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Do Gaming companies hate PCs?


pwnage

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If someone had stats handy on numbers of pc gamers vs console gamers I'm sure it'ld help. I do agree with above posts though that probably the biggest reason is basic cost on optimization for fixed hardware vs varying setups.

Honestly though the thing that bugs me most about crappy console ports is that that they are crappy, unluckily I've come to expect that. The thing that really pisses me off is when a developer, say....Bioware, says they have worked hard to optimize for PC, on say their latest big title which is #3 of a series that started on PC and was a tribute to PC RPGs of old, and then it turns out to be a big pile of shit. Seriously, Inquisition's PC UI is such shit. Tactical camera is garbage on PC. ANyway sorry, i was really looking forward to Inquisition and have benched it until a PC patch is released.

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The reason why PC isn't favored by most is because consoles provide the same hardware (with the exception of some hard drive sizes) So that developers can make the games without hassle. PCs unfortunately have such a wide variety of processors and graphics cards that it's insanely hard to make games that will run for the majority of the gaming PCs out there, while avoiding thousands of errors.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Fortunately there are developers out there that are passionateabout developing games in the PC; the upcoming Star Citizen’s project leadbeing a prime example. I’d have to suggest that this passion is derived fromthat fact that you can do more with PC’s. Yes, optimisation is a pain when youhave such a wide scope and range of hardware to accommodate, however as easy asconsoles are to work with, they are inherently limiting. The result is the mass production of pulp games for consoles, and conversely the changing payment systems for PC gaming as developers try and take the fiscal risk out of production and get a few more dollars back for the added effort.

Certainly Star Citizen has demonstrated that PC gamers are prepared to embrace dramtically diffrent payment systems to ensure that quality gamers are produced.

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  • 3 weeks later...

While everything said is pretty much on point, i feel that what we need to do as customers and community is to ignore these bad ports and just continue buying PC's and PC games. Eventually they will figure out that this is where they should spend their money, especially with these console-type PC's comming out. Next big step is gonna be easy-upgradeable console-form-factor pc's, and at that point noone is gonna buy a console with the insane pricing they have for games.

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I'm always under the impression that big came companies will always seek going for console gamers over PC, simply because of numbers. There's obviously more consoles on the grid than PC gamers would like to admit. I agree, many ports to the PC are absolute trash, but at least some dev's are taking the time (GTA5) to sort out any bugs before releasing it early.

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I would really like to see how a games would be if normal development was reversed and games were ported to consoles.

For example:

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. One of the best looking games I've ever played. It runs very smooth on my 770m. I mostly get 60fps on max settings. That's on a mobile GPU. Surely it would run just as good when optimized for a console and settings toned down.

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I feel like this is the main point for companies. If it was more profitable they simply would develop of PC first. Piracy is a part of the problem, but it's true effect on PC will never be known because piracy =/= exact number of lost sales. If you really want to make a difference you have to vote with your money e.g. buy PC games. But it's not like PC exclusive games aren't being developed anymore, because of the indie scene I'd say there are more titles than ever.

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Like what you see nowdays, some XBO "exclusive" games will be portet to pc and titled "XBO console exclusive". But what I see is the advantage of every PS4 or XBO having the same specs, so if the game runns on one PS$ / XBO it will run on all. Thats a big Problem in development for PC, you have to try to create settings for low end PCs and for the High-End 3000$ machines to make everyone happy. Also you get a much higher piracyrate or PC than for konsoles, not like there is none, but its much lower than for the PC.

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Its just so much easier for them to project sales in the console market. They know exactly how many machines that are capable of running their games are out there which makes it easier to make a business case to make the game. It is easier to develop on console because there is only one or two variations of hardware not an infinite combination of memory, video proc, cpu etc,...

Then there is the fact that PC gamers are viewed as serious and unforgiving, if a dev gets i wrong, they will not be forgiven easily. Get a console game wrong and it will blend into the mists of history and they can try again next time.

The steam boxes were supposed to address this but it has not really taken off yet. A baseline level of hardware so that game developers have an accessible baseline to work from.

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Well, if you think about it, consoles are so "popular" because the companies that own the systems also control the market of the games for the systems. For example, Sony. They own the PS4. Every time you see a commercial for a game that is on the PS4, you are going to see the logo for the PS4, ingraining into your mind the picture of a PS4. Its marketing. This marketing causes sales to go up because it is popular, simply because it is more visible.

