The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
I have a worrying suspicion that the XBox will go the same way as the DC. Why is this?
Well, many people on here have said that they won't be buying one. If you scale that up to cover the entire console buying population, you get quite a few people who won't be buying Microsoft's box of tricks.
So what if they haven't released a console before? As has been mentioned many times before, the same was said of Sony before they launched the PSX and we all know how well that sold. MS have got all the ingredients of a great console in the making.
Firstly, the hardware, as this seems to be what most people quote when they talk about consoles. I'm not going to bore you with figures of polygons per second etc. What i will point out is that MS are using tried and trusted companies to make the components. The nVidia graphics chip should have no problems working with the processor, which was originally going to be an AMD chip but has now been changed to Intel. Along with it's RAM, which is the most a console has ever had the XBox hardware is spectacular.
As the hardware is so similar to a PC, developers should have no worries getting to grips with it. The "warming up" period, the time the developer have to spend getting the most out of the hardware, should be minimal. The likeness with a PC should mean that ports are going to be easy, and with the quality of PC games at the moment, B&W , Operation Flashpoint, Deus Ex etc, that can only be a good thing.
The XBox looks like it may have a strong launch as well. With Halo, Project Gotham (essentially M: SR with an extra city, tarted up graphics and AI and also destructible cars!) and another Abe's Odyssey game supposedly available at launch, along with a number of games that Sega have in development as well, the XBox will have a good line up.
But i still feel that the XBox will not do as well as it deserves, as did the DC. By the time it is released the PS2 will have established a large user base, and the 'Cube will have been out for a little while as well. I feel that a lack of established games like a Mario or a Sonic will also discourage people to buy the console. Although games like Halo and Project Gotham could well be classics, as not many people have heard of them, it may put them off slightly. Sony doesn't really have a mascot character, but they have the MGS and GT series which people recognize.
The DC didn't take off because of people remembered the Saturn and that put them off. Sony had also announced the PS2 and a large number of games were still being released for the PSX. The same sorts of things may put people off an XBox. Some people still relate Microsoft only with Windows and the problems they have experienced with that. The PS2 will probably be at it's peak of games releases and as i've mentioned before, the 'Cube will have only just been out.
I'm hoping people think of Microsoft as the company that made the first force feedback joystick and now the whole range of quality peripherals. The company that released classic games such as the Age Of Empires series.
But only time will tell whether Microsoft and the XBox can become a success.
Well, many people on here have said that they won't be buying one. If you scale that up to cover the entire console buying population, you get quite a few people who won't be buying Microsoft's box of tricks.
So what if they haven't released a console before? As has been mentioned many times before, the same was said of Sony before they launched the PSX and we all know how well that sold. MS have got all the ingredients of a great console in the making.
Firstly, the hardware, as this seems to be what most people quote when they talk about consoles. I'm not going to bore you with figures of polygons per second etc. What i will point out is that MS are using tried and trusted companies to make the components. The nVidia graphics chip should have no problems working with the processor, which was originally going to be an AMD chip but has now been changed to Intel. Along with it's RAM, which is the most a console has ever had the XBox hardware is spectacular.
As the hardware is so similar to a PC, developers should have no worries getting to grips with it. The "warming up" period, the time the developer have to spend getting the most out of the hardware, should be minimal. The likeness with a PC should mean that ports are going to be easy, and with the quality of PC games at the moment, B&W , Operation Flashpoint, Deus Ex etc, that can only be a good thing.
The XBox looks like it may have a strong launch as well. With Halo, Project Gotham (essentially M: SR with an extra city, tarted up graphics and AI and also destructible cars!) and another Abe's Odyssey game supposedly available at launch, along with a number of games that Sega have in development as well, the XBox will have a good line up.
But i still feel that the XBox will not do as well as it deserves, as did the DC. By the time it is released the PS2 will have established a large user base, and the 'Cube will have been out for a little while as well. I feel that a lack of established games like a Mario or a Sonic will also discourage people to buy the console. Although games like Halo and Project Gotham could well be classics, as not many people have heard of them, it may put them off slightly. Sony doesn't really have a mascot character, but they have the MGS and GT series which people recognize.
The DC didn't take off because of people remembered the Saturn and that put them off. Sony had also announced the PS2 and a large number of games were still being released for the PSX. The same sorts of things may put people off an XBox. Some people still relate Microsoft only with Windows and the problems they have experienced with that. The PS2 will probably be at it's peak of games releases and as i've mentioned before, the 'Cube will have only just been out.
I'm hoping people think of Microsoft as the company that made the first force feedback joystick and now the whole range of quality peripherals. The company that released classic games such as the Age Of Empires series.
But only time will tell whether Microsoft and the XBox can become a success.
Page:
£350 quite a bit compared to the GC!
Anyway the only way it might change my mind is that the games could work on a Microsoft PC
Anyway the only way it might change my mind is that the games could work on a Microsoft PC
In Comparison:
Gamecube: Around about £150, games still around £50, link up with handheld, you will be able to get a DVD version, has internet, four controller ports and uses disks!
