E3 - Microsoft, EA Go Live, Halo 2 Dated, Xbox Videophoned

Thanks to Yahoo! for reprinting a Microsoft press release revealing its major videogame-related announcements ahead of this year's E3 Expo in Los Angeles. Major among them is Electronic Arts' official support of the online Xbox Live service, long-awaited and previously rumored, so that "by the end of the year, 15 of EA's online-enabled console titles will be playable on Xbox Live." In addition, Bungie's much-anticipated Halo 2 is confirmed for Xbox release on November 9th, just as new hands-on multiplayer previews are appearing online, plus alleged Xbox Gran Turismo-beater, Forza Motorsport is announced, and a multi-person videophone service for Xbox Live is showcased, as well as an Xbox Live Arcade service featuring "casual games people love to play with their families... [including] 'Bejeweled'... and arcade favorites such as Namco's 'Dig Dug' and 'Galaxian'." Update: 05/11 06:26 GMT by S : There are also new Halo 2 screenshots via Bungie.net.

Comments

Halo 2, taking to long

[dcstimm]

I play halo almost every other night with all my friends, we set up 2 tvs and have probably 8 people getting together to play it. We always play Capture the Flag on blood gulch and I hope they have something similar in halo 2. Plus the new guns in halo2 dont look so hot, give me the regular pistol anyday. Anyone Know why halo 2 is taking so long?

Re:Halo 2, taking to long

[Anonymous Coward]

Will you clean up the damn basement like I keep asking.

Sincerely,
Your Mom

Re:Halo 2, taking to long

[Anonymous Coward]

heh, owned :-)

Re:Halo 2, taking to long

[Anonymous Coward]

BMIMI: Because Microsoft Is Making It.

Need I say more?

_
Click here to download some awesome rock music (lame encoded).

Re:Halo 2, taking to long

[Anonymous Coward]

nonono, the correct l4m3r sp34k for this situation is:

h4h4, pwn3d!!!!

Get it right!

Re:Halo 2, taking to long

[Anonymous Coward]

BMIMI: Because Microsoft Is Making It.

Need I say more?

No, that's everything we need to know about you.

Re:Halo 2, taking to long

[HD Webdev]

I play halo almost every other night with all my friends, we set up 2 tvs and have probably 8 people getting together to play it. We always play Capture the Flag on blood gulch and I hope they have something similar in halo 2. Plus the new guns in halo2 dont look so hot, give me the regular pistol anyday. Anyone Know why halo 2 is taking so long?

Yes. It's because they're embarrassed that most Halo players only have 8 friends.

Re:Halo 2, taking to long

[Aqua OS X]

Those of us who are developers and designers understand why a game like this take forever. Simply put, the bigger and better a game is, the longer it takes to develop.

Moreover, I would imagine the pistol will be in Halo 2.

Rare

[jbfaninmo]

So anything from the company they paid so much for? Any word of a Perfect Dark sequel, a new Banjo game or a Conker follow up? Or hell, even something original? I was holding out hope that they were holding out for this E3.

God, I loved that company back in the days of the N64. What the hell happened? I'd like to blame it on Microsoft, as they are generally responsible for all things evil in the world, but the company hasn't really released a good game for this generation of consoles. I can see why Nintendo decided to take the money and run.

Re:Rare

[alexmogil]

Conker: Live and Reloaded: March 2005

Kameo: Elements of Power: Spring 2005.

Re:Rare

[FunWithKnives]

I would kill for a sequel to Perfect Dark. That game was like fucking crack. I played through single player once, and that was it. It was all about multiplayer with sims.. Only downside was that you had to purchase an expansion pack.. No expansion pack, no fun..

I'm really surprised that they haven't released a sequel yet (what? Four years now?).. As long as it didn't reinvent the wheel, and just built on the foundation that the original laid out, it would be a killer. Definately..

Re:Rare

[prockcore]

God, I loved that company back in the days of the N64. What the hell happened?

Everyone involved with the N64 left the company, and what MS bought was an empty shell.

Re:Rare

[fenix down]

They had Perfect Dark 0 in progress for Gamecube, and then they got bought so they were going to port it to X-Box, but then they all got drunk and said they'd maybe get around to it next year. Then they caught some kind of horrible anime disease and they've been in quarantine ever since.

So, Perfect Dark sequel? No.

Re:Rare

[SilentChris]

"What the hell happened?"

You had a company in flux for several years, that's what happened. Nintendo pissed Rare off by not giving them enough creative freedom (how many googly-eye games can one system have)? Rare pissed Nintendo off by not delivering games on time. MS added to the equation by throwing their money at Rare every five minutes. How the hell is a company supposed to get any work done with all this background crap?

Granted, at least MS is patient enough to wait. Bungie has delivered all of one game for MS so far, and no one is pushing Bungie to rush Halo 2 out the door. Ditto on Rare. They released "Grabbed by the Ghoulies" (actually a better game than a lot of reviews gave it) more as a test than anything. Kind of like a tech demo. We may not see Rare produce anything substantial for a couple more years, maybe not even until the next generation.

And MS, unlike Nintendo, isn't going to put up with any crap. If Rare doesn't deliver they'll drop them like so much spare change. $400 million wasn't a purchase, it was a bet.

Re:Rare

[NanoGator]

"$400 million wasn't a purchase, it was a bet. "

Funny thing was that Nintendo probably won from that bet already. I saw a figure somewhere that said that Rare made up only like 3% of Nintendo's revenue. Some felt that they probably got more from MS's purchase than they would have from the games Rare was making. Here's hoping that Microsoft benefits nicely from it. (Yeah yeah, it's fun to hate Microsoft, but really good news in the video game market, even to Mr. Gates, is good news for everybody.)

Re:Rare

[Ghost_MH]

It wasn't so much that Rare didn't have the creative freedom they wanted...They were getting away with a lot of stuff. As far as Nintendo second parties went, Rare had one of the more loose leashes around. It was the Stamper brothers that didn't want to work with Nintendo...As game designers and programmers go, they were great...As leaders though, they were terrible. So they wanted out...To take a break from making games and then perhaps start up a new studio that didn't have the baggage of the Rare name (No clue what they're up to now, or even if they decided to stick it out with Rare. I do know that not one of the brothers is president of Rare anymore.). They offered all their stock in the to Nintendo, but Nintendo flat out refused saying that Rare was not worth the cash they wanted since they hadn't been delivering for them.

As I understand it they offered their stock to Activision as well, but they also refused because of the high pricetag...In the end it was Microsoft took the bait...Buying the Stamper brothers' stock as well as the 49% Nintendo was holding. Anything any of the Stamper brothers said about how being with Microsoft will help Rare be able to tackle games of a larger scale and so on was complete BS...Were that the case they never would have asked Nintendo to buy them out.

Another problem was that Rare was falling apart at the seams when all of this happened. Nobody in the company knew what was going on and people were leaving and being fired left and right...It was a poorly managed company, and it shows...Once they were bought out, Microsoft placed a new president to take charge of everything and either pushed back or canceled most of the games they were working on...Because Rare may be a moderately large studio, but they were spreading themselves thin with the number of projects they were taking on. Kameo is one title that seems to have gotten the axe prematurely...The game was ready for launch on the GCN, but the title was never approved of by the higher ups in Rare and the title was left to sit there...Never being sent to Nintendo...Never doing anything, and they took the game with them to the Xbox...Though last I heard that was another title that may never see the light of day...At least not any time soon.

Re:Rare

[comet_11]

Everyone involved with the N64 left the company, and what MS bought was an empty shell.

What MS bought was a mint in trademark, licensing and game titles. They bought the memories of gamers like the original poster, who will go out and buy their games, even with the knowledge it's not the same Rare that it used to be. Give Microsoft some credit, they may be a huge, evil corporation, but they're not stupid.

Re:Rare

[BlueCodeWarrior]

Perfect Dark Zero is what you're awaiting, then.

It got delayed again, if I remember correctly...

Re:Rare

[kunudo]

You seriously want a follow-up to Banjo Kazooie? :)

Re:Rare

[AttilaB]

(No clue what they're up to now, or even if they decided to stick it out with Rare. I do know that not one of the brothers is president of Rare anymore.). I'm not sure if this is the case with the Stamper brothers, but I heard some of Rare's more talented employee's rent to work for Free Radical. Free Radical is responsible for the TimeSplitters series.

Re:Rare

[DeadScreenSky]

Though last I heard that was another title that may never see the light of day...At least not any time soon.

Yeah, that announced January 2005 release date would certainly lead any informed person to assume it was cancelled...

Kameo on GC was far from done as well. Where do you get all this nonsense?

(And just so you know, Nintendo gave Rare quite a few problems with Conker. Things were cut and/or not allowed by the Big N. Will be nice to see the 'real' version next year.)

Re:Rare

[DeadScreenSky]

Everyone involved with the N64 left the company

Bull. Shouldn't Snopes have a page for this Nintendo fanboy urban legend by now?

