For those who might have missed the announcement (cause I know we've discussed it to death )
http://shadowrun.com/

May 29th will be the release date

Unfortunate.

~J

Honestly, even this forum has seen new people interested because of the video game. Yes, it sets up some erroneous ideas about the setting, but it's a smaller leap to explain that those two corps don't exist and there's no teleporting than to explain the whole concept.

I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. Err, that is to say that any publicity is good publicity. Tabletop RPGs need all the help they can get, if our hobby is to avoid the fate of historically accurate miniature games.

While the game may not truly be "Shadowrun", from all accounts I've heard the game is actually quite good. Tycho (of PA fame) even compared it to Starsiege: Tribes, one of my favorite FPS games of all time, and one of theirs as well. So, despite the differences, I wish the game well and hope that it gives me enjoyment.

I still say that the guys who came up with the idea and everybody in any position to overide them should commit seppuku with a ripsaw in a webcast or on national television before I will ever buy another Microsoft game!

I just opened up the newest PC Gamer magazine and saw the first full page ad for the game to my knowledge.... It's the back of some guy's head with a bunch of photoshopped eyeballs attached and the quote, 'In any othe rgame, this might help.'

Microsoft has been very successful in making sure to sever all ties between this load of garbage and the RPG source material.

Well, having done QA for Interplay on Balder's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, it taught me that a good RPG is a very time consuming and resource intensive project.

The resources to code and script one chapter of a decent RPG can instead crank out a complete first person shooter. Look at Doom and all the player created maps that emerged. Sure, there's arguments that games like Neverwinter Nights also had its fair share of player created content, but which was easier to make (and I know the comparison is difficult considering how far apart each game is in terms of when they were released).

What I've heard (scuttlebutt, mostly) is that if this first person shooter version does well enough to justify more effort and resources, then we may see a proper RPG. My concern now is that if they do pull off a great game with this non-canon version, the RPG will also use this non-canon version.

Microsoft's reluctance to throw insane amounts of cash towards a proper Shadowrun RPG or MMORPG is understandable, I can only recall two notable science fiction MMORPGs and the better of the two is still substantially underperforming its potential. SWG may have been a warning sign to a lot of developers.

Sadly the new version of Shadowrun makes a MMORPG (lets face it, that's what we all really want) much more doable compared to SR3, which had better systems in place for decking, rigging, etc, but each system would be a nightmare to code and integrate with each other. It's also debatable if the currently available PCs could handle such a graphics strain, but again, SR4 fixes that for us.

Really, all we need is a good developer, a team of top-notch coders, some good graphic artists, and some bored billionaire to finance a Shadowrun MMORPG. We've got all the QA and playtesters we could ever want, I'm sure. And if properly done, the variety of characters and gear, not to mention the setting, could make the Shadowrun MMORPG wildly successful. But the problem is Microsoft has the rights to that aspect of FASA's IP, and they don't seem ready to invest the money and time to create the Shadowrun (MMO)RPG yet.

the format is not the problem. it could be an SR-based table tennis game, for all many of us care. the problem is that they disregarded huge amounts of the existing material in order to make room for their own stuff.

Seconded, I'd rather play SR table-tennis or a Drop Bear simulation.

Another problem is the licensing situation. In order for Microsoft to make a Shadowrun MMO using any Shadowrun material since the FASA/FASA Interactive split, they'd need to hash out a licensing deal with Wizkids. Which they may decide they don't want to bother with.

I suppose they could make a retro Shadowrun MMO themselves, but even that might get fuzzy with intellectual property law. I really have no idea how that whole thing shook out with the split.

Here's a bit of an interview with Mitch Gitelman, head of FASA Studios:

Yea, especially if the year somewhere on the web that no self respecting shadowrun player would ever buy a microsoft product from those guys who know fuck-all about shadowrun.

Consider the community here may be doing more to prevent any sort of attempt at a reasonable SR computer game, by not being able to hold their tounges regarding this one, than any percieved lack of market could.

I mean, go to the largest fan site for an intellectual property, and see everone say they'd never buy a game loosely based on their favored property. That sure makes me want to go out and invest.

Awesome. Is there any way I could be doing more to prevent it? 'Cause I don't want to let this chance slip by to let those guys who know fuck-all about Shadowrun possibly know that I'll be actively working to reduce sales on this and future Shadowrun-branded products from them.

(Not everyone believes that a hope of a decent product eventually is worth tolerating a bad product now)

~J

My impression is that one of the rights FASA Interactive has is to the trademark Shadowrun in the area of video games and electronic entertainment, or whatever it's called.

Still not a lawyer.

~J

i dunno, man, it's hard to distinguish sarcasm with that guy. i mean, when he claimed to be a big fan of SR, and then had to be forced by forum outrage to actually use the source material? a lot of people just plain stopped believing the words that came out of his mouth.

Eh, I thought it came across—and I'm certainly not predisposed to view his statements in a favourable light, y'know?

~J

Eh? Is there something about a man with a gun on a horse that I'm missing here?

~J

I dunno, the metaphor made sense to me. Whatever. Hey, I'd buy a good SR RPG if it was made by Microsoft, I don't care. I just don't think it's gonna happen.

