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[NullPointer]

Knack didn't have big bugs, but it didn't feel polished at all. Could have used another year of dev time IMO.

A year? Jesus. I was thinking a month or two tops.

I just finished a playthrough of Knack and had a great time with it. It had a few framerate problems sometimes when super big Knack would die and explode relics everywhere, and some drops here and there when clambering about (again as super huge Knack) in the final level, but all in all it felt very polished and cohesive. That game got a world of undeserved shit heaped upon it imho. Then again I didn't buy it day 1 for full price, but even still, its a solid title.

I actually knew very little of what to expect from DriveClub. 12 car (licensed) races on closed tracks in gorgeous environments with a configurable day/night cycle and social challenges. No idea on number of tracks or cars or modes or what novel social features besides challenges on offer. Going back to the drawing board, or even just a major rebuild of a system or two is difficult for me to understand since I barely knew what was there in the first place.

 

[PBY]

Yes, Knack is very polished game in a sense that there is not many bugs that break the gameplay. notice that this has nothing to do with the game being good or bad.

an example of a great (unpolished) game is Skyrim PS3. notice that I'm talking about quality of the finished product (Works as intended) not being good or bad.

Knacks framerate goes to shit in a few chapters, especially chapter 7(?) where the game was nearly unplayable.

Either way- this is a huge derail, and we're just never gonna agree on this.

 

[J-Rzez]

Sony have said they will be releasing less games but of a higher quality. So you won't be seeing mid tier games like MAG anymore unless its from an indie partner

Wtf.. MAG was a great game, horribly underrated because it wasn't CoD. I wish there would be a MAG 2. RIP Zipper...

Anyways, wasn't Drive Club supposed to be heavily focused on micro transactions and such? If so, after what they saw Turn 10 go through, they may have had to go through different structuring. Though it is very unnerving that we haven't heard or really seen anything about DC in so long.

Maybe they scrapped it and are making a WRC game. One can dream.

 

[jhmtehgamr20xx]

Conspiracy theory:

Sony knew all along it was a Q2 or later release, but ran its launch day status as a total ruse to force MS to release an undercooked Forza to the public. Then the real DC comes out later and really puts the wood to it.

Wouldn't be the first time they tricked MS into going first.

 

[farisr]

A year? Jesus. I was thinking a month or two tops.

I just finished a playthrough of Knack and had a great time with it. It had a few framerate problems sometimes when super big Knack would die and explode relics everywhere, and some drops here and there when clambering about (again as super huge Knack) in the final level, but all in all it felt very polished and cohesive. That game got a world of undeserved shit heaped upon it imho. Then again I didn't buy it day 1 for full price, but even still, its a solid title.

Truth.

Actually, for me, Knack has been the best next-gen experience I had. 2 player co-op playthrough on hard was a blast. So much so, that the other 2 player co-op game on ps4 that people seem to shower praise on, which doesn't get shit on like Knack, felt like such a mediocre game to us and we had to stop playing it within 2 hours.

Also, I didn't have many framerate problems in the game, even with the craziness that occurs in 2 player co-op on hard. There was one section in the game where framerate took a noticeable hit (when knack and player 2 were big), but that was over after a couple of seconds.

But yeah, I don't think I would've enjoyed Knack nearly as much if I was playing alone, but still wouldn't have considered it a crappy title like so many do. I'd estimate a 6 or 7 out of 10 if I played it by myself (which is a solid title in my books). The experience I had with 2 player co-op though, I would rate it a 9.

 

[Dead Man]

I have a feeling you didn't play it. The star system for career progression, improved menu/upgrade system, variety of tracks/cars, novel and entertaining side-events and overall presentation put it worlds above GT4, GT5, GT PSP and GT5. Needing zero installs for all that content with acceptable load times is already streamlined beyond most PS3 racers, sim or otherwise.

Framerate and wonky visual effects be damned.

LOL, I haven't, which if you read the GT6 thread on GAF you would know. I can read and see though, and it's a mess. Even GTPlanet is hating on it. Game is not finished. It might be great one day, but right now it isn't.

Installs, lol. I'll take a whole day of installs over a half finished game.

