No Starcraft Ghost for Cube

[Vandenh]

Looks like Blizzard has quietly dropped the Gamecube. On their website they mention that Ghost will only come out for XBox and PS2. The FAQ (http://www.blizzard.com/ghost/faq.shtml) confirms this.

On what platforms will StarCraft: Ghost be available?
StarCraft: Ghost will be available on the Xbox™ and Playstation®2.

[nonchalance]

Did they ever plan on bringing it out for the Cube?

[Chagrinful]

Thats fucked up, it must be at least halfway through development now, and they're canceling it for GC, they must be working on the Xbox version or something all that fucking time, ah well I guess its better than getting a shity PS2 port. Still pisses me off, I wanted to see what the train wreck was going to look like.

[Trevor]

So when will they announce they're dropping support for the rest of the platforms too?

This tragedy should've been aborted years ago.

[emperordahc]

Yea, it was a big thing that it was going to be on the NGC. I do have to say, though, that with Swinging Ape doing the development (Metal Arms), I have pretty good hopes for it.

[genocidalrobot]

i would rather have seen that Warcraft adventure game finished.

[Phanto]

The best thing that they can do right now is to drop PS2 and Xbox copy too of the game and start a copy for PC only :D
Like it should have been in the first place.

I never like FPS in console, well i love Golden Eye of N64 once but thats it.

[Klade]

If this game doesn't come out within the next 7 months then they might as well just redo the whole thing and make it for next gen. Unless of course its going to be one of the few games thats actually backwards compatible.. and even then they are running a fine line.

[earthworm48]

I just went and watched the singleplayer and multiplayer footage from E3 this year on its site (so unfortunately (sp) no footage of the zerg which are apparently playable in multiplayer now) and I thought it looked great. As long as we will see it within the next year.

[Stormwatcher]

I hope that's just a typo or something.

[agentgray]

My prediction:

Will be a next-gen game. - late 06 early 07

[SnappyCrunch]

From what I understand, the GC is architectually very different from the XBox or PS2, so it makes sense that game companies are hesitant to support it.

Lets say you're making a game, and you decide that the PS2 is your main development platform. You write the game using fuctions in the PS2 SDK, then start looking at other platforms. You can port to the Xbox by changing only 10% of your code, and you don't have to worry that the code isn't technically designed for that hardware, because the Xbox is faster, and handle the inefficent code smoothly. In porting to the GC, though, you decide that you need to change 30% of your code, and reoptimize the whole code base for the GC. For many developers, such a prospect just isn't worth the market share gained. Sure, the GC is technically faster, but it's so different that it's tough to re-use code, and that cuts into bottom lines.

[EvilBob46]

From what I understand, the GC is architectually very different from the XBox or PS2, so it makes sense that game companies are hesitant to support it.


What evidence do you have to support this? I've never heard anything about the GC being particularly difficult to develope for or the architecture being too foreign, especially in comparison to the PS2.

[see colon]

From what I understand, the GC is architectually very different from the XBox or PS2, so it makes sense that game companies are hesitant to support it.

Lets say you're making a game, and you decide that the PS2 is your main development platform. You write the game using fuctions in the PS2 SDK, then start looking at other platforms. You can port to the Xbox by changing only 10% of your code, and you don't have to worry that the code isn't technically designed for that hardware, because the Xbox is faster, and handle the inefficent code smoothly. In porting to the GC, though, you decide that you need to change 30% of your code, and reoptimize the whole code base for the GC. For many developers, such a prospect just isn't worth the market share gained. Sure, the GC is technically faster, but it's so different that it's tough to re-use code, and that cuts into bottom lines.

the xbox and ps2 are about as different as you can imagine so this line of thinking holds little weight. compared to ps2, the xbox has massive GPU power and almost twice the available memory, and the ps2 has a very basic GPU (missing features that even a voodoo4 has, and no hardware T&L) but a powerfull array of computational proccessors.

if the GC was so different it would have taken capcom more time to get a solid port of RE4 and killer 7 out for ps2.

it makes sense to drop support for the gamecube because of market conditions, not for technical reasons.

[Kyle Jones]

Dead Blizzard,

Your franchises are getting old.

- Kyle

(p.s. - I was going to buy Starcraft Ghost on GC anyways, because I like you guys...)

