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With another year under the 360’s belt, we thought it best to look back at some of the biggest news that helped shaped 2007 to be the most successful year in not only the Xbox’s life but also one of the best years in recent gaming history. With plenty of ups and downs this year, one can imagine what wonders there are to come in the months ahead.
It is no secret that part of PS2’s original success was in part because of the Grand Theft Auto series. The GTA franchise would go on to become on of the biggest selling titles in recent history propelling Sony into the lead in the last console wars. Following the shocking news from E3 2006 that GTA would no longer be an exclusive title for Sony, Microsoft announced this year that they had locked exclusive rights to the first two pieces of original material developed by Rockstar Games as downloadable content through Xbox Live.
With GTA IV’s looming releasing sometime in the first quarter of 2008, there is no doubt with the 360’s growing popularity that this announcement will prompt those last holdouts who haven’t decided on which system is right for them, to think long and hard come next year about where their loyalties lay.
GTA wasn’t the only game that abandon Sony as a number of former Playstation exclusive games departed for the 360, such as Ace Combat 6, Beautiful Katamari, Final Fantasy XI, Assassin’s Creed and the forth coming Resident Evil 5 and Devil May Cry 4 do to be released some time in 2008. With the lack of exclusive third party titles for Sony, Microsoft has continued to move ahead in console wars by combining these cross platform titles with their own strong exclusive games.
Thankfully, I have never had to see the dreaded “Red Ring of Death” on my 360, but for thousands of gamers out there, the universal sign that your 360 is on its last leg had become a major wrench in Microsoft’s bid to take over the gaming world. With growing concern that this internal problem would force many gamers to jump ship to the 360’s competitors, Microsoft in an effort to safeguard consumers trust extended the warranty for all 360’s for a full three years. You will still have to wait 6 to 8 weeks to get your 360 back from the shop if something fails for those of us who have older models, but it is better then having to buy a new system altogether.
For legions of fans, the prospect of a Halo live action motion picture seem to be a certainty. And why not. Halo just screams out “movie.” But for the big studios, apparently a large, built-in audience and potential for financial success just wasn’t enough as a Halo movie has officially been shelved.
Even with the massive success of Halo 3, Oscar winning director and producer Peter Jackson’s involvement in the film prospects and that a series of short live-action films centered around the events that lead up to Halo 3 proved that the series could be made into a motion picture, studio executives still aren’t convinced and have decided to put any Halo film on hold.
One has to wonder why Microsoft just doesn’t go the George Lucas rout and front the money them selves, or why film studios continue to release game based films such as Resident Evil and Hitman even though they never meet expectations. If only we lived in a world that made sense.
The man that had been the brains behind the success of the Xbox shocked the world when Peter Moore announced he was leaving Microsoft for greener fields as the new company president for EA Sports. It is hard to imagine why someone would leave a job where they were spokesman for the entire lineup of hardware and software for the 360 to work solely on sports titles, but would I guess the undisclosed annual salary was enough for the Brit to jump ship and hang his coat at EA.
What impact this will have for both companies? We shall all have to wait and see.
Hot off from snagging Peter Moore from Microsoft, EA then turns and nabs one of the most acclaimed developers in the world, Bioware, the minds behind such games as Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire.
The deal made by EA makes Microsoft’s deal with Rare look like a schoolyard exchange. EA acquired the company that owned Bioware and Pandemic for $775 million dollars. Microsoft’s purchase of Rare back in 2002 was only for the sum of $375 million.
With Mass Effect’s release last week, an exclusive game for the 360, one has to wonder if this is the last such exclusive release from Bioware. In my own fears, a company such as Bioware who has always stood for quality and excellence, I can only hope that EA doesn’t foul them up as they have many other properties. However, with the recent announcement of Lucas Arts and Bioware’s secret project, one that made no mention of EA, how deep this deal between the two juggernauts go is still unknown. Only time will tell.
Few properties, whether they are from film, TV or video games have ever garnished such a following of devoted fans then that of Halo. Now, with the slogan of “Finish the Fight”, Halo 3 marked the end to the three-part series. There was never any doubt as to whether or not Halo 3 would make money, the real question was, how good would it really be?
No matter what you personal opinion of the finally to the series is, whether or not Halo 3 lived up to its hype or not in the eyes of millions of gamers, the plain and simple truth is, that Halo 3 has already become the most successful game on the 360 and in Xbox history. This single game would go on to break all U.S weekend records for total revenue. Millions of copies sold later, and Halo 3 has propelled Microsoft out of the “black” and turned the now seven-year-old console company towards the right direction. With legions of fans online, Halo 3 will sell more copies then most games can hope to attain. With online modes, gamers will be playing this game for years to come.
Right off of the success of Halo 3’s launch, Bungie shocked the gaming world by announcing that they were leaving Microsoft as a first-party developer, and breaking out on their own. It didn’t take long after for millions of fans to raise their heads and voices as doubts and fears began to amount as to the fate of not just the Halo franchise, but also the Xbox as a whole.
Hours after Bungie’s announcement, the details were made public and what would happen to both publisher and developer’s behind the Halo series. Microsoft would retain all rights to the Halo and Bungie would continue to develop original map-packs for online play. Bungie would also continue to use Microsoft as its publisher and hopefully for the mean time, insure that they don’t go over to the dark side and start making games for Sony or Nintendo.
While many have wondered if this is the end of Xbox and Halo as we know it, the truth is yes, but not in the ways that most people want to believe. The sky isn’t falling…lava isn’t raining down upon us, both Xbox and Halo will continue on for quite some time. In my view, Bungie has done their service and deserves to find their own path. When ever they release their first title, I like millions of other loyal fans will be their to pick up their title…one that no doubt will at first, be on the 360.
Read [IGN] Also Read [Planet Xbox 360]
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