IGN: Five Changes Xbox 360 Needs in 2012

2011 was a pretty good year for the Xbox 360. The system saw some tremendous sales, including the best week in its history this past Thanksgiving and some great sales for both cross-platform and first-party exclusives. However, as we move into 2012, there are some major issues on the horizon for Microsoft's console. From a lack of exclusives to a problematic dashboard, there is a real need for a course change in the system's strategy. Here are some things that the Xbox 360 needs to come out on top in 2012.

[MrWiggle]

"2011 was a pretty good year for the Xbox 360"

"The system saw a sizable chunk of titles from its biggest franchises"

Wh..Whaa...What

Are people just blind, how can you say the 360 had a good year as a gamer, fair enough if your a shareholder and your looking at sales/profits left, right and center but how did they do well in 2011. It was Microsofts worst year, why do people feel the need to give them a pat of the back for not giving a crap about us.

Basicasly

Microsoft does nothing to appeal to the core gamers, focuses on shovelware/the casual audience, dosen't even try to make an effort with core gamers, then lies about it, lies about core games for Kinect, didn't learn there lesson from 2010 with a casual/Kinect focused E3 and so on...yet they get a free pass

Sony does the opposite and towards core gamers all they've done is give and give. Listening to feedback and acting on it with the PSV (Price, launch games, developer friendly etc) and they get hated on, nitpicked to death over the smallest things and recently all the doom and gloom PSV has failed articles.

I mean seriously....WTF

I'm not a fanboy, just a average gamer who can't see the logic behind this.

[GraveLord]

True. The Xbox 360 had no games that the PS3 didn't have. This year was ruled by multiplats. Gears 3 and Forza 4 are the only exclusives. That's pretty much it. Its exclusive line-up was really weak.

If 2011 was a "pretty good year" for Xbox 360, then I guess it was an EPIC year for PS3 since it had all those AAA multiplats + tons of AAA exclusives.

[ApplEaglElephant]

is that hard to comprehend?

exclusives games matter for gaming console cause thats more game it has than its competition.

[lastdual]

The "nothing for core gamers" argument is just vapid. Yes, I bought 3 PS3 exclusives (Killzone 3, Resistance 3, Uncharted 3) and only one 360 exclusive (Gears 3...holy crap every exclusive I bought was a part 3!) in the last year, but despite that, I ended up playing both consoles about equally.

You have to look at the whole picture. Downloadable titles like Bastion and Shadow Planet were a lot of fun, and there were a number of multiplats that I preferred to get for the 360.

I do hope that MS invests in more exclusive games when their next console rolls around, but I don't regret owning a 360 in 2011.

[gamingdroid]

@lastdual

The only game I remember buying on PS3 this year is Splinter Cell Trilogy, Mass Effect 2 and Dead Space 2.

I have access to Uncharted 3 and KZ3 in the household as my brother plays on his PS3 exclusively.

That said, I have a fat backlog of Xbox 360 games and I still only play one game the last several months for the most part. Gears of War 3!

That game is so sickeningly good online!!! :D

With the new dashboard update and beacons, I find more friends that want to play it as it connects us. So the problem is even worsened!

I definitely do not regret owning an Xbox 360.

[BitbyDeath]

Microsoft as a company is important to the US.
US sites will always fully support them.

[kikizoo]

not only Us, all ms partners all over the world, it's a big part of their viral marketing.

by the way, lol@ the spin from xfanboyz :
2006 "lololol xbox is taking all playstation exclusives, yoou'll see, in 2 years, not a single game would be exclusives, and the ps3'll die"
2011 "exclusives don't matter" (since xbox don't have any)

[edgeofblade]

Next thing you know, the conspiracy theorists will be blaming Microsoft for 9/11...

...oh... you DON'T know how silly you look flinging conspiracy theories like that everywhere. I'm sorry... I thought N4G might have turned into a rational place.

What was I thinking...

[gamingdroid]

@edgeofblade

Look at the forum posts count:

PS3 288k
Xbox 360 73k
PC 32k
Wii 13k

source: http://forums.n4g.com/defau...

Yet somehow, there is some kind of conspiracy to the benefit of the Xbox 360.

I say, the community here if anything is biased and therefore the "news" here isn't representative of the general public/gamer.

[death2smoochie]

The reality was in 2011, Multi-platform games made the most impression.
MS does need more exclusives, but its not a deal breaker for many.

The reality is over 85% of games released in a calender year are multi-platform games.

