Braid Creator: New Xbox "Not a Good Choice" for The Witness

[Cognimancer]

Braid Creator: New Xbox "Not a Good Choice" for The Witness

Microsoft's rumored next-gen console has one indie developer very concerned.

Last month's high-profile reveal of the PlayStation 4 featured a number of presentations from big-name publishers, as expected - every AAA developer wants a piece of the next generation of gaming hardware. One surprising speaker was Braid developer and indie VIP Jonathan Blow, who took the stage to promote his upcoming title The Witness and to announce that it would be a timed PlayStation exclusive [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122327-Jonathan-Blow-Clarifies-The-Witness-PS4-Exclusivity]. He recently sat down to elaborate on his decision to sign up with Sony, and why he's concerned about the direction Microsoft is taking the Xbox platform.

Blow was quick to praise Sony's attention to indie developers with the PlayStation 4. "I do think they realize that downloadable games are going to be bigger than they ever have been," he said, "and I think they realize that part of success in that area is having developers who are making the most interesting games want to be on their platform."

In the past, Blow had worked with Microsoft to distribute Braid, but he isn't eager to continue that partnership. The Xbox strives to be an all-encompassing media device, and if its unannounced successor continues to move its focus away from video games, Blow isn't sure he wants to be a part of it. "We do see the same leaks as everyone else has, and they seem plausible," Blow explained. "To me they talk about a console that is not strictly about games. It's trying to be a center of the living room device ... As a place to put the best, highest performing version of our game on, it doesn't seem as good a choice."

Blow's qualms about working with Microsoft extend beyond the technical side of things. "I've had a bad time working with Microsoft in the past," he admitted. "Other developers who are friends of mine have had a horrible time, so the idea of signing up again with Microsoft isn't something I'd have ruled out, but there's a certain amount of dread I have about doing that again."

It isn't clear yet whether or not Blow's faith in the PS4 will pan out, but he's optimistic about his relationship with Sony. It's worth noting that while the console rivalry is still raging, The Witness is only exclusive to the PS4 in terms of dedicated gaming platforms, and Blow is still free to publish on PC and mobile devices alongside Sony's hardware. We're sure to hear more details about the game's availability as we near the PS4's holiday 2013 release window.

Source: Edge [http://www.edge-online.com/news/why-the-witness-is-coming-to-ps4-first/]

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[glitch388]

For me, as long as the Witness comes out on Steam, I am good.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

So, the Playstation 4, which had about a third of it's launch event taken up by people talking about social media capability that has excited precisely nobody, is dedicated gaming device that Jo-Blow wants?

Either His Blowness is spewing crap (again), or Microsoft really is going to be even worse for that sort of thing than Sony is... which would certainly be an achievement.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

"To me they talk about a console that is not strictly about games. It's trying to be a center of the living room device ... As a place to put the best, highest performing version of our game on, it doesn't seem as good a choice."

I don't know why, exactly, but this quote seems a little bit high-minded of Blow. I mean, he has no problem putting his games on PCs, he has no problem putting his new game on the PS4, which we know next to nothing about, but he draws the line at the Nextbox? He just seems to be coming off as a bit of a snob.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

"To me they talk about a console that is not strictly about games. It's trying to be a center of the living room device ... As a place to put the best, highest performing version of our game on, it doesn't seem as good a choice."

I don't know why, exactly, but this quote seems a little bit high-minded of Blow. I mean, he has no problem putting his games on PCs, he has no problem putting his new game on the PS4, which we know next to nothing about, but he draws the line at the Nextbox? He just seems to be coming off as a bit of a snob.

John Blow? High minded? Stop the presses.

I agree, it seems stupid to claim the PS4 is somehow more gaming-focusses than the Xbox, despite social media being one of it's main selling points.

 

[William Dickbringer]

So, the Playstation 4, which had about a third of it's launch event taken up by people talking about social media capability that has excited precisely nobody, is dedicated gaming device that Jo-Blow wants?

Either His Blowness is spewing crap (again), or Microsoft really is going to be even worse for that sort of thing than Sony is... which would certainly be an achievement.

guess you could say he's a blow hard?
O.T. I wanted to try out his games but he comes off as a snob to me especially since his game is just a platforming game

 

[SonOfMethuselah]

To be fair, as far as the parts of the conference I actually watched go, Sony's social media focus is related to the gaming experience. They're not trying to be a media centre so much as they're trying to make gaming a more 'connected experience,' to use one of the terms they were spitting out. The problem with Microsoft's next console is that we saw a distinct move away from focus on gaming with the Xbox 360 in the latter half of the console cycle, to the point where gaming felt like more of an afterthought. Sony is trying to branch into the social market, yes, but it's trying to do so with games in tow. Microsoft doesn't seem to have that concern.

Insofar as that goes, Blow at least kind of makes sense: Sony is trying to make games social, while Microsoft seems like it's making games tangential. Still don't believe that anything that comes out of the man's mouth isn't drenched in some kind of pretentious, high-minded subtext, but the core of what he's saying isn't outside the realm of plausibility.

 

[Nurb]

I've yet to be convinced the new generation isn't going to be the end of gaming libraries as things become more digital and gamers own less and less of what they pay for. Sony's pushing for that hardest right now.

 

[tautologico]

Many indie developers have been praising Sony recently. It seems Sony is trying to become "the place to be" for indies on consoles, and it may pay off for them in the future.

And yes, although Sony's conference talked a lot about social features and connectivity, it was about social features and connectivity in the games, and not movies, ads and other media. Turn on an xbox360 nowadays and look at the dashboard, at first sight you wouldn't think it's a gaming console, because it tends to show movies or ads or other stuff at the front. Microsoft has been de-emphasizing gaming already on the 360, and this trend may continue with the nextbox.

