360 "where's the beef?" article

[sikkinixx]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/748/748098p1.html

anyone read that one yet? I am posting it because it sums up exactly how I feel about 360 this second half of the year. I bought it on launch, LOVED it, but MS has barely given me a damn good reason to be excited about them since Spring.

I remember my friends and I talking that MS needs to slam down Sony and Nintendo before they get going, PS2 style. They haven't done that at all. They have more time with Sony, since they don't seem to be able to run a company anymore, but besides Gears is there another system seller? Nintendo has Zelda (which is BS that the released it on Wii first since it's a ****** GC game :mad: )to flog the Wii. Already over 600,000 sold? And they still will have another 400k out before xmas? Halo 3, Forza 2 and Mass Effect better be god damn, mindblowingly, amazingly, awesomely sweet or I will be rather upset.

[pgc6000]

There are some promising titles out this season...Call of Duty 3, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Gears of War...But GoW is the only exclusive :(

[clayj]

Good article.

Personally, I am happy with the games that have come out recently... between GoW, R6V, and CoD3, I have plenty to keep me busy and a lighter wallet. And I got my HD-DVD add-on, which has me using my 360 for HD-DVD playback now.

I'm kinda glad that Forza, Mass Effect, et al have been delayed until next year... I don't want all of the good games to come out too close to each other.

[paintballer]

It would be nice if the 360 or the Wii did good so that I don't have to spend another $600 on another console but chances are history will repeat itself and Playstation will kick the **** out of Nintendo and Xbox.

[huck500]

Crackdown... looks amazing to me. I'm listening to old school punk on my 360 right now...streaming internet radio through iTunes and Connect 360, Gears of War, Rainbow 6, I'm very happy. I want to play Crackdown today, though.

[seenew]

It would be nice if the 360 or the Wii did good so that I don't have to spend another $600 on another console but chances are history will repeat itself and Playstation will kick the **** out of Nintendo and Xbox.

yeah, it sure is looking that way.. :rolleyes:

[SpankyPenzaanz]

I know no firm dates have been set yet but hows about mass effect and alan wake

[Mackilroy]

It would be nice if the 360 or the Wii did good so that I don't have to spend another $600 on another console but chances are history will repeat itself and Playstation will kick the **** out of Nintendo and Xbox.

I doubt that. Sony this round barely seems smart enough to save itself.

And don't bring up the "100 million Playstations sold" because that's bull. Sony shipped, not sold that many.

[greatdevourer]

It would be nice if the 360 or the Wii did good so that I don't have to spend another $600 on another console but chances are history will repeat itself and Playstation will kick the **** out of Nintendo and Xbox. Your crystal ball is cracked

[Dagless]

I wish I could like the 360, the hardware is beautiful the controller is just so comfortable. But there are absolutely no games pulling me in yet. Perhaps Tony Hawks, but that's on all systems so theres no need to spend an extra £300 to play it.

I truly wish Halo 3 is the be-all end-all console FPS. I bought an Xbox just for Halo 1 (and ending up with 4 games for it). Still trying to work out if that was foolish or not as the system doesn't get a look in now, Gamecube only doing so for party game multiplayers when all the mates are around.
Maybe now as I'm getting older I'm only going to play the absolute AAA titles. I'm planning on just buying Zelda and Nintendo's other key brand games this gen just because of lack of time, lack of interest in game playing. gah!

[NeoMac]

I think that the 360 has some great games right now. I am currently playing Gears of War, Call of Duty 3, Splinter Cell Double Agent, F.E.A.R and Rainbow Six. I think Gears is the best looking, game made for any system currently. I am having a blast playing it on line.

I also recently downloaded Small Arms from XBOX arcade and it's a lot of fun. It reminds me of Super Smash Bros.

[Haoshiro]

Personally I think they've done fine. They have a good catalog of games out and recently we've had FEAR, GoW, Viva Pinata, and R6:Vegas - plus all the Arcade titles.

But when is the 360 really going to shine? 2007! And I think that is the point, that was Microsofts plan all along. Gradually build a solid foundation, but hold off their big stuff for the first year of PS3.

Face it, they knew they didn't have to do a lot this Holiday, PS3 isn't competition at this point, and won't be until next year.

