Metro: Last Light Developer Dumps on Wii U

[Andy Chalk]

Metro: Last Light Developer Dumps on Wii U

Don't expect Metro: Last Light to turn up on Nintendo's new console anytime soon.

The Wii U is finally here and unlike its underpowered predecessor, its library will feature a number of high-profile shooters, like Black Ops 2, Aliens: Colonial Marines and Homefront 2. One game it probably won't be getting, however, is Metro: Last Light, the upcoming sequel to Metro 2033.

Why? For one thing, "[The] Wii U has a horrible, slow CPU," as 4A Games Chief Technical Officer Oles Shishkovtsov put it rather bluntly.

Huw Beynon, THQ's global communications manager, was a little more diplomatic about it. "We had an early look at it, we thought we could probably do it, but in terms of the impact we would make on the overall quality of the game - potentially to its detriment - we just figured it wasn't worth pursuing at this time," he told Now Gamer. "It's something we might return to. I really couldn't make any promises, though."

One problem facing the Kiev-based 4A Games is a simple lack of manpower. Metro 2033 was released only for the Xbox 360 and PC, and Beynon said that developing the PlayStation 3 version of Metro: Last Light represents a "significant addition" to the workload. And unlike heavyweights Activision or Electronic Arts, which can bulk up studios as necessary or even bring in entirely separate studios to help out, Metro publisher THQ is currently in no position to offer any sort of practical assistance.

Metro: Last Light [http://www.amazon.com/Metro-Last-Light-Xbox-360/dp/B0053BSN82/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353532679&sr=8-1&keywords=Metro+Last+Light] is slated to come out sometimes in 2013 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Source: Now Gamer [http://www.nowgamer.com/news/1687689/wii_u_has_a_horrible_slow_cpu_says_metro_last_light_dev.html]


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[lacktheknack]

Not very diplomatic, but completely fair.

THQ are probably THRILLED with the statement, though.

 

[Darmy647]

Im curious about something, and im Defidentally sure the escapist community would be happy to fill me in, but isn't the wii u cpu on par with the 360 and ps3?? I have not been keeping up, pc gamer elites and what-not.

 

[Xan Krieger]

Im curious about something, and im Defidentally sure the escapist community would be happy to fill me in, but isn't the wii u cpu on par with the 360 and ps3?? I have not been keeping up, pc gamer elites and what-not.

It should noted that the Wii U is a new system so having hardware equivalent to last gen's systems is nothing to be proud of.

OT: Just means they can focus more on the PC version which I am very much looking forward to. Also I love how blunt he was.

 

[T'Generalissimo]

Well, if they were to add the extra work of making a Wii U version, they'd just be increasing the chances that THQ will have gone out of business before the game is released.

 

[Something Amyss]

Im curious about something, and im Defidentally sure the escapist community would be happy to fill me in, but isn't the wii u cpu on par with the 360 and ps3?? I have not been keeping up, pc gamer elites and what-not.

And people have been complaining about them for years now.

 

[Eri]

Im curious about something, and im Defidentally sure the escapist community would be happy to fill me in, but isn't the wii u cpu on par with the 360 and ps3?? I have not been keeping up, pc gamer elites and what-not.

It should noted that the Wii U is a new system so having hardware equivalent to last gen's systems is nothing to be proud of.

I wish more people understood this fact instead of stupidly defending a blatantly underpowered console.

You should note I'm not calling it a terrible system, I'm calling it 6 years late to the party.

 

[xedobubble]

Im curious about something, and im Defidentally sure the escapist community would be happy to fill me in, but isn't the wii u cpu on par with the 360 and ps3?? I have not been keeping up, pc gamer elites and what-not.

It's basically on par yes. Maybe a little better or a little worse. But that does mean that when the next generation playstation and xbox come out, Nintendo will be in last place in terms of pure hardware power again. Not that it worked out badly for them this time around, mind you.

 

[Darmy647]

Uh...i wasn't opening debate. Im on epic pc, so I dont really care. Just an odd statement to say they dont care about wii U period and more about Last gens consoles. It doesn't exactly add up if the cpu is on par.

 

[Legion]

Two things that I glean from this:

1) Developers need to grow the hell up and stop trash talking like they are still in the school yard.

2) If they are talking about how effort is required to get a PS3 version I predict a poor port. Which will be a pain if it is true, as it's probably the platform I'd choose.

