Author Topic: GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game  (Read 7391 times)

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Offline joeamis

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GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« on: September 14, 2004, 06:02:38 PM »
The October issue of GI, not yet out to stores, arrived today in the mail.  The first game it appears to be shown for Next Generation systems, is on the cover.  The game is.... (anticipation....)..... The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion by Bethesda Softworks.  It is currently to be made for Xbox 2, PS3, and PC.  Whether it will come to NR I don't know yet (have not had time to read the big article yet).  Anyways, it could have to do with the fact that XB2 Dev Kits are already in the hands of developers, and the current userbase of PS2.  The game is a 1 player rpg.  The graphics for the game look better than anything I've seen yet for real time, ofcourse the closest current game would have to be Doom 3, but this game is far different than a corridor shooter, and given what it appears you can do in the game (rpg like exploring through forests all the way upto huge Mountains in the distance) it is alot more impressive.  Based on pictures alone I'd give this game a 9 and Doom 3 an 8.  I'm not familar with Bethesda Softworks all that much so I can't say anything about the graphics in their current games, and what kind of increase is seen in this game, or even if they've been known for graphically impressive titles before.  Did they the Xbox version of Morrowind?  If so, they've made a huge jump here, understandably given the hardware differences.

Anyways, I'll read the article soon and be back with alot more information.  Here's some short snippets of quotes, "the pictures are from Xbox 2 development," it is not known how the game will look on PS3 because dev kits are not available yet.  Several of the desks of programmers had pc-sized objects covered up in black cloth and GI was not allowed near them.  Reading another short snippet, the executive producer also has interest in Nintendo's Revolution.  He also predicts the average length of nex gen games will shrink for two primary reasons: budgets and schedules for games won't change much but the enhanced graphics will require more development time.  Second, it's a statistic fact that gamers prefer shorter games (this is from a guy who makes long rpgs, so...).  Anyways, I'll be back with more eventually, including different threads about exciting new stuff from this issue of GI.
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Offline Ian Sane

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RE: GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2004, 08:32:12 PM »
"It is currently to be made for Xbox 2, PS3, and PC."

Man the systems haven't even been shown yet and already Nintendo is the odd man out.  Of course things are early but NOW is the time for Nintendo to be doing something about the "everything but Nintendo's console" problem the Cube had with third party games to make sure it does not happen to the Revolution.  Nintendo has had two "loser" consoles in a row and they have to make a really strong effort to get third parties back early on before the self-fulfilling prophecy thing starts again and Revolution  has little third party support because of low sales and low sales because of little third party support.  Nintendo's effort to attract third parties early on with the Cube was abysmal (Factor 5 was the only third party to have a playable exclusive Cube game at E3 2001) but since they had never launched from a behind position before it was sort of understandable.  There's no excuse this time though.

Offline Urkel

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RE:GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2004, 10:36:47 PM »
Perhaps the reason no Revolution version is mentioned is due to some NDA. Are any games officially annouced for the Rev yet?

"Reading another short snippet, the executive producer also has interest in Nintendo's Revolution"

That gives me hope.
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Offline MaleficentOgre

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RE: GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #3 on: September 15, 2004, 04:54:57 AM »
Its the begining of the end.  As it happens every generation, now that people have seen a next-gen game development on current-generation games slows insanely, that means the ten cube games that come out a year drops down to three.  Nintendo has a lot of work ahead of them in the next race anyway seeing as how everyone has already written them off.

Offline BlackNMild2k1

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RE:GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2004, 04:39:04 PM »
If you want to see scans of this Elderscroll IV you can find them in the 'console' forum section of Beyond3D.com

Offline couchmonkey

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RE: GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #5 on: September 16, 2004, 08:51:17 AM »
I think part of the problem here is that Nintendo is always so secretive about it's new products.  I remember reading that developers working on Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire had to hide their N64 controllers inside boxes while they played so that other employees wouldn't see them.
Add this secrecy to the fact that Nintendo is talking about creating new types of input for the Revolution, and maybe these developers just don't know if their new game will even work on it.
That's my opinion, not yours.
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Offline Ian Sane

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RE: GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #6 on: September 16, 2004, 09:04:34 AM »
"I remember reading that developers working on Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire had to hide their N64 controllers inside boxes while they played so that other employees wouldn't see them."

Well to be honest the N64 controller was insanely innovative.  That's a situation where I wouldn't want the secret revealed too soon.  I do agree that Nintendo is too secretive often when they don't have to be.  There have been too many times where they've been all secretive for no reason.  There was no reason to hide Super Mario Sunshine since the water pack, although a unique addition to the Mario series, was nothing that was going to ruined by being copied.  Same with Mario Kart's two characters thing.  Nintendo kept the "clicky" L & R buttons on the Cube underwraps for a while.  Why?  It was so minor that there's no way a competitor would care.

