S.T.A.L.K.E.R. devs hop onboard Xbox 360 love train
by Jason Dobson 
{ Nov 26th 2007 at 10:00AM }
According to GSC, the effort to get Microsoft's seal of approval took the studio 2 years, and that "from now on, our old ambition to create multiplatform projects has become a reality." So, does this mean that yet another PC developer has been lured away, wooed by the sultry siren's song of console game development? Probably, though GSC chief exec Sergiy Grygorovych adds that the company plans to continue to pay "maximum attention to the PC platform." You hear that PC zealots? Put the pitchforks down please, we're all friends here.
[Thanks, PrivateRyan]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
name123 @ Nov 26th 2007 10:18AM
Thank God, I was beginning to wonder if the Xbox 360 would get any FPSs.
Brucie B @ Nov 26th 2007 10:31AM
Jealous a bit...
name123 @ Nov 26th 2007 10:39AM
This is good. The fact that Microsoft still thinks getting PC game developers is a good thing shows they didn't learn their lesson with the Xbox. PC gaming is too hardcore, so is the Xbox 360. The fact that the top 360 games are all PC style games is all you need to predict the PS3 will outsell it.
Ben Hobbs @ Nov 26th 2007 10:52AM
But the xbox 360 gets all of those games IN ADDITION to everything the PS3 gets.
When did it become that when more developers choose to make games for your platform it suddenly became a bad thing.
gonk @ Nov 26th 2007 11:04AM
ahahahaha nice avatar
but why not just put SDF in the name? we know you're one of them anyway
gonk @ Nov 26th 2007 11:06AM
ben don't even try to argue with name123, he's a 10 year old moron
Boss Tempo @ Nov 26th 2007 11:07AM
Only when some dumbass starts a post saying so because thats' what he thinks. Thankfully some people actually know better and don't just yap outta their ass like this choade.
Fernando Rocker @ Nov 26th 2007 11:14AM
Now... he is a troll...
He is a lot more annoying than me.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 26th 2007 11:19AM
Have to agree with Fernando on that. name is much more annoying.
Myth @ Nov 26th 2007 11:42AM
Name123,
You're kidding, right? The PC as a platform has a far more varied collection of games than the consoles do. If I want to play an RTS like Supreme Commander or Black & White 2, there's only one platform I can turn to. Hint: it's not a $400-$600 Blu-ray player or a $350-$450 little box with a penchant for red rings. If I want to play an MMORPG that doesn't suck (FFXI I'm looking at you), the PC as a platform is my only viable option. If I want to play simulation games, the PC has a far better and varied selection than any console does. FPS? The PC can grab both consoles by the nape of their necks and beat their asses bloody due to its impressive library. RPGs? Not only does the PC have far more of them than the PS3 does (so does the Xbox 360 at this point in time), but they make anything to come from a Japanese developer in the last decade seem little more than pretty fluff with crap for story. I'm singling out Japanese developers because it seem that, to the console gaming community, if it's not from Japan then it can't possibly be considered an RPG; Mass Effect is the best and most innovative RPG to hit a console in years, but it's probably just another third person shooter to you since it's exclusive to a Microsoft platform. Until one of the JRPGs you console fans get so pumped up about can come even remotely close to touching the depth and complexity of a game like Planescape Torment, you've got nothing to really be proud of. Hell, I'll even throw in things like educational games for little kids. Is there a Mathblaster for the PS3 or Xbox 360? Mavis Beacon? No? That's what I thought.
PC developers, whether you want to admit it or not, are needed. They are the driving force behind genres like MMORPGs, RTSs and simulation; without them, consoles have sh*t all to fill in the gaps of those genres. If every PS3 user has your attitude, you could only be so lucky as to get the sloppy seconds of a 360 port if a PC developer wants to make a console version of their game. Also, if it weren't for PC devs constantly pushing the hardware envelope (Crytek, for instance), hardware development in the PC world would stagnate. If hardware development on the PC stagnates, you'd be very lucky to get a slightly more powerful PS4 or Xbox 720 than what's currently available. For development purposes, OpenGL and Direct X can only evolve on the PC; without the PC, the PS3 wouldn't have its bastard (proprietized) form of OpenGL and the Xbox 360 wouldn't have DX9 EX.
As for PC games being "too hardcore" even a functionally retarded person can use a mouse and keyboard. As a platform, the PC is far more inviting than consoles are.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 26th 2007 12:09PM
@myth
Whoah Woah. Varied? PC? In the same sentence? I'm sorry but this ain't the 90s. hmmm lets see what kind of "varied" games
Mmo
mmo
mmo
mmo
mmo
fps
fps
fps
fps
fps
fps
mmo
fps
rts
rts
expansion of said rts
dungeoun crawler
mmo
mmo
CRYSIS!!
mmo
mmo
ports
ports
mmo
expansion of said mmo
fps
fps
fps
fps
expansion of said fps
ports
ports
ports
ports
ports
ports
ports
Unreal Tournament!!!
fps
mmo
mmo
mmo
another expansion
fps
mmo
rts
mmo
Yeah I wouldn't call that "varied."