Re:Rare

[Ghost_MH]

Oopsee...My mistake...I must be confusing games then...There have been so many games at Rare moved around and pushed back it's hard to keep up. Not as though I've been trying very hard considering most of their talent left before in the years leadiing up to their buyout by Microsoft and before.

Re:Rare

[Anonymous Coward]

You certainly... like your... elipses... don't you...? ...

Re:Rare

[Anonymous Coward]

OMG, Perfect Dark was such the best game in the history of the world (at least in the FPS genre). No game to date can compare to the features provided in the simulation mode. So many different sims, customizeable!

As far as Halo2 goes, I would want the levels to be very much different from Halo. Why buy a whole new game where the levels are just the same? Maybe higher res, but what is the point?

E3 Press release says Morgan Webb to be in Maxim!

[Roger Keith Barrett]

Lookie what I found. Here is a press release about X-play at E3... and look what it says about Morgan:

Morgan Webb is well known as one of the true gamer girls in the industry. Objective and passionate, fans look to Morgan for a no-nonsense approach to all the latest and greatest titles. Morgan who will be featured in the July issue of Maxim has also appeared on "ESPN Cold Pizza" and was one of five TechTV talent in Playboy.com's "Women of TechTV" online poll.

horray! I can't wait for some Morgan Webb skin!!

Centralised Game Server

[fembots]

Is it possible to have centralised server for Xbox Live? Like what we have for PC-based online gaming?

Not only will it help shouldering the bandwidth cap some third-world internet users have to suffer, it'll also provide a centralised stats.

This will also help pushing tournaments/competition.

Re:Centralised Game Server

[ckelly5]

using the optimatch functionality should find a server that you have a good connection to, and one of the main draws for xbox live is that they have centralized stat tracking for many of their games, of those many are sorted/ filtered by friends. Since the location of people isn't tracked via live, pushing tourneys based on location isn't possible. Some of the new functionality that is coming out in future games (tsunami) will allow you to join clans, and organize your own tournaments, if the games support it, of course.

Re:Centralised Game Server

[YOU LIKEWISE FAIL IT]

Sure, it'd be neat, but XBox Live already has centralised stats, at least for titles that support it, such as Crimson Skies.

Forza Motorsports..

[ohdawg]

from the article:

The announcement for Forza Motorsport does promise a number of ways that players will be able to make their car their own. First, they will be able to choose from more than 60 real-world brands, including Mazda, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, and Dodge. After they select a chassis, players can go inside the guts of their car by adding nonstandard engines, suspensions, superchargers, and brakes. True gearheads can go one step further and tinker with their engines' gear ratios, fuel-mapping, forced induction pressure, and ignition timing.

being a car guy, I can appreciate the details they're trying to include in this game.. however, I think most people are going to think forced induction pressure is something only guys in jail talk about..

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[Osty]

I thought the more interesting part was

Another new aspect of Forza Motorsport is its inclusion of "drivatars," AI-controlled drivers you can "train" in your own original driving style.

I saw the original research into these "drivatars" at a MSR techfest a year or so ago. They had them hooked up to PGR, with a bunch of graphical debugging spew turned on (showing estimated driving lines, what the AI was thinking, etc). It was very cool. There was talk at the time of being able to download drivatars based on professional drivers on the then-new XBox Live service. Hopefully they do that.

And on a side note, does it bother anybody else when people refer to "wheels" as "rims"? A wheel is more than just a "rim", so why call it that? When I read "rims" in reference to wheels, my brain automatically translates it to "riceboy crap".

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[Cyno01]

I didn't read the article, but all that just sounds like NFS Underground with more options.

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[hunterx11]

A wheel is more than just a "rim", so why call it that?

It's called synecdoche, like when Ovid refers to Apollo's bow as "horns" in Apollo et Daphne. We all know how much car people love obscure rhetorical devices.

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[prockcore]

And on a side note, does it bother anybody else when people refer to "wheels" as "rims"? A wheel is more than just a "rim", so why call it that?

Because usually they're talking about the rim specifically. A wheel = tire + rim. Not too many riceboys can even tell the difference between firestone and yokohama... but they know shiny!

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[thadeusg]

It sounds so cool that I have to wonder if this will be as cheesy as a NFS game.

Letting us change fuel and spark maps? How are they going to model that, especially with the "non-standard" engines? Are they going to have a list of what engines can fit in what chassis?

If I turn the boost pressure up to 35psi on an 8.5:1 engine with no intercooler, will the engine blow in the game, just like in real life? What about extreme spark advances? Cams? Wheel and rubber sizes, gear ratios, etc..? It seems like too much to me, which is why I'm thinking it will go the "MORE HP = YOU WIN" mentality of the typical arcade racer.

If it approaches realism, has better AI than GT4, real life tracks, and a bigger car list than GT4 then I'm throwing my PS2 away. I've always wanted to play GT with my own soundtrack. Oh yea, it's gotta have rally courses (including Pike's Peak), and the Escudo.

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[thadeusg]

They could tell the difference between a firestone and a yoko if they actually raced (autox)...damn riceboys.

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[Anonymous Coward]

And on a side note, does it bother anybody else when people refer to "wheels" as "rims"? A wheel is more than just a "rim", so why call it that? When I read "rims" in reference to wheels, my brain automatically translates it to "riceboy crap".

For more Rice Boy crap, try Bryan's Rice Boy Page.

P.S. Bryan is Korean. His definition of a Rice Boy: Rice-Boy is a stereotype. The typical Rice-Boy can be identified by his car, or rather what he does to it. Generally, Rice-Boy will start out with a car that was not meant to go fast (typically a Honda Civic), and attempt to "fix it up," usually consisting of aftermarket rims, lowering springs and an aftermarket exhaust system with a large exhaust tip.

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[Osty]

I prefer RiceCop for my occasionaly dose of rice hilariousness.

P.S. Bryan is Korean. His definition of a Rice Boy: Rice-Boy is a stereotype. The typical Rice-Boy can be identified by his car, or rather what he does to it. Generally, Rice-Boy will start out with a car that was not meant to go fast (typically a Honda Civic), and attempt to "fix it up," usually consisting of aftermarket rims, lowering springs and an aftermarket exhaust system with a large exhaust tip.

Rice refers to the cars, not the drivers. It is a bit of a derogatory term, since it typically implies Japanese (or at least Asian) cars, but it can be applied just as well to domestic makes. There are plenty of riced J-body (Cavalier, Sunfire) cars out there, and the Focus is another rice favorite. If I'm feeling PC, I call them "carbohydrate-based staple food racers", but "riceboy" gets that across much more succinctly.

Besides, he forgot to mention the park bench wings, outrageous bodykits, stickers, and gaudy paint jobs that riceboys so love.

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[grepistan]

I actually really like the realism you're proposing, but I suspect it will all be abandoned in search of the "just wanna drive fast" market that racers seem to be going after. I would personally love to see car damage implemented properly in a (non F1!) game, including engine damage from improperly configured settings and the like.

But, alas, it's not going to happen too soon. I should also add that GT4 is not yet our here in Australia, but I'm not getting my hopes up over that one.

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[thadeusg]

The funny part is that they're the ones who've proposed it!

I love that type of realism, which is why I love GT so much: it's almost the perfect racing sim in most respects. It's the perfect balance between realistic, and easy to play for the novice.

The articles I read a bit ago about this game say that it's supposed to be that realistic, (its even going to have body kits and bumpers, side skirts, etc...ugh!) but I think they're being far too ambitious. I also think that it might be based on the Project Gotham engine, and I hated the way that game drove. So far nothing beats GT on that. If I'm in a MR car, it handles much like a real one would. A FF car handles like it should, same for a FR, etc..

The article says that they've brought in engineers, physicists, and the like...so we can only hope..

But to kill off the GT franchise, they've got a lot of work to do. Some of the screen shots I've seen leave me very unimpressed with the cars, and I think they're putting too much emphasis on scenery..scenery is pointless in a racing sim. Who cares if you can render the gravel on the side of the track when I'm going to be passing it at 140+ mph ?

I don't know if GT4 is out here in the states either (GT4 and Halo2 are the only games on my "to buy" list and I'm in no hurry..) but I loved GT2, liked GT3, and from what I've read about GT4 I'll love it. They have my favourite car company finally, and brought back the used cars..which ruined GT3 IMO.

In other words: this game better be f'in spectacular if they expect it to replace GT for people like me.

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[grepistan]

apologies, I didn't RTFA. Very lazy these days! Sorry to make you rehash things for me, but it's very interesting nonetheless.

I think I misintepreted too, I was under the impression GT4 was out. I'm still playing GT3 to be honest, it's pretty damn impressive. There are a few things I'd like to see improved - driver AI and better crash physics being the main things, but it's still the best racing game I've ever played.

Ahh yes, the used cars! I did love that about the first GT games. GT3 was weird at the start... very little choice of cars. I started with the Sprinter Trueno, eeeurgh!

I agree though, topping GT would be a spectacular effort and a spectacular game. We can hope!