 

[Sub_Level]

Hashtag Driveclub needed to go ly dow

 

[Haines]

Conspiracy theory:

Sony knew all along it was a Q2 or later release, but ran its launch day status as a total ruse to force MS to release an undercooked Forza to the public. Then the real DC comes out later and really puts the wood to it.

Oh yes those sales for ms. That game for players. And than a sequel by the time drive club hits...

Yeah great theory buddy

 

[Soi-Fong]

I'm really thinking that they reworked this game for VR. Rushy posted plenty of times here saying there would be an eventual announcement of the release date only to stop posting after the VR rumors started to take hold.

 

[VanWinkle]

Argh, I just want to play this game.

 

[Sean*O]

A year? Jesus. I was thinking a month or two tops.

I just finished a playthrough of Knack and had a great time with it. It had a few framerate problems sometimes when super big Knack would die and explode relics everywhere, and some drops here and there when clambering about (again as super huge Knack) in the final level, but all in all it felt very polished and cohesive. That game got a world of undeserved shit heaped upon it imho. Then again I didn't buy it day 1 for full price, but even still, its a solid title.

I actually knew very little of what to expect from DriveClub. 12 car (licensed) races on closed tracks in gorgeous environments with a configurable day/night cycle and social challenges. No idea on number of tracks or cars or modes or what novel social features besides challenges on offer. Going back to the drawing board, or even just a major rebuild of a system or two is difficult for me to understand since I barely knew what was there in the first place.

Would be nice if they ever decided to patch Knack and fix the uneven framerate. It had a strange jerkiness about it where it looked to be speeding up then slowing down, then speeding up again over and over in rapid succession. Game would have been so much better with a locked 60FPS. Still a fun game and the kids enjoyed it, but could have been better with more poilsh.

DC with VR could be insane. Destiny on VR could be even more so. Can you imagine a Destiny PS4 VR bundle popping up.

 

[coldone]

- Sony santa monica had a reboot
- drive club is back in drawing board

I am not sure if Yoshida is the right guy to lead the development. He may be nice.. but not sure if is the right person to make decisions

Too many goof ups in PS3/Vita era
- Wonder book
- SOCOM
- Starhawk
- PS All stars
- PS Kart
- Twisted metal
- COD, Resistance Vita
- Jak and other Vita Ports
- GT6 on PS3
and then the move games....

 

[Soi-Fong]

Argh, I just want to play this game.

Something really doesn't add up. What need would there be to rework a game that looks as good as that?

There has to be a big reason and I'm really leaning towards VR. I'd actually take a slight hit in visual fidelity for them to get up to 60 fps.

 

[Super Stardust]

Something really doesn't add up. What need would there be to rework a game that looks as good as that?

There has to be a big reason and I'm really leaning towards VR. I'd actually take a slight hit in visual fidelity for them to get up to 60 fps.

Gameplay > graphics, maybe it's just not fun to play and they need more time to make it better.

 

[doofy102]

Sounds like it will be a long wait of a gen.

 

[Paracelsus]

Would have costed less to moneyhat a need for speed, and it would have made more money, because at this point there's no way reviewers won't nitpick the living hell out of this game.

 

[hodayathink]

Anyways, wasn't Drive Club supposed to be heavily focused on micro transactions and such?

The fact that people keep saying that is a testament to how some people actually paid attention to this game. Microtransactions would have only taken effect if you were playing the free PS+ version of the game. As far as they had ever said, the full version was going to have everything on the disc, no additional purchases necessary (they hadn't even announced any DLC for it, but we have to assume that cars/tracks would have been added through DLC at some point). And they had even said that you'd be able to platinum the game with the free version, so you wouldn't really "have" to buy anything to play the game all the way through.

 

[TetraGenesis]

- Sony santa monica had a reboot
- drive club is back in drawing board

I am not sure if Yoshida is the right guy to lead the development. He may be nice.. but not sure if is the right person to make decisions

Too many goof ups in PS3/Vita era
- Wonder book
- SOCOM
- Starhawk
- PS All stars
- PS Kart
- Twisted metal
- COD, Resistance Vita
- Jak and other Vita Ports
- GT6 on PS3
and then the move games....

What about the successes?

 

[KHlover]

What about the successes?

