GameSpy's Most Wanted Game of 2006 is...

[Borys]

...Halo 3 (http://mostwanted.gamespy.com/2006/01.html) (Xbox 360).

GameSpy has posted an interesting feature called Most Wanted Games of 2006 (http://mostwanted.gamespy.com/2006/) where they list an impressive number of 40 titles that have a chance of coming out later in this year. The surprising winner, as stated above is Halo 3. Here's GameSpy's reasoning:

But even if the launch date of Halo 3 may not happen in 2006, it's still number one on our list. Why? Because more than any other game, Halo 3 is the one product that represents the whole next-generation battle for gamers like us. If Halo 3 is as incredible as gamers are hoping, it'll be the hammer that'll help take the Xbox 360 over the top. If not, the PS3 might walk away with another sweep. (As of last year, Sony had around a 68% share of the console market, compared with Microsoft's 17%). It's going to take some big exclusives for Microsoft to pull ahead, and it doesn't get any bigger than Halo 3.

Of course, without an "official" announcement about the game, all we can do is speculate. Story-wise, the ending of Halo 2 was a bit of a cliffhanger, so it's safe to assume that the single-player game will continue from there. But given the Xbox 360's courting of the online market, we're expecting some great gameplay in the form of multiplayer. The Xbox Live service has impressed the hardened gamers over here at GameSpy, we can't wait to see what Microsoft's flagship title does with it.

Whether or not it hits in 2006, Halo 3 will be the defining moment of this console generation. We're on pins and needles -- and plasma swords -- waiting to hear how it's all going to go down.
1, 2, 3... 20 PC titles on that list. 50%. Pretty impressive for a "dead" system.

[bapenguin]

Wow, they have Fight Night Round 3 at #10. I mean..sure it looks great and all, but #10? Not much as changed about it.

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

I can't believe Halo 3 is #1, and Tetris DS as a runner up... wtf. Anyone saying PC gaming is dead is a nice little poor console fanboy.

[Rirath]

Can we drop the dead system thing? It just doesn't make sense. I don't know who started this or whatever, but you can't 'kill' the PC gaming platform. As long as there are programmers, there will be games. And for that matter, the PC isn't a 'system'. That just sounds wrong, considering how diverse the components and OSes are.

[Borys]

I don't know who started this or whatever, but you can't 'kill' the PC gaming platform.

The owner of this site did.

[daniil]

And what about Heroes of Might And Magic V? Why it's not among most wanted games of 2006?

[BlindSwordsman]

I personally did not think this was the strongest list: "games of the PS3", "games of the revolution" at 3 and 4? Yah, i wish i knew what they were too but I cant see how they are the most wanted.

[fushi]

1, 2, 3... 20 PC titles on that list. 50%. Pretty impressive for a "dead" system.
Man, you sure did own someone there!

[Vandenh]

>The surprising winner, as stated above is Halo 3

Surprising? Hardly...

Anway.. PC gaming is stil going strong. I am happy with my PC games I bought last year since they do offer a "different" experience from my 360/XBox titles.

[Borys]

Surprising? Hardly...


Not announced.
No release date.
No shots, no art, no nothing.

Just pure speculation.

I'd call Halo 3 coming out this year a surprise.

[Evil Avatar]

The owner of this site did.

And I was right. That is why you keep bringing it up, because it just galls you that I'm right. ;)

I got into this discussion a ton with a very prominant developer several years ago - someone who just insisted that I was wrong and that the Xbox generation was "just another generation of hardware and it wouldn't impact the PC at all" and they were totally wrong, the Xbox/Playstation 2 generation has all but killed off PC gaming.

The fact that Gamespy might be able to list 8 PC games that may or may not make it out in 2006 doesn't change the fact that development of, and sales of PC games and PC gaming hardware has significantly slowed over the past few years. (When was the last time you saw a best-selling flight sim other than Microsoft's Flight Sim, eh?)

I can list 8 console games that I would love to have come out this year, what does that prove? Nothing.

[Dr Quincy]

Hang on let me get this straight - you can play games on a personal computer?

[Taco]

I think Evil's definition of killed, dying, ect., is a bit different than mine.

[bapenguin]

I can't believe Halo 3 is #1, and Tetris DS as a runner up... wtf. Anyone saying PC gaming is dead is a nice little poor console fanboy.

Here's a question. Of those PC games listed, how many are only coming out on PC. We talk all the time about console exclusives, lets talk about the PC exclusives on that list.

Off the top of my head at a glance I see:
NWN 2
Half-Life 2 Aftermath
Supreme Commander
Star Wars: Empire at War
Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends

Anything else? 3 RTS, 1 RPG and a FPS Sequel.

[Dr Quincy]

Supreme Commander FTW!

[Borys]

Here's a question. Of those PC games listed, how many are only coming out on PC. We talk all the time about console exclusives, lets talk about the PC exclusives on that list.