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[Anonymous Coward]

A wheel is more than just a "rim", so why call it that?

//begin semi-topical chris rock quote

'cause they spinnin' nigga! They spinnin'!

//end semi-topical chris rock quote

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[zero_offset]

Damned parking lot cone-racers.

Signed,
Going to Sebring This Weekend (beytoch!) :)

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[Anonymous Coward]

That, and it won't suck because it won't be a lame PS2 port.

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[zero_offset]

I also think that it might be based on the Project Gotham engine, and I hated the way that game drove.

Speaking as someone who has driven quite a few of the cars featured in PGR II on one race track or another, I can tell you that the PGR II engine is rather extremely realistic. Far more realistic than any of the GT games, and yeah, I've played all of those, too.

Sorry, but once again, for this car junkie Sony fails to impress.

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[MBraynard]

Generally, Rice-Boy will start out with a car that was not meant to go fast (typically a Honda Civic), and attempt to "fix it up," usually consisting of aftermarket rims, lowering springs and an aftermarket exhaust system with a large exhaust tip.

All of which make it go oh so much faster. Or at least sound faster.

Re:Forza Motorsports..

[thadeusg]

I haven't played PGR II, but the first one sucked, I'm sorry..it was just a pretty arcade game.

Families?

[Anonymous Coward]

"casual games people love to play with their families... [including] 'Bejeweled'

Don't they mean "casual games people love to play instead of doing their job?"

Yes! A supported video camera!

[Trejkaz]

I hope that when the video camera attachment comes out, that someone hacks with it enough to figure out how to drive it from homebrew software.

Then we can have an open source video phone application running on the Xbox which doesn't require a Live subscription, which would be fucking fantastic!

Re:My question is,

[Neil Blender]

How is open source software going to counter this latest onslaught from Micro$oft?

Uh, we're talking games here so the answer is: it's not. At least not anytime soon.

Good Gravy!

[jvmatthe]

Microsoft had former Playboy Playmate, Jenny McCarthy show off the new voice capabilities with a new videophone. The new videophone not only allows gamers to talk, but also allows them to see each other while they communicate. Microsoft promises that the videophone will not only be part of the Xbox Live experience, but also revolutionize social entertainment.

Hot woman known for taking off her clothes. A video phone. And revolutionary social entertainment. I have an inkling I know where Microsoft is headed with this one.

On the other hand, considering what the hardcore, never-goes-out-in-the-sunlight Xbox Live user probably looks like gives me real fear for what prank calls of the future will be like. :^)

Re:Good Gravy!

[Anonymous Coward]

Hot woman known for taking off her clothes. A video phone. And revolutionary social entertainment. I have an inkling I know where Microsoft is headed with this one.

Heh. She kicks high. On camera.

Re:Good Gravy!

[Anonymous Coward]

You know, for a moment there I read that as Jamie McCarthy, and that brought up a particularly not-so-pleasant image in my head :-|

Re:Good Gravy!

[drinkypoo]

The videophone demonstration showed Jenny McCarthy through Xbox Live to the live audience at the conference. Microsoft claims that gamers will be able to communicate with multiple people at the same time via the videophone.

Note: After E3, no one who looks like Jenny McCarthy will be one of them.

On the other hand, considering what the hardcore, never-goes-out-in-the-sunlight Xbox Live user probably looks like gives me real fear for what prank calls of the future will be like. :^)

This used to be a big problem on Y! messenger, but people eventually got more or less bored of it. Expect the same thing to happen on Xbox, except, those wacky kids will never get tired of it. Hopefully it will have an option to only allow requests from your Zone^H^H^H^HLive friends.

Re:E3 Press release says Morgan Webb to be in Maxi

[dookiesan]

Morgan is very attractive indeed, but that hurt her credibility on the show for me. I couldn't help but put more faith in her co-host's opinions.

Re:So many links!

[Neil Blender]

Could someone please post a one-line summary for this typical ADHD syndrome Slashdot fool?

Game$.

offline development being neglected?

[Dystopias]

here's a question for everyone...i'd be interested in hearing other opinions. It seems the new trend in video gaming is taking games online. It also seems that this has taken attention off of offline games. an example would be Final Fantasy XI. While i was anxiously awaiting the next FF game, i was disapointed to discover that it was online. another example would be the ill fated attempt to take Myst online, one that fortunatly failed. For someone such as myself who doesn't enjoy interacting with idiots in real life, let alone through some video game, i'm concerned that the trend to online gaming is hurting the rest of the industry. any thoughts? -dystopias p.s. i would consider spending more time with online gaming if i could afford to be paying another bill every month. i realize companies have to charge so that they can pay for all the maintinance and upkeep but the subscription costs are enough to keep me away.

Re:offline development being neglected?

[SilentChris]

I wouldn't say neglected, just being brought into the fold. It was kind of like when force feedback debuted a few years back. At first it was a novelty, but then developers were like "Hey, we can use this to augment x, y, and z experience". Now you can't walk two feet without stepping over a controller with built-in force feedback.

If it's done *right* (and very few games have done this), single can complement multiplayer perfectly. A very good example is Project Gotham Racing 2 on Xbox. At first I was like "Eh, another racing game..." but as soon as I saw that you were always online, even when playing single player, I slowly became impressed with the design. No matter where you are in the game, you can always check out other players replays, how well you handled a track compared to others, or just play multiplayer. It's incredibly addictive because there's always an element of competition to draw you back.

That's why Nintendo's stance (avoiding online) seems so odd. They claim it's not ready for primetime. Clearly it is. Nintendo has made great efforts to introduce extrasensory experiences to their games (the Rumble Pak was the first really successful force feedback, the Game Boy/GameCube link is a nice touch [even if it forces people to buy more stuff]) but they're totally missing the ball on this one. They should be looking at it as yet another tool to augment gaming, rather than letting MS and Sony dig their heels in. Once they're in, neither company is going to let go easily.

Re:offline development being neglected?

[Sage Gaspar]

The online Myst unfortunately failed?

Uru was slated to the first truly revolutionary MMO (the first MMO being omitted from this category). It took place in a world deeply entrenched with lore, as noted by the guilds of PLAYERS who studied the architecture, mechanical workings, etc of Uru in beta. Every single one of the plot developments and technical difficulties was played out by the devs in character. The idea was so masterfully created that to roleplay, all a person would have to do would be to act like themselves (the characters were all people from earth coming down to visit the newly excavated D'ni).

It was going to be the first MMO based solely around non-combative gameplay, with an element of competition derived from playing games-within-a-game. The first truly exploration driven MMO. The first fully immersive MMO. The focus would not be on conquering the next level, either in terms of the next world or the next EXP bar, but on sucking all of the marrow out of a wonderfully detailed world, forming communities, and trying to decide the fate of D'ni.

Uru failed for a couple reasons. First, the technology wasn't in place at Ubi or wherever the servers were headquartered. 32 people playing simultaneously would cause game-breaking lag. Secondly, it was horribly promoted. No one really understood what Uru Live was about unless they participated, and too few were willing to participate in something they were hesitant about (as I initially was). Finally, I don't think that Ubi Soft had the resources to fund a project of the scope that would be necessary, as in a full-time team crafting new ages and playing characters in the world on a daily basis. Sadly, Prince of Persia, Beyond Good and Evil, Uru and its other hallmark games (perhaps barring Splinter Cell) have not sold nearly as well as they should.

Re:offline development being neglected?

[Mycroft_VIII]

That's why Nintendo's stance (avoiding online) seems so odd. They claim it's not ready for primetime. Clearly it is.

Unfortunately it's not really. The problem is most of us are still stuck with dialup. There just isn't the bandwidth for most people to play most online games.
Not this is stopping game companies from putting out games that require more bandwidth than most people have. While mostly ignoring the single player aspect.

Mycroft

Re:offline development being neglected?

[Anonymous Coward]

How old are you and what did you like about beyond good and evil. I heard a lot of good things, I am playing the demo now but it looks a little childish. I am > 30.

I read that PoP sold more than 2 million copies. I didn't play it. May some day.

Re:offline development being neglected?

[Sage Gaspar]

I'm 20. I didn't really play BG&E for the plot, I played it for the action. There's been some comparisons made to the newer (3D) Zeldas that aren't entirely unwarranted, and IMO BG&E pulls it off better with lots of vehicles and some neat little mini-games. You also get to indirectly control another character, and there are some stealth elements.

The story itself I would rate better than most action games of its type. The futuristic world is threatened by an evil conglomerate corporation/government and you end up working for this underground rebel group taking photos so they can make their pirate webcasts. The orphanage thing just pops up every once in a while as the motivation for why Jade (the main character) is working for the rebels.

Re:offline development being neglected?

[SilentChris]

Yes, but they can at least *approach* online as opposed to the business equivalent of putting their fingers in their ears.

Look at Blizzard's Battle.net. All of their games (even WoW coming out soon) support dialup. It's not hard. They just need to write tighter network code and avoid high speed areas like first-person shooters (which they're pretty much doing, anyway).