"the PC is far more inviting than consoles are."
Also can't believe you said that.
gonk @ Nov 26th 2007 12:41PM
C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER
Myth @ Nov 26th 2007 1:31PM
Vegeta,
How many MMORPG's can you play outside of the PC platform that you can actually call decent? Few if any. How many console RTSs are there that A) aren't ports and B) aren't so horrible that the word "suck" is actually used to positively describe them? How many simulation games can you get your hands on that don't have "The Sims" somewhere on the box? How many RPGs can you play where the game isn't populated by anime-esque androngenous characters with very little to differentiate the men from women? Very, very few. Educational games? They don't exist on any console platform in the current day and age. It may not be the golden era of the 90's, but the PC platform in the current era is STILL more varied than the console platform. PC gamers don't pine for sequels like you console gamers do because we have a far greater library of stuff to choose from.
And yeah, PC gaming is more inviting than consoles are. Again, even a monkey knows how to quickly navigate a keyboard and how to use a mouse to great effect; unless your name happens to be Jedediah and you travel on foot or by horse and buggy, there is not a single person in the modern era that doesn't know how to game with K&M. With PCs, there isn't a, "Do I have to buy this SKU to get Wi-fi? Memory cards? Do I have to pay a subscription to play multiplayer games online? Will only Dell computers get an expansion to X game? Will I have to pay $5 to get horse armor?" and so forth.
Hardware requirements might be tricky for the uneducated, I'll give you that. Even then, there's only one question that person has to ask: was my computer made in the last two years? If so, you've already met the CPU, HDD, and RAM requirements for 99.99% of the games out there. All you need is a decent videocard, and BOOM! you can game comfortably at resolutions that even current gen consoles don't have the balls to touch. As for the argument that gaming PCs are uber expensive, you can get one pre-configured from CyberPower PC for just under a $1000 that'll play even Crysis (the current PC killer) at High Quality settings (or very High Settings if you keep it around 1024x768) or build your own for a few hundred dollars less. And remember, when it comes to actually being useful for something other than gaming, PC's can't be beat.
Jimiisama @ Nov 26th 2007 1:25PM
There really are only so many genres of games...
gonk @ Nov 26th 2007 1:41PM
but pc isn't getting new platformers or adventures or whatnot
Shockgamer @ Nov 26th 2007 2:53PM
MMOs (and let's be honest, everybody only plays WoW)
RTS games
and FPS. (Most likely with a game that forces you to drop another $1000 to play decently).
I paid $2000 little more than a year ago for a new PC and it can't even run Crysis at recommended level. Why should I have to deal with buying a new video card which will likely cost me as much as a console..when I could instead get a PS3 and complete my trifecta?
"Silly fool, I bought a PC for $_____ at X website!" Do you think a platform in which you have to do research for the cheapest parts to put together is approachable? Versus just going to a store and buying a console?
If PCs were the great platform that supporters say it is, then there'd be no reason for so many PC developers to jump ship into the 360's boat. I guess those developers like the fact that console owners, you know, actually buy their games instead of ripping them off of Torrent sites. No wonder PC gamers don't worry about the hardware costs.
PC fans don't realize how lucky they are that the Nintendo Wii was designed to be realively weak, because I can tell you that if FPS games and RTS games can still come to consoles with dual stick controllers, they're going to flood onto the next console to have a Wiimote style set up and the power to make the graphics that PC games pride themselves on.
I think the next time I need a PC, I'm going to just get a cheap-o laptop to save myself the cash....
Slaziman @ Nov 26th 2007 3:11PM
I don't like PC gaming that much due to always having to download new drivers every single time a game comes out so it doesn't run like shit, endless tuning so your fps stay decent, seriously the only way to get trouble-free PC gaming is having a really high end PC that needs no tuning because it runs everything at max anyway. Even then you got crashes, random hangs. etc., I've had it happen that sometimes I'm just playing, the screen suddenly starts turning black, on and off, and what do you know, it's the display driver constantly crashing and being restarted. Another hour spent googling through forums to fix shit that nVidia should've caught. Annoying.
And in the end, the image quality you get over consoles is very, very disproportionate with the higher price tag.
