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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.)

Gamespot Movie

In this movie, it's incredibly clear that not only does the device work, but Metroid Hunters actually has more PC like control than any console based FPS I've seen - essentially, the stylus acts as the mouselook, and the d-pad works like your standard WASD keys. I'm convinced; that's all it comes down to. I can also see things like Flight sims, which, with the stylus, will now have enough area for complete controls, and can do more than one plane. For more "innovative" games, I'm sure we can rely on Sega and Nintendo, but I'm happy if this is what we get.

Well the waiting is over - the new game is called 'Bioshock' and is not System Shock related- well apart from the fact it has the word 'shock' in the title and apparently gamespot consider this appealing to System Shock 2 fans.

Bah. Bring back Shodan.

"The system will use a rechargeable battery that's estimated to last roughly 10 hours."

Straight from GameSpot

It looks like FF3 has been confirmed in Japan at least. Should be able to find it on eBay, at some point!

You mean this... http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/sidpirates/ind ex.html?q=pirates:

Before you get too excited, it's gonna be called One-Line Puzzle in the US. No innuendo as far as I can see, but I'm sure the /. community will pick up on something I missed.

Let me give you a link:

9/2/2004: Gamespot article

Quote: "The highlight of the presentation was the unveiling of the PSP hardware developing tool"

Also Sony didn't tell developers that they would be responsible for the PSP's battery life until recently. Which means they are still changing specifications this late.

It has been reported that Karl Urban (LoTR's Eomer) has signed on to play the lead as John Grimm.

Through the 'history' of games, western game companies aren't doing anything new?

Western companies created:

Pong (first game)
Zork (and other text based adventures)
King's Quest (and other graphic adventures)
Wolfenstein 3d (and other first person shooters)
First Light-gun shooting game
First home video game console (Magnavox)
First vector graphics game (precursor to modern polys)
First hand-held system (Microvision)

The list goes on, and on, and on, and on...

You could at least read something about the subject- even as simple as this:
Gamespot's History of Video Games

The world of videogames did not start with Nintendo!

So please, do not think that Japan is the leader in videogame innovation. They may possibly be the center of the universe as far as your preferred video game genre goes- but the are far, far, far from the only ones innovating.

Next you'll try to tell us that television was invented in Japan.

Why oh why are they playing FIFA?

All true football fans know that Pro Evolution Soccer is by far the better game, both in terms of realism and depth. Sure, FIFA may have the licenses, but PES is the most accurate simulation, and offers much more competitive and enjoyable multi-player. I for one can't wait for PES4, as I believe it'll be playable on XBox Live (and I may even be tempted to purchase an XBox just to play this single game). I could always stick to the PS2 version with a multi-tap and some beers with my mates...

--Jon

http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/game spotting/071103minusworld/1.html

Sure, sure. They're not withholding the game. That's why it's on store shelves, right? It may not be what they are claiming, but that is what is happening. Nice troll, btw, playing the 'libel' card. That one wouldn't even have worked if my comment was a press release. Good effort, though. My opinion may or may not be correct, but I do have the right to hold it and express it. It represents the truth, as far as I can tell. Valve has released the game to VUG but it is not on shelves, nor is it available to unlock on Steam even though the code has been preloaded for weeks. VUG controls the release of Half-Life 2. Valve has already released Counter-Strike: Source*. VUG has not released Half-Life 2, and they are in the middle of a legal battle with Valve. My conclusion is not unreasonable.

*Yes, you must purchase the Steam Half-Life package first, but then CS:S is immediately playable.

The chatting aspect is a little strange, given that you need to be in speaking distance for the wireless adapter to actually work...

It's hard to decide right now, with all the speculation going on. However, Nintendo has backwards compatibility, low-battery using cartridges innovative dual screen and not to mention a ridicoulsly awesome track record for good first party games.

The price point is even on par with an 'upscale' portable system.

