Adversarial gameplay & xbox 360?

[Boris]

Like someone already said, consoles are for casual gamers for some light entertainment. They're there to feed the stupid masses. Not that everyone who plays console games is stupid, they just don't take gaming seriously, or have the console for non-serious gaming. There is no way someone can sit in front a console and do a three or four hour patrol holding a noob-stick.

Consoles are like to computers, as the television is to cinema. A cinema experience forces immersion, whereas television is a casual on the side experience, where you talk to people, eat, do ther stuff, and can be stopped at any point.

Consoles have co-existed with computers since the dawn of electronic gaming. PCs are far too popular at the moment to die. The PC gaming sub-culture is very big.

I would go as far as to say PC gaming is for true enthusiasts, no matter what genre you're talking about. It's all about customisation, making ones own computer better is a fun hobby for many people. It is the PC market that drives graphics technology, not the consoles. PCs are the bleeding edge of gaming, and someone needs to be at the forefront.

Which brings me to the number one most important thing. PC games allow modding!!! Almost every PC game gets modded these days, and it is something that gamers love to have. Imagine SH without mods!

An SH game is getting more and more ridiculous the more I think about it. If you can imagine yourself playing SH5 on a console, then you should ask yourself wheather you really care about what you are playing. There are plenty of other games around that cater for big explosions.

[flintlock]

I hope we never see this wonderful franchise move to the console.

Some genres lend themselves well to the console (racing, sports games etc), and others do not. My experience has been that once a title previously available on a PC is designed with the console in mind, that platform becomes the focus behind the design and it invariable gets dumbed down. The PC usually ends up with a less than ideal console port and it's never the same game again.

I'd love nothing more than to see the Silent Hunter franchise stay on the PC platform, but make no mistake, Ubi doesn't keep it there out of the love for the genre or franchise -- it's simple economics at this stage. Once Ubi decide there's more money to be made by taking the series cross-platform, they'll do it in a heartbeat. Even if it means the realism and authenticity will be sacrificed to bring the title to the broader couch playing masses. There's no romantic love for the genre behind its existence (as some would like to believe). At the end of the day, it's about the economics and ultimately, the bottom line. The franchise exists to make the publisher money, period. If consoles are deemed to increase the profits, that's where the franchise will go, tout de suite.

[Guido]

Its great to have so many opinions thats what a forums is all about, but Boris I think your view of console gaming is somewhat outdated really.

The goal posts really have shifted, not just for me but for many PC gamers of my generation.

The average age of the 360 owner these days is rather higher than you would imagine, try 30 odd - I think the current crop of consoles are for a very different market this time around, it's not about making it all simplistic and dumbing everything down anymore, its about innovation, making gaming a better experience all round. currently for the money the 360 cant be surpassed, even the ps3 represents better value (than pc) without doubt.
I cant see why SH3 wouldnt be exactly the same as the pc version, if it was ported, with some obvious interface changes. The audience is changing and so are the games, there is also no reason why I cant sit on my couch for 4 hours playing silent hunter on a console, Ubi would be crazy to not be wanting this title on console, they would make more revenue for a start...... I for one would love to see it -

[geetrue]

Originally Posted by Guido

The audience is changing and so are the games, there is also no reason why I cant sit on my couch for 4 hours playing silent hunter on a console, Ubi would be crazy to not be wanting this title on console, they would make more revenue for a start...... I for one would love to see it -

That's what it's all about ... they don't make movies or video games for free.

[stinger503]

Not that everyone who plays console games is stupid, they just don't take gaming seriously, or have the console for non-serious gaming. There is no way someone can sit in front a console and do a three or four hour patrol holding a noob-stick.

Hardly I take gaming very seriously as do many 360ers. And on the 3-4 hour patrols, I've done 5 hour races in Nascar Thunder, that's right 5 hours of driving in circles! So trust me I could do patrols.

Consoles are like to computers, as the television is to cinema. A cinema experience forces immersion, whereas television is a casual on the side experience, where you talk to people, eat, do ther stuff, and can be stopped at any point.

I don't think you actually believe this. How many people on this forum have gotten up and eaten or gone to the bathroom or even pause the game while playing SH3? I'd say 99% at least.

An SH game is getting more and more ridiculous the more I think about it. If you can imagine yourself playing SH5 on a console, then you should ask yourself wheather you really care about what you are playing.

Actually alot of people do care about their console games. Take a look at Steel Battalion http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/...eel%20battlion It's a $200 game and if you look at vital stats it says it has almost 1000 people who bought it. A $200 game! Most of this cost is for the keyboard and now Xbox 360 has USB ports you can already plug in you own. No need for controllers. And almost 100 people still play Steel Battalion, a game released in 2002 at $200 a pop.

[Boris]

I'll admist I'm die-hard PC, but I stand by my assertion that consoles are more casual. They cater for a different market, people who don't want to have to care how it works or why. Console games have a habit of being simplified, the mere fact that games have to be playable via a controller force the devs to dum it down, whether they want to or not. Also, because the target audence is even wider, realism and features will suffer. And as I mentioned before, it'll be a cold day in hell before the guys here give up their mods. Modding is what keeps many games and their supporting communities alive.

A console move would be a step backward as far as us players are concerned, who are constantly campaigning for more features and more content. I am glad that most simulation fans feel like this, because we are a niche market. As long as we know and stick to what we want, there will be some corporate fat cat willing to sell it to us. Saying we wouldn't mind playing Silent Hunter on a console is blasphemy you hear... BLASPHEMY! It's like cutting of your own balls.

nuff said

[Kapitan_Phillips]

Wasnt Steel Batallion that game where you got an entire cockpit peripheral?


