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XBox (Games)

Comparing Xbox Launches 51

Posted by Zonk from the meet-the-new-boss's-boss dept.
IGN is running a piece taking a look at the launch of the Xbox 360, and comparing it to the launch of the original Xbox. From the article: "What we now have is some good old fashioned perspective, and since Sony's PlayStation 3 has yet to launch, what better system to compare the Xbox 360 to than its little brother, the Xbox. Our focus will be the launch of each Microsoft system. Specifically, we'll be answering these questions: How do the games that launched with the Xbox and Xbox 360 compare? What were the big issues surrounding each launch? What worked, what didn't? And which launch was ultimately better?"
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Comparing Xbox Launches More

Comparing Xbox Launches

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  • Comparing Two Failed Systems? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I'll pass.

    The 360 in all likelihood won't live past 2006. And that will put an end to Microsoft's pipe-dream of owning the living-room through a game console.

    The Microsoft of today is nothing like the Microsoft of four to five years ago:

    http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=MSFT&t=my [yahoo.com]

    11 billion shares outstanding, declining revenue growth, and flat to declining stock price are not the conditions favorable to another four to five billion dollar console marketplace fiasco.

    It is insane that there are still Xbox f

    • Re:Comparing Two Failed Systems? (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Don't count on this so long as Gates and Ballmer are at the helm of Microsoft. Both feel extremely strongly in this strategy. We're likely to see Xboxes until either the gaming market dries up, or Microsoft goes bankrupt, or Microsoft finally secures a position in home entertainment. You have to understand this is something they've been working at for a very long time. Before the X-Box was the WebTV nonsense (now rebranded to MSN TV). Recently, they created Windows Media Centre which had about as much
    • Why should I give a fuck about Microsoft's finances?

      I'll buy the console which 1. Does a better job with the big-market games on both platforms, and 2. Has better exclusive games.

      And since the only "exclusive" games to Sony that I care about (the GTA series) always get ported to the X-Box, Sony really doesn't have a lot to hold up and make me chose them over the X-Box 360, do they?
      • Why should I give a fuck about Microsoft's finances?


        Because if GP is right in his predictions, which are based on said finances, it might mean that GTA: New Jack City Yaboo Edition might NOT be ported to the 360, if it aint around anymore.
    • Talk about an extreme take on the issue. Despite the launch hiccups, 360 is in a great position. It will be the only next gen console for a year of its life.

      Does anyone seriously believe either Nintendo or Sony is putting out a console anytime in the next 9 months? Until that time, Microsoft owns the high end market. That year's time gives them a chance to iron out the wrinkles of the launch and to release some hyped up games. By the time PS3 and Revolution are playing first gen games, 360 users will be

  • Well, one huge difference... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Hamster Lover ( 558288 ) * on Saturday January 07, 2006 @07:09PM (#14418813) Journal
    was I was able to buy an Xbox at launch vs. the 360. I am beginning to think it was a good thing though with scratched discs, blown out power supplies and over heating issues. Not that I think Sony's Blu-Ray strategy is going to work for them either. I am certain we're not going to see the PS3 this spring in either Japan or America as inevitable delays will push everything back to a fall or winter release.

    Just me 2 cents.
    • The hardware for BluRay is all worked out already. I would expect the units to ship without a BluRay player and then a firmware release in the future to enable playing BluRay movies before Sony lets the launch be pushed back... Like they did with the browser and the PSP... If it gets pushed back it'll likely be for other reasons. Not that it will matter much. It would be a stretch to call the 360 "launched" at this point (It's almost as if they're using the Nvidia definition of the word), and there isn't an

  • Strange comparison (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Matthias Wiesmann ( 221411 ) on Saturday January 07, 2006 @07:16PM (#14418835) Homepage Journal
    I did not find the article very informative, but well... It actually boils down to something like "there were a lot of technical glitches and the game line-up for the 360 was not very good, many games are sequels and some star games (Halo and Dead or Alive) are missing but the 360 is much better because the technology of the console is more advanced and you can download trailers..."

    The problem when you do a sequel is that you are trying to please the people who liked the original version. Because of this, your target demographic gets older (all the existing customers have gotten older, and you need really a lot of young customers to offset this), this means usually people with more money, but more conservative tastes.

    In this sense, a given system is linked to a certain "generation", that largely stays with a system they know. I suspect that the really new games will come out on consoles for younger people, either cheaper or more portable systems.

  • I don't get it (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ClamIAm ( 926466 ) on Saturday January 07, 2006 @08:01PM (#14418998)
    They say the 360 launch "wins" because of Online, HD, and "because they pulled it off". Now, let's think about this for a second. I would say that a "successful" launch means maximum enjoyment of the people who buy the system. Who would actually enjoy this launch?

