Capcom explains why Talisman was binned

Capcom director of production Adam Boyes believes Xbox Live and PlayStation Network are "still in their infancy".

This was one of the reasons board game adaptation Talisman was canned at the beginning of October, he explained. Apparently the online services can't yet recreate the social atmosphere of friends sitting around a table and playing together in the same room.

"We looked at the other games on XBLA and PSN and realized that very few people were willing to sit and play a game for more than an hour. With a regular Talisman match coming in between three-to-five hours, this created an issue with how we would make the game fun and engaging for that whole time," Boyes told Giant Realm.

"This brings us one thing that we again failed to realize as PSN and XBLA were still in their infancy. Complex board games like Talisman live and die on the social interaction of people.

"...If the people in your match aren't going to use their headsets, the social aspect of a board game gets completely drained and becomes a slog as you could be sitting there for five minutes waiting for your next turn," he added.

Unfortunately, Boyes said Capcom found out "too late" this was the case, and that Talisman would eventually not deliver what fans of the game wanted.

Capcom US community chief Chris Kramer agrees, and admits on his blog that the company probably talked about the project too early.

But what about games such as Catan, Carcassone, Ticket to Ride and Lost Cities? Aren't they all board game adaptations that have worked on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network?

"Those games are lighter fare, and I do think that they lend themselves greatly to the XBLA and PSN user base," added Boyes. "If those games are light appetisers, Talisman would be a five-course meal.

"From the research we've done and looking at the games that succeed in the downloadable space, we found that people prefer the appetizers to hunkering down for a huge meal."

Boyes added: "I review hundreds of pitches and we will never close the door to developing a board game or card game that fits our user base."