Acclaim dropping support for Gamecube (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Kleist]

For the record, I only own an XBox. Were I not currently short on funds, I would have a PS2 as well

I lack affinity for most of Nintendo's output on a personal level. Only Mario 3 ever really blew me away, I think Smash Bros is a piece of crap. Zelda's great, but I wouldn't buy a system for it, and Metroid Prime doesn't play like the first 2, which makes me uninterested in it. I respect the quality of Nintendo's games. I respect that tons of people love them. I have no wish for them to fail, but I can't help but look at them and see why they're pulling the handle on the toilet themselves.

I am a diehard Sega fan, I go where their games are best, so with them out of the console wars, I pretty much consider myself console agnostic. With the next Sonic game going to all 3 consoles, my only real reason to own a Cube is toast.

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

Romier;

You nailed it. You get cookie!

Third-party games do not sell well on Nintendo systems because most people who own a GameCube also own either a PS2 or an Xbox or even both. Those with multiple systems are more likely to buy cross-platform games on the other two consoles, leaving the GCN as the system for playing Nintendo's first- and second-party games.

 

[Peter Manojlovich]

Sigh. I'm bewildered (actually impressed) at how you twisted my opinion and turned it to reflect specific poor games that were released for a system in a way that tries to totally denounce my point. It's weak really. I mean every system has bad games.
Anyway to elaborate, MS did go through rigorous testing and did get positive feedback on their original controller. Only when it was released to the masses did it get negativity and to their CREDIT, the changed it. This along with making longer cords, a hard drive, Internet connectivity out of the box shows ME that MS was striving to make a great console. If you want to bring up a few shitty games go right ahead but every system has their clunkers.

If it hadn't been for the overwhelmingly negative response from actual gamers, not some "focus" group, we'd still be seeing that original controller in production.

MS has had more than their fair share of misses on the system and some of the first party releases have defied explanation. Who at MS thought Whacked was a good game concept? In these politcally correct times, you bring out a game such as KFC with "bloken engrish" and not expect to get flack over it.

The hardware overall is very good, but MS as a first party content provider leaves a lot to be desired. Their spotty record makes every release they put out suspect and makes the status of MS first party efforts for the future a big question mark.

I'm not sure why MS cuts Tork loose, but signs on Voodoo Vince. If Tork is picked up by another publisher and does well and Vince tanks, I think you might see some big shakeups at MS. MS needs a hard core video game junkie heading things up and I'm not sure Ed Fries who seems to be a pc gaming guy is the right person.

I was disappointed in BF overall, it lacked the kind of visceral impact the best console games have. In Halo without a doubt one of the coolest things is launching a grenade down a corridor and seeing just the enemies phaser come bouncing back your way. You know you've done some major damage. BF just doesn't have those moments. You kill them, a bit of rag-doll physics if you're close enough to see it, and then the slow fade out of existence.

Some of the pc developers I don't think are successfully transitioning to console development. The best console games are simple to pick up, difficult to master. They have an immediate accessibility and an addictive nature. If I have to think about whether I like a game or not, it's already in trouble.

 

[Allen_Appel]

It's my recollection that the "S" controller was designed in response to poor Xbox sales in Japan, not any negative feedback from US gamers. Believing that the Japanese were rejecting the Xbox because the controller was too big for their smaller Japanese hands, MS gave them a new compact design. Wasn't the "S" an import-only peripheral for some time? The "S" was far more popular with US gamers too, as it's now the standard. I had no desire for an Xbox when the big controller was the only model available. I'd like to see the focus group of knuckle-dragging Neanderthals who told Seamus, "Me want controller more big!"

I wonder how many people here have children and what console they have. Nintendo does have a "kiddie" image, some of which is undeserved, but does Microsoft have any good child-friendly games available? (Don't mention "Sneakers", I said "good").

 

[Josh_SR]

Jeff Kleist

i hear ya man.... i am also a big time sega fan and was and always will be on segas side (but i didnt like that thay sold there DC2 to MS) anyways .... i totaly injoy playing my GC and have alot more games on that system then on xbox.. i did end up getting a gc becouse sonic was going to the gc but with there next sonic game going to all 3 systems.... well this tells me that i think sega sees the fall of nentendo to ( i really hope nentendo live's on thou )

after the genesis.... i had gone over to the pc side of gameing.. no consol can beat the pc man.

