Majority of 360 owners narrow-minded?

[Brats]

The 360 does have a diverse library in terms of different game types. What it is lacking is a variety of styles which is different. Most games seem to be based around dark themes (like science fiction dramas or war stories) as opposed to light fluffy styles like plumbers rescuing princesses and the like (that aren't movie licences).

But if you look at gameplay areas the 360 has covered:

First Person Shooters
Third Person Shooters
Arcade Racers
Sim Racers
Real Time Strategy
Turn Based Strategy
Flight Sim
Arcade Flight
Space Shooter
Arcade Adventure
Horror
Music Games
Sports games
Western style RPGs
Japanese style RPGs
Stunt Based games
Stealth Action
Sandbox games
Shmups
Mech Games
3D fighters
Management Sims
Puzzle Games

If you add Live Arcade then you can include 2D platformers, board games, card games and more I've probably forgotten.

The only areas it lacks I think are 3D platfomers (Banjo is coming and there is one on Live Arcade) and gun games. Besides that it has at least one strong contender in every category.

Personally I'm far more concerned about quality than different styles. Give me a million games with space marines in, but if they play differently and all play well, then **** yeah!

[Swallow]

Lol, stealth action.

I agree, but it seems that 360 has failed in becoming a brand not just synonymous with "hardcore gaming."

I suspect MS would ethnically cleanse a small African country to have Wii's demographic.

[Brats]

They are synonymous with hardcore gaming in forums like this one, but outside of our tiny world, I'm not sure they still have that image. They certainly don't appeal to grannies in the same way that the Wii does, but I don't believe there are 10 million hardcore gamers in the world. many people who have bought one were the old PlayStation brigade.

The 360 is fast approaching the 'middle ground' where it will appeal to all gamers. It just appeal ouside that bracket, but if the market is 120 million people (give or take) then there's a huge potential to tap into.

[Swallow]

Lol, I do have real life friends too - 360 is too flaky and too Live dependent for it to catch on in the way PS2 and GBA did.

[Kron]

I can't help thinking Brats is somewhat naive, The vast majority of those game types that he thinks are "covered" are either covered by a single game or barely fit in the genre for the sake of a list. People who have an interest in shmups for example aren't going to buy the system based on Aegis Wing and and a couple of arena shooters and its something that trancends across most of the genres that are unfortunately considered niche these days.

The 360 has this hardcore PC gamer image for a reason and a couple of what come across as vague token gestures won't get new types of player onboard.

[capcom_suicide]

I can't help thinking Brats is somewhat naive, The vast majority of those game types that he thinks are "covered" are either covered by a single game or barely fit in the genre for the sake of a list. .

I'm not sure I'd agree with that!

It's only been out since Dec 2005, and I think the diversity of games both DVD based and XBArcade, are pretty good.

Sure it's got more FPS/Driving/Sports games, as these are bread & butter to the devs.

But....

You can't just forget:

Oblivion
Blue Dragon
Final Fantasy
Pac Man champ
EDF 2017
Dead Rising
Lost Planet
Guitar Hero
Virtua Tennis
Virtua Fighter
Worms
Viva Pinata
Lumnies
Crackdown
Saints Row
Table Tennis
Kameo

Just off the top of my head, (Avoiding FPS/Driving/EA Sports)

I've never in all my time as a gamer (Pre Zx spectrum) seen such a diverse and impressive list of games so soon after launch!!!

If you love gaming, you'll love the 360's games.

[Brats]

I can't help thinking Brats is somewhat naive, The vast majority of those game types that he thinks are "covered" are either covered by a single game or barely fit in the genre for the sake of a list. People who have an interest in shmups for example aren't going to buy the system based on Aegis Wing and and a couple of arena shooters and its something that trancends across most of the genres that are unfortunately considered niche these days.

The 360 has this hardcore PC gamer image for a reason and a couple of what come across as vague token gestures won't get new types of player onboard.

I can't help thinking that Kron has an axe to grind (Gears of Bore and all that).

