Microsoft looking to "revolutionize" the industry

[RiotMonster]

There are many rumors running rampant around the Internet lately. One of the biggest ones for Microsoft is that they will announce some form of motion control device for the Xbox 360. More details have been leaked that lead many to believe that they really are planning to "revolutionize" gaming, somehow. GameSpot reports that a new Microsoft job listing heavily hints at this.

The listing states,<i> "Are you interested in shipping innovative games that will change the way people play? If so, we want you to join our team to work on an amazing next-generation project, built from the ground up, in Microsoft Game Studios. We are building a NEW GAME STUDIO from the ground up that will revolutionize both WHAT you play and HOW you play. You have the chance to get in on the ground floor and work with professionals responsible for some of the industry's greatest innovations to date.</i>

<i>We're looking for a talented, motivated and experienced Sr. Environment Artist. This is a rare opportunity to join a seasoned, creatively driven team on an exciting next-generation project. Qualified individuals are expected to communicate and collaborate well throughout a development team, and have a proven track record in creating AAA art for games. Candidates will have experience creating a broad range of styles in both 2D and 3D mediums. Be well versed in programs like Photoshop and Maya, as well as demonstrate experience with current console art creation techniques like shader development, normal map creation, and high polygon modeling."</i>

<img src="http://thegamerzzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/sdfsdfa-550x287.jpg" border="0" alt="" />

Here's a picture of the supposed $70 Gametrak Freedom wireless motion controller, which is essentially a Wii remote for the Xbox 360. Please remember that it has zero backwards compatibility with the plethora of amazing titles that are already out on the Xbox 360 and to make things harder, this controller will have to fly to the top in popularity really quickly before this generation ends. It has to prove to developers that it's worthy of decent games. This controller means that we are just going to get a new batch of casual shovel-ware on a different console. Also, it's said that not all of the buttons are even located on this gadget which makes me think, if it can't even replicate the full functionality of a 360 controller then what is the point? How many 360 games are you going to be able to play with this? My guess is the one that comes bundled with it and that will be it.

So, they are looking to revolutionize both WHAT I play and HOW I play it. Sorry MS, but I already have a little something that does just that gathering dust in my living room as we speak. I don't know if it's just me but I'm not really feeling this whole motion sensing move. It's cool that Nintendo did it but I'm not looking to have 3+ sensor bars in my entertainment center. I wish Microsoft would stop thinking about jumping into the bandwagon to keep up with it's competitors and focus on making decent systems, you know, without all of the red rings. It'd eliminate the need to constantly send them in, then we can actually <i>play</i> the games. Now that's revolutionizing!

[elg0rd0]

So now Microsoft sees potential in the success Nintendo is having with motion control.

I'm going to be honest here the console war for this generation is going to come down to DC. Right now, I am going to go on a limb and say the obvious.

Despite Nintendo having greeaaat DC through there Virtual Console. XBLA has the best DLC out there right now.

As of right now, only a handful of games on the PSN excite me.

[William Hildebrand]

So now Microsoft sees potential in the success Nintendo is having with motion control.

I'm going to be honest here the console war for this generation is going to come down to DC. Right now, I am going to go on a limb and say the obvious.

Despite Nintendo having greeaaat DC through there Virtual Console. XBLA has the best DLC out there right now.

As of right now, only a handful of games on the PSN excite me.

Downloadable Content is still the new thing really. Not a lot of people have their consoles connected to the internet so I have to disagree on the DC being the major part right now. I believe right now it is just still console wars to say against each other of innovation of new controls and graphics and gameplay.

[RiotMonster]

It's all about exclusives.

So you're both right, really. If the one console has exclusive DLC over another console, whoever wants it is going to buy it for that system. Same thing applies with games, only just purely title-wise.

[Dustin Triplett]

Real or not, that thing is ugly and much like the PSP Go, the buttons are just plain out of place. They should have just added waggle to the Scene It? controllers. At least those looked okay.

[elg0rd0]

Downloadable Content is still the new thing really. Not a lot of people have their consoles connected to the internet so I have to disagree on the DC being the major part right now. I believe right now it is just still console wars to say against each other of innovation of new controls and graphics and gameplay.

Dude, your telling me that DC is not the major part right now?

Braid, Geometry Wars, Pixeljunk Monsters, Castle Crashers, Everyday Shooter, Cave Story (coming soon to a VC near you)?

