APB - All Points Bulletin

APB, like several other MMOs in the last few years, was originally announced as both a PC and an Xbox 360 title. Over the course of its 5 year development, however, the emphasis on a console version gradually dropped, and as it stands now, looks unlikely to ever see the light of day. "So basically, about a year ago we said we'd finish the PC one first… If we're going to go on console, we'd have to spend a lot of time educating Microsoft on the game, figure out how we would operate the game outside of our network…" The focus at Realtime Worlds shifted, from getting it out on multiple platforms to simply getting it out in a highly-polished state. "Let's make a great game, finish it off as a big success, and because it's a console style of game, then at least Microsoft can get a good look at it and say 'this would be great to have on our platform'. They can look at it, and they can touch it…" Jones has faith that once it's out there, the quality of APB will make Microsoft actively work with Realtime Worlds in order to get a slice of the action on their console.

But as I mentioned, this isn't the first game to seemingly drop off the console scene. I asked Jones just why it was apparently so hard to get an MMO onto consoles. "The original 360s had no hard drive, and that's something Microsoft still has to address." At this stage in the console's lifetime, Microsoft still has restrictions on games with mandatory hard drive requirements. "Microsoft also likes to have control of their servers, whereas Sony is a little more open about that stuff. There's lots and lots of small issues [keeping MMOs off consoles], to be honest."

melatonin wrote:I am in the 'Furious Fighters', apparently. A two-hour window up to play tonight or something? I haven't really been paying attention.

That was a worthwhile contribution to the thread, I'm sure you'll agree.

Hugo Stiglitz wrote:

APB, like several other MMOs in the last few years, was originally announced as both a PC and an Xbox 360 title. Over the course of its 5 year development, however, the emphasis on a console version gradually dropped, and as it stands now, looks unlikely to ever see the light of day. "So basically, about a year ago we said we'd finish the PC one first… If we're going to go on console, we'd have to spend a lot of time educating Microsoft on the game, figure out how we would operate the game outside of our network…" The focus at Realtime Worlds shifted, from getting it out on multiple platforms to simply getting it out in a highly-polished state. "Let's make a great game, finish it off as a big success, and because it's a console style of game, then at least Microsoft can get a good look at it and say 'this would be great to have on our platform'. They can look at it, and they can touch it…" Jones has faith that once it's out there, the quality of APB will make Microsoft actively work with Realtime Worlds in order to get a slice of the action on their console.

But as I mentioned, this isn't the first game to seemingly drop off the console scene. I asked Jones just why it was apparently so hard to get an MMO onto consoles. "The original 360s had no hard drive, and that's something Microsoft still has to address." At this stage in the console's lifetime, Microsoft still has restrictions on games with mandatory hard drive requirements. "Microsoft also likes to have control of their servers, whereas Sony is a little more open about that stuff. There's lots and lots of small issues [keeping MMOs off consoles], to be honest."

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/107/1077447p2.html

Sucks.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Forgot I had a Fileplanet account so I snapped up a key.

Setting up the APB account itself was a pain in neck though. They're REALLY picky about your password.

Still, I've been wanting to give this a go for ages now so thanks for the linky Crimson.

The Crimson Clown wrote:

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Forgot I had a Fileplanet account so I snapped up a key.

Setting up the APB account itself was a pain in neck though. They're REALLY picky about your password.

Still, I've been wanting to give this a go for ages now so thanks for the linky Crimson.

No worries.

This runs like absolute gooseberry fool on my PC, had to knock it right down to the lowest settings just to make it playable.

The game definitely has potential but they've still got a lot of work to do.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:

The Crimson Clown wrote:

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Forgot I had a Fileplanet account so I snapped up a key.

Setting up the APB account itself was a pain in neck though. They're REALLY picky about your password.

Still, I've been wanting to give this a go for ages now so thanks for the linky Crimson.

No worries.

This runs like absolute gooseberry fool on my PC, had to knock it right down to the lowest settings just to make it playable.

The game definitely has potential but they've still got a lot of work to do.

Well my PC is fairly new (About six months old) so hopefully it'll run ok on mine. That's if it ever downloads. It's easily looking at 1-2am before this is done....

Tafdolphin wrote:Can't find the old topic so here:

http://gamers.eurogamer.net/giveaways.p ... claim=true

Got mine. Beta starts on Sunday.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Got an email from Realtime Worlds today saying I have a beta key to give to a friend. The only people I would give it to have already gotten into the beta, so anyone here who would like it can just give me a PM with your email and I'll send it to them.