Xbox Plans Revealed

By Kristan Reed Published 4 September, 2003

Mass slippage, Live scratch cards, price cuts, new titles, the works...

Part 1: Slip sliding away

'Xbox Plans Revealed' Screenshot 1

We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but Bungie's keenly awaited Halo 2 has slipped a further two months, along with a whole pile of other top-notch Xbox games, according to Microsoft's latest schedule. Now down as an April 2004 release, the delay will no doubt frustrate millions of gamers who have already seen the game moved out of its original late 2003 slot.

Scanning through the list (reproduced below), gamers will also be crying green tears of pure rage to learn that other key titles, such as Kameo: Elements Of Power (June 2004) and Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden (April 2004) have also suffered further delays on top of their original delays. It's a depressing day for the Xbox faithful.

More predictably, the appropriately titled Fable has been given a rather hopeful June 2004 release date, while Rare's Conkers: Live And Uncut is now tentatively down for a second quarter release, having been the subject of a development overhaul after the muted response post E3.

New games ahoy

'Xbox Plans Revealed' Screenshot 2

But it's not all bad news. We're more than happy to report that the currently unannounced follow up to the excellent Rallisport Challenge is down for a February 2004 release, while the - also unannounced - Phantom Dust will be released in June 2004. Who is developing it or what this game is is anyone's guess, but we're sure Microsoft will get around to telling us now that the word's out.

On the PC side of its business, Halo has slipped a couple of weeks to October 10th, Age Of Mythology: Titans Expansion is October 3rd, Dungeon Siege: Legend Of Arrana has been confirmed for November 28th, and Train Simulator 2 should emerge onto the platform on February 4th.

The full European list for Xbox is as follows. Our US readers should be aware these dates won't necessarily match any they may have seen.

  • NFL Fever 2004 - September 19th
  • Voodoo Vince - October 17th
  • Crimson Skies 3 - October 31st
  • Top Spin - November 7th
  • Amped 2 - November 14th
  • Grabbed By The Ghoulies - November 14th
  • Music Mixer - November 14th
  • Project Gotham Racing 2 - November 28th
  • NBA Inside Drive 2004 - November 28th
  • Counter-Strike - December 5th
  • Links 2004 - December 5th
  • NHL Rivals - January 24th
  • Rallisport Challenge 2 - February
  • Sudeki - Q1 2004
  • Halo 2 - April
  • Ninja Gaiden - April
  • Kameo: Elements Of Power - June
  • Phantom Dust - June
  • Conkers: Live And Uncut - Q2 2004
  • Fable - Q2 2004

Judging from that list, Microsoft is keeping its fingers crossed on the Counter-Strike front, which will surely prove to be a major draw for would-be Xbox Live subscribers if it makes its December 5th date.

This side of Christmas, however, the only other title that could be genuinely classed as triple-A is Project Gotham Racing 2, with the others looking of sound quality but lacking the draw of next year's blockbuster-laden list. One curiosity is its Music Mixer package, out November 14th. It remains to be seen whether this will be a major draw, but it's interesting to see the company exploring the versatility of the console.

Meanwhile, the first half of 2004 will certainly be an exciting one for Xbox owners, with plenty of top-notch titles to look forward to. You can't help but feel, however, that Microsoft needed these titles this side of Christmas to provide a stern challenge to Sony.

Part 2: Live forever

'Xbox Plans Revealed' Screenshot 3

Despite a relatively quiet start in Europe, (75,000 is the current subscription figure being bandied about for the whole of Europe) Live is still clearly at the forefront of Microsoft's plans, and the firm has just announced a whole raft of initiatives to kick start demand for the excellent online gaming service. The first, and most ambitious offering has just been announced in the US, and grants users free access to the Live service for two months on the purchase of one of around 50 Live-enabled new releases. The initiative is also set to launch in Europe from around October 17th, and is likely to be comprised of a similar set of titles, minus some of the US-centric sports titles and more niche titles that won't make it over here.

Along with tempting trial offers, Microsoft is poised to do a spot of rebranding of the Live service, with all Live enabled games soon to sport the tag line "Social Gamer" on the packaging, marketing and elsewhere. We await its plans to rebrand all offline games as "Anti-social"...Hmmm...

