Elite / Frontier I hope it is true that Elite 4 comes to PS3

[darkone]

Just to get back to the comment that they might have to dumb it down for the console I wouldn't think so at all. The PS3 for a fact can use keyboard/mouse and joystick the same thing you would use on your PC. And the PS3 design right now can take out most peoples gaming PC rigs. So it should be more than a viable platform.

On lifespan of the PS3 and Xbox360. I would give them a few more years at least. Developers are now just unlocking all the effects they can do on the PS3. For example they said Uncharted 2 will use pretty much all the bells and whistles that the PS3 can provide. And from gameplay videos it looks great.

If they come out with a console to soon people will not buy it probably right off unless it had total backward compatibility. If they stretch the lifespan out to 2013-2015 then they could probably get away with no backwards compatibility. I'm surprised Msoft hasn't released a BluRay edition. Because that was the sole reason why I bought the PS3 mainly and some of the PS3 exclusives.

 

[rgmarett]

So I'm not entirely sure what the next steps would be in making sure your console lives through your projected lifespan. As making major enhancements would affect the above.

Microsoft are releasing this camera for the XBox360 next year which 'should' increase it's lifespan as it'll work with all current versions of the XBox360:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2qlHoxPioM

and Molyneux's view on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPIbGnBQcJY

Personally, I'm not a fan of the Wii so I wasn't sure about this particular add on, although IGN wrote an interesting article about it's impact on 'hardcore' gamers:

http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/992/992675p1.html

 

[reddragan]

So how much do game cost to make nowdays.

I did read that the first Gears of War cost Epic 15 million dollars and apparently thats cheap.

Sony gave Killzone 2 a $50 Million budget, although the game is relatively short, about the same length of play as Doom 3, you can see where that money went. You'd need an epic beast of a Gaming PC to get to the quality it is on PS3, too many people think of a PS3 as being slightly better than 360, but the exclusive games that are made by Sony's own studios are really amazing looking.

This is why I would like Elite 4 to be available on PS3, the PC ubergeeks really have nothing to fear regarding graphics. I am just sorry to say, the graphics will have to be dumbed down for 360 but this Elite, the gameplay will still be amazing. They only need to design a new GUI for the consoles, while keeping the PC GUI true to what works great on that platform... mind you, I am sure they will come up with something special!

Can you say..... Touchscreen Windows 7!!!! You lucky PC guys!!!!!!! haha!

 

[reddragan]

Yeah that is the current official line from Sony, but do you think that could change if Microsoft gets a new console out in 2-3 years? Having said that the PS2 had an extremely long life span and the consoles really are dictating the current games developing environment.

Reading up a bit more Microsoft have projected the lifespan of the 360 out to 2015 so it looks much like you're right. The 2012 thing is obviously just someone dreaming... It's amazing to look back at the initial release games on the PS2 and the current state of PS2 games - there is something to be said for developers really learning to use the consoles power.

Not sure mate.... regarding the lifespan of PS3. I have spoken to a Dev from Studio Liverpool.

He said what some 3rd party studio's are saying is correct, in that they are pushing the hardware to 100% already. However he stated this is just a spin of words... because the coding methods are probably not even 20% of it's optimal efficiency. They don't expect to get to full grips with Cell coding until the end of the PS3 lifespan which is 10 years.

As such, it wouldn't make any sense to release the PS4 as early as 2012 considering it would likely have

a) Two 7-Core Cell Processors (the PS3 variant)
b) The 32-Core Second Generation Cell Processor variant

He thinks the PS4 will arrive around 2015 at the earliest, after everybody knows how to properly code for Cell.

 

[Spacegamer]

Sony gave Killzone 2 a $50 Million budget

50 million
Given the price of makeing games.I think its a pretty safe bet that the game will appear on the consoles.

 

[rgmarett]

Even the new Alien Breed game (which is so cool - I didn't even know about it until a couple of days ago) is costing $2.5m

from IGN

Team 17 studio director Martyn Brown says Alien Breed Evolution will actually be a trilogy. And with development costs at around $2.5 million, it will be one of the most expensive downloadable games to date.

full article here: http://uk.xboxlive.ign.com/articles/100/1003487p1.html

 

[Steve O B Have]

Not sure mate.... regarding the lifespan of PS3. I have spoken to a Dev from Studio Liverpool.

He said what some 3rd party studio's are saying is correct, in that they are pushing the hardware to 100% already. However he stated this is just a spin of words... because the coding methods are probably not even 20% of it's optimal efficiency. They don't expect to get to full grips with Cell coding until the end of the PS3 lifespan which is 10 years.

As such, it wouldn't make any sense to release the PS4 as early as 2012 considering it would likely have

a) Two 7-Core Cell Processors (the PS3 variant)
b) The 32-Core Second Generation Cell Processor variant

He thinks the PS4 will arrive around 2015 at the earliest, after everybody knows how to properly code for Cell.

Yeah a bit more investigation has shown a pretty solid inclination toward a long term lifespan for both of the consoles. It will be very interesting to see what they can really squeeze out of them as the development matures. The thing that does concern me a little is that they are basing the lifespan off the previous consoles and as well all know technology advance is not a linear thing. Getting on toward to the later stages of their lifespan the lack of comparitive power to PCs is going to be really telling.

