Here's a bit of news I recieved in my Gamespy mail...

"Brad Grier, Communications Manager, has clarified BioWare's involvement in the PlayStation 2 action-adventure Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance that was announced today. It can be summarized in one word, "none".

BioWare is not working, in any way, on this title. It will not contain any characters or situations developed by BioWare for our Baldur's Gate games. This game will not use any BioWare developed or licensed technology.

BioWare is always interested in seeing good games developed, and offers the developers our good wishes as they continue to expand the Forgotten Realms. "

This is taken from PlanetBaldursgate

Just thought you'd like to know that.

As well, there is supposed to be a PS2 version of the original Baldur's Gate. Not sure when it will be out though, but I'll stick with my PC version, thank you very much.

Balders gate for the PS2? WTF? I wish companies would stop porting games over that do not belong on certain systems! Balders gate does not belong on the PS2! The experience is going to suck, and it shows that the only thing companies care about is money! That is a PC game, not a console game! And I bet that it doesn't sell well. It's the same with the console to PC ports. Final fantasy suked on the PC and it didn't sell well because it's a console game. Not a PC game! I just wish that game companies understood that!

FiringSquad has a pretty good first look at BG: Dark Alliance. They say it's more like Diablo than BG -- you control one character and it's only loosely associated with D&D rules.

http://firingsquad.gamers.com/games/bgdafirstlook/

Graphics are really nice, though.

" ...it's only loosely associated with
D&D rules."

And apparently only loosely associated with the BG computer games as well. Strikes me as a wise decision by Black Isle. A straight port of the computer game would be a disaster. Imagine trying to manage a party of six with a console controller.

Yeah, I agree. It would have to be turn-based if it was a party-based game.

BioWare's response to people wondering if it was their game seemed a bit frosty. They probably feel that a brand they developed is being absconded with.

"They probably feel that a brand they developed is being absconded with."

This strikes me as another misuse of a brand, along the lines of the Squad Leader game that Hasbro just put out. If you are totally changing the game, why use a name that brings expectations of a different game with it? It simply sets the stage for disappointing part of your target market.

Good point, Supertanker. I guess the allure of a popular brand is too hard resist.

It's not always a bad thing, though. Heroes of Might and Magic was a nice departure from the Might and Magic RPGs.

looking at the screenshots for this game, i get deja vu with the might and magic action-rpg games. now if the game really does play like diablo but with 3d graphics, might be in for a surprise, but im guessing itll end up like a souped up version of Ultiam IX or Crusaders of Might and Magic or Summoner.

frankly, interplay should devote there time to more Balders Gate for PC!!! im tired of all these PC developers imagining a killing with the PS2 . . . there in for a surprise imo. . . i cant see ANY pc rpg game outdoing a console rpg like Final Fantasy.

etc

"i cant see ANY pc rpg game outdoing a console rpg like Final Fantasy. "
I'm the reverse. I can see any Final Fantasy game out doing any PC RPG. Final Fantasy games are filled with rambling metaphysical crap that never makes any sense. Ther actualy game play and graphics are cool (though I enjoyed them much more on the SNES than the PSX) I like storming the castle, kill the flooze, and save the princess. I can't stand find the three soul gems that you are the only one who can find them, while fighting an evil overlord who turns out to be your half brother dressed in drag, with help from a kindly old lady from a planet 10 light years away who turns out to be your 18th step mom but everything will be ok as long as you have your magic chip at your side and so on and so on...

Actually I hope that someone would port a good pc rpg to the Game Boy Advance. I can see myself easily getting one of those.

The thing I haven't figured out is the controller discrepancy. I mean, you can put a gamepad on your pc, but not many consoles come with a mouse. X-Box perhaps?

- Alan

Alan, since you'll only control a single character in Dark Alliance, a gamepad should work fine for it.

Rob, I'm looking forward to GBA. I like the idea of a nice hand-held system. I just want something a bit more interesting than typical console stuff. They're supposed to be doing a version of Ogre Tactics, which would be fun. There's also a Napoleon RTS game being made for it.