Let's not forget the DC that can come with games.

and now we have this.

http://kotaku.com/5273403/esrb-confirms-final-fantasy-vii-for-ps3-psp

Yes, I know this a Microsoft thread. But the companies are learning early on DC is a huge factor of the success of their console.

[William Hildebrand]

PLEASE Re-READ what I said in my original post plz? kthnxbai!

[elg0rd0]

PLEASE Re-READ what I said in my original post plz? kthnxbai!

Yeah I read it. Were having a disagreement on something. That doesn't make your point right or my point right.

Why should I have to point that out right now?

[William Hildebrand]

Yeah I read it. Were having a disagreement on something. That doesn't make your point right or my point right.

Why should I have to point that out right now?

READ!

Downloadable Content is still the new thing really. Not a lot of people have their consoles connected to the internet so I have to disagree on the DC being the major part right now. I believe right now it is just still console wars to say against each other of innovation of new controls and graphics and gameplay.

Just like I and Riot said, right now its just exclusives for each consoles. DC and all won't be a really big, huge thing until the next gen consoles.

[elg0rd0]

READ!



Just like I and Riot said, right now its just exclusives for each consoles. DC and all won't be a really big, huge thing until the next gen consoles.

1) I did read

2) What facts do you have to prove that a lot of people don't have their consoles hooked up to the internet?

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23796

Read that and tell me that most people don't have their consoles hooked up to the internet.

Anybody remember Home?

I am conceding the point that it does come down to exclusives, to a point. But right now people are buying DC for their consoles. If they didn't Rock Band and Guitar Hero wouldn't be getting DC every so often. Or a lot of other games for that matter.

[William Hildebrand]

Fine, you win. But I still made a valid point of not a lot of people don't have their PS3's connected to the internet. Even most of my friends don't have it. And FYI, the people who do buy GH and Rock Band do have internet or it would be useless without it. Boring songs over and over, meh is what it is. You don't need facts to prove of what is what just to win an internet forum argument when I just used my social life of friends and people at college to prove what it is. Unless its the city I live in of how poor we are lols.

[Dillon]

GH 1 and 2 were fucking awesome back in the day.

That controller looks like it will be fucking useless. Does it even have a trigger? And whats the point of adding the buttons above the d-pad? They could have tried to make it useful for arcade games by moving the two apart.

Now, DLC really helped me decide to buy a 360 instead of a PS3 at the moment, but exclusives like Left 4 Dead did help.

[Devil Rising]

Actually Gordo......I'm gonna have to disagree with you. PSN sucks, that much is a fact. They hardly ever have new shit come out, the layout of the Playstation Store sucks, and all in all, it's just not that good. I realize that XBLA, on the other hand, has their shit more together, but still....I guess maybe it's all a matter of taste? But XBLA being better than WiiWare alone even, I'm not too sure about that. If you look at games like Dr. Mario Rx, Tetris Online, Bomberman Blast, LostWinds, World of Goo, the Strongbad episodes, Cavestory, coming out soon to WiiWare exclusively (as in not on other consoles, only PC and WiiWare), Final Fantasy IV: The After Years coming out soon, I mean really, the service has a LOT of good games on it. And THEN you've got the Virtual Console, what with it's 7 consoles (including arcade), to choose from, with new additions each and every week.

I'd say that's pretty much tops, and the other two consoles' DLC services don't really match it in my opinion. The other two have some good games sure, but they still don't match up.

As for Microsoft ripping off Nintendo and bringing motion controls into the mix for their system, after previously dismissing Nintendo's strategy, well.....so what? It's not the first time they've ripped Nintendo off, and it won't be the last. The new "channels" Dashboard setup, the Avatars, you name it. It's old news. M$ rips off Nintendo and Sony all the time. lol

[William Hildebrand]

Gordo is gonna reply on this topic in 3.... 2.... 1....

[elg0rd0]

Actually Gordo......I'm gonna have to disagree with you. PSN sucks, that much is a fact. They hardly ever have new shit come out, the layout of the Playstation Store sucks, and all in all, it's just not that good. I realize that XBLA, on the other hand, has their shit more together, but still....I guess maybe it's all a matter of taste? But XBLA being better than WiiWare alone even, I'm not too sure about that. If you look at games like Dr. Mario Rx, Tetris Online, Bomberman Blast, LostWinds, World of Goo, the Strongbad episodes, Cavestory, coming out soon to WiiWare exclusively (as in not on other consoles, only PC and WiiWare), Final Fantasy IV: The After Years coming out soon, I mean really, the service has a LOT of good games on it. And THEN you've got the Virtual Console, what with it's 7 consoles (including arcade), to choose from, with new additions each and every week.



