Fri, Feb 19, 2010 | 16:12 GMT
Remedy explains decision to release Alan Wake on Xbox 360 only
When Microsoft announced at X10 that there would not be a PC version of Alan Wake, it was explained away that the game was best suited for a larger screen – like a television.
According to Oskari Häkkinen, head of franchise at Remedy, playing the game on the telly is more of a preference than anything, as the company has a long history with developing games for PC.
Speaking with VG247 in London this week, Häkkinen told us that the decision to axe the PC version was more about focusing on one platform at a time than anything else.
“Saying that Alan Wake is best played of a sofa with 5.1 surround and a big TV screen, I think is more of a preference than anything else,” he said. “We’re not going out there to say that PC gamers can’t enjoy it from their own PC set-up. We’re certainly not saying that. We have a strong heritage in PC gaming as well.
“But, frankly, we’re a small studio. We’re 50 people, and being a small studio, it makes a lot more sense for us to focus on one platform. Currently we’re fully focused on the Xbox version, and [as for] what the future holds, we haven’t got anything to announce, and we haven’t thought that far right now.
“We’re fully crunching towards the Xbox 360 version”.
As far as a PC version being released in the future was concerned, Häkkinen said that the decision to do so would come from a “sit down” with Microsoft to “see where the title goes”.
Alan Wake releases on Xbox 360 May 18 and 21 in the US and UK, respectively.
54 comments
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#1
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 4:13 pm
let’s talk when the game comes out, 11 000 console game devs thought the very same thing!
Oh and the numbers are still counting, you really think microsoft who is another spawn of satain is going to love you.
I wonder how long the 360 is going to last, I mean consoles are on massive decline and sony is is picking up speed.
I hope your going to say the same thing if you ever don’t have job in the gaming Industry and you need pc gamers to make games agin. The Indie seen belongs to pc gamers, you do know that right.
#2
itsucks
19/02/10, 4:19 pm
I wonder how long the 260 is going to last, I mean consoles are on massive decline and sony is is picking up speed.
Only a sonybot could be this delusional. one thing is certain, it won’t come out on the poopyshittreii, games sell like shit there.
#3
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 4:22 pm
yea you have love 11 000 console game devs going bankuprt and counting! high production costs,rented games,the used games maret, pissed off hackers and pricay are going to sure kill the console sale numbers.
11 000 console gone all because of sony and microsft’s billion dallor loss.
#4
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 4:23 pm
hey Remedy if the pc gaming market ever dies you can kiss your job good by! the heart beat of gaming is the pc gaming Industry. Game devs like you better prey that you don’t go bankuprt because some people have very good memories and they will remeber every word you have spoken.
there is alot more pc gamers out there than you think. The hate for alot of pubishers,game devs and meida is growing.
#5
Erthazus
19/02/10, 4:26 pm
B U L L S H I T !
this game was planned at first for Windows VISTA ONLY game from Microsoft!
This is just not the lie it is a disrespect to gamers. After this shit i have no respect for Rememdy. (I care less about Alan Wake on 360 because i will play it, its just a lie)
#6
Len
19/02/10, 4:26 pm
Now I’m really confused…
#7
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 4:28 pm
my words are solid
#8
Eregol
19/02/10, 4:28 pm
Yeah. I don’t see this story getting a lot of love from anyone with any sense.
Itsucks and BDH will see to that.
Both with nary a brain cell to rub between them.
#9
Gekidami
19/02/10, 4:30 pm
“This game was planned at first for Windows VISTA ONLY game from Microsoft!”
Erhum.
It was always announced for 360, it was said to be for 360 AND PC but never at any point just for PC.
#10
theevilaires
19/02/10, 4:31 pm
I remember seeing the PC version a while back. It looked really good, but i truly think they still have the project intact but its on hold. M$ wants to see how well the game will do first on the 360, then I’m sure this fall or early next year it will come to games for windows.
They probably are scared shitless by the PC pirates…can’t really blame them. (looks at mushroomstamp)
#11
NGCes26294BIV
19/02/10, 4:34 pm
“there is alot more pc gamers out there than you think”
Yeah, and unfortunately most of them would rather pirate the game than buy it, which is why the PC gaming market (non-social, of course) is going down the toilet.
#12
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 4:37 pm
@NGCes26294BIV
goes to show how lighten really are
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1WGFjhCktc
how about you say mmmoooooo for me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb-dYVEBtfM
#13
Gekidami
19/02/10, 4:37 pm
All thieves those PC gamers.
#14
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 4:40 pm
yea remedy sure loves their fanbase a lot, proof is the very words written in this gaming site
People wonder why pc gamer don’t like consoles!
yea, All thieves those PC gamers………..right!!!!!!
what a joke the gaming at it’s finest!
@Gekidami
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb-dYVEBtfM
how about you mmmooo for me too!
#15
Quiiick
19/02/10, 4:41 pm
GAWD!
What happened to the comments sections on VG247 ???
#16
steve1979
19/02/10, 4:43 pm
I’ve been reading this site for a while now, and am curious. BDH why the anger? Why the hatred?
Did a Console cheat on you, break down when you couldn’t save, or did you ask for one from your parents as a little boy and not get one.
#17
NGCes26294BIV
19/02/10, 4:44 pm
@12
Erm… I’m gonna go ahead and assume the videos don’t show proof of anything you’re trying to say, and I’m going to explain something very simple: When it comes to multiplatform, high bidget releases, PC games (physical and digital) count for about 5-15% of total sales, depending on the genre.
It’s reaching the point now where it’s genuinely not worth the investment. And that’s nothing against the PC as a format, it’s just that sales are falling exponentially year-on-year.
@13
Not all of course, but enough to cause a problem. Crytek had over a million unique users try out the Crysis multiplayer having only sold around 100k units at the time.
Go figure.
#18
Erthazus
19/02/10, 4:45 pm
@Gekidami when it was announced 4-5 years ago it was Only a Windows Vista title and Xbox 360 title.
Alan Wake was announced at E3 2005. Microsoft partnered with Remedy to release the game for the Xbox 360 and as a DirectX 10-only title for Windows Vista. (c) Wikipedia.
No more Direct X 10, no more nothing… But actually who cares when there is Starcraft II for PC that will sell like cakes.
#19
Gekidami
19/02/10, 4:48 pm
…Thats what i said. It was planned for PC and 360 but never PC alone.
#20
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 4:48 pm
The gaming industry is a joke! they are full of lairs some gaming media band you for speaking the truth and defending your platform.
they call you trooll and then they write how pc gaming is dying!
sorry remedy I am nrver ever going to buy a console!
you want pc gaming dead so bad, becareful what you wish for because you just might get it.
I amnd sure alot of hardware gaints are going to be sooooooooooo happy!
#21
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 4:49 pm
@Gekidami
we all know your true colors I mean you said it your self……..All thieves those PC gamers!
how about you moooo for me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb-dYVEBtfM
#22
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 4:52 pm
the gaming industry really really really loves it’s fanbase!
#23
NiceFellow
19/02/10, 4:52 pm
Well, that sounds much clearer to my ears.
What I hear is the platform decision is dependent on discussion with their publisher and heavily influenced by their publisher.
Their publisher is MS and MS has decided that they’d rather have a few more full exclusives after the PS3 run of exclusives in 2009 and what is coming this year.
For Remedy it makes sense inasmuch as they really can focus on one platform/version and of course have already admitted to getting lots of additional support from MS for 360 platform.
Is this about face? For sure, but at least it’s understandable on those terms vs saying it plays better sitting in a couch, which was about as weak and stupid a statement as I’ve heard in a while.
I’d imagine the PC code will be visiting the dusty hanger where the PC version of Gears 2 is hanging out waiting to see if it ever gets completed and sees the light of day.
I just can’t work up any enthusiasm for the game, though.
I love the art direction but it smells a lot like the US developed Silent Hill titles to me based on the comments, mixed with a dose of copied (and no doubt watered down) Twin Peaks/David Lynch weirdness, and that’s just too thin a recipe for me vs some genuine unsettling freakishness.
However, should I turn out to be wrong I’ll both eat crow and play the game right away.
#24
Gekidami
19/02/10, 4:52 pm
Did you steal those cows BDH?
#25
Eregol
19/02/10, 4:52 pm
A gaming media band?
Sounds fun, what are they called?
The lairs?
#26
Gekidami
19/02/10, 4:53 pm
Pat as lead singer. Make it so!
#27
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 4:54 pm
@NiceFellow
sorry i have hard time under standing as i see a lot pc gamer buy mircosoft products.
mricososft and sony are is such a great companies. they have a nie little dictorship going on!
#28
Monk
19/02/10, 4:54 pm
I think games like Alan Wake that`s not support online mode well have a large piracy and well not sell well on PC, even if the PC version was better.
as EA does that with Dead Space 2 in this month I think,
I think MS well try to do it.
#29
Eregol
19/02/10, 4:54 pm
Does he still have the beard?
If so he’s a shoe in!
Johnny for drummer. They never have to be all that intelligent.
(No offence Johnny, only a joke).
#30
Goliath
19/02/10, 4:55 pm
Is it me or does this site all of a sudden have a lot more trolls? What the fuck is going on?!
#31
Johnny Cullen
19/02/10, 4:56 pm
Someone rang?
#32
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 4:57 pm
@Eregol
I am sure billions of gamer all over the world are very happy right now.
thereis more of us than you people on consoles. we can do a lot more damge to companies repuations than you think. Yea we pc gamers aare a lot smarter than you think too.
I am sure billions of pc gamers had to say today.
I am sure the love for sony and microsft will grow. News travels very fast on the net.
#33
Eregol
19/02/10, 4:58 pm
The drummer is here.
Now where is that lead singer?
On the subject of Piracy though, I think Eidos had it right with the Batman: AA solution where certain features of the game didn’t work properly if it was ripped code.
That way you cannot finish the game and you HAVE to buy the retail version.
If more companies went along this route pirating would be a dead loss.
#34
NGCes26294BIV
19/02/10, 4:58 pm
@BDH
For the last frickin’ time, it’s “dictatorship”.
#35
Eregol
19/02/10, 4:59 pm
@BDH
I have a PC and a 360.
I play WoW a lot, I also have Football manager and Champ Manager on my PC, not to mention, Portal, Tales of Monkey Island and the Secret of Monkey Island remake.
So don’t you go, talking to me like I’m some sort of console only fanboy.
Stop talking shit, you know fuck all. And the only way to get topics back on track when you’re in them is to derail them first.
Get a grip, do some research, get all the facts before you post and stop making such a prick of yourself.
#36
NGCes26294BIV
19/02/10, 5:00 pm
“On the subject of Piracy though, I think Eidos had it right with the Batman: AA solution where certain features of the game didn’t work properly if it was ripped code.”
Yeah – I still don’t understand quite how that worked…
#37
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 5:00 pm
yes a dictorship, you must be a noobie. it’s long story I don’t feel like talking about but must people here know what I am talking about…….a least the smart people.
#38
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 5:03 pm
people ask why pc gamers hate consoles
big cooperation ask why people don’t like them.
well I just want to say to big sony and microsft they are not too big to fall!
what do they say the bigger they are the harder they fall!
yea we sure love our fanbase says the big companies
yea we sure love our fanbase says gaming Industry
what a joke! your true colors shine very bight for people to see!
#39
NGCes26294BIV
19/02/10, 5:05 pm
@BDH
What operating system do you use on your PC?
Do you play any GFWL-enabled titles?
#40
Eregol
19/02/10, 5:05 pm
@BDH
How about you respond to my previous post?
You know nothing.
So hop it.
#41
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 5:06 pm
@Eregol
goes to show how lighten really are
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1WGFjhCktc
how about you say mmmoooooo for me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb-dYVEBtfM
oh lets remeber big brother and billion people are going find about this great wonderful news. I am sure they will talk.
11 000 consoles game devs and counting!
#42
Petulant Radish
19/02/10, 5:08 pm
I love you Blackdreamhunk, I really do. Are you really hunky AND dreamy?
#43
NiceFellow
19/02/10, 5:08 pm
@ 27 – not sure I get your drift. On PC I don’t really see MS as a major player at all. Live on PC has been a damp squid and apart from the association of MS with Windows OS to me they are a fringe player on PC.
Of course, with their goal with Xbox and now 360 to bring the lucrative FPS/Online market to consoles, from that regard they have had a large bearing on the PC marketplace.
Sony have also had an impact but it feels lesser to me.
TBH though to me HW is just that, HW. I don’t really care if its a PC or a console or whatever. I dont see MS as evil or somehow wrong for doing this in principle.
My main concern with MS is their policies with Live which prevent mods, etc. and the exclusion of that element of PC gaming (so far) from consoles. That plus charging for online play I don’t like – and I could do without them rushing to market so fast they put speed way ahead of acceptable HW reliability. But in principle I have no problem with the shift in focus for a lot of genres from PC to consoles in US/Europe.
Sony funnily enough I find more open, but maybe that’s more because they have to be right now vs MS just to look different.
Whatever though, on PSN you can have mods, etc. it’s just not been taken up, which I think is a shame. Also the basic online play is free so I really don’t see them enforcing a lot of control.
MS though clearly do want to make sure you pay for the privilege of playing and make sure that any content has a price, be it something like the two maps of Crash Course on L4D or whatever.
But they’re hardly alone in that. I mean, I doubt Activision want to give away the SDK for developing maps/mods for MW2 and have the game last for years with lots of free content from the community. Clearly they want you to play MW2 and buy additional content for it until they release MW3.
It’s just the nature of more mature commercialism of the industry vs before.
Something perhaps to mourn, but don’t give yourself a heart attack over it.
#44
loki
19/02/10, 5:11 pm
Just because 90% of PC games fail and we don’t need another shity PC port
#45
NGCes26294BIV
19/02/10, 5:11 pm
@43
+1
#46
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 5:12 pm
@loki
you go tell that to AMD,Intel,Invida
I am sure a lot of indie game devs will like that too.
In fact you have usch good dreadability maybe you should tell that to blizzard!
#47
Eregol
19/02/10, 5:14 pm
BDH you are a retard.
Incapable of responding to any comment with any sort of sense or meaning.
Funny how when you are matched against someone more intelligent than you, your brain does a runner and you resort to insanity to avoid answering the questions or responding to the points made to you.
Maybe you need to be ‘enlightened’. But I doubt anyone would have the patience to do it as you’re such a massive wind up merchant.
#48
blackdreamhunk
19/02/10, 5:14 pm
@Eregol
your good at mmooo so moo for me lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb-dYVEBtfM
I am so glade a lot of readers can see things for them self.
you know why because truth always speaks for it self.
#49
mington
19/02/10, 5:29 pm
has anyone ever clicked on any of the the links BDH has posted
#50
Stephany Nunneley
19/02/10, 5:34 pm
/fucking facepalm
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