Sopranos 360 takes a dirt nap
The latest next-gen casualty appears to be the 360 version of THQ's upcoming Sopranos game. Gamespot reports that the HBO mob series will only see a PlayStation 2 release ... for now.
According to Wired magazine's Game|Life blog, the company decided to pull the team off the 360 version and put all focus on the PS2 release. And why would they do that? Apparently, the 360 version wasn't lookin' so hot. They paraphrase Game Informer as saying, "The company claimed that the next-gen version didn't look all that much better than the PlayStation 2 version, so why not focus both teams on one project?"
Game|Life then goes on to point out a good guess by a GAF poster: that perhaps THQ is merely delaying a 360 Sopranos because a holiday launch would have been shaky with teams split in two. Maybe once the PS2 title is released, all focus can return to puttin' a little polish on that next-gen version. Certainly by that time, the install base for the 360 would have increased, thereby stuffing everyone's pockets with more money. As Mos Def says, it's all mathematics.
[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nbcaffeine @ Jul 28th 2006 4:05PM
Also, if it were to make a holiday release on the 360, they could capitalise on the momentum of the final set of episodes, set to air in Jan.
Ryan de michigan @ Jul 28th 2006 4:06PM
Mos Def rocks
About.com sucks
KR @ Jul 28th 2006 4:06PM
Wasn't there some (little) big to-do over them cancelling their PS3 version a week or two ago? I thought they said it was too difficult to program for or something.
...looks more to me like this game is going to suck ass and they'd rather not waste money on a PS3 version OR a 360 version.
Chris @ Jul 28th 2006 4:08PM
that's a real shame because the game industry is really lacking TV/Movie games.
I guess now we have to put up with all those "original" games they make... what a waste.
Anthony D @ Jul 28th 2006 4:12PM
That's total B.S. THQ SUCKS, Isa ywe ban there games woving forward.........screw 'em!!!
Khash @ Jul 28th 2006 4:19PM
And Joystiq made such a huge deal over the PS3 version getting tanked. Claiming it to be proof of the PS3s downfall. So what's up now, Joystiq?
KawF @ Jul 28th 2006 4:20PM
As with the 360-fanboys outcry when this years smackdown from THQ for PS3 was "canceled", this cancelation must of course mean that the Xbox 360 is too costly, and too hard to develop for. This of course by defenition of the 360-fanboys means that it (the 360) will sink like titanic hitting an iceberg.
How's them apples?
(Or it could simply be that these are some of the cost saving strategies that THQ have had to enact due to them having a bad year and having incurred quite some profit losses.)
Clintt @ Jul 28th 2006 4:25PM
Most of the games on the Xbox 1.5 don't look Next Gen. anyways. That's normal...so why not go ahead and release the crappy game? I was at Best Buy the other day and they had the NFL game on a big screen TV trying to sell Xbox 1.5 and nobody was buying it. The PS2 game is good enough compared to that. At about a hundred bucks a PS2 is a bargain. I may just stick to it for a few more years. All the games are still coming out for it and much cheaper at that!
Insomnia Bob @ Jul 28th 2006 4:26PM
This brings up a disturbing trend I've noticed: games being released for the old platforms, then released for the next gen systems a few months later. Is this some clever ploy to attempt to seperate us from our money twice to get the next gen experience?
I don't think Godfather 360 was ever going to come out at the same time as the PS2 release, but having already played it on PS2, and having enjoyed it, will I fall prey to this plot and buy the hi-res, 360 version, with more gameplay featueres?
...hm. Yep. But I don't have to like it.
epobirs @ Jul 28th 2006 4:27PM
Was anybody really excited by this game? Amidst the the disappointment of the Xbox 360 version of 'The Godfather' not being a visual masterpiece, the better question is why anyone thought it was a good basis for a game. It is one thing for a developer to draw inspiration from a well known work of fiction but yet another to become locked into a narrative with an outcome that is old news to nearly all of the audience.
Action movies lends themselves to games when they suggest a play mechanic to be adapted that can be an engaging activity apart from the plot. But 'The Godfather?'
IslandLife @ Jul 28th 2006 4:29PM
Good call on that Mos Def album. It's a pure hip-hop classic.
Nuff Respect Joystiq!
Efren @ Jul 28th 2006 4:32PM
Damn.. and I was really looking forward to this game sucking on 360 too! I guess I'll have to get by with it sucking on my Ps2.
Robotic House Plant @ Jul 28th 2006 4:33PM
I have to agree with KR, this is a sign the game itself is probably not that great. If there were confidence in the game, you'd likely see it available on as many platforms as possible. That the Sopranos show itself isn't as popular as it once was, is probably also a factor.
dsub @ Jul 28th 2006 4:42PM
who cares. It just would've been another mobster game like The Godfather that plays just like GTA...these are kind of games that are released at $50, and then a month later you can find 800 used copies on the shelf at EB for $9.99.
Dracula Jones @ Jul 28th 2006 4:45PM
I heard the Uncle Junior senile shooting spree mini-game was better with the Wiimote anyway.
Will @ Jul 28th 2006 4:46PM
HOLY SHEET'!! zOMG!! TEH' XBOX360 IS TEH' FAILING!! DEVELOPERS JUMPING TEH' SHIP!! #$#@$(@*!!!!!!!
vaylen @ Jul 28th 2006 5:45PM
360 fanboy take: Sopranos suxx0r anyway. Boycott THQ!
Sony fanboy take: Stop crowing about THQ's cancelling 'rasslin on the PS3 now. Take that 360 loserz
Nintendo fanboy take: What's the Sopranos? My parents don't let me watch it.
Neutral take: THQ knows how to do one thing: make tons of jack. If they only have the manpower to get one version out for the holiday seasn, who can blame them for making it a version for a console with approximately 95 million more units out there.
supadude5000 @ Jul 28th 2006 7:26PM
Why make a game based on a show that seems to have passed its prime in the mainstream media? I pray for the sanity of all the people developing this game, cause they will bust their asses, and this game WILL SUCK...things are weird that way.
AK @ Jul 28th 2006 8:16PM
The thing is, even with 100 million consoles in the market, the chance of a game selling 2% of that are slim.
The ps2 library is so oversaturated with games, even the good games rarely get the recognition(sales) they deserve.
More people will take notice of a good game when the library isn't saturated with a glutton mediocracy.
When a library is so oversaturated, only the truly extraordinary titles get recognized (or the established franchises).
ipodfanboy @ Jul 30th 2006 2:09AM
Lol I know some tv to games that suck and came out for the ps2 exclusvly. AMerican IDol for the ps2 sucked badly that game had a huge media campaign from fox but still did not get any recgonition and nobody did not buy it, then there was 24 another exclusive titel for the ps2, 24 sucked fucking badly terrible camera angles and missing sound from the game. Graphically the game looks extremely outdated it looks like an average n64 game graphically and thats running on the ps2. Back to Sopranos the show is still good but it wont have the media blitz for casuals to buy the game. The game is going to suck the same way how American Idol and how 24 sucked and BattleStar Galactica. Why dont they make sex in the city for the ps2 and call it a day. I dont blame thq for canceling the xbox360 version of the game. At the end of the day there is 45million ps2s in America compared to 11million gamecubes and 15 million xboxs and 3million xbox360s, so fanbase and distribution wise and cost wise its best to go to the ps2. Its just sad to see the ps2 get more developer support then the xbox360 or perhaps the nintendo wii. I guess the ps2 is on its way to a ten year lifespan, but as a avid fan of the sopranos series the sopranos game will suck and ruin the series.