I'd be interested to see if the long term pattern of PC gaming vs Consoles will swing back around. There is a fairly strong argument against that possibility when you look at the expense involved in building a really decent gaming PC - expecially when you take into account a £200-£300 video card which alone would more than cover a high end console package.

I personally will keep building my PC and keep it up to speed with hardware developments but that is more down to my utility with photography and 3D stuff.

 

[ponk]

I couldn't think of a worse way to screw a game up than release it on a console.

Firstly you have to make the game as accessible as possible, you absolutely do have to dumb the interface, the controls and the difficulty down.

The game would need some sort of structure in order for casual gamers to grasp it. There's never been a completely sandbox game in the style of Elite before or since, it would need a direction from the off like the GTA series.

Don't fool yourself into think that a PC version will be somehow exempt from all this, games are developed for the most expensive system and ported across all the formats and with the PS3 being by far the most expensive to dev for it'll be ports in store for the rest.

Some of this might sound like a nice idea for certain games, but Elite has always been about being left up a creek of galactic proportions with a marginal paddle, so no thanks.

Make a game in the spirit of the original and watch an entire of generation of 30-50 year olds joygasm.

Consoles are the death of serious games.

 

[rgmarett]

I don't understand why people still think games need to be dumbed down for consoles. You're assuming The Outsider is going to be dumbed down?

As for console controllers, I use an xbox360 joypad on the PC to play flight sim! It's perfectly adequate to accommodate complex games apart from maybe RTSs. I haven't played Halo Wars, but C&C was pretty awful with a controller I must admit - but at the heart of Elite, it's a flying game - which is fine for a controller, in fact (i'm going to get called a moron by some ) but I'd say a controller was better than a mouse for flying games....there I've said it. Now to find somewhere to hide.

 

[Steve O B Have]

I don't understand why people still think games need to be dumbed down for consoles. You're assuming The Outsider is going to be dumbed down?

As for console controllers, I use an xbox360 joypad on the PC to play flight sim! It's perfectly adequate to accommodate complex games apart from maybe RTSs. I haven't played Halo Wars, but C&C was pretty awful with a controller I must admit - but at the heart of Elite, it's a flying game - which is fine for a controller, in fact (i'm going to get called a moron by some ) but I'd say a controller was better than a mouse for flying games....there I've said it. Now to find somewhere to hide.

No I agree completely. I think the consoles are for morons argument is a purely emotive one and as such just isn't well thought out. It's a knee jerk comment and I genuinely think it's an incorrect observation.

But any opinion is welcome as are you Ponk - Welcome to the forums - hope you enjoy your stay!

 

[Sir.Tj]

I don't understand why people still think games need to be dumbed down for consoles. You're assuming The Outsider is going to be dumbed down?

As for console controllers, I use an xbox360 joypad on the PC to play flight sim! It's perfectly adequate to accommodate complex games apart from maybe RTSs. I haven't played Halo Wars, but C&C was pretty awful with a controller I must admit - but at the heart of Elite, it's a flying game - which is fine for a controller, in fact (i'm going to get called a moron by some ) but I'd say a controller was better than a mouse for flying games....there I've said it. Now to find somewhere to hide.

Get the pitchforks out lads!!!

It's down to the individual's preference on which control method they prefer, I have always prefered Keyboard and mouse for the majority of the games I tend to play. But, certain games I find hard work to play with a Keyboard & Mouse. GTA for example, a controller for that game is perfect, I couldn't play the game any other way.

My preference would be the game designed for the PC and ported to other formats.

Elite/FE & FFE were all originally designed for the keyboard but, the NES Version of Elite is considered one of the best ones out there.

I'll put the pitchfork away....for now...

 

[rgmarett]

It's down to the individual's preference on which control method they prefer, I have always prefered Keyboard and mouse for the majority of the games I tend to play.

You've hit the nail on the head there.
There seems to be this attitude that one control method is better than another, but really both methods are fine. It isn't so black and white. Since using a controller, I actually prefer it, even for FPS games, but mouse wins hands down (for me, I might add) on games like Civilisation. That said, I played the demo of Civilisation Revolution on the Xbox and they did a very good job of creating a usable controller input. And, whilst we're on the subject of Civilisation Revolution, that did actually feel dumbed down, but I think that was more down to the art style they went for. I didn't buy it, purely based on the look of it - and i never knew i was so shallow.

 

[Spacegamer]

As for console controllers, I use an xbox360 joypad on the PC to play flight sim! It's perfectly adequate to accommodate complex games apart from maybe RTSs. I haven't played Halo Wars, but C&C was pretty awful with a controller I must admit - but at the heart of Elite, it's a flying game - which is fine for a controller, in fact (i'm going to get called a moron by some ) but I'd say a controller was better than a mouse for flying games....there I've said it. Now to find somewhere to hide.

I agree with you I think the joypad might make a good controller given that you have two sticks.One for the directions and the other for the thrusters.it would also need two of the shoulder buttons to be used for the vertical thrust and a very well designed icon system to get access to the other game features I know you can use a joypad with the xgames but I cant remember how well it worked?.

 

[reddragan]

You know, a PS3 version could help the PC version if you think about it.

I have been thinking about the control system, in a Zero-G environment like space the sixaxis/DS3 controller would be perfect for manouvering. Tiliting the controller to steer the spaceship?

No reason why PC can't have this as well!! Would be awesome for all genre's.