Off the top of my head at a glance I see:
NWN 2
Half-Life 2 Aftermath
Supreme Commander
Star Wars: Empire at War
Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends

Anything else? 3 RTS, 1 RPG and a FPS Sequel.

You missed WoW: XP and STALKER. And Company of Heroes and Hellgate. And GW: XP. That's 10 titles.

But I can play this game too you know :)

Let's list console exclusives (absolute exclusives, not multiplatform) games:

Xbox 360
Too Human
Halo 3
Gears of War
Full Auto

4 = 3 FPSes + 1 Racing

PS2
Okami
Kingdom Hearts 2
Final Fantasy 12
Metal Gear: Substinence

4 = 2 jRPGs + 1 Action + 1 Stealth

Cube
Zelda: Twilight Princess

1 = 1 Best Zelda Ever

Which platform gets the most exclusives now, huh?

PC = 10, more than PS2 + 360 + Cube together.

(arguably ET: QW is PC exclusive #11)

BTW that's why owning just one console is borderline stupid - you'll be missing the best games from another camp aka exclusives.

[Frogleg Special]

PC gaming just need subsidy like what console gaming gets. That's all.

[Zawath]

Here's a question. Of those PC games listed, how many are only coming out on PC. We talk all the time about console exclusives, lets talk about the PC exclusives on that list.

Off the top of my head at a glance I see:
NWN 2
Half-Life 2 Aftermath
Supreme Commander
Star Wars: Empire at War
Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends

Anything else? 3 RTS, 1 RPG and a FPS Sequel.

Ye must be blind because there are a lot more PC exclusives.

Spore

Hellgate:London

Company of Heroes

Quake Wars

Stalker

GW: Factions

WOW expansion

+ there are games that are going to be much better on PC than on console:

BFME2, UT2007, Huxley

[Draft]

Ahahaha, Borys just bitch smacked you comment whoring site admins. Drop the "PC gaming IS dead a hur-de-hur-de-hur, so why not comment and prove me wrong!" schtick. It's embarassing.

[Borys]

Ye must be blind because there are a lot more PC exclusives.


Spore and ET: QW ain't PC exclusive if we are to believe TeamXbox (heh).

Seeing Draft's post I think it's high time I bail out.

[TKO]

Heheh... I just love this. This brings back all these nostalgic memories of being in the Amiga gaming forums around the time Commodore finally went tits-up. :) (Not the same thing of course, except for the way it gets peoples' backs up.) :D

But hey, it shouldn't take a genius to see that consoles are going to become where the *big* games are at: (most of them anyway) ..popularity, ease of use, difficult to pirate/hack stuff (relatively).. Much easier to earn a buck in the console realm.

[Frogleg Special]

Here's a question. Of those PC games listed, how many are only coming out on PC. We talk all the time about console exclusives, lets talk about the PC exclusives on that list.

Off the top of my head at a glance I see:
NWN 2
Half-Life 2 Aftermath
Supreme Commander
Star Wars: Empire at War
Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends

Anything else? 3 RTS, 1 RPG and a FPS Sequel.

I see Company of Heroes, Hellgate: London, and Guild Wars too. And some multiplatform games are noticably PC-optimized like Spore, UT:2007, Enemy Territory, and LOTR:ME2.

[bapenguin]

I see Company of Heroes, Hellgate: London, and Guild Wars too. And some multiplatform games are noticably PC-optimized like Spore, UT:2007, Enemy Territory, and LOTR:ME2.

Fair enough. I was just curious. Like I said, I just quickly glanced at it.

I don't know how much judgement we can pass on Spore yet, we don't really have an idea how it will play. That's in my top 3 for can't wait for this year.

[Dr Quincy]

PC gaming just need subsidy like what console gaming gets. That's all.

What the hell is that meant to mean?

Don't forget that console gaming has the near crippling pre-development cost of equipment and licensing to contend with. PC games development is cheap by comparison.

[Frogleg Special]

But hey, it shouldn't take a genius to see that consoles are going to become where the *big* games are at: (most of them anyway) ..popularity, ease of use, difficult to pirate/hack stuff (relatively).. Much easier to earn a buck in the console realm.

Yeah, that's why PC gaming has its own charm. Barrier of entry of its price, and the complexity of the games that will make juveniles would think twice of playing. There may be less PC titles in the future, but if those few titles are golden then I'm okay as diversion from my mainstream-ish console games.

[bapenguin]

on another note I just read through all the games. Man...I thought it was going to be a slower year for games, but I was wrong. I think I want just about every title on that list.

[Frogleg Special]

What the hell is that meant to mean?

Don't forget that console gaming has the near crippling pre-development cost of equipment and licensing to contend with. PC games development is cheap by comparison.

That means ATI and NVidia should lower the prices of their videocards. As do Intel and AMD with their gaming chips. And Microsoft with its OS and commitment to publish more PC titles.

[Sl1pstream]

and the complexity of the games that will make juveniles would think twice of playing.

Making it difficult to get games to work doesn't prevent kiddies from playing them. Why do PC gamers think they're this elite of mature-only players?

