Mysterious PS3 launch title is Oblivion
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Sep 27th 2006 at 7:36PM }
Remember when the folks at the Official Playstation Magazine declared than an upcoming issue would reveal a surprise PS3 launch title? A game so magnificently obscure and unexpected, a launch game "that you have not heard of?" The answer has finally come in the editorial team's latest podcast -- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Don't worry, we've never heard of it either. Sounds rather pretentious.
The podcast does provide some clarification with regards to how Bethesda's in-your-face epic could possibly have been labeled as a game you've been completely oblivious (har har) to. Correction: it's a launch game you've never heard of, in the sense that you've never heard of it being a PS3 launch game. Obviously, Halo 3, Space Channel 5 and Pikmin would all have been fair guesses. Ah, we jest.
According to OPM, the PS3 version of Oblivion will include new content and enhancements, likely referring to a bevy of equine protection items and the vicious eradication of problematic insects seen in the Xbox 360 and PC versions. 1UP specifically mentions a new faction, the Knights of the Nine, entering the world of Cyrodiil and providing the player with new quests. In addition, they also confirm a PSP game, Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion. More information on both titles will surely arrive in the next few weeks.
Listen -- about three quarters of the way in
Read -- a new faction and a PSP Oblivion
Behold -- the first batch of PS3 screenshots
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
KR @ Sep 27th 2006 7:39PM
Hooray! Welcome to early Spring, 2006!
Matt @ Sep 27th 2006 7:39PM
Hooray!
Phil @ Sep 27th 2006 7:42PM
if anything, these screenshots look worse than the xbox 360
Pedro Van Faulk @ Sep 27th 2006 7:43PM
If they charge 250 for horse armour....how much are they going to charge for a whole new guild?
LK @ Sep 27th 2006 7:42PM
This is old news. Heck, rumors were there for Oblivion before OPM even announced they had a suprise.
Lou @ Sep 27th 2006 8:56PM
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is unbelivable! PS3 forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Methane47 @ Sep 27th 2006 7:46PM
This is the worst kept secret in the history of secrets..
Ebgames And Gamestop listed Oblivion as a PS3 game back in MAY!!
Anyways This is going to be great... I cant wait for the ps3 version... actually i can't wait for my ps3.
MumbleyJoe @ Sep 27th 2006 7:45PM
I'm a 360 fanboy to the end, but I'm an even bigger fanboy of Oblivion. As cool as it is to have great games exclusive to the console you happen to like, I think this is such a great game that it should really have the biggest audience possible.
Yeah, it's several months old now but who cares, it's a game worth the wait if you're into RPGs (even if weren't previously into RPGs).
Congrats Sony & Sony fans, you just scored a great game... enjoy!
reguy @ Sep 27th 2006 7:46PM
time for the sony guys to come in here and say how much better this game will be on the ps3 with no mention that sony 'stole' this game.
that stealing talk is nonsense to begin with but dont tell sony guys that devil may cry 4 or ff13 will be coming to the 360 because thats just stupid. sony gets all the great games!!!!
one last point, since this game is so huge im glad sony is using blu ray, more space = better games, because there is no way it could fit in a tiny tiny dvd right sony fans???
Ken Kutaragi @ Sep 27th 2006 7:47PM
Big deal. It's been out forever, and that extra content will come to the other systems, along with even more extras on top of that in the form of the inevitable expansions/GOTY editions.
LRV @ Sep 27th 2006 7:50PM
I loved Oblivion on my 360, but I did notice some frame rate drops and choppyness here and there. Hopefully you Sony Fans will be able to play this game smoothly seeing as it's a year old, and they've had ample time to polish it.
james f. @ Sep 27th 2006 7:53PM
I enjoy oblivion quite a bit myself but a ps3 release seems a bit day late and dollar short. Unless of course they are cranking out Japanese version to show our eastern friends that a cutscenes and turn based combat have slowly but surely been killing rpgs.
