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[Doom_Bringer]

Vin Diesel "working on" bringing Escape from Butcher Bay to the PlayStation 2 by holiday '04.

In an audio interview posted over a month ago on movie site ComingSoon.net, actor-turned game impresario Vin Diesel states that the PlayStation 2 version of Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is in the works and being primed for a release this holiday season.

In the interview, Diesel says he is "trying to get the PS2 game [to retailers] by Christmas; to release with the DVD."

In the interview, Diesel's tone suggests frustration at the game not being released sooner for the PS2: When asked by the interviewer why the game has been an Xbox exclusive, he says "That's a question I have."

Given Diesel's resolve to address the game's current production, gamers can consider the question of when the game is due to the PlayStation 2 platform moot. Expect to see the game--if all goes according to Diesel--toward the end of the year.

Last week, news of an upcoming PC version of the title filtered into the public domain via entertainment bible Variety.

VU Games had not replied with a comment by press time.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/07/06/news_6102003.html

 

[Ghost]

Old news rehashed is so great!

 

[Wario64]

 

[seismologist]

"When asked by the interviewer why the game has been an Xbox exclusive, he says "That's a question I have."


haha, Vin Deisel rocks

 

[DCharlie]

I'll be interested to see how this looks on the PS2.
There will be mad props handed out if they can get it looking close to the XBox version.

 

[Insertia]

getting the pc ver, but i look forward to seeing how it turns out on ps2.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

Can't wait for the GC port.

*crickets chirping*

 

[Defensor]

I'm wondering if the same developer is going to port this game to the PS2 or if another studio will do the job?

 

[Daxter Too]

I am confident the game will look almost as good as the Xbox version.

 

[Lukas]

I am confident the game will look almost as good as the Xbox version.

LOL ps2 cant even do bumpmapping, let alone normal mapping , wtf are you smoking

if already pretty average games like Rainbow Six 3, Ghost Recon, and Pandora Tomorrow look so much worse on the PS2 than the Xbox, you honestly expect Riddick, the best looking Xbox game to look almost as good on PS2? Wake up.

 

[Drek]

I am confident the game will look almost as good as the Xbox version.

It'd take a miracle to get it looking close to as good as the Xbox version. Too much bump mapping, advanced lighting, and texturing work is done in the game for the PS2 to handle it all. Not enough ram will be the problem I'm guessing.

It'll probably look quite good however, and it should still play like a dream.

 

[shpankey]

I am confident the game will look almost as good as the Xbox version.

Yeah, just like the port of Wreckless, which uses a lot of the same technology. Spot on, it was!

 

[tedtropy]

Yeah, just like the port of Wreckless, which uses a lot of the same technology. Spot on, it was!

Hah, yeah, the PS2 port was worth a rental for laughs alone...

 

[Sho Nuff]

OMG, VIN DIESEL IS WRITING THE PS2 PORT HIMSELF!!! :O

 

[ScientificNinja]

ROTFLMAO! Sorry - I love PS2 games as much as the next person, but Riddick on PS2 is going to be a completely different experience with the toned down visuals. It probably won't even get most of the lighting right.

 

[tedtropy]

Riddick for the PS2 will be the first game to use the updated BUILD engine that 3DRealms has secretly been developing alongside Duke Nukem Forever...

 

[MrSingh]

I am confident the game will look almost as good as the Xbox version.

IAWTP

</switches off RDF chip>

 

[Manders]

hmm...woner how the graphics will be. it looked damn good on xbox.

 

[Lord Error]

LOL ps2 cant even do bumpmapping, let alone normal mapping , wtf are you smoking

Normal mapping is bump mapping (DOT3 variation, that is) which is truly difficult to do on PS2 for anything but tech demos. I think they won't even bother trying, it would be wasteful, when they should concentrate on translating the gameplay and preserving the atmosphere.

 

[ourumov]

I was wondering about PS2 and bump-mapping and they told me on B3D that there are at least two PS2 games that use it (ghost hunter and primal). THey also claim Champions of Norrath uses it, which I don't know...

I always thought TTT used it on the floor of the Ogre Stage...

 

[Pachinko]

yeah, they'll have to redo the graphics engine to do the games graphical highpoint justice on the PS2. They could still pull off some decent lighting and particle effects but the normal mapping/bump mapping will have to go.

I'd expect that with proper care they could make a game just as stunning looking in terms of PS2's capabilities as the current Xbox one is to its console.

 

[Sysgen]

There is a little logo on the box that says.... ONLY ON XBOX. No PS2 for joo.