So let's look at 2007 for Xbox 360:

Lost Planet
Alan Wake
Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007
The Darkness
Fuzion Frenzy 2
Forza Motorsport 2
Stranglehold
Major League Baseball 2K7
Crackdown
DDR: Revolution Universe
Half-Life 2
Culdcept Saga
Guitar Hero II (before PS3 gets any GH)
Too Human
BioShock
Elveon (RPG)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
Virtual Tennis 3
Dark Sector
Grand Theft Auto IV
Eternal Sonata (RPG)
Fable 2 (doubtful?)
Soul Calibur IV
Haze
Mass Effect
Spectral Diario (RPG)
Resident Evil 5
Assassin's Creed
Tetris (Xbox Live, rankings and achievements will probably be big)
NHL 2K8
NBA 2K8
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Black 2
TimeShift
Worldwide Soccer Manager 2007
DIRT: Colin McRae Off-Road
Huxley (MMORPG FPS)
Halo 3
Lost Odyssey (RPG)
Blue Dragon (RPG)


That's not even all of what's been announced, I tried to pick mostly games someone would recogonize or will in the near future.

A lot of these games ar Q1/2 2007, and even though many of them will probably be multi-platform it's fairly safe to say 360 will get them first, and get the better version (since they were developed from the start on 360).

Microsoft looks long term, and 2007 is where they are focusing, it's where the battle against the Sony empire really begins.

[takao]

Microsoft missed a chance for sure .. instead of coming out all guns blazing with it's year advance there were lots of months with rather few hits coming out and if it were hits many were multiplattform

sure there is gears of war + viva pinata now and in august there was dead rising but that was already way too close to the launches of the other too .. those games were needed 5 months ago to have big influence into sales .. now the other 2 are out and eating into the headstart of microsoft

both sony and nintendo have some big exclusive guns in pipeline for next year (nintendo plans to release 15 to 19 first party titles in 2007 in japan... of which 5 are on my must have list...metroid not included) which shouldn't be taken lightly by microsoft

next year going to be tough for MS: if they can't get out some games to rival the PS3 and wii games the 360 might come into problems.. both the ps3 and wii are polarizing and gathering lots of discussions while the 360 sits there not being talked about, at least that's my impression during game talk with friends... doesn't have to be the same everywhere

anecdote: last week tuesday visited together with a ps2 owning friend the best local gamestore, where they had a gears of war demo station:
after playing for 5 minutes i asked my friend
"do you want to try it ?" and offered him the controller
"na... not that interesting"

shooters only apply to a small piece of the market (i'm with 1 feet in that market) ... let's face it: the 360 has too many shooters(or racing+sports) and too little viva pinata games

[clayj]

I'd like to follow up on Haoshiro's point.

Sure, Microsoft could have pushed for more games to be available this holiday season, when both Wii and PS3 (especially) will be in short supply and will be offering only launch titles. They could have sold even more 360s this holiday season than they will following their current strategy.

But I think the folks at Microsoft are smart enough to emulate Lance Armstrong and Muhammad Ali: They're conserving their energy for the long haul. Armstrong knew that you don't have to actually WIN every single daily event in the Tour de France, and Ali knew that you don't have to actually WIN every single round. You just have to outlast your opponent... make him use up all of his energy and then, when he's weak, knock him out. It's not an energy-wasting sprint... this is a marathon. (He adds yet another sports metaphor.) It doesn't matter who leads at the 100-meter mark, or the 10-kilometer mark... you gotta go the entire 26.2 miles.

Microsoft putting off many of these games to 2007 means that they will have a steady flow of new, post-launch titles to throw in Sony's face... they won't have 15 minutes of intense brightness, but a solid year of consistent brightness where Sony will have little opportunity to ever outshine the 360. And THAT is the key to success. (That, and being stupidly given a one-year and 6 million console headstart by your opposition.)

[takao]

You just have to outlast your opponent... make him use up all of his energy and then, when he's weak, knock him out. It's not an energy-wasting sprint... this is a marathon. (He adds yet another sports metaphor.) It doesn't matter who leads at the 100-meter mark, or the 10-kilometer mark... you gotta go the entire 26.2 miles.

the problem is that you can't compare it that way... you in which console war i heard that "it's a marathon" too ? in the DS vs PSP showoff ... and guess what : with every day the DS is selling better and better and the PSP worse and worse... Sony can repeat "it's a marathon" all it wants but that doesn't make it so

it would be foolish to underrate the power of the playstation brand:

just a little bit of perspective: the 360 sold/shipped so far 6-7 millions in 1 year ... the original xbox 24 millions in 4 years (which equals to 6 million a year) ...

[irishgrizzly]

I got a 360 last December and I'm very happy with it. The titles were a bit thin on the ground during the summer, but now I've got more games than I've time to play them. I don't really plan on getting a PS3 for many years, unless an exclusive new game comes out that is a major evolution (I'm thinking a GTA/Halo type game).

