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Gamestock is here, or Microsofts games show, for those unfamiliar with it. I have personally been waiting for this a long time... and to be honest, I'm quite disapointed.
First up, and by far the best, Halo. And this game is good.
I've been dying to play this ever since I saw the video of it, which was released a while back... about 5 minutes long, and very exciting. Graphics were superb... and it looked VERY fun to play.
When the news came through that it would be an X-Box exclusive and wouldn't appear on the PC... I was devastated. The game would feel so great on the PC, and Bungie, now brought by Microsoft, were stopping it from becoming what it should be, in aid of profit.
The game now looks... well, as beautiful as ever, which is a good and bad thing. Bad because there honestly doesn't seem to be any improvement over the game than the months ago in the video, which means the graphics are finalised. Perhaps plot/level design is more of the order now.
Next, more of the ones we've seen before, Munch's Oddysee.
Now, character detail here looks terrific... while anything other than characters look awful on close inspection. Perhaps the "lazy" Oddworld staff couldn't be bothered... Hey PS2 owners? ;0)
But if I had a X-Box, this would be near the bottom of my list anyway. Why? Because the game does not look any fun whatsoever to play.
Walk along the platform. Pull the lever. Run down the corridor. End of level.
Plus the fact that Oddworld haven't managed to make a decent game to date.
Next... a car racing game, code named: Project Gotham, after the City, no doubt by the look of it.
Looking at the thumbnail pictures looked a lot like the GT3 pictures we've all seen and loved. But when you actually saw them full size...
Oh dear.
Trust me, the GT3 looks SO much better than this... the graphics are jaggy, and pay close attention to the textures on the walls and roads... awful.
What seems to be happening, is that loads of work has been done on the things you control... while backgrounds and else have been thrown together in a second. The Zelda/Luigi demos looked better than anything so far... perhaps the only game that lived up to anything I've seen on Gamecube or PS2 so far is Halo. And that was started on the PC first anyway... and has been in development for a lot longer than any of the other games.
Next, a American Football game... and once again, jaggies. Characters faces look great... but let down by the rather poor representation of their torsos and the background AGAIN.
And... what's this! A SSX/1080 clone! What a surprise...
And a Zelda clone... and a Mario Party clone... things start going downhill now.
Saying that though... the Zelda clone, Nightcaster, might be quite good. But once again, at the moment, it looks awful.
If you want to see what I mean about this background thing, check out some pictures of the Zelda demo, and compare the backgrounds from that and any of these demos. Obvious winner.
And I promise you this, I am NOT biased when I make these remarks. They happen to be true. As I said, I've been waiting for Gamestock for a while... and I really am annoyed.
Of course, I can't judge games by their appearance... but the X-Box is supposed to be selling on the sole fact that it's supposed to be more powerful/better graphics. When in fact it's no different to the PS2 at the moment.
And yes... X-Box graphics will improve. They are only demos.
But so will PS2's... and so will Gamecubes. And I am still sticking to my guns and saying Gamecube is the visually better console out of what I have seen so far.
And I have seen just about everything on these three systems... Trust me when I speak... please. :)
First up, and by far the best, Halo. And this game is good.
I've been dying to play this ever since I saw the video of it, which was released a while back... about 5 minutes long, and very exciting. Graphics were superb... and it looked VERY fun to play.
When the news came through that it would be an X-Box exclusive and wouldn't appear on the PC... I was devastated. The game would feel so great on the PC, and Bungie, now brought by Microsoft, were stopping it from becoming what it should be, in aid of profit.
The game now looks... well, as beautiful as ever, which is a good and bad thing. Bad because there honestly doesn't seem to be any improvement over the game than the months ago in the video, which means the graphics are finalised. Perhaps plot/level design is more of the order now.
Next, more of the ones we've seen before, Munch's Oddysee.
Now, character detail here looks terrific... while anything other than characters look awful on close inspection. Perhaps the "lazy" Oddworld staff couldn't be bothered... Hey PS2 owners? ;0)
But if I had a X-Box, this would be near the bottom of my list anyway. Why? Because the game does not look any fun whatsoever to play.
Walk along the platform. Pull the lever. Run down the corridor. End of level.
Plus the fact that Oddworld haven't managed to make a decent game to date.
Next... a car racing game, code named: Project Gotham, after the City, no doubt by the look of it.
Looking at the thumbnail pictures looked a lot like the GT3 pictures we've all seen and loved. But when you actually saw them full size...
Oh dear.
Trust me, the GT3 looks SO much better than this... the graphics are jaggy, and pay close attention to the textures on the walls and roads... awful.
What seems to be happening, is that loads of work has been done on the things you control... while backgrounds and else have been thrown together in a second. The Zelda/Luigi demos looked better than anything so far... perhaps the only game that lived up to anything I've seen on Gamecube or PS2 so far is Halo. And that was started on the PC first anyway... and has been in development for a lot longer than any of the other games.
Next, a American Football game... and once again, jaggies. Characters faces look great... but let down by the rather poor representation of their torsos and the background AGAIN.
