Electronic Arts has described its port of Valve Corporation’s Orange Box as a "challenge situation,” though it tipped its hat to the UK team responsible for the conversion, stating they did a "great job" on the project.
For those unaware, the PS3 release of The Orange Box received quite a beating from some critics regarding the game’s frame rate in comparison to its PC and 360 counterparts, though still racked up impressive review scores nonetheless. However, it is widely regarded as an inferior version among fans.
Speaking during a chinwag with CVG, EA Partners head honcho David DeMartini commented: “Valve focuses on 90-rated everything: 90-rated marketing programmes, 90-rated people, 90-rated games.
"They have a focus on excellence. What they do with all their partners, is they hold us to that same standard. If you don’t reach it, they’re going to get a little prickly – and appropriately so.”
“If you can’t operate at that level as a publishing and distribution partner, you shouldn’t be participating with Valve. That’s their expectation. I view it as a continuing challenge to delight them."
Speaking specifically on the PS3 version of the game, DeMartini stated, “To my earlier point, I think the Orange Box on PS3 was 86-rated; around that point. It was still very good and the team in the UK did a great job. It was a challenge situation.
"We were trying to do parallel development. Valve hadn’t been on PS3 and they had made some statements about the platform which didn’t exactly help. It really was a challenge situation.”
"What it did point out – and it reinforced this for Valve – is that they like to have control over everything to do with their intellectual property and the games that they make.
"I don’t know if we’d do another situation where we’d be doing one of the platforms and they’d be doing the other platform.”
"But it very well could be that the PS3 is coming of age enough so that they would develop on it. I don’t know that, but I think gamers can take it that where there are substantial platforms, Valve is certainly going to be on those platforms."