Personal thoughts & ideas about Xbox360 and many more
What's good fellow gamers,
My names Dante and i'm a 26yr old gamer from Harlem NYC. I've been reading threads on all types of games for 360 and other consoles, reading peoples opinions on how they felt about the games they played, and after doing so much reading i thought i'd finally share my own thoughts. In this post i'm going to be talking about a few things, GOW2, X360, PS3, NATAL, Live, etc. I'm aware that some of the things i'm going to talk about might have been discussed already I hope you guys will enjoi and understand where i'm coming from and for the rest who don't see where i'm coming from please share your opinion.
The list
Gears Of War 2 - The Lighting
There are a few things about Gow2 that needs to be improved, and the first thing i think needs improvement is the lighting system. I mean don't get me wrong Gow2 has some cool lighting effects, but i want them to be great lighting effects. The console game right now that i think mastered lighting is Killzone 2 on the PS3, now look i'm a die hard 360 fan, but i don't hate on Sony and their products, i think their games are highly gorgeous and out of this world, i'm still blown away by how realistic Killzone 2 is and lets not forget how Drake 2 looks as well, it's making the 360 sweat a little bit there, i'm definately going to buy a PS3 come this September, but uh back to Gow2.
I think the lighting in Gow2 should be improved, because the game is already beautiful with it's insane textures, over the top sound effects, tight controls, level design and it's hilarious, but great voice acting, but the lighting just doesn't bring the game out as mush as it should. You ever been playing Gow2 and took cover and the lighting around your character suddenly disappears and something totally different replaces it? Like the game has some kind of fake lighting. I thought this game's main priority was the lighting, because if you remember back before Gow1 was released Epic always talked about the Locust and how they only come out at night, now if your game is about being in the dark fighting and solving Shit shouldn't your lighting engine be on point? Think of Alan Wake with me people. I was totally fooled, because in the game the only real night time creatures were the Kryll which weren't in Gow2 which sucked, oh well.
Epic released a new video of the improvements to their beloved Unreal Engine, lets just hope those new lighting effects they showed make their way in Gow3 in a Jaw dropping way and in other games using the engine as well. I can only imagine how Gow3 would look, the underground lairs would be like nothing you've ever seen, can you picture what playing on Mansion and Gridlock or even The new map Santuary would look like? Epic get it together, with all the money you make from getting us with this DLC you should be able to have money to spare towards upgrading your lighting engine.
Gears of War 2 - Fire Effects
Ok people lets not kid ourselves here, but Gow2 has some really bad fire effects, i've seen better fire effects on a PS2 game, and honestly i have. How do you make a game like Gow, that has everything else going for it (except semi cool lighting) with bad fire effects? If you look at it in game it looks like a 2D sprite you'd find in a Mortal Kombat arcade game, that stage in MK3 when you fight Motaro called the balcony for example. It can't be hard to make a decent fire effect these days, on 360 the best fire effect i seen so far has been on Dead or Alive 4, Ryu Hayabusa stage is all i have to say. The damn flame thrower would look so sick! Epic Get it together.
Gears of War 2 - Bugs
Why is Gow2 still buggy? Why when i try to take cover my character climbs on top of the cover and gets stuck up there? And why is it still hard to roll or jump off a ledge without getting stuck? Or what about when i go to chainsaw someone or just move in forward for a kill, my character jerks back and forth as if he's getting shot for a few seconds 5 the most then i wind up getting killed for being shot with invisible bullets. Oh god lets not talk about bullets, but what is up with the bots in Gow2? They have magnetic bullets, i can be hiding in a sewer in Japan and the Locust can be having a get together on Gridlock on planet Sera and still manage a perfect headshot and not even be looking at me! WTF?! How do the bots get perfect headshots and not even face to shoot you?
Epic what is up with the Bullet Detection, i believe its called collision detection. I'm so tired of having my sights on someones poor head only to pull the trigger and have nothing register, that mess pisses me off and i know i'm not the only one. Ever shot a boom shot and it flew magically threw someones legs when you know you shot the floor? Can we fix rolling backwards please? I try to roll out the way and i run right into my enemies arms. Or what about being in doors and still being killed by a mortar? I know it's many more, we all know, Epic knows, just when are they going to fix it?
