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XBox (Games) Entertainment Games

Ninja Gaiden Hurricane Pack Debuts On Xbox Live 54

Posted by simoniker from the natural-disasters-a-go-go dept.
RobZ65 writes "The new upgrade to Ninja Gaiden, previously mentioned on Slashdot Games, has just debuted for download via Xbox Live. The pack features improved camera, more bosses, improved AI, a new weapon, and two new costumes. What do you fellow Slashdotters think about addressing customer complaints in downloads? GameSpy has hands-on impressions of the Hurricane Pack from a couple of weeks back, and IGN covers the new Intercept Technique for blocking and countering, if want more info."
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Ninja Gaiden Hurricane Pack Debuts On Xbox Live More

Ninja Gaiden Hurricane Pack Debuts On Xbox Live

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  • For non-live users? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Jonny_eh ( 765306 ) on Monday August 09, 2004 @01:52PM (#9921800)
    Will it be available on a demo disc with a magazine? I believe they did that for the extra Splinter Cell level. Would downloading it off the net, then FTPing the content to your xbox be considered 'illegal'? Especially if this update is more of a patch, then a content download.
    • Yeah, I think it will only be available on Xbox Live, somehow I think that it is intertwined with the Master Ninja Tournament, the Xbox Live Ninja Gaiden scoring system. That is too bad, especially considering that they had the cool addon content for DOA3 on the Official Xbox Magazine demo discs. I have Xbox Live, but I don't play it all that often so I just use it to download levels and addon material.

    • Re:For non-live users? (Score:4, Informative)

      by jmarr ( 733717 ) on Monday August 09, 2004 @05:35PM (#9924146)
      actually, it's more of a content download than a patch. new enemies, new weapons and new costumes as opposed to new camera system, increased difficulty and increased speed. It's hard to call increased difficulty and speed a patch since they are not addressing user complaints or bugs - I doubt there were many that complained that Ninja Gaiden was too easy. The camera system could be looked at as a patch since so many complained about not being able to control it, but you really can't call it a bug either. get a free 2month subscription to Live and then cancel it.
  • ...the companies that usually have that mentality seem to assume everyone has access to affordable broadband. $100/mo for either high lag satallite or 144/144 IDSL isn't exactly appealing for me.

  • There goes an advantage of the console... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Beatbyte ( 163694 ) on Monday August 09, 2004 @02:16PM (#9922054) Homepage
    It used to be that console games didn't need updates or didn't need add-ons. Now they seem to be getting into the same arena as a PC.

    And personally, I would feel ripped off if I bought the game and didn't get these addons because I had to sign up for X-box Live.

    The gap between console and PC thins out a little more.
    • I'm pretty sure consoles still have a loading advantage, but as they become more and more like prefab PCs, maybe even that will change.

    • Re:There goes an advantage of the console... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Quarem ( 143878 ) on Monday August 09, 2004 @02:53PM (#9922364)
      "It used to be that conole games didn't need updates or didn't need add-ons."

      Rather I think it is that they couldn't have update or couldn't have add-ons because there was no way to deliver new content. Now that a system exists to deliver new content online I see no reason why console developers shouldn't take advantage of this opportunity to give fans a little more.

      Anybody that has played Ninja Gaiden knows that the game was darn near perfect. This Hurricane Pack was not "needed" at all; it's a little extra for all those fans out there. It should also be noted that this pack is being released forthe second round of the Master Ninja Tournament, to add something fresh and more difficult for this round of competition.

      With respect to patches and updates for console games, I think it is something that should be expected when gaming goes online. In most cases the shear amount of play that goes into an online game will reveal new bugs or game balance issues that were not seen during testing. The amount of testing before release to fix most of these issues would be unreasonably long. Heck they are still working out bugs and game balance issues in Warcraft 3 and Starcraft and those games have been around for years now. Developers should just be ready to deliver fixes for problems that appear after release (unlike Ubisoft).

      "And personally, I would feel ripped off if I bought the game and didn't get these addons because I had to sign up for X-box Live."

      The fees that people pay for Xbox Live help pay for the development of new content. Xbox subscribers should feel ripped off if they paid for new content like this that was delivered to everyone freely.
      • The fees that people pay for Xbox Live help pay for the development of new content.

        No, they don't. They go towards maintainence of the XBox Live service itself. Tecmo probably didn't see a penny from XBox Live subscriptions.
      • > The fees that people pay for Xbox Live help pay for the development of new content.

