Heavenly Sword Dev Comes to 360 Too

[Kamalot]

Heavenly Sword developer Ninja Theory has announced their next game will be going cross-platform. Expect to see their upcoming title available on both the Xbox 360 and PS3. (http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/684798/Heavenly_Sword_Dev_Now_PS3360.html)"It's a brutal environment out there for an independent, particularly considering the size of the games that we're developing," said Ninja Theory co-founder Nina Kristensen.

"Yes, our new game is going to be PS3 and Xbox 360," Kristensen said. "We have actually signed it but we're not announcing to who at the moment."Ninja Theory's next game hasn't yet been fully unveiled, but perhaps you can find some teaser elements (http://www.ninjatheory.com/) about it on their site.

[bone_matrix]

I really liked Heavenly Sword. The cinematography was great. Gameplay wasn't too bad though. Like the God of War series, its a game that I would love to play again for the gameplay and cool story, but probably never will. I highly suggest this game for PS3 owners. But, it was a bit short for me, so probably not at $60.

I look forward to their next game.

[BlackPete]

Ninja Theory is finding it difficult, if not impossible, to remain profitable while supporting a single platform.

The linked article doesn't exactly say that. :rolleyes:

[Vanthar]

Sony asked for a AAA action game like God of War, and they got about 1/4th of the game they wanted for their money. It doesn't really surprise me they didn't completely fund the next game.

[SteelAttack]

Sweet. I don't own a PS3 yet, but I've heard many favorable things about HS. I hope their upcoming title turns out good.

[NeoSuplex]

The linked article doesn't exactly say that. :rolleyes:

True... they only call it brutal. Huge difference.

[Chainblast]

Heavenly Sword is a better movie than game.

Sony asked for a AAA action game like God of War, and they got about 1/4th of the game they wanted for their money. It doesn't really surprise me they didn't completely fund the next game.

No doubt, especially considering Sony has a number of long well maintained relationships with many independent studios that work on Sony IP's.

[jeffbax]

Sony asked for a AAA action game like God of War, and they got about 1/4th of the game they wanted for their money. It doesn't really surprise me they didn't completely fund the next game.

Heavenly Sword certainly was a good first gen title, with a lot of room for growth I think and absolutely amazing characters (animation, acting, voice)

[Vanthar]

Heavenly Sword certainly was a good first gen title, with a lot of room for growth I think and absolutely amazing characters (animation, acting, voice)

I'm not trying to hate on Heavenly Sword. I'm just saying I think this is more of Sony not wanting to publish them because they weren't entirely happy with their investment.

[Philonious]

"It's a brutal environment out there for an independent, particularly considering the size of the games that we're developing.

Does she mean tiny? It was a good, pretty game. But short, and the gameplay was a little rough around the edges.

[J3DI]

I like Ninja Theory. Its amazing to see a company come from something like Kung Fu Chaos to Heavenly Sword. I remember talking to one of the NT guys about HS on 360, he seemed really enthused about it being on PS3 ( I guess cause they paid for it)... even went so far as to jokingly suggest I save up for a Ps3. Now here they are full circle... Irony FTW :)

[Kamalot]

Does she mean tiny? It was a good, pretty game. But short, and the gameplay was a little rough around the edges.

Exactly.

"considering the size of the games that we're developing"

What? 6-hour rentals? :rolleyes:

[ldi222]

Seems to represent further cross pollination between the two opposed platforms. As Sony finally begins to emerge this gen, we truly have two consoles competing for the high end gaming experience.

[Kamalot]

Seems to represent further cross pollination between the two opposed platforms. As Sony finally begins to emerge this gen, we truly have two consoles competing in better days than SNES and Genesis.

Seems to me more of a reason to have a single, unified platform. When the differences between the two systems keeps shrinking like this...

[menage]

Seems to me more of a reason to have a single, unified platform. When the differences between the two systems keeps shrinking like this...

Against. Shudders at the thought of a future with only casual, motion controlled, rehashes of franchises.

Really the difference between a Wii and PS3 are so vast, it wouldn't make sense.

[Kamalot]

Against. Shudders at the thought of a future with only casual, motion controlled, rehashes of franchises.

Really the difference between a Wii and PS3 are so vast, it wouldn't make sense.

Ahh. You and I were thinking of a different 'two systems'. I was thinking of the Xbox 360 and the PS3 as being nearly identical as to not warrant having a different programming core between the two. Sony should just make the PS3 for Microsoft and put their damn Bluray drive in there. Then we'd get solid hardware and developers wouldn't have to divide efforts between the two platforms.

I've heard the Wii is just a toy.

[menage]

Ahh. You and I were thinking of a different 'two systems'. I was thinking of the Xbox 360 and the PS3 as being nearly identical as to not warrant having a different programming core between the two. Sony should just make the PS3 for Microsoft and put their damn Bluray drive in there. Then we'd get solid hardware and developers wouldn't have to divide efforts between the two platforms.

