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The Second Generation of 360 Titles

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the shinier-and-less-laggy dept.

Microsoft has been able to put a very attractive foot forward this E3, with the second generation of their next-gen titles on display. Joystiq has a quick list of new Live Arcade titles we can expect to see soon. Gamespot talks about the big guns, the AAA titles coming for the 360, including LucasArts headliner: Indiana Jones. It's about what you'd expect: "LucasArts has announced that Indiana Jones 2007 will head its E3 line-up this year. The name is provisional at this stage, but it will launch on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and features an original story written under the direction of George Lucas. The game is also a technological collaboration with Industrial Light & Magic, which is based under the same roof as LucasArts. The new adventure will feature locations from around the globe, and Indy will be able to use his fists, whip, and revolver against enemies."

36 comments

  1. oh my... by revlayle · · Score: 3, Insightful

    pistol, whip, fists.... see, this would be a perfect game for the Wii

    alas, it seems for those other two boxes i am propbably not buying for quite a while....

    1. Re:oh my... by fak3r · · Score: 1

      My thoughts exactly! Whip the Wii controller, the whip flies out...hmmm...seems Nintendo is changing the landscape just as they said they would; and it's still 7 months till the darn console comes out!

      Get yr games in now MS and Sony, I think it's gonna be a long Winter for you!

      --
      fak3r.com
    2. Re:oh my... by Jarlsberg · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Every game could be perfect for Wii. They could also be perfect for PS3, or indeed the Xbox 360. It really depends on how much thought you put into it. Frankly, I'm getting a bit tired of these "could be perfect for Revolution/Wii" comments for every game we hear about.

      This game could in fact be terrible for Wii. Imagine whipping the controller and not seeing any on screen action until a few seconds later. Or the whip whps the wrong way. Or with not enough force. Etc.

    3. Re:oh my... by Senzei · · Score: 1
      This game could in fact be terrible for Wii. Imagine whipping the controller and not seeing any on screen action until a few seconds later. Or the whip whps the wrong way. Or with not enough force. Etc.

      So you argument boils down to "they could screw up the programming"? Substitute any other system for "Wii" and "pressing a button on" for "whipping" and you get exactly the same argument against another console. Nintendo is not responsible for any idiot programmers other than their own. The Wii remote would be a good fit for certain aspects of this game, so why is bringing it up so bad?

      --
      Slashdot: Where anecdotes and generalizations can be freely substituted for facts, logic, or intelligence
    4. Re:oh my... by Jarlsberg · · Score: 1
      You're right, but that's the point. It could be perfect for Wii, but it might not. It's redundant. Every game could be perfect on the Wii, but chances are, not every game will be.

      Don't take it the wrong way, I expect I'll buy a Wii as I have every Nintendo console in the past, I'm just getting tired of all this hype and oohing and aahing :).

    5. Re:oh my... by CaymanIslandCarpedie · · Score: 1

      But it has pistols too. Imagine how awsome it would be if there was a controler which had a trigger! Oh wait.... nevermind.

      --
      "reality has a well-known liberal bias" - Steven Colbert
    6. Re:oh my... by shobadobs · · Score: 1

      I for one am tired about people whining about oohing and ahhing. Stop complaining about human nature; you'll be miserable otherwise.

    7. Re:oh my... by MaWeiTao · · Score: 1

      I have to agree. People really are overdoing it with this damn controller, they're acting like it's the second coming of Christ.

      I'm sure the Wii controller will be great when applied well. But a little common sense will tell you it won't work with many types of games. And more importantly, the quality of a game shouldn't have to be dictated by the controller it uses.

      Just like graphics shouldn't be the defining aspect of a game, neither should a controller or some other random bit of hardware. Gameplay matters about all else. I'd rather play a great game with a generic control pad than an average game with a Wii controller.

      I've been noticing here that it's acceptable to jump all over the Xbox360 and PS3 fans when they defend their systems. But criticizing the Wii is akin to blasphemy.

  2. Women? by kentyman · · Score: 3, Funny
    The game promises a longtime rival, old friends, and trusted allies, although no specifics have been announced yet.

    Nothing about backstabbing, semi-attractive women? No time for love, indeed!

    --
    You know where you are? You're in the $PATH, baby. You're gonna get executed!
    1. Re:Women? by ivan256 · · Score: 1

      Clearly the game is going to be an outlet for all that combat that wasn't in the movies.

      I mean, they were adventure movies. There is no corresponding game genre for that, is there?

      If you're not killing somebody, moving fast, using a ball, or falling off the edge of something, it's not a fun game.

