"True" to PC gamers...?

[Anomaly1964]

First let me say I ONLY game on the PC, just spent over $1500 to build my gaming PC...

That said...

If you had a business, would you want your product to be purchased by a small percentage of the market or would you want to get as much market share as you could, while still delivering a quality product?

Can you REALLY blame software gaming companies for "going where the money is?"

How many of you would switch to consoles if you could purchase a mouse and keyboard that responded as well as they do on your PC?

If you KNEW that for $300 your "PC" could play any game that comes out for the next 3-4 years, which of you would not make that purchase?

This is NOT a thread to support console gaming, again, I ONLY game on a PC, but I CAN understand why companies put more effort into console games...

Can't you?

EDIT***

Does anyone ever see a company putting out a PC that is LIKE a console (uniform across the board), for say, $500, that could give you graphics like Crysis with every setting maxed out, have a keyboard and mouse, hook up to a PC monitor? It would be PURELY a gaming PC, no MS office, no Photoshop, no Video encoding, a PC just for gaming...?

 

[paperfist]

If I ran a company with tons of money in our coffers and I was rooted in PC gaming I would only put out PC game titles.

If I ran a regular business with stock holders to please I'd put my wares on every device that could run them.

 

[ImpulsE69]

It didn't used to be this way. PC's were worth the extra investment because they were used for much more than just gaming. I do EVERYTHING on my pc. With the lastest gen of consoles, the goal was to get an entertainment "pc-ish" quality without a PC. I would say they are close to accomplishing this. You can do so much on the consoles than just play games. I don't really agree with it. I still prefer PC for the added versitility..but I think next gen consoles might move the gaming desktop closer to "niche" than before.

As for companies - no you can't blame them. They are out ot make money. I don't always agree with their reasons (like pirating). I think it's a overstated issue.

With consoles they don't have to worry about making their games work on 1000's of different configurations to get the max userbase. I think it slows down advances - but at the same time, some of my favorite games are on consoles. (I do both).

 

[JTsyo]

...
EDIT***

Does anyone ever see a company putting out a PC that is LIKE a console (uniform across the board), for say, $500, that could give you graphics like Crysis with every setting maxed out, have a keyboard and mouse, hook up to a PC monitor? It would be PURELY a gaming PC, no MS office, no Photoshop, no Video encoding, a PC just for gaming...?

It's called a Xbox. Other than the kb/mouse.

What annoys us PC gamers is not that games are being released on consoles but that they are poorly ported to the PC. The limitations of the console carry over to the PC because the developer is too lazy to put the work in to do it right.

 

[Anomaly1964]

It's called a Xbox. Other than the kb/mouse.

What annoys us PC gamers is not that games are being released on consoles but that they are poorly ported to the PC. The limitations of the console carry over to the PC because the developer is too lazy to put the work in to do it right.

I hear what you are saying, but again, from their point of view, is all the extra work to PORT it to PC worth their time and money?

Again, this is not some kinda COVERT consoles are better thread, I love PC gaming...

 

[sigurros81]

Does anyone ever see a company putting out a PC that is LIKE a console (uniform across the board), for say, $500, that could give you graphics like Crysis with every setting maxed out, have a keyboard and mouse, hook up to a PC monitor? It would be PURELY a gaming PC, no MS office, no Photoshop, no Video encoding, a PC just for gaming...?

Then it'd be a console with Mouse and Keyboard support?

I agree with you though. I'm a gamer first and foremost, whichever platform I play on is just secondary to my pursuit of gaming bliss. I can understand where a lot of the PC vs. Console debate comes from, but the constant bitching really is self defeating if you consider yourself a gamer.

I game mostly on a PC, I actually recently spent $1500 bucks on a gaming computer. When Black Ops come out, I bought the PS3 version just because most of my friends were playing on that platform, and I suck horribly because I cannot stand using a controller in a FPS, but it's all still fun because I'm playing with buddies. I guess the bottom line is, play more, bitch less, because the PC vs. Console debate is circular. There are positives and negatives to both sides.

