http://www.majornelson.com/
Media Day
Posted: October 11, 2005 @ 1:52 am (1 day, 9 hours ago) By: Major Nelson
Great media day Tuesday here in New York. A lot of members of the press were coming though and getting some serious Xbox 360 time. We had many sessions today, but here is the basic breakdown of how the day went: We started journalists out with an hour of introduction. It was a sort of “Xbox 360 Boot Camp.†Each journalist got set up with their own Xbox 360 work area for the first hour where Scott Henson (the Director of our Advanced Technology Group) walked the ‘class’ through Xbox 360 basics. They played Kameo, spent time learning their way around the Xbox 360 Dashboard (as well as how to customize it) and how to set up a custom game sound track. They played some PGR3 and then we let them loose on the games! They left the ‘classroom’ and wandered into the ‘play room’ (as I call it) where they got to play the following games for as long as they wanted to:
Call of Duty 2
Condemned: Criminal Origins
DOA4
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Kameo: Elements of Power
NBA 2K6
NBA LIVE 06
Need for Speed Most Wanted
Perfect Dark Zero
Peter Jackson’s King Kong
Project Gotham Racing 3
Xbox Live Arcade
Two of the journalists that I spent a significant amount of time with were Steve from Gamingsteve.com and Peter Rojas from Engadget.com. Steve and I didn’t get a chance to play any games together (although Steve pretty much played everything) but Peter and I went head to head in DOA4. Apparently my jet lag started to affect me…since Peter pwned me. Not once, but THREE times. He had the DOA combo moves down cold. In one scene (a temple) Peter kept kicking me down the stairs while the temple monkeys watched and applauded my inability to coherently defend myself. Uggh. Tomorrow both Peter and Steve are coming back to play more games…so I’ll be able to get some gaming time in with Steve….and property defend my honor with Mr. Rojos and his roving pack of virtual simians.
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gamingsteve.com
My Day With The Xbox 360
xboxevent.jpgSo here I was, just playing some new games when I was unexpectingly invited to a private Xbox 360 preview event right here in New York City. So I hopped on the subway, showed up to Xbox-themed loft, and played lots of Xbox 360 games for several hours (yeah, I know, I suck).
Before I get "into it" I have to say that I've been to a fair number of these things over the years but this one was by far one of the best. The space was small, quiet, comfortable, and I got tons of quality time playing Xbox 360 games.
The event started out with an hour demo of Kameo: Elements of Power (looked fantastic), Project Gotham Racing 3 (pretty good), and the Xbox Live Dashboard (beyond words cool) and then we were able to play games for a couple of hours. I have to say, I was a bit concerned about the Xbox 360 launch lineup, but after today I am starting to think that the PS3 might be in some serious trouble. I was extremely impressed with what I saw and a couple of the launch titles look downright legendary.
I will do a detailed podcast about my experiences at the event later in the week but here is a quick rundown of my thoughts:
"The Hardware": The Xbox 360 controller is "like butter" and handles better than the PS2 controller (yes, even I was surprised by that one). The system design itself is "iPod Nano slick", compact, and the little "trap doors" which protect the various plug-in elements (like the memory unit and controller slots) are a nice touch.
Xbox Live Dashboard: I have to admit I was quite skeptical about how well the Xbox Live features would integrate into the overall gameplaying experience. But after playing with the Dashboard firsthand I have to say that it is seamlessly integrated with the overall experience and Xbox Live will definitely enhance the overall gaming experience, even with games which have no multiplayer options (more on this in the podcast). Really impressive stuff.
Kameo: Elements of Power: Considering that this game was supposed to be a launch title for the GameCube, and then was supposed to come out for the Xbox, and then was "retooled" as a launch title for the Xbox 360, I had a lot concerns about this game. But after playing it I have to say that the graphics are most definitely "next gen", the gameplay was lots of fun, and the music fantastic. I think Kameo will herald in the triumphant return of great Rare games.