[Harshmage]

What evidence do you have to support this? I've never heard anything about the GC being particularly difficult to develope for or the architecture being too foreign, especially in comparison to the PS2.

Okay, here's the reason why they're not doing the GC: It's a kiddie-console. Face it, save for Resident Evil, the GC is for little kids. Kids aren't educated enough to know what Starcraft is.

And, again, I was there, I saw it. Zerg and Terran battles. The only disappointment is the lack of Protoss side in the multiplayer. Again, with the same prediction as the WoW:BC expansion, I'd slate this for late Spring to Summer '06.

And, since it was running on nothing but X-boxes, I doubt they're gonna change architecture any time soon for the next line of consoles. I can see them dropping PS2 though.

[Drinking_Buddy]

Dead Blizzard,

Your franchises are getting old.

- Kyle

(p.s. - I was going to buy Starcraft Ghost on GC anyways, because I like you guys...)

Maybe so, but I remember not to long ago Blizzard put a countdown on there Battle.net sight. There was a 100 post thread on this site discussing if it was SC2.

Anyway you guys missed the import part.

Is this StarCraft II?
No.

Will there be a StarCraft® II? When?
Although we have not made any announcements and do not have a development or release timeline, we do fully intend to revisit the world of StarCraft on PC at some point in the future.

[see colon]

Okay, here's the reason why they're not doing the GC: It's a kiddie-console. Face it, save for Resident Evil, the GC is for little kids. Kids aren't educated enough to know what Starcraft is.

And, again, I was there, I saw it. Zerg and Terran battles. The only disappointment is the lack of Protoss side in the multiplayer. Again, with the same prediction as the WoW:BC expansion, I'd slate this for late Spring to Summer '06.

And, since it was running on nothing but X-boxes, I doubt they're gonna change architecture any time soon for the next line of consoles. I can see them dropping PS2 though.
how old are you?

[RevGored]

Okay, here's the reason why they're not doing the GC: It's a kiddie-console. Face it, save for Resident Evil, the GC is for little kids. Kids aren't educated enough to know what Starcraft is.

And, again, I was there, I saw it. Zerg and Terran battles. The only disappointment is the lack of Protoss side in the multiplayer. Again, with the same prediction as the WoW:BC expansion, I'd slate this for late Spring to Summer '06.

And, since it was running on nothing but X-boxes, I doubt they're gonna change architecture any time soon for the next line of consoles. I can see them dropping PS2 though.

Thanks for sharing that with us. Now that kids are stupid and have no idea what Starcraft is, should we just disallow them from playing video games altogether? Alternatively, how about we just have Nintendo shut thier doors because we're all so tired of thier kiddie shit? I know that I, for one, am tired of games like Eternal Darkness, the Resident Evil series, Killer 7, Hitman 2, Red Faction 2, Ghost Recon, Blood Omen 2, BloodRayne, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, BMX XXX (well, I am, actually), Turok: Evolution, Dead to Rights, Hunter: The Reckoning, True Crime: Streets of LA, and all those other kiddie games for the Cube.

Good call man, you really know how to stick it to the man, and in this case, the man being Nintendo am i rite

ps how old ARE you anyways?

[Harshmage]

Thanks for sharing that with us. Now that kids are stupid and have no idea what Starcraft is, should we just disallow them from playing video games altogether? Alternatively, how about we just have Nintendo shut thier doors because we're all so tired of thier kiddie shit? I know that I, for one, am tired of games like Eternal Darkness, the Resident Evil series, Killer 7, Hitman 2, Red Faction 2, Ghost Recon, Blood Omen 2, BloodRayne, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, BMX XXX (well, I am, actually), Turok: Evolution, Dead to Rights, Hunter: The Reckoning, True Crime: Streets of LA, and all those other kiddie games for the Cube.

I'm not a console gamer anymore, but I know my hardware and graphics, and what children should and should not see. And for those handfull of games you mention, please provide a ratio of the other games on the GC that are not given the Mature rating, and then provide how many games for X-Box and PS-2 that ARE meant for children under the age of 10 (I'd say higher than that, but that's about the time they start teaching sex-ed in public schools now).

Good call man, you really know how to stick it to the man, and in this case, the man being Nintendo am i rite

Again. Age factor. Go back to school, and learn how to write. A good critical thinking course might help you a bit.

ps how old ARE you anyways?