[Taco]

It's a ratio thing. And the difficulty to work thing will keep the retards out, shouldn't affect anyone else .

[Sl1pstream]

It's a ratio thing. And the difficulty to work thing will keep the retards out, shouldn't affect anyone else .

Counter-strike

.

[bean19]

This list is really good. Much better than the one that was up by Worthplaying (I think that was who did it). . . I don't see any really obvious games that should be represented but aren't, and the ranking has some disparity with how I would rank things, but nothing that makes me say "WTF!" like that other one did.

On PC being a dead gaming system: I disagree. I think that the PC is an evolving gaming system. The Sims, it's sequels, and their expansions are incredibly great sellers. Additionally, MMORPGs with their after-market income through online subscriptions also make a lot of money. World of Warcraft is undoubtedly the most profitable video game ever made (by hundreds of millions of dollars) and it is a PC exclusive.

MMORPGs will continue to be a large money-maker for PC developers for the forseeable future. . . While the next-gen systems are being geared up to handle MMOs, the two we have seen so far appear to be superior on the PC. FF XI does not take advantage of the X360's ability to use voice chat, and requires a keyboard to communicate. Huxley will be an MMOFPS, and thus, even if it takes advantage of the X360's voice support, will probably control much better on the PC.

The PC will continue to see more ports, especially as a method to gain after-market extended sales/budget sales of games as downloadable distribution continues to grow. I think that eventually we will see publishers bringing whole libraries of older games to market at budget prices via downloadable delivery and console game developers will begin to budget for PC ports to be sold at release through download at full price and then to be sold at budget price later on. Game developers simply can't afford to buy shelf space in brick and mortar stores for all that long, and downloadable distribution allows them to continue to earn profits off their work years after the initial release of their games.

I think PC gaming is stagnating a bit because of Nvidia and ATI controlling the market on video cards and staggering stepped improvements on their technology to maximize profits (and thus raising the barrier to entry and upkeep for PC gaming), but PC developers are pretty responsive to this and continue to develop with affordable gaming systems in mind. They've always done this of course. . . it's just that now with the price-setting of Nvidia and ATI, the developers efforts to include older PC systems are including a growing number of PC gamers.

The price of PC gaming is the biggest barrier to growing the market, but MMORPGs and downloadable distribution are really extending the current market greatly.

[Frogleg Special]

Making it difficult to get games to work doesn't prevent kiddies from playing them. Why do PC gamers think they're this elite of mature-only players?

Because they tend to be so. Because the games tend to be so. Because the perception of gaming companies tend to be so. No it doesn't prevent kiddies from playing their father's PCs, but most simply couldn't afford a gaming PC from their piggybanks.

Everybody said PC gamers = elitists. It's true.

[Taco]

Counter-strike

.

You can be socially retarded while still having a fully functioning frontal lobe ;).

[Borys]

Nice Halo 3 discussion guys.

[Frogleg Special]

Counter-strike

.

CS is not a poster child of PC game. Civilization and Baldur's Gate are. Uggh, I hate when FPS game always get the spotlight :)

But aren't Xbox 360 gamers always salivating over the prospect of CS:S in Live, but never had the chance yet because Valve is PC-oriented and the original CS stunk in the Xbox. Yeah I know it. ;)

[Sl1pstream]

Elitist
A person who believes that they are superior to others (and thus deserve favored status) because of their intellect, social status, wealth, or other factors.

Not a good thing.

Besides, I've seen as much licensed crap on PC, if not more, than I've seen on consoles. Those games are primarily being played by kids. Off course you don't need a top of the line PC for those games but it's still PC gaming.

[Taco]

By others do you mean some others or all others?

[Frogleg Special]

PC gaming are of the extremes. You have games for the kids and games for the grognards. Of course you see more craps in the PC because there are no overseer to value the crapiness of the games. Everybody could develop PC games if they know Graphical API and a wee bit of creativity.

I think you're just jealous. ;)

[Balthasar]

"Whether or not it hits in 2006, Halo 3 will be the defining moment of this console generation."

Could be me, but it seems insanely short-sighted to say a game released (presumably) within a year of this so-called "next generation" could be THE defining moment. How long do they expect the next itteration of console gaming to last? Two years?

[Taco]

It'll probably set the tone of the PS3-360 wars though, unless another title comes out of nowhere.

[bean19]

"Whether or not it hits in 2006, Halo 3 will be the defining moment of this console generation."

Could be me, but it seems insanely short-sided to say a game released (presumably) within a year of this so-called "next generation" could be THE defining moment. How long do they expect the next itteration of console gaming to last? Two years?

Well, this is Microsoft's flagship and they are the underdog. In last gen, Sony had 68% of the marketshare compared to Microsoft's 17%.
Think of it as David slinging his stone at Goliath. If David missed completely, he could be trampled. If he hits him square in the head, he could possibly win or at least increase his army's position.

That's the point really. Sony is dominant and Halo 3 is not Microsoft's only stone, but it is their most symbolic and potent one.