      </sarcasm>

      Game genres are a scale from First person shooter to Cartoon Golf. It looks something like this:

      First person shooter -> First person combat w/o guns -> Third Person Combat -> Plaftorm -> Racing -> Sports -> Cartoon Sports

      Somebody went back in time and deleted all references to the Adventure genre from the industry, and the strategy and RPG genres have been diluted such that they can only be funded if they also fall into one of the other categories, so where do you put an Indiana Jones game these days? Well, even though you could count the number of man-on-man fights Indy finished in the movies on one hand, clearly it has to fall between First Person combat and Third Person combat. There just isn't any other genre to put it in.

      <sarcasm>

      Personally, I can't wait for the mahogany water taxi race level, but I'm sure the bi-plane dogfight scene will be fun too. I just hope you can skip the little plot interludes, and if there are any puzzles I'll have to buy the strategy guide.

    2. Re:Women? by jackbird · · Score: 1
      Ever play the Temple of Doom arcade game? There was a lot of whipping cultists and racing around in mine cars, and not much adventure. LucasArts' SCUMM Indiana Jones titles were adventures, however.

      Oh, and you left CRPGs and RTS games out of your continuum. And sandbox games. And puzzle games.

    3. Re:Women? by ivan256 · · Score: 1

      CRPGs

      They're slowly becoming a combination of platform/third person combat games.

      You're right about the RTS games, But the other types? They're in the vast minority, would wreck my ranting! :)

  3. Pinball? by Nightspirit · · Score: 1

    Contra Frogger Galaga Street fighter II Ultimate Mortal Combat III Oh yah baby. Would be even better if they upgrade the color pallate like they are doing with sfII (I'm sure some purists would object to redone graphics, but I bet most people wouldn't mind un upgraded color pallate). One thing I see missing is pinball ports. If they start releasing a ton of pinball tables (shouldn't be too hard with a good engine) I will be in heaven.

    1. Re:Pinball? by blueZhift · · Score: 1

      I hear ya! Right now I'm finding the 360 more attractive for its Live Arcade offerings than any of the games I've seen or heard about. I'd dare say that Live Arcade has been carrying the 360 up until this point given the rate at which new games that really take advantage of the system have been coming out. This isn't really a criticism since there's always a lag between a new console's launch and the arrival of truly compelling content. When the PS2 launched it mostly had PS1 games and the ability to play DVD movies to tide it over until the AAA titles started coming.

      --
      To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
  4. How open-ended exactly? by AgentDib · · Score: 4, Insightful

    From the Indiana Jones article:

    "Pixelux Entertainment's Digital Molecular Matter has also been employed, which is a technical way of saying that walls will crumble, glass will shatter, and organic plant life will sway in the game. LucasArts promises that the power of these two consoles has been utilized to offer open-ended and completely destructible environments."

    I doubt the environment will be *completely* destructible, but it will be nice if there are some gameplay options that involve multiple paths. While at least one scene trying to outrun a boulder is inevitable, I'd like to see tombs filled with puzzles that can be attacked from any direction. I just have a bad vibe about linear Prince of Persia type gameplay here.

  5. Oh dear by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 3, Insightful
    A story penned by George Lucas. Eek?

    Am I wrong in thinking that given the last three Star Wars movies that it was Steven Spielberg who made Indiana Jones into what it is? I am willing to grant that George Lucas might have helped make it possible as a producer but that Spielberg did all the directing.

    Second is that they talk about so many types of weapons. Indiana Jones is an archelogist. A universty professor. Please tell me they ain't gonna do another Tomb Raider with lots of bad shooter action because guns are "cool".

    Be honest, who of you thought that the increased amounts of pointless shooter bits were the most boring in the Tomb Raider games?

    But who am I kidding. Indiana Jones has been platformer, a Tomb Raider clone and an adventure. The adventure is the one I loved the most. A lucasarts adventure "Indiana Jones and the fate of Atlantis".

    So offcourse it ain't gonna be anything like that. They might slap the label adventure on it but only if it is certain to drive another nail into the genre's coffin.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

    1. Re:Oh dear by Jarlsberg · · Score: 1

      Lucasarts two Indy adventure games are the among the best adventure games ever made. I doubt we'll ever see a new adventure game like that, but here's hoping, right? :)

    2. Re:Oh dear by Tadrith · · Score: 1

      The Fate of Atlantis was an EXCELLENT game. I concur wholeheartedly!

    3. Re:Oh dear by RingDev · · Score: 1

      Escape from Monkey Island is tops in my books.