 

[Romier S]

It's my recollection that the "S" controller was designed in response to poor Xbox sales in Japan, not any negative feedback from US gamers. Believing that the Japanese were rejecting the Xbox because the controller was too big for their smaller Japanese hands

If memory serves the "S" is an offshoot of the controller that launched with the Xbox in Japan. The Japanese, right off the bat got the smaller version while the US launch included the larger version. The release of the "S" had nothing to do with sales in Japan as they already had the smaller version of the controller.

Later after much dissention over the behemoth like size of the then standard Xbox controller, Microsoft created the "S" and it is now the standard. Anyone feel free to correct me if Memory does not serve

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Yup, their exhaustive study of the videogame industry enabled them to repeat Sega's error on Saturn.

(Which I personally witnessed people researching in 1995, in a room in the back of the MS library there were 2 guys with a huge TV/sound system and every single game system (INCLUDING NeoGeo) and a bookshelf of games making 50K/year playing them and writing reports)

Bashing MS for a moment, they just canned 1/3 of their XBox workforce in Japan

 

[Peter Manojlovich]

Bash MS all you want and knock their first party problems but you have to admit from a hardware standpoint, MS did alot to try and please the gaming audience. I for one am apprecaitive for the Hard drive and lack of need for a Memory card, and having Internet out of the box like I did for Dreamcast.
Xbox has the best Hardware and the most going for it. Period.

Why is it when someone critiques a company, it's automatically a bash and conversely when you praise a company you're a fanboy.

Why do people get so defensive. I own an xbox and a cube, and hey, I take both to task. When I owned a ps2, boy did I let a lot of ps2 games have it between the eyes.

I agree that the xbox has the best hardware, that's why it's doubly disappointing when certain games created supposedly from the ground up for the most powerful console out there are well, uninspired, average and at times, just plain flat out lousy.

Is there really any excuse for Inside Pitch to be a mediocre baseball title missing so many crucial features. Online is nice, but it doesn't make up for the deficiencies, and when you consider 90% of xbox owners aren't online, it's even more critical that the offline portion hold its own and it doesn't. Microsoft had all the time in the world to create a first rate baseball title. They were under no pressure to release a baseball title and they screwed the pooch. I just can't make up excuses for MS's incompetence any longer.

They desparately need someone who's got a pulse on the market and is game savvy. I still have enormous respect for EA when they pulled madden during the playstation's first year and conceded defeat to sony's gameday. What an unexpected and gutsy move,not to mention incredibly smart. They knew they couldn't compete, didn't want to tarnish their image, forgoed whatever revenue they might have received and went about their business. MS needs management like that.

 

[Ray Warner]

Metroid Prime doesn't play like the first 2, which makes me uninterested in it.

Ack! But Jeff, it DOES play like the first two (three? Gameboy version?) That's the first thing I've heard out of everyone's mouth once they get into it.

"Christ, it's like playing a 3D version of Super Metroid. How the hell did they do that?"

It got bashed for not being First-Person-Shooter-y enough. Thank God.

I'll agree that MS has it nailed from a hardware standpoint, and yep, the first-party titles need LOTS of work. On that note, it's almost like the PC. There's mountains of crap for the PC, the trick is to sift through it and find the gems. Whether this will actually fly in a console setting is TBA.

And I'm not cashing my chips in on any console yet. If I had to, I'd have to go with the PS2, my least favorite. GC seems doomed for Dreamcast-style underworld cult status, and were I Nintendo, I'd let that happen. The best thing Sega ever did to the DC was declare it dead, because all the games getting released now are ones I actually want to play. The fact that they're all just remakes of Neo games is fine by me. I'd rather not pay $395 for a videogame when I can pay $60.

Rage of the Dragons, I know you're out there.

 

[BrianB]

The fact that they're all just remakes of Neo games is fine by me.

Not quite... Border Down is coming... Oh yes... Oh yes...

 

[Adam Tyner]

I'd like to see the focus group of knuckle-dragging Neanderthals who told Seamus, "Me want controller more big!"

