Console Lineup: The Year Ahead

[stray]

Schild got me thinking about soon to be released titles for all platforms. I think we should also talk about this for 2007 as a whole, and see what the year (potentially) has in store for us (I'm not going to list multiplatform or older console titles though...If someone wants to, then feel free):


XBox 360

Blue Dragon (Japanese trailer)


Halo 3 (Superbowl trailer..)


Mass Effect


Alan Wake


BioShock


Huxley


Shadowrun (Ahem..)


Forza Motorsports 2 (Excellent! I'm jealous)


Culdept Saga


Lost Odyssey (gameplay demo)


Tenchu: Senran (assassination gameplay)


Command and Conquer: Tiberian Wars (Global Defense and Nod battle footage)


Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (recent CES trailer)


Two Worlds (just brief gameplay footage. Looks like a Morrowind clone..../meh)


Opinion: Forza 2 (there's a big drought in racing sims atm), Blue Dragon, and of course, Halo 3 will be the killer titles this year. Not Huxley (lol) or Shadowrun (hell no). Mass Effect and Bioshock will be respectable titles, but probably in the same sense as Jade Empire, KotoR, Gears of War, or the first Splinter Cell were...I.e. Great, but not enough to draw lots of outsiders). Alan Wake will be criminally ignored.

All in all though, it's a nice lineup.


PS3


White Knight Story (Sony Japan RPG....great scripting, enviroments, animations.....).


Devil May Cry 4 Trailer (YES!)

Capcom gameplay demo


Eight Days Trailer (Sony London action title)

Also, an Eight Days Cell physics demo (kind of old, but still impressive)


MGS4 Trailer (Warning: Kojima silliness inside).


Lost in Paradise (another good looking Sony title..)


Afrika trailer (looks great, but I don't know what the hell it is....Or if it's even a game.....But I put it here anyways).


Heavenly Sword trailer (I can only hope those moves manually controlled, like DMC..). I'm pretty undecided on this one. Could be Femme God of War/DMC, or..... Bloodrayne.


Ninja Gaiden Sigma (this will be my third purchase of the SAME game. Damn you Team Ninja)


Eye of Judgement (Eyetoy based card game....Not really my thing)


Lair (Trailer)

Gameplay interview (Better than the trailer)


Motorstorm (this trailer is just goofy as hell....But I like it)


UT2K7 (yeah, it's on the PC as well...No word yet on a 360 version though...Despite the abundance of UE3 titles on the 360).


Final Fantasy XIII (It's a Finaly Fantasy trailer. Ho hum).


Opinion: DMC, Final Fantasy, and MGS will own. White Knight might be a sleeper hit. The rest of the titles have some potential, but the best thing they'll do is help put faith in the PS3. Enough people will buy the titles. After that, Sony will be on equal footing with MS in 2008.

 
Wii


Super Mario Galaxy


Pokemon Battle Revolution (battle gameplay)


Fire Emblem


Super Smash Bros. Brawl


Dragon Quest: Swords


Mario Party 8


Project Hammer (that's pisspoor game footage, but that's all that's available atm)


No More Heroes (even if it was all cutscenes, I'd still still dig it)


Battalion Wars


Disaster: Day of Crisis (another game begging for real footage)


Opinion: Holy First Party Titles Batman!

It'll be enough to keep the kids happy though. Third party devs will come next year. No one knew it was going to be the smash hit that it is.

[Velorath]

You left Crackdown off the 360 list.  It looks pretty cool from what I've seen so far, but even if it ends up completely sucking it's going to sell a fuckton of copies thanks to the Halo 3 multi-player demo.

Also don't count on FFXIII coming out in 2007, especially in the U.S. which tends to get FF games about 5-7 months later.  White Knight Story also seems very unlikely for a 2007 release

[stray]

Could be right. I think a Shin Megami title is planned for 2008 as well. That might be the real year for JRPG's.

Though I wouldn't doubt FF and White Knight being available in Japan by year's end.

[EDIT]

Here's the Crackdown trailer for anyone interested (I don't mean to shoot you down Vel, but I think it looks weak. It's 3rd person action, but with 1st person animation and movement. Cityscape, and general artwork look bad too. This comes as a surprise to me since it's virtually a first party title).

Here's Bullet Witch as well (pretty hilarious imho.....but good physics).

Earth Defense Force X (I'm with Schild on this one.....But I bet it gets canned and/or ignored like Lost Planet)

-------

Formula 1 Trailer (PS3).

------

Imagine Cooking Mama and Bust-A-Move trailers here.