Re:offline development being neglected?

[Anonymous Coward]

"the first fully immersive MMO"? "wonderfully detailed world, forming communities, trying to decide the fate of D'ni"?

Man that sounds like BS. Let's consider... oh... how about every MMORPG ever made?
- the first fully immersive!
- wonderfully detailed!
- form communities!
- decide the fate of _______ !

Yeah, uh, and if elected I'm going to fund all these awsome social programs, but I won't have to raise taxes because we can fund it by reducing administrative overhead! Oh wait - you mean everyone says that?

Re:offline development being neglected?

[Anonymous Coward]

"I realize companies have to charge so that they can pay for all the maintinance and upkeep but the subscription costs are enough to keep me away."

Companies have to charge so that they can what? Man, I don't have to pay anything to play quake or unreal. I didn't have to pay anything to play a MUD in college (today's mmorpg = MUD + quake) (MUD, btw, = crack cocain + something else addictive and bad for you).

Really. If I have to pay a monthly fee for a copy of windows I'm not interested. Likewise for computer or platform games.

Re:offline development being neglected?

[DeadScreenSky]

Prince of Persia sold very well, actually. IGN reports 2.4 million copies were sold - that is a smash hit by almost any measurement.

IMO BG&E is massively overrated, but I admit it would have been nice to see a sequel.

Re:E3 Press release says Morgan Webb to be in Maxi

[Cyno01]

Beautiful women aren't always ditzs. Last summer i dated a model who knew pi to like 300 digits and was better versed in comic theory than myself. Scary which of those things attracted me to her the most...

The price of EA

[SilentChris]

I'm a fan of Xbox and a fan of EA (to an extent -- stupid EA Trax), but I can't help but wonder if EA introducing their sports games to Xbox Live had anything to do with MS cancelling their sports games for this year. Who knows the terms of the deal, but I can imagine an EA rep saying "Look, we'll do this. But the Xbox Sports Network thing has got to go." "How about a limited number of games and a delay of one year?" "Deal."

Not to say that MS's sports games were particularly good -- they weren't. But I can't help but wonder what this year's battle is going to be like with only EA and Sega fighting over the majority of sports titles (Sony also has put it's 989 series on hiatus for a year).

Re:The price of EA

[Intocabile]

I wonder if they cancelled Links 2005, 2004 was great. I have little faith in a Tiger Woods Xbox Live game.

Re:The price of EA

[jacoplane]

well there is some competition

Re:The price of EA

[WebGangsta]

Not to say that MS's sports games were particularly good -- they weren't

Wha-what? Top Spin is considered to be one of the best tennis games out there, with many reviews comparing it favorably to (what was it, the Sega Genesis?) old games. I've played it with tennis experts who concur that the ball physics and gameplay are exactly what they teach on the court. And Links is also well done. As for the other sports titles? They weren't awful, and in some cases they were "just fine" by themselves and held their own.

Re:The price of EA

[SilentChris]

The "outside" titles: Tennis, Links, etc. were great. I'm talking about the bread and butter: football, basketball, hockey. In these areas MS got shown the floor.

Re:The price of EA

[Dr. Manhattan]

Microsoft might like that better than a big blank check.

Re:Yes! A supported video camera!

[SilentChris]

Or you can buy any of a number of $20 USB webcams and hook it up to a Pentium II box and a screen for less than 50 bucks, total.

Xbox is no longer a value proposition for open source camps. It was a nice hobby, but honestly, there's a lot better things that people can be spending their time and money on. Leave the system to its games (which are pretty damn good now).

Re:E3 Press release says Morgan Webb to be in Maxi

[Anonymous Coward]

liar..

Doom3??

[Anonymous Coward]

What's the deal? HURRY UP ID!

New Halo2 Screenshots, too...

[Recoil_42]

They were put up on bungie.net moments after the conference ended.

get 'em here:

Bungie.net HALO2 Screenshots, page 3.

Xbox.ign.com also has a fantastic preview up, its five pages long, so i wont bother to summarize it -- its simply a must-read though.

IGN Xbox: E3 2004: Halo 2 Multiplayer Hands-On

Gran Turismo killer?

[lingqi]

It's better than GT because the controller is about the same size as the steering wheel on my car right?

but seriously though, GT was so good because it was so, real. even if you cut the graphics to half it's current quality, the controls, the way cars handle, once you do GT and touch any other racer, the way the cars move feel fake and alien - and that's what makes GT special.

Heck, compared to today's standards, GT(s) for the original PS had graphics that can be rivaled by a 4 year old and a box of crayons, but they were damn fun nontheless.

at the same time, i remember EA licensed porsche exclusively. how does MS get around this? by paying EA a lot of money? I'm curious.

Re:Gran Turismo killer?

[cujo_1111]

GT2 got around the Porsche licensing by going to Ruf, the renowned porsche tuners, and adding them to the manufacturer list.

The Ruf I have in my save game is a joy to drive, lightning fast and so easy to 4 wheel drift around any corner...

Re:Gran Turismo killer?

[Skuld-Chan]

To me the one big problem with gt3 (and many racing games) is the ai opponents. They consistantly drive like they are on rails. They always take the same exact line on every single corner - and they never make any mistakes. Increasing the diffuculty just makes them increase the speed at which they take the predefined lines they take for corners.

Also - does anyone know anybody who completed all the licensing tests?

Re:Gran Turismo killer?

[Anonymous Coward]

By "completed," do you mean getting a gold medal on each test?

Re:Gran Turismo killer?

[Anonymous Coward]

Also - does anyone know anybody who completed all the licensing tests?

Umm, yeah. Myself and all my friends who played GT3...personally I completed it 100%, gold in everything twice before I sold the PS2.

Re:Gran Turismo killer?

[phaze3000]

Also - does anyone know anybody who completed all the licensing tests?

Yeah, me, all gold. Took me quite some time, but to be honest I rather enjoyed it.

I've been trying the same with GT4: Prologue but I've still got six or seven to go.

Re:Gran Turismo killer?

[aegilops]

Has anyone compared GT to Grand Prix Legends for driving realism / physics? I've never played / seen GT so have no way of comparing, but it seems pretty much unanimous wisdom that GPL is the pinnacle of driving physics, despite being launched over 5 years ago.

Re:Gran Turismo killer?

[nicky_d]

Yeah, GT's AI is pretty dull, but it's always felt like an extraneous feature to me, anyway - GT is all about mastering the driving system and adapting to the courses with a variety of vehicles, all of which have their own 'flavour'. This is the area GT has mastered and very few other games have approached. I daresay I could do without the other drivers in GT quite happily - in fact, I often play against my own time trial ghost, which I think is a lot more fun.

Similarly, the lack of damage is often mentioned in relation to GT, but again, it isn't important to the core of the game. Now there are great driving games which feature interesting AI and good damage simulation, but none of them, most people will agree, match up to GT as a driving experience.

To some gamers, GT will always seem a little dull, a little joyless - it depends what you're looking for. I appreciate being able to load up Project Gotham and launch into a kudos-grabbing show-off session, and I'll even head back to Destruction Derby 2 on the PSX for some auto carnage every now and again. But I also keep coming back to GT3, because when I'm heading through the shade of those trees, preparing to tackle the upcoming corner accoring to the specs of my car, I know that there's no other game like it. Forget the other cars, forget the fact that you can clip a barrier and not show a dent; it's all about your driving, and it has that covered completely.

Re:Gran Turismo killer?

[CavemanKiwi]

but seriously though, GT was so good because it was so, real. even if you cut the graphics to half it's current quality, the controls, the way cars handle, once you do GT and touch any other racer, the way the cars move feel fake and alien - and that's what makes GT special.

I will agree to beat the GT the game will need to have the playability (GTs physics and speed perception just feel right) and the continuos gains to be had. GT isn't just a racing game it is also a collect type RPG where you get can improve your car then as things go on increase the size of your garage.

Although the controls, I hope you dont mean the PSX controller. Bit like driving a radio controlled car you have two small sticks and you will notice most competitive RC car drivers use a wheel and trigger controller. I personally like the Dreamcast controller for racing games out of the consoles std controllers, 1 analog trigger for accelerate and 1 for break and the stick for steering. This allows you to break and have your foot (finger) on the gas at the same time

Re:Gran Turismo killer?

[zero_offset]

once you do GT and touch any other racer, the way the cars move feel fake and alien

Unless, of course, that "other racer" is a real race car. In that case, GT feels like shit. It's like an almost realistic simulation, with all the wrong things magnified to ridiculous levels. Most people I know with a PS2 and an Xbox complain that PGR II doesn't feel realistic, and I've always argued that it's far more realistic than GT3. And lately I've noticed, the guys who actually race are the ones who agree with me. It's the couch car-guys who like GT3 better.

Re:Gran Turismo killer?

[zettabyte]

It's better than GT because the controller is about the same size as the steering wheel on my car right?

