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Xbox Originals Article
Xbox 360 Xbox Article by Tom Bramwell
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In December 2007, Microsoft launched the Xbox Originals platform. Part of Xbox Live Marketplace, it allows you to download Xbox 1 games for 1200 Microsoft Points (GBP 10.20 / EUR 12.00) apiece, with the likes of Halo, Psychonauts and Fahrenheit among the launch titles.
Microsoft has continued to introduce games to the service bit by bit, and we've been rounding them up in this ongoing reference guide, which offers a bit of context on each and a link back to our original review where possible, and sarcastic comments where not.
Most recent update: 11th February, for the launch of Black, Sid Meier's Pirates!, and Ninja Gaiden Black.
Halo
8/10 review published 13th March 2002. By John Bye.
Quite popular this one, apparently. It's lovely to look to look back at the understated way former editor John greeted its much trumpeted arrival, picking over its contents from the perspective of a hardened PC FPS player. Others would heap more specific celebration on its control scheme (although John was surprised at how easily he took to it), but much of his praise and criticism has stood the test of time. Spoilsport Kristan tells us he thinks the first one is worth a 9, but then he says a lot of things. Whatever the truth of the matter (and you apparently think it's 8.7, judging by our gamepage), Halo proved to be the main foundation upon which the Xbox empire was able to stand with conviction, and so it has proved again and again.
Psychonauts
9/10 review published 23rd June 2005. By Tom Bramwell. (Second opinion by Kristan Reed.)
One of the funniest and most lovely games of 2005, and a game that so many of our panel of end-of-year experts felt the same about that it took our imaginary Game Of The Year gong in the face of strong competition. At the time, Kieron Gillen remarked: "Psychonauts isn't the game of the year. But there's part of me that's aware that in twenty years time, if you ask me about 2005, it very may well be." What a splendid sentiment. As to why, it very nearly achieved the unachievable goal of transferring the "everything is a joke" mentality of games like Day of the Tentacle into a platform setting, taking you to plenty of wonderful and hilarious places in the process. The Milkman Conspiracy, Lungfishopolis... Ahh. There have been very few like it before or since, and Brutal Legend has a lot to live up to.
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
8/10 review published 31st October 2003. By Kristan Reed.
Alternative realities are nothing new, but it takes a brave developer to propose one where the USA doesn't exist. But then you can't take Crimson Skies too seriously - it stars Nathan Zachary and the flying Fortune Hunters, for a start, who might as well be opening for Tenacious D - and it's about dogfighting in made-up skies, and does the Starfighter thing of refusing to lock people out with complexity. Kristan felt that PC fans might reckon it a bit dumbed-down, but judging by its popularity on Xbox Live at the time, enough people got past that, and even without the online elements he described it as an "excellent, polished package that offers instant and constant entertainment from the moment it hits the disc tray". Well, there's no disc this time, but then you're probably not a physical goods guy.
Fuzion Frenzy
Never reviewed!
But! It does make an appearance in the Xbox Cult Classics feature we did to celebrate five years of Xbox. "Famously," wrote Kristan, "this was Bill Gates' favourite Xbox game which is an instant kiss of death. It was also slammed by bewildered critics who didn't have time to mess around with a party game when there were so many sexier Xbox games out for launch. But actually, it was a far better compendium of four-player multiplayer games than most people were prepared to give it credit for, and it's no surprise that Microsoft has decided to follow it up on 360." And it was no surprise to those of us bewildered critics who thought it was a bit rubbish the first time to see Fuzion Frenzy 2 crash and burn. Apparently, your mileage may vary.
Burnout 3: Takedown
9/10 review published 14th September 2004. By Kristan Reed.
The first child of Criterion's partnership - and later marriage - with EA, Takedown was also the first Burnout game to appear on Xbox from day one, and the first to embrace Xbox Live. There were teething problems - Kristan complained about an over-complicated lobby system, and a lack of integration between single- and multi-player modes (a feature whose implementation would go on to become commonplace across Xbox Live titles) - but the wealth of content and the introduction of racing elements like the titular takedowns stirred him in all the right ways. Crash mode also said hello to the infamous Crashbreakers and Heartbreakers, which continue to divide opinion next to the relative purity of Burnout 2. Subsequent title Revenge is already available on Xbox 360, but, as a way into the series for people who have yet to bother with it, Takedown for a tenner ought to be extremely tempting.