[Strazos]

Even with the small lineup, I like what the Wii has coming.

Especially the new Smash Bros. and Fire Emblem games.

[schild]

STRAY, SUH, YOU ARE MISSING TOO MANY X360 TITLES. ON TOP OF THAT SHIROKISHI (WHITE KNIGHT) WILL BE A HIT, AND I WANT TO THROTTLE YOU FOR NOT INVESTIGATING MORE AND COMING UP WITH NAMES LIKE DIARIO: REBIRTH MOON ON THE 360 AND THE ENTIRE LINEUP FOR THE PS2 (ARGUABLY BETTER THAN EVERY OTHER SYSTEM). ALSO, DON'T KNOCK EDFX. THAT WILL NOT GET CANNED OR IGNORED. D3P ARE GOOD PEOPLE. I EXPECT THEM TO BRING US ONEECHANBARA X AS WELL (WANNA BLOW YOUR MIND, DO A SEARCH FOR THAT). TIME FOR WORK.

This message brought to you by the letter "awesome."

Edit: Disaster, FFXIII, Project Hammer, Devil May Cry 4, 8 Days, and probably Afrika will get delayed until 08. Mario Galaxy might slip in at the end of the year. Mario Party doesn't have internet multiplayer. Ninja Gaiden Sigma might get ported to the 360. No More Heroes isn't licensed yet. I don't know if Capcom is touching Grasshopper stuff anymore. Atlus might - would be a good pickup for them. White Knight will get delayed. Culdcept Saga doesn't have a firm release date (am cry). Huxley will get delayed. Bioshock might slip to Q1 08. Alan Wake might (will?) also. If Age of Conan isn't in full-on beta by June, expect Q1 08.

[Big Gulp]

Mass Effect and Bioshock will be respectable titles, but probably in the same sense as Jade Empire, KotoR, Gears of War, or the first Splinter Cell were...I.e. Great, but not enough to draw lots of outsiders).

Gears of War didn't draw in lots of outsiders?  I know 4 people who've never owned an original XBox who bought a 360 just for that game alone.  Stay off the drugs, son.

[schild]

Big Gulps right - Gears is a stronger and faster seller than Zelda.

[Moaner]

The 360 also has Indiana Jones, Overlord, KUF: Circle of Doom, Banjo Threeie, and Too Human scheduled for 07.  Indiana Jones may be multiplatform but I'm not sure.

[stray]

Gears of War didn't draw in lots of outsiders?  I know 4 people who've never owned an original XBox who bought a 360 just for that game alone.  Stay off the drugs, son.

Umm, I'm talking HUGE numbers. Mass conversion numbers. Gears of War is a much better game than Halo will ever be, but Halo 2 pulled in over a million units on the first day. It created a whole new breed of wretched fanboi. GoW hasn't. It's that very effect of Halo 2 that has contributed to the 360's success as well (even though it isn't a 360 game, it won a lot of new people over to the XBox brand).

Gran Turismo titles pull in almost as much (think GT3 was the most popular though, but all have pulled over a million or more on the first week). Hence, why I say Forza could be attractive.

Gears of War is successful, but there's a difference. I'm not taking anything away from it, but it's been out for almost 4 months now, and it hasn't hit 3 million yet. It's a success, but it isn't the great white hope. That's all I meant.

[EDIT] Typo.

[Velorath]

I also don't expect Lost Odyssey to make it (to the U.S. at least) in 2007.

Also Half-Life 2 Orange Box (for PS3 and 360) will be good for people who have shit computers I suppose, so it's worth listing.

[Velorath]

Umm, I'm talking HUGE numbers. Mass conversion numbers. Gears of War is a much better game than Halo will ever be, but Halo 2 pulled in over a million units on the first day. It created a whole need breed of wretched fanboi. GoW hasn't.

Gran Turismo titles pull in almost as much (think GT3 was the most popular though, but all have pulled over a million or more on the first week). Hence, why I say Forza could be attractive.

Gears of War is successful, but there's a difference. I'm not taking anything away from it, but it's been out for almost 4 months now, and it hasn't hit 3 million yet. It's a success, but it isn't the great white hope. That's all I meant.

Gears of War just recently hit 3 million (that's not all that far off from FFXII's numbers, nor MGS3 for that matter).  Halo 2 had sold about 9.2 million as of last June which was the most recent sales number I could find.  GT3 was the best selling game of the GT series at 11mil, with GT4 at 8mil.

