Originally Posted by
PerfectLife
Of course I'd say that. Here's my horn. 0|< This is me honking it. -|<~
But, that aside, as a member of the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race I have some major concerns and I'm sure with the new generation of consoles coming out, this is an issue even dirt eating, smelly, unwashed console owners can get behind.
This game is fashioned around DX9 level technology. Let me put some weight on this, DX9 was released on December 19th, 2002. DX9.0c was released August 4th, 2004. Right now it's March 12, 2013. That puts the graphical system for this game at around 10 years old. Here's some world events that occurred in 2004:
Jan 4th - Spirit, a NASA Mars Rover, lands successfully on Mars at 04:35 UTC.
Feb 1st - Janet Jackson's breast is exposed during the half-time show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, resulting in US broadcasters adopting a stronger adherence to FCC censorship guidelines.
Mar 8th - A new constitution is signed by Iraq's Governing Council.
Apr 1st - Google introduces its Gmail product to the public. The launch is met with scepticism on account of the launch date.
May 24th - Communications in North Korea: North Korea bans mobile phones.
Oct 4th - SpaceShipOne wins Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight.
Nov 22nd - The Orange Revolution begins in Ukraine, resulting from the presidential elections.
Nov 30th - Longtime Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, Utah finally loses, leaving him with $2,520,700 USD, television's all-time biggest game show haul.
Any of that seem recent to you? Nope? That's because all those things occurred in 2004. DX10 has come and gone, even the new consoles will be using DX11.
This bothers me. A good TV show can run many seasons, SG-1 was on TV for damn near forever, Doctor Who just keeps on phoneboothin. So even with a considerably modest estimate of four seasons we'll be well into the life cycle for the new consoles, let alone, the amazingly superior heights PC gaming will reach in that time. I feel like this project has been forced to release at quite a horrible time considering it's long term nature and I seriously question the executive decisions that allowed this to happen both within Trion and SyFy. A modicum of sense would have allowed both companies to realize that by delaying both launches for the optimal time would be the most wise decision.
I know the PR goons keep explaining "the chicken came with the egg" or "we're developing the game and tv show together." But, that's bull. Clearly the TV show is in the number one seat going by planning, release dates, logistics, and flat out obvious points of similar nature. SyFy wants Defiance the TV show On Air ASAP and they're willing to cripple the game to do so. I bet they even said something along the lines of "Well this is risky so if it goes wrong we're saving money going with cheaper older tech." Hogwash. But, I can't get mad, this is par-for-course with these kinds of things. Can't expect big, dumb, cowardly companies to actually get behind innovation if they smell the slightest whiff of risk. Can't have the morning Chai-Tea butterfly watching be disturbed, don't want to upset anyone.
I was going to drop $100.00 bucks on this game, but seeing how it's been handled and seeing where it's going, I'm going to pass. I've got plenty of projects that weren't handled by nincompoops that have done amazingly well and if cowards and greedy morons ruin this one, well. That's just how life goes. Defiance is an amazing concept, the execution... not so much. Not my problem. Deal with it.
