Tag Archives: Namco Bandai

Train2Game news: The Witcher 2 makes you “face the consequences of your actions”

Posted on by
Reply

Train2Game Blog readers who play The Witcher 2 will need to “face the consequences of your actions” whatever decisions you make when the RPG gets its Xbox 360 release.

That’s what lead level artist Marek Ziemak told CVG about the game that CD Projeckt have previously described as “The most complex and non-linear story ever told on Xbox 360″

“The spine of our whole game is the storyline and it’s a dark fantasy world where you have to make choices, then later on you have to face the consequences of your actions.” said Ziemak.

“We were looking for a way to make those consequences meaningful and really important for the players. To show that, we sometimes have to kill some characters, sometimes burn places and sometimes make huge changes in the game’s world.”

When asked if that meant CD Projeckt were making parts of the story that might only be seen by a handful of players, Ziemak responded that no matter what, players need to see what consequences their decisions have.

“It’s not always enough to tell you that someone died because of your choice, we want to show you those consequences, because you’re the man deciding, then we have to be prepared that you choose one option or the other.” he said.

“We may have to create twice as much content, but then, there’s twice as much fun!” The Witcher 2 developer added.

Find out more about the development of The Witcher 2: Assassin’s of Kings in The Train2Game Blog’s own interview with lead level artist Marek Ziemak from Gamescom last year.

Train2Game students have the opportunity to question The Witcher 2 developers CD Projekt during a special Q&A event at BAFTA next month. There’s more information about it here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on Ziemaks comments about consequences in The Witcher 2? Is it something that game developers need to put more focus on?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: SoulCalibur V story mode “one fourth” of planned size, each character was to have own story

Posted on by
12

SoulCalibur V’s story mode was originally planned to be four times bigger than it actually is, but time restraints meant it needed to be cut back.   That’s according to game director Daishi Odashima who was speaking in an interview with The Train2Game Blog.

He explained that Namco Bandai team didn’t have the staff or the time needed realise their full vision for Soul Calibur V’s story. The story of the released game mainly focuses on two characters, Patrokolos and his sister Pyrrha, opposed to each character on the roster having their own individual story as previous games in the series do.

“Our first plan on the storyboard was that we had every characters story, and actually we do have it in the studio, but time-wise, man power-wise we weren’t able to do it and only one fourth of what we planned to do is in the game.” Odashima told The Train2Game Blog.

He added that many of the other planned stories got full voice-overs during SoulCalibur V’s development, but there has been no decision on how to use them yet.

“Actually, some of the voice-overs are already taken but haven’t been used, so we want to make use of it somehow, but we don’t know how that’s going to be.” he said.

The Train2Game Blog interview with SoulCalibur V game director Daishi Odashima, featuring discussion of game development, the importance of community feedback, advice on becoming a good game designer and more, is here.

What are your thoughts on the amount of story mode that was cut from SoulCalibur V? What do you think it says about the pressure on game developers?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: Namco Bandai say free-to-play games can’t be high quality

Posted on by
Reply

Train2Game students will probably have noticed the increasing rise of free-to-play titles, with Star Trek Online the latest previously subscription based MMO to switch to the model.

The move received a mixed reception on the Train2Game Facebook page, while Train2Game forum users were more positive.

The concept of free-to-play has received a more negative reaction from publisher Namco Bandai, who not only say it’s not possible to create high quality games using the model, but also that it’s bad for the industry.

“Free-to-play games can’t be high quality,” said Namco Bandai Senior VP for Europe Olivier Comte.

Namco Bandai are the publisher behind titles including Dark Souls, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, and the upcoming Soul Calibre V.

“We need to put certain value on certain work,” he continued. “When you’re a big company… you can’t take risks too quickly, you can’t make a change just because there’s a fashion for a couple of years; you want to be there in 20 or 30 years.” he argued while speaking at Cloud Gaming Europe.

Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online and DC Universe Online are subscription based MMOs that have made the leap to free-to-play, while the model has also been successful for games including World of Tanks and Team Fortress 2.

TheTrain2Game Blog recently reported that Ubisoft believe their upcoming free-to-play title Ghost Recon Online will be AAA quality, something that won’t be possible if you’re convinced by Comte.

For the latest news about industry trends, including free-to-play, keep reading The Train2Game Blog.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the comments from Namco Bandai? Can free-to-play titles ever match the quality of AAA? Are there free-to-play titles you enjoy?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Industry Gamers]

Discs vs Digital – Round 2

Posted on by
Reply

Another big name has waded into the Discs vs Digital debate in the form of Namco Bandai VP of sales, marketing and publishing Olivier Comte.

You may remember that recently, SCEE President Andrew House acknowledged that games sold on discs in boxes are still popular but that digital content could possibly the way forward. His comments were discussed in great detail on the Train2Game Forum.

In an interview with MCV, Comte spoke about a number of subjects including the digital market. He questioned its relevance on consoles;

Today digital is a significant part of PC gaming. We are a Japanese company and Japanese companies are not known for PC titles. But we need to have a product on every platform – including PC – so in that sense digital will start to become more important for Namco Bandai. There is better margin and using a digital platform gives us direct access to the consumer.”

“But in terms of console, it is a little bit too early to say. The only real business model for digital on consoles is DLC because the consumer will always want to have the box because it is an expensive thing.”

He raises a good point about the contrasts between the digital markets of console and PC games. As mentioned in a previous blog, the PC has embraced the idea of digital distribution and downloadable content far more enthusiastically than the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 has. The dominance of Steam in the digital distribution market has of course helped this along. Meanwhile, console owners prefer their games to some on a disc in a box.

So, while downloadable games may not be to the tastes of major distributors, it’s an ideal way for independent Games Designers, Games Developers, and Games Artists and Animators – like Train2Game students – to get their work out there.

This appears to have worked for independent studio Hello Games, who’ve just released their first production in form of Joe Danger on the PlayStation Network – and it’s had some very good reviews. We’ll have to wait and see if these positive reviews transform into downloads, but with a relatively low price it’s likely that many gamers will be tempted to try it out.

We’re not so willing to risk our money on something new if it costs £40 and doesn’t even come in a box. But this raises an important question for independent developers; do you save costs by releasing your first game as a digital download? Or do you sell it in a box which consumers can pick up on the shelf. Train2Game students, as producers, which medium would you prefer?