140°

Volition talks Xbox One, dedicated servers and why Saints Row 4 lacks "bleeding edge" graphics

OXM UK: "Volition's Saints Row 4 is out in the UK today, and if you've read our review, you'll know it's an utter hoot. The developer has yet to announce what it's up to next, but senior producer Jim Boone was prepared to discuss some broad possibilities for Xbox One and PS4 when I caught up with him at a hands-on last month."

n4rc3890d ago

dedicated servers for every multiplayer game at a bargain price (we've heard reports that these servers are, in fact, free, but we've yet to receive official confirmation from Microsoft). For a developer like Volition, which lacks the publisher resources of a company like DICE, this is a tempting prospect.

thats the big thing.. anyone that says that isnt huge knows nothing about online gaming.

Skate-AK3890d ago

Deep Sliver has plenty of money to get their own dedicated servers for Volition.

n4rc3890d ago

the point was offering up free dedicated servers on a massive network to smaller developers is a huge boost to the gaming industry..

EA already has their infrastructure.. but its insanely expensive and really only activision could do the same, and they dont want to.

this option was just never possible for smaller games before..

Freedomland3890d ago

I believe it when i see it up-till now they are just marketing the term.

trafalger3890d ago

its the same thing with respawn and titanfall. having m$ handle all of that means they don't have to. someone like ea has there own infrastructure but even activision is talking about xbone servers and not ps4 servers. m$ has invested billions of dollars having servers around the world to make matchmaking better. dedicated servers also make online play more fair. you dont get host advantage, can have more gamers in matches and not worry about lagging. the cloud will allow patches and updates on the fly too. in fact call of duty will updates its games without you even knowing so they can monitor feedback better.

No_Limit3890d ago

there is no going back after cloud based dedicated servers. It is like going back to 56k internet after using blazing fast broadband. 300,000 servers will make games online great. Welcome to the next generation.

iamnsuperman3890d ago (Edited 3890d ago )

Dedicated servers will make online much better but not the same extreme as 56k internet to broadband. That is just absurd and a silly parallel.

DeadlyFire3890d ago (Edited 3890d ago )

You know cloud based just means they are still using the same type of servers as everyone else. They just can scale them up and down across the network when games are created/ended without a transition and likely only results will be less time for matchmaking. That is all that is different. Costs are still there for Microsoft. Speeds are not faster than normal servers. Just all their servers are linked together now under one network.

Without cloud servers. A regular dedicated server has very little difference. Servers might be searching an extra minute, but speed is relatively the same and servers are individual for every game. On a cloud they are universal servers that can apply to any game. Not just for a single game as dedicated servers are often aimed at single games. Cloud servers are the same servers just all linked together and sharing the same game info so they could be utilized for every game. So the need for new servers for games is less so it reduces some cost.

Only result I can see is faster server swapping on Microsoft side for games as they are universal servers. Games on PC and consoles before had to be setup for each game individually and closed after awhile to make room for new games.

This isn't something that really affects gamers. On a console you never pay for your dedicated servers typically other than the standard subscription if you pay that.

Baka-akaB3890d ago (Edited 3890d ago )

This got nothing to do with that . There was no trade off in perfs , it's just a case of SR4 being the further development of a SR3 addon . Enough with the PR Bullsh*t , the fans that care will pick it up either way , and you are not going to convince people that feel otherwise about SR4 ...

badz1493890d ago

graphics have NEVER been the strength of SR series and even on PC max setting, it doesn't even look stunning unlike other games like Sleeping dogs which is looking very good maxed out on pc. even JC2 on consoles put SR4's graphic to shame! I remember how SR2 basically looks like a PS2 game on 360 and PS3 and I though my eyes were bad!

I'm not saying their games are crap because not every dev in the world should play the graphics "card" but as long as it looks good enough and most importantly plays good, people will have no problem getting it! CoD have been looking very outdated these years but people seems to have no problem buying it year after year.

Baka-akaB3890d ago

And i dont have issues with their graphics . But let's be honest , a SR4 that started from scratch would still look different even on current consoles , and probably better on ps4/xb1 . The current look happened because it's build with a SR3 expansion at its core .

Sayai jin3890d ago

Dedicated servers is a plus for MP.

forcefullpower3890d ago

I just dont get why the Xbox is only just now getting dedicated server. Dedicated servers have been used for years by companies for games on PC and PS3. Not sure if Wii ever had any.

Sayai jin3890d ago

Not sure why either. They mainly left it up to devs to have dedicated servers.

Fireseed3890d ago

They've have had them before, but you're missing the point that Azure isn't just for MS published games. They're for every game.

160°

Saints Row & Red Faction IPs Will Be Kept Alive Despite Volition's Closure

Today publisher Deep Silver took to X (formerly Twitter) to follow up on the announcement of the closure of Saints Row developer Volition.

Terry_B229d ago

Who knows...maybe we see a remastered SR2 after all and a new studio that makes good SR games again. Still..thanks a ton Volition for the excellent Punisher Video game

Christopher229d ago

We will keep making money off of these by giving them to new teams with zero experience with them.

