It's all fun and games until you start using Slayer or Dragonforce or something. Then it's bleeding fingers and trips to the E.R. Which, I guess, are still fun and games to some people. #odbeatdrop
@Gambit09: As a developer, I would say it probably has something to do with the XNA framework used to create PC and XBLA titles being free and readily available to anyone with a 'net connection, whereas developing for the PS3 involves blood sacrifice and dark rituals known only to a privileged few.
Disclaimer: I own a PS3 and not a 360, don't think I'm being a 360 fanboy here. #gyromancer
@ryoshi: This is SQEN and popcap games I doubt the cost of a dev kit was the issue. I think it might have more to do with what Pop Cap knows best. The PC. Once you code up a PC version a port to the 360 is not that hard. it's more recompiling than porting. So a PC/360 Live release is not significantly more expensive than just a PC release. #gyromancer
@kingmanic: I was also trying to imply that with the "blood sacrifice" part - it's just exceptionally easy to create a PC game and port it to the 360, whereas trying to bridge the gap to the PS3 requires a lot of code-wranglin'. #gyromancer
@ryoshi: I think they may come out with a PSN version later. tools to port to the PS3 exist and the toughest job is to replace 'fast' effects on the 360 with an equivalent on the PS3. I don't think this game would be demanding on the hardware so they could just port without too much care to what the 360 does better than the PS3.
I'd actually prefer this sort of game on my PSP or iphone. In that case they'll have optimize more.
@kingmanic: We're definitely in agreement here: we'll see a PSN version someday, but not right away. I think you're oversimplifying porting, though - the PS3 has a pretty weird architecture from what I understand with its seven-core processor and whatnot. #gyromancer
@ryoshi: I'm not a PS3 dev (or actually a game dev at all) even so I'm pretty aware the task is nontrivial. However there is money to made so as long as the task doesn't outrageously exceed the profit it'll happen.
The cells a weird monkey but in many ways the systems are equivalent. I even read MS licenced some of the tech from IBM that went into the PS3 for the 360. ie. Sony indirectly subsidized the 360.
Both are stripped down PPC cores with roughly 512 megs of ram with GPU's around the same generation. Both have spare 'cores' to help with peripheral tasks.
The big difference is the PS3 splits it's ram into two differently timed chunks; The PS3 went with 6 super fast specialty cores while the 360 went true multi core; 10mb of edram attached to the 360 CPU; bisexua... errr universal shaders on the 360;
So porting just needs to address that. And if you really don't tap the power much you just got to program for a PPC core.
So if you keep the ram requirements sub 256mb and never use alpha blending, never use screen-space ambient occlusion; never use anti-aliasing then you could port it pretty easily because their both PPC machines. Although I wouldn't have a clue where to start. #gyromancer
@kingmanic: Same here! Its secretly crushing my soul.
I'll tell you now, creating a web app to work baisically like access, using ria and silverlight 3, has been the worst decision i've ever made. #gyromancer
@Blore07: Thankfully my company goes with open source options so I'm coding in php/perl/java/python and on the back end I utilize MySQL and postgres. It's much saner. #gyromancer
@kingmanic: Its usually the same for me, but being the only programmer for my company (in the UK at least) I can do pretty much what I like, so I thought i'd have a go and see what the fuss is.
It all works, and its oh so pretty, but to do sometimes standard stuff, like call a single entity from a dataform, is a lot of work. #gyromancer
@Gambit09: I do. I just see no reason in buying a game on it when there exists a platform I'm more comfortable with using. The 360's d-pad isn't anywhere near as responsive as I'd like it to be. #gyromancer
This game is going to be the sickness. It has combined all that I love in life except Space Exploration and FTL drives into a neat tidy package for me to consume endlessly until the great mole rat returns to the surface to reclaim his people and take them to a whimsical wonderland underneath the earth's crust. #gyromancer
Hopefully this will be a title that can bridge the gap and educate people about casual games. This isn't one to be missed and $6.99 is a drop in the bucket for most people's game budget!
11/09/09
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11/07/09
11/06/09
Since I cannot express how excited I am, I'm just going to let you picture me doing the happy dance.
Therein lies said happiness. #gyromancer
11/06/09
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Disclaimer: I own a PS3 and not a 360, don't think I'm being a 360 fanboy here. #gyromancer
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11/06/09
I'd actually prefer this sort of game on my PSP or iphone. In that case they'll have optimize more.
11/06/09
11/06/09
The cells a weird monkey but in many ways the systems are equivalent. I even read MS licenced some of the tech from IBM that went into the PS3 for the 360. ie. Sony indirectly subsidized the 360.
Both are stripped down PPC cores with roughly 512 megs of ram with GPU's around the same generation. Both have spare 'cores' to help with peripheral tasks.
The big difference is the PS3 splits it's ram into two differently timed chunks; The PS3 went with 6 super fast specialty cores while the 360 went true multi core; 10mb of edram attached to the 360 CPU; bisexua... errr universal shaders on the 360;
So porting just needs to address that. And if you really don't tap the power much you just got to program for a PPC core.
So if you keep the ram requirements sub 256mb and never use alpha blending, never use screen-space ambient occlusion; never use anti-aliasing then you could port it pretty easily because their both PPC machines. Although I wouldn't have a clue where to start. #gyromancer
11/06/09
11/06/09
11/07/09
I'll tell you now, creating a web app to work baisically like access, using ria and silverlight 3, has been the worst decision i've ever made. #gyromancer
11/07/09
11/09/09
It all works, and its oh so pretty, but to do sometimes standard stuff, like call a single entity from a dataform, is a lot of work. #gyromancer
11/06/09
11/06/09
In other words, hell yes. #gyromancer
11/06/09
Says it all. #gyromancer
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