I'm of the mind that at least 90% of everyone who wanted to play oblivion already have it. A new faction is a nice but trivial gesture to anyone starting the game fresh and since there seems to be no apparent exclusivity I'm sure that new faction will be ony many a PC and 360 harddrive soon than later.
Nick @ Sep 27th 2006 7:55PM
Number 6, it's not an exclusive title, it was launched on PC's the same day it was launched on 360. I felt that while the graphics were not as good as on the 360, the playstyle, and keyboard/mouse controls fit it much better. I'm sure the 360 version will be about the same as the ps3 version.
Ethan @ Sep 27th 2006 7:58PM
exactly Reguy. There is no way this game will be under 9 gb. It will have tons of extra content and way better graphics. I wouldnt be surprised if it goes over 20 gbs.
MED @ Sep 27th 2006 8:05PM
Hooray a psp version! hopefully they dont screw it up. i can have a whole world in my pocket now.
Jojo @ Sep 27th 2006 8:00PM
I wonder how the load times will be. One of the issues I had with the 360 version is the load times could be a bit long, but now that you are using Blu-Ray which has a slower transfer rate (as I understand it), will that increase load times?
I agree with #6, Oblivion is an awesome game and all PS3 owners should get it as soon as possible.
Ethan @ Sep 27th 2006 8:03PM
Jojo, as was demonstrated in the E3 Sony keynote with Gran Tourismo HD, the load times will be much quicker due to a STANDARD hard drive in every console to pre-load content, achieving a faster load time.
Cage @ Sep 27th 2006 8:04PM
"exactly Reguy. There is no way this game will be under 9 gb. It will have tons of extra content and way better graphics. I wouldnt be surprised if it goes over 20 gbs."
and WAY better graphics...
Anyone notice the PS3 flamers seem, well, the age of 12?
Ethan @ Sep 27th 2006 8:07PM
Hmm... last time I checked, using the word way, doesnt constitute someone being a 12 year old. Now putting it in all caps like you demonstrated may.
Ethan @ Sep 27th 2006 8:10PM
anyway MED, why doesnt Joystiq even mention, or file this under PSP?
Milkshake @ Sep 27th 2006 8:11PM
Sony needs all the help it can gain right now, they have continually taken a path of smoke and mirrors and been caught out so many times when the goods need to be shown and under delivered on their online promise as of day one. When you look at the games that they will have for the launch of the system they are really unispiring including GT HD which is the same game in HD.
Now looking at the 360 from day one not a great catolouge of games either as with most systems launches if everyone is honest, sure there maybe a game or two that some fans of the genre or series really want to play but usually its a pick & mix if your lucky. However a year on from that the 360 has and will have many great games this holiday season plus an online system that has a proven track record that no one even the Sony or Nintendo fanboys can deny.
The price of the system is great value and the HD-DVD add on is a choice, lets be fair and sensible the Blu-ray player in the PS3 is not delivering any game at the moment that could not be ported to the 360 and Im sure it will be a long time before that happens, Looking at PC games that are far and away better in terms of size and Resolutions they do not need HD disks at this time and do not look like they will for a long while with todays compression technologies in place. If you want a large selection of great games then the 360 is available now. Sony has a lot to prove and a hell of a lot of ground to make up. Nintendo and MS look like winning this generation. PS3 is Smoke and Mirrors.
MED @ Sep 27th 2006 8:13PM
Ethan
I really have no idea. its kind of like they just tacked it on at the end. and considering the psp already has a large install base that they would have said more about it.
reguy @ Sep 27th 2006 8:16PM
hey look ethan is back
hey ethan how did u like all that xbox news today?
see how nice it is when a company that makes a console focuses on games? u know games right? like guitar hero 2 on 360, didnt other sony guys say this would never happen?
hmm
Intangible 360 @ Sep 27th 2006 8:17PM
Definitely a must buy for PS3 owners, those screenshots look very similar to the Xbox 360 version, slightly worse I would say.
LordMinogue @ Sep 27th 2006 8:26PM
Oyay Ethan!
