Finished Red Faction: Guerrilla over the weekend. Technically there are more things still to do in it, but I think I'm done with it for a while. As an easy throw-away game, popped in the God of War Collection, so I'm replaying GoW 1 and 2 in sweet HD. Also very close to finishing Chrono Trigger. Just need to reclaim the Rainbow Shell, then take on Lavos.
If anyone else gets into the Star Trek Online beta, add me to your friends list, Drake@thaneofcawdor. Look for me at the starbase, I'm the smug-looking human tactical officer with a uniform that looks like it was stolen from the set of The Love Boat.
I've been playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.
NSMBWii is fun, but it's not a very significant improvement over the DS game. I do like the penguin suit, and I'm glad to have the Koopa Kids back. There's a good deal of fanservice in terms of the music and sound design; I was pretty happy to hear the Super Mario World spinning sound effect when I shook the Wiimote to make Mario spin, and I love the new arrangement of the Hammer Bros. music. Though I am disappointed that the levels with Yoshi are few and far-between... and I still don't quite get why they chose two Toads over all of the other characters.
Spirit Tracks is pretty good. It fixed several problems that Phantom Hourglass had, and I like driving the train and controlling Zelda during the Spirit Tower portions. The touch-screen controls still feel a little awkward from time to time, though, and I imagine the game would be kind of frustrating for people who are still using the DSfat considering its emphasis on the microphone for two key items.
Been playing Dota for something like 8 years, Castlevania Order of Ecclesia witch is such a long game. I wish I hadn't missed the pokemon wagon, I tried getting in a few months ago but It seems I can't grasp it anymore. I have no patience with pokemon stuff.
I beat Bayonetta, and I almost immediately started right back over in Hard Mode. This is one of my new favorite games, but I'll probably never watch one of those cut scenes again.
I beat Bayonetta, and I almost immediately started right back over in Hard Mode. This is one of my new favorite games, but I'll probably never watch one of those cut scenes again.
The action scenes on that game look kind of like the ones in God of War. I thinking about getting an Xbox, but I wish it came with a blu-ray player.
I beat Bayonetta, and I almost immediately started right back over in Hard Mode. This is one of my new favorite games, but I'll probably never watch one of those cut scenes again.
I find that the cut scenes have a very strong layer of campiness that makes them hilarious to watch. I probably won't watch them on my second time through, but I'm not hating them entirely.
Am I wrong in thinking that porting an Xbox360 title to PC should be stupid easy, and basically a given?
In a perfect world it would be, and with a few engines it is (I'm thinking of RAGE), but making something work consistently across a wide variety of hardware configurations is harder than making it work on just one.
The number of people who: 1) Have a PC that can run that without lagging. 2) Like that sort of game but don't have an Xbox. 3) Have a PC gamepad. Is probably pretty small.
In a perfect world it would be, and with a few engines it is (I'm thinking of RAGE), but making something work consistently across a wide variety of hardware configurations is harder than making it work on just one.
Bah. I guess programming is harder than I thought. I guess my concept of it is that you develop for DirectX or whatever, and that DirectX does all the translation needed for the actual hardware. I'm sure that's either way oversimplifying, or just plain wrong.
In a perfect world it would be, and with a few engines it is (I'm thinking of RAGE), but making something work consistently across a wide variety of hardware configurations is harder than making it work on just one.
Bah. I guess programming is harder than I thought. I guess my concept of it is that you develop for DirectX or whatever, and that DirectX does all the translation needed for the actual hardware. I'm sure that's either way oversimplifying, or just plain wrong.
Well, you are right and you are wrong.
Basically you are right in that XBox games and PC games are basically the same because the XBox is just a PC. If you develop your game in XNA it's even easier. Then the exact same XNA game can on XBox and Windows with no modifications. If you make the game in XNA, then it might be much more difficult, and might require much more work to do a port, but not necessarily.
Also, even if you do make the game in XNA, if you didn't have both platforms in mind, you will still have some work to do to make a port. For example, if you made the game for XBox in XNA, you probably never added support for keyboards, mice, different screen resolutions, variable graphics settings. etc. The code will run on a PC unmodified, but you still have work to do to make a viable commercial release out of it.
