In this interview on GameSpot, Hellboy producer, John Whiston and associate producer, Rich Forrester, discuss some of the challenges of multiplatform development, co-op and staying true to the Hellboy story.
GS AU: What's been easier to work on--the PS3 or the 360 version--and what challenges or advantages does one have over the other?
JW: We're definitely pushing both the PS3 and 360 with Hellboy, and they each have their own unique strengths--allowing us to accomplish many new things that were just not possible on earlier consoles. Krome's Merkury Engine integrates platform-specific programming, allowing the interface to be platform independent. Basically, the Engine allows us to simplify the game development process to work as efficiently as possible. We've been doing cross-platform development from the start of Hellboy, and it's a difficult call to choose which one has been "easier" to work on. I've been changing my mind throughout development as we've got to grips with their intricacies. From a gameplay perspective both consoles are fairly similar; however, the PS3 version does allow the player to use the Sixaxis controller to directly perform some of the short, visceral actions available to Hellboy. There's a real satisfaction to ripping swarming enemies from your back or tearing interactive objects from walls by jerking the controller in the right direction.
Hellboy is due to be shown at E3 this year, by the games publishers, Konami.