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[Drek]

Size will matter, a damn lot too. Its like some of you don't realize that the games themselves will be significantly larger than they were last generation. There's a reason Sony, Toshiba, etc. are fighting over the next medium for high def. movies, etc., and not just staying with DVDs. True high res. textures, models, etc., are going to fill a DVD up in no time, especially if we see larger and larger game worlds, which we probably will.

But then, its not that damn hard to just include two discs, so its not like either system will have a real edge there.

The next-gen RPG "battle" will be waged between X360 and PS3 in terms of who makes RPGs for what system. Sony has a clear advantage with the Japanese 3rd parties, primarily Square Enix, while MS has strong ties to the traditional PC RPG devs., like Bioware. However, MS has got Mistwalkers, and Sony has delivered a console that is about as friendly to PC dev.s as the X360, so the former advantage of MS is lost, while MS has secured a potentially huge 3rd party exclusivity.

If MS can draw more Square Enix support, or other Japanese 3rd parties, they can put a hurt on Sony's RPG library. Conversely, if Sony can turn Bioware, Bethesda, and other traditionally PC devs to their console they can do the same to MS. Should be an interesting generation for the genre regardless though.

 

[Myoclonic Jerk]

REV will have Paper Mario 3... BEAT THAT HUH?? BEAT THAT >.<

 

[Finaika]

Oh yeah, I forgot that character stats and spikey hair makes a game an rpg heh.

This stereotype about spikey haired characters in JRPGs must stop. I haven't even found 1 character with spikey hair in my PS2 RPG collection.

 

[CabbageRed]

I for one am just happy to see MS addressing the RPG issue that they had with the Xbox. That many of these RPGs are new series is also great to see. Although it is fun to watch the big three brawl over FF and DQ, if you plan on owning all three systems, seeing new blood being injected along with the old makes the next gen all that more exciting.

 

[Mr_Furious]

:lol It's funny reading all of this next-gen doesn't need CG cuz the graphics are that much better, bs. FYI, there are MANY effects that are still expensive and engine's won't support for the sole purpose of cutscenes. That's a waste of resources when you get those effects for free using existing art tools. CG will be just as important and just as frequent in next-gen epic RPGs as they are this gen (and last). I see no logical reason to believe otherwise.

 

[akascream]

This stereotype about spikey haired characters in JRPGs must stop. I haven't even found 1 character with spikey hair in my PS2 RPG collection.

Yeah, it's completely unfounded.

 

[SteveMeister]

For Oblivion, we have full voice acting for every line of dialogue in the game. That's what takes up most of the space -- but a standard DVD is enough. We don't tend to do much pre-rendered video in Elder Scrolls games.

 

[sonycowboy]

For Oblivion, we have full voice acting for every line of dialogue in the game. That's what takes up most of the space -- but a standard DVD is enough. We don't tend to do much pre-rendered video in Elder Scrolls games.

Any comments about a possible PS3 version? I thought for sure that the exclusive preview in GI said that the game would be for "Next generation consoles.

If not, I'll just get the 360 version.

 

[Drek]

For Oblivion, we have full voice acting for every line of dialogue in the game. That's what takes up most of the space -- but a standard DVD is enough. We don't tend to do much pre-rendered video in Elder Scrolls games.

You working on Oblivion? If so can you confirm/deny reports of a PS3 version? I've seen it listed by several places (most notably Gamespot) as X360/PS3/PC, but on the offical site it was only PC/X360. What's the deal?

I'm def. buying the PC version when it releases, largely for the TES, but I'm going to grab the console version as well if its on PS3 (ease of play, plus I'm trying to get my brother into the series).

*edit* Screw you SonyCowboy!

 

[Razoric]

:lol It's funny reading all of this next-gen doesn't need CG cuz the graphics are that much better, bs. FYI, there are MANY effects that are still expensive and engine's won't support for the sole purpose of cutscenes. That's a waste of resources when you get those effects for free using existing art tools. CG will be just as important and just as frequent in next-gen epic RPGs as they are this gen (and last). I see no logical reason to believe otherwise.

It costs money to produce CGI scenes... if companies can replicate it good enough with the in-game engine they wont even bother.

 

[djtiesto]

I for one am just happy to see MS addressing the RPG issue that they had with the Xbox. That many of these RPGs are new series is also great to see. Although it is fun to watch the big three brawl over FF and DQ, if you plan on owning all three systems, seeing new blood being injected along with the old makes the next gen all that more exciting.

