xbox -why i am buying one, why games could be better.

[viridian]

here i will edit this into three things

many found it too long and all over the place

#1 buy halo
#2 buy xbox.
#3 enjoy the next level of gaming. not merly upgraded psone games.

[Tazilla]

Originally posted by viridian
xbox only has a two exclusive must haves this year... oddworld and halo.

where in the he|| did you get this information,... Xbox has at least eightteen Exclusive Titles,... 18!!! by then end of the year,..

1. Amped
2. Munch's Oddysee
3. Fuzion Frenzy
4. UFC tapout
5. NBA Inside Drive
6. Aforce Delta Storm
7. Dead or Alive 3
8. Azurik
9. Halo
10. Project Gotham Racing
11. Mad Dash
12. Obi Wan
13. Shrek
14. NFL Fever
15. Blood Wake
16. Kabuki Warriors
17. Night Caster
18. WWF Raw is War

and I am sure that I can find more...
But first,.. I must drink from my Pint of Beer....
Ahhhhh refreshing,...

[eLoup]

Someone better Revolutionize my Stream Of Consciousness


Having come into the contemporary gaming scene rather late, I must admit, I never played video games growing up. True, I played The Secret of Mana (SNES) with 2 school friends, and yes, I did own an Atari 2600 – but at that time every other kid had a SNES or Genesis. But I’ve not grown up with Zelda, Final Fantasy, Contra, and while I do (still) have original Nintendo hand-held Donkey Kong, and Donkey Kong Jr. games (as well as Mario Bros first platform game on my Apple IIe) – I have lived fairly distant from GenX kin’s icons.

*Bleep* *Bleep* Pong Anyone?

Currently my interests and career are headed by a dream of filmmaking. So while I’m fairly articulate in terms of first and second gen MMORPGs, as well as some FPS titles, I’ll leave my blathering for what I know better: Film.

*Insert – Pull in* PackMan

First there was Keaton.

Batman. Keaton starred as the super hero helmed by visionary Tim Burton. Many fans hail Batman as the best of the wobbly bat-movie franchise. Batman was dark and gritty, Jack Nicolson was sinister, conscious and charismatic. After Batman Returns, a fairly good follow-up, Batman has been tarnished by scripts conjured from the depths of very bad places, actors conjured from very bad studios, directors conjured from no-where, and producers who did the conjuring.

Currently there are 2 Batman flicks in the mill. One is biased from the animated TV serious, the other a prequal in terms of story to the entire film franchise.

*Zzzzzz-erpt* *Zzzzzz-erpt* *Buuuuu-rzzzzz* Defender

Batman : live action movie based on the animated Batman TV series.

Vs.

Batman : Year One.


-=Reqiuem For a Bat=-

I’m no soothsayer, but my predictions based on patterns in the past tells me that the Batman movie based on the popular TV serious will be not much more exciting than CGI Batman underwear flapping in the night, and maybe a BatNipple (CGI ?). However, Year One is being helmed, so far, by Darren Aronofsky, the young director behind Pi (his debut) and Requiem For A Dream. Darren and the master who penned and wrote the original Year One graphic novel have been developing a movie to bring that novel to life.

Now, compared to the rest of the Batty fare, possibly with the inclusion of Tim Burton (Who’s recently lost touch with more than just our world, but one with monkeys too), Year One could well be the Revolution that comic book-cum-Budget Movie fans are looking for. Anyone who’s seen Pi and has been graced by Requiem will have a clear understanding as to why.


Zelda, Batman, What the Fuxx0rz is he getting at!?