Here's the confirmed list so far:

  • Acclaim: NBA Jam, Burnout 2: Point of Impact (Developer's Cut), All-Star Baseball 2005 featuring Derek Jeter
  • Activision: Cabela's Deer Hunt: 2004 Season, Cabela's Dangerous Hunts
  • Atari: Unreal II: The Awakening, Magic: The Gathering - Battlegrounds, Dead Man's Hand
  • Codemasters: Pro Race Driver PRDXL
  • ESPN Videogames: ESPN NHL Hockey, ESPN NFL Football, ESPN NBA Basketball, ESPN NCAA College Hoops
  • Jaleco: World Championship Pool 2004
  • Konami: Dance Dance Revolution UltraMix
  • LucasArts: Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Knight Academy
  • Majesco: Black9
  • Sega: Sega GT Online
  • Take-Two: Conflict: Desert Storm 2 - Back to Baghdad
  • Tecmo: Ninja Gaiden
  • Ubi Soft: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Island Thunder, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, XIII
  • Vivendi-Universal Games: Hunter: The Reckoning Redeemer, S.W.A.T. Global Strike Team

Of this slightly underwhelming list, we'd pick out Rainbow Six III, XIII, Prince Of Persia, Ghost Recon Island Thunder, Conflict Desert Storm II, Dance Dance Revolution UltraMix and possibly Jedi Academy, Unreal II and S.W.A.T. as being the key third party releases for Live. If only EA was doing Live, eh?

All this scratching is making me itch

'Xbox Plans Revealed' Screenshot 4

But that's not all. The firm is also set to release a standalone Xbox Communicator on October 17th at a price to be confirmed (in the region of £9.99, we reckon), so that those engaging in the free trial can chat away to fellow users. Those who choose to not buy the Communicator will still be able to hear fellow players swearing at them in a squeaky voice. Great. The green S controller is also being made available from early October, for those who care.

For those wanting the full 12 month subscription to Live (and it's well worth it, we reckon), Microsoft is also planning to strip the incredibly rubbish Whacked! out of the package sometime in October and replace it with other, hopefully better titles. In the US, Microsoft went for Tetris Worlds, but we're hoping it will choose something good, such as Midtown Madness 3, or some of the excellent third party Live titles such as Moto GP2, Return To Castle Wolfenstein or even Midnight Club 2. We await full confirmation on this one.

And before we move onto other juicy pieces of information, existing and potential subscribers will probably be interested to know that Microsoft plans to launch a scratch card initiative in March next year (to co-incide with the first anniversary of the launch), enabling users to renew or commence their subscriptions via mobile phone style cards that house a unique code that users enter in the Live set up, thus negating the need to have a credit card. Scratch cards will be available in various denominations, with prices to match, allowing you to stock up on subscription for three, six or even 12 months if you feel that a game is going to last you.

Part 3: Knockdown prices

'Xbox Plans Revealed' Screenshot 5

One thing we do know for certain is that Microsoft is plotting a further price cut in the run up to Christmas. We don't know exactly when it is, or exactly what the cut will be (things can change quickly in this business, as you well know), but we're confident the cut will be to £99.99, and will happen at the same time as its other promotional activity - i.e. October 17th, piling enormous pressure on Sony to finally cut the price of the PS2 - still currently stuck fast at £169.99. At £99.99 the Xbox would be truly an unbelievably good value machine, wherever your allegiances lie. Expect plenty of official value bundles to appear too.

Plenty of Microsoft's games are also receiving the price cut treatment. As of now (but not officially announced), Tao Feng, Dead Or Alive: Beach Volleyball and the superb Project Zero (buy it, in the name of God, buy it) all receive official price cuts to £29.99. Very shortly, the excellent Quantum Redshift, Toe Jam & Earl III, Blinx, and Shenmue II will be officially priced at £19.99, although won't be re-branded to become part of the Classics range.

So, in summary, it's going to be a busy few months for Microsoft, with some bad news on the slippage front being aggressively tackled with some decent promotional activity that will certainly focus the minds of would be purchasers. With X03 less than two weeks away, we're sure the company will be looking to supplement all this activity with some first looks at Perfect Dark Zero, although our spies have told us not to expect anything on the Doom III or Half-Life 2 front. Shame.

Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (80) Latest comment 9 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • lost_soul #1 9 years ago

    £99.99? That's pretty cheap, I wonder if Nintendo will respond?

    Probably not. Tards.

