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News Article Title : Xbox Launch Announcement Full Coverage Category : Xbox NZ Date Added : 2002-09-01 06:53:03 Written By : Daniel Crabtree As you may be aware, I was able to attend the New Zealand Xbox Launch Announcement in Auckland a few days ago. Having returned to Wellington, Let me know take you step by step through the exciting Xbox Launch Announcement. What follows is a blow by blow coverage of the smash that was the New Zealand Xbox Launch Announcement. But first the key points: Xbox Launch Date: Thursday October 3rd 2002 Xbox Price: $499.95 Number of Launch Titles: 80 and over 150 by Christmas Game Price Range: $89.95 - $129.95 A day after the trip up from Wellington, I arrived at Microsoft in Auckland at around 5:15pm and headed up to the 3rd floor where the event was to be held. I was greeted by the Microsoft staff, given my nametag and directed towards the Xbox room where the event would take place. The room was filled with Upright Xbox Display Units the same as can now be played, in stores around the country. On display were Xbox software packaging, an Xbox out of it’s box and on a table for closer inspection, a 3 way line-up of an Xbox, Game Cube and Playstation 2 all playing Spider Man for a side by side comparison, a couple of DJ’s mixing the tunes in the back corner and projection screen and podium up the front. Not to forget the drinks table and the waitresses walking around with various pastries. Up until around 6pm I had an opportunity to take a look around at all the games that were around. One highlight at this stage was the Xbox debug kit, it is a transparent green and glows. The games on show included: The 3 way spider man mentioned above, Dead or Alive 3, Rallisport Challenge, Sega GT 2002, Splinter Cell, Max Payne, Wreckless : The Yakuza Missions, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Transworld Surf, Amped, Street Hoops, Munch's Oddysee, Fuzion Frenzy and Project Gotham Racing and 2 Machines running Halo however these were not linked. Before 6pm I was able to have a battle on Dead or Alive 3 and a race of Sega GT 2002, Dead or Alive 3 had impressive graphics and gameplay was great, combat was very fluid with moves seamlessly linking together. I also had a race of Sega GT 2002 which I won by the slimiest of margins, just passing on the finish line. (I lost the 2nd race) I wasn’t really impressed by this driver, but it made me appreciate the feel of the controller. I really like the standard Xbox controller and can’t really see what so many people have been complaining about, must be my large hands. The placement of the buttons and sticks seem just perfect. By this time just after 6pm Wilf Robinson (Xbox Marketing Manager NZ) gave the Xbox Launch Information and Alan Bowman (Xbox director for Australasia) gave his speech. There would have been near 100 people crammed in the front quarter of the room trying to get a good view. The attendees were comprised of a wide range of individuals ranging from other websites, Microsoft staff, Pead PR staff, radio stations, other websites, distributors and developers. During the presentation Wilf gave the following information about the NZ Xbox Launch. The launch date when we can get our hands on an Xbox will be Thursday October 3rd. The Launch Price will be $499.95 and should provide good competition for Sony’s Playstation 2. At launch there will be at least 80 launch titles with over 150 by Christmas and games will sell for $89.95 to $129.95. Most computer and electronic type stores will sell the Xbox including: Harvey Norman, Bond & Bond, Big Byte, Noel Leeming, Electronics Boutique, Central Park Interactive, The Gamesman, Dick Smith Electronics and other independent retailers. A very interesting fact that was pointed out was that the Xbox has sold 17% more than the PS2 did in its launch period and over 70% more software, making the Xbox the most successful console launch ever. Although there have been no announcements as to the NZ Xbox Live strategy, there was also a strong commitment shown toward making Xbox Live a success in the US and also that it would be made available in NZ, once an Xbox user base has been established and suitable level of broadband penetration. Alan Bowman talked about how the NZ launch would be the best yet, having had the experience with the launches in other countries Microsoft has learnt more on what customers want. He also talked about the placement of about 200 interactive game systems in stores around the country, the same style as were used in the Launch Announcement. This was backed up by my walk down Queen Street the next day where I saw a unit with Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX II in Bond and Bond. The game played very similar to the Tony Hawk games and I preferred this game to Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3. My recommendation if you like this style of game would be to pick up Amped and Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX II at launch and then wait for Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4. Amped was brilliant and while Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 was great I think 4 will be well worth the wait. A series of video clips were shown on the large front projection screen during the presentation, one of the video’s was a collage of a large number of the games set to be released over the upcoming months including Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4, Crazy Taxi 3, Crimson Skies: High Road To Revenge, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring and James Bond 007: Night Fire. But by far the most memorable video was the Mosquito Advert, which had possibly the best marketing slogan I have ever heard. “Work Less, Play