NEWS - Monday, June 4, 2007
Devil May Cry 4 Update
Devil May Cry 4 producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi has at last spoken out following Capcom’s decision to make its big PS3 exclusive multiplatform. Fittingly, Famitsu’s all Xbox 360 publication, Famitsu Xbox 360, was the recipient of Kobayashi’s most recent comments on the game. Kobayashi was first asked to comment on how DMC4 became a multiplatform title. "Devil May Cry is an extremely strong name overseas," explained the producer, "so there was of course the business decision that we couldn’t exclude the Xbox 360. We’re using an engine called Framework for development, and it’s extremely easy to have a multiplatform strategy including the PC. You can say that Devil May Cry 4 is the first such offering. With the increase in platforms, we have the chance of more people being able to play the game, so we’re also happy as developers." You might think that having to make DMC4 for three platforms instead of just one would trouble Kobayashi, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. On moving the PS3-targeted game to the Xbox 360, he said, "The game engine is shared, so compared to previous hardware, I believe it’s easy. However, we’ve just started with the Xbox 360 version following the announcement, so there’s still a ways to go." Xbox 360 and PS3 owners alike can look forward to the same experience. "The content will be exactly the same," said Kobayashi. "Regardless of which one you buy, you will be able to get the same enjoyment. What’s different is perhaps the shape of the controller and graphic peculiarities for each hardware. We wanted to avoid arguments about which one is better." Moving away from multiplatform differences, the magazine asked Kobayashi if the game is progressing well following last year’s playable debut at the Tokyo Game Show. "I believe progress is on the positive side of things, but this is the team’s first time with next generation hardware development, so we are faced with a variety of problems and concerns. Clearing those is difficult." With a laugh, he noted that they’d have probably finished the game by now if it were on the PS2. The game will run at 60 frames per second, Kobayashi reconfirmed. In fact, he considers the framerate a hurdle that the development team has set up for itself, and one that is taking up a good deal of its time. Kobayashi wouldn’t set himself to a release date (although a recent Capcom financial report pretty much confirmed a fiscal 2007 release). He did promise an advanced version at the Tokyo Game Show this September. We’ll of course be in attendance, and will let you know how things have changed since last year, hopefully on both the PS3 and Xbox 360.Source: http://www.ign.com
