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Friday 4 January 2013

Fez going multi-platform. Does this mean a reversal of the “not a PC game” claim?



The charming XBLA puzzle-platformer Fez could finally be coming to PC. In a recent blog post, Polytron’s founder (and currently sole member) Phil Fish outlined his plans for the new year. Top of the list: taking Fez to multiple platforms.
“FEZ will finally be ported to other platforms,” Fish wrote. “Yes, I’ve heard you, dozens of people emailing me everyday telling me how much of an idiot I am for not porting FEZ to everything.”
While platforms haven’t been announced, the usual XBLA indie progression route would suggest that at the very least we’ll see a Steam release. Except there’s still the nagging doubt of the comments Fish made back in June in an interview with NowGamer. “Fez is a console game, not a PC game,” he said.
“It’s made to be played with a controller, on a couch, on a Saturday morning. To me, that matters; that’s part of the medium. I get so many comments shouting at me that I’m an idiot for not making a PC version. ‘You’d make so much more money! Can’t you see? Meatboy sold more on Steam!’ Good for them. But this matters more to me than sales or revenue. It’s a console game on a console. End of story.”
Of course that was before Fez caused controversy when a patch to fix a potentially game breaking bug proved too expensive for Polytron to upload to Microsoft’s XBLA service – a cost requirement not present with Steam. And then there’s the added bonus of Big Picture, which allows Steam users to comfortably play their games with a controller, on a couch, whether it’s Saturday morning or not.
Despite the reticence, it would great to see Fez make an appearance. It’s an absolutely gorgeous multi-planed 2D platformer with a deep vein of secrets to uncover – best played simultaneously with a group of friends, uncovering clues and sharing hints. The perfect PC game, basically.

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