+ PS4 launch

 

[tanod]

Knack didn't have big bugs, but it didn't feel polished at all. Could have used another year of dev time IMO.

Really enjoyed Kanack.

Knack has 2 obvious problems that probably drove reviewers with deadlines nuts.

1) The number/length of levels and the plot needed to be edited down a couple of hours.

2) Checkpoints are not clearly marked. Even though checkpoints are well-spaced for the most part and restarting goes very quickly and you retain your special's power level, it is really frustrating to get through a big encounter, use up your special power and then die a couple minutes later and do it all again.

 

[BlackBuzzard]

It was only a matter of time before coldone dropped his hyperbole in the thread.

 

[famousmortimer]

It will be out this year. They just arent giving a date until they know they will make it, as missing two dates will be shitty. Many people assumed it was "a couple months" but as far as I know Sony never once said how long the delay was going to be.


Also, spending time to make a game better is never a bad thing. Never.

 

[Soi-Fong]

It will be out this year. They just arent giving a date until they know they will make it, as missing two dates will be shitty. Many people assumed it was "a couple months" but as far as I know Sony never once said how long the delay was going to be.


Also, spending time to make a game better is never a bad thing. Never.

You know something? lol

When Rushy was posting here, he was making it seem like the release date was imminent. Something must have happened.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Something really doesn't add up. What need would there be to rework a game that looks as good as that?

There has to be a big reason and I'm really leaning towards VR. I'd actually take a slight hit in visual fidelity for them to get up to 60 fps.

Back when they were showing it playable last year there were a number of impressions that suggested that it wasn't that much fun to play. The most important aspect of any racing game at the end of the day is the handling. If you can't make the enjoyable, then it's basically a waste no matter how pretty it may look. And Evo have mentioned since then that it's gone through several handling revisions.

 

[a916]

It will be out this year. They just arent giving a date until they know they will make it, as missing two dates will be shitty. Many people assumed it was "a couple months" but as far as I know Sony never once said how long the delay was going to be.


Also, spending time to make a game better is never a bad thing. Never.

It isn't a bad thing.

However, it's usually a sign that the game was in a bad state to begin with and may be in one come release... a delaying a game doesn't make it a guarantee it will be good.

 

[Nafai1123]

You know something? lol

When Rushy was posting here, he was making it seem like the release date was imminent. Something must have happened.

Or they're just waiting because they don't want to look like idiots delaying the game again?

 

[cookie-monster]

Also, spending time to make a game better is never a bad thing. Never.

History strongly disagrees. We have the term 'dev hell' for a reason. Also Duke.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

It will be out this year. They just arent giving a date until they know they will make it, as missing two dates will be shitty. Many people assumed it was "a couple months" but as far as I know Sony never once said how long the delay was going to be.


Also, spending time to make a game better is never a bad thing. Never.

Duke nukem forever

 

[SolidSnakex]

History strongly disagrees. We have the term 'dev hell' for a reason. Also Duke.

To be fair, based on what Gearbox has said about what they got when they bought the Duke license, what they finally released was actually a much better game than what they had to work with at first.

 

[kaching]

There has to be a big reason and I'm really leaning towards VR. I'd actually take a slight hit in visual fidelity for them to get up to 60 fps.

VR just doesn't strike me as a good reason to delay a game by any significant amount of time. And if it really would take this long to rework a game for the sake of VR, that's not really a ringing endorsement for the VR implementation either. Whatever VR peripheral that Sony may come out with is going to need a lot more support than one game, but if it takes months and months to properly enable support for it in a game, I'd wager they're not going to get many 3rd parties to jump on board.

 

[coldone]

What about the successes?

Apart from GT5.. there was no single 10M+ selling exclusive from Sony on PS3/Vita era.

There were more mediocre games and failures than success. Success came from two or three studios. ND, Media Molecule saved the day with 3 GOTYs

Lot of mid budget games like Starhawk, PS Kart, COD Vita etc. It would be better for them to have fewer but more polished games like Uncharted2..

 

[Loudninja]

They explain the reason for the delay in January.

