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MS Reveals Big-Name Xbox Games
LukeG writes "At this year's huge X02 event in Seville, Microsoft pulled out all the stops to convince the vast contingent of mainstream journalists present that the Xbox did indeed have the credentials to take on Sony and Nintendo. As well as the huge acquisition of Rare, Microsoft also reveled in the number of other potential AAA titles confirmed at the show. The best of these are examined in this preview."
Wow, there's some new AAA Xbox title that slashdots sites to death?
Coooool.
Macintosh humor! MacComedy.com
You can play games on the XBox?
From reading this site, I assumed it was just another Linux platform.
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
The most hotly expected title, IIS5, is another sequel to one of Microsoft's popular games. Players will try to avoid massive publicity that could disrupt their home base, while simultaneously doing patches in real time. Weapons at the player's disposal include new firewalls and cluster services (aka "cluster bombs"). While some multiplayer features are still present from the original version, the much-anticipated massively multiplayer mode is still not available, as verified by a recent posting on Slashdot.
What's your damage, Heather?
I don't think there's much evidence that MS has "ruined" Ensemble or Bungie. But don't let the facts get in the way of your rant.
Posted anonymously to protect the innocent! No karma-whoring here!
X02 and the future of the Xbox
X02 is the cunningly named sequel event to last year's Cannes X01 launch. It essentially gives Microsoft a competition free platform to make important announcements, introduce upcoming games and to spend prodigious amounts of money on industry journalists. This years event took place in Seville, and gave a fascinating glimpse into the direction Microsoft is heading.
Boarding the plane at Gatwick, I soon found myself engaging in some interesting speculation about what the event would reveal, and precisely what the show needed to achieve from Microsoft's point of view. Things have not gone entirely to plan for the Xbox in Europe, and while there has been no Japan-style disaster, Microsoft has only just edged out Nintendo in a region that has become increasingly important to the industry as a whole. In Europe, the battle for second place is still wide open. The consensus opinion amongst the journalists on the flight was that Microsoft needed to impress at X02 - particularly in the short term. Sony have an almost certain record-selling title in GTA: Vice City, and analysts have always held the view that this Christmas period - the first in which all the consoles have been available in all regions - is far more important than the last one. Worryingly for Microsoft, a number of their key titles have slipped alarmingly, and despite having a reputation for patience on this front (confirmed by many of the developers I have spoken to) I think the situation is now becoming a concern. Games like Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance and Knights of the Old Republic would have been extremely welcome, but it seems we won't see either until next year.
The event began, therefore, with an air of expectation amongst the assembled delegates. Knowing nothing of the venue, it was something of a shock when the numerous coaches pulled up outside an enormous theme park on the edge of the city. Festooned in green and black, and with a spectacular laser and water show, it was clear that Microsoft wanted something of a party atmosphere. This was primarily achieved through the free alcohol that was available, however, and it makes me tremendously proud to report that your British media representatives were foremost amongst the European nations in creating the necessary mood through alcohol consumption. It brought a tear to my eye, to see such dedication.
Clearly wanting to take a grip on the situation before everyone became too drunk to care, Microsoft quickly convened the nights press conference. Acting as master of ceremonies was Sandy Duncan, VP of Xbox Europe. Also speaking from Microsoft were Jay Allard, general manager of Xbox, Ed Fries, VP of content for Xbox and Michael Cassius, the European Xbox director. Several developers and publishers also made speeches, including Jay Wilbur from Epic, Peter Molyneux from Lionhead, and Yves Guillemot from Ubisoft. The proceedings were laced with flashy music and special effects as you might expect, but most of the interest was of course generated by the announcements made.
Some of these were pretty much expected, but overall there was a slight shift in tone from the company that may well prove to be significant. The initial announcements concerned various games planned for the platform, and included Project Gotham Racing 2, as well as other unheard of titles like Climax's Sudeki (which ultimately was considered one of the most promising games of the show - more later).
The worst kept secret in gaming - MS's purchase of Rare - was also revealed, with a cool price tag of around $375 million. The Stamper brothers were present, but did not speak - probably too stunned by the fact that they're now stinking rich. One interesting point was the movie played after the announcement. There has been intense speculation over which franchises would be retained by Rare, and which would revert to Nintendo. This movie seemed to suggest Rare would retain Perfect Dark, the Conker franchise and Banjo-Kazooie, as it featured all these characters as well as the first game to be released for the Xbox - Kameo. Kameo is a fairy with the ability to morph into a variety of other creatures, and the game seemed to be some kind of action puzzler, with a similar play-style to other Rare games. Release date is as yet unknown, but we're not likely to see it for at least a year.
The biggest announcements, however, and certainly those that MS was keen to promote the most, were those concerning the impending launch of Xbox Live. A lot of information was given here, and it will be covered in more detail in another article, but the pertinent points are the lauch date - March 14th in Europe - and the price, at around 59 Euros. This should translate to about £39.
The promotion of Xbox Live was definitely the prevailing theme of the show, and indeed MS representatives constantly badgered people to go and try it out. My overall impression was that MS are very happy with the system they have designed, but are slightly worried about how to sell and promote it. To elaborate on this point, let me just explain that this type of show is not only attended by specialist gaming press. In fact we were probably in the minority, with many more journalists from more neutral publications like the BBC or mens magazines, as well as general press. This meant that not all the journalists present came from a gaming background, and MS representatives made specific requests several times during the event for people to try out the Xbox Live demonstrations. They were extremely keen to get the message across, and were perhaps worried that certain press elements in attendance were missing out on the experience.
