Epic VP slams Rev and others

Jonbo298 · 10-27-2005, 12:40 PM

Quote:

The vice president of Epic Games, the studio behind Unreal Tournament, Unreal Engine 3 and forthcoming Xbox 360 title Gears of War, has unleashed a stinging attack on the Nintendo Revolution "freestyle" controller.

Speaking at the IGN Live event, Mark Rein told the audience: "Don't kid yourself - you're going to see more gimmicky, crappy, cheap, I-wish-I-hadn't-bought-it gimmick games based around that controller than you can ever possibly imagine.

"I guarantee you there's going to be lots of people who say the whole reason for this game is this controller, we made the perfect game for the controller. And all it'll be is about the controller, and not necessarily a great game."

That said, he went on, "Nintendo, you know, is going to make amazing games. I mean that's a given." Rein then conducted a quick audience survey to find out how many people present owned a GameCube - and seemed a bit disappointed by the rather large number of hands raised.

So he asked everyone who didn't also own a PS2 or Xbox to put their hands down - and concluded that under ten per cent of the audience were Cube owners only.

"Hard to make a business on less than 10 per cent," Rein said.

When asked if he could envisage an FPS controller that might beat the old mouse and keyboard combo, Rein replied: "I could, but it's not the Nintendo Revolution controller... Didn't you see when Iwata-san held it up? The two controllers are the little wand controller and the other one is a joystick - and it's a joystick with a bunch of ribs under it.

"Remember the one that nearly destroyed your thumb on the Dreamcast, and on the N64 remember how after you played a game for a couple of hours you had to suck your thumb for a month? It's that kind of controller."

Another developer on the panel argued that the Revolution controller would indeed suit FPS games perfectly, but Rein was having none of it. Holding up an Xbox 360 pad, to whoops and cheers from the audience, he proclaimed: "This is the Xbox 360 controller, and there's nothing wrong with it.

"It works just fine for playing games, and it works fine for first-person shooter games, as evidenced by the fact that they sold more first-person shooters on consoles than anybody's ever sold on PCs."

Rein wouldn't be drawn on which next-generation console he preferred, telling the crowd: "Both of the next-generation consoles are great machines. They both have lots of power and they both have lots of memory... I don't think anybody's going to be disappointed with either of them."

By "either" and "both", he's referring to the Xbox 360 and PS3 of course - Rein said the Revolution didn't count since "most developers know nothing about the Nintendo system. They haven't gone and announced specs so I can't say.

"If you read the rumours apparently it's a great machine, but nobody really knows yet."

But as powerful as the PS3 may be, Rein is no fan of its controller, either - at least as far as the prototype's concerned.

"I don't think anybody knows what the PlayStation 3 controller looks like," he said.

"I think we all sure as hell pray like hell it's not that stupid-looking thing they showed at E3."

Not content with having taken a pop at both Nintendo and Sony's controllers, Rein also took the opportunity to have a go at his biggest rivals - who he claims are being far too grandiose when it comes to developing next-gen games.

"I've heard EA and Activision make absolutely ridiculous statements about, 'Oh, it's going to take 30 million dollars to make a game and we need 300 people - that's just a bunch of bullsh--.

"They're just covering up for their own management and incompetence. Or mismanagement I should say.

"Our team size is only about 50 per cent higher than it was last generation, and we're making fantastic games. Gears of War is only about 25 people, and that's smaller than most current-generation game teams."

You can watch the video of the event, during which some other people whose names we didn't catch did try to get a word in edgeways, over at IGN. Gears of War is due out on Xbox 360 some time in 2007, and while it might get a PS3 port we wouldn't hold your breath for a Revolution version.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=61438

Finally, a developer that isn't afraid to give his opinion. I gotta say, it was a good laugh though in ways of how he did comparisions, etc..

Dyne · 10-27-2005, 03:11 PM

"So he asked everyone who didn't also own a PS2 or Xbox to put their hands down - and concluded that under ten per cent of the audience were Cube owners only.

"Hard to make a business on less than 10 per cent," Rein said."

What a specious bastard.

Professor S · 10-27-2005, 03:23 PM

Well I think we know who Epic is going to develop for...

DeathsHand · 10-27-2005, 03:51 PM

Hey that's the guy PSM interviewed awhile back (though the say his name is Mark Reign)...

