Gamers must really be sick of the Xbox. Just spend 20 minutes standing in any Gamestop and you'll see at least two people walk in, begging for their new-generation fix.
"Sorry," the clerk will say, "we sold out of Xbox 360s in pre-orders. You really had to reserve one back in May."
Those who didn't have the foresight to pay for a console six months in advance but were still determined to be among the first to experience the future of gaming braved long lines at Wal-Mart and other retailers at 12:01 a.m. November 22. The lucky ones forked over $300 to $400 for their fancy new consoles. Those who arrived late will wind up spending even more to win one off of eBay sometime between now and Christmas (bidding had hit $1,300 last time we checked). But no matter how much money you're willing to pay, if you really want to see the true future of gaming, you're going to have to wait.
Since the 1983 release of the 8-bit Nintendo, game-console life spans have always been five years. The NES, the Super Nintendo, the N64 all lasted five years. The PS2 came out five years after the original PlayStation, and the PS3 will release next year, five years after the PS2. But in order to get a firm foothold in the console war, Microsoft has rushed to the next generation a year early—and unfortunately, it shows.
That's not to say that the Xbox 360 is a poor system, or even that the technology will inevitably pale in comparison to that of the PlayStation 3. The problem is that hardware is only as good as software, and from a next-gen standpoint, the Xbox 360's launch lineup is lacking.
Courtesy of the console's rushed release, most of the launch titles are merely ports of games that are already out on existing platforms. On the Xbox 360, games such as Gun, King Kong and virtually every franchise from EA Sports certainly looks slightly prettier, but nicer textures alone don't cut it. Even the flagship of the 360's launch lineup, the long, long (five years long) awaited Perfect Dark Zero, is somewhat disappointing. It's a solid first-person shooter, feeling somewhat like the Nintendo 64 original but with the addition of a few conventions that Halo fans now demand. But there's nothing else to it—just more slightly prettier graphics and a heroine who screams "F--k!" every time she's shot. But a corridor crawl is still a corridor crawl no matter now nicely the lighting engine makes the walls gleam.
What's most disappointing is that had Perfect Dark Zero been released on the original Xbox—and I'm pretty sure the Xbox could've handled it—it would have been a five-star game, with all of its minor faults forgiven. And therein lies the problem.
With background textures only slightly better than those found in Resident Evil 4 and detailed character models right out of Doom 3, the game simply doesn't feel worthy of its next-generation status. And it's not alone. At times, the fantasy adventure game Kameo: Elements of Power could easily be mistaken for the original Xbox's Fable. Both are gorgeous games—by last generation standards.
Microsoft also has broken conventions with its $400 price point. This is the first time a major game console has exceeded $300. And before you point out that Microsoft has offered a $300 bundle, too, let me save you some aggravation. The $300 bundle is merely a marketing ploy, allowing Microsoft to claim that its new console costs as little as $300. The truth is that this unforgivably stripped-down version of the 360 will ultimately cost you more than the $400 bundle.
It leaves out the hard drive which—if you intend to actually play games on it—will immediately force you to run out and buy a $40 memory card. If you want to play DVDs as well, you'll need the remote control. That's another $30. And since some of the load times are pretty hefty, and future games might not even function without it, you'll inevitably cave and fork over $100 to add the 20-gig hard drive on. All of this is in addition to the cost of any games, wireless adapters, or additional controllers you may want—all of which are sold separately. Remember when a mere $200 would buy you a console that came with a game and two controllers? Those were the days, and they're long gone.
On the bright side, the Xbox 360 has its thrills. Even the manliest of gamers will giggle like a little girl the first time he turns on the console using the wireless controller. And some of the more imaginative environments in Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo can definitely stop players in their tracks just to gawk at the scenery. But these moments are ultimately frustrating because they hint at the console's true, untapped power. On any system, the first wave of games is typically the weakest, and players who really want to be blown away may find themselves wishing Microsoft had been more patient.
The first of the next-generation consoles may be out, but the next generation of video gaming won't truly begin until the software developers start to milk these fancy, new machines for everything they're worth. Bill Gates has sworn that Halo 3 will be released next year on the same day as the PlayStation 3. And since the PS3 will be released in Japan in March and here likely in summer, Mr. Gates hopefully will abandon his diabolical scheme (which will have overstressed, under-deadline programmers diving off buildings).
It would be really nice if Halo 3 has enough development time to show the Xbox 360's true potential. Master Chief should take a lesson from a fellow green-armored warrior, the tortoise. Slow and steady wins the race.