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Console RTS games, did they give up?

M

Masterspeed

Member
I remember back in the 360 days there was a ton of RTS games on console, granted not all that great but they were there. I'm looking forward to Iron Harvest, but there doesn't seem to be anything else.

I'd love to see Blizzard continue their console support with Starcraft 2 on consoles, which wouldn't work as fast paced but damn, I've been craving some RTS games on console for a while.

I have a decent PC to play games, but most of this year I've been console gaming a lot more than PC gaming.

Do you think console RTS games are basically dead now? Or are there more coming that I'm not aware of.
 
thekonamicode said:
Halo Wars 2 comes out soon! (I think)
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That came out earlier this year, it was pretty good on console and worked really, really well with a controller. Sadly that's the game that's gave me the itch, because it worked so well and makes me hope for more games to work the same way.
 
Ponn said:
I have hope with Switch in the mix now.
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Well we have the MarioxRabbids game coming at the end of the month, and you can't go wrong with XCOM. As for anything else, I can't say since I usually don't play RTS games to begin with. Considering though that I'm usually a console player myself, I would have to agree that RTS seems pretty dead for the time being.
 
mas8705 said:
Well we have the MarioxRabbids game coming at the end of the month, and you can't go wrong with XCOM. As for anything else, I can't say since I usually don't play RTS games to begin with. Considering though that I'm usually a console player myself, I would have to agree that RTS seems pretty dead for the time being.
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I totally plan on getting MarioXRabbids because of my love for Xcom.

Now I realise how perfect Xcom 2 would work on the Switch.

RTS games would be nice to try on Switch, hopefully in Handheld mode there'd be options to use the touch screen.
 
Masterspeed said:
I totally plan on getting MarioXRabbids because of my love for Xcom.

Now I realise how perfect Xcom 2 would work on the Switch.

RTS games would be nice to try on Switch, hopefully in Handheld mode there'd be options to use the touch screen.
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Honestly, it would make sense for there to be certain type of games on the Switch. Hell, we know we're going to get Fire Emblem on Switch too in the near future (and not talking about Warriors). The possibility is there as long as there is someone who wants to take advantage of it. As for other systems, that would be harder to say since outside of XCOM and Halo Wars, I honestly don't know of any other franchises that are RTS games (Just barely found out that Pikmin is an RTS too apparently).
 
Even on PC RTS is kind of a fading genre, and consoles get even less of what PC gets for the genre. So unfortunately, picking are pretty slim nowdays.
 
My childhood was just rts. Command and conquer, age of empires, blizzardcrafts, rise of nations, etc. Its a shame that the genre has disappeared. Yes, they gave up on consoles, its just fps now.
 
Team Buddies is what console strategy games should have been modeled after. Not shoehorning Starcraft clones onto a gamepad.
 
The Tropico games are still going strong.

Please try mount and blade warband on the PS4 if you want a mix of RTS and Action. It's so ooo soooo good.
 
250px-Grim_Grimoire_Boxart.jpg


Vanillaware, GrimGrimoire 2 when?
 
Masterspeed said:
I totally plan on getting MarioXRabbids because of my love for Xcom.

Now I realise how perfect Xcom 2 would work on the Switch.

RTS games would be nice to try on Switch, hopefully in Handheld mode there'd be options to use the touch screen.
Click to expand...

tenor.gif


In all seriousness - the more strategy games on consoles the better - whether turn-based or real-time.

I think they both suffer from the same problem of trying to adapt what's a predominately pointer driven interface to platforms where buttons and sticks are the main mode of interaction. The reason TBS works so well is that at least there's no pressure of constant time passing against you - so you're not slowed down by the clunk.

It could be interesting if developers came at the problem from a console first perspective, rather than try to emulate PC games. The reason that Pikmin works so well is that it wasn't initially designed to be an RTS - it just evolved naturally from the concept of pulling Pikmin out of the ground and throwing them at enemies, as well as having hundreds of Pikmin on screen at once.

Brutal Legend also does a few interesting things with this, as did The Bereau: XCOM Declassified, where you use the in-built function of aiming your pointer in third person in order to issue commands from a wheel of options. Usually you're only commanding a few characters at a time, and there's still a requirement for you to engage in the main-game-play along side this, though you could see how this could be further abstracted to larger groups and more passive engagement in the world.

It's not quite perfect for fast-paced games like Starcraft - but there's no mandate for console RTS to be as fast-paced as that. Though if developers go in with that intention - I'm sure there's plenty of genres they could refer to generate interface options. Games like Thumper and Super Hexagon can be incredibly quick because their inputs are simple and graphics are clean and readable - so there's nothing to say an RTS console game like Starcraft couldn't do that either.
 
