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Remember when Smed said there were no plans to port SWG to console?
ArcAngel3
Member Posts: 2,931
People assumed that when the game's controls were radically changed that it was to make the game playable on console. This seemed like a fair assumption given that the new control scheme would work well with your average PS2 controller, especially the way you would select and fire special attacks.
Smed's response to that assumption was as follows: "No, we aren't making these changes in order to bring SWG to consoles. This is simply untrue. No one is working on an Xbox 360 or PS3 version of SWG (Or PS2, Xbox or PSP), nor is one on the drawing board."
Despite this comment, I think people may have got the console idea from some of the LLC press releases like this one:
"LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC today announced its intent to develop versions of the company's highly anticipated first game of its Star Wars ® Galaxies™ online series for Xbox Live and PlayStation 2. Specific release dates for the Star Wars Galaxies-branded massively multiplayer games for the two next generation console platforms will be announced at a later time. This December LucasArts will release a Windows PC version of the game, developed by Sony Online Entertainment, titled Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided™.
The Star Wars Galaxies online game series is designed to immerse literally thousands of players into the rich Star Wars universe. The series will feature dynamic role-playing adventures across multiple planets during the classic Star Wars timeframe. Game play will offer a unique combination of combat, exploration, social interaction, specialized missions, and daring quests.
"The ultimate goal with these versions of Star Wars Galaxies is to solidify LucasArts' position at the forefront of the emerging online console game genre, and we're confident this strategy will do just that," says Randy Breen, vice president of development for LucasArts. "By offering the Star Wars Galaxies series on video game consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation 2, LucasArts will be able to bring this eagerly awaited game to an entirely new audience of players who previously may not have had an opportunity to experience it."
"We're thrilled that Star Wars Galaxies -- the most anticipated massively multiplayer game ever -- is coming to Xbox Live," says J Allard, general manager of the Xbox platform. "We designed Xbox from day one to support great online games like Star Wars Galaxies. This announcement validates our vision that the best games of the future will take advantage of the Xbox system's built-in broadband support."
"We're delighted to partner with LucasArts in bringing the Star Wars universe to the PlayStation 2, the world's best-selling next-generation game system," says Andrew House, senior vice president, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "Our goal with bringing PlayStation 2 online is to be able to showcase dynamic content that fosters multi-player opportunities and community building. The mass appeal of Star Wars combined with the tens of millions of PlayStation users represents a huge step forward in computer entertainment and the future of online gaming."
So, um yeah, I think I understand why people were thinking console. Also, doesn't it seem a bit odd given this press release that console plans weren't "on the drawing board?" Um were they on the drawing board and then erased??
Comments
I remember when Smedly said those words that there was no console version, never was on the radar.
However the evidence to prove he was wrong (and therefore lied, but what's another lie...) was of the Prima Guide for SWG Console. I tried looking for links of this book and I use to find it on Amazon easily, but as time goes on, it is becoming harder to find. Fortunately this unpublished book is available for reference on the web, the ISBN is 0761542272.
Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (Console): Prima Official Strategy Guide
December 2005
And that is why...
Conservatives' pessimism is conducive to their happiness in three ways. First, they are rarely surprised -- they are right more often than not about the course of events. Second, when they are wrong they are happy to be so. Third, because pessimistic conservatives put not their faith in princes -- government -- they accept that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. They believe that happiness is an activity -- it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.
Smed addressed that. He said at one point in development that there were plans for console versions, but they were scrapped a couple months after SWG went live.
I believe you that he said that; I'm just not sure I believe him. With the clear announcement from Lucasarts and Xbox that they planned to port to console, with the Prima guide for consoles listed in 2005 and with the control scheme for NGE being more console friendly than the previous system that used all the F keys, it's actually really hard to believe him.
Also, with his history of other apparent contradictions, I find it very hard to believe anything he says at this point.
At this point what do they have to lose? They don't have any credibility left so they don't care if they go back on a previous promise.
With the recent server merges and non-stop dwindling of the player base they are doing anything they can to justify the continued operation of the game.
I think you're probably right.
I believe you that he said that; I'm just not sure I believe him. With the clear announcement from Lucasarts and Xbox that they planned to port to console, with the Prima guide for consoles listed in 2005 and with the control scheme for NGE being more console friendly than the previous system that used all the F keys, it's actually really hard to believe him.
