PS3's Oblivion will come to Xbox 360 and PC too
by Vladimir Cole 
{ Oct 13th 2006 at 1:31AM }
As many of you well know, the PlayStation 3 will be getting an updated version of smash-hit RPG Oblivion, heretofore only available on the Xbox 360 and PC. This announcement prompted concern amongst PC and Xbox 360 loyalists who worried about missing out on content exclusive to the PlayStation 3 version of the game.
Bethesda says don't worry your pretty little heads about it. Asked by IGN about the issue, Bethesda's Todd Howard replied, "We always aim to have all our content available across all platforms, so that is our goal."
Welcome to the new generation! So long as no single platform has a major lead over the others, we can expect that most publishers will opt to launch their games for all platforms, assuming there are no technical limitations to doing so. Analyst consensus is that this generation of the console wars will be far less lopsided than the era in which the PlayStation 2 dominated. Publishers will naturally produce products for the platforms on which gamers congregate.
To put it another way: if you see an exclusive, someone paid big money to obtain rights to that exclusive.
[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
RaDd @ Oct 13th 2006 1:40AM
across ALL platforms???
Oblivion on Wii??? THAT would be awesome. It would probably be seriously lacking in graphics, but if they were ever to do it I'd totally buy it.
smellslikepie @ Oct 13th 2006 8:02PM
RaDd, They can somehow make it for the PSP, so I don't think that Wii is out of the picture TOTALLY
simchat_torah @ Oct 13th 2006 2:04AM
I don't think Oblivion will be on the Wii. It simply can't handle the graphics.
On a side note, it is certainly interesting that PS3 is losing all of its "exclusive" titles this generation. Seems 360 and Wii are the only two getting any true exclusives so far.
Lekko @ Oct 13th 2006 2:22AM
"3. I don't think Oblivion will be on the Wii. It simply can't handle the graphics.
On a side note, it is certainly interesting that PS3 is losing all of its "exclusive" titles this generation. Seems 360 and Wii are the only two getting any true exclusives so far."
right because Resistance and Motorstorm are going multiplatform...
Anyways, I'm curious of how they will do that. Are they going to re-release the game on DVD? Have the other levels via digital distribution? If they do it through online, that would be pretty rough unless it was free. $60 game plus $x for the added content would be more than the flat $60 for the PS3 version.
Although, downloadable is the only way to go unless you want all the oblivion early adopters to re-buy the game on disc for another $60 for one quest, which is pretty dumb. Besides, everyone who already beat the 'original' already stated that they don't want to play it through again for one quest, so a new version with new content is out..
How are they going to do this?
Pat @ Oct 13th 2006 2:24AM
more so wii tho ^^
anyone heard of WiiPc. That is acutually ALL u need.
Ben Hobbs @ Oct 13th 2006 2:38AM
"$60 game plus $x for the added content would be more than the flat $60 for the PS3 version. "
By the time the PS3 version comes out the 360 and PC versions will be discounted anyway, so it's unlikely to be an issue.
Mike @ Oct 13th 2006 3:22AM
I think when they say that they intend to have all of their content available on all platforms they mean the platforms that they've released the game for, and not that they're going to cram the game on to every system out there.
Not that I have anything against the idea of a Wii version of Oblivion, though I think I'd prefer to see them do an original game for it instead of trying to finesse some kind of port.
FreQ @ Oct 13th 2006 4:54AM
Uh please elaborate Joystiq...Does this mean that the new game content will be released for DL, or that the entire game wil be re-released with the new content ?
Garrett @ Oct 13th 2006 5:12AM
You could read the interview yourself for the answer. All he says is that they intend to let all systems enjoy it. He only says why, not how or when.
I would assume that the content would be either standard DLC or else part of an expansion and/or Game of the Year Edition (like Morrowind). It could be Beth will do something like the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack, of course.
Cdaghostie @ Oct 13th 2006 6:15AM
This is where early adopters of Oblivion and games like this get screwed
Celestkixy @ Oct 13th 2006 6:46AM
I actually laughed when I read the title for this story.