    Oh yeah, PGR2 on the 28th! Woohoo!
    I've very nearly completed the first one now. Best racing game ever.
    Edited by 1 at 04/09/03 @ 14:18

  • krudster #2 9 years ago

    This is something I intend to find out, but might well be the version we've already got on Xbox (just a U.S name)

  • Westy #3 9 years ago

    They'll have to cut the price in the run up to Christmas - there's very little on that release list to make anybody want to buy an XBox without one.

  • Blerk #4 9 years ago

    Hell, even I might buy an Xbox at £99.99. But never mind the PS2/Cube - that price would make the GBA look really, really, really over-priced.

    I don't think Kameo will ever come out. Or if it does, we'll all be dead by then. :-)

  • krudster #5 9 years ago

    Just found out, B2: Director's Cut is NOT a new Xbox version with Live play or anything. Just US brand name that's all.

  • malloc #6 9 years ago

    XBox £99, yikes how much are they losing now? Talk about desperate....

  • Alastair #7 9 years ago

    £99 - cripes!
    Maybe I'll end up getting one to play PGR2.......

  • brokenkey #8 9 years ago

    do you think Deer hunter 2004 season is the same as Deer hunter 2003 season but with slightly less biodiversity and more endangered species ?

  • malloc #9 9 years ago

    WOPR - you're not actually looking forward to GBTG r u? lol.

    Why all the delays all of a sudden?
    Edited by 1 at 04/09/03 @ 14:36

  • Blerk #10 9 years ago

    Marketing. See Half Life 2 thread. :-)

  • lost_soul #11 9 years ago

    do you think Deer hunter 2004 season is the same as Deer hunter 2003 season but with slightly less biodiversity and more endangered species ?

    LOL!

    Alastair, if you like drivey games I'd have to say that at this price, it's worth getting an Xbox just for the PGR games (assuming the new one is as good as the first).

  • Killerbee #12 9 years ago

    £99 is pretty good, but if you're not in the market for a new console, it looks as though Xbox is actually going to have the weakest Christmas games line-up this year.

  • Alastair #13 9 years ago

    l_s: I've played MSR on a borrowed Dreamcast - loved it. Thinking about getting a Dreamcast off e-bay just so I can play it again.
    Specifically keen on PGR2 as it features Edinburgh, which is where I went to Uni.

  • Dizzy #14 9 years ago

    Plenty of good games before XMas (3rd party as well of course) so I don't think MS is too worried about those BIG titles. Of course having H2 before XMas would have done a lot of good but still everything looks very solid to me.

  • UncleLou #15 9 years ago

    Train Simulator 2 should emerge onto the platform on February 4th.


    \o/




    Erm.

    j/k, ok?

  • lost_soul #16 9 years ago

    You know, I quite liked the look of the first Train Simulator.

  • Zero Beat #17 9 years ago

    Grabbed By The Ghoulies - November 14th
    Project Gotham Racing 2 - November 28th
    Counter-Strike - December 5th

    That's me MORE than sorted before Christmas. Need GbtG, NEED IT.

  • Nemesis #18 9 years ago

    Good news on the scratchcards for renewel; this means I won't have to borrow the girlfriends Visa card now!

    \o/

    Shame on the slippage, but I suspect I'm gonna be too busy playing KOTOR to notice. 100 quid. Blimey.

  • mcmonkeyplc #19 9 years ago

    What the F is GBTG ive never heard of it !

    If these games slip in 2004 i will shit in bill gates mouth whilst giving his wife a spit roast!

    ...actally if halo 2 slips 2 more months i would have finished my degree with nothing to for a while hmmm
    Edited by 2 at 04/09/03 @ 17:43

  • Blerk #20 9 years ago

    Need GbtG, NEED IT.

    You're joking, surely? It looks cack!

  • FWB #21 9 years ago

    FFS sake. Train Simulator 2 in Feb? How the fuck am I supposed to cope? Fuck you you fucking asshole fucking cock sucking fucks!

  • itamae #22 9 years ago

    "I'm sure the price cut will be welcomed, but.....
    I'd be more than willing to pay £199 for a 'quiet XBOX'.....Mine has a hard drive which sounds like it's taxi-ing to the runway and the cooling fan sounds like the missus' washing machine on spin-cycle!

    I'm worried the noise abatement lot will be round next (if ever) time I use it.
    Certainly cant play DVDs on it without cranking the telly volume up to insane levels to drown out the XBOX drone, which the neighbours aint too keen on."