[blumatt]

Made the most impression on the 360 maybe but the PS3 had like 10 or more great exclusives. The only one I didn't feel was as good as it could've been was Resistance 3 (and it was still good). The rest were all great.

Exclusives do matter, even when your system of choice isn't getting many. It's real convenient to say they don't make an impression when you aren't getting many.

[aquamala]

I agree , single console owners get to play most of the top games of 2011, this is a good thing, would you prefer Sony/MS to pay off studios to make games not available on the other console? How's that good for gaming?

[trouble_bubble]

"The reality is over 85% of games released in a calender year are multi-platform games."

and the reality is most of those are garbage. The lowest rated games on meta and poorest selling on vgchartz for 2011 are multiplats.

LBP2, UC3, MLB11TheShow, Gears3, Forza4, ICO/SOTC, Zelda SkywardSword, Minecraft etc scored better than hyped multiplats like DeusEx, Dark Souls, LA Noire, MW3, BF3, Crysis2, Rage, Bulletstorm, AC Revelations, Child of Eden, Shadows of the Damned, Catherine, Duke Nukem, DragonAge2, Driver, Dead Space2, Dead Island etc. Without Portal in the 1st half of '11 and Batman/Skyrim in the final quarter, it'd be an impression alright.

For all the flack Resistance 3 got for not selling a million in week1 -even though it's almost there now anyways- why did GOTY multiplat followup Dark Souls barely scratch 300,000 on the 360 in the same release window? Yakuza 4 sold more than twice as much on the PS3 and that's pure niche. Perhaps 360 gamers were more interested in exclusives like Gears, Forza, Halo Anniversary too?

[specialguest]

Hey... leave Dark Souls out of this argument. Despite the metacritic score, Dark Souls was a better game than most of those exclusives you've mentioned.

[JaredH]

I agree just because Portal 2 was my GOTY and Skyrim was close behind(on 360). I liked exclusives like Gears 3 and Uncharted 3 but I had a better time with certain multiplats this year.

[edgeofblade]

Long story short: Only fanboys who want to win internet arguments care about exclusives and winning "points" for their side.

The rest of us play what we want and decide for ourselves.

And right now... I'm playing Skyrim on my Xbox... and I'm glad I didn't choose the PS3 copy.

[TurretKiller]

Wait...how did I get done for trolling above

What the hell was trollish about that comment, honestly. That wasn't done by the N4G community that was a mod who did that. Seriously the mods don't have a clue what a troll is most of the time if we go by their logic....."Oh a long well manner response...........TROLL" /s

Honestly the way things are run on here make you laugh

[specialguest]

I once had 6 bubbles I earned over the course of 2 years and I lost 3 bubbles in a short span of a week for being labeled NOT A REPLY (when it was clearly a direct reply to someone I replied to with links to prove my point). I also got labeled with TROLL for a ridiculously unknown reason to my non-TROLL comment.

[kaveti6616]

You 'joined' 2 days ago and are already making trouble.

[TurretKiller]

@kaveti6616

Really....thats me casying trouble, don't be silly. I think the only reason your commenting me on here is because I told you you to leave that other user alone in the last article when you told him to go away, even though it's a comment site for commenting

I remember when you used to have 5 bubbles, how the mighty fall

[kaveti6616]

I really dislike making lists to prove a point, but below are 33 games that were released on the Xbox 360 in 2011. Yes, many of these games are multiplatform, but in response to all the people on this website who say, "I feel sorry for Xbox 360 owners because they have no games to play," here is a list of 33 games that are pretty decent by most review scores. Now, I don't know about most of you. If you people all happen to be crippled from the waist down and unemployed, then I can imagine why you would think 33 decent games are not enough to pass through a miserable year.

Some of the games on the list below, including Dark Souls and Skyrim, can take hundreds of hours to beat.

I don't know how many of you there are that are able to get through more than 33 games in a year, that you would argue the 360 has no games. No exclusives? Still wrong. There are exclusives on the Xbox 360. Yes, there aren't many. But how does that factor into the argument of "360 players have no games to play"?

Are multiplatform titles no longer good, no longer acknowledged? Do you people honestly believe that outside of this website, anybody really gives a crap about which console has the most exclusives? Do you think anybody truly gives that much of a crap?

For those of us who have jobs and have college and have lives outside of the gaming sphere, 33 games are overkill, 22 are overkill, 10 are overkill, and even 5 may be too many. I might play 3 games a year.

I am completely unaffected by this whole "hardcore versus casual" situation. I'm going to assume that "hardcore" gamers are people with stained shirts, expansive waists, oily skin, greased hands, untidy bedrooms, disappointed parents, part-time delivery jobs, and no future prospects outside of leveling up.

I mean, seriously. 33 games that I selectively chose among many more crap titles and it's not enough. There are 883 games for the Xbox 360. 129 of them are exclusives. 79 of them are only available on Xbox 360 and PC, and 671 of them are multiplatform.

Why would someone with an Xbox 360 care that the games he likes to play are also on PS3? If he barely has time to play the games he's playing now, why would he care that the PS3 has games he cannot play? My point is, I just don't think that people care as much about exclusives as some people on this site do, and I don't think most people care which games are multiplatform and which aren't.

If that's not enough for you, then you need to reevaluate your lives.

Forza Motorsport 4 (MC 91)
Gears of War 3 (MC 91)
Child of Eden (MC 84)
Battlefield 3 (MC 84)
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (MC 88)
Crysis 2 (MC 84)
Dark Souls (MC 89)
Dead Island (MC 71)
Dead Space 2 (MC 90)
Deus Ex Human Revolution (MC 89)
Dirt 3 (MC 87)
Dragon Age II (MC 79)
Driver San Francisco (MC 80)
El Shaddai: Ascension of Metatron (MC 75)
F1 2011 (MC 84)
Fifa 12 (MC 90)
Fight Night Champion (MC 86)
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (MC 82)
LA Noire (MC 89)
Madden NFL 12 (MC 78)
Marvel vs Campcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (MC 85)
Metal Gear Solid HD collection (MC 91)
Mortal Kombat (MC 86)
NBA 2K12 (MC 90)
NHL 12 (MC 86)
Portal 2 (MC 95)
RAGE (MC 81)
Saints Row The Third (MC 84)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (the most playable console version) (MC 96)
The King of Fighters XIII [MC 79)
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (MC 76)
Top Spin 4 (MC 84)
Assassin's Creed: Revelations (MC 80)

[P_Bomb]

To be fair, this IGN article has the lack of exclusives as their #1 concern, so it's not just an N4G thing.

Hopper says he wants "more new and original experiences" and "great, high quality" ones. I don't think that's an unreasonable, oily skinned request. One can ignore the "no games to play" rebuttals, but wanting more quality games to choose from isn't in itself a bad thing imo.

Eg. Warhammer 40000 Space Marine. While it may have brought a reasonable facsimile of the chainsaw gun to the PS3, no one will mistake it quality wise for the exclusive Gears 3. Same with Quantum Theory. Despite the obvious Gears influence, it just ain't the same.

Listing NBA 2K12 or Top Spin 4 as multiplat alternatives doesn't really factor in either if you don't like basketball or tennis. Odds are F1 2011 won't scratch that Zelda itch.

Forza meanwhile filled a GranTurismo gap in the 360 lineup that no multiplat could fill, and I know a lot of players are happier for it. I was personally quite happy to finally be able to play Mass Effect 1, Splinter Cell Conviction and Alan Wake when I got my 360 five months ago. Even happier when I liked 'em. Exclusives justified my purchase of another console. This bundle was simply too good to pass up http://www.joystiq.com/2011... .

[moparful99]

People are talking about exclusives.. You can't boast about multiplats that can be played on a competing platform with a larger catalog of high profile exclusives.. Once again you are trying to explain away microsofts short comings while sony is martyred for every little thing they do... It's a sad reality that the 360's fanbase don't hold microsoft to a higher standard...

[Venjense]

Well you could have played them on PS3..

And not paid the price of a game for online access,
had a free blu-ray player,
spent the 60 bucks saved on a huge standard hard drive or ANOTHER brand new AAA game,
had cheaper HD movie rentals ($5 vs 8.50+) and DLC because you don't have to use MS points,
had a better media player for netflix, mp3 and downloaded vids,

And had even more game options.

[xPhearR3dx]

@Venjense

Or I could stick to using my Xbox and;

Pay $60 a year an keep all of my discounted purchases if I decide to cancel, unlike PS+
Use Netflix, HBO Go, Epix, Crackle, SyFy etc for movies.
I used that $60 to buy a new game since my 360 came with a $60 gift card, 2 games, and 3 months of XBL.
Movie rentals are the same price dude.
Vuze can stream every bit of digital content to my 360. Movies, music, pictures etc. I can also stream music while playing games unlike on PS3.