The PS3 isn't really having any strong advantage anymore.
The 360 is going to be the new PS2.
FooAtari @ Oct 13th 2006 6:48AM
@Cdaghostie Welcome to the next gen.... It sucks.
Apart from more multi-platform games there has been very little positives about this generation. I get closer to selling my 360 every day...
Zeruel @ Oct 13th 2006 7:40AM
I don't see that happening with EA. Not that I play them at all, but it does frustrate me that they will put all of these extra features in the PS2 versions of sports games and give Xbox 360 the shaft. If EA wants to set an example and make the playing field even, they'd release a first person patch for Fight Night Round 3 on Xbox 360 when they release the PS3 version of the game which will have the mode built in.
PabUK @ Oct 13th 2006 7:51AM
Cdaghostie, I don't feel screwed at all. I got 180 hours of great gameplay out of Oblivion on the 360, then sold it on for only a little less than the retail price. The fact that there is going to be a newer version with a few hours more content all this time later doesn't bother me in the slightest.
Nao Lo Ding @ Oct 13th 2006 8:35AM
I'm afraid I have to take issue with the implications made in this post.
"So long as no single platform has a major lead over the others, we can expect that most publishers will opt to launch their games for all platforms"
"if you see an exclusive, someone paid big money to obtain rights to that exclusive"
Now don't get me wrong here, I do agree with these statements to some degree. While this stance may be true of large developers like Bethesda and publishers like EA and 2K, the smaller studios and innovative titles (i.e. risky) are still far more likely to be console exclusive. The developers have to spend a lot of time and money to make sure their titles come to any platform, let alone all of them. While this console agnosticism may continue for the next 18 months or so, eventually we will be right back where we started and all of the top flight titles will be console exclusives.
shase @ Oct 13th 2006 8:56AM
This is just another money making scheme. It gets ported on PS3 for 60$. It then puts the extra content on Xboxlive for 10-20$ download. Then Wii for 50-60. They want to milk it to death basically and its not like Sony is losing "its exclusive"...if anything it's X360 losing its "exclusive".
Tom @ Oct 13th 2006 9:05AM
@Cdaghostie
I bought Oblivion 7 months ago, payed $50 Canadian for the PC version and played it for over 100 hours. That's not even including all the user created content that's available for free. Personally I don't feel like I've gotten screwed at all. It's not like this was content they held back at release. Sure it would be nice if they went the same route as FPS developers like Epic and Valve and released new content for free, but that's their choice.
Todd @ Oct 13th 2006 9:16AM
Hah hah, so much for having an exclusive version for the PS3.
Bowser @ Oct 13th 2006 9:17AM
"$60 game plus $x for the added content would be more than the flat $60 for the PS3 version. "
You forget that just buying a PS3 will cost $200 more than buying an Xbox360.
Besides, you can get Oblivion FOR FREE when you puchase an Xbox 360 from Amazon during October, so your argument really just doesn't make any sense.
Phranctoast @ Oct 13th 2006 9:19AM
Im just happy that the 360s best game will be on the ps3.
bill pullman @ Oct 13th 2006 9:19AM
"To put it another way: if you see an exclusive, someone paid big money to obtain rights to that exclusive."
duh?
Epic @ Oct 13th 2006 9:22AM
The fact: Oblivion extras may come to 360.
Joystiq's conclusion: Exclusives will only exist when developers are bribed, and PS3 and 360 are essentially technically equivalent platforms with their only difference installed user base.
Joystiq has become a megaphone for the empty rhetoric that dominates fanboy discussions. Gaming news is only an ornament now. Just look at this article. Vlad twists one comment into a sweeping assertion about the entire industry.
The consoles are very different. X360 is a more familiar architecture and standard media. PS3 is more expensive and undeniably more sophisticated (built in HDMI and Blu-Ray and Cell for $499, $425 in Japan...HELLO)
J.Goodwin @ Oct 13th 2006 9:45AM
If there was a Wii version of Oblivion, you would expect that it would be more in the Ultima Underworld dungeon crawl vein than in the massive overworld 360 style, just like the PSP version.