Oblivion on the PS3 will likely be extermely similar to the PC and 360 versions. You would be right in assuming bug fixes, inclusion of some content sold on XBOX LIVE, and other subtle tweeks. However, no developer has QUADRUPLED the size of their game during a system PORT.
Also, the 360 version of the game will stream to hard drives when a hard drive is present. This is controlled by the word "if" occuring before the boolean variable "hardDrivePresent." Sure, this is Java Speek, but the effort in hardware optimization between the Core and the Premium is much less then the difference in optimization between two different graphics cards.
Gullable is written on the ceiling.
Correcting Ethan's blatant assumptions asside, making Oblivion a cross platform game will put or confirm many myths about the PS3 and the XBOX 360, in addition to expanding the audiance of prehaps my favorite game ever. May this be our litmus test.
Ethan @ Sep 27th 2006 8:26PM
reguy, I wouldnt know, I never played Guitar Hero. But thank you for the warm welcome back.
Matt @ Sep 27th 2006 8:26PM
Yeah it's pretty cool to talk about games on a videogame console. Sony should try it sometime, instead of trying to dig a way out of their hole. :)
Pince @ Sep 27th 2006 8:49PM
oh yay another port...all this really does is steal a little bit of the 360's thunder (which you could argue is already done by the PC version).
As far as I see it, no one is going to buy a PS3 with Oblivion in mind. It would be different if both systems had been out for awhile (like RE4 releasing for GC and then PS2) and some PS3 owners were tempted to buy 360 for Oblivion, but right now it is just launch title filler. If people really wanted Oblivion, they would have likely bought a 360 and Oblivion a while ago or, if their PC can run it well, buy that version. The only group that can really be pleased are people who are hardcore sony fanboys and refused to play Oblivion on the 360, but those people would be buying a PS3 anyways.
PS: I hate ports. Especially ones with added content (no, I am not buying the game again so my horses can be decked out.)
foobob @ Sep 27th 2006 8:28PM
"Hopefully you Sony Fans will be able to play this game smoothly seeing as it's a year old, and they've had ample time to polish it."
I don't think it needs software polish since running on the superior PS3 hardware. and i'm serious. :)
Anyway, you won't be seeing much of the PS3 graphical prowess from third party games ported from other platforms. It's the same situation the N64 was into -- when only the Nintendo and Rare games truly showed what the machine was capable of -- except that Sony has a lot more 2nd parties readying games for the machine.
And, while dubious, Capcom, Konami, Namco, Sega, Square-Enix and many others still show a huge level of compromise with Sony like they absolutely didn't with Nintendo back then...
Anyway, Elder Scrolls is good news, even though i'm not particularly a fan of american-style RPGs...
Ethan @ Sep 27th 2006 8:28PM
Dude, LordMinogue, why do you always say "Oyay"? It makes you sound a little fruity.
LostToys @ Sep 27th 2006 8:29PM
Milkshake -
What is funny is that you admit that the launch window of the Xbox 360 was weak, but the new line up is great.
What not give the same credence to the PS3? (I am aware that the PS3 has to compete with the Xbox 360, whereas the Xbox 360 only had itself as competition). The first 6~8 months will be rather lack luster, but from there on out, you are looking pretty peachy (much like the Xbox 360).
And graphically, it does look worse than the Xbox 360 version. I wonder if they were able to incorporate the new "motion" controller.
the_pwnerer @ Sep 27th 2006 11:33PM
Why would anyone want this game now? Why would sony fans be "glad" about this? Bethesda "cancelled" this game long ago, making it a "360 exclusive" (for consoles) for a while. Even if it was going to be a 360 exclusive for a while given PS3's launch date, since people thought it was going to be *Exclusively* on 360, a lot of people bought a 360 just for this game... most people that wanted this game already got it anyway (and still, why should anyone get the 360 or PS3 version if the PC version is half the price, and perhaps superior (even to the PS3 version).
