by Aaron Bertinetti
©2009 Aaron Bertinetti
Microsoft has kept its lips very firmly shut this year, meaning they have a bundle of unannounced exclusives in the wings ready to step in the limelight come E3.
However, despite what some may say, Microsoft already has a quality line up of announced titles that whilst short on some core appeal, is long on genre and experiential variety.
Make sure you check out our Poll at the end of your reading to let us know what you believe will be the top Exclusive on the 360 in 2009.
Here is OXCGN’s Top 10 Announced Console Exclusives for E3 2009.
10. Champions Online
From super developers Cryptic Studios, Champions Online promises to follow the lead of popular MMOs City of Heroes and City of Villains. Players will not only have control over the RPG elements of their super hero but their animations, powers and most importantly, their arch enemy.
It will also be cross platform allowing PC and Xbox 360 players play for or against one another.
And whilst MMOs on the Xbox 360 have a tragic history, we’re willing to back the concept here based on Cryptic’s pedigree and Microsoft’s approval of user generated content, including missions, characters and cinematics.
There are now over 20 million active users on Xbox Live, and the first developer to truly capitalise on that will make a fortune. Cryptic Studios clearly sees the potential, gunning for a late 2009 release.
9. Kodu
What is Kodu?
Launching on the Xbox Live Community Games Channel this year, the “game” is an attempt to bring game design to the masses. By emphasising visual logic to convey game mechanics and design, players should conceivably be able to develop their own simple games with nothing but an Xbox360 controller.
By presenting the tools in an animated, child friendly manner, it’s hoped that both young and old will get in on the act of creating simple games, and by so doing learn many of the principles behind game design, without the need to understand code such as XNA.
Players can either build their own games from scratch or edit and manipulate pre loaded games to learn and play with Kodu’s tools and their own game ideas. We assume that the title will also embrace the Live community through sharing and rating of player created content.
We’re not sure if it’ll work, but given similar doubts were held for the level design tools in Halo 3’s Forge and the infinitely more advanced, family friendly Little Big Planet, we’re willing to place our bets on Kodu to!
8. GTAIV DLC
The first episode was well worth the investment. We really dug Lost & Damned, and there are plenty of reasons why it’s the most highly rated DLC this generation. Given many developers would likely release it as a full title, the fact that it cost 1600 MPs deemed it a bloody steal.
And so it was with typically controversy-baiting bravado, that Rockstar announced “The Ballad of Gay Tony”. But homophobic zealots on Xbox Live fear not, you’re not playing as nightclub extraordinaire Gay Tony, but rather his personal assistant, Luis Lopez. Sadly we know some of those sexually insecure gamers out there will still avoid this like the plague, but for the rest of us we’re likely to enjoy another seedy cocktail of sex, guns and violence in the streets and clubs of Liberty City.
(ED: OXCGN will be getting a sneak-peek at the new DLC from Rockstar post E3 with a detailed hands-on – stay tuned for the impressions)
7. Lost Planet 2
Is it exclusive? Well for the time being it remains console exclusive. Will it remain exclusive? We highly doubt it. But whilst it remains as such we’re happy to wack it on this list, because quite frankly it looks like a title that gamers, irrespective of platform, would want. Capcom is putting so much effort into answering fan demands that we can’t help but think we’ll love it.
Lost Planet 2 kicks off ten years after the original, but with rapid terraforming rendering the icy planet almost unrecognisable. But given the whole game is running under Capcom’s stunning new engine, MT Framework 2.0, we suspect we may not have recognised it even if the ice remained.
The real selling point of Lost Planet 2, however, is the four player co-op campaign which seems to mix the best elements of third person sandbox shooters with epic boss fights (think Monster Hunter 3), and excessive player customisation options for their unique appearance and weapons.
6. 1 v 100
It seems a strange title to put in our top ten, but it’s the pure ambition and uniqueness of 1 v 100 that stands it apart from other confirmed exclusives. Put simply 1 v 100 is a live television trivia show with 101 Avatars on stage, thousands of more as part of “the crowd”, a live host, and real prizes in the form of XBLA titles and Microsoft Points to the winning 1. And if you’re still not sold there’s no need to be if you’re an Xbox Live gold member, as it’ll be free as part of your membership and will include achievements to boot!
