Xbox 360 news from Japanese Xbox Summit

[TomO]

Early this morning (5.30 am in the UK, 1.30 pm in Japan) Microsoft held the Xbox Summit 2005 in Japan. The event was used to announce a number of new Xbox 360 titles (http://www.pro-g.co.uk/news/nid/1139/), most of which are in development by Japanese development studios.

The big announcements came from Namco, Team Ninja and Konami. Namco revealed that Ridge Racer 6 is in development for the 360, Team Ninja announced five in-development titles, and Konami announced Winning Eleven (Pro Evolution Soccer) for autumn 2006.

[Heretic Machine]

I believe Team Ninja's BS when I see it. They just love to talk about mysterious new titles without giving you any info, and then just stop mentioning them at some point and hope that people forget that they ever brought it up. I mean, I like their games quite a bit, but still... Too much BS.

[Vandenh]

Team Ninja only needs to announce NG2 to make me happy (oh yeah... and add Live support as well ;)

[Reanimated]

So that Gundam game that all the Sony fans were fawning over last week is headed for 360?

Interesting.

[VoodooKarma]

Team Ninja only needs to announce NG2 to make me happy (oh yeah... and add Live support as well ;)


What he said.

[Hellstorm]

Team Ninja only needs to announce NG2 to make me happy (oh yeah... and add Live support as well ;)

Better buy either a Rev or a PS3 for that. Other than that, this earth shattering event kinda landed with a thud.

[Reanimated]

Better buy either a Rev or a PS3 for that. Other than that, this earth shattering event kinda landed with a thud.



lol, keep dreaming Chet.

[Paranoia]

Better buy either a Rev or a PS3 for that. Other than that, this earth shattering event kinda landed with a thud.

Don't bet on it.

[TrackZero]

"That concludes the really big game announcements that are likely to appeal to us Europeans, but we'll bring you more news from the Xbox Summit later today."

Oh, great, so they left out mentioning games because they assumed we just wouldn't want to hear about them? Say, all the actual Japanese titles! Hopefully Gamespot will post something soon with a proper announcement.

[Reanimated]

"That concludes the really big game announcements that are likely to appeal to us Europeans, but we'll bring you more news from the Xbox Summit later today."

Oh, great, so they left out mentioning games because they assumed we just wouldn't want to hear about them? Say, all the actual Japanese titles! Hopefully Gamespot will post something soon with a proper announcement.




Eurotrash sites are notoriously unreliable for Xbox news.

[Morratut]

Team Ninja only needs to announce NG2 to make me happy (oh yeah... and add Live support as well ;)

Yep can i have some of that too <puts hand up>

I would love to play a multiplayer version of NG :eek: it would be quite scary.

Personally I don't care if Ninja Gaiden 2 is multi format or 360 exclusive. I just don't want it to be a PS3 exclusive. :(

If Ninja Gaiden 2 is announced for 360 i will be very very happy. If not i will cry.Mark my words :p

[EL CABONG]

looks like 360 might get better support from Japan than xbox one.
I hope so.

[mister_slim]

looks like 360 might get better support from Japan than xbox one.
I hope so.
It would be hard not to, really. I just hope the Japanese games get better support from Xbox owners.

[EL CABONG]

Didto although I doubt it will get much more. ps3 sounds like it will be mad expenive $400 plus 100 bucks (or whatever)for a harddrive. Yet I bet in Japan sony wins that market just because its a sytem from Japan.

[Twigz'N'Berries]

So that Gundam game that all the Sony fans were fawning over last week is headed for 360?

Interesting.

Not the same game. A gundam game is coming to 360 though...

[Twigz'N'Berries]

Didto although I doubt it will get much more. ps3 sounds like it will be mad expenive $400 plus 100 bucks (or whatever)for a harddrive. Yet I bet in Japan sony wins that market just because its a sytem from Japan.

MS will never 'suceed' in Japan. It may garner a slight increase in Japan, but the Japanese will never pick an American game console over a Japanese one.

I'm interested in the new Team Ninja game...but it probably won't be ready until late 2007 if they continue to put in the amount of effort that they normally do. Rumble Roses XX...I'd pick up a copy.

