Remedy explain Alan Wake Xbox exclusivity
Remedy has explained that the reason Alan Wake is an Xbox 360 exclusive is because the dev team is so small.
According to comments made by Remedy's Oskari Häkkinen, the reason is simply that Remedy is a very small developer.
"Frankly, we're a small studio. We're 50 people, and being a small studio, it makes a lot more sense for us to focus on one platform," said Häkkinen in an interview with VG247.
"Saying that Alan Wake is best played of a sofa with 5.1 surround and a big TV screen, I think is more of a preference than anything else...We're not going out there to say that PC gamers can't enjoy it from their own PC set-up. We're certainly not saying that. We have a strong heritage in PC gaming as well."
"Currently we're fully focused on the Xbox version, and [as for] what the future holds, we haven't got anything to announce, and we haven't thought that far right now," he said.
The comments hint that Alan Wake may see a PC release at some point in the future, though whether PC fans will still be as keen on the game after these recent developments waits to be seen. Let us know your thoughts in the forums and check out our Alan Wake preview in the mean time.
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Discuss in the forums ReplyIronically, piracy is rife on 360, developers just don't realise because microsoft doesn't reveal the numbers.
I'm still willing to bet my left nut Alan Wake will be a buggy, unfinished, rushed, crap game.
Mass Effect, Star Wars Force Unleashed are other examples of exclusives that "would never come out on the PC because the platform was not suited for the game"
You get the developers of a much loved PC game (Max Payne) to spend years making a PC/360 game only to cancel the PC version very close to release. Yeah you piss off a lot of PC gamers, but if even 10% of them are tempted into getting a 360 because of it, then Microsoft is happy.
microsofts 360 sales really that poor that they would need to shaft pc customers.
Most people who want a 360 now have a 360. Price isnt stopping sales anymore. Just total saturation,
The platform with about a million different hardware and software configurations? Yeah makes sense.
To add to what Dragunov has already said. Pc is also a much much smaller market as far as gamers go and is rampant with piracy. So yeah everyone should focus on PC first....
and more piracy issues then you can a nine tale at :P
360 all the way if you wanna make some money i guess, [not complaining i have a 360 and no pc :)]
sad but true (crysis)
So you have a company, you sold the rights to max payne to fund this game... which should I choose:
a) 360 release, large base, loads of sales, M$ wont let me do DLC for free (more income), will probably sort the company out for the next few years.
b) PC release, sales can't be guarenteed depending if people want to pay for it, having to do extra support for all the various types of PC systems etc.
Its a no brainer, you can't complain because a company would prefer to make more money for the "x" years of development, put yourself in their shoes and things become quite clear.
I'm not saying I agree, because releasing both would be better, oh well.
I wouldn't call it total saturation, but Microsoft don't seem too pleased with their XBOX sales.
It makes one question if console gaming is dying: http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/ps3/2009/12/14/is-console-gaming-dying/1
So after Microsoft's Games For Windows initiative (front) they are now turning more and more against their relatively small community of hardcore Windows PC gamers to convert them into XBOX gamers.
"Saying that Alan Wake is best played of a sofa with 5.1 surround and a big TV screen, I think is more of a preference than anything else...We're not going out there to say that PC gamers can't enjoy it from their own PC set-up. We're certainly not saying that. We have a strong heritage in PC gaming as well."-Häkkinen
"Currently we're fully focused on the Xbox version, and [as for] what the future holds, we haven't got anything to announce, and we haven't thought that far right now,"-Häkkinen
Well, if you can't dazzle them with brilliance, the baffle them with bullshit! They don't believe M$, but they believe "you" Häkkinen. They'll only be outraged and mad at "you" until the next title goes straight to console! LOL!!
That's why its on the Xbox 360.
To be fair, its a logical choice as any business needs to make money. Having said that, they ought to release it on the PC afterward, its not a complicated procedure to port it across. Whether it happens or not, I expect is up to whatever contract they signed with Microsoft. :(
Then they can use the poor PC sales figures as further proof of "pc gaming is dead".
I wouln't, the game isn't worth a nut, better refrain yourself from that statement
The graphical lead you see in PC games over consoles is steadily eroding because there are very few developers left dedicated to the PC platform, and those that are, aren't overly concerned with cutting edge graphics (Blizzard, Valve, casual devs like Farmville etc). It's the 'Crysis effect'.
This is further compounded by the recession having a hand in extending the current consoles lifespan, giving developers even less reason to advance the PC gaming market.
If you want to hear a far better summation from somebody much more knowledgeable than I am, listen to the Bit-tech podcast a few months ago where Tim talks about Nvidia's waning interest in the PC market and expansion into others.
In other words, Alan Wake is a game made for couch potato:D
Here, here! A bit-tech guy with a sense of the market, and some common sense to boot!
This is probably the best compromise, assuming they release it on PC. The MS statement was just some blowhard being stupid.
So it was a PC exclusive, yes?
And it's more cost effective to port the existing code and game assets to the 360 platform rather than finish on the platform it was started on?
Yeah. Did I mention that I'm Santa Claus?
An interesting question is how much money do ATI (and less so Nvidia) make on consoles. Nvidia and ATI were heavily involved with the design of the PS3 and 360 respectively. Do they share in the hardware losses with Sony and MS, or does Sony and MS still pay them up front for the GPUs - regardless how much input they had on the design of the consoles.
Why do PC gamers always think that the console manufacturers always operate at a loss? The ignorance of the gaming market is absolutely staggering.
Which is surprisingly a lot easier to code for than consoles, because of the available APIs (OpenGL, OpenAL, DirectX, etc) and common libraries. PC's have been around for aeons and despite huge and numerous component changes, the basic layer (x86) has remained the same.
Consoles are great, but PC's have their place too. 1080p looks fantastic on a 32"+ TV - Wipeout looks just awesome. 1200p on a 24" monitor looks a damn site better though, with smoother framerates, far higher anisotropy and AA up the yingyang.
+1;)
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