Video game thread

[Dillen]

I didnt read the article to see if there are any huge improvements, but if someone has already spent $400 on one, and then pretty much spends $475 on another one to get 100 more GB of memory, when 20 GB is hard enough to fill.....more power to them I guess. I wish I had that much money to completely waste.

[Seabiscuit36]

Same here, i'd love to have 500 bucks to blow and not get reamed out by the wife 

Im really liking the russian angle on GTA 4

[mussa]

I tried to trade for Takeo Spikes in madden. I had to give up Runyan, a 2nd round pick and a promising LOLB by the name of Jon Beason to get him. Stupid, but I wanted Spikes. He got me zero tackles in 1 and a half games....

[Diomedes]

I picked up a PS2 yesterday.  The new, small design is pretty hottt.

Got Madden '06 -- first time I'll have played Madden in years.  They didn't have any used '07s and from what I hear, there ain't much of a diff anyway.  Besides, this way I got McNabb on the cover to go with my old copy of NFL 2K5 with TO.  I'll put them on the shelf facing each other so they can make out 24/7

Also got Gladius, my favorite game in a long time, Rogue Galaxy, and Dragon Quest VIII.  Picked up the latter two on ratings and gameplay alone..we'll see.

So yeah, unemployment is going great.

[mussa]

u suck

[mussa]

anyone play that game Bully for ps2?

[MURP]

i bought it, played it, sold it.   It is fun for a little while but gets old fast.  Think Grand Theft Auto minus the fun. 

[MURP]

a ton of free nintendo games you can play in your browser


http://nintendo8.com/toplist/more/

[mussa]

 

tough to play some games on keyboard

[MURP]

3 page article comparision on the exclusive games for Wii, 360, and PS3

[Seabiscuit36]

could you post that Murp.  Im blocked from gaming sites

[MURP]

Sony has been touting their "big three" since E3 2006, so it was a major shock when Capcom revealed that Devil May Cry 4 would be released simultaneously on the PS3 and Xbox 360. No timed exclusive. No special editions. Just the same game for each of the powerhouse next-generation consoles. Now, while some may scoff, is it out of the realm of possibility to think those franchises may jump ship as well? Metal Gear and Final Fantasy games have appeared on MS's machine before and with DMC4 already on board (the most obvious of the big three to make the jump), Konami and Square-Enix may not be able to ignore the money much longer.

So here we are again with another analysis of the exclusive games for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the Wii. And with any good comparison, there must be rules. The rules of The Exclusive Arms Race are simple:

1. These are "console exclusives". So if a game appears on the PC and only one console, it is exclusive to that console. Also, because of the limitations of the DS, PSP and GBA, any game that appears on only one console and a handheld will be considered exclusive to that console.

2. Downloadable games and content packs will not be included. Downloadable games may be added in the future, but considering the number of "exclusive" content pack deals flying around (i.e. Grand Theft Auto IV), the word doesn't end up meaning anything.

3. "Next-Gen exclusives" will not be counted. So we won't be counting games that appear on only one next-gen console but also on the PS2, Xbox or GC. So The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Burnout: Revenge and others are all out.

4. No "fantasy games". That means that these lists will only include games that have been formally announced by a publisher and have at least a working title. So that means games like "Unannounced LucasArts/Day 1 Next-Gen Project" and "Untitled Namco RPG" won't be included.

So with the rules established, here's what the current totals look like. And like any good Cold War, they are in bar graph form for that whole "I have more missiles than you and it's the end of the world as we know it" feel:


For those that wish to track the changes from our previous lists, they can be found here:
October 2006
March 2007

With all that out of the way, here is the full list of exclusives for each console. While it may not be a complete list, the lists are accurate as of the day this article was published.

Xbox 360 (84 [+4])

Released (36)
Amped 3
Battlestations: Midway
Bomberman: Act Zero
Bullet Witch
Call of Duty 2
Chromehounds
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Crackdown
Dance Dance Revolution Universe
Dead or Alive 4
Dead or Alive Xtreme 2
Dead Rising
Earth Defense Force 2017
Full Auto
Fuzion Frenzy 2
Gears of War
Import Tuner Challenge
Kameo: Elements of Power
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition
MotoGP 06
Ninety-Nine Nights
Over G Fighters
Perfect Dark Zero
Prey
Project Gotham Racing 3
Quake 4
Ridge Racer 6
Rumble Roses XX
Star Trek: Legacy
Table Tennis
Tetris Evolution
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle For Middle-earth II
The Outfit
Top Spin 2
Viva Piñata
Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1