If you view it from the standpoint of Goliath, then it would probably seem ridiculous. . . what does one fucking stone matter in the course of a huge battle?

That's because Goliath doesn't realize the symbolic importance. That symbol is what amplifies the hype and anticipation for an already very exciting upcoming title.

As for the timeline, there isn't one. . . and they provide a caveat for that.

[Lunar Blue]

Ugh, yet again, no Alan Wake.

[Borys]

Ugh, yet again, no Alan Wake.

Few gamers cared about Payne 2 so I suppose even fewer care about Wake.

[Balthasar]

Well, this is Microsoft's flagship and they are the underdog. In last gen, Sony had 68% of the marketshare compared to Microsoft's 17%.
Think of it as David slinging his stone at Goliath. If David missed completely, he could be trampled. If he hits him square in the head, he could possibly win or at least increase his army's position.

That's the point really. Sony is dominant and Halo 3 is not Microsoft's only stone, but it is their most symbolic and potent one.
Do you think Halo 3 is the only game of consequence that the 360 will have exclusively?

[MaiXu]

Story-wise, the ending of Halo 2 was a bit of a cliffhanger, so ...

Story-wise, Halo 2 was a piece of shit. Bungie managed to take the mysterious underplayed plot of Halo and inflate it with all the trappings of hackneyed sci-fi. Brutes, drones, giant piranha plants, the marginalization of good characters like Cortana and even Master Chief, and the wholly unnecessary play-as-the-enemy shtick that was so lame, it hurt. Compelling race of fanatical alien zealots? Nerfed into English-speaking pansies, especially the Elites ... my lord, they hobble around levels like a gimp, with none of their animalistic ferocity from the original, and as soon as they speak, I shit a little out of embarrassment.

Normally, I wouldn't care that much about a game's crap story. But Halo 2 was kept so secretive, as Bungie.net's Frankie would say, to guard the story. And then the game ships with a poorly-told half-story (ending?), and a comprehensive but ultimately flawed multiplayer. So what was Bungie working so hard on all those years? Bump maps? Level design?

Halo's story was pretty well done, and yes, I admit, I'm a big enough dork to have read the novels as well. And with so much potential laid out in the existing material, the direction Bungie chose to take in Halo 2 (which was basically a fancy re-telling of Donkey Kong ... think about it, giant monkey, hammer, damsel in distress, multi-tiered final encounter ...) was just a shame. Unless Halo 3 is really the Halo killer we all hoped for, it seems clear to me that all the talent at Bungie went to Wideload.

[MaiXu]

Well, this is Microsoft's flagship and they are the underdog. In last gen, Sony had 68% of the marketshare compared to Microsoft's 17%.
Think of it as David slinging his stone at Goliath. If David missed completely, he could be trampled. If he hits him square in the head, he could possibly win or at least increase his army's position.

That's the point really. Sony is dominant and Halo 3 is not Microsoft's only stone, but it is their most symbolic and potent one.

If you view it from the standpoint of Goliath, then it would probably seem ridiculous. . . what does one fucking stone matter in the course of a huge battle?

That's because Goliath doesn't realize the symbolic importance. That symbol is what amplifies the hype and anticipation for an already very exciting upcoming title.

As for the timeline, there isn't one. . . and they provide a caveat for that.

Only on the internet can Microsoft be described as David.

[Balthasar]

Only on the internet can Microsoft be described as David.
I get tired of reminding people that Microsoft is a multi-billion dollar company that is a borderline monopoly, who have engaged in activities to bring other competing companies into financial ruin (if they can't be bought), and who do litterally want to be involved in every part of your life possible.

[Taco]

Oh sorry, my mistake. I thought we were talking about the XBox.

oops.

[IagoTheHunted]

Halo 3? Really? No offense to Halo fans but it's one of the least innovative series of all time, not to mention being an FPS on consol. Big yawn. I sure hope it's not the best thing in 2006...

[Knite]

You know, I just realized something....

Halo is that one title that if you mention, immediately there's a PC vs. Console war. It doesn't happen with GTA, FFOnline, Half-Life, or any host of a million other games, but Halo discussions always boil down to PC vs. Console. cracks me up. hehe

[Taco]

It's because it's the epitome of the standards argument.

[MaiXu]

You know, I just realized something....

Halo is that one title that if you mention, immediately there's a PC vs. Console war. It doesn't happen with GTA, FFOnline, Half-Life, or any host of a million other games, but Halo discussions always boil down to PC vs. Console. cracks me up. hehe

Maybe all the bitter Mac/PC gamers that were expecting greatness from Bungie, until they sold out to Microsoft and made Halo a console0only affair (well, at least until the terrible Gearbox port, but that was 2 years too late to matter).

[easi]

I Am Supreme Commander

[Frogleg Special]

I get tired of reminding people that Microsoft is a multi-billion dollar company that is a borderline monopoly, who have engaged in activities to bring other competing companies into financial ruin (if they can't be bought), and who do litterally want to be involved in every part of your life possible.