[stray]

Hey, I could be wrong. Maybe it'll keep escalating at the same pace, but I think it's more like one of those titles that 1) justifies early adopters' hopes and 2) something that will pick up again a bit from late 360 buyers, to compliment other purchases. Not exactly must have in and of itself, but must have as a part of their eventual 360 collection. Or in other words, I think it more in common with KoToR than it does Halo.

Does that makes sense?

Anyways, let me set something else straight. Perhaps it'll help me avoid the bullshit in the future:

I tried to be fair in that original post. Preemptive "Fuck You" to anyone who disagrees. If I was really "sucking Sony's cock", or here to wave a fanboi flag, I wouldn't have posted Wii or 360 games at all (let alone said anything good about them). The only reason I talk about the PS3 is because that's what I have right now, and my PS2 broke. Big fucking surprise. *slurp, slurp, slurp*

I'm not prejudice against any console, and never have been. Further, I'd be surprised if I haven't bought more of them and more types of them than almost anyone here. Or at least, as much as the usual suspects. I bought obscure SMS card games, and a copy of fucking Gyromite back in the day. I had a 5200 and an Intellivision. I've had Sega products, Ninty products, Sony products, Atari, Microsoft, a variety of computer platforms, and a childhood wasted in arcades. Last gen, I did my best to buy whatever good Xbox games were available. Probably bought more XBox games than anyone here besides Schild and Yeg -- and I didn't even like the Xbox that much.

I might poke a little fun (though you guys are too serious to participate it seems), but don't expect anything different from me now.

[schild]

Stray, your freak flag only makes me like you more. Don't let any of the fanboi shit bother you.

[Morfiend]

Two Worlds (just brief gameplay footage. Looks like a Morrowind clone..../meh)

Im amped on this game. If its close to Oblivion quality. Think. Oblivion with 2-8 player co-op. *drool*

[stray]

More 360 stuff (I'm careless):

Kane and Lynch (looking great)


Time Shift (yawn...MS needs to crackdown on these type of action games).


Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom (since when did KUF become action RPG's? I only played the first one. It was a sucky Japanese Strat ripoff, with a Nu Metal soundtrack at that).


Trusty Bell (gameplay footage)

[schild]

Yea Trusty Bell! Chopin's Dreams for the motherfucking win.

[voodoolily]

Rare is the only reason I would have any inkiling toward a 360.

[Kageru]

I think that's a pretty minimal wii list;

http://au.wii.ign.com/index/release.html

Not that I track future games, I'm only really interested once the game is out and has some reviews.

Koroinpa looks like it could be fun though, and seeing "Penny Arcade adventures" makes the mind fairly boggle.

[stray]

I think that's a pretty minimal wii list;

http://au.wii.ign.com/index/release.html

Not that I track future games, I'm only really interested once the game is out and has some reviews.

Koroinpa looks like it could be fun though, and seeing "Penny Arcade adventures" makes the mind fairly boggle.

Now take the ones that'll make it to the US and Europe, and aren't VC games. That would pretty much sum up my list. Besides DQ, Nintendo is basically taking on the world alone in 2007.

Also, remember that I only wanted to list exclusives. This thread would be way too long if I listed everything else (even just potentially good stuff).

Of course, I've left out some things though. THQ exclusives and "Bob Ross: The Joy of Painting". For good reason.

Should have mentioned:

Necro-Nesia (US title: "Escape from Bug Island". Heh)

Sadness (OK, shouldn't have mentioned it...)

GT Pro Series

The Rapala games

[schild]

January 2007        Bio-Hazard Battle (Virtual Console)        SEGA       Action Adventure

What the hell is that?

Necro-nesia will be the trashiest game I buy all year. Sadness will rock my ass. GT and Rapala won't/don't count.

[stray]

The trashiest game I buy this year will probably be Age of Conan.


OK, PS3 additions:

Monster Kingdom

Hot Shots Golf 5

Getaway 3 (GDC cam vid). Meh. I'm not sure if I even care about GTA anymore, let alone this.

Heavy Rain (What? Quantic Dream exclusive on the PS3? Where have I been?)

Warhawk

Fifth Phantom Saga

Tekken 6 and Killzone 2 (not going to even show the trailers)

[schild]

Heavy Rain will land on the 360 also methinks. Fifth Phantom Saga probably won't get an American Release. Getaway will suck. Clap Hanz will deliver again with Hot Shots. Monster Kingdom will rock my SOCKS off.

[Velorath]

January 2007        Bio-Hazard Battle (Virtual Console)        SEGA       Action Adventure

What the hell is that?

