Xbox 360 in a league of its own

SAN FRANCISCO--If there's one thing you can say about the Xbox 360, Microsoft's next-generation video game console, it's that this is one impressive machine.

For all the talk about whether there will be enough games available when the Xbox is released on Nov. 22, few doubt that the games that will be ready will be a cut above anything available for current-generation consoles.

And after seeing a handful of Xbox 360 games Monday, I can say with confidence that it's true.

Over plates of olives, endives, red peppers and other snacks at Dogpatch Studios in this city's somewhat rundown Dogpatch neighborhood Monday, Microsoft finally pulled back the curtains on the new Xbox for a small crowd of journalists and invited us to try our hands at 12 titles expected to be ready in time for the console launch next month.

It was an odd event. For one thing, the invitation said nothing about photography, but on arrival, I was told that Microsoft didn't want any photos taken because some of the titles weren't 100 percent finished. In addition, while there were 13 Xboxes arrayed across an open-space studio, we were told not to touch--even as some people were already playing with them.

Never mind, I thought: I'll wait. And I did, as all 13 screens, set to an opening sequence from the game "Kameo: Elements of Power," displayed a wizard in the middle of an undulating purple diamond who said over and over again, "You're looking a bit stuck, but not as stuck as I am." The words seemed to cascade around the room, as the 13 machines were not in synch.

Finally, Blake Fischer, the worldwide content planner for Xbox 360, began to talk. He instructed us to grab our controllers and dive in to "Kameo."

Immediately, we were immersed in a magical world of stunning graphics that brought even the blades of grass to life. The level of detail was monumental, and it occurred to me that a lot of programmers' spouses probably hadn't seen them in a while.

Fischer led us through a few minutes of "Kameo" and then moved us on to some of the features of the Xbox Live service--things such as the ability to go online to ask friends for help with games or the availability for download of a series of classic and casual games. Moderately interesting, I thought, but nothing special.

Then he got us into the racing game "Project Gotham Racing 3." He told us we had to follow a sequence of menu commands "exactly," something I bristled at a bit, but in the spirit of cooperation, I complied. Soon, I was piloting a Ferrari with a hell of a growl through the blocked off streets of Tokyo, trying hard to make my way through a hairy, three-lap trial without crashing. I failed: The things I did to that poor Ferrari were a shame.

Attention to small details
Still, Tokyo looked amazing, and the racing was pure pleasure. I've never been particularly adept at these kinds of games, and I'm sorry to report I'm still not, but the attention to detail on "Project Gotham Racing 3" was indeed noteworthy: spectators who reacted individually when my car got too close, glare on the window, even a realistic reflection in the side-view mirror. And the driving, I have to admit, was pure fun.

After five or 10 minutes of this, Fischer's official demo was over and we could now engage in "free play." But when I attempted to choose another city to race in--New York, since I had just returned from a conference there--Fischer came over and asked me to stop.

[jwoji]

Where to start...?

Reviews like this puzzle me and, I'm certain, a lot of other slightly-more-than-casual gamers. Sure, the eyes are quite there, yet. But if you're at all focused on that, you're not that interested in the game play. The new generation of consoles offer an amazing jump in graphics capabilities, but that's just the start. Body movements - and the resulting gains in control - very realistic city, building and arena renderings - providing far more immersion - deeper and broader levels, better sound, more character intelligence, and more, make for MUCH better game play. If you're that kind of person, of course. I also remember the first Coleco and Atari consoles and know this is just another incredible step in development. Given this essentially good review, what should have been covered is how important the console introduction is in relation to what we all think Sony will be doing. With a few outstanding games covering the important genres, the fact that it is nearly 100% backward compatiple, the expected difference in cost, that it is every bit a player in the more general home entertainment market, and getting the jump on the introduction at precisely the right time of year could tip the ultimate sales scales in the other direction.

[DoohanOK]

An interesting take...

