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Do Gaming companies hate PCs?


pwnage

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It seems that Gaming companies hate PCs at this moment. My hypothesis on why is simple. PCs dominate console in every way imaginable (I can say this since I didn't get my first gaming PC till after I had my 360...) A cheap desktop gaming PC can rival a console. A medium gaming PC will far far far outclass a Console. An advanced ($$$) gaming PC will make any console look like a bricked GPU. Yet even with all this, I feel motivated to buy a PS4 and a ONE... Why?

Because PC single player games are always poorly optimized console ports, sure I could get around this by overclocking or upgrading my system. But even when you have the top of the line system, they hit you with the next thing..

EXCLUSIVES! Okay so I can somewhat understand Halo being X-Box only (though they have released PC Halo...) But what about other games that are on EVERY console, but don't even come near PCs? Metal Gear solid?

Kingdom Hearts? Super Mario? The last of us? I don't even play GTA. But the fact that GTA 5 is still not on PC, is ridiculous. The list of games not on PC, and most of which will never come to PC is ridiculous. At one point I used to think it was because of pirating. Sadly PC gaming does have a lot of pirating... But guess what? So does console, I am 100% sure (I sadly do not have numbers to back it up) that they would make more money by being on PC AND console, then they would lose to "PC Only" Pirates.

So my conclusion, is why do so many games never come to PC? If it's not pirates. And frankly even when it does come to PC, they don't optimize it well enough for optimization to even be a reason... The answer is $$$, The console companies wan't people to buy console, consoles generate A LOT of income. Halo has generated over 3.4 Billion U$D, personally my main reason for buying a 360 (last console I bought) was to play halo 3 on my Halo 3 edition 360. So to buy a game that has sold millions of copies worldwide, we also buy 400$ (or more) gaming systems. Generating even more money for Microsoft/Sony (Final Fantasy anyone?). So even with the vast superiority, of a decent gaming PC. These are the strategies for motivating consumers to buy the consoles.

Sadly this results in PC gaming suffering. We could have games that push the limit of graphics to the next level. We will have new "Next Gen" graphics in appx 8 years. But an SLI GTX 780M system should already be able to run those awesome graphics at maybe 30FPS? And then at this rate, we wont have the graphics that come after the next "Next Gen" for 16 years from now. 16 YEARS!!!! This is ridiculous, we should be able to have stuff like that, as soon as systems capable of running these things become available. Were basically slowing down Moore's Law at the moment (well not slowing it down, but not taking advantage of it).

But the main thing is, this is not only about gaming. This concerns technology being slowed down by markets. The development and application of technology just being neglected for consumerism. i find this very sad, and it's also imho the worse enemy of our glorious #PCMASTERRACE

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  • 2 weeks later...

Seems like key points of your post do have a lot to do with why we see less development on PC versus consoles.

-cost for developing on console may be less than PC as remember they are developing on unified hardware not a PC that from one user could be a supercomputer essentially and the next guy has an old aging system that cannot keep up so optimization must be very thorough for all users to get the same experience despite hardware or as close as possible. So the development on console from the outside perspective does seem to have that as a great advantage in developing for a console versus PC

-Pirating though on console and pc may be very similar but I have a feeling that Pirating is far worse on PC even with all the digital security features built in more and more every year but as you say it would seem that targeting both markets would give a larger income to the game companies but perhaps the profit on the PC side is hindered from the first reason of development costs.

-sadly yes the main reason for it may be that companies have the bottom line of the money as their main/only deciding factor on developing on console versus PC.

You never know though remember Games like Crysis were ahead of their time pushing systems for years. Took awhile for a game like that to come to a Console from PC. There are great PC game developers out there and there will be great releases yet that push the envelope of what was thought to be possible.

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-cost for developing on console may be less than PC as remember they are developing on unified hardware not a PC that from one user could be a supercomputer essentially and the next guy has an old aging system that cannot keep up so optimization must be very thorough for all users to get the same experience despite hardware or as close as possible. So the development on console from the outside perspective does seem to have that as a great advantage in developing for a console versus PC

This is indeed the only reason. Just think about the different graphic cards. Developing for this is difficult. Testing is a real pain in the ass.

You need a lot of hardware and many Testing Monkeys. Not only before launch , also for every little patch.

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PC gaming is doing well overall and is still a growth market if you look at all the recent charts while consoles are topping out and/or contracting. The reason the PC gaming market has stabilized is due to services like Steam which through frequent sales, early access deals and it's greenlight program have largely reduced PC pirating (I don't have figures on hand but read this recently). In addition, Indy developers have stepped up with some creative games for the PC that you simply can't find on the console (e.g. Day Z and its mods). While we may lack Super Mario Brothers (who really cares about SMB?) due to Nintendo not licensing their IP to anyone or getting the latest GTA V late, it doesn't really matter much because these so-called AAA games are just rehashed shit and bring very little new content to the user experience.

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PC gaming is doing well overall and is still a growth market if you look at all the recent charts while consoles are topping out and/or contracting. The reason the PC gaming market has stabilized is due to services like Steam which through frequent sales, early access deals and it's greenlight program have largely reduced PC pirating (I don't have figures on hand but read this recently). In addition, Indy developers have stepped up with some creative games for the PC that you simply can't find on the console (e.g. Day Z and its mods). While we may lack Super Mario Brothers (who really cares about SMB?) due to Nintendo not licensing their IP to anyone or getting the latest GTA V late, it doesn't really matter much because these so-called AAA games are just rehashed shit and bring very little new content to the user experience.

