Cliff Bleszinski and the PlayStation 3 (Lets Get Real)

By Neal "NeoMahi" Evans
"I feed on the tears of Fanboys." - Cliff Bleszinski 

I think this may be an article I could take some heat for. Its likely Cliff won't ever read this but, lets get real here.


When I was a little kid in Elementary School I would walk the playground during recess trying to find something to do. I was never picked to play soccer, I didn't really have any friends and the only guys I would bump into on the playground were much bigger than I was and had to have been equally as bored as I was.

It became a regular thing that I was one, having to go up against three. One was about my height and the other two were much larger than I was. Though I never got socked in the face, I was still small and an easy target. Middle School rolled around, I had a few more friends that were actually much larger than I was but others still managed to weed me out this time, and took their few hits. I was in the Principals office a few times trying to fend for myself, justice was never mine and I still got the hit. When I hit Jr. High and High School, it had come to an end. I had learned the bigger guys always seem to go after the smaller for the quick hit because they knew better than to challenge a giant or they'd be the one sitting on the floor bloodied up.

When the Xbox 360 was released from Microsoft, Gears of War was the technical showcase that came with it. It was something that really pulled the juice from the console and was a quick draw for gamers looking for something action packed and with insane graphics and excellent level design in terms of structures. Epic, the development company behind Gears of War as well as Unreal Tournament were the developers and creators of the Unreal Engine 3 that support the games graphical and physiological base from which it spawned. The series Design Director, Cliff Bleszinski.

Cliff Bleszinski is in fact most renowned for the Gears of War franchise and recently, the creative 'Uncle' for Bulletstorm giving them suggestions for how to use the Unreal Engine 3 though he doesn't physically work the development of the game That's up to 'People Can Fly' and is a project to fill the time. It has been his time to shine and have his glory day in the sun. Mention 'Jazz Jack-Rabbit' and most people will ask you what in the world you're talking about. Truth be told, its only with Gears of War that the name Cliff Bleszinski is connected with. I had never so much as heard the name muttered when I would play Unreal Tournament on the Xbox.

But, who is Cliff Bleszinski and, what does he do with his time? Cliff Bleszinski is game Design Director that was given a talent for game development. He loves to go out at night and party at bars and clubs to unwind, works to develop a unique vocabulary and spin on words and drives to work daily in his sports car. When he works, he digs in and studies his competition and tries to keep up on pop-culture to help him in developing his games. If rumor is correct, I think I remember hearing that he could possibly be a fan of paint-ball and is how he came up with idea of Gears of War's gameplay. Cover system something new? Not if you've played Metal Gear Solid 3 but he found a way of mastering the idea through the Gears of War series and its worked rather well and the game is a hit!

Ask the man whom his biggest influence is and the answer just may surprise you. Believe it or not, its Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto whom you'll recognize most from Mario and Zelda. When you put the two side-by-side, you can see the carefree nature of the two seem to work, but when you really dig into their personalities, you ask yourself, how? Mario and Zelda are games you play with your family and a smile on your face, while Gears of War is very adult and you spend your time with a 'snarl' like took on your face glorying in the fact you've just curb stomped a giant bug with arms and legs into the ground over a few beers, right?

Its abundantly clear as well that Bleszinski fears nobody. Not even those whom may be bigger than he himself is, not in terms of physical size, but perhaps in luck. Gears of War is a multi-million dollar cash cow series and a series you're not going to see Epic Games letting go so long as it makes money, but ask Epic about its earlier days, and they'll tell you it was a gamble. Cliff Bleszinski and Epic Games approached Microsoft and presented the idea and Microsoft accepted without question. The tech was what Microsoft wanted to see and the money was precisely what Epic Games had wanted to see. Its clear when you see the Unreal Engine in practice that it was designed around the Xbox 360's hardware structure and its how it works best. That doesn't mean, however, that games developed on this engine aren't going to work on PlayStation 3 as we know that just isn't true. Both Batman: Arkham Asylum and Bulletstorm are a testament to that.

Click Image to Seen Enlarged Comparison

In fact, I would go so far as to say that the Unreal Engine 3 performs better on the PlayStation 3. Its definitely a guess, but to me there's no doubt Bulletstorm is using the newest version of the Unreal Engine 3. But, if this is the case, and the Engine runs great, then why exactly aren't we seeing Gears of War on the PlayStation 3?

It was believed for a good length of time that Microsoft themselves actually owned the publishing rights to Gears of War, which we earlier this year found by the President of Epic Games that they did in fact own the IP and could do whatever they wished with the game series. He had even gotten so gutsy as to pull a Howard Stringer and mouth off that he'd love to see the series on the PlayStation 3 to compete with Resistance and Killzone and make gamers say that Gears of War was great but that isn't the case. Its clear that Epic Games is out to make money. Its entrepreneurs want that money but its neither Epic nor Microsoft that are keeping Gears of War on the Xbox 360, though Microsoft is without question happy the game isn't going anywhere for the moment.

The reason you're not seeing Gears of War on the PlayStation 3 is simply because Cliff Bleszinski doesn't want it there and just plain doesn't like the PlayStation 3. This isn't an uncommon thing however, Hideo Kojima refused to port Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots to the Xbox 360. The game was designed around the PlayStation 3 architecture and obviously with Blu-ray in mind. As many rumors as have surfaced, you're still not seeing MGS4 coming to Xbox 360. Another name that comes to mind when the the same GoW pops up is the name David Jaffe. David Jaffe is synonymous for games such as Twisted Metal and the God of War franchise. Jaffe has remained loyal to Sony and its PlayStation brand and even after venturing off to create Eat, Sleep, Play Jaffe still remains loyal to Sony and at the moment to the PlayStation 3 hardware with Twisted Metal PS3. Well, what are the differences between these three developers? I'm going to walk out on a limb and take a chance here, the answer simply in my opinion is fanboyism.

