Xbox 360's launch the strongest lineup ever
Jonah Falcon
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/press_release.php?aid=12960
REDMOND, Wash. — Nov. 14, 2005 — Microsoft Corp. today
announced that 18 Xbox 360TM games, spanning all the popular genres,
and 13 Xbox 360 accessories will be available when the video game and
entertainment system launches in North America on Nov. 22. Exclusive,
thrilling racing games such as "Project Gotham Racing® 3," sports
games that hit hard with high-definition graphics and sound such as
"Madden NFL 06" and "NBA 2K6," action-adventure games such as "KameoTM:
Elements of PowerTM," innovative titles with multiplayer co-op gameplay
like "Perfect Dark ZeroTM," and intense action exclusives such as "Call
of Duty® 2" contribute to the broadest and deepest retail launch
lineup in console history.
The following Xbox 360 games will be available in North America retail
locations on or before the console is launched Nov. 22:
"Amped 3" (2K Sports)
"Call of Duty 2" (Activision Inc.)
"Condemned: Criminal Origins" (SEGA Corp.)
"FIFA Soccer 06 Road to 2006 FIFA World Cup" (Electronic Arts Inc.)
"GUN" (Activision)
"Kameo: Elements of Power" (Microsoft Game Studios and Rare Ltd.)
"Madden NFL 06" (Electronic Arts)
"NBA 2K6" (2K Sports)
"NBA LIVE 06" (Electronic Arts)
"Need for Speed Most Wanted" (Electronic Arts)
"NHL 2K6" (2K Sports)
"Perfect Dark Zero" (Microsoft Game Studios and Rare Ltd.)
"Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie" (Ubisoft)
"Project Gotham Racing 3" (Microsoft Game Studios and Bizarre Creations
Ltd.)
"Quake 4TM" (id Software and Activision)
"Ridge Racer 6" (Namco Ltd.)
"Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 06" (Electronic Arts)
"Tony Hawk's American Wasteland" (Activision)
Xbox 360 launch titles from Microsoft Game Studios will be
competitively priced, with standard editions of "Kameo: Elements of
Power," "Project Gotham Racing 3" and "Perfect Dark Zero" all retailing
for $49.99 (U.S. ERP). A two-disc "Perfect Dark Zero" Limited
Collector's Edition will also be available this holiday season for an
ERP of $59.99. Xbox 360 accessories will range in price from $11.99 to
$99.99. More information on all these products can be found at
http://www.xbox.com.
"There has never been a more exciting time to be a gamer," said Peter
Moore, corporate vice president of Worldwide Marketing and Publishing
for the Home and Entertainment Division of Microsoft. "Xbox 360 will
deliver mind-blowing experiences across multiple genres, no matter what
your personal gaming preferences are. On Nov. 22, the next generation
of gaming begins. From there, gamers will be overwhelmed with the
pipeline of amazing Xbox 360 games yet to come."
Xbox Live Arcade Launch Lineup
Adding to the already tremendous lineup of launch-day titles, Xbox
Live® Arcade for Xbox 360 plans to offer between 12 and 15
bite-sized game titles on launch day one. With Xbox Live Arcade, casual
and hard-core gamers alike will find a wide variety of game genres for
download spanning action arcade titles such as "Geometry Wars: Retro
Evolved" and "Mutant Storm Reloaded," coin-op and retro classics such
as Xbox Live multiplayer-enabled "Joust" and "Gauntlet," puzzle games
such as "Hexic® HD" and "Bejeweled 2," casual sports games such as
"Bankshot Billiards® 2," light strategy titles such as "Outpost
Kaloki," and card and board games such as "Hardwood Backgammon" and
"Hardwood Hearts." Each Xbox Live Arcade game includes a free
downloadable trial version so game players can try before they buy.
