So…..Microsoft’s announcements. Again the Jostick write-up contains all the details but my thoughts are…
Good
- Halo 3….but no release date. Trailer on Marketplace and it does look very good especially as all the content is in game and rendered on the 360 although there is a bit of Sony style ‘should’ make it to final game in the Bungie announcement.
- Forza 2 for Christmas, Gears of War this year, Pro Evo next gen debut is the 360
- Grand Theft Auto releases same day for PS3 & 360 so good in that there is no wait…whether the 360 is the best platform for it (Xbox GTA was far better than PS2 GTA) remains to be seen
- New hardware – Wireless headset, wheel and the camera – all in the run up to Christmas. HD-DVD too but not much said. IGN have some great shots of the hardware. The headset will be a purchase.
- Live Arcade getting lot’s of new content but a lot of it is in the shape of arcade classics
- Live Anywhere – voice chat between Vista and 360. Play game on 360 and/or PC or Windows Mobile. Smart. Use same gamertag on ANY (MS) platform
Bad
- Marketplace can’t cope with the demand – downloads are verrrrry slow
- Need background download update – pity this wasn’t available for this week
- Lot’s of talk about Xbox Arcade but little or no additional content for the last few months
- There’s a hungry market out there looking for games – how do I know? See image below – never have I seen the friends list busier with no one playing games.
- No killer blow, no shock announcement, nothing to dent the Sony hype.
Overall a good amount of announcements of hardware and software but I can’t wait to see how big a lead the 360 has with regards user base this November…and what it will be like on Nov 2007.