But I don't want the 360 to succeed to the expense of the PS3 failing. I want a PS4 to come out, as with healthy competition its the gamers who are the winners.

[xli_ne]

I doubt that. Sony this round barely seems smart enough to save itself.

And don't bring up the "100 million Playstations sold" because that's bull. Sony shipped, not sold that many.

so what exactly are you saying then? that they only sold half of those?

[Symtex]

This article is the exact reason why you shouldn't write under the influence of alchool and drugs.

[seenew]

This article is the exact reason why you shouldn't write under the influence of alchool and drugs.


:confused:

[Dagless]

:confused:

My reaction too.

[Foxglove9]

I wish I could like the 360, the hardware is beautiful the controller is just so comfortable. But there are absolutely no games pulling me in yet. Perhaps Tony Hawks, but that's on all systems so theres no need to spend an extra £300 to play it.

It's the exact same story for me. And even with Tony Hawk (which is different on Wii) I've read some less than impressive reviews and I kinda feel a little burned out by the last 2 Hawk games. I was in the stores yesterday looking at the 360 game section and almost nothing popped out at me.

The funny thing is the main reason I want to buy a 360 right now is too play original Xbox games because I never bought an Xbox. And I just can't see buying an old system when it's replacement is already on the market.

[zero2dash]

both sony and nintendo have some big exclusive guns in pipeline for next year (nintendo plans to release 15 to 19 first party titles in 2007 in japan... of which 5 are on my must have list...metroid not included) which shouldn't be taken lightly by microsoft

I agree with you on the Nintendo part, but the Sony part is rubbish. :p
What AA/AAA exclusives does the Ps3 possess? MGS4? Rumor is (according to EGM) Kojima has been told to start working on a 360 port. So that leaves - a Final Fantasy game. Another one. A seller, sure, but hardly something I'd call a "must own". The remainder of what I've heard is coming out in the next year for the Ps3 is primarily multiplatform (ie also available on 360), so then you're left with the question of what each system offers - and, sorry, but as great as the Live Marketplace and Xbox Live Arcade is (and since obviously Sony doesn't have a similar implemented plan) - the Ps3 is even less worth owning in that regard.

Microsoft has their work cut out for them, yes. But Sony's pipeline isn't exactly free flowing and downhill either; Sony has a serious uphill climb ahead of them.

[Haoshiro]

the problem is that you can't compare it that way... you in which console war i heard that "it's a marathon" too ? in the DS vs PSP showoff ... and guess what : with every day the DS is selling better and better and the PSP worse and worse... Sony can repeat "it's a marathon" all it wants but that doesn't make it so

it would be foolish to underrate the power of the playstation brand:

just a little bit of perspective: the 360 sold/shipped so far 6-7 millions in 1 year ... the original xbox 24 millions in 4 years (which equals to 6 million a year) ...

You're saying it would be foolish to underrate the PS brand, yet used DS vs PSP as an example? I'm confused! lol.

But your example actually works here, only the opposite way you intended. DS is there for the long haul, PSP was trying to make an immediate splash. DS had a slow start in terms of games and really took the first year to really mature. I didn't pick one up until this year.

And that just continues my point and what clayj was saying.

If you really think about it, the first year of a console is mostly about the hardcore fans, the people that will rush in and adopt new technologies. These people are going to buy it and buy the games available.

Look how many people haven't bought a 360 yet, a lot of these people weren't in the market at all until recently. A new system launch isn't the best time to get a system and it is not when the market is ripe.

DS took awhile to really establish itself, and after about the first year the games really started to come out, that is when I was interested. If Nintendo had smashed down the doors with floods of DS software at launch, they would have left a lot of people behind... and caused a lot of great software to get far less market penetration due to a lower install base. By the second year they would be out of steam, and even though there would be a lot of good games, they wouldn't have anything new to show, and that looks bad.

That's how it is with 360, MS didn't flood the gates with software because that would not have been smart, that would not have pushed a lot more consumers onto the system.... hundreds of rushed games? Yeah, let's make the system look really bad! No, they took there time and waited to get more estabished before they push the battle, as clayj said, they will have so much more Year 2 then Sony will have Year 1, and that will really help them. They wouldn't have that if they did what most people on this forum seem to think they should have...

[savar]

There are some promising titles out this season...Call of Duty 3, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Gears of War...But GoW is the only exclusive :(

Maybe I'm late to the party -- or don't play video games as much as other people -- but I'm still pretty engrossed in Gears of War and Ghost Recon. The GoW multiplayer is a lot of fun, from the few matches I played against my roommate. I still haven't quite finished the single player either. And then I've got all of GRAW and Fight Night to play through, and my Madden season has just begun (snagged Marvin Harrison in week 2!)...am I crazy or do I already have more games than I know what to do with?