Are you excited about Ninja Gaiden: Black on Xbox?
View Eurogamer readers most anticipated games
Related Games
Halo
Psychonauts
Fable
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (Xbox Classic)
Burnout 3: Takedown
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Black
Fahrenheit
Ninja Gaiden: Black
Latest News
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Latest Screenshots
9 May, 2001 [4]
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So the moral of the story is... get down to GameStation or such like and buy the physical game disk in the pre-owneds. Chances are they will be under a tenner, you don't need spare HD space and you get something for your money that you can hold in your hands or sell/trade on when you have had enough.
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Kazzahdrane
04/12/07 @ 08:16
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That's right SirClive, but it's worth bearing in mind that in North America it's very hard to find Psychonauts in stores these days AFAIK. Of course, it's on Steam for even cheaper than this if you can't find it boxed but I'd use a gamepad.
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Mentalist(air)
04/12/07 @ 08:48
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get down to GameStation or such like and buy the physical game disk in the pre-owneds
That partly depends on whether you'd prefer your cash going directly to the shops, or whether you'd prefer the devlopers/publisher/platform holder to get a share. Man, I've been reading too much MCV. Besides, I've been looking out for an Xbox Psychonauts for ages, and I've seen bugger all of them. |
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Salubrious_K
04/12/07 @ 08:57
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When I heard about this XBox Originals I didn't think that there was much to attract me as a previous owner of the XBox. To my surprise though I see they've included Psychonauts, probably the only game on the XBox that I really wished I'd played but didn't get a chance to. That one's a definite purchase for me!
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BrokenSymmetry
04/12/07 @ 09:07
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This overview would have been a lot more useful if Eurogamer had actually taken the effort to re-review these games, telling us how these games run on the 360, and how they have stood the test of time.
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"That partly depends on whether you'd prefer your cash going directly to the shops, or whether you'd prefer the devlopers/publisher/platform holder to get a share."
Uh? Why should he care? Assuming the game was sold legally in the first place the devlopers/publisher/platform already had their fair cut from the original sale. I see no reason to not buy/sell second hand games from stores, why should Sir Clive miss out on making himself a bit of cash back when he's tired of a game? Developers and such are professionals who get paid, not charity cases who deserve our cash for nothing.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 04/12/07 @ 09:23
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spookyzombie
04/12/07 @ 09:27
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I can buy all those titles (bar Fusion Frenzy) for £7.99 each at Gamestation. These titles are all in their 4 for £20 range.
They should have made achievements available for them. |
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DonnieDarko333
04/12/07 @ 09:39
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Too expensive in my opinion....
I've also played most of them to death as well.....Fable is attracting me again though! |
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I hope this thread does not go the route of the developers/publishers getting part of any second hand sales , as in my mind this is no different than any second/third hand purchase.If I sold my car would Ford be entitled to any part of the money I got for my car after buying it from them in the first place? NO !!! So why all of a sudden are publishers asking for money they have already got from the original purchase.
It just cries out GREED to me. |
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GamesProgrammer
04/12/07 @ 10:11
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Anyone know how many gigs each of these originals games is? im thinking your only gonna get 1-2 on a normal HDD at a time, so can you delete them and redownload them when you want them?
Some people are saying some xbox games dont work through the VGA cable, has that been fixed or is there a list of games somewhere that show compatibility with video modes? |
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Its not greed you feckless wonder, ITS SURVIVAL.
Most games companies survive from game to game, and if one game sells badly, that company is normally toast. I should know, I've worked for a few. But still, keep contributing funds to Game cos they bring so much to the industry don't they? Why should Game get a 2nd chance to profit from something they had no hand in producing in the first place? Not all game companies are EA, Ninty, Sony, etc and they simply need every penny they can get - this is not charity, this is you as a consumer choosing to contriute to the people who have created a product that brings you entertainment. If you dont want to contribute then don't - go the Game reseller route, but dont EVER complain that all games are just EA yearly rehashes and that there is no originality left in the industry. /rant |
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kangarootoo
04/12/07 @ 10:19
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"Remember folks... these "Xbox Original" games only run as good/bad as when putting the original Xbox disk into the 360 since the games are still emulated thru the same software... just a warning."