As said previously, there was a general consensus amongst the press that MS needed X02 to be a success to win over some critics. In this regard, the show was a success - but probably not an unqualified one. There are definite chinks in the armour, and perhaps the most significant is the real lack of stand out titles available in Europe in time for Christmas, and in particular titles with mainstream broad-based appeal.
Of all the possible AAA titles demonstrated at the show, only one will definitely be released in time for the holiday season. Ubi Soft's Splinter Cell looks fantastic -essentially it's the Tom Clancy take on the stealth genre. It plays a little like Metal Gear Solid, but aims to be more realistic and less arcade-like. There is also less of an emphasis on interruptive story, and the gameplay is extremely compelling. It's scheduled for release in November, and there'll be more info on it and other titles in the X02 games round up.
In the long term, however, things look decidedly rosy for Xbox. There are an enormous number of titles in development for the console as we speak - three hundred at the last count - and an amazing number of those look like they have real potential. Several games stood out as potential classics. I'll save the details for the games round up, but these included Sudeki, Kameo, Steel Battalion, MGS 2: Substance, Brute Force and Molyneux and co.'s offerings Fable (formerly Project Ego) and B.C. There are also titles designed with Xbox Live in mind, and having played both Unreal Champoinship and Mech Assault I can confirm that both are incredibly fun, with UC particularly being a grade A title.
X02 was also significant for the tone of the rhetoric we heard from many of Microsoft's top people. Ed Fries admitted in one particular speech that "we learned the hard way about the mistakes we made", referring at the time to two things - the eventual realization that Xbox prices were far too high when it came to the market, and also to the decision to release the controller S in Europe on November 1st. This conciliatory tone was evident throughout the event - Xbox is clearly trying to avoid the kind of bad reputation that MS as a company has with certain audiences. There was also quite a bit of honesty from the Xbox team in that they often admitted that they did not have all the answers. During the developer unplugged session, Jay Allard was asked about potential difficulties of using a voice communicator with certain game genre's. He simply said that MS had no idea how people would act in-game with the communicator, and that some risk was involved in the effort to bring voice to gaming, but that he and his team were convinced that it was worth a try.
The members of the Xbox staff present at the show were all as candid as Allard - it did give me the impression that the company is trying head off any accusations of being insensitive to consumers and the general public. As such, the event did go a long way towards convincing me of the viability of Xbox Live and of the continued success of Xbox in general. The particular thing to remember here is that Xbox will continue improve with age - it has only been in Europe for a matter of months. Encouragingly, there are a number of titles due that are almost guaranteed to be a success by any measure - games like Knights of the Old Republic, Halo 2, Fable and B.C., and Microsoft is clearly looking at long term prospects by buying companies of Rare's calibre. It seems that Microsoft's goal is now simply to grow its user base and make a success of Xbox Live. Playstation 2 has an unassailable lead in terms of numbers, so MS seems to be shedding it's myopia and looking to the future, and I'd contend that this is no bad thing. 2003 looks to be the definitive year in the history of the Xbox...
Because if they did, by now one of them would have contacted the owner(s) of one of these sites and offer to sue slashdot for malicious actions.
[o]_O
Well, the site is running IIS, so the five pro-MS people here could've overloaded it...
"Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
Error 403.9: Access Forbidden
sounds like a shooter
300 titles? maybe one of them will be a game where you, the lone programmer on a daring mission into the depths of hell (i.e. the basement of Microsoft headquarters) try to develop a web server that won't crash.
Please, can we refrain from this whole 'anti Microsoft' rubbish?
Nintendo are still around, because they are probably the best developers in the world, and also have the most recogniseable franchise of characters around.
Sony are still around because they have managed to market the PSX and the PS2 so succesfuly. Plus, they have the 'Sony' brand to help them out.
MS are a 'smaller player' because they havent been in the business so long. Not to mention the fact that they havent got the 'name tag' appeal that Sony and Nintendo have. Most people see Microsoft as something they use at work, not something that they put under their TV.
And what companies have MS bought, and as a result ruined their games? MS bought Bungie, who then put out Halo, which is a fantastic game. They have also now bought Rare, a company who have yet to release a game since the sale. MS may now buy Capcom, but seeing as how Capcom have posted some big losses, it is a far better proposition than if they went bust.
I put my books on Amazon, Smashwords, Demonoid, ISOHunt and Pirate Bay. Search for 'Michael Cargill'
You've apparently never done any development work with FS2K. I'm working on a research project where we're forcing pilots to fly pre-configured IFR flight scripts, and it's a nightmare. We *cannot* make the plane situation files start a plane in straight and level flight, no matter what. It's not an isolated problem either.
I've set a plane into a ten-minute straight-and-level flight, saved the flight situation file, immediately reloaded it, and the plane would dip down as if it were starting at a slower speed and was trying to catch up.
I'll grant that Flight Simulator is a good product, but it's far from perfect. Unfortunately, like many other products, its presence on the market hinders the availability and viability of other unique and competitive products like Flight Unlimited.
"Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
ads. Come on, guys. I _own_ an X-Box, and that was a bit fanboyish. It had its tongue stuck further up MS's ass than even their magazine, which is saying something.
News for nerds? Where...
"Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
-X02 Splinter Cell Sudeki Steel Battalion Fable B.C. and get this quote "Unfortunately we'll only see Splinter Cell and possibly Steel Battalion sometime soon - the rest are at least a year away. It's encouraging, however, to see such quality in development - I suspect that this time next year the Xbox will have a considerable lead over its competitors in terms of the numbers of top quality titles." Hahaha
I mean, you don't see /. mentioning Sony or Nintendo's big line up, do you?
They're running it off of a PS2...
Karma: Non-Heinous
I agree. Nintendo is still around because it continues to produce great games that focus on gameplay. They are able to make nice looking games without trying to turn themselves into Hollywood. Even though Nintendo uses its same characters and series (Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc.) over and over they still manage to produce awesome games every time.
I'm happier with my GameCube than my PS2 because of Nintendo's games.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
Does the entire slashdot community choose to neglect the fact that Sony used many of the same tactics that Microsoft now employs? When the Playstation came out I remember quite the uproar over Square making games for this new system made by some evil corporation. Oh well.
Hmmm, I didn't see the article before /. effect... but I believe these are some of the titles:
The AntiTrust Shuffle (TM)
You play either Bill Gates or Steve Balmer and using a dance pad you whip out the moves to avoid the slings and arrows of outrageous justice. As you improve your skills you can advance to being the Master of the DRM Market, as you manipulate (again, via the dance pad) the masses and the RIAA/MPAA against each other towards more control for yourself. You can even do doubles with two game pads.
Inter game bonus rounds let you earn extra points based on effectiveness of various celebration dances and 'who's the man' gesturees.
Embrace and Extend (TM)
Kind of like a tetris game where those rectangular pieces that fall from above and can fit in a lot of other game slots below, but in this you must catch the pieces in mid-fall and re-shape them to VisualSquarish#.net shapes where they only seem to fit in the Microsoft game slot... If you don't have time to to 'extend' the pieces you still earn points by getting them all to go into the Microsoft Game slot anyway, if you don't get into MS you loose points and are told you are a loser. (also available for WinCE handhelds)
'Innovation' Avenger (TM)
Fight the evil GPL who wish to suck Innovation out of the Microsoft Universe. Armed with the best legal offenses and wads of cash you pick off the relentless multitudes of drones (liiks like sinistar, but the drones are building some sort of Penguin...)
The game employs advanced AI technologies where the AI drones get smarter faster than you do... But you can also can get political and corporate power-ups to throw more roadblocks into their assault.
EULA (TM)
Word game - still under development.
Have you guys heard of any others being planned?
"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
I wonder if Halo 2 was on display?
Yes.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Luckily I got a look at the page... Uploaded to my web site.
page1 page2 page3 page4
page5 page6 page7 page8
1.) Rare has a veeeeery bad habit of taking their time with games. Rare releases a game when THEY feel it is worthy. A good motto that nintendo didnt mind since that is what they strive for too.
But cause of that they release maybe 2 games a year!
Microsoft cant have that. They didnt pay 350 million for 2 games a year.
So one of two things will happen.
Microsoft willlet them do their thing in which case they over payed again, 350 million for 2-3 games a year..
or they force Rare to go faster in which case the quality of their games drops. If that happens then they arent Rare anymore and is Rare by name only.
2) all they make is platforming HUNTING games anyway...gather 100 coins, barrels, whatever.
same formula they have used for 10 years or so.
and as for perfect dark..the Goldeneye team, the people that made it LEFT rare long ago.
I hate to suggest this but after reading the first page(the only page I could get to load) it feels like astroturfing. I mean come on...statements like those quoted above are just weird. It is as if they were told to write something...ANYTHING.
;-)
Who knows? Maybe they are smart enough to understand something that isn't released on the XBox is better than stuff not released on the GC or PS2.
"essentially it's the Tom Clancy take on the stealth genre. It plays a little like Metal Gear Solid, but aims to be more realistic and less arcade-like. There is also less of an emphasis on interruptive story, and the gameplay is extremely compelling."
So its not really anything like MGS is it? They are just invoking MGS's name because it sold boat loads and they're hoping to borrow some hype.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
Microsoft is finding itself in a real pickle with the X-Box. With GTA Vice City coming out very soon its looking to be the next killer app and things weren't helped by Rockstar signing an exclusive deal with Sony. Microsoft needs a strong christmas sales and right now, it doesn't look good.
It doesn't matter how many games it has in development. If XBOX sales slug on by, the marketplace will view it as a turkey. And without any exclusive blockbuster titles, why bother dropping two hundred dollars on it when you can have the same thing with Sony
All that I see on the horizon is Halo 2 which is cool and all. But lets be honest - its just another FPS. It doesn't nearly excite the imagination as GTA. My view - MS is fucked. Playstation 2 just keeps getting stronger. So in the end, when you have an un-used Xbox, why not use it as webserver? What else are you going to do with it?
The fact that Nintendo makes interesting games is also surely a factor in their success, but the same could be said about Sega, and they lost the console war. At least they're still producing games.
