Stalin vs Martians is an upcoming RTS by Russian developers Dreamlore and was brought to my attention by the usual fellas.

Stalin vs Martians has a simple premise. The year is 1942, Stalin is the Soviet leader and Martians have invaded Siberia and you are promised a crazy gaming experience later this year.

24 April 2008

Stalin vs. Martians unveiled

Black Wing Foundation, Dreamlore and N-Game announce a joint project Stalin vs. Martians and probably the most bizzare gaming experience of the year 2008.The name of the game is a work of art and actually it doesn’t really matter if the game is playable at all. The concept is enough. Simply makes your brain explode. But somehow we have more than that to offer.

Stalin vs. Martians is also a good real-time strategy. Fast, simple, intuitive and incredibly fun. Trashy and absolutely over-the-top, arthouse kitsch production in it’s finest. With a good technical basis and some healthy gameplay innovations. A natural choice for anyone bored of hundreds and hundreds identical “World War II strategies”. And a perfect choice for anyone who just hates the strategy genre.

Go read the ideology behind this game and wait for more info!

Chris Taylor the head honcho behind Supreme Commander has claimed that piracy on the PC is causing developers to turn over to consoles, and that is why we are seeing a spate of RTS games appearing on the 360 and PS3 in the coming year.

IGN: Recently there have been many attempts to bring the RTS genre over to the console. Do you think what people learn from that will affect how the PC RTS is made in the future?

Chris Taylor: Well, yeah, because if there’s success on the console, people are going to stop making them on the PC because of my earlier point, what’s happened on the PC with piracy. The economics are ugly right now on the PC. You’re not going to see these gigantic, epic investments of dollars on the PC when it just doesn’t work. The economics have to work. You’re going to see those investments made on the console side and it’s going to become a more console-centric investment. And then you’re going to see them ported back over to the PC and that creates a different experience on the PC.

Right now it’s up in the air, but right now the PC market is kind of voting with its dollars, if you will.

Read the whole thing here.

To see the humble RTS, a genre that is for me a core part of PC gaming, be predicted to follow the trend of console-led development is frightening and worrying. While I cannot agree that piracy is the sole reason for this shift, it has certainly played a large part in it. I would hate to see piracy being the cause of even more developers moving away from the PC, I really would.

Read the rest of this entry