Unreleased (48)
Ace Combat 6 *NEW*
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
Alan Wake
All Points Bulletin
Banjo-Kazooie 3
BioShock
Blazing Angels: Secret Missions
Blue Dragon
Call of Juarez *NEW*
Castle Wolfenstein
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Crossfire
Cry On
Culdcept Saga
Dead or Alive Code: Cronus
Elveon
Eternal Sonata
Fable 2
Far East of Eden Ziria
FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage
Forza Motorsport 2
GTR
Halo 3
Halo Wars
Hour of Victory
Huxley
Infinite Undiscovery
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom
Left 4 Dead
Lost Odyssey
Marvel Universe Online
Mass Effect
Mobile Ops: The One Year War
Naruto 360
Overlord
Postal III
Project Gotham Racing 4
Project Progressive
Project Sylpheed
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel *NEW*
Shadowrun
Tenchu Z
TimeShift
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 5
Too Human
Two Worlds
Vampire Rain *NEW*

[MURP]

PlayStation 3 (40 [+1])

Released (8 )
Fomula One: Championship Edition
Full Auto 2: Battlelines
Genji: Days of the Blade
Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire
MotorStorm
Resistance: Fall of Man
Ridge Racer 7
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom

Unreleased (32)
Afrika
Angel Rings
Coded Arms: Assault
DC Universe
Driver 5
Eight Days
Eye of Judgment
Eyedentify
Fifth Phantom Saga
Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy Versus XIII
God of War III *NEW*
Gradius 6 *NEW*
Gran Turismo 5
Heavenly Sword
Hot Shots Golf 5
Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier
Killzone
L.A. Noire
Lair
LittleBigPlanet *NEW*
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Monster Kingdom
Ni-Oh
Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction
SingStar
Tekken 6
The Getaway 3
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Warhawk
White Knight Story
WipeOut

Wii (63 [+10])

Released (16)
Cooking Mama: Cook Off
Elebits
Excite Truck
GT Pro Series
Kororinpa: Marble Mania
Monster 4x4 World Circuit
Red Steel
Sonic and the Secret Rings
SSX Blur
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
Super Swing Golf
Tramua Center: Second Opinion
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Wii Play
Wii Sports
Wing Island

Unreleased (47)
Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None *NEW*
Alien Syndrome
BWii: Battalion Wars 2
Big Brain Academy
Bob Ross: The Joy of Painting
Boogie *NEW*
Bust-A-Move Bash!
Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party
Dave Mirra BMX Challenge *NEW*
Destiny of Zorro *NEW*
Dewy's Adventure
Disaster: Day of Crisis
Donkey Kong Next-Gen
DK Bongo Blast
Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
Escape From Bug Island
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers
Final Furlong
Fire Emblem
Forever Blue
Godzilla: Unleashed
Kirby Adventure *NEW*
Line Rider
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games *NEW*
Mario Party 8
Mario Strikers Charged
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
My Sims
Naruto: Clash of Ninja 3
Nights: Journey of Dreams *NEW*
No More Heroes
One Piece: Unlimited Adventure *NEW*
Opoona *NEW*
Orb
Pokemon Battle Revolution
Project H.A.M.M.E.R.
Project Treasure Island Z *NEW*
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
Sadness
Samurai Slash
Space Station Tycoon
Super Paper Mario
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Mario Galaxy
Tamagotchi Party On!
Thorn
Wii Music

The biggest mover and shaker from the previous month's list is without a doubt the Wii. Nintendo was able to add ten feathers to their Wii cap including major new support from Sega (Nights 2, Mario & Sonic at the Olympics) and Capcom (Project Treasure Island Z). With so much new support announced from Japanese developers in the last month, it makes the Square-Enix question all the more interesting. Square-Enix has shown with the Dragon Quest IX on the DS announcement that they're not afraid to shake things up. Could this be leading to bigger things beyond the already announced Dragon Quest Swords and Final Fantasy: Chrystal Chronicles?

The Wii's other major victory this month was pulling even with the Xbox 360 in the unreleased exclusives category (until Microsoft Game Studio announced Vampire Rain on Tuesday that is). While the PS3 and Xbox 360 continue to share almost all of the latest graphically intense/online powered announcements (Rock Band, NASCAR 08, Mercenaries 2, etc.), the Wii has snuck up on both of them with its promise of cheaper development costs. The Xbox 360's head start (in both number of consoles sold and number of exclusives) is being chipped away by the Wii every month.

While the PS3 actually added a few exclusives to their total in March, the month could easily be considered a setback for Sony's new console with the biggest blow obviously coming from Capcom's announcement that Devil May Cry 4 would also be coming to the Xbox 360. On top of that, the preceding few months have seen two of Sony's major "killer apps," Warhawk and LittleBigPlanet, are in some limbo where it's unknown if they will be downloadable titles or full retail releases. For now they'll remain on the exclusive list as I wouldn't put it past Sony to release them in both formats. Although the kinda-sorta-maybe announcement of God of War III has to comfort the Sony faithful somewhat.