During his time with the God of War series, Jaffe was tied down to Sony as the God of War name and IP was the property of Sony. Jaffe has always expressed his appreciation for Sony in working with him and allowing him to throw his idea's onto paper and back him in his creation. That support keeps him loyal today. However, Jaffe has made mention he's interested in trying out the Xbox 360 development, but that he's currently happy working with Sony. Hideo Kojima has developed for several consoles bringing Metal Gear to so many. Though he himself isn't one who likes to take on the task of porting, Kojima has allowed Metal Gear to spread its wings and reach new fanbase's. We're expecting Metal Gear Solid 3 to hit the Nintendo 3DS later this year. A remake of the original Metal Gear was developed for the Gamecube and Kojima had a hand in that.

So why do I claim Cliff Bleszinski as a fanboy? Well, when games mentioned such as Uncharted or God of War come up, a fit is pitched because it isn't coming to the Xbox 360. The reason being is that these companies are owned 100% by Sony Computer Entertainment. At the time, Bungie was owned by Microsoft and Halo still remains the property of Microsoft. Epic Games and Gears of War aren't exactly in that same boat. Really, there isn't much of an excuse. Epic Games, much like Crytek, apparently, are in the business of creating game Engines to license out to developers. Epic Games then makes games on the side.

When asked why Cliff Bleszinski wouldn't develop for the PlayStation 3, his answer was that he hated the controller. He followed up by saying that he loved the blu-ray player. He said that Metal Gear Solid 4 was great, that Heavenly Sword was great, that he played through and loved Uncharted 2 and is looking forward to the next in the series and was currently playing Killzone 3. He said what he didn't like about the controller, was that it felt like a third-party controller he could twist in half and that the L2 and R2 buttons were convex rather than concave and he had to get the attachments to make it comfortable...... That's it. (I'm scratching my head.)

So, you won't develop games for a console that could take your idea's to so many more because the controller isn't to your liking? I don't like the Xbox 360 controller because I have smaller hands, the battery pack gets in my way and makes the tips of my fingers incomfortable, its bulky and heavy and the bumpers are horribly positioned and it can't go more than ten feet away from the Xbox 360 but I still play it and I still enjoy the games. With Naughty Dog, Santa Monica, etc, its not like that. They can't go multi-platform yet you'll hear Evan Wells praise the Nintendo Wii as most innovative.

In subsequent interviews, you'll see Cliff Bleszinski go for the juggular. He had in fact stated that he "feeds on the tears of fanboys." Its clear as well in his interviews that you'll actually see a change in his demeanor. When speaking with one covering Epic Games for Xbox, he'll perk right up and get right into it. However, ask him to talk about the PlayStation 3 and he'll talk as though they were idiots wasting him time.

Finally, he was questioned about Bulletstorm and his work on there. His response was that Epic Games had delayed Gears of War and needed something to release to compete with Killzone 3, Bulletstorm was intentionally slated to release day and date with Killzone 3 as a way to tear into Killzone 3. He had stated as well that its in Epic Games best interest to put the engine on the PlayStation 3 but that things for the company are going far to well for them to actually put the time and effort into actually working themselves on the PlayStation 3.

In the end, its incredibly confusing to even hear Epic mention the release or possibility of Gears of War on the PS3. If there's no intention, why bring it up? Also, if you're trying to market a game on a console and promote your stuff, why would you want to bad talk anything about the console in terms of even to the point mocking the fanbase that could be potential gamers to you. Its smug, its unprofessional and it kind of pits you as the bully intentionally walking out onto the playground and striking out at gamers that just want to have fun. Granted the the Xbox 360 has Gears of War as its biggest franchise at the moment with Halo jumping into retirement with Bungie leaving Microsoft, the PlayStation does have its exclusives of its own. But, I write this article mostly to point out the immaturity and unprofessionalism of Epic Games' way of dealing with things. Its most definitely in their best interest to say and keep things upbeat and positive rather than ragging on the things that will make you money. Talking that things with a particular publisher don't give the impression either that you do it because you love the game, but that you're a sellout. It just makes a potential fanbase angry at you, and the inconsist views of the company as a whole saying "we'd love to see it on PS3" from the guys that supply the money not only makes the current fanbase flair up, but causes more confusion when the Design Director comes out and says he hates the console one minute, and then says he likes it when the Unreal Engine comes up and he realizes its part of his job description to market the Engine as well.

There's no question however, that if the day comes that Cliff Bleszinski steps out onto the platform and tries his hand with the hardware, or maybe even the Wii, his talented and creative mind could perhaps conjure up a tornado that could compete with Killzone and Resistance as Epic Games say they would love to do, but for now, we're dealing with a fanboy-type response and not enough of a legitmate backing to say otherwise other than that you dislike the controller. You play all these games using it, and you can't take the development time to work with it? It just doesn't seem right and has no logical form of thought to back it. We can only hope he'll either man up and come out swinging and give a good reason as to why not, or he'll develop something.

For now, we can look foward to Gears of War 3, but with his current position and opinion, right now he's all Microsoft has got and he's going up against a lot of heat and rising sales of the PlayStation 3. Perhaps he's the one in the yard that will go up against the big guys and try and pick a fight with them, but its a lot of power and three giants he's going to be taking on.