Discontinuing and ending Trainz franchise for PC Users....

[VinnyBarb]

After a lengthy discussion I had with a spokes person from N3V Publishing I was told that N3V Publishing will end the development of Trainz for the PC platform very shortly. Mr Primus A Prilla, Chairman of the N3V shareholder's Association and main shareholder in N3V publishing announced today that N3V publishing will end development on all current work of the Trainz franchise forthwith and will concentrate on coding, development, publishing and promoting Trainz for console games only. After some more questions of which console franchises might be involved, Mr Primus A Prilla would not exactly commit himself on which platforms these might be but my understanding is, this will involve XBox 360, Nintendo and PS2 among possibly other platforms. As well as concentrating on developing Trainz for Apple's IPot and IPad and many other Android formats.

James W Kirk GameSpot Direct (PC Games).

This article is quoted on some of PC Games web sites and sadly tells what some of us have already suspected for a long time, what with the state of N3V Publishing lately. It will bring to an end a long history of Trainz Simulations we all enjoyed for so long. I already bought several TS12 editions to keep for prosperity, as it says above, this will be the last ever Trainz Simulation made for PC. You might do similar, as there won't be NO more Trainz for any of us as we knew it.

RiP

VinnyBarb

 

[shaneturner12]

That's not a good sign.

The majority of games consoles are not as powerful as some PCs, and this will also affect content creation, as it will involve new rules on how content is created, and even limits on how content can be distributed. This will probably be the end of new payware content on third-party sites as well.

If N3V are reading this, they need to seriously consider their options, as I've got a reasonable guess that PC versions probably make up a fair share of income.

Thankyou for posting this, VinnyBarb.

Shane

 

[obo]

This article is quoted on some of PC Games web sites ...

VinnyBarb: Got a link?

Regards,

Rob.

 

[Wessex_Electric_Nutter]

That's not a good sign.
....
If N3V are reading this, they need to seriously consider their options, as I've got a reasonable guess that PC versions probably make up a fair share of income.

I'm personally not going to take this for face value as theres no resource to link to. It throws up questions, but I rather hear it when/if N3V told the community. (and confirm its true.)
On my own opinion and I know everyone is going to shoot me for this, but Trainz going over to console is the best way to go, because there is soo much you can do on the PC before you run out of ideas and bug fixes. Then you got to ask, how profitable is Trainz? It is a nichie market by any standards and with all the content the community has created, possibly is the biggest selling point. Railworks is also eating into Trainz's market as Trainz probably was at one time, the only simulator actively developed, many are going over to railworks (including me, but I'm keeping my foot in both sims) which throws up a new challenge and what do you do them?

I think the idea of going over to consoles and mobile media is possibly the most sensible idea, because not a lot of train simulators (if you can think of one that is - except Desha De Go) have made it over to the console and if N3V games tap into this market, it might make Trainz survive. And although the PC only side may stall, it may not mean the end of Trainz on the PC, e.g. the code base maybe converted over, although that depends how possible it is to do, I've not tried it, but I wish I did when I was messing with PS3 Dev Kits.
Not only that, but if mobile media takes off, you can always imagine that they may want more and more from Trainz and end up using the PC version anyway.

EDIT
On the other hand with the post below, I thought hang on a minute, its a bit early for us for it to be 01/04, its still 31/03!

 

[colin55]

Primus A Prilla

April 1st ???

 

[Beattie]

I personally think trainz won't be the same on console. This is sad news if they really are going to stop making newer versions for pc. I will keep a ear out for any news regarding this.

 

[JCitron]

VinnyBarb: Got a link?

Regards,

Rob.

I searched GameSpot, PcGames, and on Bing for any reference to this, and there is nothing.

I am sad if this is true, but I need proof and so far this is no different than an ancient thread that I saw when searching that dates back to 2007 that said essentially the same thing.

All I can think of is this is one cruel April Fool's joke, which would be possible because the original poster is in Australia and it is already April 1st.


John

 

[obo]

It's about six hours too soon where I am but I guess it counts in other parts of the world.

Regards,

Rob

 

[Dougea]

Primus A Prilla

April 1st ???

Sure is.

Doug.

 

[oknotsen]

Primus A Prilla
April 1st ???

I am going with that.

Especially since the Apple's IPot is like 2-by-2 cm in size.

 

[NSWGR_46Class]

Wonder when a star ship commander started to do gaming, IT news and reviews

 

[Stationbeem]

Saw this coming. When PS2 was mentioned it looked like a few would not realise it could be a joke. PS3 has been out long enough. Lets see how many others fall for it.

 

[TheWaluigiKing]

This is a sad day for Trainzers everywhere

 

[seeseeme]

I did not know N3V was on the Stock Market, it would have to be to have a Shareholders Association :hehe:

Here we all were thinking N3V/Auran was only a small company unable to even afford someone to write a Content Creators Guide and a company that not so many years ago had serious financial problems. Now it has a Shareholders Association and a Chairman.

Craig
:hehe::hehe::hehe:

 

[Euphod]

Nice joke, but I'm a bit disappointed none the less. I hoped we had finally reached "code lock".

 

[amigacooke]

A wizard wheeze.

 

[mrscsi]

That's not a good sign.

The majority of games consoles are not as powerful as some PCs, and this will also affect content creation, as it will involve new rules on how content is created, and even limits on how content can be distributed. This will probably be the end of new payware content on third-party sites as well.

If N3V are reading this, they need to seriously consider their options, as I've got a reasonable guess that PC versions probably make up a fair share of income.

Thankyou for posting this, VinnyBarb.

Shane

OMG if members of the community don't know that it is april 1st in aussieland I really don't know what to think...

 

[matruck]

And that's Aussieland with a Capital A please David...LOL
Cheers Mick.

 

[Retro00064]

The sad part is that I believed it until I had read the posts mentioning it being April 1st in Australia!

I'll need to keep in mind tomorrow that it is April 1st and to be on-alert for pranks.

 

[sawyer811]

Wow, I was in the same boat as you Retro...well, for a bit shorter though (then again, this is the guy that for years thought there was a product out there called "5-DCC" :hehe: )

(PS, for those of you who don't know, there was an april fools joke a few years back in Model Railroader that mentioned a "Universal DCC control system" called 5-DCC. it took me years to figure out that the clue "The manufacturer recommends removing some of the gears for optimum performance" meant it was a joke...you just take the gears out and push the thing by hand! )