Namco treads carefully with Xbox announcing a deal much heralded by the US giant
A vote of confidence or lip service for cash?
Microsoft Corp and Namco of Japan have jointly announced a deal that will see Namco create four games for Xbox, two of which will be exclusive to the platform.
"Having Namco games available on Xbox is a huge victory for gamers around the world," said Robbie Bach, chief Xbox officer at Microsoft. "We are delighted that, through Xbox, gamers worldwide will experience the thrilling titles produced by Namco's game creators."
The confirmed games that are not exclusive are the new Ridge Racer game, tentatively titled Ridge Racer latest version, and Soul Caliber 2, initially thought to be exclusive to GameCube. The platform exclusive titles are Dead to Rights, which has been described as a “Thrilling adventure about a cop framed for murder and facing execution who makes a daring escape and seeks revenge on those who killed his father and set him up,” and another, as yet unnamed game.
"At Namco, we are excited to work together with Microsoft on Xbox game development," said Masaya Nakamura, chairman and CEO of Namco. "We initially will provide game titles that appeal to the avid video game consumer in the Xbox consumer space, and in the future we intend to provide games using the Xbox online game service."
This is not the glittering seal of approval Microsoft is making out. A four game deal is not a vote of confidence. It is quite the opposite. Namco would gladly sign a twenty-game deal with Sony and make ten of the titles exclusive. This is Namco dipping its toe in the water, possibly incited by a peek at the green stuff the Xbox has to play with.
We will bring you more news on the deal and details on the unnamed Namco Xbox project as it breaks.
"Having Namco games available on Xbox is a huge victory for gamers around the world," said Robbie Bach, chief Xbox officer at Microsoft. "We are delighted that, through Xbox, gamers worldwide will experience the thrilling titles produced by Namco's game creators."
The confirmed games that are not exclusive are the new Ridge Racer game, tentatively titled Ridge Racer latest version, and Soul Caliber 2, initially thought to be exclusive to GameCube. The platform exclusive titles are Dead to Rights, which has been described as a “Thrilling adventure about a cop framed for murder and facing execution who makes a daring escape and seeks revenge on those who killed his father and set him up,” and another, as yet unnamed game.
"At Namco, we are excited to work together with Microsoft on Xbox game development," said Masaya Nakamura, chairman and CEO of Namco. "We initially will provide game titles that appeal to the avid video game consumer in the Xbox consumer space, and in the future we intend to provide games using the Xbox online game service."
This is not the glittering seal of approval Microsoft is making out. A four game deal is not a vote of confidence. It is quite the opposite. Namco would gladly sign a twenty-game deal with Sony and make ten of the titles exclusive. This is Namco dipping its toe in the water, possibly incited by a peek at the green stuff the Xbox has to play with.
We will bring you more news on the deal and details on the unnamed Namco Xbox project as it breaks.
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