 

[Lord Error]

Ourumov:
BGDA and Champions almost certainly use some kind of bumpmapping, but it's not DOT3, but rather something simpler. Looks more like emboss bumpmapping, which is much easier to do on the PS2. BGDA and Champions also have highly detailed geometry on their floors and walls, so they basically just render almost every little bump with polygons (many people though the bumpy stone floors are bumpmapping, but they are actually very detailed polygonal surfaces (you can tell because bumps actually occlude characters)) Emboss BM is used on some really super-tiny details like small bones on the floor, and I haven't seen it being used very often.

I haven't seen any BM in Primal, and none in the Ghosthunter videos. Jak 3 apparently uses bumpmapping somewhere (at least that's what developers said, but I could swear there aren't any in the videos) SH3 also uses some crazy specular effect which combined with animated textures gives an effect of bumpmapping, but walls in the rooms where that effect goes off are so weird looking that it's impossible to really tell what is going on.

TTT ogre stage is also all geometry + maybe (big maybe) specular map.

There are no commercial games that I know of that use DOT3 bumpmapping on PS2, and I doubt Starbreeze would waste time developing something that even if they could pull off, would severely limit what else they can do with the rest of the graphics. Why not just use pre-baked BM maps instead, with projected texture lighting (like Ghosthunter)? Sure you lose dynamic lighting on the bumpmapped detail, but you actually get something that runs fast, looks decent and preserves the atmosphere.

 

[Chi-Town]

Vin Diesel "working on" bringing Escape from Butcher Bay to the PlayStation 2 by holiday '04.

In an audio interview posted over a month ago on movie site ComingSoon.net, actor-turned game impresario Vin Diesel states that the PlayStation 2 version of Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is in the works and being primed for a release this holiday season.

In the interview, Diesel says he is "trying to get the PS2 game [to retailers] by Christmas; to release with the DVD."

In the interview, Diesel's tone suggests frustration at the game not being released sooner for the PS2: When asked by the interviewer why the game has been an Xbox exclusive, he says "That's a question I have."

Given Diesel's resolve to address the game's current production, gamers can consider the question of when the game is due to the PlayStation 2 platform moot. Expect to see the game--if all goes according to Diesel--toward the end of the year.

Last week, news of an upcoming PC version of the title filtered into the public domain via entertainment bible Variety.

VU Games had not replied with a comment by press time.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/07/06/news_6102003.html

Seems VU got back to Gamespot with a comment...

"Given Diesel's resolve to address the game's current production, gamers can consider the question of when the game is due to the PlayStation 2 platform moot. Or can they? A VU Games spokesperson checked in with the following comment today, saying that "at this time there are no plans to do Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay on PlayStation 2." "

 

[MaddenNFL64]

The XBox version has low res textures & very little AA if any at all.

A PS2 version would look like complete & utter shit.

 

[Lord Error]

There is a little logo on the box that says.... ONLY ON XBOX. No PS2 for joo.

Well, if that's true, then yeah - there won't be any console ports (or at least there hasn't been any that I'm aware of, with games carying that logo) Does the box actually have that logo, though? Box art on EBworld.com doesn't have it.

 

[DCharlie]

"at this time there are no plans to do Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay on PlayStation 2."

Perhaps they are doing the sensible thing and doing a PS2 specific game instead of trying to port this one?

... just throwing out suggestions...

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Well, if that's true, then yeah - there won't be any console ports (or at least there hasn't been any that I'm aware of, with games carying that logo) Does the box actually have that logo, though? Box art on EBworld.com doesn't have it.

Even if it did have that logo, I think the statement only applies at the time the game was printed. At the time it WAS "Only on Xbox." I remember the old Splinter Cell commercials use to show that same exact logo...

I don't think there would be any problems legally, I mean the choice to port it could have been made after the game was released. It would suck to be held back from some cash just because of a logo.

 

[Azih]

The loading times! THE LOADING TIMES!

 

[GaimeGuy]

Yet another X-box game loses exclusive status....

 

[Sysgen]

Yet another X-box game loses exclusive status....

No it doesn't. Only on Xbox means that the game is a console exclusive ..... on Xbox. The logo is on the box. I checked before posting.

 

[GaimeGuy]

No it doesn't. Only on Xbox means that the game is a console exclusive ..... on Xbox. The logo is on the box. I checked before posting.

Oh please, don't give me that. Riddick has it, it's going to the Ps2. Splinter Cell had it, it went to all platforms. Halo and Star Wars: KoToR had it, they're both going to, or, in Halo's case, already on, the PC.

The exclusive tag simply means that at the time of release, it's exclusive to that platform. Nothing more.

 

[buck naked]

If they are planning on porting the game, I hope they don't give Starbreeze the job. I want to see more games from these guys, not have them bogged down with ports.

Look how long it took the Mafia team at Illusion-Softworks to port that to the PS2 and the Xbox (with mediocre results). We could have had a sequel by now!

