Developer Defends Microsoft from Sony's Attacks

[Prof. Monkeypox]

Console wars are annoying enough when it's just fanboys whining in my ear- I don't need actual publishers and companies getting in on it too. Just try to make the best experience possible for your customers, and you'll "win" the console wars.

The same goes for you Sony.

 

[GeorgW]

I think it's fair to say that the big, supported titles are far better off on XBLA. Beyond that there's no real difference between XBLA and PSN, they all get screwed compared to services like Steam.
Still, this source isn't exactly reliable...

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Well Zen Studios sure told Sony!

Honestly, what was the point of them saying that? He didn't really say anything other than they like working with Microsoft more than Sony, and criticizes Sony for the down time with no mention of what they did to fix it.

Please, go back and keep creating more pinball games, and do kindly shut up.

 

[Dorkmaster Flek]

Zen is actually in an interesting position, because their Pinball FX 2 "platform" approach, very similar to Rock Band, emphasizes cross-game compatibility with the first Pinball FX title, and the Marvel Pinball tables. They're actually just regular FX 2 tables on the 360. On the PS3, the Marvel stuff is a totally separate product. There's no integration. On the 360, FX 2 is literally "the platform" and all the tables are integrated directly into it. It's really slick actually. I think this is where they're coming from with rosy opinions on MS. Their particular situation just worked out better with what XBLA was able to do.

 

[The Pinray]

I'd just like to know who really takes an overly biased PINBALL GAME-BASED company seriously?

 

[Ragsnstitches]

Pointless, since independent developers will do better* on steam than either XBLA or PSN.

*See Cthulhu Saves the World selling more on steam in one week than it did on in one year on XBLA. Plus developers get to control their content updates.

Well considering that Valve and Sony have been farting about with a Steam for PSN idea since Portal 2, we can assume things will change for the better for Sony and PSN, as long as they don't get greedy (either Valve or Sony that is).

 

[Jumplion]

I couldn't help bug feel a small tinge or irony when I saw this article directly above this one [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112912-Team-Meat-Wont-Go-Back-to-Microsoft].

Seems it doesn't matter if you'd be more "successful" on one platform or another if the people behind it are less than pleasant to work with.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

Their time could be far better spent working on separate games for different consoles, creating exclusive titles that would define the console that houses them. No longer would we have gamers constantly arguing about which console has the better online service, or which one has the better hardware. The development teams, their creativity, and the games that are born from that would define the consoles, not the consoles themselves. Each game would be able to take full advantage of the strengths of the console it was being developed for, not being held back because one system has more power than the other, or one has inferior online capabilities.

You seriously think this is a better alternative? The console wars are polemic enough with the amount of exclusivity they currently have. To imply that making all titles exclusive would be better for gamers is ridiculous. The behaviour of fans of Final Fantasy when it was announced that FFXIII would be coming to Xbox AFTER it had already been released for PS3 - as in, beyond the point where anyone could reasonably argue that the development of an Xbox version forced them to gimp the PS3 version - just goes to demonstrate what kind of stupid behaviour arises from the desire to maintain exclusivity. When the original Xbox was released I picked up a copy of their 'official' Australian magazine which, in promoting Splinter Cell, trashed Metal Gear Solid for being unrealistic in allowing you to walk around hidden in crates, and featured a whole page opinion piece titled 'Rare Gone? Suck It, Fanboys'.

Better that those people who live to argue be forced to debate such petty terms as who has the better online policy, so that the people who don't give a shit can play everything they want to play.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

I don't really know what you mean by FFXIII, it was announced on Xbox just after it was announced on PS3, not after the PS3 version was released. As for whether or not it was 'gimped' then it's a good example, the answer is yes and no.

No in the traditional sense in that it was one of the few games to slip past Microsoft's ridiculous 1 disc policy, it was released on 3? discs, so all the content was able to be on both formats.

At the same, the fact that it was released on both systems meant that the dev team working on it had to take into account the weaknesses of both systems, rather than just concentrating on one. There is no doubt in my mind that had it been exclusive to either console, it would have been a stronger game.

There is a reason why exclusive titles are the strongest on those two systems, you think Xbox, you think Halo. You think Playstation, you think Uncharted. Those games aren't among the strongest due to idiotic fanboys, it's because they are tailored to the strengths of the systems they are on.

Sorry, I stand corrected on that. What they actually did (this is where it would have been helpful for me to look this up) was to complete the PS3 version and THEN move onto the xbox version, so it isn't that they were deliberately dumbing the PS3 version down. Of course, you're right in saying the game would have been stronger if they had spent all that time solely on the PS3 version, but if you can plan multi-platform development properly it shouldn't be a problem. My point is essentially that the PS3 fans were not getting shafted by the decision to complete a version for Xbox after the PS3 version had been done, but they still complained anyway, purely out of the sense of entitlement that only they should get to play it.

While platform agnosticism will result in some titles being of poorer quality, that is purely an issue of people having ridiculous expectations about development cycles. You'll notice that Blizzard, who have always been platform agnostic as far as PCs and Macs are concerned, take their sweet time with developing games instead of trying to rush them out. It is possible to do it, but most companies are obsessed with cutting corners. I'd argue that what we've gained from transitioning from a system defined by platform exclusives outweighs what has been lost. Consoles are a lot of money, and it was just bloody stupid to have to sink 400 dollars into something only to find out that half the games you wanted down the track were exclusive to a different platform. Being able to play a late, buggy port of a game is better than not being able to play the game at all.

 

[Gincairn]

WELL! If a giant of the industry such as Zen (was it?) wades into an argument, you know your in trouble. Sony had better run for the hills and cower because the big guns are obviously out to fight.

With such hits as...a whole bunch of...pinball games? Really? That's what they're doing? Ahem, right, with such hits as this, I'm shocked Sony hasn't gone ahead and closed down support for both the PS3 and PSN. I mean, with Zen Studios holding out on them, what do they have left?

WHAT SYSTEM COULD GO ON WITHOUT PINBALL?!

That's a little unfair, they don't only do pinball, they once made a rather poor mini-golf game too

But in all honesty I'd rather hear from a triple A developer about their thoughts on this over an indie dev who's already learnt how to do nothing more than release the same game with a different skin, I mean who do they think they are? Capcom?

 

[GonzoGamer]

Console wars are annoying enough when it's just fanboys whining in my ear- I don't need actual publishers and companies getting in on it too. Just try to make the best experience possible for your customers, and you'll "win" the console wars.

The same goes for you Sony.

Yea. What I'm gathering from all this is that both networks are crap: something I already knew from the consumer side but I don't know if it's any more comforting to know that the devs get just as frustrated.