Shadowbane Headed to Consoles?

GameSpot has learned that Wolfpack Studios is actively looking into developing games for next-generation platforms. In particular, the company is investigating the possibility of porting its massively multiplayer game Shadowbane to the Sega Dreamcast, the Sony PlayStation 2, and the Microsoft Xbox. However, according to Todd Coleman, executive producer of Shadowbane and vice president of sales and marketing at Wolfpack Studios, there are specific infrastructure issues that has to be in place before a port of Shadowbane can be truly viable. Bandwidth requirements, persistent save features inherent to a console, and seamless communication channels for players of these console games (ie. practical use of a keyboard and mouse), would all have to be in place before Shadowbane can realistically be ported to these platforms. Naturally, as with most PC games the port-over -- to the Xbox and the Dreamcast particularly -- will be a painless task, according to Coleman.

The game itself combines both role-playing and warfare strategy. It lets thousands of players simultaneously experience its networked role-playing gameplay, as players must create armies and alliances in order to survive in a desolate world plagued by disease, starvation, and war.

Additionally, a console port of Shadowbane will depend on the decisions made by Gathering of Developers, the game's publisher. But according to Coleman a console version of the game remains a distinct possibility. GameSpot will continue to follow this story and will bring you the latest.