Xbox 360 will launch with over 15 titles?!
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Apr 25th 2005 at 12:04PM }
According to the latest rumors, the Xbox 360 will debut with roughly 15 to 20 games, with additional waves being
released every few weeks. Many of the launch titles are thought to be next-gen sequels of established franchises.
Topping that list is the long-awaited sequel to Perfect Dark, as well as a half-dozen or so racing titles, including
Project Gotham, NFSU, Test Drive, a new Namco series, and the possibility of a Burnout installment—hey, at least Steve
will be happy.
And while we can't expect Bungie to deliver Halo 3 by year's end, there is speculation that Halo 2.5 will not only launch but also come pre-installed on the Xbox 360's hard drive. This new and improved version of Halo 2 would support 720p resolution and hopefully come packaged with some bonus content. 15-20 games is a tall order for a launch date, but if it's actually realized, what kind of quality can we anticipate from these games?
The Xbox 360 schedule is looking rushed. But will it prove the strategy to beat?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chris Norman @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Holy Smokes! I just realized that I already own an Xbox 360, without even knowing it!
I *have* a device that can connect to the Internet, has an internal hard drive, and can play crappy shovelware ports of existing console titles with higher poly models.
It's called a PC.
Clint @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Very funny Chris. I believe Microsoft is in a rush because they know nobody will buy the XBox360 after Sony releases the PS3. Sony is going to really shock them with that Cell chip. I heard it can simultaneously Decode 48 MPEG-2 Streams.
Hydro @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Great, looks like the 360 will start off with a bang. i cant wait, it better blow my socks off
Stuart @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Blah, blah, blah. Sony this. Nintendo that. Get over it. MS has the big MO (that's momentum for those fanboys out there who can't claim to have it).
Bp @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Perfect Dark zero will be the game of the year, say good bye to halo. This will be the best fps game played.
Justin @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
" This new and improved version of Halo 2 would support 720p resolution and hopefully come packaged with some bonus content."
Oh, bonus content? Like a finished game, you mean? Without bugs and a totally unfinished story? That would be lovely. Grrrr.
OmegaSupreme @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Its not rushed, they've been working on this for years. In fact the release of next gen consoles is overdue imho, ps2 graphics look laughably dated.
Don't believe the cell hype, whilst I'm sure it will be a fine inovation it certainly wont be orders of magnitude beefier than the 360 brains. And the gpu and other factors remain important.
While developers are figuring out how to program the cell and sony et al are finalising the hardware Microsoft have realised its the perfect time to steal the march on Sony and unlike sega they have the muscle to pull it off.
With this generation as with all the previous ones its all about the games and it appears Ms do understand this.
Carl @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
#4, it doesnt matter what the fanbase is, the sales are what counts, and Sony leads the way with over 3x as many PS2s than Xboxes in the world market... I own all 3, however the ONLY reason I have xbox is ofcourse; Halo and Halo 2
Blue Balloon @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Bp, isn't Goldeye for N64, remind the best FPS game played ever?
Brian Clark @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
I agree clint microsoft is rushin the xb 360 they are trying to compete with no one they figure they come out early get a head start on everyone and that will be successful will it? Will microsoft rush so fast that the system has technical issues or recalls? Will sony all of the sudden surprise everyone and launch the ps3 early than expected?they should be afraid very afraid my prediction is sony will not disappoint and will wow the crowd the gamers and the whole world!let the games begin.
t0dd @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
I hope they launch with a really nice RPG like one from Final Fantasy’s Sakaguchi. If not I will have to wait it out. http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000473033324/
Stuart @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
#7 Look how much longer the PS2 has been on the market. Sony introduced the PS2 at a time when Sega lost its way and Nintendo was complacent (still is). Microsoft has made giant leaps into Sony's market hold. Credit them that. You can't compare MS to Sony's 6-year headstart.
Frexy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
mm, I don't think the Xbox is doing that well, it's just an american system, and americans buy it. It's quite logical, if you'd choose between a foreign console or one home-made, the choice is easy. I'd do the same...
However, in Japan, or heck, even Europe, the Xbox isn't doing that nice as in the US.
I don't feel they rush things, and they almost have a year of advantage on the two other consoles =)
Hydro @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Accually Frexy, the xbox is doing well in europe. the only place its not doing well is japan. the xbox is second in america and europe and for it being the first console that they launched thats pretty good. and i didnt buy an xbox just because it was american made. thats a dumb assumption
Frexy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
well, I didn't buy it because it's MS ;) And that might be as well a dumb assumption, but I don't care =)
Anyhow, I'm quite interested in how the next one will do though (I won't ever buy it though =p). I just want to know where the industry'll take us eventually. And with the release of that console the whole thing starts over again. I'll follow it closely me thinks.
Oh, and the Xbox isn't a huge second. It is a near second, because the GC is selling nearly as good/bad.
Anyway, I still don't like Rare for going to MS >.> Damn Rare!
Hydro @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Well like they say in sports, it doensnt matter how much you win by, as long as you get the W
Chris Norman @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
If I was going to be really snarky, I would have followed up with "Weren't Timesplitters 1, 2, and 'Future Perfect' the long-awaited sequel to Perfect Dark?"
