Why are developers turning away from the PC?

[PedroSteckecilo]

... that still doesn't invalidate my argument Amnestic. I did that with my previous PC and look where that got me, my Hardware Nerd friend helped me choose the parts, I read up on some stuff online, I tried to balance costs and it didn't work. Though in the end I'm a bad example, I like Japanese Games, which primarily come out for consoles.

Also companies like Cryware and ID, whom make games with graphics so advanced that they can't be run on any system that currently exists, give PC gaming a bad name. The world needs more WoW style games (colorful and artistic but with technically non taxing graphics) in order to bring PC gaming back into the mainstream.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

I, quite frankly, am in no position to buy into PC gaming. I have a good reason for this, to protect me from the vigilant eyes of Eggo.

I am currently typing this on a laptop. I need to have a laptop. The people I live with like using it around the house, so the portability is an important factor. This is especially true when you consider I am going to university in about a year and a half, so a conventional computer really wouldn't be any good.

And people who know what they're talking about have said in previous threads that gaming laptops are a joke. And since I am stuck with a laptop, I really can't become a PC gamer.

 

[shadow skill]

What PedroSteckecilo said is true you know. For the lay person rightly or wrongly a console is still easier than a traditional desktop PC for gaming. I know that you can build an excellent machine for less than 1500 USD but the fact of the matter is that people don't know about these sorts of things for whatever reason. At the end of the day it really does not matter if your way is "better" people really don't give a fuck just look at the hell the PS3 has had to go through with shitty ports because game developers didn't practice things that PC app developers are taught in school. I noticed that things started to pick up when Sony through Insomniac reached out to developers more, created resources for developers to share code. (Something I had just assumed they already did with the non-sensitive aspects of their software because I had been taught to never reinvent the wheel when coding as it were.) It didn't matter that Sony's architecture was better than the others; it did matter however that the devkits were not very good, the architecture was largely unfamilliar (Multicore programming is still a new phenomena in the PC world at large.), the graphics libraries being used were also a bit different for anyone used to working primarily with Directx, the list goes on. Why do you think there was a chorus of whining from developers early on about how hard it was to develop for the PS3 when the real issue was that the system was very different from what many were used to?

Sony's major failure was not providing the necessary resources for developers to get a handle on the system. In otherwords they forgot that no one cared that their architecture was better. Though to be fair it's almost expected that their competition would outshine them when it came to dev tools since the main competition is primarily a PC software maker. At any rate people need to step back from "Huh, huh you are stupid for buying a PC." and realize that not everyone knows how to do that for whatever reason. You have to operate based on this fact of life.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

It's simple. PC gamers = the minority.

The tyranny of the majority will always triumph because money speaks louder than words.

 

[Lukeje]

I, quite frankly, am in no position to buy into PC gaming. I have a good reason for this, to protect me from the vigilant eyes of Eggo.

I am currently typing this on a laptop. I need to have a laptop. The people I live with like using it around the house, so the portability is an important factor. This is especially true when you consider I am going to university in about a year and a half, so a conventional computer really wouldn't be any good.

And people who know what they're talking about have said in previous threads that gaming laptops are a joke. And since I am stuck with a laptop, I really can't become a PC gamer.

You can be a PC gamer, just don't expect to be able to play all the latest games on the max. settings. This is why I bring a selection of the games I've collected over the years but not had a chance to finish with me to university. Remember that you are not a true gamer until you have played the classics.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Another new guy starting a flame fest to get his merit badge.

Oh so that's why the topic badges are fireballs.

 

[vxicepickxv]

Major factors that look make it seem that PC developers are turning away from the PC.

1 - Piracy
2 - Development costs VS sales of product
3 - Stability of Development for targeted system

These are the big 3 folks. They aren't in a particular order, so take note of that one.
The first one is obvious. One of the best counters for Piracy is DRM, which causes sales to drop, because people don't like DRM, even something effective, like the STEAM network.