Microsoft is truly leveraging their platform and Xbox Live with 1 v 100 and it is a clear point of difference from their immediate competitors. Currently in beta testing, we expect this to launch later this year.
5. Halo Chronicles
Well you know we’re excited about something when we post a fact grabbing, leak tapping article like this one, because we can’t wait another year!
Combining Peter Jackson’s vision, Bungie’s resources, Frank O’Connor’s storytelling, and Microsoft’s financial/marketing muscle and announcing that you intend to do nothing short of revolutionising “interactive entertainment”… means we’re listening.
When you have a habit of delivering on such ridiculous promises, your confidence simply makes us impatient!
Halo Wars has proven the strength and depth of the Halo Universe, whilst also proving the myriad of untapped opportunities.
And now we want Halo to feel fresh again; we want consequences to our actions; and most importantly a feeling of vulnerability without Master Chief’s presence that will only make us appreciate him more when the time inevitably comes for his return in Halo 4. So last but not least… we want it this year!
4. Splinter Cell Conviction
Sam Fisher has been hiding in the shadows far too long. Maybe it was the depression that set in after the high of the sublime Chaos Theory to the more moderately enjoyable Double Agent? Or maybe he was just over reaching a bit with a Conviction over his head? But for whatever reason, Ubisoft has continued to keep gamers in the dark about the king of stealth gameplay and his next outing.
Conviction is one of the most ambitious titles Ubisoft have ever announced. To totally strip a franchise to the bone and then dump the key gameplay mechanic from which the franchise found its incredible success involved a whole lot of cojones and maybe several screws loose. We’re curious to see whether Ubisoft has the said quantity of cojones to stick to their creative guns.
Sam is back at E3 this year, and given the time Ubisoft has had to polish and optimise the title, we can’t wait! There has been a sore lack of stealth titles on the 360 and a story driven cinematic-thriller, dripping with references to films such as The Bourne Conspiracy, The Fugitive and Enemy of the State sounds like a hell of a good time. Add in the originally conceived dynamic and reactive gameplay for stealth and combat and Sam may yet make a successful return to the single and multiplayer arenas, perhaps even better than ever before.
3. Halo ODST
Without Bungie there wouldn’t be Halo, and without Halo it’s unlikely there would have been an Xbox 360. Halo 3: ODST will let players take the place of the human special forces know as the “Orbital Drop Shock Troopers”, in the events that lead up to Halo 3 prior to Master Chief’s return to New Mombasa.
Given the lack of Master Chief players will need to utilise new gameplay elements with an increased emphasis on stealth and strategy. It also appears that the world may be a lot more open and sandbox based than the linear progression of earlier titles.
And as with everything Bungie, the entire Halo 3 feature set will be integrated, offering endless hours of multiplayer with a swag of new maps, co-op campaigns, meta scoring, Forge, saved films and screenshots.
Beyond the obvious branding, ODST is also an incredibly important title on a number of other levels. It’s the first time that a Halo FPS has not had a playable Master Chief, it’s the apparent final involvement of Bungie in the franchise they created and it also marks Bungie’s first steps as an independent developer since the ink dried on their separation from Microsoft.
It’s for those reasons that gamers should truly be excited. ODST is more than an expansion pack, it’s a statement. And so gamers should expect a package that will do its all to build on Halo 3’s groundbreaking innovations with as big a bang for your buck as possible.
We can’t wait!
2) Alan Wake
We know it’s coming. We have done for five years now. But that’s forgivable (to an extent) given Remedy has a small team of perhaps three dozen, a resume of gaming milestones, and one hell of a pitch.
Telling a dark, cinematic tale set in an open world about a writer who loses his grasp with the distinction between reality and his traumatised subconscious, has us intrigued. It promises to be a mature noir thriller with an emphasis on exploration, atmosphere and storytelling which when compared to zombies, guns and herbs, it sounds refreshingly awesome to us.