I hear this a lot about Xbox. I find the standard controller fits my hands perfectly. I guess most people have tiny little hands. :-)

MS made a smaller controller for those of you with petite hands. Did Sony ever make a big controller for those of us w/ big hands? (Actually, I don't know the answer to that, they may have...)

Feh. I'm tired of defending Xbox. I like it. You don't. Big deal.

Re:Gran Turismo killer?

[UnknownSoldier]

> Also - does anyone know anybody who completed all the licensing tests?

I just have all the S licence left to get, so I am getting there.

When I first got the game I worked at getting gold in all the B license tests (free Mazda Miata!) which helped emmensly, since the extra cash can be put into upgrading it.

The GT3 "Official Perfect Guide" Book is VERY good - it has maps of all the tracks, plus tips for each license test

Check GameFaqs, or point us to where we can reach you, if you need specific help.

Peace
--
Only the fool condemns what he doesn't understand.
I know, because I was once the fool who did exactly that.
Even if I don't agree, I'll listen, because to do any less would mean I'm the ignorant fool again.

Re:Gran Turismo killer?

[DeadScreenSky]

Did Sony ever make a big controller for those of us w/ big hands?

No, unfortunately. Most American third-party controllers seem larger, however, probably because the Sony controllers are so freaking tiny. Even various petite women I know can't stand the official ones...

Re:E3 Press release says Morgan Webb to be in Maxi

[Anonymous Coward]

Comic Theory? I think that's a worthy study.

Er, btw, what kind of model? You know they have foot and hand models, right? :)

Re:My question is,

[Maul]

How is open source software going to counter this latest onslaught from Micro$oft?

By working hard on making their PC software better, rather than than wasting time making crappy games for a crappy console.

(I mean, it is pretty sad when they have to offer a life sized pillow-doll of Kasumi from DOA as a freebie when you buy an X-Box in order to sell the thing in Japan.)

Re:E3 Press release says Morgan Webb to be in Maxi

[Anonymous Coward]

pfft.. pi to 300
now Apu is hot.

Hutz: Now Mr. Nahasapeemapetilon, if that is yor real name. Have you ever forgotten anything?

Apu: No. In fact I can recite pi to 40,000 places. And the last digit is 1.

I played the Rare games last year at E3

[Anonymous Coward]

Stick a fork in them, they're done. I played the Conker multiplayer game, it was atrocious. Just not even an inkling of fun.

N definitely got the better end of this deal.

Re:E3 Press release says Morgan Webb to be in Maxi

[Anonymous Coward]

Have you seen the Cat Schwartz nude pictures? man, what a slut, right!

And here is Morgan Webb nude

total sluts. how dare they expose themselves like?!?! it makes me want to touch myself in unpure ways!!! sinners!

Don't forget Duke Nukem

[Anonymous Coward]

So will Duke Nukem forever be there?

..or how I learned to stop worrying and love LIVE

[Areeves]

Disclaimer, I don't own an xbox or xbox live, but I've played it a bunch. I've played a few games on Xbox live like Crimson Skies, Splinter Cell, RTCW and so on. I was skeptical at first, but it won me over quickly. The online buddy list and game invites work flawlessly, and very rarely do I see lag in game. Despite the drawbacks of live chat during game "dude I'm so stoned" "no way dude, so am I!" "PoWNED!", it actually works over DSL without a hitch. I see xbox LIVE as MS's iTunes Music store.

Valve should take notice and...

[MMaestro]

copy Bungie by waiting until they can GIVE US A CONCRETE RELEASE DATE. As much as I'd like to believe Half-Life 2 was delayed by the hack incident, I really find it hard to believe that they had to wait months to tell us that the game was delayed let alone delayed because they were hacked. As for Halo 2...

So many new screenshots in one day!? Watch out world! Bungie finally turned on the hype-o generator!

Re:Valve should take notice and...

[SFBwian]

Valve recently spoke in an interview (I can't remember the site, unfortunately) in which they basically said the game wasn't even ready back when it was hacked, and used that as an excuse for the time. So... they lied to try to save their butts.

Not that I care. I'm awaiting it for the single player. :) If it's not ready yet, I don't want it yet.

Is Halo the only successful XBox game

[standing_still]

Is Halo the only successfull XBox Game? It seems like it sometimes! I'm kind of sick from hearing about it.

PS: It wasn't even that good of a game!

Re:Is Halo the only successful XBox game

[cujo_1111]

PPS: And it sucked totally when ported to the PC. Which seems really dumb considering they use basically the same hardware.

Re:Is Halo the only successful XBox game

[metroid composite]

Agreed it wasn't that spectacular (largely due to being so rushed). No, it's not the only successful game, however Microsoft continues to advertize it more than any other game, even more recent games like Ninja Gaiden (which is a shame really).

XBox million sellers in the US (source):

Halo: 3.10 M
Project Gotham: 1.07 M
GTA: Double Pack: 1 M
Splinter Cell: 1.33 M

And some more that did fairly well (note: different site--less complete and numbers are slightly more out of date). (source)

DoA3: 0.73 M
Ghost Recon: 0.79 M
Mech Assault: 0.51 M
Spider Man: The Movie: 0.51 M

So: no, Halo isn't the only successful XBox game, and the discrepancy presumably wouldn't be so large if it wasn't for the massive gap in advertizing between Halo and every other game combined. Then again, that may be a strategy for Microsoft: create a franchise that it can later use to draw in customers. In which case...

Wait for several people to claim that Halo 2 doesn't live up to the original despite being an improvement in basically every way!

Re:E3 Press release says Morgan Webb to be in Maxi

[cujo_1111]

My computer knows pi to 1 million decimal places.

Nintendo DS logo revealed?

[NanoGator]

I apologize for being off-topic, but it's at least semi-relevent in the sense that this is sorta about E3. Somebody got a photo of the Nintendo DS logo.

http://www.planetgamecube.com/news.cfm?action=item &id=5289

The picture's kinda blurry (heh, camera phone?) but it appears to depict two screens, one above the other. Looks like a GBA SP with the lower half being a screen. Not the most exciting photo ever, but a lot of us are itching to see what Nintendo's going to show us tomorrow, figured I'd post it. (No hard feelings if I'm modded down, though...)

Re:Nintendo DS logo revealed?

[r_j_prahad]

I apologize for being off-topic, [...]

As far as I'm concerned, anything posted about Microsoft's X-Box is off-topic. No need to apologize.

Re:Nintendo DS logo revealed?

[Blakey Rat]

As far as I'm concerned, anything posted about Microsoft's X-Box is off-topic. No need to apologize.

Uh... huh? What the hell are you talking about? The entire article above is about the XBox and various things Microsoft is going to do with the system in the next year... that's why people are posting about it. Do you understand what the word "topic" means?

Hey Moderators, I know you're all lining up to give Nintendo a big E3 blowjob, but off-topic is off-topic... the grandparent even DECLARED it off-topic. Get a clue and moderate correctly.

Re:Nintendo DS logo revealed?

[pilkul]

Yeah, that makes me wonder if the DS is going to have some kind of touchscreen system, like PDAs. At first the 2-screen idea sounded like a disaster to me, but precisely because of the prima facie crappiness of the idea, I think Nintendo may have some kind of clever surprise up their sleeve ...

Can no one kill xbox live?

[Anonymous Coward]

I just hope that halo 2 works via gamespy, so those of us that think paying a monthly sub. fee is just nuts when all we want to do is just blow **** up!
That and we may have chipped our xboxes so that we can use xbox media center...

Re:Can no one kill xbox live?

[Osty]

I just hope that halo 2 works via gamespy, so those of us that think paying a monthly sub. fee is just nuts when all we want to do is just blow **** up!

Oh my! $50/year or $5/mo is soooo much! Boohoohoo!

That and we may have chipped our xboxes so that we can use xbox media center...

Thankfully, your modchip and your aversion to paying for a quality service will keep you off of Live. Good riddance.

Re:Can no one kill xbox live?

[Anonymous Coward]

"Oh my! $50/year or $5/mo is soooo much! Boohoohoo!"

Hey Fuck You, Charlie! I don't have to pay one red cent to play quake or unreal, so yeah, $50 a year is too much!

If you wanna be a fanboy who pays M$ for something that would otherwise be free then go right ahead. But hasseling people who DON'T think the subscription is worth it is just lame.

Re:Can no one kill xbox live?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeeeah, people with mod chips are being kept off Live. Go ahead and keep believing that.

Half Life 2

[Anonymous Coward]

Half Life 2 has taken so long, I've grown out of playing video games.

Re:E3 Press release says Morgan Webb to be in Maxi

[Anonymous Coward]

those were obviously faked. photoshopping celebrities is easy

Yay!

[NanoGator]

Now we know when Red vs Blue 2 will begin filming!

Re:My question is,

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's see..
It won't.

The world isn't a big OSS vs Microsoft Royal Rumble.

