Rumors of Xbox 360 launch games

Xbox 360 Titles Race to Launch
Wow, the things I\'ve heard! You\'d think that the guys who make games -- designers, programmers, and producers among others -- were a little like gossipy little high school girls. Man, do they love to, eh-hem, talk shop. We\'ve learned that in addition to Microsoft\'s Perfect Dark Zero being a potential launch title, a few more are being lined up to boot.

These are lots of racing games coming your way. Microsoft is working diligently on Project Gotham Racing 3, lined up as a launch title, along with Atari\'s Test Drive, EA\'s Need For Speed Underground 3, perhaps Criterion\'s next Burnout title, and a renewal of a special Namco racing series. At least one more Japanese developer is officially in development with yet another racing title. So, what is that, six racing games at launch?

Launch Waves
Furthering its launch strategy, we\'ve learned that Microsoft plans on shipping titles in waves. So, instead of releasing all 30 or 40 games simultaneously, MS will ship 15, maybe 20 games at launch, followed two weeks later by a second wave of maybe five to 10 games. Two to three weeks later, after everyone is full with the games they\'ve bought, tasted, and fallen in love with, another wave of 10 or so games will wash in like the tide. It appears Microsoft has studied past hardware launches and analyzed which elements work best. All we can hope is that the hardware shipments are as plentiful as the potential software releases.

Halo 2.5
IGN\'s heard a new spin on the old pup. So, after all the hub-bub about Halo 2.5, which was spurned on by the game\'s abrupt ending and Bungie\'s supposed mad rush to finish it (also partially squashed by the Multiplayer Map Pack), this old dog has the balls to stick his head out again.

A source close to Bungie said that Microsoft plans to release Halo 2.5 with the launch of Xbox 360 this November. The game is allegedly nothing more than a prettied up, high-res, 720p, wide-screen version of Halo 2 -- with perfectly polished cutscenes sans those nasty LOD pop-in textures. Why would you want it, since you and 7 million other people already own it? Well, it\'s prettier for one, and who knows, maybe there are those same maps on it for Xbox 360, and maybe, just maybe it will come bundled with the hard drive, which is sold separately. It\'s just a rumor, but one of those nasty, sounds-like-it-could-be-true ones that stick to you. Kinda hard to skip the hard-drive when Halo 2.5 is on it, don\'t you think? And honestly, do you really think Microsoft will launch its new system without its ultra-successful flagship title Halo?

http://xbox.ign.com/articles/607/607007p1.html

I\'d love to see a new console Ridge Racer.

The launch wave strategy is great, but I hope it goes on longer than 3-4 weeks.  My biggest complaint with most of my consoles is that the games tend to dry up after the first month, however it seems as though MS plans to have about 40 games out within two months of launch!

Halo 2.5...If it\'s free with the HD then I\'m okay with that, but it better not be a stand alone game.

There is this video game exhibit my my museum of science and industry where you can play basically all the games (there are 100\'s or something) and they had the original ridge racer. It was so damn fun.

After playing that and remembering all the good times with the RR series, I too would like to see a new one on next gen systems.

I am still very amazed that so much is heard about XBOX2 support.There is a bigger interest compared to XBOX\'s.Impressive.Developers must be very astonished by what they have seen.
Still not a word for PS3.Either they are hiding information purposely or its very very very far from completion.So far that developers cant make decisions

[Living-In-Clip]

If they launch with Halo 2.5 it\'ll be a diaster. Halo 2 was nothing to brag about and making a "special edition" of it for a launch title is plain stupid.


Then again, MS should of learned from Sony. Don\'t launch the HD after the system. Don\'t launch the HD seperate from the system. Either have one or don\'t. Add-on\'s do not sell.

[clips]

Originally posted by Unicron!
I am still very amazed that so much is heard about XBOX2 support.There is a bigger interest compared to XBOX\'s.Impressive.Developers must be very astonished by what they have seen.
Still not a word for PS3.Either they are hiding information purposely or its very very very far from completion.So far that developers cant make decisions

yea i agree..and i\'m not an xbox fan in any degree but this new joint has kinda peaked my curiousity...ultimately i\'ll probably end up with a ps3 for the simple fact that i refuse to buy more than one console per gen...but that doesn\'t dismiss the fact that ms, at least at this time is definitely makin\' waves in the indusrty...

who knows with xbox showin their stuff now, and if it\'s highly impressive, trust no hype or slick marketing by sony will save them this time..nobody is going to fall for it...sony better make sure they come with a system that\'s stronger graphically and performance wise than ms...or at least on equal grounds with it...

Originally posted by Living-In-Clip
If they launch with Halo 2.5 it\'ll be a diaster. Halo 2 was nothing to brag about and making a "special edition" of it for a launch title is plain stupid.