Without a doubt... If you don't like Star Wars, you're pretty much fucked... well there's Jade Empire and Fable, but both games together take as long to beat as most average PS2 RPGs. And there's Morrowind, but I've never played it so I really can't comment. But those games with overwhelmingly large worlds and total lack of direction don't really appeal to me *shrug* Right now Lost Odyssey is easily my most anticipated confirmed next gen game (well, either that or Smash Online).

Sakaguchi and BioWare should team up on an Eastern/Western RPG crossover, though... the character molding and rich dialogue of a Western game, with the combat mechanics and stylistic char designs/environments of an Eastern game (well, Jade Empire had really nice environments, but the less said about the char designs, the better).

For some reason, even though its part of the one of the largest corporations in the world, MGS totally acts like the underdog in the industry - innovating, attempting to court 3rd parties, creating awesome online play, taking risks on technology. I am predicting getting a major Dreamcast vibe from 360... No, it's not a bad thing. I'm talking about it being not the most financially successful system, but still having a lot of rather obscure, creative, and awesome games for it. Which will make it worth my money.

 

[artful_dodger]

"Getting a bit scared?" People who say shit like this should be slapped in the mouth until they bleed....

that's just my personal opinion.

You're a moron if you think I meant that literally.

Or you're a child for your inexorable mud-slinging.


Either way

 

[Pedigree Chum]

CG is such a waste. In-Game ingines will be powerful enough to do some amazing cutscenes. Look at MGS3, no CG, and much better for it. It doesn't pull you out of the game world.

 

[PhatSaqs]

A ps3 version of Oblivion will probably depend on Sonys decision on a HDD.

 

[Mobius_1]

A ps3 version of Oblivion will probably depend on Sonys decision on a HDD.

What about Blu-Ray? Can't they stream data off the disk? It's 50 gig for crying out loud.

 

[Razoric]

CG is such a waste. In-Game ingines will be powerful enough to do some amazing cutscenes. Look at MGS3, no CG, and much better for it. It doesn't pull you out of the game world.

Didn't FF12's director say there would be less CGI in FF12 than most other recent Final Fantasy's? It's obvious they are trying to steer away from them.

That being said, I'm sure CGI isn't gone for good... but reserved for more pivotal points such as an intro / ending.

 

[Mr_Furious]

It costs money to produce CGI scenes... if companies can replicate it good enough with the in-game engine they wont even bother.

Well no shit. This way of thinking hasn't changed since the 32-bit days. Next-gen will still see plenty of CG in their epic RPGs simply because the tools already exist to crank them out quicker than to put resources into getting the same or similar effects done using the game engine, again, for the sole purpose of a cinematic. I'm not doubting there'll be good in-game cinematics but don't believe for a second, CG/FMV movies will not play an important roll next-gen.

 

[SteveMeister]

We did say "PC and future generation consoles" (press release) when we first announced Oblivion, but I can't comment on specific platforms that we haven't officially announced.

 

[Razoric]

We did say "PC and future generation consoles" (press release) when we first announced Oblivion, but I can't comment on specific platforms that we haven't officially announced.

translation: just buy the fucking 360 version... quit being a fanboy.

 

[akascream]

Plural eh? Sounds like Oblivion is coming to Revolution. =P

 

[sol5377]

If not, I'll begrudgingly just get the 360 version.

fixed for accuracy

 

[jimbo]

I don't see why people think the size of the DVD is going to limit the size of 360 games compared to the PS3 games. Remember rpgs on the Playstation? The ones that had 4 or more CD's? It's not like they can't still do that. So my game takes up more space than one whole DVD...ok i'll put it on 2 or 3. What's the big deal?

Oh yeah and another thing. If developers really ever want to bypass retailers and get me to download their games...they BETTER keep game size down, because I don't want to download a 50GB game over my broadband connection which hasn't gotten any faster over the last 5 years.

 

[sonycowboy]

translation: just buy the fucking 360 version... quit being a fanboy.

Funny. That's different from my translation:

"Yeah, it's coming for the PS3, but we just haven't announced it yet."

With the PS2 & 360 games I'm already getting this year, I think I can wait for the official announcement. If it takes too long to come to the PS3 (say 12 months or so), I'll happily get the 360 version.

 

[thorns]

Funny. That's different from my translation:

"Yeah, it's coming for the PS3, but we just haven't announced it yet."

With the PS2 & 360 games I'm already getting this year, I think I can wait for the official announcement. If it takes too long to come to the PS3 (say 12 months or so), I'll happily get the 360 version.

So you've decided to get a 360? What games? I just hope PGR3 will be available at EU launch, that'll be all I need for a while. The only thing that might suck will be $60 games.

