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PC vs. Consoles and the lie that developers would have gamers believe
Razeekster
Member UncommonPosts: 2,591
Alright, so before I start, I have to add, I have no problem with the PC or consoles. I'm mostly a PC gamer but will most likely get a PS4 eventually since I enjoy JRPGs and Japanese developers seem to ignore the PC like it's an ugly, deformed monstrosity.
My problem with consoles is that they do hold back the capabilities of PC games, especially open-world RPGs (even Pete Hines, the vice president of Bethesda Softworks has talked smack about the PS3, and for more info on that if you're curious: http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Bethesda-Pete-Hines-Tells-Angry-PS3-Gamers-Main-Game-What-Counts-DLC-47060.html), and the blatant lie that developers use to excuse away the fact that most make these type of games for both the consoles and the PC.
That lie is that without consoles they wouldn't make the money required to make the game to the best of their abilities. The funny part about all of this is that developers seem to forget to mention a crucial factor to players, and that is sale numbers. Guess what? The PC market dominates sales, while the consoles don't even make a dent compared to what PC sales make, and this is with people torrenting games!
So this excuse that developers rely on console sales to make their games, and can't just rely on PC sales is utterly false, but one that doesn't ever seem to be challenged. Why is that? I'm genuinely curious how developers have continued to use this tired excuse even as recent as 2015 where CD Projekt Red stated, and I quote, "If the consoles are not involved there is no Witcher 3" (and may I mention that the Witcher series of games were PC first games at the start, in fact the first game in the series is still only available on the PC, meaning that the most dedicated people for that game series were and definitely still are, PC gamers).
I am sorry, but it seems that many have had the wool pulled over their eyes, but this is an excuse and nothing more. It is about money and it has to do with greed. It's sad to me that in 2015, there really isn't a AAA+ studio that makes games just for PC. There is zero reason for it, and the reason for it that developers would have you believe isn't even true.
Anyways, that's my rant on PC vs. consoles for the day. What are your thoughts on the matter guys? Also, is there a AAA+ studio that makes games just for PC, and I've just somehow missed them? If so, do share!
Smile
Comments
IDK how console sales work because i stay away form them like the plague.I did buy the last consoles and prior but usually only for a couple games then i am reminded to why i hate consoles.
I guess has something to do with digital downloads,i would think PC games are downloaded more than console games but i am not certain.Not having to physically ship hard copies to stores,i would think is cheaper.
As to sales idk the actual sales but i do know that gaming outlets such as EB by my house sell way more console games than PC.Matter of fact it seems like EB in my area doesn't want anything to do with PC games.They carry only the easy sellers such as Wow and anything that is super popular.However when comes to console games they stock everything.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
My pops always taught me if someone else said it better, use their words:
http://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/wiki/guide
Console gamers are not the common enemy. Console gaming is.
I feel it's important to include this information in the article as soon as possible, since a lot of people get the wrong impression going in and don't take information to heart until they realize they're being educated rather than scolded... Sony and Microsoft give you an inferior system, charge you money for it, and make you hold on to the pieces of junk for 8 years before they give you the option of (measly) upgrades. By selling you these systems, they lock you into their overpriced ecosystem, helping them further the cycle with their ill-acquired money. When you take into account the business strategy of these companies, you'll find that it's all just one big greedy systematic ripoff of uneducated consumers. They're holding your favorite games hostage on their closed platforms because they know you'll buy into it. If everyone went with a PC and disregarded this disgusting behavior, these developers wouldn't be so easily convinced to support these "next-gen" consoles. So, do yourself and the industry a favor and go with a PC. PC exists because it's an excellent platform and for no other reason than that. Nobody's advertising it. Nobody's cutting deals with Frito Lay to get it stamped on Dorito bags. Nobody's running a 'PC booth' at gaming festivals. PC exists and thrives simply because it is freaking glorious. XBox and PlayStation consoles exist because their parent corporations hijack developers (and games) that people love and cancel ports to competing platforms (other consoles as well as PC), and force fans of these games to pay a 'hardware ransom' to play it. The PC is open, cheap, customizable, and powerful. Your best interests are always at hand, no matter how arrogant some PC gamers may seem when they speak negatively of the "anti-gamer" consoles. For anyone that's offended, I am truly sorry... but if you're going to get offended over this guide then you probably had no intention of giving PC a chance in the first place. Just remember: PC gaming is superior to console gaming, but the gamers themselves are neither superior or inferior to one another: they're just people with varying degrees of understanding. Fight the misinformation, fight the false advertising, and fight the anti-gaming console monopoly. Long live freedom, long live affordable and beautiful gaming, and long live the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race!
