Obsidian CEO laments Fallout: New Vegas' 'glitchy' launch, working on better QA for Dungeon Siege 3
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In a new interview with Play Magazine, Obisidian CEO Feargus Urquhart addresses the launch of Fallout: New Vegas -- which was, uh, pretty ugly. On Xbox 360, the game is still very much plagued by issues.
"Now in the case of Fallout: New Vegas, we made a gigantic game, and I'm proud with what we were able to do but I wish it wasn't as glitchy when it came out," said Urquhart in the interview (as excerpted on NowGamer). "The criticisms people had are fair, but it's difficult to get a game the size of New Vegas bug free. But that's an excuse, and it doesn't matter when someone's paid $60 for a game. It's something we need to work on."
With the launch of Dungeon Siege 3 on the immediate horizon, Urquhart emphasized that Obsidian is placing extra emphasis on quality assurance for the game -- a process of "playing and playing and playing and playing to ensure it's of a high standard," he said. "On top of this," Urquhart added, "this is the first time we've got to use our own technology on something, which means we know where to find the bad bugs from the start!"
The full interview will be published in Issue 205 of Play Magazine, which hits UK newsstands this Thursday.
"Now in the case of Fallout: New Vegas, we made a gigantic game, and I'm proud with what we were able to do but I wish it wasn't as glitchy when it came out," said Urquhart in the interview (as excerpted on NowGamer). "The criticisms people had are fair, but it's difficult to get a game the size of New Vegas bug free. But that's an excuse, and it doesn't matter when someone's paid $60 for a game. It's something we need to work on."
With the launch of Dungeon Siege 3 on the immediate horizon, Urquhart emphasized that Obsidian is placing extra emphasis on quality assurance for the game -- a process of "playing and playing and playing and playing to ensure it's of a high standard," he said. "On top of this," Urquhart added, "this is the first time we've got to use our own technology on something, which means we know where to find the bad bugs from the start!"
The full interview will be published in Issue 205 of Play Magazine, which hits UK newsstands this Thursday.
Reader Comments (63)
Posted: May 10th 2011 9:09PM un4gvn94538 said
so theyre working extra hard on a new game so its not a cluster f. great :rollseyes:
how about fixing the one you screwed up on FIRST for the paying customers you alread suckered!? patch for a patch? i mean come on!
how about fixing the one you screwed up on FIRST for the paying customers you alread suckered!? patch for a patch? i mean come on!
Posted: May 10th 2011 9:35PM Basevi said
I'm still loving New Vegas, but Ive gotten stuck in a rock with no escape and wasn't very happy. Then about an hour later I found a golden gecko stuck in a rock. One would think this is a golden opportunity (pun intended), but when I walked up to it with my machete, it death combo'd me in .5 seconds. Sure taught me a lesson. Never take advantage of a good glitch... or use a gun next time.
Posted: May 10th 2011 9:36PM evilkoala said
It kinda has to be less glitchy by definition right? I mean, once you hit rock bottom there's only one way to go.
Posted: May 10th 2011 10:00PM Robborboy said
@nerdydesi I like how you automatically make the assumption that people who play Fallout on consoles 12 years after the release of a game that didn't even require a 3d processor to have never played the originals.
PS: my PC version of New Vegas is unplayable due to bugs.
PS: my PC version of New Vegas is unplayable due to bugs.
Posted: May 10th 2011 11:40PM KungFuChaosNinja said
I had less issues with New Vegas than I did with Fallout 3.
Posted: May 10th 2011 11:51PM IndigoHawk said
Sometime in the future, shortly after Dungeon Siege 3 releases ... Obsidian CEO laments Dungeon Siege 3's 'glitchy' launch, working on better QA
Posted: May 11th 2011 12:50AM bobdisgea said
I somehow have gained this amazing ability to look past glitchy games(though i have had almost no problems with obsidian games, i have more problems with bioware or bethesda games of late) and i have realized that Obsidian is one of the best developers out there. They have more talent than any other rpg developer currently. They just get bad press for their bugs so noone is able to look past that and just keeps bashing the games into oblivion.
Alpha protocol was interesting and good.
Neverwinter nights 2 is brilliant
Fallout New vegas is the best fallout game
Kotor 2 is pretty cool but not as perfect as the first
dungeon siege 3 looks interesting
Plus they have some of the most talented people in the industry working there. Former troika and black isle people. Why would you not give these games a chance and exscuse a few bugs?
Alpha protocol was interesting and good.
Neverwinter nights 2 is brilliant
Fallout New vegas is the best fallout game
Kotor 2 is pretty cool but not as perfect as the first
dungeon siege 3 looks interesting
Plus they have some of the most talented people in the industry working there. Former troika and black isle people. Why would you not give these games a chance and exscuse a few bugs?
Posted: May 11th 2011 1:20AM OnToGloryReturns said
@bobdisgea
As I mentioned in my earlier post, I do recognize there's a lot of talent at Obsidian - particularly in storytelling and interesting game mechanics.
That's not enought though - a few bugs - that are manageable and predictable a' la' the original Mass Effect - are forgiveable when the overall product is so great. And even then I'll always want polish over not polished. But with so many of their games it unbelievably takes away from the game experience. NV being the preeminent example with multiple game crashing bugs that rendered the game nearly unplayable for many. Nothing like losing 25 hours of gameplay due to a corrupted save.
Play Alpha Protocol and Mass Effect 2 concurrently and you'll see kind of difference I'm refering to.
You'd thing Bethesda would be super protective of their premier franchises and FNV was an embarrassment technically - closer to a beta than a final product and to put that into consumer's hands at $60 is shameful.
Granted - with all the patches, and patches of the patches, in place it should be an amazing experience; but I shouldn't have to wait until May to play a game I bought in October.
Reply
As I mentioned in my earlier post, I do recognize there's a lot of talent at Obsidian - particularly in storytelling and interesting game mechanics.
That's not enought though - a few bugs - that are manageable and predictable a' la' the original Mass Effect - are forgiveable when the overall product is so great. And even then I'll always want polish over not polished. But with so many of their games it unbelievably takes away from the game experience. NV being the preeminent example with multiple game crashing bugs that rendered the game nearly unplayable for many. Nothing like losing 25 hours of gameplay due to a corrupted save.
Play Alpha Protocol and Mass Effect 2 concurrently and you'll see kind of difference I'm refering to.
You'd thing Bethesda would be super protective of their premier franchises and FNV was an embarrassment technically - closer to a beta than a final product and to put that into consumer's hands at $60 is shameful.
Granted - with all the patches, and patches of the patches, in place it should be an amazing experience; but I shouldn't have to wait until May to play a game I bought in October.
Posted: May 11th 2011 4:53AM Ahriman said
Sorry Obisidian, in my eyes you now have a track record of this:-
Neverwinter Nights 2 -
"The most common criticism of the game was its numerous technical glitches"
Kotor 2
"...the game was criticized for being incomplete due to a rushed deadline"
Neverwinter Nights 2 -
"The most common criticism of the game was its numerous technical glitches"
Kotor 2
"...the game was criticized for being incomplete due to a rushed deadline"
Posted: May 11th 2011 6:00AM ShadowXIII said
A bit late for this...but at least its a start.
Posted: May 11th 2011 9:16AM mietha said
God, I hope so, being as I've already bought the damn thing.
Posted: May 11th 2011 3:03PM OnToGloryReturns said
@nerdydesi
Which is a pretty dumb assumption.
Which is a pretty dumb assumption.
Posted: May 11th 2011 5:53PM SaintV said
Never played an Obsidian game, never will. They release games with more bugs than a roach motel. Shame they let them make Dungeon SIege 3.





