Why no love for XBLA/PSN from the Adventure game companies?
 

I started reading this site periodically a few months back and it seems really odd to me that the publishers of adventure games seem totally disinterested in the unbelievable opportunities offered by XBLA and PSN. Meanwhile the Nintendo Wii is getting all kinds of adventure game love (Sam and Max, Agatha Christie, etc)...while that's all well and good I don't see how these publishers think that consumers who are essentially only buying titles like WiiFitness and WiiSports are going to have an interest in story-driven adventure games. Especially given that a consumer who purchases product like Mass Effect, or even the recent Penny Arcade adventure/rpg hybrid, is going to be far more inclined to play an adventure game than the soccer moms that Nintendo claims is buying their console.

It just strikes me as bizarre that these publishers seem to be completely ignoring the opportunities offered by the PS3 and 360's download services. I was honestly expecting to see something like the Sam and Max Episodes finally announced for XBLA/PSN this past week at E3. Yet nothing of the sort occurred. Heck 3 of the games offered in the Xbox originals are adventure games (Indigo Prophecy, Dreamfall) or descended from an adventure game lineage (Psychonauts). So what's the problem?

Why aren't XBLA and PSN getting ports of Agatha Christie games like the Wii? Or Sam & Max? Or even ports of classic adventure games like Kings Quest? Even the Nintendo DS is getting a new version of Myst....I can't imagine the Myst series wouldn't do well on PSN and XBLA as well...especially given the older, more mature demographic on those platforms compared to the average Wii/NDS gamer. Thoughts?

One limit on the XBLA conversion is file size. Most adventures (fully voiced, that is) are far bigger than the maximum size allowed.

True, but with the jump to 350MB I imagine that'd blow the doors wide open. At least for older titles. Even still PSN has no size limits in that regard. It's like the publishers just aren't even paying attention. Though I seem to recall the president (?) of Sierra saying recently that they were considering classics for services such as XBLA (though I can't seem to find a link to that article now).

Probably because of HD revolution, even 2d games are in HD lol, doesnt make sense but yes they are.

I have tried PS2 games in HD and they get pixelated on edges.

360 has limit problem forget, and sony will only consider titles with quality not random jobs, that was said by sony guys not me.

Actually older 2D games often look better on HD sets than most PS2 games. Castlevania:SOTN is a great example, the game looks brilliant on my 57" HDTV in 1080 resolution. Newer adventure games would look fine in HD even on larger screens, and many older titles would look great as well.

However I wouldn't be surprised if some titles have been refused by MS or Sony. It's already well known that MS has turned down some excellent titles for XBLA, most notably the amazing Dodonpachi shooter series and a brilliant 2D platformer called Eternity's Child, so it's not unlikely that some adventure games have been submitted and denied...but if that was the case you'd think the publishers would have said something about MS and/or Sony being the problem. To me it seems more like adventure game publishers aren't even paying attention which is a real shame.

It seems to me that one of the best ways to revive this genre is to actually get consumers to pay attention...which isn't going to happen when a game is sitting on the shelf along side titles like Gears, Halo, Resistance, Metal Gear, WOW, Diablo 3, etc. On a service like XBLA an adventure game would be showcased in a way that it simply will not be at retail.

Personally I'd love to see XBLA/PSN flooded with titles ranging from the Myst Series to the Quest Series(Police/Space/Kings/OfG) to Agatha Christie Mysteries....even the Nancy Drew adventure games would make sense. There's so much opportunity here to revitalize this genre of gaming and make it relevant once more....but no one seems to be paying attention.

What cable you tried, i used component cable on ps2, did you use that or normal AV cable?



as far as adventure games go, the thing i realized is advnture gaming is slowly dying to the extent of nonexistant on consoles.

It did revive on DS though, probably because its too cheap to make DS games, DS is almos tlike atari of nowadays, countless softwares weekly.


I personally dont like to play adventure games on consoles specially one that have mouse cursor, not 3d, DS and PC are best for those games.

One of the game that could might work best on PSN right now is clocktower, one of the best adventures of PS1.

Telltale is exploring XBLA and PSN, in addition to WiiWare. Ultimately we'd like to have games on all of these services. :)

(I work for Telltale, btw.)

