Ben-DutkaWe heard the sad news mere hours ago but thankfully, fans don't have to erect the RIP tombstone just yet.
Insomniac boss Ted Price decided to issue a public statement in regards to his studio dropping the Resistance series; you can view the candid comments below.
First and perhaps foremost, Price said he believes the franchise reached its "logical conclusion" in regards to the studio's goals. He doesn't mention anything about disappointing Resistance 3 sales so perhaps that didn't factor into the decision. Secondly, he also revealed that Resistance isn't technically dead…it has merely shifted. You're aware of the Vita incarnation, right…?
Yes, the next title in the series will come from Nihilistic, who is currently working on Resistance: Burning Skies for the PlayStation Vita. Now, we're assuming Price means Nihilistic will work on a console version of Resistance , because he says the series will "continue to live on and expand." Then again, maybe Nihilistic will only deal with the Vita title, and yet another team will crank on a PS3 (or PS4?) iteration.
So that should do it for now. We hope PS3 owners will look back on the Resistance games with fond memories.
Sad.
The games quality honestly didn't improve all that much from Resistence.
I hope someone can bring it back to consoles at some point and bring the sales it deserves. It's shameful a game like Resistance 3 could sell so poorly.
Definitely looking forward to Burning Skies on the Vita. And as a launch title, a Resistance title may very well be a good opportunity to showing of the ps4's tech whilst expanding the story.
While I definitely appreciate Mr.Price's acknowledgement and assurance to the fan base, I find the idea of 3 being a logical conclusion very questionable. It seems there were clear plot hooks left. For example, what happened to the hive minds that were a central theme to the first two prequels?
Insomniac went multplatform, and doubled in size, opening their NC studio, so it's hard to believe with all the resources they put into Resistance 3, that the poor sales (less than 80,000 sold) had nothing to do with it. It probably would've sold better as a ps4 launch title, so I really hope to see another one from them in the future.
Maybe it's just the logical conclusion to the Hale/Capelli storyline of the Chimeran infected soldier experiment. I can't say for sure, I plan to beat R3 tonight though.
I won't give away any spoilers then. Enjoy.
I totally dug it, very early-Spielberg plus Independence Day
I'm sure sales were a factor even if they do not mention them directly. I'm also pretty sure the reason Insomniac is now a multiplat devloper is because of sales. They had long relationship with Sony so I don't think they would have went multiplat unless they felt it was necessary to do that to survive as a company.
The Resistance series never really caught on with gamers for some reason. That just happens sometimes for reasons that are hard to define exactly. I never liked the feel of the games for some reason I can't exactly put my finger on. Something about the gameplay felt dated or off when compared to say Killzone 3.
I seriously doubt that. Insomniac stuck with Sony and supported the PS3 exclusively at a time when the platform was struggling and other developers were abandoning support of the PS3. Business not doing so well apparently doesn't scare Insomniac all that much if at all.
And it's known that Insomniac has been planning on "spreading their wings" and doing multi-plat for quite some time (being acquired by Sony was always an option but they decided against that for that reason). They told that to Sony quite a while ago. Well before Resistance 3 got released to say the least.
And in addition to their new IP they've also got Ratchet and Clank to think about so having to shoulder 3 IPs would have been a bit of a burden. And if you're going to let go of one then Resistance would be the most logical choice since the main story has now been concluded anyway.
Assuming that sales are a factor at all I think they would likely be a minor factor.
And by the way the Resistance series has had at least two disadvantages. The first one is the lack of regenerating health in games 1 and 3. Regenerating health makes a game easier (not necessarily better in any way of course) and therefore more accessible to the masses.
The second one is that the first two Resistance games were released well before the PS3 Slim.
Last edited by Looking Glass on 1/26/2012 11:11:16 PM
Resistance: FoM is to this day one of my favorite FPS', and IS the best MP FPS I have ever played. The game was so well balanced, and the modes were a lot of fun and the maps were very strategic and enjoyable.
I think the reason you felt like Resistance was dated was because Fall of man was very oldschool with the weapon wheel, and it having non-regenerative health. In the mp it also was oldschool, with weapon pick ups and such… Oh man I wonder everyday why Imsomniac left behind what the accomplished in Fall of Man, when developing R2. The 60 player online just was to much. The co op was fun though! Anyways Resistance just isn't as graphically powerful as KZ but in every other way Resistance is on par and even better than KZ, especially the story.
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 1/27/2012 12:06:24 AM
Not sure about the "capable hands of Nihilistic". They've not really yet managed to wow anyone, but a Resistance game could buck that trend by showing just how good a portable FPS game can be (so long as it beats KZ to market. Cambridge has WAY more portable experience, AND they're working alongside GG). I too felt that the narrative thread that Insomniac set out to tell with the Resistance series was wrapped up in the third game, but will still be very sad to see it go. There are, of course, thousands of other stories in the universe that could take place around the world as it was a worldwide event, and I would love to see that idea tackled and see how the different countries responded.
Still, it's good that Price came out to explain this, even if we'll never know whether the poor sales really did contribute to the company's decision to move on. I do hope that Sony keeps the series alive, even if it is with one or two games for every console that they produce, as I feel that the franchise has legs. Anyway, cautiously optimistic for Overstrike and I want to see how gamers react to it.
Well, Insomniac did their part at delivering a quality product. I hope they continue to do so with their future products.
And FYI, R3 is selling new at Amazon right now for $31
Sales were definitely an issue, they just don't want to say that openly. It's like admitting failure.
Let's just hope Burning Skies doesn't make the mistake of releasing around the time of the CoD Vita title.
