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360 Launch Lineup And New Games
More information continues to become available from the X05 event. Spitfire15 writes "id Software has announced a new Wolfenstein game coming onto the Xbox 360. During Peter Moore's section of X05's keynote speech he introduced id Software's Todd Hollenshead to the stage. As soon as he got on he unexpectedly announced that id Software and Raven Software were already underway with the next installment of the Wolfenstein series." Additionally, Bioware groupie writes "Today Bioware announced a new science fiction action-rpg that is already in development, Mass Effect. It will only be released for the Xbox 360 with no PC port planned and it's promising photo-realistic graphics, squad based gameplay, and continuous character development." Both titles won't make the launch window. The launch titles themselves are still up in the air, a little more than a month before the console launches. Gamespot reports: "In an effort to clear up the confusion, GameSpot asked David Reid, director of platform marketing for the Xbox, what the exact 360 launch lineup is. He said that 'there will be 15 to 20 Xbox 360 titles available on launch day' with around another half-dozen making it to market by the end of the year."
Since the post didn't see fit to mention the games that would be available on launch day, here's the pertinent article transcript
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Xbox 360 launch lineup finalized "in the next few weeks" Microsoft ID's eight of final 15 to 20 day-and-date launch games, says rest are in the "final stages of certification."
In the run-up to today's X05 event in Amsterdam, the industry consensus was that Microsoft would use the event to announce the Xbox 360 launch lineup for North America, Europe, or both.
In fact, neither happened.
Speaking to the assembled press, Peter Moore, corporate vice president of worldwide Xbox marketing and publishing, boasted that there were 200 Xbox 360 games in development, including "many launch titles." Chief Xbox officer Robbie Bach promised the console would have the "best games and launch lineup" of any console yet--but didn't divulge all the games that will go on sale alongside the 360 November 22 in the US.
Adding to the confusion was a press release Microsoft issued titled "Xbox 360 launch line-up announced." It listed only three first-party games--Project Gotham Racing 3, Perfect Dark Zero, and Kameo: Elements of Power--under the heading "Titles that will form part of the impressive Christmas holiday portfolio." The second category of games was called "Other great games announced or shown at X05," and it included Gears of War, FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup, Full Auto, Saint's Row, and Condemned: Criminal Origins, as well as the just-announced Too Human, Mass Effect, and Crackdown.
The release then listed a third category, "Franchise titles that will make their debut on Xbox 360," which included Superman Returns: The Videogame, Call of Duty 2, Castle Wolfenstein, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, MotoGP 2006: Ultimate Racing Technology, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 4, and Quake 4. Given that at least half the games listed have 2006 release dates--and some were just announced--it would be impossible for the release to contain the Xbox 360 launch lineup as the title indicates.
In an effort to clear up the confusion, GameSpot asked David Reid, director of platform marketing for the Xbox, what the exact 360 launch lineup is. He said that "there will be 15 to 20 Xbox 360 titles available on launch day" with around another half-dozen making it to market by the end of the year. For the moment, though, he would confirm only eight games as being available the same day and date as the Xbox 360: Project Gotham Racing 3, Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero, Madden NFL 06, NBA Live 06, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06, Need for Speed Most Wanted, and FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup.
As for the other seven to 12 Xbox 360 games that will be available on November 22, Reid said they would be announced "in the next few weeks." "They are currently in the final stages of certification," he told GameSpot, referring to the quality-assurance process all third-party games must go through from their respective console maker. So it is likely that if any of the submitted games--which Reid declined to mention--do not pass the process sometime in the next fortnight, they will not make it to market by the end of the year.
So....$400 for the console + (15 to 20) games * $50/game = $1150 to $1400.
Yikes, that's a lot of money. A couple of mortgage payments for a lot of people. This reminds me why I only buy hardware and games that have been out for at least a year. Save money on both, and I only get games that turn out to be good!
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But let's see a show of hand of how many people are excited about the XBox 360. At this point the only game that remotely interests me is Perfect Dark Zero, but I'm not paying 400 bucks to play it on the day it comes out. I'd rather wait and see what Sony has to offer and what Nintendo's lineup will be. I'm betting a lot of people feel the same way - after all, both companies still have a couple of cards they haven't shown us (Sony has a "big surprise" and Nintendo is releasing details at a snail's pace).
Is there really a compelling reason to get the XBox 360 on the day it comes out, other than to brag to your friends who can't afford one?
I'm just really glad that I don't work for a software company that's making a 360 game right now, cause everything about this sounds really, really rushed.
I had been waiting for Too Human to come out forever. I finally decided it was just vaporware, and now they tell me it's coming out for Xbox 360?!?
Un-believable.
Next thing you know they'll be telling us the new Duke Nuk'em is coming out soon.
I bet they all slip.
Xbox will launch, and the only thing to buy for it will be a bunch of face plates.
... for the 360 to come out and start pushing down the prices of games for the Xbox I just bought...
If Morrowind had been the only game that I purchased for the original Xbox, I still would have considered it worth the money. I can't even guess at how many hours I've put into that game.