    First, there was a huge shortage of consoles (at least in North America), so you had to either wait outside a store all night or somehow get lucky by knowing when a shipment was going to arrive. Add to this you either have to spend $400 for the "good" console or even more than that to purchase the things that don't come with the Core version. You also need an HD set to really see the graphical improvements. And then you have to pay for Live, which means you're also paying for broadband.

    Sorry, but the only people I see enjoying this launch are fanboys (MS fanboys? WTF?), braindead games journalists, and rich idiots who think shiny toys make them "hip" or something.

    • Re:I don't get it (Score:1, Redundant)

      by Golias ( 176380 )
      Sorry, but the only people I see enjoying this launch are fanboys (MS fanboys? WTF?), braindead games journalists, and rich idiots who think shiny toys make them "hip" or something.

      You missed one group:

      HDTV owners who like playing console games on a big screen in their living room.

      I'm in my mid-thirties, and pretty much everybody from my peer group either already has an HDTV or is planning on buying one within the next year. Most of them like console games, and currently own either the old X-Box or the Pla
      • So you're a combination of the first and third groups. Sorry for not spelling out that you didn't have to fit into one group only.
      • You make it sound like the X360 is the only next-gen console to support HD output. And like current gen systems cannot do HD.
        • So you have to be a "fanboy" and/or trying to be "hip" to think it would be fun to play X-Box 360 games in HD, huh?

          I think there is a fanboy in this conversation, and I don't think it's me.

          Can your tiny little mind possibly comprehend the possibility that some people might have different tastes in console games than you, and that doesn't make them lesser people?

  • Shall I partake? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The 360 doesn't give me a single reason to purchase the system. 3-4 "good" titles in my book doesn't want to make me spend $400 for a box that I know will just sit around and collect dust until the day a game comes out that I won't be able to put down.

    The original Xbox had this, Halo. I don't buy consoles to invest in a hopeful future of amazing games.
    • Too true... and odds are even if the game is a really good one, you'll probably be able to get it on the computer anyways.... with the exception of a few
    • I've got a 360, I've had it since December 22nd. I haven't put the controller down yet.

      A lot of the games are awesome- PGR3 and Call of Duty 2 in particular.

      Then there is Geometry Wars. I've been late to work because of that one quite a few times- "Just one more game!"

      And the integration with my computers is also a great thing.

      Yes, I have one and I love it. The other people I know who have a 360 also love them. All of the negative noise I hear is from people who don't have a 360....
      • Whoops, that should have been November 22nd.

      • Re:Shall I partake? (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        A lot of the games are awesome- PGR3 and Call of Duty 2 in particular.

        Then there is Geometry Wars. I've been late to work because of that one quite a few times- "Just one more game!"

        PGR3 is just a prettier version of the older ones. Call of Duty 2 is another generic WW2 shooter that was out a while ago on the PC. Geometry wars and similar games are available all over the web. Why the hell you would want to pay $500 for a console + Live costs instead of playing it for free online is beyond me.

        Yes, I have one
        • Yeah, I hear that a lot-

          "PGR3 is just a re-hash...Call of Duty 2 is also available on the PC..."

          My question is: Does that make them lesser games?

          No. I haven't played PGR2, nor have I played COD2 on the PC. I just look at this from the perspective of someone who bought the console, and bought a few games- it's great.

          Geometry wars wouldn't be playable on any controller without two sticks. There is no way to play that game on a PC, so I'm not sure what would be available 'all over the web.'
    • Well, eventually it'll have Linux on it. And I'd LOVE a $400 Linux box with that kind of power.

  • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Saturday January 07, 2006 @08:17PM (#14419073)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:Next week we'll compare the PS one to the Xbox (Score:5, Interesting)

      by crazyphilman ( 609923 ) on Saturday January 07, 2006 @09:10PM (#14419250) Journal
      Technically superior?

      I just played through Half Life 2 on the original XBox, and it was pretty darn near photorealistic. The game looked fantastic. Many other games on the XBox look great, including Halo 2 and the original Halo. They're already at the point where they look like real life; how much better can graphics really get?

      On top of that, even the Playstation II is showing some amazing graphics lately. I've played through some gorgeous games, where the backgrounds were just stunning.

      To put this in perspective, I recently tried out a WWII game on the XBox 360 in a Gamestop store, and really, I couldn't see any big difference between that and Half Life II's graphics. It looked pretty much the same to me. I think the only real difference between the two was that the WWII game had clouds of smoke you could run through, which I didn't see too much of in Half Life. But Half Life DID have smoke, so this was probably a game design thing.