    That's seems to be taken care of already. A friend of mine has bought an Xbox recently, and it is amazingly quiet. My PS2 is much louder actually.
    The only thing that keeps me from buying an Xbox is the sheer size of the thing. Not exactly the type of console you'd want to carry to friends' places.

  • FWB #23 9 years ago

    Music Mixer (I'm not kidding - it looks cool)

    I'm gonna shove that controller up your ass. I hate, I repeat, hate any program which allows drivel dance music to be produced

    FWB
    Defender of pure music

  • Tiger_Walts #24 9 years ago

    "...and USB controller ports*. Never did understand why the BOX's contoller ports had to be that funny shape when PC's have been happily using USB for donkeys.

    *Obvious really...USB would've encouraged shitloads of better, cheaper third party controllers to flood the market royalty free!"

    The controller ports are USB with an extra pin (For more power, I doubt the standard 0.5A per USB port would drive a rumble pack). Unfortunately this does not mean royalty free peripherals are possible, the Xbox has to identify the added unit and have the software to support it, you could reverse engineer the Xbox Pad but I think under certain data protection laws using such info is illegal.

  • FWB #25 9 years ago

    Not an excuse. Whip yourself with oak branches and say 50 Hail Marys.

  • Russty Cage #26 9 years ago

    My guess is that next christmas you'll be able to buy the:
    Big Mac X-value meal (big mac co. + an xbox) for £19.99

    Now that's a bargain!

  • Tiger_Walts #27 9 years ago

    "Bearing in mind that XBOX games do not really need any data from the hard drive during play"

    Actually it does, with only 64MB of unified RAM the HDD is used as a cacheing location, this allows data that is neded to be loaded into RAM is done faster than streaming from the DVD could accomplish.

    EDIT> Adding off some grammar that was needed a very lot of.
    Edited by 1 at 04/09/03 @ 16:56

  • prettyboytim #28 9 years ago

    Yay!
    I want more headsets so me and the kids can all play Moto GP together online...

  • Pirotic #29 9 years ago

    Nice one microsoft,

    console for £99, shenmue, blinx and quantum redshift for £19.99 and improved xbox live support, not to mention a pretty decent christmas line-up.

    I'd love to see "nintendo europes plan revealed", it'd just be some random doodles on a blank peice of paper.

  • Blerk #30 9 years ago

    some random doodles on a blank peice of paper

    Back of a fag packet, surely? :-)

  • MaTTy_P #31 9 years ago

    arn't eurogamer forgetting the epic RPG that is Knights of the old republic...CHRIST, that doesnt make the list yet mention of SWAT global strike does.

    /me boots them up the bum

  • Blerk #32 9 years ago

    That's out next week, though. Hardly 'future plans', is it? More like 'next ten minute plans'. :-)

  • MaTTy_P #33 9 years ago

    still...its in the future, hence future plans :p.

    thats like sayin tomorrow isnt tomorrow, its 10minutes away...unless its 11:50, ahhh bollocks...its hurting my brian.

  • st3ph3n #34 9 years ago

    mcmonkey, WAY TO ADD SIDE SCROLLING TO THE PAGE!

    All this reminds me I need to get my Live! subscription in order for just over a months time. Yay for Phatband! Also, hope my "gamertag" is still available. I'll be most pissed if it isn't.

  • cynic #35 9 years ago

    Sounds like a cheap DVD player to me, yay for microsoft. Couldn't give a shit about their crappy game line-up though.

  • jaa #36 9 years ago

    24.


    1, 2, 3, 4, 5,..., 23, 24.



    Yep, that's it: 24. And I must be missing a few...



    24. That's the number of games scheduled for release this year I was interested in... (Before this announcement; Xbox, PS2 and GC)


    Any delays are welcome.

  • Blerk #37 9 years ago

    S'alright for you though, jaa - games only cost 2pee and a biscuit where you live. I'll have to sell the missus to pay for my game habit. :-)

  • jaa #38 9 years ago

    Yep, that's why I've just placed an order with Amazon...


    Selling the missus? Hmmmmmmmmm... I could probably get a good offer for her. But would have to implement a 'no return' policy... :)

  • tiddles #39 9 years ago

    Crimson Skies 3

    Did we miss the second one?

  • Zaccix #40 9 years ago

    An Xbox at £99 will make the PS2 look... well, it's been said before: horribly expensive.

