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Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 07:20
by Anakha56
http://kotaku.com/5701066/crysis-develo ... games-back
The fact so many games now appear on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC is a blessing for PC gamers who used to miss out on a lot of console games, but according to Crysis developers Crytek, it's a mixed blessing.

"As long as the current console generation exists and as long as we keep pushing the PC as well, the more difficult it will be to really get the benefit of both", Crytek boss Cervat Yerli tells Edge magazine.

"[The] PC is easily a generation ahead right now. With 360 and PS3, we believe the quality of the games beyond Crysis 2 and other CryEngine developments will be pretty much limited to what their creative expressions is, what the content is. You won't be able to squeeze more juice from these rocks."

Interesting comments coming from a man who now has an interest in PS3 and 360 game development, what with Crysis 2 appearing on all three platforms (whereas the original game was a PC-only affair). He's going to hurt someone's feelings with talk like that!

Really, though, is it that hard to scale a game's engine to such an extent that a PC version looks the generation ahead he claims it is? Half-Life 2 looked amazing on PC back in 2004, but still somehow found its way onto the original Xbox.

Crytek say "PC is easily a generation ahead", being held back by consoles [PC Gamer]
Wow just one news story like this and Crytek has made it back onto my fav list :P.

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 07:35
by RuadRauFlessa
Anakha56... I have to agree. Consoles are non-upgradable platforms with fixed hardware. Yes it is easier to code for them and design models and environments which will run on them optimally as you know what is in the damn thing. But that being said the tech in a PS3 is about 3-4 years old already. I would venture to say that PC's are already 2 generations ahead not just 1. I mean come on we already have hardware tessellation and we will only really see that in games when the console market catches up. So what is the point of all the advances in PC's.

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 07:37
by D3PART3D
limited to what their creative expressions is, what the content is.
Excellent.

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 07:45
by Anakha56
With regards to Tessellation the Xbox 360 has support for it thanks to the ATI GPU inside of it however MS has not provided proper documentation to access and use it. This is my understanding of it.

I do agree with the statement that PC's are more advanced than consoles :).

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 07:46
by RuadRauFlessa
Dearly D3PART3D,

The problem is that 99.9% of the people in the gaming industry today does not have an ounce of creative expression within them. So how then are we to get something holding a semblance to a good game.

Kind Regards,
Ruad Rau Flessa

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 09:29
by StarBound
I could have told you that, and think I did a while back.
The problem though isnt the gamers. The problem is either developer or publisher. Correct me if I am wrong but Bioshock and Mass Effect was DX9 and DX10. ME2 and Bio2 were only DX9. Creativity isnt bound by technology. Look at the Wii. It's a stupidly underpowered system and yet it produced Kirby's Epic Yarn which looks fantastic and has done something in a age where most games are just rehashes of others.
I would like to see PC games taking the full tech advantage. But it isnt happening. And what we are ending up with is the decision to either buy a pc version that is broken and needs to be patched twice a week or for the same price the tuned down working console version.

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 09:59
by rustypup
StarBound wrote:The problem though isnt the gamers.
i couldn't disagree more... the problem is the gamers... if the market weren't so flooded with mouth breathers paying 2x to 3x the price for similar/reduced quality product, the financial inducement wouldn't be there and the pressure would be on the developer/fabricator to keep pushing the envelope..

console gamers, en masse, have the technological sophistication of a turnip.. for this reason alone there has been zero activity in the hardware department for 5 years... no need...

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 10:05
by hamin_aus
Hear hear

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 10:09
by StarBound
Ok then what if we removed hardcore gamers? The ones that played games since the start? PC had all your RTS and RPGs. Consoles had your fighting and side scrollers. FPS games eventually took over PC. Consoles and PC both enjoyed FPS games but it wasnt until 3dfx brought the voodoo to PC that it got the upper hand and delivered untouchable FPS games. Somewhere things went wrong and PC gamers had to suffer with DRM and all that just to be able to play a game while consoles retained the put in and play concept.

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 10:35
by rustypup
StarBound wrote:consoles retained the put in and pay concept.
also, you can only play on this exact hardware... no sneaky putting this media into something else and playing... also, we're going to charge you premium for ancient hardware because of magical "licensing" commitments...

spare me the marketing babble.. consoles are there to extract the maximum amount of milk for the minimum amount of moo...

the profit numbers being reported are a telling indicator of how "cheap" console gaming is... ie, not at all... fallacies like that and the "scary DRM" crud are lame ducks used to plug these products... not forgetting the tripe about "quality"...

as to patching, 99.9999% of my games, (and my collection is hardly small), worked without hiccup or tweaking - so, hardly any impediment to gaming enjoyment...

throw in a 3-4 year major upgrade cycle and i have no idea where the appeal is to purchase what is effectively a deformed PC, with double the cost on games.. :/

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 12:01
by THE_STIG
Yes rusty that is the spirit, consoles are exactly that, and put in and play only appeals to noob's who are too stupid to install a game. PC games are cheper take a game that is about 2-3 years old and on pc it will cost you just below R100 but on the console expect to pay a lot more.

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 12:03
by doo_much
THE_STIG wrote:Yes rusty that is the spirit, consoles are exactly, that and put in and play only appeals to noob's who are too stupid to install a game.
we haven't even met and you're calling me a stupid noob? :?

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 12:07
by THE_STIG
Why can you not install a game, if you can then obviously you are not a stupid noob.

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 12:08
by doo_much
The 'put in and play' appeals to me...

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 12:10
by THE_STIG
Ho nooo, then there is no help for you.

