The Next Gen Thread

[Foggle]

Because Crytek and DICE wanted it.

That doesn't even make sense. Crytek said they were going entirely F2P after Crysis 3... how many F2P games even end up on consoles?

This generation is either going to kill the industry or dilute it considerably.

Can't wait 'til Steambox comes out and steamrolls the 720 and PS4. In the end, Nintendo and Valve will be the last men standing. Console wars will be over, and gaming will be better because of it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, at this point I'm about done with consoles. Maybe I'll eventually go for the Wii-U if Nintendo produces enough quality exclusive output to make the system a worthwhile investment for me, but other than that I don't see ANY advantages to owning a Microsoft or Sony console anymore. Microsoft mostly relies on its 3rd party support, for which the PC is superior, anyways. Sony offers up a lot of exclusives that I just quite frankly don't give two shits about. I feel like I'll probably get the most for my money with a good PC, even more-so than the Wii-U which really hasn't impressed me, thus far (though to be fair, almost every console ever gets off to a weak start when it is first launched).

[Foggle]

Maybe you should get a Steam Box. They're supposedly going to be priced like consoles and they're basically mid-range PCs. They have out of the box TV/gamepad support, too.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I was considering. Although, I'm just wondering how long something like that will last me before it goes out of date to the point of not being able to run the software that devs put out eventually. If it can last me at least half a decade and run any new games up to that point at a reasonable quality, then I'll consider it well worth the price.

[talonmalon333]

I've been severing my connections with franchises that might just be Sony or Microsoft games in the future, such as Silent Hill and Metal Gear (thankfully that isn't hard cause the former franchise is deader than dead, while the latter really ended with 4). I don't want to purchase any consoles other than the U next generation, so I don't want any ties that might bring about the desire to get a PS4.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

To be honest, the only reason I even got an XBOX360 was because I really wanted Ninja Gaiden II and Halo 3 (I was a MUCH bigger Halo fan back then). With Ninja Gaiden, its no longer an XBOX exclusive anymore, and the release of NG3 on the Wii-U shows that it can even come to a Nintendo console now. That, and the fact that the NG series is headed in a downward spiral to its death, anyways, makes it so that I no longer have NG as a reason to go for the next XBOX. Its too bad that Microsoft didn't try and convince Tecmo to keep NG as an XBOX exclusive, since Microsoft desperately needs some non-shooter exclusive titles, and as far as I'm concerned, NG was one of their best ones. As for Halo, I pretty much got everything that I wanted out of the series with Reach. Halo 4 just didn't do enough to impress me, and I can now safely detach myself from the series, as I really don't have much of a desire to play any future Halo games. Its too bad that 343 Industries went out of their way to make Halo 4 feel as familiar to Halo fans as possible, since succeeding at that only means that they are helping the series become more and more stale as time goes on. This would've been the perfect opportunity to put a new spin on the franchise, but as it stands, it just feels like an inferior version of what Bungie's Halo games were made to be, IMO.

Other than that, XBOX only has a few other notable exclusives. Alan Wake was an exclusive, but now that it has come to the PC, it is safe to assume that if the game ever does even get a true sequel, it'll also come to the PC as well (which will be the better version, anyways). There are the Fable games....which I hate....and that's about all I have to say about those. Then there is Gears of War which I think is really just an OK series. I really did love the first game when it came out, but with so little change to the sequels, it has already become quite stale for me, so I can live without this series as well.

On that note, I really have absolutely no reason to scrounge for the next XBOX console. And, I have a feeling that quite a few people feel the same way as me. Microsoft may be in for a very rude, disappointing surprise with the sales figures for their next console if they think that they can keep getting by with such lackluster first party support.

[Foggle]

I got a 360 solely for Halo 3, which was the only game I had or played for it (other than Oblivion and Gears 1) for a long time. I was a huge Halo fanboy back then... almost distressingly so.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I got a 360 solely for Halo 3, which was the only game I had or played for it (other than Oblivion and Gears 1) for a long time. I was a huge Halo fanboy back then... almost distressingly so.

I always thought that you detested Halo back then!

[Foggle]

I always thought that you detested Halo back then!

Well, I hated the campaigns in Halo 2 and 3 (still love the first one, though), but I played the shit out of the multiplayer, both split-screen and online. To the point where that was pretty much all I played. Aside from that and a couple of other games (including Ninja Gaiden, after you introduced me to it ), I didn't pay much attention to this gen until I stopped caring about Halo entirely in late 2008 (I think it was).

[talonmalon333]

With Ninja Gaiden, its no longer an XBOX exclusive anymore, and the release of NG3 on the Wii-U shows that it can even come to a Nintendo console now.

At the same time though, didn't you say that the ports aren't as good as the XBox versions, particularly NG2?

[Foggle]

At the same time though, didn't you say that the ports aren't as good as the XBox versions, particularly NG2?

Yeah, but the Wii-U version of NG3 is actually better than the 360 one.

And NG1 is mostly just as good on the PS3 as it is on the Xbox.

[talonmalon333]

At the same time though, didn't you say that the ports aren't as good as the XBox versions, particularly NG2?

Yeah, but the Wii-U version of NG3 is actually better than the 360 one.

What do people say about it? I know the PS3/360 NG3 was supposedly garbage, but I haven't heard much about the U version. Is it still kinda bad, or did they manage to make it adequate?