The number of people who: 1) Have a PC that can run that without lagging. 2) Like that sort of game but don't have an Xbox. 3) Have a PC gamepad. Is probably pretty small.
By now, mid range PCs can run Xbox 360 games no hassle. Most people that are into Xbox 360 (ergo support M$) are into windows gaming. The best PC game pad ever is the Xbox 360 controller, I got one. I just think the real reason for all 360s games not being ported to PC is commercial interest, because it conflicts the two gaming markets M$ is in.
Most people that are into Xbox 360 (ergo support M$) are into windows gaming.
That's more likely not the case. Most people who own the 360 only game on the 360.
I just think the real reason for all 360s games not being ported to PC is commercial interest, because it conflicts the two gaming markets M$ is in.
No. Although Microsoft does make money on licensing when a game is released on the 360, and not when one is released on the PC, it's not Microsoft making the choice of what games go where. If they had that sort of power then games would be 360 and PC only, and you'd never see a PS3 or Wii game.
Here's a list of why you aren't seeing ports: 1)Cost - It costs time and money to port a game to the PC, even if it seems like it should be quick and easy. Take Mass Effect, its an Unreal engine game. Which is something that is built to be compatible with PS3, PC, and 360. Even so the PC port of Mass Effect 1 was released 6 months to a year after the game was released on the 360. The port was not done by Bioware, but was rather given to a 3rd party to do. And while it loads faster then the 360 version, it doesn't look as good, or play as well in a lot of cases. Had Bioware done the port these issues likely wouldn't have been there, but the cost of having Bioware do it wouldn't have covered the revenue from the sales. Additional their time is better spent working on a new game, or additional content for existing games, then doing something like that.
2)Piracy - it might be persevered, or it might be real, but game publishers don't want to release a game on the PC because it will get pirated. Which means that not as many people are going to purchase it, which won't cover the cost, making it not worth it.
3)Audience - There isn't that big of an audience on PC. In a lot of cases you aren't going to make money on a PC release unless you are someone like Valve who has a PC following. So if enough people aren't going to buy the game to cover the cost of porting the game, then its a bad business decision to do it since you are just going to cut into the profits from the game sales on the consoles.
Getting a lot of mileage out of Morrowind and Dragon Age (which looks surprisingly good even at 800x600 with medium textures and detail). However, I have to make a choice between picking up a mouse for this laptop tonight, or buying Bayonetta.
Most people that are into Xbox 360 (ergo support M$) are into windows gaming.
That's more likely not the case. Most people who own the 360 only game on the 360.
I just think the real reason for all 360s games not being ported to PC is commercial interest, because it conflicts the two gaming markets M$ is in.
No. Although Microsoft does make money on licensing when a game is released on the 360, and not when one is released on the PC, it's not Microsoft making the choice of what games go where. If they had that sort of power then games would be 360 and PC only, and you'd never see a PS3 or Wii game.
Here's a list of why you aren't seeing ports: 1)Cost - It costs time and money to port a game to the PC, even if it seems like it should be quick and easy. Take Mass Effect, its an Unreal engine game. Which is something that is built to be compatible with PS3, PC, and 360. Even so the PC port of Mass Effect 1 was released 6 months to a year after the game was released on the 360. The port was not done by Bioware, but was rather given to a 3rd party to do. And while it loads faster then the 360 version, it doesn't look as good, or play as well in a lot of cases. Had Bioware done the port these issues likely wouldn't have been there, but the cost of having Bioware do it wouldn't have covered the revenue from the sales. Additional their time is better spent working on a new game, or additional content for existing games, then doing something like that.
2)Piracy - it might be persevered, or it might be real, but game publishers don't want to release a game on the PC because it will get pirated. Which means that not as many people are going to purchase it, which won't cover the cost, making it not worth it.
3)Audience - There isn't that big of an audience on PC. In a lot of cases you aren't going to make money on a PC release unless you are someone like Valve who has a PC following. So if enough people aren't going to buy the game to cover the cost of porting the game, then its a bad business decision to do it since you are just going to cut into the profits from the game sales on the consoles.