        BS. This isn't the monthly fee for a MMOG - you're paying $5/mo. (however much) for the priviledge of playing multiplay on Microsoft's network, tiny amounts of bandwidth for downloads, and miniscule amounts of server space to host your player name.

        Yeah, it's a cheap service, but you're paying for what every PC gamer gets for free.

        -lw
        • XBOX Live isn't the same thing as a PC that's Online... If you are playing Everquest on your PC, you can't see your friends playing Age Of Mythology... It's a central server system that everyone logs into no matter what game they are playing. It's a SERVICE and last time I checked, you paid for those - i.e. dry cleaning, aol, U.S. Citizen, etc...
          • > It's a SERVICE and last time I checked, you paid for those

            Like AIM, All Seeing Eye, Xfire, being able to download patches & mods from the devs, publishers, or a third party site (Fileplanet)?

            Oh wait, those are all FREE SERVICES. Great example with EQ btw - you can run AIM in-game, so you can see if your friends are playing AoM.

            Because you, me, or anyone can download software development kits for programming languages like C, C++, Java, etc - and program them in our spare time to meet whatever d
            • This is a whole network for crying out loud, not just a server browser.

              Xbox Live is not just a server browser and a master server, it has the best friends list implimentation I've ever seen in an online community, voice chat integration (with the ability to leave little voice messages), plus a centralized and DLC (as opposed to grabbing files from the server). That's rather complex, and more than just a master server and a browser with relatively little overhead.

              You either pay for the service, or you s

              • > This is a whole network for crying out loud, not just a server browser.

                So it's a: Server browser (free for every non XBL MP game, plus there are several free unified game browsers), friends list (AIM, XFire, all free), voice chat (roger wilco, teamspeak, all free), plus download (free for every non XBL MP game, patches for SP games, etc).

                Note that implementations without banner ads exist for all of these. So you don't either pay for the service, or see the ads; you only pay for the service if you ha
                • Sadly, I don't really have a counter argument for your points. You are right, every single person who is playing an online game is running Teamspeak 2, has AOL Instant Messenger and has it easily accessable from within the game. If the PC was like this, I would have a slightly different opinion. As it is, however, there are too many standards and too little integration. Kudos to Steam and Battlenet for taking that important step, and I appriciate that built in voice chat support for Half Life is getting
                  • > You are right, every single person who is playing an online game is running ...

                    Have you ever muted or banned someone while playing on XBL? Or run into someone who wasn't using their mic? I'm sure you have, because every person I've spoken with has expressed similar experiences; not everyone is mature enough to be allowed mic access.

                    On the other hand, the majority of Battlefield servers also run Team Speak (and I believe UT2k4 has voice built into the game); I use XFire to know which of my friends a
                    • Have you ever muted or banned someone while playing on XBL? Or run into someone who wasn't using their mic? I'm sure you have, because every person I've spoken with has expressed similar experiences; not everyone is mature enough to be allowed mic access.

                      The same people who use their mic stupidly are probably the same people who spam OMG U N00B HAX0R WALLHACK LOL in Counterstrike. And in addition, I've run into people on PC games with mic access who shouldn't have it. You get idiots no matter where yo
      • The fees that people pay for Xbox Live help pay for the development of new content.

        No they don't! They used to pay for Ed Fries crack habit, but now J Allard rolls and smokes them personally.

    • Re:There goes an advantage of the console... (Score:4, Informative)

      by blueZhift ( 652272 ) on Monday August 09, 2004 @02:57PM (#9922402) Homepage Journal

      Oh I don't know about that. I remember when Gran Turismo 2 came out for Playstation, it was full of bugs [ign.com], which Sony initially denied but eventually had to own up to and ship CDs with a fixed version. I'm sure they would have killed to be able to just put a patch on the net for download.

      While it's true, that some companies have pushed out buggy products because they knew they could patch it later, it's also true that real enhancements can be made the same way. So on balance it's a good thing. Besides, on the console a game still has to get past the console owner (ie Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo) before they can press disk 1. But even with that, as games become more complex, it is inevitable that bugs will slip past the QA process.