Perfect Dark Zero: I played two levels of this game and while it was definitely fun I am going to hold judgment. There were a lot of cool innovations in the game (the safecracking "locktopus" being the coolest), and the weapon variety quite nice, but the gameplay seemed pretty standard.
Call of Duty 2: Played a lot like the first Call of Duty but with refined controls and updated gameplay. If you liked the first one I'm sure you'll like this one.
Condemned: Criminal Origins: Of all the games I played today this one surprised me the most and I felt the "winner" of the show. Created by Monolith, the game is a bit hard to explain as it does of lot of things I have never seen before. It plays like Resident Evil crossed with an FPS crossed with an psychological thriller. The game looks amazing (when I was watching someone play the game I thought I was watching a movie) and pulls you into the story within the first five seconds. Expect this to be a huge surprise hit.
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: For those of you who can't wait to get this game (you know who you are) make sure to pre-order your Xbox 360 now. Look forward to another 250+ hours of "Elder Scrolls gameplay" but with next gen graphics.
For pictures of the event make sure to check out Xbox Live's Major Nelson blog and photo album. On a side note I have to say meeting Major Nelson for the first time was great. Not only is he "the nicest guy ever" but he and I got a chance to talk "podcast shop". Very cool.
My Second Day with the Xbox 360
Xbox 360After spending one day with the Xbox 360 I went back to the New York press event and played the few games that I missed. Here are my thoughts on those and make sure to check out the site tomorrow when I do a final recap of the event, post some pictures, and talk about the Xbox 360 multiplayer experience:
Xbox Live Arcade: I spent quite a bit of time playing Live Arcade since I knew almost nothing about it before the event and ended up quite impressed. Think Shockwave.com but with more "mature" games and lower prices (each game is priced separately with most being under $10 each). All of the games from Live Arcade are downloaded onto your Xbox and they have wide variety of game categories. After you download a game you can try it our for free and if you like what you see you can purchase the game for a small fee. The games I saw were more twitch-based than puzzle-based (which I think is a "good thing"), they played great with the console controller, looked amazing in HD. You might not buy the Xbox 360 to play Xbox Live Arcade but I think people will be amazed at the selection and quality of these smaller titles.
Dead or Alive 4: If you played DOA1, or DOA2, or DOA3 know the drill. It looks amazing and it plays just fine. If you liked DOA3 (or 2 or 1) you'll like DOA4.
Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The demo only featured two levels, which I believe are the exact same levels you can play on the currently released PC demo. The gameplay was a bit rough, but the graphics looked great. Plus, it's being made by Michel Ancel and the same team behind Rayman and Beyond Good & Evil (a fantastic game that nobody played). Expect potentially great things.
Project Gotham Racing 3: I didn't get to spend a huge amount of time with this one, but the plethora of options should appease any hardcore racing fan. One nice touch was crowd reactions, smash your car into the guardrail and watch the people scatter. I heard there were "famous New Yorkers" in the crowds, but they're a bit hard to see when you're flying by at 140 MPH.
NBA 2K6 & NBA LIVE 06: Wow, I mean, wow. The graphics were jaw-droppingly realistic. Shame they didn't have NHL 2K6 there as that is one of the only sports genres I still actively play.
Finally, I got a sweet little "keepsake" from the event -- my very own Xbox 360 Memory Card (of which I'll show you all tomorrow) and they even preloaded a few games on it for me. Of course, now I need an Xbox 360 to play those games...
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Some dude that posted this on IGN boards
Game of Event:
Drumroll please. My personal favorite (and I fully expected this) was Kameo. All I have to say is Breathtakingly gorgeous. Undeniably next gen. If you saw the X05 video, I actually got to sit down and play with the guy who was behind the controller of the video. He’s a super cool guy, and showed me tons of gorgeous areas in the game. The controls are fast, fluid and responsive, and did I mention gorgeous? I walked right up to walls and the detail holds out. The brick work is amazing, cloth physics are sick, flying over grass and watching the grass react to the wind from my wings… WOW. Did you guys know that it has a co-op mode? Yep! Split screen coop! Water unlike water I’ve ever seen in any game to date. Definitely worthy a purchase in my opinion.
