Author Topic: "Big Holiday Games" for the Xbox (Read 8622 times)

couchmonkey · « **on:** May 01, 2003, 07:57:11 AM »

I was reading an interesting article on IGN's Xbox site. They were talking about the top five holiday games for the Xbox and I noticed that they seem pretty desperate! It seemed like they weren't even sure if most of the games would be available by Christmas and in several cases they didn't seem that convinced that the games would be all that good either. In at least three cases they argued that the game had to be out by holidays because if it wasn't, the Xbox would have a crap lineup of games for the holidays...that's some very wishful circular logic!

The games mentioned in the article were:
-Ninja Gaiden
-Counter Strike
-Crimson Skies
-Splinter Cell: Dark Blood Raven Crow Lion Rogue Snake Secret Spy Subtitle I Don't Remember
-Starcraft: Ghost

So what do Xbox fans think about this? Is Xbox on a collision course with disaster this year? Will these five games be ready in time and will they be good enough? Is IGN forgetting about some major games?

nitsu niflheim · « **Reply #1 on:** May 01, 2003, 09:47:35 AM »

Ninja Gaiden looks like it's going to be a game about pretty graphics and nothing else, and on top of that it doesn't look interesting to me, and I loved Ninja Gaiden on the NES. Of all of them, the one I am actually interested in is Starcraft: Ghost, and that is going to be on all three consoles so I will probably pick up the GCN version if the game actually turns out to be worth my money.

KatDaddy · « **Reply #2 on:** May 01, 2003, 10:03:26 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: nitsujdark
Ninja Gaiden looks like it's going to be a game about pretty graphics and nothing else, and on top of that it doesn't look interesting to me, and I loved Ninja Gaiden on the NES. Of all of them, the one I am actually interested in is Starcraft: Ghost, and that is going to be on all three consoles so I will probably pick up the GCN version if the game actually turns out to be worth my money.

How would you know anything about Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox? They've only released screenshots, and I think maybe one video that is old. What grounds do you have grading the gameplay when no details have been released.....LOL <rollseyes>

I know at least 4 of the games mentioned above (don't know much about the SS sequel) are going to be great, especially Crimson Skies. The gameplay footage, screenshots, and the fact that it is "live" enabled and will allow up to 16 players dogfighting or playing team dogfight pretty much makes it a "must have".

You're also forgetting about Fable (expected late 2003), which is supposed to be a fabulous RPG.

I don't really put much weight into anything said on IGN Xbox anymore. A day or two ago, they announced that Fable would not be out until mid-2004, and that "BC" wouldn't even be released on this generation Xbox.

The funny thing is this....a representative from both the Peter Molyneaux/BBB team and the Fable team refuted the "reliable" IGN Xbox information, and called it "ludicrous".

I love my Xbox and my Gamecube, and find it rather humorous that people have to "search" for things to bash about. Anyway, what's the "star-studded" holiday lineup for the Gamecube?

Ian Sane · « **Reply #3 on:** May 01, 2003, 10:11:38 AM »

Well I thought 2002's Xbox Christmas lineup didn't look like much and thanks to the Sega bundle and Splinter Cell the Xbox ended up selling better than the Gamecube that Christmas so really it's hard to pick these things. The Xbox seems to do perfectly fine with one super-mega-title a year and a bunch of generic me-too games so I'm sure financially it will be fine this year provided it has one big hit. Halo carried the Xbox for like a whole year after all.

Besides most of the big titles for Christmas are revealed at E3 so we can't really make any predictions yet because we haven't seen what the big lineups are for each console.

The Omen · « **Reply #4 on:** May 01, 2003, 10:21:02 AM »

Quote
I know at least 4 of the games mentioned above (don't know much about the SS sequel) are going to be great, especially Crimson Skies. The gameplay footage, screenshots, and the fact that it is "live" enabled and will allow up to 16 players dogfighting or playing team dogfight pretty much makes it a "must have

And where have you played these games? Your criticism should be directed at yourself. You know they are going to be great? LOL Everyone should be rolling their eyes at your ridiculous statements.

nitsu niflheim · « **Reply #5 on:** May 01, 2003, 10:24:26 AM »

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How would you know anything about Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox? They've only released screenshots, and I think maybe one video that is old. What grounds do you have grading the gameplay when no details have been released.....LOL <rollseyes>

Tecmo's track record lately leaves something to be desired. Their volley-breast (sic) game was about pretty graphics (and a little more) and nothing else. Sorry if my OPINION bothered you, but my opinion is that the game will be no different that DOA: Volleyball game, both made by Team Ninja. I am not going to get my hopes up for a phenominal game. If a game has great graphics then usually it assured that there will be no real game to back it up, that's the way things are now a days.