X-Box: Around about £300, games around £30, no handheld to link up with, you can get a DVD version, has internet, four controller ports and also uses disks!
Which one will you choose! Seeming their both coming out in Spring 2002 and both have astonishing graphics 3D games!
Gamecube: Around about £150, games still around £50, link up with handheld, you will be able to get a DVD version, has internet, four controller ports and uses disks!
X-Box: Around about £300, games around £30, no handheld to link up with, you can get a DVD version, has internet, four controller ports and also uses disks!
Which one will you choose! Seeming their both coming out in Spring 2002 and both have astonishing graphics 3D games!
I am aso extremely interested in th XBox. When it was first announced i was definately going to get one.
I'm still interested, although being honest, the expected price difference between it and the 'Cube could well persuade me otherwise.
I'm still interested, although being honest, the expected price difference between it and the 'Cube could well persuade me otherwise.
ISSpro wrote:
> With all this consoles getting hard-drives and internet connections
> will it be possible for people to send viruses onto our consoles?
"No. According to Microsoft, you won't be able to use the console system as a web browser, meaning that you'll only use it to download new updates directly through games, or through a special Microsoft interface. That means that average hackers can't trick you into downloading viruses off of their sites, and so on. The content will be controlled by Microsoft, the game publishers, and the game developers."
Answer courtesy of another Q&A session on another site.
> With all this consoles getting hard-drives and internet connections
> will it be possible for people to send viruses onto our consoles?
"No. According to Microsoft, you won't be able to use the console system as a web browser, meaning that you'll only use it to download new updates directly through games, or through a special Microsoft interface. That means that average hackers can't trick you into downloading viruses off of their sites, and so on. The content will be controlled by Microsoft, the game publishers, and the game developers."
Answer courtesy of another Q&A session on another site.
With all this consoles getting hard-drives and internet connections will it be possible for people to send viruses onto our consoles?
Good to see that at least one person has sense on this site. I am referrin to FantsyMeister of course.
Biggles
Biggles
Just as long as the XBox doesn't have backwards compatibility to Windows 2000.
Agreed though, I really do believe that XBox will cause another revolution in the gaming industry, because the hype is all there, even Japan are starting to show interest in this "Yankee Product", and the Japanese are, imho, THE nation of gamers.
Already Microsoft have struck up deals with Japanese telecommunications companies to get broadband delivery on a mass scale into peoples homes, so if the Japanese telecommunications industry can see the benefit of the XBox I'm sure the gamers over there will as well.
Then, it's only a matter of time, before Bill Gates dominates the marketplace.
(/me hopes he invests a bit more in Quality Assurance for the XBox than he does with Microsoft Operating Systems though...)
Agreed though, I really do believe that XBox will cause another revolution in the gaming industry, because the hype is all there, even Japan are starting to show interest in this "Yankee Product", and the Japanese are, imho, THE nation of gamers.
Already Microsoft have struck up deals with Japanese telecommunications companies to get broadband delivery on a mass scale into peoples homes, so if the Japanese telecommunications industry can see the benefit of the XBox I'm sure the gamers over there will as well.
Then, it's only a matter of time, before Bill Gates dominates the marketplace.
(/me hopes he invests a bit more in Quality Assurance for the XBox than he does with Microsoft Operating Systems though...)
What do you mean by being the light?
Biggles
Biggles
I'm not really a fan of the sony console either but i dont want the x-box to succeed becasue i dont really see microsoft as being the light.
Here is the deal with the X-box. Microsoft don't want Sony to get any more of a grip in the electronics market than they already have. I want the X-box to succeed because as you may have gathered I don't like the PS or PS2 that much. I'm glad to see Microsoft move into the console market because they will be the only big company to have moved into the console market without having been in some sort of joint project. Sony released the PS after the collapse of their deal with Nintendo. Microsoft are really taking a big chance with the X-box and I think they are to be applauded for releasing the worlds most powerful ever console and supposedly having a marketing budget of $300 million . I think that over time the X-box will prove to be a success and that it might be the replacement for the PS in the publics heart. At the moment it doesn't seem to be that much hype around it for Joe Public. We gamers should forget about the PS2 and support MS and make the X-box a success ourselves. The hardware is very good indeed and it should produce some brilliant graphics. Over time the games will only get better as always happens with a console when developers get to grips with it. The gameply should be good if maximum use is made of the hardware and that rather large looking joypad. I think that the joypad may be quite good actually as it has quite a lot of buttons. Better than breaking your fingers trying to do combos in some games. The X-box I don't think will pose much of a threat to Nintendo as they have fans who will always buy Nintendo consoles. Also the X-box is aimed at a different market to the Gamecub. What I really want is no hardware lockouts on the X-box along with DC backwards compatability. That would instantly give the X-box a large, extremely high quality back catalogue. To the X-box!!
Biggles
Biggles
Page: