X360

Too Human Too Human

Microsoft Game Studios / Silicon Knights

Type: Action-RPG

Release date: Fourth quarter 2008

Microsoft's and Silicon Knights' Too Human will be released in Europe tomorrow, and here's an insanely long interview from the XCN with the lead designer of the game. The interview consists of questions submitted from several sites, and it covers nordic mythology, co-op and much much more.

Vidéos	Since	Format	Size
The First 10 Minutes	4 Weeks	640x360	210 MB
The First 10 Minutes	4 Weeks	1280x720	628 MB
The First 10 Minutes	4 Weeks	1280x720	633 MB
World Serpent	8 Weeks	640x360	38 MB
World Serpent	8 Weeks	1280x720	86 MB
World Serpent	8 Weeks	1280x720	218 MB
Ice Forest	8 Weeks	640x360	38 MB
Ice Forest	8 Weeks	1280x720	85 MB
Ice Forest	8 Weeks	1280x720	221 MB
Demo gameplay	11 Weeks	640x360	87 MB
Demo gameplay	11 Weeks	852x480	112 MB
Demo gameplay	11 Weeks	852x480	112 MB
E3: Too Human gameplay	11 Weeks	640x360	13 MB
E3: Too Human gameplay	11 Weeks	1280x720	35 MB
E3: Too Human gameplay	11 Weeks	1280x720	27 MB
Trailer	> 3 Months	640x360	14 MB
Trailer	> 3 Months	1280x720	33 MB
Trailer	> 3 Months	1280x720	32 MB
Aesir	> 3 Months	640x360	40 MB
Aesir	> 3 Months	1280x720	89 MB
Aesir	> 3 Months	1280x720	259 MB
COOP Serving	> 3 Months	640x360	14 MB
COOP Serving	> 3 Months	1280x720	36 MB
COOP Serving	> 3 Months	1280x720	59 MB
SkillTree Commando	> 3 Months	640x360	39 MB
SkillTree Commando	> 3 Months	1280x720	107 MB
SkillTree Commando	> 3 Months	1280x720	223 MB
Hel	> 3 Months	640x360	2 MB
Hel	> 3 Months	1280x720	5 MB
Hel	> 3 Months	1280x720	21 MB
Battlecries trailer	> 3 Months	640x360	18 MB
Battlecries trailer	> 3 Months	1280x720	48 MB
Battlecries trailer	> 3 Months	1280x720	48 MB
Battlecries trailer	> 3 Months	1280x720	55 MB
Bio-Engineer	> 3 Months	640x360	17 MB
Bio-Engineer	> 3 Months	1280x720	40 MB
Bio-Engineer	> 3 Months	1280x720	196 MB
Berserker Skill Tree	> 3 Months	640x360	42 MB
Berserker Skill Tree	> 3 Months	1280x720	114 MB
Berserker Skill Tree	> 3 Months	1280x720	323 MB
Video Diary #4	> 3 Months	640x360	167 MB
Video Diary #4	> 3 Months	1280x720	392 MB
Video Diary #4	> 3 Months	1280x720	347 MB
B-roll gameplay	> 3 Months	640x360	19 MB
B-roll gameplay	> 3 Months	1280x720	51 MB
Skill Tree video	> 3 Months	640x360	25 MB
Skill Tree video	> 3 Months	1280x720	69 MB
Villain presentation - Loki	> 3 Months	640x360	3 MB
Villain presentation - Loki	> 3 Months	1280x720	7 MB
Villain presentation - Loki	> 3 Months	1280x720	27 MB
Skill Tree video	> 3 Months	1280x720	264 MB
B-roll gameplay	> 3 Months	1280x720	36 MB
Coop trailer	> 3 Months	640x360	25 MB
Coop trailer	> 3 Months	1280x720	64 MB
Coop trailer	> 3 Months	1280x720	68 MB
Dev Diary #3	> 3 Months	640x360	132 MB
Dev Diary #3	> 3 Months	1280x720	348 MB
Dev Diary #3	> 3 Months	1280x720	560 MB
GDC: Second video	> 3 Months	640x360	39 MB
GDC: Second video	> 3 Months	1280x720	125 MB
GDC: Second video	> 3 Months	1280x720	108 MB
GDC Trailer	> 3 Months	640x360	47 MB
GDC Trailer	> 3 Months	1280x720	152 MB
GDC Trailer	> 3 Months	1280x720	107 MB
Berserker	> 3 Months	640x360	16 MB
Berserker	> 3 Months	1280x720	53 MB
Berserker	> 3 Months	1280x720	40 MB
Dev diary #2	> 3 Months	640x360	79 MB
Dev diary #2	> 3 Months	1280x720	219 MB
Dev diary #2	> 3 Months	1280x720	395 MB
E3: Video	> 3 Months	1280x720	228 MB
E3: Video	> 3 Months	1280x720	228 MB
E3: Gameplay camera 2	> 3 Months	960x540	85 MB
E3: Camcorder gameplay	> 3 Months	960x540	104 MB
E3: XBLM trailer	> 3 Months	640x360	10 MB
E3: XBLM trailer	> 3 Months	1280x720	29 MB
X05: Too Human trailer LQ	> 3 Months	320x240	9 MB
X05: Trailer mix	> 3 Months	640x360	38 MB