I'm 24 years old, and I have a Bachelors in Computer Science. How about you?

[Derwin]

::pre-orders Duke Nukem Forever::

I'll get that first.

[kizke]

i would rather have seen that Warcraft adventure game finished.

You and me both. Lord of the Clans looked absolutely badass, and the premise of playing as Thrall just sounded awesome.

SC Ghost on the other hand is turning into the biggest fiasco Blizzard has ever contended with.

[EGO]

There won't be a GameCube version, because THE SALES NUMBERS AREN'T THERE! There are worse sell-through numbers than on the PC!

There won't be a PC version, because it's NOT A PC GAME! It's a 3rd person console game, period!

And, WHO CARES! As the above post says, I'll be getting Ghost as soon as I'm done trudging through the MONTHS and MONTHS of gameplay offered by the epic that is Duke Nukem Forever! :p

[kizke]

I'm not a console gamer anymore, but I know my hardware and graphics, and what children should and should not see. And for those handfull of games you mention, please provide a ratio of the other games on the GC that are not given the Mature rating, and then provide how many games for X-Box and PS-2 that ARE meant for children under the age of 10 (I'd say higher than that, but that's about the time they start teaching sex-ed in public schools now).



Again. Age factor. Go back to school, and learn how to write. A good critical thinking course might help you a bit.



I'm 24 years old, and I have a Bachelors in Computer Science. How about you?

I'm 19 and I still know enough to know you're kind of pretentious.

[NoName]

I'm 24 years old, and I have a Bachelors in Computer Science. How about you?
I'm 23 with a Bachelors in Comp Sci. Funny, I don't think age really has much to do with anything in this case.

I think I'm gonna have to agree with the 19 year old Kizke here.

[Harshmage]

I'm 19 and I still know enough to know you're kind of pretentious.

Okay, I'll give you that. The added fact that I have a college education was a bit of a ego-factor, and I apologize. But, as the question of age usually permits, it invoked the idea that I am not very well educated to make the statements I have made. I merely meant to clarify my age and education.

And speaking of Egos:
There won't be a GameCube version, because THE SALES NUMBERS AREN'T THERE!

I think you're right. And I don't think the Revolution is going to help any. There's way too much hype over the 360 and PS3 to let the Revolution have a spotlight for longer than sixty seconds.

[NoName]

I think you're right. And I don't think the Revolution is going to help any. There's way too much hype over the 360 and PS3 to let the Revolution have a spotlight for longer than sixty seconds.
I disagree, there's quite a bit of hype for the Revolution (and not all bad). I know quite a few people, gamers and non alike, who are more excited about the Revolution than anything else.

It's to hard to generalize console sales until a couple years after all the consoles have been out...

[Achilles]

compared to ps2, the xbox has massive GPU power and almost twice the available memory

it makes sense to drop support for the gamecube because of market conditions, not for technical reasons.I agree with your point that it was canceled for market reasons. I think that it will probably be canceled for all the current gen systems since it won't be coming out until 2006 or 2007 and by then they'll all be outdated.

The scope of what they were trying to do was too large for the last gen systems anyway with the possible exception of the Xbox. I also hope they make the controls just like Halo, not what ever funky thing they had going on at E3. Zoom on left thumbstick click, Jump on A, Reload and use on X, weapon switch on Y please.

The Cube’s porting problem, from what I’ve head, is because of its RAM.

It boasts 40 MB of total memory, but that is made up from two numbers:
24 MB of fast memory
16 MB of slow memory
The slow memory is 1/4th the speed of the fast memory, so when talking about graphics the system might as well only have 24, which is less than the PS2's 32. In addition even the fast memory is slower than the PS2's memory, which runs at 3.2 GBps vs 2.6 GBps.

So when porting a game to the Cube from the PS2 you lose 8 megs of RAM. Most cube specific titles make up for this lack of ram by using all of the lighting and other effects that the Cube’s better video card can perform. This is why the lighting in RE4 looks better on the Cube, but the PS2 one can display in true widescreen as far as I can tell.

[Mobeus Chronox]

Thats dissapointing. I may not purchase it now.

[see colon]

The Cube�s porting problem, from what I�ve head, is because of its RAM.