KatDaddy · « **Reply #6 on:** May 01, 2003, 10:35:57 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: The Omen
Quote
I know at least 4 of the games mentioned above (don't know much about the SS sequel) are going to be great, especially Crimson Skies. The gameplay footage, screenshots, and the fact that it is "live" enabled and will allow up to 16 players dogfighting or playing team dogfight pretty much makes it a "must have

And where have you played these games? Your criticism should be directed at yourself. You know they are going to be great? LOL Everyone should be rolling their eyes at your ridiculous statements.

I was being sarcastic, and using the same definitive "I know all" tone that was used previously....

OF course, no one knows exactly how each unreleased game will do. However, I can bank on Crimson Skies. I've seen enough of the gameplay video, chatted with devs, know the options, control schemes, etc....Of course I haven't put "hand to controller" and actually put in game time, but some PC'ers have an installment of the game, and say it's top notch.

We'll just have to see about Ninja Gaiden...initial previews rave about it. Who knows...

joeamis · « **Reply #7 on:** May 01, 2003, 01:07:48 PM »

Crimson Skies is already available on the PC?
LOL whats the point of having an Xbox then

EggyToast · « **Reply #8 on:** May 01, 2003, 01:29:12 PM »

Same with counterstrike. They'll attract Xbox owners who haven't played Counterstrike before, but, err, any fan of couterstrike already owns the game. Why buy it again for Xbox, where updates are slow and rare, vs. owning the PC game where the mod community is amazingly huge?

Hell, the game itself is a darn mod of Half-Life! Isn't it free to halflife owners?

KatDaddy · « **Reply #9 on:** May 02, 2003, 04:02:43 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: joeamis
Crimson Skies is already available on the PC?
LOL whats the point of having an Xbox then

Crimson Skies for the Xbox is the next installment. More content, etc....

Plus, I'd much rather play Counterstrike, Crimson Skies, Morrowind from the comfort of my leather couch on my 55" Phillips HDTV rather than at a desk on a 17" monitor anyday.

nitsu niflheim · « **Reply #10 on:** May 02, 2003, 06:24:38 AM »

While it's not one of the games listed, I am looking forward to Dino Crisis 3. Seems to be a significant departure from the previous 2 in the series and looks interesting as well.

KatDaddy · « **Reply #11 on:** May 02, 2003, 06:39:18 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: nitsujdark
While it's not one of the games listed, I am looking forward to Dino Crisis 3. Seems to be a significant departure from the previous 2 in the series and looks interesting as well.

Yeah...looks rather interesting...I have not seen a lot on this title, though...just random screen captures...

couchmonkey · « **Reply #12 on:** May 02, 2003, 07:03:28 AM »

Now that a few responses have come in...

I didn't mean to bash the Xbox, I'm merely interested in people's opinions on the Xbox lineup this year. From the tone of the article, it sounds like IGN Xbox is very uncertain about the system's holiday lineup, and I find it rare that IGN Xbox is uncertain about anything! I was interested in getting a reaction to this from people who are more interested in the Xbox than myself. I asked people to name games the article missed, and I phrased everything as a question. I did not say, "Xbox has no good games this holiday, HAHAHA!!"

I think Nintendo has an excellent lineup for the holiday season. Mario Kart, Pikmin 2, Final Fantasy, Rogue Squadron III, and probably Metal Gear Solid and one or two Capcom exclusives. Xbox may have an equally good lineup, but so far I haven't seen it, which is why I asked for opinions from people who might be more interested in XBox than myself.

Personally, I'd love to play Ninja Gaiden and Fable, but I'm indifferent to the rest except for Starcraft, which will be available on the GameCube anyway.

KatDaddy · « **Reply #13 on:** May 02, 2003, 07:36:26 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: couchmonkey
Now that a few responses have come in...

I didn't mean to bash the Xbox, I'm merely interested in people's opinions on the Xbox lineup this year. From the tone of the article, it sounds like IGN Xbox is very uncertain about the system's holiday lineup, and I find it rare that IGN Xbox is uncertain about anything! I was interested in getting a reaction to this from people who are more interested in the Xbox than myself. I asked people to name games the article missed, and I phrased everything as a question. I did not say, "Xbox has no good games this holiday, HAHAHA!!"

I think Nintendo has an excellent lineup for the holiday season. Mario Kart, Pikmin 2, Final Fantasy, Rogue Squadron III, and probably Metal Gear Solid and one or two Capcom exclusives. Xbox may have an equally good lineup, but so far I haven't seen it, which is why I asked for opinions from people who might be more interested in XBox than myself.

Personally, I'd love to play Ninja Gaiden and Fable, but I'm indifferent to the rest except for Starcraft, which will be available on the GameCube anyway.

It seems that lately, IGN Xbox has been really inaccurate with quite a bit of info.