On the contrast, you have PC. PC "systems" don't have as recognizable of a logo as consoles do. You don't have nVidia, AMD, Dell, Lenovo, etc. flashing logos on advertisements for PC games. You just see the PC symbol, which is easily missed by the eye.

Then, because of this popularity, developers for games see consoles as a larger market. Its just a giant avalanche of shit.

I believe the bottom line to be that PC gaming needs a better way of marketing to the console community. I'm not sure how, but it needs to be done.

Another big thing seems to be that people think PC gaming is ridiculously expensive. This scares them and they revert to consoles. I know this, because I have friends who have told me this. But yet that isn't even true. For the same cost of a PS4, I could throw together a mid-grade system, probably with something like a GTX 750 or 760, that would completely blow the PS4 out of the water. Plus, you get so many more games through PC for cheaper! Sony and Microsoft control the entirety of the prices of games for the PlayStation and XBox systems, but on PC, the control is in the developer's hands, as well as many other vendors. Steam, for example, which has sales all the damn time!

Once again, the marketing is the issue. PC needs to get itself out there as looking afford-ably superior to the console community.

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In my opinion they most certainly do. As for the largest part Piracy happens on the PC. With the exception of modded consoles which by comparison are extremely low in quantity. Piracy on the PC is just easy, and therefore kind of irritating for developers. Also, PC gamers expect a little more complexity out of our controls compared to consoles. I wish they would put out Ace combat games for PC so i can use my Saitek x-52 for a good flight combat game that isn't set in WWI-II.

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I also agree that VR will bring more people to PC's. I have the DK2 and omg so can't wait for the consumer versions. Looking forward to playing GTA 5 in first person mode with IceEnhancer this will totally blow away consoles. Might have to wait until graphics cards are more VR friendly first before we can game at 4K in VR lol.

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It all comes down to ease of access...

A console experience is in my opinion misled as a more cost effective gaming platform. But ultimately a console, is way more user friendly to setup and use (no drivers issues, etc). These reasons give them the sales, and thus giving the developers more reasons to push console development over PC.

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I remember reading somewhere that piracy only counts to about a 5% loss in revenue, so I think that piracy get's blown out of proportion. I can say that I know more people who pirate console games than do pc games.

However, console gaming is just easier. You just pop the game in (or download it) and you're done. No fussing with drivers, system specs, what settings will give you enough fps, etc.

But that's what pc gamers love. Options!

But you're right about pc gaming price tag being too much for a lot of people. I SERIOUSLY doubt that a cheap gaming rig that's comparable in price to a console will yield results that makes a gamer happy. $350 is hard to beat. Not when the visual difference between a console game @900p and a pc @1080p isn't discernible when viewing from 5+ feet on an HDTV. Even when the settings are cranked up. It's not going to beat a single configuration setup that has been targeted and optimized for a particular (most) game. Not to mention that a sub $500 build is already going to struggle to play current games, with all these new game engines, without dropping the resolution and/or settings really low. It isn't 2011 any more.

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They can keep their filthy exclusives. Our exclusives are better. http://i.imgur.com/wAOMPBb.png

Oh dude, the chart you attached made my day:09:

- - - Updated - - -

I remember reading somewhere that piracy only counts to about a 5% loss in revenue, so I think that piracy get's blown out of proportion. I can say that I know more people who pirate console games than do pc games.

However, console gaming is just easier. You just pop the game in (or download it) and you're done. No fussing with drivers, system specs, what settings will give you enough fps, etc.

But that's what pc gamers love. Options!

But you're right about pc gaming price tag being too much for a lot of people. I SERIOUSLY doubt that a cheap gaming rig that's comparable in price to a console will yield results that makes a gamer happy. $350 is hard to beat. Not when the visual difference between a console game @900p and a pc @1080p isn't discernible when viewing from 5+ feet on an HDTV. Even when the settings are cranked up. It's not going to beat a single configuration setup that has been targeted and optimized for a particular (most) game. Not to mention that a sub $500 build is already going to struggle to play current games, with all these new game engines, without dropping the resolution and/or settings really low. It isn't 2011 any more.

Also don't forget that PC games can play in silky smooth frame rate if you put enough money into it, but no matter how much you put into a console, the frame rate is not going up for a bit since they are unified. Think about Assassin's Creed Unity, I can get 60+ frames per second with stunning graphics on my laptop using a piece of GTX 980m. PC gaming is far more comfortable than console.

