Blizzard: We Might Return to Console Development
- Thread starter Logan Westbrook
- Start date
They already DO make Billions off of Subscriptions.DominicxD said:
Also, console WoW only sounds good on paper. Implimented, you have less buttons, a more clustered UI, horrible voice chat (unless they fix that feature) and NO Add Ons.
Ill stick to my PC for WoW. If Blizzard wants to make new games for consoles, Id buy em. Just not WoW...
They've already had at least 2 aborted attempts at this, I'm not sure they're likely to try again.Shoggoth2588 said:
How can every have already forgotten Blizzards last announcement of their return to consoles with Molten Core?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psPRMMjU9Sk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psPRMMjU9Sk
Third time's the charm?Alfador_VII said:
...*sigh* fine...
Well, how about a single-player Warcraft RPG?
In other words, it's not going to happen anytime soon. Blizzard's games always make full use of the mouse/keyboard set-up, so any game of theirs would have to bend-over backwards to work on a system with only 10 buttons and not feel like a crippled port.Logan Westbrook said:
Nuuuuuu Blizzard! Stay true to the light!
But still, it might be fun.
Ghost should be released
As well as Lord of the clans!
But still, it might be fun.
Ghost should be released
As well as Lord of the clans!
With all due respect to Blizzard, this is never going to happen...
Well, alright, perhaps it is an exaggeration to say never. But if the development of StarCraft: Ghost proved anything, it is that Blizzard's method of development isn't very appropriate for developing titles on a console. Their emphasis on long iteration processes and small, tightly-knit development teams results in a long development time. However, beacuse consoles as viable platforms have a limited lifecycle, a title meant for them must be developed relatively hastily or it ends up losing nearly all of it's market value.
Just look at StarCraft 2....it's development began in the middle of the previous generation of consoles and concluded well into this generation of consoles...and they still have two expansions to go! Can you imagine if Blizzard tried to develop it for multiple platforms (Mac doesn't count)? It would have turned into development hell preety quickly and the game would either be cancelled or become a PC/Mac exclusive.....infact, the former is exactly what happened to Ghost (although there were other reasons why it was cancelled).
Now, granted, there might be circumstances that would potentially allow Blizzard to have a sufficient amount of time to develop for consoles, like if they started development early in a console's lifecycle. It also helps that the current console generation seems like it's going to be one of the longest, which could be an indication that future generations of consoles won't be as quickly replaced as the early ones. However, this requires a great deal of foresight from Blizzard. Also, it doesn't account for various other problems that console gaming development brings, such as the greater competition, having to deal with the hardware manufacturer and the general lack of experience for developing for console platforms.
Overall, it comes down to this. Blizzard, it's admirable that you are not excluding consoles as a possibility...really, it is. But this is something you tried before. Not only were the console ports of your games miserable failures, your foray into console game development with StarCraft: Ghost ended up being an expensive and time-consuming lesson. You cancelled your console division for a reason...don't make the same mistake again. Stick to PC and Macintosh as your platforms of choice...it has served you well and it is what you are good for.
Well, alright, perhaps it is an exaggeration to say never. But if the development of StarCraft: Ghost proved anything, it is that Blizzard's method of development isn't very appropriate for developing titles on a console. Their emphasis on long iteration processes and small, tightly-knit development teams results in a long development time. However, beacuse consoles as viable platforms have a limited lifecycle, a title meant for them must be developed relatively hastily or it ends up losing nearly all of it's market value.
Just look at StarCraft 2....it's development began in the middle of the previous generation of consoles and concluded well into this generation of consoles...and they still have two expansions to go! Can you imagine if Blizzard tried to develop it for multiple platforms (Mac doesn't count)? It would have turned into development hell preety quickly and the game would either be cancelled or become a PC/Mac exclusive.....infact, the former is exactly what happened to Ghost (although there were other reasons why it was cancelled).
Now, granted, there might be circumstances that would potentially allow Blizzard to have a sufficient amount of time to develop for consoles, like if they started development early in a console's lifecycle. It also helps that the current console generation seems like it's going to be one of the longest, which could be an indication that future generations of consoles won't be as quickly replaced as the early ones. However, this requires a great deal of foresight from Blizzard. Also, it doesn't account for various other problems that console gaming development brings, such as the greater competition, having to deal with the hardware manufacturer and the general lack of experience for developing for console platforms.
Overall, it comes down to this. Blizzard, it's admirable that you are not excluding consoles as a possibility...really, it is. But this is something you tried before. Not only were the console ports of your games miserable failures, your foray into console game development with StarCraft: Ghost ended up being an expensive and time-consuming lesson. You cancelled your console division for a reason...don't make the same mistake again. Stick to PC and Macintosh as your platforms of choice...it has served you well and it is what you are good for.
Technically, so were WarCraft II and StarCraft...it doesn't change the fact that the console ports for all of them were horrible and that Blizzard is trying to forget about them.Wandrecanada said:
As I mentioned in another thread, I would really like to hear your reasons why you hate PC gaming. It is completely fine if you perfer consoles, but I don't see why it's necessary to hate on PC games. Afterall, they have a place in gaming as well.DJmagma said:
I have a question for you, did you like Hellgate: London? Did you think that was a good game?Wandrecanada said:
If you do, well, then you would have liked Blizzard North's and Bill Roper's Diablo 3.
If you think Hellgate London was a godawful game you should be glad that Blizzard main pulled the plug on Blizzard North and Bill Roper.
Why?
Because Hellgate: London is the result of Bill Roper's ideas for Diablo 3.
Also remember that Blizzard develops games with the philosophy that "complicated |= good" What you view as dumbing down, I view as removing the unneccessary clutter than only people with advanced math degrees get something out of anyway.
As someone who's betatesting Cataclysm I believe that Blizzard is going in the right direction with WoW, I believe that is what you are referring to, replacing the complexity of math mechanics with the complexity of actual game mechanics.
Dungeons are tough again, not due to math or arbitrary numbers, but due to a lot of interesting mechanics that require you to keep an eye open to what's happening on the screen and not to what's happening with your numbers.
I just think it would suck to split up their PC games by taking away a game they expected and giving it to Console gamers. That's not to say that all PC gamers don't own consoles or vice versa, just think those out there who fit the critiria would disapprove. Personally I do own a console and I still wouldn't like the idea of playing Diablo 3 on my PS3. If it were a modern Vikings game or something different or new however I would be happy to play it.Hubilub said:
(Seems a really lengthy way of saying "I agree with you", doesn't it?)
Lord of the Clans? Never even heard of it to be honest.Lord S. Binkleheimer said:
(Though I was kind of looking forward to Ghost)
The creative team that brought us Diablo was fragmented and Bill Roper was not the only person who was there to create the game. In fact there were people that went to about 5 different companies and helped make a number of games I enjoy. Also Hellgate London probably got nowhere near the financial support it needed to realize what Roper wanted to make. The loss of financial backing probably destroyed the game before it was released. I continue to stand firm in my beliefs that the Vivendi takeover ruined what made Blizzard a company that created excellence and converted it into a company that milked excellence instead.Quaade said:
(Not to mention that they crap all over most of their creative teams)