I've heard the Wii is just a toy.

Ah, misunderstood, sorry. Thought you meant one glorified unified system for all games.

[DangerousDaze]

Heavenly Sword developer Ninja Theory has announced their next game will be going cross-platform. Like many other development houses, Ninja Theory is finding it difficult, if not impossible, to remain profitable while supporting a single platform. Expect to see their upcoming title available on both the Xbox 360 and PS3. (http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/684798/Heavenly_Sword_Dev_Now_PS3360.html)Ninja Theory's next game hasn't yet been fully unveiled, but perhaps you can find some teaser elements (http://www.ninjatheory.com/) about it on their site.

Kamalot, this isn't like you. You've completely twisted the interview just to make another anti-Sony point. Ok, so you like to make anti-Sony points but they're usually valid anti-Sony points.

The two statements you quoted are not connected. They're aren't going multi-format because the industry is brutal. They're going multi-format. Period. And the industry is brutal because they are an independent developer, not because they developed a game for a single platform!

Once their new game is completed they'll go into another round of panic trying to get a publisher to sign them up again and it won't have anything to do with the platforms they developed on.

Poor. Yeah, maybe you should read the original article - not the one you linked to, incidentally. :/

[KidCactus]

Like many other development houses, Ninja Theory is finding it difficult, if not impossible, to remain profitable while supporting a single platform.
Kam, can you please point me in the right direction where I can read about this, I can't find anything about it in the interview. Unless you somehow came to that conclusion from this?

Q: GamesIndustry.biz: There was a rash of indie developers being snapped up by publishers last year, and recently a number of smaller outfits have been forced to close. Is Ninja Theory confident it can remain comfortably independent in the coming months?

Nina Kristensen: It's a brutal environment out there for an independent, particularly considering the size of the games that we're developing. But we've now signed up the new game and the future looks pretty rosy for us.

[Kamalot]

Kamalot, this isn't like you. You've completely twisted the interview just to make another anti-Sony point. Ok, so you like to make anti-Sony points but they're usually valid anti-Sony points.

The two statements you quoted are not connected. They're aren't going multi-format because the industry is brutal. They're going multi-format. Period. And the industry is brutal because they are an independent developer, not because they developed a game for a single platform!

Once their new game is completed they'll go into another round of panic trying to get a publisher to sign them up again and it won't have anything to do with the platforms they developed on.

Poor. Yeah, maybe you should read the original article - not the one you linked to, incidentally. :/

Actually, I didn't consider this an anti-Sony story at all, but one of a developer trying to survive in a world that is growing more and more cutthroat by the day.

I'd dug from the G4 article (http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/684798/Heavenly_Sword_Dev_Now_PS3360.html) to the GameIndustry.biz article (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/it-s-a-brutal-environment-for-indies-says-ninja-theory)but didn't realize the rabbit hole led deeper to the full interview (Q: GamesIndustry.biz: Looking back would you say making Heavenly Sword exclusive to a single platform was the right decision to make or would you have preferred to see it on more formats?).

Let me ask you, if the industry is brutal, and an independent developer can reach a wider audience by going multi platform as opposed to making an exclusive title, aren't the two related? Considering two articles I found and linked to above place the statements together like this...

"It's a brutal environment out there for an independent, particularly considering the size of the games that we're developing," said Ninja Theory co-founder Nina Kristensen.

"Yes, our new game is going to be PS3 and Xbox 360," Kristensen said. "We have actually signed it but we're not announcing to who at the moment."

It is a brutal environment
We want to make big games
We are going multiplatform
We got a publisher


I'm not trying to twist anything here. Likewise, it is common sense that big games need big budgets and big income. That's not any slight against the PS3 OR the Xbox 360.

If people feel so strongly about it, I'm open to suggestions for how to phrase the article.

Edit: I will ask that you settle on some working text and get a mod to change it... cause I'm going to bed! :D

Edit Edit: Removed the questionable line from the story... but this isn't rocket science people. Small developer wants to make big games and reach a bigger audience. *DUH!*

[grognard66]

Sign of the times. With the cost of game development on major titles in the $15-20+ million range it makes sense to hedge your bets across more platforms. Very few studios support a single platform anymore other than "second party" Sony studios (Insomniac, Naughty Dog, etc.) which receive considerable financial incentive to do so.

The somewhat limited install base combined with the lower attach rate on PS3 only exacerbates the situation for developers like Ninja Theory.

[Sl1pstream]

Not that weird, considering that HS was first announced as a multiplatform title.

[SpectralWolf]

The somewhat limited install base combined with the lower attach rate on PS3 only exacerbates the situation for developers like Ninja Theory.

That should change soon, the small install base I mean. Europe, Japan, and Australia seem to be leading the way.

[Kamalot]

That should change soon, the small install base I mean. Europe, Japan, and Australia seem to be leading the way.

It changes every time someone buys a PS3.