Way to have leverage in the "console wars" by being fake. Business, schmusiness; it's more business to go multi-platform officially instead of being officially "oops... it was multi-platform; sorry". Not to mention all those poor 360 owners (such as myself) that will miss PS3's exclusives (well, I won't, but a lot of people will) for a game that was once touted as a "console seller".
Bethesda is being directed by morons, and for that (ok, and for spite) I hope the PS3 version doesn't sell compared to the rest of PS3 games.
AoE @ Sep 27th 2006 8:32PM
wow... so thier major announcement was Windows/Xbox 360's sloppy seconds? hahahahaha
LostToys @ Sep 27th 2006 8:34PM
Matt -
Yeah, cause you know, having playing games on the show floor is like so 1990.
Personaly I would have just wished that Ken got up on stage and said "The time for talk is over!" Got off, and sent everyone to the show floor to play the playable PS3 titles, because, really, that is what it ultimately comes down to: gameplay.
But, alas, he had to go on this crazy rheteric about how cool the PS3 will be .... 10 years from now.
Ethan @ Sep 27th 2006 8:38PM
well, the PS3 launch lineup is looking great now. Resistance, Lair, Fear, Rainbow 6 vegas, Warhawk, Heavenly sword, and now Oblivion, all interest me and look amazing. Looks like the strongest launch lineup I have ever seen.
the_pwnerer @ Sep 27th 2006 11:33PM
Ethan, I don't think they are going to multiply the content that much, considering it would be too expensive for a PS3 launch title; especially since this game is relatively old and pretty much everyone that considered this a *must have* already has it. If they added that much content, then they might as well should have changed the name of the game, or made a new one.
If this game does reach 20 GB (which is highly doubtful), Sony fanboys should be worried, because it would most likely mean that everything on 360 was compressed, and on PS3, it is not, which would open pandora's box again of *cough* microsoft's*cough* FUD against Blu-ray (I doubt the added content is bigger than the whole Oblivion for 360). Unless of course, they add cut-scenes and things that just didn't originally fit on a 360DVD9 ;)
Then again, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing... after all, not having everything compressed would be a huge load off the Cell.
Milkshake @ Sep 27th 2006 8:44PM
LostToys:
yes i did admit that but like i say most consoles have that, if youre lucky two great games and then a wait for things to catch up. Developers have caught up and some great games are out and are also coming for the 360 Guitar Heros just comfirmed to add to that ever growing list. Devevelopers are jumping ship as the 360 will be in 10 millions home by the end of the year.
PS3 will be hard to find this season so all im sayin is why wait just get connected to live and enjoy the here and now
hoos30 @ Sep 27th 2006 8:45PM
Enjoy this game Sony fans...it's loads of fun. Welcome to the wonderful world of western RPGs.
Imadogg @ Sep 27th 2006 8:44PM
Knew this would happen, great for those of you without a 360, waiting for the PS3, to get a chance to play this huge, amazing game.
And I don't get why it wouldn't fit on a 360 disc, as I heard that the whole game was under 6GB. If that's true, I'm damn sure a few things added here and there would not equate to 20GB total.
JJ @ Sep 27th 2006 8:54PM
Milkshake i highly doubt MS will hit the 10 million mark by the year end. They were only at 5 mil back in June and thats after 8 months and with competition from Wii and PS3 i highly doubt they're gonna move a million units a month.
They should be happy to hit 8 or so million, that would seem more inline with the current rate or so.
Yes 360 is getting guitar hero and thats notable, but so is PS3 getting a great game like oblivion.
This generation exclusivity i believe, will be very rare.
AOE, calling oblivion sloppy seconds, then you may as well call Banjo kazooie, conkers, PD0, etc etc sloppy seconds from past generations as well.
MosquitoControl @ Sep 27th 2006 8:50PM
How can anyone say the 360 version looked better than those screenshots?
The shots definitely looked better than the 360 version did on my HDTV, like the guard's outfit detail. Then again, usually guys were moving too quickly for me to stop and check it out. It's comparable, but if that shot is valid I'd say the edge goes to the PS3 version.
Maybe it won't freeze up as regularly as the 360 version did, either.
Game was too easy, and too easy to exploit, but fun for a while, until the constant disc read errors (Bethesda's fault, not the 360s) got old.
snack @ Sep 27th 2006 8:57PM
Ugh, I hate when stuff like this. More fuel for the console flame wars. Now the Playstation 3 fanboys are going to be getting in the 360 fans faces and asking us to compare the two versions. Obviously the PS3 version is going to run better, because they had an extra year to tweak the game... Sheesh. It is going to be so hard to get that point across to those fanboys. Thanks Bethesda.
JJ @ Sep 27th 2006 8:59PM
I see your point about ports Pince, but a great game is a great game regardless of which system its on or ported too.
Was GTA on xbox any less fun because it came out on PS2? No, Was battle for middle earth 2 any less fun even though it had been on PC for 6+ months before it came to 360?
Sure its filler, but its quality filler and a game that was well rated on a rival console.
Jeffers @ Sep 27th 2006 9:08PM
This is going to be soooo much better on the PS3. We'll have real-time giant crab changes!
Anyways.... this game didn't impress me too much on the 360. It was a ton of fun, but just not too impressive. (I think it's good that I'm not just impressed by fun?) The graphics were great (although choppy), and I got a TON of play out of it, but it didn't grow like I expected.
I'd have like to seen spells & enemies get bigger as they got more powerful.
Jeffers @ Sep 27th 2006 9:13PM
Still though - If you manage to snag a PS3 this holiday I would definitely make this game a pick
Kyattsuai @ Sep 27th 2006 9:27PM
Where's the jest? Space Channel 5 would be awesome on PS3.
Of course, it'd be better on Wii, since I'm going to get one of those... but I digress.
Josh @ Sep 27th 2006 9:30PM
Good job Bethesda! It's nice to see them leveraging their title like this across multiple platforms. That way they can make the most money out of their titles and be able to fund the next Elder Scrolls game.
Certainly I expect whatever enhancements they make beyond the 360/PC version will released on Marketplace for the Xbox 360, and online for the PC. One cannot help but wonder if some of the content that has already been released for sale will see a price drop (free maybe) once they include it in the PS3 version for $60.
[-Z-] @ Sep 27th 2006 9:32PM
Look like MLB trade to me.
PS3 get elder scrolls and XBOX 360 get guitar heroes II.
Two powerhouse trade, it's a tie I think.
ill trooper @ Sep 27th 2006 9:54PM
This will be a good way to compare the systems head-to-head. As for that 'polish' you 360 fans keep talking about, wasn't that handled in the downloadable updates?
Who cares if it came out last year - there are a lot of people who have waited for the PS3 and this might be a game they enjoy. Stop hating, you sound like little girls, slobbering on the 360 like N'Sync or something, especially the astronaut one.
This game was a choppy experience, in the few times I watched my friends play it. I hope the PS3 can smooth it out and increase framerate - not because I want the PS3 to win or anything, but that I want to have faith that all of this next-gen hardware isn't getting bogged down within the first year of it's release.
Bill @ Sep 27th 2006 9:54PM
>>40. Ugh, I hate when stuff like this. More fuel for the console flame wars. Now the Playstation 3 fanboys are going to be getting in the 360 fans faces and asking us to compare the two versions. Obviously the PS3 version is going to run better, because they had an extra year to tweak the game... Sheesh. It is going to be so hard to get that point across to those fanboys. Thanks Bethesda.>>
From what I've seen the pS3 version looks like shit! It looks like a last gen game or something. Apparantly the graphics (someone said the water?) are downgraded from 360 version.
I guess I'll jot over to IGN and compare screens myself. One thing's for, the PS3 fanboys are probably hiding something, because if the PS3 screens looked better, you know that news would be blasted all over the web for the next six years.
They probably look a lot worse and that's why everybody is ignoring it, is my guess.