[Hellstorm]

lol, keep dreaming Chet.


Better pray to ol crater face Itagaki, but rumblings show it's either for PS3 or multi. I mean Itagaki only creates games for the strongest hardware right? Or does he have a new excuse not to have DOA crushed by Tekken? :D

That's okay, some people have a hard time accepting GoW >>> Ninja Gaiden as well. But eventually reality sets in.

[Reanimated]

"Rumblings" = Your latest wet fart?

In the last interview with Itagaki, he stated, in regards to a question about the platform for NG2, that he "would not disappoint the fans".

Since his fans, and the rest of his games, are on Xbox/Xbox 360, that pretty much makes the game a lock for Xbox 360.

[Goronmon]

"Rumblings" = Your latest wet fart?
Even out of context thats hilarious :D

[Achilles]

Team Ninja announced that they have five games in development for the console: Dead or Alive 4, Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball 2, Code Cronus, Project Progressive, and a secret game. Project Progressive is apparently a new action title and the secret fifth game is not Ninja Gaiden 2.Yay. Two things though: What the hell is Code Chronos? It’s been in development (probably just concept stage) for like 5 years now. All that development time sure paid off for Ninja Gaiden but I just really want to know what it is. Also I wonder what Project Progressive is, here’s hoping it’ll be a game centered around the assassins in the DOA universe or Hayate's persuit of Kasumi. (for those who don’t know, the DOA universe consists of 4 separate storylines; the assassins, the wrestlers, the ninjas, and the Chinese, two of these are interesting, one of these is comic relief, the other is confusing and unimportant). I can see him taking a break from Ninja Gaiden with so many other ideas in the pipeline, 5 games is plenty for one development team.
That's okay, some people have a hard time accepting GoW >>> Ninja Gaiden as well. But eventually reality sets in.Good stuff. Ninja Gaiden was similar to GoW except better in every way besides difficulty ramping. It had far more weapons, more moves, better puzzles, environmental interaction, more enemies, more bosses, was longer, had far more settings, and better graphics. What about GoW do you feel makes it superior to Ninja gaiden?

[Hellstorm]

Yay. Two things though: What the hell is Code Chronos? It’s been in development (probably just concept stage) for like 5 years now. All that development time sure paid off for Ninja Gaiden but I just really want to know what it is. Also I wonder what Project Progressive is, here’s hoping it’ll be a game centered around the assassins in the DOA universe or Hayate's persuit of Kasumi. (for those who don’t know, the DOA universe consists of 4 separate storylines; the assassins, the wrestlers, the ninjas, and the Chinese, two of these are interesting, one of these is comic relief, the other is confusing and unimportant). I can see him taking a break from Ninja Gaiden with so many other ideas in the pipeline, 5 games is plenty for one development team.
Good stuff. Ninja Gaiden was similar to GoW except better in every way besides difficulty ramping. It had far more weapons, more moves, better puzzles, environmental interaction, more enemies, more bosses, was longer, had far more settings, and better graphics. What about GoW do you feel makes it superior to Ninja gaiden?


Simple, the camera isn't fucking broke. It's so broke in Gaiden all the other slight positives, although I would question more moves, and better puzzles become moot. As far as graphics, well of course when you only have to render 5 ninja's vs 10-15 monsters like in GoW, I would think you would have to have lower poly counts in the PS2

If you can't see the action, what's the point. Or does one have to make an exception for Gaiden because it's Itakagi? I blame Miyamoto for the joke that was SMS.

[Hellstorm]

"Rumblings" = Your latest wet fart?

In the last interview with Itagaki, he stated, in regards to a question about the platform for NG2, that he "would not disappoint the fans".

Since his fans, and the rest of his games, are on Xbox/Xbox 360, that pretty much makes the game a lock for Xbox 360.


Well perhapes my farts are more realiable than you, but that remains to be seen. As a whole, I think Itagaki and especially Tecmo would like to see Gaiden on a platform where say, more than 250k people worldwide would pick it up.

I think all 10,000 Xbox owners in Japan picked up Gaiden... hmmm maybe you are right, all 10,000 X360 owners in Japan would pick up a sequel, so maybe they should keep it exclusive.

