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News: Tis the Season
Posted: 2003-09-05 00:52:06 |
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Hello again XBOXActive, can any educated gamer out there tell me what kicked off this week? NO, not Hedgehog appreciation month, but good guess. September 1?st was the official start of the fourth Holiday quarter. That fabled 3 months of the year when the video game biz does over 50% of its sales! This is a very important holiday season for XBOX, a good performance now could secure it in second place WORLDWIDE for good! They?re certainly off to a great start with the recent launch of XSN and the all important GTA: Double Pack announced, Microsoft is starting things off with a bang. So not to slow the flow, let?s see what kind of rumor rocket fuel I?m gonna spill this week!
Full Spectrum Overhall!
Before I get into the latest info I have on Pandemics amazing Full Spectrum Warrior I?d just like to clear up a little internet misconception. FSW is NOT a shooter; it is a third person squad-based RTS game. That being said I?ve got some details on the changes being made to turn this military simulator into a true game.
? Enemy AI is more aggressive- in real life terrorists are shy little pansy-ish people you know
? Smoke screen deployment time reduced- In real life a smoke bomb takes about 5 minutes to fully deploy
? Team mates life bar increased- Because people die way to quickly in real life
? Characters will be more vocal- Hand signals are a little hard to understand unless you?ve been through boot
The Hedgehog?s Take- These are just the gameplay tweaks, to say nothing about the storyline!
Dam the Demo Discs!
OXM may have dropped the ball as far as content in the magazine lately, but nobody can question the quality of their latest demo discs! The good news is it?s only going to get better as the holiday season goes on. Looking at an impromptu list of upcoming demoes I see games like: Jedi Academy, Raindbow Six 3, XIII, Grabbed By the Ghoulies, and Armed & Dangerous all appearing on that cheap little saucer!
The Hedgehog?s Take - Where?s my HALO 2 demo? For the sake of power rings give me a HALO 2 demo!
Rumor Followup- Halo 2 Demo
A contact of mine at Gamestop has informed me of an interesting new addition to their upcoming release list. Let?s just say I?ve been wondering why the original Halo hasn?t been turned into a $19.95 Platinum Hits title. Well it?s because on Nov. 15 Microsoft will release just that, only it?ll come with an extra special disc, with a Halo 2 demo on it!
The Hedgehog?s Take- OH there it is!
XO3 Behind the Scenes.
With less than two weeks before Microsoft big event this year in France speculation is ramped about what?s going to be unveiled there! Well the Hog has taken the liberty of compiling a little list of potentials, just be advised that these are the games that CAN appear at the show that doesn?t mean they will!
Citizen Zero
Perfect Dark Zero
Mechwarrior Universe
Jade Empire
Rallisport Challenge 2
The Hedgehog Take- I could tell you more but then I?d have to choke you with a chili dog!
The Future is Staring you in the Face?>
I tell there?s nothing better than drunken game developers for getting top secret information; and thanks to my man Cody we got some great intel out of those sputtering programmers. Everyone?s talking about Backwards Compatibility and whether or not XBOX 2 will play XBOX games; but in a twist as bizarre as Nintendo turning Link into a Looney Toon it?s actually the other way around!
Were talking about what I?ve come to dub as Forward Compatibility in which the XBOX will actually be able to play XBOX 2 games! Ridiculous, not if you think about it hard! Only select titles will offer this ability, say Fable 2 and certain features in the game will only be available if you play it on the XBOX 2. Think of it as a farewell system to the original XBOX a way to ween gamers onto the new system gradually!
The Hedgehog?s Tale- ?sniff? All this talk about the next round of consoles makes me sad, I?m just starting to get attached to my little, alright giant buddy!
While the rest of 2003 looks bright for XBOX it pales in comparison to the green tide lurking in the depths of 2004! It just staggers me to think of all the system sellers that are coming out next year, I can think of a dozen just off the top of my head! WHOA calm yourself hog, you?ve still got this holiday season to weather and with games like Crimson Skies, PGR2, Ninja Gaiden, GTA: Bundle Pack, and Rainbow Six 3 you?d all better batten down the controllers as well!
