Insomniac to go cross platform?

A new IP from a good developer is always good news.:p

I think that "needing more time to polish" comments from the fans were more aimed at R2, and by extension not to make that mistake with R3, rather then Insomniacs games in general.

There seems to be some odd disconnection between what the fans are saying, and how Insomniac interprets it. Many of the changes they made with R2 were because of feedback from the fans, or at least that's what Insomniac said.
 
I've been reading the gaf. The meltdowns are pretty much non-existent. I guess that's because Bungie has been so tied to xbox, whereas Insomniac wasn't so tied to playstation?
 
Maybe people have just wised up to appreciate single-platform isn't a good business model for 3rd parties, as was mentioned time and again at the start of this gen? ARtistic version and the opportunity to focus just isn't paying dividends, hence everything that isn't first-party funded is cross-platform, and the only reason some 3rd party titles aren't migrating to PS3 is because it doesn't run DirectX and has a cost that isn't considered worth it when you have PCs+XB360 covered with the same core engine.
 
As a huge fan of their work on the R&C series, I wish them well. They've produced quality games for the past 14+ years exclusively for Sony and now is as good as time as any to move forward.

Looking forward to see what they bring to the table. Interestingly, they will retain ownership of the IP this time.
 
I hope it's a (good) first person shooter, and I hope 360s and PS3s can play with/against each other in multiplayer. That would be sweet, but is it even possible?
 
draconian said:
I've been reading the gaf. The meltdowns are pretty much non-existent. I guess that's because Bungie has been so tied to xbox, whereas Insomniac wasn't so tied to playstation?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that's it, but rather that Bungie titles are major factors in the console wars, while Insomniac's titles haven't been, so much. Not to mention that these days EA is better-loved than ATVI.
 
NRP said:
I hope it's a (good) first person shooter, and I hope 360s and PS3s can play with/against each other in multiplayer. That would be sweet, but is it even possible?
Click to expand...

No, it's not possible. Technically, of course it probably is, but MS has a policy set that prevents cross platform play.
 
draconian said:
I've been reading the gaf. The meltdowns are pretty much non-existent.
Click to expand...

Price isn't tapping a Microsoft exec on the shoulder with a surprise announcement at E3. :LOL:

I think it's more about them being pushed to the side as others have seen critical acclaim and visual praise. So Resistance and Ratchet aren't as big of a factor on the platform as they were in the early years.
 
It makes sense enough for Insomniac - I believe they are subscribers to the "develop for PS3 = decent 360 port" philosophy, so they might as well monetize on that. I think Resistance 3 will still be coming, and if the new IP proves strong, Sony may feel inclined to rope them back in with stronger incentives. Either way, I wish them the best! R3 is a definite purchase to finish out the story (even though I was not an R2 believer), and the new IP I'll be on the lookout for. Ratchet and Clank, though I consider it an excellent series, has never been my thing.
 
Shifty Geezer said:
Maybe people have just wised up to appreciate single-platform isn't a good business model for 3rd parties, as was mentioned time and again at the start of this gen? ARtistic version and the opportunity to focus just isn't paying dividends, hence everything that isn't first-party funded is cross-platform, and the only reason some 3rd party titles aren't migrating to PS3 is because it doesn't run DirectX and has a cost that isn't considered worth it when you have PCs+XB360 covered with the same core engine.
Click to expand...

You are contradicting yourself within your own post. If concentrating on a single platform isn't a good business model then how can it not be worth it to migrate to the PS3 even though its not DirectX based.

Whether or not, exclusivity makes sense is dependent on individual circumstances. In my opinion, Epic benefited greatly by going exclusive with Gears. Gears was literally the game of holiday 2006. If Epic had gone multiplatform, Gears probably would have not debut in 06 but later. The PS3 UE3 engine wasn't anywhere as near as mature and fully functional as the 360 engine at the time that Gears was originally released and I can't see how Epic could have fast forwarded the development of the PS3 UE3 engine without negatively affecting the 360 engine development. A spring 07 release would of meant no holiday bump and a still rather limited PS3 userbase. A holiday 07 release would mean competing against Halo3 and COD:MW.

Furthermore, being exclusive creates a lot of indirect marketing for titles. Exclusives tend to generate alot of pre release noise in the market place because gamers gravitate toward them as they serve as the primary ammo in the system wars. This noise generated in hardcore circle disfuses out into the less fanboyish and more casual market segments and help create market wide demand. Not every exclusive benefits from this phenemenom but there are a few that do and generate huge sales because of it.

Plus, for small developers with limited resources it makes sense to go exclusive. Its better to focus on one sku and pour all your resources and talent into one project versus two seperate project for a unknown game where projected future success and sales can not be determined.

