Post by So|Napir on Mar 8, 2007 17:01:01 GMT 1
Phil Spenser wants Bungie's matchmaking for all Microsoft-published games
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1Up.com ran into Phil Spenser, Head of Game Development for Microsoft Game Studios, at last week's D.I.C.E. convention in Las Vegas. When questioned about why virtually no multiplayer games have implemented Bungie's extremely successful Halo 2 matchmaking system, this is what Mr. Spenser had to say:
As a publisher, that's our job to take code, encapsulate it up and ship it off to other people, not because they can't figure it out but because there are other things on the schedule and if we can help other people by handing out pieces of code, pieces of technology, we should. I think what we really do is create a baseline for what to expect from first party games.
The code from Halo 2, however, hasn't been shared and 360 games haven't boasted a matchmaking service worthy of the 'next-gen' tag this console cycle boasts. Is that a problem, according to Microsoft?
"Bungie spent a lot of time working out their matchmaking system. Forget about what platform you're playing on, when you play Halo 2, you understand how that matchmaking system works -- you're playing with your friends, ranked with the playlist, it's a very innovative system and it should be across all 360 games -- definitely all first party 360 games.
When inquired about why Microsoft's recent shooter, the rabidly successful Gears of War, features such a basic and some-would-say severly outdated lobby system, Spenser responded:
"The Epic scenario and why we don't have that code in Gears of War is really more of a scheduling issue than a 'We weren't going to share the code with them, or help them add that feature to the game' because it's clearly a great feature in online shooting play. For us, it was just 'could we get this done on time in order to get the game to come out when it needed to come out."
This should dispel all the scuttlebutt about how Microsoft wants the matchmaking to be exclusive to Halo and that they don't want you playing ranked games with friends on your team. It also goes to show you that games should be released when they are finished, not to capitalize on a marketing season or to combat the launch of a rival system. Gears of War would have been the success it was if it was released anytime. Sorry, but I'd rather have my games later if it meant I would be getting a better experience.
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1Up.com ran into Phil Spenser, Head of Game Development for Microsoft Game Studios, at last week's D.I.C.E. convention in Las Vegas. When questioned about why virtually no multiplayer games have implemented Bungie's extremely successful Halo 2 matchmaking system, this is what Mr. Spenser had to say:
As a publisher, that's our job to take code, encapsulate it up and ship it off to other people, not because they can't figure it out but because there are other things on the schedule and if we can help other people by handing out pieces of code, pieces of technology, we should. I think what we really do is create a baseline for what to expect from first party games.
The code from Halo 2, however, hasn't been shared and 360 games haven't boasted a matchmaking service worthy of the 'next-gen' tag this console cycle boasts. Is that a problem, according to Microsoft?
"Bungie spent a lot of time working out their matchmaking system. Forget about what platform you're playing on, when you play Halo 2, you understand how that matchmaking system works -- you're playing with your friends, ranked with the playlist, it's a very innovative system and it should be across all 360 games -- definitely all first party 360 games.
When inquired about why Microsoft's recent shooter, the rabidly successful Gears of War, features such a basic and some-would-say severly outdated lobby system, Spenser responded:
"The Epic scenario and why we don't have that code in Gears of War is really more of a scheduling issue than a 'We weren't going to share the code with them, or help them add that feature to the game' because it's clearly a great feature in online shooting play. For us, it was just 'could we get this done on time in order to get the game to come out when it needed to come out."
This should dispel all the scuttlebutt about how Microsoft wants the matchmaking to be exclusive to Halo and that they don't want you playing ranked games with friends on your team. It also goes to show you that games should be released when they are finished, not to capitalize on a marketing season or to combat the launch of a rival system. Gears of War would have been the success it was if it was released anytime. Sorry, but I'd rather have my games later if it meant I would be getting a better experience.
Gears Forum
Hmm interesting
Mark Rein
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I agree with Phil Spencer that all 360 games should have these matchmaking features. The way to make that happen is to implement these as base features of Xbox Live. That would add value to a lot of Xbox 360 games and make the system more uniform.
We would love to have done what Bungie did and we would gladly put that functionality in Gears if we had the people to do it. This is not about money. This is about not having enough of the most valuable resources of all - people. We're a lot smaller than Bungie (which is wholly owned by Microsoft) but we've been trying our best to seek out the kind of people who could come work at Epic and build this functionality within our games but it is very, very tough to find them. We have a great company full of awesome people. We don't have corporate politics. We pay extremely well and Raleigh is a wonderful place live and to raise a family. Housing prices are extremely reasonable here. The weather is great. We don't have crazy traffic congestion or outlandish commutes. Yet despite all that the best rate we seem able to hire at is roughly one person per month. This is not for lack of trying but more for a lack of candidates who meet the very high quality bar here at Epic. If you know people might be able to help us please send them to the following page on our web site: www.epicgames.com/epic_jobs.html
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I agree with Phil Spencer that all 360 games should have these matchmaking features. The way to make that happen is to implement these as base features of Xbox Live. That would add value to a lot of Xbox 360 games and make the system more uniform.
We would love to have done what Bungie did and we would gladly put that functionality in Gears if we had the people to do it. This is not about money. This is about not having enough of the most valuable resources of all - people. We're a lot smaller than Bungie (which is wholly owned by Microsoft) but we've been trying our best to seek out the kind of people who could come work at Epic and build this functionality within our games but it is very, very tough to find them. We have a great company full of awesome people. We don't have corporate politics. We pay extremely well and Raleigh is a wonderful place live and to raise a family. Housing prices are extremely reasonable here. The weather is great. We don't have crazy traffic congestion or outlandish commutes. Yet despite all that the best rate we seem able to hire at is roughly one person per month. This is not for lack of trying but more for a lack of candidates who meet the very high quality bar here at Epic. If you know people might be able to help us please send them to the following page on our web site: www.epicgames.com/epic_jobs.html