If microsoft makes and sells good games, awesome.
I'm for any company that makes a good product.
yes, I'd be more for them if they made it libre, but I'd be fool to hold it against every company that doesn't.

Oh wait! I just got it! The dollar sign in the name is to signify that the company is focused on profit. How clever!

Re:Yes! A supported video camera!

[NanoGator]

"Xbox is no longer a value proposition for open source camps."

Pity this was modded off-topic. It's a valid criticism over the heat Slashdot's dealt MS over the whole "installing Linux on the XBOX" topic. Who really thinks the next XBOX isn't going to be even harder to break? There's nothing wrong with saying "choose your battles".

No hard feelings if I'm modded off-topic here. I'm still a bit bitter that nobody here will take my feelings on this matter seriously. All this flipping off of Microsoft has not helped anybody.

Re:E3 Press release says Morgan Webb to be in Maxi

[Anonymous Coward]

Dunno about the Morgan pic, but the pics of Cat are real. She acknowledged that already.

Re:E3 Press release says Morgan Webb to be in Maxi

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude... it doesn't even look like Morgan. And she's not big enough, either...

A contender for Metroid Prime 2:Echoes ?

[tonejava]

If only Metroid Prime 2 was Broadband capable, then again will Nintendo Announce it?

Which would be the better of the two? Metroid or Halo?

Metroid of course!!!!!! ;-)

Re:A contender for Metroid Prime 2:Echoes ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not a chance, boy.
Halo 2 will smoke Metroid with very little sweat.

Links to some of the Halo 2 Videos

[rickst13]

Halo 2 Multiplayer (Team Xbox)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4


Halo 2 Direct Feed (IGN)

Direct Feed Videos

Re:My question is,

[NanoGator]

"Yeah, man, I know. MechWarrior, Project Gotham 2... those games totally sucked. *rolls eyes* "

Why was this modded as flamebait while the parent wasn't?

GT4 Has No Competition

[LordMyren]

GT4 is the only game with enough brand reckgonition to go out and license 500+ cars. Word nothing of the fact that any competitors vehicular dynamics engine wont hold a candle, not a peep about the graphics, GT4 will tromp everyone based just on the number of cars.

I'd like to confirm it myself (aka: couple hundred nice race cars to test) but allegedly they spent inordinate amounts of efforts testing the cars and generating vehicular dynamics profiles for the cars. I have never played anything which feels half as exacting, I damn well believe it.

I just hope you can adjust downforce for all cars again. I'll happily pay the $50,000. Talk about essentials, that drove me nuts.

Re:GT4 Has No Competition

[pandrijeczko]

I don't see why licensing 500+ cars makes for this being classified as a good racing game alone.

I hear a lot of comments from friends that a particular racing game (on whatever platform) has "excellent and realistic handling" as they zoom around a racing circuit in a Porsche - but then I look in their driveway & see a boring saloon car and think to myself "but how do you actually know how realistic the handling is?"

I'm not a racing game nut though I've always liked the Need For Speed series on the PC - and while I've never driven a Porsche (to me a car is a piece of metal with for wheels, a CD player and air-conditioning!), I'd hope that the NFS - Porsche Unleashed game was "realistic" purely because it was limited to about 9 Porsche car models only and that EA had done their research before coding it.

I know the GT series is highly rated but, at the end of it all, entertainment value, not realism, is what makes a racing game good.

HURRY UP, CLIMAX!!!!

[DoctorFrog]

With the XBox RPG "Sudeki" I mean... but I've always wanted to say that anyway! ;^)

On par with GT4?

[Leoric]

Microsoft also promises that the game will feature glossy graphics on par with the Gran Turismo series.

On par with Gran Turisimo? I have played the beta of nr 4, and the graphics cant compere with Project Gotham Racing 2. GT doesnt have that great graphics (its a PS2 game...)

The best driving game in the history of men, is Street Rod!
http://www.classicpcgames.com/?p=game&ei=Str eet+Ro d

If Microsoft could blend this great game with good graphics! wheew!!

Re:My question is,

[Babbster]

It's called the Slashdot CW. "Xbox games suck" or "All they have is Halo" aren't trolls or flamebait because those statements are considered true. Arguing against that is obviously flamebait because no sensible person enjoys their Xbox without a mod chip and Media Center installed.

In fact, mods should slap me with some negative points because I enjoy my Xbox games (bought five last week as a matter of fact) and don't have a mod chip.

Re:E3 Press release says Morgan Webb to be in Maxi

[MachDelta]

Oh yeah, well MY computer knows ALL the digets of Pi! Just watch!

**NO CARRIER**

Xbox Video Porn Lounge on its way

[oddbudman]

I have nothing.

HL2

[smallguy78]

Cut the crap, where's a playable demo of Half Life 2?! Who cares about Halo 2 and its 3 year old graphics!

Re:HL2

[Anonymous Coward]

Clearly you didn't watch the videos.

Bejeweled is very addictive! PalmOS Version

[avel599]

For all you Tetris-et-al addicts, try out bejeweled! You won't be dissapointed!

It is available for the PalmOS platform as shareware:

Palmgear Link

Re:Bejeweled is very addictive! PalmOS Version

[WebGangsta]

Any game that can be played just fine on a cellphone is not worth playing on an Xbox (or PS2, or GC, etc) and a 46" hi-def screen with surround sound. What's the point?

Nothing against Popcap, who make wonderfully entertaining games. I just don't see it being worthwhile to play 'em on a console system.

Re:Bejeweled is very addictive! PalmOS Version

[Anonymous Coward]

Why bother playing Solitaire on a $1000 PC when you can just use a $5 deck of cards?

Re:Bejeweled is very addictive! PalmOS Version

[Blakey Rat]

If you don't want to play them, then don't. Big whoop.

But I see it as added value to the $50 a year I pay for Live, and I'm glad as hell they're there anyway.

It couldn't be any worse than the loser games DishNetwork shoves on their recievers.

Re:Bejeweled is very addictive! PalmOS Version

[nelsonal]

I picked up the tetris clone war bundle out of a bargain bin the other day, and I like it mostly because it's a nice game to play for 10 minutes. It's also easy to learn for little kids and people who don't play games much. A friend brought kids over who of course wanted to play KotoR which had a pretty steep learning curve for them. No it doesn't stress the hardware, but they can be fun. My favorite timewaster is the same game. I don't put it on my hardware anymore it is not a game it is an addiction.

"boundless imagination"

[Cally]

These games also reflect the boundless imagination of their creators...

One of the best games ever written was Jumping Jack. Five black horizontal lines up the screen. A tiny animated stick figure. Gaps appear and slide along the lines. Jack has to jump up through the holes onto the level above until he reaches the top of the screen.

When something 10% as addictive appears on one of these new-fangled console things I'll be interested... until then, who cares? I can see better animation in shampoo ads, bigger explosions in and old lame crap from Blockbuster and more convincing acting in a George Lucas movie...

Re:"boundless imagination"

[pandrijeczko]

I have to admit that recently I've been going back to some of the old classics via emulation and there are still hundreds of old games that are worth firing up again for another spin - I remember Jumping Jack very well, recently I've been playing Highway Encounter on a ZX Spectrum emulator and Deuteros & Speedball 2 on an Amiga emulator.

To be honest, the PC games scene is usually pretty bland until around Christmas time and even then, the ratio of true classic games against the number of actual releases is very small these days.

Halo was okay but over-rated / X-Box is pointless

[pandrijeczko]

I don't own an X-Box (and never will as long as it has a Microsoft logo on it) but I did spend an afternoon playing Halo with a buddy - I enjoyed it but I can't say it did as much for me as Half-Life or Unreal Tournament 2003/2004 still does for me.

As to the X-Box, no matter how I look at it or think about it, it's still nothing more (to me) than a cut-down PC from about 2 years ago and I don't understand why it has sold in the volume it has - after all, by spending double the price of an X-Box, you can get a micro-case PC with twice the power, have Internet & application usability as well and by the time you've bought a few X-Box games, you've spent more money than on a micro PC.

Please note that these are the perceptions of someone now officially "middle-aged" although I do own a GameCube and GBA, the former because there are some good games that will never get ported to the PC and the latter because of portability & travelling.

But Halo has been done for the PC now and while I suppose there are a few more "X-Box only" good games, I still don't understand the justifications for buying one.

If you've bought one and like it then good luck to you but I'd honestly love to know the appeal it has over a micro PC that would still sit beneath the TV, have a TV-out video card and with a DVD drive will happily play movies also - as well as letting you run MAME (without a hardware hack) and countless other good freebie games from the Internet.

Re:My question is,

[pandrijeczko]

It doesn't have to...

We OSS users have the best of both worlds - since we're invariably people that care about what we run on our computers, we're normally knowledgeable enough to run OSS first but run Windows for all the stuff that OSS doesn't do.

You, like countless others, have fallen into the trap of believing that OSS is out to displace Microsoft and commercial software, entirely the worng viewpoint.

