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Age of Conan Designed for 2005's Xbox360 Is Concerning
tampoff
Member Posts: 4
I am very concerned that Age of Conan will be limited in graphics, size, capabilities etc as an MMO because they have planned to release it on xbox in "2009"
xbox has no room for growth in hardware, it is non existant
Even if the pc version can run in higher res or with more features, I doubt they will add more power to the engine for pc users since it is being designed for xbox 360 in a 2009 launch
Why spend time and effort for PC users when you are planning to market it to xbox 360...
The move to put any MMO on a console is very disheartening, especially when it looks like it has so much promise on the PC.
Xbox was released in 2005. It is now 2008, and Age of Conan has been designed to work on xbox in 2009.
This is FOUR YEARS old techonology this engine is designed to run on. I know it supports DX10 from the ground up and it looks beautiful etc, but the current plan to design Age of Conan for an xbox release will really kill the main and core PC MMO gamers.
How many people own a PC compared to an xbox? Exactly. Why even limit your own MMO by catering to a 3-4 year old console hardware?
For those who own a PC and xbox, the PC is better in almost all regards in capability of hardware, customization, controls etc.
I just can not see a succesful MMO for PC being ported to xbox in mind...and if they are desiging age of conan to be a xbox360 game, then it will have have a ver bleak future for PC users.
I would like to hear your rational thoughts on this, I am not against xbox or consoles, I think they have their own capability and great games to offer, just an MMO should not be put on a 2005 console when released in 2009, hindering the PC players of the MMO.
Comments
why does the age of the console matter? its still got 3+ years before the xbox 360 successor comes out....so why worry. also xbox 360 has millions of owners...so thats an extra million customer base.
also most people are computer hardware stupid..so its easier for them to get it on a console rather than worry about computer specs
oh no game is going to be out on the 360!! big deal the graphics on that box are crazy most people dont' have a pc tha can run much of the stuff on the box anyway so dont worry just couse you got the best pc around today i am sure the next xbox will be just as good as that i mean come on have you seen the graphics on that box there sweet
Judging that a game that came out this last fall (Assassin's Creed) requires damn near top of the line hardware for it's PC release this month in order to run, I wouldn't worry about the 360 holding back the PC.
you could run assasin creed maxed on a 3850...hardly high end...more mainstream....
I can see the OP's point and it is a bit of a concern to a pc preference player but I can't say it's devastating.
Since the industries tripleA production teams all seem bent on creating MMO's for consoles, in the future(according to their joint statements at GDC '08). There is a price to be paid for both platforms, atleast, in the short term(the next 3-4 years).
For the pc player more frequent instancing is likely, in my opinion, and for the consoles a longer waiting time for a release. This would seem to hold true for AoC, as the multi-platform release was on the design table early in development.
The extended wait for the console release seems like it's one part pc release refinement and the other optimizing the code for the XB360. This would allow a more solid and tested product(smaller initial patching sizes), overall, when it's time to finalize and master the 360 version of the game.
This being said. the pc players, in this case, gets to play the game months earlier and with the DX10 graphics. The XB360 waits for a release that's more refined but never sees the DX10 level of eye candy. So there's a trade off between the two and, in a round about way, it makes it fair for both pc and console.
The fact that the different platforms in AoC will not be playing on the same servers, is the best move I can think of, when faced with MMO multi-platform releases. I'm not only refering to the never ending 'which is better' debate that would clog chat channels but the belief that one platform over the other has an unfair advantage, whether that belief holds true or not.
So, eventhough, there's a price to pay for pc players, there's also a price to pay by consolers. Later, when newer titles try and put both platforms on the same servers, at the same time, I feel that will lead to one side or the other just leaving for another game, entirely. ...I hope, I'm wrong about this because it won't be doing the industry any favors.
A little further still, when the game is designed for a console release first. The pc version would suffer, in depth and game mechanics, and be hard pressed to compare to what pc players have been used to, so far.
As far as, I'm concerned multi-platform releases by themselves aren't a bad thing but how they're implemented sure could be. I think Funcom, atleast, did the right approach with AoC but it'll be intersting to see how other companies deal with these types of releases, in the near future.
* Life is not black or white, it's shades of grey. But, at it's best/worst, it hints at 32bit color. -Me (a.k.a. RuthlessTimes)
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Actually, the X360 graphics pretty much sucked compared to PCs' made in the same year, and the next Xbox ( if there is one, considering it has never shown a profit ) will be the same. But whatever makes you feel better about owning an inferior system, you go boy!
xbox is dead hardware as it is now that bluray has 85%(or so) marketshare... but what it comes down to is the dollar bills... money money money, like someone else said it reaches a few million people this way... not to mention microsoft is loaded, they make more on investments then business some years, that said they have a lot of extra money to play around with, and they tend to pay off game developers and what not behind the scenes. now I have no idea if/why AoC is going to xbox but I imagine they didnt randomly pick xbox when a ps3 would run it with more ease.
As for moving an MMO to a console... Anyone that play(ed)s FFXI knows about that... I started on ps2 way back when and i think about a year and a half ago it was released on the 360(dont quote my dates) point is a game on a console is not bad its good, it brings in new players and a game like AoC where people have the theory you need a $2000 rig to run it, they rather buy the xbox360 for 300 and a keyboard and be on their way.... Not to mention the majority of gamers that already have the 360.
honestly we need more console MMO's. there hasent been any since ps2 (EQOA/FFXI) wich both did and FFXI is still doing quite well. they get the millions of XBL players to add to the frey/payroll. you need to calm the hell down and enjoy it as is, its looks arent changing anytime soon because of it.
MMO designers are purposely making there games accesible to multi-plat because there are more ppl with a console that can play these big new games then ppl w/ pimped out PCs (wich are much harder for ppl to learn about like specs and upgrading and such). they are smart because they will draw in 2-3x times as many customers. uve seen the look b4 u learned this and uve seen the vids, THATS HOW IT WILL BE SO STOP WHINNING.
also apprently x360 is jumping on the blu-ray bus somtime soon, besides the PC versions can always be res'd up to look nicer, why not just wait to see the game or just enjoy it since u get it first and stop the whining over "well PC owns console" BS.
The PC version seems to be released this year, that would make the Xbox hardware 3 years. That regardless of if AoC would be released 2010 or 2011 on Xbox. As it is the todays standard on PC hardware and capabilities you have to compare with the Xbox not the next years.
Then you also have options on the PC to scale down the graphics, resolution and all. So as that is possible does that also imply that AoC is hold back as it is possible to run on older PC hardware than what is brandnew today.
What you really would be afraid of is companys moving from making PC games to only console games as you have somewhere beetween 1:10 to 1:5 the sales figures PC compared to consoles. And have seen PC game companys fold even after releasing a (supposedly) successfull game, wellplayed but less sold... Don't be afraid that a console release would restrain the PC version.
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