RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Games and Tech KLOBB speaks

Ken Lobb, the guy who left Nintendo for Microsoft, had some interesting words to say. He talked about how Splinter Cell was hif favorite game for Xbox in the last year, he likes the live capabilities, and he said Rare is going to have cool shit at E3.

Also tried to figure out what was going down with Nintendo. Spoke nicely about it, saying how the GC crowd was a smaller, select group, but also how Nintendo might fail to recognize the ages. That is certainly true, seeing as how a lot of people grew up with NES or SMS and are in their mid 20s and older. He said Retro nailed Metroid. Liked that a lot.

If I bought another console, it would have to be the Xbox, because I spotted something he mentioned... it dealt with the enhanced feel over there, trying to put together dreams teams and just come out on top. Compared it to Nintendo's hayday.

Rare's games, accompanied by some superior capabilities, make Xbox cool. I remember how they shelled out the money for those two Kraven levels in Spiderman. Also might buy Sega, which gives them added punch.

Problem is, the life of systems. Everything lives for 5 years now. Gamecube is just a little over year old, but I hear about the next-generation console already. So what's up with Xbox and Sony? Figure they will have systems that allow the older games to be played (how PSX2 plays PSX games). No reason to change the current format.

So, it becomes WHEN to buy. It's still an investment, and I hate the prospect of having an old system collect dust after a year or two.

the pro/con of the situation is all companies are planning newer consoles. some like that. some hate that.

the facts are that all three companies are aiming for a 2005 release at the earliest -- each one wanting a ps2-like head start on the others.

make of that what you will (then consider that each of the three current systems was at least a year-late on its delivery date promise).

that aside....

i think xbox has a cool deal going on. they're willing to take the risks to make business moves (like LIVE or rare). they're new and uninhibbated, so they can really head off in any direction. they're not a japanese company, so they dont have as much issues with public appearance or saving face or stubborness.

i think they're doing amazing for a product that didnt exist 2+ years ago, against to megaliths. their online dedication and service is amazing.

their best feature is probably what i dislike about it -- its microsoft.

microsoft doesnt know a thing about gaming -- just just have tons of cash. they'll toss all of it around to get anything they want. they're currently losing about $100 on EVERY xbox system they sell, and they dont care! xbox lost microsoft millions in 2002, but with a company as rich as microsoft, it didnt even leave a scratch -- they can suck that up like it was nothing.

to me, it always seems like they're just trying to be the best at something else, without really taking the time to get INTO the industry. they just want to own it.

similar to ted turners approach to wrestling. he didnt care about the history or the legacies or even the details. he just wanted something that would beat the competition.

which worked great for a while -- but then ended up burning a lot of bridges and upsetting a lot of people, both in the industry and the fans of it.

Well, I thought about that. Sony is in a similar situation. Thing with Microsoft is we have one figure we tie all of it to--Bill Gates. Otherwise, it is a computer/software company that makes Windows, MSDOS, Office, flight Simulators, and some keyboards and joysticks and crap.

More "gaming" oriented than Sony. But that the money goes to Gates... well... Rich stay healthy, sick stay poor

sony was around for a while in the gaming world for a while before ps one came about. in fact, ps one is the result of nintendo and sony not getting a long as gaming partners way-back-when.

so while it was their first system, they had their foot in the door for quite a few years.

xbox, on the other hand, created a section at microsoft to get into the gaming world. they took a lot of otherwise computer individuals and put them to work on gaming consoles (my cousin's company was almost one of those involved).

for some areas, that works out great. for example, they didnt really know how to work without having a hard drive, so they included one. further, the thing microsoft does best is internet services -- thus they can incorporate a great system in their LIVE program (from connections to servers to speeds, etc). to continue to turner/wcw connection, this is like teddy already owning 2 channels to showcase his wrasslin on. great benefit.

however, in many areas, thats a downfall. for example, and most importantly, games! microsoft is clueless when it comes to games -- its simply not their thing. game pads and other accessories are further areas microsoft's inexperience shows.

Here are 2 really good looking games that may draw some attention to the X-Box. "Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusades" and "Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis". Also looking good are "Duality" and "Sudeki". I'm not a big RPG fan but "Sudeki" looks pretty cool.