By the way, I wasn't "poking" at the Cube lineup, I am actually curious... I haven't had my Cube long enough to really worry about researching other games. Zelda:WW, ED, and MP are keeping me quite content right now.

The one thing that I worry about with the Xbox is the release dates that are given to the general public. Constantly, it seems the AAA games get pushed out into the future rather often. It gets frustrating sometimes.

I may be wishful thinking about Fable coming out "Winter 2003". But I'm crossing my fingers. All indications point to this title being an AAAA title. From the articles, previews, screens, videos, etc. that I have seen, it should at least meet everyone's expectations, in my opinion.

Personally, I'm really excited about Brute Force (barring any delays..hehe) and Return to Castle Wolfenstein. RTCW is going to be a great game...the 2-level demo was probably the best FPS I've played on the Xbox since Halo....I guess we'll see....

nitsu niflheim · « **Reply #14 on:** May 02, 2003, 09:15:11 AM »

For as much as Fable is supposed to do, potenial-wise with its far-reaching story, scope and gameplay I'll be really surprised if it comes out this year. As much as I would like to play it this year, I would rather it be delayed until next year so it lives up to the hype that the game is garnering.

manunited4eva22 · « **Reply #15 on:** May 02, 2003, 12:41:02 PM »

Eh, Wolfensetin, they are still going to port that game over?

KatDaddy · « **Reply #16 on:** May 02, 2003, 01:07:57 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: manunited4eva22
Eh, Wolfensetin, they are still going to port that game over?

Yeah, Return to Castle Wolfenstein is due to be released in about 7 days. I played a 2 level demo that I got with OXM, and it was great. In my opinion, it's the best FPS since Halo. The only complaint I have is that the coloring was rather dark. At one brief point, it was hard to really see what was going on.

EggyToast · « **Reply #17 on:** May 02, 2003, 06:14:02 PM »

Yeah, I felt the same way about the IGN article. They basically said that they couldn't do what they did last year because they're not sure what the 3rd parties will come up with. Last year, they really lucked out with Splinter Cell -- if Splinter Cell bombed, the Xbox would've done quite poorly.

Big_Pimp · « **Reply #18 on:** May 02, 2003, 09:19:33 PM »

How can IGN Xbox already list The Top Five Holiday Games in the beginning of May? I say they should wait a few months before they make the top five list, im sure the Xbox has other good games coming up this year, wait for E3, either way, the GameCube has the best game lineup of 2003.

PointZero · « **Reply #19 on:** May 03, 2003, 04:14:14 AM »

Ign Xbox really does not know what games xbox is gonna have or their release dates.The only person actually to know is Ed Fries.
Xbox is more for FPS like look this year xbox is gonna have tons like Deus Ex 2,Doom 3,RTCW,Half Life 2,etc. Also M$ still has not given all the games coming this year like True Fantasy Live Online so far its only in japan but they may have a release date for the U.S.We all just have to wait for E3

BrianSLA · « **Reply #20 on:** May 03, 2003, 10:13:19 PM »

>> Ninja Gaiden ..... only screenshots..... <<

No OXM had a pretty long video of gameplay a few months back. It looks good..... the Ninja looks HUGE though ( both buffed out & in screen size ).

>> Splinter Cell...... <<

As I told all before SC & Metroid Prime came out...... SC would beat MP. I was right. Considering SC1 was a megahit last Xmas..... SC1.5 Whatever they call it will also be a major hit this holiday season.

>> Starcraft Ghost ..... coming to Gamecube <<

That isn't certain. Vivendi Universal Games is up for sale and who has the biggest deepest pockets in the world to buy them? Or they could already be sold as rumors go.

>> Is Xbox on a collision course with disaster this year? <<

Nope. I think Nintendo already shot it's biggest load this year ( Zelda Windwaker ). And again considering that we get a new Splinter Cell at the end of the year that will probably outsell anything Nintendo has coming out.... I doubt it. Starcraft Ghost will be a massive seller too. AND IF ALL else fails....... Microsoft will make 100% SURE that it will have atleast a few major massive titles for Xmas. If it doesn't look like a project will be ready.... they will do whatever it takes and spend whatever it takes to get a few major titles. Microsoft can afford to do that and will. And lets remember that ALMOST ALL the buzz on Splinter Cell started at E3. Who knows what game is there this year.

The fact is the Xbox has a great lineup this year for Xbox fans. We have Brute Force this month, Star Wars Knights of Old Republic ( the BEST Star Wars game ) in about 2 months, Star Wars Jedi Academy, and the best FPS shooters from DOOM 3 to Half Life 2 to Deus Ex 2 Invisible War, etc. All the mature action titles Xbox fans want. Xbox fans don't want the family friendly / kiddy games like Pikmin 2 or Mario Kart.

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Author Topic: "Big Holiday Games" for the Xbox (Read 8622 times)