Xbox Live Retail Offerings
Also available on Nov. 22 are two Xbox Live retail offerings for gamers
who want to up the ante on their online gameplay experience from the
free Silver level of service to Gold membership. The 12-month Premium
Starter Pack has an ERP of $69.99 and contains a 12-month subscription
to Xbox Live, an Xbox 360 headset, a full version of the Xbox Live
Arcade game "Bankshot Billiards 2," a $20 (U.S.) game rebate coupon
good for any Xbox 360 game title* and 200 points for use on Xbox Live
Marketplace. The three-month Premium Starter Pack has an ERP of $39.99
and contains a three-month subscription to Xbox Live, an Xbox 360
headset, a full version of the Xbox Live Arcade game "Joust," a $10
(U.S.) game rebate coupon good for any Xbox 360 game title* and 100
points for use on Xbox Live Marketplace. With nearly three-quarters of
all launch games on Xbox 360 Xbox Live multiplayer-enabled, there's
never been a better time to get connected to Xbox Live.
In addition, to allow gamers to customize and enhance the Xbox 360
experience, 13 Xbox 360 accessories will be available by launch day:
Xbox 360 Wireless Controller
Xbox 360 Controller (wired)
Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adapter
Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote
Xbox 360 Faceplates
Xbox 360 Hard Drive (20 GB)
Xbox 360 Headset
Xbox 360 Memory Unit (64 MB)
Xbox 360 Play & Charge Kit
Xbox 360 Rechargeable Battery Pack
Xbox 360 Component HD-AV Cable
Xbox 360 S-Video AV Cable (U.S. only)
Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable
About Xbox and Xbox 360
Microsoft revolutionized the gaming industry with the November 2001
launch of Xbox® (http://www.xbox.com), its first-generation video
games and entertainment system, now sold in 26 countries around the
world. This holiday season Microsoft debuts its next-generation system,
Xbox 360, in Europe, Japan and North America, to be followed by
availability in Australia, Colombia, Hong Kong, Korea, Mexico, New
Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan in 2006. Xbox 360 is the most powerful
video game and entertainment system, delivering the best games, the
next generation of the premier Xbox Live online gaming service and
unique digital entertainment experiences that revolve around you.
About Xbox Live
Xbox Live continues to transform and unite Xbox communities worldwide,
with a presence in 24 countries, and a global community of more than 2
million members. As the first and only global, unified online console
games service, Xbox Live offers world-class games, intelligent
matchmaking, tournaments, unique programming and integration with
Xbox.com. More information can be found online at
http://www.xbox.com/live.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses
realize their full potential.
*Certain rebate offer terms apply. See product packages for offer
details.
All prices mentioned herein are estimated retail prices. Actual retail
prices may vary.
Microsoft, Xbox 360, Project Gotham Racing, Kameo, Elements of Power,
Rare, Perfect Dark Zero, Xbox Live, Hexic, Bankshot Billiards and Xbox
are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. or
Rare Ltd. in the United States and/or other countries.
Rare Ltd. is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corp.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional
information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on Microsoft's corporate information
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publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance,
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Jordan
game I want to buy, Project Gotham 3. One fewer than the Xbox launch
(no Halo this time). I know a lot of people are excited over Kameo and
Perfect Dark 0, but they seem a little "meh" to me.
The PSP had a far stronger selection of launch titles in my mind. I
actually bought, I think, 4 games at launch? Wipeout, Twisted Metal,
Untold Legends and Mercury then shortly after the launch I picked up
Lumines, Coded Arms and X-Men Legends II.
# Ape Escape: On the Loose, Sony Computer Entertainment America
# ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails, Sony Computer Entertainment America
# Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower, Capcom
# Dynasty Warriors, KOEI
# FIFA 2005, Electronic Arts
# Gretzky NHL, Sony Computer Entertainment America
# Lumines, Ubisoft
# Metal Gear Acid, Konami
# MLB, Sony Computer Entertainment America
# MVP Baseball, Electronic Arts
# NBA, Sony Computer Entertainment America
# NBA Street Showdown, Electronic Arts
# Need for Speed Rivals, Electronic Arts
# NFL Street 2 Unleashed, Electronic Arts
# Rengoku: Tower of Purgatory, Konami
# Ridge Racer, Namco
# Smartbomb, Eidos Interactive
# Spider-Man 2, Activision
# Tiger Woods PGA TOUR, Electronic Arts
# Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix, Activision
# Twisted Metal: Head On, Sony Computer Entertainment America
# Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade, Sony Online Entertainment
# Wipeout Pure, Sony Computer Entertainment America
# World Tour Soccer, Sony Computer Entertainment America
Rob Berryhill
lu...@earthlink.net says...