Gallery	Since	Number of images
12 images	4 Weeks	12
World Serpent	8 Weeks	10
Aesir	> 3 Months	14
Skill Tree Commando	> 3 Months	3
Hel images and artworks	> 3 Months	9
6 Freya Images	> 3 Months	6
Bio Engineer	> 3 Months	3
Berserker	> 3 Months	3
65 images	> 3 Months	65
70 images	> 3 Months	70
118 artworks and images (2007)	> 3 Months	118
Villain - Loki images	> 3 Months	5
Artworks	> 3 Months	16
Skill Tree images	> 3 Months	3
Building up Baldur images	> 3 Months	7
39 images (mixed 2007-2008)	> 3 Months	39
23 images (2007)	> 3 Months	23
29 images	> 3 Months	29
Coop	> 3 Months	9
16 Images	> 3 Months	16
Concept arts	> 3 Months	13
Character images	> 3 Months	17
7 images	> 3 Months	7
E3 images	> 3 Months	5
One image	> 3 Months	1
1 image	> 3 Months	1
E3: 17 images	> 3 Months	17
19 images	> 3 Months	19
Famitsu Weekly scans	> 3 Months	2
5 images	> 3 Months	5
7 artworks	> 3 Months	7

News	Since
The First 10 Minutes: Too Human	4 Weeks
Too Human interview	5 Weeks
Too Human: Ice Forest and more	8 Weeks
E3: Too Human demo and the MP	11 Weeks
E3: Gameplay of all MS titles	11 Weeks
Too Human trailer	> 3 Months
Too Human: Aesir	> 3 Months
Too Human: Coop serving	> 3 Months
Too Human: Commando	> 3 Months
Too Human: Hel	> 3 Months
Trailer for Too Human	> 3 Months
Too Human adds Freya	> 3 Months
Too Human: Bio-Engineer	> 3 Months
Too Human: Berserker	> 3 Months
Too Human video diary	> 3 Months
The new images of Too Human	> 3 Months
Images & videos of Too Human	> 3 Months
Gameplay of Too Human	> 3 Months
Too Human: Coop images and video	> 3 Months
Too Human: Dev Diary #3	> 3 Months
Images of Too Human	> 3 Months
Too Human: Berserker video	> 3 Months
Too Human Dev Diary #2	> 3 Months
Images of Too Human	> 3 Months
E3: Too Human video	> 3 Months
E3: Images of Too Human	> 3 Months
One new Too Human image	> 3 Months
E3: Too Human video	> 3 Months
E3: Too Human images	> 3 Months
E3: Xbox 360 games montage	> 3 Months
E3: Too Human trailer	> 3 Months
One image of Too Human	> 3 Months
Too Human scans	> 3 Months
X05: Trailer low-res of Too Human	> 3 Months
X05: Trailer mix	> 3 Months
X05: 5 images of Too Human	> 3 Months
New images from Too Human	> 3 Months

<< 1 2 3 >>

Author

Message

SimonM7

Since 1146 Days

2007-08-12 00:08:14

I think if someone were to, say.. go back in time and erase DMC and MGS from history, the trailer would've made us pee our pants. Oh and the first episode of the Berserk anime too. Musn't forget that one.