RPGs, for one, would definitley benifit from increased functionality. When you consider that KOTOR was a *huge* success for the Xbox on so many different levels, and that Fable is already a record breaking title the move to a more sophisticated input system would seem natural. As far as the inherently watered down, oversimplified nature of a console- it's not like a 101 keyboard is something the masses have never seen before.

Besides, wouldn't this be in line with the "convergence" conspiracy Mr. Gates' has had all along? ;) I would just *love* to be able to choose between mouse and keyboard and controller on my Xbox.

So how can he be a hardcore game visionary at Microsoft but not at IL?

Easy. With the Xbox, Bachus didn't need a job. He already had a very secure position within MS. He risked more by pushing the Xbox within MS than if he'd just shut up and continued to work on DirectX. I can't say why he went with Infinium exactly, but he was unemployed. Before that, he was part of the rather placid and failed CEG. Now, Infinium pretty much has him doing their dirty work. Short of some E3 evangelism and threats of lawsuits, we haven't seen much from Kevin Bachus-Infinium.

Here's a swell experiment if you're bored: go back and read articles with Bachus about the Xbox pre-launch. Then read through the press and interviews he's done while at Infinium, and tell me which one is the excited Bachus and which one is the I'm-Glad-I'm-Getting-Paid-Bachus. Have fun.

The ECE torrent is available, alongside direct downloads provided by BeyondUnreal.

Not clear enough? How about this from Blue's News?

The pack is an 84 MB download, available on 3D Gamers, FileFront, and GameSpot DLX (registration required), Gameguru Mania, Gamer's Hell, Game's Fusion, Tiscali Games, and Worthplaying.

Gamespot, and others all have initial impressions of the game. There's even a movie of the thing in action. There's also info on the official page.

Nintendo revealed a few more miscellaneous details--the system will only launch in the silver/black color shown in currently available pictures, although more colors will probably be added later; battery life is 6-10 hours depending on application; and Game Boy/GB Color games will not be backwards compatible with the DS, although all Game Boy Advance games will work with the system in single-player mode.

Well, they've already stated that Mario 64 will be ported, and from this article on the launch (lot more responsive than Smoking-Hulk-Of-PlanetGameCube), looks like GBA games will be compatible (although that goes against everything else I've read).

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/09/21/news_61079 96.html

Okay, so I suck, all I had to do was look at the title page of Apex Designs to see the release date: seems it'll come out this October. GameSpot has some more screens. Why would anyone get the GTA game when you can get stuff like this?

I would attribute GTA: San Andreas's recent delay for "extra quality testing" to this smaller PS2's release, if it's true.

Basically, Infinium sues HardOCP for defamation (GS gi). Then HardOCP sues Infinium in order to "clear the air" after all the demands, allegations and threats made towards them (GS gi). Infinium counter-sues HardOCP again for defamation (GS gi).

Basically, Infinium sues HardOCP for defamation (GS gi). Then HardOCP sues Infinium in order to "clear the air" after all the demands, allegations and threats made towards them (GS gi). Infinium counter-sues HardOCP again for defamation (GS gi).

The fact is, Sakaguchi actually was the corporate fall guy for the economic failure of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. He resigned and like another poster said, started his own company Mistwalker with some other ex-Square employees.

So...After making the groundbreaking FF7 and the universally underrated and innovative FF8, he was only marginally involved in the crowd-pleasing trainwreck that was FF9, and he was completely left out of mediocre-but-playable FFX and X2 (the most mainstream and least innovative of the FF games, in my opinion--I mean, you can't even control the airship?!). People will think I'm being harsh, as many of us got into FF at FFX or somewhere thereabouts, but every FF game he was involved in was innovative and not afraid to reinvent countless RPG conventions. Every FF game since has been at best well-done-derivative.