> Strongest launch ever seems a little extreme. There's really only one
> game I want to buy, Project Gotham 3. One fewer than the Xbox launch
> (no Halo this time). I know a lot of people are excited over Kameo and
> Perfect Dark 0, but they seem a little "meh" to me.
>
> The PSP had a far stronger selection of launch titles in my mind. I
> actually bought, I think, 4 games at launch? Wipeout, Twisted Metal,
> Untold Legends and Mercury then shortly after the launch I picked up
> Lumines, Coded Arms and X-Men Legends II.
You are joking, right? PSP had and STILL has the *worst* lineup of games
available for ANY console. I just sold mine because I got tired of it
sitting around collecting dust waiting for something decent to come out.
And no way in hell am I paying $5.00 *more* for a lame UMD movie than
for the DVD counterpart that has more features and I can watch on my HD
TV.
--
Rob Berryhill
MS#1Fanboy-JoJo
rob_be...@hotmail.com says...
Yeah no kidding. It had alot of games but most had pretty bad reviews. I liked
Wipeout, Twisted Metal and Lumines. I'm glad I didn't sell mine though...
GTA kicks major ass.
Ted
see paying full price for on the launch list, and only maybe three I
would maybe pay $20 for. There is no widebased must have game or games
in the lineup. Or if there is, it or they have been doing a good job of
keeping any kind of buzz at all under wraps.
To be fair, world launch lineups are almost always pretty tepid. The N64
world launch was probably the strongest overall popular lineup of games
at about three games, just by virtue of having Mario 64 (note: I despise
Mario 64, but I know I'm in the minority). The Dreamcast American launch
was probably the strongest US launch lineup from my point of view, but
that's not a true initital system launch and it's hardly fair to take
games that had about a year after JPN launch to develop and compare them
to the snooze fest 360 lineup.
Ted
Rob Berryhill wrote:
snip
> You are joking, right? PSP had and STILL has the *worst* lineup of games
> available for ANY console.
snip
Its US launch was stronger than the GC, PS2 or Xbox US launches, and
that launch library is stronger than the three consoles had (excluding
cheater things like the PSOne library) for more than a year after each
of their launches (maybe longer). Depending on an individual's tastes,
the DS might have a weaker library than the PSP (excluding GBA games,
but then excluding the emulated games on the PSP as well). As for "ANY
console" (which you clearly include handhelds in), I point you to the
handheld system named Game.com and dare you to say it has a better than
the PSP.
livejel...@yahoo.com
money is being put in these games and it will make them awsome!Xbox 360
has kameo:a rpg where you switch different forms of beings.Perfect dark
zero honestly is better then halo in so much ways in the demo and i
have played the real thing and it doesnt disapoint.So this lineup is
trying to attract the casual players,jocks,Rpg'ers,first person shooter
fans,racing fans,and all around.Honestly,These arent just horrible
sport and rpg ect.They are our favorites and Anticipated ones which the
Psp lineup did not support.
Ted
Dynasty Warriors is quite popular and the PSP launch did support that.
Same with Twisted Metal. I don't care about either series very much but
I think they're as popular if not more so than any of the 360 launch
franchises. And it had THUG2 and Spiderman 2, games I couldn't care less
about but that are certainly going for the casual gamer crowd who won't
buy anything that hasn't already been shoved down their throats. For
driving games it had Ridge Racer and Wipeout (Wipeout is good, I don't
care about Ridge Racer). The PSP was stuffed with sports games. It
didn't have an FPS, and still doesn't have a decent one (or so I
understand). All those N64 FPS fans will be sure to love a followup to
an N64 game on the 360, but I'm not sure how big a group that really is.
I personally am far less interested in Perfect Dark than I was in Halo,
and I wasn't all that interested in Halo despite loving Bungie's
Marathon series. The PSP didn't launch with a traditional RPG in the US,
but it did have Untold Legends, an action RPG. And people don't really
seem to be all that interested in Kameo, except to the extent that there
isn't anything even that interesting.
