Just Cause 2 Developer Avoids Making PC Games

[jasoncyrus]

In all honesty if a developer is too much of an amatuer to make the game the same quality experience across all platforms (aside from extremely like wii and natal since its a whole different technology) then they dont deserve to be making games period.

After all its a well known fact that in general games tend to give a better experience on pc than console.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Not sure if the same negatives can be said for console to PC conversions. Console conventions on PC are pretty bad but the games themselves normally end up benefiting from the additional power and flexibility of the PC. Add mods to that and the PC ports of console games sometimes end up as the definitive version.

Alone in the Dark 5.
Most irritating Console > PC port I've ever played, and it's not even ashamed to hide it.

That was just a straight up bad game though. What is the point in complaining about the quality of the port if it isn't that good in the first place?

 

[Treblaine]

Oh, is he saying that PC gamers wouldn't like a game like Just Cause 2?

BULLSHIT!!!

What the fuck does he think PC gamers are like? That they only like banal RTS games? Is he actually retarded enough to believe those Mac vs PC ads that everyone who likes PC is just a nerdy work obsessed loser with zero style or passion?!?!?

One of the great things about PC games this generation is you can take the Xbox 360 code and simply scale everything up on PC:

-Not satisfied with 720p? Well scale that puppy up to 1080p!
-2xAA not enough, well ramp it up to 4xAA (what I'd say should be an absolute minimum) or 8xAA
-Why settle for 30fps with every other frame torn when you can lock it at a solid 60fps + full V-lock for the smoothest gameplay.
-Reduce or eliminate loading times, no fucking around with multiple discs, mouse aim, variety of controllers, save anywhere, mods.

See the thing is the GPU in the consoles this generation are over half a decade old, circa 2005, amigo. Hell PCs with GPUs from 2008 can absolutely spank most new console releases, the only way the consoles keep up is with 1st party PS3 games like God of War 3 and Uncharted 2 because the studios that made those have MASTERED the complex Cell to unlock new power though no 3rd party developers seem to want to make any serious inroads there. 1st party has an inherent advantage in working with the cell as they have direct access to the people who bloody well built the PS3.

Most of the time the PC version is the ultimate version, Batman Arkham Asylum is just 10x better on PC. In fact almost all the 3rd party games made this generation are far better on PC than console, including Modern Warfare 2, bettER on PC from resolution to framerate to controls.

PC would be perfect for just Cause 2 as I can tell from the Analysis of the Demo it has a serious case of strained frame-buffer, low and inconsistent framerate with LOTS of screen tear even in the bloody cutscenes. Textures are not all that sharp and could do with solving a few pop-in issues that would be solved with a full HDD install. Lots of aiming, could do with a Mouse for that.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

It sounds good in theory - ports from consoles to PC suck and vice versa. A reasonable claim.

But the implication is that you have to pick one platform and concentrate on it. And i'm sure everyone except indie developers and Valve would pick consoles over PC if faced with that choice... for one reason or another. And it would suck for me, because getting console games in this country is nigh impossible.

I thought you lived im my country. Where it's entirely possible, if can be a bit problematic.

Just Cause he said this we have to make a thread about it? i dont get it

Now that's one horrible pun.

 

[Danny Ocean]

And i'm still angry at them for not including XP support.

To be fair XP is now two operating systems behind.

See the thing is the GPU in the consoles this generation are over half a decade old, circa 2005, amigo. Hell PCs with GPUs from 2008 can absolutely spank most new console releases

You know this much about technology, so you should also know that consoles rely more on the CPU than the GPU for their processing.

 

[SNIPERFOX ft. Harry P.Ness]

And i'm still angry at them for not including XP support.

To be fair XP is now two operating systems behind.

so? its still reliable . that C*nt i hate anti PC gamers. and i thought swedes were cool. dont worry , we still have dice and simbin on our side

 

[Critical92]

Strangely enough, the Newer pokemon games seem to have a pretty damn good anti-piracy that wont let you play the game without constant crashes, while the actual product is crash free :|

 

[Danny Ocean]

And i'm still angry at them for not including XP support.

To be fair XP is now two operating systems behind.

So? its still reliable .

Well yeah but so is a horse and cart or a cassette or whatever. Peeps with XP will have to upgrade eventually. Aren't they removing support for it some time this year?

 

[psychic psycho]

That's too bad I've played the JC2 demo on the PC and it was great; I'll probably get it sooner or later. Ran smooth (I have a modest gaming PC), and the controls were nice.

JC2 seems to be doing well it's on the top sellers list on steam.

I kinda agree with what he's saying. I don't mind if there isn't a PC version of a game, not every game has to be multiplatform. I actually prefer publishers/developers DON'T release a game on the PC if it's a bad port or has crazy drm attached to it. There should never have been a PC version of Assassin's Creed 2 if Ubisoft felt they needed that type of DRM. I'm glad I didn't have an interest in the recent PC games that got botched (MW2, AC2) but I still wouldn't buy them even if I did.

 

[Delusibeta]

While I approve of any developer realising a crappy port makes good games crappy, it seems that the Enix didn't do a crappy port in this case, thus making the developer look a bit dumb.

 

[TimeCruiserMike]

And i'm still angry at them for not including XP support.

To be fair XP is now two operating systems behind.

and still the better os

one thing that bothers me is that the xbox has usb ports, why in the hell do no FPS's on it support keyboard and mouse. .. i wouldn't care about pc ports if that were the case

 

[fenrizz]

And i'm still angry at them for not including XP support.

