Xbox 360 - Where's the Power?

When you open up your shiny, brand-new, spotless-white Xbox 360 out of its box, you’re possibly going to expect something amazing. Unreal gameplay, top-notch visuals beyond compare, and some amazing launch games to go along with your brand new hardware. At least that’s what Microsoft VP, Peter Moore, wants you to think with a quote like this:

“Next-generation games will combine unprecedented audio and visual experiences, create worlds that are beyond real, and they’ll deliver story lines and gameplay so compelling that I’ll feel like a lucid dream”.

So far I’ve seen nothing on the Xbox 360 of that nature. In fact, all of the games I’ve played thus far have under whelmed me. Not only that, the visuals aren’t what I would expect from a brand new next-gen system, either.

If there’s anything Tomobu Itagaki, creator of the Dead or Alive games and head of Team Ninja, is known for, it’s creating games with graphics that make your jaw drop. So when I first tried his newest title, Dead or Alive 4, I was expecting a great gameplay experience and all, but mostly just incredibly visuals beyond anything else. I was disappointed on both counts.

Not only is the gameplay not much different from a formula that hasn’t changed much since 1999 (When Dead or Alive 2 hit the arcades in the U.S.), but the visuals weren’t that great either. This was all on HDTV as well

There have been countless other Xbox 360 games that have disappointed me in the visuals and gameplay departments – King Kong, Gun, Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland, etc. What these games also share in common is that they’re really not much different from the versions already on the original Xbox. They also cost a full ten bucks more to purchase.

The Playstation 2 was a huge jump in graphics compared to the Playstation. I just don’t see that big of an improvement with the Xbox 360. Not only that, I also haven’t spotted a true launch killer-app that truly shows what the hardware can do. SSX, Tekken Tag Tournament, and DOA 2: Hardcore showed what the Playstation 2 was capable of – where’s that 360 title that does the same?

Finally, I’m also not too excited about Rare playing a major role in the Xbox 360 – I’m not a big fan of Rare’s games, and last generation they haven’t released anything memorable. Their best title was an update of a four year old N64 game (Conker’s Bad Fur Day). Also, who really wants to play as a fairy in Kameo? Certainly not me….

The Xbox 360 isn’t the first console I thought was a disappointment within the first few months of release – I felt the same way about the Gamecube and even the original Xbox. The thing is, at least those consoles amazed me with their hardware (my jaw dropped when I first saw Dead or Alive 3 and Luigi’s Mansion in action). I really can’t say the same about the 360.