Hehe. I must be living in an MS rock working with asp/vbscript/vb.net/mssql throught the day. But never once I think MS is the benevolent, "I am for you" company. It's there for business where Sony is too. Sony is not goliath at all; it's just another company trying to survive. MS might not be the devil, but it certainly ain't David. Oh, if you just open your gaming glasses...

[Morratut]

Nice Halo 3 discussion guys.

LOL.

Well to me Halo 3 is the big daddy in the 360 console lifecycle. Followed by Ninja Gaiden 2.

Halo 2 for me was great. It improved on the original in regards to gameplay, graphics and music. Storyline was very well done. I like the way it introduced another aspect with the flood having a actual identity instead of being mindless drones.

I was gutted that the ending happened in a cliffhanger. Gutted in a good way though, like Empire Strikes Back. I just wanted to pick Halo 3 the next day. I'm setup for the 3rd installment in a big way. I can't wait to see what do with the 360's va va voom.

The multiplayer I know is going to improve even more on the second. I would like to see more comprehensive melee options in Halo 3. I can't see how the Riddick control scheme which had fantastic melee and standard FPS go uncopied.

I imagine I could press down on the d-pad in Halo 3, drop/holster my weapons and fist fight with a Elite. Punch through his shields and kill him. This could easily work with todays controllers.Obviously this would work only when your not going to get interupted by snipers and brute shots :D.

[Evil Avatar]

Ye must be blind because there are a lot more PC exclusives.

Spore

Hellgate:London

Company of Heroes

Quake Wars

Stalker

GW: Factions

WOW expansion

+ there are games that are going to be much better on PC than on console:

BFME2, UT2007, Huxley

Spore is not PC exclusive. I don't think Quake Wars is either.

[Hellstorm]

LOL.

Well to me Halo 3 is the big daddy in the 360 console lifecycle. Followed by Ninja Gaiden 2.



I wouldn't be too sure about NG 2 on 360.

[Evil Avatar]

Now, just for fun - at the end of 2006 lets compare the per-unit sales of all of those fantastic "PC exclusives" to the same number of console exclusives. (Or titles that launch on a console first.)

Most of those PC titles will be lucky to break 200k in sales (which is considered a top seller for a PC game these days) and you know that titles like Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto 4 (or whatever it will be called) and Kingdom Hearts 2 will sell MILLIONS of copies each. (Probably in the range of 5 Million for Halo 3, 7 Million for the next GTA and 1 - 1.5 Million for Kingdom Hearts 2).

Still think PC gaming is a booming market? Owning a big slice of a shrinking pie will still leave you hungry.

[Taco]

It's been like that for 6 or 7 years now. That's nothing new. Also, I'm not sure how you equate "not dead/dying" with "booming".

[Magnanimous Gnome]

"Whether or not it hits in 2006, Halo 3 will be the defining moment of this console generation."

Could be me, but it seems insanely short-sighted to say a game released (presumably) within a year of this so-called "next generation" could be THE defining moment. How long do they expect the next itteration of console gaming to last? Two years?


I thought that line was bollocks too. Another example of the Halo franchise being overhyped.

[Jetherik]

Once again, Gamespy totally ignores the games that come from Germany. GOTHIC 3 anyone?

[Stormwatcher]

You guys know what is the next Microsoft Big Title? WINDOWS VISTA. You guys know where MS makes all the money they throw away on the Xbox (lovely system, but it is surelly the most unprofitable console ever in all history)? WINDOWS AND OFFICE.
And you know WHERE you use WINDOWS and OFFICE? PCS.
News to you guys: MS promisses to offer better game-a-bility on Vista... They wouldn't promise that without making a few PC games to go along. Because, you know, the need to profit somewhere so that they can burn perfectly good cash on the Xbox.

Oh, Nvidia, IBM, AMD and ATI also make a lot of money with pc games... indirectly. Why do people buy Dual core Athlon64 chips? surf the internet?

Maybe PC gaming isn't the flagship it was in 1994-7 (the best times i can remember), but it is far, far, far from dying.

BTW, I have 4 consoles and a portable. I love videogames, no matter what platform.

[MaiXu]

LOL.

Well to me Halo 3 is the big daddy in the 360 console lifecycle. Followed by Ninja Gaiden 2.

Halo 2 for me was great. It improved on the original in regards to gameplay, graphics and music. Storyline was very well done. I like the way it introduced another aspect with the flood having a actual identity instead of being mindless drones.

I was gutted that the ending happened in a cliffhanger. Gutted in a good way though, like Empire Strikes Back. I just wanted to pick Halo 3 the next day. I'm setup for the 3rd installment in a big way. I can't wait to see what do with the 360's va va voom.

The multiplayer I know is going to improve even more on the second. I would like to see more comprehensive melee options in Halo 3. I can't see how the Riddick control scheme which had fantastic melee and standard FPS go uncopied.