To be fair XP is now two operating systems behind.

and still the better os

one thing that bothers me is that the xbox has usb ports, why in the hell do no FPS's on it support keyboard and mouse. .. i wouldn't care about pc ports if that were the case

Ok. I'm taking your bait.

Exactly why is XP superior?

 

[Baby Tea]

How exactly is a PC not a high-end platform?

And what the drek is an SKU? (Stock keeping unit? Unlikely)

He isn't saying the PC isn't a high-end platform, he's saying they want to stick to the high-end consoles (360 and PS3).

And a SKU is the number used to identify the product with retailers.

I surprised they didn't mention piracy as a reason for not wanting to develop for PCs, but I can understand their reasoning.
The Just Cause 2 demo was a blast, and I'm trying to convince my wife to let me pick it up...but that's not going well.
Crap.

 

[SomeBoredGuy]

Just Cause he said this we have to make a thread about it? i dont get it

Haha. Good one, I laughed.

OT: I agree that no developer should just make a PC port for the hell of it and then fill it to the brim with useless DRM.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

How exactly is a PC not a high-end platform?

And what the drek is an SKU? (Stock keeping unit? Unlikely)

He isn't saying the PC isn't a high-end platform, he's saying they want to stick to the high-end consoles (360 and PS3).

It's not obvious from that speech though, is it?

"All in all, Avalanche Studios is primarily a console developer and the high-end platforms are the ones we prefer."

And a SKU is the number used to identify the product with retailers.

Weird, I've worked in retail for decades and not heard that.

 

[Treblaine]

PC development will cost more than console iterations. with dwelling profit margins for PC games i can see his point.

That doesn't make sense, there is nothing fundamental about PC that makes it harder to develop for.

Fundamentally there are aspects that make it more expensive to release a game on CONSOLE since you are entering Microsoft or Sony's private little world. you have to pay licensing fees just to release ANY game on there and dozens of other hidden costs like you are charged per disc on Xbox 360. You are charged just to have the Xbox 360 logo on your game packaging.

You don't need to pay ANYTHING to release a game on PC, and from what I hear it is not extortionate to get your game onto Valve's Steam store either precisely because it is so easy to simply bypass them. No different from retail store release.

It is also very easy to release a quality port of a game from say Xbox 360 to PC, since Xbox 360 games all use DirectX 9 graphics rendering same as Windows. Though the PowerPC architecture is a slight problem which means PC emulation of Xbox 360 games is not that simple, the C++ coding that most modern games uses means it is easy to get around and improve upon even making allowances for hyper-threading and Quad+ cores.

Looks like i might have to get this game for the Console

WHAT DA FUUU... NO!!

See it's that easy this generation a third party can port to PC and still do an amazing job, at least wait for some benchmarks to come out:

Early signs seem to indicate any rig from this side of 2008 will do you just fine or at the very least it will do better than the 360 or PS3 release.

The PC version offers CUDA for the water and other physics... if you know what that is you know how good that is.

just check this out:

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/features/53469/Just-Cause-2-PC-Interview

The PC version is enhanced in the following ways?

* Enhanced DirectX10 and 10.1 render path
* Support for 32Bit and 64Bit Windows 7 and Vista
* Optimized for Dual and Quad Core Processors
* Certified for Nvidia 3D Vision (Not available on console)
* Support for Window and Full Screen modes
* Enhanced for SLi
* Enhanced for Crossfire
* Enhanced for multi-screen setup (Not available on console)
* Full Keyboard and Mouse support
* Xbox360 Controller Support
* Enhanced GPU Water effect for Nvidia Systems (Not available on console)
* Enhanced Bokeh filter for Nvidia Systems (Not available on console)
* Increased detail setting (Not available on console)
* Soft Shadows (Not available on console)
* Soft Particles (Not available on console)
* Point Specular (Not available on console)
* SSAO (Not available on console)
* Benchmark Mode (Not available on console)
* DLC support via Steamworks
* Achievements via Steamworks
* Auto patching via Steamworks
* Ability to chat to other gamers via Steamworks while playing

Which just makes the comments of the developer just seem... weird. because the PC version IS so well supported. Maybe, he is just VERY anal and dedicated and though he'd rather not make a PC release he feels dedicated to make it as good as possible. I don't know but seriously... PC is still best for you the consumer.

I mean this even keeps achievements via Steamworks... hardly any third party PC games have had that. And a built in benchmark, that is REALLY considerate to serious PC gamers.

 

[Baby Tea]

He isn't saying the PC isn't a high-end platform, he's saying they want to stick to the high-end consoles (360 and PS3).

It's not obvious from that speech though, is it?

"All in all, Avalanche Studios is primarily a console developer and the high-end platforms are the ones we prefer."

And a SKU is the number used to identify the product with retailers.

Weird, I've worked in retail for decades and not heard that.

Seemed obvious to me!
They are a console developer, and of those consoles they want to work with the high end platforms.
Maybe worded a bit oddly, but it seems obvious to me.

And you never heard of a SKU after working in retail for decades?
Man, I worked in retail for under 10 years and I was all SKU'd out.
Weird.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Seemed obvious to me!
They are a console developer,

Primarily...that insunates they also work on others...which tends to be the PC. Just seems a very evasive way of swearing off the PC when JC came out for the PC.

PLUs I could tell you, but not SKUs.