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QuarterToThree Message Boards: News: Dreamland delayed

By Mark Asher on Friday, January 19, 2001 - 11:49 am:

The good news is that they've revamped the official website. They have quite a bit of new information.

The bad news is that the game is now pushed back to a late 2001 release.

"The release date has been pushed back to the end of 2001, since we are now working on our own custom engine for the PS2."

Wow, that just bites. Another reason to be mad at the consoles. Let's get together and cry about this here.

By Rob_Merritt on Friday, January 19, 2001 - 03:22 pm:

Why don't they just ditch the ps2 and port the pc verson to the Xbox. Everyone else does.

By Mark Asher on Friday, January 19, 2001 - 05:21 pm:

I agree. Maybe they signed a contract? Maybe they expect the PS2 version to outsell the PC version 5-1? Maybe this PS2 issue is just a little bit of smoke to disguise development problems?

The Xbox may not be out this year also, you know.

It's aggravating. That's about the extent of my knowledge. It's also making Bethesda's year not look so great. They have Echelon and what? Morrowind won't be out, will it? Oh yeah, The Art of Magic could be cool.

By Qenan on Friday, January 19, 2001 - 09:29 pm:

Mmm. Well, that's their risk. Delayed games have a tendency to overshoot their technology and look dated (think Wizards and Warriors, for example).

Still, I loved the first X-COM, so I'm disappointed.

By qazwsx on Saturday, January 20, 2001 - 01:17 am:

turn-based startegy with a gamepad doesn't seem right.

By aszurom on Saturday, January 20, 2001 - 04:04 am:

All I'd really like at this point is a remake of the classic XCOM, done in 1024x768 that runs at "normal" speed on my box. I'd shell out $50 all over again - right now.

By aszurom on Saturday, January 20, 2001 - 04:57 am:

Tom Spaketh:

"But at least they're bringing good-looking and robust technology to turn-based gaming, something no one's really tried to do since Incubation."

Combat Mission - you missed that one.

By mtkafka (Mtkafka) on Saturday, January 20, 2001 - 09:45 am:

PS2 SHMEE ESS TOO. . im tired of this PS2 broohaha. . . should call it the PMS - 2 for all the developers in for a surprise with the sales theyll have!!!

etc

By Benjamin Mawhinney on Sunday, January 21, 2001 - 04:33 am:

This game will bomb on the PS2. Console people don't want PC style games! They wan't fighting, Action and sports games. And why do PC game producers think that just because there game is going console that it's going to sell millions of copies? PC developers need to stop producing junk, and they should all look at Maxis, Valve and Epic. These companies release great games and they are all successful! And guess what? There all PC game companies!

By Mark Asher on Sunday, January 21, 2001 - 03:49 pm:

I'd be surprised if Dreamland was a big seller on the PS2 also, but that doesn't mean that they can't make some money in that market. Most console RPGs feature turn-based combat, so that type of gameplay isn't foreign to console players.

I'm just disappointed that the PS2 version may be delaying the PC version, and it's starting to worry me a bit about this game.

By Dave Long on Sunday, January 21, 2001 - 08:54 pm:

Quote:
PC developers need to stop producing junk, and they should all look at Maxis, Valve and Epic. These companies release great games and they are all successful! And guess what? There all PC game companies!

All companies which have ported games to consoles. In fact, rumor has it Half-Life 2 is now targetted at consoles, Xbox specifically. Maxis put SimCity on every platform known to man and I wouldn't be surprised to see The Sims on consoles soon enough. As for Epic, they've already said the next game is console first haven't they? In addition, UT is already on PS2, coming to Dreamcast and likely to appear on Xbox.

No, these guys are somewhat brainwashed I think. What they haven't seemed to notice yet is that only Dreamcast has a reasonable base of customers to sell to so far and PS2 has experienced a million teething problems. Xbox may be no different given the complexity of the box. Sure, if in 2 years one of these consoles has a base of 10 to 20 million customers, you can make money on even a crap game. But if three or even all FOUR of them are reasonably successful which could easily happen, the money ain't going to be much better than a PC game would get them. In fact, it could be worse.

Smart companies are going to leverage their game across ALL platforms and make the most money they can. Look at Capcom with Resident Evil. They've claimed it'll be on all of them. They have also supported Dreamcast heavily to get a headstart on everyone else in the new generation which helped them get good financials for the year. That's how you keep your fans and your stockholders happy.

But for the guys at Mythos, I have to wonder why they had to switch to their own renderer when NetImmerse is supposed to be all that and a bag of chips no matter where you take it. Is this just one more instance of the PS2's architecture making it more difficult to get the same kind of quality you can get on a PC or even the other consoles? Delaying to Fall 2001 puts them right in the midst of just about every major console release for 2001 also. I think they just shot any chance of success with this delay. It should be out NOW when there's really nothing on the system worth talking about.

--Dave

By Mark Asher on Sunday, January 21, 2001 - 09:03 pm:

Yeah, if Mythos could have gotten Dreamland out right about now, they would have benefitted from a lot of great press coverage.

I guess the PS2 really is a PITA to program for. Verant dropped the unannounced Planetside port to the PS2.

By Xemu on Sunday, January 21, 2001 - 11:44 pm:

Anyone who thinks turn-based tactical games can't be fun on a console only need look as far as Front Mission 3 and Final Fantasy Tactics. I haven't seen anyone do a good empire builder on the consoles, but there is a solid track record of tactical games that are quite good.

By Mark Asher on Monday, January 22, 2001 - 12:22 am:

I've been wanting to play Front Mission 3. Has anyone tried Ogre Battle 64 for the N64? I've been interested in that one too.

What's really piqued my interest is the Gameboy Advance. There's a game like Ogre Battle coming out for it and they'll launch with a Napoleon game that's an RTS. I really like the idea of handheld gaming.

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