 

[Zargon]

I dont care if porting happens, but I hate getting a tamed version on PC due to a lazy port.

would rather them dev for PC and downgrade then port. instead of develope for the weakest link and port over


plus lots of places outsource the port and then don't support it.

 

[Anomaly1964]

I dont care if porting happens, but I hate getting a tamed version on PC due to a lazy port.

would rather them dev for PC and downgrade then port. instead of develope for the weakest link and port over

But they don't see it as the "weakest link" they see it as the cash cow...

I think what is going to have to happen is a lot of ENTHUSIAST start a company that develops games JUST FOR PC (would they do that or would they too create versions to sell out to the console market?)

 

[Red Storm]

First off PC Gaming is not expensive by any means. The difference between a modern computer and a modern gaming computer is the video card. The cost is whatever your video card goes for and/or a power supply upgrade which is less frequent. For instance, I had a 4890 and used it for a good while, and then I sold that for $120 and put that money towards buying a 5870 for $220. So my gaming rig costs were actually around $150-$200, much less than the crazy thousand dollar plus figures that people always mention when PC gaming costs come up. Here's a hint: selling your current hardware and upgrading at the right time saves you a lot of money and keeps your system on the forefront.

A keyboard and mouse is not enough to make me switch to consoles. PC gaming gives you options you won't have on consoles, such as dedicated servers in multiplayer, community mods and patches to fix lazy dev jobs that also expand both singleplayer and multiplayer environments. Plus with PCs I don't have to deal with physical media anymore.

 

[Zargon]

But they don't see it as the "weakest link" they see it as the cash cow...

I think what is going to have to happen is a lot of ENTHUSIAST start a company that develops games JUST FOR PC (would they do that or would they too create versions to sell out to the console market?)

what they 'see it as' doesnt matter, they knowingly develop for the weakest systems and go from there.

 

[Lord XenoTeK]

Games on the console are not the problem. Oblivion's interface as a direct result is, however.

There is nothing worse then the consolization of a game series. Sometimes console games get even more dumbed down, too. Mass effect 2 for example. Another example? DA:O compared to what they are doing with DA2.

So when you talk about delivering quality, I say it's been going downhill very fast for the very sake of making bank.

 

[Skurge]

If you port a game to PC properly PC gamers will buy it. No 2 ways about that. Have a look at bad company 2. The original game was on consoles only, but there isn't a single time I was thinking "Dammit, wish they ported this a little better."

Like some member said above. It doesn't matter if the game is crossplatform, as long as its ported properly to the PC.

 

[wuliheron]

Just about everything I own came from the Salvation Army including my furniture and half my cloths. My TV is 25 years old, cost me $20.oo, and only gets broadcast making my gaming rig the only luxury item I own. I watch movies on it, surf the web, write letters, etc. and you'd have to factor out the cost of a multimedia pc as well as gaming rig to get a real estimate of how much extra I paid which comes to maybe $700.oo.

If it were just a console, it would then cost me roughly $100.oo per year (not counting games), but instead I'm paying maybe $300.oo per year. Either way, as entertainment goes it just doesn't get much cheaper then that which is exactly why game sales go up when the economy goes down.

 

[Bryf50]

Your assuming thats theres no money in PC gaming. That deveploping and porting games to it is a net loss. But there is no proof to back that claim.

Just look at upcoming games like Battlefield 3 and Homefront. The devs seem pretty eager to please PC gamers. I doubt they'd give a shit if it wasn't profitable. Also look at Bad Company 2, EA hasn't released the platform specific sales numbers but the PC version has by far the most people playing it.

http://www.minecraft.net/stats.jsp A game that started with a single developer working on it in his free time has had somewhere around 20 million usd in sales.

The reason why we don't see exclusives much anymore is only because of one reason. With the consoles Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo either pay big bucks for games to be exclusive or they develop the games themselves. There is no incentive like that for the PC.

 

[gorcorps]

You can produce console versions and still produce a quality PC product. There just aren't many companies that choose to do that anymore, but that's hardly the fault of the consoles. In the end it's the developers that choose to cut corners on the PC version or spend the right time to create proper controls and UI for each version separately.

