BioShock 2 Dev Calls Console Wars "Silly"

[Weaver]

One thing I wish console gamers, in general at least, would do is start demanding some higher standards - especially in the realm of multiplayer. Having a "play the game!!!!" button, is just bloody awful. Starcraft, 12 years old now, with the original Battle.net had more configuration options than that. It's just frustrating trying to play a console game online and having no control at all over the settings.

I agree with you... mostly. I also wish I had more configurability. However, many people want that "play the game" button -- they don't want to be bothered with ping times and countries. Some people really do just want to play the game.

Rather than making it an all-or-nothing situation, we should have both options. Most multiplayer PC games from the 90's had a "quick play" button in addition to the "join a server" option, which meant the player could choose whether they want configurability or instant playability. It might mean a bit more trouble for the developers, but as a programmer, I can say that it's very little work to add one when you have the other.

It's almost the same problem as the console wars: rather than having to choose between one or the other, why can't we just have them all?

Yep yep, this is probably the best way to go about it. There's really no reason to NOT have matchmaking for the people who want it, likewise for a server browser with filters.

 

[SeanTheSheep]

I learned about the confirmation bias a long while ago, and am excellent at using it hypocritically in arguments.

But seriously, the man is right, it's all futile, considering the best console ever (The PC) gets almost all titles too, except wii games, but my vague analogy for that is like saying that a toaster doesn't play happy birthday while it toasts your bread; sure it's cool, but either it will be built in to specialist musical toasters in the future, or the fad will die out soon and no-one will care except hardcore Kenwood toaster fanatics.

OK, that isn't perfect, but ssshhh!
Also, holy sidetracking Batman!
Back on point: it will all continue until...
Something.
I've completely lost track of what I was trying to say when I started...

But yeah, the console wars will continue, and are silly as fighting over which is better out of yellow, green or mauve.
It's up to you, and I suppose the majority sort of decides, but it doesn't matter in all actuality, it's just a little choice.

[sub]Also, green owns yellow and mauve any day of the week.
End of.[/sub]

 

[ark123]

You're silly.








I'm not silly, you're silly.

 

[aaronx83]

well...if they call it silly why dont they release it on the wii
viva the wii

 

[Weaver]

I'll just sit back here on my happy PC hill and watch the console flame war

Likewise, I tend to ignore the ports of console games as they mostly suck, especially if they do not provide a demo to try it out, and happen to somehow slip through the PC game reviewers the month it is released (Devil May Cry 4, and Force Unleashed the Jedi Knight 2 wannabe).

I also own several consoles and a DS, but I have and always will be a PC gamer.

You say that like it's an inherently good thing.

Which, of course, is fanboyism and "platform partisanship" (I love that one) and makes you a Big Daddy target.

Seriously, PC fanboys are the ones that annoy me the most. Probably because console fanboys deep down know that they're engaging in silly, juvenile stuff. There is almost always a sarcastic component in their trolling, as with sports team followers. They realize there is nothing inherently positive in advocating their platform or team, but they do it anyway, for fun or as a defense mechanism to justify a purchase.

But not PC fans. Oh, no. The PC fanboy is a proper zealot. He will not accept anybody telling him that a controller is a viable control method for a FPS, not even as a subjective opinion. He will not acknowledge that his rig is overpriced, or too complicated to set up or otherwise inefficient.

Prod them in the right spot and they will even turn against other PCs. Try bringing up a vague desire to purchase a gaming laptop and see what happens. PC purists will only accept PCs that are purebreed desktop animals. No ATX case, no service, boy.

And, worst of all, they don't move on. They never move on. I know because I did, and it was such a struggle. They can turn fifty and have grandkids and they will still not accept the Wii as a "gaming platform". It's scary, actually.

You can play your FPS games with a controller if you want, I couldn't give a damn. Just don't make ME do it.

My PC is expensive as hell - so what? I realize this and I don't care. I really, really don't care. If I can afford it, why not? Why buy a honda civic if I can comfortably afford a 7 series BMW? Hell, why not buy both if I can afford it?

I've been playing PC as well as consoles since I was 4 years old. While I prefer the PC, there's nothing to "move on" from. I don't see how just stopping PC gaming and switching to consoles is "moving on". One could, by the same logic, ask why console gamers don't "move on" to the PC. Gaming is gaming in all it's forms - and I want to experience it in all it's forms.

 

[lkevil]

I agree console wars are "silly" - PC gaming always wins.

 

[ItsAPaul]

I don't have to own a 360 to know that Metal Gear Solid is a bad game. Also, most people that own either system don't care about the "console wars" (except Wii owners because their system's the worst obviously).

 

[Void(null)]

Xbots? Sony Defence Force?

Please God don't tell me they actually exist.

I hope so. Think of the hilarity! Membership cards, merchandise, damn.