Myro

Since 1051 Days

2007-08-12 00:39:54 In reply to SimonM7 (2007-08-12 00:08:14)

Posted by SimonM7

But unfortunately, they are here and have set the standard.

SK need to fix up, because its getting ridiculous.

---
Alcohol and drugs and my biggest fans. They follow me where ever i go.

mkk316

Since 936 Days

2007-08-12 01:23:15

Im not sure about that Simon, I think we still would have thought it was poorly executed. Im sure when they were planning the cutscene in their heads it looked badass, but the pace and timing was just......off.

---
COD 4's pre-alpha stage looks better than most game's gone gold stage.

E3 2K7- best. e3. ever.

Saying you cant find animaton in Japan is like saying you cant find food in Italy. Its simply not true.

arcaNe

Since 481 Days

2007-08-12 02:20:39 In reply to Ronsauce (2007-08-11 23:54:53)

I'm really looking forward to this game being a huge fan of Eternal Darkness but I have to agree that the E3 trailer didn't really do it for me. I thought the direction and atmosphere were really cool, it was just really stiff. The game really needs some work in the animation department. I happened to watch the trailer right after the MGS4 trailer and Metal Gear's trailer animation is light years beyond what SK is doing. I hope that their number 1 priority with fixing the engine has to do with the animation.

Aside from these reservations I'm really looking forward to this game. The story and gameplay look like something I can really get into.

Posted by Ronsauce

Also, minor gripe, Baldur should NOT have been able to slide under the robot's legs as there would have been a giant hole there from where the robot emerged.

I thought the exact same thing when I saw the trailer! :)

Optimusv2

Since 1015 Days

2007-08-12 02:25:36

Yea I agree with that arcande the animation just wasn't there and some of the choreography I think was pretty off.

Something just didn't click for me when that machine was over him bashing away and I HATED when he ran and spun just to toss that innocent civilian out of the way of the robot. It looked really cheesy to me. Animation was definitely stiff. Yea MGS4's cutscene animations and choreography really did appear to be well far ahead. I hope SK gets it together and gives us something mindblowing I really liked that cutscene at first, but over time I began scrutinizing all the faults even more.

---
Hironobu Sakaguchi is coming back to reclaim the throne :)

October 20th 2007 (A good day)

Don't ask any questions just shut up and buy Halo : Ghosts of the Onyx one of the greatest books ever.

pssh! more like electronic gay-ming monthly! amirite

arcaNe

Since 481 Days

2007-08-12 02:34:35

I know what you mean Optimus. I really, really want to like this game a lot and when I'm watching the trailer I really wanted it to blow me away, but I just kept finding flaws that were really putting me off. The idea of the trailer was really nice, the execution however fell flat. But that seems to be the story behind this game in general. Lots of nice ideas, poor execution.

They haven't announced a release date yet so hopefully Microsoft will let them have all the time they need to make this game as awesome as I know they can.

Optimusv2

Since 1015 Days

2007-08-12 02:40:12 In reply to arcaNe (2007-08-12 02:34:35)

Posted by arcaNe

Yea seeing as how they are putting such a large focus on competing with the movie industry and wanting to be the game that puts to rest whether gaming is an artform (I personally think a ton of games have already accomplished that) but I want Too Human to be yet another that achieves that. So I pray this game has incredible polish.

Myro

Since 1051 Days

2007-08-12 12:12:39

Don't they want to make 3 of these?

how many years has it taken for them to create one? (even though its not finished).

---
Alcohol and drugs and my biggest fans. They follow me where ever i go.

Jollipop

Since 1006 Days

2007-08-12 14:40:43 In reply to arcaNe (2007-08-12 02:34:35)

Posted by arcaNe

They haven't announced a release date yet so hopefully Microsoft will let them have all the time they need to make this game as awesome as I know they can.

