Maybe, Maybe Microsoft

#1 XBOX has got the hardware, and they are ever so slowly taking on some good development companies. But I'm going to be the one to say it (cuz I KNOW I'm not the only one, only everyone is afraid to say it): HALO was not all that. Sorry guys, it was impressive graphically, but in the end, it played just like Quake and UT (which I didn't like either), and reminded me of them even more in content. The XBOX is no more than a computer with less capability and an even smaller library of games..plain and simple. XBOX live is by no means revolutionary as two consoles have been online to date (one with successful results). Anyone will agree that games sell a console, not the console. XBOX has good LOOKING games, but my experience with all of them has left me with an all around "average-experience" feeling (not bad, but not good either). It'll be interesting to see who wins Christmas this year (as that is the biggest battle of all console wars), but I predict it will be like this:

1st place: GameCube
Close 2nd: PS2
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Distant 3rd: XBOX

I could be wrong about the placings, but it is all about library, and with PS2's already established library and GC's impressively quick growing library, XBOX has got some legit competition. Maybe I'll buy an XBOX at a goodwill when Rare starts making games for it. Would love to play Conker again.

In summary: XBOX graphics = good
XBOX library = bad

Bring on the flames XBOX Fanboys!

#2 All I can say is.... Blah, blah, blah.

Talking about the console wars is an exercise in futility. They each have their niche and their consumer base and they each fit their's well.

#3 FYI i own all 3 next gen systems and i must say yes halo was a great game but it was just one game...if your a big fan of sports games then go for Xbox. Sure great graphics is nice but so is great artstyles and that is what xbox is lacking. Xbox is sucking bigtime in japan BTW. I guess im just anti Xbox cuz i cant find anygames for it that turn my crank..or all the games that i do like come out for the other 2 systems and i would rather use gamecube or ps2 controllers.

Nintendo if your following the rumours may be merging with or buying capcom and sega...if you have seen the latest nintendo ad "The nintendo difference" you know about this rumour. I went to Future shop the other day and saw quite a few cross platform titles i didnt think would hit Nintendo..Dead to rights and what not. Im presently into metroid..talk about cool..it aint the best graphiclly but imersing the player as samus was done very well.

PS2 is doing great..they get all the good RPGs although a buddy of mine from japan says that Final fantasy 11 is flopping as is the PS2 internet scene. I just completed Kingdom hearts and it was also kik arse..waiting for chrismas cus i know my woman bought me some ps2 games..not sure what ones but who cares :O)

As far as consoles and internet go im not buying into it yet as there is nothing really that has cought my eye...maybe mechassult for xbox but thats about it...anything that has to do with guns on consoles kinda sucks..i hate FPS with controllers...mouse and keyboard are the way to go for gunem up games.

Anyway thats my long and winded yak.

#4 Yeah Paul, but everyone will argue their systems all the same (C: I agree with the above. I'm upset to hear FF11 is dying out... Sounded like it'd be cool. Kingdom Hearts DID rule. You still got FFX-2, 12, and 13 to look forward to at the very least, and "Chrono Break" which is presumably a 3rd installment of the Chrono series. The cube is releasing some pretty popular names: Soon to come: F-Zero, Mario Kart, Zelda. All gonna be good, but don't get me started on Zelda's graphical decision . Ah, and PS2: Getaway looks sweeeet! Played it at E3, and was even on TV when doing it! Got interviewed by some hot asian chics...2nd year in a row I was on some Asian interview at E3. Ah, and mechassault DOES look sweet ass on the box. I'm kinda upset about that one, but not enough to buy a box. There's always one game that stands out as the reason I bought a console (usually, it is a final fantasy), but nothing on the box has said "BUY ME" yet. Like I said, that might change with Microsoft's recent aquisition of Rare.

#5 Jeremy Final fantasy is god :O)
Ya the sadder thing about FF11 is that there is a rumour that the ps2 Hard disk drive will not come to the north americas...no hard drive no where to install the game or cashe internet files so no FF11..but hey FF10 "Another story" is coming out soon and so is a Nintendo FF as is a FFT remake for the GBA...so we have our fill of FF. :O)

Long live Terra

Down with Sithoroth

#6 Don't forget FF 1, 2 and 3 remakes coming sometime. Oh, I was excited about "Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicals" (GC) but then they said that you HAVE to have a gameboy advance to play on it. Damn Square....first FF on a nintendo in forever, and they go and screw it up. They must really, really hate nintendo. And I don't know what to think about X-2...Yuna is packing heat and packin' cleavage...just like another Lara Croft...kinda bizarre...

