GDC 07: Warhawk's transition into a Network title

by Andrew Yoon { Mar 11th 2007 at 4:30PM }

At the Sony blogger's event, Warhawk's Dylan Jobe admitted that the PlayStation Network game doesn't deserve "to be a full priced game." Unfortunately, he admits, it's not his job to set the pricing. The team wanted to make a good product, but there were a few employees frustrated that the game was becoming a Network-only game. There's a stigma, he noted, and one disgruntled employee left the team due to the misconception that downloadable games are somehow lesser experiences.

"Crap product will sell like crap, whether or not it's on a shelf or not," Dylan admitted. He thinks that the future of Sony's Network offerings is exciting, especially because it "transcends arcade rehashes." These are "high quality titles" that will allow the company to "earn the player's trust back."

Going forward, Sony admits that they're trying to get a "downloadable demo for every title." There is no Warhawk demo in the works now, but the possibility of offering a public beta for trial purpose is still being discussed.

Tags: beta, demo, dylan jobe, DylanJobe, gdc07, network, playstation network, PlaystationNetwork, psn, warhawk

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

GRT @ Mar 11th 2007 6:24PM

I have a 360 and a Wii in addition to the PS3.

The Wii's "Virtual Console" has very little of interest to me. I bought Military Madness for the TG-16 because I enjoyed the game back in the day and I wanted to re-visit it. I've played it once. I doubt I'll buy any more of these 'classics.' Did you know that if your Wii dies and you buy a new one, all your VC games are lost and you'd have to buy them all over again?

XBLA fares better in that they do release some original content amongst the re-hashed like Root Beer Tapper and Paperboy. Up until now, though, the 50 meg limit has meant that the vast majority of new titles have been arcade shooters of one variety or another. Though we keep being promised Settlers of Catan. With the size limitations eased maybe things will get better.

The PSN offering Tekken Dark Resurrection gives me incredible hope that finally a console will have "full" games available for download. I'm sure that "Calling All Cars" will be fun, but I hope it doesn't represent the typical offerings we'll be getting, as it seems like a title that could easily pop up on XBLA.

Mr BoomStick XL @ Mar 11th 2007 7:49PM

Good write up #1, War Hawk is a half baked title that SOny couldn't get right from day one!! This is excatly why we will be seeing it on the PS Network. WOW, Multi-play only, thnks Sony. As a real fan of the original I was really looking foward to this game, what a shame!!!

SKI @ Mar 11th 2007 8:13PM

"Did you know that if your Wii dies and you buy a new one, all your VC games are lost and you'd have to buy them all over again? "

That is not true, Nintendo will credit your new Wii for the amount of points you lost because they have records of all you purchases.

smco @ Mar 11th 2007 8:17PM

I have been looking forward to Warhawk and I am disappointed that it will be multiplayer only. However, I believe that it will still be quite a game and that we will see some "full" games offered for download.

Sony will need to improve the network in the US before that happens, though.

vizunary @ Mar 12th 2007 12:24AM

check out the gdc coverage of the game, it looks like they've really thought out the MP. i'll be giving it a try!

mccomber @ Mar 12th 2007 12:44AM

I think this is a great move. Multiplayer was the part of this game I was looking forward to, and the fact that now they'll be focusing on it is fine by me. The only thing I'm worried about is the number of simultaneous players... the more the merrier, especially in this virtual war, and numbers less than those of resistance aren't impressing me at all.