Yea right, we are talking about MS here, not Sony.

---
Marumaro for the WIN !!

JXB

Since 455 Days

2007-08-12 16:48:46 In reply to Jollipop (2007-08-12 14:40:43)

Posted by Jollipop

Yea right, we are talking about MS here, not Sony.

what a stupid thing to say, MS let Bioware have all the time they want to make any game, same goes for rare, Lionhead, Mistwalker, Bungie, RealTime Worlds, Remedy etc. There are a few times MS rushed games out, but its not like they dont for the most part give devs time to make the game they want to make.

Jollipop

Since 1006 Days

2007-08-12 17:45:39

They rushed Rare to release Perfect Dark, they rushed Epic to release Gears of Wear, they rushed Itagaki to release DOA4, they rushed Mistwalker to release Blue Dragon, they rushed Turn 10 to release FM2... and so on and so on.

---
Marumaro for the WIN !!

JXB

Since 455 Days

2007-08-12 19:52:14 In reply to Jollipop (2007-08-12 17:45:39)

Posted by Jollipop

They did rush rare, on PD, but they never rushed epic, never rushed mistwalker, and they never rushed turn 10, if you remember Too Human, FM2, and Crackdown were supposed to release in 06 but MS gave the devs the time they needed to finish their games. BD never had a release slot so how can you say that the game was rushed? Alan Wake was supposed to be out already but MS gave remedy the time they needed to finish. DOA4 was supposed to be a launch title, but it wasnt finished, so MS gave Team Ninja the time to finish it. So stop with the MS hating bullshit.

Jollipop

Since 1006 Days

2007-08-12 20:11:53

It's nothing to do with me hating MS, fool.

Sakaguchi has said in interviews that he felt pressured that he had to release BD as the 360 wasn't doing well in Japan, and im sure on many occasions MS were on his back about the release date.

In many of the video documentries on GoW, it was obvious MS were presuring Epic into releasing it sooner than later.

Turn 10 gave a release day which they obviously miscalculated, but in my eyes the game still needed more time and was not ready, many thing had to be removed from the game i'm guessing MS wouldn't allow them anymore time.

Look at this way, do you think if Heavenly Sword was a first party 360 game that MS would have let NT have the same amount of time to make the game, somehow i don't think so.

---
Marumaro for the WIN !!

JXB

Since 455 Days

2007-08-12 22:00:02 In reply to Jollipop (2007-08-12 20:11:53)

Posted by Jollipop

1. Link me to that interview with sakaguchi saying that he felt pressured by MS to release BD.

2. I saw all the vid docs of GoW, the only one that showed anything like that was the Mtv one, which CliffyB admitted that it was just MTV trying to create drama.

3. So FM2 was rushed because you dont feel it was ready? What kinda stupid ass logic is that? MS gave them months to finish the game, they felt it was ready, they released a great game, that got many great reviews, they didnt remove any features, they never planned on putting in cockpit view in the first place because they just wanted to release the game. FM2s only problem was graphics, and if you look at fm1 you can see that they arent very good at graphics.

4. And how do you know that? look at Too Human and Alan Wake, look at how much time they are getting work on those games, look at fable 2 and halo, Fable 2 is basically almost done but MS is letting them have all the time they need to finish the game, and Halo, well, Halo 3 has been in production before halo 2 released. Lets not forget Rare who gets freedom to release what they want when they want, MS could of made them rush out Banjo 3 to release with Ratchet, but did they? No.

How not think its about you hating on MS? When all you did in this thread was make up stupid assumptions about MGS and talk up Sony games studios?

On the topic of HS, I dont think the game would be great on either system, Ninja Theory is a crappy developer and thus they make bad games, If you look past the animations the game is weak, first of all no jump button, all qte based the graphics arent the great, the AI is dumb as rocks, and from what ive seen and about the story, its cheesy as hell.

Optimusv2

Since 1015 Days

2007-08-12 22:44:55

Its obvious Mistwalker HAD to make their release date no questions asked. There was a monster marketing campaign for it the 360 needed some help in Japan.