You know, I'd hope by know that game makers (or console makers) would fix some of the most annoying parts playing a console first person shooter. We don't all use the controller the same, so why the heck only provide one configuration for the controller. I would think the very first, most basic thing to do when creating a game, is add the ability to configure the controller.
There are numerous console games, Batman Begins and Prince of Persia WW, that have zero controller configuration.
For that reason, I hope Microsoft has done their homework, and provide a transparent means of configuring the controller. Maybe a simple utility from the dashboard that lets the user reassign the "default" keys, possibly even storing person configurations, so that I can switch when I want. Or, maybe require that all games provide controller configuration in order to sport the XBOX360 logo?
While I don't disagree at all with the above, "really, really rushed" describes around 99.9% of projects in the game industry at any given time. You're either rushing to meet a launch window, a holiday, or a deliverable deadline that ultimately decides whether you get paid for another x-months.
I imagine that Sony and their first-party software teams feel just as rushed. Sure, they have six more months until launch, but they have they are dealing w/ a different set of variables, and their lackluster showing at TGS only fuels rumors that they are scrambling just as hard.
Right now, there is no killer "must have" game in this line up. Heck, they even haven't confirmed DOA 4 yet.
So far, it sounds like a let down when compared to the XBox / Halo launch of 2001.
Sure, Windows PCs dominate the market. But so do cheap toupees.
Even systems that failed in the marketplace like the Dreamcast and Saturn seem to have vastly more interest from consumers than they have for the 360.
It seems like the 360 has three pilars of support:
1) Pc games that will be better on people's home computers
2) Meh exclusives
3) Watered down ports of PS3 games
Even on cultish Xbox sites like teamxbox there seem to be huge numbers of hardcore Xbox fans saying they are going to pass on the 360 - or the more emotionally easy to accept 'wait to see what the PS3 shows in Spring'. Of course that is before those posts get deleted...
Microsoft is really going to have a hard time keeping up the marketing 'selling out everywhere' and 'selling out at faster rate than any system' press releases over the next few months.
I have to wonder if this is going to be the end of the road for the Xbox as we know it. If Microsoft doesn't sell massive amounts of online subscriptions and games per console, the 360 is going to be just another huge money pit. And there is every indication that the top management at Microsoft have lost their patience and the 360 is the Xbox team's 'one more chance'
I honestly feel that when Nintendo unveiled the new controller, home video games changed as we know it. Pretty much everyone, even the most die hard fan boys on all sides had to take a step back. Saying to themselves, "what the hell have we be doing these last few years?" Even your average joe consumer can't really think of a reason to buy the new XBox or PS2 aside from hi-def.
I think right now, both Sony and Microsoft are seriously watching Nintendo. There are tons of meetings going on right now analyzing what people *may* want. This is diametrically opposed to the way we've been doing it, which is "give them what sold last time, but prettier and with some minor new features."
I own all consoles currently out, and they each have their own advantages. However, I'm grinning ear to ear at what Nintendo has done to the industry. It's much like when photography was first invented. Painters were suddenly unecessary, as photos were quicker an more realistic. It took Picasso and other outstanding artists to show what painting could bring to the world that photos could not. I've used this analogy before, but never has it seemed more appropriate.
As for MS and Sony (to a lesser extent), they have already entrenched themselves in their battlegrounds, there is little that can be done to go back. Only time will tell if they are in the right war.
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Today Bioware announced a new science fiction action-rpg that is already in development, Mass Effect. It will only be released for the Xbox 360 with no PC port planned and it's promising photo-realistic graphics, squad based gameplay, and continuous character development.
Actually it's no PC port announced. Announced and planned are two entirely different things. A PC port can be planned but not announced, as part of the terms with the publisher.
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After seeing/playing most of the available games (Too Human, Superman, Gears of War and a couple of others were by appointment), my opinion of the 360 really has gone up. I previously thought it to be rather a white elephant, but it's showing a lot of promise now.
Kameo is really good. A true next-gen game. Great looking (the battles scenes are quite extraodinary), huge, good story, superbly designed, and yet still definitely a console game. The controls have really been designed well with most of the game requiring only one button.
Perfect Dark Zero seems at first to be a remake of Goldeneye, but a bit deeper in, where the attention to detail really starts to show, it starts to reveal its hidden depth. There are quite a few innovations in there, and it certainly looks impressive.
Project Gotham 3 is like nothing I've ever seen before. Truly photo-realistic in the in-car view. It's really amazing. High-dynamic-range lighting, reflections on the inside of the windshield, dirt and water, and amongst the best handling of any racing game I've played. There is also very natural motion blur across the board.
Condemned by Sega was pretty good, although I didn't get much of a go on it. Really atmospheric first-person stuff.
Gun looked interesting. Not sure who it's by, but it's a western and seemed really original.
Ridge Racer 6 was a more of the same, but better looking. However, it didn't look as good as the new Need For Speed which was right next to it. Another game with HDR lighting, although a bit extreme in this case with lights glowing far too much. It looked like they've added some interesting gameplay elements, but I didn't get too long to play it.
Those are just some of the games that impressed me. There were many more. I got the impression that the capabilities of the machine have let the developers try out new ideas, most of which have worked out well.
I'd suggest that you reserve your judgement until you can try the games out for yourself.