New BlazBlue Skips Xbox 360, Dev Says It'd be "An Inferior Version"

[Steven Bogos]

New BlazBlue Skips Xbox 360, Dev Says It'd be "An Inferior Version"

BlazBlue producer Toshimichi Mori says the game would have to be compressed too much to fit on an Xbox 360 disc.

BlazBlue fans who have an Xbox 360 will be disappointed to learn that the latest installment in the series, BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma, will be skipping the console entirely, making it a PlayStation 3 exclusive. Producer Toshimichi Mori cites the Xbox 360's small disc size (Dual Layer DVD vs. the PS3's Blu-ray), as the main reason, as to fit the game on the disk would mean compressing it considerably, making for "an inferior version."

"If the Xbox 360 could increase its storage space by double then we could bring it there," Mori told Siliconera [http://www.siliconera.com/2014/03/03/blazblue-chrono-phantasma-producer-bringing-blazblue-different-consoles/]. "Chrono Phantasma doesn't fit on the disc. Basically, if you were to fit it on a disc you would have to compress it and the quality will go down and I was concerned that it would be an inferior version."

Obviously the PS Vita has even smaller storage than a Dual Layer DVD, so when Mori was asked how the Vita version was possible, he admitted to compression, something that's acceptable for a portable device, and less so for a home console.

"If you looked at the Vita version, you can see that the graphics have been compressed," he said. "The quality for Vita is acceptable for portable systems. But if you had a Vita quality game on a home console, personally I'd be upset. We're trying to make it to the best of our ability for a portable system."

As for seeing future BlazBlue titles on Microsoft's Xbox successor, the Xbox One, don't hold your breath. "We don't have any information on the Xbox One hardware. I'm curious if Xbox One will even come out in Japan," said Mori, lamenting the fact that "I've been asking people about it and not one person has given me a definitive answer."

Source: Siliconera [http://www.siliconera.com/2014/03/03/blazblue-chrono-phantasma-producer-bringing-blazblue-different-consoles/]

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[The Wykydtron]

Well that sucks. I expected it to be a PS3 exclusive anyway, I think I heard something similar a while back at some point. Or I heard it's only PS3 in Japan and just assumed they'd never make a 360 version later which turns out to be true.

I don't really mind since I was going to get a PS3 when CP came out because the price must drop like a brick now that the PS4 is out and if the 360 version is going to be that bad then yeah don't even bother. There's not much worse than a fighting game that doesn't run properly.

Now the real question is when the EU release will be. Fuck NA, you guys will have it easy. I'm expecting Persona 4 Arena levels of bullshit all over again AKA almost a full year later. I heard you like playing online, better not leave it so late that the community's already dead or anything...

Is the Xbone really not even out in Japan? Real? I fuckin' lol'd

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

solid point, I totally understand and I'm on board.

Make. a. PC. Port.

Jeez, we need more fighting games for the pc.

 

[Rad Party God]

solid point, I totally understand and I'm on board.

Make. a. PC. Port.

Jeez, we need more fighting games for the pc.

I second this. GFWL was finally ditched out of Calamity Trigger [http://store.steampowered.com/app/263300/] (sacrificing all online functions in the process, but it's better than nothing) and the only way to play Continuum Shift is through ilegal means, please, I'll give you lots of money if you bring Chrono Phantasma to PC.

 

[FalloutJack]

Is the Xbone really not even out in Japan? Real? I fuckin' lol'd

That wouldn't surprise me. X-Box figures overall aren't very high in Japan. They just don't want it, for the most part. So, between the size of the country and the small returns they'd be expecting, my guess would be Microsoft went "Fuck it".

 

[FPLOON]

So... Does that mean CP might actually be at 1080p? Just wondering...

Anyway, I knew about the PS3 exclusiveness of CP beforehand and this explanation makes a lot of sense... Compressing's a ***** if the quality suffers for it...

Also... Since the Xbox One seems to be out of reach at the moment, I wonder if contacting Nintendo's Wii U would be easier right now... (Heh heh... "BlazBlue on the Wii U..." That's rhymes...)

 

[BrotherRool]

Is the Xbone really not even out in Japan? Real? I fuckin' lol'd

That wouldn't surprise me. X-Box figures overall aren't very high in Japan. They just don't want it, for the most part. So, between the size of the country and the small returns they'd be expecting, my guess would be Microsoft went "Fuck it".

Japan's a fairly big country. It's the 10th largest in the world by population.

I think they will release in Japan out of obstinance if nothing else, but given they have to go through the pain of localising Kinect and that the Wii U and has outsold lifetime 360 sales in Japan, they probably should just give up and get out.

Heck the PS4 sold 1/5th of the 360's lifetime Japanese sales in 48 hours

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Is the Xbone really not even out in Japan? Real? I fuckin' lol'd

Japan is considered 'tier 2' but then again nearly every country including the like of Russia is in the second wave as well.

