Posts by Izuno

  • Crysis editor

    hmm....there were LOTS of Doom maps...lots of QUAKE maps....lots of HL maps...

    I think having an "easy" to use level editor is great. It will mean lots of people will create content, and then there will be more demand for content aggregation/review sites that help us find good stuff from the not so good stuff.

    At first, everything may indeed look like what's already in the Crysis game. But that was the case with Doom and Quake and Half-Life. And at first, assuming if Crysis the game is excellent enough, we'll all be happy to play more of what we just got. As time goes by and people figure out how to really use everything, some total conversions and kickass mods will come out...you know how the story goes.

    Biggest question is how easy it is to integrate everything. Certainly Source engine left the window open in that department.

    edit...

    I'm trying to understand...do people feel a bit threatened by a potentially easy to use level editor? Just because it is easy to use, it doesn't mean suddenly someone is going to learn it and make better content then you. That brings up the question of what's more important: your technical skills/experience at using tools or your ability to imagine better gameplay, design and art content?

    I predict that if Crysis is really that easy (we'll see once it goes to John Q Public!) it will end up being a good thing, despite having to wade through tons of crap levels that will ensue!

  • Game soundtracks

    Quote from Dark

    who cares, they are certainly hard to find in stores anyway and a rip off to buy.

    I suppose, but I liked the Mercenaries soundtrack so much I actually found an official CD online and bought it. Very happy with my purchase!

  • Playstation 3 - Home

    A minor canary in the Sony cave: At E3 2006, Pandemic Studios was touting Mercenaries 2 as a PS3 only game, or at least implying exclusive on PS3 for a while and then maybe 360 and other platforms. Then just a month ago after EA signed on as the publisher, Mercs2 is now on PS3, PC, 360, and PS2 in simultaneous holiday 2007 launch.

    No, this doesn't spell doom for PS3, but it is another data point that the PS3 is still struggling.

    Yeah...Resistance? Resistance to PS3 does not equal Halo to Xbox, though I don't think anyone is claiming that anyway.

  • In the futur we will have to pay to play multiplayer

    hmm.....

    Back when I was brand manager on Stalker and some other titles at THQ we got into this big discussion at E3 with friends from Activision and other pubs about how we can charge people access to playing MP FPS games. We talked...and talked...and talked...and realized that it just felt icky to attempt that.

    Online ads for Buzz Cola in the middle of your counter-strike match? Sure...we had no problem with that. But paying for FPS play, nah.

    However...

    It's really not that inconceivable. However it would have to borrow from the MMO business. There would have to be some compelling reason to pay a monthly fee for a non-MMO FPS MP game. Maybe if the developers constantly added content or updates or something, then maybe it might catch on. The point is, we have all been trained on the Quake/Half-Life "free MP" constuct and by gar we like it! To change that and just start charging people for MP access would be quite jarring to the millions of PC FPS players who frag online.

    However part 2...

    kinda what Thrik said. Would sort of depend on the game...

    Bottom line, at this point there has to be a clear value proposition for paying such fees and if publishers etc can't come up with them, the consumer won't buy into it.

  • Crysis editor

    I would rather have two 17" screens than one 24" widescreen monitor any day. It makes working with multiple applications sooooo much better.

    For video editing...you really need dual 24" or dual 30" as my cousin has on his MacPro for use with Final Cut and Avid if necc. He could even go to quad screens, but he doesn't quite need that yet.

    dualscreen4lif

  • Crysis editor

    Quote from KungFuSquirrel

    I'm still going to crown Radiant the king of dual-monitor effectiveness but UnrealEd is awfully close... my radiant-style viewport setting kicks ass except when I have to change the grid axis or a new build nukes my settings and I have to do it all again Hammer would rule on 2 monitors if they ever make the texture window stop stealing focus when it's open... boo!

    Not that I'm mapping anymore, but damn straight. I can't even do single screen anymore with my consulting work.

  • Battlefield - Bad Company teaser

    I give them credit for trying something different to promote a new game from a well known brand, but I do think the execution was a little flawed. I think the game is supposed to have a bit more tongue in cheek humor, though this ad is a little too cheesy and too tongue in cheek for me. I don't think it's terrible, but I don't think it stirs as much excitement about the game as it could. The writing and voice acting, for one, is a bit dissapointing and not all that funny. But good effort.

  • STALKER release date and countdown

    I actually met with the current brand assistant on Stalker (for the US) last week and he said the more "open" multiplayer beta is not active yet...so if ou played a demo it's probably the old crappy one from 2 years ago. From what I've seen of the new one it looks good, but haven't played it yet.

    I got a key for the MP beta, so once I get in I'll try it out. I still have faith there is a good product in this thing...

    :holdingbreath:

  • Sales Breakdown for '06

    Guess I should comment since NPD data is my business...

    This data is not exact from NPD's estimates, but rather "grossly" rounded. I doubt NPD would allow them to show any more detail than they did. Thus, you see them saying Madden sold 6.5 million units across all platforms in North America...

    I have access to all NPD data (though I cannot really share too much here) but that 6.5 million units for Madden seems higher than the real number. 6.5 million may be the sell-in number at retail, but NPD's sell-through number for full year 2006 is definitely lower than that.

    THQ's Cars, the list's #2 title, was reported to be 2.6 million units accross all platforms. Disregarding the Cars PC sku, this seems in line with NPD's actual numbers, especially since the PC sku was considered a budget title, though it did sell a nice amount by itself (thank you Pixar license stength).

    So take these numbers with a grain of salt and realize many of them are "not exactly accurate". NPD's numbers in general are pretty accurate, especially for console games. PC games get a little more wacky because the % of digital downloads is growing, especially for Steam releases products. Nevertheless, the PC numbers are still fairly good, at least for the retail component.

    As for this list, consider it a good indication of the order of magnitude and rank order of sales.

  • STALKER release date and countdown

    Pulled these of the Stalker developer site (GSC's)

    What are the recommended system requirements for the game?

    AMD Athlon 64x2 4800+ or Intel Core 2 Duo

    1Gb RAM

    3D Hardware Accelerator Card Required - 100% DirectXR 9.0c compatible 256MB (Geforce 7800, for example).

    "It should be noted that at the start of the game development our initially targeted system requirements were much lower. As a result (and due to the lengthy game development) the game can be played well on lower-end systems (the game ships with two renders - DirectX 8 and DirectX 9 one).

    Additionally, the game allows to scale various options for optimal performance. For the maximum quality and performance, the more powerful system you have, the better."