Unless of course Tecmo would actually want to make money off the game. But hey Money hats go a long way I hear.

[Achilles]

Unless of course Tecmo would actually want to make money off the game. But hey Money hats go a long way I hear.The Team Ninja games have sold very well. DOA3 for example sold over 1 million. Ninja Gaiden also sold very well (I heard possibly as much as 1 million world wide). Not in Japan, but there are so few Xboxs in Japan how could it?

[Hellstorm]

The Team Ninja games have sold very well. DOA3 for example sold over 1 million. Ninja Gaiden also sold very well (I heard possibly as much as 1 million world wide). Not in Japan, but there are so few Xboxs in Japan how could it?

Well since the Xbox doesn't have much when it comes to quality fighters, so even an okay fighter like DOA, face it, it's no tekken of VF and if you know how to counter you can always win, should do well.

Look at the GC, SSBM, a fighter with little depth, is hitting 3 million copies sold and the GC is just as bad if not worse than xbox when it comes to fighting games.

Gaiden is doing okay in the States.

[KamaItachi]

Here's a full list of titles and developers from gamespot (emphasis mine)

Activision
• "Call of Duty 2"
• "Tony Hawk's American Wasteland"
• "Quake IV"
• "Gun"


A R C System Works
• "Versus Tactical Action" (working title)


Artdink
• "A-Train X"


Atari Japan
• "Test Drive Unlimited"


Bandai
• "Mobile Suit Gundam" (working title)
Banpresto
• "Super Robot Wars" (working title)


Capcom
• "Biohazard 5 (Resident Evil 5)"
• "Dead Rising"


Cavia
• Title TBA


D3 Publisher
• "E-D-FX" (working title)
• "Chambara Beauty X" (working title)


Eidos KK
• Title TBA


Electronic Arts
• "FIFA Soccer 2006"
• "NBA Live 2006"
• "Need for Speed Most Wanted"


Idea Factory
• Title TBA


Jaleco
• Title TBA


Kids Station
• Title TBA


Koei
• "Dynasty Warriors 5"


Konami
• "Winning Eleven" (working title)
• "Rumble Roses XX" (working title)
• "Proyakyu Spirits" (working title)


Marvelous Interactive
• Title TBA


Microsoft
• "Ninety-Nine Nights"
• "Every Party"
• "Project Gotham Racing 3"


Namco
• "Frame City Killer"
• "Ridge Racer 6"
• RPG Title TBA
• "Love Football" (working title)


FromSoftware
• eNCHANT arM


Frontier Groove
• Title TBA


G.Rev
• Title TBA


Genki
• "Shutokou Battle" (working title)


Hamster
• Title TBA


Hudson Soft
• "Far East of Eden Ziria 00Tales from Distant Jipang"


Sega
• "Chromehounds" (working title)


SNK Playmore
• "King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2" (working title)


Spike
• Title TBA
Square Enix
• "Final Fantasy XI"


Success
• "Zookeeper" (working title)
• "Operation Darkness" (working title)


Taito
• "World Airforce" (working title)


Tecmo
• "Dead or Alive 4"
• "Dead or Alive Xtreme 2"
• "Project Progressive"
• "Dead or Alive code: Cronus"


THQ Japan
• "Saints Row"
• "The Outfit"


Tomy
• "Zoids" (working title)


Treasure
• Title TBA
pleasebeGaurdianheroespleasebeGuardianheroesplease beGuardianheroes


Ubisoft
• "Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter" (working title)


Vivendi
• Title TBA


Yuke's
• "Wrestle Kingdom"

[Achilles]

Well since the Xbox doesn't have much when it comes to quality fighters, so even an okay fighter like DOA, face it, it's no tekken of VF and if you know how to counter you can always win, should do well. Look at the GC, SSBM, a fighter with little depth, is hitting 3 million copies sold and the GC is just as bad if not worse than xbox when it comes to fighting games.SSBM has the advantage of having every Nintendo character in it and being a party game. DOA has something going for it; it is 'fun', easy to play, and your moves look cool. It might not have people doing move cancels into blanka rolls or whatever, but unless they're playing it professionally most people don't care.

