State Of Play #10

Hell, in my opinion any Internet/network service, whether landline or wireless will do, as long as the reliability and functionality is there will greatly increase the ompact and appeal of games on any system. In te Revolution's case, it means one less wire in the console (which would be very useful for a LAN of Revolutions). In the case of the Xbox 2 (Xbox 360 is a very silly name) it means a much more comprehensive internet gaming system, with personal profiles, stat tracking, the kind of infrastructure Nintendo are unlikely to construct.

The latest Hyper Magazine has these supposed 'official specs' for the Xbox 2 (3x 3.0 Ghz PowerPC cores, 256mb RAM, 500Mhz GPU, software audio, optional hard drive etc). The mag also has some exclusive screens of Condemned of the Xbox 2 and Star Wars Battlefront II - lads have been busy. I'll also agree with The Almighty Bunghole that Condemned both looks and sounds very cool. The screens of it place it somewhere between Doom 3, Killer 7, Fatal Frame and Forbidden Siren - style graphics.

It's pretty much all we've seen screenshot-wise of the next generation. If we can take this as any indication, most likely the key area in terms of graphics that will improve are T&L (Textures and lighting) as well as a fair polygon boost. Of course, much of this is still speculation, which is why E3 is going to be very interesting indeed.

Take into account a console only needs to load a game, not an OS or the million other processes that are going on in the background of a PC. The current Xbox only has 64mb of ram, the GCN has 48mb.

How about using a Rvolution as a gateway for online DS play? Sounds like a good idea to me.

I for one would like the focus to go back on the gameplay aesthetic. Tony Hawk 1 and 2 had a fairly close representation of skateboarding. Things got a little out of hand with 3, and then things got far too unrealistc with the underground series (with the right stats, using a small ramp could launch you straight over a building). Goals became large collect-a-thons or arbitrary actions that only had the fact that your character was on a skateboard to relate to the sport. I don't mind a new Tony Hawk game, if it doesn't focus on being an adventure game on a skateboard, but more focused on the skating itself. The keywords 'hardcore', 'extreme', and 'destruction' should also not be present in the game under any circumstances.

I figure the entire purpose of the industry - and any other industry for that matter is profit. At a raw level, businesses supply products to consumers for money. If there is high demand for a product, then there are likely to be high sales and the potential to maximise profit. In this sense it's really the market audience that dictates the kind of games these companies supply us. Yes - it is a pity, since it is often the look of a game that would drive a potential customer to purchase, which can account for the multitude of rap and hip hop in videogames recently (Fear and Respect and 50 Cent: Bulletproof being recent examples).

It's admirable that Nintendo are making themselves unique in the industry, but in the end being unique doesn't necessarily mean being good to play. The thought of a gyroscopic controller doesn't impress me in the slightest. It limits the type of games that would benefit from such a control scheme (much like the GCN controller made traditional fighting games an ordeal to play) and could alienate the third parties. Nintendo have been down that road before.

I for one think Nintendo can make their console unique by all means, but if they are to reach out to their target market (Everyone), they need to be more accessible and less niche.