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Discussing The Most Awaited Games Of 2004?

Posted by simoniker on from the definitely-pong dept.

Thanks to 1UP for its end-of-year summary feature, in which the site editors discuss the most intriguing and perkiest gaming events of the year, but also "look ahead at the newborn trends of 2004." Next year's particularly lusted-after games include Psychonauts ("Double Fine's Xbox platformer has been delayed a lot now, which can sometimes spell trouble, but I have faith in them to deliver something amazing when they do get around to it"), Metal Gear Solid 3 ("After the talking-heads nightmare of Metal Gear Solid 2, I can't wait to just trot off into the jungle and start killing people"), and Halo 2 ("With a gun in each hand and the ability to hijack vehicles, this one has the potential to be as popular as the first one continues to be.") Which games are you particularly looking forward to in 2004?

9 of 179 comments (clear)

  1. I've learned -not- to look forward to games... by *weasel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I mean, in this day and age, when the hype monster is birthed roughly at the same time as the project is green-lit for a full team - 'looking forward' to games is synonymous with 'setting yourself up for disappointment.'

    All you do is feed the downward spiral when you buy into any of the proprieters of 'exclusive previews' and 'preorders' of years-away games.

    all that said, i can't help myself - Halo 2 has caught me. Halo delivered like Half-life delivered 5 years ago. Half-life 2 I am hungry for as well, the only difference being, i think Halo2 will be released first ;p

    But this excitement has nothing to do with marketing bullet-points or 'previews' or 'screen shots' from e3. it has to do with me still believing in a developer to deliver a good game.

    let me clarify my whole position:
    Fans looking ahead, making sites, getting excited -- this is fine.
    But the selling of this excitement has gotten out of hand.

    --
    // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
    1. Re:I've learned -not- to look forward to games... by mraymer · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Halo delivered like Half-life delivered 5 years ago.

      Except Half-Life had a much stronger single player experience from the get-go, where as the campaign in Halo is rather redundant and tedious.

      But then I should also point out that Half-Life's multiplayer options weren't very robust at its release.

      And, while there was a mountain of hype and buzz surronding the first Halo, I recall very little hype for Half-Life. Of course, back then the "hype monster" was still a baby compared to what it is today. It seems companies have to turn out roughly 10 screenshots per second to get noticed.

      --

      "To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking

    2. Re:I've learned -not- to look forward to games... by DeadScreenSky · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Except Half-Life had a much stronger single player experience from the get-go, where as the campaign in Halo is rather redundant and tedious.

      That's funny, I remember a ton of tedious platforming/jumping elements in HL...different strokes and all.

      And HL1 had a ton of buzz for well over a year before it came out. I remember watching prerelease vids, reading all of the various magazine articles, salivating at the thought of various features they hyped yet never included in the game (It was originally supposed to play more like a Metroid, in terms of exploring the base nonlinearly, AFAIK - complete with ecosystem that would change as time passed). Plenty of hype for the game is archived here.

      Reminds me of various people always posting that the first Matrix film was better because there was no hype for it. The hype was certainly there, it just happened to be off some people's radar. :D

      --
      There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. -- Francis Bacon
  2. Re:Christmas day, ketchup, virginity... by *weasel · · Score: 3, Insightful

    fan anticipation is fine.

    a company astroturfing a community, lying about specs to keep people 'in', aggressively hyping a game that's 3 years behind in the press(*cough*romero*cough*), photoshopping screenshots, passing renders off for in-game shots, giving 'exclusive' demo downloads to pay sites, etc -- these are the bad things.

    when the company is -creating- the press it's bad. when you get yourself excited from the mere idea, that's fine.

    Half-life 2 is an example of a game where they didn't overmarket the thing before it is/was done.
    Fable is an example of a game where they -are- overmarketing the thing before it's done.

    --
    // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
  3. What I'm looking forward to... by code-e255 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Doom III, cause id software never fails to make the best FPS games.

    Half-Life 2, even though I hate Valve for continuously bullshitting their fans.

    Unreal Tournament 2004, because I like first-person-shooter games with lots of interesting extra stuff, such as vehicles and mission objectives.

    Worlds of WarCraft, because I like MMORPGs when I have lots of spare time and Blizzard is the only company I know who seems to be able to make fun RPG systems.

    Gran Turismo 4 'cause it'll be the best racing simulation.

    Battlefield Vietnam because I'm a fan of BF1942.

    I'm sure there will be tons of other great games in the year 2004, but either I can't remember themn off the top of my head, or I haven't heard about 'em yet. :P

  4. Speaking as a guy who cut his teeth on Wolf3d by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Your ass, and keyboard, are full of it.

    I probably owned your dad back in the day on NTShadow.net.

    Max Payne? Boring tap-tap-ness. If I wanted that girly crap I'd be down at the arcade playing tekken with the other glow-stick twirling honda supe-ing rave monkeys. Yeah, the animations are cool. ONCE. Then it's another boring shoot out in a club with more gangsters than Rush'n Attack has Russians. Aside from the 3d engine those two games have a lot in common. And the gay ass hand to hand levels. Final Fight was more fun and more plausible!

    Halo is great. Simple, intuitive and robust. It does a good job creating suspence, presenting a reasonable challenge that holds up across many replays (saving more marines, more head shots etc), and it even goes so far as to profide a sensible explanation for the endless flood of enemies. A true rarity in many games. It's fine for some, but would you really want every action movie to be John Woo's A Better Tomorrow II?

  5. Trend? by zenobr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Anybody else noting a trend in almost everyone's responses?

    THEY'RE ALL SEQUELS! They all end in a freakin' number. Looks like '04 is shaping up to be the year of rehashing and revamping. =/

    --
    If you can't beat your computer at chess, try kick-boxing.
    1. Re:Trend? by Ondo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Anybody else noting a trend in almost everyone's responses?

      THEY'RE ALL SEQUELS! They all end in a freakin' number. Looks like '04 is shaping up to be the year of rehashing and revamping. =/

      That's not an indication of what games will be released, or even what games will be well-liked, it's an indication of what games people are looking forward to. Generally, most people who like a game will look forward to the sequel. The only reason to look forward to a non-sequel is if it's a developer you like, or they have a lot of hype.

    2. Re:Trend? by robson · · Score: 2, Insightful

      THEY'RE ALL SEQUELS!

      But Psychonauts isn't a sequel 8)