Surprise of Event:
Xbox Live Arcade. Guys, they redid arcade, and OMG. It is going to rock the world. I am serious. They’ve got tons of indy developers submitting games to be released on arcade, and these titles are actually good! We’re talking old school gaming, with new school graphics. I played some of these for HOURS. And NOW it will actually catch on. Anyone with an internet connection can download trial versions of the games, and then purchase with credit card, or with a gamercard that is purchased from a store. Games will be cheaper than they are currently, and apparently they’ve got a section dedicated to emulated coin-op arcade games. Several of the big arcade machine companies have started submitting titles to be released. I honestly, and I really mean this, don’t know how Nintendo’s online plan can compete. Nintendo will be re-releasing their old titles for play, but Xbox live arcade will have old emulated titles AND new titles being released all the time. You wanted innovation? It’s here guys. Here is where people will get to experiment with new ideas, with new gameplay, and submit their work to MS, and have it published through XBL Arcade. Microsoft did it right this time. In addition to anyone being able to purchase and play XBL arcade titles, you can bring the games with you anywhere on a memcard. Yes, you can copy a purchased game onto a memory card and bring it with you and play.
Ok, technically I was just one of many journalists at yesterday’s press preview event, but I did get a chance to spend a couple of hours with the Xbox 360. I wasn’t exactly blown away with every title I saw, but overall I walked away impressed. We’ll have a full review of the 360 once we get the review unit they’ve promised us, but for now a few quick initial impressions:
http://img.engadget.com/common/images/3060000000048727.JPG
* The event started off with a lengthy tutorial to show off the ins and outs of the console, particularly Xbox Live and its media capabilities. The integration with Xbox Live is excellent and permeates the entire experience — unlike with the original Xbox, it’s hard to imagine using the console without a broadband connection.
* They also had iPod nanos on hand to demo the 360’s ability to play audio stored on a portable audio device (it can actually play MP3s or WMAs stored on any USB mass storage device), and how you could listen to whatever music you liked during gameplay.
* The controller itself felt good in the hand and that button in the middle brings you straight to Xbox Live. You can jump instantly in and out of Xbox Live from any game without messing things if you want to check your messages.
# The graphics and textures of Condemned were amazing, and Need For Speed Most Wanted was one of the most photorealistic games I’ve ever seen. Project Gotham Racing 3 was pretty sweet, too, the level of detail in each city was mind-blowing.
# Somehow managed to repeatedly kick Major Nelson’s ass at Dead or Alive 4 (the game’s graphics were a bit too glossy for my taste).
# Couldn’t get past practice mode in NBA Live 06 because of a bug in the build (we were playing on dev units), but it seems like they’ve manage[/img]d to eliminate much of the herky-jerkiness in previous generation basketball games.
# Kameo was a bit disappointing (supposedly it gets better once you’re in deep). Call For Duty 2 was engrossing, but like Dead or Alive 4, it also seemed like it could use a bit more texture.
# The Xbox 360 doubles as Windows Media Center Extender and the demo I saw ran flawlessly, it was as if a copy of Windows XP Media Center Edition was running natively. They showed the Xbox streaming high def video off of a PC and it was perfect.
# They also showed off Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Perfect Dark Zero, and King Kong, all of which I wouldn’t mind spending more time with.
http://img.engadget.com/common/images/3060000000048729.JPG
Yeah, so the PS3 will probably have the edge over the Xbox 360 in graphics and sheer computational power, but after actually playing some of these games it’s hard to imagine all but the most diehard Sony fanboiys holding out for the 5 - 7 months that’ll pass before Sony introduces their console. And at the end of the day that’s what Microsoft is after — to grab as much of the market before Sony enters the scene. Hate to say it, but as of November 22nd the Xbox 360 is going to be only game in tow
As anyone who spent time in journalism class (me raises hand) that is not a typical "objective reporting" -- but *Game* reporters are not your real journalist to begin with!