I honestly don't think that the Wii is going to have problems in terms of processing power. It's weak point is that it has so little RAM (less than 100 Megs, I hear). Even accounting for optimizations in texture compression and things like that, it seems unlikely that you'll see anything much beyond Doom3 on Xbox quality, because you're going to be fighting for space for textures and geometry.
crono141 @ Oct 13th 2006 9:58AM
Yes, it has, I've heard, 88 Mb of total system dedicated ram. But I've also heard that the 512 onboard flash can be allocated to function as system ram as well. Its not as fast, but it still counts for something.
Firegirl @ Oct 13th 2006 11:26AM
I will not be checking out Oblivion on the PS3, but I would love to see this game on a nice PC! Played the first one on PC and it was great!
me @ Oct 16th 2006 9:54AM
joystiq really needs to find out if this game is coming out for wii.
they've got sliders on the pc version to handle a lower end pc, they just need to drop down the graphics for the wii version and it should do alright. the only thing holding me back from buying a wii in the future is that this game isnt confirmed to come out for the wii.
foobob @ Oct 13th 2006 3:29PM
"we can expect that most publishers will opt to launch their games for all platforms"
much to their maximum profitability and minimum hardware usage.
Me @ Oct 13th 2006 4:17PM
There are still many exclusives to the PS3 which are fucking badass. Xbox has some and the Wii has some also. Not all games are going multiplatform and never will !!!
aZn_1080p @ Oct 13th 2006 5:00PM
Sigh, looks like M$ threw a bunch more money at the developers, probably even threatened them with a hostile takeover.
And LMFAO at the people who think Oblivion will come to Wii... Maybe if they use the stick figure 'miis' for all the characters, make the ground/sky a flat plane with a blurry texture, and remove all the lighting! Then again, that kiddy style would probably appeal to Ninty fans.
Anubis @ Oct 13th 2006 6:16PM
Azn,
Does everything have to be a conspiracy with you? "Sigh, looks like M$ threw a bunch more money at the developers, probably even threatened them with a hostile takeover". Have you ever taken into consideration that the Xbox 360 userbase is at roughly 7 million people now while the PS3 might (key word is might because it's uncertain if Sony can manufacture it's target number of consoles by the end of the year due to blue laser shortages) have a userbase of 2,000,000 by the end of the year? Better yet, have you considered that the number of PC enthusiasts, on any given day, will crush the combined fanbases of both the Xbox 360 and PS3 into the ground so hard it doesn't even leave a mangled corpse? It makes no sense for Bethseda to tell those two markets (both of which are already established, with one being immense) to screw off so they can appease what can be considered a minority. Multiplatform developers don't make money by appeasing the minority, unfortunately. It's as simple as that. Shaft the Xbox 360 userbase, and you'll be able to recoup those losses eventually on the PS3 in the console market. Shaft the PC userbase, however, and no amount of PS3s or copies of the game sold will make up for that loss of revenue. Besides, from a financial point, which makes more sense? Appease 2,000,000 PS3 users, or appease an existing PC fanbase that is well over 10,000,000 people? Something tells me that appeasing over 10,000,000 people would make a lot more money than 2,000,000 people.
Oh, and quit taking potshots at the Wii's graphical abilities. If Bethseda can make a port for the PSP, a downgraded port would be able to work on the Wii. Will there be the level of detail offered by the Xbox 360 or PS3 versions? No, but if most Wii users are using SDTVs (which the vast majority will be), the difference in detail because irrelevant; most of the extra detail the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions offer becomes lost on SDTVs anyway. You're making a really big deal out of something that is, in the end, a moot point.
Anubis @ Oct 13th 2006 11:39PM
Apparently my lack of sleep has struck once again. It's Bethesda, not Bethseda.
Aaron @ Oct 20th 2006 11:45PM
Oblivion on all platforms eh? Hope they make slight differences for each though, just to hear platform owners argue about who has the better version. But can the PS3 handle it? Point: Microsoft. Hope this becomes a trend that catches on, having all games available on all platforms. We still have the right to choose don't we?