Xbox Live packin titles revealed. MotoGP fans rejoice! (1 Viewer)

[Romier S]

This story was posted on IGN:
Link Removed
The pack in game for the live kit will be a demo of Whacked!, which looks neat but we'll have to wait and see on the quality of the title. More importantly is this report on MotoGP (which is one of the best damn racers on the box!):

The Starter Kit Moto GP demo will feature a handful of playable tracks, but the bigger story is this demo will unlock online play for the full version of Moto GP that was released for Xbox back in May of this year.

MotoGP was a total suprise for me when I bought it a while back and it ended up being my favorite racers on the Box. Now this demo adds full online functionality to the game! Very exciting for me as a MotoGP fan!.

 

[Dave Falasco]

Oh, my goodness! Fantastic news, and it looks like I'm off to Target to grab another title. Thanks for the scoop, Romier!

PS. I hope Beta testers get the new packin title when it releases...uh oh...

 

[GlenHaag]

Did I see that Target had dropped the price on this title recently?

I tried it at BB the other day and it just seemed to be a bit slow, but if it's a good one I might look at picking it up.

Glen

 

[Damien]

wow, moto gp is the best game released on a console, i really can't wait to see how many players they can jam onto the track....does this open the flood gates for other games??

 

[hwshi]

yesssss! please oh please include it in my newly signed up for beta live kit. screw football i wanna race daddy.
hwshi

 

[BrianB]

So as opposed to the previous "full game", users are getting two demos?

Has this definitely been confirmed for the US as well as Europe? The Seville X02 announcement which was definitely aimed at the European market.

 

[Romier S]

Has this definitely been confirmed for the US as well as Europe?

So far just the US Brian. Microsoft announce Live would not be launching until March in Europe so they may be waiting to announce the pack in title for that territory.

 

[BrianB]

Romier, they *definitely* announced the pack-in details for Europe at X02-Seville. They announced dates, prices, hardware roll-out info & the software info.

I'm just curious if IGN are supposing the US pack-ins will be the same or whether it's formally been announced.

 

[Romier S]

Brian,
This is the annoucement I saw for the European launch:
Europe lauch
No mention of what titles are coming with the the kit. The IGN report may be for the European lauch as well, I took it as being the US launch since they worded it as such.
Do you have any other sources of info that have the European lauch titles as well? I'd like to know for sure whether this is the European lauch details or if we are going to see this in the US.(I want that MotoGP demo!)

 

[Chris Bardon]

I also find it interesting that they've changed the full game pack-in to just be a demo: I wonder why...

Also, if they're patching a game to allow for Xbox Live play, then am I the only one who thinks that making this anything other than Halo is a strange move? I'm not sure what about MotoGP makes it so simple to patch, but this sounds strange.

Lastly, didn't they already say that there wouldn't be such a thing as a "patch" for an Xbox game? I think that this was implying more that all the games would go out as finished products rather than some of the WIP games we've seen released for PC, but again this is kind of strange.

Just makes me wonder what else MS will decide to change in their Xbox strategy...

 

[BrianB]

Romier,
This is the relevant part of an email I received from a mate at the conference:
[] Official launch is to be on the first anniversary of the Xbox
European launch - March 14th, 2003. Service will roll out in the
UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Holland and Sweden.
Xbox Starter Pack will go live (heh) on that day, details:
- price: £39.99 / EUR59.99
- games: MotoGP and Whacked! for Xbox Live
- stuff: voice communicator headset, 12 months' sub, software
There's a whole bunch of other European specific info missing from that story on GameSpot - hardware info, relevant providers etc.
I notice GameSpot says: software and peripherals needed to run Xbox Live and two bundled games. Sounds /very/ close to what I listed above.

I also find it interesting that they've changed the full game pack-in to just be a demo: I wonder why...

I know you're asking a rhetorical question, but I'll spell it out: to ensure people buy at least one game + the starter kit instead of just the starter kit

 

[Dave F]

The IGN article seems to state that the full version of Whacked will be included:

The earliest adopters of Xbox Live will be getting a special online demo version of THQ's Moto GP in addition to Microsoft Game Studios' all-new party game Whacked! for free

Either way it sucks, IMO. Whacked! is pretty much at -3 on my interest meter. MotoGP isn't quite my bag either.

-Dave

 

[BrianB]

From the IGN article:

Likewise, Xbox Live players will only be getting a limited version of Whacked! with the Starter Kit and they'll still have the option of picking up the full retail version of Whacked!, which is Xbox Live compatible as well.

 

[Dave F]

D'oh! :b

-Dave (who will be working on his reading comprehension skills )

 

[Romier S]

Thanks Brian for the clarification, thats what I was looking for. We may have to wait a bit longer to see if this is the official US pack in as well. Thanks again.
Oh to be privy to your inside information!

 

[BrianB]

No hassle, Romier. I'm not doubting IGN, I just want to be sure. I do think it's an interesting move by them to go from the idea of a "full game" (albeit an old one) to a demo & a patch (again something they've loudly dismissed before).
You know what I find funny about this? Sony announced TMB:Online as a free 'mail-in' to their network adaptor in response to Microsoft's free "pack-in" game, and now Microsoft ditch theirs after Sony sell the adaptor (and the game).

Oh to be privy to your inside information!

lol. Hardly I'm on a mailing list with a few mates from DMA & a bunch of gamers back in the UK. It just so happens a few of them are industry bods (though a lot of them aren't). There really isn't much "inside info" passed around on it. It's much more about just chatting about games etc. One of 'em is out there & that info got passed at the same time the various news sites posted it up, for instance:
EuroGamer's XBox Live 02 story

 

[Adam Nixon]

Geez, could Microsoft tell the complete truth just ONCE about X-box Live? The past six months have been nothing but backstepping over promised features, such as "one all-inclusive fee" and "full game to be included with X-box communicator." It amazes me when people wonder why there's so much resentment towards MS...

 

[Ryan Peter]

Adam, why do you care if you don't own an Xbox?
Oh well I'm going to be crying my eyes out if they don't include ummm... Re-Volt?

 

[Adam Nixon]

To be honest, I intend to buy one this month -- the Rare announcement pushed me over the edge and the second generation titles look considerably better than the ports that have sustained the system. That, and I've been drooling over Halo for a year...

That being said, I'm tired of being told different things regarding X-box live. Moto GP blows away Re-volt, but instead of just buying the communicator you've also got to add a game into the cost -- which morphs a $49 purchase into a $99 purchase. That, and MS flaunting an all-inclusive fee then announcing that publishers are free to charge more, has dampened my enthusiasm for what I once though was the best online strategy devised.

 

[Ryan Peter]

Well I guess I would say the change is for the best. The demo could be good too, if it's anything like the Frequency demo for the PS2. Re-Volt would have gone unplayed in my case.