[Foggle]

What do people say about it? I know the PS3/360 NG3 was supposedly garbage, but I haven't heard much about the U version. Is it still kinda bad, or did they manage to make it adequate?

Apparently it's about as mediocre as an action game can be, but it's actually playable and somewhat fun now.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

What do people say about it? I know the PS3/360 NG3 was supposedly garbage, but I haven't heard much about the U version. Is it still kinda bad, or did they manage to make it adequate?

The Wii-U version of NG3 is far better than the PS3/360 version by default. It has everything that those games had, plus it brings back enemy dismemberment, and features twice as many weapons, which can also be leveled up. It also has more missions than the first 2 games did, and 3 additional playable characters (if you include the DLC). That said, its still a shitty NG game. I'd recommend that you completely ignore it, myself.

As for the NG games on the PS3, Ninja Gaiden Sigma is fine. It has the best graphics out of all of the versions of the first game, and in general it pretty much has everything good that the first game had on the XBOX. What I don't like is that the few additions that it does bring are pretty much shit, and while that doesn't kill the game by any means, I do feel that the mandatory Rachael missions in the the middle of the story mode can disrupt the flow the game and drag down its quality. That said....its honestly a pretty minor gripe. In other words, go ahead and play Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Its pretty much the best version of the game along with Ninja Gaiden Black. I just prefer Black because it has a better flow to the story mode without those unnecessary additions, and it has my favorite unlockable costume for Ryu which was removed from the PS3 version of the game.

As for Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, its still a great hack n' slash game, its just that I don't care for the changes made to that game, and there were a lot of changes that it had incorporated. But, believe it or not, based on your taste in gaming, I'd say that you'd probably like it better, so go for that game as well. Most of the changes are there to make the game more accessible to newcomers, and now that my fanboy love for the original version of NG2 has worn off, I can understand most of the changes that NGS2 made. That said, I still personally prefer the original version of NG2 for its challenge and the visceral feel it has to its combat, but after having spent a decent amount of time playing NGS2, I can honestly say that its still one of the better hack n' slash games out there, and to be fair it does remove and fix up a lot of bull-shit that was in NG2, though it also removes some of my favorite aspects of that game as well, so its a very give and take scenario in that regard.

Still, I'd recommend that you try both Ninja Gaiden Sigma games, especially since you'll never really get to experience the 3D NG games otherwise. There's no sense in waiting to play the original XBOX versions of those games if you don't ever actually plan to get an XBOX, so go ahead and play the Sigma games on the PS3, as I think you should definitely try them out sometime. The first game has a steep learning curve of sorts, but its one of the best action games ever once you finally learn how to play it at an appropriate level.

[talonmalon333]

What do people say about it? I know the PS3/360 NG3 was supposedly garbage, but I haven't heard much about the U version. Is it still kinda bad, or did they manage to make it adequate?

The Wii-U version of NG3 is far better than the PS3/360 version by default. It has everything that those games had, plus it brings back enemy dismemberment, and features twice as many weapons, which can also be leveled up. It also has more missions than the first 2 games did, and 3 additional playable characters (if you include the DLC). That said, its still a shitty NG game. I'd recommend that you completely ignore it, myself.

As for the NG games on the PS3, Ninja Gaiden Sigma is fine. It has the best graphics out of all of the versions of the first game, and in general it pretty much has everything good that the first game had on the XBOX. What I don't like is that the few additions that it does bring are pretty much shit, and while that doesn't kill the game by any means, I do feel that the mandatory Rachael missions in the the middle of the story mode can disrupt the flow the game and drag down its quality. That said....its honestly a pretty minor gripe. In other words, go ahead and play Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Its pretty much the best version of the game along with Ninja Gaiden Black. I just prefer Black because it has a better flow to the story mode without those unnecessary additions, and it has my favorite unlockable costume for Ryu which was removed from the PS3 version of the game.

As for Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, its still a great hack n' slash game, its just that I don't care for the changes made to that game, and there were a lot of changes that it had incorporated. But, believe it or not, based on your taste in gaming, I'd say that you'd probably like it better, so go for that game as well. Most of the changes are there to make the game more accessible to newcomers, and now that my fanboy love for the original version of NG2 has worn off, I can understand most of the changes that NGS2 made. That said, I still personally prefer the original version of NG2 for its challenge and the visceral feel it has to its combat, but after having spent a decent amount of time playing NGS2, I can honestly say that its still one of the better hack n' slash games out there, and to be fair it does remove and fix up a lot of bull-shit that was in NG2, though it also removes some of my favorite aspects of that game as well, so its a very give and take scenario in that regard.

Still, I'd recommend that you try both Ninja Gaiden Sigma games, especially since you'll never really get to experience the 3D NG games otherwise. There's no sense in waiting to play the original XBOX versions of those games if you don't ever actually plan to get an XBOX, so go ahead and play the Sigma games on the PS3, as I think you should definitely try them out sometime. The first game has a steep learning curve of sorts, but its one of the best action games ever once you finally learn how to play it at an appropriate level.

It looks like both Sigma games are fairly cheap on Amazon, so I'm definitely going to look into them. A lot of people seem to like the NG reboot games more than the NES ones, so I'm quite curious about checking them out. As for NG3, I was just curious cause I thought it was great how you guys (and it seems many NG fans in general) perfectly predicted how bad NG3 would be upon its release for the PS3 and 360.