Considering how notoriously hard it is to develop for the PS2 (Doesn't at least some of the development have to be in microcode? I thought that was why two different revs of the PS2 were incompatible.) I'd expect to see a lot more announcements like this.

btw IWD HoW is just released! looks to be the last infinity engine game to be out.

when is GBA coming out? if they can make strategy games or good rpg games (console ones too). . . id get it. i hear that the pre ff7 games will be released on GBA, that would be cool.

if you think about it. . . gameboy advance possibly could be the biggest seller in consoles in the future. the portable aspect with better games than even GB color.

etc

The launch date for the US is June 11th for the GBA. Also don't expect any FF games. Square wanted to do them but Nintendo refused to even send any development kits out to Square. Nintendo is still bitter over Squares lack of support for the N64.

BTW virtually anything you would want to know about the GBA you can find at IGN's FAQ
http://pocket.ign.com/news/10078.html

"btw IWD HoW is just released! looks to be the last infinity engine game to be out."

Does BG2 use an engine of a different name? We're sure to see an expansion or two for that title.

In all, BioWare and Interplay have done pretty well with the Infinity engine -- four games and two expansions and counting. They didn't quite match the Gold Box series for quantity, but they made a good run at it.

There is a USB keyboard for the PS2. A PS2 hard drive is on the way. One can surmise that with a USB mouse, Ps2 games could have the control options of PC games. Or that someone might write a GUI operating system for the PS2 and turn it into a personal computer.

Er, what did this have to do with BG on PS2? oh yes, someone said there was no mouse for PS2. There may be.

There was a mouse for the PSX also, but the sell-through was so poor for it that no one bothered to design any games that used it beyone Command and Conquer, AFAIK.

"There was a mouse for the PSX also, but the sell-through was so poor for it that no one bothered to design any games that used it beyone Command and Conquer, AFAIK. "

That's not the issue.. they always have the gamepad as a fallback. It can't take that much work to recognize the mouse as an optional item, especially for games where the potential benefit is so large.

But since the X-Box copped out on this (boo) I guess we can assume the mouse will always be a third-class citizen in the console world for the forseeable future.

I was planning to buy a DC and the DC mouse until DC Half-Life got pushed way the fuck back to mid summer. What the hell?

wumpus http://www.gamebasement.com

"Does BG2 use an engine of a different name? We're sure to see an expansion or two for that title."

I think I've read somewhere (maybe on this website) that they can't create new games based on the AD&D franchise. Am I wrong here?

"I think I've read somewhere (maybe on this website) that they can't create new games based on the AD&D franchise. Am I wrong here?"

They have a contract that at some point will preclude them from doing any new D&D games. I have no idea what the terms of that contract are. It's unlikely that Infogrames will sign any more contracts with Interplay.

The PS2 uses standard PC USB mice and keyboards. Unreal Tournament and Timesplitters both support mice. Just thought that was useful info.

From what I can tell, Infogrames now owns the rights to D&D games, by virtue of their deal with Hasbro that gave them Hasbro Interactive and electronic rights to Hasbro's library, which includes everything by Wizards of the Coast, which owns TSR, which does D&D. Got that?


So...SSI will probably not get to do another D&D game after Pool II, and once Interplay's license runs out to do D&D stuff, poof with their games as well, unless they can negotiate a new deal. Infogrames might do something on their own, but with what developer? Unless they snag BioWare (which is probably busy) or buy off some of the Black Isle folks, where would they find the talent? It ain't that easy to do a good D&D game--Deathkeep, Undermountain, Blood & Magic, Birthright, Dragon Dice, anyone?


As for the PS2 game, heck, if it has two-player capability and plays like a slicker Diablo, I'm in.

"From what I can tell, Infogrames now owns the rights to D&D games, by virtue of their deal with Hasbro that gave them Hasbro Interactive and electronic rights to Hasbro's library, which includes everything by Wizards of the Coast, which owns TSR, which does D&D. Got that?"

That's how I understand it too. I can't imagine Interplay cutting a deal, although if Infogrames doesn't have any development lined up, maybe they'd be happy to take the royalties.

There's supposed to be a MMORPG D&D game being worked on in Austin. We might here something about that soon.

"There was a mouse for the PSX also, but the sell-through was so poor for it that no one bothered to design any games that used it beyone Command and Conquer, AFAIK."

Here's a list of American-released PSX games that supported the mouse. This is probably not complete. There are more than I expected.

http://www.vidgames.com/ps/software/mouse.html

BenT