I've seen several estimates for Q3 2014.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

why not port it to PC?, there you dont even have to deal with any sort of physical constraints, you get a bigger cut out of every sale and also worth nothing, your game can technically sell forever, not limited by console lifespans or printing runs

 

[Sleepy Sol]

Pretty old news about the PS3 exclusivity, but I think the excuse isn't a very good one at all. All they had to say was that the 360 versions of the BlazBlue games weren't selling enough to make the cost of producing 360 copies worth the expense.

why not port it to PC?, there you dont even have to deal with any sort of physical constraints, you get a bigger cut out of every sale and also worth nothing, your game can technically sell forever, not limited by console lifespans or printing runs

I really wish ArcSys would do this, honestly. Given that Capcom and even SNK have made pretty good PC ports of their fighting games, it's obviously quite possible to be successful doing this. However, a lot of previous ArcSys PC ports were generally pretty dang terrible, like the first version of BlazBlue. Kind of a big concern.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

why not port it to PC?, there you dont even have to deal with any sort of physical constraints, you get a bigger cut out of every sale and also worth nothing, your game can technically sell forever, not limited by console lifespans or printing runs

I really wish ArcSys would do this, honestly. Given that Capcom and even SNK have made pretty good PC ports of their fighting games, it's obviously quite possible to be successful doing this. However, a lot of previous ArcSys PC ports were generally pretty dang terrible, like the first version of BlazBlue. Kind of a big concern.

well i imagine if you fail enough you eventually learn how to fail less, so there could still be hope. im not a particulary big fan of fighting games, but i think many people on PC would give this game a go, and id like to have options if i ever want to get into fighting games

 

[Galen Marek]

Why didn't they split it over multiple discs? Other developers did this for multiple games. Would splitting it over multiple discs affect quality that much? I wouldn't expect it to as the data doesn't change but rather the disc would need to be switched or installed which would be the only major difference.

At least thats my question.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Why didn't they split it over multiple discs? Other developers did this for multiple games. Would splitting it over multiple discs affect quality that much? I wouldn't expect it to as the data doesn't change but rather the disc would need to be switched or installed which would be the only major difference.

At least thats my question.

For a fighting game that would get very awkward.

 

[Bob_F_It]

I guess it's not conventional to take Asura's Wrath's solution, which is to put 75% of the content on the disc, then have the other 25% as a free download. It would be a total kick in the teeth to anyone without a reliable internet connection, though.

 

[Ipsen]

I guess it's not conventional to take Asura's Wrath's solution, which is to put 75% of the content on the disc, then have the other 25% as a free download. It would be a total kick in the teeth to anyone without a reliable internet connection, though.

And a harddrive. Remember how that's not a given on 360?

 

[Bors Mistral]

There's nothing in a fighting game that could make it not fit on a dual layer DVD, except for possibly the cutscenes.

Making a PC version of this shouldn't be that difficult either, considering the arcade machine (Taito Type X²) is a PC running Windows XP Embedded. Put it on STEAM and the game will sell great on PC, as long as it's stable and you don't delay the release by a few years compared to the console version.

 

[Defective Shade]

Calamity Trigger was on PC as well, so I prolly would buy Chrono Phantasma for pc if they did port it which fingers crossed they do

 

[Trishbot]

I got the original on 360... so that IS a shame, since I don't have a PS3. I mean, sometimes compression is better than NOTHING whatsoever for the platform. I understand, though... even if it sucks.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Oh god it's funny because BB never really did well on the Xbox originally to begin with but now the cats out of the bag that it's the fault of a disc, suddenly means we'll all pine for a PC version while ignoring the fact it's PS3 exclusive and well it's on PS3.

Then again this site is 90% pro PC so I don't expect any different really but i wish I could for once.

 

[RanceJustice]

I couldn't really care less about console releases, but if this is one of their justifications, then this would be a perfect reason to release the game via Steam (Properly - not the asinine moneygrab that was the recent port of Calamity Trigger by some no-name 3rd party, not even including online play!). You want to put 10+ gb of game content on the drive? No problem.

As others have mentioned, it should be exceedingly easy to port as the arcade versions of the entire BlazBlue series run on a form of WindowsXP. Create an enhanced version of ChronoPhantasma and release it on Steam with a comprehensive feature set and a reasonable price point - I can guarantee it will do well.

Especially for fighting game developers, Steam and PC in general seems like a perfect platform, as you don't have to press a new disc or bow down to MS/Sony to release an update, or even to sell an "expansion pack". If a few years back they started with a PC version of Calamity Trigger, and allowed users to pay a small, reasonable amount to upgrade through every further iteration (Continuum Shift, Continuum Shift 2 etc...), I can nearly guarantee they'd make more money on that platform worldwide than anything else.