And even more like party chat, using a YouTube app instead of a broken web browser etc.

[EVILDEAD360]

Well said Kaveti616 +bubz

I've made a similiar point recently when this keeps coming up.

I own all consoles and bought 20+ for my 360 alone.

If you only owned the 360 in the last tweo years you got ALL of the top exclusives franchises released all gen on the 360.

IGN isn't fooling anybody. They will say the 360 should have released more exclusives this year, but last year they could have cared less.

At the end of last year they spent most of their time pondering whether Kinect was a success and adding that Alan Wake was good 'but did not sell'.

So who cares if they make a bogus list in 2012.

I still laugh at the whole indie thing on the dashboard. As SOON as that story, I checked to see how hard it was and it took 2 minutes., and IMO the indie games look way more enticing for new buys now with the huge boxes and better way to sort, than a $1 game ever did.

At the end, of the day, the 360 sold great numbers. People pretend sales don't matter, until you don't sell to expectations. Ask Nindendo and Sony what kind of headlines theyt have had with 3DS and Vita.

Again, they released their big exclusives, Kinect had another great holiday, and they improved Live.

Bottomline, MS did what they could in their 6th year and it payed off. Online, Nintendo literally got a get of jail free pass with only releasing Zelda and Just Dance 3. But, Nintendo Wii owners never got Dead Space 2, Skyrim, LA Noire, Portal 2, or Batman: Arkham City.

Fans of ALL consoles had easily one of the best years..period..All the back seat driving won't change a thing.

Evil

[optimus]

you pretty much nailed in your description what "hardcore" gamers are. these same gamers will call you a troll for choosing one gaming system over another. this day and age i consider myself a casual gamer as my hardcore days were left behind in the 16bit era.

although exclusives are what tends to sell a new console initially, it's not what sustains it (ask sega)...
i for one can live without another halo game and it wouldn't change my liking towards a particular gaming system. i like games that are still fun to play after the fact that you have finished/unlocked everything. having major exclusives that i get bored with after a week means diddily squat to me...

as for the article; keep in mind that it's the UK IGN and they tend to have a different taste in games then we do in the States...his gripe on the dashboard is puzzling to me as i have yet to find the advertising obtrusive, (i barely notice them) it's not like they force you to watch it when selecting through the menus.

his games on demand argument is somewhat pointless as most of the current games on there are overpriced compared to (used) retail version.

as far as kinect goes this guy seems to be impatient. why would microsoft make the kinect open source if it wasn't planning to do bigger and better things with it? just take a look around youtube and see what people have done with it and i'm pretty sure microsoft is taking notes.

i do agree with support for the current 360 once the new one comes out as i have no intention of buying anything that's over $250 bucks.

[kaveti6616]

"People are talking about exclusives.. You can't boast about multiplats...."

You people are talking about exclusives. Most people outside of this website do not care. And I wasn't boasting. Your mindset is Microsoft versus Sony, 360 versus PS3, so I understand why you view what I say as an argument against PS3. I am only saying that people who own 360s only aren't suffering like some would think.

@ Venjense

Well, I could have had a PC

And not paid 65 dollars for any game
and watch HD movies in 2005 without the need of a Blu-Ray player
and had a huge standard hard drive without having to buy it after market.
and could have had netflix much sooner than the PS3 got it so I'd never need to rent films from the Sony store
and could have had the best media player for netflix (rather than just this PS3)

And had even more game options that can be played at much higher resolutions with mod support and almost full backwards compatibility with games made years ago.

[mugoldeneagle03]

Obviously for some of us "hardcore" it was a normal year with nothing special, but the Kinect did sell well, and Microsoft did sell a ton of consoles as well now 6-7 years into its lifespan.

As for the article all I want is games. Games and more games. And good games. That is all

[xPhearR3dx]

Hmmm lets see. I got to play:

Dead Space 2
L.A. Noire
Portal 2
RAGE
Dark Souls
Battlefield 3
Skyrim
Dead Island
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Gears 3
Forza 4
Batman Arkham City

plus MANY other games in 2011. It was a good year for my Xbox last year. I don't care what you, my neighbor, or anyone else on the planet can play. I care what I can play, and I was able to play those plus more. To be honest, exclusives don't appeal to me much. On neither PS3 or 360. There's a few on each I'd LOVE to play, and have played. Such as Gears, Heavy Rain, LBP etc. But I wouldn't die without them.

