Time For Zombies!
Dead Rising is a proper application of next-generation technology. Observe the following hypothetical design discussion:
Capcom Designer 1: Okay, what can we do on the Xbox 360 that we couldn’t do before?
Capcom Designer 2: Make the exact same kind of games we’ve been making, only prettier?
Capcom Designer 1: Dude, we’re designers, not artists. What can we do from a design standpoint that we couldn’t do before?
Capcom Designer 2: I don’t know…um…instead of putting a small number of very highly detailed models on the screen, we could put a very large number of moderately-detailed models on the screen instead.
Capcom Designer 1: Okay, that’s a good start…what kind of game could we make with that technology?
Capcom Designer 3: How about a game where you can run around and kill hundreds of zombies using anything that comes to hand?
Designer 1 + Designer 2: JACKPOT!
In other ways, though, the game is quite conventional:
Capcom Modeller 1: I’m giving every woman in this game really big boobs.
Capcom Modeller 2: Why?
Capcom Modeller 1: Because I can.
Capcom Modeller 2: AWESOME!
But it’s not about the boobs. It’s about cutting zombie heads off with a scythe. And as a result, this is the first game to ever make me really want a 360. Maybe that’ll be my Christmas present to myself…
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I’m morally opposed to any game that’s billed as a platform “exclusive”.
Really? So you won’t be playing Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess when it comes out?
Indeed. I’ve enjoyed the Zelda series up to and including Ocarina of Time. Somewhere around that time frame though I decided that “exclusive” titles were a bunch of crap (partially because I couldn’t afford to buy 3 gaming systems, partially because I realized it’s a corporate ploy) and stopped caring about such titles. The only “exclusives” I’ll play now are PC titles and games that aren’t billed as exclusive, but simply haven’t been ported. And I won’t buy a game system solely for the latter.
well.. wii exclusives will probably have a point, as other systems don’t have same kinds of controls. (Same goes for DS, but then again, portable units generally don’t get games ported across).
I’ll grant you that point. I’ll make exceptions for games written for systems that are unique enough to not be capable of cross-platform coding. Of course I’ll probably still never buy the particular system, unless it’s truely compelling indeed.