XBOX 2 falters before its launch
Monday, November 21, 2005 at 3:58PM It seems the XBOX 360 has received some subdued reviews prior to its launch tomorrow in US stores.
CNN’s verdict was in effect “Don’t buy. At least not yet.â€
This will be music to the ears of many of Microsoft’s critics within the gaming fraternity, who would like nothing more than to see the Bill Gates fall flat on his face. As an owner of all the current generation consoles (Dreamcast, PS2, XBOX, and Gamecube), it was – regardless of my love of Nintendo - the ugly XBOX that remained in my AV rack as a permanent fixture. I loved the onboard hard drive and many of the games remain favourites still (Halo and Project Gotham Racer 2 to name but two).
The reviews sadly are bang on. The launch line-up for the 360 is generic, predictable, and uninspiring. However let’s not get carried away; the PS2 when launched had a similarly poor line up with only Capcom’s Onimusha really standing out. In fact the ‘360’ line-up puts it to shame including PGR3, the beautiful Kameo, and console versions of the decent Quake 4 and the excellent Call of Duty 2.
In truth it’s far too early to judge the new XBOX; however prudent consumers (including myself, as I have become a father since the last generation of machines) would be wise to squeeze a little more enjoyment out the current generation before taking the plunge.
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