    • Wouldn't you know it, I love Ninja Gaiden, but I don't use Xbox Live (wtf would I want to play games against 14 year olds who have nothing else to do but play all day, and when they kick my ass call me a "bitch?"). Is there any other way to get this upgrade without having to sign up for XBL?
      • A lot of the newer XBL enabled games come with a coupon code for a free 2 month trial of XBL. If I remember correctly (and I could certainly be wrong), it mentioned not needing a CC number to use the trial. I've been waiting for this Ninja Gaiden pack to go live before using mine :-)

  • Holy Crap!!! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Peteloaf ( 791313 ) on Monday August 09, 2004 @03:28PM (#9922776)
    Come on now, it's the same thing again. Tecmo, COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT of Microsoft, releases a FREE add-on to an incredibly popular game and all you guys can do is cry foul? HOW? It's a FREE add-on with new content & a new reason to play the game! Do you want Tecmo to come and give everybody free money and openly declare there hatred for everything you don't like? What does it take to please you people?

    And by the way, how many of you would be crying foul if this were a free add on for a PS2 or GC game, huh?

    • Re:Holy Crap!!! (Score:4, Interesting)

      by fwitness ( 195565 ) on Monday August 09, 2004 @03:59PM (#9923073)

      A whole lot to discuss here. The question is essentially this.

      Is the effect of internet access on console machines an asset or a liability?

      The answer cannot be solved by a four-line /. comment unfortunately. This particular patch seems to be an excellent candidate for discussion though. This patch is both a bugfix (camera updates) and updated content (new moves/weapon).

      First, bugfixes. It would be nice if we lived in a world where patches were unneccessary. In this world all developers felt a supreme responsibility to the user to release a bug-free, 100% enjoyable experience. This would mean that the developers would have unlimited budgets, unlimited time, and have volunteers test each part of a game. Those volunteers would of course not be allowed to 'leak' info about an unreleased game, lest someone review a beta of the game and destroy the games sales potential (think of the prerelease of 'The Hulk'). These users wouldn't need a non-disclosure agreement because they are perfect users who completely understand the development cycle of software, the retailing system, and the social environment in every market in which the game is released. There would be no bugs in any released version of any game, since the developers would *never* bow to any deadlines told to magazines, or orders from marketing to ship the product early.

      Let's face reality though, this isn't going to happen. There will always be some low end developer looking to make a quick buck, and won't put in proper R&D.

      Next, new content. Back in perfect world, those same developer also know exactly what everyone wanted in their game ahead of time, and included it all. Since they had unlimited feedback from testers and the public, this was not even an issue.

      Obviously this is also unrealistic. What we want is perfect world, but it isn't going to happen due to human nature. Until then we need to vote with our dollars. Don't buy games that are buggy on release (*especially if they are fixed later*) but do buy games after they've added new content. It isn't the perfect solution, but it's the one that gets the job done.

      The last thing is yes, the /. crowd is biased against Microsoft. If it were a PS2 or GC game there would be much less complaining. The problem is that Microsoft, and those making software for their products, have been known to use the rush/patch idea before, so there is legitimate concern for worry. It's up to the gamers of the world to tell those companies that we won't buy HaloXP 3.5 Service Pack 6a just because you didn't get it right the first time.

      • Re:Holy Crap!!! (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Vaevictis666 ( 680137 )
        This patch is both a bugfix (camera updates) and updated content (new moves/weapon).

        Now to me, the camera updates are just that - updates. The camera as was originally was nice, cohesive, and mostly all good. Other than a few clipping or perspective issues like running into corners (which damn near every 3rd person game gets) there was nothing really wrong with it. So calling a new method of viewing the gameplay a bug fix is a bit of a strech imo.

        Got any other examples of bugs? If not quit griping.

      • The new camera isn't a bugfix. It doesn't solve any of the 'problems' that bad players complained about in the first game (largely their inability to use the block button, though they blame it on the camera). It is essentially unusuable in combat, as everyone expected. Not a bugfix.

      • Re:Holy Crap!!! (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Allanon01 ( 673502 )
        This patch is both a bugfix (camera updates) and updated content (new moves/weapon).
        The camera doesn't have a bug that needs fixing, it works just as the developer intended. Just because some people don't like how it works doesn't make it a bug. Also, the new content doesn't change the camera. It adds a new camera feature, the old method has not been changed. The user presses a button to switch between the new camera mode and the original.
  • I can't believe how many people are upset about this. New content comes out and people bitch and complain. Quick, someone call the whaaabulance.

    I was going to explain why this is a good thing, when it hit me. People aren't bitching about the new content, they are bitching because...
    They don't have XBL and can't get the content
    Don't have an XBOX, and therefore, this must be substandard because their PS2 or GC is better.
    Hate MS, so anything that is connected to MS is bad

    Come on people. Let's use a

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