I'm sorry, Gamespot, but to rate the 360 version of wasteland below the ps2 and xbox version for the following reason is an absurd piece of gaming "journalism." They are my least favorite gaming site and have proved why...Gamespy, my favorite, is holding reviews of online games until they can play them online...shows a great deal of class, IMHO.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sports/ton...iew.html?page=3

"Graphically, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland on the 360 doesn't look much better than its Xbox counterpart. Sure, you can run it in a higher resolution thanks to the 360's 720p and 1080i support, but all this does is make the character models look really awful. It runs at a smooth frame rate and doesn't have any jagged edges to it, but it still looks like a game that was initially developed for the PlayStation 2 and then hastily converted for a higher-powered system. If you're familiar with how some console-to-PC ports come out looking like crisper PS2 games, you should already have a pretty good idea of how this one looks. The textures are a weird mix--some of them are clearly higher-quality textures that look sharp, clean, and colorful. But you'll still come across some really dirty-looking ground and wall textures from time to time, too. When you compare this to other games on the Xbox 360, it looks downright mediocre."

How does "doesn't look much better than its Xbox counterpart" equate to giving it a lower score?

Well I'd have to agree. If a developer cannot utilise any of power of a new system but charges 10 or 20bucks more for the same game you should smack them for it, hard, this applies to all releases of a next gen launch lineup. The ones that dont make the new console look good dont deserve a high score.

Add to this the fact that all the previous tony hawk games have supported 720p on the Xbox1 but this is the FIRST ONE that doesnt, the evil plot starts to emerge. They've just dumbed down the xbox1 version to make the x360 version look that much better, because it needs all the help it can get.

Also, it's Jeff Gerstmann. He always has something up his butt.
The only reviewer I trust is Greg Kasavin. Go Greg!
Gamespot is my favorite gaming websie when it comes to reviews and videos. We all have our opinions on them, but if you actually think a 'website' writes reviews and articles, you're wrong. Yes, they publish them, so I'm sure that since they've actually played the game, and since Jeff Gerstmann is a successful Gamespot journalist, the mediocre rating for American Wasteland holds some water for a next-gen launch title. One of the main reasons that the game scored crappy for looking just a little bit better than the Xbox 1 version, and I say it's a pretty good reason too.

It's funny, one of 1UP's journalists gives out a mediocre review about a critically acclaimed game called KAMEO and no one minds, but when "gamespot" gives out a mediocre review about a game that wasn't all that critically acclaimed in the first place, and probably isn't all it could be and may not be a justifiable Xbox 360 title (while fine for Xbox1), everyone goes "Gamespot suxxx!".

I've never liked that Jeff Gerstmann, though.

Greg Kasavin is the journalist I trust - Jeff Gerstmann can suck an egg. Don't get me wrong, those "I have crappy speaking skills, so I'll read my video review straight off of a sheet of paper" journalists can suck an egg too, but while it's lodged far up my ass.

Couldn't have said it better. I mean isn't it $10 more? And for what, the game adds nothing except a higher resolution (which as mentioned was available in previous versions until now) and even then it doesn't look that good. So yes, in my opinion the score is justified.

Gamespot is spot on. Wasteland is a piece of shit since all they did was port it over. They didn't even bother to fix all the bugs or fix the fudged up textures. Since Xbox isnt as good as 360, all the bad spots of Wasteland are hidden but when you launch it up in 360 it's an awful piece of work.

** Thumbs Down for Wasteland **

I think that score makes perfect sense. A half ass port should get a half ass score.

exactly!

this is the xbox 360, if I see a bunch of ps2 ports i'll be very pissed off.
it's a next gen console and it's a last gen game.

Ive played the game and its shite!
trust me!

It's pretty much the same as all the other "SHITE" Tony Hawk games, It put's X360 to shame, it's no more graphically advanced or more enjoyable. Thumbs down for the Tony.

Yeah its kinda odd as remember tony hawk 2x how they made it special for xbox why not THAW360 that has the same effects???? Ohh well htey are all the same anyway.

heh heh




hey m_hael, wtf is going on in activision

this is only my opinion but....

to me, the tony hawk series hasnt changed much at all since tony hawk 3.

haha yeah that game sucks so much what do you expect?

its not the developer who chooses the game price its the publisher. so blame activision. also i think that a good reason that the game doesnt run at 720p on the xbox1 has to do with the game being so large.

i think people were expecting too much out of a cross-generation port. for tony hawk fans, they know that the game has never really been a graphical tour de force, but played for the fun factor (IMO). im sure as long as M_heal isnt under any kind of NDA he would be more then happy to divulge the technical enhancements done for the 360. i think any naysayer here shouldnt say anything if your not a fan or until you have actually played the game. again its no surprised that everyone is so quick tol judge but things should be kept in mind when your voicing your opinions.

There hasn't been a good Tony Hawk game since the original. I think the only one that ever impressed me was the GBA one. Graphics always suck, gameplay is always the same. I agree with the review as well... if you are buying a game for a next-gen system you don't expect it to look like ass, which it does.