No question the game in areas could've used the extra optimization time we all know that.

Forza Motorsport 2 was definitely rushed and its kinda obvious really. Its still an incredible game that I plan to get as soon as I'm able, but that does seem like a title that pretty much needed to be out at a certain time as well.

DOA4 to me wasn't rushed. Gears of War I don't think was rushed either.

JXB

Since 455 Days

2007-08-12 22:49:18

The Marketing campaign started after the release date was announced, not before. And can you please explain to me how FM2was rushed?

Acert93

Mr. Bad Cop Since 1094 Days

2007-08-12 23:13:05

Yeah, Forza was delayed 6+ months. MS allowed them to slip out of the important holiday period -- higher sales and the PS3 had little software to compete -- and allowed them to slide significantly.

Hard to argue MS forced FM2 out the door.

And any developer will tell you their game could use more work. There comes a point where more time results in fewer and fewer results. Because a game has a bug here and some slow down there doesn't mean the title was rushed out the door. As a business if you can a) release early, with less competition and b) hit an important sales period, the benefit of releasing in such situations can significantly offset any minor issues.

It is a lot like developing a website. The first 10-20 hours of development of a small biz site sees a lot of work done, and 20-40 hours can be the difference in a typical site and a polished site. After 40 hours on a smaller biz site you may be doing a lot of work, tweaking, adjustments, bug fixing, untuitive design adjustments, etc but the value of such goes down to the business and the users. Same applies to games.

---
The fans have spoken. Concerning the graphics of the Halo 3 Beta: "There's so many little effects and things going on that make this game pretty much 2nd only to Gears at the moment."

Jollipop

Since 1006 Days

2007-08-12 23:13:05

Because they dropped loads of graphical features, go and read the FM2 thread.

Hmm wasn't it MS who pressured SK into showing TH off at E306, when they had said that they would rather spend time on developing the game.

We all know what a let down that turned out to be.

---
Marumaro for the WIN !!

deftangel

Hot stuff! deftangel - Hot stuff!

Since 991 Days

2007-08-12 23:42:36

Perfect Dark was a launch title so that's hardly fair and other games such as Gears, Blue Dragon and DOA4 had to make certain dates for their own reasons. I don't think from that however, you can say MS typically rush development of their games. Lots of MGS stuff have had their releases pushed back.

Everybody spent months making E3 demos before last year. It was just the thing to do.

GrimThorne

Since 995 Days

2007-08-13 00:12:04 In reply to RAZurrection (2007-08-10 01:41:16)

Posted by RAZurrection

They're using a new custom built engine and slowly ebbing out the traces of UE3.

Exactly. Once the game data creation is complete you can basically run your content on just about any engine.

Acert93

Mr. Bad Cop Since 1094 Days

2007-08-13 04:45:49

While the story of Too Human sounds really great, and the RPG elements sound like they could make the game deep and rewarding, there still is little genuine gameplay being shown to prove that the combat system -- the bread and butter -- is fluid, diverse, deep, and rewarding. These games live and die on combat. And the later the game goes into this generation of software the firmer the competition becomes with DMC4, Heavenly Sword, and NG2 now competition instead of having 2006 to itself (or even early 2007). Seeing how Ninja Theory was able to do an awesome cinematic/intelligent camera without overhyping it I do worry that Too Human is in between a rock and a hard place.

And graphically I think it is downgraded a lot instead of expected "looking better as time goes on". The original and early media appeared to have better lighting and shadowing giving images more "depth" and they lacked a lot of the artifacting in new media:

http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/748/748783/img_...
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/748/748783/img_...
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/748/748783/img_...
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/748/748783/img_...
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/748/748783/img_...
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/748/748783/img_...

The new stuff has some problems that make the images look "busy" with glittering artifacts.

http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/748/748783/img_...
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/748/748783/img_...

SK has a lot of work ahead of them. I really do want to see some long stretches (minutes in a row) of gameplay where they demo the combat -- not some newb and not some cutscene. I want to see if the game has the awkward unbreakables with collision issues and floating powers. I thought HS did an awesome job with momentum and fluid combat and am hoping Too Human can do the same.