Sounds promising! But you would be amazed what developers can do even between now and launch time (I hope)!

When I bought my first XBox I ended up shy AUD$1000 for the unit and 1 game (Halo I think). Have since bought both my brothers an XBox also (they love me!). Postman Pat even got a cool Halo green unit - my current one is a clear unit.

[richto]

Microsoft will spend their way to the top.

Not surprising. Microsoft set the objective of being market leader and they will spend as much as it takes to reach that goal. Although they are likely to makes a profit on the overall lifetime of the Xbox 360. Microsoft have in many ways delivered a better overall product (particularly with Media centre extender and Xbox Live) than Sony's PS3 and are months earlier to market. Sony claim more raw CPU power, but im not convinced it will translate into better games - Microsoft have much better development tools and a graphics architecture almost identical to that on the PC - vendors only need to write the core of a game once to run on both PC and Xbox 360 with little change. So the vast R&D on making PC games look good translates directly to the Xbox 360.

My money is on Microsoft to take the lead in the console market with this platform.

The only thing I think Microsoft should add is a version with an HD DVD player and a DVI output.

With Sony's PS3 you get landed with a Blu-Ray player which is the new 'Betamax' and 2 x HDMI outputs. erm so just how many of us have 2 HD plasma screens to connect? And why would we want to ?

[Earl Benser]

Why get excited????

The XBox 360 will be obsolete within maybe three years. So will
every other game console. Can't get excited about what is virtually
a dying dog now.

[mgreere]

Microsoft is a major advertiser on news.com

It would be nice if stories that gush about MS products noted the
potential conflict of interest at play.

If news.com's MS stories were less consistently upbeat, I'd be less
inclined to make the comment.

Just my 2 cents. Thanks.

[bobby_brady]

My prediction: Xbox 360 will gain on PS3

Sony has made several screw ups already with the PS3.

1-Support for Blue Ray, which was a bad move. Blue Ray is already near death.

2-Too much focus on horsepower IE cell processor. For next gen consoles, it's more than about pure horsepower.

3-No Live! like service.

4-Late to the game with PS3. They might get desperate and drop the price to $99 for PS2.

Wait...

So you're saying that the next gen games look better than this gen's games??????

No Way!

[karlengblom]

animation

The reviewer is spot on with the observations about how weird it feels when some parts of the game are realistic and some aren't.
I watched a trailer for the fighting game Dead or Alive 4. It all looks very pretty, but the movements of the characters - and especially the way characters physically respond to each other during the fights - haven't improved since the first Tekken 10 years ago. Honestly, check it out at gamespot or gametrailers.com, you won't believe how bad it is until you see it and think about it.
Most probably, this is because the basic method of animation (motion-capturing a limited number of predefined movements, that are carried out in exactly the same way each time a certain button is pressed) hasn't changed either.
The game developers need to simulate the movements of the characters from physics. They know this already, but think it is too complicated.
It's time for some strategic thinking on the part of the console makers. A physics-based character animation engine is too expensive to be created just for one game, but the mathematics are the same and the characters (human) are the same too across all games. The console makers should employ some really clever people to create an engine that is generic enough to be used for all games on a console. This would surely create an advantage for the console, as it would be easy to create games where the characters actually moved and interacted like they were real physical beings. These games would feel like they were truly a new generation.
A change like this, however, cannot be accomplished within the industry. You need some fresh brains, capable of some real scientific thinking, instead of just creating the prettiest face possible (once again, check out DOA4) and meeting the next deadline.
There will be improvement: physics chips are coming, and third-party engines like Unreal Engine 3. But hey, check out Gears of War ? made using that engine. Again, the main character moves around in a rather simplistic manner, which looks strange because he?s so graphically detailed.
Whoa, this entry turned out much longer than intended. Thanks for your attention.