:b That would be me, I guess. I'd consider the Duke to be the most comfortable controller I've used since Sega's 6-button controller for the Genesis. I haven't tried the S, but I have zero complaints about the Duke.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

I have to be with Adam Plus the button layout makes it Capcom friendly.

Metroid is played from an FPS view. For me personally it's side-scroller or nothing.

 

[Romier S]

Metroid is played from an FPS view. For me personally it's side-scroller or nothing.

Yeah but if it was on the Jedi Knight 2 engine youd be all over it.

 

[LanceH]

Gamecube's exclusive titles were what compelled me to get one, despite the fact that I'm primarily into Xbox and PS2. Star Wars Rogue Squadron is why I'm still holding onto it. So in that department, they've got my respect.

 

[Ray Warner]

I liked the Duke just fine, to toss my opinion onto the pile here. I've got pretty big hands, but my younger (by 5 years) brother had zero problems with it - preferred it, even - and he was (and still is) quite a bit shorter than I am. I stil use it for Halo.

And Jeff, coming from a standpoint of serious trepidation upon the annoucement that there's a 3D Metal Slug in the works, I can see your point. God, if they screw it up any worse than Metal Slug 4 already did, the dissapointment from me and that one other guy who still plays Metal Slug is gonna be pretty severe.

 

[JayV]

Why is it when someone critiques a company, it's automatically a bash and conversely when you praise a company you're a fanboy.

Because either way, it avoids actually addressing the other party's arguments?

Question for you (and no, it isn't a loaded one): do you really believe that Xbox has had "more than its fair share of misses" particularly when comparing "miss" games to the PS2 librbary at the same milestones?

I certainly agree that some of MS's first-party offerings are odd -- MA lacks a lobby, Whacked is generally panned, KFC is short (but then KFC retails at $30, so it's a fine value, IMO).

-j

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Yeah but if it was on the Jedi Knight 2 engine youd be all over it.

Give Samus a lightsaber and we'll talk

 

[Romier S]

that one other guy who still plays Metal Slug is gonna be pretty severe

Ye art thou on crack if you think you and one other person are the only ones that play the Metal Slug series regularly. Hell I just ran through and beat X two days ago.

 

[Peter Manojlovich]

Question for you (and no, it isn't a loaded one): do you really believe that Xbox has had "more than its fair share of misses" particularly when comparing "miss" games to the PS2 librbary at the same milestones?

You really have to look at statements made by MS when they entered the market. They stated they wanted the third-party success that sony enjoys coupled with the first party offerings of nintendo.

So, based on that, I judge MS first party efforts in comparison to nintendo not sony. I think ms got off to a good start at launch, with Halo, Oddworld, and PGR, along with Fever and Amped to a lesser degree. 2002 was rocky to say the least. I count only two solid first party offerings in Rallisport Challenge and Mechassault, with a lot of flawed product put into the market. Quantum Redshift, Blinx, Kakuto Chojin, Azurik, Nightcaster, Blood Wake, Whacked.

So far this year, I don't think anything really stands out. Brute Force, MM3 and PSO are the cream of the crop. But PSO and MM3 are really only of interest to the 10%(if that) of xbox owners who subscribe to xbox live. That pretty much leaves BF to carry the first party colors.

Sorry, and I'm not a huge nintendo fan, but I feel that Zelda mops the floor with BF as a game. Zelda all by itself pretty much swamps MS for the first 6 months. Looking out for the next six months, I dont' see any locks for MS. Crimson Skies, Grabbed by the Ghoulies and Sudeki, if we're lucky. CounterStrike as well, but I have my doubts.

As for the ps2, sony has a pair of big platforming sequels coming up with Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank as well as Socom 2. So far this year, they released Ampitude, The Getaway, Primal, Dark Cloud 2 from what I can remember. Any contributions sony makes is just icing on the cake with the large third party support and sony first party efforts are $10 less expensive than those of MS.

Too much of the high-profile product for the xbox is still too far away and quite frankly I'm sick of hearing about Halo2 and Fable. All this hype is going to be ultimatelly counter-productive, I fear. If these games stumble, and it's quite possible, they'll pay the price.

Right now, the critics are just savaging Tomb Raider for the ps2.

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

So, Jeff, have you played Metroid Fussion yet?