Xbox 360 Game News, Reviews, and Columns - XboxFocus

Developers

by Dick Ward July 8th 2008 7:34 PM CDT0 Comments

The recent photograph of what appeared to be a 360 dev kit on the desk of Hideo Kojima got the Xbox fanbase extremely excited about possibilities of seeing Metal Gear on the 360. Recent reports indicate that this was in fact a normal 360, but the subject of having a formerly exclusive (sans remakes) developer work on a 360 game is just too exciting to leave without some thought. What formerly exclusive, or nearly exclusive, developers could make a huge impact on the Xbox 360?

Hideo Kojima

Of course, the recent speculation has all been surrounding Hideo Kojima, creator of the acclaimed Metal Gear series. As unlikely as it is that Kojima would jump ship given some of the things he’s said regarding the 360 and of course, the implied insult in MGS 4, one cannot help but wonder what he could bring to the system and what the 360 could do for him.

There is little question about the success of Metal Gear Solid 4; the game has sold remarkably well and has received nearly unanimously glowing reviews. It has a rabid, nearly cult like, fan base that take the game incredibly seriously. Most importantly of all, it fills a niche that developers for the 360 have failed to hit convincingly – stealth action. Without Blu-Ray support, it seems there’s little that the 360 could do for MGS 4 that the PS3 can’t aside from a larger player base.

Metal Gear Online though, would certainly benefit from Xbox Live support. Surely the registration process would be much less confusing and matchmaking more efficient. Perhaps with the hard work already done by Microsoft, the game could have been expanded further and released as a separate title as originally intended.

Shigeru Miyamoto

Of course, Kojima isn’t the only developer that could truly expand the 360’s lineup. Perhaps the most intriguing is Mr. Nintendo himself, Shigeru Miyamoto. The biggest name in gaming today, Miyamoto never seems to produce anything but successes. Even Wii Fit, while not loved by critics, has been an amazing seller.

In addition to bringing a legion of faithful followers to the 360, Miyamoto would undoubtedly create a hallmark game for the system. Whether a full release game or simply something for the Xbox Live Arcade, anything Miyamoto created for Xbox would surely be a hit, but is there a reason for him to make the switch?

Certainly the chance to work with an advanced machine and high definition graphics for the first time would be quite an interesting change, but the most intriguing thing for Miyamoto may be the restrictions that the opportunity would bring. He would of course, be absolutely unable to incorporate any of the characters he’s so well known for. Without being able to fall back on a Zelda or Mario game, Miyamoto would be forced, for better or worse, into creating a new IP, which might be just the thing to break the aging creator out of the ‘non-game’ streak he seems to be in.

Blizzard

It’s been thirteen years since Blizzard released a game for a home console not counting the intolerable StarCraft 64. While bringing anything from their big three titles – WarCraft, StarCraft, and Diablo – may be out of the question for the company, perhaps a revitalization of their older titles could allow Blizzard to dominate even further.

It’s without question that Blizzard is a developer notorious for perfection. They’ve scrapped better games than most companies put out, and in the case of StarCraft: Ghost, they’ve done it twice. Bringing a game to the 360 would mean a glut of hardware sales for Microsoft in addition to increased live membership if the game were online capable. Perhaps the long awaited but indefinitely postponed StarCraft ghost could be that game?

On the side of simplicity and ease for Blizzard who currently have their plates full with StarCraft II and Diablo III would be a port for XBLA. While the original Diablo would certainly be interesting, they do have a few successful console game in their past. Putting a small team on recreating art and adding an online multiplayer mode to The Lost Vikings, or (my personal favorite) Rock ‘n’ Roll Racing. They’re almost guaranteed to sell well, and would be a nice additional income for the company.

Telltale Games

Not the most recognized name on this list by any means, Telltale games produces the Sam & Max games for PC as well as the upcoming Wii Ware title Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People. Unlike the others, since Telltale is a smaller developer, they would actually see more of a benefit by releasing on 360.

The Sam & Max series has a strong player base, and a very loyal one at that. In exchange for a huge amount of exposure and XBLA as a market to share their games, Telltale’s Sam & Max series would bring an already established episodic game to the platform. And of course, the more people buying games on the LIVE Arcade, the better things are for Microsoft.

Luc Bernard

People may not be familiar with Luc Bernard, but may have heard of the controversy over Imagination is the only Escape, the holocaust themed DS game. While his game Eternity’s Child will unfortunately not be coming to the Xbox 360 even though it was created with the XNA toolset, future releases could go either way.

There is still a large amount of controversy over Bernard’s WWII Holocaust themed game, which Microsoft could truly capitalize on. Nintendo of America seems quite reluctant to release it and it’s got a very unclear future at the moment.

Luc is a very interesting personality and brings a very thoughtful spin to the titles he’s created. One of many independent developers who seem to be more interested in creating an experience than a game, the Xbox LIVE Arcade would be a lot stronger with titles like Eternity’s Child on board.

Of course, the largest benefit to the 360 could be the reputation gained from releasing Imagination is the Only Escape if it ends up being successful. Described as Alice in Wonderland meets Schindler’s List, it has the opportunity to be one of the first games to truly evoke emotions in much the same way that Life is Beautiful did. If this truly is the high watermark of art in gaming that it seems to be, Microsoft should be all over it.