Myth @ Nov 26th 2007 4:01PM
Shockgamer,
And having multiple SKUs is your idea of an approachable platform why? There are 4 PS3 SKUs out in the wild right now, two of which have been discontinued. The only thing really differentiating the 20GB from the 60GB was a chrome strip, so memory card slots, and a smaller HDD; both were 98.9% backwards compatible with PS2 titles (98.9% because of the revised EE). The 80 GB has crippled backwards compatibility and the 40 GB has NONE. Soon, PS3's will start shipping with Dual Shock 3 controllers, so then you have to do more research; who wants to get stuck with a rumble-less SIXAXIS when they could get a Dual Shock 3 included with their system for free?
The Xbox 360 has 4 SKUs, one of which lacks an HDD. Because of that, a developer can't require HDD caching should his game exceed the 8.5 GB available on a DVD; another DVD must be used. Old Core and Premium consoles don't have an HDMI port, while the Elite, Halo 3 Edition, and new Core/Premiums do. Want to use the external HD-DVD addon and watch movies in full 1080p glory? Ya have to research which SKU has HDMI.
If I buy or build a PC, it's guaranteed to have a moderately fast processor, a decent amount of RAM, and has an HDD with ample space. The only thing that really limits what I can do is a videocard and right now you don't have any bad options between $190-$400. Even then, I'm only truly limited to what resolution I can play at with an acceptable level of detail. As for your problem playing Crysis, what did you honestly expect? Did Far Cry teach you nothing? CryTek's engines are pretty, but they require powerful hardware to run with every detail maxed out at a playable framerate. In comparison, Unreal Tournament 3 with all the details at their highest (minus AA) will run on a $219 HD 3870 close to 80 FPS up until 1600x1200; at that resolution (which is much higher than what UT3 will be natively on the PS3 or 360), it never dips below 40 FPS even with tons of action on screen.
As for developers jumping to the Xbox 360, name one that is exclusively developing for the 360 that was predominately a PC developer in the past. Developers will still use a PC as their primary development platform and then just port the code over to the 360 using XDK (not XNA as it's the indie game development thing) or vice versa. A lot of an Xbox 360 or PS3's "exclusives" will wind back up on the PC, only they'll perform and look better. The exception to this would be anything from Capcom; how Lost Planet can bring a Geforce 8800 GTX to a crawl is just mind boggling.
Also, you act like all PC gamers are pirates when the same damn thing happens with consoles. If I go out and buy a $100 modchip, I can rip any Xbox game I own or rent straight to the HDD. If I mod the firmware of a 360's DVD-ROM, I can play a burnt copy of any game you can get your hands on. The same thing happens to Nintendo, Sony, and even Sega platforms. Don't sit there and try to tell me that piracy is exclusive only to PC users because it's not; only a bunghole or an idiot would try to do so.
B1gC72 @ Nov 26th 2007 6:05PM
but seriously myth. have you ever been PC shopping? you know, just looking for a PC in circuit city or best buy or somewhere? there are so many different things to look for. now since most of these computers are going to be running variations of about the same thing (Intel or AMD processor, Nvidia or ATI graphics card, Microsoft or Apple OS, etc.) you can arguably classify them as "SKU's" since they are all still technically the same things, computers. so to the average consumer that doesnt know a GB from a GHz, this could be infinitely more difficult then going to the same store and picking up one of only four different configurations, like you so conveniently pointed out.
now consoles might never be able to do some things as well as PC's (FPS, MMORPG, etc.) but you can rest assured that you can still get a very enjoyable experience on a console for a fraction of a cost. you stated that as long as your PC was purchased within the past 2 years you can play the majority of PC games, which is a very true statement. but what happens when those 2 years are up? you have to upgrade or buy a new PC all together. so considering that up dating will cost you $190-$400 every 2 years, like you said, why not just buy a console? consoles have, on average, a 4 year life span and cost, in this generation, between $250-$500. there will probably be upgrades on these as well but since the entrance fee wasnt as large you dont mind shelling out a little money to upgrade a cheaper console.
so i guess i say all that to say this, you pay for quality, and both PC and consoles have their perks. a high end PC will destroy a console any day but usually at the price of a small car, and dual analog sticks will never give you the precision of a mouse and keyboard (which consoles are starting to support now...). so all im saying is drop the elitest attitude you have because PC's do things that consoles cant do but at the same time consoles do things a PC cant do.
end rant. and now i realize this had nothing to do with the topic lol. ok.....so.....dammit, 360 gets another game while PS3 gets jack shit.
ok now im done lol.
Einhanderkiller @ Nov 26th 2007 10:26AM
Good news for 360 owners. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is an excellent game and, in my opinion, one of the best FPS games of 2007. And the healthy mod community made the game even better with great mods like Float32.
Justin Wood @ Nov 26th 2007 10:45AM
To each his own, but I personally thought that Stalker was one of the worst FPS I have ever played. Their attempt at making a hybrid FPS/RPG was a complete failure IMO.