Form over Content

the fact that the quality of animation in games on "next-gen" consoles has been talk of the town since the SNES.
Another recurring subject in the same editorials has always been the gameplay and playability of the games.
Whilst I believe that MS is good enough with a controller to develop one that allows for good playability, I have noticed since playing several games on the xbox that there weren´t as many games with superb gameplay out as I used to find on say a NES or gameboy (not to say that nintendo is the master of this, they have had their share of flukes).

The thing that makes me remember that in this article is the point the writer makes in his experience on the tracks in Project Gotham Racing 3. He claims that the racing does not differ as much from one track to the other and that the scenery is pretty much the only thing to change.
While I know that this is one of the harder things to fix in racing games, I do believe that this is a flaw on the design side. developers focus on aesthetics over content. and we all know that a golden turd still smells like s***.

If I see the way the consoles are going (games quite too expensive to cover R&D costs, and PC-like patches thru live! subscriptions), I´m probably gonna stick with stuff like the Nintendo DS, not because its the most high tech console, but because it gives developers the chance to let the graphics be (crappy) as they want and focus on content and good solid gameplay.

[felixms]

bad prediction...

someone who says blu-ray technology is already dead can not be taken seriouly, Bob.
Time to market is very important but sometimes you get to get things done right before selling it. Take Windows from MS for instance.

[Megustan Salchichas]

yes but can you roll a ball

I want to see a super photo realistic Katamari. That would be the shizzle. When is Namco going to port it to the xbox? if Namco did Katamari 3 for the Xbox 360 that would kick Damaci!

[rkadowns]

Not interested

From what I have read, it's the same old crappy games with a prettier face. I'm all for improved graphics however it's the gameplay that is important. Neither Microsoft or Sony has that figured out. They appeal to the numbers people it would appear.

[coryb23]

Touche

I'm a little late in the game in responding to this piece, and I am by no means a MS apologist, but I did want to point out a few items. I too was at the XBOX 360 Preview Event in SF, representing On the Spot Games (www.onthespotgames.com). I'm curious if Mr. Terdiman had the opportunity to speak with some of the development and marketing representatives that were at the event speaking on behalf of the games that were shown. I know that in the case of NBA 2k6 the animations and ball physics weres said to be incomplete and still undergoing development. The same could be said for Madden 2006 and the facial animations, which explains why the eyes " looked like those of zombies."

It's not possible to completely judge these games based on their unfinished builds. It is possible to determine if you will enjoy the gameplay or if the graphics are shaping up, but I don't think the closing paragraph treats these impressive although incomplete games fairly.

Also, it's important to note that Mr. Terdiman does not touch on games such as Kameo (other than referring to the sequence presented prior to the hour long tutorial) Condemned: Criminal Origins, and Call of Duty.

Kameo represents some very impressive gameplay and pays homage to gaming from previous generations. It's very much like playing a NES game on the XBOX 360. The gameplay in Condemned is very impressive because of the AI of your assailants. Though many think COD 2 is no more than a PC port and has been done before, trust me when I say that if you play this on the 360, it will impress you, as will its AI.

I agree with the comments many of you have made in that there may be too much focus on pushing the graphical envelope, but in the same vein, that's one of the benefits of the new technology. This new technology also offers developers the ability to create very realistic AI, which will make the gameplay that much more real. The combination of these two will offer engaging gameplay and I think that we'll see gameplay improve in the very near future. I believe XBOX Live Arcade will be partly responsible for that.

Just my $.02.

Cory

[TimonUK]

IT WILL BE 5 YEARS

There is always a 5 YEAR gap between consoles, PS1 to PS2, PS2 to PS3, Master System to Mega Drive, Mega Drive to that silly one with the CD Drive, 5 Years, that to Saturn, the list is nearly endless but nether the less, the gap is always 5 years, not 4 or 6, .....5...... Roll on 2010, XBox Forelay and maybe, just maybe, inbetween, THE HANDHELD XBOX??

[nonsequitur43]

http://www.hotboxsports.com/