My gf and I are genuinely heartbroken that Torchlight 2 won't likely ever be available on XBox Live Arcade. I have dreams that I'm playing it, and then I wake up and it's not there. Neither of our puny, ancient PCs are able to handle it, despite its having fairly undemanding SysReqs. It is said that any computer from the last 5 years should be able to play it. Hers is 6 years old, mine is 7.

But if the XBLA memory limit is all that's keeping it off the 360, then what's keeping Runic from releasing Torchlight 2 physically? Limbo, Minecraft, and Plants vs. Zombies all saw physical releases (with mixed results, but still!). One could claim Runic is too small a company to be able to afford a wide physical release. But Torchlight 2 would sell, darn it, just like its predecessor did, and almost certainly shift enough units to make back publication costs. There are lots and lots of people in 2012, self and gf included, whose whole entire entertainment systems revolve around their consoles, and whose lives would be better, warmer, by the glow of Torchlight 2.

Question, I guess, is: Would you purchase a physical copy of Torchlight 2?

Absolutely. I loved the first one on 360 so I would buy the second one without a doubt. Hopefully it happens at some point.

They talked about it on the BLLSL that if it does happen it will be a long way away, and by that time the next gen will probably be out so it's probably not going to happen.

I don't think Runic is a big enough company to pull it off. Maybe a limited run?

By the time Runic gets around to thinking about a console version of the game, there will be new consoles.

You guys did check the system requirements of the game and compare them to your computer's capabilities, right? I doubt it's a case of "well this computer was bought in 2006, so it will not be able to play it no matter what". You could at least look into it.

i would by a physical copy of TL2

But if the XBLA memory limit is all that's keeping it off the 360, then what's keeping Runic from releasing Torchlight 2 physically?

Did they specifically say memory? Because memory means RAM, not hard drive space, and I could have sworn that I heard somewhere that the consoles don't have enough RAM for this game. That means the Xbox and PS3 have a physical limitation that won't allow either to run the game, period. For that matter, if I remember correctly, the first Torchlight had slowdown problems on the Xbox and the second game has much higher requirements.

In other words, no, it won't be on Xbox because the Xbox can't handle the game.

@mrburger:

this ->

@believer258 said:

But if the XBLA memory limit is all that's keeping it off the 360, then what's keeping Runic from releasing Torchlight 2 physically?

Did they specifically say memory? Because memory means RAM, not hard drive space, and I could have sworn that I heard somewhere that the consoles don't have enough RAM for this game. That means the Xbox and PS3 have a physical limitation that won't allow either to run the game, period. For that matter, if I remember correctly, the first Torchlight had slowdown problems on the Xbox and the second game has much higher requirements.

In other words, no, it won't be on Xbox because the Xbox can't handle the game.

I've got one guy saying my ancient craptop might still be able to run this game, based on its undemanding sys reqs, and another guy saying the RAM required for this game exceeds the physical capabilities of both the 360 and the PS3. Only one of you gets to be right.

My own research seems to indicate that the game does indeed exceed the XBLA (not "the 360 and the PS3") RAM limitation, which also means it probably wouldn't run on my ancient laptop (which could only barely handle the first game). This RAM limit, however, is probably not physical but arbitrary, defined by Microsoft based on their own fiscal goals and how they think XBLA ought optimally to function.

But then what about this: What if they released Torchlight 2 for download not as an XBLA title, but as an On Demand title? Straight-to-On-Demand, never having touched store shelves. An impossible, unprecedented move that goes against everything Microsoft stands for ($$$), but ... theoretically conceivable. As in: I wish Runic would look into it.

@mrburger: They still have to port it. The 360 has better chances of this then the Ps3. But It still costs upwards of 10,000 dollars to put a game on XBL. I do not know if its the same for Games on Demand.

@mrburger said:

I've got one guy saying my ancient craptop might still be able to run this game, based on its undemanding sys reqs, and another guy saying the RAM required for this game exceeds the physical capabilities of both the 360 and the PS3. Only one of you gets to be right.

My own research seems to indicate that the game does indeed exceed the XBLA (not "the 360 and the PS3") RAM limitation, which also means it probably wouldn't run on my ancient laptop (which could only barely handle the first game). This RAM limit, however, is probably not physical but arbitrary, defined by Microsoft based on their own fiscal goals and how they think XBLA ought optimally to function.

But then what about this: What if they released Torchlight 2 for download not as an XBLA title, but as an On Demand title? Straight-to-On-Demand, never having touched store shelves. An impossible, unprecedented move that goes against everything Microsoft stands for ($$$), but ... theoretically conceivable. As in: I wish Runic would look into it.

Er, no, the RAM limit is physical, meaning it physically cannot happen, because the console physically cannot handle it, because there physically isn't as much RAM as there needs to be. It's not an arbitrary or fiscal problem, the first game was on consoles and the developers wanted the second one on consoles but it couldn't happen. They had to downgrade the first game as well just to keep it running and looking all right.

Your laptop probably couldn't run it because it has a weak graphics chip soldered onto the motherboard, not an honest-to-god graphics card.

I don't think that physical release would be a path worth pursuing for them. Leaving out the size of the studio, you don't see too many games physically published with a $20 starting price. They may drop to that price, but it's not where they start. There are costs associated with a physical release such as the costs of printing the disks, producing and printing box art, purchasing cases and then of course shipping, which is likely the most expensive part of the process, that start to add up quickly so Runic probably would have to sell the game for more than $20 to start in order to recoup its expenditures.

I'm not sure if they carried it over into the second, but Torchlight 1 had a netbook mode. If it is in there in Torchlight 2, I have trouble believing your computer cannot run it. I'm not saying you'll have be able to max out the graphics and things might get pretty choppy when enemies and loot drops fill the screen but you'd still get to play it at least.

Wait...Steam is only saying that the game is like 1.2 gigs and that is too much for an Arcade release? Couldn't they just release it under the On Demand section then? RE4 and Crysis are under the "On Demand" sections and never got proper retail releases on 360