-platform games are better on the XBox (Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and now that EA has finally pulled their heads out of their asses and embraced Live!, the EA titles).

I guess the real question here is, what games do you like? The Xbox is currently weak in RPG games, with only KOTOR and, to a lesser extent, Fable representing the genre with any sense of style. That's set to change (Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, The Bard's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Third Age, etc) in the near future. If you like FPS, it's hard to do better than PC, so long as you don't mind the constant hardware upgrade treadmill. However, for action/adventure games (PoP and NG of course, but also lesser-known titles like Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy, Metal Arms, Otogi, Beyond Good & Evil, etc) it's hard to beat XBox. As I mentioned before, the XBox also shines with racing games, though noone has successfully produced a "GT3-killer" yet (Sega GT 2002 tried, and was a fun game in and of itself, but it fell short of the Gran Turismo mark). Forza Motorsports looks to be a serious contender for the racing simulation crown, however, especially since Gran Turismo 4 doesn't look like it will expand much on Gran Turismo 3. Sports games are also better on XBox, especially Sega's ESPN lineup (and at $20 per game for the 2005 season, it's pretty damned hard to beat -- better graphics than the EA games, comparable gameplay, much better online implementation, and $20+ cheaper than EA's offerings). RTS games don't translate well to consoles, but Full Spectrum Warrior could be considered in the RTS genre and is quite enjoyable (yes, it's now out on the PC).

So, what do you like?

(disclaimer: All of the links are from Gamespot, but I have no affiliation with them. I'm not even a Gamespot Complete member. I simply didn't feel like trolling around for links from various different web sites. I don't necessarily agree with all of Gamespot's reviews, either. Also, I realize that many of the games I mentioned are available on multiple platforms. My intent is not to show the number of exclusive titles for XBox, but to show that these multi-platform games are best on XBox.)

It's great for Microsoft, since Fable and Halo are pretty much the only reasons for a gamer to own an XBox.

That's a little short-sighted. As another poster pointed out, Ninja Gaiden (and indeed, all of Team Ninja's recent and known-future work) is exclusive to XBox. If you're into racing, it's hard to beat Project: Gotham Racing 2 (no, it's not a psuedo-simulation like the Gran Turismo series, but it has the best XBox Live! online play I've seen to date, and the physics engine backing the cars seems much more powerful than Gran Turismo's) or the Rallisport Challenge series. If you're looking for a GT killer, Forza Motorsports is shaping up nicely. Cross-platform games are better on the XBox (Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and now that EA has finally pulled their heads out of their asses and embraced Live!, the EA titles).

I guess the real question here is, what games do you like? The Xbox is currently weak in RPG games, with only KOTOR and, to a lesser extent, Fable representing the genre with any sense of style. That's set to change (Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, The Bard's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Third Age, etc) in the near future. If you like FPS, it's hard to do better than PC, so long as you don't mind the constant hardware upgrade treadmill. However, for action/adventure games (PoP and NG of course, but also lesser-known titles like Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy, Metal Arms, Otogi, Beyond Good & Evil, etc) it's hard to beat XBox. As I mentioned before, the XBox also shines with racing games, though noone has successfully produced a "GT3-killer" yet (Sega GT 2002 tried, and was a fun game in and of itself, but it fell short of the Gran Turismo mark). Forza Motorsports looks to be a serious contender for the racing simulation crown, however, especially since Gran Turismo 4 doesn't look like it will expand much on Gran Turismo 3. Sports games are also better on XBox, especially Sega's ESPN lineup (and at $20 per game for the 2005 season, it's pretty damned hard to beat -- better graphics than the EA games, comparable gameplay, much better online implementation, and $20+ cheaper than EA's offerings). RTS games don't translate well to consoles, but Full Spectrum Warrior could be considered in the RTS genre and is quite enjoyable (yes, it's now out on the PC).

So, what do you like?