And... what's this! A SSX/1080 clone! What a surprise...
And a Zelda clone... and a Mario Party clone... things start going downhill now.
Saying that though... the Zelda clone, Nightcaster, might be quite good. But once again, at the moment, it looks awful.
If you want to see what I mean about this background thing, check out some pictures of the Zelda demo, and compare the backgrounds from that and any of these demos. Obvious winner.
And I promise you this, I am NOT biased when I make these remarks. They happen to be true. As I said, I've been waiting for Gamestock for a while... and I really am annoyed.
Of course, I can't judge games by their appearance... but the X-Box is supposed to be selling on the sole fact that it's supposed to be more powerful/better graphics. When in fact it's no different to the PS2 at the moment.
And yes... X-Box graphics will improve. They are only demos.
But so will PS2's... and so will Gamecubes. And I am still sticking to my guns and saying Gamecube is the visually better console out of what I have seen so far.
And I have seen just about everything on these three systems... Trust me when I speak... please. :)
You will need to use the same characters to make it as good bill!
I'm very proud to say that the industry agrees with me, and just about all major news players are saying that the pics are below par. Bad for Microsoft... but good for me. :D
You've got to think that XBox is still hoping to launch this year Stateside, along with the GameCube. Demo's shown of the GameCube some time ago looked at least on par with these titles.
Since then Nintendo have had time to work on their games much more, at what we'll be seeing in May, will be pretty much complete games.
So Microsoft have a few games to show off, some of them look alright, at closer inspection no better than the PS2 that they are SO trying to do down though. Come the release of the XBox it's likely that Sony will have a few killer applications lined up that will put XBox launch titles to shame, and the Sony machine will probably be cheaper by then anyway.
Then there will be the GameCube. Just wait for E3.
Since then Nintendo have had time to work on their games much more, at what we'll be seeing in May, will be pretty much complete games.
So Microsoft have a few games to show off, some of them look alright, at closer inspection no better than the PS2 that they are SO trying to do down though. Come the release of the XBox it's likely that Sony will have a few killer applications lined up that will put XBox launch titles to shame, and the Sony machine will probably be cheaper by then anyway.
Then there will be the GameCube. Just wait for E3.
Two RPG's. One looks good... and one sounds good. One looks bad, and doesn't look like fun.
Perhaps yes... but I still think that Halo will BY FAR be the best out of the lot.
Perhaps that RPG... not the good looking one with the blue man, will be good too.
Perhaps yes... but I still think that Halo will BY FAR be the best out of the lot.
Perhaps that RPG... not the good looking one with the blue man, will be good too.
It is kind of obvious that the XBOX's games won't be 100% original. I mean you cant have a F-1 Game without copying F1 WGP because all snowboarding games are going to be a like you can't really blame Microsoft for making these games or having them made. They are popular games and but the looks of things, ones that have the potential to get the XBOX off on the right foot. I think thast games look great!
Think back to when you first saw the Playstation 2 and Gamecube, they were ugly, dodgy, plain controllers, silly stand, child's building block. A lot of criticisms came Nintendo's and Sony's way. There is no reason for MS to be any different. If the games are good, and the console is of a reasonable price then we will happy.
I think that everyone gets their ideas from somewhere, even Nintendo must have got an idea from somewhere else. Microsoft have just got to take the idea and run with it, if they do this we might just see some good games. With 8 games so far and all different genres I don't think the XBOX will be so much of a flop.
Think back to when you first saw the Playstation 2 and Gamecube, they were ugly, dodgy, plain controllers, silly stand, child's building block. A lot of criticisms came Nintendo's and Sony's way. There is no reason for MS to be any different. If the games are good, and the console is of a reasonable price then we will happy.
I think that everyone gets their ideas from somewhere, even Nintendo must have got an idea from somewhere else. Microsoft have just got to take the idea and run with it, if they do this we might just see some good games. With 8 games so far and all different genres I don't think the XBOX will be so much of a flop.
Gamestock is here, or Microsofts games show, for those unfamiliar with it. I have personally been waiting for this a long time... and to be honest, I'm quite disapointed.
First up, and by far the best, Halo. And this game is good.
I've been dying to play this ever since I saw the video of it, which was released a while back... about 5 minutes long, and very exciting. Graphics were superb... and it looked VERY fun to play.
When the news came through that it would be an X-Box exclusive and wouldn't appear on the PC... I was devastated. The game would feel so great on the PC, and Bungie, now brought by Microsoft, were stopping it from becoming what it should be, in aid of profit.
The game now looks... well, as beautiful as ever, which is a good and bad thing. Bad because there honestly doesn't seem to be any improvement over the game than the months ago in the video, which means the graphics are finalised. Perhaps plot/level design is more of the order now.
Next, more of the ones we've seen before, Munch's Oddysee.
Now, character detail here looks terrific... while anything other than characters look awful on close inspection. Perhaps the "lazy" Oddworld staff couldn't be bothered... Hey PS2 owners? ;0)
But if I had a X-Box, this would be near the bottom of my list anyway. Why? Because the game does not look any fun whatsoever to play.