The largest volume is sales is for the widest variety of product. I find it funny that someone like my brother, who has a PC capable of Fallout 3 and a 360 bought his copy of Fallout 3 for the 360, even though the PC copy is 10 dollars cheaper.

It's easier to program a game for a single system like the 360, PS3, or Wii, and then use a program port to copy it to other systems than it is to try to program for a wide variety of Video Cards, Processors, and Operating Systems, even if the only OSes are Vista and XP. There's still at least 2 versions of each, 32 and 64 bit.

If you have a 360 and a PC capable of playing a game that hit at the same time, like Fallout 3, especially if it has live, get the PC version. You'll save money, and you'll get the developer more money. After all a 360 game is 12 bucks in licensing fees to Microsoft. Games for Windows is not only free for PC games, but it also adds in free advertising money and the like.

 

[DYin01]

...since FPSs, Strategy games and MMOGs remain PC centric.

Nope. Not true.

Care to elaborate? Because last time I checked, PC had a LOT more MMO games than every console together. Same goes for strategy games. Yes, it is possible to make a decent strategy game for a console, but the fact remains that it's just a lot easier on PC with the keyboard for hotkeys and mouse for precision. You just can't get the same precision with a stick.

First, FPSs haven't been PC-centric for a while. I daresay in at least some cases FPSs are even better on consoles now (look at the latest Tom Clancy games). There may be more MMOs on PC but not enough to call them PC-centric. And even strategy games have plenty of releases on consoles. Remember, strategy is more than RTS (if that's what you meant), and consoles support K&M now (at least by hardware).

Perhaps, though, this is just a difference in opinion. I think a better statement would be to say that the PC is FPS, MMORPG, and RTS-centric.

Oh hey, I completely overread FPS. I do agree that FPS isn't PC-centric anymore. On the strategy thing, other than RTS, what do you rate as 'strategy'? And MMORPG.. Well, what MMORPGs are there for consoles? And which one's are there that are also pretty succesful? I know about Ultima Online and Final Fantasy eh.. XI?

 

[Chaos Marine]

I don't really give a damn what people think. FPS games do not belong on consoles. Auto-aim assisted gun play is counter productive to developing the skills to do so yourself.

 

[shadow skill]

I don't really give a damn what people think. FPS games do not belong on consoles. Auto-aim assisted gun play is counter productive to developing the skills to do so yourself.

You don't need auto aim for consoles you know.

 

[crazy-j]

because macs are better

 

[Mr_Czar]

because macs are better

Filthy iconoclast!

 

[crazy-j]

because macs are better

Filthy iconoclast!

lol i am just screwing around

 

[shadow skill]

It's funny that some form is almost always included though.

Why is that?

Because people do like that option. But it doesn't say much when you realize that these developers are incompetent. Only incompetent programmers create the southpaw settings seen in most games that even support the option at all.

 

[Dr Spaceman]

http://www.edge-online.com/news/study-claims-pc-market-largest

This article claims that the PC game market is worth $20 BILLION this year alone, and that nearly three times as many "gaming" PCs have been sold over the past three years as have consoles. Now, as the PC gaming market is, by its nature, much more difficult to track than the console market, how do these numbers hold up? It seems like for the past, well, long-ass time we've all operated under the assumption that the console market is much larger the PC market. Of course, this being only one study, I can't really put 100% faith in it. But... the numbers are intriguing...

Actually, I also wanted to speak on one other point quickly. I really think that we need to put this "PCs are more expensive than consoles" debate to bed. (Before everyone kills me, I own consoles too, and play games on both.) Console gaming has come to a point where to get maximum enjoyment you need to spend quite a lot of money on the console and the TV. It's awfully easy to forget that since a PC comes with the visual screen, that we should (in all fairness) include the cost of the visual screen of the console. To really enjoy 360 and PS3 games (even Wii games to an extent) you probably need some kind of HDTV. Not a hulking behemoth, but some semblance of one. Those are usually pretty expensive. Can't we all just agree that we all love the most goddamn expensive hobby on God's green Earth?