    When I got my Gamecube recently, I wondered why the PS2's RRP is still £170 when you can get a Cube for £120 (maybe £99 soon) and now an Xbox for £99 from next month. Sony gets away with it purely because of the PS2's brand name, and because people will pay that much. Once sales start to drop, the PS2's price will drop too.

    As for the GBA, Nintendo will have to cut the regular and the SP's prices, especially if the rumours of N-Gage costing £99 turn out to be true. Ninty can't really expect an £89.99 GBA SP to look good against a £99.99 Xbox, even if they're different types of console.

    [edit]
    I just saw the story on the PS2 price cut and bundles. Looks like Sony aren't giving MS an inch. Now all we need is a Gamecube price cut (and, to really make this interesting, a Mario Kart bundle for £130). Nintendo, your ball...
    [/edit]
    Edited by 1 at 04/09/03 @ 18:21

  • zk #41 9 years ago

    I wonder when/if they're gonna redesign the xbox to make it smaller. I was sure it would be around christmas time.

    oh and...

    "Ninty can't really expect an £89.99 GBA SP to look good against a £99.99 Xbox"

    Would be true. If it wasn't for the fact that nintendo's strategy department is based in a subterranian capsule. With only a coconut as a means of communication.

    Z

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #42 9 years ago

    Ninty can't really expect an £89.99 GBA SP to look good against a £99.99 Xbox, even if they're different types of console.

    Comparing apples and oranges mate. No-one would go into a shop looking for a GBA and then come out with an Xbox. That's like going to Dixons to buy an iron and coming out with kettle.
    Edited by 1 at 04/09/03 @ 18:55

  • Zaccix #43 9 years ago

    "Comparing apples and oranges mate. No-one would go into a shop looking for a GBA and then come out with an Xbox. That's like going to Dixons to buy an iron and coming out with kettle. "

    Fair comment, although someone going in to buy a GBA might be distracted by the XBox. :)

  • zk #44 9 years ago

    i once went into Dixons to buy an iron and came out with a GBA.
    Edited by 2 at 04/09/03 @ 19:07

  • TheAmerican #45 9 years ago

    That may be the final price cut on the Xbox because I cant see it going down anymore.

  • Potter #46 9 years ago

    Excellent stuff!! Well done Microsoft

    What have Nintendo got coming out early next year?

  • malloc #47 9 years ago

    "Excellent stuff!! Well done Microsoft"

    /groan

  • #48 9 years ago

    What have Nintendo got coming out early next year?

    Mario Golf, Custom Robo, Giftpia, Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, Kirby's Air Ride, Killer 7, Mario Tennis, Resident Evil 4, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicle, Donkey Konga, Mr. Driller Drill-Land, Pikmin 2 (probably), GT Cube, Wario Ware, Nintendo Puzzle Collection, Geist, Starfox 2, Phantasy Star Online Episode III: Card Battler, Paper Mario, Tales of Symphonia, Baten Kaitos.

  • Nemesis #49 9 years ago

    enabling users to renew or commence their subscriptions via mobile phone style cards that house a unique code that users enter in the Live set up, thus negating the need to have a credit card.

    Probably worth mentioning the benefit to the under 18 market. Although I do see the voicecomms being swamped with gobby teenagers, especially if they proceed with the free telephone calls.

    Oh no.

    Xbox L337 Chatrooms.

    /shudder

  • malloc #50 9 years ago

    Good answer vermin.

    Later on that year should also have MP2, Unity, Zelda, Game Zero(?), Too Human(?), Mario RPG aswell as a bunch of Sega games.

  • #51 9 years ago

    Don't forget Mario 128, Virtua Fighter Quest, and Dead Phoenix! :)

  • Bill Gates is Evil #52 9 years ago

    Damn you Microsoft and your delays.

    When the Xbox was first released, Microsoft's first party games weren't intended to be "killer-apps", they were merely there to broaden their games profile-- so games RARELY got delayed. Now that Microsoft has secured their foot in the door, they're turning their first and second parties into development houses of much greater quality by giving them more time. Thus, Xbox's exclusive games are (Sadly) getting delayed left and right at the expense of the shorterm. But they'll be much better than Xbox's past exclusives.

    I guess the new European price point is good. I'll believe it when I see it, however, as that is an extremely low price point.

    Important Question for Eurogamer staff: Why no mention of KOTOR? That game is EXCELLENT.

