Microsoft - Whats the gameplan?
This past month has been a busy one for Microsoft Games Studios. EA bought Bioware/Pandemic, Activision scooped Bizarre Creations, FASA closed it’s doors and Bungie went independent. Internal Studios now consist of Rare, Lionhead, Ensemble, and newly acquired Wingnut headed by film director Peter Jackson.
I imagine Microsoft has publishing rights on Halo, but what about other franchise mainstays? Will Project Gotham 5 be multi-platform? Can we expect to see Mass Effect 2 on a Playstation? What about KOTOR?
One thing I do know, the boys at Microsoft are very very intelligent. They’ve managed to elevate online gaming from nerdy LAN parties to the mainstream, and they knew you would be willing to pay $50 a year for it. They were able to ship several million defective units when the system launched, and somehow they knew you wouldn’t care(to some extent). Microsoft knows what we want, plain and simple. They know our price point, they know our demographic, and in my opinion they will continue to deliver, and maybe (just maybe) these shake-ups are part of something bigger.
Holiday season 2007 is finally on the horizon, and for the first time in a while a third-party publisher may yet steal the show. While Mass Effect and Project Gotham promise to have good showings, Assassin’s Creed and Army of Two will want a slice of the pie as well. That pie is getting bigger too, with no Grand Theft Auto and now no Super Smash Bros., this holiday is up to the 3rd parties. 10 years ago if you said 3rd party developers will dwarf the teams at Nintendo I would have laughed at you, but it now seems that multiplatform money is where its at, and I think that has weighed in on a lot of descision makers at the companies that are jumping ship. Halo on Xbox makes good money, but Halo on DS prints money.
Next season is when things get critical. Other big players will finally have their “sea-legs” and major competition is headed our way. Sony will have a stable of wannabe killer apps ready to roll, Metal Gear being the tip of the iceberg. By then the Wii will have exploded and could pose a problem, but what can the Xbox count on next year at a minimum?
Too Human is the drought killer for next year, mark my words. If they pull off even a small sliver of the Diablo-esqe addictive gameplay/RPG they will have my couch cushions organically grafted to my bottom. Lost Odyssey hits Japan this holiday, but the rest of us should get a translated version by mid-summer 2008. I expect Capcom to flesh out the year with a big title(or 2), but that leads right into Holiday 2008, and MGS is looking like a powerhouse.
Fable 2 and Halo Wars both should see November release dates. Those two titles alone could pull serious numbers, but they want to nail Sony’s coffin shut next year, and these last two titles will do that. I remember Mark Rein and/or Cliffy B speaking about Gears of War around emergence day last year, and (whomever) they said Microsoft planned on keeping Halo and Gears seperate as far as release dates, as to discourage competition. Well, with Gears in 06 and Halo in 07, Gears of War 2 should be on the way for 2008, correct?? And I can really think of only one more sequel I’m looking forward to more then Gears, and thats Ninja Gaiden 2!
Still concerned about Microsoft Game Studios? I wouldn’t be.
Posted by Erick - October 16th, 2007 -
October 16th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
I’m still on Blue Dragon - I might get a chance to play Ninja Gaiden 2 before I retire if I’m lucky.
October 16th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
yea
one thing….
KILLZONE 2
littlebigplanet
METAL GEAR SOLID 4
RESISTANCE 2
INFAMOUS
METAL GEAR ONLINED
CODED ARMS ASSAULT
EIGHT DAYS
GETAWAY
GRAND TURISMO 5
TEKKEN 6
SOCOM: CONFRENTATION
L.A. NOIRE
now thats just 2008 my friend.
lets not forget about some surprises sony likes to drop every now and then
AND
lets not forget those sick PSN games we get every week..
FLOWER
PAIN
ECHOCHROME
just to name a few….i dont want to step too far into that
multiple demos every thursday too
all free?
yes kid. all free
lets rewind…you down? oh wait you dont have a choice
from now until all of those sick games
THE EYE OF JUDGEMENT
RACHET AND CLANK
TIME CRISIS 4
HAZE
UNREAL 3
UNCHARTED
lets not forget about the multi-platform games as well…which will not be better on 360 now due to devs figuring it out….soon you will start receiving crappy ports..
And lets not forget about HOME.
peace out kid.
