Oblivion coming to the PSP?

[corruptrelic]

There's been a few rumours going around the net about a possible Oblivion for the PSP lately, the latest one:

Sources tell me that the rumored Playstation Portable version of Oblivion are true. The game is being ported by Climax UK and while I couldn't find out what form the game would take, I'm told that UMD space isn't as big a concern as some might think. The PSP version won't have 512x512 textures, instead relying on something closer to 128x128 textures and true color will likely be replaced by 16 color. Both of these moves greatly reduces the amount of space the final game would likely take up.

Source: http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/climax-uk/oblivion-psp-under-development-by-climax-studio-190223.php

Pre-Order Link: http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=190345

Personally I'd love to see an Oblivion port on the PSP, but can the PSP hardware really handle it? Even the 360 chugged at some points in the game (and that's with a triple core 3.2ghz and 512 of ram to back it up) the PSP runs at something like 230mhz and only has 32mb of ram.
It'll be interesting to see if they can pull it off.

[Shkspr]

I would think the biggest problem would be that you'd see 5-10 second loading times while traversing the wilderness, which would ruin immersion.  I could easily see a spinoff game of Oblivion that takes place just in cities, or maybe you scrap the overland portion of the game entirely and travel to dungeons and ruins exclusively by fast travel.

But if you cut the textures for the art assets from 512x512x24 down to 128x128x16, and you're only pushing 4-7% of the pixels on the PSP as on the 360, it might just be physically doable.  It would almost certainly fit on a single UMD at the lower texture res.

[The Grue]

As much as I like Elder Scrolls, if it is just a port of Oblivion for the 360, I wouldn't pick it up.  If it was some kind of alternate adventure, that would be great.  No dual analogs wwould make playing the first person aspect of this pretty tedious, though.  Yes, I know games use the face buttons, but I always find it uncomfortable, and really the only game I didn't mind it was Syphon Filter, but that is because there was lockon.  I am not sure there are enough buttons on the PSP to have lockon and still be able to do everything you can ont he 360 with the buttons (hotkeys, map, etc.)

[Destructor]

Bethesda (Pete Hines if I remember right) just came out a few days back (again) and said that once again these rumors weren't true and are nothing but a mistake of EB's computer system.

[Kevin Grey]

Bethesda (Pete Hines if I remember right) just came out a few days back (again) and said that once again these rumors weren't true and are nothing but a mistake of EB's computer system.

Hines' exact quote was:

no announced plans for any other versions right now.

.  

That certainly isn't an outright denial.

[Destructor]

That certainly isn't an outright denial.

But close enough.

Do you honestly see a PSP port of this game in the near future? I don't think their engine can scale down that far. PS3, maybe, but I think they're happy with the insane amount of work they did on the 360 and PC versions.

[Purge]

It would have to scale down to Eye of the Beholder 2.  :shock:

[warning]

I could see them making a game called Oblivion but it obviously wouldn't be the PC and 360 game we know.  But a game "in the Oblivion series" or something like that.  Similar to the Dungeon Siege PSP game that's coming out.

[Mattc0m]

Just release a goddamn expansion already! So many people I know would be there day 1... just waiting for more Oblivion Goodness (tm)...

[Kevin Grey]

Do you honestly see a PSP port of this game in the near future? I don't think their engine can scale down that far. PS3, maybe, but I think they're happy with the insane amount of work they did on the 360 and PC versions.

What Warning said- doesn't have to be a direct port at all, just a use of the name as a way to gain instant audience recognition.  It's quite common for portables- witness Battles of Prince of Persia.  Yeah, they could go with the Elder Scrolls moniker (and it will surely be attached), but Oblivion right now is going to be more recognizable.

If they really want to deny it then they should flat out say "is not in development at this time."  Any time a company states unnannounced usually means that information has leaked before they are ready to unveil it.  Hell, for all we know, MS might even have a limited exclusive agreement with Bethesda that limits them for even talking about other platforms for the game for six months (I seem to recall that Take 2 was under a similar restriction for the PC and Xbox ports of GTA).

And the current rumor du jour is that the game is being developed by Climax UK, so it isn't even an in-house Bethesda project.

[Destructor]

I know - they could port the Oblivon cell phone game over to the PSP!

Actually, I'd buy it if my phone supported the game (Treo 650).

[corruptrelic]

I played the elder scrolls game on my n-gage a while back and needless to say I wasn't at all impressed with it.
After getting my PSP I really stopped playing the n-gage all together. The graphics are horrible and the control scheme can get frustrating too trying to remember which number (on the cell phone) goes to what key, especially when playing a few games at a time.

What Warning said- doesn't have to be a direct port at all, just a use of the name as a way to gain instant audience recognition. It's quite common for portables- witness Battles of Prince of Persia.

Yep they did that with Age of Empires II on the DS also. Was a good attempt I think but I just coudn't get used to the turn-based play.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see what (if anything) happens in the coming months.

[metallicorphan]

seen as though oblivion has a bit of trouble stuttering out in the countryside(yes i have cleared the cache),i find it hard to believe that this would come to the PSP,also has longish loading times just going through doors.....so how long would they be on the PSP?

[FlyingElvis]

But a game "in the Oblivion series" or something like that.  

Elder Scrolls series.