At least 2K isnt exploiting the fanboi's like Capcom. [http://consumerist.com/2009/03/visa-and-capcom-announce-street-fighter-hyper-fee-edition-card.html]

 

[Cliff_m85]

If you have fun with the console you own, great for you. Not everyone has the financial stability to own YOUR console brand. I owned a Genesis while people were upgrading to PS2's. I got a PS2 near the end of the cycle. I now have an Xbox360 basically because I love GTA. I see no reason to throw down money for a PS3 no matter what 'benefits' it gives me. All my friends are on Xbox Live anyway. *shrugs*

Just dig the things you dig, maybe expose them to those you care about, but don't get douchey about it.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

Oh yeah? Well MACs are better than PC's!

*jumps behind hedge

Here comes the one wor defence....

iPad.

I agree console wars are "silly" - PC gaming always wins.

We're not a console though, we're in a league of our own.

 

[Tiut]

gg console fags.

You make such a spectacle of yourselves that even the devs think you're silly.

 

[SMOKEMNHALO2001]

I think fanboys and console wars are necessary, mind you I have a PS3 and a 360. (I gave my Wii to my mom)

 

[ProtoChimp]

THANK YOU! Finally a developer with an actual fucking brain.

You know what I find silly?

Developers going "Exclusive" for the extra money and in some cases alienating their fanbase so a few Microsoft/SONY CEOs can buy their 5th car.

As if games coming only on a certain platform would have anything to do with their fans...

How about instead of making fun of the symptoms you actually try to do something against the cause?

I like exclusive titles because if their wern't each console wouldn't have distinguishing features (apart from hardware and stuff). BUT, there should be no exclusive DLC for a friiggin multi-platform game.

Developers, when you make a game for both platforms make the DLC availible for them as well...you're missing out on money by alienating the other. I'm looking at you GTA4!
Fanboys get over yourselves and stop wasting our time.

Well said sir, well said *claps*.

 

[Flamingpenguin]

As a programmer and a mac user, the software is what's important to me. I don't really care if Half Life takes 20 seconds to load every 5 or so minutes in the middle of the maps because the 360 has trouble handling the big environments (I'm guessing). The game is fun. This is why I think console wars are a waste of time. The console means so little as long as you're enjoying the game, which only runs on top of the console.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Fanboys are silly... in related news, the sky is blue.

Really console wars are just silly little fights between guys who generally have more to prove to themselves then anyone else. As a developer (unless you work for Microsoft) I think that would be important to know.

 

[antigodoflife]

Well fuck... what am I then? I hate both Gears of War and Uncharted.

One's pretty and the other is trigger-happy... and that all that's really going for them.
That's how i see them anyway.

Go team... C64?

 

[squid5580]

I whole-heartedly agree with Marin.

Our consoles are merely platforms. They allow us to play the games we love. Yes, platforms are different, but as long as they enable playing the same game, it shouldn't matter which one you choose.

The fact that we have these competing, non-compatible platforms is a problem for us as gamers. Developers have to choose which platform to develop for, leaving many of us out in the cold, or spend that much more money to develop for all multiple platforms. We find ourselves unable to purchase some games unless we buy multiple platforms, whose initial cost is considerable. Inevitably, games end up performing better on some platforms than others, leaving us disappointed when we've chosen the worse platform. All in all, multiple platforms increase the costs to developers and gamers.

Competition is good, but platforms, because they aren't interchangeable, segment the market. With a car, you can choose any car you want and still be able to drive on the same roads and park in the same spots, but with computing platforms, your choice of platform limits what hardware and software you can use and who you will be able to use it with. It's no different than VHS vs. Betamax or HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray. As long as their are two competing formats, everybody loses -- only when we standardize do we get to reap the benefits of interoperability and the cost savings of only doing something once.

So stop arguing that your XBOX is better than your PS3, or that your Mac is better than your PC, and instead argue that you should be able to just buy a damn console and a damn game and play them. We don't want exclusives; we want to make purchases without fear of being on the losing side of a popularity contest. We want to make games cheaper for all of us, not choose who will live and die in the entertainment industry.

This is the problem though. When was the last PS3/360 game that was the same game? When did both systems have the same DLC on the same day and have the same graphics? He can call it silly and pointless and whatever else. But the bottom line is that it is a war they have created. I own both systems and I can no longer preorder any multiplat game. Since I won't know which version is the inferior one until the game is released and reviewed.

 

[Shurikens and Lightning]

I disagree that they are silly. Fanboys are silly yes. The whole my console is better than your console is silly. And once they figure out how to make the same game (the exact same experience) for both consoles (since the Wii is a different beast entirely) the console war will be rendered silly. Until they stop with the "exclusive to this console" DLC, make games that run the same on both consoles and give us gamers the same deal no matter which console we decide to buy it on (like Dante's Inferno where buying it for the PS3 is a much better deal than the 360). Once multiplat developers stop treating one side like 3rd class citizens and the other like kings or queens the console war is anything but silly.

If the consoles are exactly alike, what is the point of 2 systems?

Differences are what make consoles flourish each generation.

 

[insectoid]

Console wars are so ridiculous, often masquerading in the interests of 'healthy competition'. The culture of the 'wars' are far from encouraging healthy competition.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

It's called cognitive dissonance. Since they've latched onto the idea that they did the right choice by buying their console, and then reinforces it by buying games for it, they will end up saying stupid things to make sure that they don't are wrong. The brain does anything to make your choices make sense.

Although in easy terms, we could just call it denial...