Walk along the platform. Pull the lever. Run down the corridor. End of level.
Plus the fact that Oddworld haven't managed to make a decent game to date.
Next... a car racing game, code named: Project Gotham, after the City, no doubt by the look of it.
Looking at the thumbnail pictures looked a lot like the GT3 pictures we've all seen and loved. But when you actually saw them full size...
Oh dear.
Trust me, the GT3 looks SO much better than this... the graphics are jaggy, and pay close attention to the textures on the walls and roads... awful.
What seems to be happening, is that loads of work has been done on the things you control... while backgrounds and else have been thrown together in a second. The Zelda/Luigi demos looked better than anything so far... perhaps the only game that lived up to anything I've seen on Gamecube or PS2 so far is Halo. And that was started on the PC first anyway... and has been in development for a lot longer than any of the other games.
Next, a American Football game... and once again, jaggies. Characters faces look great... but let down by the rather poor representation of their torsos and the background AGAIN.
And... what's this! A SSX/1080 clone! What a surprise...
And a Zelda clone... and a Mario Party clone... things start going downhill now.
Saying that though... the Zelda clone, Nightcaster, might be quite good. But once again, at the moment, it looks awful.
If you want to see what I mean about this background thing, check out some pictures of the Zelda demo, and compare the backgrounds from that and any of these demos. Obvious winner.
And I promise you this, I am NOT biased when I make these remarks. They happen to be true. As I said, I've been waiting for Gamestock for a while... and I really am annoyed.
Of course, I can't judge games by their appearance... but the X-Box is supposed to be selling on the sole fact that it's supposed to be more powerful/better graphics. When in fact it's no different to the PS2 at the moment.
And yes... X-Box graphics will improve. They are only demos.
But so will PS2's... and so will Gamecubes. And I am still sticking to my guns and saying Gamecube is the visually better console out of what I have seen so far.
And I have seen just about everything on these three systems... Trust me when I speak... please. :)
First up, and by far the best, Halo. And this game is good.
I've been dying to play this ever since I saw the video of it, which was released a while back... about 5 minutes long, and very exciting. Graphics were superb... and it looked VERY fun to play.
When the news came through that it would be an X-Box exclusive and wouldn't appear on the PC... I was devastated. The game would feel so great on the PC, and Bungie, now brought by Microsoft, were stopping it from becoming what it should be, in aid of profit.
The game now looks... well, as beautiful as ever, which is a good and bad thing. Bad because there honestly doesn't seem to be any improvement over the game than the months ago in the video, which means the graphics are finalised. Perhaps plot/level design is more of the order now.
Next, more of the ones we've seen before, Munch's Oddysee.
Now, character detail here looks terrific... while anything other than characters look awful on close inspection. Perhaps the "lazy" Oddworld staff couldn't be bothered... Hey PS2 owners? ;0)
But if I had a X-Box, this would be near the bottom of my list anyway. Why? Because the game does not look any fun whatsoever to play.
Walk along the platform. Pull the lever. Run down the corridor. End of level.
Plus the fact that Oddworld haven't managed to make a decent game to date.
Next... a car racing game, code named: Project Gotham, after the City, no doubt by the look of it.
Looking at the thumbnail pictures looked a lot like the GT3 pictures we've all seen and loved. But when you actually saw them full size...
Oh dear.
Trust me, the GT3 looks SO much better than this... the graphics are jaggy, and pay close attention to the textures on the walls and roads... awful.
What seems to be happening, is that loads of work has been done on the things you control... while backgrounds and else have been thrown together in a second. The Zelda/Luigi demos looked better than anything so far... perhaps the only game that lived up to anything I've seen on Gamecube or PS2 so far is Halo. And that was started on the PC first anyway... and has been in development for a lot longer than any of the other games.
Next, a American Football game... and once again, jaggies. Characters faces look great... but let down by the rather poor representation of their torsos and the background AGAIN.
And... what's this! A SSX/1080 clone! What a surprise...
And a Zelda clone... and a Mario Party clone... things start going downhill now.
Saying that though... the Zelda clone, Nightcaster, might be quite good. But once again, at the moment, it looks awful.
If you want to see what I mean about this background thing, check out some pictures of the Zelda demo, and compare the backgrounds from that and any of these demos. Obvious winner.
And I promise you this, I am NOT biased when I make these remarks. They happen to be true. As I said, I've been waiting for Gamestock for a while... and I really am annoyed.
Of course, I can't judge games by their appearance... but the X-Box is supposed to be selling on the sole fact that it's supposed to be more powerful/better graphics. When in fact it's no different to the PS2 at the moment.
And yes... X-Box graphics will improve. They are only demos.
But so will PS2's... and so will Gamecubes. And I am still sticking to my guns and saying Gamecube is the visually better console out of what I have seen so far.
And I have seen just about everything on these three systems... Trust me when I speak... please. :)