Nov. 26, 2001 | Read the story.
In general, I found this article heavy on rhetoric and light on substance. There are plenty of valid criticisms that could be leveled at Microsoft -- and ditto for Sony. But most of them don't make an appearance here.
Au's main argument is highly hypocritical. In the same breath, he praises Sony and Nintendo for being daring while condemning Microsoft for having only fairly non-risky games in it's launch lineup. But the PS2 has been out for over a year -- when it launched, its lineup was similarly undistinguished, and arguably weaker than Microsoft's. Au wants to hold Microsoft to a higher standard, and he's not alone. But is that fair journalism?
He argues that the Xbox was supposed to bring us more sophisticated, PC-like games. Microsoft never promised anything of the sort. If you want to argue that perhaps they should have, more power to you. But don't claim that they promised that and failed, because they didn't. They were quite clear about it in their E3 presentation: the Xbox is a console, not a PC for your living room. The games will be console games. The idea that it would be anything else was created out of whole cloth by people in the press who apparently suffer from some sort of listening disorder, such as Wagner James Au.
He makes other, non- Xbox related arguments that don't stand up to scrutiny, including a dig at Bungie for failing to provide a strong main character in their PC offerings. But many PC games that do reach further than the traditional gamer market have even less of a focus on a developed central character. How about Myst? Or Age of Empires? Or Civilization? Or DOOM?
The reality is that most console games' "strong protagonists" are not particularly strong at all. With the exception of rare games such as the Metal Gear Solids or the Final Fantasies, most console titles sport memorable characters for branding purposes only, and not as a foundation for narrative or "sophisticated content." You could argue that Microsoft should be doing this as well, for the same reasons, but Au doesn't.
He goes on to laud the innovative genius of Pikimin on the GameCube: "And that's it for the Xbox premiere list. Otherwise, it's the usual sports, racing and fight titles, rendered with slightly better graphics than the PS2." He fails to point out that the rest of Nintendo's lineup is... the usual sports, racing and fight titles, rendered with not quite better graphics than the PS2. A lot of the GameCube's fire stems from the fact that expectations were relatively low. People were so surprised that it didn't suck, they overcompensated. The rest of Nintendo's lineup includes yet another Mario game (well, a Luigi game, at least), another Rogue Squadron game, a bunch of sports titles, and various ports such as Crazy Taxi. So where is the awe-inspiring innovation that supposedly puts the competition to shame? Oh, yeah -- it's all in the rhetoric.
The real edge that GameCube has is the price. No question there -- it's a bargain. And to be fair, Au does cover that. The rest is hot air.
Speaking of empty rhetoric: "'I don't think there's any doubt in my mind that the Playstation 2 will be the market leader at the end of this year,' says Bergman of Shacknews."
Well, duh. He's right, but not because of any failing on the part of the Xbox. It has more to do with the fact that Microsoft has only a month and a half to match a year's worth of PS2 sales. If Sony fails to lead the market with that kind of head start, then something is seriously amiss.
Then he explains that "The company is taking a substantial loss on every Xbox sale, apparently hoping that the superior hardware inside will be its best future asset." He says it as though this is some sort of unique risk. Of course Sony is doing the same, as did Sega. Nintendo doesn't, but they are the anomaly.
Does he make any good points? A few. In particular, I'd agree that Microsoft has bungled promoting the Xbox, at least so far. Far too few good points for a five-page feature, though.
-- Ben Sones
Wagner James Au's " Xbox Squared" in Salon came off as an uninformed diatribe against Microsoft, rather than a even-handed look at the Xbox.
Suggesting that the Xbox's titles are any worse than Nintendo's nearly invisible launch line-up, or the PS2's so-called "mature" titles is a little ridiculous. The fact of the matter is NONE of the "next generation" consoles have produced titles equal to the hits of the 32-bit or 64-bit eras, much less the days of SNES and Genesis, or even the original NES. A golden age of gaming this is not.
Don't think Halo or Oddworld are that appealing? Well how do they stack up to GameCube tech demos like Luigi's Mansion (which earlier reviewers have said lacks gameplay depth), real time strategy bore Pikimin, or retreads of Nintendo 64 games like Waverace and Star Wars: Rogue Leader? On the PS2 front GTA III might be getting a lot of buzz for its nasty gameplay, but at its core it's just Crazy Taxi. Silent Hill 2 is just Silent Hill 1 with better graphics, the same for Metal Gear Solid 2. To tell you the truth, I don't think any of these systems show much that I'd call "revolutionary."
I think it's hilarious that Sony is lauded as a great company, where its own monopolistic practices in Asia-- particularly in the gaming market -- rival Microsoft. It's all well and good to attack America's most hated monopoly, but to ignore the fact that Sony has time and again browbeaten vendors regarding the marketing of its products and engineered a PS2 shortage on launch to drum up demand shows a definite bias on the part of the writer.
And as for the "venerable" Nintendo, how about how their insistence on sticking with the cartridge format (mainly due to a feud with Sony) which kept licensing fees and software prices at unnecessary highs for Nintendo 64 titles? I remember seeing Mortal Kombat Trilogy for $70 when it came out.
All of the new systems have their flaws, some of them serious (most notably the lack of compelling software on all fronts). To single out Microsoft for their mistakes is a bit unfair given the histories of the other companies involved. In console gaming, like any other business, there are no real angels involved.
-- Jeff Barrus
The truth is that while the Xbox launch titles are not stellar, they are games gamers want to play. HALO has a chance at bringing true co-op multiplay to a console. Oddworld has name recognition (the first two games in the series were both bestsellers) and while Lorne Lanning may be overstating his case a bit, his programmers did feel a sense of relief moving from the PS2's jury-rigged architecture back to something they were familiar with. Dead or Alive 3 fills the obligatory fighting game role. To contrast, I seem to recall that when the PS2 first launched, the only very good game for it was SSX Snowboarding.
You yourself stated that AOL Time Warner funds offbeat movies with their cash reserves ... reserves that were built up by releasing many mainstream hits. Will Xbox not even get a chance to build up a similar head of steam?
We will get our innovative, evocative games on the Xbox. At the very least we'll get Jet Grind Radio Future, an offbeat combination of rollerblading and graffiti set in a futuristic Tokyo, and Shenmue II, which will attempt to model a large part of Hong Kong on a 1:1 scale and allow players to explore it however they wish.
Finally, if you're going to consider the PS2 a better system for offbeat games, at least make mention of one of the best ones out there: ICO. Set in an ancient castle, ICO tells the story of a young boy who was banished there because he was born with horns. After escaping from his cell, Ico finds and frees another prisoner, the willowy Yorda, and attempts to lead her out of the castle. This is complicated by the fact that Yorda cannot defend herself from the various enemies in the castle, and that neither Ico nor the player can understand what Yorda is saying.
The game is gorgeous and evocative, and the mechanism of having to help Yorda through every room throws a new twist on an old game genre. The game is also quite charming. Use one of the various "save couches" scattered around the castle, and Ico and Yorda hold hands, sit down on the couch and fall asleep. These kinds of touches are what make you want to rescue Yorda, even when protecting her becomes frustrating.
And yes, if the rumors are to be believed, there will be an Xbox port.
-- Anthony Salter
Next page: Is the Xbox really a home computer, and does anybody agree with Au?