Gears of War 2 - Servers
I think Gow3 should be on powerful servers, Shit i think Gow2 should be on servers. Microsoft makes all this money off of us on from Xbox live and peripherals right? Why can't at least Microsoft Game Studios titles or other big name titles from Capcom or Konami run on servers? Gow would be so smooth over a server and we'd never hear people complain about lagging bullets and teleporting across maps and such. I honestly think people should upgrade their internet connections are well, because if your still on 56k there is something wrong with you, and don't say you can't afford it, because isn't Netzero like $12.95 for broadband speeds? People just let go of the dail up it wont kill you if you do.
Gears of War 3 - The wish list
Please oh please Epic put Gow3 on 2 disc, one for campaign and the other for multiplayer. We all know that the DVD format can't hold much info and it limits developers to an extent, so why not split up to the two so you can get the most out of both of them? Just think of playing the Gow3 campaign with next level texturing, polygon work, lighting and other effects, it would look how Gow3 is meant to look. Forza 3 is doing it, and i don't think honestly that game would of looked that phenomenal being on just one DVD.
Updated graphics should also be on this list, lets see a little bit more colors, more animations, ever more textures, better smoke, fire and lighting effects no more 2D sprite shit please. If you split the game on two disc then this will be possible and then everyone can skip in the park and sit down and make sandwiches and be happy.
This one is minor but can we have the old sounding lancer back? The one in Gow2 sounds like an M-16 or something, but the lancer from Gow1 sounded like the modified MG-42's they had in the Japanese anime Jin-Roh, here see for yourself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOY4oTPWucw&feature=related just fast forward it to 3:14 when all hell breaks loose and listen. Also why does the boomshot missiles look better in Gow1 than 2? In Gow1 the missiles looked like they were a ball of fire, almost like an lightning bolt, but in Gow2 it looks like something shot from a nerf gun.
A female character would be a great addition as well, can you imagine fighting along side with a chick with a foul mouth like Marcus? She'd be real cute and you wouldnt expect something like that from her, it would be funny and a new experience at the same time. Anya would even show some type jealousy by jumping into conversations between Marcus and Jo-Ann (female Gear's name) c'mon Epic don't discriminate.
Different locations for Gow3 other than your average city or underground lair would be nice we need more natural locations. I always wanted a map where you were in the woods, just picture it, green grass, tall green trees with amazing textures on them and can be used for cover, its somewhat dark because it's around 4:30pm and the sky's orange, it's two cabins on both sides of this path with sniper guns in them, with rocks in the middle just big enough to plant yourself behind and if you walk half way down and look to your left or right you can see a small stream of water with birds next to it drinking and when you start shooting and causing ruckus the birds fly away it would look like this
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2605/3753781132_da3c2acd54.jpg, but just add the rocks, grass, path, streams and cabin.
We need more locations like the new map called No Where, i never thought of Gow being in a desert, but man i love that map. Going to an ancient Egypt type Locust temple with realistic blowing sand and new desert creatures as well. The sun would be blazing, hills of sand with heat distortion everywhere, and this will be the first time players will see Marcus with his bandana off, he's going to take it off, because of the heat. Marcus will even experience mirages thinking he sees locust when he really doesnt making you think you have to get into cover and start shooting making it seem as if your in a real desert. I can imagine Cole complaining about all the sand blowing up his ass and Baird complaining about the heat. How about being inside the temple and seeing all the gold laced statues and stairs or whatever is in there then you fight some Locust snake boss i dont know just work with me here. All of that would take place after a driving mission, and your ride breaks down and you have to make the rest of the destination by foot.
Also please Bring Franklin back, because he is so damn funny, when i played the deleted scenes from the dark corners DLC i was tearing up in the eyes from laughing, dude is hilarious i mean Epic is sorta stereotypying a black man, you know he has to have cornrow braids, curses a lot like he's from the "hood", and its the same thing with Cole, but it's comedy and its funny. New character such as Jace Stratton from the comics wouldnt hurt neither.
Project Natal - The Future
Xbox 360 is my favorite console, it has my favorite games, the best online service that me and tons of my friends play on and i like what they have going on with Project Natal. I think when Project Natal is released it's going to be extremely good and the Wii market is going to be coming over taking sneak peeks. Can you imagine a Stars Wars type game involving playing with a light saber? You'll just be running, taking swipes at people and having tons of sword battles, man a 1 on 1 light saber battle against Dark Vader would own! And the game would be full body motion control, so if you look down your character looks down as well and you can even see your characters shoes! What i also want is a Samurai Type game, going around having duels with popular swordsmen or getting into random battles saving villages from ninjas and collecting enough gold to have the local village blacksmith create better stronger swords for your journeys.