I imagine I could press down on the d-pad in Halo 3, drop/holster my weapons and fist fight with a Elite. Punch through his shields and kill him. This could easily work with todays controllers.Obviously this would work only when your not going to get interupted by snipers and brute shots :D.

Ugh. Just ... ugh. Halo 2 did have nicer graphics, and yes, the Flood were expanded in a very interesting way. But better music? Did you like the craptacular Breaking Benjamin in there? And better gameplay? It was broken, man. Grenades, meleeing, weapon balance ... all totally FUBAR. The patch addressed the symptoms of the diseased game mechanics underlying the entire experience. And that ending ... much less Empire Strikes Back and much more Bakshi's animated Lord of the Rings. Cliffhanger in the sense that we ran out of time and/or money and just can't be arsed to finish the sloppy story we were telling, not ESB's "end-on-a-downer to anticipate the third part of a carefully planned trilogy."

Don't mean to have a go at you, I just can't fathom seeing Halo 2 as superior to Halo. If you made the original Halo online, I can almost gaurantee people would rather play that than Halo 2. As someone else put it (from I forget where), Halo 2 should have been at least Halo 1.5, and we got Halo .5.

[Borys]

Now, just for fun - at the end of 2006 lets compare the per-unit sales of all of those fantastic "PC exclusives" to the same number of console exclusives. (Or titles that launch on a console first.)

Most of those PC titles will be lucky to break 200k in sales (which is considered a top seller for a PC game these days) and you know that titles like Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto 4 (or whatever it will be called) and Kingdom Hearts 2 will sell MILLIONS of copies each. (Probably in the range of 5 Million for Halo 3, 7 Million for the next GTA and 1 - 1.5 Million for Kingdom Hearts 2).

Still think PC gaming is a booming market? Owning a big slice of a shrinking pie will still leave you hungry.

I'm not denying this - no sane person is, since Super Mario console game sales have been unreachable on the PC side, but I simply have to battle someone who takes pleasure in watching the PC market shrink to nothingness.

You make it sound like *every* console release is a million seller - no it isn't and *every* PC release is a failure - no it isn't.

For every Halo and GTA there's WoW, Diablo or Sims on the PC side.

Halo 3 selling millions?

No doubt, so will Diablo 3 on the PC.

You keep on forgetting this.

[Zanzibar]

Ugh. Just ... ugh. Halo 2 did have nicer graphics, and yes, the Flood were expanded in a very interesting way. But better music? Did you like the craptacular Breaking Benjamin in there? And better gameplay? It was broken, man. Grenades, meleeing, weapon balance ... all totally FUBAR. The patch addressed the symptoms of the diseased game mechanics underlying the entire experience. And that ending ... much less Empire Strikes Back and much more Bakshi's animated Lord of the Rings. Cliffhanger in the sense that we ran out of time and/or money and just can't be arsed to finish the sloppy story we were telling, not ESB's "end-on-a-downer to anticipate the third part of a carefully planned trilogy."

Don't mean to have a go at you, I just can't fathom seeing Halo 2 as superior to Halo. If you made the original Halo online, I can almost gaurantee people would rather play that than Halo 2. As someone else put it (from I forget where), Halo 2 should have been at least Halo 1.5, and we got Halo .5.

Some of the music was significantly kick-ass, better than Halo 1. But yeah, the BB stuff and a few other pieces seemed out-of-place. I was reminded of the Prince songs in 'Batman' in terms of how much they didn't fit in. I believe the cliffhanger for Halo 2 was gonna be a huge land battle to end the game but the Xbox hardware couldn't handle it on the scale they wanted it, so they decided to amputate it from Halo 2 and place it for the beginning of Halo 3 on the X360. I had visions of what it would be like while I was playing Kameo and saw the full-scale battles going on. </drool>

I fully agree with you that I'd rather have Halo 1 gameplay over the changes made for Halo 2. (Although I do like the dual-wielding addition.) But overall I didn't feel like those changes 'ruined' the game for me.

The Arbiter rocks. How can anyone not like to find out more about the 'enemy?'

Halo 3 wish list:
1. BRING BACK THE ASSAULT RIFLE (Battle rifle SUCKS)
2. Flyable Pelican troop transport and bomber planes/Phantom craft
3. Multiplayer maps: bring back Hang 'em High and Prisoner!!!

[bean19]

I get tired of reminding people that Microsoft is a multi-billion dollar company that is a borderline monopoly, who have engaged in activities to bring other competing companies into financial ruin (if they can't be bought), and who do litterally want to be involved in every part of your life possible.

Aren't we talking specifically about the video game market? I provided a factual comparison that shows Microsoft to be the very clear underdog in this market. Thus the David and Goliath analogy is apt. . . in context.

I know you are capable of fine distinctions, so refusing to see obvious distinctions is pretty flagrantly poor rhetoric.

As far as your other question on whether or not I think that the X360 has other significant titles. . . well my post already answered that too when I said, "Sony is dominant and Halo 3 is not Microsoft's only stone, but it is their most symbolic and potent one."