An old Genesis game.

Edit:   

Hey, I could be wrong. Maybe it'll keep escalating at the same pace, but I think it's more like one of those titles that 1) justifies early adopters' hopes and 2) something that will pick up again a bit from late 360 buyers, to compliment other purchases. Not exactly must have in and of itself, but must have as a part of their eventual 360 collection. Or in other words, I think it more in common with KoToR than it does Halo.

At 3 million copies sold, around one-third of the people who own a 360 have picked up this game.  I'm not sure what the hell that proves exactly, but it's still impressive.

[Velorath]

I'm not prejudice against any console, and never have been. Further, I'd be surprised if I haven't bought more of them and more types of them than almost anyone here. Or at least, as much as the usual suspects. I bought obscure SMS card games, and a copy of fucking Gyromite back in the day. I had a 5200 and an Intellivision. I've had Sega products, Ninty products, Sony products, Atari, Microsoft, a variety of computer platforms, and a childhood wasted in arcades. Last gen, I did my best to buy whatever good Xbox games were available. Probably bought more XBox games than anyone here besides Schild and Yeg -- and I didn't even like the Xbox that much.

This almost requires a topic of its own.

I had an Intellivision.  I still have a ColecoVision (although the controllers have long since ceased to function) with the Atari 2600 adapter.  Also had a 5200.  My first Nintendo came with the Light Gun and R.O.B., I went through two SMS's (Spy vs. Spy was my favorite of the card games).  I fucking loved my TG-16 (5 fucking player goodness back when 2 was standard for pretty much everything else).  I was one of the suckers that bought the Sega-CD attachment for the Genesis.  My game buying habits have dropped off in recent years, but I probably have more games from the Intellivision/Atari era to the Nintendo/SMS era than most people here.

Crap like the Jaguar, CD-i, 3D0, and Neo-Geo (ok maybe that one wasn't crap exactly, but too expensive to justify the purchase) aside, the XBox is the only system I didn't own, which makes my current love of the 360 surpising even to me.

[stray]

Yeah, I fell for the Sega CD as well. And the 32X. And the Saturn. And the DC (though the DC was great. I wish I still had one.....In fact, that's what I almost bought recently over the PS3 heh).

[stray]

To rerail back to the original topic:

My potential end-of-year 360 wishlist would look something like:

Blue Dragon
Alan Wake
Forza 2
Lost Odyssey
Eternal Sonata/Trusty Bell
-
Dead Rising
Lost Planet
EDFX
GoW
Kane and Lynch
Mass Effect, Halo 3, and Bioshock out of curiosity, nostalgia, and pity


That second tier of games might be Robot Jesus to most here, but they're exactly the type of games I could wait for (though I am kind of jonesin' for those Capcom games). When I buy an XBox, the main things I'd want to pop in are something from the first tier. Hence, why I'm not a 360 fan yet (maybe will be in the summer).

PS3 list:

DMC4
Lair
F1
Hot Shots
Heavy Rain
Eight Days
Monster Kingdom
NG Sigma
MotorStorm
UT2K7
White Knight Story (one can hope, right?)
MGS4, Warhawk, Heavenly Sword, and FFXIII out of curiosity, nostalgia and pity

It's a long wait for any of this (except F1 and MotorStorm). Even so though, I already prefer the path Sony is carving for themselves over Microsoft. Couple that with PS2 games (especially new titles like God of War 2), and it's enough to not make me feel like a total jackass for getting this system so early. 

[schild]

Bioshock out of pity? Nah, I think it'll be just fine. Your 360 list is still missing games. Infinite Undiscovery?  Bullet Witch? You can knock that second one, but from what I've heard from people Playing It, you're off base leaving it off the list. Vampire's Rain? The Darkness? Culdcept Saga?

DMC4 may get rushed out the door in 07 to make room for RE5 in 08. UT2k7 will be better with the 360 controller than the Sixaxis - trust me. That said, Sony might open up the PS3 to keyboard and mouse USB for it.

I could go on, but it's not worth it since this - the final year of the PS2 - will be the best one.

Raw Danger
Red Star
Rogue Galaxy
Yakuza 2 (one can hope)
Ar Tonelico
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 11
Chulip
Lumines Plus
God of War 2
Shining Force Exa
Odin Sphere
Persona 3
Atelier Iris 3 (huh? that hasn't been announced yet!)