(disclaimer: All of the links are from Gamespot, but I have no affiliation with them. I'm not even a Gamespot Complete member. I simply didn't feel like trolling around for links from various different web sites. I don't necessarily agree with all of Gamespot's reviews, either. Also, I realize that many of the games I mentioned are available on multiple platforms. My intent is not to show the number of exclusive titles for XBox, but to show that these multi-platform games are best on XBox.)

It's great for Microsoft, since Fable and Halo are pretty much the only reasons for a gamer to own an XBox.

That's a little short-sighted. As another poster pointed out, Ninja Gaiden (and indeed, all of Team Ninja's recent and known-future work) is exclusive to XBox. If you're into racing, it's hard to beat Project: Gotham Racing 2 (no, it's not a psuedo-simulation like the Gran Turismo series, but it has the best XBox Live! online play I've seen to date, and the physics engine backing the cars seems much more powerful than Gran Turismo's) or the Rallisport Challenge series. If you're looking for a GT killer, Forza Motorsports is shaping up nicely. Cross-platform games are better on the XBox (Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and now that EA has finally pulled their heads out of their asses and embraced Live!, the EA titles).

I guess the real question here is, what games do you like? The Xbox is currently weak in RPG games, with only KOTOR and, to a lesser extent, Fable representing the genre with any sense of style. That's set to change (Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, The Bard's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Third Age, etc) in the near future. If you like FPS, it's hard to do better than PC, so long as you don't mind the constant hardware upgrade treadmill. However, for action/adventure games (PoP and NG of course, but also lesser-known titles like Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy, Metal Arms, Otogi, Beyond Good & Evil, etc) it's hard to beat XBox. As I mentioned before, the XBox also shines with racing games, though noone has successfully produced a "GT3-killer" yet (Sega GT 2002 tried, and was a fun game in and of itself, but it fell short of the Gran Turismo mark). Forza Motorsports looks to be a serious contender for the racing simulation crown, however, especially since Gran Turismo 4 doesn't look like it will expand much on Gran Turismo 3. Sports games are also better on XBox, especially Sega's ESPN lineup (and at $20 per game for the 2005 season, it's pretty damned hard to beat -- better graphics than the EA games, comparable gameplay, much better online implementation, and $20+ cheaper than EA's offerings). RTS games don't translate well to consoles, but Full Spectrum Warrior could be considered in the RTS genre and is quite enjoyable (yes, it's now out on the PC).

So, what do you like?

(disclaimer: All of the links are from Gamespot, but I have no affiliation with them. I'm not even a Gamespot Complete member. I simply didn't feel like trolling around for links from various different web sites. I don't necessarily agree with all of Gamespot's reviews, either. Also, I realize that many of the games I mentioned are available on multiple platforms. My intent is not to show the number of exclusive titles for XBox, but to show that these multi-platform games are best on XBox.)

It's great for Microsoft, since Fable and Halo are pretty much the only reasons for a gamer to own an XBox.

That's a little short-sighted. As another poster pointed out, Ninja Gaiden (and indeed, all of Team Ninja's recent and known-future work) is exclusive to XBox. If you're into racing, it's hard to beat Project: Gotham Racing 2 (no, it's not a psuedo-simulation like the Gran Turismo series, but it has the best XBox Live! online play I've seen to date, and the physics engine backing the cars seems much more powerful than Gran Turismo's) or the Rallisport Challenge series. If you're looking for a GT killer, Forza Motorsports is shaping up nicely. Cross-platform games are better on the XBox (Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and now that EA has finally pulled their heads out of their asses and embraced Live!, the EA titles).