Sony got lucky. They won the most recent generation of the console war because they beat Nintendo to market and scored Square. They made it easy for developers to make games for the Playstation by providing good C libraries and later on, lower-level access to the machine to let developers squeeze the last bits of goodness out of the machine. The PS2 has a rocky start because developers found it difficult to program for it, but the fact that the PS2 plays PS1 games, and because the PS1 was so successful, they managed to carry forward a lot of the developer support that they had with PS1. The end result is that even though the PS2 is a less powerful machine than the other two major consoles, it's got a much better library. If I had to pick one console to buy, it would be the PS2, if for no other reason than the fact that it's got so many solid titles.
Love or hate Microsoft, they're doing the smart thing to buy developers to secure exclusive titles for XBox. I'm not sure how you can say that MS buys companies and then ruins them -- Halo's a pretty fun game, and I'd have a hard time believing that Rare won't produce some pretty high quality titles in the future. MS is just giving consumers a reason to buy their console, and there's nothing wrong with that. Rare developed games exclusively for Nintendo's machines, and now they're going to turn around and do it for Microsoft. Hardly a big change for them.
The real reason why MS is a "smaller player" is simply the fact that there are a lot of console bigots out there. Generally speaking, console users have strong loyalties. Nintendo's been around for ages. Sony proved themselves with Playstation. Now Microsoft has to prove that the XBox is a viable platform.
The final opinion that I'd like to voice is the fact that title exclusivity is a *good* thing. For console manufacturers, exclusivity gives consumers a clear reason to buy their machine over all the others that are available. The fact that the Playstation got Final Fantasy VII was a non-trivial factor in its early success. If you're a Mario fan, there's one console that you need to buy: Gamecube. If you were a sports game fan in the 16-bit days, Genesis was the way to go. When you haven't got exclusivity, you have chaos. It vexes me when I buy a game (Soccer Slam for Gamecube is an example) that I play and enjoy, and then a few months later, another version of the game, with more bells and whistles, is released for a different console (in this example, the XBox). The differences between the two versions aren't significant enough to warrant buying the game for both consoles, but nevertheless, I would still enjoy those extra goodies, small though they may be.
...Microsoft also reveled in the number of other potential AAA titles confirmed at the show:
help fill in hidden movie endings @ End of the Credits
MS may now buy Capcom
The rumors of Capcom's death are just that, Rumors. They have not said anything about selling, only that they made some poor investments and are -- well -- hurting. But this doesn't many anything.
Also keep in mind that Capcom and Microsoft have no real prior working relationship, whil Capcom and Nintendo have a VERY SOLID working relationship.
Capcom has been doing much of their recent work on the Gamecube. Capcom even created the most recent two Zelda titles for the Gameboy (Ages and Seasons).
If Nintendo were trying to appeal more to an adult market, the aquisition of Capcom would be wise. The only reason one might doubt Nintendo's intentions of doing this would be that Nintendo has made a recent shift away from 2nd party developers and seems to be working towards developing stronger 3rd party ties, as well as focusing on in-house developement.
It's also important to point out that the RARE sale comes after some of the best talent have decided to leave (supposedly). Nintendo may have sold a company past it's prime. Microsoft either doesn't know this, or they simply want the name and don't care about the company's talent.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
I have to admit. I have an XBox and I love it. But Halo? Just your average FPS game on a console. Who plays FPS games on a console? Not me. I purchased plenty of race, fighting and action games though.
Sony did not buy out Square. Square decided to make games exclusively for the Playstation because they preferred the console's CD-based format over Nintendo's cartridges and because Sega was hardly a player with the Saturn being so far behind in the console war.
Honestly, Microsoft fanboys are the ones most excited about the idea of the makers of their favourite console buying out other companies. Other game console fanboys typically aren't as interested in Nintendo or Sony completely taking over interesting game companies while on XBox forums fanboys drool at speculation that MS might buy out Capcom.
Don't get me wrong. Every console has its share of fanboys (I saw on a PS2 forum some moron saying that Sony should require PS2 developers to not develop games for any other console -- ie, engage in the exact same anti-trust behaviour that got Nintendo into lots of trouble many years ago), but Microsoft's are the most die-hard in their interest in their console becoming an outright monopoly.
STOP MISUSING APOSTROPHES, YOU MORONS!!!
Our chief feature is Surprise! Surprise and fear ... fear and surprise ... Our _two_ features are surprise and fear. And ruthless aquisition of real game companies. Our *three* products are Surprise, Fear and Ruthless Aquisition. ... and an almost usable Linux platform...
[...]
NOOOOObody expects the Microsoft XBox. Amongst our products are such diverse elements as fear, surprise, rutheless aquisition of real game companies, an almost useable Linux platform, and a new controller that fits normal hands...
Title exclusivity is good for the console manufacturer, not the console buyer. I don't think anyone would argue with the first part of that: obviously, that is why MS and others buy up the companies or otherwise restrict them. But it would appear that you are saying console exlusivity is good for the consumer, which seems like utter bollocks to me. You get much greater free market pressure which tend to lower consumer costs if the things in the market are able to compete in all aspects. If only one manufacturer makes a particular console, then for that narrowly defined market, you have no competition, no free market, etc.