Fergal Gara: I don't have any announcement on it now. The only reason that product was delayed and we haven't accurately communicated a revised release date is that we want it to be right. There's a fair promise in that title in what it wants to do with social features and really innovating in the driving genre. There's no point in it coming out and half doing that job. It was quite ambitious and didn't quite get there in the timeline hoped. That's not great, but it's far better to bring it out at the standard...

Fergal Gara: There are two ways of looking at that. The range of titles that were available on PS4 at launch was bigger than any other launch we had, so there was a lot to choose from. If it comes out some time during the coming weeks and months, there's probably going to be less coming out at the same time, so you can look at it both ways. It's great to be first, but it's also good to hit a period where maybe a little less is going on.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-01-30-we-still-believe-the-vita-has-a-role

 

[Glorified G]

It isn't a bad thing.

However, it's usually a sign that the game was in a bad state to begin with and may be in one come release... a delaying a game doesn't make it a guarantee it will be good.

There was nothing in the post that you responded too that said a delayed game is guaranteed to be good. And you're wrong in saying a game is delayed because it was in a bad state. Games get delayed for a variety of reasons including polish, scheduling reasons (Nintendo with DKC TF for example), not being up to the high standards set by the devs. Half Life 2, or TloU could have been in a bad state before their delay, but shouldn't be assumed they were.

VR just doesn't strike me as a good reason to delay a game by any significant amount of time. And if it really would take this long to rework a game for the sake of VR, that's not really a ringing endorsement for the VR implementation either. Whatever VR peripheral that Sony may come out with is going to need a lot more support than one game, but if it takes months and months to properly enable support for it in a game, I'd wager they're not going to get many 3rd parties to jump on board.

Yeah, this long for VR seems unlikely. And all those small clips released on Facebook were just that, small clips. They may look great but doesn't mean the entire game is polished and complete.

 

[Confusatron]

I'm on my cell, so I'll be brief.

I played DC at PAX last year and thought it was fun. Not the best thing ever, but fun.

That said, the silence from the dev here is deafening. We were told early 2014, which is quickly passing. They were so active in the community early on. Their absence now doesn't help when rumors like this come along. If we could just get some feedback, that would help.

They really don't owe us anything. At the end of the day, all they need to do is release the best game they can based on budget & ability.

But, in the case of most games, we wouldn't even be discussing this. But just the fact that the devs were so outgoing in the community and have now gone silent is, I believe, a big cause of what has become an information issue here.

If we could just get a rough response ("we still think first half 2014", or, "later 2014 with all these cool features that weren't originally planned", etc), that would help a ton.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

It will be out this year. They just arent giving a date until they know they will make it, as missing two dates will be shitty. Many people assumed it was "a couple months" but as far as I know Sony never once said how long the delay was going to be.


Also, spending time to make a game better is never a bad thing. Never.

I agree, still disapointing for a launch game taking so long to come out. What made them think it was close enough to completion to advertise it as a launch game though?

 

[travisbickle]

"Back to the drawing board" was probably the wrong phrase to use because it has such different connotations to different people.

I think the scope of the project changed, and they've been asked to make a 'bigger' game then a typical launch title.

 

[Sarobi]

I don't think this is a 2015 game. They need time to iron out things, so I'll give them that.

 

[Tagg9]

I think there are 3 possibilities here.

1. They're reworking it as a flagship title for the PS4 VR headset.
2. They're doing a ton of work on the engine in order to get to 60fps. Seems unlikely, but it might be a request from the higher ups in order to show off the PS4's hardware capabilities.
3. The online integration was severely undercooked (or altogether missing) back in October. This seems the most likely scenario, especially after Sony touted back at the initial reveal about all the cool interconnected features we'd get.

 

[fedexpeon]

I am hoping they are adding VR to this game at least for all the delays.
I have this game preordered for over 1/2 a year now lol...

 

[LookAtMeGo]

 

[Sid]

It will be out this year. They just arent giving a date until they know they will make it, as missing two dates will be shitty. Many people assumed it was "a couple months" but as far as I know Sony never once said how long the delay was going to be.


Also, spending time to make a game better is never a bad thing. Never.

Good to know,will Uncharted be out this year as well?