You posted at great length as to what you thought the gaming industry needed : basically, a sucker punch to the arm, a little wake-up ‘smell the roses’, and some genuine storytelling elements. If Zelda is in the rut of your Typical Hollywood Action affair, a mess that even superheroes can’t escape, He’s needs a makeover. And if it’s like the action figures, he needs it pretty bad. The way that Darren will most likely go about to re-invent the feel of an authentic Batman, is by teaming up with the original writer, and illustrator of Year One where he and Darren will write the script, a story of emotional loss, confusion, and growing pains – in Bat tights. With Darren's previous two films, he’s more than qualified to make what could easily be the grittiest action movie biased on popular super-hero franchise movie ever. Bar None. However, Darren’s talent in making his characters and their situations grizzly is not surpassed by his ability to make the trip worth it. That is to say, he crafts a balanced story. His movies are dark, they are pretty hard-core, and in your face, but they don’t exclude the morals at the end.

*Bloooo-ep* *Bloooo-ep* Dodge those Invaders!

Batman, long since his panties bunched in the proverbial cave. But now it seems, with the help of his creator and a young guy with the know-how, Batman will get his foot out of his mouth and into bad guy asses in swift fashion.

Can the same be done with Zelda?


* _____ * *_____ * The game I didn’t play

~

eLoup
Seattle

[grandcrusader]

Viridian i think you should do a search on Jakob Nielson and usability on the web and once you read all that information.

Come back and write some information that people will even attempt to read!

Just trying to help you, cos at the moment very few people will read that unstructured, rolling mumbo-jumbo!

[Tazilla]

Originally posted by grandcrusader
Viridian i think you should do a search on Jakob Nielson and usability on the web and once you read all that information.

Come back and write some information that people will even attempt to read!

Just trying to help you, cos at the moment very few people will read that unstructured, rolling mumbo-jumbo!


Yeah,.. what he said,...

/me passes grandcrusader a nice frosty mug of ale

[Chaotic]

Xbox itself will also have Metal Gear Solid X which is metal gear solid 2 with some added features, pretty much all PS/2 games will be on the XBOX.

So why get PS/2 when you can do it better on the XBOX.

[grandcrusader]

Thanks for that frosty mug of ale Tazilla!

Was just trying to help Viridian adapt to writting on the web cos at the moment he/she is struggling big time.

Handy hint Viridian, the Enter key begins a new paragraph!:rolleyes:

[Tazilla]

Originally posted by grandcrusader
Thanks for that frosty mug of ale Tazilla!

Was just trying to help Viridian adapt to writting on the web cos at the moment he/she is struggling big time.

Handy hint Viridian, the Enter key begins a new paragraph!:rolleyes:

I'd laugh as much as I could,.. because the Enter key starts a new paragraph thingy was crackin' me up big time,... But Halo calls,.. this Bath room break is streching out tooooo long,..

I am the Weakest link,.. Good bye,...

Weak from long hours, no sleep,.. and excitement/ and beer rushing throuhg my veins,...

[scarecrow kfj]

Did any one manage to read the whole thing? If you did will sum it up I will pay ya... lol yes I can read at least I think.

[l Maximus l]

Dude, I got through three lines and almost fell asleep.

[eLoup]

X-Box : Redux


Revised Re-Cut Revisited




. a comprehensive rewrite of viridian’s original essay by eLoup .






I. Glimpse of The Future? Solid Snake Scores.



I think gaming is better then ever, but I know it could be better. Take Metal Gear Solid (Konami) : it’s what I would consider the best game so far, bar non. Not everyone will think so, but many I think would agree.

There are games featuring exceptional game-play. There are games that feature exceptional storytelling, plots, and character development. Metal Gear Solid, however, features both.

Another game that features promising characteristics is Zelda 64 (Nintendo 64). It represents the cream du le corpse of gaming: what gaming ought to be. However, even Zelda has room for improvement. The story is engaging, but unfortunately, relies too heavily on questing play mechanics. The scripts feel only slightly better than an afterthought.

This is where Metal Gear Solid hit the keys on the right notes. With the ability to craft play mechanics around both the actual player-character involvement in the world that Solid Snake doth dwell, and the gripping story he cunningly executes his skill of combat and espionage. Metal Gear Solid avoided tedious game challenges and enthusiastically relied on a complex and well executed story – now there’s a feat worth to shak’en a stick at! A well developed game can feel more like a memorable movie, something that sticks with you long after it’s been enjoyed and is exhilarating to whiteness.