Whilst it is true that they run through the same software, I would expect all of these titles to be checked and double checked, given they are being sold as XB360 products. The results of running apparently certified XB games on a 360 were very mixed indeed as many here will be aware, but there was never any guarantee laid down as said games all worked fine in their original target platform. As these new downloads will ONLY work on the 360, I would expect a much higher level of QA to have been applied. Question for EG, or anyone who has bought one of these. Is widescreen support prevalent? Many of the old XB games I tried in my 360, whilst supporting widescreen on an original XB, would only run in 4:3 under emulation. Fable being such a case iirc. |
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"Why should Game get a 2nd chance to profit from something they had no hand in producing in the first place? "
But why should Joe public lose out on making money back on a game they no longer wish to keep? It's not our fault if your dev team makes unprofitable games is it? I don't care about GAME making cash, I DO care about how much cash is in my personal wallet though. You make it sound like we owe you something because you're team is struggling after making an unprofitable/crap game? Edit - I'd just like to add, there are plenty of non EA games made by smaller teams that do commercially well so don't try and use that as an excuse. If you can't make money out of your chosen profession, don't blame us and don't ask for hand outs, it's degrading.
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most recently on 04/12/07 @ 10:29
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I do believe I touched a nerve, however I will stand by my opinion that games are no different than any other product and as such should never have ANY special treatment when it comes to their resale value.
Unless they release console games with a EULA which states that all the punter has purchased is a licence for that game and that they cannot resell it then it is no different than any other goods which can be bought/sold and resold.
Edited 2 times,
most recently on 04/12/07 @ 10:28
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@kangarootoo - Widescreen support on the original Xbox was very bad. Many games released on the original Xbox simply stretched a 4:3 image and still claimed widescreen support on the sticker. At the time, M$ TCR requirements stated that as long as a picture displayed while widescreen was selected in the Dash then the game would get approval for the icon...
360 is much better regarding widescreen and hi-def. Also, I'm fairly certain that the original fable didn't support widescreen... but wud have to check... |
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Vermillion3000
04/12/07 @ 10:36
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I remember playing Twisted System for about 3 hours with my mate's sister one day - our eyes were almost bleeding.
Also, playing FF with custom soundtracks is definitely the way forward! (if they still work on the 360). Basket Case is the preferred track for Twisted System... |
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windowlicker
04/12/07 @ 10:40
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For those of you who wondered about the game sizes
Crash Bandicoot:WoC 985MB Crimson Skies 4.1GB Fable 3.2GB Fahrenheit 3.1GB Fusion Frenzy 1.9GB Halo 2.3GB Psychonauts 5.3GB |
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@Sir Clive
Your first comment summed my thoughts up perfectly; why bother downloading these when you can get for cheaper in the bargain bin and possibly get a couple of quid when you flog them on. MS need to half the points on these (as is the case with many of the downloadable games), then people might start to look at them more seriously. |
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Monkey_Puncher
04/12/07 @ 10:41
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Always wanted to give Psychonauts a go, so I might check that out when I run out of games to play. If they put Black, Castle Wolfenstein, Jet Set Radio and Conker up on the servie I'll be most pleased!
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 04/12/07 @ 10:41
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Mentalist(air)
04/12/07 @ 11:09
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There's nothing illegal about trading secondhand games. But with this download initiative, as with any budget re-release scheme, the consumer is empowered to choose whether their cash goes towards the people responsible for creating and publishing game, or a retail chain.
I know who I think is more deserving, although I admit there's a certain amount of self-interest there. You make it sound like we owe you something because you're team is struggling after making an unprofitable/crap game? You realise, in this particular case, it's DoubleFine and Psychonauts you're talking about? Edit: tautology
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 04/12/07 @ 11:10
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ParanoidZombie
04/12/07 @ 11:33
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FYI: according to xbox.com, this is Fable + the lost chapters add-on. It's not that bad a deal.
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groovychainsaw
04/12/07 @ 11:50
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Does fable come with the additional content they released later? Might be tempted into that if so. Otherwise I've got/played the rest ;-)
/Edit Dame you zombie, answering my question before i ask it... grrrr /Gets chainsaw /Decapitates zombie
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 04/12/07 @ 11:55
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