Game News The Witcher

[Ausir]

Tags: CD Projekt; Witcher, The

<a href=http://www.thewitcher.com/>The Witcher</a> (<i>Wiedzmin</i>) is a new Polish cRPG developed by <a href=http://www.cdprojekt.info>CD Projekt Red Studio</a>, a newly formed developing division of one of the biggest Polish gaming companies, that has been only publishing foreign games in Poland until now.
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The game is based on the series of books by the bestselling Polish fantasy writer - Andrzej Sapkowski (they're really great, but there's no English version available yet, unfortunately - Polish, Czech, Russian, German and Spanish only so far). The plot, based on the world known from the books, was written by Studio Sarmatia - makers of one of the best Polish PnP RPGs - <i>Dzikie Pola (Wild Fields)</i>, set in 17th century Poland.
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The first screenshots have been posted only in several Polish gaming magazines (<a href=http://www.cdprojekt.info/upload/11464.jpg>here's a scan of one of them</a>), but the <a href=http://www.thewitcher.com/>official website</a> will be opened soon (it's been set up already, but there's nothing more than the game's logo there). While the marketing has been focused on Polish gamers so far, the game will be released in both Polish and English. I have rather high hopes for this game, so i'll leave it without the usual sarcastic comment .

 

[udarnik]

It's nice to see that they'll be publishing the game in English, and hopefully they'll offer on-line orders or downloads in order to avoid the vicious U.S. retail market. I really think that the future of computer gaming lies with professional non-U.S. developers. The big players are going to be "Hollywood-ized" - that is, they will be enslaved to big capital interests, and the little shareware guys will never have the resources to make a professional looking game.

Look at "The Matrix" game coming out. According to the Wall Street Journal, Infogrames has budgeted $20 million for production costs alone, not including marketing or the costs of buying Shiny (and its licenses). You don't make niche games for $20 mil, and yet I think we'll just be seeing more and more of these types of games in the future. The big media players all got burned in the videogame market in the '90s, but it looks like they've got the money and the will to keep plugging away at it, and soon all we'll have are movie tie-ins and licensed properties. D&D games, Disney games (Sea Dog 2), Hulk/Spiderman/X-Man games, Pokeman games and on and on. It will be non-U.S. companies that will be making the "Prince of Qin"s or "Gothic"s.

Anyway, here's wishing the best of luck to my favorite Slavs.

 

[dunduks]

Thanks for the recomendation, off to the book hunt :D

 

[Ausir]

If this game is a success outside Poland, then the books might end up published in English . AFAIR, there haven't been any good book-based cRPGs since the Krondor series. And Sapkowski's books are IMHO better and less cliche than Feist's. He's one of our two sci-fi/fantasy writers published outside Poland (the other one being of course Stanislaw Lem). The third will be Jacek Dukaj, since a short animation "The Cathedral" based on his story was nominated for Oscar this year.

 

[Elwro]

And Sapkowski's books are IMHO better and less cliche than Feist's.

And definitely funnier. They will be hard to translate and some jokes won't be comprehensible, but I guess it will have to be that way.

He's one of our two sci-fi/fantasy writers published outside Poland (the other one being of course Stanislaw Lem). The third will be Jacek Dukaj, since a short animation "The Cathedral" based on his story was nominated for Oscar this year.

I'm not sure if I haven't posted it before, but if anyone's interested, you can read some passages from "The Cathedral" in English here: http://dukaj.fantastyka.art.pl/index_english.html

And BTW, Ausir, Zajdel was published in Germany.

 

[Ausir]

Too bad that only in Germany. Zajdel is one of my favourite authors (to non-Poles: the most known Polish scifi and fantasy award is Janusz Zajdel Award, since it was founded in the year in which he died).

 

[Ausir]

According to one of CD Projekt employees, the site's opening is scheduled to June 1st.

 

[dunduks]

And definitely funnier. They will be hard to translate and some jokes won't be comprehensible, but I guess it will have to be that way.

His humor definitely is very good. I still crack up about that snowhite & gnomes reference.
Well all 7 books will be a good read :D

 

[Ausir]

The 5 part Witcher Saga is more serious than the 2 first short stories books, but there's a good amount of humour there too .