Unfortunately, developer’s attempt to creating this balanced immersion rarely succeeds by measures of the hordes of gamers that play their games. Too often it is that one game mechanic drowns out the others, oft to a distasteful result. Too much story, too much tedious play, too much downtime, not enough in the graphic department, or worse, way too much in the graphic department.

What I invite gamers to imagine is taking a staple icon figure like Zelda and crafting a game using a mechanics basis similar to Metal Gear Solid : a solid story, developed characters, meaningful action with equivalent consequences, mature themes where appropriate and a real sense of depth and player impact.

Playing Metal Gear Solid was a gripping ride: where every second you where forced to continue to evaluate your situation and execute your plan. It was contemporary, it was gritty, it was exciting!

But I digress. My hopes for the genre-breaking innovation has been all but lost with the new Zelda, sporting fruity cell shaded graphics to add insult to injury.




II. Into the Depth of Gaming



When one attempts even a quick analysis of the flavors of our games, the general observation can easily bring up questions I’d hope only sooner developers would have picked up on.

Fighting games brings a few examples to mind. Fighting games are to game mechanics as rubbing alcohol is to root beer. Fighting games are simply one of the most ‘pure’ game genres there is. In fact, maybe they’re too pure for their own good. Too much of a good thing isn’t all that good, isn’t that how the saying goes? Instead of a game that plays as linear as a 2D spline from A-to-B, why not involve some more advanced entertainment elements to these games to develop even the slightest chemistry between story, characters, development, and a sense that your presence effects the actions you make within the game.


As healthy as the Nintendo franchise is, I high doubt that a company of this stature and current position in the industry pekking-order can or will commit to encourage the developing parties to engage in projects that advance the near decade-old video game story telling mechanics into something more: something we hope for, something we’ve been expecting with the next generation of entertainment.

In the other hand you have Sony. It appears that recent business practices may seem to encourage minimal effort for greatest effect. Great gaming doesn’t come from marginal effort. Sony simply doesn’t seem motivated to commit to the developmental path that could change this deterrent pattern in gaming, though admiringly, they have released titles that have given gamers the glimpse of what we hope* to come.





III. Microsoft To The Rescue?



With a backwards-engineered philosophy that seems to try to understand the game from the players and then engineer conceptual material around the gamer’s feedback, maybe Microsoft will have what it takes. Aside from technical marvel, which comes with the territory, Microsoft has already expressed it’s bond to gamers best interests by releasing what could very well be ground-breaking titles such as the now well-known “Halo” (Bungie).




IV. The Gamers Overture : 2001



Childhood icons turn-hardcore; games like Mario and Zelda featuring characters engraved in the post-Atari generation are currently stuck in the rut they’ve been hiding in for more than ten years.

If only we could bring these lovable characters, their backgrounds vibrant, back to screens with the sort of revolutionary gaming that this industry so desperately needs. Instead of resurrecting Zelda in paper-cut-out land, give that giddier look to child-appealing Mario, a jolly plumber in his own right. Give Zelda some True Grit, make him act his age, without over acting his place. Give his potential as a generation’s icon go more than just the surface level. For goodness sakes! As games move from 2D Sprites to vast and lush 3D vistas, lets also bring our techniques into the brave new world!




V. The Right Stuff



Until Nintendo and Sony respectively make the effort, Microsoft will be the decisive factor. As gamers, we’ll have to finger-pound, button mash, trigger squeeze and device jostle our way into finding out if Microsoft truly will have “The Right Stuff”. By jove I hope so. I’ll be picking up /my/ box tomorrow.




~

eLoup
Seattle

[grandcrusader]

Thanks eloop, good to see someone took the time to climb the Everest of this forum and come back to tell use about it!

I feel enlighten and bemused by your editing, but that was much better than being dazed and confused in the case of the orginal.

/The Grandcrusader hands you a flagon of super frosty ale.:cool:

[Silver]

Whew.. at last someone made that piece of crap into a text that even a human can read...