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Since the first Atari console "way back when" and since the first gaming computer (an Apple), I have own both console AND PC strictly for gaming. During that entire time, I knew that a console is nothing more then a PC in a different box made to play on my TV. But, I also knew that what I was getting out of my console was not the same as what I was getting from my PC games. I have watched over the years are consoles improved. I have also watched as PC's have improved. I know it has happened. But, I still feel my PC does games better then my console.
With that said, I have come to a crossroad. Now I am no longer a console gamer. I am not buying into the console "hype machine" anymore. I am not purchasing a new console that does what my PC does but usually not as well. I am sticking with the PC.
Let's party like it is 1863!
It really depends on what you call a pc game. When you look into the numbers like I have there are several distinctions you have to make.
First are the 40+ year old female gamer market. Nearly all mobile games and games through portals like Facebook are considered PC game sales. These include simple puzzle games or maintenance type games that are popular with 40+ year old women. It also represents a large portion of PC game sales. They are not The Witcher 3 or Fallout.
Second are the strictly online games. These are MMOs and MOAB type games. They represent the biggest chunk of the pie for PC game sales. Once again these are not the type of games you are talking about, and they are not the type of games that typically show up on consoles.
Finally are the type of games you are talking about. jRPGs, strategy games, first person shooters, and the like. Of these sales is predominantly determined by genre. For instance Strategy games sell almost exclusively on PC. FPS games usually sell better on the PC. Arcade style driving games sell better on consoles while simulation style driving games sell better on PCs. Of this relatively large group, consoles have a greater percentage of sales. The targeted audience are 13-30 year olds who typically don't have a large disposable income. A console usually runs around $500, where as a PC with a decent multi-year performance runs around $800. Naturally, this means most developers will target the younger consumer who may not have a competent PC.
Now with all that said, the meaning is quite simple. The developer targets the machine of their audience. If they have an M-rated RPG, it will be coming out on the PC. If they have a PG-rated RPG, it may never come out on the PC.
Most independent developers will focus almost entirely on the PC. Its the easiest platform to develop for and offers the largest chunk of income. Most are startups, but they also include bigger names like Bethesda. Most developers attached to a large publisher who make AAA games will target all platforms. This is mainly due to the tools offered by the publisher. If you have an engine that easily ports to the XBone and PS4, they why make your game exclusively PC?
Sway all day, butterfly flaps all the way!
I agree with you for the most part except for one thing...what the real reason is. It isn't money. The real reason is lazy programming. It is far easier to program for consoles and that is their driving motivation. All xboxes and ps4s are the same respectively and they only have 2 to worry about when programming for so they can have an easier time programming and be sloppier without having to be concerned having the code more polished and tight and with less time invested have this huge market of cloned rigs to dump it on knowing it will work. With PCs there are many platforms of motherboard, cpu, video card combos that make it much more complicated to accomodate them all. While the game may work on all the consoles and most the pc combos there are always certain cpus that have a specific issue or a motherboard chipset or a gpu having trouble with specific lines and then they have to figure how to get those to run without messing it up on all the others that were already fine. in the end the pc forces the game dev into tighter cleaner coding and then prolonged time to iron out making it work for everyone. It can be done and the pc is far superior in ability but companies prefer the drop the game and run on to the next mentality of console gaming rather than having to hang around and support it to fix their bugs like they do with pcs.
Your whole post says that you should shut the hell up and not post about this topic ever again.
The code of the pessimistic loner: "We unpopular loners are realists, who follow the three non- popular principles: Not having any (Hope), Not making any (Gaps in your heart); And not giving into (Sweet talk)".
