When (not if) the Halo franchise comes to an end, what will be the next flagship 360 title? Will it become the next must have title? Could it quite possibly be yet another FPS or perhaps a RPG series? Only time will tell weather or not these speculations becomes a reality. How long will we need to wait for that time to come?
First I must state that this is not about how many people will still be playing Halo. Rather what other game Microsoft may tote as having that the Playstation 3 will not have, in the past few days and over the course of several conventions. The Playstation 3 seemed to have gained quite a few exclusives and if not exclusive they seemed to have gotten the better of a multiplatform game or a what would have been an exclusive (such as Tales of Vesperia and perhaps Star Ocean 4: The last hope?) At this current state in gaming it seems as if it is not multiplatform: Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and quite possibly Wii in some instances it would simply be Xbox 360 and PC with the later being an Xbox 360 exclusive in which it hits neither Playstation 3 nor PC.
If an Xbox 360 exclusive where to hit in the form of several Role-playing games what would gamers do? In the instances that a few RPGs hit it seems as if they were not well received amongst quite a few gamers. Such games as ‘The Last Remnant’, ‘Infinite Undiscovery’ , and depending on who’s stand point (reviewers words) you take from ‘Lost Odyssey’ may very well be included in this, although the latter is up for debate amongst the gamers themselves as a few sources seemed to have given it a relatively medium to low-ranked score due to their own reasons such as “GameSpy 2.5 out of 5(2)”. Though if a few more RPGs were to come to the 360 this time around how well would they fare and would they be able to carry the 360 as Halo has done? Most of the people reading this would more than likely be saying no and for that I could see their viewpoint; but at the same time if such RPGs were to receive more than highly favorable reviews from well established reviewers with even quite a few taking on the old mechanics that Japan has come to know and love then would it still be a no? Or would that no perhaps change into that of a ‘maybe?’ Only time will tell if Microsoft comes to decide and ask a few developers to make a RPG for their system.
Now what if it the game or perhaps games were to be a first person shooter? Perhaps similar to that of Halo? Perhaps another futuristic style shooter with a different design instead of that those who have played Halo have come accustomed to? In any event how well would it be received? Would it be like a few other First person shooters on the console such as: ‘Hour of Victory’ or would it be similar to that of how well Left 4 Dead was received even though it does not count as a true Xbox 360 exclusive seeing as how it is also on PC via Steam. In any event could another First person shooter brighten up the lights of the 360 again, just as Halo has done to the sea of 360 consoles that are out their in the world? Or would it merely be just another First person shooter amongst the rest upon the 360 market?
Last but not least I’d like to take another look at the RPG field though this time around I’d like to talk more about a specific field of the RPG field. This time around I’d look to take a look into the Action/RPG field and taking a specific look at the game Mass Effect itself. A game that is highly acclaimed for it’s choices presented to the gamers as well as the storyline and mechanics of the game could a game like Mass effect similar down to the T or perhaps varied, but still similar help carry the Xbox 360 after Halo? Even though Mass Effect is another game in which it is not an exclusive being that it is also resting upon the PC as well, it is nonetheless another highly acclaimed game just like Left 4 Dead which has won quite a few awards “Multiplayer game of 2009 by IGN (5)” . Not only can the game be played through multiple times due to different dialogue choices throughout the game, it can also lead to players maxing out their characters just as well and gaining stronger weapons. Which may or may not be a good enough incentive for those to play through again.
Even with a number of possibilities sitting out there for Microsoft to look into, the question is whether or not Microsoft will actually take a look into such possibilities. It is undoubtedly true that people love and will continue to play Halo long after it’s story has been completed, but will Microsoft continue to ride on it’s success or perhaps give gamers other gaming possibilities in the near future? Again I must reiterate this is not to solely bash Halo, nor is it to take a stab at Microsoft either, but looking at it from a standpoint of trying to push the console out against that of what Sony has started to do; what would be the main incentive of getting a 360? With all problems cast aside for the moment, and only taking a look at the games that are coming out now, future and currently in development what is the Xbox 360 riding on and is it enough in the long run to keep a momentum or will it drown?
http://games.teamxbox.com/index/xbox-360/by-genre/9/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Odyssey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hour_of_Victory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_Undiscovery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_4_Dead
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Effect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Remnant
http://www.gamestooge.com/2008/09/10/bye-ensemble-studios/ (Halo)
http://www.doobybrain.com/2007/11/28/master-chief-gets-speed-painted/ (Halo)
http://www.just-rpg.com/default.asp?pid=662 (RPG)
(Third image location currently unknown, found via photobucket sorry if the image belongs to you)
http://360rantrave.com/?m=200801 (Mass Effect)
P.S. I know wikipedia is not a good place for sources amongst journalistic papers. I have thus taken a look into other sites that may be useful in gaining some statics. In the meantime, I would ask those who read to please bare with until a few noteworthy sites can be used for future articles.
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