Check out Super Battle Opera, it's a Japanese Fighting game tournament run annually. They have about 28 team tournaments all around Japan, finding the best players in the country. Then they send out 4 international invitiations to Korea, USA, etc to find the best players they can from there. Then they all compete against eachother. It gets very, very cut throat.
They sell a DVD of it every year, and it really does have top notch presentation. Its very exciting, the editing is done very nice, and the commentary (while in Japanese) really helps set the mood. And they do fill a stadium full of people to watch.
Website to the event:
http://www.tougeki.com/
There are some vids floating the net from old competitions, DVD rips from DVDs no longer in production, that should give you an idea of the market that is waiting to explode in America.
The game is a virtual living world, where you are free to roam and do what you want. There is a main story pushing the game forward, but you are free to ignore it with no limitations at all.
In this game, you can play the noble paladin and go from town to town doing good deeds.
You can also play a thief, sneaking into peoples houses and pilfering everything in sight.
There are hundreds of variations between the two extreme cases of play styles, but in the end, you as the player make that choice.
In terms of RPGS, you are given a story and you must play through that story progressively. Your characters are given to you, and you watch the story play out. You don't get to design your own characters personalities. You don't get to find a town in the game, settle down, and live there, making your own quests. Traditional RPGS drop you into this world with a few characters, introduce the story, then have you battle your way through while you sit back and have the characters stories revealed to you in bits. By the end of the game, there is some big revelation, then you beat the boss and the game ends. In morrowind, this is not so, which is why its different.
You've played it, didn't you feel like this entire living world was there, and you were just a visitor to it?
Oblivion is like that, but takes it to the next level. NPCS don't sit around waiting for you. Land isn't designed, its terraformed over a 5000 year period from a pc simulation, then the population and cities and such is placed into that terraformed land, making it feel more realistic. Houses and property can be owned officially, instead of only through stealing it from someone. All in all, it's the closest game that I've seen/read about/heard about to simulating a real fantasy world. Thats what's getting all of us oblivion fans so excited.
What dissapoints me is that for next gen launch titles, they're just trying to get games onto the shelves to make money without making sure they are good. Hell, Madden 2006 is CUTTING features that is in the XBox version just to make sure it hits release date. The fact that Oblivion is already a highly anticipated PC game that requires a very top notch PC makes Xbox 360 very appealing to those of us not looking to upgrade our PC. Who knows, maybe by the time it launches, those of us complaining will be picking up our 360 anyways just to play Oblivion anyways.
Oblivion has implemented the Radiant AI system, something that I believe is new to gaming AI. Basically, each AI is programmed to THINK for itself based on its needs, and react accordingly. You know that NPC you came to talk to? Well, he's not standing in that same spot waiting for you to return. He's off living his life, doing what he needs to do, so that when you return you have to track him down. Or wait outside his house until he gets home from work. Or go off and find his job and find him there.
They've created a game world whose goal is that it does not revolve around the player character. That is where the innovation comes in. That is where it blows away the games you brought up.
In fact, the problem with the AI is that it was too good. In play testing, the guards would get hungry, go off, and shoot a rabbit. But in that town, that was illegal, so the other guards would come to arrest him. Then there would be a big fight, which lead to the town falling into civil war. Details like that make me want to pick up and play a game, the kick ass graphics are just a plus.
It sounds to me you know little to nothing about the actual subject of Elder Scrolls anyway. The fact you said there is nothing that set Elder Scrolls apart from the normal RPG except world size, well now I'm just arguing ignorance with the ignorant, so there's no point in continuing.
Exactly how was GT4 a system seller, when it came out near the end of the consoles life cycle? Seems like you're missing the point of the thread anyway. This isn't about the games tanking, it's about a console having a crappy launch choice.
The argument here is games that cause a person to buy a system. If you didn't have a PS2, you didn't go out and buy one just to play GT4. Games like Halo, however, caused people to buy an X-box. The follow up to that argument was that Elder Scrolls is a great launch title to have because its going to be one of the few that is actually going to take advantage of what the system is capable of.
Aside from pretty graphics and an increase in price, all those games you mentioned have nothing over their XBox counterparts.
Now, are these people who are drooling to get a 360 ignorant because they play a different genre of game? No, they're ignorant because they know nothing of the tech side of games (hence, the ignorance they have) and just want something pretty to look at.
What I find funniest is you bring up the most generic, carbon copy sequels up in your argument. NBA 2k6, Call of Duty, Project Gotham Racing, these are titles that are churned off the programming assembly line after being produced by marketing research tailored to what will cause people to open their pocket books. They are not pushing gaming at all, they are content to make a small profit and call it a day.
Oblivion is so much more than that, its a fully interactive world to the extent we have not seen before. To compare it with titles such as the ones you brought up wouldn't be fair.
