06-14-2013, 09:57 PM
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to speak with a couple of the game designers from Impression Games (Caesar II, III & IV, Pharaoh & Cleopatra, Atlantis and a host of other games) in their booth at E3. I was told that, contrary to their earlier announcement, they would not be releasing Cleopatra for the Mac OS because they could not afford the cost, even though the game was already ported and ready for disc pressing. They just did not see a big enough market to justify the ROI.
Then I asked them why not release their games on the PS2 or X-Box. Their argument then, and rightly so, was that the graphics they worked so long on would look like grey mush on a video monitor.
However...
The PS3 and 4 as well as the X-Box360 and One are HD, (and indeed there are unconfirmed rumors that the PS4 may be 4K ready) these machines have CPU's every bit as capable as many desktop / laptop computers and since many (perhaps most gamers) play on 46" or larger HD monitors there is plenty of game real estate to accommodate all of the information one takes for granted with a PC game.
So, why not port Total War Rome or Total War Shogun or any number of other PC based traditional war games to the Play Station or X-Box? The advantage over releasing that same game into the PC market (Windows or Mac OS based) is that you do not need to worry about compatibility of video or audio cards, system software, etc. If the game works on one PS console it will work on all of them.
Now some will argue that console gamers are very different from PC games, with the former favoring FPS and racing games while the latter enjoy more sophisticated 'thinking' games. That might seem to be true on the surface, but I don't buy it.
I do like playing the LEGO games on my PS3 (certainly the most amusing Star Wars games ever released) but my favorite PS game is still Panzer General released on the PS1 (amazingly, although my PS3 is not backwards compatible, it will play PS1 games).
Of course, I could be wrong, and one would have to believe that the game companies have considered this and decided against it, but I still believe there is a market, among console gamers, for traditional war games like those published by HPS (out of California) or the Total War series. If they sold Total War Rome to just 1% of the PS3 owners they would sell nearly 2 million copies. Now that sounds like a hit to me. However, I could be wrong.
Perhaps I'm a lone voice shouting in the wind on this matter, but I'd love to see a really good game, like Total War Rome, or even Caesar III or Cleopatra, released on the PS4. It would be interesting to see how well it sold. I doubt any company will be willing to risk the money, but I can live in hope all the same.
:|
Narukami
Then I asked them why not release their games on the PS2 or X-Box. Their argument then, and rightly so, was that the graphics they worked so long on would look like grey mush on a video monitor.
However...
The PS3 and 4 as well as the X-Box360 and One are HD, (and indeed there are unconfirmed rumors that the PS4 may be 4K ready) these machines have CPU's every bit as capable as many desktop / laptop computers and since many (perhaps most gamers) play on 46" or larger HD monitors there is plenty of game real estate to accommodate all of the information one takes for granted with a PC game.
So, why not port Total War Rome or Total War Shogun or any number of other PC based traditional war games to the Play Station or X-Box? The advantage over releasing that same game into the PC market (Windows or Mac OS based) is that you do not need to worry about compatibility of video or audio cards, system software, etc. If the game works on one PS console it will work on all of them.
Now some will argue that console gamers are very different from PC games, with the former favoring FPS and racing games while the latter enjoy more sophisticated 'thinking' games. That might seem to be true on the surface, but I don't buy it.
I do like playing the LEGO games on my PS3 (certainly the most amusing Star Wars games ever released) but my favorite PS game is still Panzer General released on the PS1 (amazingly, although my PS3 is not backwards compatible, it will play PS1 games).
Of course, I could be wrong, and one would have to believe that the game companies have considered this and decided against it, but I still believe there is a market, among console gamers, for traditional war games like those published by HPS (out of California) or the Total War series. If they sold Total War Rome to just 1% of the PS3 owners they would sell nearly 2 million copies. Now that sounds like a hit to me. However, I could be wrong.
Perhaps I'm a lone voice shouting in the wind on this matter, but I'd love to see a really good game, like Total War Rome, or even Caesar III or Cleopatra, released on the PS4. It would be interesting to see how well it sold. I doubt any company will be willing to risk the money, but I can live in hope all the same.
:|
Narukami
David Reinke
Burbank CA
Burbank CA
