Stardock Fights Strategy Game "Consolization"

Agreed, no more RTS on console.

The end result is always a shallow, small, uninteresting piece of rush-fest crap.
And then porting the result to the PC, gets you a game where the controls feel crippled, the interface annoying and the armies small and narrow.



also, Congrats on making the Next-gen frontpage.

Indeed way to go! I am glad 360 controller support was dropped! It would have been MEH at best...

And plus a real downer for us with out a console.

This is funny. Supposedly the game does exactly aim at not having too high system requirements! ^^

Lol i have a console and it would be feasible if somehow you could huck your key board and mouse up 2 it. Otherwise there is little point in bringing a rts out for a console.

yet another amazing show of integrity and courage

I respect you guys that is one of the fundamental reasons why pc games have become more flashy and have less real content or fetures.
rainbow 6 one example in the first few you used to be able to create routs and plan your assault on a minimap as well as programing you ai team mates prior to playing the map
later those feature was dropped because it had to go to console and the console did not have enough keys to cope with those features
NB this is NOT a post to say pc are better than consoles or visa versa rather to say i wish they would start adding keyboard and mouse support to consoles instead of reformating games to be compatiball for both but while on the topic in this country (South Africa) console games get released one month prior to pc games (really bugs me) is it like that in other places would like to know.

Anyhow just my 2 cents keep up the good work stardock

Way to go guys! I hate the consolization of games... I understanf the business behind it... I just also hate it. Fight it and Im a customer forever!

Aye.

In all honesty, one of my biggest gripes of the moment is how many games are being rendered all 'Flash' and no Substance by this shocking turn in the market.
Its great to have all this technology, but PCs will always reign supreme in the areas of technological advancements, they're the best and most varied platform along with having one of the most flexible control schemes for both the RTS, FPS and Flight-Sim genres. Want to play Racers and Action Adventures? Just hook up a game-pad!

Now I know what the counter argument is. Why can't we just create a viable keyboard and mouse for consoles? The reply is simply: you do that, you're just creating a cheap PC system anyway.

But as it stands, kudos to StarDock and Iron Clad for creating gaming experiences that are deep and rich enough to keep the long-term genre fans interested. Not to put too fine-a-point on it (and I do own all the current gen consoles, along with with everything up from the Snes) most people who do buy consoles these days are looking for quick thrills, or to trash-talk like delinquent and often grammatically retarded children on-line.

The PC is where the innovation truly lies. Companies like Nintendo try to innovate with consoles like the Wii and DS, and almost end up limiting themselves to the new things being developed in this cross-platform age.


So either way, good on ya Brad! Fantastic stuff.

LOL could not have said it beter myself   

Dont forget the bane of all manly gamers - the squeekers!!!

Now now, let's not get too hard on the console market...

...where would the world be without...

WWW Link

I'm reminded of the Zero Punctuation remark about "those dirty Console playing peasants" and the "glorious PC gaming master race," except nicer.


Heh.

See, this is what I like, a game development company that actually keeps in touch with it's customers.

I agree with Brad. In order to mass market to the populous, one tends to dumb down products in order to make it more accessible. What I do like, is innovation, and not just innovation, sticking to principles despite the allure of product sanitization for the masses, as it were.

The last thing I bought from Stardock, was Galactic Civilizations II Gold, and that was impressive. I LIKE 4X games. Games that require thought, games that actually make you creative, (i.e. developer supported modding tools), is something I applaud.

Chromatium: Vista. need I say more? System resources that COULD go to processing power towards programs that you want to use, are now going towards the frilly little nick-nacks and all that fun stuff. The OS itself feels like a constipated camel, thanks but no thanks.

Trust betweenthe consumer and the product manufacturers, something that is VERY rare, and I hope that more people recognize this, hopefully Stardock will use this as a pioneering shift in the way you market. It's not, "Here's product A. Buy this sh*t, it's new!" but rather "Here's an idea for Product A, how can we better make it to suit you?"

I think I'm done now.

Here http://blogs.ign.com/Stardock_Games/2008/02/01/79094/
something else that nasty console market is up to game developers are constantly upping the min game specs.
So that people with older machines HAVE to upgrade and when most ignorant consumers are faced with they choice of upgrade the buy a console because of the game support for x years and the games come out earlier as a result when game sales on the pc side drop developers the cause of the problem say you, see we were right consoles are the way of the future (insert appropriate swear word here)and, they get to sell a game develope a year ago to all those with a console for many years lower expendeture higher return value on goods produced.(insert other appropriate swear word here)

As to reply to another post I don’t deny that consoles got us to were we are now but at this point in time they are starting to ruin things badly for pc gamers and gamers in general because of their lack of flexibility with there controls.
As a result things that would make a game more engaging are dropped and we land up with a crisis.
looks GREAT but after you get over the flash wow factor you land up just running in a straight line shooting lots of monsters (form of north Korean).
Games of late have fail to challenge me intellectually (sins and company of heroes are starting to change that)

sorry for the rant but I feel its necessary I’m tired of being forced to play game a 5 year old could play and want a challenge in my gaming life (not just to practice my twitch reflex with quake or doom 3 )

I wouldn't be too quick to judge all consoles in that manner. I like the way the Wii was designed and marketed, and I applaud it's success. As I said, I am a supporter of innovation, someone that chooses to think outside the box and think away from the normal paradigm of conventional thought deserves a kudos.

