Any pc gamers concerned with the way the PC games industry is going?

[mrplunkey]

I'd think the debugging and support costs for console games are a tiny fraction of the cost compared to the PC platform. There's nothing more frustrating than an application that runs flawlessly on one PC and won't even start on another.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Red alert 3 is awful for PC too. So dont worry about hte port being bad. Lags a lot on PC and terribly imbalanced.

starcraft 2 is coming out and will be awesome.

Valve games and others built on the source engine will continue to be played extensively (current ones like Left4Dead were ported but are better on PC)

DotA games and remakes (Heroes of newerth, league of legends) are new games which are commmanding a lot of attention in the PC user players minds.

MMO's will continue to be PC Centric, WoW still has a lot of life left and there is a new one Aion which is played by a lot of people.

In my opinion, console games are far worse, I have a ps3 and an xbox and I can think of only very few games worth buying. They are Street fighter 4, halo 3, madden 10, nhl 10, tiger woods, 10, metal gear solid 4, gta 4, asssasins creed, cod4/5. Now this may seem like a long list, but when you look at it and think that these are they only ps3/xbox exclusives worth buying, thats pathetic. Game dev's put out hundredds of games for consoles, but most of them are awful and wouldn't hold my attention 10 minutes.

+ Uncharted 2, Killzone 2, Heavy Rain, God of War 3...all in the ranks of MGS4 at least. Production/quality level unseen in PC games since Half Life 2/Crysis.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I'd think the debugging and support costs for console games are a tiny fraction of the cost compared to the PC platform. There's nothing more frustrating than an application that runs flawlessly on one PC and won't even start on another.

There are other issues as well but yeah that right there is probably in a nutshell why consoles are preferred by so many developers. What do you want to put more of your time into? The actual game or tech support for it.

 

[mrplunkey]

There are other issues as well but yeah that right there is probably in a nutshell why consoles are preferred by so many developers. What do you want to put more of your time into? The actual game or tech support for it.

Yup, especially when you're dealing with Microsoft libraries. One version's work-around can actually manifest itself as another version's bug. Even in you capitulate and use the entire MS development stack top-to-bottom, it can still bite you pretty hard.

Then add on the impact of sypware, viruses, root kits, etc. etc. It's a seriously moving target.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Yup, especially when you're dealing with Microsoft libraries. One version's work-around can actually manifest itself as another version's bug. Even in you capitulate and use the entire MS development stack top-to-bottom, it can still bite you pretty hard.

Then add on the impact of sypware, viruses, root kits, etc. etc. It's a seriously moving target.

That's the nature of the PC. It can either be free form or remove flexibility on the consumer end to increase compatibility. The strange thing is with the last round of consoles you increasingly hear about a certain percentage of people having problems with games/firmware too, which makes you wonder where consoles themselves are headed.

 

[EnderJE]

Nope. Not worried. If it ends up dying, then I'll adjust. I only like FPS on PCs. I never got the joystick and don't have the same flexes on them.

 

[B0ARDIN087]

+ Uncharted 2, Killzone 2, Heavy Rain, God of War 3...all in the ranks of MGS4 at least. Production/quality level unseen in PC games since Half Life 2/Crysis.

all in the ranks of MSG4? the best console game in probably a decade? Disagree although maybe worth purchasing. The problem with most console games is with 20 hours of playtime total, may as well rent and beat it. Crysis sucked btw, great graphics. thats it

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

all in the ranks of MSG4? the best console game in probably a decade? Disagree although maybe worth purchasing. The problem with most console games is with 20 hours of playtime total, may as well rent and beat it. Crysis sucked btw, great graphics. thats it

I agree MGS4 was epic, untouchable in terms of presentation and technical innovation on a console, but the reviews for Uncharted 2 are actually better than MGS 4. A lot of the sites that said the first one was "ok" are saying this one is the most impressive all around package they've played on a console. It actually plays similarily to MGS 4 too, with some platforming/puzzle solving thrown in. Then there's God of War 3, which if it's even anything close to the first two, will be untouchable next year.

Crysis is underrated. Case in point, here's a video on Crysis vs. Modern Warfare (something Red Samurai might learn something from too lol, I think I remember him saying Crysis was all just graphics)-


High quality version here-
MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service

 

[bakemeacookie]

microcrap has a looooong task of making games playable and stable on pc's with normal hardware w/o needing to be a computer scientist before pc games can take off. I can't even remember when the last time I saw a commercial for a pc game on the tee vee.

Translation: not any time soon.

c

 

[B0ARDIN087]

I agree MGS4 was epic, untouchable in terms of presentation and technical innovation on a console, but the reviews for Uncharted 2 are actually better than MGS 4. A lot of the sites that said the first one was "ok" are saying this one is the most impressive all around package they've played on a console. It actually plays similarily to MGS 4 too, with some platforming/puzzle solving thrown in. Then there's God of War 3, which if it's even anything close to the first two, will be untouchable next year.

Crysis is underrated. Case in point, here's a video on Crysis vs. Modern Warfare (something Red Samurai might learn something from too lol, I think I remember him saying Crysis was all just graphics)-


High quality version here-
MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service

cod4 was great because of multiplayer, crysis multiplayer is ....


GoW3 isn't out yet, if its good then thats awesome. Still doesn't change the fact there are very few good games for consoles, especially in relation to how many are released.