I never said that the system would appeal to people who have an interest in shmups. However it does appeal to people who have an interest in variety of gameplay (yourself being one of the few exceptions it would seem).

There might be some genres which are only covered by a single game (not the majority - that's simply incorrect), but the single example is a usually a quality example and that is more important than quantity. The only area I've listed where the quality is dodgy are flight sims. Hopefully Ace Combat 6 will fill this gap.

Yes there are a large number of FPS and racers (especially the latter recently after a lean period of several months), but a lot of consoles have popular genres that appear more than others. The SNES was covered in 2D platformers and 2D fighters (being the two most popular genres of the day) but it still had space for variety (despite comments from Sega-fanboys at the time that it was lacking - how times change!).

If you think I'm wrong, then why don't you list examples of genres that you think are not covered by quality examples. Come on, why don't you put some proper reasoning behind your argument for a change?

[Ian(not Ian)]

I own a 360 and I am narrow minded,bloody well narrow minded in most things in life save for gaming, in which I'm broad minded.
I don't particularly like FPS or driving games, but there are exceptions., some of which are on 360, but most on other platforms.

This same topic could well have been applied to previous consoles just as easily, PS1 with it's platform and footy games, PS2 with its' platform and footy games, XBOX with its' FPS and driving games....So what? It was years before the Silient Hills and Resident Evils graced the PS1, years before Team Ico woke us all up on the PS2, years before the FPS evolved courtesy of the XBOX.

The narrow minds evolved into broad minds who evolved into 360 owners. Those same 360 owners, blessed with their new broader outlook quickly realised the Viva Pinata was flawed insofar as the player merely plodded along to get a bigger garden, then poof!! nothing. They rightly shied away from it, content to wait until something more substantial came along I'm sure.

It may help to know that within brick-throwing distance of my house there are five (including me) 360 owners, three of which own Viva Pinata. That's 60% of 360 owners in my vicinity who bought Viva Pinata.

All three say they got fed up with chasing around after the Pinata rascals in a garden, which although full-size was more cramped due to the ever-increasing amount of buildings, plants etc that were thrown the player's way....and all to no end.

[Geoff D]

I certainly had a closed mind when I bought my 360 - I thought I wasn't going to like it very much, having not got on too well with its predecessor. All it took was a few games of Table Tennis to change my mind though & now I think it's great - & that's without a single FPS in my repertoire (as I'm not keen on 'em, regardless of platform).

I'd certainly like to see some 3D platformers fully realised, & I do wish the machine didn't sound like a helicopter landing in my living room, but other than that, I likey.

[Strolls]

I don't really understand that train of thought. A good game is a good game, shouldn't matter if it involves shooting people in the head, driving at breakneck speeds, managing an eco-system, lining up blocks in certain ways or whatever.

That's great now you've got downloadable demos, but I'll bet there are plenty of punters on the 360 playing racing & FPS games and who are still not yet online.

I know one guy who has completed Gears of War (his missus played through with him, I think) and who just isn't really interested in shelling out ?40 or whatever on a 360 network adaptor. He's well-enough, off, too, a former financial advisor who lives in a big house in a nice part of town (probably 10 years of mortgage payments behind him) and who drives an MG.

The thing is that if I know I enjoyed the last two FPS I played, and the last two racers in the Grand Turismo (or whatever) series then going into Game & shelling out ?40 on a something along the same lines is a safe bet. Viva Pinato (or whatever it's called ) isn't.

I find the videogame pricepoint of c ?40 or whatever (heck, I don't buy in the UK) to be quite an interesting one. It's enough that kids will have to save up for it, and might only get one or two games as birthday presents (maybe one from parents & one from grandma) and if you're stacking shelves in Tesco then it could be a significant chunk of your disposable weekly wage. If you're single, no kids & in a professional job then ?40 may not be that much these days - an easy disposable spend for the cliche 360 owner described by Prophet Hero & Peter Moore - but it's still probably 4 DVDs (maybe not the latest releases, but stuff released within the last 6 months?) and it's still enough for a lot of people that you'll be pissed off if you spend that much only to find when you get home that you've bought a lemon.

