Although we don’t know the exact release date of Mafia 2 for the present, it is certain yet on which platforms is it going to be released. Gossips on the Internet say that Mafia 2 is primarily developed for PC and therefore the console-conversions (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) will originate from the PC version. Conversion in this case means modification of the game (graphics) for dimensions of consoles. Some time ago there were speculations saying that the PC version of Mafia 2 was going to be released some time after the consoles versions. When you think about it, it seems logical. Illusion Softworks as the developer of Mafia 2 was bought by the gigant Take 2, which is also the distributor of the well-known gangster series GTA, and as the world goes, in this series (of the games from Take 2 henceforth) every new part is released firstly for consoles and half a year after it appears on PCs. Most of the players or fans for example of the GTA mentioned have just a PC at home and when the game gets out half a year after the console version, where majority of the players had already finished the game, they are embittered of course and swear to the producer/distributor. But it’s nothing more than just a smart economic move, thanks to which the game is better sold than if it would have gone out for all the platforms at once. In the case of GTA, the game is announced for consoles at first and after the release, when the sale starts to fall off, it is announced for PCs (in the case of Mafia 2 all the 3 versions were announced at once). Anyway I must say, that the reason for later release of PC version is also a huge piracy on PC (about 90%). On consoles, the piracy is nearly zero: on Xbox 360 console it is about 5%, which is practically nothing in comparison with PC. When we look to the past, we can see that the first Mafia was released at first on PC and two years after on consoles (Xbox, PlayStation 2). Let’s hope then that Mafia 2 will go out for all the platforms at once, the sooner the better. If so, hopefully this move performed by 2K Czech/Take 2 will be succesful and supporters of all 3 platforms will be satisfied. Me, as an owner of console Xbox 360 and a PC, I must say, that if the game gets out for all the version in the same time, I would propably take the Xbox one (if it’s, as well as the PC version, in my mother language – czech). The reasons are simple – I don’t need to care about hardware demandingness and I settle down comfortably in an armchair to the TV with a remote-control in my hands :) The End.