It\'s not as if it\'s the only launch title, and we\'re not even sure it\'s a stand alone game.  If it\'s free with the HD then there\'s nothing to complain about.

Don\'t launch the HD seperate from the system. Either have one or don\'t. Add-on\'s do not sell.

I guess it depends what you want to do with your Xbox 360.  A 40GB harddrive would surely be enough to hold downloadable content, music, etc.  But if you\'re one who doesn\'t plan to go online then perhaps you should just stick with good old memory cards, which seems to be an option looking at the latest mock-ups.

Me, I never got past the "50,000+ blocks remaining" on my Xbox harddrive.  Then again, I didn\'t download any content or rip my music onto the harddrive for custom soundtracks.  The inclusion of a harddrive was wasted on me.

Sony\'s HDD was supported by one big game, that\'s it.  I don\'t believe that any of Sony\'s games allow for custom soundtracks either.  It just didn\'t make sense to put down $100 for one, and apparently it didn\'t make sense for Sony to continue supporting it either.

We know that custom soundtracks are possible for every Xbox 360 game, we also know MS is really pushing customizable/downloadable content for next generation.  If MS effectively markets it then the HD will become a must-have to those who plan to go online/download/customize/rip their own soundtracks, etc.  

The inclusion of a HD for those who don\'t or can\'t get online, or don\'t care for custom soundtracks, would be entirely wasted money on MS\'s part.  That consumer will buy a $20 memory card like they\'ve had to for the past 10 years.

EDIT:

Also, it would be great if the HD acted like an Ipod.  The ability to download music is there, all we need is an interface and an earphone jack.  If they sold it for $100 or less that would be incentive enough to get the HD.

What happen to Halo 3?   Ah well can\'t wait to play Morrowind Oblivion.

Sony\'s HDD was supported by one big game, that\'s it.

can\'t blame sony for that

Originally posted by mm
can\'t blame sony for that

I\'m not pointing the finger, just making an arguement.

But, since you mentioned it...

Why shouldn\'t we blame Sony for the HDD\'s failure?  They were the ones who released it with such little support behind it.  If they couldn\'t get the developers behind it then it\'s common sense that it wouldn\'t last for too long.

Originally posted by pstwo
What happen to Halo 3?   Ah well can\'t wait to play Morrowind Oblivion.

If the rumors are true then you can expect to see it sometime around the PS3\'s launch.

what support did SoE need to release?

it\'s there for dev\'s to use it
why don\'t dev\'s use it?

cause there\'s little need for a hard drive on consoles.  

honestly, how may people suffered thru the xbox cd ripping process to have thier own soundtracks in games?  i did it once, and realized how lame it was.

Originally posted by mm
what support did SoE need to release?

it\'s there for dev\'s to use it
why don\'t dev\'s use it?

Because there was little incentive to jump on.  I think Final Fantasy XI and Socom 2 were two of a few games to use the HDD.  2 games alone will not sell a $100 accessory.

The HDD shouldn\'t have been released at all on the PS2, and that\'s apparent because few of Sony\'s first party games planned on using it.  

cause there\'s little need for a hard drive on consoles.

Tell that to Sony and MS going into next gen.  Both plan on having some type of online service and microtransactions.  You can\'t do that without a place to store that information.  A small memory card won\'t cut it.  

Even Nintendo is rumored to have a 15 GB HD in the Revolution.  

Downloadable content will be common place soon.  

honestly, how may people suffered thru the xbox cd ripping process to have thier own soundtracks in games?  i did it once, and realized how lame it was.

I don\'t know, are you going to be able to ask every Xbox owner?  

I believe the HD is required for Xbox Live, and plus you need the space for the downloadable content.

cause there\'s little need for a hard drive on consoles.

from the gamer\'s perspective, there is little
from the money making company\'s?  huge

Originally posted by mm
from the gamer\'s perspective, there is little
from the money making company\'s?  huge

Why didn\'t you just say that before?  You didn\'t need to go and quote yourself just to make a point.  Not that it matters.

Question, how do you expect to achieve an online service with downloadable content and customizable features without massive storage?

Originally posted by Living-In-Clip
If they launch with Halo 2.5 it\'ll be a diaster. Halo 2 was nothing to brag about and making a "special edition" of it for a launch title is plain stupid.

The graphics will be the only selling point for it obviously. Im sure it will look great but the whole idea is somewhat lame.

Then again, MS should of learned from Sony. Don\'t launch the HD after the system. Don\'t launch the HD seperate from the system. Either have one or don\'t. Add-on\'s do not sell.

Expensive Add ons dont sell.

64 Jam Pack did well. There arent too many successful add ons but i enjoyed sega chanel and there are more than a few people that got the network adapter. Under promoted, under supported, useless and/or expensive add-ons seem to be the ones that dont make it.