 

[Steiner84]

LOL, I haven't, which if you read the GT6 thread on GAF you would know. I can read and see though, and it's a mess. Even GTPlanet is hating on it. Game is not finished. It might be great one day, but right now it isn't.

Installs, lol. I'll take a whole day of installs over a half finished game.

GTPlanet is always hating.
Ist the nature of that Forum since last Generation.

GT6 is a good game nonetheless. Im playing it online every Weekend with my friends and we have a great time.
Even in ist cuirrent state there simply is no game that can rival GT6 in the racing departement.
Ist allready good and will get even better over time.

 

[Manax]

Argh, I just want to play this game.

probably want to put that behind a link with a mb size on it. Not just casually drop 40 mb gifs into the thread.

edit: My chrome is crying

 

[LookAtMeGo]

probably want to put that behind a link with a mb size on it. Not just casually drop 40 mb gifs into the thread.

edit: My chrome is crying

Thats why I set my prefrences to not display gifs unless I click on them.

 

[SlickShoesRUCrazy]

no bueno

 

[slapnuts]

Sensationalist thread title. Reading the article doesnt suggest that they are starting again.

yup and folk are eating it up as per usual...chomp chomp chomp

 

[Shaneus]

You have to be fucking kidding me... another delay? Regardless of the context of "drawing board", that it's still not in a state where it's being polished is pretty fucking average.

All I want is an ETA, damnit.

 

[mrklaw]

I suppose normal people (I.e. Not GAF) wouldn't expect anything during the summer, so if it isn't coming out very soon, could be a fall release. If hey do hold it back until then, I wonder if that puts weight behind Uncharted being 2015? Because then Sony would have a pretty light fall lineup, which driveclub could help bolster


Oh, and as much as I love the idea of VR, fuck reducing the graphics. By all means have a VR mode which does that to maintain 60fps, and perhaps therefore also a stereo 3D mode. But when in normal 2D mode I want it looking like those clips we've seen, and I'm fine with 30fps for that.

 

[LiquidSolid]

Apart from GT5.. there was no single 10M+ selling exclusive from Sony on PS3/Vita era.

There were more mediocre games and failures than success. Success came from two or three studios. ND, Media Molecule saved the day with 3 GOTYs

Lot of mid budget games like Starhawk, PS Kart, COD Vita etc. It would be better for them to have fewer but more polished games like Uncharted2..

SMH. Yeah because 10M+ is SO easy, it's only one eighth of the entire install base. Should be a breeze.

And I just love the way you define success, as if all those games that weren't GOTY were terrible. Infamous, GoW3, Killzone 2, Heavy Rain, Resistance 1 and 3, R&C ToD and ACiT, Journey, Sound Shapes, etc. were all mediocre or failures. I guess Sony were pretty fucking terrible last gen, huh?

 

[Shaneus]

I don't think he's posted in a long time. Evolution went pretty much COMPLETELY silent in November and on.

Yup. Hasn't posted since one of the other threads. He's had a child in the meantime, but he's since tweeted that he'd gone back to work (but nothing more specific than that).

My guess is they wanted to re-tool it to work at 60fps, since it'd look bad having Driveclub at 30fps while Forza 5 runs 60. That, and VR. Since we're hearing this, it's looking very likely we'll see a re-announcement at GDC alongside the PS4 VR headset.

lol 60fps vs 30fps. PGR4 still looks better than Forza 2/3/4.

Conspiracy theory:

Sony knew all along it was a Q2 or later release, but ran its launch day status as a total ruse to force MS to release an undercooked Forza to the public. Then the real DC comes out later and really puts the wood to it.

I believe it. Maybe not "all along" but I'd almost guarantee that if they were pushing for PS4 launch, it was partially to put MS on the back foot with FM5.

It will be out this year. They just arent giving a date until they know they will make it, as missing two dates will be shitty. Many people assumed it was "a couple months" but as far as I know Sony never once said how long the delay was going to be.

This is good to hear. But they're still kinda missing a second date (first being launch) when "early 2014" changes to "mid 2014". Maybe I have a different definition of early/mid years, but I consider Jan-Mar(ish) "early", Apr-Sep "mid" and Oct-Dec "late". Hoping they don't consider pre-July "early".
(yay semantics!)