Wednesday, June 28, 2006
I can only spin so many pentagons
XBL is quite a point of frustration at the moment. For such an intelligent, well-integrated service, they are grossly dropping the ball on content. All I've been playing regularly on my 360 is Hexic (while listening to various gaming podcasts); I've played through all of the linear games on the system that I've wanted to, and Oblivion is best digested in three hour, once-a-week chunks nowadays. I would spend my marketplace points on almost anything at the moment - I know Frogger is ready to go, how long does it take to wrap that shit up? I played a dozen polished Arcade games at E3, how is it possible that NONE of them are ready to roll? Major Nelson has tried to do a bit of damage control, but it really just comes across as excuses.
Why is it not possible for Microsoft to give us a schedule of releases based on deadlines they give developers/publishers?
Why do they not step in when a publishers says "Game X will have a demo up tomorrow", and wait until everybody bitches to do damage control after the fact?
Why do we not have some sort of new Marketplace content up EVERY SINGLE DAY?
Really, are we that short on movie trailers, TV clips, game videos, dashboard themes, etc. that they have to stretch it out as painfully as they do? With the amount of money put into and circulating Live and Microsoft in general, I see no reason why they can't have daily content, even if it's just one thing. Right now I have little reason to turn on my 360 each day - I've played everything good that's already out, and the real game releases are sparse enough where I can plan months ahead of time as to what I'm going to pick up. Obviously my standards for what a gaming system is supposed to provide for me have changed, but it's their fault for giving me these expectations.
Things were peachy for a while there, and the E3 content was nice, but the last month has been a wasteland. Where's Hoopworld? Where's Roboblitz? Where's GODDAMN PAC-MAN? Is Pac-Man seriously that hard to get up and running, and require that much certification? Last I heard it was scheduled for a Fall release. Why? What's the rational behind that? Do they think more people will be interested in eating fruit and being chased by ghosts when Gears of War is out? Are they banking on a significantly higher installed base so that Pac-Man is oh so lucrative?
I was planning on writing a more intelligent piece about the downloadable content prices, but every day that the Prey demo isn't up my blood boils and my rant-o-meter just ratchets up. For as much as I disapprove of the GRAW DLC pricing, I'm completely jealous that none of the games I actually care about have any new additions.
Content. Now.
Why is it not possible for Microsoft to give us a schedule of releases based on deadlines they give developers/publishers?
Why do they not step in when a publishers says "Game X will have a demo up tomorrow", and wait until everybody bitches to do damage control after the fact?
Why do we not have some sort of new Marketplace content up EVERY SINGLE DAY?
Really, are we that short on movie trailers, TV clips, game videos, dashboard themes, etc. that they have to stretch it out as painfully as they do? With the amount of money put into and circulating Live and Microsoft in general, I see no reason why they can't have daily content, even if it's just one thing. Right now I have little reason to turn on my 360 each day - I've played everything good that's already out, and the real game releases are sparse enough where I can plan months ahead of time as to what I'm going to pick up. Obviously my standards for what a gaming system is supposed to provide for me have changed, but it's their fault for giving me these expectations.
Things were peachy for a while there, and the E3 content was nice, but the last month has been a wasteland. Where's Hoopworld? Where's Roboblitz? Where's GODDAMN PAC-MAN? Is Pac-Man seriously that hard to get up and running, and require that much certification? Last I heard it was scheduled for a Fall release. Why? What's the rational behind that? Do they think more people will be interested in eating fruit and being chased by ghosts when Gears of War is out? Are they banking on a significantly higher installed base so that Pac-Man is oh so lucrative?
I was planning on writing a more intelligent piece about the downloadable content prices, but every day that the Prey demo isn't up my blood boils and my rant-o-meter just ratchets up. For as much as I disapprove of the GRAW DLC pricing, I'm completely jealous that none of the games I actually care about have any new additions.
Content. Now.
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