Xbox: What do you think now?

[Kid Fenris]

Of course, besides PDO, what is there? Toe Jam and Earl is getting a lukewarm reception from the same people who were so excited about it around E3 time. Crazy Taxi 3 sucked. Blinx is pretty good but if you don't like 'kiddy' games like Mario Sunshine you won't like Blinx. JSRF was great but the chances of another are slim to none. PDO is going to rock, but after that, what?

Well, Halo 2 is coming, and Rare's not one to be so easily dismissed. Perfect Dark was an excellent first-person shooter limited only by the N64's hardware, and a sequel is probably ahead. There's also hope for another Jet Force Gemini, which I consider one of the most underrated titles of the past five years.

People crap their pants over Ninja Gaiden, and I agree that for their time the cinema scenes were fantastic, but the games themselves were bland Castlevania clones.

Hogwash. The Ninja Gaiden series contains what may be the three finest examples of reflex-driven action/platforming on the NES. They borrow Castlevania's method of invoking special weapons and finding power-ups, but much of NG's appeal wasn't filched from Konami’s code. In which preceding Castlevania do you vault up and attack from walls, time your jumps to coincide with the wind, or control up to two ghostlike extensions of your character?

The franchises are further separated by Ninja Gaiden's far greater level of intensity. The games move at much faster pace, and the control is tight, but not nearly as languid as it is in the Castlevania line. Like some manic shooter, Ninja Gaiden's iterations often require Ryu to slash enemies, grab a power-up, and make a deft leap onto a platform no wider than he is, all in the time that a Belmont needs to advance four paces.

Ninja Gaiden isn't exactly "bland" in the visual department either. There's an appropriate aesthetic to the city and jungle backgrounds, and the demonic environs of the later levels pulse with grim details and moody overtures. I might also mention that Ninja Gaiden often has a better three-dimensional impact than the straight side-view depicted by Castlevania and numerous other NES-era platformers.

Sorry to go off on a thread-jacking rant like this, but I think you should give Ninja Gaiden another shot, Kobun. The games are heated, enjoyable, nerve-flaying challenges even today, and I for one think they've aged a bit better than the Castlevania games. That and there's no 8-bit sidekick cooler than Robert T. "Jungle Rat" Sturgeon.

[portnoyd]

Well, at first, XBox had nothing to draw me, and what I had played (while at the evil EB) was just nothing special. I knew I could live without ever getting it if they stopped making games at that point.

Then Toe Jam & Earl 3 happened. When I heard it was going to happen, I was like, damnit, looks like I'm getting an XBox.

Then I heard from just about everywhere it was pretty craptatcular.

D:

I will not get an XBox unless it dros to $50.

dave

[Felixthegamer]

Xbox is pretty good. My Friends and I get together to play Halo, always a fun time win or lose. I also like Jet Set Radio Future. It's good. I really do not have too many games for the system. I bought NHL 2003 recently. It rocks, but I do not know as if it is too different from the PS2 version. I enjoy the xbox and have been playing it more then the PS2 lately.

[kobunheatforum]

Kid: Okay, I liked Jet Force Gemini alright. And Perfect Dark was loved. Of course, both of these games tanked in Japan.
And they didn't do that well in the US either, even PD.

I figured somebody would call me on Ninja Gaiden. Your analysis was pretty much correct; there were a lot of gameplay innovations as well as cinematic ones. I did like the NES versions when I was a kid, but every time I try to go back and play them again I don't feel the same sense of fun I get when I go back and play Mario 3 again. I get bored quickly with the jump, slash, die.

I guess the point I was trying to make is that these games will not necessarily translate into a good sequel fifteen years later. If they can make ANY of the gameplay features you mentioned work in 3D, I'll eat my hat.

It is a chocolate hat, though. So I'm covered either way.

[DDCecil]

The only thing that interests me so far is House of the Dead 3 and maybe Ninja Gaiden, so I'll continue to wait...

[spoon]

I used to own an X-box and about 30 games, I loved the system, just never played it much. It does have some killer apps. for it though. Now an X-box can be bought for $200 and it includes two titles(Jet set radio future,and Sega gt.) not a bad deal. I think it may have a foot hold on the compition in the online wars, and it has the best multiplayer games around. anyone who has ever played Halo with 16 people will agree(or off with their head!).

[Atarian Austin]

I don't like the Xbox at all. I've played it a couple times and it just isn't there. I have a Gamecube and LOVE it!

I think Bill Gates is just trying to get richer.

[congobongo]

I will agree that the first year in the XBox's life has been somewhat uneventful. Enough good titles have been released to fill the limited time I have to dedicate to it. I believe that this winter will be the season of the Box though. As Jaybird said MotoGP is very cool. At first I was hesitant but even loosing is fun when you can taunt and swear at the other loosers you are competing with. Also, I've seen Unreal Tournament in action and know it's gonna be a favourite of mine.

[Arcade Antics]

@Captain Wrong: (sorry if somebody already answered - I went through quickly and didn't notice one...)

There's a MadCatz blaster for the X-Box, but no official Sega light gun. Maybe we'll get lucky and Namco will produce a title or two with an X-Box version of the GunCon2.

[Cafeman]

I like the Xbox's technology, but after watching it for a year, it hasn't won me over -- I'm buying a GameCube as my first "next gen" system.

I will re-evaluate Xbox in the future, probably after Panzer Dragoon Orta is released. I do not believe that the market can support three game consoles and I wouldn't be surprised to see Xbox surviving at a loss to MS. To me, Xbox's technology is nothing you can't get on a good PC. Xbox has some good games, but IMHO nothing quite spectacular yet (no, not even Halo).

[Tritoch]

Then of course, there's Morrowind, which I love on the PC but keeps locking on me.

Don't expect that problem to be corrected in the Xbox version. I ended up saving after virtually every quest out of necessity.

[ubersaurus]

Toejam & Earl 3 is awesome, despite what reviewers claim. It's that ghetto funk that makes TJ&E so sweet in the first place, but I guess it's no longer "cool".

I don't hate the box, there just isn't much I like for it, to warrant me buying one. Halo, Toejam & Earl, are like the only two games that come to mind that I really care about on that console, which, compared to the other ones its up against, just isn't gonna cut it.

[Nature Boy]

The Xbox is the newest of the three for me so it's my favourite right now. I've picked up Halo, Morrowind, World Series Baseball, Outlaw Golf, and Oddworld so far (and borrowed Gotham). I haven't played Morrowind or Oddworld yet (I'm waiting until I finish some other games first), but what I've played I've really enjoyed.

I haven't played a FPS since GoldenEye, but Halo has me hooked in the same way. I get nauseous playing them (FPSs), so it speaks volumes that I keep hammering away at it. It is definitely an extremely well done game and definitely sits amongst my five to ten all time favourites.

[lionforce]

Well since I am a fan of videogames in general, I must say that the Xbox is a very impressive console IMO, it still has lots of promise and I will definitely continue to support it with purchases as long as Microsoft does. And even if the Xbox was going to only last 1 more year, I would still buy the quality titles for the system and be content

[moycon]

My first impression of Xbox was that the controllers sucked. I've heard they remade them, I havn't tried to new ones. Other than that there wern't/aren't enough titles that caught my eye. I will get one eventually when they are trying to unload them... Maybe when they hit the $149.99 mark. But for now I'll stick to DC and PS2.