Runescape developer Jagex has revealed a console version of its browser-based fantasy MMO is something it keeps considering, with the arrival of Xbox 360, Wii and PS3 making such more tempting than ever before.

"It's certainly more interesting with the current generation of consoles of course because they're far more internet-connected than the previous generation and it just wasn't worth looking at," the game's creator Andrew Gower told us recently.

"But with the PS3 and Xbox 360 and the Wii, it's much more tempting, I have to say."

Talking about PS3 specifically, Gower said that Jagex could probably get Runescape running on the machine right now, adding overall that "Technically porting the game to different platforms isn't a huge amount of work."

However, he explained the reason the developer's "slightly reluctant" to bring the MMO to too many different platforms "is because the more platforms that we're on, the more we have to update in parallel and that would slow us down."

"We've always tried to be a very agile company whereby if the players say they want something, or there's something not quite right, we'll fix it there and then," Gower said.

"We're loath to lose the rapid response... that we've got at the moment, and the more platforms we go to the more that happens, so it's a bit of a trade off."

Gower said there was nothing he could talk about at the moment regarding actual plans to bring Runescape to console. The game, which consists of both free and subscription versions, recently hit one million subscribers and boasts over 5 million active players.

July 5, 2007