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X05 Reveals Many 360 Details
StocDred writes "GamesIndustry.biz has an interview with Microsoft's Robbie Bach stating that Halo 3 may not be out in time to smackdown the PS3 after all, despite what Bill Gates said to Time Magazine in May." He also had things to say about the Live marketplace and MMO plug-ins and their hopes for Japanese success. From the Gamasutra article: "Finally, Bach gave details on anticipated MMORPGs for the Xbox 360. The already-announced Final Fantasy XI will have a large beta test, such that any Xbox 360 owner with the necessary hard drive will possibly be able to participate. Apart from that, Bach said there would be no new MMORPG in the launch window due to the logistics of setting up a new service, but there would be a new entry in the genre two to three years after launch." Several MMOs are planned, though, such as the MMOFPS Huxley.
Halo 3 may not be out in time to smackdown the PS3 after all, despite what Bill Gates said to Time Magazine in May
Bill Gates, I've got three words for you: FACE Gates, FACE!
Of course MS couldn't guarantee Halo 3 would be out in the spring unless they sacrificed quality, something I don't see Bungie letting happen. I sincerely hope no one out there really thought that Bill was giving a set launch date. It's crazy talk.
http://www.animatednoise.com/ | Free Games
Final Fantasy XI is going to be four years old at the XBox launch (according to the Wikipedia). So, what they're saying, is that the XBox will be receiving a four-year old port of an MMORPG, and then nothing else for another two to three years after that. Um, yay?
:-)
Not to mention that it's a PORT from a console that's popular in Japan (the PS2) to a new one, from a company that failed to gain any real popularity in Japan. According to some earlier Slashdot article, FFXI will be a flat port to the XBox 360 and not an upgrade. So, essentially, you'll be left with a choice: pay $250 for a PS2 + HDD, or pay $400 for a new XBox 360 with an HDD. (Or something like that, I don't know the actual Japanese prices.) I can't see this being that big a deal.
This is almost as underwhelming as it would be if Sony announced that the PS3 was going to be receiving a port of FFXI to it, without any enhancements, shortly after launch. So what? It's a last-generation game, without enhancements.
Maybe Microsoft is hoping that old PS2s will start dieing, and seeing as the new slim PS2 doesn't support the old PS2 HDDs, they'll get people migrating to the XBox 360 for their MMORPG fix.
It just seems really silly to mention FFXI as a launch game. The only real message here is that game companies no longer HAVE to use Live, instead they can use their own service. It just doesn't seem like it's a compelling feature at all.
Old habits die hard, I guess.
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I might participate in this one (if I was going to buy a 360, of which I have no plans yet except to turn around and sell it on eBay 2 weeks before Christmas just because I'm an evil bastard) if they included voice chat.
It seems that voice chat is a missing feature in a lot of MMORPGs. I wouldn't mind having a "ignore all by default" feature, and be able to turn it on for individuals that I get to know. This would reduce the vocal asshattedness (you know - people screaming out "You nigger asshole" and other activities that you can only perform when being an anonymous 13 year old), and let me talk to people I meet to have useful plans/strategy/discussions without having to find the keyboard all the time.
Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong, but that's something that might get me to consider playing FFXI on the 360.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Hey, where is my backwards compatibility announcement? If it was GOOD news, don't you think they'd be announcing it during the keynote?
What are they waiting for?
How about reports from real gamers about Perfect Dark Zero?
IGN says they HOPE the framerate will get all the way up to a whopping 30 FPS?
WHAT?
Video Game News, FAQs, etc
It starts October 5th (tomorrow). The Title of this article is bullshit. All the interviews are Pre-X05 too.
First, the concern here is that it dips below 30 ACCORDING TO A JOURNALIST. Now, they don't have a "frames per second meter" that they can hook up to the kiosk's LCD, now do they? So, this is shorthand for "this game is choppy."
Second, many people most certainly DO have a TV that displays more than 30 frames per second. That's a property of progressive scan. In interlaced modes, 30fps (actually 60, but each frame is only HALF the screen), in progressive modes, 60fps. Look it up. This is a high def gaming system, designed for progressive scan TVs. You bet people are going to notice.
Besides, the term "framerate" in games refer to how quickly the hardware can draw changes to a scene. The difference is in quick turns, enemies moving quickly, etc. In a lower framerate game, frames are repeated rather than new, and because there is no motion blur, you see lag (or worse, frame frops / stuttering).
See this article: http://www.daniele.ch/school/30vs60/30vs60_1.html (it's older, but still quite valid)
Video Game News, FAQs, etc
I am quite familiar with what the term "framerate" means when applied to gaming. I am also familiar with the fact that final builds are not shown at trade shows. I am additionally very well aquainted with how televisions work.
And finally, I was trying to be sarcasticlly funny. Relax. You'll live longer.
KTHXBYE
Go watch some more south park and then try coming up with some original humor or at least quote the sources that you blatantly steal from.
McDonalds soon followed up this announcement with the introduction of the fecal burger; it's slogan is "dum dum dum dum dum, I'm hating it" Episode 712 "All About The Mormons"
Dum dum dum dum dum....
It's declared to be a bold new strategy; tell everyone that they don't want one, and do everything in your power to make no one want one, and people will buy it. Episode 506 "Cartmanland"; It's cartman's amusement park god dammit!