lzim

Gears of War* should die on the 360

*as a franchise.

Epic needs to be able to run their horses on all platforms instead of being limited to the Xbox platform and thus being a Microsoft show pony.

http://www.allagegaming.com/products/aag-feature-should-gears-of-war-3-be-held-off-for-next-xbox-/


As per the above, and as per my vehement arguments for a new Xbox with a bigger focus on HDTV, 3D, motion controls etc.. the Hemi of consoles... the contender...

It's hard to consider that yet another Gears of War game should be made on the 360. Yes the core argument that it's going to be held back is valid. Bogus that it needs to not be held back. As an established franchise IT WILL GET MADE! We will be able to play it! everyone involved will have fun and make money. The economy will prosper.

Or indeed totally different like shutting down major game development to focus on small games like Jill of the Jungle or other pocket/mobile IP so they can ride out the end of Xbox 360/PS3 era and be ready for a new hardware cycle without having burned themselves out. While of course working on the game engine that will power the next set of games.. of course.


But I'd be very happy for it (gears of war as a franchise) to end on 360 and for Epic to work on something new but not entirely different.. like Pendulum Wars (RTS or something like Huxley). They've done so much with Gears to equal the Halo universe AND have a movie in the works that more than likely will hit the silver screen. Between Gears, Mass Effect and Halo, I would have loved to see them all be movies between now and the next hardware cycle.

So in a broader view dropping the finale, the movie etc is good for Xbox as a culture. The franchise gets to expand beyond the umbra of Microsoft. How for it goes after that really depends on how the finale is handled and how Epic the movie turns out to be.

Given the choice, there's no way I'd want to wait it out without being able to play more gears. ODST means there is no waiting for more Halo, even if I'm also reserving judgment on that game.

Mass Effect 2 will probably have to do for a while because it seems like Bioware and EA aren't happy with being limited the way they are by Microsoft's politics.

So really Gears is the last property I would expect would suffer from some upper management politics BS and get held over. It makes money.


- If anyone can prove 360 still has legs post Mass Effect 2, it's Epic

With Mass Effect 2 making no small claims to being a great looking game besides the story and considerable value we should all expect.. minus multiplayer.. Gears 3 would be a great thing to look forward to. The above argument (from the link) seems to instead say so long fair well with what you have and will have in short order, Gears 3 needs to be much bigger and much more bad ass than you deserve.

False. Categorically. If any game developer can put together an opus to the power and glory of the 360, it's Epic. When have they ever failed us? Sure Gears 1 was slightly poor with the graphics, at the time it was gorgeous. It still is pretty damned good. It'll only get better, making whatever story it has to tell that much more impactful. Like Gears 2 too that narrative even further than anyone would have expected.. but I won't say at a detriment to game play. They did enough new things that if it wasn't a simple linear progression, it was more than enough of a sequel. So by that logic, the story isn't going to go much farther beyond what has already been built up.. what's more to expect than either a tepid conclusion that leaves the franchise open? versus a grand finale? In either case 360 benefits as a platform. Gears 3 would represent yet another pillar. One that will draw people in and sell the other 2 games, AND help keep 360 going for years to come. Cutting it out of this generation would be like sticking a lethal injection into the still beating heart of the platform.

- regardless of the new xbox being in development, how would moving Gears over help sell it versus the established consoles and PC?

lets just say that indeed both hardware and game are in production for launch in 2-3 years (max).. what good would telling us about it now do? nothing.

- in terms of money it only makes sense to keep it on 360.

yeah so we spent years building up 360 (technology), years building up the gears franchise, and years selling 360 units and getting people playing.. just who in their right mind would throw all of that away, tens of millions of units sold.. to sell something new?

It would cost Epic and Microsoft next to nothing to market to established 360 fans versus marketing an entirely new platform, no matter how powerful, no matter how godlike the graphics, no matter that the game is one we all want to play. Most people would have to buy a new TV, new AV deck, the console hardware and the game.

It's a hard sell for one game. It's especially difficult to see them trying to sell it above Natal, above all the other games that are being sold now and that are on the horizon without definite completion time tables. As many people keep saying, the next hardware generation isn't on the horizon because this one isn't done yet.. and frankly for everything the next hardware round needs to do out of the gate.. it should be ready to go before they start talking about it in earnest. That's not to say that the technology isn't there.. it surely is for 1st party, but they need time to get it right. Then the brunt of software that needs to push the next generation of hardware out also needs to be more mature than any previous new hardware round.

Obviously the established consoles are a tough act to maintain month on month, but to top it, that next and new will need to make us trully shit our pants. Nothing indicates that anything the top 3 would opt for would be enough to sell another round of consoles. Again not above and beyond what the current crop can manage.

Motion control needs to be nailed. There's so much that it can do that it'll need to get done and be familiar in order for it to be a standard feature on new hardware platforms. Even if it's ported to PC, there needs to be a basic need to ditch what we have in favor of this new HID paradigm. I'll take my controller to the grave, and there's no two ways about it. Until I see that there truly is good reason to use it WITH and not in place of my controller.. forget it.


meanwhile... off topic.. I really was trying not to...


So Gears finale? on this platform without question. Xbox platform needs those pillars to keep its fan base and credibility. Politics mustn't be allowed to interfere. Just take a look at what delaying Unreal 3 did to Midway. Whatever else Epic might be up to, nothing can be more important that the money printer that is Gears. End of story.



Then with Mass Effect needing to complete on 360 in order for that pillar to retain credibility.. it's too much ambiguity to really care. Will that franchise end up on PS3 after all? if it does, if it opens up that much more interest in PS3.. that's so much more interest all around that needs to be defused before a new hardware round will be taken seriously. But cutting it in half and putting the finale on another system.. is just morally wrong. You can't begin something with the end of a franchise.. unless you're Bungie. But even then that was politics.

Using it as an example, with both Gears and Mass Effect needing finales.. it's possible that a new hardware platform can do both finales justice. But do tens of millions of rabid fans and their dollars mean more to Epic and Microsoft than the politics? I can't even begin to answer that question.


The longer we have to wait the more studios might start thinking that way.. lets actually lead our franchises into the next hardware cycle with massive finales.


It's a pity then that other major studios don't have such on going franchises aching for a head. Like Perfect Dark. Rare could have 2 of them. Kameo could have gone older and darker, and ended a second game with a cliffy to climax on a new machine in 3D with all that motion control jazz.

So I suppose I can thank god that Fable III was announced. While for now I will not say anything about the game that's barely been announced, I can't expect that it's story will need new hardware to do it justice. If it did we'd have heard about it by now.


360 can keep on keeping right on with all the big titles we know about and some we probably aren't even expecting. In the meantime developers really need to ensure that the next hardware cycle is an easy sell.