That's why MattyD's comment makes sense. Someone who's "into Tom Clancy games and Forza" might also like Viva Pi?ata, but they don't know until they've tried. It's safer to buy a FPS. Most people aren't watching the gaming review sites and will only know about a "niche" game when they try it at a mate's house.

The amount of secondhand games I've bought here in the forums, and back-catalogue Gamecube stuff for ?10 or ?15, reinforces my feelings about this. I read the reviews, buy highly-rated and much "respected" games and find they just leave me cold - I'm a tightwad, so I'd be gutted if I'd spent ?40 on some of these. I've revised my spending expectations for this generation & will be shopping much more carefully for new games whilst still exploring secondhand "classics" & gems. Viva Pi?ata falls strongly into this category for me - however well-recieved it was here, I have no way to know whether I'll like it as much as any of those dumb FPS I love so much.

Stroller.

[JohnMcL7]

I'm a 26 year old male and I happily admit I really enjoyed Viva Pinata although I wasn't bothered about the Sims.

Viva Pinata appealed to be for its bright and colourful design with good polish overall, I thought the design was strong as well. You could potter about making the perfect garden with a small selection of pinata, you could create multiple gardens and level up quickly or you could just screw about creating whatever interesting new items you find with your Pinata all killing each other. I kind of ended up with the latter...it all just felt a breath of fresh air to me.

My recent 360 favourite is EDF, it's a very simple game but I just find it enjoyable moreso than Gears of War - sometimes it's good to have something which doesn't take itself too seriously.

John

[Charlie]

@ Ian

I'd say the PS2 catered to an amazingly broad range of styles, maybe more than any other console, but anyway, Viva Pinata was really just used as an example and is what triggered me into starting the thread. The real issue I was trying to raise is it seems a huge number of 360 owners aren't willing to look beyond the staple genres they know and love and it's worrying as it means the chances of seeing genres the 360 currently lacks or has very few of gets ever smaller.

[Ian(not Ian)]

Indeed Charlie.
60% of 360 owners in my line of sight bought Viva Pinata, meaning they were willing to look out into the broader spectrum. Also, yes the PS2 is home to the most diverse range of software on the planet, but it wasn't in the 1st year of its' life. The 360's demographic will expand as will its' diversity given time.

[Brats]

I'd say the PS2 catered to an amazingly broad range of styles, maybe more than any other console, but anyway, Viva Pinata was really just used as an example and is what triggered me into starting the thread. The real issue I was trying to raise is it seems a huge number of 360 owners aren't willing to look beyond the staple genres they know and love and it's worrying as it means the chances of seeing genres the 360 currently lacks or has very few of gets ever smaller.

But the opposite seems to be happening. Instead of the 360's catalogue shrinking, it appears to be broadening.

In the last generation, there were a huge number of games that were exclusive to the PS2, not because Sony paid any money or negotiated a deal, but simply because the publisher knew that that was where the money was. It wasn't worth the effort of porting the games to the GC and the XBox, so the PS2 got the benefit and received a broader range of software. It wasn't due to any part of Sony's, aside from reaching a critical mass upoin which it became a no-brainer to develop for the platform.

Today, unless a game is tied up by a competitor or it is aimed to take advantage of the Wii, it is probably coming to the 360. You only have to read through the preview pages of Edge or Games TM to see that publishers are taking the system seriously. You don't sell 10 million units by having a 'hardcore PC gamer image'. Even Square are releasing their new IP on both the 360 and PS3, an unheard of event in the last generation.

Plus, as has been said in another thread, 50,000 copies of Halo 2 are being sold in the US every month, so clearly the 360 is selling to a market above and beyond those that just bought an XBox.

[anephric]

Well, the 360 has only reached the 10 million mark a few months ahead of what it took Xbox1 to, so it's not really that remarkable a figure, is it? Considering MS actively pursued the "hardcore" with the first Xbox. 360 has only sold a little bit quicker. What does that tell you?