2 Years from now, nobody will give 2 fucks about PGR3, NBA 2k6, or Call of Duty 2. They'll all be playing PGR5, NBA 2k8, and Call of Duty 3. But people will STILL be playing and raving about Oblivion.
At launch, racing games are always a system seller. But as time goes on, they're the first games ditched for the next wave, and nobody ever looks back at them.
Nearly every launch title is either a port of a current X-Box title, or something thrown together to capitalize on console launch madness. Perfect Dark Zero may be the only exception, and the quality of that game is debatable as well until we get our hands on it.
Oblivion, however, is a VERY HIGHLY anticipated game from a respected series that was designed from the very beginning to be ready for next gen-consoles. It is going to harness the power of the 360 better than any other title, possibly save Perfect Dark zero. To ignore this fact is to just prove your ignorance.
The loss of oblivion at launch is a HUGE, HUGE crush to the fans moreso than microsoft, though. While me (and a bunch others) are not going to buy a 360 at launch anymore with the loss of this game, there are thousands of ignorant people who are chomping at the bits to get their console at launch. Couple that with the huge expected shortage at launch, and they are going to have no problem selling out anyway.
I don't see how you can say that Green Day is just a bunch of songs slapped together on an Album? American Idiot is a full on concept album, telling a story from beginning to end, in the same way as Pink Floyd's "The Wall" or many other old school bands. Hell, they've even made the music videos flow from one to the other like the songs do, they've done entire concert tours playing the CD from beginning to end, and they're even making an entire movie based on the CD.
American Idiot is the best album to come out in a long time, it's just people with the attention span of toddlers (i.e. those people who grew up with television as their third (or sometimes second) parent) can't seem to digest anything more than 3 minute songs at a time without forgetting what the previous song was about.
If you wanna talk about a CD that is just full of random one offs, buy Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B. and you're set. The upside is every song on the CD is fun, but it's not like each of the songs relate to the others, so you can have a good CD without it being a concept album.
Lastly... you wanna know how I know you're gay? "Because you listen to Coldplay" (-- 40 Year old virgin reference. Although I know most of you wouldn't think of paying more than $1 to go down to your local movie theater and watch a good movie, so you either downloaded it crying "FREEDOM!" like William Wallace from a bootleg camera operator, or are waiting for it to come out on DVD so you can netflix it and burn it and really teach Hollywood a lesson)
Slashdot Mirror
Wait a week and you won't have to wait in line?
</fantasyland>
Check out Super Battle Opera, it's a Japanese Fighting game tournament run annually. They have about 28 team tournaments all around Japan, finding the best players in the country. Then they send out 4 international invitiations to Korea, USA, etc to find the best players they can from there. Then they all compete against eachother. It gets very, very cut throat. They sell a DVD of it every year, and it really does have top notch presentation. Its very exciting, the editing is done very nice, and the commentary (while in Japanese) really helps set the mood. And they do fill a stadium full of people to watch. Website to the event: http://www.tougeki.com/ There are some vids floating the net from old competitions, DVD rips from DVDs no longer in production, that should give you an idea of the market that is waiting to explode in America.
The game is a virtual living world, where you are free to roam and do what you want. There is a main story pushing the game forward, but you are free to ignore it with no limitations at all. In this game, you can play the noble paladin and go from town to town doing good deeds. You can also play a thief, sneaking into peoples houses and pilfering everything in sight. There are hundreds of variations between the two extreme cases of play styles, but in the end, you as the player make that choice. In terms of RPGS, you are given a story and you must play through that story progressively. Your characters are given to you, and you watch the story play out. You don't get to design your own characters personalities. You don't get to find a town in the game, settle down, and live there, making your own quests. Traditional RPGS drop you into this world with a few characters, introduce the story, then have you battle your way through while you sit back and have the characters stories revealed to you in bits. By the end of the game, there is some big revelation, then you beat the boss and the game ends. In morrowind, this is not so, which is why its different. You've played it, didn't you feel like this entire living world was there, and you were just a visitor to it? Oblivion is like that, but takes it to the next level. NPCS don't sit around waiting for you. Land isn't designed, its terraformed over a 5000 year period from a pc simulation, then the population and cities and such is placed into that terraformed land, making it feel more realistic. Houses and property can be owned officially, instead of only through stealing it from someone. All in all, it's the closest game that I've seen/read about/heard about to simulating a real fantasy world. Thats what's getting all of us oblivion fans so excited. What dissapoints me is that for next gen launch titles, they're just trying to get games onto the shelves to make money without making sure they are good. Hell, Madden 2006 is CUTTING features that is in the XBox version just to make sure it hits release date. The fact that Oblivion is already a highly anticipated PC game that requires a very top notch PC makes Xbox 360 very appealing to those of us not looking to upgrade our PC. Who knows, maybe by the time it launches, those of us complaining will be picking up our 360 anyways just to play Oblivion anyways.