-EDIT- Yeah, here it is:



They should make one like this for Silent Hunter :P

[Safe-Keeper]

Exactly. They have to be dumbed down because a keyboard has a hundred keys and a controller has less than a dozen. You could say, "oh, but the X-Box 360 supports a keyboard", but come on, a game that you have to buy a keyboard to play? How many people will pick it up when it comes with that kind of requirement? I can picture arcade players going "OMG Keebored, it muzt b teh r3alizm, run!111" and shun it like the plague.

Take a look at Steel Battalion http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/...eel%20battlion It's a $200 game and if you look at vital stats it says it has almost 1000 people who bought it. A $200 game! Most of this cost is for the keyboard and now Xbox 360 has USB ports you can already plug in you own. No need for controllers. And almost 100 people still play Steel Battalion, a game released in 2002 at $200 a pop.

1000 players is nothing. Not exactly lucrative.

[rocco]

Well, how many households don't have a USB keyboard?

That's all the PS3 needs. It has 4 USB ports in the front of the unit.

I bought a PS3 a few weeks ago, mainly because it plays Blueray Discs (Blueray
Disc stand alone players actually cost more than a PS3). After exploring the
thing for a while, I'm starting to think this could be the future.

The PC is not all that upgradeable in my mind. When It's time to upgrade I find
I need a new motherboard, CPU, RAM, Video Card, and power supply (unless I were
to upgrade every year, but performance doesn't increase enough in one year to
justify the price tag).

You can't use the same ram, because the slot type changed. Same with the
video card, agp goes to PCI-e. CPU pins changed. But this brand new 200 dollar
motherboard will accept all these changes. So you end up dropping a thousand
dollars for that new system that will need REPLACING, not upgrading, in two,
maybe three years if you are lucky.

Add to that the new operating system (and the prices of those are skyrocketing)
and you should be starting to see a trend.

How much further COULD the socket 939 have gone? No one really knows for
sure except the architects; of course they will tell you that it was at it's end,
but who knows for sure? It's all a big racket. Buy more, upgrade, blah.

The thing that is lacking in the console market are sims like Silent Hunter, if
UBI stayed true to the simulation it could still be played on a console. They
would just have to make a stand and keep it true to the PC spirit of it.
Playability would not be a factor. Just don't dumb it down.

Now, whether flight sims could survive on a console, I have some doubts. It's
hard to rig up a yoke and rudder pedals to a couch :rotfl:

Just my thoughts, sorry for rambling

Rocco

[flintlock]

Well I feel you're in luck. I don't think you'll need to wait too long to see the Silent Hunter series developed for consoles (then ported to the PC). Ubisoft loves consoles, and takes pride in being multi-platform friendly.

[rocco]

I guess what I'm saying is that the PS3 (can't speak for any others) looks
like it has the potential to BE a PC (in your living room). I would love to
play silent hunter in my chair.

Without the viruses to boot.

No more compatibility problems.

I think the reason why it is shunned by some is because of the brain-dead
games available on the console. I'm just saying it doesn't HAVE to be that
way anymore, "smart" games could survive. Let's face it, how many kids can
afford $500 for a PS3 (I know I never would have got one when I was a kid).

Rocco

[Donner]

Originally Posted by flintlock

Well I feel you're in luck. I don't think you'll need to wait too long to see the Silent Hunter series developed for consoles (then ported to the PC). Ubisoft loves consoles, and takes pride in being multi-platform friendly.

I think you are right. :hmm: Not having the warm, fuzzy feeling about things that I did a few weeks ago. What bothers me is the signs that have piled up lately. Ubi fast-tracks SH4 (I didn't see anything earlier than a late 2007 release), sets a seemingly firm release date (never a great sign for quality), and then pulls their marketing fiascos with different "editions" (ie: get as much money as they can before the consumers hear how buggy the sim is), then the devs announce the possiblity of an SDK...Seems like Ubi wants to push this sim out the door, produce a patch or two (ie: SH2 ) and get on to something else.

Just my opinion...and I could be waaaaay off base. I certainly hope so.

[geetrue]

Since MS went online with the Xbox and now the Xbox 360 series they have been partial to those king of games, due to the Xbox live money that comes into their greedy hands.

How can you play SH3 on a console? Single game mode? What do the other controllers do? Control another U-boat?

Same with SH4 except we have a hint of IJN destroyer's being AI and controlable in MP ... still not enough for MS to be interested ...

You would have to have the whole US Navy against the whole IJN to be a good online game and that is already being done with Midway, right?

Midway took over four years to get to the store shelves ... I watched it climb from a maybe in 2002 to what it is today.

Give up for sub sims on consoles for 2007, but hey 2008/2009 ... maybe

[Boris]

You guys are still forgetting that a console move will kill the modding scene.

[Safe-Keeper]

I guess what I'm saying is that the PS3 (can't speak for any others) looks
like it has the potential to BE a PC (in your living room). I would love to
play silent hunter in my chair.

Without the viruses to boot.

Seeing more and more (or all?) consoles are going on-line, do you really think it'll take long before they become infected?

I don't.

Let's face it, how many kids can
afford $500 for a PS3 (I know I never would have got one when I was a kid).

Lots. And those who can't, get them for birthdays and Christmas.