  • Bill Gates is Evil #53 9 years ago

    Maybe the price point is going so low because the redesigned Xbox is finally going to be released? It doesn't seem to unlikely to think that:

    1) Microsoft announces redesigned Xbox at X03
    2) Microsoft releases redesigned Xbox in October, and immediately drops the price to $99

  • Potter #54 9 years ago

    Mario Golf, Custom Robo, Giftpia, Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, Kirby's Air Ride, Killer 7, Mario Tennis, Resident Evil 4, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicle, Donkey Konga, Mr. Driller Drill-Land, Pikmin 2 (probably), GT Cube, Wario Ware, Nintendo Puzzle Collection, Geist, Starfox 2, Phantasy Star Online Episode III: Card Battler, Paper Mario, Tales of Symphonia, Baten Kaitos.

    sorry, I ment AAA games. RE4, PSO 3 and FFCC interest me though

  • Alastair #55 9 years ago

    One man's AAA game is another man's tedious waste of time.

  • Tiitiz #56 9 years ago

    One man's AAA game is another man's tedious waste of time.

    Spot on

  • Alastair #57 9 years ago

    Thanks mate!
    :o)

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #58 9 years ago

    "Important Question for Eurogamer staff: Why no mention of KOTOR? That game is EXCELLENT."

    Because, as someone pointed out, it's out here on the 12th of this month. The feature was more to do with games which have (or had) less certain futures. Our KOTOR review will be done soon.

  • Tiitiz #59 9 years ago

    Our KOTOR review will be done soon

    I expect a 9.99999/10

    na, after a hint from someone at EG (can't remember who and where) I reckon you guys will be give it between 1-10/10 ;)

  • krudster #60 9 years ago

    This third party games list was one which Microsoft itself announced in the US and is upcoming games I guess. Obviously KOTOR has been out for months there.

  • Tiitiz #61 9 years ago

    Krudster, do you think you will have the review of KOTOR up before release?

  • #62 9 years ago

    sorry, I ment AAA games. RE4, PSO 3 and FFCC interest me though

    Nice trolling, feller .. but you lost.

  • prettyboytim #63 9 years ago

    At £99, I'm mighty tempted to get another one and put linux on it and have it as an always-on fileserver for my house. I just have to find a way of making it quieter... I heard the newer models are quieter than the old ones anyway - any comments?

  • Skeeve #64 9 years ago

    "I love my Xbox but the christmas line-up is nothing short of a disaster for Microsoft. The Ps2 and the Gamecube games that comes out before christmas blows poor Bill Gates green box to h... and back. "

    I think the term disaster got redefined by nintendo having no actual games anyone wanted to buy in the shops for last christmas.

  • speedjack #65 9 years ago

    No Halo 2 until April ?! - DAMN !!!

    Never mind - just click on the thumbnail for a free poster sized screen shot to gaze at longingly !!!

  • malloc #66 9 years ago

    "w3lkum to da 4rum dunkoh!!11!!"

    Ditto.

    I actually laughed at his comments, brilliant! Still chucking to myself now. lol.

    Still smirking, hehe....

  • cynic #67 9 years ago

    "Ninty can't really expect an £89.99 GBA SP to look good against a £99.99 Xbox"

    No, it looks effin great, nintendo are selling a 32-bit machine at a profit, and many more units than microsoft is selling Xboxes at a ridiculous loss. And as PMAMW said they are two different things, would hardly call the xbox a handheld console, but then I forgot, trolls do have rather large hands don't they so I guess you could call it a handheld ;P

  • krudster #68 9 years ago

    Yes, Tom is busy playing KOTOR so we're expecting the review to hit ahead of release.

  • pjmaybe #69 9 years ago

    So out of that little lot then...

    NFL Fever 2004 - September 19th - Not bothered!
    Voodoo Vince - October 17th - No ta
    Crimson Skies 3 - October 31st - What the fuck happened to August?! Come to think of it where's Crimson Skies II!!
    Top Spin - November 7th - Tennis? In November? Piss off!
    Amped 2 - November 14th - 1st one was crap, this looks more of the same.
    Grabbed By The Ghoulies - November 14th - Rare are arse.
    Music Mixer - November 14th - Hahahah no, really?
    Project Gotham Racing 2 - November 28th - Oh yes oh yes oh YES!!!
    NBA Inside Drive 2004 - November 28th - Wee wee on a stick.
    Counter-Strike - December 5th - "Please sir, can I shoot my classmates now?"
    Links 2004 - December 5th -Arsebags
    NHL Rivals - January 24th - No ta
    Rallisport Challenge 2 - February - Another wee wee game with wee wee centre-pivot handling
    Sudeki - Q1 2004 - Maybe
    Halo 2 - April - Oh christ why next april!!!!
    Ninja Gaiden - April - Arse
    Kameo: Elements Of Power - June - Farts
    Phantom Dust - June - Minge hair
    Conkers: Live And Uncut - Q2 2004 - I hate conker, I want him to die. I know he's only a game character but I want him to have cancer.
    Fable - Q2 2004 - Perrrrrhaps. If you can throw pooh around in it.