Seriously, has anyone been longly awaiting this game?
Does the X-box need yet another FPS to set itself apart from the pack? Are the 15 launch games going to be "Tom Clancy Game, Splinter Cell Game, New Halo Game, Brothers in Arms Game, Quake Game, Doom Game, EA Soccer 2006, EA Football 2006, EA Basketball 2006, EA Curling 2006, EA Curling Street 2006, EA Football Street 2006, EA Curling X-treme 2006, Obscure Quirky Title that won't sell because it doesn't appeal to FPS/sports game playing frat boys and no one else owns the console just for this one game they might actually want to play..."
Derek @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
I have to agree with OmegaSupreme in this case. I don't believe the Xbox 360 to be rushed, at least on the hardware side. I know they've been working on this for a couple of years, actually since the first Xbox came out. Remember, MS always said they were in it for the long haul. They didn't take a wait and see approach. They started new development right away.
The games on the other hand might be a bit rushed. But if we're talking about Perfect Dark Zero, well that's been in development forever. It's actually quite typical of Rare. I'm sure if they did have 15 titles, about half would probably be very rushed and end up not so great. But you could definitely expect 5 really good titles if they have 15-20 coming out.
And as a software developer myself, I do believe that MS is doing the right thing by making it easy to develop for. It really will cut down costs on the development end, which means that game prices won't go up enormously (they'll still go up sadly). And also it means that developers can spend time making games, and not making silly things like menu's and networking code. It sounds to me MS is finally doing something right.
Codejoy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Wow Chris, thats almost like the launch games of the revolution:
Mario Kart Revolution, Super mario 64 revolution, Donky Kong Revolution, Super smash brothers revolution, Legend of Zelda revolution, Pokemon Revolution Red, Pokemon Revolution Green, Pokemon Revolution Pink, Mary-Kate Ashley Olson "Do the revolution"...the list goes on doesn't it?
Chris Norman @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Touche, although at least those titles would span different genre:
Cart/racing game, platform game, adventure game, fighting game, rpgs, and I'm assuming the last would be an anorexia sim of some sort.
Not to mention that they would likely play differently than the previous generation's games due to the hardware changes Nintendo is proposing.
And for the record (not that anyone's asked), I do have the new Timesplitters game, and it's great. I just can't imagine Perfect Dark 0 doing anything terribly groundbreaking in order to be the X-boxes flagship title, even if they turned Joanna Dark into a Lara Croft style third person action-adventurer.
Though to be fair to Microsoft, what marquee titles did the Playstation 2 launch with in the U.S. (although it did have backward compatability and was a cheap DVD player...)?
Feep @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
I'm looking forward to Xbox 360, but man, that image you have up of Perfect Dark Zero looks tacky as hell.
Stephen Jensen @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
"cheap DVD player...)?"
Im trying to think that far back, but was $300 really cheap for a dvd player?
All i can say is this is the same stuff we (xbox fans) went through with the first xbox. Lots of fanboy hating (it went both ways too) and what pissed me off was that the retail outlets had their faggot employees throwing cd-r's into the system then leaving it out with an error on the screen.
Wow, with so much resistence i am so glad xbox is kicking ass. And the Xbox 360 will be so much better...though i still plan to wait till the first price drop. Unless i get pissed enough at the fagboy...fanboy idiotness that runs rampantly about the internet/retail stores.
CV @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
I don't see it as being rushed, either. These games have been in development for a while. The quality will be fine. If Halo 2.5 is packaged with the hard drive, I don't think it will be the greatest example of next-gen, but at least it's something that's instantly playable. The original Xbox had a decent launch, and they were much less sure about what they were doing.
Chris Norman @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
It was the cheapest DVD player on the market when it launched in Japan. It was on par with other DVD players when it launched a year later in North America, but had the bonus of being able to also play games:
More careful examination, however, shows that the PS2 DVD phenomenon was a brief anomaly. At ¥29,000 ($270), the PS2 was, in effect, the cheapest DVD player on the Japanese market when it was launched early [2000]. Once the price of DVD players had dropped sufficiently, PS2's sales became more like those expected of games consoles. In North America and Europe, PS2 never had many DVD-motivated sales, presumably because DVD players had become cheap enough by the time it was released there. That said, in the first two months after Sony began selling a DVD remote-control add-on, the company claims to have sold “tens of thousands” to an installed base of roughly 5m consoles.While comparatively small, this number suggests that at least some people are using their PS2s as secondary DVD players.
http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displayStory.cfm?story_id=884973
kTyper @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Well I've got to say it'll be interesting to see what MS$ comes up with. Whether it can compete against Sony is another story though.
But going by the rumours and investigation done to date it should be a very interesting piece of kit. G5 based, dual FSB etc will give it the CPU and Data Transfer but is this really needed? I've got to wonder myself, however as far as I'm concerned it'll make a damned good Linux Box. And Why? Take a Mac, dumb it down, make it smaller, reduce the heat output, dedicated graphics onboard and what have you got? An XBox 360? Sure will make a great Linux System, thanks Microsoft ;-) Now to really make this box rock if they throw in a DVD Writer then I'm set! I'll try Mac OSX as in theory it might be runnable on this system, otherwise Linux which we know will end up on it eventually. It might just take longer to be cracked, thats all!
