Das Feature
Publishers Are Betting Big, But Can RTS Games Work On Consoles?
November 12, 2008
Oil and water. Cream cheese and toe jam. Gears of War and subtlety. The N-Gage and hope. Real-time strategy games and, uh, consoles? While translating franchises like Company of Heroes and Dawn of War onto set-top platforms may seem a task doomed to futility, I can’t help but wonder with another season full of tactical hair-pullers looming. Given such awe-inspiring performance–Metacritic ratings for Supreme Commander, Universe at War: Earth Assault and Command & Conquer: Kane’s Wrath on Xbox 360 average a whopping 56, 66, and 75, respectively–is there actually a future for joystick jabbers in playing armchair general? Fuck if I know, I’m a writer. But I did get in touch with Ubisoft’s Michael de Plater, Gas Powered Games honcho Chris Taylor and Soren Johnson, lead designer on Civilization IV to get a professional opinion on shoveling real-time strategy titles into console boxes. I even reached out to a couple of other journo types. You know, just to keep it fair an balanced.
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