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Good points in this thread. I sincerely hope the 16 year window for graphics after "next gen" is an exaggeration. I can't see it taking THAT long, but I know that the console market is holding up the progression. It is a bit of an economical thing though, because releasing consoles that had the best of the best, one, would be very ephemeral thanks to the way technology moves, two, would be very cost prohibitive, and to restate the first point, would be kind of pointless if they are not modular systems. What the second poster mentioned about unified systems is a good point and there are certainly positives in the console market compared to the PC market. Putting everyone on a level playing field is one, having a tight infrastructure for online gaming is another. Like it or not, I think console exclusive have developed their own kind of charm to them. PC has never really had that. Nintendo has always had iconic figures in their history. Sega too. Even Sony and Microsoft with their respective consoles. I think the console market just allows focus to be directed in a more... "homely?" way. The PC market is vast and open and allows for so many great potential projects and up-and-comers, which is a positive thing, but that vast playing field kind of makes the focus deep and broad whereas consoles are almost kind of Orwellian in how their respective channels are focused. :P I say this because if you ever check out the coverage for E3 or other expos on the channels provided by the respective console makers, they aren't at all going to highlight any of the demos coming from their competitors, it's going to be all focused on them. That's why I say "Orwellian," because I certainly felt that when I would browse the channels and coverage on the Xbox 360 back in the day.

I have no idea when I'm going to move to the new consoles because I deeply enjoy my gaming laptop and the exclusives on these consoles are no where near a big enough draw for me to care right now. Heck, what I spent on the 980Ms could have bought me the trifecta of consoles out right now, but I'd rather keep my system current and enjoy games with the freedom of how -I- want to play them and not have games restricted by the constraints of console hardware and peripherals.

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I feel as the years go on US PC gamers are getting noticed more and more. I feel as of right now 2014+ PC gamers are getting noticed the way we should. I mean look at Elder Scrolls Online we received the PC game before the consoles did. and most releases now are usually all at the same time.

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I also think its got an element of entertainment as well. These consoles want to be more of an "entertainment machine" rather than something to play a video game on. I don't think its that gaming companies hate PCs it's just that much more easier for them to release a title that anyone can grab and not worry about system specs, etc. Just think of seeing a trailer for a game and thinking oh that seems cool and not having to worry about if your graphics card can handle it, are you going to have to upgrade, etc. I guess for the younger generation as well its easier to just go out and buy a console and a controller rather than deal with buying or building a gaming rig. Like it has been stated before, its all because of profit, nothing more, nothing less. There's just a lot more to deal with when it comes to releasing PC titles.

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  • 2 weeks later...

i don't know/care about console gaming market size. I'm classic pc gamer, and I still feel more comfortable when i control game by keyboard and mouse. However, game companies tend to ignore gamers in other format. elder scroll:4 had no problem to play it on pc, but personally skyrim's interface was horrible.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

It's not that they really hate PCs. It's simply because, let's face it, most people would rather buy a console than spend thousands of dollars on a high end gaming PC. And I don't really think that gaming companies hate PCs. I mean sure there were certain ports that were terrible during their release, AC Unity for example, but there also a lot of game devs who support PC gamers. Some companies, Bethesda being the primary example, even support those who create mods to improve their games.

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  • 1 month later...

They put most coding and developing effort where the money is. Money is, sadly, in the consoles. More often than not, we are getting some console leftovers. Poor optimization, console UI (Anyone remembers vanilla Skyrim? If that game didn't have such great modding tools, Bethesda would be eaten alive.), performance issues. Gaming also entered the shares market. People invest money there and expect results or the money will be withdraw. That is why consoles are a safe bet. Same with selling the same game on and on (AC series) with little to no improvements. Why risk it? Investors would withdraw money....From time to time we get a shiny gem but most of the time it is the same stuff.

Good thing the Indie scene has grown so strong. We have some variety and interesting titles comming out.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Many developers and publishers are just lazy these days and give the porting job to an third party, often an unexperienced studio. Just look at how Batman turned out.

Hopefully these bumps in the road are due to them shifting gears on the new consoles and, like last gens will stop being issues after another year or so.

Let's not forget that at the same time, standards for the general PC port have generally improved, what was considered an ok or good port 5+ years ago, is considered barebones today and very few games are in that state.

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