I mean, yes, I admit, I have a Wii. I've enjoyed their first party titles immensely, and will probably enjoy Brawl when it comes out. I LOVE epic games such as GalCiv, Master of Orion, of course, SoaSE, but there is something that gives that instant gutteral satisfaction that Brawl gives you when you're wailing on Jigglypuff as Kirby.

My hope is that Stardock, and Ironclad games, will continue to think along this paradigm. I applaud those who think different, and I will support the employers, and the employees of such as best I can.

Oh yes... the fact that this is developed in Vancouver is also a plus. I find that Vancouver seems to foster innovation, and well.. why not support a local game company?

finally a company that isnt dumbing down their games so 12 year old console kids can play em...
heck, with SoaSE's gameplay, i would buy it for the retail price if it had graphics that looked like Empire Earth's(the first one) graphics
not to say that im not grateful for pretty ships! *stares at shiny screenshots all day long*

Wii is the devil spawn   

I only play Mass Effect on my 360. So basically it was a 400 dollar game.  (:( 
But I gotta say that there are some seriously retarded people into gaming besides the console fanbois. I played WoW from about a month out of beta till 3 months into BC. Finally got fed up with the fan base. It was great until it blew up into a full on phenomenon, then it just started to roll down hill. I mean, I dont mind trash talk, I played on a PVP server from the beginning, but the constant BS reports on people for no reason and 80 million word argument threads on the forums. The power struggles in the Guilds. Harrassment, Greifing, Malicious Exploits, Hacking, Gold buying, People running around in Godly lvl 70s that they bought on ebay. People just ruin shit...

wet phoenix you make a very valid points.  
unfortunately our world is such that you cant stop young arrogant children from buying the games and then posting on forums  
All we can do is have patience and try think of what we were like back then.
and then avoid them   

ps those are the same reasons why I don’t support the mmorpg genre (eve and wow)as i often find the people on there aggravate me with there selfishness and lack of teamplay.

this is my view and my view alone and dose not represent either stardock or ironcad in any way or the other people in this forum.

Funny thing is that alot of these people I'm talking about I got to know well over the years even out of the game and they where in their late 20's and 30's. People just get waaaaaay to obsessed about the reward system in those type of games. I just want something I can shut down, do something outside and not think about how I should get back to farming this or that so I can keep my competitive edge. It's pretty effed up how it gets to people. Sounds silly when I read what I'm typing but its so very real. So I guess it kinda exploits that obsessive component in every gamers personality and turns you into a freak. lol I dunno, I'm tired and rambling...I apoligize - didn't mean to hijack.

It is a culture war for sure. Perspectives on it are not hijacking in the least. The main stream media as well as John Q Citizen really needs to see gamers in a different light these days. The first generation of digital gamers is near 40 now and many of us are frankly getting sick of being told that "less is more" and "simpler is better" and all the adolescent justifications that goes along with it.

This made me a die a little inside.

Seriously, guys, this is going to come as a shock to you, but there is no dire threat to gaming. The fact that people play more games on consoles than they do on PCs is not going to end the industry forever. And, infuriating as it may be, neither is the backlash from small-minded, arrogant, pseudo-intellectual fanboys who fail to realize the subtle sarcasm behind lines like "glorious PC gaming master race." Consoles and PCs can indeed live together in harmony. Both have their advantages. The only thing stopping it is fanboyism.

There is a definite trend right now toward simplification (I refuse to use the phrase "dumbing down"), and the industry, at least, seem to be swinging back toward "graphics are more important than gameplay" end of the pendulum (which I predict will last until they realize that no, people do not want pretty but boring games anymore than they did the last time they tried this) I'm not going to debate that. However, in the long term, this is a good thing.

"You're crazy, Arilias!" you say, "You're mad! How could catering to those [insert whichever segment of gaming culture you think is most immature here] possibly be a good thing?"

The fact is that "deep" (or "hardcore" or whatever term you use to justify your self-righteousness) games have a very small audience. Most gamers (and not just most console gamers, either; after all, the most popular game in the world is probably Minesweeper) don't have the patience to figure these things out. Which is a shame, because they're just as able to appreciate the depth when they get to it as we are. If only they could get their hands on some sort of middle-ground, some sort of "gateway" game, if you will. Something that was accessible, but had just enough depth to sink their hooks in.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

The point is, gaming is not doomed. It's going through a phase that is awkward, but ultimately beneficial. Think of the current trend of simplification (if you use the words "consolization" or "dumbing down," I will hunt you down, come to your house, and murder you in your sleep) as a chance to increase the market for games like Sins. Or sit in your house and cry until it's over (and it will be over; trends are like that). Just please, for the love of all that is holy, stop blaming the poor console gamers for it.

tl;dr: Sucks to be you. Go back and read the whole thing. Twice.

Wow!! Seriously someone has way to much free time on their hands - give me some dammit!

Arilias
You made some very good points but I still feel that the simplification as you call it is thanks to marketing aimed at the younger generation of gamers who are not on the same intellectual level as the minority of us
As the kids have the spending power of both the parents and themselves that’s why consoles have remerged.
As for the simplification of games it has started as a result of compatibility issues for yet again (marketing) making a game available to the largest audients maximise profit
so they drop features that aren’t compatible with consoles as the pc can do just about all that a console can do but not the other way around.
I feel as a result we are taking steps backward as opposed to forward in gaming terms I feel we should set high intellectual levels in games to force people to learn, think and expand themselves intellectually
This dose not mean that we should get rid of the flash games at all just wish they would stop making one game for two separate platforms with two separate mentalities.


Just my 2 cents

p.s hope you are right about the pendulum effect

@Hawk - we are of like mind brother.