As far as the different versions go, what if this soccer game was only made for your console, then they never came out with a better version for the X-Box. How would that be any different for you? None, in the final summation.
XML causes global warming.
Now who gets to change the rules? The owner of course.
It's a well known fact Bill Gates is a Game player.
Ever wonder what game he was playing that he got off of
the anti-trust suit, with only a slap on the hand and told
not to do it again?
Do you really want to buy games from a cheater?
Unfortunately, like many other products, its presence on the market hinders the availability and viability of other unique and competitive products like Flight Unlimited.
OK... So why don't you use Flight Unlimited instead of Flight Simulator?
The reason Nintendo's still around is because they had a lot of momentum from the Super Nintendo. If it weren't for the Game Boy and Pokemon, they may not have survived past the N64.
Yes, you're right on that one, but you forget one thing. The Gameboy and Pokemon weren't just "good sellers." They WERE ENORMOUS SELLERS. There is a distinction. Certain titles will always keep 'Tendo on the float, and they'll keep floating until the next Pokemon comes along. Also, keep in mind that the portables market is theirs, and its huuuuge. Totally wrapped up. Forget trying to even get into it. They own it. That is an 800 pound Gorilla.
Admittedly, I like the idea of an X-Box. I am not a snob, I see the titles that are coming out. But at the end of the day my wife loves MARIO. So we got a gamecube. I have not even put more than three games in it yet. Mario rocks too hard to not love it, and it has hardly left the machine. Simply put, my wife, not unlike most parents with their children, TRUST NINTENDO to send them many fun games without the blood splatter... it is a DUAL PURCHASE. I was buying for more than just me. In that situation, Nintendo usually wins over the others.
Since I work in radio, I instantly thought Triple A (Album Adult Alternative) radio format -- suddenly I pictured a first person shooter, with Kenny G as the protagonist...
It could be the game that breaks things wide open for the X-Box. Really.
mstyne: real name, no gimmicks
Since my X-box can play PS and PS2 games (thanks to hacking) better then my PS2 can
The X box can emulate all four processors in a PS2. Yeah, right, no GT3 for you - lamer.
Dave
I write a blog now, you should be afraid.
do you read the news? Squaresoft is releasing FF based games for *both* the gamecube AND GB advance. FFXI is going to have a PC version; FFVII, which was the first square "hit" game for playstation, was also released for PC; FFVIII was as well -- and then they spent all the money (and lost it all) on the movie and 9 / 10 was never ported. hey, seems like a bit better than what Bungie is doing, eh?
My life in the land of the rising sun.
They can't have Donkey Kong. And they can trade all the talking paperclips all day for it.
It is owned by 'Tendo.
Although Clipit Adventures (TM) for the X-Box I hear is going to be very exciting.
Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to host this story on one of the linux-on-xbox servers after all. :)
::.. check out some Cell Phone Reviews
This is a distillation of what I have heard all through the postings:
...personally after all of the money my relatives have spent buying me crappy MS games for Christmas and not knowing any better, I wish them nothing but the worst shopping season EVER for them.
"Whatever you do, don't get labelled as a turkey. If you do, you're dead in the water, and no amount of good games will get you out of that funk. Having no class A titles will get you labelled as a turkey. After that point, no amount of great games coming out later will get you out of that pit."
Methinks that MS is on a rampage to buy its way out of turkeydom. Sony and Nintendo all have games that make you want to go to a friends house and play them. So they are safe. MS really doesn't as of yet except for a FPS named Halo... but then again I own a LOAD of FPS games.
You can see the video here: ftp://209.164.21.30/pub/misc/rare_sequence.mov
-Lucas
wish I could mod you up :-(
Now, returning to the actual facts: By my reckoning, after MS bought Bungie the first product released was the most critically acclaimed title on any platform last year. You'll forgive me if I don't really see that as evidence for MS 'ruining' the company.
One of the biggest reasons Sony had so many more games coming out for PSX than Nintendo did for the N64 was that it was easier, and much cheaper, to obtain a PSX dev kit and license, than a dev kit and license from Nintendo.
So... Sony enticed devlopers to make PSX games by making it cheaper and easier and having the functionality the developers wanted... And Microsoft got developers by buying out the companies...
Please explain to me how these are the same tactics.
Shoot Pixels, Not People!
What's wrong with that?
Very different dynamics.
1. The controller and console are heavy in a truly aerobic fashion.
2. Games are priced right where kids can afford them if you don't miss a kidney.
3. If you promise to buy 3 1st party games inside your first year, Bill Gates will send you to college.
4. Large, boring game environments encourage outside play.
5. Underdeveloped countries have already discovered the X-Box's invaluable use as a cheap space heater for entire villages.
6. Trying to remember the point of Munch's Odyssey or Halo helps improve long-term memory skills.
7. Ballmer the Hedgehog.
8. Worthless guts can be taken out of the X-Box to convert it into a two-story playhouse complete with green skylight.
9. Billchanger on front works even on old wrinkled fives.
10. Nobody goes blind from SLEEPING in front of the TV too long.
Windows XP SP2 told me to install third-party software that prevents viruses and protects stability... I chose Ubuntu
We all know that Sony will be #1 this Christmas. It should be clear that XBox will be #3. Why? Because the one possible AAA title mentioned above is not going to come close to the demand for The Legend of Zelda or Metroid Prime. Two of the most anticipated games ever in the history of games. That means there is no way in hell XBox can beat Gamecube this Christmas.