[Mackilroy]

so what exactly are you saying then? that they only sold half of those?

Who knows? Sony doesn't release sales numbers, but given how many stories all over the Net that I've read of them replacing PS2s up to nine times, it seems likely that it's a far smaller number then 100 million.

That aside, I love my Xbox 360. I got four great games in the past month (Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, CoD3, GoW) so I'm plenty satisfied with it and I'm looking forward to 2007's games as well.

[greatdevourer]

I also recently downloaded Small Arms from XBOX arcade and it's a lot of fun. It reminds me of Super Smash Bros. A friend and I found it (shortly after my first CHAINSAW DEATH!!! :D) - brilliant game, and a possible SSBM replacement for LAN parties

[sikkinixx]

I can see MS becoming the next Sony in the gaming world. 360 'wins' this generation and maybe the next. Soon everyone hates MS in gaming as much as everyone hates MS in the computer world. Sony or maybe Samsung/Toshiba decide to make the Gamestation or something and BOOM, everyone flocks to it because "360 suxxors". Everyone hates the market leader (ie. MS in computers, EA in games, Sony as a system).

Sony needs better marketing and PR. If they hadn't spewed all their arrogant "we are HD" crap and just put out the system like Nintendo did with ONE SKU not two ****** ones, half the hate for Sony would be non-existant. For example, PSP is a good system. The music player works in a pinch and is getting better, movies on your mem stick look sweet, games are pretty decent (still need more AAA games though) and the additional functionality is slowly getting better. Sure load times kinda suck, but sleep mode takes away the need to boot your game from the start everytime you wanna play. BUT, Sony promised the moon with PSP and they haven't really delivered. Their BS about UMD movies was a failure (as it should be) and overall they jsut ****ed up the image of the PSP. PSP has such negative image attached to it by most hardcore gamers (I find anyway) while DS just kinda does it's thing and dominates the handheld market.

MS is doing the smart thing. Shut up. Don't let Peter Moore go off like Kaz and Phil do over at Sony, just put out games, copy everyone else (discreetly) with things like 1080p and an HD-DVD drive but don't go saying "OMG! HD-DVD IS HERE!!!!! U NEED 1080p NOW! WE ARE NEXT GEN!!" just be lowkey. 360 still needs more killer games, and need more stuff (web browser please, better menu organization please, better music player please, BIGGER HDD please, no more Tonka Toy colours in the menu please) but overall the 360 is a cool system. Too bad the same can't be said for Vista :D

[SpankyPenzaanz]

MS is doing the smart thing. Shut up. Don't let Peter Moore go off like Kaz and Phil do over at Sony, just put out games, copy everyone else (discreetly) with things like 1080p and an HD-DVD drive but don't go saying "OMG! HD-DVD IS HERE!!!!! U NEED 1080p NOW! WE ARE NEXT GEN!!" just be lowkey. 360 still needs more killer games, and need more stuff (web browser please, better menu organization please, better music player please, BIGGER HDD please, no more Tonka Toy colours in the menu please) but overall the 360 is a cool system. Too bad the same can't be said for Vista :D

I don't know if they are being that smart - MS bought the entire advertising slot for sportcenter the other night and all their tv commercials say "The Next gen is now with over 100 games" - I think they need a better variety as well.

[JackAxe]

I'm mainly here for the comment about Zelda being a GC game. Well it is for the most part, but the Wii's controls make it a way better game. I've always struggled with the bow when using the lame analogue-thumb-stick for aiming, so I'm quite pleased that I now have the speed and precision of basically a mouse in my hand for doing this sort of thing. I'll be curious to compare it the GC version when it comes out on the 13th, because on the Wii it uses lots of shader effects that I've only seen on the X360 and newer PC games. So if the GC is doing this sort of thing with its ancient GPU, then my hats off to it as a console.

But just to ramble.
I've personally written of Sony and MS at the moment. Sure games like Gears of War look purdy, but its controlls suck <period>. I refuse to tourment myself further with any game that requires the always cumbersome thumb-aiming. Unfortuantely Sony and MS have locked themselves into this sort of thing until the next generation. So if I want purdy, I'll just stick to my PCs and Macs, because their controls don't suck for the types of game these consoles like to flaunt. I have a 30" anyway, so I raise my nose to lower rez 1080p HD screens. *I KID about the raise nose part* Large TVs rock!!! ;)

<]=)