It makes sense for Insomniac to go multiplat because being exclusive for Sony hasn't worked out as well as they hoped. But it makes less sense for Naughty Dog (if they were a second party dev) to take the same route because they found more success from exclusivity and they are not as big as Insomniac to take on multiplat titles without affecting their main PS3 franchise who's breakout potential is much higher than Resistance.
 
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Did Insomniac specifically state that they will bring 360 development in house? Under this arrangement I would imagine that it would be more beneficial for Insomniac to developed the concept of the new title and the PS3 development itself but use an EA internal dev to developed the 360 port. Insomniac gets a multiplat title but mitigates risk by not taking on the cost of directly investing in 360 development while EA gets to pay itself to generate the 360 port.
 
dobwal said:
Did Insomniac specifically state that they will bring 360 development in house? Under this arrangement I would imagine that it would be more beneficial for Insomniac to developed the concept of the new title and the PS3 development itself but use an EA internal dev to developed the 360 port. Insomniac gets a multiplat title but mitigates risk by not taking on the cost of directly investing in 360 development while EA gets to pay itself to generate the 360 port.
Click to expand...

Odds are the 360 version would be the better selling title. Insomniac has significant incentive to make sure it has parity. Seeing as even with the PS3 being the lead for design decisions at a lot of studios it still is doing well. if Insomniac is now multiplatform they really should embrace it instead of just trying to cash in on a crap port on the larger platform.
 
I wonder if a technically competent, formerly Sony exclusive dev can/will push the 360 harder than other 1st/2nd/3rd party devs. Interesting.
 
I don't think they will do a casual port. My wild guess is they will most likely take a dual system approach where feasible, since on the PS3, Mike Acton didn't believe in generic software layer. Resource constraints will probably forced them to compromise but I doubt that they will start the project with a mediocre port mindset. They may start on the PS3 first just because data locality is a best practice, and it benefits both platforms.

As an independent company with no sugar daddy, I believe they will also try to plan for the long term, but in small steps. So having a reusable and high quality system is a big plus.

I expect their scope and project management to tighten their development as usual. When they used to release a game every year, you can sense the careful scope management in the game. If the reception is good, they can always follow up with a sequel or DLC.

I also expect them to play against us after the game is released. :p

It has always been like that since the RFOM days, may be even earlier. T_T
 
I'm not an expert, but I don't think you're correct on that at all.

Insomniac has allways been firm believer of inhouse-tools, and they have some outreach-programs where they're sharing tech, with other developers. So I don't think you'll see a Unreal-game. And they're probably not only drinking coffee whenever they visit Naughty Dog, and the other studios wich they have traditionally cooperated with.

In the PS3-games, there seems to allways be alot of stuff going on at once in the Resistance games atleast.
The weaponry also seems to be impressive, with the ricochetting machine-nailguns, and that asssault-rifle who shoots around corners, are probably not easy to make.
And lots of other stuff. The water in R2 is also technically impressive, isn't Crysis 2 going to use the same technique with the water?

If I had made that game, everyone would be walking up to their knees in water throughout the entire game, there would be a great flood over Iceland, San Francisco, etc. - unfortunately, it's full of evil aliens, so you'll have to get away from it immediately after you enter it.. :p
And I expect, if their new game is a multiplayer-game, you'll atleast see a player-jump from what is the norm on 360. R1 had 32 players, R2 were 64 players, and 8 player coop, I think. :-/

The Ratchet games also looks fantastic, and it all run smoothly.
Personally, I've allways tought they've been pretty far ahead of the pack, and I'm pretty sure they will polish each game, and squeeze more out of the tools now when they're going to stop producing a game every year, wich must have been crazy on the impossibnle to work with PS3. :-/

I don't think you 360-gamers will be dissapointed. :)
 
Yap, Insomniac's water tech discussion here.

Them helping out with Sony first parties:
* http://www.psxextreme.com/ps3-news/4669.html
* http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=5545&page=2

Most amazingly, they released one game a year (in a staggered fashion), and delivered more complete games than many developers. e.g., R2 has a full featured party system, 8P co-op, 64P competitive, and an SP (with huge bosses) all in one game. R1 being a launch game was one of the best and most complete FPSes on the PS3 IMHO. It included very realistic physics-based glass rendering, spikes grenades too.

Because of the short delivery time, they couldn't spend too much time experimenting with provocative subjects and arts. R2 was also not that polished as a result. But they have always delivered a full featured product.

The team has incredible project management and coding skills ! Unfortunately, nothing can cheat time consistently.

EDIT: I don't want to oversell them. I think I'll leave their work to speak for themselves.
 
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