Alien Breed for PC/PS3 this summer

So were Xbox 360 owners effectively beta testers then, in much the same way that we beta tested Alone In The Dark?

Great, nice one Team 17, I'm officially pissed off with you right now.

They'd better update the XBLA version after we've given them all of this feedback. I ain't no Guinea pig, general!

Yeah, Spadge, get on here and tell us we'll be getting our xbox360 versions updated!

is this still going to be a trilogy? i'm having a hard time believing they have enough gameplay for three games. sorry team 17, i did love you back in the day, no matter what stuart campbell said.

To be honest, we had a bunch of flack for being 360 exclusive/led (from PC/PS3 players) and we had to live with that, taking it on the chin. We're kind of damned if we do, damned if we don't.

We certainly stand by the fact that the original represents high quality, good value and great entertainment for just 800 MS pts and the ratings by players and critical response was around the 7/10 on average - the game certainly wasn't broken or anything and was enjoyed by the majority of players we have heard from.

Of course we could have done nothing, ignored response & critique and just forged on regardless, but we've taken the opportunity, given we're in control, based on feedback (not significant game issues, to be fair) to improve and iterate our game rather than just release what we originally intended - its very rare developers have that opportunity. The benefits to the 2nd game in the XBLA series are there to be seen (soon!) and we delayed the title so we could improve it, whilst taking advantage of improving the yet-to-be-released PC/PSN editions over the course of 4 extra months.

All of the improvements to the game system/play mechanics will be in the XBLA future games (the next is due shortly) but unfortunately this wasn't a simple update to the existing game so it's not something we can just patch/update on 'Evolution' as there are a bunch of strict rules governing XBLA title development.

We put a lot of thought and effort into the game throughout and it's always very difficult to gauge wider player reaction until something is out there - many games are the same, but on closed console systems such as the 360, the opportunity to update & iterate like you can on Steam and iPhone (for example) isn't particularly straight forward. I don't think it would be fair to ask Bioware to go back and refresh Mass Effect with the code & improvements that appeared in Mass Effect 2... (even though I'd love that).

We're absolutely keen to ensure the series is as good as it can be and that we cater for what features fans want to play, wherever feasibly that fits into any kind of working schedule (our recent Beta for Worms Reloaded on PC is a testimony to this).

We realise that it's not a perfect situation in that Impact delivers more features than the original XBLA title, but the bonus for XBLA players is that the 2nd game is just around the corner... and is exclusive to them for a few months.

Game development and release is easy and straight forward, let no-one tell you otherwise.

As someone who's been patiently waiting for a new Alien Breed for nearly as long as a sequel to TRON, I can't say that I'm upset to hear that the game will be improved by the delay since the XBox 360 version. Just get on and release it so I can start playing it, OK? Thanks.

We realise that it's not a perfect situation in that Impact delivers more features than the original XBLA title, but the bonus for XBLA players is that the 2nd game is just around the corner... and is exclusive to them for a few months.

Thanks but no thanks. I am not gonna pay full price to have a better version released later on. Fool me once........

@vegard, yes it's still a trilogy. The plot, story and other aspects have been carefully preserved through recent additions.

Cheers for the response Spadge, I understand it's not easy to update XBLA games like that, it's a little disappointing to see that PS3 and PC owners get a better game, but that's the price of getting something much earlier. At least Episode 2 will come updated, can't wait for the 2nd episode by the way.

We realise that it's not a perfect situation in that Impact delivers more features than the original XBLA title, but the bonus for XBLA players is that the 2nd game is just around the corner... and is exclusive to them for a few months.

Sorry Spadge, but after this I think a lot of people won't buy the second episode on XBLA if it means that an "improved" version with extra features and gameplay is released later on. Perhaps if you released the improved version of the first on XBLA, for free to those who bought the original, then we won't just feel like we were used as a way for focus testing to make some profit for the devs. I bought Evolution, and I just couldn't bring myself to finish it after the first few levels because it just became incredibly repetitive with no sense of progress. The main thing I felt was missing was character advancement - which has been adressed in your "improved" version. Frankly, I feel ripped off.

Well I can understand why people would be annoyed at this and not bother with future games, but sod it being on PC I've had to wait (yet again Mr games industry you twats) so I SHOULD get a better version as compensation

I'm loogin forward to Impact.
I can understand why 360 users feel ripped off (i would too), but I can't deny I love those rare occasions when developpers are allowed to go back to the game and improve it (like The Witcher for example).
Still, I'm glad that I waited and did not pick up the game on the Live right away.

I think that Evolution was priced fairly, with regard to the quality of the graphics and the number of hours of gameplay before I completed the campaign. However the gameplay did get a bit of a letdown with the continual need to repair this before you can do that, and the seperate co-op missions were a bit of a waste really, I only managed to get 2 games online before it became impossible to get a game due to a total lack of players.
I'm not going to prejudge episode 2 before the review comes out, but I really have lost much of the enthusiasm I had before Evolution was released. Hopefully next time I will be able to defeat the final boss without having to refer to an online guide. Perhaps no new game can stand up to 20-odd years of rose-tinted memories of the originals.

Looks good. As a PS3 owner can't wait to get the new version and a big thanks to 360 owners for beta testing it. Thanks guys!

Christ all mighty. What a ungrateful bunch you lot are...

Us PC and PS3 gamers haven't even had the please yet, think yourselves lucky ffs.

PS - Ignore Kenshin001 (above). Obvious troll like baiting behaviour.

Sorry, but the game's not good, I can't imagine what kind of update could make it a better game (saying the game is not broken is not very ambitious). I would tell my fellow community members PS3 users to try the demo first. If they could, that is.

"We realise that it's not a perfect situation in that Impact delivers more features than the original XBLA title, but the bonus for XBLA players is that the 2nd game is just around the corner... and is exclusive to them for a few months."

That's not gonna do you any favours Spadge. I can see the whole improvements based on feedback thing and that's a great way to address the ire of those that were snubbed originally, but you've now created a situation where 360 fans are going to react negatively to the game as they see it as "incomplete" compared to the belated but improved version on the other platform.

Question though, it's all well and good defending the original as great value at 800 MSP, but what price will the PS3 version be sold at? I ask because many publishers suffer from the delusion that a 20-30% mark up on PSN downloads is perfectly acceptable, which is of course it isn't.

@murton

Why do you care so much? Just accept the PS3 and PC will have a different version. End of.