I believe you, since my points were just opinions, and you seem to have a deeper knowledge. Piracy down here happens just as much on Xbox as on PC though. The only difference is that your Xbox gets banned from Live. I wouldn't do that though since online gaming is the only way to go for me and I support the video game market.
Finished a play through of Borderlands, and it's pretty much just Diablo with guns. It was enjoyable in pretty much the same way, In that it was fun to poke everything and play out the plot but it isn't terribly deep game play wise. So I'm probably not playing more of it, except maybe to poke other classes. Otherwise I'm in the middle of Arkahm Asylum. I like the combat, it's very cinematic, the story thus far leaves a bit to be desired, and the collection side quest things distract me far more than they should. Also it requires internet to play, and that is bullshit. Also playing Braid today, it's quite good though occasionally frustrating.
Comments
NSMBWii is fun, but it's not a very significant improvement over the DS game. I do like the penguin suit, and I'm glad to have the Koopa Kids back. There's a good deal of fanservice in terms of the music and sound design; I was pretty happy to hear the Super Mario World spinning sound effect when I shook the Wiimote to make Mario spin, and I love the new arrangement of the Hammer Bros. music. Though I am disappointed that the levels with Yoshi are few and far-between... and I still don't quite get why they chose two Toads over all of the other characters.
Spirit Tracks is pretty good. It fixed several problems that Phantom Hourglass had, and I like driving the train and controlling Zelda during the Spirit Tower portions. The touch-screen controls still feel a little awkward from time to time, though, and I imagine the game would be kind of frustrating for people who are still using the DSfat considering its emphasis on the microphone for two key items.
I wish I hadn't missed the pokemon wagon, I tried getting in a few months ago but It seems I can't grasp it anymore. I have no patience with pokemon stuff.
1) Have a PC that can run that without lagging.
2) Like that sort of game but don't have an Xbox.
3) Have a PC gamepad.
Is probably pretty small.
Basically you are right in that XBox games and PC games are basically the same because the XBox is just a PC. If you develop your game in XNA it's even easier. Then the exact same XNA game can on XBox and Windows with no modifications. If you make the game in XNA, then it might be much more difficult, and might require much more work to do a port, but not necessarily.
Also, even if you do make the game in XNA, if you didn't have both platforms in mind, you will still have some work to do to make a port. For example, if you made the game for XBox in XNA, you probably never added support for keyboards, mice, different screen resolutions, variable graphics settings. etc. The code will run on a PC unmodified, but you still have work to do to make a viable commercial release out of it.
Here's a list of why you aren't seeing ports:
1)Cost - It costs time and money to port a game to the PC, even if it seems like it should be quick and easy. Take Mass Effect, its an Unreal engine game. Which is something that is built to be compatible with PS3, PC, and 360. Even so the PC port of Mass Effect 1 was released 6 months to a year after the game was released on the 360. The port was not done by Bioware, but was rather given to a 3rd party to do. And while it loads faster then the 360 version, it doesn't look as good, or play as well in a lot of cases. Had Bioware done the port these issues likely wouldn't have been there, but the cost of having Bioware do it wouldn't have covered the revenue from the sales. Additional their time is better spent working on a new game, or additional content for existing games, then doing something like that.
2)Piracy - it might be persevered, or it might be real, but game publishers don't want to release a game on the PC because it will get pirated. Which means that not as many people are going to purchase it, which won't cover the cost, making it not worth it.
3)Audience - There isn't that big of an audience on PC. In a lot of cases you aren't going to make money on a PC release unless you are someone like Valve who has a PC following. So if enough people aren't going to buy the game to cover the cost of porting the game, then its a bad business decision to do it since you are just going to cut into the profits from the game sales on the consoles.
Otherwise I'm in the middle of Arkahm Asylum. I like the combat, it's very cinematic, the story thus far leaves a bit to be desired, and the collection side quest things distract me far more than they should. Also it requires internet to play, and that is bullshit. Also playing Braid today, it's quite good though occasionally frustrating.