      -Rick

      --
      "Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
    4. Re:Oh dear by Thrymm · · Score: 1

      You have a point, however George penned all 3 Indiana stories (each with someone else collaborating), Steven ONLY directed them.

      Raiders:
      http://imdb.com/title/tt0082971/

      Temple:
      http://imdb.com/title/tt0087469/

      Crusade:
      http://imdb.com/title/tt0097576/

    5. Re:Oh dear by Jarlsberg · · Score: 1

      Or most any Scumm-based game. :=) Monkey Island 1 was a truly great experience. I remember waiting for MI2 as well, and this game along with Sierra's stuff, prompted me to buy a PC, after having used an Amiga since 1987.

    6. Re:Oh dear by RingDev · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What ever happened to those games? The 'Quest for Glory' series was perfect, sure there was a bit of combat in it, but not much, it was much more puzzle and 'figure it out' based. Entertaining story lines, and so good humor. VTM:Redemption had a lot of potential, but still just wound up being 90% combat with a little bit of strategy involved, its predecessor, VTM:Bloodlines was also mostly combat, but had a better storyline IMO.

      -Rick

      --
      "Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
    7. Re:Oh dear by Jarlsberg · · Score: 1
      Well, Ken Williams sold Sierra to an apparently reputable company (but one that went belly up shortly after). Sierra was eventually swallowed by Vivendi, but none of the original employees remain.

      Lucasarts wanted to focus on Star Wars exclusively, and apparently felt that producing adventure games were too cash intensive and earned too little revenue. Seeing as Sierra was one of the most successful game companies in the early micro computer age, I find that hard to believe.

      Nowadays, a few adventure games are released every year, but although a few of them are rather good (I'd recommend Broken Sword - Sleeping Dragon), they haven't advanced particularly compared to the early nineties games, which is quite a shame.

      Oh well, there's always the IF scene.

    8. Re:Oh dear by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      Are you sure you aren't confusing Redemption and Bloodlines? Redeption was the earlier game of the two. Or did you mean to write successor?

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    9. Re:Oh dear by RingDev · · Score: 1

      My bust, you are correct. I had the two switched. Technically, I liked the 2nd game better, story wise, I liked the first game better. Both of them I felt had too little puzzling and flexibility.

      -Rick

      --
      "Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
  6. Contra by Glacial+Wanderer · · Score: 1

    Sweetness. Does the xbox 360 have the A and B buttons? I need my Up Up Down Down Right Left Right Left B A Select Start code! My god, why do I still remmeber that?

    --
    Hobby Robotics
    1. Re:Contra by KiWiKiD · · Score: 1

      Real quick lesson here. Try to make an "L" with both hands. The one that actually does make the L is your left hand. Now don't start looking in the mirror. ;)

      Therefore I really wouldn't really go on about your memory there champ. It's actually Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Select(Optional), Start. I can't have you go back to retro games and wasting hours trying to get the extra lives only to be denied.

    2. Re:Contra by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Beats me. But you got the code wrong

    3. Re:Contra by Jfarro · · Score: 1

      It was actually announed during Tuesdays presentation that yes...the 'code' will work for Contra.

    4. Re:Contra by Duds · · Score: 1

      Assuming you're being vaguely serious, yes it has those buttons.

  7. Bah, another FPS by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 1

    When can we get a return to the Indiana Jones adventure games of the nineties? Bring back Fate of Atlantis!

  8. Why so long of a wait?!?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why the heck do we have to wait almost 2 YEARS before we see a flagship game on these new consoles!!! The technology on PC's will be LIGHTYEARS ahead of consoles by then!

  9. pinball by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 1, Informative

    you are better off with Visual Pinball + pinmame on your pc http://www.vpforums.com/

  10. I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Any games claiming "completely destructible environments" better feature virtual proton decay and provide virtual particle accelerators or its just marketing speak.

  11. Frankly I am stunned by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 1
    I mean WTF happened then in the years in between that explains the Star Wars movies. I recently watched a fan movie that showed the court case of Han Solo in wich it was alledged that Lucas wife left him and that she had helped him a lot.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

  12. Hyped about Indiana Jones... by Hamster+Lover · · Score: 1

    I loved Indiana Jones in the Emperor's Womb and thought it was underated by the critics. The visuals were very good and the sound, as usual for a LucasArts game, was superb. There were a few glitches though and combat could get repetitive at times, but overall it brought the Indy experience to your console.

    What will be interesting for me is to see how the cross platform games compare to one another. In the past, the Xbox version usually received the best score compared to the same game on the GC or PS2, but not always. Despite what the fanboys for eithe side would have you believe, I really think the play experience on both machines will be nearly identical.