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Author: jman89 :: 2003-10-16 14:16:24
Will the Halo 2 demo be playable?
Author: Adam Massey :: 2003-10-02 21:40:28
Hedgehog - I am a co-founder of a major Gaming News site that will launch this month. Either email me or visit www.gamedreamz.com for details. I'm sure you will be pleased with our business model. Drop me a line so we can bring you on board! admin@gamedreamz.com
Author: VODOO :: 2003-09-13 14:01:08
HELLOOO? Is somebody a little late with their rumors this week?
Author: HELLSINMAKER :: 2003-09-13 12:12:16
NEED RUMORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Author: HELLSINMAKER :: 2003-09-13 12:12:10
NEED RUMORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Author: xsuicidesn0wmanx :: 2003-09-13 10:08:59
ok, i waited til friday for the next rumor report, its now saturday? wheres my breakfast brainfood? *sigh*
Author: Nemo :: 2003-09-08 09:26:50
Nice column. The PD0 rumour is all over the place. FSW should have a sign language option.
Author: wangsta :: 2003-09-07 15:04:20
suck my cornhole and make me laugh
Author: Exzir :: 2003-09-07 14:59:47
Hey all. Just wnated to let you know 120 titles till christmas. Not days but titles. That is more than 10 a week. Ok more than 15 a week. Seing that the releases stop December 2nd. this is the year of the Xbox.
Author: Duffers :: 2003-09-06 15:58:28
Think of it like this. Just say MS had a console before Xbox and Halo launched with Xbox again. So Halo sold at a similar rate to xbox but slightly slower. Now imagine that the console before (30 million sold) was forward compatible, more people can taste Halo for $50, which means Halo would have massively outsold the Xbox. Also if there was more, like multiplayer only on the xbox version then people will happily buy an Xbox and Halo knowing that it is going to be great. I know I would rather know something is going to be great than risk it.
Author: xsuicidesn0wmanx :: 2003-09-06 02:28:39
if that was the case, then alienware wouldn't make any money, people will upgrade to get the most out of their games. or if you want to compare apples to apples, why do we all play xbox and not ps2? sure, we can buy a bunch of our xbox games on ps2, but why would we? we got the xbox for its superior power, graphics, and capablities, xbox 2 will give us enough reason to buy the system, and wanting to play our games to its fullest potential will drive system sales itself. the new system will be able to support larger levels w/out loading, more enemies on the screen w/out slowdown, and better graphics on top of that, imagine halo 3 for xbox 2, on xbox 1 you can fight up to 25 covenant at a time, maybe xbox 2 would have up to 150 covenant on the screen? now tell me you wouldn't upgrade just for that kind of superior experience?
Author: xboxizdope :: 2003-09-06 01:54:18
I don't see how "forward compatibility" makes any sense from a business standpoint. If games for a new system can also be played on the older system, that doesn't really push the need for the new system as much. I mean sure better graphics are good, but if a new system is $300 I think most people just might not be that interested if their old system can still play many of the great new games.
Author: Knuckles :: 2003-09-05 23:31:31
Danm hog man youv done it a agin some one give this man the noble prize/emmy/MTV award/what ever u can think of!
Author: yza :: 2003-09-05 20:45:29
cuz it's only a few titles and u wouldn't have access to a number of levels, stages, bosses, and graphical effects, or most likely even downloadble content and online multiplayer... so this will prolly stop at the beginning of the 2nd generation of Xbox 2 games
Author: Bumjabber :: 2003-09-05 17:42:55
if they do forward compatibility they might be shooting themselves in the foot, why buy the new one if you can play all the new xbox2 games on the first xbox. Yes I know that they will probably look better on the xbox2. Microsoft has to do backward compatibility it just makes sense keeps people buying the new system. and all your old games don't go to crap. Or you could do what the genesis did and made that thing that plugged in to the genesis and you could play all the old sega master system games. But you had to buy it.
