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Forums - Microsoft - Game Preview: The revered PC role-playing game is coming soon to consoles

 

Copy and pasted from GameTrailers.

By now, console owners may be tired of their PC-playing buddies singing effusive praise for "The Witcher 2." Luckily for the rest of the game-playing world, the excellent action/RPG is headed to the 360 this spring, along with some big improvements. I played the new console port and came away confident that the excellent game is receiving the transition it deserves.

For those not in the know, "The Witcher 2" is a third-person game of fantasy battles and political intrigue starring a mysterious monster hunter named Geralt. The number "2" on the title shouldn't scare anyone away, as the new story stands largely independent from its predecessor and is a perfect jumping on point for -new -players.

The PC version of "The Witcher 2" already plays well with a gamepad, and developer CD Projekt Red has used the last few months to make the controls feel even better. A new optional camera system follows the player and rotates the camera without the need for manual control, always moving to an angle that offers a good view of the action and where you're going. At the same time, players can still use the right stick to alter their view and can turn off the automatic camera if desired. Battles now have an excellent lock-on mechanic that keeps your focus on a single target, and a flick of the right stick switches to other enemies. Overall responsiveness in battle has been improved, and the team is currently locking in a new inventory management system, though it wasn't in place for our demo.

Beyond improvements to gameplay control and mechanics, the console version has a wealth of new story content. CD Projekt Red added new CG cutscenes throughout the game to deepen the plot, from opening movies that delve into the characters and world to closing movies that summarize the results of your various decisions throughout the game.

Best of all, CD Projekt Red added over four hours worth of new missions that feature new characters and locations. The new plot circulates around locating some royal heirs with the help of an alluring spy named Brigida, who had once posed as their caretaker. In playing through a lengthy part of this mission, I fought a number of battles versus brigands and mages aligned against Geralt's efforts to find the truth and saw several new conversation-driven role-playing sequences, like a plot to embroil a nobleman in the kidnapping. Like the rest of the game, excellent writing, smart dialogue, and morally ambiguous character choices characterize these sections.

PC players have been excited about "The Witcher 2" for a reason; the complexity and breadth of choices you face as a player are like nothing else in modern RPGs. If development continues apace, expect "The Witcher 2" to draw some big attention from console gamers this spring.

http://forums.gametrailers.com/thread/the-witcher-2-expands-this-spr/1270364

 



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I hope it does come out this spring, I'm sick of having to wait to play the game.

Oh and they said consoles so does that mean there is now a PS3 version in the works?



Witcher 2 is still probably the best RPG I've played this year. In most years I'd probably call it the best game period.

I hope the console version holds up.



I suppose those new cutscenes and quests will be a good reason to play through the game again, when they release the PC patch.



@TheVoxelman on twitter

Check out my hype threads: Cyberpunk, and The Witcher 3!

yo_john117 said:
I hope it does come out this spring, I'm sick of having to wait to play the game.

Oh and they said consoles so does that mean there is now a PS3 version in the works?

not just PS3,maybe even Wii U



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Hopefully the console version will do justice to the game.



D-Joe said:
yo_john117 said:
I hope it does come out this spring, I'm sick of having to wait to play the game.

Oh and they said consoles so does that mean there is now a PS3 version in the works?

not just PS3,maybe even Wii U


Pretty unlikely it will come to the Wii U, currently the 360 version is the only one planned and they are ramping up on The Witcher 3 (which will be multiplatform at launch) and an origonal IP probably the suspended FPS They, that was in development in a studio that they purchased and then set to work on the Witcher 2. They have said that they don't want to outsorce the port since the desaster the The White Wolf turned into so that isn't an option, the PS3 version is a possibility that they will consider after 360 ships tho, but it's looking pretty unlikely as they are not a huge developer and it would likely take at least another 4-5 months to port which would take valuable resorces away from their new games.



@TheVoxelman on twitter

Check out my hype threads: Cyberpunk, and The Witcher 3!

zarx said:
D-Joe said:
yo_john117 said:
I hope it does come out this spring, I'm sick of having to wait to play the game.

Oh and they said consoles so does that mean there is now a PS3 version in the works?

not just PS3,maybe even Wii U


Pretty unlikely it will come to the Wii U, currently the 360 version is the only one planned and they are ramping up on The Witcher 3 (which will be multiplatform at launch) and an origonal IP probably the suspended FPS They, that was in development in a studio that they purchased and then set to work on the Witcher 2. They have said that they don't want to outsorce the port since the desaster the The White Wolf turned into so that isn't an option, the PS3 version is a possibility that they will consider after 360 ships tho, but it's looking pretty unlikely as they are not a huge developer and it would likely take at least another 4-5 months to port which would take valuable resorces away from their new games.


Can you source this, my man?



I really need to finish The Witcher (1), will get this as soon as it launches I hope.



Khuutra said:
zarx said:
D-Joe said:
yo_john117 said:
I hope it does come out this spring, I'm sick of having to wait to play the game.

Oh and they said consoles so does that mean there is now a PS3 version in the works?

not just PS3,maybe even Wii U


Pretty unlikely it will come to the Wii U, currently the 360 version is the only one planned and they are ramping up on The Witcher 3 (which will be multiplatform at launch) and an origonal IP probably the suspended FPS They, that was in development in a studio that they purchased and then set to work on the Witcher 2. They have said that they don't want to outsorce the port since the desaster the The White Wolf turned into so that isn't an option, the PS3 version is a possibility that they will consider after 360 ships tho, but it's looking pretty unlikely as they are not a huge developer and it would likely take at least another 4-5 months to port which would take valuable resorces away from their new games.


Can you source this, my man?

Not really directly from CD Projekt but
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/11/17/cd-projekt-working-on-new-ip-multiple-multiplatform-releases/ / http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=452381

Most important announcements about the CDPR RED plans:

- Witcher 2 Xbox - Q1 2012
- Another games will be multiplatform (at least 2 platforms)
- Constant development of the RED Engine and dev tools
- another IP/FRANCHISE started!!!

Also, another 2 AAA+ titles (while Witcher 2 is classified AAA ) will be released in 2014 and 2015 and considering the 3-5 year development cycle the titles are said to be already in development. In the meantime (2012-2013) there will be other 2 A and 1 AA class titles released (A - small budget, AA - mid sized budget).

 

Add in this 

"RPS: When should we expect more news about what is to follow The Witcher 2?

Badowski: Version 2.0 will be the main story for the next weeks and months, and this version and its features will remain most important for us this year. Early next year, as we near its completion, we’ll reveal more about the Xbox version. As we’ve said before, this will be an “adaptation” rather than a port, and you can expect some interesting additions and changes. Some people have speculated that we’re calling it an adaptation because we’re changing the game visually so much by having to downgrade it. I can assure that this is simply not the case. As we release more and more videos, it’ll become obvious that the game looks unbelievably good on Xbox. So, the Xbox 360 version will be the main story for the first quarter of 2012. Next year will also see us reveal some other news, but the exact timing will depend on how business issues play out – we need to close some deals first, and given that we’re a listed company, we’ll be obliged to reveal the information at specific times. Anyway, next year should be no less interesting than this year was in terms of the news we reveal.

 

RPS: Will we have to wait another four years for The Witcher 3? 
 

Badowski: Hmmm! What can I say? We’re gaining experience, our technology is becoming more and more complete every week, every month. And we’re definitely looking for ways to optimize and reduce development time. It’s no secret that we’re constantly hiring. Our team will soon number one hundred, of which almost 10% come from outside of Poland. (A small advert, if I may: game developers, go to wwww.thewitcher.com to look for job opportunities; we need passionate, experienced devs to strengthen our team. And don’t be scared – Poland is a great country, the people are warm and friendly, the girls are positively beautiful, and we’ll help you relocate… So apply today!). Given all that, our next game should take us less time to create overall. Of course, other factors will come into play. If, for example, we decide to produce an expansion, that may slow the process down a bit."

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/09/27/which-witcher-is-the-witcher-2-2-0/

In other words unless they decided to make an expansion instead The Witcher 3 is due in 2014/15 as a multiplatform release and is in development now. And if they decided to release the third chapter as an expnsion then they would be ramping up on that anyway, bottom line is they are a busy couple of studios.

 



@TheVoxelman on twitter

Check out my hype threads: Cyberpunk, and The Witcher 3!