It has little to do with what cable you use. Virtually any 3D PS2 title is going to look like dumpster juice on a large screen HDTV. The PS2 (and DC) just don't have the processing power to output 3D games that are rendered well enough to look good on a large screen HDTV. I'd even say most Xbox 1 games don't look all that great on a large screen HDTV...Panzer Dragoon Orta, Ninja Gaiden, and a fw other look nice but most didn't.

However 2D is an entirely different subject. Games like Ikaruga, Metal Slug, Exit, Castlevania and others that have been released on XBLA look amazing on large HDTVs, and many of these titles have had only the most minor of visual upgrades if anything at all was even done to them. While a game like King's Quest 1 would need a graphical overhaul I can't imagine something like Cures of Monkey Island not looking amazing as is.

You make a good point about the genre getting a mini-revival on the NDS. Personally I think if games like Myst can sell on the NDS, a platform that is predominantly played by younger gamers, I can't imagine that the genre wouldn't do well on XBLA/PSN...especially given the typically older deographic that supports the PS3 and 360.

I agree about the Clock Tower series. It's be a great addition to PSN (or XBLA) and it's actually a good example of how adventure games can work well on a console when properly designed around how a console operates.

I actually did a poll on the subject over on the teamxbox forums and 88% of respondents said they'd buy classic adventure games as is (62%) or with graphical enhancements (26%). Only 12% expressed disinterest.

http://forum.teamxbox.com/showthread.php?t=580061

[And, yes, I was banned from the TXB forums as you may notice in this link. Not because I actually violated any TOS, but because one of the members who disagreed with me had a moderator he was friends with issue a wrongful banning on my account; apparently it was his only way to win an argument.]

I've have to admit I've been a bit confused as to the rationale for releasing Sam & Max Episodes on the Wii while the 360/PS3 go unloved. Especially given the focus on releasing Sam & Max digitally (which is a prefect fit for XBLA/PSN). Come on guys! Most fans of this genre are not the "soccer mom" crowd that Nintendo claims is buying their consoles. I'm not saying you won't sell copies, it just seems like an odd market to try to sell such a title to. But it's good to know that you guys are considering XBLA/PSN....but if nothing going to happen soon at least give us the same attention as the Wii crowd with a retail disc release! :pan:

Now that you've been frying-panned, I do appreciate the comments. :D

Lol that happens all the time on forums, happened to me too.

I think the biggest factor is control. Apart from that, I think PSN/XBL are great fits for adventure titles.

Anything that introduces more people to the genre is a good thing.

I'm just not sure if there is really a big enough market for adventure games on the 360 or PS3. To use a generalisation, most gamers for those systems are focused on playing FPS and platformers.

Whereas the Wii caters for a more casual gamer, and I think Wii owners are more likely to want to play an adventure game for that matter. When the character can't die (presuming so) and the puzzles can be solved at your own pace, it seems much more likely to cater for the casual gamer which is likely to own a Wii.

Actually I couldn't disagree more. The idea that, in this day and age, adventure games appeal to "casual gamers" (or the "soccer mom" crowd that Nintendo likes to talk about so much) just doesn't hold water. The typical adventure game is far more daunting of an undertaking than the games on the Wii that those casual gamers are buying (WiiSports/Mario & Sonic Olympic Games, WiiPlay, etc). Additionally if casual gamers were the majority of consumers for adventure games that genre would have already had a massive revival (especially on the Wii).

Sorry but I think it's far more likely that someone who plays games like Bioshock, Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey, Folklore, FF, and such, games that are heavily story-driven, are far more inclined to play an adventure game than someone who considers gaming to be swinging a remote about to toss a frisbee to a virtual puppy (ala WiiSportPlay). And I don't mean that as a dig on Wii owners, but that market is clearly showing a complete disinterest in story based gaming experiences.

The idea that PS3/360 consumers only want FPS and platforming games is quite a weak contention. And even if that were and an accurate claim the average FPS or platformer is far more story driven than almost the entire Wii software library, so even that claim still shows the 360/PS3 crowd as being more likely to be receptive to a genre that is almost entirely story-based gaming than the average Wii consumer.

While more adventure game devs seem to be flocking to the Wii there's really no proof that the Wii market is going to support these types of games. The dev support is almost entirely based upon excitement generated by the Wii-hype machine and the easy of imitating a mouse afforded by the Wii-mote. However this does not mean by any measure that adventure games will be more readily embraced by the average Wii consumer than they would be on PS3 or 360. In fact I dare say that a publisher would make more money with a PSN/XBLA release than they will with a full retail release on the Wii.