Oblivion has implemented the Radiant AI system, something that I believe is new to gaming AI. Basically, each AI is programmed to THINK for itself based on its needs, and react accordingly. You know that NPC you came to talk to? Well, he's not standing in that same spot waiting for you to return. He's off living his life, doing what he needs to do, so that when you return you have to track him down. Or wait outside his house until he gets home from work. Or go off and find his job and find him there.
They've created a game world whose goal is that it does not revolve around the player character. That is where the innovation comes in. That is where it blows away the games you brought up.
In fact, the problem with the AI is that it was too good. In play testing, the guards would get hungry, go off, and shoot a rabbit. But in that town, that was illegal, so the other guards would come to arrest him. Then there would be a big fight, which lead to the town falling into civil war. Details like that make me want to pick up and play a game, the kick ass graphics are just a plus.
It sounds to me you know little to nothing about the actual subject of Elder Scrolls anyway. The fact you said there is nothing that set Elder Scrolls apart from the normal RPG except world size, well now I'm just arguing ignorance with the ignorant, so there's no point in continuing.
Exactly how was GT4 a system seller, when it came out near the end of the consoles life cycle? Seems like you're missing the point of the thread anyway. This isn't about the games tanking, it's about a console having a crappy launch choice.
The argument here is games that cause a person to buy a system. If you didn't have a PS2, you didn't go out and buy one just to play GT4. Games like Halo, however, caused people to buy an X-box. The follow up to that argument was that Elder Scrolls is a great launch title to have because its going to be one of the few that is actually going to take advantage of what the system is capable of.
Aside from pretty graphics and an increase in price, all those games you mentioned have nothing over their XBox counterparts.
Now, are these people who are drooling to get a 360 ignorant because they play a different genre of game? No, they're ignorant because they know nothing of the tech side of games (hence, the ignorance they have) and just want something pretty to look at.
What I find funniest is you bring up the most generic, carbon copy sequels up in your argument. NBA 2k6, Call of Duty, Project Gotham Racing, these are titles that are churned off the programming assembly line after being produced by marketing research tailored to what will cause people to open their pocket books. They are not pushing gaming at all, they are content to make a small profit and call it a day.
Oblivion is so much more than that, its a fully interactive world to the extent we have not seen before. To compare it with titles such as the ones you brought up wouldn't be fair.
2 Years from now, nobody will give 2 fucks about PGR3, NBA 2k6, or Call of Duty 2. They'll all be playing PGR5, NBA 2k8, and Call of Duty 3. But people will STILL be playing and raving about Oblivion.
At launch, racing games are always a system seller. But as time goes on, they're the first games ditched for the next wave, and nobody ever looks back at them.
Nearly every launch title is either a port of a current X-Box title, or something thrown together to capitalize on console launch madness. Perfect Dark Zero may be the only exception, and the quality of that game is debatable as well until we get our hands on it.
Oblivion, however, is a VERY HIGHLY anticipated game from a respected series that was designed from the very beginning to be ready for next gen-consoles. It is going to harness the power of the 360 better than any other title, possibly save Perfect Dark zero. To ignore this fact is to just prove your ignorance.
The loss of oblivion at launch is a HUGE, HUGE crush to the fans moreso than microsoft, though. While me (and a bunch others) are not going to buy a 360 at launch anymore with the loss of this game, there are thousands of ignorant people who are chomping at the bits to get their console at launch. Couple that with the huge expected shortage at launch, and they are going to have no problem selling out anyway.
I don't see how you can say that Green Day is just a bunch of songs slapped together on an Album? American Idiot is a full on concept album, telling a story from beginning to end, in the same way as Pink Floyd's "The Wall" or many other old school bands. Hell, they've even made the music videos flow from one to the other like the songs do, they've done entire concert tours playing the CD from beginning to end, and they're even making an entire movie based on the CD. American Idiot is the best album to come out in a long time, it's just people with the attention span of toddlers (i.e. those people who grew up with television as their third (or sometimes second) parent) can't seem to digest anything more than 3 minute songs at a time without forgetting what the previous song was about. If you wanna talk about a CD that is just full of random one offs, buy Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B. and you're set. The upside is every song on the CD is fun, but it's not like each of the songs relate to the others, so you can have a good CD without it being a concept album. Lastly... you wanna know how I know you're gay? "Because you listen to Coldplay" (-- 40 Year old virgin reference. Although I know most of you wouldn't think of paying more than $1 to go down to your local movie theater and watch a good movie, so you either downloaded it crying "FREEDOM!" like William Wallace from a bootleg camera operator, or are waiting for it to come out on DVD so you can netflix it and burn it and really teach Hollywood a lesson)