Now the Revolution very well way be worth keeping secret (the DS looks like it was) but I think Nintendo has to think of what's going to hurt them more.  Is preventing Sony from having a faster start at copying them worth having a puny sized launch lineup?  I think having only a handful of games for 8 months is going to hurt them way more than having Sony release an updated DualShock 3 three months into the Rev's life to take away the unique control advantage.  Crash Bandicoot didn't really affect Super Mario 64's huge sales but keeping the N64 a big secret to all but the "dream team" sure hurt them.

Offline couchmonkey

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RE: GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #7 on: September 16, 2004, 09:30:46 AM »
You're right about the N64 controller....I was just illustrating my point that secrecy may be the culprit.  Sometimes Nintendo's secrecy works for it, other times against it.  
I think Nintendo could do developers and itself a big favour by simply letting us know if Revolution will play videogames as we know them right now.  I bet that it will, but if I were a developer, I wouldn't be lining up any Revolution games until I knew that they would actually work on it.
That's my opinion, not yours.
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Offline Zach

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RE: GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #8 on: September 16, 2004, 04:48:28 PM »
what nintendo needs to do is to do something defferent enough that sony cant copy it by simply making a new controller, forcing sony to either copy and come out months after the Revelution, or come up with their own ideas.

Its like the DS, the PSP cant copy off of that (whether it sell well or not) because the PSP will never have 2 screens or any of the other unique ds features.  
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Offline joeamis

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RE:GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #9 on: September 16, 2004, 07:12:28 PM »
Not all is lost, Bethesda Softworks, has never published or developed a game for a Nintendo system, from what I know.  I'm working my way up to the article in the mag, (I read every word of print in mags).  I'll post more about it real soon.
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Offline couchmonkey

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RE:GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #10 on: September 17, 2004, 08:37:20 AM »
Time to talk about something Nintendo is doing right!  Having seen the screenshots on the other forum, I agree more than ever with Nintendo's "graphics aren't important" philosophy- or should I say Nintendo's "we need more than graphics" philosophy.  The game is a step up from anything else I've seen, but I'm no more impressed by this than I was by Doom 3 or even Resident Evil 4 when I first saw them.
When I first saw the Luigi's Mansion and Zelda demos, I was shocked.  They looked awesome, and I was pumped for a new system with slick 3D graphics!  If I'd had the money, I probably wouldn't even have waited for the Cube, I would have bought a Dreamcast to hold me over.  Looking at this game, I think, "Wow, look at that grass!....  WTF?  It's grass!  Why do I even care?"  It is very pretty, but I can live without it.  I'm looking forward to better graphics in the next generation but if that's all I'm going to get there's no reason for me to put down $300 on launch day.
More than ever, I'm looking forward to whatever innovative features Nintendo can pack into the Revolution that can convince me that I need it right away.
That's my opinion, not yours.
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Offline ThePerm

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RE: GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #11 on: September 17, 2004, 09:17:19 AM »
ooh very pretty, when  I see fantasy games liek that displaying such pretty graphics it just makes me go...yes i will be a ble to make my game the way i want it.
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Offline joeamis

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RE:GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #12 on: September 17, 2004, 04:20:48 PM »
The makers aren't none for great graphics games.  The thing that is appealing about it, is it's open world gameplay.  And the fact that it's a launch title, is significant in terms of graphic quality.  Anyways, it appears next generation graphics should be close to photo realistic eventually in the systems' lifetime.
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Offline KDR_11k

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RE: GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #13 on: September 17, 2004, 09:48:03 PM »
I have a feeling the only reason they put it on XB2 was because it's easy to port from the PC.

Offline joeamis

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RE:GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #14 on: September 18, 2004, 05:48:37 PM »
I would say the reason is because they have Xbox 2 development kits already.

Anyways, heres something new, and different, and exciting from the article.  The development tools used to make the game can be "taught" to do much of the work.  Artists can pick an area of the map, set parameters for what they want, and the program randomly fills the area accordingly.  Example, they can designate it as a forest, select the types of trees and bushes, soil type, etc all with as many parameters for each as they desire.  The program  then builds the area accordingly by itself.  The areas are then tweaked by artists, whether in general or down to the smallest details.  The program can also do the same thing for characters.  The game will have 1,000 npcs.  The artists can set parameters to generate a random character.  It can then be tweaked by hand, including using a series of sliders to set things like skin tone, hairstyle, or change the characters age by upto decades.  The program also can do this for the characters confidence, aggression, how they react to different situations, etc.  And here's perhaps the biggest thing... This program will be included for consumers to use with the PC version, and possibly the console versions as well.  Talk about getting to really make games yourself, easily, with the same tools as the makers, something I've dreamed about since I got my NES.  

