D&D Tactics Sounds Good!

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I could care less about turn-based strategy games.

I just want a party-based D&D computer game that adheres closely to the 3E rules, which is best implemented (IMO) in a turn based format. I loved ToEE in spite of its bugs, and would like a replacement. NWN2 just doesn't do it for me.

D&D Tactics would be perfect ... on the right platform( ie, PC).

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Another vote for PC. What's with those portables and games like this? I'd say the PC is the perfect medium for this.

Well, if they insist on making the game exclusively for Sony, they just don't want my money. I'll stick to Heroes, thank you very much.

 

[I'm A Banana]

PC games do not sell as well as console games. Mostly because if I'm going to get a system exclusively dedicated to playing video games, it usually can do a better job than my PC without risking compatibility issues, driver issues, blue-screen-of-death issues, cluttering up the hard drive and making the rest of my system run slower, etc.

PC games have the edge in the MMO market for now, and (IIRC), they still maintain a strong showing with strategy games, but when looking at the "blockbuster" games that support the industry...your Zeldas your Halos...the console more strongly supports the game than the computer.

Also, portable games are immensely profitable for a small investment. They usually require less technology and development time than a big console release and can still sell just as many units with a good game. D&D Tactics strikes me as a fairly simple engine that mostly focuses on getting the D&D rules right "behind the screen." I wouldn't be surprised if the game is 90% dungeon crawl. If it were a PC game, it would probably require more polish (will you accept pixelated mud from your monitor?), sell less (because more people will buy a PSP game than a PC game), and generally only hit that small segment of the market that is interested in the game and owns a PC, but not a PSP.

The DS may have made better business sense, but I bet the PSP offered some incentives, or perhaps somewhere along the line Sony has their claws in the development company, and the argument that the system may be coming into its own soon may be supported.

Basically, the reason that it's made for the console, like most games these days, is because the PC platform usually isn't as successful as any given console game (for whatever reason). If it was an MMO or an RTS, it might see PC release, but as a Tactics RPG...portables have great success with the genre (FFTA, Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, the new FFT:Lion War...).

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I don't think that the PC is second choice for RPG or FPS games.

Especially since the Keyboard/Mouse combination are simply a must for me (and countless other FPS players). I wouldn't play UT or Quake with a game pad (the only thing besides K/M that works for shooters is the Wii's remote and nunchuck.

 

[shurai]

I could care less about turn-based strategy games.

Awww C'mon, it's free, with no adware or anything like that, and it's a very simple game. Try it, you may like it. All the cool kids are doing it. You want to be cool, don't you? ; P

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Now I have a reason to buy the PSP.

 

[trancejeremy]

I don't think that the PC is second choice for RPG or FPS games.

Especially since the Keyboard/Mouse combination are simply a must for me (and countless other FPS players). I wouldn't play UT or Quake with a game pad (the only thing besides K/M that works for shooters is the Wii's remote and nunchuck.

Yeah, but it's money that talks. And something like Gears of War sold 3 million + copies on the 360, and Halo 3 will sell probably 4-5 easily. PC FPSes don't sell nearly that well.

 

[trancejeremy]

The DS may have made better business sense, but I bet the PSP offered some incentives, or perhaps somewhere along the line Sony has their claws in the development company, and the argument that the system may be coming into its own soon may be supported.
.

Well, it's my understanding the the game originated from the developer, Kuju. They approached Atari with the idea of "D&D meets X-com". I would guess they picked the PSP because they don't make DS games, the Wii was an unknown factor at the time, development on the PS3/360 /PC would cost too much. And the PS2 is somewhat on its last legs. Though it's possible we might see a port to that later (it's not exactly uncommon)

 

[Biohazard]

I don't think that the PC is second choice for RPG or FPS games.

Especially since the Keyboard/Mouse combination are simply a must for me (and countless other FPS players). I wouldn't play UT or Quake with a game pad (the only thing besides K/M that works for shooters is the Wii's remote and nunchuck.

I've never quite understood this view. Sitting back on my couch with a bag of chips open beside me and pulling my Xbox trigger to fire off a burst of ammo in Half-Life 2 is DAH ROXX. I can't imagine sitting stiffly at a desk clicking away with a little mouse button. That's cool if I want to, you know, do my taxes or something. But it just doesn't feel fun to me.

YMMV. But as another poster mentioned, numbers don't lie, and console FPS are huge. Perhaps the difference is in playing a game *designed* for a console? (BTW, I know Half-Life 2 wasn't designed for consoles. But I'm thinking of Gears of War, Halo, etc.)

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I don't think that the PC is second choice for RPG or FPS games.

Especially since the Keyboard/Mouse combination are simply a must for me (and countless other FPS players). I wouldn't play UT or Quake with a game pad (the only thing besides K/M that works for shooters is the Wii's remote and nunchuck.

It's certainly the second choice - well, the fifth or sixth choice, really, after PS2, DS, PSP and PS3 and probably X-Box - for RPGs. The sales of console and portable RPGs dwarf those of PC RPGs (with good reason, IMO, but that's neither here nor there).

For FPSes, it comes down to the target market.

Games like Unreal Tournament that aim for the hardcore competitive players are PC targeted, because competitive players know the max possible performance of a console controller is inferior to the max possible performance of a PC's mouse and keyboard. I'm not sure how the Wii setup would stack up; if it allows light gun-like precision aiming and mouse-and-keyboard-like precision movement, then it could be even better. But, the hardcore competitive market usually also wants the flashiest graphics, and is willing to pay to get them.

Games like Halo are targeted more at casual FPS fans who are more likely to play single player than multiplayer. Because you have to be quite skilled to get the most out of mouse and keyboard, an X-Box controller is just as good for the casual player, and the system is much cheaper. Also, when casual players do go online, doing so from a console offers a hidden benefit: even if you're not that great, you can rest easy knowing you won't be going up against the 1337 competition PC online multiplayer attracts.

I've never quite understood this view. Sitting back on my couch with a bag of chips open beside me and pulling my Xbox trigger to fire off a burst of ammo in Half-Life 2 is DAH ROXX. I can't imagine sitting stiffly at a desk clicking away with a little mouse button. That's cool if I want to, you know, do my taxes or something. But it just doesn't feel fun to me.

Comfortable? No.

Fun? Perhaps not (although I've had years of fun doing just that).

Precise? Much more so. You can do things with a mouse and keyboard you couldn't dream of attempting with the best console FPS controller ever created. Log onto a competitive game of Unreal and count the seconds it takes you to get fragged. Then realize in that time, your killer could barely have turned to face you with a gamepad, much less precisely headshotted you while dodge-jumping into another room where he'd already calculated the +199 health would be spawning in under three seconds.

There's no shame in being a casual FPS player - indeed, I think the focus on, or just the presence of, 1337 competitive players has helped drive the casual market to consoles -, but if you want to be really, really good at FPS games, you need the greater precision of mouse-and-keyboard.