How's My Driving: Xbox 360 Pros and Cons - Pros II: Promising Release Schedule: Features

It looks like the 360 will have a steady flow of decent games after it launches.

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Pros II: Promising Release Schedule

Often times when a new console launches, people are acutely aware of which games are going to be available on day one, but after that things start getting real ambiguous real fast, with vague release dates floating around for high-profile games nowhere near completion. The N64 was one of the most notorious consoles to suffer from this, with a handful of must-have games coming out around launch, followed by a painful dry spell.

The console isn't even out yet, and Bioware's new RPG, Mass Effect, is being shown off on it.

Another such example would be the Dreamcast. Many would argue that the last Sega console had one of the best launches in videogame history. With two-dozen games available right from the start, many of them being of an extremely high quality, the system and its software enjoyed very good business. However, by February of 2000, only six months after being released in North America, things ground to a virtual halt on the Dreamcast release calendar after Crazy Taxi and NFL 2K came out. Seeing as Peter Moore, corporate VP of worldwide marketing and publishing for Microsoft’s games division, was one of the top dogs at Sega during this time, it appears that he has learned a lot from what went wrong with the Dreamcast in this regards. He has mentioned on a number of occasions that he and other top execs at the company have a decent idea of what games are slated for the Xbox 360 right up to 2008 (there’s currently about 200 titles on that list).

Sega ensures there will still be giant robots to enjoy next generation with Chromehounds on the Xbox 360.

More importantly, Microsoft is making sure that gamers have a better idea of what is coming out and roughly when they’re scheduled for release. By E3 a number of games for the 360 were on display, and while none of them were confirmed as launch titles, most people could make a decent educated guess as to when these games would likely hit store shelves. Also, as time has passed Microsoft and third parties have steadily announced even more games for the 360, especially at recent events such as the Tokyo Game Show and X05.As it stands, it’s not too hard to

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figure out which games will likely be out for the Xbox 360 before the end of the year, and there’s plenty of other high-profile games in the pipes that, assuming they aren’t delayed, will ensure that the 360 won’t suddenly hit a huge dry spell. Games like Gears of War are already looming on the horizon, and will be many 360 owners’ choice when they need a break from the console’s launch titles. We also recently learned about Chromehounds, Mass Effect, and Crackdown, among other high-profile games due out for the console.

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Gamers can look forward to giant, open worlds a la GTA in the futuristic game Crackdown.

It really does seem that Microsoft has gotten a handle of pacing their releases with this new system. One of the worst things that can happen to an early adopter of a new system is having no idea when upcoming big name games will come out, or even worse, being kept in the dark as to whether a high-profile game is being made. With the current release schedule on the 360, the console has the advantage of constantly sending the message to consumers that a steady stream of games is coming for it. The last thing anyone wants is for their new game console to suddenly become a very expensive dust collector, and it looks like Microsoft is working quite hard to ensure this doesn’t happen with the 360.

>> On to the "Ease of Development" >>


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