Anyway, that's all within the first 6-8 months of the year. This Fall belongs to Halo, even Sony and Nintendo own it. In other words, Ninty and Sony each have something they have to do. Nintendo needs to figure out how to make more than 10 Must Buy games during the life of the console and stop trickling out overpriced bullshit on the VC. Sony needs to fix Backwards Compatibility and make a kickass software upscaler for PS1 and PS2 games. I'm not worried about game volume on the PS3. It's something that simply hasn't crossed my mind.

Also, you left Virtua Fighter 5 off both of those. Not to mention the NISA tactics stuff that's bound to hit the 360.

They're not bad lists... for a noob. I kid, I kid. ^_^

[stray]

Bioshock out of pity? Nah, I think it'll be just fine. Your 360 list is still missing games. Infinite Undiscovery?  Bullet Witch? You can knock that second one, but from what I've heard from people Playing It, you're off base leaving it off the list. Vampire's Rain? The Darkness? Culdcept Saga?

Culdcept is not my thing (sorry). Darkness is multiplatform, hence I left it off (though I'm struggling to care about it anyhow).

Bioshock. Yes. Out of pity. This is one of those titles where I will simply not torture myself with high hopes. That's not to say I think it'll be bad. I just don't want to build it up too much. The best I can expect at this point is Deus Ex 2 or Thief 3 (preferably Thief 3, rather than Deus Ex 2).

UT2k7 will be better with the 360 controller than the Sixaxis - trust me. That said, Sony might open up the PS3 to keyboard and mouse USB for it.

Not to mention Epic's liking for PSN over XBL (Microsoft are cockblockers with custom content. Transferring PC created maps and whatnot won't be a problem on the PS3). Or the fact that Epic hasn't even announced a 360 version as of yet.

I could go on, but it's not worth it since this - the final year of the PS2 - will be the best one.

Best PS2 year ever? Or best console for 2007? If the latter, I agree. God of War 2, Persona and Raw Danger, Rogue Galaxy, and Romance are early pickups. Red Star could be fun. Enough to forget about anything lacking on the PS3 for awhile (though there will be enough of those as well).

Also, you left Virtua Fighter 5 off both of those. Not to mention the NISA tactics stuff that's bound to hit the 360.

I left it off because it isn't exclusive. I'll definitely get it though.


Holy shit, that's a lot of games for 2007.

[Baldrake]

The Godfather: Blackhand Edition is due out in March for the Wii. I'm sure everyone's seen the video showing the control scheme by now. If it plays as well as it looks, this one will be pretty cool.

[Riggswolfe]

360: Mass Effect alone is looking likely to make me glad I own a 360. Of course, Mass Effect 2 will be done by Obsidian and end badly. ;)
I will probably pick up the other RPG titles coming out, and of course Halo 3. Though I'd say Rainbow 6: Vegas and Gears of War both have raised the bar on FPS titles for the 360. Alan Wake looks to be potentially awesome.

PS3: White Knight looks quite intriquing, their battle system looks more fluid and dynamic than the typical JRPG. Hell, if it has enough RPGs like that I may break down and buy one. Though so far when I've seen it on shelves I've had zero temptation to pick one up.

Wii: Sorry guys, most of that list looks pretty meh to me.

ETA: I forgot to mention Kane and Lynch for the 360. That game looks pretty interesting.

[Riggswolfe]

Not to mention Epic's liking for PSN over XBL (Microsoft are cockblockers with custom content. Transferring PC created maps and whatnot won't be a problem on the PS3). Or the fact that Epic hasn't even announced a 360 version as of yet.

I wonder why MS is a bitch about custom content. I figure it's probably trying to protect the 360 from viruses or something. It's a damn shame because I wish I could download some player-made Oblivion mods.

[stray]

Probably because they think it'd fall on their heads if an add-on/feature isn't a "optimal" for their XBL users. They don't want a lot of sick/demented kids on their support hotline like in that infamous Valve clip.

PSN is a bit more welcoming, but also not so centralized (and thus, Sony themselves can escape any responsibility for support).

[Riggswolfe]

Probably because they think it'd fall on their heads if an add-on/feature isn't a "optimal" for their XBL users. They don't want a lot of sick/demented kids on their support hotline like in that infamous Valve clip.

PSN is a bit more welcoming, but also not so centralized (and thus, Sony themselves can escape any responsibility for support).

Hell, most XBOX-live games say something to the effect of "game experience will change during online play." I figure that's a warning right there, but I guess you're probably right.

[Yegolev]

They should all say that if they have a ESRB rating.

[stray]

Now you guys are just being silly. Kids don't read these days.