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[Preview] Defiance: A One of a Kind Experience
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Trion Worlds and Syfy have teamed up to bring gamers and television viewers a one of a kind experience with Defiance. We had the opportunity to visit with the Defiance teams behind the show and the game. We've got a full report and much more. Read on and then let us know what you think in the comments.
If someone asked you to quickly think of a video game that was based off of a movie, or TV series, it would most likely instantly invoke unpleasant thoughts of hatchet jobs such as Super Mario Bros, or Street Fighter. Iconic video game franchises that someone tried to cash in on and in the process created a terrible port to the silver screen. Conversely it is equally challenging to find a good video game that is a direct port of a movie or TV show (if you can actually think of one let me know in the comments below). The techniques that work well to convey a story on one medium do not always work well for the other. When I first learned that Trion was working together with Syfy (a division of NBCuniversal) in a joint venture to simultaneously develop a video game and a television show I was more than a bit skeptical. Earlier this week; however, I was afforded the opportunity to walk the set of the TV show and get hands on time with the game to create a more informed opinion.
Read more of Rob Lashley's Defiance: A One of a Kind Experience.
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It's worse than a bad day in Bosnia.
Comments
Imagine an MMO that included elements that allowed players to influence the game in such a way that the TV show adjust their stories to include the player's actions as the background.
Game: Players from City X take over City Y, and take all it's resources.
TV: City Y is under attack, the Quest for the Golden Finger must wait!
Werewolf Online(R) - Lead Developer
This is what I thought was going to happen, but people kept saying that it was going to be Cross Platform. I knew they could do it, but that the licensing from Microsoft and Sony would be a nightmare. I started thinking that if anyone could do it, it would be Trion. Oh well. I can understand why MS & Sony don't want any sort of cross platform game play though. Imagine if all the Sony players stomped the XBox players, or vice versa, and then all the PC players stomped the console players. It would create factions of players that had nothing to do with the game itself. It's probably better this way for the players, even though it would be neat to have such a cross platform game.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
This makes the game even more intressting to me now. I might give this game a shot
No, it doesnt. They have discussed the game being a full open world for consoles also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sKTGP-Mms6U
I still think it's funny that some PC players are so in denial about the capabilities of consoles, when with the current generation they basically ARE a PC as far as hardware. No, its not the same as your $2000 + gaming rig, but not everyone is playing MMOs witht those types of PCs either. The hardware also isnt constantly upgraded until the next gen of console. On top of the fact that games developed on consoles are specifically built to utilize that one unified hardware, rather than the millions of combinatins of hardware that exists amongst all the PCs. The next gen of consoles (which I expect we will see sometime in the next 2-4 years) will likely far outperform our current PCs and probably hold their own against any "good" PCs at that time.
Also, Im glad, and somewhat surprised, to see that both Trion and SyFy seem to be collaborating together so well, with both sides giving input and coming to an agreement regarding some aspects of the show and game.
It doesnt look like its shaping up to be your run of the mill "Game takes established IP from a show and ruins it" or "Someone makes a TV show / movie based on a game that ruins it". I kind of expected it to be more like SyFY is making the show however they want, and then Trion just has to make it work for the game, even if it makes no sense.
I hope the show doesn't fail because of a poor choice of broadcast time, or because it gets set again some madly popular show that's already established.
I'm very much looking forward to both the game and the show, and hoping this doesn't ruin Trion should it go badly.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
The only good movie/video game crossover/port I've ever partaken in was Escape from Butcher Bay, but Riddic made an excellent video game character for stealth/action game play.
As for Defiance, I dunno, will see, don't know enough about it yet.
Just wanted to note that running around on the set of the show and then playing the game would make for an awesome week. :-)
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Its nice to see the M for mature rating as I feel MMO's should go this way more often, I was Very surprised to actually read that quest dialog. Really made me chuckle over the vulgarity in it, if you haven't actually read it, I highly recommend it for a good laugh!
The game/TV show concept sounds really interesting, can't wait to learn more about both.
Correct me if I'm wrong but, isn't this a third-person shooter? Not a first-person shooter as the writer keeps claiming?
Anyhow, I am cautiously optimistic about this project. I think making the game and show in tandem could make all the difference in the quality of the MMO. And since I love the show's head writer, I have confidence in the TV show too.
what concerns me is this looks more and more like a halo ripoff. Secondly if all you can play is humans this is gonna be meh. Another issue is what if the show gets cancelled lol?
I wish this idea had been done with falling skies = (
Denial has nothing to do with it. Console hardware is horribly outdated. The XBox and PS3 have 512 MB of ram. Entry level (<$500) computers today have 4GB of ram, and can be updated quite cheaply. Even cell phones have twice the memory of a console. This is why console games constantly have loading screens.
As far as the processor/video performance, I have done tests using Microsofts XNA development framework, running the same program on my Xbox and on my PC, and the XBox was ~1/4 the speed for a 2D tile Engine. I have a <$1000 gaming system that is about two years old, hardly exotic hardware.
I have nothing against consoles, they are esentially PCs. The problem is, the XBox is a 7 year old mid-level pc. Cross development for consoles is holding back the gaming industry, as that is the main target of many game developers. Sure, when they convert to PC they add a few graphical features, but level design limitations and such are carried over from a system with 512MB of ram.
YEh, cause fallout 3 was freaking tiny...skyrim...meh I give up, you didnt even think before you psoted this.
If you continue to make sweeping statements like you know what everyone everywhere thinks about a certain topic then I am going to shout at you.
It easy to type 'I think this is the worst game ever'
Rather than the 'This is the worst game ever'
Contrary to the certain zeolous fans quest hubs and texts our far from dead, imo the latest version of quests is a D-, everyone to they're own i guess.
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It's just a shame they had to make it a straight out of the early 2000's era third-person shooter from a gameplay perspective.
We don't have to wait for console patch verifications which can take upwards of a month or more until the PC version gets its updates, right? Please tell me the PC will be independent in that regard.