Author: ooog :: 2003-09-05 17:42:08
for those who are confused, "forward compatibility" applies to your XBOX. Your XBOX2 would have the "backwards compatability" -- its not that hard of a concept to grasp, it also makes alot of business sense. But something like this, I doubt would be leaked as a rumor. because theyd want to keep this a secret from sony until the last possible second.
Author: ASTAROFF1 :: 2003-09-05 12:38:49
speechless you left me hog!i can't wait for X03!i know for a fact that rare will dominate the gaming world once again,pd0,
maybe even ki or banjo3-please be shown,i'm also willing to bet that square-enix will be on hand.damn! i'm so happy i bought xbox instead of the crapstation,nothing but new innovative titles.and this year isn't even over!04 is even scarier!
Author: Coola :: 2003-09-05 11:10:37
CodyM... that....... that....th-th..that.. was.. beautiful.. *breaks down into tears*
Author: tiremfej :: 2003-09-05 10:41:46
Mechwarrior Universe....maybe a MMORPG? Sounds like it, I'm sure all the Mech freaks will enjoy it, I can't wait to see Citizen Zero as well. The Halo 2 demo doesn't surprise me at all, for $20 they better include a level of online excitement as well! I don't if I agree know about the forward compatible issue, it would stymie sales of X2 IMO. I'm sure MS doesn't want to do that. Great article Headge, soon my new games will start rolling in.....I'm not going to have enough time. Especially after Links 2004 and GTA, it's going to be a good season next year will even be better!
Author: Boaman88 :: 2003-09-05 10:20:23
If they don't include backwards compatibility as well,their just shooting themselves in the foot.It would give Sony a huge selling point advantage again.I could care less about foward compatibility.If I'm going to drop $50 on a game I expect to get the most for my money.Most loyal Xbox fans will be buying the new console on day one anyway.The only people that will be buying an Xbox at that point are casual gamers just looking for a cheap console.Its unlikely they would part with the cash for the new console at full price no matter what.
Author: Tomcatm16 :: 2003-09-05 10:08:55
Is mechwarrior universe basically MechAssault 2?
Author: Razeon :: 2003-09-05 03:10:11
Forward compatibility is a great idea. I tend to wait 1 year after a system's release before I buy anyway.
Author: CodyM :: 2003-09-05 02:17:49
No Doubt, how some people are confused about how Xbox will play Xbox 2 titles. It works something like this.
Lets just put it this way. You have 2 people. One who owns Xbox 2 while
other owns Xbox 1. Fable 2 comes out on Xbox 2. Graphics are out of this
world. While the person with Xbox 1 feels left out. MS has determined not
to leave older xbox people out of the loop. MS is toying with the idea of
games that come out on Xbox 2 will work in Xbox 1. Just not all the bells
and whistles. It will still look very good. just minus a few details.
PC's do this all the time. Why is Xbox any different? I know what you
are thinking. If that happens, Why should people buy Xbox 2, when they can
play the games on XBox 1 instead? People are always striving for the
lastest and greatest things. I do it, you do it. People see how much
better Xbox 2 is from Xbox 1, they will buy xbox 2. Why do you buy a new
PC every 4-5 yrs? The other one is outdated. It will get to a point when
Developers start using Xbox 2 to its full potential, Then you have the
slogan Only on XBox 2! Xbox 1 wont be able to handle it.
The entire catch is, only a few titles will use it. Sorta of a farewell
gift to xbox. Eventually, you will have to break down and buy Xbox 2. I
guess MS is just looking for ways to extend life out of the system.
I hope that explains it.
Cody
Author: Vodoo :: 2003-09-05 01:50:15
I think that Microsoft could actually sell a demo of Halo 2 for $20 all by itself. Actually, I know they could. Everyone would pay that just to get a little taste of excellence.
Author: xboxizdope :: 2003-09-05 01:03:37
The Halo/Halo2 demo combo sounds like a good deal, great way to get people not familiar with the Halo world interested in the original game, as well as the new one.
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News: Tis the Season
