Quote:
Originally Posted by Bael
They're not 'too stupid' - they're businessmen with enough experience to know where the real money is at. Games that are easy to pick up sell more units, period. Most gamers measure 'realism' with far less scrutiny than Sim fanatics - "Whoa, my plane stalled - this is so realistic!" vs "Arcade rubbish - why don't my wheels rip off at this airspeed?!!". They're worlds apart, and most gamers are too intimidated by sim levels of realism. Sims, and flight sims in particular (due to their high barrier-to-entry), are a niche category.. no matter how many people are on these forums and clamoring for more realism we're still just a very small portion of the huge potential install-base publishers are going after.
The only way consoles are ever going to get a full sim is by approaching it gradually like BoP - by primarily creating an arcade flyer and sneaking in as many optional sim elements as they can for the fanatics. Until a sim developer is in a position where they don't have publishers calling the shots for them they're going to have to focus on the majority. Hopefully BoP can raise enough eyebrows to become the 'Forza' of console flying games, gain a little prestige in the console industry, and be given free reign to venture deeper into the sim territory than normal.
I think the game itself, judging from the demo, is great - I'm actually more worried that not enough people know about it, or will actually pass it up thinking it's too much of a sim (due to the IL-2 moniker). Provided BoP gets some proper marketing I'm positive it'll do well enough for a sequel - a good BoP + flight stick bundle couldn't hurt either! *grin*
And before I get the whole "I know more than you.." internet-know-it-all treatment I'll just note that I'm a professional game developer, with multiple current-gen console titles under my belt. When you're making a console game you have to pick and choose your battles - no developer gets to do everything they want to. A lot of things fall outside of the publishers focus (like wheels coming off) and just have to get dropped due to time constraints.
|
Well said.
+1 in my book.
But actually to add to your point. I don't think that it will get the recognition it deserves because of the IL-2 moniker not registering AT ALL, let alone being tied to sims. I had NO idea what IL-2 was until I got the demo and WHAM! my dreams had come true. This is what I have always wanted out of a game but have never been able to effectively pursue it because of my love for Mac's... damn Apple...