I'm assuming that everyone commenting on the x360 version has played it and thus has a right to comment on how it looks "soooo bad"... oh sorry did I step on a few toes there?

I'm not allowed to divulge the actual improvements made over the xbox version however I can tell you they are there and its a LOT more than simply rendering to 720p. Play them side by side and you'll see... I would however recommend that you don't comment until you see them side by side or at least play the x360 version.

regarding the gameplay - the game sells Millions of copies every year based on its gameplay... similar to madden.

regarding the reviews - any reviewer that values his reputation would be worried at the comments being made. People should probably note that the value in a game is in its playability (tetris isn't shiny or gritty or realistic, yet its the most played game in the world), in my opinion this should make up over 75% of a review... sadly reviwers (and graphics whores) are more bothered about effect X ... if you want shiny things or realistic looks go see a movie.

m_chael,


With all due respect, I think the gist of the review is not just the graphics but the overall package. Now if your gonna charge the consumer more money for a title thats availabe cheaper on other systems then there is got to be something in place to justify the higher price. Now as a part time journalist that reviews games every now and then, I couldnt recommend someone buy THAW for the 360. They should just get the xbox version. Simply because you dont get any extra value for the extra money; theyre no significant improvements to warrant it being called next gen. You basically get the same game as the xbox version with a 720p option and a few graphical glitches.

They were just saying that you could get the same game and a better value if you just got one of the current gen versions.

Now the same cannot be said for other 360 launch titles so naturally THAW is gonna get the shorter end of the stick.

What about someone who does not have any of the other platforms.. then in order to play THAW on xbox it would cost around $200... should the xbox 360 verison be persecuted because of this... no... an LP costs more than a CD...does that mean the review for LP's is ALWAYS worse... no.

ALL 360 games are going to be at the pricepoint ATVI set for THAW... it is therefore unfair to judge "value" and compare to other platforms unless ALL 360 games that are xplat get the SAME treatment; they didn't.

and again - you would see the improvements made if you ran xbox & 360 side by side... but that might be fair and balanced and this is america so we wouldn't wanna do that.

ps - my name is not michael.

m_hael: Arent you employed by said company? So if our views are too harsh and unfair then your views are biased by a vested interest in the product in question.

Designing a game for the biggest cash cow (the PS2 naturally, 450mhz, 16MB ) which unfortunately happens to be the lowest common denominator, and then selling it as a next gen title (3.2GHz, 512MB) is your right as a free market enterprise. But we the public have the right to demand more. Fortunately for your business model most of us do not.

Your comparison to Tetris fails in that Tetris was revolutionary and original, and they didnt make a new Tetris game twice a year for 50 bucks a pop for 6 years in the running. To me TH has not been overhauled since it first appeared on the PSX (and actually was revolutionary and pioneering) so many years ago, and I can only wonder how many more years you can milk it without closing your doors for a couple years to build it all from scratch.

ps2 = 333Mhz, 32MB main ram

also - from your brief rundown of TH I'd guess you don't play the game much?

You guys should seriously leave M_Hael alone, he's certainly not the only person who worked on this game, and I'm sure it has a helluva lot of polish for what they were able to craft into this game.

Just imagine if you worked on a painting for a year and someone came along and told you it sucked, lock and load.

Give the guy a helluva lot of credit, he's come to X-S to answer your questions and you guys crap on him. If you don't like the game, vote with your dollars, but I bet it'll sell like hotcakes, they always do.

When you have a winning formula, you don't really need to change.

ps2 cpu: 294Mhz

again you people speak so loud about things you know nothing about. no offense to M_hael but i dont really care for the tony hawk series but i even give credit where its due. you guys with your conspiricies and theories about a game you never even played is BS. like he said its not the devs who decide the price its activision, and even though he cant say what is enhanced he can say a lot has been. everything i said in my last post still holds true while you guys continue to judge a geme that sells million every year (not twice a year) on the gameplay first and graphics second. i hardly keep up on the game and yet even i can see the clear advancements that the series has taken over the years. i cant even imagine the work that must go into making a game and yet im still never one to be so quick to down play someones accomplishments. like it has been said before, wait until you see the games running side by side or atleast play the damn finished 360 version before shouting your mouth off

I honestly don't care if the reviewer thinks the Xbox 360 version _should_ be better than it is.. I don't care if it isn't as pretty as other 360 games. The point is, regardless of the platform, the best _version_ should get the highest score. The reviewer makes a point that the graphics are only marginally better and the game play is as great as it is on the other systems. As such, this makes the 360 version the best of the bunch and it deserves the highest score.

What the reviews tell me is that if I own all 3 consoles I should get the Xbox 1 version because it is the best. This isn't the case, going by the text of the review.

I would just get the xbox 1 verson, there is no point in paying more when you can get the same game.

Ok,

I just played the 360 version about 2 hours ago and it's official.......

It blows.

And so does GUN for xbox.

Just my 2 cents.

I think the moral of the story is....

If you are a video game fan, these two games blow, If your a cassual gamer, (mindless pupet), you might actually eat this shit and love it. Just like Madden.

i think your report would have more merit if you gave reasons behind your brute opinions as to why the games "blow"? are you even a fan of the series? i just figured i would ask since its "official" now. in regards to gun the only negatives i have heard about the game is the games length and lack of replay value, the story, gameplay, premise, etc. have been well recieved by those who have played the game. next time you should put more thought into your post if you wish to be taken serious

I guess I don't wish to be taken seriously.


So, if you don't agree with what someone says, don't take it seriously and go play THAW!

"if you're already familiar with the other versions of Gun, know that the only real differences are that this port runs on the Xbox 360 instead of other platforms, and it also costs more"

"When you play Gun on an HDTV, low-resolution textures and character models shine through, undermining what was a great-looking presentation on other platforms.Seams in textures, some weird shimmering, clipping, and other little graphical flaws just get magnified.On top of that, when running in true HD resolution, for some strange reason the game comes out looking extremely dark compared with other versions of Gun and other Xbox 360 games (we confirmed this using Xbox 360s, component cables, and HDTVs). Or, if you play it on a standard television, Gun barely looks different from what you could be playing on a PS2 or an Xbox, except that it forces you to play in a letterboxed widescreen mode, for whatever reason. It doesn't really suffer from frame rate drops like the other versions do, but the frame rate still isn't fast and smooth, on the whole. So even though the quality of the visuals may be technically better on the 360 than other platforms--some of the textures are definitely sharper, for instance--the game just doesn't look at all flattering compared to other Xbox 360 titles, and it isn't going to live up to your expectations of what a game for a powerful new console ought to look like"


Want some complaints? there you go

we can argue this as much as we want but ultimately Gun and THAW are just victims of a spectacular launch and as a result they have to endure sharper scrutiny. I mean with all the competition of great games for the 360 how can you recommend these games to anyone but the die hards that havent bought the game yet? Thats why they deserve the gamespot score.

i wont be playing the game because other then the first two i lost interest in the series. however just because its not my kind of game i wont go out and say it sucks. for a skateboarding game, it has no equal. its also evident to the improvements that they have made through-out the years. im not one to downplay someones work and acheivements because its something i dont care for, thats just blind ignorance.

as for my reply to you earlier i was really curious to what made you think the game "blows"? how long did you play the game? are you even a fan of the series? do you think it blows only because it doesnt have "next gen" visuals? if you would actually include details then maybe it would give your shallow opinions some more solid ground to stand on. it scares me that some people may actually take words like your serious, while im sure there are millions of more gamers around the world that would be happy to disagree with you.

i get your point but still in the end a good game is a good game. cross-generation games are the only ones that shouldnt be put under such high scrutiny because of their last gen roots. its stupid to compare a game built for last gen to a game made for the 360, that doesnt deface any fun that can be had by those games though. i never said i wanted complaints, that is what a lot of people are already doing on these cross-generation games before even playing them in full. all i was asking was reasons for how jasker came to his opinions.

in the coming gen some old sayings will speak more true then ever before: the better the graphics get the easier it will be to spot the flaws and the end old debate that gameplay rules over all, even graphics. im not saying that graphics mean nothing as they help to suck you into the world being portayed on the screen, but for me if the game is fun enough then the graphics dont have to be totally revolutionay, just good. shenmue 2 for example was one of my favorite xbox games but it definatly wasnt the prettiest as it was a DC port (even though i thought it was impressive looking in a lot of ways)

Well, if you want a full review, there are plenty to go around, including the one that started this topic. But I think you want a full review that you agree with; and I can't help you out there.

I just don't feel the need to justify my opinion to you or anyone else. If you don't agree with what I'm saying now, giving you my complete bio and how I came to my opinions probably won't help.

So I'll leave it at that and you guys can play crap games all day long for all I care.

Now your not making much sense............first of all, they didnt say it wasnt a good game (they say any game over 5.0 is ok); second, you cant possible think these games shouldnt be judged similarly to the other games on the same platform! Thats like saying "We cant expect any better from her cause she is just a girl"; if your in the big leagues you shouldnt expect special treatment, just work harder! I mean Soul calibur was made for for weaker hardware to the DC but we all know how that turned out. I mean why didnt they just worked with ms to make THAW for the xbox backwards compatible and stick a big "also compatible with the xbox 360" sticker on the front and it save everyone the trouble.

And jasker is on ignore for me so i dont know what you talking about......

you obviously haven't played the game so I think I'll give you the respect you deserve.

I told you, I review games on the side. Ive played all the launch titles.....

Anyways im done with this, i spoke my mind. I dont want to continue any further.

m_chael, i dont want you to think i dont respect what you do or anything. This was just my opinion.....keep doing what you do, im sure its not an easy job.

Everybody's been selfish with their as of late, so here is mine as a peace offering