 

[imaheadcase]

Try using a mouse and keyboard while sitting on a couch. not going to happen.

Consoles will always = social gaming
PC will always = better graphics/individual gaming.

You make a game for consoles, or you make a game for PC. its that simple really. No in between.

 

[Anomaly1964]

Try using a mouse and keyboard while sitting on a couch. not going to happen.

Consoles will always = social gaming
PC will always = better graphics/individual gaming.

You make a game for consoles, or you make a game for PC. its that simple really. No in between.

A TV tray would work...

 

[wuliheron]

I've got a keypad strapped to the left arm of my office chair and a mouse on a low printer table on my right. A TV tray just does not cut it.

 

[BladeVenom]

Can you REALLY blame software gaming companies for "going where the money is?"

The money is in the PC market. http://hackmywii.net/consumer-spending-on-video-games-reached-25-billion-this-year
And a company who knows how to make good games like Valve, is raking in the money, and growing fast. http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0228/technology-gabe-newell-videogames-valve-online-mayhem.html
Valve is more profitable than Google and Apple per employee.

How many of you would switch to consoles if you could purchase a mouse and keyboard that responded as well as they do on your PC?

What for? Dumbed down games, no mods, inferior graphics, no dedicated servers, etc. A mouse and keyboard is nice, but it doesn't make up for all the otherways a console is inferior to a PC. And you would still need a computer.

If you KNEW that for $300 your "PC" could play any game that comes out for the next 3-4 years, which of you would not make that purchase?

A $300 video card can last you 3 or 4 years. Don't forget that the 360 and PS3 were $400 and $500 when they came out. It's only now that they are horribly obsolete with ugly outdated graphics, that they are cheaper than my video card.

 

[Anomaly1964]

The money is in the PC market. http://hackmywii.net/consumer-spending-on-video-games-reached-25-billion-this-year
And a company who knows how to make good games like Valve, is raking in the money, and growing fast. http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0228/technology-gabe-newell-videogames-valve-online-mayhem.html
Valve is more profitable than Google and Apple per employee.



What for? Dumbed down games, no mods, inferior graphics, no dedicated servers, etc. A mouse and keyboard is nice, but it doesn't make up for all the otherways a console is inferior to a PC. And you would still need a computer.


A $300 video card can last you 3 or 4 years. Don't forget that the 360 and PS3 were $400 and $500 when they came out. It's only now that they are horribly obsolete with ugly outdated graphics, that they are cheaper than my video card.

All good points!

 

[Mike Gayner]

*yawn* these threads became tiresome by 2004.

 

[Anomaly1964]

*yawn* these threads became tiresome by 2004.

Tiresome?

Given the fact that when you walk into a Gamestop and 1% of the place is dedicated to PC gaming, I wanted to see what PC GAMERS thought the reasoning behind this is and the future of pc gaming itself...

Sorry to bore ya Mike...

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

If I was running a company that had an established niche of business that couldn't be broken except by screwing it up by underdeveloping it, you bet I'd keep focused on it.

 

[Childs]

I've got a keypad strapped to the left arm of my office chair and a mouse on a low printer table on my right. A TV tray just does not cut it.

I bought a $15-20 lap desk that worked fine when I played PS3 with a XIM. It was messy though with the wires all over the place. But luckily I'm a messy guy.

 

[JTsyo]

I hear what you are saying, but again, from their point of view, is all the extra work to PORT it to PC worth their time and money?

Again, this is not some kinda COVERT consoles are better thread, I love PC gaming...

Well they don't have to (and don't) because of that you get PC gamers complaining about it. If your ports suck, then PC gamers won't bother with them and those that have consoles will play on those instead. The games won't reach the full potential that it had.
Can you imagine what a loss it would have been to the gaming community if something like half-life had come out for the console and was just ported to the PC with no support for user content or such? How many current games that were designed for consoles could have been much better on the PC if that had been the focus from the start?