More” I played the vast majority of the games on demonstration and was pleasantly surprised at how good the majority were. Dead or Alive 3 is a classic fighting game, but with its splendid graphics and enormous number of moves it is set to stun. The most impressive thing about the game was its fluidness; there were many moves that would position you such as flipping you over the other character for an attack against a now defenceless opponent. The combo’s linked together with ease and the game was very easy to pick up, but as with any good modern fighting game the game is tough to master and there are enough moves to keep you playing for months. Options included tag team battles, a mode where you keep fighting player after player until you die on just 1 health bar, however you get a little extra health after each round. This non stop mode was very exhilarating. Rallisport Challenge was probably the most impressive of the driver’s, I had only a quick race but the graphics were stunning and the driving physics were superb. This was my pick for best driver of the 3 on show. Sega GT 2002 was quite a disappointment, the graphics were not up to the standard of the other Xbox games on display and also the driving model was not as good as Rallisport Challenge. I just really didn’t like this game much. The third driver Project Gotham Racing was very good, it takes an arcade style racing feel. In one race mode you gain kudos when you drive well. For instance when you slide fast around a corner and don’t hit anything you gain kudos, if you stuff up just one little nick out the paint and you lose all your kudos currently clocking up. So you’re not only racing the computer or other players, but you have to race with style too. The graphics were not as good as those in Rallisport Challenge, but were still very good. I didn’t play Halo as I played that for around an hour at an Sidhe Interactive demonstration back in March this year. But from my playing it back then, I was very impressed by how well an action game played on a console. I have always hated action games on playstation and other consoles, but on the Xbox Halo was almost good. Having a very strong PC Action background I do not think that a console can compete without a mouse and keyboard, but for a gamepad the Xbox does a grand job of an action game. While I will not recommend this game as much as others do, I will say this If you play PC action games regularly then you’re not missing anything with Halo, but if you are strictly a console gamer or do not have a powerful PC to run a PC action game in all its glory, then Halo is a brilliant game and I can highly recommend it. It has a very good story up with the likes of Half Life and as far as console action games go, currently this is the crème de la crème. (Which means best for people who don’t know what that means.) Max Payne as with Halo, I can’t talk about it fairly having played it on a powerful PC, but as with Halo as far as a console action game goes, this is right up there 2nd only to Halo and is a great game for console gamers who haven’t played too much action games on PC. The bullet time modes which put you in a Matrix like slow motion world is always fun. The story is also excellent with a strong setting and mood. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is very similar to the Tony Hawk 3 on other platforms; it plays well and is a good solid fun game. My recommendation however is to wait for the 4th instalment in the series that is set to be released soon. Transworld Surf has great graphics and creates very realistic environment for a surf simulation. The game seemed hard to come to grips with and seemed to have a strong learning curve, most others I saw had similar results to me wipe-out after wipe-out. The game wasn’t played as frequently as a result, but one person I saw playing it was really good at it and when they played it, it looked and played like a whole different game. Amped was in my opinion the most impressive game on display, it has outstanding visuals and played brilliantly. It focuses on pulling off tricks and does this brilliantly, they are many modes including one where there are photographers around the course and you have to pull off your tricks in front of them to score points. This game was really the highlight of the games I played. Street Hoops was the sports game that was present, it wonderfully recreates the basketball court and puts you into the game. The learning curve was light and the game played smoothly. Any basketball fan should enjoy playing this with a few mates. The number of people dwindled after the main announcement down to around 20 by about 8:30pm. On my way out I was given my Xbox Press Kit which included smart looking Xbox Pen, Xbox Cap, Xbox Media Images CD-Rom, Xbox Information Folder and the 1st Official Australian Xbox Magazine. I went on my way back to my Hotel and decided that the International Atomic Xbox would have to wait a while longer and push the NZ version of Atomic Xbox forward from early November to early September to meet the demand for the Xbox in New Zealand leading up to the Launch on October 3rd. Nearing the end Alan Bowman had a unique proposal in the form of a Press Competition. Microsoft will send the top 2 promoters of the Xbox in NZ to next years E3 on in Los Angeles, May 2003. This event is huge, featuring 3 days of expo madness, thousands of gamers, developers and basically the whole entertainment industry. Hopefully Atomic Xbox will help send me there in 2003. Overall the Launch Announcement was great fun and was well worth the trip up to Auckland. I’m really looking forward to its release and would encourage everyone to get into a store and try out an Xbox today. Images:
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