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

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

[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.

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..

[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]

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.

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?"

Re:Halo 2, taking to long

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Sincerely,
Your Mom

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.

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).

..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.

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