DailyTech - Microsoft's PS3 Counter Offensive Named

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Software Microsoft's PS3 Counter Offensive Named
Brandon Hill (Blog) - August 3, 2006 4:48 PM

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94 comment(s) - last by techhappy.. on Aug 7 at 1:12 AM

Gears of War to go head to head with PS3 launch

On Monday, DailyTech reported that Microsoft’s Richard Teversham was sticking to the corporate line of attacking the PlayStation 3's price and pointing out the XBOX 360's clear price advantage and head start in the market. Teversham also noted that Microsoft had a few surprises in store to counter the mighty blow that will likely be thrown by the PS3. Today we know what at least part of that counter offensive is: Gears of War.

Microsoft confirmed today that Epic Games' Gears of War will launch on November 12 in the United States; just ahead of the PS3's November 17 launch. With Halo 3 still about eight months away, Gears of War is the best chance Microsoft has at stealing some thunder. Bill Gates was quoted in Time Magazine as saying that the PS3 would "Walk right into Halo 3," but Gears of War will have to do for now. From GamesIndustry.biz:

The company declined to state the obvious about the launch timing - preferring instead to remind us how many trade-show awards the game has picked up so far - but it's made no secret in the past of its desire to upset Sony's launch plans… Whether it's still "perfect" - as Gates envisioned the clash of Sony's next-gen console and Halo 3 - remains to be seen, but hype is certainly on Gears' side, and the game's likely to shift huge quantities amongst the Xbox 360 hardcore.

Epic Games co-founder Mark Rein has been in the news recently for his rather harsh criticisms of Intel’s efforts (or lack thereof) in the graphics industry. He blamed Intel for the current lull in PC gaming and for preying on consumer ignorance when it comes to graphics accelerators.

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-Giving up on Japan?

By giantpandaman2 on 8/3/2006 5:20:45 PM , Rating: 2

I think it's a well known fact that the Japanese don't care for FPS games. So Gears of War will do nothing to counter the PS3 launch in that market.

So is MS giving up on Japan for this generation? I've heard them say they aren't, but I've not yet seen any big news about Japanese games or developers. Maybe I'm just out of the loop though.

RE: -Giving up on Japan?

By epsilonparadox on 8/3/2006 5:23:08 PM , Rating: 2

Nighty Nine Nights is releasing soon. So is Blue Dragon. I believe there's a couple of other games also releasing before years end from Japanese developers.

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RE: -Giving up on Japan?

By One43637 on 8/3/2006 5:26:09 PM , Rating: 2

quote:

by epsilonparadox on August 3, 2006 at 5:23 PM

Nighty Nine Nights is releasing soon. So is Blue Dragon. I believe there's a couple of other games also releasing before years end from Japanese developers.

Ninety-Nine Nights was so boring. i tried the demo the other day and it looks just like any other hack and slash game. wee i can have a computer control another hero or i can direct squads to their deaths.......

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RE: -Giving up on Japan?

By epsilonparadox on 8/3/2006 5:33:57 PM , Rating: 2

I didn't play the demo but I don't think its supposed to be a squad based game.

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RE: -Giving up on Japan?

By giantpandaman2 on 8/3/2006 5:34:24 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
Nighty Nine Nights is releasing soon. So is Blue Dragon. I believe there's a couple of other games also releasing before years end from Japanese developers.

Are any of these games going to be "antilaunch" titles against the PS3? Are these games generating a lot of buzz among Japanese gamers?

Those aren't rhetorical questions. I really don't know.

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RE: -Giving up on Japan?

By mpc7488 on 8/3/2006 5:24:11 PM , Rating: 2

Japan is also fiercely loyal to Sony in a way that American consumers are not with MS, it will be a success in that market regardless.

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RE: -Giving up on Japan?

By Xavian on 8/3/2006 5:26:44 PM , Rating: 2

Actually Japan is far more fiercly loyal to Nintendo nowadays. In fact Japan is more loyal to Japanese companies in general then most countries around the globe.

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RE: -Giving up on Japan?

By Goty on 8/3/2006 6:21:36 PM , Rating: 2

I saw the trailers and gameplay demos from E3 and actually wasn't at all impressed, personally....

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RE: -Giving up on Japan?

By Sharky974 on 8/3/2006 6:31:01 PM , Rating: 2

Who cares about Japan?

Why even bring up Japan?

Japan doesn't buy American consoles because of nationalism. The Sega Genesis for example, was popular worldwide but not in Japan. Why? Because the company of Sega had American origins! That's how far they take this sort of thing.

It doesn't matter what games MS has in Japan, Japanese people will never buy it. Why people haven't realized this in what, 5+ years of Xbox consoles is beyond me by now. Why people harp on it even further is beyond me (not, I know why they harp on it, they're Nintendo/Sony fanboys).

Not too mention the Japan market, already the smallest, is shrinking because the Japanese population is aging.

And Japanese developers no longer have the pull they once did. A system such as Xbox proves you really dont even need them at all in any big way. Western games like Madden football, WWW2 shooters, Halo, are the top sellers of any platform. Japanese devs are still important, but they're no longer crucial, they're more like one factor among many.

I think Xbox proves you dont need Japan to succeed. Europe and USA are bigger markets. In fact a console could do fine in USA alone if you think about it.

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RE: -Giving up on Japan?

By giantpandaman2 on 8/3/2006 7:16:22 PM , Rating: 3

I care about Japan because:

They have great developers-

They have a lot of power in the consumer electronics industry even beyond consoles-

I'm actually a bit tired of the "standard" American/European games. I can only play so many FPS/RTSG/RPG games. I'd like a little variety in my gaming diet. I would love it if I could buy one console and get all of them.

I haven't bought a XBox360 for a few reasons.
1. I can't stand playing a FPS with a controller. (Hence I use a computer.)
2. I don't like sports games.
3. That's the grand bulk of what's on the 360 right now.

Now if the 360 had a mouse/trackball and a larger library of non-FPS/Sports games (which basically means Japanese developed nowadays) I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Hence why I'm curious if they've given up on Japan.

PS-I know there are non-Japanese developers that make innovative non-genre specific games, but I'm talking about the grand bulk of them.

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RE: -Giving up on Japan?

By tuteja1986 on 8/3/2006 9:56:22 PM , Rating: 3

I bought the xbox 360 for few reason :
- Reisdent evil 5
- Mass effect
- Darkness
- Blue dragon
- Lost oddessy
- Bio shock
- Crack down
- Gears of War
- Halo 3
- Burnout 5
- Forza 2
- Better Online mode
- Windows Media Center extender
- XBOX live arcade

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360 Rocks !

By ViperROhb34 on 8/3/2006 10:45:12 PM , Rating: 2

Im with you man..

My cousin lives 2hrs away.. we both play Halo online.. as well as both have Oblivion ..

WE both had PS2 at one time.. and the gaming experience is much more then the game.. Sony has work ahead of it trying to catch up with Microsofts superior online gaming..

We discussed it alot and like many who could probably afford the PS3 we've both decided to not get one.. as many others have said they won't.. I don't doubt they will sell alot of PS3's - more in Japan.. I seriously doubt they'll ship the PS2 volume with that price point, not to mention lack of titles and developers like Camrack (ID) saying they have doubts about the console because its not friendly to program for..

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RE: -Giving up on Japan?

By Loc13 on 8/3/2006 7:25:08 PM , Rating: 2

Have you heard of Dreamcast made by SEGA? Why do you think it died out so quickly in the US? Because the US companies made crappy games for dreamcast while the Japanese brought out a lot quality games that are much better than just western FPS or sports game. I personally have over 150 dreamcast games, and most of them are imported from Japan. If Japanese have that big ego you're talking about, why the hell would the Jap companies still made games after it died down in the US when nobody in japan buys the console?

The japanese don't buy xbox because the games are crappy and not for their taste, it's got nothing to do with nationalism. The americans games are only focused in the US market while the Jap games are appreciated over the world. Remember the Final Fantasy series?

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RE: -Giving up on Japan?

By Xavian on 8/3/2006 9:15:03 PM , Rating: 3

Final fantasy, Mario, Zelda and Sonic all of these are franchises of the most video games ever. Notice all of them are from Japanese developers, you are certainly right about Japanese games being popular globally.

Halo on the other hand is popular in the US and to some extent Europe.... thats it.

Plus the nail was hit on the head, that Japanese gamers simply dont like the constant stream of mediocre FPS and sports games. They have been there done that some many times and are looking for something new and fresh, this is the possible reason for the new DS renaissance in Japan. Where they are flying off the shelves faster then they can be produced.

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RE: -Giving up on Japan?

By Xavian on 8/3/2006 9:15:22 PM , Rating: 2