But with all this talk about Sony and Nintendo, Microsoft still reigns supreme. And while they added only four new exclusives in the last month, the addition by subtraction of Devil May Cry 4 (and to a lesser extent Ace Combat 6) cannot be understated.

More analysis of each respective console's libraries can be found on the next page.

[MURP]

While a straight comparison of exclusives can tell us some things about the console war, it does not tell the whole story. Rule number three for the Exclusive Arms Race states that "Next-Gen exclusives will not be counted." It's a sound rule as the jump from PS2, Xbox and GC to PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii is not as pronounced as jumps in the past. The PS2 version of something will not be all that different from the Wii version and it most likely would not be radically different from the PS3 version.

So here's what a list of games that have appeared on only one next-generation console and at least one last-generation console would look like for each console:

Xbox 360 + Last-Gen Released (33)
2006 FIFA World Cup
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
Burnout Revenge
Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires
FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup
FIFA 07
Final Fantasy XI
Guitar Hero II
Gun
Hitman: Blood Money
Just Cause
King Kong
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
NBA 2K6
NBA Live 06
NBA Live 07
NCAA Football 07
Need For Speed: Most Wanted
NHL 07
NHL 2K6
Pimp My Ride
Samurai Warriors 2
Samurai Warriors 2 Empires
Superman Returns
Test Drive Unlimited
The History Channel: Civil War
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
Tomb Raider: Legend
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
UEFA Champions League 2006-2007
Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007
X-Men

PlayStation 3 + Last-Gen Released (1)
NBA 07

PlayStation 3 + Last-Gen Uneleased (2)
MLB 07: The Show
Ninja Gaiden Sigma

Wii + Last-Gen Released (14)
The Ant Bully
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Barnyard
Chicken Little: Ace in Action
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
Happy Feet
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
Medal of Honor: Vanguard
Metal Slug Anthology
Prince of Persia: Rival Swords
SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam

Wii + Last-Gen Unreleased (11)
Brothers in Arms: Double Time
Brunswick Pro Bowling
Driver: Parallel Lines
Heatseeker
High School Musical
Manhunt 2
Mercury Meltdown Revolution
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection
Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
Scarface: The World is Yours

The Wii is the only next-gen home to close to two dozen of these games. So while these titles will also appear on the PS2, Xbox or GC now, that won't always be the case. The Wii will eventually reach a critical mass where it will be profitable for companies to create these games only for the Wii (and likely won't be making any extra money from a PS2 version). And if the Wii continues its phenomenal sales run, that critical mass could be reached by the end of the year. All of a sudden those "Wii + Last-Gen Exclusives" will just be "Wii Exclusives."

Others will say that this is faulty thinking and that gamers don't want to play games with a "last-generation" look. To that I say those gamers should look at the sales success of the Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. With big sales numbers coming from games like Uno, Flow and Super Mario World, I'd question if high-definition, bump-mapped, pixel-shaded, 4D games are a "requirement".

This same situation is not true of the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. Due to its head start, the 360 actually sports a lot of titles that are "next-gen exclusive." But, as you can see, the PS3 only has a small handful. Although, the system seems to be a victim of circumstance in this comparison as it's unlikely the PS3 or the Xbox 360 will add any new games to this list in the near future (except for some sports titles and an "enhanced port" or two).

Looking at these numbers from a business standpoint proves that gamers do not need cutting edge graphical tricks in all of the games they play. The Wii will likely fill this niche with plenty of "low power" and quirky games that previously had a home on the PS2. Gamers looking for the next Katamari Damacy or Contra will most likely look to the Wii.

The most interesting aspect of this list is the disconnect between the "low-power" Wii and the "high-definition" Xbox 360 and PS3. There are lots of games that come out for the PS3 and Xbox 360 but not the Wii. Basically, any game that's not exclusive to one will come out on both. There are still plenty of titles that appear on all three thanks to megapublishers EA and Activision, but there is a very clear separation. In fact, there is only one game currently announced that will appear on the Wii and only one of the high-definition systems. That game is Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal, which is currently scheduled to come to the Wii and the Xbox 360.

So with this lack of cross-polination of titles between the systems, it creates the mentality that a gamer only needs two consoles to get almost everything. With the Xbox 360's massive list of exclusives (along with all of the Xbox 360/PS3 only titles) and the Wii filling in the low-power and quirky niche (along with a healthy batch of exclusives that are only possible with the Wiimote), the decision of which two consoles to buy becomes clear.

It's still not over, but history has taught us that a company that is slow to give gamers compelling reasons to purchase their machine (the N64, the GameCube and now maybe the PS3) will be left in the dust by the more nimble competitors.

[SD_Eagle5]

3 page article comparision on the exclusive games for Wii, 360, and PS3

The PS3 is a gigantic flop