One other thing this makes me think of, (I've heard the new Unreal Engine can do similar things as far as generating environments on it's own when given parameters) is that next generation is going to be alot harder and expensive to do impressive things.  And perhaps only the big players in the industry will have the money and employees to make the best games.  The smaller developers will be in a tough spot.  Although I guess, the DS and PSP will be home to them for the opposite reasons, atleast I've heard that smaller developers are saying this about PSP and DS as far as development.
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Offline Chongman

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RE:GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #15 on: September 18, 2004, 08:13:10 PM »

while it is cheaper to enter, that's a common misconception. the handheld market is just as, if not significantly more, vicious for developers. Very few handhelp developers can attest that they've been successful.
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Offline KDR_11k

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RE: GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #16 on: September 18, 2004, 08:42:46 PM »
joe: Ah, yes, reminds me of the Total Annihilation editor. It had a "Make forest" option...

I'm still saying that if the small devs wish to compete with the large ones they shouldn't attempt to play on the same field. Let the big guys make their shallow graphics-centered games, a small dev must not try to impress with graphics but with gameplay. A game that plays well doesn't need two months of work per character.

Offline Syl

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RE: GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #17 on: September 19, 2004, 06:45:25 AM »
I haven't enjoyed a single game by Bestheda, i really disliked morrowind, and this is looking to be the same type of gameplay.  *shrugs* i dont' care if its on the cube or not.  This is also the team thats now reponsible for the next fallout game.  I'm actually surprised this was announced for PS3 as it is, i thought microsoft had these guys in their pocket.

That said, i remember hearing about another "next gen" FPS quite a while ago, had some guys in big suits, i believe it was being made by Id.

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Offline KDR_11k

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RE: GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #18 on: September 19, 2004, 07:49:49 AM »
This is going to be the sequel to Morrowind so it being similar is to be expected.

Offline kennyb27

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RE:GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #19 on: September 19, 2004, 06:02:42 PM »
Well, considering Microsoft is using Apple G5 computers as their dev kits, I'm not surprised they are out first.
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Offline joeamis

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RE:GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #20 on: September 20, 2004, 02:28:57 PM »
Quote

Originally posted by: KDR_11k
joe: Ah, yes, reminds me of the Total Annihilation editor. It had a "Make forest" option...



Eh what are you trying to say?  It's not just "make forest"...  It's for all the environments in the game, and the characters too, that the tool easily allows you to do professional quality development on your own, quickly.  The forest is merely a small example included in a magazine article.

Chongman: "while it is cheaper to enter, that's a common misconception. the handheld market is just as, if not significantly more, vicious for developers."  

Maybe so in terms of sales, but certainly not development compared to the next gen home consoles.  Developers have lavished the portables with praise, citing easier and less expensive development as the main reason.
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Offline Djunknown

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RE:GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #21 on: September 30, 2004, 02:28:13 PM »
Yeah I read that article as well; GI simply put Xbox 2 and PS3 as pure conjecture(I believe none of them have made the move to get exclusive rights to it), PC is a given.

yeah, visually it looks real pretty, but the question I ask myself  "What about the gameplay? Can I really interact with every single object in the game? Can I use my prized mug of ale as a deadly weapon?"

On a side note, It'll be interesting how they handle Fallout 3; I'm sure the fans will have that spitefulness even after the game is released.
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Offline NinGurl69 *huggles

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RE: GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #22 on: September 30, 2004, 02:38:29 PM »
Can I use my half-empty Coke can as a deadly weapon?
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Offline joeamis

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RE:GI World Exclusive Look at 1st Next Generation Game
« Reply #23 on: October 01, 2004, 09:36:57 AM »
Quote

Originally posted by: Djunknown
Yeah I read that article as well; GI simply put Xbox 2 and PS3 as pure conjecture(I believe none of them have made the move to get exclusive rights to it), PC is a given.

yeah, visually it looks real pretty, but the question I ask myself  "What about the gameplay? Can I really interact with every single object in the game? Can I use my prized mug of ale as a deadly weapon?"



The XB2 wasn't pure conjecture.  Quote from GI, "We can confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is coming to Xbox 2."  The same was clearly not said for PS3.  Yes neither Sony or MS has made the moves to get exclusive rights to it, but that doesn't mean it can't be developed for their systems.  The executive producer of the game is even quoted in the article describing how to control the game on an XB2 controller.

Relating being able to interact with every object to using those objects as weapons shouldn't be said.  Having objects being interactive, such as all of the ones on the table in the article doesn't mean every object in the game is interactive (like blades of grass or a tree).  Also it doesn't mean those objects can be used as deadly weapons, it would be pretty ridiculous to implement every object as a weapon both in terms of development time/cost and game users.  
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