Of course, now, with nails-on-chalkboard voice overs and super linear gameplay, FFX made more money than ever. There are a lot of factors that helped that--most of all the popularity of the PS2--so it's hard to say people buy it because it's linear and derivative, but when something like 32% of the games sold in August were rehashes of the yearly sports games, people are apparently at least ready and willing to buy derivative. My own opinion is that FFX probably would have done just as well economically, and been a much better game, had Sakaguchi still been at the helm.

It's a shame, but at least Mistwalker will probably come up with something special in the years to come.

And really, if I can play BattleZone with the dual analog controls on my PS2 dualshock controller? I'd *rather* play it on the console... this and the Sonic Mega Collection are going on my xmas list, right next to GTA: San Andreas, of course...

ff:VII small movie

It's a small movie, and jap in background, but still cool.

"The publisher's efforts, combined with the inherent appeal of the game, powered a two-year sales streak that propelled The Sims above the previous all-time best-seller, Myst.

I don't think that they need to hype the sequel of the number one selling (pc) game of all time.
--

PS2 Vice City was released Oct 27, 2002, while the PC Vice City was released May 12, 2003. That's 7 months, not a year.

GTA 3 (PS2, PC) had the same delay.

PS2 Vice City was released Oct 27, 2002, while the PC Vice City was released May 12, 2003. That's 7 months, not a year.

GTA 3 (PS2, PC) had the same delay.

PS2 Vice City was released Oct 27, 2002, while the PC Vice City was released May 12, 2003. That's 7 months, not a year.

GTA 3 (PS2, PC) had the same delay.

PS2 Vice City was released Oct 27, 2002, while the PC Vice City was released May 12, 2003. That's 7 months, not a year.

GTA 3 (PS2, PC) had the same delay.

you can not release patches to XBox games

Wrong.

Really good open-source games do exist. Take the Star Control series, for example. Gamespot calls Star Control 2 one of the best games of all time, and lo and behold, it's available as open source as The Ur-Quan Masters.

While we're here and on-topic, have a look at Star Control: Timewarp. Also open source and in the Star Control universe, it's got some cool new ships and innovative features.

Previous examples of voice recognition in a video game can be seen in the Dreamcast's Seaman, which I have heard nothing but excellent things about, and in the N64's "Hey You Pikachu", which I have heard nothing at all about.

A somewhat more directly relevant example of how we might see voice recognition used in the DS might perhaps be teased from the news about Nintendo's upcoming Mario Party 6, which will contain about eighty-something multiplayer minigames, all entirely based around the useage of a microphone peripheral that will come with the game, and some of which will incorporate voice recognition.

Previous examples of voice recognition in a video game can be seen in the Dreamcast's Seaman, which I have heard nothing but excellent things about, and in the N64's "Hey You Pikachu", which I have heard nothing at all about.

A somewhat more directly relevant example of how we might see voice recognition used in the DS might perhaps be teased from the news about Nintendo's upcoming Mario Party 6, which will contain about eighty-something multiplayer minigames, all entirely based around the useage of a microphone peripheral that will come with the game, and some of which will incorporate voice recognition.

A friend of mine recently bought a projector, and we started playing XBOX games on it. Most are great and it's made a huge difference to the gaming experience. The only problem is that for people who have a tendency to experience motion sickness when playing FPS style games (like Halo) the effects become amplified. I can play Halo on a normal tv and only feel a little ill after, but after just a minute on the big screen I cannot play any more.

A password of "gaben"!! It looks like he hasn't even learned the basics of network security following Valve's network breach

You just don't find games like Twisted Metal and Grand Theft Auto on the GBA.

Twisted Metal would naturally not be on the GBA, but as for GTA...

Gamespot reviewed "Real Life" once. It got a 9.6, but that's a really subjective opinion....

I doubt that. I read the articles from Gamespot and IGN. Basically, they said that a nintendo rep confirmed that the patent was for a N64DD add on. But if you read the actual patent it is very broad and specifically states that the N644DD system was an example implementation and the technology could be used on any existing gaming system and doesn't have to be an add on. I think that Nintendo is keeping their cards close to their chest on this. I think that Gamepot and IGN dropped the ball. They should have read the patent closer and asked Nintendo some specifc questions.