The only problems I see so far with Blue Ray. Now as to which hardware manufacturers will jump onboard with this we've really yet to find out. The big boys aren't totally convinced yet in Blue Ray but its all about licensing costs. Now if these are sorted then it might have a chance. Otherwise its Beta vs VHS all over again!
Now is this system going to have a PVR module? We are talking about a company going after the entire home entertainment market and really to do this they need to combine various technologies and really pull finger. After all, we do have a company with their fingers in the Satellite Content and Distribution Market, whether they're becoming just another TV station or maybe going the hole hog you really have to wonder? Especially if you've got the standard XBox and had it modded of course. The latest XBox Media Centre is an absolutely gorgeous piece of software which MS$ are still playing catch up with by release Windows Media Centre but even this doesn't quite cut it as those of us with both know. Personally I think XBox Media Centre is a much better product than Windows XP Media Centre.
As for it being an American Product. Well there are a lot of people that'll buy it because of that, but there are also quite a few of us who won't buy it because of that. And there are those of us who won't buy it because its made by Microsoft. Myself, I won't buy it straight up because of both those things! I'll wait a while, find out how much its costing MS$ to product the system then see how much its going to cost them for me to buy it and turn it into a Linux Box. This is exactly what I did with my present XBox and it does make a really good system, even more so with OpenMosix and you cluster it ;-)
Thanks Microsoft for my really cheap Linux Server
kTyper
Ashkc88 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Hmmm...heres a good idea for xbox. Allow rentals from xbox live that will delete from the harddrive after a specific amount of time. I just wanted to throw that out there.
AARON APPLER @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
YOU GUYS ARE DUMB ASS I MEAN FOR REAL NO I THINK NO ONE IS GOING TO BUY THE PS 3 WHEN IT COMES OUT UNLESS YOU A F&*KIN' DUMB ASS XBOX 2 IS GOING TO ROCK AND IT'S NOT GOING TO BE CALLED XBOX 360 WHO THE HELL STARTED THAT SHIT
DO YOU NOT READ THE XBOX MAG. I MEAN COME ON NO ONE IS EVEN BUYING THAT DAMN DUMB ASS PSP "FOR REAL" PLAY STATION DON'T EVEN HAVE NO GAMES THAT'S ANY GOOD" AND STOP WITH ALL THE DAMN RUMORS!
Carbon43 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
um,... ok then
Ashkc88 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Wow drugs are very bad for you AARON APPLER. The new Playstation is said to be more powerful than the upcoming xbox, which xbox even admits. Also, I know a lot of people who own a psp and the psp is a very good, powerful device. Finally, someone failed English class ->"YOU GUYS ARE DUMB ASS" you need to back "ASS" plural.
Bobby @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Just remember this, the battle isn't truly over (sales) until ALL the dust clears. And who will be victorious then?
Also, about the Japan-US sales...we here in the states are stupid and will dive head long into debt for something cool, whereas Japanese are MUCH more intellegent. So, slap a rewriting system for CD and DVD on there with a price tag of 700-ish, and sales will be booming in the gluttonous (spc?) US.
KC @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Man, AARON APPLER is retarded. Didn't know the ghetto had xboxes.
Aaron Tallman @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
I just think everyone needs to chill out and wait for PS3 and Xbox 360 to be released and see whats going to happen. Any contest between companies really depends on the whole of it's functionality, you can't just say PS3 is stronger so it's better. Thats just close minded. If i remember correctly, the Sega Dreamcast had an incredible graphics engine for it's time (considering PS1's graininess and N64's Blockiness) but it got Sega nowhere. If PS3 continues with a crappy system that stops reading CDs, and has to stoop to reselling the fixed version to recoup costs, they are in trouble. Xbox Live also is the best console internet interface I've seen yet. I've used Everquest, etc. on PS2 and i really dislike it. As to a DVD player, i guess its a cool bonus but what are you really buying Xbox or PS for? Games. Remember that Microsoft did release late and with no real concrete knowledge of the gaming industry. They have done their field study and now can market much better. I believe that Microsoft is a well qualified company with many excellent people working there, same goes for Sony. Don't buy a system because of whats "better". Buy a system that has titles you want and serves your needs. Then shut up. lol ;p
Aaron Tallman @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
Also Blue Ray may really cause some problems if programmers need to struggle with it to get a finished product out.
sean g @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM
i'm gonna have to agree with Blue Balloon [#9] and give some major kudos to Goldeneye. But, halo 2 is ultimately better. anyway, how come Bungie hasn't said anything about Halo 2.5? being that there is nothing on the Bungie site that would support this Halo 2.5, i am led to believe that everyone is just wishing this would happen, and dreaming it up. on the other hand the new stuff in 2.5 [i've heard theres gonna be an ATV] would be pretty wicked. but for now, im just waiting for all the new Halo 2 maps to come out.