And I found this little interesting quote which I had always wanted to point out everytime someone talks about how PS3 is crazy expensive to develop for, and how smaller developers would probably opt for 360 or Revolution:

"We recently announced a deal with Sony that will soon make it free for PS3 developers to try out Unreal Engine 3 toolset for PS3. It is my hope that putting these tools in developers' hands will prompt enterprising developers to explore some cool and original ideas. A game like Katamari Damacy, for example, could easily be created in Unreal Engine 3 for PS3, and I'm willing to guess it could be made for less than what it cost them to make it for PS2"

Hmmm *ponders*

But yeah he seems like kind of an ass... Though I guess most people who aren't "Afraid to speak their opinions" come off as such...

Though I kinda half-agree with his views on the Revolution... I can't wait until the upcoming CONSOLE WARZ start to heat up... I ponder how the Revolution will sell, and if it will end up pleasing all those people who seem to think it'll be the best thing since sliced bread...

Crash · 10-27-2005, 04:48 PM

talk about a scientific survey

how many people own JUST a psp or JUST an xbox... no one owns JUST one games system.

*shrugs*

plus:

Quote:

Gears of War is due out on Xbox 360 some time in 2007

yeah, I'm sure that'll do so much better against the PS3, AHEM... sega saturn to THE MAX!!!!!!

GameMaster · 10-27-2005, 05:14 PM

I typically don't applaud such strong opinions and such is this case for this guy's. If he can tone it down a little and make it more general, then maybe I'd agree with it.

I would be upset if all of the Project Revolution's games were based around the new controller scheme. I don't want to move my hands much more than I do now.

Krypton · 10-29-2005, 08:42 PM

burn to nintendo.

Teuthida · 11-03-2005, 12:16 AM

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...vomarkrein.swf

Dyne · 11-03-2005, 12:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teuthida

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...vomarkrein.swf

Just what the doctor ordered!

BreakABone · 11-17-2005, 03:35 PM

Well, I just saw this thread and figured I post the follow up he had with another site in which he clarifies.. aka.. backpedals.. on his comments.

Quote:

So it's a no to handhelds, and a yes to PS3... But (deep breath) is there any chance of Epic ever making a Nintendo game? After all, at an IGN event recently Rein did suggest that the Revolution controller would inspire developers to produce "gimmicky, crappy, cheap, I-wish-I-hadn't-bought-it games"...

"I actually said Nintendo's going to make amazing games. I never really passed a judgement on the controller itself. I think the controller's cool!" Mark says.

"I wasn't bashing Nintendo, I wasn't bashing the controller, I was really just saying that a byproduct of having a device like this is that people are going to make games that possibly are just there because of the controller, as opposed to being great games of themselves, and I said it badly... I regret that."

There will be plenty of great titles that make use of the controller, too, Rein adds. "Nintendo and some of the best third parties are going to make amazing games for it."

We mention a recent interview Eurogamer did with Nintendo's Jim Merrick, where we asked him what he thought of Rein's comments.

"You know, I read your article and I called him up right afterward," Rein says. "We had a long, very good chat."

So he wasn't, shall we say, a bit cross? "Didn't seem to be!"

And what about Merrick's suggestion that Rein get a Revolution dev kit for himself so he can see exactly what the machine can do?

"I told him we've absolutely love to take him up on that."

That doesn't mean Epic has signed up to develop for Revolution, but it's certainly something worth looking into, says Rein.

"I think Unreal Engine 3 and Nintendo Revolution would be very well suited to each other.

"We don't know right now what the machine's capable of or not capable of, and we've built Unreal Engine 3 to a certain specification. If the machine can run the engine, it'd be fantastic to have it on there."

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=61668

DeathsHand · 11-17-2005, 04:00 PM

I don't really see how that's backpedaling...

He did state that Nintendo would make amazing games (and adding "the best third parties" to that is just stating the obvious)...

And he really didn't bash the controller itself... He pointed out only one thing, which was the analog stick's ridges or whatever, and mentioned that he didn't think the Rev controller would replace the Keyboard/Mouse combo as having the best controls for FPS...

As I said before, I sort of "half agree" with his views on the Revolution in the sense that I think it's very possible that developers will think up these neat ideas of how to use the controller, but they just won't come off as very fun or interesting as a game...

Of course, developers come up with neat ideas that end up sucking all the time... But that's what I'm saying, many Nintendo fans seem to think that this new controller will automatically create a flood of innovative (and therefore), amazing games...

Innovative? Maybe... Amazing? Probably about as much of a chance as a game has to be amazing on PS3/Xbox360... It all depends on the developer, their vision, and their execution...

*shruggers*