This game is a roller coaster. I went from uninterested, to interested, to uninterested. Only quality gameplay really matters to me at this point. More cut scenes, renders, and complaining doesn't do it for me.

---
The fans have spoken. Concerning the graphics of the Halo 3 Beta: "There's so many little effects and things going on that make this game pretty much 2nd only to Gears at the moment."

Acert93

Mr. Bad Cop Since 1094 Days

2007-08-13 05:31:27 In reply to Jollipop (2007-08-12 23:13:05)

Posted by Jollipop

Because they dropped loads of graphical features, go and read the FM2 thread.

Yet back up and distinguish between: Dropped features because we were rushed (even after a 6 month delay) and between "we over estimated our abilities, that of the hardware, etc". Can you say conclusively with another 6 months FM2 would not have dropped those graphical features?

Not all developers are created the same.

Hmm wasn't it MS who pressured SK into showing TH off at E306, when they had said that they would rather spend time on developing the game.

In Dyack's world no game should be shown until it is ready for release.

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_conte...
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/levelup/archive/200...
http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=1571...
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=...
http://www.fiercegamebiz.com/story/silicon-knights...
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20070430/wallis_...
http://blogs.ign.com/silicon-knights/2007/03/22/50...
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3158015

There is even a chart out there -- Dyack even argues at some points games should be finished and sit 6 months while the advertising train kicks off.

Was Too Human shown too early? Yes. Did MS urge SK to show Too Human? Yes. Is MS to blame for Too Human's slow development? No. Has MS invested 10s of millions into Too Human and, as typically is, SK has an obligation to build a return on that investment? Yes.

While it is unfortunate that SK showed a poor Too Human sample, a) MS didn't rush a release, only a demo -- and has supported a delay and b) in many ways SK has to know, MUST know, that regardless of their advertising stancing that big publishers have a lot of strategic responsibilities and having a small 3-5 minute demo for the BIGGEST gaming show in the world should have been on the design path.

BioWare, at the same E3, demonstrated a long stretch of dialogue. It was the only finalized set in the game and only dialogue tree that fully worked. They spent time raising the bar in that one area to show it off, and then spent the next 18 months raising the rest of the game to the same level.

Why SK couldn't get 1 arena, ala HS, to work right for 3 minutes has a lot to do with lack of planning on SK's part. They could have gone the route companies like Bungie, Valve, etc go and build their game first on pared down technology, and then add the graphics and features last. This way they could have demonstrated full functional gameplay + "final graphics" trailers.

So SK is as much to blame for not developing working sandbox areas in their game. Which is one thing that really scares me. These days any and all games should be built gameplay first...

---
The fans have spoken. Concerning the graphics of the Halo 3 Beta: "There's so many little effects and things going on that make this game pretty much 2nd only to Gears at the moment."

Jollipop

Since 1006 Days

2007-08-13 12:32:57

Like Bungie..? they haven't even shown Halo 3 at a gaming show yet, other than a scripted trailer.

MS wanted to show TH off to the public when it should have been behind closed doors, they were just trying to up play Sony and it back fired making SK look like incompetent asses.

And yes i do believe that FM2 getting another 6 months could have had a great impact on the game reaching more of its projected features, but thats something we will never know.

---
Marumaro for the WIN !!

Acert93

Mr. Bad Cop Since 1094 Days

2007-08-13 13:08:36 In reply to Jollipop (2007-08-13 12:32:57)

Posted by Jollipop

Like Bungie..? they haven't even shown Halo 3 at a gaming show yet, other than a scripted trailer.

Bungie at the same E3 showed off a trailer plus behind the scene demo. Bioware with Mass Effect did some media footage and a demo behind the scenes.

SK hooked up with some print media before E3, got some praise, and then was demoing the game at E3 in an obviously broken build. MS didn't turn their hands and tell them they had to show the broken aspects or let newbs play.

Like I said, Bioware had 1 scene -- 1! -- that they prepared for E3, and that was it. Bungie had 1 sandbox to move around in the same area of the trailer.