#7 Sorry about hijacking your thread Nick but Final Fantasy deserves it.

FF:CC needs a GBA. Humm ive been neglecting my GBA for some time now..if FF needs it you can garentee its gonna be for something cool...they have big plans for the GBA...even Zelda will have some GBA fucntionality.

And Yes the new Yuna is different but i look at it this way...FF has not had a good female lead character since Terra (FF3usa) and sure shes got GunZ a blazing(In both departments) but its about time they let a woman take the reins again as our guide of the great stories that are FF.

And just to keep it on topic Square (The makers of Final fantasy series and The Chrono series Duh!) and ENIX(The makers of the Dragon Quest series) announced a merger and the rise of a new company called EnixSquare. That there is a RPG megacorp. Something that nintendo and Sony has great relations with right now.

Sure Microsoft got Rare...but think what games have been good that came from Rare recently...just one Starfox Adventures. Nintendo probably saw dead wieght there and decided to cut lose. Now I see RetroStudios (makers of metroid prime) taking the place of Rare as nintendos Ace. But this is all just me gabbing.

Thx for the info on the GBA thing..gives me something to look into. :O)

#8 Well.... Since people will argue for their faves anyway.... Might as well push mine :-D

Gamecube ownzzzz j00! But I'm a huge fan of the Big N's franchise titles like Mario and Zelda, have been since the NES, always will be. Why? Well, to be blunt, screw all that "Games like that are for kids!" bull. I play games for purely for fun, and IMHO Big N knows fun better than anyone. Besides, they are following the trends with the 'Cube.

#9 ususaly I dont respond to these stupid threads about console wars, as they are completely pointless... and because I just get all the consoles (although I am still waiting for a few more good games before I get my Xbox), that way I dont have to miss out on any games that I want to play.

What cought my attention was the statement that Halo was the best game ever... my best friend got an Xbox christmas day last year with Halo, we both sat down and played the whole thing and honestly, it kinda sucked. I mean it wasnt bad for a launch title, but come on, best game ever? I usualy respect peoples opinions with favorite games but seriously... it was a generic fps but with bad controls because it was on a console instead of pc and you couldnt use a mouse to aim (although I did get used to it pretty quick, I still dont think console shooters compare with pc's). But besides the complete lack of creativity in the gameplay or style, the whole damn game was about 5 different environments that they made you walk through over and over and over and over and over, I dont think they even had the alien things spawn in different places. I think the numbe of times at which they made the player go through the same area bordered on being vulgar. I't was the game designers equivalent of saying "fuck you retards, we have your money HAHAHAHAHA". Halo did have its moments, mostly playing around in the vehicles and blowing stuff up... but thats really pretty shallow entertainment. In fact, the whole game was pretty shallow and generic. I didnt see a single thing in the entire game that made it stand out in any way. To call it the best game ever just seems like an insult to some of the more deserving games out there.

#10 Don't apologize Bryan..you are right, FF deserves a thread. 'Course, we could always start one, but I'm too lazy. (C: Not sure what to think about the EnixSquare (SquareEnix)...Square is sitting at the CEO position (which is good), but I hope square doesn't get desolved in this somehow. I think GBA connectivity as an option is a great feature, but when it is required, that just plain sucks. Yeah, Zelda will have Tingle the map guy give you some helpful hints if you have the GBA. I wonder how much more gay Tingle will look in stupid cel-shading graphics. (uhoh..i opened another can of worms). Cel Shading is fine, but why in the ass did they show that 10 second clip at spaceworld 2000? What a TEASE!

Way to join the argument Paul! And Eric, I believe this statement that can be quoted by about 10 thousand people: "In the console wars, the only true winner is the player". That is the truest statement. However, you'll notice in all my console war statements, it is always "I like GC and PS2, and XBOX sux". Why? Cuz Microsoft doesn't belong in the gaming industry. I said it 2 years ago when the concept box still looked like a silver "X", and I'm still saying it today. Microsoft's greed and money grubbing nature really doesn't bother me when it comes to software, and I love their development tools, but dammit, keep the gaming industry pure! But it really is about the games, and XBOX doesn't have any good ones. So, PS2 and GC can have my money...