There's Shadow Tactics that just came out. I didn't play it on console (its out on PC/XBO/PS4) but on PC with a controller and it worked really well.
It has a vastly different control scheme and UI when using a controller instead of mouse and keyboard.

Not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, since it's not a traditional RTS per se, it's like Commando's set in feudal Japan.
 
The RTS genre in general has shrunk considerably from its heyday. Couple that with the fact that consoles don't have the install base the PS2 had (allowing for even niche games to be successful), and releasing a RTS on consoles now would be a pretty big gamble.

mas8705 said:
Well we have the MarioxRabbids game coming at the end of the month, and you can't go wrong with XCOM. As for anything else, I can't say since I usually don't play RTS games to begin with. Considering though that I'm usually a console player myself, I would have to agree that RTS seems pretty dead for the time being.
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Masterspeed said:
I totally plan on getting MarioXRabbids because of my love for Xcom.

Now I realise how perfect Xcom 2 would work on the Switch.

RTS games would be nice to try on Switch, hopefully in Handheld mode there'd be options to use the touch screen.
Click to expand...

I don't think you guys know what the first two letters in RTS stand for.
 
C&C3 / RA3 were both great on 360, to my amazement. So the problem isn't the quality of the games on console. It must just be that they don't sell.
 
smuf said:
There's Shadow Tactics that just came out. I didn't play it on console (its out on PC/XBO/PS4) but on PC with a controller and it worked really well.
It has a vastly different control scheme and UI when using a controller instead of mouse and keyboard.

Not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, since it's not a traditional RTS per se, it's like Commando's set in feudal Japan.
Click to expand...

Commandos was always turnbased though? RealTimeStrategy.
 
The best console for it was the WiiU, with the gamepad+touchscreen that could be used while playing on TV. Even the Switch has OR the touchscreen, OR the TV. WiiU was a perfect fit, but didn't see one RTS IIRC.

The PC game i sunk the most hours in, must have been Total Annihilation, 15 years ago. I know they made a sequel a year or two ago, don't know how that went though.
 
AAA games are very hit driven and I don't think there has been a big RTS hit on consoles at all that would inspire followers. All the hits of the genre were on the PC so there are no popular conventions for how an RTS should work on a console and thus no established pattern to follow and improve. When you first need to invent the genre fundamentals you have less focus on perfecting what you build on those fundamentals.

Console controllers are more suited for controlling a character directly so the proto-RTS and action-RTS games of yore are a better fit. Games like Battlezone 98, Uprising, Rescue Raiders, Herzog Zwei and so on are more suitable templates. They're really old though and except for Rescue Raiders clones on mobile (AKA tug of war-style with a player controlled hero unit) they're rarely invoked. Only examples I can think of are Air Mech (Herzog Zwei), Carrier Command: Gaea Mission (Carrier Command, obvs) Glory Days/Super Army War (Rescue Raiders) and Armor Valley (Rescue Raiders).

When you start making a PC RTS it's pretty clear what kind of basic design you'll start with but on consoles that's not really so obvious.
 
I think RTS' are actually making a massive comeback on consoles actually. I mean, I was a PS1 gamer which I felt was a golden era of RTS on console (Command & Conquer; KKND; Warzone 2100) that dried up a little during PS2 era but still had a few (Age of Empires; Goblin Commander; Kessen).

Then for me, as a PS3 gamer, the era was just barren. We got Red Alert 3 (which I genuinely loved) and then crap like Stormrise and that's literally it. I know the 360 got a lot more, but I bet on the wrong console with that one :P

Now on PS4, you've got things like Romance of Three Kingdoms; you've got Siegecraft Commander; you've got Tropico and Grand Ages Medieval and a lot of the Kalypso games. It's like a revelation for me, I love being able to play RTS' on console again.
 
Masterspeed said:
I totally plan on getting MarioXRabbids because of my love for Xcom.

Now I realise how perfect Xcom 2 would work on the Switch.

RTS games would be nice to try on Switch, hopefully in Handheld mode there'd be options to use the touch screen.
Click to expand...

Despite the performance issues and loading times that go on for days, XCOM on Vita is incredible purely to have it on the go. XCOM 1 or 2 on the Switch would be an insta-buy from me. Looking forward to Mario Rabbids.

base-building and large unit RTSes on PC seems to be a bit lost in the wilds thanks to MOBAs. Hoping to see a resurgence on Switch with turn-based games like Wargroove.
 
Gaz Pwnage said:
Not sure if serious🤔
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I'm being partially facetious. The core idea was great, and the whip select was novel, but pathing was a nightmare and there were too many units on the field to make the whip select anything other than a messy, finicky way to delegate troops.

Wasn't much better on PC, either. Owned both PS3 and PC versions.
 
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