Uh, can we just write letters to MS telling them that they don't need to develop a new SR RPG but rather they just need to overhaul and re-release the old Genesis classic?

A steaming cup of soykaf would be really whiz right about now.

Every time I read that message it made me get up from the game and brew myself a cup of coffee.

We could write that letter, but they'd take one look at it and tear the letter up. Blue Sky doesn't so much exist anymore.

~J

hm. i'd think that the IP is the IP, regardless of how much time has passed or how much material has been added. that makes sense, at least to me, so it's probably the exact opposite of how things actually work.

well, color me shocked.

You're both dead to me.

don't ever change, blakkie.

I've been thinking about playing it. Also got the fuck over it, and looking to have some fun with what looks like a fun game. Problem is I suck at these games and would likely loose interest after being humiliated so and so many times.

Looked back here to see if any other old dumpshockers had any thoughts of playing it. Guess it's only Blakkie .

That reminds me of a guy I argued with once. "I don't care what gays do with their time, and I don't mind if they're legally bonded somehow, but it shouldn't be called marriage, because that's something that's between a man and a woman."

Semantics! Just enjoy the damn game.

Can someone just write me a console app that displays the message, "a steaming cup of soykaf would be just whiz about now"?

I also want to wait for me to hit the enter key before the Windows console disappears.

While you play the Shadowrun FPS I'll just sit there playing with my console app.

echo "A steaming cup of soykaf would be just whiz about now."

~J

Blakkie: Yeah, there's a lot of saving graces. I think Gears of War multiplayer pretty tolerable because it forced teams and you only get one life. So causion and consious thought is rewarded. It's also really slow paced, so even people who hasn't had the choreography of maneuvers in the game welded into their spinal cord by constant gaming can have a shot at knowing what's going on.

But the thing is that about the fourth or fifth time I played it... when about a month had passed , I had gotten so far behind that none of those things mattered. Everyone else had become so good that there was absolutely nothing I could do at all. And every cunning move that I might have come up with, they had seen a thousand times.

I predict the problem with the Shadowrun game will be that I wont even have time to master the basics before just about everyone else is kicking ass. Because I like playing one or two matches of a game like this when I'm feeling restless and don't have time or ability to do something physical. That situation doesn't present itself very often. I don't crave winning enough for to keep playing and I don't play videogames to get my adrenalin flowing. I do other things for that, like climbing mountains (well... tiny mountains... cliffs ).

I wish I had some buddy who was into these kinds of games so I could go there and try them out ones in a while. For them to be worth the money you need to put some more time into it then I'm willing to do.

Well, I personally enjoy FPS games, but I also like soykaf messages, and I don't really think that I want to play a game which is called SR but which in fact has nothing to do with SR.

The thing about FPS games is that they're soothing. You just have to relax first and distance yourself from the minutae of the scoreboard. Pick out things that you enjoy doing in the FPS and focus on those, such as "I want to go through at least 200 rounds on the M249 by way of suppressive fire," or "I want to knife the best-scoring player at least once". Or, you could play single player. For me it's very soothing to stay relaxed and try to go for headshots on everyone because you need to keep yourself calm and precise even when umpteen enemies are jumping around and attacking you.

The time of day you play makes a difference too. I have noticed that the people who are playing at, say, 7PM are as a whole not as awesomely skilled as the people who are still playing at 2 or 3 AM. The skill level really spikes around then. If you don't like to do poorly then I'd recommend not playing at like 2 or 3 AM.

I think it also helps to play FPSes on PCs instead of on consoles. The console joysticks I find somewhat annoying. I can relax a lot more using a mouse because I feel like my control of the character is so much better.

I think the game is going to be a great FPS. The elements seem pretty balanced, and the mechanics look like they'll be a blast to master and experiment with.

My beef is with the gameplay options. For the 360 version, the only way to play the game is online. Period.

No bots? --No problem.

No Split screen? --Ok, fine, i'll let it slide...

No System Link(LAN). --Wait, what?!

The only way to play it is online. I have Xbox LIVE, so its no problem for me. But I also have two brothers, and no split screen means I can't play with them online like I can for Halo 3 Beta, Gears of War, or GRAW/2. And no system link means I can't even play with them if we hook our Xboxs up.

Epic fail from a gamer's point of view.

I'll likely look into it in a month or two when I have a different network. (my current setup seems to give me latency in FPS games, but not in MMOs.) Everything I've read has indicated this will be a game I would enjoy... but I'm still not sure I like how it was handled with regards to the Shadowrun property.

I *do* think an MMO would work, and I also know Microsoft has been looking to put money behind an MMO that will turn a profit. With a lot of folks looking for something "different" in an MMO, I'd think Shadowrun would have come up by now.

Microsoft's games divison has a whole bunch of experienced FPS guys; do they have any RPGs to their credit? Even eastern-style ones? Blue Dragon doesn't count, it wasn't in-house. If they'd have to buy a company to get the necessary expertise then it's never ever going to happen, 'cause MS's "lose lots of money" strategy only makes sense when you're fighting for a large market. Which we're not.

ahaha, reported on Kotaku today:

more news: Shadowrun on today's Penny Arcade comic!