 

[sonycowboy]

So you've decided to get a 360? What games? I just hope PGR3 will be available at EU launch, that'll be all I need for a while. The only thing that might suck will be $60 games.

likely

Perfect Dark Zero (assuming it makes launch)
Ghost Recon 3
PGR 3 (also assuming)


No interest in the sports games or really any of EA's or Activision's stuff. Kameo if it really, really turns out to be something, but it looks meh right now.

 

[PC Gaijin]

Jeebus, Sonycowboy actually plays games? O.O

I don't see the big deal over disc size for RPGs. Multiple disc RPGs were common in the 32-bit era, and changing the discs 2 or 3 times over the course of playing an RPG...omigod, horrible (rolleyes). That said I would be thrilled if PS3 got all the Western RPG developers onboard next gen. I'm only planning on buying one system (PS3) and it would be nice to get both JRPGs and Western-style RPGs on the same system. However, if Oblivion only goes to 360 (for consoles) then I'll probably get one since I have no intention of upgrading my PC for another couple of years.

It is nice to see some new franchises for the 360, but much more JRPG support is almost a given for the PS3. Too bad I don't care as much for JRPGs as I used to (this gen has been a massive disappointment for me as far as console RPGs, although I still hold out hope for FFXII), but unless PS3 completely misses out on Western RPGs it will be my RPG system of choice.

 

[SantaC]

Didn't FF12's director say there would be less CGI in FF12 than most other recent Final Fantasy's? It's obvious they are trying to steer away from them.

That being said, I'm sure CGI isn't gone for good... but reserved for more pivotal points such as an intro / ending.

whole their E3 trailer was CGI :/

 

[djtiesto]

Jeebus, Sonycowboy actually plays games? O.O

I don't see the big deal over disc size for RPGs. Multiple disc RPGs were common in the 32-bit era, and changing the discs 2 or 3 times over the course of playing an RPG...omigod, horrible (rolleyes). That said I would be thrilled if PS3 got all the Western RPG developers onboard next gen. I'm only planning on buying one system (PS3) and it would be nice to get both JRPGs and Western-style RPGs on the same system. However, if Oblivion only goes to 360 (for consoles) then I'll probably get one since I have no intention of upgrading my PC for another couple of years.

It is nice to see some new franchises for the 360, but much more JRPG support is almost a given for the PS3. Too bad I don't care as much for JRPGs as I used to (this gen has been a massive disappointment for me as far as console RPGs, although I still hold out hope for FFXII), but unless PS3 completely misses out on Western RPGs it will be my RPG system of choice.

The multiple disc model was kinda cool, cuz it allowed me to gauge how far I was in the game... Though sometimes that's off-putting. Xenogears, where the first disk is 50 hours long and the second disk is about 6 hours of straight-up cut scene boredom. Like, changing disks mid game once or twice in a 40-50 hour game isn't the worst thing in the world, IMO...

 

[SolidSnakex]

CG is such a waste. In-Game ingines will be powerful enough to do some amazing cutscenes. Look at MGS3, no CG, and much better for it. It doesn't pull you out of the game world.

It might be a waste, but it certainly isn't going away. DoA4 is a fighting game, and the 360 trailer had quite a bit of FMV. So you can just imagine what the next gen FF will have.

 

[nitewulf]

"Getting a bit scared?" People who say shit like this should be slapped in the mouth until they bleed....

that's just my personal opinion.

:lol

actually that caught me as well. i mean why?? its not like you wont have rpgs on the PS3, MS is paying money to get some rpgs on their system. if you want said rpgs you will buy their system, otherwise you wont.
but get scared?
i dont get it.
i was shaking my head at that.

edit: also, i wish devs would stop with the CG this gen, its a waste of money. sure it will look really good, if well produced, but at this point, i'd be very happy with game engine cutscenes. hell i always preffe rthem to CG anyway, as the jarring "back to reality" of in game graphics ruins the experience. how would you guys like it if kojima just CG-d all MGS cutscenes? etc etc etc.

 

[Kiriku]

I don't see why people think the size of the DVD is going to limit the size of 360 games compared to the PS3 games. Remember rpgs on the Playstation? The ones that had 4 or more CD's? It's not like they can't still do that. So my game takes up more space than one whole DVD...ok i'll put it on 2 or 3. What's the big deal?

Oh yeah and another thing. If developers really ever want to bypass retailers and get me to download their games...they BETTER keep game size down, because I don't want to download a 50GB game over my broadband connection which hasn't gotten any faster over the last 5 years.

Well, those games were multi-disc games because there was no other console suitable for the games, so they were going to release the games for Playstation no matter what. But I don't think it was a hardware as much as financial decision (as Playstation was the dominating console that gen, not to mention the "RPG console").