I don't even have a new high end PC, but it is still far more capable than any console out there. But once again we are in the position where Consoles are holding back not just gaming technology, but creating a division between not just PC's and Consoles, but also between the Consoles themselves, as for those consoles being named 'next gen' they are so far behind the times in terms of the technology, that they don't deserve the title at all, they are old tech, very old tech. The only way we're going to get any decent games, is if they abandon the limitations artificially imposed by the Consoles.
Its unlikely that Microsoft will be able to make another console, as they have lost the current battle of the consoles. But one thing is for sure, if they don't release another 'upgraded' console within the next 2 years then they will once again be in the position where the only way to make use of tech for games, will be to release it on PC only, because the only platform that does adapt to current tech, is the PC.
And if your not sure about just how likely that is, just look at the tech used in the consoles, CPU's clocked at 1.6ghz, and GPU's well, compare those to the ones out there today, and think about how much different they will be yet again in 2 years time, and you will see there is a great disparity, and no amount of coding acrobatics is going to overcome THAT particular limitation, Witcher 3 may well end up being the crowning achievement for Consoles, and even then, they had to limit the graphical fidelity in order to make it work, Witcher 4, won't be on Console, not without so many corners cut that compared to the PC version it will be laughable.
This is not even about PC gaming being the 'master race' its just about technical realities, until they start making Consoles upgradeable. Windows 10 could even be the opening gambit, they know more than anyone that the jig is up for the Xbox, so retooling their future based on Windows 10, is entirely probable, using it, they could make the PC their Console, and if they manage that, then its game over Playstation. Probably
I remember finding these numbers regarding 'South Park - The Stick of Truth' shocking when I read them. And consider, this was an RPG which was censored for the console versions. So you would think people would have been even more motivated to buy the PC version instead.
The Xbox 360 version accounted for 53% of sales, followed by the PlayStation 3 (41%), and Microsoft Windows (6%)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park:_The_Stick_of_Truth
QFT!!
Because being drunk/FUBAR laying on your couch with a controller in your hands, this game is funny
Sitting infront of a desktop... eh, I have bettter things to do.
Sway all day, butterfly flaps all the way!
Yeah, that may be true of Sony's American branch; but not in it's homeland. I think Playstation will be around for awhile yet, just not in the US. Found this article interesting: http://www.mmogames.com/gamearticles/online-games-japan-part-1-no-mmo-mans-land/......sorry if the link does not work (never quite got the hang of posting links on this site).
The code of the pessimistic loner: "We unpopular loners are realists, who follow the three non- popular principles: Not having any (Hope), Not making any (Gaps in your heart); And not giving into (Sweet talk)".
Those console sales could be converted to PC sales instead, but it requires that the average Joe refusing to understand PC's does so. An ideal future would be that we can play any game being made, instead of console companies locking exclusive deals. This would also technically improve progress for the industry itself.
Something interesting to note though, is that console makers are piggybacking off of other hardware makers, because they don't have to do much research for their console anymore. It's in their best interest to keep PC hardware sales high, which isn't gonna happen if the improvement isn't worth the money in games.
they used the same nonsense when they were saying that they couldn't program for Mac for years we heard that Mac was too different, that they couldn't use the resources despite some of these companies having plenty of money from sales, to convert to mac now most games actually don't make as many sales unless they port to the mac platform.
There's a reason why they haven't wanted to mess with the console game community and it's simply this. They don't play when it comes to quality. Take Neverwinter for example. People are in an uproar right now because this game has sooooooooo many bugs and missing content, lag issues are extremely terrible. For years this game and STO have had these problems and they have always used the excuse that they couldn't possibly be the source of the lag issues that every single person who has horrendous lag in this game has been having internet connectivity problems even across multiple states and multiple platforms and multiple ISPs.
Now however since they join the console community on NWO they've actually had to put out apologies and start taking it seriously by promising to fix the issues or lose their shirts because the console community is demanding they fix these issues as well as the ongoing neverending still there from the beta issue of being kicked from the dungeon you just fought the boss in right after the boss died causing you not to be able to get your loot.
The console community requires that they behave and that's part of the reason for these lies they want to continue to keep churning out cheap crap money pits without taking responsibility for their actions or inactions and get away with it and the console players won't let them whereas the pc community has had a long history of just letting anything go. (and it shows most recently with most of the releases since 2011.)