Halo 3 is a symbol. It is the flagship of the underdog and it thus garners more hype in addition to the hype it gets for being a sequel of one of the best-loved and best-selling series ever.

[bean19]

Now, just for fun - at the end of 2006 lets compare the per-unit sales of all of those fantastic "PC exclusives" to the same number of console exclusives. (Or titles that launch on a console first.)

Most of those PC titles will be lucky to break 200k in sales (which is considered a top seller for a PC game these days) and you know that titles like Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto 4 (or whatever it will be called) and Kingdom Hearts 2 will sell MILLIONS of copies each. (Probably in the range of 5 Million for Halo 3, 7 Million for the next GTA and 1 - 1.5 Million for Kingdom Hearts 2).

Still think PC gaming is a booming market? Owning a big slice of a shrinking pie will still leave you hungry.

I'd be interested in a reply to my first comment that I won't repeat extensively here, but I'll list the major points.

1. WoW is the most profitable videogame ever.
2. The Sims does very well.
3. Downloadable distribution as an option for extending shelf-life of games and for lowering publishing expense for indy titles.

I think that PC gaming is stymied by the extreme costs involved. There is a financial barrier for entry and even for upkeep.

However, developers are finding new experiences to deliver on the PC that offer after-market revenue like MMOs and downloadable distribution of titles after brick and mortar release.

Evolving. . . NOT dying.

[bean19]

Smile - Btw, I loved your assassination of Halo 2's storyline. :) I couldn't agree more.

Still, it was a fun game to play and had excellent multiplayer (for a current gen console). It's a good enough game (gameplay wise) that I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for one more game.

But they are on my list of big time developers that need to shape up. . . right next to Bioware (who I still love despite "Jade Empire").

[Knightsaber]

Personally I only play PC games because that's all I have. Okay, I have a PS2 but that really -is- all but gone now. I simply can't afford everything. When I do occasionally have the money I buy a PC game because that's where I spend most of my time. I don't really think it's dying as long as there are titles that people look forward to. (I'm jonesing for Empire at War myself.)

My friend has a 360 and I've only gotten to see it once, but I have to say I don't think Halo 3 will "define" it. My wacky brain actually thinks Fight Night Round 3 is going to "define" the next-gen. I saw Call of Duty 2 on both platforms, the PC and the 360. Pretty close to the same thing, but I could never get the hang of an FPS on a controller. I'm too old now :) But I played the demo for FNR3 and immediately had the urge to incinerate my PS2 in offer to the Gods if it would allow me to have a 360 and FNR3. I saw Xbox Live...amazing.

I don't think PC gaming is dying, it's just that consoles are going to be catching up to it really really quickly now. With downloadable demos, patches, etc, it's soon going to be the same experience. But I still can open MS Word on my PC and type a letter.

I have no idea what the point of this post really is, other than WHY can't I have a 360 too? *sob*

[motor]

Story-wise, Halo 2 was a piece of shit. Bungie managed to take the mysterious underplayed plot of Halo and inflate it with all the trappings of hackneyed sci-fi. Brutes, drones, giant piranha plants...

I must have mentally blocked the little shop of horrors plant from Halo 2! I remember when we first saw the plant and I yelled out, "Feed me Seymore!" and we just had to turn it off until we stopped laughing.

You're right, the story was embarassing.

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

People freaking out about a game[halo 2] that in most ways is worst than the first is what annoys me about consoles and console gamers themselves. Hey its shiny and has sparkles, lets buy it! If people wouldnt buy the same damn thing over and over again which almost always has no innovation I wouldnt be bothered because I would hope it could force some sort of innovation from developers. I know there a lot of series on the PC but most change a lot over the last iteration, not just a title and a few new textures.

[goc_sin]

Once again, Gamespy totally ignores the games that come from Germany. GOTHIC 3 anyone?

I haven't forgot, and I also feel that European companies will start picking up the slack of PC game companies switching to the console market. There are some good titles coming from across the sea.

As for consoles vs. PC's, I could care less which one is better. All that matters is that good games come to the PC that I enjoy, and the only reason I hate the Xbox, is the fact that it wants to be a PC so bad it need to bully it's way in, by toning down gameplay to better fit the console. I wish it would just stay where it belongs in the console arena. :mad:

The PC game market will never really die with 1000's of independent game makers. Viva La PC!

[Kelegacy]

Story-wise, Halo 2 was a piece of shit. Bungie managed to take the mysterious underplayed plot of Halo and inflate it with all the trappings of hackneyed sci-fi. Brutes, drones, giant piranha plants, the marginalization of good characters like Cortana and even Master Chief, and the wholly unnecessary play-as-the-enemy shtick that was so lame, it hurt. Compelling race of fanatical alien zealots? Nerfed into English-speaking pansies, especially the Elites ... my lord, they hobble around levels like a gimp, with none of their animalistic ferocity from the original, and as soon as they speak, I shit a little out of embarrassment.