 

[rapidoud]

For me, as long as the Witness comes out on Steam, I am good.

Hopefully he doesn't tie it to any platform for me as I'm fed up with steam.

Many indie developers have been praising Sony recently. It seems Sony is trying to become "the place to be" for indies on consoles, and it may pay off for them in the future.

And yes, although Sony's conference talked a lot about social features and connectivity, it was about social features and connectivity in the games, and not movies, ads and other media. Turn on an xbox360 nowadays and look at the dashboard, at first sight you wouldn't think it's a gaming console, because it tends to show movies or ads or other stuff at the front. Microsoft has been de-emphasizing gaming already on the 360, and this trend may continue with the nextbox.

Probably has something to do with the fact that Sony tried to go with the Cell architecture for PS3, which had more power than the x360 but was obtuse to use (especially for multi-platform games) and just turned away many devs, let alone indie ones.

Now they're seeming to go back to their PS2 mentality where they should be accommodating the devs at every turn so their platform can get the most and best games. Free networking on the PS3 was nice, but when x360 offers the more popular exclusives and the console was half the price on release ($550 vs 1000) it really was a no contest. I find this even more baffling when Sony owned the PS1 and PS2 console cycles yet through their easy-to-program-for and cheapness out the window.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

I've yet to be convinced the new generation isn't going to be the end of gaming libraries as things become more digital and gamers own less and less of what they pay for. Sony's pushing for that hardest right now.

Same here, I like having a solid copy that I can bring out at any time and not have to download just to play, etc.

 

[Saviordd1]

"To me they talk about a console that is not strictly about games. It's trying to be a center of the living room device ... As a place to put the best, highest performing version of our game on, it doesn't seem as good a choice."

I don't know why, exactly, but this quote seems a little bit high-minded of Blow. I mean, he has no problem putting his games on PCs, he has no problem putting his new game on the PS4, which we know next to nothing about, but he draws the line at the Nextbox? He just seems to be coming off as a bit of a snob.

Blow? Being a snob? Color me shocked.

OT: So his opinion on the next console is totally based on speculation...

Yeah, seems legit.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Even if he's right, the PS4 will still blow

OT: I wonder what he thought of the Wii-U?

He said he liked the WiiU, and that the Witness, when the PS4 exclusivity deal is done, will probably be put on it.

OT: So, it seems that Nintendo and Sony are gonna be the actual game consoles this time around, while Microsoft is more the oddball out? I wonder if that means the new Xbox is gonna barely be stronger then the Xbox 360/on par with the WiiU? It'd be fascinating to see how much rage they could get from their fans...

 

[Formica Archonis]

Y'know, his comments on Xbox not being a good choice made a lot more sense when I thought he was complaining about Microsoft's treatment of smaller developers in general; that at least is more likely to transcend console generations.

Now? Not so much.

 

[Fasckira]

Good ol' Blow. I genuinely would love to go out drinking with the guy just to hear all the shit he'd start speaking. Alcohol would naturally just make him even funnier.

 

[T'Generalissimo]

The justification given seems...odd. I don't know why he thinks the Xbox 720 will be more focused on general entertainment than the PS4, or why that's even a barrier to wanting to put The Witness on it. However, from what I've heard about Microsoft's relationships with indie developers, it seems like there are some very, very good reasons to not want to work with them.

 

[Epona]

For me, as long as the Witness comes out on Steam, I am good.

Hopefully he doesn't tie it to any platform for me as I'm fed up with steam.

Many indie developers have been praising Sony recently. It seems Sony is trying to become "the place to be" for indies on consoles, and it may pay off for them in the future.

And yes, although Sony's conference talked a lot about social features and connectivity, it was about social features and connectivity in the games, and not movies, ads and other media. Turn on an xbox360 nowadays and look at the dashboard, at first sight you wouldn't think it's a gaming console, because it tends to show movies or ads or other stuff at the front. Microsoft has been de-emphasizing gaming already on the 360, and this trend may continue with the nextbox.

Probably has something to do with the fact that Sony tried to go with the Cell architecture for PS3, which had more power than the x360 but was obtuse to use (especially for multi-platform games) and just turned away many devs, let alone indie ones.

Now they're seeming to go back to their PS2 mentality where they should be accommodating the devs at every turn so their platform can get the most and best games. Free networking on the PS3 was nice, but when x360 offers the more popular exclusives and the console was half the price on release ($550 vs 1000) it really was a no contest. I find this even more baffling when Sony owned the PS1 and PS2 console cycles yet through their easy-to-program-for and cheapness out the window.

Why are you fed up with Steam?

 

[rapidoud]

Breaks every week, their sales tactics (they have you checking back daily during a sale, 75% off $90 is still more expensive than elsewhere), regional locking (only site I know of that does it and makes it a pain to get around; Amazon's is trivial), regional pricing ($90 for Dishonored when US is paying $60, what are you smoking?), games being tied to the service when I just want the bloody game, only very recently did they even bother fixing steam re-installs as I have to re-install it every month and having to redownload half my games is just an exercise in futility, not allowing Aussies to even buy their games during the last sale, all the f2p content that have ridiculous prices which people still pay.

They embody everything that has gone downhill in gaming since the early 2000s (although gaming has definitely gotten better as a whole) with the regional locking and shoving DRM down everyone's throats when the thing allows pirates to play with legitimate customers (yes that's right, pirates can use steam TO PLAY WITH YOU. Even EA aren't this inept).

The arrogance that is Steam Greenlight.

/rant