 

[Dr Spaceman]

The thing is that the PS3 hasn't exactly broken new ground in terms of graphics

But how can it when it's got the equivalent of a 7800GTX under the hood?

Actually, that was a joke. Like I said, the active active act of making an object more closely resemble its real-life counterpart (or at least, its approximate) is not in itself especially creative - any idiot can suggest it.

I don't know, those artists from the Renaissance would sure say that presenting the human form in the most realistic sense possible isn't creative would totally disagree...

Basically, what I'm saying is that Da Vinci would be a huge PS3 fanboy douche.

 

[hypern]

They will turn away sometimes because it's easier to use the console market but they will come back to the PC because of the amount of designs they they can play around with.

 

[hypern]

Well the developers will go to the consoles because it's easier to design the specifications. On the other hand the PC has the advantage of having a wide platform base to build and test gaming systems on them.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

1. Piracy, perceived or otherwise, facts are, there's more piracy on PC than any other platform in gaming, it's just a shame the companies cant report something near the facts as the figures they report just make everyone think they're making everything up and ignore the fact that there is a problem. 6000 seeds on a popular torrent site does not equal 60 million illegal downloads, if it does, you need to set up some lawyers in Rwanda and the like, because with those number kids who cant get enough flour to eat are burning off a few copies of Crysis daily. Fact is, tho, its a problem, and if they can get paid for say 85% of PC games that get played, and 98% of console games, they're gonna lean towards consoles.

2. Popularity of consoles, sure there's more PCs out there than consoles, there's also more microwaves. Fact is there's more consoles out there than gaming pcs ready to play what's coming out. Note I researched the figures by staring at the wall for a few seconds before pulling them out of my ass, but it works for FOX, so now I'm a journalist, right?

3. Consoles, easier to program for. Ok, stop typing, sure they're harder to program for originally, but once they're used to it, they're writing it for the PS3 and 360 in the main. Not 4000 different PC specs.

4. Console gamers are easier to please and generally less knowledgeable. Note I'm not calling console gamers idiots, far from it. Pc gamers however are far more likely to complain about a lazy port or lacking features that a lot of console gamers wouldn't even know could have existed. I'm not talking about Escapist console owners, hell I am one, but there's a LOT of casual gamers out there who bought a 360/ps3 for the new Fifa, Madden, WWE game and are quite happy. Console gamers (in general, the masses, I KNOW there's exceptions) are far more easily pleased with a game that's 'quite good', whereas a game has to be amazing to get any respect on the PC.

5. Support, No need to support a console game, once its on the disc, you're essentially locked down. No need to offer patches or bug fixes, if they don't like it, they just need to wait for the sequel. No need to offer forums, helplines, dev kits, etc. No need to provide any form of community.

6. While I agree the consoles are less powerful than a half decent PC, they still LOOK really good on a big telly, and need less work to look too.

7. They can charge more per game. Seems people are happy to pay £55 for a Xbox version of whats £30 on the PC.

 

[742]

Actually, I just checked and there's more than three times the number of people pirating Left 4 Dead for the Xbox 360 than the PC on that one torrent site. And in total, almost 2000 more people have downloaded the game for the Xbox 360 than the PC :lol:

Eggo, I agree with you, really I do, but most of the people saying the stupid things aren't going to be assed with looking at facts.

Just be happy you and I are part of the Godly PC Gaming Master Race, and scoff at the console peasants.

In reality, Developers don't like the PC because with the PC they know they are expected to support their games.

They KNOW that PC gamers aren't stupid and won't pay for extra maps. They know that we expect patches at LEAST 1 a month, and most of all, they know that we expect quality.

very VERY true.

oh, and not all PC gamers are martini drinking elitst sacks of crap. some of us are tea drinking elitist paragons of humanity.
i think they might be using piracy as an excuse for DRM to drive people away from PC games so that good support and quality products cease to be an expectation in the games industry wait... that actually makes sense, weird.