 

[flarty]

Two things that I glean from this:

1) Developers need to grow the hell up and stop trash talking like they are still in the school yard.

2) If they are talking about how effort is required to get a PS3 version I predict a poor port. Which will be a pain if it is true, as it's probably the platform I'd choose.

1) Developers are entitled to there opinions too

2) The PS3 has been regarded as notoriously hard to code for since release.

 

[Starke]

Two things that I glean from this:

1) Developers need to grow the hell up and stop trash talking like they are still in the school yard.

2) If they are talking about how effort is required to get a PS3 version I predict a poor port. Which will be a pain if it is true, as it's probably the platform I'd choose.

1) Developers are entitled to there opinions too

2) The PS3 has been regarded as notoriously hard to code for since release.

2) Not so much hard to code for specifically. The 360 is basically a low quality PC, so developing for both at the same time is pretty easy (supposidly.) Because of the PS3's architecture, you actually need to rework a lot of the memory and processor interface code or you get things like Skyrim, where the game just wanders around begging for memory that doesn't exist and eating it's own foot.

Or so I'm told...

 

[Trishbot]

Good games, even to this day, are made with restrictions in mind. Making a game with barriers is how game development works. Some systems have more barriers than others, or different sorts of barriers, but ultimately it's up to the developers to figure it out. There is no "one size fits all" development structure, as much as we'd like there to be.

When making a game for the Wii U, guess what, you're going to have to make a game FOR THE WII U, and cater your game specs to suit the game. When you port it, the same thing applies. Some people can do that and do that well, while many others continue to struggle with ports or their false "one-size-fits-all" philosophy (oh hi, PS3 Skyrim!).

I'm sure the Wii U has plenty of strength and plenty of weaknesses. It's a new system; give it time and developers will figure out where to push and pull to get the most out of it.

 

[Baresark]

Im curious about something, and im Defidentally sure the escapist community would be happy to fill me in, but isn't the wii u cpu on par with the 360 and ps3?? I have not been keeping up, pc gamer elites and what-not.

This is actually incredibly unclear at the moment. But most estimates put it at more powerful than either the 360 or PS3. But Nintendo has not released all the information about it, which seems suspect. And considering it has a much more modern and a pretty powerful GPU (in relative terms), this what should matter as the GPU is where almost all of the stress is placed if you go by the first Metro game. But, it is what it is. It seems more likely that it's a manpower issue more than anything to me, but who am I to argue with random Chief Technical Officer guy.

 

[Darmy647]

Im curious about something, and im Defidentally sure the escapist community would be happy to fill me in, but isn't the wii u cpu on par with the 360 and ps3?? I have not been keeping up, pc gamer elites and what-not.

This is actually incredibly unclear at the moment. But most estimates put it at more powerful than either the 360 or PS3. But Nintendo has not released all the information about it, which seems suspect. And considering it has a much more modern and a pretty powerful GPU (in relative terms), this what should matter as the GPU is where almost all of the stress is placed if you go by the first Metro game. But, it is what it is. It seems more likely that it's a manpower issue more than anything to me, but who am I to argue with random Chief Technical Officer guy.

Someone actualy answered me completely unbiased? Am i in the right forum? Anyways, thanks. Back to Borderlands 2 on PC

 

[Baresark]

Im curious about something, and im Defidentally sure the escapist community would be happy to fill me in, but isn't the wii u cpu on par with the 360 and ps3?? I have not been keeping up, pc gamer elites and what-not.

It's basically on par yes. Maybe a little better or a little worse. But that does mean that when the next generation playstation and xbox come out, Nintendo will be in last place in terms of pure hardware power again. Not that it worked out badly for them this time around, mind you.

I'm not disagreeing with your statement, I just don't see how the next XBox or Playstation (which is all speculation at this point) is relevant. I think he was making a point that it's regarded as on par with the current generation so why would someone say that it's a "horrible, slow CPU".

 

[JediMB]

Of course, chances are that their engine people just aren't that good with optimizing for new hardware. As I recall, the original Metro game had its own optimization issues.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

A developer that doesn't know to make an optimized game complains about hardware power.
If he CPU was that weak, why is the Aliens developer saying how the WiiU version is the best working and best looking version, excluding the PC ofc.