[viridian]

you know what....

i was typing that for me, not for you guys. it took along time and yes i know its hard to read.

yes i know how to hit the return button

eloup is funny. rather than attack me he plays along . i like that . if i had to redo it yet i would craft a very structured essay. but i kind of just typed what came into my head. it w

[viridian]

dam cat steped on the return button! where was i?

i was soul searching the consoles and thats what poped in my head. it was not the essay i wanted to write. it just happened like that. i felt compelled to write something about that because it took me a long time to see why xbox was the way to go. up untill a week ago i was not even considering the xbox. but it won my heart in few swift moves. now that i have it, its all the more clear why i need this machine.

the well built constrution.
the green neon boxes.
the awsomeness of halo.
the breakaway controllers.
the hard drive.

the music ripping feature, the fact that i can use this as a music jukbox saves me the trouble of buying a cd recorder.

the whole xbox aproach is a breath of fresh air. i had so many doubts and said on many occasions that the xbox was the one to avoid. the graphics (call me shallow if you want...but halo looks like a ps3 game) . the awsomeness of halo. (did i mention that?)

its a good thing they have halo. it can tell you in 5 minutes why the xbox is the one to support. i no longer care that i am missing the tons great games on the ps2. (metal gear, soul reaver, ico etc) i could play only halo untill the second wave of games and still be entertained. its that good. its timeless and will never get old. im sad to see nintendo fall on its face once again. with the early fall of the 64 they had plenty of time to come out of the gates with a REAL zelda and mario and plenty others. i no longer have patience for them.it took a year for the ps2 to come out with games worth playing. xbox has them beat with a couple of games. it really is the next level. not merly upgraded psx experiences like the ps2

[Tazilla]

eLoup,

Metal Gear Solid series has always been my favorite. Since the day I first played it on my NES.
When Hideo transformed Snake from a little sprite to fully 3D model on PSX, He totally transformed Video Game forever in my opinion, I played it through to the end over and over and over,.. (I'm trying to find Bleem for Metal Gear Solid to play it on my Dreamcast) The Story of the MGS games has always been Solid (pardon the pun) Grippping and very inovative. when I went out to pick up my new Xbox bundle, I very nearly grabbed a copy of MGS2 while I was there,.. only limited by my current financial situation, I had to look at Solid Snake, and whisper,... another day my friend, another day,...

Halo, now ownz me,.. although MGS2 and any future MGS games will end up in my Library,...

I am very disappointed in Sony, where is the inovation, where are the grippng stories, where is the gameplay I had on the PSX,.. their games are now too short,.. and the stories are chopped up into fragments that leave you frustrated and wondering wth is going on,.. you end up with a feeling like, "was that it?" I hope Hideo Kojima keeps up his beautiful work, and doesn't fall into the PS2 trap of short stories and lame production work,... that would totally suck,.. but I have faith in him,.. he is one of my heroes,...

As far as Nintendo goes,.. they lost me at N64,.. nuff said end of story,...

Now I will sit back drink my suds, and play my games that will never be the same,...

[Tazilla]

Originally posted by viridian
you know what....

i was typing that for me, not for you guys. it took along time and yes i know its hard to read.

yes i know how to hit the return button

eloup is funny. rather than attack me he plays along . i like that . if i had to redo it yet i would craft a very structured essay. but i kind of just typed what came into my head. it w

viridian, we weren't making fun,..
Welcome to the forums mate,... you have been initiated,...
although your firts post that started this thread was very hard to read,.. we just wanted to tease ya a little,..

I for one am glad to see that you have become an Xbox gamer,... you have stepped into a world that you can never leave,.. I agree with you about Halo,.. it's a great game,.. The graphics look more like PC games to me than Ps3,.. ( I have actually never seen the ps3 screen shots j/k)

but the game is beautiful,.. now if you want to be totally amazed at some Xbox graphics,.. check out DoA3,.. I have never seen any system that can crank out beautiful graphics liike that before,.. well before Xbox anyway,...

Beers for everyone,.. my place,... tonight!