    Peej

  • Blerk #70 9 years ago

    I see your time off hasn't mellowed you any, peej. ;-)

  • eviltobz #71 9 years ago

    Conkers: Live And Uncut - Q2 2004 - I hate conker, I want him to die. I know he's only a game character but I want him to have cancer.

    peej mate, comments like this is why i love ya :)

  • inpHilltr8r #72 9 years ago

    Looks like an amazinq err, Q2 2004 for the XBox then...

  • Bill Gates is Evil #73 9 years ago

    No, it looks effin great, nintendo are selling a 32-bit machine at a profit, and many more units than microsoft is selling Xboxes at a ridiculous loss.

    It looks great? So Average Joe is going to his nearby retailer to buy a GBA, and he'll see an Xbox which is just barely more expensive and say "wow, that's so cheap! thank god i'm not buying that low-priced sophisticated console! I mean, comeon, look at how much profit Nintendo is making! I'm glad i'm buying a GBA!"

    !???! This seems to be what you're trying to say, unless it was a joke. Either way, I feel sorry for you.

    and thus cynic joins the list of strange, irrational, and incredibly backwards Europeans.

    GBA LOOKS LIKE A DEAL COMPARED WITH XBOX

    --Only In Europe--
    Edited by 1 at 05/09/03 @ 23:36

  • cynic #74 9 years ago

    Your missing the point BGiE, the GBA is a portable console, the Xbox is as portable as Manhattan island, they are two completely different machines for two entirely different purposes.
    Yes nintendo is making shit loads of profit on the GBA and even Cube, I can't begrudge them that, it is after all the reason they make them.....to make money. As you keep reminding us Billy Boy, we live in a capitalist world ;P

    Note how I can put my point across without sounding like some wounded animal defending itself, you should maybe learn something from this Bill, we ain't in the playground anymore, well I'm not anyway :)

  • Blerk #75 9 years ago

    Best. Console. RPG. EVAR.

    /nitpick
    It's not really a console RPG, though. It's looks like a fabbo game, but it's not a console-style RPG. It's a PC-style RPG on a console. :-)
    /nitpick off

  • jaa #76 9 years ago

    On a somewhat different note. KOTOR better receive a 10/10.

    Best. Console. RPG. EVAR.


    Hmmmmmmmm... I'm sensing an Halo review thread approaching...

  • Singularity #77 9 years ago

    At £99, I'm mighty tempted to get another one and put linux on it and have it as an always-on fileserver for my house. I just have to find a way of making it quieter... I heard the newer models are quieter than the old ones anyway - any comments?

    My new one is very quiet. Especially compared to the PS2.

  • Orange #78 9 years ago

    I will get an Xbox this Christmas if they cut the price to £99, and I will seriously consider if if they have a good bundle.

    Right now I have a PS2 and PC (which is getting old).

  • Blerk #79 9 years ago

    It's still not a 'console RPG', Houndy. :-)

  • Singularity #80 9 years ago

    Forest through the trees?

    Never heard it put like that before...
    Edited by 1 at 09/09/03 @ 10:57

  • FWB #81 9 years ago

    Yes, Singularity, forest through the trees. Ya know, like you can't see the forest on the otherside of the trees. Or something like that. I love Americanisations (or in this case nothinisation).

  • Ivefoundgod #82 9 years ago

    I bought me a cube a week ago so that rules me out for getting a xbox but even I hadn't I'm not really interested in enough of the xbox games to warrant buying one, even for £99. With the cube I got LOZ:TWW and Super Mario Sunshine and there is loads of games that I want for it, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Animal Crossing etc.

  • lost_soul #83 9 years ago

    I am a very large fan of Bungie's creation Halo.

    Have you tried going on a diet?