I have all 3 so I don't care which one wins. I just want to play the best games. This Christmas it's clear they will not be on XBox. Maybe next year.
Yep Halo gets alot of hype.. but it's true, if you only played the first few episodes, then you don't know Halo =) It gets better and better.
The vehicle aspect was doing something new, as I bet the best selling PC FPS this season will be Battlefield 1942, where vehicles are a huge part of the gameplay.
Back in the day, I won several national Quake 1/2 tourneys, and used to think I would never play a FPS on a console without a mouse, but Halo's dual analog setup feels really good. I play it over the internet with Gamespy tunnel, and to me it's also a plus that everyone I play with is using the same hardware and controls for a level playing field and good competition. Yes split screen sucks, but thats what sys link and Xbox live are for.
And as far as graphics... I grew up watching NTSC like most people, and when I play a DVD, I really don't notice the low resolution of my set, it's the standard of realistic moving images as most people know it. Halo and most of my Xbox games look better then anything I can play on my Geforce3 with my 21" $1900 monitor.
PC games are dying, well, in comparison to the mainstreaming of consoles. Only 1 PC game made it into the top 10 sales list last week. PC's are too expensive for average joe to keep updated, or even keep running.
The reasion that the XBOX is dieing are the sole fault of M$ and do not have anything to do with people developing for it,
Firstly, The thing is really badly designed, from the oversized controller (surpassed only by the dreamcasts in its crapness) to the brilliant idea of using off the shelf parts negating any possible improvements in production technology
Secondly, The total failure to do anything "innovative", People are not going to buy some thing which is exactly the same as the competition, for example imagine where nintendo would be today if they hadn't started doing kiddie games in response to the PSX. You don't attack your enemy on their home turf it's common sense
Thirdly, a total ignorace of the market, right now M$ are spending millions on XBOX live an online inituative to create a virtual disney land, WHY? any twelve year old can tell you that multiplayer on a console means having your friends around for a round of tekken tag, not being owned by some bot weilding script kiddie on the other side of the planet, at best your looking at someone porting evercrack for people desperate enough to pay $30 a month and sony are already well ahead in that department.
Microsoft can buy all the software companies they what, Bungie, Rare, Capcom etc, to secure all the exclusives they what, it ain't going to make a lick of difference unless they solve these problems first, fix the controller, create some new innovative game along the lines of the Sims or what GT1 was, and not treat their marketplace the same way they treat people who buy computers (lame oversized 2 joystick, 3 pedal setups only work with flight sim nuts and they are going to stay on PC's)
The XBOX hasn't got a problem with being labled a turkey it was a turkey when it was released almost a year ago, and the only way to cure a turkey is to shoot it.
Pianist : Some jerk whos taught themselves how to type in rhythm
Oh then I guess, Nintendo should just stop selling the Gamecube, since it's selling almost the same amount as the XBoxes.
1) You have the option of getting a smaller controller, but I prefer the original one.
2) As an XBox Live beta tester, I can say that it's the greatest thing to happen to consoles since Mario.
Funny I was gonna say the opposite.
All the MS trolls where saying that we shall all use Linux because it's technically superior, it doesn't matter if it didn't have enough good games or the software we want. We should just use Linux because it's so much better. But when it comes to PS2 and XBox they start claiming that the PS2 have a larger library and we should get a PS2 even though the XBox have better graphics. Go figure.
Yeah and the market for selling add on to consoles is so hugh, thats like saying if ford can't make a decent steering wheel, then it is up to the owner to fix it instead of buying a volvo, face it consoles are defined by their controller, it is the one thing that you have to get right when designing a console, and the fact M$ screwed up demonstrates how out of touch with the market they are.
2) As an XBox Live beta tester, I can say that it's the greatest thing to happen to consoles since Mario.
Still have to sell it to the masses and it ain't going to work, consoles aint computers, most people will lose you after then you log on and wait around for someone to play, besides this types of things where tryed on the PC like mplayer years ago and where are they today? hell where the hell is M$ gaming Zone?, everyone just uses gamespy.
Pianist : Some jerk whos taught themselves how to type in rhythm
I have a friend who bought an Xbox and it stopped working after 5 months. He was told it would be at least $200 to fix it and apparently this is quite common.
Either find a reseller who's willing to warranty it for a year themselves or don't bother buying one, you've been warned.
"Now, if Nintendo announced they are going to shift away from younger gamers and target the 18+ crowd, I'm sure that would get posted here as well."
Just because I'm over the age of 18, doesn't mean I suddenly stop enjoying the games I used to enjoy. Fun is fun, regardless of age. Have you even tried Animal Crossing yet? Super Monkey Ball?
Plus, I'm more than tickled about the Resident Evil remixes for the Gamecube (more than enough to keep my hair on end for a looong time), as well as the fantastic Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requim. But maybe you skipped those because you were too busy getting NFL $YEAR or NBA $YEAR for the Xbox.
They (Nintendo) are targetting people who want to have fun, not just the usual beer-swilling football/hockey/soccer/$sports over 18 game players. As Martha might say, that's a Good Thing (TM).