Project Natal can even turn you into your favorite pop idol. Picture a Micheal Jackson game where you have to mimic his moves to earn points and move on to the next music video. Imitating thriller in your living room will be the most memorable moment ever. The type of game i want to be made for Natal badly is a game geared towards people who are stressed out, mad, angry, or just want to let it all go. The name of the game will be called Anger Management and the point of the game is to let out your aggression on objects. Picture this, you're at the main menu, you design your character to your liking, then you start in a big room filled with mirrors, tables, vases, pictures, tv's everything, and there are also weapons laying around like a bat, hammer, and axe. So you just go around the room destroying stuff picking up things throwing them letting out your stress earning points by being mad. The game would also look realistic using tons of polygons and texture work creating an illusion of the real world.
People say that the PS3 new motion controller has better pin point accuracy, but i think Natal will as well. Remember people that it isn't fully complete, what we saw at E3 was an early product and it isn't coing out till later next year. When this thing has enough money and resources poured into it Natal will own. Voice recognition, pin point accuracy, fun games that cater to the real and fantasy world that anyone can play and enjoy, who could possibly turn that down?
Xbox 360 - Storage issues
You know how people and developers are complaining about storage issues with DVD's limiting games? Well can't Microsoft come out with a proprietary disc like they had on Sega Dreamcast with the GD-ROM and the GameCube with the mini disc. Since HD-DVD is out of business can't Microsoft buy that up and use that format for game usage? That would greatly improve the games on 360 when it comes to storage and we will no longer hear the whines and cries of the people.
The next Xbox i think should be released with two models, one model having a 250gig HDD and another with 500gig's. I also think the controller should have more lights on it, meaning instead of the number quadrant lights only lighting up the whole X on the guide button should light up as well, i also think the face buttons should light up to an extent, maybe just the letters will glow, so B glows red, X glows blue, and so forth. I would also think they'd fix the control pad, because seriously that thing cause so many issues, especially in fighting games. They should make a design similiar to the Sega Genesis 6 button fighting pad that controller rocked.
Xbox Live - sound effects
I think Microsoft needs to change the sound effect for your friends sign on, because i'm tired of getting the achievement and friends signing on sounds mixed up it's annoying, it be times when i'm in an intense battle then out of no where i hear it, and i'm saying to myself "yesss!! i unlocked something!" come find out its HaloFan123 signing on or sending me an invite, they should just re-work all the sounds. Also they should also up the speed of the guide menu, because now i'm starting to see what people are talking about when it comes to the menu lagging, M$ speed it up.
Xbox 360 - On Rare developing Killer Instinct 3
Rare please release Killer Instinct 3 already, stop teasing us, give us some damn info already, you've given us clues, but give us much more, say something!! The game would sell like hell and can you even picture Killer Instinct in HD? Fulgore shooting out his laser with his electric bolts circling his body, Jago swinging his glowing green ninja sword while doing half screen split kicks, backgrounds would be crazy ill with tons of arts and effects, music would be done with style like Street Fighter 3rd strike. Ultra combo's go past the average 30+ hits now they should be 60+. Ending movies would all be in HD quality CG, think of DOA4 again. The online would also be awesome, you can view matches, interact, and vote on who you think will win the match. The more votes you guess right the more points you get, the points can be used towards something, what? I don't know maybe clothing for your character?
Xbox 360 - Having more game development RAM / Fanboyism
I've read on certain sites that 360 dev kits are now using a gig of RAM for game development and that PS3 has been doing this all along. So if this really does improves games, Microsoft if you want to step your development up and have stunning beauties such as Killzone 2, Drake 2 or MGS4 add the extra damn RAM thank you. Then again the reason why Killzone 2 looks so crazy is because the game has been in development since 2005, and so has MGS4 so do you think if Microsoft had the time to show developers how to use all 3 cores fully in the CPU things will come out looking better than before? Has all 3 cores even been used? Didn't Gow2 supposedly only used two? Bottom line both systems are equal, 360 can do somethings PS3 can't do so well and PS3 can do things 360 can't do as well, they are equal so all the fanboys get over yourself. I may love 360 but i have my roots in Sony as well, i have a PS1 with 20+ games, the first Crash Bandicoot is one of my all time favorites. Playing Crash Bandicoot that very first time on that Sept 1996 night, just blew me away, the graphics, sound effects, music, and the gameplay, unreal. I also have 55 games for my PS2 with 4 controllers, S-video cables and even the USB port covers for the front of the console so please i'm far from a fanboy.