If they update the physics and game mechanics to today's standards, or even go above and beyond today's standards, I may consider getting another Resistence on console.
As much as I loved the story and creative weapons to play with in the Resistence games, the old-school gameplay and physics just completely ruined it for me. As I said in the last article, it was like playing a shiny HD PS2 FPS.
Sorry my fellow old school gamers, but FPS' have changed for the better (in terms of mechanics and physics) and if the Resistence games were to combine that high level of polish and their creativity of chimera spread and weapon mayhem… well, the next Resistence might just turn into a "must-buy" for all PS owners.
I can't help but imagine how incredible Resistence 4 would be with the Frostbite 2 engine or Gears of War's level of polish.
DISLIKE! Seriously… the non-regenerative health system is what made me enjoy the first and third games as much as I did. The second just felt derivative because of it. I think, if anything, Insomniac showed that the industry can continue to hold on to the roots of each individual genre, rather than needing to adopt every modern contrivance to be found. That's just me though.
I have to agree with Lawless, regenerating health removes most sense of tension and the allowance of all weapons creates more opportunities for strategic approaches to varying battle situations. I'm not sure what you think is wrong with the physics, but yeah it needs an AI and graphical upgrade.
Okay, the regenerative health system wasn't soresly missed (except during really hard parts), but to me some of the gameplay felt like enemies were just floating along with their legs moving to LOOK like they were running. Do you understand what I mean?
And while US videos of the game looked pretty smooth, the European version on PAL TV's was a little lagged, which was annoying as hell when enemies move quickly and you're trying to keep up with them.
To me, it just felt like Resistence 3 had no immersion, no consistant physics, was too fast-paced despite being 30FPS or less, no weight in movement or in AI movement. As i said, it felt like a game from the PS2 era.
I wanted to like it, I really did!! Reviews were glowing, and the cutscenes looked amazing!! The guns were fun to play with, and I had to do a lot of tweaking with the sensitivity options to finally get the controls feeling right, but it just didn't feel polished to me.
I must admit, I was playing Gears of War 3 at the time, which is just a masterpiece of a game in my eyes, and really the only reason I own a 360. Gears 3 had a high level of polish. weight behind character and enemy movement, it really felt like the shots were connecting with enemies or the environment, the physics were great and consistant, to me it was just a far superior game to Resistence 3.
So, forget the regenerative health option, that wasn't such a big issue, and you're right, it does add a sense of urgency to the situation and really offers a challenge. But the physics, graphics, glitches, gameplay, all the technical things about Resistence 3 felt so dated to me, ESPECIALLY when compared to Gears 3 which released at the same time.
Insomniac do have the talent and the creativity!! They just needed a few more months of polish to really make it shine.
You're right, I wasn't paying attention to the physics before (It's hard to enjoy a game when in "review mode" so I turn it off if I can) This time I did, it's way out of wack on some Chimera models.
i very rarely say this, but you back stabling bastards!
come on, just because a game is struggling to break 100K units does not mean its a excuse to leave it behind!
i always said the partnership with EAP would be the death of insomniac, however they did not have to prove it to me!
especially so early!
You try keeping a franchise that took millions to make and barely made any of it back, and run an entire company at the same time, and then you'll have room to talk.
Otherwise, keep your mouth shut, since you obviously don't understand what a business is.
oh for the love of god get off your high horse!
insomniac were making plenty off resistance, they have just gone greedy like every other developer in this selfish money driven industry!
the rolls the boss drives became not enough, he had to buy one for each his mistresses.
oh, and BTW i suggest you take your own advise and do some research, not that difficult!
$ony own the IP rights to the resistance series, and they have been shelling the development costs not insomniac.
god you really piss me off at times!
Last edited by ___________ on 1/28/2012 8:59:36 AM
Okay folks, I just beat R3. Instead of being ignored it should have been nominated for best shooter. Best FPS this gen for me at any rate.
One caveat kiddies: Insomniac needs better script writers. When people speak they do not use each other's first name every other sentence. Holy crap that was bothersome.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 1/27/2012 3:25:56 AM
The story started off good and then just went left midway through. The ending was more so a "is that it" moment.
Oh come on, WorldEndsWithMe, it wasn't that bad, was it? WorldEndsWithMe, when I was your age (the age WorldEndsWithMe was 6 years ago since he is older than I), you spoke to people using their names. This way, WorldEndsWithMe, you know I'm talking to you and not changing it up to Slugga-Status without you knowing.
WorldEndsWithMe, the writers were just making sure everything was clear to all of us. Should we applaud such out-of-the-way efforts to keep us informed, WorldEndsWithMe? Only you, WorldEndsWithMe, would find that annoying.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 1/27/2012 12:16:56 PM
^^This lmfao..that was great
Hahaha, that was classic
its sad but hey they kinda brought it on themselves the way they desigined it.. usually a sequal offers alot more than the previous one but R3 didnt not to mention i didnt want to spend ten bucks to play online if i got it used and if i bought it NEW thers no way i could sell it back to anyone anywhere for more than 40-45 bucks in its launch days
all games with online passes in my opinion deserve to be killed off especially if they are a sequal and dont offer more than the previous installment
WHAT! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! No, no, no! Pure insanity! WTH man! Don't punk out, those games are the best shooters made. What a horror… If there's no more Resistance, then there's no more shooters getting bought and brought to my house. What an idiot… That's it, 2012 IS the end of the world, no one has any brains, everyone's giving up, unaffordable games that suck, it's like claiming celibacy or something. This blows…