We’re not quite sure whether it will be out by Christmas, and personally we don’t mind waiting until it can have an early 2010 month to its own. But it is time to start selling the gameplay features along with the premise because there are many gamers who’ve understandably let this fall off their radars since that spectacular showing at E3 06.
We know it’s supposed to be a thriller, but the suspense is killing us… E3 09 marks the time for Alan to wake the hell up!
1) Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect is to many the best RPG of this generation, perhaps the best game this generation and even for some, one of the best games ever. Regardless of your stance on Mass Effect’s status, there’s no doubt in our minds that it is one of the most important games this generation and is undoubtedly one of Bioware’s greatest works, in a company chock a block full of great titles.
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve seen the mystery and intrigue drenched curtains slowly but surely lifting. The Internet panic caused when it was suggested Sheperd was dead served to illustrate just how much fans of the original have come to love humanity’s last hope through Bioware’s exemplary storytelling, dramatic dialogue system, cinematic presentation and compelling gameplay.
The darker and deeper second chapter promises a sweeping epic full of conflict, conspiracy and romance, with player’s decisions and characteristics carrying over into the second chapter to have a material impact on the overreaching narrative arc. The trailers have also shown off new alien species, weapons, abilities, planets and dismemberment?! And it appears that Bioware have taken to heart the criticisms of the first with what immediately appears to be a far more polished and detailed graphical engine, along with more varied environments and level design.
Whenever it drops it’s going to be one hell of a ride and of all the titles at E3, Mass Effect 2 is without a doubt our most anticipated.
Agree? Disagree?
Let us know in the poll and comments below.
©2009 Aaron Bertinetti
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Filed under: 1st Party Titles, Console gaming, E3 2009, Editorial, Microsoft Games, New Xbox 360 Games, Polls, XBLA News-Reviews, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Game Previews, Xbox 360 News, Xbox 3rd party exclusives, XboxLive Marketplace Tagged: | "Mass Effect 2", "Splinter Cell: Conviction", 1 vs 100, 360, alan wake, Bioware, Capcom, Champions online, cryptic studios, GTAIV, Halo chronicles, Halo ODST, Kodu, Lost Planet 2, Lost Planet 3, Microsoft, MMO, Peter Jackson, Remedy, rockstar, Splinter Cell, The Ballad of Gay Tony, Ubisoft, Xbox 360
Hey buddy, bad news. Only four of those are exclusives… The two Halo games, Alan Wake, and 1 v 100. That’s it. The rest? PC release, my friend…
4/10 is not a good score.
Not a great list, not enough to swing me back to 360 i’m afraid!
I am quite looking forward to Mass Effect 2. Didn’t think the first one was the ‘best’ anything though, necessarily. Maybe the best RPG on 360.
And more than that, Kudo. I’m salivating pretty bad over that one. Nice list.
ODST will fly off the shelves when it comes out. I’m looking forward to seeing how the change in approach works out – the open world, stealth, tactics – I think it’s great they’re breaking out of the traditional mold.
I think Alan Wake should be number 1. Let’s not forget the first Mass Effect’s horrendous combat and AI issues. Sure the game on the whole was cool and immersive, but I think Alan Wake will be the X360′s Heavy Rain. Hell I dont even have an Xbox (my friend does) and I’m excited for Alan Wake.
I STRONGLY disagree with your comments about Mass Effect!
I found it to be extremely boring – it was fun at first but soon become a chore. The inventory management was non-existant and quickly became unusbale. There was less character customisation and less content to explore than games like Knights of the Old Republic. Seemed like a major backward step to me.
It’s important to note these things so that hopefully Mass Effect 2 will be much, much better.
Lost Planet aint an exclusive, it’s been covered in PS3 mags with in-depth previews and interviews from Capcom reps.
Think you’ll find he’s saying that it could be a timed exclusive, but these are “predictions, not fact, remember, we have these lists each year aboout what we believe the top 10 will be, then ppl vote on the in the polls below. You’re probably new here ?? SO welcome, and just relax and enjoy, we don’t take a fanboy approach here mate, trust me on that.