Welly, well well. I'm not too sure what to say. So much has been said already!
Some of it I really don't agree with, some I totally do!
First off, someone pointed out that Invercargill is a generic look-alike. That is true, it's doesn't have another stand down the end with the trees and the terraces are for standing not sitting. Still, pretty close. Someone else said there should also have been hills in the background. Not true that though.
Anyhow, on to other things. First of all, please remember everyone, this is just the first battle between the two games: Graphics. So far it appears to be a landslide victory to Sidhe. Fair enough.
Someone earlier said that the graphics on HB's effort are PS1 quality. Come on, seriously! Talking that way no-one will take you seriously. Just because one lot of graphics are very good, it doesn't automatically mean the other ones are terrible. These graphics are no worse than Rugby League Live (what was wrong with that game wasn't really graphics either).
The important aspect of both of these games will be gameplay. If bunching and other forms of poor AI doesn't turn out to be the issue that some are straight away assuming it will be, then HB's game may still be very good. Sidhe's game may turn out to play terribly. Or it may work out that Sidhe KO's HB in that category too. Now's not the time to be declaring the winner in that area of the games.
I think that some of the things that have been said in this thread have been completely ungracious. Things like "this is an absolute disaster!", "these graphics are astonishingly bad", "I'm not buying this game now!".
It all reminds me of something.
There's another sport out there in the world that's not quite the huge seller like Fifa, Madden, FPS games and others. It one that is played in many of the same countries as Rugby. It's called Cricket.
Ashes Cricket came out and was considered a step in the right direction, sold enough copies. Then International Cricket 2010 came out, it was basically just the previous game patched. There was a huge outcry about that and many people complained about various other things too. Less copies were sold.
Codemasters stopped producing cricket games. Big Ant developer of Rugby League Live are now attempting to make a cricket game and it's release has been pushed back many times now. That's about it. If that gets the reaction of International Cricket 2010, then the game will be dead on this current generation of consoles.
With these rugby games currently coming out, we all have a chance to prove we are real rugby gamers, not just talkers, to stop slagging off whichever game is not quite as good as the other, not buy some other category of games for a couple of months and buy both of these games.
The only way you'll get another game of rugby next year or the year after that is to support these games as much as possible. If you support them both you double the chance of that happening.
If anyone out there seriously believes that the way to save rugby gaming is to kick one game as hard as you can due to graphics seen prior to release, then they are very much deluded.
Both companies are striving to make as good a game as they can. We need to keep pre-game screenshots and trailers in perspective for what they are. A glimpse.
Do you judge everyone you ever meet on a glimpse or someone elses words? Or do you actually make your mind up after getting to know them? The answer tells you more about yourself than the subject of your attentions.
let's hope it's free flowing rugby genius!