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 12:12
by KALSTER
The upgrade cycle really isn't that bad for PC games. You can still play Crysis with an Athlon 5200+ and an 8800 at settings that would put most console games to shame. I first saw Singularity on my friend's XBox 360 and was amazed at just how poor the graphics were. Then when I got the PC game the difference was even more apparent.

Some console games are just better on a console though, like Wii and the new XBox Kinect. I would even consider getting a PS3 just so I could play GT5. At least I'll get a Blu Ray player for my money as well.

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 12:19
by THE_STIG
Yes PC's have better graphics and have more uses than consoles.

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 30 Nov 2010, 13:17
by D3PART3D
THE_STIG wrote:Ho nooo, then there is no help for you.
Why, because installing a PC game is mentally exhaustive?

Just because I'm bored:

Price: Console games may be more expensive, but I think you should consider each game individually - some games are worth the price tag. Those that are not, you play and resell, rent or just don't bother with it at all. No-one is extorting money from you. Any disagreement on a game's worth is relative to what you earn and your specific tastes. Bill Gates most probably does not cringe when he walks into a game store.

Platform: When I have friends over, it is far easier to sit around a nice big screen than to try to fit in front of my PC screen. Many console games are purposefully made easy to play because social gaming is a different type of experience. Do I need to explain that? For you folk break out in a sweat installing PC games, I mean.

What some see as a "dumbed down" interface I see as ease of access. I understand that some of you are into S&M, don't let me ruin it for you.

Gaming: There are great games on consoles. There are innovative games. Those sorts of games appear more often on the PC, yes, but to deny that they are there on the PlayStation etc. is just plain ignorant. There will be no further discussion regarding.

Graphics: far more impressive to see a developer squeeze every last ounce of power out of current hardware than to see inefficient code go unpunished because Bob has a core i7 and nVidia's latest.

Lastly, "console gaming is holding the PC games back" OMGosh Lulz. Perhaps in terms of flashier graphics, sure. Physics simulation? I don't know. What I do know, is that the "console gamerz outnumber us" excuse is just silly. Please, learn some freakin' economics. Any industrious PC game developer can rush in and take advantage of a niche market. I don't recall EA sending assasins after Markus Persson.

Kthnx.

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 01 Dec 2010, 19:33
by StarPhoenix
rustypup wrote: also, you can only play on this exact hardware... no sneaky putting this media into something else and playing... also, we're going to charge you premium for ancient hardware because of magical "licensing" commitments...

spare me the marketing babble.. consoles are there to extract the maximum amount of milk for the minimum amount of moo...

the profit numbers being reported are a telling indicator of how "cheap" console gaming is... ie, not at all... fallacies like that and the "scary DRM" crud are lame ducks used to plug these products... not forgetting the tripe about "quality"...

as to patching, 99.9999% of my games, (and my collection is hardly small), worked without hiccup or tweaking - so, hardly any impediment to gaming enjoyment...

throw in a 3-4 year major upgrade cycle and i have no idea where the appeal is to purchase what is effectively a deformed PC, with double the cost on games.. :/
See.....there is the.....inconvenience of "exclusives" Without that, those of us with poor impulse control might be less inclined to play games we fancy but are only available on a given
dedicated gaming device. For me, the entertainment I get out of a given game is more important than whether or not it depends on bleeding edge technology.

Yes, I'm a sucker. :-P

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 02 Dec 2010, 08:58
by ADT
doo_much wrote:
THE_STIG wrote:Yes rusty that is the spirit, consoles are exactly, that and put in and play only appeals to noob's who are too stupid to install a game.
we haven't even met and you're calling me a stupid noob? :?

That's a slap in the face :|

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 02 Dec 2010, 10:31
by StarBound
I stick with my view. Consoles are not holding pc games back. Developers just aren't happy with settling for the few million that uses the configurable machine. Consoles are far easier to develop and it has more gamers on it than pc. And when it comes back to price its cheaper to have a piece of hardware the price of a graphics card or cpu to run the game than it is to replace the system every 2 years or so just to be able to play an un optimised port.

And as far as going on about World of Warcraft killing pc gaming and Call of duty killing console gaming I have a simple answer. Create something better! Simple answer not easily doable.

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 02 Dec 2010, 11:04
by Anakha56
@ Star I love how GT5 has made the console a PC game ;). The load times, confusing menu layout, huge install time and the need for a couple pf patches to fix what appears to be a non-finished game sounds very PC like :P.

/not starting a fight just found that interesting... :)

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 02 Dec 2010, 11:24
by THE_STIG
Hey not all PC games are like that, that could easily start a fight but today I am not in the mood for fighting.

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 02 Dec 2010, 11:29
by StarBound
Most games these days install to console harddrives to speed up load times. PS3 cuts the load time in half while xbox cuts the load time by 80% or more (bluray vs dvd vs hdd load times). Black Ops also had a few patches. But you could play the console version out of the box.

If a game doesnt work on pc you need to: patch the game and update drivers. Console you update the game and sometimes a firmware with features gets released.

*glares at developers* See what you did!? You made gamers turn on each other. The day of reckonning will come!

Re: Consoles Are Holding PC Games Back

Posted: 02 Dec 2010, 11:35
by THE_STIG
StarBound wrote:Most games these days install to console harddrives to speed up load times. PS3 cuts the load time in half while xbox cuts the load time by 80% or more (bluray vs dvd vs hdd load times). Black Ops also had a few patches. But you could play the console version out of the box.

If a game doesnt work on pc you need to: patch the game and update drivers. Console you update the game and sometimes a firmware with features gets released.

*glares at developers* See what you did!? You made gamers turn on each other. The day of reckonning will come!
Yes shame on you developers, your time is coming. :twisted: