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Anh Tuan Huynh (Blog) - July 21, 2006 1:09 PM

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24 comment(s) - last by masher2.. on Jul 25 at 10:03 AM

Where are the games?

Microsoft’s XBOX 360 gaming console was sold out on its launch day back in early December. While there was a shortage of consoles for a few months the XBOX 360 has been available in mass quantities since May. I purchased an XBOX 360 back in May with a couple games including Project Gotham 3, Dead or Alive 4, Full Auto, Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo: Elements of Power. Over the past couple of months I’ve beaten all the Project Gotham 3 races in normal mode, unlocked a couple things here and there in Dead or Alive 4, traded in Full Auto due to sheer disappointment, haven’t spent too much time on Perfect Dark Zero and got bored of Kameo: Elements of Power.

The XBOX 360 had so much promise but has been disappointing lately. What happened to the games? Aside from the initial launch titles with a one or two good releases in between there has been a lack of quality XBOX 360 titles. I check new game release every week and am disappointed with the new releases. At $60+ per game it’s hard to justify buying a game just because the concept seems interesting, I did that with Full Auto and was very disappointed. For a next generation game Full Auto was a fun concept but there were too many bugs to make the game enjoyable such as constantly low frame rates.

While Dead or Alive 4 with four players is a blast, using the same characters and stages over and over again gets quite old. The XBOX 360 supports four controllers, so where are the four player games? Microsoft is lacking quality titles for the XBOX 360. The releases are few and far in between. Running a quick search for upcoming game releases shows the next new release, Ninety-Nine Nights is three and a half weeks away. Third party titles for the XBOX 360 have been mostly disappointing with a few good releases such as Oblivion but for the most of the good titles are still first party.

Things do look brighter for the fall and winter releases with Test Drive Unlimited, Need for Speed Carbon and Forza Motorsport 2 but that’s still a couple months off. Lately I find myself playing my Nintendo DS more than my XBOX 360, which is disappointing considering the XBOX 360 costs three times as much yet it doesn’t bring as much enjoyment and entertainment.

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agreed

By One43637 on 7/21/2006 6:00:44 PM , Rating: 2

i wasn't going to buy a 360, but after a friend telling me how much fun it is and when i sat down and played the Test Drive demo with other people online, i went and got one. sure the graphics are great and the Xbox Live marketplace is interesting if you're willing to fork over money for the Gold membership.

but you're right, where are the games? the only game i'm looking forward to right now is Test Drive Unlimited and Gears of War. so as of right now i'm stuck playing NBA Live 06 with it's neutered Season mode while trying to find people to play on Live.

yay.../golf clap

RE: agreed

By tuteja1986 on 7/24/2006 7:07:13 AM , Rating: 2

Something i posted yesterday :

Bioshock << best Game i saw at E3 , no trailer but it was shown on running on XBOX 360 and every one that saw loved the game Systemshock creator
Halo 3
Gears of War << i played at e3 , multiplayer was totally awesome and i loved the part where i chainsaw some other dude and his blood was splashing all over my screen
Masseffect << watch the trailer http://masseffect.bioware.com/downloads.html (creator of neverwinter night , kotor , baluder gates )
Lost Planet
Ninja Gaiden 2 << BEST OF ITS KIND
Blue Dragon << creator of Crono cross , Final Fantasy 7 working on this
Lost Odyssey << creator of Crono cross , Final Fantasy 7 working on this
Darkness << creator of Riddick escape butcher bay , these developers are new and its their second project and riddick is one of my fav FPS
Resident Evil 5
forza 2
GTA 4
Burnout 5

XBOX live arcade : Contra , Street Fighter 2 , Mortal Combat 2 , Smash TV , robotron , Gemotery Wars ect

Its not like XBOX 360 doesn't have games like most of you thinks

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RE: agreed

By OrSin on 7/24/2006 9:07:44 AM , Rating: 2

Great list of games, but none of them are out yet.
Why list 12 good games when at least 10 are not out yet.
I own the xbox and i'm pissed as well. All I use it for is media extender. I got mine late so I only had 6 months with it. The truth is if you dont play sport games thier is nothing out.

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RE: agreed

By tuteja1986 on 7/25/2006 8:40:48 AM , Rating: 2

well these are my Fav XBOX 360 games :

Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter << I love playing it online with my buddy ,

Burnout Revenge << if you haven't owned this game then you should get it as its best Arcadeish type Driving game ever released. XBOX 360 version has better graphic and totally new Online mode

Rockstar Table Tennis << its cheap and awesome

Anyways 1st year of Console launch always have crappy title...

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Not what I expected

By Alpha4 on 7/22/2006 6:00:35 PM , Rating: 2

Is it just me or is the overall state of affairs for next-gen gaming just disappointing this time around? Not only for the reasons stated above, but for the lack of support PS3 is getting and the Wii's ridiculous specs.

Yes, I know great gaming shouldn't require amazing visuals, but c'mon, 1.1ghz single-core PPC? How exactly is that next gen? I fear the novelty of Nintendo's Wii will partially wear off when developers can finally leverage the performance of the 360 & PS3 and when we're all adjusted to the Wii remote. After all, if it really was just about the gaming, wouldn't we all still be playing our Super Nintendos?

I know its been said many times before, but I feel the SNES era represented the golden age of gaming, and in all fairness that console was relatively powerful for its time.

However, there is one positive aspect to consoles in general that Microsoft seems to have brought to the table, and that is reduced time-to-shelf delay between generations. As an avid PC gamer I find 5+ years phenominally long. It would please me to see a 3rd console from microsoft in 2009, because really, whether you're buying games & accessories for xbox 1 or xbox 360, you're paying almost the same price. The only difference is the base hardware itself. Plus this time around Microsoft owns the intellectual properties to all of the xbox 360's key components, so backwards compatibility should not be a concern in the future.

RE: Not what I expected

By ChronoReverse on 7/24/2006 12:57:22 AM , Rating: 2

Single-core with proper SMT though. It shouldn't be that bad especially considering how efficient Nintendo hardware tends to be.

Besides, it does have a custom ATi graphics chip. Even if it's based on the one in the GC, it's still significantly boosted.

It's not going to match 360 or PS3 by a longshot, but I'd wager that it won't be a slouch either. Won't know for sure until it comes out though.

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RE: Not what I expected

By dwelve on 7/24/2006 4:37:21 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
...Wii's ridiculous specs...

Last time I checked, they haven't released any specs.

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RE: Not what I expected

By Alpha4 on 7/24/2006 8:13:12 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
Single-core with proper SMT though. It shouldn't be that bad especially considering how efficient Nintendo hardware tends to be.

I'll be the first to admit simultaneous multithreading has merit, and yes, the IBM Gecko proc that powered the cube did work wonders ;). But it may not be enough in a time when even dual core architecture is becoming mainstream for even low end gaming.

quote:
Last time I checked, they haven't released any specs.

I might've jumped the gun on that one, Sorry. I'm only basing it on rumors spread on a couple known tech sites. Particularly this one that has a big fat disclaimer on top that I didn't notice before :/
http://digg.com/gaming_news/Nintendo_Wii_@_1.1Ghz_...

However, based on the Wii's Micro stature its not hard to imagine that the specs will have to be scaled down to accomodate the wii's weak thermal dissipation and the power envelope of the IBM 970FX from which the IBM Broadway is derived.

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By Alphafox78 on 7/21/2006 6:46:19 PM , Rating: 2

I just got a DS, what games are you playing?
I picked up new super mario bros, mario kart ds and metroid hunter or something like that.

RE: DS

By Anh Huynh on 7/21/2006 7:14:42 PM , Rating: 2

I've been playing the New Super Mario Bros. I still need to pickup Trauma Center again, I traded it in when I got rid of my DS for the Xbox 360 but I picked up a DS Lite a couple weeks ago.

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Agree'd

By irsyz on 7/21/2006 10:07:45 PM , Rating: 2

I fit the very same situation. Bought my 360 in January (got lucky at Fry's :D) and got a slew of games for it. However those games got old and are no longer interesting. I've just been waiting for some new material, checking every week or two to see what "Coming Soon" titles pop up on ebgames/gamestop's website.

Someone mentioned chromehounds was good, might have to check it out.

I picked up a DS Lite on launch day and its incredible how much fun i've been having with it. This simple little handheld is delivering soo much more than the huge expensive white box.

RE: Agree'd

By One43637 on 7/24/2006 2:19:17 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
by irsyz on July 21, 2006 at 10:07 PM

Someone mentioned chromehounds was good, might have to check it out.

actually, the game is laughable if you're not into mechs. search for some videos of things exploding like mechs or buildings. you can see how they took advantage of the new hardware to wow you with the eye candy.

/sarcasm

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Xbox 360

By nerdboy on 7/21/2006 11:05:11 PM , Rating: 2

This is the reason I have not bought an xbox 360, I have seen all the games for it and i am not interested at all. I have on the other hand soft modded my old xbox and i am having a blast with that. put a 250 gig hard drive in your xbox and upgrade the ide cable and it makes it so quick(no loading times) and you can fit around 100 games or more and transfer more by ftp from you computer i need be. So there really is no need to pay for an xbox 360.

RE: Xbox 360

By irsyz on 7/22/2006 1:33:02 PM , Rating: 2

I've had a modded xbox since june 2002 ;). of course im using an x3 now and not the engimah i was using back then.

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Are you a new gamer?

By shaw on 7/24/2006 1:45:35 PM , Rating: 2

The first year of a console release traditionally is the hardest to bare (except N64 where ever year felt like it's first year). Could you name a console that had a smoking first year of life?

RE: Are you a new gamer?

By segagenesis on 7/24/2006 5:23:55 PM , Rating: 2

I dont know... ever hear of a little console called the Nintendo Entertainment System?

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Not Surprised, very much like Microsoft..

By techhappy on 7/24/2006 6:24:08 PM , Rating: 2

Alas, just another item in a long list of Microsoft disappointments. This is what happens when companies throw a lot of money around, but don't back up their reputation. Nonetheless, when PS3 comes out, things should ramp up.

RE: Not Surprised, very much like Microsoft..

By masher2

(blog) on 7/25/2006 10:03:27 AM , Rating: 2

> This is what happens when companies throw a lot of money around, but don't back up their reputation...

More accurate to say, "this is what happens when a company releases a new console". It was no different with the PS2...until the 2001 Christmas season, decent games were sparse.

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Agreed as well

By aos007 on 7/21/2006 6:17:48 PM , Rating: 2

That's why it's always best to buy any console well into its lifetime, for many good reasons. I won't be buying one until at least Halo 3 comes out. At least one must-have exclusive title is required in order to even begin to justify a purchase of any console. At current prices, XBOX360 needs more than one such title to be worth it to me. If Oblivion and Call of Duty 2 were exclusives, and Halo 3 was available (and was as good as previous two), then I'd seriously consider it for immediate purchase.

The problem of a hard core gamer or gadgeteer though is to be able to hold off on buying "just a little while longer". It's hard to walk into stores day after day and NOT walk out with one of those packages. But you know, lack of games and lack of M$ paying attention to exchange rate of CDN$ to US$ (hint: $399 does NOT equal $499, jerks), and ridiculous prices of accessories AND games (considering they're nothing special, and even worse, that PC versions run at least $10, often 20-30 bucks CHEAPER), and the thing NEVER being on sale (as a consumer I could not care less if they're losing money on it or not, these days I buy almost nothing if it's not on sale), the decision is much easier.

Subject

By epsilonparadox on 7/21/2006 6:31:58 PM , Rating: 2

I got my 360 the day after launch. PDZ was too arcady for me. I still play COD2 on XBL. GRAW is still a great online and offline game. Chromehounds is a blast to play online w/ all the customizations and I only get dropped when I jump in a room hosted by 512kbps dsl person thinking they can host 12-16 players. The games are there as long as your interest is there.

....

By das mod on 7/21/2006 7:04:26 PM , Rating: 2

it was said before, game developers should've focused on gameplay, not graphics.

RE: Where are the games?

By masher2

(blog) on 7/24/2006 10:54:50 AM , Rating: 2

The console's only been out 8 months...its about where the XBox and the PS2 were at similar ages. Now that the unit is has substantial market penetration, new games will roll out at an increasing pace.

no specs

By whalenapp81 on 7/24/2006 10:57:41 AM , Rating: 2

nintendo hasnt relaesed spec for the wii, as far as graphics chip and processor speeds so i dont know where ur gettting ur info, plus ur going to buy the wii for the games, like the ds, not the graphics, as far as i know the ds is still kicking psp's a**

Still early

By Trisped on 7/24/2006 4:28:49 PM , Rating: 2

Yes, there aren't many good games coming for the 360, but I haven't found many new games for anything worth buying. DS, SP, GC, PC. Part of it is the gamers expect too much, part is the overwhelming focus on eye candy taking money from the actual game play development. Part is because the next gen cycle hasn't really started. It is almost like Microsoft showed up to a party that didn't start for 5 months. Then Sony delayed and now the MS is 12 months early for the party.

I expect a large number of titles for Christmas, but even then, who are they competing with? Sony is going to be under supplied and Wii is a different market.

I really want the XBox 360 to do well, but without direct competition Microsoft is just going to leave us hanging.

"So, I think the same thing of the music industry. They can't say that they're losing money, you know what I'm saying. They just probably don't have the same surplus that they had." -- Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA