Look,
I work in software development myself. I know it's a business and I don't begrudge their right to make money however they see fit. It's astonishing to me how everyone has just completely glossed over the firing of their creative staff and instead turned this thread into another lame console war. I don't care that they are developing for Xbox -- this would have been the only launch title that I would have even considered buying an Xbox for. The problem I have that particular issue is that development on the PS2 version was at an advanced stage when they suddenly switched gears and signed an exclusive contract with Xbox. Did it seem to you that the limitations of the PSX hardware in any way impaired your enjoyment of the first two Oddworld games? Don't even start with this "fan loyalty" crap!
The more relevant and disturbing fact is that they fired the creators of your favorite games one month before the release of what is likely to be the most profitable Oddworld game ever. Why do you think that is? To make better games for you? When the money starts coming in from those sales, the ones who profit from it are not going to be the ones who spent long hours and poured their hearts and souls into bringing you the best gaming experience they could. Are you still convinced Oddworld is acting in you, the gamer's, best interests? What happens after the rosy glow of playing Munch's Oddysey wears off? Who is going to be working on the next Oddworld game? Certainly not the sales, marketing, and PR teams at OI who were spared the axe. Certainly not the professional game developers and artists who were canned nor their peers at other companies who saw how OI treated its creative staff right before the release of their biggest project ever.
I'm not trying to start a flame war over whether Xbox or PS2 "rul3z", I'm just throwing a few things out there that you need to know about before voting with your (or your parents') wallets which game developers you choose to support. If MO turns out to be a fantastic game, and I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be, enjoy it for all it's worth, because you're not likely to get anything better in the future.
