Streamline Studios Clarifies Hoopworld Delay
As we have mentioned in an earlier article, the release of Hoopworld on XBLA will be delayed and won’t come out till next year. Originally scheduled for release later this year, Streamline Studios says that they’d have to make sure that the title conforms to Microsoft‘s XBLA guidelines, specifically, the 50MB footprint, before they release Hoopworld on XBLA. How do they do this? Get “hardcore engineering house” Virtual Toys to “crunch the game down” without removing any gameplay elements.
In an e-mail interview that Joystiq had with Hector Fernandez, Chief Creative Officer of Streamline Studios, Fernandez tells us that the XBLA version has apparently been in development for the past year, and when asked whether the XBLA guidelines were unclear when they began developing the game, Fernandez said, “It’s not really about guidelines being unclear; it’s about the challenges of creating a compelling game with great graphics, awesome multiplayer, and enough content within 50MB to satisfy ourselves and players around the world.”
We all know that going back to the drawing board when you’ve already finished a product is not at all fun, but Fernandez seems to further avoid saying anything negative about Microsoft’s guidelines when asked whether he thought the 50MB size cap is too small. He says that size doesn’t matter and that the challenge to create a great game that fits in 50MB is something they’re willing to take on because there’s no way they’d compromise their vision of the game. Didn’t seem like he answered the question really, but maybe that’s just us.
Then they talk about the components that will be removed, since they will be crunching down the game, but Fernandez says that they won’t be removing any components. On the contrary, they’ll be adding things that were originally intended to be cut out. However, Fernandez does admit that they are thinking about what the release of 256MB Memory Unit would mean for them and their partnership with Virtual Toys. But for now, they will continue working on cramping the size of Hoopworld down to 50MB. Let’s hope that the final Hoopworld product makes up for the delay and gives XBLA users what they’re looking for.
Via Joystiq
As we have mentioned in an earlier article, the release of Hoopworld on XBLA will be delayed and won’t come out till next year. Originally scheduled for release later this year, Streamline Studios says that they’d have to make sure that the title conforms to Microsoft‘s XBLA guidelines, specifically, the 50MB footprint, before they release Hoopworld on XBLA. How do they do this? Get “hardcore engineering house” Virtual Toys to “crunch the game down” without removing any gameplay elements.
In an e-mail interview that Joystiq had with Hector Fernandez, Chief Creative Officer of Streamline Studios, Fernandez tells us that the XBLA version has apparently been in development for the past year, and when asked whether the XBLA guidelines were unclear when they began developing the game, Fernandez said, “It’s not really about guidelines being unclear; it’s about the challenges of creating a compelling game with great graphics, awesome multiplayer, and enough content within 50MB to satisfy ourselves and players around the world.”
We all know that going back to the drawing board when you’ve already finished a product is not at all fun, but Fernandez seems to further avoid saying anything negative about Microsoft’s guidelines when asked whether he thought the 50MB size cap is too small. He says that size doesn’t matter and that the challenge to create a great game that fits in 50MB is something they’re willing to take on because there’s no way they’d compromise their vision of the game. Didn’t seem like he answered the question really, but maybe that’s just us.
Then they talk about the components that will be removed, since they will be crunching down the game, but Fernandez says that they won’t be removing any components. On the contrary, they’ll be adding things that were originally intended to be cut out. However, Fernandez does admit that they are thinking about what the release of 256MB Memory Unit would mean for them and their partnership with Virtual Toys. But for now, they will continue working on cramping the size of Hoopworld down to 50MB. Let’s hope that the final Hoopworld product makes up for the delay and gives XBLA users what they’re looking for.
Via Joystiq
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