First of all im more PC gamer then you i would never play games because i like them buy a console because not on PC then screw them.
Secondly CD project even tho it seems AAA studio there not there still a independed indie stupid who just are succesfull enough to have huge amount people worked on TW3 and luckly had huge hype by fans and sides.
TW3 would not have been posible for consoles period.
You live under a rock or something?
Skyrim sold alot more on xbox/ps3 then PC versions.
Skyrim woould have been a great succes on PC only but with alot less money for Betehsda and they would prolly not release Skyrim in 2011 with all the hype and probably even less then it already was.
But im PC gamer and i even stop buying games eventually if its only made for consoles. I will never buy or play with console and controller.
I bought TW3 only because it was 100% DRM FREE on GOG.COM other wise i would probably have skipped it.
PC is superior in every sense compare to consoles but money they make mainly with inferior consoles i'm affraid:(
Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!
MB:Asus V De Luxe z77
CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k
GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now))
MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB
PSU:Corsair AX1200i
OS:Windows 10 64bit
What a nonsense you obviously don't know anything going on in PC world and gamers boycotting publishers because of crap and result going no pay for game route.
PC games some sell well becouse of MODS thats for some games only reason it have succes(skyrim for PC mods safe that game)
PC gamers have not be silence at all so don't talk nonsens pls.
Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!
MB:Asus V De Luxe z77
CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k
GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now))
MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB
PSU:Corsair AX1200i
OS:Windows 10 64bit
Here is the data that shows your "consoles don't even make a dent" comment to clearly be wrong. PC game sales only passed console games this year, and just by a little. So "consoles don't even make a dent" is a much larger "lie" than the one you're concerned about uncovering.
If you're a game company hiring based off the expectation of making around 45% additional revenue off consoles (with the other 55% from PC) then you might hire 45% additional developers. That will change the game you're making: certain things will become possible that weren't without that massive increase to team size. So in that regard it's not much of a lie to claim there wouldn't be a game without the console -- either you would literally go out of business without the additional supporting 45%, or at a minimum your game would be a pale shadow of what it become (in the event you never hired the 45% additional developers.)
So if you're concerned about lying, base your thread on the truth, not on a provably false statement. You have to be careful these days, there are some who consider any false statement to be a lie (even though lying requires deliberate intent to deceive.)
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
The PC Market is without a doubt bigger than the console one, thing is though the real core of PC fanatics is still living in the lowest floor of a sky scrapper while the console people are living in the attic (slight exaggeration
enjoying their overpriced cocktails and tapas.
If the industry was pc centric, there would be no gaming market any more. Without Valve´s Trojan there would be no PC copy at all and don´t forget that the first 5 years of Steam there were zero to maybe a handful of console ports coming to the pc, all started to change around 2009 when the term F2P hit the market.
Except for The Sims, Diablo 2 and WoW there was not one game on the PC outselling the console version, which frankly surprises me since the pc version tends to be up to $20 cheaper (day 1). You dont really believe do you, that Tomb Raider, Need For Speed (golden days), FiFa and others would have gotten the same international critical response if there were no console ports at that time (PS1, Saturn etc.)?
While I do agree with your theory most do not. And to sum it off exactly what I mean I point you to a famous Streamer/YouTube personality; Force Strategy Gaming:
Sandbox means open world, non-linear gaming PERIOD!
Subscription Gaming, especially MMO gaming is a Cash grab bigger then the most P2W cash shop!
Bring Back Exploration and lengthy progression times. RPG's have always been about the Journey not the destination!!!
Imo, with the advent of steam machines, we may finally be seeing the end of the gimmicks known as consoles. I have some love for consoles though, I grew up on them and some of the best games I have played have been on consoles. But I totally agree with you, in recent years they have been responsible for some serious dumbing down of some great PC games.
They are an outdated concept, and at this point are not innovating, or innovative in technology at all (though the ps3 was quite innovative, but its hardware setup was not followed for the ps4, nor did its innovations impact PC development) they are simply underpowered PC's with a proprietary OS and programming language.
Imo consoles have become a consumer gimmick, really just under performing computer to play divisive exclusive titles on.