Gaming According To OXCGN
March: Much Ado About Nothing
A few of OXCGN’s Staff look at the month that passed:
A bit like The World According To Garp (look it up) we now have Gaming According To OXCGN.
Each month some of OXCGN’s staff will take a retrospective look at the month just past. Naturally we could have all 13 team members from around the globe all saying something at the same time, so we’ll have around 4-5 team members sharing their thoughts on how gaming was for them at OXCGN each month.
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dkpatriarch:
© 2009 David Hilton:- 2IC-Sub Editor
This last month sure saw a lot of arguments in gaming.
First there was Resident Evil 5‘s release and the hate over the control scheme Capcom stayed with and the craptastic expensive Limited Uber Edition.
Then there was a rather underwhelming GDC 09, which really didn’t give 360 owners anything exciting except the prospect of future games using the CryEngine 3. Where was bloody Alan Wake?
Then we had the whole PR spin-doctor thing with the hardcore PS3 fanboys loving us for pointing out how foolish it was for Aaron Greenberg of Xbox to gloat over the recent PS3 sales (though it was also pointed out that the others do it too) and then these same hardcore PS3 fanboys changed their minds and hated us for pointing out that Sony were exchanging money for exclusive rights to games, just like Microsoft, despite having previously said they didn’t do that.
Luckily the more reasonable Sony gamers who read us have noticed that we’ve been very positive in the past about the PS3 and simply don’t like rubbish on either side.
On a personal note, I’ve really been enjoying Resident Evil 5, despite the old control system. It is fast, has a variety of environments, and looks and sounds great. I also am very pleased Max Payne 3 has been announced and loved the look of the leaked Uncharted 2 footage. I don’t buy a lot of PS3 titles (I like my 360 controller and achievements too much) but Heavy Rain and Uncharted 2 look great. I really really hope we see more of Alan Wake soon!
TWODOGSz:
©2009 Aaron Bertinetti: NE (News Editor)
Yeah it’s amazing how one eyed some people are. Bottom line is both companies are businesses and if exclusives bring profits and market share then they’ll go after them. Nothing wrong with that, except when you point the finger at others and pretend you’re not doing it yourself! Worse still are the fanboys who drown out the rest of us with their diatribes from the enjoyment and civil discussion of gaming.
GDC ’09 really went back to its roots this year didn’t it?! Remarkably our readers picked in the poll (along with us) that Mass Effect 2 would be the one to show and thankfully Bioware didn’t disappoint with new footage of gameplay and cut scenes. This is easily my most anticipated game this generation and I await it with baited breath.
On another note it looks like E3 is going to be one hell of a party. Bioware has promised lots more, Molyneux has indicated he’ll be showing his new game, Alan Wake will finally be revived, and Forza 3 well… just admit it exists!
I really enjoyed starting the conversation that ensued after the deconstruction of what was wrong with Halo Wars singleplayer and multiplayer aspects with a lot of productive comments for future updates and developments. And Street Fighter IV really was a triumph!
The sortie of events OXCGN attended this month including Xbox Sounds, Street Fighter IV Media Tournament, UFC 2009, Killzone 2 launch and a sortie of previews and hands on thanks in particular to Microsoft and THQ, shows the site is going from strength to strength.
Without our readers we wouldn’t be here so thanks for your support.
Dimorphic:
©2009 Ryan Fernance:
Well for me the last month has represented the two highs and lows of Xbox 360 gaming.
The highs came in the form of both the Halo Wars and GTA Lost And The Damned (which I got my hands on later than a lot of people).
Halo Wars was and is probably the best RTS I’ve ever played. Now I know that a lot of people will disagree whole-heartedly but for me the combination of simple controls combined with deep gameplay and an excellent story made Halo Wars one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had on the 360 and easily the best RTS I’ve sat down with.
As for the Lost and Damned, Rockstar have shown us all how DLC should be delivered. A fair price coupled with the ‘new’ Liberty City makes for good gaming, pure and simple.
And the Lost and Damned could possibly be even better story wise than the campaign from the original game, which is a testiment to Rockstar’s game and story development and design.
Then I hit the negative aspect of owning a 360, the red-ring. I experienced now my second red ring incident and even though the customer support has gotten a massive overhaul and the turn around time for repairs is decent, the fact that of is still happening is disappointing.
But that’s the way it goes sometimes and you just have to roll with it. Until next month guys.
Sutton Dagger:
©2009 Steve Sutton:
Another great month for the Xbox 360 platform in terms of sales (NPD data), but unfortunately Microsoft’s PR do a bang up job of turning people off the product with constant pot-shots at competitors. It seems to be a problem with industry executives as a whole so I suppose I can’t harp on the issue…
Arguably the most addictive arcade game ever conceived has made its debut on XBLA; you all know what I’m talking about: Peggle. It has consumed the minuscule amount of time I have had available to play games, if you haven’t checked it out already, be sure to try the free demo on Live.
TWODOGSz’s look at GDC rekindled my obsession with the Lost Odyssey franchise and I was praying for the announcement of a sequel. I even voted for it on our own poll. Hopefully E3 will shed some more light on MistWalker’s next project.
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Filed under: Console gaming, Editorial, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 News, Xbox Community Network Tagged: | "Mass Effect 2", Aaron Greenberg, alan wake, Bioware, Capcom, GDC 09, GTA:IV lost & Damned DLC, halo wars, Heavy Rain, Killzone 2 launch, leaked uncharted 2 footage, Lost & Damned, max payne 3, Molyneux, PS3 fanboys, Resident Evil 5, rockstar, RTS, Sony buys exclusivity, Stormrise, street fighter IV, THQ, UFC Undisputed, Uncharted 2