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Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
It seems that this has usually been their strategy with new products. Simply plug away at them as they get progressively better, combined with some nice market leverage. I wonder if in 3 years Nintendo and Sony will still be smiling. This is almost exactly how the Office story played out.
First, I own an Xbox. Burn me at the stake. That said, I think it's a tad to late to stop Sony's rampage short of fielding 100% par excellent titles at an alarming rate. Sony has excellent name brand recognition and have used their experience to build some excellent franchises. The sheer number of games they've had flowing into the system nearly guarantees a crop of good titles sprinkled here and their. It got off to a slow start, but it's seriously cooking now. Give the XBox franchise another generation (the X2?) and i think you'll see a force to be reckoned with, but as it stands now, building a solid foundation with this system is probably the primary goal for now. Sony is entrenched and it's good. The XBox will provide MS with much needed battle experience, even if it doesn't "win" this round of the console wars.
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I only had to get 10 words into your comment to realize you didn't really have anything useful or to say, as denoted by the "M$". Nothing like screeming "I'm a biased retarded fan-boy!! M$ sux!" in the very first sentence.
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That is, the two games within the world of the movie "A.I." that were supposed to be out at the Xbox launch, but disappeared? They were going to be made by the Dreamworks game affiliate, but now I just get fading links on Google when I search for them.
Someone tell me what happened to them? Was A.I. the movie considered such a flop that they were killed? I would buy an Xbox the the day of their release, but I promised myself when I bought my PlayStation 2 a year ago to wait until then...
Get off my launchpad!
Because THEY say so?
Smarten up...
MSFS is a lousy sim to train for anything. The flight modeling is lousy compared with serious simulators, and it's not FAA approved for any sort of training at all. By comparison, Virtual Wings and Elite can be used for IFR training and X-Plane can be used for Instrument Rating, Commercial and Airline Transport Certificate. WHEN used with a $150,000 Motus full-motion platform. But the software is available separately- and competes with MSFS. At, I believe, a markedly lower price- and it's available for MacOSX, not just Windows.
So let's have no more of this 'MSFS is so good for IFR training' silliness ;)
They list loads of games that are coming out, yet I'm willing to offload £200 on an Xbox *SOLELY* for Toejam & Earl 3. For me, it is the killer game.
But hey, I own a Gamecube and a Playstation 2 already so...... (I honestly think you can't just buy one platform anymore - you have to have all of them. Damned exclusives)
Does nobody miss the days of the C64, Spectrum and Amstrad, where games were frequently available on every platform, despite being originally written in assembler! Where if you can find a game for one, you could find it for another? Exclusives are very irritating.
...
I miss my colecovision.
It's been a long time.
You know, as much as I hate the Xbox, I sure as hell wish that I could use the Xbox controller. Or really, any damn controller other than the dual shock. It's too small--any game that requires a lot of L or R button pushing gives my hands RSI in half an hour. And with the Xbox little kids like yourself can just buy the smaller Microsoft controller. On PS2, normal sized hand folk like myself are obliged to buy poorly made 3rd quality controlers. What I wouldn't give for a quality larger (or at least better designed--the gamecube controller doesn't give me problems) PS2 controller. How I miss luxuriously perfect (except for the dumb video memory unit) dreamcast controller.
From the article: It's encouraging, however, to see such quality in development - I suspect that this time next year the Xbox will have a considerable lead over its competitors in terms of the numbers of top quality titles.
What drugs is this guy on? Does this person seriously believe that Sony and Nintendo are sitting on their hands, and aren't going to be bringing anything out through next year? This is probably the most idiotic statement I've heard from the Xbox fanboys. I'm sure they're very happy that development for their console is starting to get rolling, but none of this convinces me in the least that they're going to get anywhere near the volume of the PS2's lineup, nor do any of these games look like they'll do anything to drive people away from Nintendo's licensing juggernaut.
Microsoft signs exclusive deals with OEMs (Dell, HP, Gateway) and they are convicted of abusing their monopoly power to shut others out of the market. Sony signs exclusive deals with game producers to shut others out of the market and they are competing fairly? Microsoft was already in a deal to get GTA III for the XBOX before Sony shut the door on that by paying Rockstar millions so Microsoft wouldn't get the title. Funny thing is this is EXACTLY how MS wound up in their legal quandry. They signed exclusive deals and wound up a monopoly. They did not become a monopoly first THEN sign exclusive deals.
/. community is fine with this as long as it hurts Microsoft. Hypocrites. You cry that MS should play fair and compete on the technical merits. They did just this with the XBOX and now that Sony is abusing their dominant position in the console market and the slashbots cheer.
I smell a rat and once again the
Call me stupid, but the main reason why I actually bought the XBox is because of its big controllers. Besides, the small controllers are made by MS to. Those big controllers are confortable and fit in my hand. The Sony ones are way too small for my taste.
Well it just doesn't work that way with the consoles. Neither Sony nor MS will take the risk of letting the console owners host the games. Most console owners don't have a T1 connection and stuff like that anyway.
Weird I always thought that Nintendo owned Rare.
You want to maybe qualify that a bit more by giving us some examples of WHY it's so great? :) Or are you under an NDA of some kind?