OSS is about having as much choice as possible, about using open standards and about having access to good software despite (possibly) not having enough money to buy commercial software - this only benefits commercial software houses because people get into the mindset of running free software, rather than pirated commercial software.

OSS games will never keep pace with commercial games simply because commercial games software houses have the budgets to hire graphics artists, animators and coders equivalent (sometimes) to the budgets of many movie producers - OSS games are dependent upon the free time given by the same people, obviously much smaller.

X3?

[insomaniac]

From reading the text of this article I'm starting to fear that MS will own the console market soon. Is this what we really want, I don't like the prospect of everything which is slightly computer related being made by MS. I mean most of the people here want windows to dissapear from the desktop and I'm kinda one of them in the way that I think that one player in industry is bad for the consumer.

But what if the Xbox really starts to be the dominant home media center? Will MS try to muscle out linux or any other competitor by making things incompatible, they have done so in the past...

Imagine things like xbox live not working if you have a linux/openbsd firewall on the border or that you need to have a windows box to do some certain new cool thing on the xbox.

This might sound a bit irrational but I don't want to be locked into a MS world, I don't have anything against companies but I still think competition is healthy and want to see the choice between multiple console vendors to continue for another few years. I don't want to see sony or nintendo die because MS marketed their Xbox too well...

Re:X3?

[StarbuckZero]

As a Linux user and a gamer who owns a Playstation 2, GameCube and Xbox. I say long as they do it fair and square. Yes, Microsoft did that in the PC world but they will have a harder time in the console market. The PS2 is the number one game console and it doesn't even have the best graphics. It's because Sony got a good line up of games for there console. I play my PS2 the most the, Xbox is 2nd and the GameCube is only when I have people over (4 WaveBirds). It's sad because I started off with a GameCube first then got a Playstation 2 and Xbox once I moved because I didn't stay close to any of my gamer friends. I think everyone know Nintendo is dumb for not launching some kind of online service and that's what's hurting them now. Well that's what I think don't hold that against me because I don't feel like starting a flame war.

Anyways Microsoft didn't buy EA, they cancel there own sports line up. The Xbox doesn't have Windows Media player, MSN Messenger or even Microsoft Office 2003. They aren't forcing Tecmo to develop games for there system. Right now every console is on a leveled playing field which is something you can't say for the OEM/PC market right now.

Re:X3?

[Anonymous Coward]

MS owning the consol market would be bad, but no worse (I think) than Sony owning it. I bought an XBOX this time around, but maybe I'll get a Sony next time I can't resist the urge to get a console.

Either way, keep them both alive and at each other's throats, instead of the throats of the consumers. 'Cause you know that OUR soft underbellies are what they're fighting over...

Re:X3?

[nelsonal]

In one generation they went from being a joke, to a solid also ran, to being considered the main challenger to Sony in the next generation. Not that it will happen for sure, but I don't think many of us would have belived that MS would be seriously considered to outsell Sony with their second gen XBox. There is now serious consideration, and MS is being taken seriously by development firms.

Re:I'm glad someone is finally thinking...

[pandrijeczko]

I'd like to see alot more games released that aren't made to compete graphics wise with todays games. Maybe a deal with Sega where all the old Genisis games can be bought via the Live service and played with an official emulator.

It won't happen but, there again, the retrogaming scene is perfectly good left as it is anyway.

You need to remember that games companies are businesses, first and foremost, and they're much more inclined to produce new games on modern platforms which they can sell for 40-50 Euros/dollars/pounds at a time rather than revamp older games, even via emulation, which people are not going to be willing to pay more that a couple Euros/dollars/pounds for.

Added to that, the further back you go in computer/console gaming history, the more of a legal quagmire it is - facts like whether the original author or the publisher of a game own the rights to its distribution means its very difficult, and expensive, for games companies to sort this out.

At the moment, with the retro scene on the Internet, authors and games companies seem to be happy to ignore "free" distribution of old games roms and images provided that the platforms aren't sold anymore and no-one else plans to make any money from it, even to the point where many authors and publishers have made this stuff legally free to distribute.

The time when an individual or company makes a serious attempt at making money from retrogames is the time when the whole scene will collapse - because at that point all the lawyers will descend like vultures to tear everyone else apart for a bite of the cherry.

Games sales are as bouyant as ever, freee retrogaming harms no-one so just leave it as it is.

Previous Bungie games, still alive

[Anonymous Coward]

Read about Myth here
You can play Myth: The Fallen Lords here
You can play Myth II and Myth III here.

Go here for Marathon.

Re:Halo was okay but over-rated / X-Box is pointle

[Anonymous Coward]

How about this?
I don't WANT a PC. I want a console where I put a game in and play it immediately.
Meanwhile I have voice communiation with the people I play with, which means I get to play a lot more of Links 2004 than before when I actually had to get off my butt and go to my friend's house.

Besides the thing is that even if you have twice the power in the PC you won't get twice as impressive games.
PC games are coded for the lowest common denominator (even if it allows for some scalability) whereas the developers know exactly what they can get out of an Xbox and can use it to its fullest - which in the end results in more impressive games with steady framerates and great graphics.

That's why you don't see games like Dead or Alive on PC. Heck, you don't even see Project Gotham Racing 2.

Comparing PCs and consoles (even if hardware is similar to a great extent) is like comparing rain to a cd jewel box. It makes no sense.

Re:Halo was okay but over-rated / X-Box is pointle

[Anonymous Coward]

pandrijeczko :" although I do own a GameCube and GBA, the former because there are some good games that will never get ported to the PC"
Yet another mindless anti-Microsoft tirade from the IHM (I Hate Microsoft) crowd.
I suppose its too much to expect any member of the slashdot Micrsoft hating nuts club to make even the least bit of sense, isn't it?
If your reason for buying a Gamecube is "because there are some good games that will never get ported to the PC", how on earth can you at the same time say you can't see any reason why anyonewould buyan XBOX, given that most great XBOX games are not going to be ported to PC's either?
You one weird dude indeed.

Re:Halo was okay but over-rated / X-Box is pointle

[rufo]

OK, so the specs are a cut-down PC from 2 years ago. It's still $150. With $60 for a solderless mod chip, you can run any software you want. What PC are you going to build or buy for $420 that plays games as well as the Xbox can in its unmodded form? MAME and Bejeweled do not apply here, and remember to include the cost of Windows since most games will not come out for Linux. Also, remember that the Xbox has a GeForce-3 based card - onboard video isn't acceptable.

Not to mention other things - with a micro PC, you have to constantly worry about Windows updates, updates to your apps, drivers, crashes, and other various problems related to a computer. With an Xbox, all you do is plug it in and turn it on. No drivers. There are software updates but they are all compatible with each other and happen automatically. While I'm still wrestling with the best settings and config for my PC games, it's nice to be able to just plop in front of the sofa and throw in a disc and be playing in very little time. (Don't get me wrong, I'm a big PC gamer, but the simplicity of the Xbox is a big draw.)

I mean, basically the Xbox has everything any other console has going for it - the fact that it's similar to a PC is irrelevant for 95% of the people out there. Are they going to care that a $200 WalMart PC is going to have better specs in some regards then the Xbox? No - because you can't play Halo 2 on the WalMart PC. If you're looking to buy an Xbox solely to run Linux on it, then maybe that's not a wise decision, but other then that, I ask why *not* an Xbox?

I have no job...

[dcrocha]

it has been outsorced, you insensitive clod!

Re:My question is,

[Tackhead]

> (I mean, it is pretty sad when they have to offer a life sized pillow-doll of Kasumi from DOA as a freebie when you buy an X-Box in order to sell the thing in Japan.)

*shudder*. "Life-sized pillow doll". Starting at several dozen light years beyond the pale, you then go on to describe something so far beyond the pale that it couldn't find the pale with very long baseline interferometry.

There's a Fark Photoshop theme in there somewhere. Any farkers goin' to E3? Difficulty: Eeeew.

And so it begins...

[Jack Sparrow]

For the record: I am a big fan of xbox, xbox games and the Live service.

With this inclusion of video conferecing, we will have something that can be used nicely for non-gaming purposes and gamers will have to fight for the xbox time with non-gamer family members who want to video conference with friends. and ofcourse there are other concerns like kids video conferencing with playmates.

I can only hope that there is no plan to include things like home shopping, lottery purchase, horse-betting, flight reservation through xbox[nintendo deja-vu]. I want xbox to serve only one purpose, games .

Re:I'm glad someone is finally thinking...

[cableshaft]

The time when an individual or company makes a serious attempt at making money from retrogames is the time when the whole scene will collapse

Well you're a little late for that. Nintendo re-releases their retro titles all the time and makes a bundle. Did you hear their latest cash cow scheme? They're releasing a NES themed GBA, and releasing classic NES titles, ONE TO A CARTRIDGE, within the next couple months. They could have easily fit about three hundred classic Nintendo published titles on a single cartridge easily, but no, less waste more plastic because we can make a mint off of suckers that way.