#11 Ill admit my buddy and i sat down every sunday untill we beat Halo and it was awsome entertainment but for me to call it the best game ever i would have to smoke something wiked to forget all the great games ive play in the 19 years ive been gaming.

And paul this is in no way(well not yet anyway)a Console war thread, we are just talking about all the great and bad about consoles and im glad you decided to imput. :O)

And just cuz i can ill stop bashing Xbox and say whats great about it. Built in everything is A.o.k. Rallysport challange is a great rally racer as DOA3 is a rocking Fighter. And the approch Microsoft took to online gaming is a excellent one(Developers worry about adding network code and microsoft deals with the server bandwidth headache).

Its just that in the end its the old microsoft,controller crushed my grandma,through out my back lifting my Xbox,sure i got realistic games but wheres the style, story that brings me to hate my 800 dollar(2games/Box/extracontoller/2yearwarrentee/being canadian) machine so much...*sigh*

#12 Cmon you guys, stop bashing on Xbox. Sure, I love playing PS2. It's a great system. Xbox has it's moments to. You see all these game titles for it and you scan right over them without actually playing. Let me tell you something, ive read bad reviews for several of my fav games. It goes back to the fact that it all depends on the player

#13 I don't want to start a flame war but I think many people just hate Microsoft because they are Microsoft. In my opinion they are a company that wants to make money and some may disagree with their business practices but are they really any different than companies like General Electric. I think its funny that people don't realize that if Apple won the computer wars that they would probably be the same or even worse with their proprietary philosophy. Companies are in business to make money not to be fair.

I really do think that Microsoft is doing a great job with XBOX and I think they are investing the money to make it a success. No offense to Sony fans but I think Microsoft has raised the bar on how to operate in the console business and you see that with XBOX Live and games like Halo and Splinter Cell.

#14 PC 0wNz!i! I dislike concols. Why is it that PC games are so much better??? Over the years I've grown tyred of fighting over which is better. So i'm not even going to argue. All I'm going to say is PC 0wNz your @55'$. Stupid concols don't even have a mouse!

#15 Mike, I didn't say I hate microsoft. As far as applications and development tools, I'll support microsoft to all those linux fanboys out there. I just think they stepped into the wrong market, because the game industry is a different industry, that requires a different kind of company. As far as raising the bar...they just made a computer. As far as I'm concerned, they did the least to make the console market better, because they just threw together parts instead of taking the time to R&D new hardware like sony and nintendo have. Yeah, Box has the graphics, but that doesn't matter, it has so few hits out.

And skye, I'll agree, some games can't be played on a console as well as a PC, but that is mostly because of it's lack of peripherals like you mentioned...but I have a bit of a newsflash. Those rectangular slots in front of the PS2..those aren't for show, you can actually plug in USB mice and keyboards. Consoles offer a better game than PC, and it is mostly because developers don't have to program for the "Common User's Hardware", they know what the specs are, and can get the most out of the machine. And you argued that consoles take all the talent away from the PC games...if you are in agreement that console developers are the best talent, then why are you saying console games are worse? I think you just can't afford one, so you stick to what you have. Front the $150 and buy a cube...you won't regret it.

#16 Personally i hate the approch microsoft took when entering the console market. They came Jonny ass crackering into the console market with a sumo wrestler with his diaper filled with cash and started shouting "Ill buy you and you go exclusive". From what i hear microsoft is taking a lose on every Xbox sold just to get the units into the homes of you and me an hoping it will be the games that sell the system.

And a perfect example is Halo..this game(developed for the PC) was owned by bungie and then microsoft bought bungie and told them to scrap it and make Halo Xbox exclusive...Now a year and a half later they are releasing this dated game on PC, Do you think it will compete with upcoming FPS like Doom 3. Hell no.

This is the sole reason i hate what microsoft has brought to the table. Money does not make a great game.

Im not bashing Xbox persay im just letting you know the good and the bad of microsoft from the eyes of a console veteran of 19 years.

And in regards to Skye..have you ever tried playing a racing game or platform game with a mouse and keyboard..heh talk about futile. Also a little less leet speak and some words other then "stupid" would be nice.