It boasts 40 MB of total memory, but that is made up from two numbers:
24 MB of fast memory
16 MB of slow memory
The slow memory is 1/4th the speed of the fast memory, so when talking about graphics the system might as well only have 24, which is less than the PS2's 32. In addition even the fast memory is slower than the PS2's memory, which runs at 3.2 GBps vs 2.6 GBps.

So when porting a game to the Cube from the PS2 you lose 8 megs of RAM. Most cube specific titles make up for this lack of ram by using all of the lighting and other effects that the Cube�s better video card can perform. This is why the lighting in RE4 looks better on the Cube, but the PS2 one can display in true widescreen as far as I can tell.
widescreen support for RE4 is because customers complained, the ps2 has more available fillrate, and a larger framebuffer.

your ram argument is a valid one in the general sense, but it most cases it's a non issue. the GC has hardware 8:1 texture compression, while the ps2 does not. in fact, the GC has just over 1MB of texture cache (in addition to the 40MB of system ram). with said 8:1 compression you can fit the same amout of textures you fit in the 8MB of system ram on the ps2 into the 1MB texture cache on GC. games that use little to no art assets (most cell shaded games, or games like Katamari Damacy) are where you'll feel the hit the most because on the GC that memory is reserved only for textures. you have a bit more flesability on the ps2.

take RE4, for example. art assets were simplified for the PS2 release because of lack of available system memory. but the ps2 has more available fillrate and framebuffer(and a larger installed base of progressive scan widescreen displays) so it gets true progressive widescreen.

[dr_wily]

i fucking hate this shit. the game is way overdue and probably 99% complete and because of some PR BS they drop it for the cube.

Soul Caliber 3 is PS2 only (i think) and fucking xbox AND GC outsold the ps2

what crap and waste of dev time.. i bet if they slapped it together and sold it for GC theyd easily recoup the dev costs even if it was the worst seller of the 3 platforms.

oh and quit all this cockslapping "my cs degree is bigger than your cs degree", it has nothing to do with the marketability of a video game.

i hope nintendo slays them all and then says fuck you to 3rd party support for companies who dropped games for the GC

[Lizard Dude]

This just dropped my chances of buying it from 100% to about 10%.

[Kelegacy]

I'm 23 with a Bachelors in Comp Sci. Funny, I don't think age really has much to do with anything in this case.

I think I'm gonna have to agree with the 19 year old Kizke here.
I have a seventh grade education, I work at McDonald's (okay, I don't, but I DID get arrested for running behind the counter and grabbing food), I live under the Memorial overpass out near Highway 6, and at night I play a harmonica that gets the toothless old bats at Wiloughby's In-Between Home swooning. I once made love to a dead porpoise that washed up on land, and I even took a college class once (It was cold outside and the lecture hall was warm).

I don't know much about life and arithmetic, but I do know that the Gamecube is not just for children. But then again, I don't even know what a Gamecube is...can you eat it? I sure am hongry.

[Nessus]

I was interested in this game... 2 years ago.

[Achilles]

widescreen support for RE4 is because customers complained, the ps2 has more available fillrate, and a larger framebuffer.

your ram argument is a valid one in the general sense, but it most cases it's a non issue. the GC has hardware 8:1 texture compression, while the ps2 does not. in fact, the GC has just over 1MB of texture cache (in addition to the 40MB of system ram). with said 8:1 compression you can fit the same amout of textures you fit in the 8MB of system ram on the ps2 into the 1MB texture cache on GC. games that use little to no art assets (most cell shaded games, or games like Katamari Damacy) are where you'll feel the hit the most because on the GC that memory is reserved only for textures. you have a bit more flesability on the ps2.

take RE4, for example. art assets were simplified for the PS2 release because of lack of available system memory. but the ps2 has more available fillrate and framebuffer(and a larger installed base of progressive scan widescreen displays) so it gets true progressive widescreen.Thanks for clearing that up!

[see colon]

Thanks for clearing that up!
actualy, after reading that i realized that i made an error. gamecube has 6:1 compression. i'm not sure exactly what i was thinking. it's important to note IRT textures that on the GC it's an embedded cache, so it has good latency (6.2ns) and great bandwidth (10.4GB/S)

[Kyle Jones]

Maybe so, but I remember not to long ago Blizzard put a countdown on there Battle.net sight. There was a 100 post thread on this site discussing if it was SC2.

Anyway you guys missed the import part.