I've always looked forward to multiplatform titles more than exclusives. In 2012, I'm really looking forward to GTA IV (Hopefully), Borderlands 2, and Max Payne 3 the most. I don't need something PS3/PC gamers CAN'T play to be happy. I'm happy with what I can play.

[Pacman321]

I think more GOOD exclusive games is the most important one.

[Legionaire2005]

More exclusives not shovelware stuff.

[GribbleGrunger]

just support the gamers that made them successful.

[user858621]

More exclusives, the fans of the other console seem to want them badly

[DeathAvengers]

Well, personally i'm fine with not having more than gears and forza in 2011. There was plenty of multiplats bf3 saints row skyrim portal 2 arkham city and even COD. I'll be damned if i was going to miss out on those. But yes, we do need more exclusives. Halo 4 this year ;p Hopefully microsoft has a decent lineup this year at E3.

[JeffGUNZ]

I agree. I think exclusives are minor this late into the generation. I really do hope Microsoft has some brand new exclusives up their sleeves for their next gen console. I see exclusives as important selling points for new consoles.

[TheColbertinator]

New games and IPs would be nice.Food for thought.

[urwifeminder]

Keep the great times rolling.

[Pikajew]

There are tons of great games on XBLA that people don't look at. Befor saying xbox has no exclusives look at all the downloadable games it has. A game doesn't have to be on a disk to be good. Dungeons of Dredmor is a 5$ game and is better than half the games of 2011.
Here are great console exclusive XBLA games.
Toy Soldiers: Cold War
Orcs Must Die!
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Radiant Silvergun
Bastion
Iron Brigade (Trenched)
The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile
Ms. Splosion Man

[Mastarace]

A couple of those are on pc. Also it shows that they are cheap and want to spend less money for their bigger titles and developers so they rely on small indie devs.

[Objective]

My personal gaming experience last year:

360 - Gears 3, Forza 4, Skyrim, Dead island, BF3, LA Noire, Portal 2.

PS3 - Catherine, Uncharted 3

Yup most of my gaming took place last quarter of the year, but what a last quarter it was!!

So nothing to complain at all about 360. A lot of exclusives are mediocre anyway, and conversely a lot of multiplats are great. I still have to get Batman and Saints Row from last year!

[moparful99]

Guess what I played dead island, bf3, la noire, and portal 2 on my ps3.. I wish you all would quit using multiplats as a reason to justify the lack lustre year the 360 had...

[Objective]

You don't seem to get the point. Sure you played those games on PS3 too, and that's the thing, the great experiences are on both platforms, what's there to complain? If 80% of great games can be played across platforms, you are gonna overlook that?

Honest truth is that apart from Gears, Forza, Uncharted and maybe God of War, I don't think there are that many exclusives on either platform that I feel are must buys. There have however been many must buy multiplatforms.

So maybe you shouldn't over emphasize a handful of exclusives.

Besides, I spent more than 100 great hours on Gears 3 and Forza 4. I spent 10 great hours on Uncharted. That seems to me to be a lot more gaming joy I'm getting from 360 exclusives so, really, no complaints.

[Venjense]

The thing I want the most from MS is to eliminate MS points. They make everything so expensive in Canada.

Frankly, it's pathetic to see a company scraping for a little extra change so blatantly. The small added revenue they receive is probably offset by the damage to their brand, maybe not immediately but MS it's finally setting in that MS is the rip-off console.

[from the beach]

There's really no lack of exclusives on the horizon for 360, look it up IGN! Tell your readers!

My Kinect certainly wasn't underused in 2011 but I agree that this year is a key one for the device - the article mentions a few games that will use it as an add-on but, as if daintily dodgeing blade traps in Rise of Nightmares, manages to steer itself around the big stand-alone releases.

It seems to be the gaming media's business to keep quiet about those!

[JeffGUNZ]

I think his comment about ads is pointless. Do the ads really ruin the experience? It's like not watching TV because of commercials. We pay for cable, so why do we have to watch the commercials? It's the same thing. The ads keep the cost of the price down in the long run while being able to add more content at the same price point. I think the new dashboard is great and he is stretching with that argument.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

totally agree about the ad business. I am not bothered at all by the corner ad space... its never front and center. Any "ad" appearing in the middle areas is for currently released games or content...aka things I might be interested in as a gamer. Honestly this new dashboard is a huge improvement over the old one. Heck...now your console launches right to the window for play the game in your drive. One button push and you are gaming.

[Beastradamus]

It needs exclusives. Period.