I just came back from a Vendor Show and learned some new info.
If I mention any prices it's in Canadian.
Take Two
NHL 2K6, NBA 2K6, Amped 3, & Top Spin 2 are launch titles, while Oblivion is in the launch window. They couldn't say if it would make launch for sure.
They showed us Oblivion gameplay and the game looks insane. Graphics aside, the physics are incredible. You can interact with anything in the environment, you can pick up a skull off the ground or move chains that are hanging from the ceiling aside and it really looks/feels as if you are doing it.
UbiSoft
King Kong was shown and it definitely feels like POP. We tried one of the levels and inbetween the enemies you had jumping areas like POP. All in all the game should be solid, and will most likely make launch. Oh and just for clarification, launch day is obviously when the 360 launches while launch window is Nov - Jan.
Ghost Recon
The XB version will be out in November, the 360 version will be most likely January aka launch window. Not much new info, but some new gameplay footage was shown, and the game looks great. At first I wasn't big on the HUD when the game was announced at E3, but now after seeing some new gameplay I'm really excited for it.
Splinter Cell 4 in the works, they couldn't say if it was XB, 360 or both.
Activision
Quake 4, Call of Duty 2, Tonk Hawk Wasteland, & Gun are going to make launch day. They showed some really brief clips of COD2 & Quake 4 and wow.... if they both have the gameplay to back up the visuals and sound, they will have 2 AAA FPS on their hands. I wasn't interested in either one, and now I don't know which one to get. GUN looks interesting, it's a cross between Red Dead Revolver and Grand Theft Auto.
THQ
The Outfit as everyone knows is pushed back to January, so it's a launch window game.
Saints Row is an interesting game and surprised most people there. First off, most of the videos floating around the web are actual in game videos, not CGI. If that is news to anyone else I'm not sure, but it is to me. The premise of the game is that you want to become the biggest gangsta in the city. It's free roaming taking a page from everyone's favorite GTA series. You start off as a lonely punk and you progress through the game by gaining respect. To do that you have to earn some money so whether you jack a car, steal some watches etc.. it's up to you. Once you do that you take your car to get it souped up (or to sell it in the case of the car & watches). This will get you more money, a fancy car, new clothes, and in essence gain you more respect. Once that happens, the ladies begin to notice you, the cops are more aware to you and of course rival gangs aren't too happy with you. The game will be launch window, and the biggest news is ..... online multiplayer.
Microsoft
No date ... sorry. Although they did say Holiday 2005.
LIVE info.
No credit card needed.
The price is actually going DOWN. So here is the deal. If you renew through the dashboard you get 12 months, however if you go out and buy a starter or renewal kit, you get 13 months. Here are the 3 LIVE associated products avaiable for launch.
1) Starter kit, $79.99, 12 months of LIVE plus 1 free month, headset, 250 marketplace points (the currency that will be used for) a LIVE arcade game (Pool) and a coupon for a rebate off a launch title. I'm sorry I think I zoned out for a sec when they mentioned this because I'm tempted to say it was $25 off any MS title, but I'm not sure. I will find out.
2) Renewal kit $59.99, 12 months of LIVE plus 1 free month, 250 points.
3) 1250 Marketplace Points
You can actually give away your marketplace points to friends or anyone else for that matter. The dashboard is so easy to use, and you can open it at any point, it's really impressive. You can use any song on your HDD in any game even if it doesn't support custom soundtracks.
Kameo, online co-op, $64.99, will make launch.
PGR 3, $64.99, will make launch.
PDZ $64.99 ($69.99 for the collectors), will make launch and the big news is .... we got to see it (and some got to play it)!! It retains the perfect dark feel of the original but is covered in next gen layers. The textures in the environment are incredible, you can zoom in on walls, the ground, and it doesn't lose anything, doesn't become blurry, nothing. Get this... you can shoot out the lights ala Splinter Cell. There is now a roll button. You can drop weapons for your teammates. Of course the game is multiplayer (no confirmed number) and there is online co-op for 2 people. The 2nd player you use is named Chandra if you play co-op. There are 25 weapons in the game all with secondary modes while some have teritary modes (night vision, heat vision). There are 4 levels of difficulty. The game itself is 75-80 % complete.
EA
We got to see some brief footage of Burnout & Battlefield 2 got the 360, some extended footage of Madden, Fifa, Godfather, NFS MW, Tiger Woods, & we got to play NFS MW. All I can say is, EA is leading the charge for next gen material, all of their games look incredible, love them or hate them, they are the top dog for 3rd party and it showed
