Obsidian Entertainment is a developer that I have a hard time really associating a strong identity with. For a long time they've really been in BioWare's shadow, picking up where they left off on already established IPs.
Alpha Protocol - a modern day spy RPG - was to be their first true original title (even if the comparisons to Mass Effect diluted that claim to fame), and many fans in 2009 were eager to see what Obsidian is capable of with (mostly) their own ideas.
Well, 2009 has come and gone with neither head nor tail of the fabled 'better than Mass Effect' RPG, and now ME2 is already out. What's a developer to do?
Delay the game again, of course!
According to publisher Sega, the delay(s) have been to "polish the game up" and "position it better." The extra year plus has apparently been spent on "tweaking" in things like lighting and inventory management, but I personally have a hard time believing any such things require as much time as it has taken.
Fear of the competition is probably a more honest reason, but what company in their right mind would say that, right?
Either way, the game is now apparently scheduled for 'Summer 2010' on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. We shall see.
Several games received official release dates this week, and instead of giving each one its own post, I thought I'd save myself some time by compiling them all into one. Sweet!
Check out what's getting released when below.
Alpha Protocol Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC Obsidian, Sega October 6, 2009 (North America)
Infinite Space Nintendo DS Platinum Games, Sega Spring 2010 (North America)
Risen Xbox 360, PC Piranha Bytes, Deep Silver October 2, 2009 (North America)
Summon Night X: Tears Crown Nintendo DS Flight Plan, Namco Bandai November 5, 2009 (Japan)
Hm, only 4? It seems like there was at least one more somewhere... Oh well.
Any of these titles on your radar? I'm personally waiting for a solid Venetica release date.
E3, for all intents and purposes, starts Monday morning with Microsoft's press conference. But everyone's all excited this week, showing off new stuff, releasing info and trailers, the whole bit. Who are we to stop them?
So if you just can't wait until all the new stuff, here are a bunch of new trailers for a bunch of upcoming games. Hopefully all of this is just a shadow of things to come, as I certainly hope we don't spend next week just talking about these trailers...
Alpha Protocol PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 Obsidian, Sega Q3 2009 (North America)
Dragon Age: Origins PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 BioWare, EA October 20, 2009 (North America)
Mass Effect 2 Xbox 360, PC BioWare, EA TBA
White Knight Chronicles PlayStation 3 Level 5, Sony TBA
None of the above are very long or show off much in terms of gameplay, and are clearly 100% focused on hype. That said, anyone have a favourite? :P
Sega just dropped a new trailer for their upcoming(?) spy RPG, Alpha Protocol, developed by Obsidian (KOTOR2, Neverwinter Nights 2).
I have some rhetoric to dispense on the subject of this game, but I will wait until you watch the trailer to do so. Go ahead.
How was it? Okay, let me just say that I don't see anything that resembles an RPG in any of the footage I've seen of this game to date.
There are a few RPGs that don't really "feel" like RPGs, if that makes any sense. Notable examples are Mass Effect and Fallout 3. Don't get me wrong, they're fun games, but they just don't scream "RPG!" to me. More like "shooter marketed to RPG fans!" Maybe I'm way off base here?
So far, Alpha Protocol appears to be hanging out in the same crowd. "Hey," it says, "I look and play like a shooter, but I'm really an RPG in my heart."
I suppose this brings up that sticky age-old debate of "what is an RPG anyway?" that I don't really feel like exploring here. I'm just saying that Sega shouldn't slap "RPG" right in the trailer and not show me any RPGing. Just a personal request.
Alpha Protocol will be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC someday.
Sega really didn't have much of an RPG presence at E3 this year. Despite their decidedly massive amount of JRPGs in development (World Destruction, Garnet Chronicle, Infinite Line, Valkyria Chronicles), they showed almost none of them. (Valkyria Chronicles got a 1/2 second of screen time at Sony's press conference under the wrong console. Sega was none to pleased about it either.)
What Sega did show were a couple of their upcoming Western-developed RPGs. Check out the round-up below.
Golden Axe: Beast Rider (Xbox 360 & PlayStation 3)
Developed by Secret Level Published by Sega Available Fall 2008 in North America
Alpha Protocol (Xbox 360 & PlayStation 3)
Developed by Bethesda Softworks Published by Sega TBA 2009
I'm still not sure how I feel about these games... They look decidedly average to me. But then, I'm not the biggest fan Western RPGs ever had. I liked Mass Effect though, so I'm trying to keep an open mind these days.
I find it extremely curious that VC and Sonic Chronicles received so little attention when both are very close to release over here (certainly closer than Alpha Protocol). Then again, I've never claimed to understand why Sega does the things it does.
Obsidian Entertainment is a developer that I have a hard time really associating a strong identity with. For a long time they've really been in BioWare's shadow, picking up where they left off on already established IPs.