      Come on, really -- what's the difference? What does the 360 provide that the XBox doesn't already give us? I'd like to know.

      If it's just a small step up in graphics quality, what's the big deal?

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
        Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • yeah, I know what the score is, but it saddens me that it has to be this way. Luckily, there's a huge market of used equipment to fall back on. And I'm going to snap up some more PS-IIs (and related games) while they're dirt cheap. I figure, if I have a PS-II and some spares, I can go almost forever on my existing game collection alone.

          The way I look at it, games are already "good enough" (read: cartoon quality or better) to be absolutely fun without all the fancy hardware. I'm just going to stock up on eve
      • I just played through Half Life 2 on the original XBox, and it was pretty darn near photorealistic. The game looked fantastic. Many other games on the XBox look great, including Halo 2 and the original Halo. They're already at the point where they look like real life; how much better can graphics really get?

        Answer: a lot better. You think they look like real life now, but two or three years down the line, you'll think today's games look like crap.

        How do I know this? Simple: I've been there. Look, I can r
      • To be honest, the real step up is being accessable to all ages, thorugh the Xbox Live Arcade. Every time I see an Xbox 360 in a gaming store, I ALWAYS quit CoD2 and boot up Hexic HD. At first it was to piss off passerbys who wanted GOOD GRAPHICS LOL. But I found that the game turns many more older people's heads that go "Oh hey, that looks fun" or "I think I have that on my computer! What else does this thing have?".

        Xbox 360 didn't just do the same thing, but better graphics. I'm really impressed wit

  • Launch "success" (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Xugumad ( 39311 ) on Saturday January 07, 2006 @11:26PM (#14419731)
    I think the article's idea of a successful launch is highly questionable. The launch did strictly speaking succeed - they launched a console. I've backed up Microsoft on a lot of decisions they made, particularly the global launch, but I think they made mistakes too.

    First of all, I'm noticing an incredible lack of interest in the Core version. It's looking to me as if they should never have made a Core version, particularly not at launch. Launching with only the Premium, using the high price to control demand, and possibly releasing the Core later as a cut down version, would probably have worked better. To be honest, by the time users buy a memory card instead of a hard drive, the cost saving is so minimal as not to be worth having.

    Secondly, handling of who got a console when has been a major issue, and particularly the mess with who knows how many XBox 360s being bought just for the purpose of being sold at a massive profit on E-Bay. I think a better solution would have been for Microsoft to handle supply of XBox 360s themselves, until demand dropped down; customers would buy online, or by phone, or by post, and be entered into a single, global queue, with orders handled on a strictly first come first served basis. Resistrict orders to one per household, and you've got a launch that's as good as it gets. Of course, this would really irk the retailers, but I think that's less of an issue in this case.

    Discuss.

  • A non-bought comparison (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SmallFurryCreature ( 593017 ) on Saturday January 07, 2006 @11:33PM (#14419752) Journal
    The X-box was "new". It was fresh. It meant a new player in a market that had been neatly carved in two.

    It also stood a chance of actually happening unlike some stuff like the phantom and other console vaporware wich never had the kinda backing needed to take on Sony.

    MS took some intresting decisions. It used existing hardware with minor modifications to simplify and speed up development wich in theory should have made it cheaper but in the end made it a more limited machine with a lot of security flaws (from MS viewpoint) meaning it was hacked to hell and back.

    The PS2 continues to be pushed to new heights, the X-box is maxed out. It is kinda sad when a system over 1.5 years older (ps2 early 2000, x-box late 2001) continues to be as powerfull as your new release.

    Nonetheless the new kid on the block powered some chances. Despite the fact that none of the current generation seem to include a HD by default it seems that it is going to be an almost essential add-on. Live for better or worse was also a sorta wakeup call especially for Nintendo.

    All of the console industry seems to have decided that Japan is THE market. If you don't sell there then you are a failure. It is an odd way to decide a failure because it seems to ignore that if company A sells extremely well in area A then company B is simply going to have less chance since many people do not want 2 consoles. In economic size europe (or everybit of the world that is not japan or north america) is bigger but ofcourse also more expensive to produce for (language barriers, lots of different laws (Sony was "forced" to exchange every PSP even with 1 subpixel error in Holland for instance, something they refused to do in the rest of the world)).

    The X-box did okay in america and europe and was considered a failure in Japan. Sales figures are hard to trust but most people seem to have decided that sales wise Sony took the absolute lead with MS and Nintendo fighting for 2nd and 3rd place with Nintendo perhaps being the only one to make a clear profit on their console/software.

