More Powerhouse Designers on Next-Gen Xbox

Just a few days after the announcement that the creator of the Final Fantasy series was joining Microsoft Games Studio, Voodoo Express has the news that more venerable designers will be joining the company. Yoshiki Okamoto and Tetsuya Mizuguchi will be teaming up with Microsoft Games to produce titles for the next generation Xbox. From the article: "Microsoft is now happy to announce that the driving creative minds behind the likes of Resident Evil, Rez, Street Fighter and Space Channel 5 have joined forces with the company to create exciting new titles for the Xbox Next, primarily designed to attract Japanese gamers to the system:"

Comments

Voodoo Express?

[sw33tjimmy]

I hope that was an intentional screw up. VE might not be the website it once was, but it should at least be known by its rightful name (Voodoo Extreme).

Huge article mistakes

[Anonymous Coward]

First, just like others pointed out in the original /. story, Sakaguchi Hironobu-san didn't "join" Microsoft Game Studios, the same way he didn't "join" Nintendo. His studio, Mistwalker, simply announced that they were developing two games for the Xbox's successor, just as they are also working on Nintendo DS software.

Second, these two venerable designers will not be "joining the company." Zonk's very next sentence almost corrects this, but it is in no way accurate to describe any of these three men as being employed by Microsoft. That would imply things that are not true, such as development exclusivity (which itself implies absolute faith on the part of these men in Microsoft's business model, which has yet to be determined beyond just making games for the Xbox's successor).

Really guys, you have to be more careful with the way you read Microsoft press releases. "Joined forces with" != "joined." This is the second time /. has made this implication, the first being in the original write-up of similar circumstances with Sakaguchi.

Finally, meh. It just means that the Xbox's successor will finally offer at least a few more Japanese-style games like those that have been available on PS2 and GameCube for years. These announcements are "hey, us too" affairs, not "booya, in your face Sony and Nintendo" kinds of announcements. After all, both Sony and Nintendo have had/still have good working relationships with all three of these fine developers as I type this. This is about MS catching up, akin to Peter Molyneux saying to Nintendo, "I want to make a GBA game, and you can use my name in your PR." Boring. Next story.

Re:Huge article mistakes

[fondue]

Save your breath. Item after item posted by Zonk are riddled with factual errors or simply links to baseless rumours from the most laughably disreputable 'news' sites. They're never corrected or removed.

Slashdot Games is a joke, and it's only serving to make general /. readers with a casual interest in games MORE ignorant than they were before.

Re:Huge article mistakes

[Babbster]

Obviously, the posted article is weak, especially in its links, though also for being regurgitated press release material. That being said, this particular article isn't factually incorrect at all. Of course, the link that SHOULD have been used is this one which points at the press release right on Microsoft's own website. (This one provides a similar release for the announcement about Sakaguchi referenced by others' comments.)

While none of the mentioned people are now actually working FOR Microsoft, the fact that they are now being published (and, presumably, at least partially funded) by Microsoft is significant. Smaller developers have only so many resources to devote to projects and the fact that they're developing Xbox Next exclusives is a big deal in that it will be a lot more difficult to simultaneously develop other games for the other various platforms (ask Lionhead about "B.C." and trying to keep too many balls in the air).

Re:beautiful? hideous

[SuiteSisterMary]

Now I'm not saying it sucks, but it's not a higher level of excellence. It's an older pc repackaged into a smaller box, with usb controllers, the first of which were halariously huge. Nothing higher level about it (for better or worse)

Why do people insist on comparing the Xbox to a PC? Compare it to it's market competitors; the GameCube and the PlayStation 2. Who the fuck CARES that it's a repacked PC? An average Xbox game still looks and sounds better than a top-flight PS2 or GC game, and that's the important part. Throwing in a hard drive, while it seems to us an obvious move, is a revolution in the console world. I still shudder at brand new, top-flight RPGs on the PS2 that have...save points.

Re:Press Release Confusion

[bVork]

Okamoto has done FAR more than what is listed. First, he really did develop the original Street Fighter 2. Not to mention Final Fight. Before then, he worked at Konami and made games such as Time Pilot and Gyruss. The thing is, Mobygames only tracks home games. Okamoto developed the ARCADE version of Street Fighter 2. Though the omission of his Resident Evil credits is odd. He was 'general planner' on Resident Evil 1. Mobygames isn't 100% reliable.

Re:beautiful? hideous

[JFMulder]

Ninja Gaiden is by far the most gorgeous game I've played in this generation of consoles, especially in widescreen 480p. RE4 comes close second tough I have to admit.