Thursday, October 26, 2006
Obsoletion is not a word, but it should be
I can definitely appreciate Tom's frustrations with the 360 right now. If I wasn't neck-deep in Okami, I would probably be playing Bully. If I couldn't play that, I'd be grinning my way through God Hand. If my PS2 exploded by some divine punishment, I would maybe, possibly be playing Splinter Cell, or something like that. It's simply Sony season. I'm excited about the same two games for the remainder of the year on 360 as Tom is - Viva Pinata and Gears of War - but outside of those I worry that after Marvel Ultimate Alliance next week (it's in the mail), I'm just not seriously excited for anything on the system until Lost Planet in the spring.
This issue also touches on a much larger concern of mine: that the 360 will suffer the same software fate as its predecessor. Specifically, 95% of the best games on the system will be made obsolete, by their sequels or otherwise. As a short term example, while I'm dying to play Final Fantasy XII, I can wait. Be it a season or a year or a generation, the game will always be great, and always enjoyable. Even if there's a XII-2, it will simply expand on the original, not overshadow it. Not so for the best of the best on the Xbox, and the 360 thus far. The Rainbow Six: Vegas demo is impressive, and shockingly, fun, but because I'm not playing it at release I never will. Splinter Cell was the mostly highly-reviewed game on it's platform when it came out - do you think ANYONE is playing it now outside of some unfortunate bargain-bin welfare child in North Dakota? Its three sequels have driven its relevance into the ground, relegating it to nothing more than a side note in a future textbook about where dynamic lighting originated.
Outside of maybe Oddworld: Strangers Wrath and Phantom Dust, will a single exclusive game from the Xbox library stand up over time as something perfectly unique and refined? Even some of the other good exclusive games didn't have great mechanics to begin with (Advent Rising, KOTOR), so as good as they were at release there quality will only dip as the years drag by.
And I just can't say the same about the Playstation 2. Shadow of the Colossus, every Ratchet and Clank, Amplitude, Guitar Hero, Rez, Katamari, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy X, God of War, Ico, Klonoa, Kingdom Hearts, and dozens more, will NEVER be rendered obsolete, or cease to be fun. Even if they get next or current-gen sequels (and some are, obviously), they will always be great, playable games. It's just something I've come to accept, and it is the single reason I respect and appreciate Sony as much as I do.
The 360 is a brilliant piece of hardware with a near-perfect online network, controller and general functionality. And nearly a year into its lifespan, no classic games. Oblivion comes closest simply because it will take a generation to top such a technical feat, but nothing else on the system will be worth talking about in a year. Microsoft has so many talented, creative teams under their very expansive wings, what is it going to take to turn that creativity into something resonant and permanent?
This issue also touches on a much larger concern of mine: that the 360 will suffer the same software fate as its predecessor. Specifically, 95% of the best games on the system will be made obsolete, by their sequels or otherwise. As a short term example, while I'm dying to play Final Fantasy XII, I can wait. Be it a season or a year or a generation, the game will always be great, and always enjoyable. Even if there's a XII-2, it will simply expand on the original, not overshadow it. Not so for the best of the best on the Xbox, and the 360 thus far. The Rainbow Six: Vegas demo is impressive, and shockingly, fun, but because I'm not playing it at release I never will. Splinter Cell was the mostly highly-reviewed game on it's platform when it came out - do you think ANYONE is playing it now outside of some unfortunate bargain-bin welfare child in North Dakota? Its three sequels have driven its relevance into the ground, relegating it to nothing more than a side note in a future textbook about where dynamic lighting originated.
Outside of maybe Oddworld: Strangers Wrath and Phantom Dust, will a single exclusive game from the Xbox library stand up over time as something perfectly unique and refined? Even some of the other good exclusive games didn't have great mechanics to begin with (Advent Rising, KOTOR), so as good as they were at release there quality will only dip as the years drag by.
And I just can't say the same about the Playstation 2. Shadow of the Colossus, every Ratchet and Clank, Amplitude, Guitar Hero, Rez, Katamari, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy X, God of War, Ico, Klonoa, Kingdom Hearts, and dozens more, will NEVER be rendered obsolete, or cease to be fun. Even if they get next or current-gen sequels (and some are, obviously), they will always be great, playable games. It's just something I've come to accept, and it is the single reason I respect and appreciate Sony as much as I do.
The 360 is a brilliant piece of hardware with a near-perfect online network, controller and general functionality. And nearly a year into its lifespan, no classic games. Oblivion comes closest simply because it will take a generation to top such a technical feat, but nothing else on the system will be worth talking about in a year. Microsoft has so many talented, creative teams under their very expansive wings, what is it going to take to turn that creativity into something resonant and permanent?
// posted by Nick @ 12:27 PM 
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