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
Are you talking about Oni? The game was completed and published while Bungie was still in Chicago, and relatively independant. It even lost a bit of the Bungie touch when they removed persistant gore and bloodstains from Oni. If you mean Halo, then you've been hearing more acclaims than I have. The engaging storyline is still there, but the game suffers from the fact that it was meant to be played with a full keyboard.
Bungie is no longer the company it once was. It let wonderful properties like Myth go to smaller developers, and its current developments are, well, rare. All I ever saw was vague mention of a game with pirates and 70's style pimps roaming the Caribbean. Not exactly in the same vein as Marathon or Myth, is it?
To be honest, though, I think Bungie was sliding before Microsoft took over, and the previous owners grabbed the golden parachute as soon as they saw it. Now Microsoft gets slammed for "ruining Bungie" by virtue of timing.
Damn straight. I've got larger than average hands, and the xbox controller is my favorite of the bunch. The old, non-dual shock psx controllers stunk, but the dual shock is ok.
;) Who needs to use their wireless lan while they're playing 'tendo! ;)
I must say though, that nintendo's wavebird also kicks some serious butt. I played Sunshine last night for about 3 hours. The only caveat is they should have used 900Mhz instead of 2.4Ghz, ah well.
Under NDA. But I tell you, that voice chat works great and makes a big difference in MP games. Before you ask, yes I already tried Roger Wilco and even the Sidewinder game voice.
Yeah, MS Flight Sim is difficult, but a great product. Heck even the navy now OFFICIALLY uses MS Flight sim 2002 for the first 60 HOURS of training on any new pilot.
Don't forget about Flight Gear Flight simulator, if your workingo n such an advance project, why not use something with a nice dynamics system, 100% available source code and a great support community to boot.
http://flightgear.totalpilot.com for a fast mirror or ftp://ftp.totalpilot.com/pub/fgfs
Microsoft doesn't "OWN" the simulation industry, programs such as Fly! do great over seas and there are much more basic flight packages being used for advanced IFR traning where scenery and fluff isn't required since your plowing through low visibility IMC conditions anyhow.
i can't wait to see if CFS3 or MSFS 2004 makes it to the xbox. A yoke/rudder setup and xbox would be a beautifull way to play the game. Most pilots prefer stick and rudder and having the xboxlive network to be ale to fly and interact in a huge atc controlled environment would be a dream come true!
gimmie a break...do you even game? or are you just an anti-MS zealot?
...and the list goes on.
/. sometimes is just too much.
sure GTA:VC is going to be great, but it isn't going to end the Xbox.
have you looked at the fall line-up for the Xbox, including the lineup for XBL? have you played XBL? i am beta testing it and lemme tell you, compared to the launch and online play of SOCOM, it kicks the living shit out of the PS2's online plans.
so let's examine what i am excited about for this fall:
1) Unreal Championship (on XBL...woot!)
2) Blinx (using a HDD in a way the PS2 can't even imagine)
3) Ghost Recon (was great on the PC, will be great on XBL)
4) Tony Hawk 4 (the franchise continues)
5) Sega NFK2K3 and NFL Fever 2003 (on XBL these ALREADY kick ass....)
6) Splinter Cell (MGS killer. 'nuff said)
7) Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (just in case Splinter Cell doesn't apply the double head-tap isn't!)
7) BMX XXX (pr0n for adult gamers.)
8) DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball (bounciness!)
9) Fable (Peter Molyneux - 'nuff said...again.)
10) Shenmue II (continuing the DC legacy...with DVD movies included in the game pack to get people up on the story line)
i am not trying to be a fanboy, but the level of shit on
this is going to be the BEST Xmas for gaming b/c of the level of competition with 3 consoles. we owe MS thanks for making both Sony and Nintendo work harder to get gamers, b/c nothing is guaranteed anymore.
/* Half alive and half dead too, work is for suckers and the sucker is you. - "Half-life" by Local H*/
I didn't say anything about the Ps2. It's another store entirely. And those awesome games is really debatable. I'll agree to Mario and Zelda if simply because they're classics. Maybe Monkeyball. That's three. But the rest? I'll even toss in Metroid for kicks and grins, be it not even out yet. For a name of Nintendo's magnitude, that's kinda weak. If the Box had a bunch of classics it could pull out of cryogenic storage, the situation would be much different. In fact, it's damn near the only thing that's saving the Cube right now. Yep, the Box is light on quality titles, but give it time. Name branding is the only thing keeping Nintendo in second.
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The games you mention were all great games, but I think Halo received at least as much critical acclaim.
My point still stands: if you think MS 'ruined' Bungie, and you're using Halo as your evidence, then you really need to lay off the crack-pipe.
Yup, cause of mario I went and picked up a GC for my wife. :) She loves that game. I think that and Animal Crossing are two of the best games on the market right now, and not just for kids.
Hopefully when you're no longer under NDA you'll be able to post a review of some kind! :)
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
Some harsh Non-Disclosure Agreements must have been needed to keep that lot under wraps.
Something like "Whatever they ask, just say 'I honestly cannot remember.'"
Ali
Ph33r m3!!!
better graphics does not mean technically better.
Why but a system with better graphics if it doesn't do what you want? same thing with Linux. No rational person would say "you need to do linux, even if it doesn't do what you want" that is both stupid and ignorant. Of course, a rational person should look at alterantives, and if it does what you want better, then switch.
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So you believe what MS says?
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