"Game X was dumbed down for consoles"

[EzraPound]

I think it's really a game by game situation. One could argue that Crysis 2 was dumbed down for consoles, because they had to make levels smaller/less open since consoles don't have enough power and RAM to load up great big open and sprawling levels.

Uhhh. . . Far Cry 2 already managed to render sprawling environments pretty effectively in a console FPS. Had Crysis 2 featured a sandbox the graphics would've probably had to have taken a bigger hit, but I wouldn't blame the linear levels on console limitations per se.

Well my evidence for that is an interview with Crytek CEO

Whether that's the reason why, all this time later, I don't know.

Dude's full of shit. He also claimed piracy forced Crytek's hand to develop primarily for consoles because the game would've sold five times as many copies otherwise--something no piracy charts support, and that would've made it as popular as The Sims (note for Cevat: just someone pirates your game, doesn't mean they would've bought it).

Crytek developed Crysis 2 primarily for consoles because they wanted money, is the simple truth. The same goes for open-ended environments--lots of X360/PS3 games have already managed them, from Just Cause 2 to Far Cry 2 to Oblivion. But that doesn't mean that they're more commercial than Call of Duty's rail-shooter approach.

 

[SageRuffin]

Man... a lot of responses, the comments as varied as the people posting them.

I guess I'll stick to fighting games. I think I'll suffer a lot less ridicule since they've always been made for consoles (at least to my knowledge).

 

[S3Cs4uN 8]

PC gamers who say they want to use more of their brain can come over here

http://www.paradoxplaza.com/

I recommend victoria 2-its awsome, EU3-is less complex but still fun, sword of stars- has a changing tech tree which makes every game different, and if you can get a hold of it Crusader Kings makes you really care about your ruler.

or they could play Dwarf Fortress or the mod for DF, Kobold Camp both a rather difficult games filled with "Fun"

 

[Atmos Duality]

"Dumbing Down"
Blatantly adding artificial difficulty scaling, cutting features (relative to gameplay we've had in the past) to meet the limits of a technologically inferior system, or otherwise pander to a wider/less experienced market.

It happens. I can provide several measurable examples (and an entire gameplay mechanic), and I've heard a lot of excuses for those.

However, complaining about it is pointless. Simply put; as long as the Console market remains dominant, games will be designed with the console audience in mind. PC games are a secondary market at best in the mainstream, barring certain genres.

 

[Shydrow]

Based on the game and what the design goals and gameplay goals are for it and how controllers and systems would handle it.

 

[SeriousIssues]

...I liked the Orange Box better on xbox. My laptop just overheats and is hard to control compared to a controller.

 

[AyaReiko]

A great case of "dumbing down" something as a bad thing is Civ 5. Wow, talk about a game made for fragheads.

The best way to describe something as "dumbed down" is whenever a game's mechanics has been apparently simplified in excess because, as everyone knows, players are morons [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ViewersAreMorons].

 

[Netrigan]

Mass Effect 1 gave you infinite ammo and tons of skills. It's clearly intended to be primarily an RPG of the classic variety,with some shooter action. Wheras Mass Effect 2 featured (very) limited ammo,and few skills. It was primarily a Third Person Shooter with light RPG elements. Two entirely different demographics.

But it is odd that the first game has you micro-manage just about everything under the sun... except for the one resource that every shooter makes you manage. At times, it feels like they handed me a gun and said "we don't expect you to know how to use this, so here's infinite ammo".

 

[DSK-]

Hang on, hang on, hang on... I'm just trying to better myself by seeking understanding. Nothing wrong with that, right?

Anyway, I'll keep this relatively short. I'm not a PC gamer, or rather not enough of one to really qualify myself as such. I hear the term "[insert game here] was dumbed down" used quite a bit by PC gamers. Given that the stereotypical - please note the term right there: stereotypical - PC gamer is a high-and-mighty "I'm smarter than you because I can multitask better" type of person (and I greatly apologize for that image), this led me to believe that the term meant [insert aforementioned game here] was essentially a "Complete Idiots" version... "for Dummies". As a console gamer, I'm sure most can understand why I'd be upset. However, many people like to "kindly" inform me that my assertions are unfounded, downright incorrect even.