Also, RPGs might be easier to put on multiple discs rather than Tony Hawk or Madden, for example. Didn't some devs remove parts of games or compress music in order to make their (ported) games fit on GC discs? It all boils down to how financially important they feel a release is, I think. Instead of thinking multi-disc, a more interesting thought would be: if developers feel a need to make games bigger than the storage capacity for 360 discs, are they going to limit their games in order to make them fit or are they going to reconsider their main console for this software? This will also be decided partly by how successful each of the consoles are, of course.

 

[highrollinn]

actually PS3 will probably have both. (see Elder Scrolls IV)

Where has this been confirmed?

 

[Pimpbaa]

So you don't make your own characters, big deal...

It's a huge deal. It's a prerequisite for good rpgs.

 

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

For Oblivion, we have full voice acting for every line of dialogue in the game.

My good god. If Oblivion has as much dialogue as Morrowind, that's going to be an absolutely huge ammount of voice work.

 

[Monk]

REV will have Paper Mario 3... BEAT THAT HUH?? BEAT THAT >.<

:lol :lol :lol :lol

 

[Manders]

Xbox360 will have more real RPGs.
PS3 will have more JRPGs.

Simple.

If games like Jade Empire are one of those "real RPGs," I'll pass. Ick.

 

[DarienA]

You're a moron if you think I meant that literally.

Or you're a child for your inexorable mud-slinging.


Either way

Such a poor attempt at backpeddaling that I'm depressed even more than I was when I read your original post.

 

[BRVolition]

If games like Jade Empire are one of those "real RPGs," I'll pass. Ick.

Good. Now fuck off.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

I'm real excited about Lost Odessey

 

[Phoenix]

The most important distinction. Actually determining your own character vs letting the developers and artists spoonfeed you thiers.

In the history of RPGs there have ALWAYS been cases where you have been spoonfed characters, same goes for pen and paper RPGs. It's called ROLE-playing for a reason. Choosing your role or having it chosen for you makes neither more or less of a RPG.

 

[Phoenix]

translation: Any marketable platform that can run the game will likely have a version of it, unless there is a good financial reason for that to not be the case.

fixed

 

[Suite Pee]

Well, I thought when people talked about "Real" RPGs they were referring to a conversion of a tabletop RPG, such as the Baldur's Gate series.

 

[iapetus]

The most important distinction. Actually determining your own character vs letting the developers and artists spoonfeed you thiers.

So Planescape: Torment isn't an RPG? Just checking, you understand.

In my opinion, neither Western-style PC RPGs nor JRPGs are actually genuine RPGs in the same way than P&P ones are, because of the inherent limitations of computer software as a GM.

 

[iapetus]

Yeah, it's completely unfounded.

Fair enough. You will be providing an example of a spiky-haired stereotype in a PS2 RPG, then.

 

[nitewulf]

why do you guys pay any attention to akascream?
anyway, so far...i like what i've seen of the from rpg and lost odyssey. blue dragon wont be my thing.
as for ps3, we know FF will be there, i just hope better rpgs next time around from them.

 

[Phoenix]

Well, I thought when people talked about "Real" RPGs they were referring to a conversion of a tabletop RPG, such as the Baldur's Gate series.

Tabletop RPGs frequently had precreated stories, characters, etc. within them. This was especially true of expansions or campaigns.

 

[seismologist]

With things like this:

who needs CG movies?

I want my CG to look like this:

http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/614/614753/tekken-next-20050516080618078.jpg

Hi-def too.

 

[iapetus]

Tabletop RPGs frequently had precreated stories, characters, etc. within them. This was especially true of expansions or campaigns.

Depends on the GM. Better GM => more flexibility in those precreated stories/characters.

 

[Kiriku]

why do you guys pay any attention to akascream?
anyway, so far...i like what i've seen of the from rpg and lost odyssey. blue dragon wont be my thing.
as for ps3, we know FF will be there, i just hope better rpgs next time around from them.

Yeah...the main FF series will be heading for PS3, and I think it's safe to say other Square-Enix RPG series will follow. Also, Wild Arms and Arc the Lad series are pretty much given, and I can't really see the Suckykoden series appearing on anything other than PS3 either. "Tales of" and "Breath of Fire" series aren't really given IMO, could probably end up on Revolution as well.

I'm really curious about the Square-Enix support for Xbox 360...I mean, I can't really imagine it being so much more than symbolic. They'll probably release more online-focused, low-key, outsourced games for 360, anything will do as long as MS can brag about having Square-Enix on-board.

 

[nitewulf]

may be a bushido blade game, and as good as that is, it doesnt compare to a high profile rpg.
no matter though, MS seems to be trying for new IPs, which is a good thing.