Poisoned Al @ Nov 26th 2007 11:00AM
STALKER is a game like Psychonauts. If you can put the blinkers on to the problems, you see a lot of good in it. STALKER tried to do too much, but at least it TRIED!
Marc Federico @ Nov 26th 2007 1:45PM
niiiice, gimme co-op STALKER and ill take two.
Poisoned Al @ Nov 26th 2007 10:54AM
STALKER was a rough diamond. WAY too over ambitious and it's realism was patchy (guns acted real so you couldn't hit anything with the AK, but that was made worse by the fact bullet only tickled enemies to death) but it had many good ideas. It gave you a lot of good/evil choices without being preachy and black and white like Bioshock. Do you trape over the countryside to help a guy for a crappy pistol for a reward? Or do you shot him in the face, grab his cool sniper rifle and then leg it from his rather irate friends, who will shoot you on sight if they ever see you again?
Synner @ Nov 26th 2007 1:09PM
My AK is pretty accurate, of course it doesn't select fire, so Other than the one time I overheated it I never used one in full auto...
Poisoned Al @ Nov 26th 2007 1:53PM
But you won't deny that the enemies only seemed mildly annoyed at getting shot. You on the other hand were dead after a few shots. Even with the nicer armor becuase by the time you fond it, they all had railguns!
Synner @ Nov 26th 2007 4:06PM
Honnestly I didn't play that far into it. I got to the part where you first start to suspect your identity, a little past finding ghost, and the game instability just had me too tired to continue.
The enemies that could take ENTIRE CLIPS to the head did piss me off. And the armor decay, that needs to go away.
Poisoned Al @ Nov 26th 2007 5:15PM
And weapon decay. Like that was SO much fun in System Shock 2 wasn't it?
FOXHOUND @ Nov 26th 2007 11:43AM
I thought the article picture was some cracked out fanart of Dr. Zoidberg.
Oh, and I suppose STALKER news is interesting too. I guess...? *yawn* ...Back to TEAM FORTRESS2 and such.
James @ Nov 26th 2007 11:53AM
Loved me some STALKER but it won't do well with the 360 crowd unless they market it right. It was kind of like a futuristic Oblivion.
Shawn @ Nov 26th 2007 12:02PM
STALKER is a love or hate type of game. Me? It was my favorite FPS of the year. It has one of the creepiest worlds in any game I've played, even better than Bioshock's. Once thing to be noted though, without the mod community, and the Float32 mod, the game wouldn't have been what it was. Out of the box it was a mess, but slowly got better and better. I can't wait for Clear Skies. I'll be picking that up on day, being that it will be using all of the modifications out of the box from the first one. It's a very hardcore FPS, and they are going to have to market this thing cleverly to the 360. This isn't like FEAR or Orange Box.
SeriousKriss @ Nov 26th 2007 12:08PM
Well they did tone down the AI in the console version of FEAR. The original PC version was just too difficult to play on a pad, it seems.
SeriousKriss @ Nov 26th 2007 12:05PM
"from now on, our old ambition to create multiplatform projects has become a reality."
This could be bad news if it means they'll develop games with the 360 in mind instead of the PC. I really hope they'll keep developing for PC first and then port to consoles.
As an aside, STALKER is my favorite single player FPS so far this year. The ambiance is just incredible, even better than Bioshock's.
Shawn @ Nov 26th 2007 12:16PM
I agree. It's not that us PC Gamers have angry pitch forks, it's that a lot of PC Franchises end up getting the shaft in favor of dev'ing for the 360 first. It's not an elitist mindset, it's wanting our games to be as enjoyable as possible, and not feature sloppy interfaces that don't work well on PC. Why people can't seem to understand that is beyond me. If STALKER 2 leads on 360, I'll guarantee the PC version will suffer.
The other latest? Dues Ex 3 was just announced, and you can bet the PC version is gonna get shafted. It's like these games are setup for failure. PC Gamers know what games are worth getting, and if they smell a port, of course it's not going to sell well. Very Frustrating.
Synner @ Nov 26th 2007 1:15PM
Wow, if they just fix the random crash bugs that plagued the PC version, I'd rebuy this game in an instant.
Stalker was Awesome
Arturo @ Nov 26th 2007 1:30PM
I stopped playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R for quite some time now (been busy with other games and haven't yet tried it after the long-awaited patch) but man that thing hated my pc. I'll give it another go sometime since I got me some more ram and soon a new cpu.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I was a bit disappointed not in the game itself, but in that it's performance was lacking behind other games I can run totally great that look much better than S.T.A.L.K.E.R (fear, orange box, ut3, not crysis...=/) I hope future iterations don't end up like this.