So, here's my question: WHAT THE FUCK DO PEOPLE MEAN WHEN THEY SAY SOMETHING WAS "DUMBED DOWN"?!

It isn't about assuming console players are "thick" and "stupid" as you say. There are many differences in terms of the platforms themselves and what they are capable of, including but not limited to the control schemes, accessibility inherent hardware and processing power and market demographics.

The elements that affect the "dumbing down" of games on consoles are accessibility and the control schemes. Case in point - I have on the 360 pad in my hand (I'm playing FIFA 09 btw) 11 buttons, 3 of those not used for the majority if not ever for actual gameplay, 2 analogue sticks and a D-pad.
On my PC I have a shit load of buttons on my keyboard as well as 3 on my mouse plus the scroll wheel.

However this is just a stupid comparison and I apologise for it.

In all honesty I believe that the "dumbing down" factor is simply the act of developers trying to do as much as they can with limits of the console platform. PC gamers such as myself have been spoiled in terms of the scope, technology and capability of the games we play that simply cannot compare to the experience you get on a console.

Jerry's DSK's Final Thought

I might be talking a load of complete bollocks, especially since I much prefer my PC to any console, but consoles for me take many concessions with lacklustre controls and relatively slow gameplay.

However I will also say that what developers are making for the consoles in this day and age (especially when it comes to FPS's) is that they play very well considering the limitations they have.

I apologise if I haven't explained myself (I don't think I have but at this exact moment in time I could care less because it's almost 4AM :S)

Much Love <3

 

[Zaik]

Not every person means the same thing when they say "dumbed down". You need to follow the time honored tradition of using !*CONTEXT*! to determine what a person actually means when they say something.

Like everyone rational has been doing since language has existed.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Lol I don't think so. Nanovision is just an easy-mode version of the binoculars from Crysis 1, not a real suit mode. And Power? Please, I'm about as strong as that IRL. The strength mode in Crysis 1 actually DID something. You could pick up heavy shit and throw it twenty feet. That mode is gone, regardless of whether it's claimed to be the "default suit mode" or not.

Yeah, I am sure you could punch an alien in a metal suit so hard that it would fly back. :\

And yeah, Nanovision is in fact a mode. It consumes energy and has the special purpose of being able to detect cloaked players. So....yeah.

Actually, you could pick up an enemy, choke him to death, and then throw him at another enemy so hard that it killed THAT enemy as well. The power mode in Crysis 2 is just plain weak given its limited uses.

Whoop-dee-doo, nanovision consumes energy! What doesn't in Crysis 2? Again, the Crysis 1 binoculars did the same damn thing and were just an extra bit of equipment that you had. They weren't part of the suit modes, and didn't drain energy. Nanovision was also another extra. So claiming those things to be a suit mode in Crysis 2 just means they're attempting to make up for the crap they removed. But they obviously haven't. Because it's still STUFF THEY REMOVED.

So they removed something completely useless.

Actually, most things in Crysis were completely useless. It really just boiled down to "shoot everything" in every difficulty setting. Maybe use speed or cloak mode every now and then.

Just because there are gameplay elements there that you don't use, doesn't mean they are useless. It's like saying a mage class in an RPG is useless because you play fighters only. Crysis 1 was groundbreaking in a ways, I don't see nano strength in many other FPS's, and it actually added new elements to approaching the shootout which you couldn't do in most FPS. Punching houses, tossing cars, cloaking behind trees and super jumping up to sniper posts, many games had these, but not all put together in the SAME GAME. And whether you like it or not, these were NOT present in Crysis 2, as were the huge environments.

BUT, I will give them credit for still implementing more than one method of approaching each scenario, with the binoculars showing various tactical options. That was a nice touch. So, I actually didn't consider this "dumbing down" as such, it's just taken a different path. Just like Far Cry 2 from Far Cry 1, I mean those games were so damn different they shouldn't even share the same name.