TotalRoundTable: Q4 + PS3 = 4-Ever?
Master Chief and Peter Molyneux versus Donkey Kong and James Bond versus Sly Cooper and some expensive car. Fight!
Published: November 30, 2010
MNK:
Besides Kirby's Epic Yarn (which my wife loves, incidentally) and Super Mario All-stars, there's also Epic Mickey, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and GoldenEye 007.
I think with those five games, Nintendo has the best Q4 lineup this generation for the very first time – but this says more, I think, about Sony's and Microsoft's lineups than Nintendo's.
If this is the way that next holiday's lineup is going to be – a huge focus on Move and Kinect, with little else out there – I think everyone's going to be more than ready for the Wii Too and/or the Xbox 720 in 2012.
Parjanya Holtz, senior editor:
Microsoft has Fable III and Halo: Reach, which are both fantastic titles. However, if you look at the company's previous holiday lineups, you'll notice that many of its at-the-time-exclusives have become multi-platform franchises – Mass Effect and BioShock being the two most prominent examples that come to mind, not to mention Bungie's decision to sign a 10-year deal with Activision. But Sony has also lost an exclusive partner, as Insomniac has announced its development of a multi-platform title. The industry is very much in a phase of transition, and it'll be interesting to see if Sony and Microsoft will start going after exclusives again, or if the financially safer multi-platform release is going to become an industry standard in the near future.
But back to topic – this year's holiday lineup. I like the Move, but it's not something that makes a whole lot of sense getting unless you can count on a bunch of friends to come over and play with you regularly. At least not with its current lineup. On the other hand, I have absolutely no desire to get my hands on Kinect. It just seems like a glorified PlayStation EyeToy. No, in fact, 2010 is the first year I am truly considering getting out there on Black Friday to see if I can get my hands on a sweet Wii deal. Epic Mickey, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and GoldenEye are more hardcore than what the Move offers right now or what the Kinect will likely ever be able to.
Gran Turismo 5 is obviously going to be great, but I'm just afraid that I won't have nearly enough time to invest in order for the game to truly open up to me. I might still get it, just so I can say I've experienced its beauty. The question is: can GT5 compete with Reach for the best-selling exclusive of the holidays? I truly doubt that.
But I honestly don't see the Kinect and/or the Move overtaking Sony and Microsoft's future holiday lineups. They've only just come out, and that's naturally what both companies are focusing on right now – making sure their new, expensive hardware doesn't die a sudden death. Instead, I think we'll see the Move and the Kinect present "exclusive" features in multiplatform releases that will enhance games rather than becoming their core mechanics.
I mean, what exclusives are lining up for the next holidays? Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3, Resistance 3, Forza 4? They’re all games that could potentially make use of Move and Kinect somehow, aren't they?
MNK:
Well, that's interesting: Move and Kinect phasing from exclusive titles to add-ons for pre-existent or multi-platform releases. If this is the case, with nary a peripheral-specific game in sight, I think that spells trouble for next year – and beyond.
And what a topsy-turvy world we live in for the Wii to have the most hardcore lineup. :O
Paji:
Why do you see the incorporation of the Move and the Kinect into some of the more hardcore games as something negative? Don't you think it can only enrich many of the gaming experiences? I mean, I can't wait to see what people like Hideo Kojima come up with. Who else remembers plugging their DualShock controller over to port two so Psycho Mantis would have trouble reading your thoughts? Just imagine the potential possibilities the Move provides to geniuses like Kojima!
MNK:
I think it's "negative" for these motion controllers not to have dedicated experiences attached to them. Otherwise, it makes them just like Wii MotionPlus – a (mostly) wasted opportunity.
Besides Kirby's Epic Yarn (which my wife loves, incidentally) and Super Mario All-stars, there's also Epic Mickey, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and GoldenEye 007.
I think with those five games, Nintendo has the best Q4 lineup this generation for the very first time – but this says more, I think, about Sony's and Microsoft's lineups than Nintendo's.
If this is the way that next holiday's lineup is going to be – a huge focus on Move and Kinect, with little else out there – I think everyone's going to be more than ready for the Wii Too and/or the Xbox 720 in 2012.
Parjanya Holtz, senior editor:
Microsoft has Fable III and Halo: Reach, which are both fantastic titles. However, if you look at the company's previous holiday lineups, you'll notice that many of its at-the-time-exclusives have become multi-platform franchises – Mass Effect and BioShock being the two most prominent examples that come to mind, not to mention Bungie's decision to sign a 10-year deal with Activision. But Sony has also lost an exclusive partner, as Insomniac has announced its development of a multi-platform title. The industry is very much in a phase of transition, and it'll be interesting to see if Sony and Microsoft will start going after exclusives again, or if the financially safer multi-platform release is going to become an industry standard in the near future.
But back to topic – this year's holiday lineup. I like the Move, but it's not something that makes a whole lot of sense getting unless you can count on a bunch of friends to come over and play with you regularly. At least not with its current lineup. On the other hand, I have absolutely no desire to get my hands on Kinect. It just seems like a glorified PlayStation EyeToy. No, in fact, 2010 is the first year I am truly considering getting out there on Black Friday to see if I can get my hands on a sweet Wii deal. Epic Mickey, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and GoldenEye are more hardcore than what the Move offers right now or what the Kinect will likely ever be able to.
Gran Turismo 5 is obviously going to be great, but I'm just afraid that I won't have nearly enough time to invest in order for the game to truly open up to me. I might still get it, just so I can say I've experienced its beauty. The question is: can GT5 compete with Reach for the best-selling exclusive of the holidays? I truly doubt that.
But I honestly don't see the Kinect and/or the Move overtaking Sony and Microsoft's future holiday lineups. They've only just come out, and that's naturally what both companies are focusing on right now – making sure their new, expensive hardware doesn't die a sudden death. Instead, I think we'll see the Move and the Kinect present "exclusive" features in multiplatform releases that will enhance games rather than becoming their core mechanics.
I mean, what exclusives are lining up for the next holidays? Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3, Resistance 3, Forza 4? They’re all games that could potentially make use of Move and Kinect somehow, aren't they?
MNK:
Well, that's interesting: Move and Kinect phasing from exclusive titles to add-ons for pre-existent or multi-platform releases. If this is the case, with nary a peripheral-specific game in sight, I think that spells trouble for next year – and beyond.
And what a topsy-turvy world we live in for the Wii to have the most hardcore lineup. :O
Paji:
Why do you see the incorporation of the Move and the Kinect into some of the more hardcore games as something negative? Don't you think it can only enrich many of the gaming experiences? I mean, I can't wait to see what people like Hideo Kojima come up with. Who else remembers plugging their DualShock controller over to port two so Psycho Mantis would have trouble reading your thoughts? Just imagine the potential possibilities the Move provides to geniuses like Kojima!
MNK:
I think it's "negative" for these motion controllers not to have dedicated experiences attached to them. Otherwise, it makes them just like Wii MotionPlus – a (mostly) wasted opportunity.