Jordan
Xbox had a pretty good launch and I bought 2 games. The PS2? No decent
games at launch. No decent games the first year. I finally got a deal
on one last year. The Dreamcast? Awesome launch with one really
exciting game. Gamecube? Nothing worth getting until Eternal Darkness
and Resident Evil Remix.
Like I sadi though, at the PSP launch, I bought 4 games. 2 of them are
still in constant rotation in my gaming schedule (Wipeout Pure,
Lumines).
I agree that the releases since launch have been kind of anemic, but
you can't fault the titles at launch.
- Jordan
rng...@hotmail.com
I don't even think the Xbox 360's launch is the strongest lineup ever
since the majority of the launch titles are sports games. The only
games that would seem appealing to buy during the launch would have to
be: Project Gotham Racing 3, Perfect Dark Zero and Need For Speed Most
wanted. My reason being why I would choose these 3 games is because
for one, their previous predecessors were successful in both reviews
and in replay value. And so it would just be logical that these games
would be just as outstanding since the creators have probably improved
the gameplay mechanics and fixed some flaws the other games before it
had.
lister...@hotmail.com
Very highly rated racing game: check (PGR3).
Very highly rated shooter: check (two if you include both COD2 and
PDZ).
Madden, basketball and hockey for the masses: check.
Simple, beautiful game for the kiddies: check (Kameo).
Highly rated "adult" game: check (Condemned).
Other games that have gotten some good ratings: King Kong, Need for
Speed.
lol @ PSP's ports of 5-year-old PS2 games, a puzzle game, and a tired
beat-em-up being an example of a strong launch.
---
Get a FREE Xbox 360 - declared legit by G4 and Wired
http://xbox360s.freepay.com/?r=23689706
---
email me if you have questions - lister...@hotmail.com
Jordan
beat-em-up being an example of a strong launch. "
You obviously haven't played any PSP games. Wipeout supports
downloadable content, and wireless play. With software like XLink Kai
it's possible to play other people over the Internet. This is not
something even the PS2 Wipeout was capable of doing.
Untold Legends brought new life to the beat-em-up genre by making it
portable. Again, if you had actually played it you would know that.
- Jordan
lister...@hotmail.com
D&D Heroes, Champions 2) simply put on a portable doesn't automatically
make it a worthy game. Nor does adding online play to a port of an
absolutely ancient game.
It's just a fact that nearly every system has at best a couple good
games at launch. 360, while still not spectacular, has a somewhat
stronger and more varied launch lineup than most (if not all).
Jordan
lister...@hotmail.com wrote:
> Having a tired beat-em-up game (BG:DA, BG:DA 2, Champions of Norrath,
> D&D Heroes, Champions 2) simply put on a portable doesn't automatically
> make it a worthy game. Nor does adding online play to a port of an
> absolutely ancient game.
>
> It's just a fact that nearly every system has at best a couple good
> games at launch. 360, while still not spectacular, has a somewhat
> stronger and more varied launch lineup than most (if not all).
What you fail to grasp is that games of this quality have NEVER been
done on a portable before. You've never been able to play a Diablo
style game while waiting in line at the post office or commuting on a
train. That's what makes the difference.
Comparing them to console games is a fools errand because it's not a
console platform. It blows away any GB/GBC/GBA game ever made.
- Jordan
drybones
<lister...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1132693067.5...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
List this 76 year old as a "Kiddie" then. Will wait for Xbox 360 until Elder
Scrolls 4 comes along. Oblivion to you who do not understand Elder Scrolls
4. 8^)
Drybones
rnguy
The graphics of the game don't really matter when it all narrows down.
I mean its appealing to everyone and its better than having 2D graphics
but, its all about the gameplay. One good example would be GTA:
Liberty City Stories since its almost like the console version with
some slight tweaks. Its true the PSP blows away any other previous
handhelds in graphics but, its the latest one to be marketed. So its
obvious that its superior compared to any other handheld since it has
the latest technology equipped in it.
Luke Smith
condemned, pgr 3, and call of duty 2