It's Official: Oblivion at Launch
Now PlayStation 3 gamers will know what it's like to lose hundreds of hours in an offline game.
Published: September 28, 2006
Though the Xbox's first Elder Scrolls game, Morrowind managed a decent amount of fanfare, it was the sequel, the one that sort of locked the Xbox 360 in as a haven for expansive Western RPGs (and a great way to play 'em on the cheap if you didn't have a nice PC), was Oblivion. It was, in many ways, a killer app; it was impossibly long -- easily more than 100 hours could be spent just running around and taking the game as you saw fit -- and it looked rather gorgeous too, the work of developer Bethesda Softworks flexing Gamebryo Engine's muscle with a little help from SpeedTree for forests and Havok for physics.
Though it was a huge hit on the 360, there was quickly talk that the game might make its way to the PlayStation 3 when it launched, a rumor that was made all the more interesting by appearing in a release list as a PS3 game on retailer lists. It wasn't long before whispers that the game was indeed coming started to get louder. By the time it was finally revealed with official word from Bethesda, it was something of a poorly kept secret.
Not that we're complaining, of course. The PS3 version of Oblivion will use the extra time between the PC/360 versions' release and November 17th when the PS3 port hits to add some new goodies. A new group, the Knights of the Nine will serve as something of a "light" side group to pursue membership into over the course of the game, balancing out the formerly bad guy-heavy route that was in place before. The new quests included are said to offer double-digit hourly expansion of the already insanely long game.
“We’re very excited to be able to bring a game like Oblivion out for launch for the PlayStation 3,” droned Bethesda Softworks president, Vlatko Andonov. “Oblivion’s countless awards and commercial success to date make it clear that PlayStation 3 owners are in for a real treat this November.”
Okay, so Vlatko's staying pretty cut and dry for his quotes, but there is a little more info -- that of a PSP version of the Elder Scrolls saga that was also hinted at in the leaked release list all those months ago. It too is real, and will hit Sony's wonderportable sometime in Spring of 2007. We'll have more on both games as soon as we get it (hint: check back here in a little less than a week, we should have a nice surprise for you).
Though it was a huge hit on the 360, there was quickly talk that the game might make its way to the PlayStation 3 when it launched, a rumor that was made all the more interesting by appearing in a release list as a PS3 game on retailer lists. It wasn't long before whispers that the game was indeed coming started to get louder. By the time it was finally revealed with official word from Bethesda, it was something of a poorly kept secret.
Not that we're complaining, of course. The PS3 version of Oblivion will use the extra time between the PC/360 versions' release and November 17th when the PS3 port hits to add some new goodies. A new group, the Knights of the Nine will serve as something of a "light" side group to pursue membership into over the course of the game, balancing out the formerly bad guy-heavy route that was in place before. The new quests included are said to offer double-digit hourly expansion of the already insanely long game.
“We’re very excited to be able to bring a game like Oblivion out for launch for the PlayStation 3,” droned Bethesda Softworks president, Vlatko Andonov. “Oblivion’s countless awards and commercial success to date make it clear that PlayStation 3 owners are in for a real treat this November.”
Okay, so Vlatko's staying pretty cut and dry for his quotes, but there is a little more info -- that of a PSP version of the Elder Scrolls saga that was also hinted at in the leaked release list all those months ago. It too is real, and will hit Sony's wonderportable sometime in Spring of 2007. We'll have more on both games as soon as we get it (hint: check back here in a little less than a week, we should have a nice surprise for you).