I must agree Brian that despite Console Specific Titles often not making it to PC, the market is absolutely massive especially with services like Steam as you mention and Origin etc. As you say vice versa many games are not on the consoles. I'm sure as time goes on the PC market is just going to continue to get stronger as there are more and more people like you and I who wake up and say I'm going to use a PC to game. The fact is building a nice rig is a great experience which you never get from a prefabricated console.

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Some people simply don't want to bother upgrading their PCs every year in order to play the latest games. If you think this way, then the consoles will seem like a much better choice. You pay maybe less than half the amount you will pay for a mid-high level PC, and you can play without any worries for the next few years. (just take a look at how long there is between the release dates of the current consoles and the previous gen ones) Sure, you won't get the same quality graphics as on the PC but if you think about it, most of the newer games that come to PC are console ports anyway, so you don't see all the shiny hardware you pour your money into at full power.

There are people arguing that some time in the future PC gamers will only consist of hardcore PC fans, and I can see that happening. It is sad but nothing can be done about it.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Virtual Reality will change the market again, because its so demanding.. you need framerates up to 90FPS for the consumer version 1.. means the game has to run in 180FPS basically.. no console can handle such high frame rates atm.. So I am sure VR will definetly push the PC / GPU market again..

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  • 2 weeks later...

I agree with many of your points but figured I'd throw my two cents in. As some others have mentioned piracy on the PC has fallen off pretty dramatically thanks to steam, so I argue that this is not part of the reason. However the fact that PC games pretty much end up 25% off from day one does have something to do with it. Software companies make less per sale of a PC game almost immediately upon its release. On top of the fact that within 6 months on PC nearly any title is available for 50% off. And since they are a business it is always going to be about money. What we will probably see more of is the GTA V approach to PC release. They release it to console and then release it PC over a year later game plan, even Destiny is planning that approach. And heres why, they can sell the game twice. PC gamers in some ways are starved so they will go and buy a game like GTA V when it comes out bc they want it so bad that they will take a hit on performance and play it on a console. Then Rockstar comes a year later and says oh now its out on PC, take advantage of your superior hardware and thus the previously starved PC gamer buys it again on the platform he wished he could have used in the first place. Its all about money and if you can sell the same thing to people twice, why wouldn't you?

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I mean come on, this is completely true. Just take a look at almost every pc game that has been released by EA and Blizzard in the past 3 years. Almost every game they've released on PC has had some sort of server failure, game breaking bug, horrible optimizations, or just plain drops in FPS.

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Having played and enjoyed the infamous series I would love to play the next one however as I don't own a ps4 nor see any reason to buy one as I had so many problems with my ps3. At least on pc you can backup all your saves on a couple of games I couldn't even copy them onto a thumb drive temporarily when I wanted to install a new hard drive in it.

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PC gaming is always related to nerd stuff and no user-friendly, that's why i guess there is no such interest by the companies comparing to console gaming... Btw, computers were always more powerful (maybe during early PS2 Era the consoles had a slight edge). I'm proud to be back to PC gaming after couple years playing only in consoles :Banane03:

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some console exclusive titles, are made so because the company have exclusive contracts with sony or nintendo etc.

it's a bit hard on that front since pc gaming have no company backing it up in that way.

the only thing that i think we are missing is probably the last of us. others are kinda soso

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I think shooters will allways belong on pc, and I think that's where FPS developers can make the most money out of it. I highly doubt they will ever become realistic on consoles. Can you imagine a soldier in real life, straving sidewards to get the enemy in his aim, because he has trouble moving his arms accurate? :rapture:

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The preference for big games being released only on console, or console first, has been driving me crazy for years. I have never liked consoles, largely due to the controllers being imprecise and fidgety. (I have some hand eye coordination problems which show up really badly with controllers, but not at all with a keyboard and mouse) The other issue I've had is the poor quality graphics. (compared to a PC on the same game, when that's been a possible comparison... A game on a decent gaming PC to me always looks better than on a console.)

I'd really like to see a version of the new Halo, or Destiny, on PC...

Given how much hardware marketing is done for PC gaming, I would think these game companies would want to focus on the PC platform...

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They love us PC gamers and they want to milk us to the last cent heck look at shadow of mordor, it needs 6GB of VRAM to run game at ultra settings.. got dang pc gaming is getting so expensive these days!

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

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Recently, several games showed up where the pc-versions were severly castrated.

30fps-lock, a fix low resolution, no AA and such.

Hobby-modders who dont get no money outta this were able to fix this in a matter of one or two days, that proves that it's not about "too much work for the pc-version". It's just sloppy.

There are rumors that game console manufacturers dont like it if the pc-version looks much better then the console-version...

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I wish developers would make more games for PC and not just make existing games compatible, but also develop games specifically for PC. I understand there are compatibility issues to iron out concerning different PC builds and configurations, but I feel a standardized console puts a hard cap on what you can do with game developing. We can swap out video cards and CPUs on our PCs, but that's much harder or impossible to do with a console system. These days it seems they're out to make quick bucks and not really interested in making real quality games. There hasn't been a single RPG that has the same substance as Baldur's Gate series, back when graphics were disgustingly bad compared to today. Today's games it is all about good but not great graphics, horrible story lines, and really bad interfaces... Ok I'm going to stop before I tangent any further.

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