Jeremy glad your still here to put in your 2 cents. You seem as well informed as I ;O) maybe even moreso heh

#17 Jeremy that statement wasn't directed to you directly I just get that overall vibe from the forums. Just my opinion anyway, i'm not saying that this is fact.

#18 Me n You see eye to eye on many things Bryan. I totally agree. Nothing necessarily wrong with Microsoft, just their console. Companies take hits selling consoles as it is. Games really do make the company money. Now XBOX totally reminds me of the Jaguar. Now in its time, the console was pretty sweet. It promised great graphics and everything..and where did it go? To the same hell that all consoles go when they don't make games...even the TurboGrafix16 went there (damn that was a cool console..only one I know of where the console game was playable on the portable with the same graphics). The only thing that seperates XBOX from Jaguar is that BILL has got money to spend, and he's gonna keep the XBOX alive for years to come.

However Bryan, Microsoft isn't the only company practicing the "buy a franchise for exclusivity" approach. Sony purchase Grand Theft Auto rights for $10 million until 2004. It's just that Sony doesn't do it as much as Microsoft tries. If I was developing, I'd rather go cross-platform than take the $10 million, but it is nice to see that PS2 has some exclusive titles that set it aside from the Box. And GC...it's all about the exclusivity there. Tons of titles coming out on that cute little cube that rock! GC is gonna win christmas..and sony will be nipping at his heels, while the huge, bulky XBOX will be limping far behind exhausted at pulling its own weight.



It's cool Mike. I just wanted to make sure people understand that I'm not just your average "Microsoft Basher bashing another Microsoft product". I like Microsoft for the most part. They are rich and successful for a reason. Going to games was just a wrong move IMO. I don't feel they understand that it is a different market than software, and they can't take the same approaches they do with games.

#19 Maybe I am lost, clueless or whatever you wish to say;
but I went to gamestop, played both the PS2 and Xbox for nearly an hour(god those salesrep guys are jerks ;) ).
I then proceeded to the food court, had a bite to eat and mentaly chalked up the pro's and con's of each system (in my view), when all was said and done I went with the XBox and have not looked back. The only major advantage I could see with the PS2 was the game lib and the ability to play PS1 games (which we have none).

My son has been hooked on Blinx sense day one and I have been a Splinter Cell/Ghost Recon playing fool at night. I have never played halo, and more than likely wont. We also absolutly enjoy Madden 2003. I am going out either this weekend or next to pick up at least 3 - 4 more titles for christmas.

-Ron

#20 Ok, you all have very good points. Xobx did take the wroong turn coming into the console Wars. But, you have to keep it in perspective. This is not as big a deal as you are all making it. I am a gaming person, I will have a Dev team soon, but there are a lot of markets where a company with monopolistic principles have come in with money to throw around. They always sell out in the end. Sony has great games because it was there first. PSX secured a steady hold on 3D and some 2D games back in the late 90's. Nintendo spawned there own dev teams and ideas like Zelda and Mario, we won't ever see those on any other console or so we presume...
Remember Sega? That company that had it's dying words with Dreamcast then got bought by Nintendo. Nintendo bought Sega! That is a huge deal, it changed the balance of power in the console world and left a big vacant spot for Microsoft to edge into. Sony already was dominating with FF and all those Fighting games that came out a few years back. Now you argue that Microsoft is evil and stupid. No, not really arguing, have a very closed mind. The Cube is fun if your all gamer but if your a game techie like me, then, well IMHO there desicion to use small "cuter" looking discs was a fatal mistake that will prove itself later on in the 00 decade. Obviously console makers have switched over to DVD's to store their games on instead of CD's. Once the games get bolder and more advanced, where will Nintendo be? Right back where they started. Microsoft wil be able to sell new Hard Drives and more adaptable equipment. Sony will come out with a PS3(to all of our great suprise) and keep the ball rolling. FF can't go on forever can it? One of these days a better RPG will come stepping innocently or not into the Game world, either on XBOX or PS2 or 3. Whoever gets it first, thats the Console Winner for the next 2 decades. Nintendo will still be there selling its cartoon games, slowly coming to the realization that the second generation to grow up with games will not want them anymore. They will start to make an even more direct approach to adapting there system to buyers demand. This will leave them in a rut when all the competent violent, graphic, more down-to-earth game dev teams will be bought up. They will have to churn out there own, but, no one will pay attention.