Platform & DLC Question : Fallout: New Vegas

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:40 am

Hi,

How is Bethesda going to ensure that DLC will be available on ALL Platforms in a timely manner.

How can I be assured that if I purchase this game on Platform A, that I am not going to have wait for the "Game of the Year" Edition to play any of the DLC. Whereas if I had just purchased the game on Platform B in the first place, there would be absolutely no issues.

Can someone who knows what the **** they are talking about, please kindly point me in the right direction.

» Tue May 17, 2011 12:25 am

Honest, short answer; we don't know.

There's two reasons Bethesda would make the PlayStation community wait longer than the PC/Xbox community, and that's bribery and porting.

Microsoft has been known to pay companies (such as Infinity Ward) to stall the release of DLCs on other platforms to ensure more people will buy the DLCs on their platform(s). Would they do that with New Vegas? Doubt it, since they really only did it with Infinity Ward since Modern Warfare 2 was so highly anticipated and earned so much money.

The other more likely reason is porting. Sony's PlayStation 3 utilizes a newer architecture than Microsoft uses for both the Xbox 360 and the Games for Windows platforms. Games can release on GFW and Xbox much quicker because the architecture is a bit older, and it's similar on both platforms. Basically making a game on the PC is much easier to port to an Xbox 360 than it is to a PlayStation 3.

Will we have to wait again? We can only wait to see. Hopefully if that is the case though, the wait time will be much shorter.

» Tue May 17, 2011 4:23 am

Sigh...another one of these...sigh

» Tue May 17, 2011 5:43 am

Yeah we are probably doomed. As far as I remember, Obsidian mostly makes games for PC and 360. But there is always hope.

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:54 am

Yeah we are probably doomed. As far as I remember, Obsidian mostly makes games for PC and 360. But there is always hope.

Well there last game svcked on all platforms so I wouldn't worry. I think new vegas will be just fine performance wise on both consoles.

» Tue May 17, 2011 6:44 am

The only way to be fairly sure of getting DLCs when they come out is to get it on PC. However if it isn't an option then the guess would be that XBOX 360 is you best bet.

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:41 pm

Honest, short answer; we don't know.

There's two reasons Bethesda would make the PlayStation community wait longer than the PC/Xbox community, and that's bribery and porting.

Microsoft has been known to pay companies (such as Infinity Ward) to stall the release of DLCs on other platforms to ensure more people will buy the DLCs on their platform(s). Would they do that with New Vegas? Doubt it, since they really only did it with Infinity Ward since Modern Warfare 2 was so highly anticipated and earned so much money.

The other more likely reason is porting. Sony's PlayStation 3 utilizes a newer architecture than Microsoft uses for both the Xbox 360 and the Games for Windows platforms. Games can release on GFW and Xbox much quicker because the architecture is a bit older, and it's similar on both platforms. Basically making a game on the PC is much easier to port to an Xbox 360 than it is to a PlayStation 3.

Will we have to wait again? We can only wait to see. Hopefully if that is the case though, the wait time will be much shorter.

Microsoft also did that with Bethesda and Fallout 3 as well, as in aquired the exclusive rights to getting the DLC first and they were released at a later point in time for the PS3.