    The 360 is the first of the new generation wich already shows you one intresting oddity about the console market. The PSP/DS are not counted as consoles. They cost as much as a console PSP is more expensive then a PS2 and the DS is more expensive then a Gamecube and the games retail at the same price as the bigger consoles. Nintendo has certainly proven that you can survive on just handheld sales.

    But nevermind, this is game country were normal business rules do not apply. The 360 is in almost every aspect the X-box V2. Although its internal hardware is not a off the shelf as the PC like original it is neither as specialist as the PS3. The exact same thing is happening with the PS3 being claimed to be a bitch to develop for and the 360 being easier. Since we already know the PS2 turned out to haven hidden powers and the x-box was quickly maxed it will be intresting to see what happens this time. Will the 360 continue to get better games, will the PS3 be underused at launch?

    What is different is that for the first time in history Europe got a launch before Japan. This might be seen as a snub to the japanese or could be due to the fact that certain european countries like for instance holland have their gift holiday earlier in the month of december (the 5th to be precise) and that japan does not have as strong a tradition of giving expensive presents in december. (or so I am told)

    Nonetheless it seems the 360 is yet again not exactly setting Japan alight. The causes could be many but since MS claimed that Japan was an important market they have themselves made it look like the 360 is not the success they hoped for.

    In fact even america and europe are not certain yet. Sure they are sold out but so are McClaren F1's. Current sales figures are just to low to decide on success or failure yet. I don't think there is anything artificial about it. Almost every new product has shortages on launch. Just try to buy a new popular car at la

    • oh, so close. i agree with you 110%, right until you mention PC gaming. i agree, the PC can be a great platform, but the whole point of the console is you have a set criteria of hardware to deal with. that is why i like consoles. the PC hosts my favorite game of all time (urban terror, no link, look it up yourself) but when it comes to new games, i don't feel like upgrading anymore. i tried HL2 on my ATI 8500 (i think) and it looked... okay. i bought it used for the XB for 20$ and it looked better on a s
      • I think that all the gaming platforms should be counted. You can't just say. Oh PC is hard or expensive so it is not a gaming platform. You may not like it as a platform but that doesn't make it a platform. Think of it like this. Porches are cars but very expensive to repair/maintain so should they be excluded from a list of cars?

        Oh and you can play an awfull lot of cheap games on a cheaper PC. Remember that shocking article that said there are more female gamers then male in certain age groups? Well they

    • The X-box was "new". It was fresh. It meant a new player in a market that had been neatly carved in two.

      Personally, I think this is probably the most significant factor that differentiates the two launches. The Xbox was the first generation console out of Microsoft. Sony had already made one successful console, whereas Nintendo had been in business for generations. Sega had just gotten out of the console business, leaving the playingfield down to 2 major competitors. However, this time around, Microsof

      • Misundestanding HD=harddisk NOT High Def (Score:4, Interesting)

        by SmallFurryCreature ( 593017 ) on Sunday January 08, 2006 @03:39AM (#14420614) Journal
        And a HD harddisk has a definite advantages in that you can do patches AND release content via the internet.

        Even the revolution is getting more storage to support Nintendo's internet shop of old games. Wich I think proves that Nintendo has taken note from x-box live that a networked console can be a good thing.

        It will be intresting to see what is going to happen with MMO games. They all seem to require a HD and Sony's biggest MMO's are PC only because of Memory limits on the current consoles.

        MMO games have huge draw for game companies. Impossible to pirate and continued income. Blizzards accountant must be having a constant hardon. 4 million subscribers or so? that is 60 million dollars coming in each and every months. Most game companies would drool at reaching that in just single sales. Blizzard gets it each month. Why do you think Sony did a nutter with Star Wars Galaxies (and also dumbed down EQ2)?

      • For the most part, HD is a bullshit buzzword spread around to sell you more stuff. Most people really don't understand what it truly is, but it sounds cool and everyone's saying it so it must be good. HD can make games look better, but not necessarily. It won't make them play any better though. I'm an avid console gamer and play a lot of games these days, but I really miss the days of 2D gameplay. The last few generations have put an emphasis on 3D, which really doesn't enhance certain games in any way. Th

  • I feel that the Xbox got off to a better start as noting went very wrong like so meny not working and the like But saying that The 360 should do better cose they now have there foot in the gaming door.Jesas God

  • On the Xbox, we saw a group of rehashes from existing Dreamcast games, most notably the first appearance of Project Gotham Racing, which was almost identical to the DC's Metropolis Street Racer.

    and 1 paragraph later they praise PGR for being the first in a series.


    One thing that seems clear is that the Xbox launch had more originality than the Xbox 360. You've got the first titles in several now major franchises, namely PGR and Halo. There was also a wealth of unique titles at the Xbox launch

    Make up your min

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