Some more D&D Tactics previews...

[trancejeremy]

Hadn't heard much for a few months, but now there's been a bunch of previews for it.

http://psp.gamespy.com/playstation-portable/dungeons-dragons-tactics/725798p1.html

Which has a line which makes me drool "According the game's producers, Kuju's pitch to Atari last December consisted of a simple phrase: "We want to create D&D meets X-COM on a PSP.""

http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=36270&mode=thread&order=0

http://www.gamespot.com/psp/strategy/dungeonsdragonstactics/preview_6155731.html


While I have a PSP, why the heck can't they make something like this for the PC, too?

 

[Bonzi]

Having tried it out at GenCon, I have to say that it does look like it has potential. As a fan of Turn Based Strategy games and the D&D ruleset, this game seems to be made for me. Luckily, I have a PSP as well but I do agree this would be great on the PC.

 

[LightPhoenix]

IMO, the biggest reason this can't be on the PC is because PC games has progressed beyond turn-based gaming, unfortunately. Well, except for Civ 4, and to a lesser extent HoMM 5.

Long ago, turn-based strategy and RPGs were fairly abundant on the PC. As technology improved, and online became more important, we went from TBS and traditional RPGs to RTS (ala Warcraft) and MMORPGs (also ala Warcraft ). Now there's only a couple of developers making RPGs, and aside from Bioware, they usually don't make much of a splash. Similarly, the only real franchises for TBS are Civilization and Heroes of Might and Magic.

The gaming industry is, IMO, going nowhere fast. It's stuck between where it used to be, with people like Gariott making games in garages, and the whole paradigm of developing and producing now. Unless it changes, I honestly don't see it lasting more than another twenty years, at most. You can already see how much decreased shelf space PC games take up, at any store you go to, be it EB or Walmart of a FL(V)GS.

 

[trancejeremy]

Oh yeah, as a long time PC gamer, I know that (and in fact, that's why I've largely migrated to consoles/handhelds these days - for turn based games), but I really do think there is still a market for them.

Look at Galactic Civilizations 2 for the PC - I think that sold over 100,000 copies, which is probably more than this will sell on the PSP . (Just an estimate, based on LOTR: Tactics selling 80,000 copies on the PSP).

Also, I think garage development is making a comeback. The new buzzword in the game industry seems to be "casual gaming", which basically means incredibly cheap to develop games that appeal to non-gamers - puzzle games and the like.

 

[frankthedm]

Mmmm Turn-based D&D my favorite.

Thankfully the PSP system has no "oddities" that would prevent a PS2 port over of the game. Rockstar's Grand theft Auto :Liberty city stories was a recent example of a direct PSP to PS2 port.

 

[Steel_Wind]

There will always be PC Gaming - if for no other reason than the installed base is massive and there are no barriers to entry by a developer as there are with consoles.

Windows Vista will improve the PC side of gaming as well - how much - we will have to see.

The real issue is whether or not there will continue to be Triple A PC game development. The answer for the time being appears to be a qualified "yes" - but only as multi-sku titles. (Meaining there is also a 360 and/or PS3 version of the game as well).

The reason that consoles are getting the money has nothing to do with hardware or technical support. That's a side-show. The issue is this, and only is this:

The publishing industry accepts as a FACT in terms of its decision making process that for evey copy of a PC game sold, 15 copies of it are pirated.

This stat is not open to your disagreeing with it or claiming foul or that those don't represent real lost sales, etc. The FACT is that number is the accepted touchstone among the PC Games publishing industry. Even if the real number of true lost sales is 7:1 or 3:1, the decisions are made based on the accepted 15:1 for solo games. (multiplayer games are lower due to enhancd piracy protection via unique keys and have other considerations. MMOS have essentially no piracy and are 0:1. That's why the industry finds MMOs so attractive (along with continuous income streams)).

The other important FACT that game publishers assume is that the ratio of piracy on consoles is vastly lower. The ratio is that for every 20 copies you sell, you get one pirated copy.

So, to recap:

15:1 vs 1:20

That's the only statistic that matters, other than the risk/reward potential of a console vs PC title, which is wholly dependent upon the piracy ratio. Because reduced piracy on consoles results in even marginally successful console games selling enough to break even - (while PC games have to do very well to overcome the piracy effect) that's the whole of the industry in a nutshell.

That's what matters. Nothing else really does. And that's why Triple A PC Game development is on life support.

 

[trancejeremy]

Yeah, but it's not like piracy doesn't exist on consoles/handhelds. From reading the boards at Gamefaqs, I think I'm the only person that actually buys PSP games anymore. Because you don't even need any special hardware to play pirated games on a PSP - just a big memory stick. Which are cheap these days.

Like I said, sales of D&D Tactics for the PSP will likely be around 100,000 at most. For the most part, PSP games just don't sell all that well ( I would guess piracy is a big factor, also stores tend to not carry a lot of PSP games). They can definitely match that total on the PC, IMHO.