I agree with everything you said about the PSN. That's why I said only a handful of games excite me on the PSN.

In terms of XBLA being better than the VC, I'm sticking to my guns on that.

For 2 reasons.

1) The Virtual Console is making great strides in getting exclusive content. But the fact they already have built in exclusive content due to their history is a mute point. Most people already own the game, played the game in some form, or own the consoles most of those console games are coming from.

2) On the other hand, XBLA is doing great things to get indie developers and new IP's onto their their own console.

To be honest with you right now, I put XBLA ahead slightly of the Wii. At the end of the year, with the release of the Conduit, Muramasa, MP: Trilogy, Cave Story (crosses fingers), Mario announcement at E3...the race is only going to be that much tighter.

[frank0127]

am i the only one who noticed that the lanyard on the "controller" in the pic is from a Wiimote? lol

[Devil Rising]

Well Gordo, there again my friend, I think you need to draw a distinction.

The VC is a standalone service. The WiiWare is only New Games. As far as VC is concerned, none of the other consoles have access to NES, SNES, N64, Master System, Genesis, Turbo Graphix 16, Neo Geo, Commadore 64, AND Arcade. Not a one. PSN has done an okay job of making a handful of PS1 games available. XBLA has some old Xbox games, as well as some arcade and a few select console games. VC just released it's 300th game, and it will continue to release at least one game for one of the "Virtual Consoles" each and every week. To my knowledge, neither PSN nor XBLA add new games that often.

In addition to this, WiiWare also adds at LEAST one new game every week. And WiiWare DOES reach out to new and budding developers such as Frontier Developments (LostWinds), 2D Boy (World of Goo), Aksys Games/ Gaijin Games (Bit.Trip Beat, Bit.Trip Core), Zoonami (Banzai Barber), Empty Clip Studios (Groovin' Blocks), Telltale Games (Strongbad series), Semnat Studios (Eduardo the Samurai Toaster), Curve Games (Explodemon), Ronimo Games (Swords and Soldiers), WayForward Technologies (LIT, Shantae), Team Meat (Super Meat Boy), and to some extent High Voltage Studios.

All of those games are either small time developers, or indy developers just starting out, and in both cases WiiWare is providing them with an opportunity that other services just aren't. So in that respect, I would say that WiiWare by itself is AT LEAST equal to XBLA. Combined with VC, yes, I think Nintendo wins in the DLC department.

And like you said, when it comes to exclusives (retail wise), Nintendo is already in fairly solid standing, and with the veritable flood of 3rd party exclusives coming, I think by this time next year they are going to have plenty of quality exclusive content to offer just about anybody. I mean just look at some of the stuff that has just recently been announced: Spyborgs, Red Steel 2, Shaun Palmer Snowboarding 2, Gladiator A.D., The Grinder, Fragile (for the U.S.), Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (for the U.S.), No More Heroes 2, Flip's Twisted World, Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest, Need For Speed: Nitro, Ju-On: The Grudge, etc...

Add those to other upcoming exclusives like The Conduit, Monster Hunter 3, Tales of Graces, Dragon Quest X, FFCC: The Crystal Bearers, Arc Rise Fantasia, Kizuna, Little King's Story, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, RE: The Darkside Chronicles, Dead Space: Extraction, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Cursed Mountain, Valhalla Knights: The Eldar Saga, etc. etc. etc.........you get the picture.

[Kitty Man]

Let me clear up the online network debate on this.

XBL is a better community based program. You can't say that having friend codes for every game was a genius move when all it takes for XBL to be able to play is be friends and it goes through all of the games.

DLC aside. Both the Wii and 360 has great titles and amazing things coming to them

The problem I think is that both are beginning to rely on older games too much and not putting more FOCUS on new games. That's to be expected with the nostalgia factor, but I wouldn't put the Wii's online capabilities over the 360 for the ability to network with one another much better. Taking ALL of it's online capability, whether you feel the Wii or 360 wins in DLC, 360 wins overall.

[frank0127]

October 15th, M$ enters the motion controlled race. interesting.

[Dillon]

Wait, they already announced this?

[frank0127]

not exactly, but the people who made that controller made it official.

http://kotaku.com/5273683/gametrack-freedom-dated-by-eb-games