You cannot tell me putting the controller in the hands of newbs -- always a big mistake -- in an obviously broken build -- another mistake which can be minimized by only allowing staff to control it -- is a good idea. Further, even Denis noted that they "could" have done a small arena demo like HS but they wanted to show off the camera, seemless loading (haha) and such.

Their demonstration was illconceived for the stage of development. MS doesn't typically tell developers they have to show off all these features and such. In fact, it is Denis who was hyping said features.

He felt content getting praise for Too Human before E3, and afterwars was VERY VERY bitter at ANY criticism. Not just that MS made them show it, but he was outright UNRECEPTIVE to any criticism on 1UP, even insinuating threats.

Anyhow, comparing Bungie isn't even relevant. Bungie has earned MS over a half billion in revenue (before we even count Live subscriptions, DLC, marketing agreements, Xbox sales, etc). SK hasn't and is on the MS bankroll. Halo is a known quanity and on a quasi blackout to focus hype toward launch; Too Human is building awareness. Halo 3 was a "done when it is done" title; Too Human was intended to be a 2006 title.

And now it is a 2008 one.

Which totally, absolutely, trashes your original premise about MS pushing games out the door. When a title slips from 2006 to 2008, that isn't pushing titles out the door. MS has delayed a lot of titles. Do they push some out? Yes, because it is necessary at times for various reasons. Launch titles need to be there at launch (although it should be noted that PDZ, while a launch title, was given a looong dev time on the Xbox and ditto Kameo, they were NOT pushed out, were delayed, and then migrated).

MS wanted to show TH off to the public when it should have been behind closed doors, they were just trying to up play Sony and it back fired making SK look like incompetent asses.

Denis blasting EGM/1UP for critical comments made him look like an ass -- especially after his rant about the INDUSTRY needs more critical journalists (go read my links).

Denis looked like an ass because he uber hyped the game features about revolutionary, hollywood, blowing stuff away and users away when they saw it and they noted that they could have gone with a simpler approach but, because of hyping all these features, they wanted to show them off. And it totally fell flat -- the same build that was praised weeks before.

Interestingly, you connect this with Turn10 and FM2. They actually have a lot in common -- a focus on featuresets and hype over content. A game like Bioshock, for example, was hyped due to press previews a long time ago. Mass Effect hit the hype train at the E3 demo.

Games that hype features -- that are NOT developed yet -- tend to get slammed when they fail to meet their own hype.

Games that build hype by showing features tend to garner praise.

Denis would have been better off a. not overhyping his games features and b. slowly, as features WORK, showing them off one by one. Do what EA does with Madden.

Instead, since they hyped the project's many goals, they felt compelled to demo it all instead of a small sandbox. Seeing how HS started with a small sandbox at the same E3 (and on camera controlled by staff), and has gradually shown more and more features as time went on it is clear what approach is best.

And that blame can be pointed at SK.

MS may have had them show it -- they are being bankrolled and MS wants to see something in return for $20M -- but SK clearly was behind on development, nasty with the press about any criticism, and had hyped features they hadn't even made yet, let alone fine tuned. They wanted to show more than they should have and would have done better if they only had shown a small VERY high quality aspect of the game instead of a broken streaming, broken AI, poor collision detection, jerky animation and framerate, and totally wonked out camera build trying to get people to "imagine" the features.

Talk about your naked king!

And yes i do believe that FM2 getting another 6 months could have had a great impact on the game reaching more of its projected features, but thats something we will never know.

The first extra 6 month delay didn't do much for visuals (actually they cut even more features). If 6 months didn't produce a "great impact" why would another 6 months?

---
The fans have spoken. Concerning the graphics of the Halo 3 Beta: "There's so many little effects and things going on that make this game pretty much 2nd only to Gears at the moment."

Slabs

Since 1153 Days

2007-08-17 11:47:39

That new armour looks as though it doesn't have any layered texture maps at all, just flat PS2 style texturing. Terrible.

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X360

Too Human Too Human

Microsoft Game Studios / Silicon Knights

Type: Action-RPG

Release date: Fourth quarter 2008

Too Human interview

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2008-08-28 16:38:27 by Manager

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