Crysis: Warhead to be the LAST PC Only title from Crytek

In an interview with Next-Gen, Harald Seeley of Crytek has unveiled that Crysis: Warhead will be the last PC-only title from Crytek. Future titles from the german developer will be (sigh) multiplatform.

When Cevat said we would not create new PC exclusives, he was referring to any new projects we will start in the future.  Of course Warhead has been under development for quite some time, and we had no desire or intention to disappoint our loyal PC fans.  So, after some careful consideration, we decided to continue our support for the PC Crysis franchise with this release.  But yes, all new franchises we develop in the future will be created with a cross platform strategy in mind.  Of course we’re also aware of the danger of making a game that is only designed for one particular audience and platform, and failing to meet the needs of the others.  So any game we create will always offer something unique on each platform and will be carefully tuned to both the capabilities and strengths of that platform, as well as the intended audience.

Fallout 3 Not “Dumbed down” for consoles

In an interesting interview with Next-Gen, Bethesda Softworks’s Emil Pagliarulo (Fallout 3 lead designer) had a handful of things to say regarding the recent developer spree of dumbing down titles to appeal to a larger audience.

It’s funny. I look at Fallout when I play it every day, and I sometimes think that there’s a lot of old-school hardcore PC stuff in there too, and part of me thinks, “God, is this too inaccessible for console players?” There’s a lot of dialogue to read, a lot of just hacking computers and looking through things like “VAT.” I don’t know. Sometimes I think it’s just the opposite. So I don’t feel like we’re dumbing down the franchise.

…I think we’re starting to find that there is a market for [hardcore "PC RPGs" on consoles]. People like myself and some people that work here actually grew up as hardcore PC guys, and now we’re older, we have kids, we don’t have that much time, so we’ve transitioned. We’re console players now.

You can also hear Emil Pagliarulo on the GameTheoryShow.com podcast.

Rockstar Games VP: “Fuck casual gaming”

New York magazine interviewed Rockstar Games’s VP Dan Houser. Houser doesn’t like casual games, infact, he went as far as to say “Fuck casual gaming”. The interview also focuses on the release of GTA IV and the controversy surrounding it. Interesting interview and definitely worth a read. Here’s a snip:

NY Mag: So the gaming industry has changed a lot since the last GTA …
Houser: Yeah, fuck all this stuff about casual gaming. I think people still want games that are groundbreaking. The Wii is doing something totally different, which is fantastic. We’re hopefully going to prove that there’s also a very big audience for people who want entertainment in another form, who think of games as being a narrative device that can challenge movies. We always said: We’re not going release a large number of games. They’re going to have the production values of movies. They’re gonna be about themes that interest us whatever the medium, instead of the weird, special video game–only themes that too many people make — orcs and elves, or monsters, or space. We felt you could make a good game and have it be about something we could actually relate to. Or aspire to.

Mirror’s Edge QnA, New Screenshots

On Mirror’s Edge, the official fansite of Mirror’s Edge (upcoming first person shooter from DICE) did a QnA with DICE regarding Mirror’s Edge. They question everything from the birth and origin of the concept to graphics and estimated release date. Here’s a snip:

1. Why did DICE decide to make a game like this?
It was a very deliberate decision. We wanted to create a new IP that was very different from Battlefield and would appeal to a slightly different audience whilst still building on our strengths in 1st person. When we looked at the market we realized that although there were a lot of first person games out there, most of them were focusing on the gun and not the person. So we decided to do a game that was about the person not the weapon.

Mirror’s Edge is DICE’s take on re-inventing the FPS genre, presenting a game that focuses more character interaction rather than action. Mirror’s Edge centers around Faith, a sexy runner who’s job is to deliver confidential information between various parties. Full interview and 15 images (including a sexy wallpaper!) after the break. Read more

EA: “We consider the people at Take-Two, and the studios and IPs, as diamonds”

The EA Acquisition bus is still going, with their recent buyout offer to Take-Two, things have gotten more interesting. However, with this quote, looks like we’ll be seeing a fitting end to the Take-Two story soon enough.

“We consider the people at Take-Two, and the studios and IPs, as diamonds,” he told the audience at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference.

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