And that's been my main point. Getting these kinds of games on XBLA/PSN could be a huge boon for the genre, but no one even seems to be noticing this opportunity.

Very well pointed. I realise now that my response wasn't the greatest. :frusty:

Don't feel bad. I think alot of people just assume that anything and everything can sell on the Wii since the consoles are selling like mad. But look at how a game like Zack & Wiki by Capcom, one of the best games on the console, has flopped so badly that Toys-R-Us clearanced out copies of the game for $9 (a mere 8 months after release) and Capcom has already said that a sequel is highly unlikely. And this is one of the most stellar titles on the Wii; one of the few games that isn't just gimmick and is actually well crafted around the way the Wii-mote operates!

The thing publishers and pro-Nintendo pundits are missing is that fact that most Wii consumers simply aren't traditional gamers. They're the kind of consumer that'll drop WiiFitness, and never look at it twice, when their friends take them to a Zumba class; they'll toss the console in the closet once they buy a new I-phone or any other new media-hyped consumer good. I'm sure, for example, that Telltale will make a profit on Sam & Max, but more so because porting costs on such a game are fairly minimal and the core gamers that do own a Wii are starved for any quality release; not because there's any real demand for such games on the Wii. However such a game would generate even more in total revenue on PSN/XBLA, even selling at a lower price per unit, simply because that's where the console gamers are that are more likely to embrace such titles.

Heck if games like Myst 3 & 4, Still Life, Syberia 1 & 2, Dreamfall, Indigo Prophecy, Broken Sword, and a few others found a home on the Xbox 1, with its FPS-only stereotyping and minimal market share, there's no way the genre wouldn't fare much better on XBLA given the unbelievable success MS has had with digital distribution via the service.

While some adventure publishers might be able to hop on the Wii-train for a short ride, it's not likely to last long. I just hope that maybe they'll realize that a fickle consumer that's going to be buying WiiSportPlay and WiiMusic come this holiday season because the media told them the Wii is the must have Christmas item isn't the kind of consumer that'll be buying adventure games. Especially given that the door's wide open for them to grab a much more loyal audience on the PS3 and 360.

After reading quite a few opinions about the Wii, and especially the kind of games available for it, the console is certainly very gimmicky. It's the kind of console my parents would probably play (being non-gamers), but the novelty would definitely ware off.

With the N64 and the GC Nintendo designed the controllers basically around what Miyamoto was doing at the time (M64 and Luigi/SMS). Now it seems like they've designed the entire console around a Miyamoto-Flight-O-Fancy (TM). While that's all well and good for Mario Galaxy, too much of the software has suffered as a result. The problem isn't that it's hard to develop games around motion sensitivity, the problem is that it's too specific to what one designer wanted to do. To me the Wii-mote is not much different than the Sega's Samba De Amigo Maracas, Namco's Guncon, or Steel Battalion...ok, let's face it Steel Battalion is way more innovative than the Wii-mote...anyways, it's a very unique device, but trying to make it work for every game genre just isn't practical.

We heard from Nintendo that we'd never play an FPS the same way after Red Steel...then we heard the same thing a year later with Metroid. Yet here we are two years after the Wii was going to revolutionize the FPS genre and all the highly anticipated FPS titles are still on PC, 360, and PS3. With the Wii having a larger market this should almost be a statistical impossibility...yet once again the next Call of Duty is going to sell best on platforms other than the Wii.

I'm really not trying to pick on the Wii here, in spite of what some may think based on my criticisms, in fact I have severe issues with each of the 3 consoles right now. But there's a reason that virtually the only games selling on the Wii are 1st party. Yes, partially that is because Nintendo's quality control has gone out the window. But the other aspect of this is that Nintendo has crafted a console designed for a specific consumer and when amazing titles like Blast Works, Okami, Zack & Wiki, No More Heroes, and others hit the console they quickly become bargain bin fodder. Will any of the adventure games coming right now fare any different? Especially since the average Wii consumer seems to have a sever aversion to substantive story-driven gaming experiences.

And a further problem is the "trendy" aspect of the console. Consumers who are purchasing the Wii because it's the must have Christmas item aren't here to stay, regardless of what Nintendo thinks. I keep coming back to the "soccer mom" that Nintendo talks about at every press conference and now seems to covet as the pillar of their consumer base. These consumers didn't play Zelda, or Paper Mario....and you can forget them ever giving something like Okami or Sam & Max a chance.