Hello again everyone! For those of us who haven’t met yet, I’m David Seeholzer, the Senior Development Director on Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3: Ultimate Edition for the PLAYSTATION 3. We hope to go gold soon, and everyone here at EA Los Angeles is very excited about getting, what we feel, is the best console RTS into your hands.
In case you are new or missed my last blog post here, Red Alert 3: Ultimate Edition promises to be the premier RTS on PS3 with full co-op campaign with VoIP support, 3 unique world powers vying for global domination, and over 60 minutes of classic C&C cinematics in full HD. To really make this the Ultimate Edition, we added a ton of bonus content, some of which is entirely exclusive to the PS3 version, including developer strategy videos, the full soundtrack, 5 new skirmish maps, Behind the Scenes, Bloopers & Outtakes, and my favorite, The Women of RA3 featurette!
Since we last spoke some really cool things have come down the pipe. For starters our PlayStation Store destination went live and we have ton of awesome content hosted on it. There’s a Red Alert 3 theme featuring the Soviet Commando, (and my personal favorite) Natasha, high res concept art from each faction, and our official trailer. We have plans for more exciting content for the PlayStation Store so check back often. Most importantly we have been hard at work on a demo, and it should be available for download in a couple of weeks. We sincerely hope that all of you download the demo and try out the Ultimate Edition of Red Alert 3; we know you will not be disappointed.
We also have plans to release live DLC post ship through the PS Store as well. We strongly believe in product support especially after ship, and we have a team here dedicated to releasing new maps, missions, units, and other content for the PLAYSTATION 3. The team is hard at work on the first of what we hope will be many DLC packages for RA3: Ultimate Edition. This map pack, which should be available very close to our launch later this month, will feature 3 new skirmish maps for both offline and online play. The team here is dedicated to bringing you quality content on a regular cadence, so make sure to keep your eyes and ears open for future updates.
In the meantime once RA3: Ultimate Edition ships, various members of the EA Los Angeles family will be seeking worthy commanders to challenge us over the PlayStation Network. So make sure you are online and looking for opponents, you never know when you might be challenged by me and my Tengu rush!
We have also had an awesome 4 page preview in one of the more recent issues of PlayStation: The Official Magazine. If you haven’t checked it out yet, see why they are calling it “one of the most important releases on the platform this year.”
Thanks for tuning in again, we are all excited to hear what you think of Red Alert 3: Ultimate Edition and we take all your comments very seriously, so say what’s on your mind!
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MOUSE & KEYBOARD: Rant, Reason and Explanation
PART 3
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I keep on reading reviews as they appear in MetaCritic and they keep on bringing up the K&M support (plus the users comments at the bottom show the interest) and mention that the game falls short because it’s doesn’t have it.
Here, more quotes from the recently uploaded 1UP.com review (http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3173469&p=37):
“Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 is a top-quality RTS in almost every respect, but the whole thing just doesn’t work smoothly on a console.”
“[…] most movement around a level isn’t done via a minimap interface; […] I found myself jumping to an area and then rapidly making a few smaller jumps to zero in before I finally started building and fighting.”
“And as for building, that’s done primarily with the right trigger: […] It works about as well as any console RTS interface, but it’s still pretty darn clumsy.”
“But I’m honor-bound to keep it real here, and the real is: This game is clumsier on console than on PC.”
“Bottom line: RA3’s not bad, but if you have a good PC, you’re better off buying that version instead.”
I’ve never played an Red Alert game before but I decided to buy this and OMG!! It’s soooo good!!!!
* hot sexy women (in HD)
* mechs (transformers)
* hilarious story (Peter Stormare is so funny! “Oh snap!”)
* advanced controls (high learning curve but once you get it it’s faster than mouse+keyboard IMO)
I’m having a fangasm over here. Please release Uprising expansion on PSN!
Tried the demo, and it’s definitely a great game. However, not supporting mouse/keyboard (which I have) is quite a deterrent for this kind of game.
I would buy it wholeheartedly if we had the guarantee that this support will come as well.
Delivering patches on PS3 games seems to be used quite a bit.
EA (and/or David Seeholzer): Any discussion on the matter? Any hope? (We already know that you’re not supporting k/m at the moment, so please don’t answer that)
Maybe you should’ve bought the PC version if you’re gonna cry about mouse and keyboard crap!!!
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MOUSE & KEYBOARD: Rant, Reason and Explanation
PART 4
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Reviews keep coming and more and more they talk about the M*E*S*S that is playing with the DualShock. One quote from GamesRadar (http://www.gamesradar.com/ps3/command-conquer-red-alert-3/review/command-conquer-red-alert-3-ultimate-edition/a-20090401152624630010/g-2008060512367958083) sums up everything I said and complained before the game even came out:
“However, the problem isn’t – unlike many others – that these controls don’t cover enough commands to allow you to effectively manage your troops: it’s that they’re forced to work with too many possible options. Each unit has at least one secondary attack, two different types of movement, and four stances. You’re asked to make the most of all these while building new troops and structures, managing a co-commander, and calling in special weapons attacks. It’s far too confusing – even after hours of practice.”