Also, with his history of other apparent contradictions, I find it very hard to believe anything he says at this point.
If Smedley said he believed the sun was coming up tomorrow, I'd probably run out for a sun lamp, flashlight and some road flares....
And short the solar energy equipment market....
They'd probably be successful on the console market. Plenty of morons there are willing to take a reaming because they don't know of SOE's prior wrongdoings.
They've got a hell of a better chance by making a console MMO now than they do a PC one. They've lost all credibility in the PC world.
I dont trust Smed at all
but the OPs comments are out of context
Lucas Arts issued that statement in 2002
www.thefreelibrary.com/LucasArts+to+Develop+Versions+of+Star+Wars+Galaxies+for+Xbox+Live+and...-a094390110
Smed said his statement 3 years later in 2005 - in context to the NGE
www.micromart.co.uk/features/article/default.aspx
Smed was probably truthful that there no plans on the drawing board regarding NGE and Consoles
EQ2 fan sites
The DC MMO is for the PS3 and PC I think. I'm hoping it's a complete failure and knowing SOE it will be because they will never grasp the fact that releasing a quality game might make them more money then some quick cash grab.
I would never believe a word that came from this guys mouth. Smed opens his mouth it's a lie and like the above poster said, if he said the sun would 100% rise tomorrow I too would run for a sun lamp. I can't believe this POS is still in the industry after all the lies he has spewed through the years. Every game this man has been involved in has lost money on the changes he has implemented. If I ran SOE I would not have only fired him, I would have ruined him in the gaming community. Brad McQuaid is also on the YOU SUCK short list of liers in my book.
all future mmos by SOE will be PC and Console -- starting with Free Realms this year
www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55131
EQ2 fan sites
I can understand your point about context, but I'd like to remind you what I said in the OP. I said that I understood why people were thinking there were console plans. In other words, it's a reasonable assumption based on available evidence.
The evidence was that SWG was to originally be released on PC, and then be followed by a console version at a later date. That seems clear in the LEC press release.
The evidence is also that the Prima Guide for the console version was advertised for December 2005 I believe. As you know, that's right around NGE time.
The evidence also is that the new NGE control scheme and fps combat is better suited to console play than either previous versions of SWG. In fact, it made the keyboard virtually redundant as all you had to do was select an attack (cycle with RI L1 keys on a joystick) point and shoot. It played a lot like Battlefront, except SWG didn't work.
Around the same time, SOE also denied the starter kit was coming out. We were told very clearly that this was an erroneous listing. We were told the same thing about the 2005 console guide. When you lie to people, it's not hard to understand why they don't believe you later.
So, do I know for a fact if a console version was planned? Nope, but I never claimed that. I simply said that based on available evidence I can understand why people were thinking console. I still understand this assumption. My point is that it seems like a very reasonable conclusion, and given SOE's track record (e.g. starter kit), Smed denying it holds no credibility for me whatsoever.
P.S. comments above about a sunlamp really gave me a good chuckle ^_^. Lol I just checked and you can still buy the Prima Guide for SWG console, publish date Dec 2005. What a coincidence:
"$9.78
Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (Console): Prima Official Strategy Guide
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ISBN-13: 9780761542278
Publisher: Prima Games ISBN-10: 0761542272
Publish Date: Dec 2005 Format: Paperback , 144 pages
That's just too damn funny. Btw, it's also available at Amazon.com, but it'll cost you more lmao.
I don't remember exactly when I heard it (though it was within the last 12-18 months), but... I recall some dev admitting (not on the official forums of course) that a console version actually was in covert development in Nov-Dec '05, and was quietly shelved when it became clear just how badly subscriptions were crashing.
I don't understand the confusion myself. If you went to xbox.com and did a game search for Star Wars, it came up as a coming soon title for a long long time. Of course it has been removed now. But that should tell you it was to be released for console.
We all could see it, the dumbed down game play, the stream lined classes. The fast paced combat, when a freind told me how easy it is to pawn people with a game controler that was the give away.
Why didnt it go to PS3? The problems they had pushed its launch back a few months, and then the release of the NGE, killed the game, so dumping money into making SWG the first PC, console game never happened. Console/PC games are mmos makers wet dream, SWTOR is going to be the first Console/PC game, their statements give it away, Bioware will push out both versions, to boost subs and sales.