That's true, and it could be something really interesting, but I'm just really hoping for some new interesting franchises. I've been drawn to Nintendo a lot lately because of the fresh franchises like the Advance Wars games and Animal Crossing. I'm just wanting to see that wonderful Blizzard touch put on some fresh franchises!

[Kefkataran]

I never like FPS in console, well i love Golden Eye of N64 once but thats it.

It's not an FPS, bro. Sorry.

it invoked the idea that I am not very well educated to make the statements I have made.

It wasn't about education so much as a lot of the time on internet forums when people bash Gamecube for being a kiddie console, those end up being little kids. Anyways, what does Ghost have to do with whether or not the console is kiddie? I don't see Blizzard getting very violent.

[RevGored]

I'm not a console gamer anymore, but I know my hardware and graphics, and what children should and should not see. And for those handfull of games you mention, please provide a ratio of the other games on the GC that are not given the Mature rating, and then provide how many games for X-Box and PS-2 that ARE meant for children under the age of 10 (I'd say higher than that, but that's about the time they start teaching sex-ed in public schools now).



Again. Age factor. Go back to school, and learn how to write. A good critical thinking course might help you a bit.



I'm 24 years old, and I have a Bachelors in Computer Science. How about you?

This isn't a dick-swinging match, dude. My age and education are irrelevant; also, if you can't see the fact that I was being facetious with the 'am i rite' comment, I think that you need to go back to community college and trade in that 60 thousand dollar fry cook degree for a refresher course in sarcasm.

Basically, your inability to utilize the powers of logical thinking and rationale in your aforementioned 'argument' (quotes used due to the excessively lax penetration of the word, in this case) only point out your own misunderstanding of what 'is and is not for children'. It is refreshing to see that, even with a broad ranging ratings code in place for games, retailer participation, and, in some cases, LAWS IN PLACE regarding what 'is and is not suitable for children', that Harshmage, veteran Computer Sciences Bachelor of Arts is a shining beacon of individual knowledge, and a moral compass to us all.

I'm sorry if I lost you at all in my diatribe; perhaps if you forgo your A Plus re-certification this year, you can use that money towards something that means a damn in the world, like say, a million cups of lukewarm coffee from 7-11.

I also apologize if I seem unsympathetic towards your 'education', as it were, but working in the industry at both a technical and corporate level for 10 years has taught me that, if anything, 'Computer Science Bachelor' on any resume across my desk is usually equananimous with 'Expensive Piece of Paper Paid for by a Sucker'.

And now, in the best interests of my own evenings' enjoyment, I believe I'll go finish Resident Evil 4 on the PS2 to unlock the new missions.

Good evening to you, Harshmage. Let your morale and education see you to a sleep of bliss equal to your own ignorance.

[dr_wily]

This isn't a dick-swinging match, dude. My age and education are irrelevant; also, if you can't see the fact that I was being facetious with the 'am i rite' comment, I think that you need to go back to community college and trade in that 60 thousand dollar fry cook degree for a refresher course in sarcasm.

Basically, your inability to utilize the powers of logical thinking and rationale in your aforementioned 'argument' (quotes used due to the excessively lax penetration of the word, in this case) only point out your own misunderstanding of what 'is and is not for children'. It is refreshing to see that, even with a broad ranging ratings code in place for games, retailer participation, and, in some cases, LAWS IN PLACE regarding what 'is and is not suitable for children', that Harshmage, veteran Computer Sciences Bachelor of Arts is a shining beacon of individual knowledge, and a moral compass to us all.

I'm sorry if I lost you at all in my diatribe; perhaps if you forgo your A Plus re-certification this year, you can use that money towards something that means a damn in the world, like say, a million cups of lukewarm coffee from 7-11.

I also apologize if I seem unsympathetic towards your 'education', as it were, but working in the industry at both a technical and corporate level for 10 years has taught me that, if anything, 'Computer Science Bachelor' on any resume across my desk is usually equananimous with 'Expensive Piece of Paper Paid for by a Sucker'.

And now, in the best interests of my own evenings' enjoyment, I believe I'll go finish Resident Evil 4 on the PS2 to unlock the new missions.

Good evening to you, Harshmage. Let your morale and education see you to a sleep of bliss equal to your own ignorance.

hah! harsh got pwnd EA style
great vocab words. I use "diatribe" whenever I can :)