Nintendo reps contacted by GameSpot confirmed the patent was indeed for the 64DD and not for a new console.

yeah, here's a link to a gamespot article trying to clear up the confusion. These are not patents for a next generation Nintendo console, but old patents that have finally be granted many years after originally being submitted.

It wasn't Jurassic Park but The Sequel

Actually, that's kinda been done... :)

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/badmojo/revie w.html

Remember, no matter how new and innovative you think an idea is, somebody else probably thought of it before you.

Speaking as a content creator myself...

Simple and cool is the toughest thing to do in movies, music and video games. Hell, make that the toughest thing to find in *all* software, laws or even women. That's why if you succeed in finding that core concept of simple and cool, the rest is just getting out the games' way and not messing it up.

Everything is tied to everything else, so it's usually only with hindsight that you can see that, for example, GTA III is really very unlike any of the first person shooters, adventure games, or racers that it borrowed its' core concepts from.

This kind of transcendance isn't anything you can plan or control, either. They key, as with anything supposedly creative, is inspiration. An truly inspired effort will either produce a new kind of game like GTA 3 or Wolfenstein 3D, or games like Halo or Warcraft 3, old concepts but still a blast to play.

Ultimatley what shovelware, movie licenses and sequels tend to lack is a distinct sense of inspiration.

Occasionally though, an ambitious developer's reach exceeds their grasp. I've seen many underserving developers get alot of flak thrown their way, I wish that more gamers were aware of the big picture.

Yes, we all love seeing the paradigm shift, but let's face it, that's really rare. I'll take a great old game anyday.

Speaking as a content creator myself...

Simple and cool is the toughest thing to do in movies, music and video games. Hell, make that the toughest thing to find in *all* software, laws or even women. That's why if you succeed in finding that core concept of simple and cool, the rest is just getting out the games' way and not messing it up.

Everything is tied to everything else, so it's usually only with hindsight that you can see that, for example, GTA III is really very unlike any of the first person shooters, adventure games, or racers that it borrowed its' core concepts from.

This kind of transcendance isn't anything you can plan or control, either. They key, as with anything supposedly creative, is inspiration. An truly inspired effort will either produce a new kind of game like GTA 3 or Wolfenstein 3D, or games like Halo or Warcraft 3, old concepts but still a blast to play.

Ultimatley what shovelware, movie licenses and sequels tend to lack is a distinct sense of inspiration.

Occasionally though, an ambitious developer's reach exceeds their grasp. I've seen many underserving developers get alot of flak thrown their way, I wish that more gamers were aware of the big picture.

Yes, we all love seeing the paradigm shift, but let's face it, that's really rare. I'll take a great old game anyday.

Speaking as a content creator myself...

Simple and cool is the toughest thing to do in movies, music and video games. Hell, make that the toughest thing to find in *all* software, laws or even women. That's why if you succeed in finding that core concept of simple and cool, the rest is just getting out the games' way and not messing it up.

Everything is tied to everything else, so it's usually only with hindsight that you can see that, for example, GTA III is really very unlike any of the first person shooters, adventure games, or racers that it borrowed its' core concepts from.

This kind of transcendance isn't anything you can plan or control, either. They key, as with anything supposedly creative, is inspiration. An truly inspired effort will either produce a new kind of game like GTA 3 or Wolfenstein 3D, or games like Halo or Warcraft 3, old concepts but still a blast to play.

Ultimatley what shovelware, movie licenses and sequels tend to lack is a distinct sense of inspiration.

Occasionally though, an ambitious developer's reach exceeds their grasp. I've seen many underserving developers get alot of flak thrown their way, I wish that more gamers were aware of the big picture.

Yes, we all love seeing the paradigm shift, but let's face it, that's really rare. I'll take a great old game anyday.