Re:Halo was okay but over-rated / X-Box is pointle

[Anonymous Coward]

I could justify any platform for Soul Calibur 2.

Me and my roommates played so much SC on the Dreamcast that it wasn't even funny. There were probably a bunch of unemployed psychos who played more than us, but we were pretty polished, and we loved that game.

So I got an Xbox for SC2, 'cause I didn't want the funny controller shape of the nintendo, and I'm pissed at sony for sinking my beloved Dreamcast. And really there are some fairly good games available for xbox beyond SC2.

But now I live with my fiance, and I can't attain the level of polished, frenetic perfection that I could when I lived with a couple of other guys who would play SC w/ me at all hours.

Re:E3 Press release says Morgan Webb to be in Maxi

[Anonymous Coward]

asshole

Re:Halo was okay but over-rated / X-Box is pointle

[pandrijeczko]

Please stop with the ranting, give your brain chance to work and read what I said.

The majority of X-Box games, certainly when I look on the shelves of the local game store, have been ported to or from the PC - Medal Of Honour, Splinter Cell, Deus Ex, Armed & Dangerous etc. Yes, a minority of titles are specific to the X-Box bit not many.

All games I own on the GameCube are specific to the platform (or at least not PC ports) - Metroid Prime, Monkey Ball, Rogue Squadron, etc. That's why I own a GameCube and a PC.

The point of my argument is that, to my knowledge, the X-Box has no unique titles that are not available on the PC that make it worthwhile buying one over a PC - in the longer term, the X-Box costs more to continue playing games on, most of which you can play on the PC anyway. Plus, with a micro PC, there is little difference in size and more flexibility.

The issue is not whether I hate Microsoft or not - it's the fact that the X-Box offers a similar set of titles to the PC with less flexibility.

Re:I'm glad someone is finally thinking...

[pandrijeczko]

releasing classic NES titles, ONE TO A CARTRIDGE, within the next couple months

Doomed to failure though. Too many people know about Flash2Advance cartridges and existing emulated NES roms.

The SNES might be more successful because the current SNES emulation on GBA is slow but the NES is about perfect.

Re:Halo was okay but over-rated / X-Box is pointle

[Anonymous Coward]

That's just your ignorance then.

Have a look at most SEGA titles and more or less each title MS release themselves.
Yes, there are a lot of *multiplatform* titles - and these tend to be available on PC and other consoles as well.
However there are plenty of Xbox-only titles.

A few? Mechassault, Dead or Alive 3, NHL Rivals, Amped 1+2, Fuzion Frenzy, Gunvalkyrie, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Bloodwake, Links 2004 (yes, it's also out on PC but a different game really), Project Gotham Racing 2, Shenmue 2 - oh, and soon a little title called Out Run 2.

EA and Microsoft

[ad0gg]

The original reason why EA wasn't live enabled because EA wanted to turn off xbox live after a new version of the game was released, forcing everyone to upgrade. Microsoft said no, and EA said no live.

Re:EA and Microsoft

[SilentChris]

Um, where did you get this information, exactly? Any kind of source? Everything I've read (and the people I've talked to) say it was financial issues between MS and EA, and I write for this industry.

Re:Halo was okay but over-rated / X-Box is pointle

[pandrijeczko]

That's just your ignorance then.

Yes, precisely. Which is why I phrased the question in the first place - to get some intelligent cohesive answers to my intelligent cohesive questions from some X-Box users.

Thanks for your answer - you many now consider me slightly less ignorant with regards to the X-Box.

Re:Halo was okay but over-rated / X-Box is pointle

[pandrijeczko]

I don't WANT a PC. I want a console where I put a game in and play it immediately.

Good answer - cannot argue with that point.

Besides the thing is that even if you have twice the power in the PC you won't get twice as impressive games.

Agreed. But you have twice the power for the overheads for emulation and for standard PC games - therefore you have greater choice.

PC games are coded for the lowest common denominator (even if it allows for some scalability) whereas the developers know exactly what they can get out of an Xbox and can use it to its fullest - which in the end results in more impressive games with steady framerates and great graphics.

You're right about games being optimised for a specific platform but I think you've over-generalised the PC a little. Unsteady framerates can be caused by anything from a slow CPU to bad set of drivers to a virus killer running in the background - that's down to user maintenance.

I appreciate "ease of use" is a lot of the issue with consoles but the problem I have with the X-Box is that it is still just a cut-down PC with more restrictions on it.

Re:I'm glad someone is finally thinking...

[dogbowl]

Doomed to failure?

Have you not seen the sales of these titles in Japan? Go to www.amazon.co.jp -- they've been in the top 10 there for months.

And on top of that .. these games were developed 15 years ago. Its pure profit for Nintendo.

Re:Halo was okay but over-rated / X-Box is pointle

[Anonymous Coward]

technically, you can't play Halo2 on an Xbox either...

Re:My question is,

[Blakey Rat]

Man, I bought Defender for my XBox at Fred Meyer the other day for $10 - 20% off. It's one of the BEST GAMES I've seen on the system! I have no idea why it's relegated to the discount aisle, the poor thing... if they got the word out, this game would sell at $40.

But oh well... anyway, XBox has tons of good games, the problem is that Slashdot has a problem distinguishing between:
1) We hate Microsoft because they have a monopoly in computer OSes
and
2) We hate Microsoft unconditionally no matter how many good products they release or how much they give to charity.

The XBox is, no doubt about it, a good product. Period. So is Microsoft's peripherals, keyboards, mouses, etc. The fact that Microsoft has a monopoly on desktop OSes doesn't change the fact that they *also* make a lot of very good, very cool products. Slashdot moderators just don't know how to tell the difference.

Re:Halo was okay but over-rated / X-Box is pointle

[rufo]

in the longer term, the X-Box costs more to continue playing games on

Can you clarify this statement? I have a PC that I built for $1800 that I built around three years ago, about six months before the launch of the Xbox. I I haven't upgraded it and I'm now looking at building an entirely new PC for at least $1000 because I haven't upgraded it once since then, and I'm started to get locked out of some games that require higher-end hardware then I have. I can't play Deus Ex: Invisible War, Halo looks like a steaming pile of dog crap, and UT2004 runs at about a max of 15FPS. Meanwhile, the Xbox came out at $300 and still plays every single game coming out for it very well.

Given the fact that the Xbox cost $300 when it came out and is still good for at least another year, and my PC is now completely decrepit and cost six times as much as the Xbox, I'm uncertain what you mean with that statement.

Also, many of the titles are different in some ways from their PC counterparts - the Xbox version of Splinter Cell controls with a gamepad instead of a keyboard/mouse (which I find to be far more satisfying for SC), and has downloadable levels. The console Medal of Honors are completely different from the PC versions (although not necessarily better). Crimson Skies is a completely different game from its PC counterpart. The Xbox version of Rainbow Six 3 is more streamlined (or dumbed-down, depending on your POV), eliminating the planning processes and focusing more on action, and also supports voice commands for your AI squadmates. I own Beyond Good and Evil for Xbox - I played the PC demo and found the controls somewhat clunky, so the Xbox version was a definite plus. The Xbox version of Halo supports co-op multiplayer, and overall, better performance.

Now some games are almost certainly better off on the PC - Deus Ex required quite a bit of patching to make it playable on the PC, and I don't know how well the Xbox version compares in its unpatched form. And Halo for PC, despite the performance problems, is a heckuva lot of fun to play over the Internet. But still, quite often the games are different - whether or not you prefer the Xbox or PC version is a personal opinion.

Which is all this really boils down to - if you really don't want to buy an Xbox, then fine, don't buy one, no skin off my nose - but you do seem to have a few misconceptions about the thing. :-)

Re:Halo was okay but over-rated / X-Box is pointle

[TheCrazyFinn]

There's exactly 3 titles in my X-Box collection taht have appeared on the PC. Of those 3, only one is originally a PC Game (Ghost Recon), the other two being an X-BoX exclusive (Halo) and a multi-platform racing sim (Colin McRae 3).

The other dozen titles are all console games, with most being X-Box specific or X-Box/GC titles.

The PC still doesn't have a decent racing sim for non-F1/Nascar fans.

Third World Bandwidth

[meehawl]

shouldering the bandwidth cap some third-world internet users have to suffer

Yes, we really feel bad for you poor USians with your antiquated telephone systems and limited, expensive broadband.

(signed)
Your Korean, Chinese, Canadian, Finnish, and Japanese Bandwidth Overlords

Need for Speed: Underground

[DeionXxX]

I know it may sound funny, but NFS:U is a great game. The sense of speed, the courses, the AI, all of it is great. The AI never drive the same, they never shift the same, they never use NOS at the same time, they crash into oncomming traffic if going too fast, etc... it really makes it a blast to play because each race is different. I love the drag races where at any moment 2 outta 4 opponents can be taken out by a car crossing in front of us.

anyone else notice

[TechniMyoko]

The blue screen of death texture in the multiplayer video (its when he's talking about the gae opening and enemies driving through, the switch turns to this texture)