October 16th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Good point - I did say Metal Gear was tip of the iceberg
I honestly want to hug this poor kid, but eye of judgment as a “sick game”
kind of kills the lineup
October 16th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
i’ve never worried ’bout ms at all. i knew all along that ms will continue to excel and keep their consumers happy and satisfied w/their products. they will fix and make the 360 the most reliable if not 1 of the most reliable console b4 it’s life cycle is over. ms found out how important product reliability is to consumers with the 360’s red rings issues. they will not make that mistake again and they already know what gamers want and/or like in a gaming machine. ms games will continue to lead the industry in console gaming. yes nintendo (as much as i love you, i’ve always loved ms’s consoles better since it joined the fray) even your motion sensing gimmick won’t be enough to keep REAL gamers happy. i won’t even bother to mention the wannabe gaming console besides these 2. i’ve never liked it’s products except for it’s televisions; and i only bought it’s tv coz a good family friend worx as a head repair tech for them here in socal — thus i get the tv repaired for very little cost, get it fixed asap and i may not even have to bring the tv to his house to get repaired. i may not be a hardcore gamer since h.s. but i still like my games to look, feel and play as a hardcore game. the xbox 360 is the only1 that meets all these requirements in my book. it’s modder friendly (with persistence and savvy eventho ms don’t intend it to be), it’s extremely user friendly and almost idiot proof for, of course, the idiots out there (all of the ps owners), it’s dev friendly, it’s just so fooking good at almost everything. now only if they made the hdd built in like the xbox did; even if the built in hdd would’ve been only 10g or 15g just so it can keep it’s price point, it would’ve been a perfect console (i’ve never cared for motion sensing as long as i have the tactile sense of immersion with the rumble). i hope ms will make the hdd be built in w/the next xbox and still keep it’s reasonable price pt. once again. i will gladly spend whatever amount on the xbox and it’s games if ms will give me reliability, quality, innovation and a slap on my arse anytime. hell i already own ms shares anyway. if i lose money in it so what, i’ll just sell my google shares and single-handedly bring ms off the red if needed. bill gates, i will also gladly give ye most of my money for yer charity anytime. i can’t give it all ‘coz i’m not as rich as ye or buffet and i need to buy more of yer consoles and games for said console too. muaaahaha
October 16th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
I’m concerned about your ability to tell the difference between the words, then and than.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
@ Dante
Gran Turismo 5? Yeah… sure .. how many demo’s of that game are you willing to buy
October 17th, 2007 at 2:57 am
thanks for your fanboyism…..I bet you had the papertowels and hand lotion right next to your PS3 too cause I am sure you spend more time jackn it than actually playing decent games……
October 17th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Killzone 2…is a game that is such a BIG disappointment that a song was actually written about it.
The reason for that is because the first Killzone was so poorly rated by reliable places such as Gamespot and IGN. Killzone received scores as low as 6.5 out of 10 from those reliable sources.
Like the song says:
“Instead of Halo 3 you offer Killzone 2, but Kill-zone one sucked bee-fore,
So what makes you think we want it more.
Sony you went wrong with the PS3
I’ll keep playing my 360
I hope this song has helped you un-der-stand
How you killed your brand.”
That song is awesome…listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R98qC0fd_1w
October 19th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
All I care for is that killer games still come out all the time and oh man….2008 is looking like better than ever!!!!!!!!!!
JUST given what we know so far with the CAPCOM games, with GTA4, with Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Halo Wars and so forth is enough to totally overshadow SONY.
I’ll be interested to see if when LAST REMNANT sells out, the rumors of FF13 going multiplatform become true. I wouldnt expect it on release day but I bet FF13 has a good shot at going cross platform, especially if it gets overshadowed by SPLINTER CELL next year.
October 20th, 2007 at 8:50 am
lol I love that guy stud.EXE. If he’s a chick I’d do him, good thing he’s not. He’s definitely right on in everything he mentioned about the crappy brand trying to take on m$ and nintendo. They should stick to selling tv’s. The best shooters, action games and REAL rpg’s and racing sims are on the 360, so it wouldn’t matter to me if my first-gen 360 dies on me until my great great great grandkids would also die, I will still play nothing else; unless there’s really something worth playing on the wii. I would even sell my organs and body parts just to pay for xboxlive subscription. I leave the losers to that other brand thinking that having a free online feature is better or having a 3d virtual world to socialize in is also a good idea. I want my online features exactly the way it is with xboxlive, simplistic and extremely functional which allows me to go online and start playing against others ASAP. I do all my socialization in the real world where I can get instant action with the hotchix instead of the loser way(by going online).
November 30th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
@ dick
stupid Xbot
How can killzone 2 be a FKN disappointment??? it´s not even out yet, you stupid Xbot.
and those who have played it have said it´s a mile infront of ANY thing in development right now.
and my conclusion is just that you are jealous for not having ANY thing to play in 2008, so you have to bash a great game. thats just sad.
oh and that song is made by sarcasticgamer, those guys make fun of everything, like for instance halo 3.
November 30th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
@ turd
by the way you talk you are one of the racist 12 year old who populate Xbox live, and there by only having the 360, you must bash the competitor. again that is just freaking sad.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
If PS3 can get Crysis and Far Cry 2 as Exclusive titles people will take note. Keeping Haze away from 360 would be another good move. They need to break the bank and sign up some big games.
May 21st, 2008 at 4:58 pm
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