DarXyde228d ago (Edited 228d ago )

Not necessarily a bad thing having zero experience. Insomniac took a crack at Spider-Man and did it very well. Sucker Punch also made Ghost of Tsushima. Heck, some would say Ninja Theory did a great job with DmC.

jambola227d ago

None of those are new teams

DarXyde227d ago

jambola,

Perhaps we're looking at "new teams" differently. I mean handing it off to a different team (one with no experience in these franchises or types of games). I don't mean a newly formed team.

But even then...a new team doesn't mean they're new to game development.

I'd also like your input on where The Initiative stands. They're new in the sense they've yet to produce any games and formed relatively recently, but comprised of industry veterans.

chicken_in_the_corn228d ago

I'd love another Saints Row game but I can't see it happening after the response to the reboot.

Battlestar23228d ago

I enjoyed the Saints Row reboot and i hope we see more titles in the franchise.

cammers1995228d ago

Reboot was trash and killed the developer.

ChiefofLoliPolice228d ago

I'm very happy to know the SR and RF franchises won't die. RF was a revolutionly fps at the time and loved the 4 og SR games.

Show all comments (17)
Christopher230d ago

Kind of sucks, but to be understood. I feel bad for the talent there who fall due to the decisions of the few and not because they aren't good at what they do.Hope those who deserve it land safely with other teams.

darthv72230d ago

...and as a parting hooray, they are letting Sony give their game away on PS+.

Christopher230d ago

They also made them port it to Steam (was Epic only) so Embracer can rake in money from that over the years.

Lionsguard229d ago

I would pay extra to not have it in my library.

dumahim230d ago

Quite the shame. I really enjoyed the Saints Row games prior to Agent of Mayhem.

230d ago Replies(7)
HankHill230d ago

It was a shell since most of the original developers left years ago. They haven't made a good game in 10 years imo.

It still sucks though. R.I.P.

seaboy1200230d ago

I agree. New people screwed it up, shame to lose this franchise. Well for now at least. I wonder if anybody else will take the series on

DarXyde229d ago

Scary thought when you consider R* is not really R* anymore either.

StrangeDerp228d ago

@DarXyde Let's face reality and accept the facts, because it's irrelevant that Leslie Benzies and Dan Houser left rockstar games, because Leslie Benzies left rockstar games in (2016) and it made no difference to GTA Online updates or GTA Online gameplay and Dan Houser left rockstar games in (2020), and Dan Houser ONLY wrote the GTA Story for GTA Single Player, and Dan Houser wasn't a programmer or gameplay designer lol.

Leslie Benzies (Producer) leaving rockstar games in (2016) and Dan Houser (GTA Single Player Story Writer) leaving rockstar games in (2020) isn't going to affect GTA 6 gameplay or GTA 6 Online Multiplayer, because they aren't programmers and they don't create the gameplay design, the GTA world, GTA Online, etc.

if GTA 6 Single Player Story Mode is worse than GTA 5's, who cares ?, because most people will only be playing GTA 6 Online Multiplayer after they have finished GTA 6 Single Player Story Mode anyway, because GTA Single Player Story Mode / Free Roam can only entertain most people for so long, until it becomes boring and repetitive.

There are still millions of people playing GTA Online to this day, and there is probably a lot more people playing GTA Online than GTA 5 Single Player.

Have you seen the trash games that Leslie Benzies and Dan Houser are working on ?, Leslie Benzies is working on a trash game called "Everywhere", and Dan Houser invested in a blockchain games company called "Revolving Games", Leslie Benzies and Dan Houser have seriously embarrassed themselves lol.

Here's the video trailer for Leslie Benzies boring and uninteresting looking game called "Everywhere", and here's the article link about Dan Houser investing in a blockchain games company called "Revolving Games", this is beyond embarrassing for Leslie Benzies and Dan Houser lol.

Everywhere Gamescom Teaser 2022
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser invests in blockchain games studio, joins its advisory board
https://www.videogameschron...

-Foxtrot230d ago

It's a shame for people to loose their jobs but these guys did make fun of gamers for pointing out how bad this looked rather than taking criticism on board.

What the hell were these guys thinking

They didn't just ruin their studio they literally tanked a franchise.

Show all comments (77)
80°

Volition's Saints Row 4 PC upgrade was meant to be a make-good, but it broke the game instead

Remember this year's Saints Row(opens in new tab)? Volition would probably prefer that you didn't, which might go some way to explaining why the studio recently decided to upgrade everyone's copy of Saints Row 4(opens in new tab) to its full-fat Re-elected Edition, containing all the game's story and cosmetic DLC and even introducing cross-play between Steam, Epic, and GOG versions of the game.

Unfortunately, that upgrade seems to have backfired, and players now report a myriad of bugs with their new version of SR4. Both the Saints Row Steam forums(opens in new tab) and subreddit(opens in new tab) are filled with players complaining of broken saves, crashes, and mods failing to function. It's also received a few hundred negative Steam reviews(opens in new tab) since the update. If it's succeeded in washing the taste of Saints Row (2022) out of players' mouths, it's only because it tastes even worse.

crazyCoconuts487d ago

I wonder if Volition's getting reorged under Gearbox impacted the quality of their release.

jeromeface486d ago

i can't help but laugh at this comment. Gearbox can't even run themselves.