Then Xmas 2002 came along and my girlfriend brought me an Xbox with DOA3, and in an instant i was in love, i had already been in love since my boy next door to me had a box with Halo and DOA3 as well and let me play before i got mines. When i got my Xbox i didn't turn back, i loved what Microsoft offered me, the system came with an HDD, you could copy music, it had the best online service ever, and had the best graphics hands down. My favorite game of all time even over GOW2 is Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, because when i played that i felt like i was really Sam Fisher and i know thats what the new Convictions will do to me as well. I have also stated that i am buying a PS3, and i will own, MGS4, Killzone 2, Drake 1 & 2, and many other hot games they have to offer. Being a fanboy is sorta like being a racist, yeah your being a technical racist, i say that because you have three races (xbox wii ps3) and each race claims to better than the next, and how you want their race to go under, then you get the technical racial slurs, fanboy, xbot, sony droid replacing the words N*****, K**** W***. Just get over yourselves, each system has something to offer, i want a PS3 and i'm going to buy a PS3 and if BestBuy is still having that PS3 Killzone 2 & MGS4 deal i'm getting it. Next up will be a Wii, because that Punch Out!! looks crazy fun and i've always been a fan of it. People...get it together.
Forza 3 vs Gran Turismo 5
People people people can we please stop all this fighting over these two amazing franchise? Each game offers something the other doesn't. I'm a Gran Turismo 3 player, i destroyed that game, maxed out all my favorite cars and won every race to beat it, i loved that game it was deep and very detailed, but from what i've seen and played Forza is a way more detailed game and offers the user a lot more hands down (FOR NOW), because we dont really know what GT5 is dropping with. And i don't care what nobody says Forza 3 competes with GT5 graphically, you can sit there and lie to yourself, but you know when you seen that picture of the Range Rover you almost shat ya' pants. People also brag about GT having 800 cars ok now lets be realistic here, how many of those cars are you actually going to use? Why is it GT brings in cars no one cares about? "But Forza has only 400 cars!" Yeah they only have 400, but it's cars you'd actually want to play with. Sony Fans please stop bashing Forza, how about you give the game a try, who knows you might actually like it. I'm hyped to see the in car view and tire deformation, i can't wait to watch a replay and see the tires bend like they say its does. I will be getting both well whenever GT5 is released that is, maybe that'll be 2011.
Thank you for reading, i know it's a lot and if there are any mistakes that i over looked i apologize. I really hope all you guys understand and feel where i'm coming from without all the fanboyism activity. So please share your opinions, because i definitely shared mine. I also would like to thank Xbox.com, N4G.com, Epic Gears of War 2 forum, IGN, GameSpy, GamesRadar, GameSpot, and Kotaku for all your gaming news.
I can't really comment on alot cause it was preatty much your personal opinion, but here I go.
I totally agree with you that Gears should be running on propper servers. When I bought Gears2 I was absolutelly discusted with the online. The campaign was better in almost every way, but the online was so unbareble, I retraded it for Gears1. People say they fixed it, but I'm not willing to give it another try. This issue has nothing to do with MS or LIVE. It has everything to do with EPIC and how they chose to run their online.
Even without dedicated servers they mannage to put an incredible online expirience in Gears1. It was P2P but it worked just like any other dedicated server online game. You saw the rooms, the ping and you choose. I'm personally noy buying another Gears title until this is addressed. Many people already expressed this to EPIC. Hope they listen for their next games.
On the storage issue. I also agree MS should have better storage, specially for the next xbox. But in this gen there were two little facts that kept this wishful thinking just that and nothing else. Fact1: MS had to use dvd in order to launch and compete the way it has this gen. Looking at the results, I doubt anybody can argue they made the wrong choice. Fact2: No game right now is actually worst because it's on DVD. Developers are always going to say they could do more with more storage.
On the D-pad thing all I can say is that, MS has some serious deal with the devil or something. Why they can't tweek it is beyond me.
I play Gears of War 2 all the time they don't need servers all they need is better host selection. In Halo 3 and call of duty 4 there is P2P but it works just fine if they fix the host selection the game should be fine