 

[MrSingh]

can't wait for the superior PS2 version, the Xbox version was so ugly I couldn't play it.

 

[GaimeGuy]

can't wait for the superior PS2 version, the Xbox version was so ugly I couldn't play it.

Wait, what?

 

[MrSingh]

Wait, what?

I like your hat. Can I touch it?

 

[GaimeGuy]

I like your hat. Can I touch it?

I'm not wearing a hat....

 

[Grizzlyjin]

I'm not wearing a hat....

Actually its more of a cap...

Hehe, just kidding.

 

[cybercrash]

IGN had PS2 Riddick footage online during E3 for a brief moment (feel free to not believe me, I'm not bullshitting you) and it looked very good. They also seemed to have done something to mimic the bump-mapping on the XBox, it didn't look quite as good but it came close.

 

[Chi-Town]

Oh please, don't give me that. Riddick has it, it's going to the Ps2. Splinter Cell had it, it went to all platforms. Halo and Star Wars: KoToR had it, they're both going to, or, in Halo's case, already on, the PC.

The exclusive tag simply means that at the time of release, it's exclusive to that platform. Nothing more.

Splinter Cell didn't have the "Only on Xbox"
Kotor didn't have it either.

 

[Lord Error]

Oh please, don't give me that. Riddick has it, it's going to the Ps2. Splinter Cell had it, it went to all platforms. Halo and Star Wars: KoToR had it, they're both going to, or, in Halo's case, already on, the PC.

No, he actually does have a point. I don't think there has ever been a game that was ported to other console that has had that logo printed on the box. PC and GBA ports don't count in that exclusivity thing.

 

[SolidSnakex]

No, he actually does have a point. I don't think there has ever been a game that was ported to other console that has had that logo printed on the box. PC and GBA ports don't count in that exclusivity thing.

It's one reason I wish companies wouldn't put that "Only On" logo on boxes since alot of the time it's not even true. Sometimes they'll put the logo on the box for games that are ports from other systems.

 

[Lord Error]

It's one reason I wish companies wouldn't put that "Only On" logo on boxes since alot of the time it's not even true.

Nintendo was throwing that logo around like crazy during the N64 times, and apparently they still do, but I say again, that is (or at least has not been so far) true with the Xbox.

 

[dark10x]

It will probably still look very decent, but I'd imagine it will end up looking VERY different. The problem is that the game is actually rather poly-starved. It's visuals rely almost entirely on effects that the PS2 simply isn't capable of. It makes a very heavy use of perpixel lighting and shader effects while also presenting a nice unified lighting model (something which PS2 could probably handle if done right).

It all comes down to how well these guys can emulate the atmosphere and design via different effects. I SB talking about the older PS2 port of Enclave (which was never completed) and saying that they had an "ICO-like" look to it as opposed the PC-ish XBOX version. They were seemingly changing major pieces of the visual design in order to get results on another system. So, the game could end up looking really good but really different...which wouldn't be a bad thing. Better to go that route than to emulate something else...

"Vin" is commenting on this a bit too much, though. While I can't deny the fact that his intetions seem sound, I have to wonder if he actually understands just what they (Starbreeze) did with the XBOX game...

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Nintendo was throwing that logo around like crazy during the N64 times, and apparently they still do, but I say again, that is (or at least has not been so far) true with the Xbox.

The old Splinter Cell commercials had a yellow "Only on Xbox" sign though.

 

[ManaByte]

IGN had PS2 Riddick footage online during E3 for a brief moment (feel free to not believe me, I'm not bullshitting you) and it looked very good. They also seemed to have done something to mimic the bump-mapping on the XBox, it didn't look quite as good but it came close.

Riddick was not shown for the PS2 at E3 behind closed doors or anywhere else.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

IGN had PS2 Riddick footage online during E3 for a brief moment (feel free to not believe me, I'm not bullshitting you) and it looked very good. They also seemed to have done something to mimic the bump-mapping on the XBox, it didn't look quite as good but it came close.

I'm guessing IGN just posted the videos on the wrong channel, E3 is a crazy time for them. That would also explain why it was taken down quickly and why it looked like the Xbox version...because it was the Xbox version.

 

[ManaByte]

The old Splinter Cell commercials had a yellow "Only on Xbox" sign though.

It was never on the box, and I have a copy of Splinter Cell from the first day it was out.

 

[Rhindle]

GS updated their story

Given Diesel's resolve to address the game's current production, gamers can consider the question of when the game is due to the PlayStation 2 platform moot. Or can they? A VU Games spokesperson checked in with the following comment today, saying that "at this time there are no plans to do Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay on PlayStation 2."

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

Sometimes they'll put the logo on the box for games that are ports from other systems.

In some cases this is excusable. Skies of Arcadia: Legends is a good example of a port that has updated content that is only available on one system.