I guess the real question here is, what games do you like? The Xbox is currently weak in RPG games, with only KOTOR and, to a lesser extent, Fable representing the genre with any sense of style. That's set to change (Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, The Bard's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Third Age, etc) in the near future. If you like FPS, it's hard to do better than PC, so long as you don't mind the constant hardware upgrade treadmill. However, for action/adventure games (PoP and NG of course, but also lesser-known titles like Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy, Metal Arms, Otogi, Beyond Good & Evil, etc) it's hard to beat XBox. As I mentioned before, the XBox also shines with racing games, though noone has successfully produced a "GT3-killer" yet (Sega GT 2002 tried, and was a fun game in and of itself, but it fell short of the Gran Turismo mark). Forza Motorsports looks to be a serious contender for the racing simulation crown, however, especially since Gran Turismo 4 doesn't look like it will expand much on Gran Turismo 3. Sports games are also better on XBox, especially Sega's ESPN lineup (and at $20 per game for the 2005 season, it's pretty damned hard to beat -- better graphics than the EA games, comparable gameplay, much better online implementation, and $20+ cheaper than EA's offerings). RTS games don't translate well to consoles, but Full Spectrum Warrior could be considered in the RTS genre and is quite enjoyable (yes, it's now out on the PC).

So, what do you like?

(disclaimer: All of the links are from Gamespot, but I have no affiliation with them. I'm not even a Gamespot Complete member. I simply didn't feel like trolling around for links from various different web sites. I don't necessarily agree with all of Gamespot's reviews, either. Also, I realize that many of the games I mentioned are available on multiple platforms. My intent is not to show the number of exclusive titles for XBox, but to show that these multi-platform games are best on XBox.)

It's great for Microsoft, since Fable and Halo are pretty much the only reasons for a gamer to own an XBox.

That's a little short-sighted. As another poster pointed out, Ninja Gaiden (and indeed, all of Team Ninja's recent and known-future work) is exclusive to XBox. If you're into racing, it's hard to beat Project: Gotham Racing 2 (no, it's not a psuedo-simulation like the Gran Turismo series, but it has the best XBox Live! online play I've seen to date, and the physics engine backing the cars seems much more powerful than Gran Turismo's) or the Rallisport Challenge series. If you're looking for a GT killer, Forza Motorsports is shaping up nicely. Cross-platform games are better on the XBox (Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and now that EA has finally pulled their heads out of their asses and embraced Live!, the EA titles).

I guess the real question here is, what games do you like? The Xbox is currently weak in RPG games, with only KOTOR and, to a lesser extent, Fable representing the genre with any sense of style. That's set to change (Jade Empire, KOTOR 2, The Bard's Tale, Lord of the Rings, Third Age, etc) in the near future. If you like FPS, it's hard to do better than PC, so long as you don't mind the constant hardware upgrade treadmill. However, for action/adventure games (PoP and NG of course, but also lesser-known titles like Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy, Metal Arms, Otogi, Beyond Good & Evil, etc) it's hard to beat XBox. As I mentioned before, the XBox also shines with racing games, though noone has successfully produced a "GT3-killer" yet (Sega GT 2002 tried, and was a fun game in and of itself, but it fell short of the Gran Turismo mark). Forza Motorsports looks to be a serious contender for the racing simulation crown, however, especially since Gran Turismo 4 doesn't look like it will expand much on Gran Turismo 3. Sports games are also better on XBox, especially Sega's ESPN lineup (and at $20 per game for the 2005 season, it's pretty damned hard to beat -- better graphics than the EA games, comparable gameplay, much better online implementation, and $20+ cheaper than EA's offerings). RTS games don't translate well to consoles, but Full Spectrum Warrior could be considered in the RTS genre and is quite enjoyable (yes, it's now out on the PC).

So, what do you like?

(disclaimer: All of the links are from Gamespot, but I have no affiliation with them. I'm not even a Gamespot Complete member. I simply didn't feel like trolling around for links from various different web sites. I don't necessarily agree with all of Gamespot's reviews, either. Also, I realize that many of the games I mentioned are available on multiple platforms. My intent is not to show the number of exclusive titles for XBox, but to show that these multi-platform games are best on XBox.)