XBOX 360 Wire

Xbox 360 Wire’s Top 5 360 Things for 2008

There should be no doubt at all that Microsoft have this year put together a fantastic line-up of titles for 360 owners. The traditional fourth quarter influx of festive releases started earlier than usual this year, with titles such as Halo 3, Skate, Orange Box, Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect and PGR4 all jostling for prime position on shop shelves everywhere right now.

Granted, not all of these are exclusive to the Xbox 360 platform. However, the trump card has to be the fact you can play all these games whilst enjoying the rock solid Xbox Live integration - who ever thought achievement points would help sway a purchase decision?

But what of 2008? It’s no secret that Microsoft have been just a tad quiet on the release front for next year, Erick (our man in the US) posted “Microsoft, what’s the game plan?” just last week. Sure, there is some considerable substance with Fable 2 & Halo Wars but for Microsoft to have a bumper 2008 they will need to try just a tad harder.

Here be the Top 5 things I’d like to see happen next year. This is my list which you are of course entitled to disagree with. Make your voices heard in the comments section should you feel the need…

5) Daytona USA (SEGA)

Chances of happening : 4/1

Daytona USA is the undeniable pinnacle of Arcade racing action. Released into the sea-front arcades during the summer of 1993. Lordy, has it really been 14 years?

Daytona has appeared on a number of different formats over the years (Saturn, Dreamcast, PC etc) with varying degrees of success. The original Sega Saturn conversion is widley held responsible for the death of Sega as a hardware force to be reckoned with. Putting the Saturn version along side the Playstation’s Ridge Racer conversion demonstrated the lack of 3D ‘punch’ from the Saturn console meaning most people jumped ship to the Sony console. This was a huge shame considering the fight back from other top Saturn titles like Virtua Cop, Sega Rally and of course the jewel in the crown, Virtua Fighter 2.

Sega’s new UK Racing studio recently released the polished Sega Rally Revo for 360 and PS3, a game which shows some of the older titles can indeed be given a make-over but retain the playability of previous versions. I’m particularly hopeful they will see sense and pick-up the conversion of Daytona whether it’s a rehashed Arcade original for XBLA or a totally new sequel.

What would you prefer?

4) Sony Dev’s get the finger out

Chances of happening : 3/1

It’s no secret that Sony has had little to smile about over the rocky PS3 launch period. With a wallet busting price tag and little software to show off what the console could do, sales failed to meet expectations. It’s looking though that Sony’s fortunes may be about to change - and this could be far from a bad thing for Xbox 360.

Think back to some of the 360’s early launch titles. Amped 3, Gun, Kameo, Perfect Dark - most failed to impress. Look where the developers are now with 360 games such as Bioshock and Call of Duty 4, which really push the bar in terms of what can be done graphically. Sony’s development teams are feeling the same pain 360 owners did back in 2005. They look like they may be coming through that steep learning process though with recent PS3 releases like Drakes Fortune and Unreal Tournament showing what can be done on the Playstation platform in the right hands.

This has to be a good thing for 360 owners too though. Do you think Microsoft Game Studios and it’s development partners won’t at least push harder to keep up? We know the graphical capabilities of the 360 can match, and sometimes surpass that of the PS3 thanks to it’s beefy 512mb 1-2 punch. Games due next year such as Alan Wake, Resident Evil 5 and War Hound are looking even better still.

Expect even greater, shinier things from 360 in 2008. Can we have the water from Drakes Fortune please?

3) The death of Halo

Chances of happening : 5/1

You probably think Master Chief shouldn’t come any where near this list, but he’s here for a reason. There can be no doubting that Bungie has created a fantastic IP in it’s Halo series. It’s the game that ‘made’ Xbox and has become a staple of Microsoft’s financial statements. Halo still continues to generate more operating revenue than a small oil rich country.

For me, Halo 3 was the biggest let down of 2007 - I should have known better than to get caught up in the hype. The original Halo goes down as one of my favorite games of all time. Fantastic story that really sucked you in and made you want to see it through to the end. Halo 2 moved away from this and put a lot of it’s weight behind multi-player modes, which whilst no bad thing - I felt it took something away from the single player experience. Don’t get me wrong here though, it was still a brilliant game and I did dabble with the online modes a few times but multi-player just doesn’t get me excited like it seems to for the other millions of Live! subscribers.

I bought the Legendary Edition (I felt duty bound to do so!) and the helmet is out on display. The game? I’ve played a few levels, watched some of the bonus content and tried out the Live! modes. All in I’ve played for about an hour at most. I’m just not enthused by Halo any more and spend too much time playing Guitar Hero, Orange Box or Bioshock instead.

I’m looking forward to the promising Halo Wars, but will I get caught up in the hype for Halo 4? Probably……but you will too!

2) Microsoft buys Realtime Worlds

Chances of happening : 8/1

Realtime Worlds picked up two gaming industry BAFTA awards this year for ‘Use of Audio’ and ‘Action and Adventure’ - both for one of the surprise Xbox 360 hits this year, Crackdown. Early demos of Crackdown did nothing to ignite any sense of excitement from the public. Further development though and a batch of hefty play-testing turned this baby in to one of the best games available this generation. As is the nature of sandbox type games, Crackdown let’s you do anything you like in any order that takes your fancy. Where it differs from other titles of the same genre is the sense of freedom you feel throughout. The ability to scale any building, and in some cases even jump right over them really is a sight to behold - this only adds to the exploration and orb collection by enforcing that very sense of freedom.

Microsoft did take steps earlier in the year to attempt to secure a Crackdown 2, this however was turned down by the studio because they were too busy with APB (All Points Bulletin). Microsoft were just too late to the table.

Not much is known on the studio’s next title, APB but all the signs are good. With a man like DMA Design founder David Jones at the helm (Blood Money, Lemmings, Grand Theft Auto) what can go wrong? We know Realtime worlds is an Unreal Engine 3 license holder - can you imagine Crackdown 2 built on that?

If the purchase of RARE by Microsoft is considered a ‘good thing’, surely it would make sense to take Realtime Worlds in-house?

1) Japan makes a shift to green

Chances of happening : 250/1

Japan is something of an enigma for Xbox 360. Sales figures have been nothing short of dire and that shows no signs of changing any time soon. It’s strange considering the not too shabby support for the 360 from Japanese developers with games such as Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, Dead or Alive, and Ace Combat doing sterling numbers the world over. So what’s missing from the Japanese hit list?

It’s Capcom who seem to be leading the way for the moment anyway. Devil May Cry 4 and Resident Evil 5 are sure to help, but with them also launching on PS3 they are hardly a reason to buy a 360. Ninja Gaiden 2 is probably one of the hottest 360 exclusive titles in development right now. It’s sure to please fans everywhere and will provide a burst of sales for the console in the Japanese market place, but it won’t last.

Despite making in-roads with the JRPG genre, Microsoft still lacks some serious support from the big developers in Japan like Konami, Square Enix and to a lesser extent SEGA. You have to ask yourself why Konami has not announced a 360 version of Metal Gear Solid?, Why is the next big Final Fantasy not on the release list?, Why is Resident Evil 5 not at least a timed 360 exclusive? - Konami and Square know all too well they could make a shed load of cash with access to the 360 user base.

Perhaps 2008 is the year for courting the big hitters of the East?

Posted by Bleem - November 29th, 2007 -