Sunday, November 12, 2006
I'm working on this little roundtable contribution for vgpub.com, thought some of you might want to see it here as well so enjoy!
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I am very satisfied with how Xbox 360 after one year on the marketplace. I'll have to admit to the 360 having a lukewarm first quarter year with a mildly disappointing launch with no clear-cut killer app title, and 360s not having a regular flow in retail until around March. However, things changed once the much anticipated Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion hit retail to waste away hundreds of hours from our lives. From there, it seemed there was at least one must-buy title hitting the system each month with critical darlings such as Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Dead Rising, and Saint's Row to name a few.
I'm also liking how the 360 "budget" line of games is shaping up and it is nice to see games that pack a lot of content that hit retail for a next-gen friendly $40 price tag with titles such as Top Spin 2 and Test Drive Unlimited. Xbox Live on the 360 is just freaking amazing. I love how the Marketplace is designed and how convenient it makes downloading demos and Xbox Live Arcade titles. Xbox Live Arcade has been hit and miss for me, it seems for every must-have game it has like Lumines or Uno, there is always a stinker like Scramble to clutter things up, but at least things are starting to have a bit of variety now with over 40 Xbox Live Arcade titles to choose from.
What I'd like to see on the 360 over the next year is more incentives for Xbox Live Gold members besides a few days exclusivity over demos and whatnot. Howabout actual one-day unannounced sales on random Marketplace items? It would be nice to go on Xbox Live and see something like "All themes 40% off" or "Buy 2 Live Arcade games, Get 1 free" or something to that effect. I would also like to see more games polished off when they hit retail, it seems all too often now when I pop in a game for a first time on my console whether or not the game is three months or three days old, I always have to download an update to fix a bug in the game.
Year one grade: B+
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I am very satisfied with how Xbox 360 after one year on the marketplace. I'll have to admit to the 360 having a lukewarm first quarter year with a mildly disappointing launch with no clear-cut killer app title, and 360s not having a regular flow in retail until around March. However, things changed once the much anticipated Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion hit retail to waste away hundreds of hours from our lives. From there, it seemed there was at least one must-buy title hitting the system each month with critical darlings such as Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Dead Rising, and Saint's Row to name a few.
I'm also liking how the 360 "budget" line of games is shaping up and it is nice to see games that pack a lot of content that hit retail for a next-gen friendly $40 price tag with titles such as Top Spin 2 and Test Drive Unlimited. Xbox Live on the 360 is just freaking amazing. I love how the Marketplace is designed and how convenient it makes downloading demos and Xbox Live Arcade titles. Xbox Live Arcade has been hit and miss for me, it seems for every must-have game it has like Lumines or Uno, there is always a stinker like Scramble to clutter things up, but at least things are starting to have a bit of variety now with over 40 Xbox Live Arcade titles to choose from.
What I'd like to see on the 360 over the next year is more incentives for Xbox Live Gold members besides a few days exclusivity over demos and whatnot. Howabout actual one-day unannounced sales on random Marketplace items? It would be nice to go on Xbox Live and see something like "All themes 40% off" or "Buy 2 Live Arcade games, Get 1 free" or something to that effect. I would also like to see more games polished off when they hit retail, it seems all too often now when I pop in a game for a first time on my console whether or not the game is three months or three days old, I always have to download an update to fix a bug in the game.
Year one grade: B+
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