Normally, I wouldn't care that much about a game's crap story. But Halo 2 was kept so secretive, as Bungie.net's Frankie would say, to guard the story. And then the game ships with a poorly-told half-story (ending?), and a comprehensive but ultimately flawed multiplayer. So what was Bungie working so hard on all those years? Bump maps? Level design?

Halo's story was pretty well done, and yes, I admit, I'm a big enough dork to have read the novels as well. And with so much potential laid out in the existing material, the direction Bungie chose to take in Halo 2 (which was basically a fancy re-telling of Donkey Kong ... think about it, giant monkey, hammer, damsel in distress, multi-tiered final encounter ...) was just a shame. Unless Halo 3 is really the Halo killer we all hoped for, it seems clear to me that all the talent at Bungie went to Wideload.

Halo 2 was a poor excuse to capitalize on a franchise. They should have waited until the game was done. Multiplayer was great, but goddamnit, they should have just released Halo Multiplayer Expansion or Halo Tournament. Save the sequel for something truly great.

[Kelegacy]

I haven't forgot, and I also feel that European companies will start picking up the slack of PC game companies switching to the console market. There are some good titles coming from across the sea.

As for consoles vs. PC's, I could care less which one is better. All that matters is that good games come to the PC that I enjoy, and the only reason I hate the Xbox, is the fact that it wants to be a PC so bad it need to bully it's way in, by toning down gameplay to better fit the console. I wish it would just stay where it belongs in the console arena. :mad:

The PC game market will never really die with 1000's of independent game makers. Viva La PC!
European developers make my PC happy. If not for them, my PC would be lonely.

[Evil Avatar]

And you know WHERE you use WINDOWS and OFFICE? PCS.

And Macs.

(This message brought to you by the Letter A and the Letters S and J.)

[Evil Avatar]

I'm not denying this - no sane person is, since Super Mario console game sales have been unreachable on the PC side, but I simply have to battle someone who takes pleasure in watching the PC market shrink to nothingness.

Who said I take any pleasure in it? I take the pleasure from having been one of the first to see it coming - and to say that this was the direction things were heading, even while people were tossing stones at me and grasping at those one or two hit titles on the PC every year like they are some kind of evidence that PC gaming is still the main focus of gaming.

The pleasure comes from being right. (And from looking forward to a future where I don't have to spend $1500.00 a year on new PC hardware just to play the latest id Software title.)

[Evil Avatar]

However, developers are finding new experiences to deliver on the PC that offer after-market revenue like MMOs and downloadable distribution of titles after brick and mortar release.

Evolving. . . NOT dying.

Ask anyone who has Xbox Live on the 360 if they really think that downloadable content on your PC is going to be of any significant importance in the future.

Those same indie developers that you are talking about are going to jump ship from the PC to the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 now that those systems offer downloadable content.

Some of those game demos for the 360 are almost 700 MB in size. More than large enough for any indie game. (And word from my Microsoft sources is that a larger hard disk for the 360 is in the works.)

[Taco]

Who said I take any pleasure in it? I take the pleasure from having been one of the first to see it coming

And by this you mean you saw it in the SNES days? Cause it's been pretty cliche since the PS1.

[Balthasar]

If people wouldnt buy the same damn thing over and over again which almost always has no innovation I wouldnt be bothered because I would hope it could force some sort of innovation from developers. I know there a lot of series on the PC but most change a lot over the last iteration, not just a title and a few new textures.
Really? What happened to the RTS genre? What's been happening to the FPS genre over the years? Doesn't look like a whole lot of innovation there. You say console gamers accept a lack of innovation? I say PC gamers accept broken and incomplete video games--a habbit which, with a lot of luck, will not follow the pc developers jumping ship to consoles.

[Balthasar]

Aren't we talking specifically about the video game market? I provided a factual comparison that shows Microsoft to be the very clear underdog in this market. Thus the David and Goliath analogy is apt. . . in context.

I know you are capable of fine distinctions, so refusing to see obvious distinctions is pretty flagrantly poor rhetoric.
Microsoft cannot be considered an underdog simply because they have not done as well as Sony thus far. Being unsuccessful is not equivalent to being an underdog. Their resources and ability to undercut their competition are far greater than anything Sony can hope to achieve in the next 5 years.

As far as your other question on whether or not I think that the X360 has other significant titles. . . well my post already answered that too when I said, "Sony is dominant and Halo 3 is not Microsoft's only stone, but it is their most symbolic and potent one."

Halo 3 is a symbol. It is the flagship of the underdog and it thus garners more hype in addition to the hype it gets for being a sequel of one of the best-loved and best-selling series ever.

I don't think any perceived "underdog" status has anything to do with why people choose to pick up a Halo title, let alone enjoy it.

[mister_slim]

It'll be interesting to see how Bungie tries to balance picking up the story from a cliffhanger and making the game noob-friendly.

[baz]

Once again, Gamespy totally ignores the games that come from Germany. GOTHIC 3 anyone?

Gamespy gave gothic 2, 2/5 stars... I think I stopped reading gamespy the same day I read that review.