I'm also not going to agree with your theory that if you can counter you'll always win. First of all countering is high-middle-low, which leaves plenty of room for error and feints. If you can counter you can beat most newbies, but most newbies can't even pull off a punch combo in VF4, so which game do you think they'll prefer playing? The one where you're better than them, or the one where they can't even make their character attack properly? People who are bad at fighting games are the largest market segment after all, so it makes sense that a game that's more fun for them would sell better than one that isn't.

[NACIONAL]

Here's a full list of titles and developers from gamespot (emphasis mine)

Activision ...
....

Yuke's
• "Wrestle Kingdom"

Ohh my.. that is a lot of games.... lets see if thos finally see the light of day...

[Twigz'N'Berries]

I liked the DOA series much more than I liked either the VirtuaFighter Series or the Tekken series.

Some of those 'developers' are a bit iffy. One of those developers were responsible for Muzzle Flash for the Xbox...I heard that was a stink pile.

Treasure does intrige me...I don't know anything about them, but everyone seems to hold them in high regard.

[KamaItachi]

Treasure does intrige me...I don't know anything about them, but everyone seems to hold them in high regard.


They did Gunstar Heroes (arguably the best game on the MD/Genesis) Radiant SilverGun for the Saturn, Sin and Punishment on the N64 and Ikaruga.

All top notch shooters.

They've been in a bit of a rut of late, but the sequel to Gunstar on the GBA could see a return of their magic

[Twigz'N'Berries]

They did Gunstar Heroes (arguably the best game on the MD/Genesis) Radiant SilverGun for the Saturn, Sin and Punishment on the N64 and Ikaruga.

All top notch shooters.

They've been in a bit of a rut of late, but the sequel to Gunstar on the GBA could see a return of their magic

Thanks for the info.
Are you Japanese or do you just live there?

I ask, because I would like to ask why you think the Xbox360 has garnered so little public interest.

[KamaItachi]

Just live here.

I think the X360 will do a lot better this time around but as others have said, Microsoft have nowhere to go but up in the Japanese Market.

At the moment, despite the pushing that the new machine is getting, Microsoft still have to prove themselves to the Japanese market. I think MS overestimated their clout in Japan and their initial support for the Japanese market was pitiful at best. On release they had Japanese support, but it was from too few companies and the end result was a bunch of sub-par games. Everyone else who was taking a wait and see approach seemed to just think of it worth their bother unless the games themselves were targeted towards a Western audience. So Xbox got games like the DOA series and Ninja Gaiden (although with Team Ninja the power of the system itself was also a deciding factor).

As for the x360? Well, it's certainly getting a push and the recent support will do nothing but help the "cause" but I think one of the reasons why it's not as popular as it might be is that game-wise, it's still untested waters. Gamers know the PS3 will get the big RPGs, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, suikoden and etc.. they know Nintendo will get the Pokemon series, Mario, Zelda, Metroid you can call Nintendo kiddy all you want, but that doesn't stop the games selling by the bucketload here. What has the X360 got really? There's one title which has piqued the interest, thanks to Mystwalker but that seems to be about it.

I think, providing they don't fuck it up (although the recent talks of delays until next year might hurt them) This generation might be Microsoft's foot in the door but first they have to win over the developers, who it appears they have been courting rather furiously. If Mystwalker's big title (I can't remember the name... Blue Dragon..?) can turn some heads MS should be able to get more exlusive titles, or at least more cross-platform titles on their side. But they need to do it out of the door and get it seen and noticed. They only have a few months head start on PS3 so they need to make it count.


I think it's gonna be a tough call, but until both Sony and Microsoft have their cards very firmly on the table with pricing and titles set and confirmed (I think there are still a few people stinging over the PSX debacle) I think it's not impossible to say it might make a bigger impact than most predict.

[Twigz'N'Berries]

Thanks KamaItachi,

It is good to hear what went wrong in Japan from a regular guy.
In the US, the pricing is not completely on the table. You know that 360 will be $299 & the games roughly $60. I've not heard anything conclusive about the pricing of the PS3 beyond Kutaragi's ominous words "...it will be expensive".

Lost Odyessey is the title of the game you are thinking of...or 99 Nights.