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TotalBiscuit Takes On The Watch Dogs PC Controversy
- Thread starter HardOCP News
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I feel like you're intentionally skipping over some facts:
-They DID get these features working for E3 2012 at least. (but maybe that was a special case, so I'll give a benefit of the doubt)
-Ubisoft flat out lied to their entire PC base that there was no downgrade in graphics
-There's still the comment about "This is PC only, who cares" in the code (though this could be a misinterpretation, so another benefit of the doubt).
-This is the same company that has downgraded FC3 graphics, accused PC users of being 95% pirates, and claimed "bitching pc users" won't buy their games if they make them for PC.
At the end of the day, even if you give them a free pass on their past history, and assume they made innocent mistakes that could be interpreted otherwise, they STILL came out and lied to the PC base about the graphics. Why exactly do you think them having an anti-pc sentiment is a silly idea?
You are missing the point. The 'next-gen' consoles are AMD APU systems. Ubi sold themselves on delivering the 'net gen' experience on these consoles, and they just aren't up to it. Christ, you are crazy. I never said Ubi was 'poo-poo'ing' on me. I said they had to nerf PC because they sold a bunch of Xbox1 and PS4's on the promise of next-gen visuals...which were easily going to be trumped by a moderate PC...so Ubi nerfed PC. I think people are confused as to the collusion here. Ubisoft wanted to set themselves as a primary developer for the two platforms. They SUCCEEDED in that. When the hardware was released very late, they had to scale back their measures. There was no way they were ever going to be able to release that game based on the disparity of the dev kits and the final hardware. What are they gonna do? It was always gonna run like a dog, but they had to retain visual parity so all the adopters didn't discover they bought an overpriced piece of garbage hardware.
Ashbringer
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The same can be said about Xbox One or PS4. PS4 sales which are the highest are 2.4 million world wide, while the PS3 has 80 million world wide. Older consoles are still the platform of choice when it comes to making games.
Like it or not, right now the PC market is a strong influence in sales. Not enough over PS3/360 but well over the PS4/Xbone. Simple truth is why own a PS4/Xbone when a $500 PC will do the same or better? It gets all the same games as those systems but with better graphics and a modding community. Unlike the PS4/Xbone I can use that $500 PC to play older games from 10 years ago. I can install the original Halo game for PC from 10 years ago and get HD like graphics, while the Xbox One is going to re-release it for an additional cost.
Yes, that's why Valve is spending so much money on getting SteamOS, SteamBox, Steam controller, and now SteamBoy. The hardware is not as wide ranged as you want to think. Remember developers work on Direct3D or OpenGL. It's one of those two API's. With PS4/Xbone you have to work on two totally different API's. Include the PS3/360 and that's another two different API's with PowerPC hardware instead of x86, cause those systems are still relevant. On PC you choose an API and decide to support a feature or not. The only way a console system would be easier to develop if you only had one system in the market. But you don't, cause you have...
PS3
PS4
Xbone
360
Wii U
On PC you have Intel or AMD for CPUs and Nvidia or AMD or Intel for graphics. All using the same architecture and using the same API's, except with AMD's Mantle. Each one of those consoles uses totally different setups, but demand equal developer attention.
You focus entirely too much on the hardware and a $500 PC lol!!!! That is the biggest troll argument on here. Not to mention playing on PC you have launcher and software overload, driver issues, etc etc etc. Got to have origin for this game, Uplay, GFWL, Steam, purchased on Steam but still have to do this.
Not to mention that you have to use a keyboard and mouse if you intend to play anything online. Don't care how much "better" it is people don't want to use that. On console people have everything all in one spot. PSN or Xbox Live houses everything from Friends etc. It is just a better experience all around for 95% of the market.
Your API issue is moot, why? Because yes there are different APIs but back to my point there is a ROI worth investing the time and resources into that developement system. Even the PS4 and XO, you don't think Sony and Microsoft incentivise putting on next gen right now?
As for Valve with Steam box, OS, etc. Retail steamboxes will flop, why? Because manufacturers will way overcharge for them and the people that understand what they are doing will build their own anyway. SteamOS? If valve shells out for developement on the OS then it will be designed to hit the largest variation of PCs out there, in short not the high end market. Go look into steam hardware surveys, it is astounding how many people play on integrated graphics.
Not to mention the best selling PC games and not graphical powerhouses.
Only a handful of developers target the highend market and got dumped on for doing it. Crytek with Crisis one? Yeah, that game crippled systems and then people bitch becaused it was "poorly optimized", nope it was that much of a system crusher. We wanted something that would crush systems and everytime someone trys we dump all over the developer.
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You don't design OSes and APIs around a certain level of hardware. The OS will run on anything. It's the games that will still need to have PC-like graphics options for scalability across different hardware, and I don't see an issue with this.
The only danger of Steam OS is fragmentation of the PC market. However, as long as the games remain available for the top few OSes, (kind of like they are going toward now) then there isn't a problem. This is very much up in the air though.
I would rather use a keyboard than try to type out messages one letter at a time with a joystick.
Also, if "nobody" wants to use a KB/mouse, then why aren't there more people buying game-pads for their PCs? Why is the KB/mouse still so popular? Why are people going out of their way to spend $100+ on buckling-spring keyboards and customizable 10-button mice?
Just because YOU don't like KB/mouse doesn't mean everyone hates them. Not everyone plays games on their TV while sitting on a couch.
Many times you will find people using game-pads on their PC not because they wanted to, but because the game was designed exclusively for the game-pad, with the mouse controls added-on as an afterthought for the PC port.
The KB/mouse combination isn't just "better," it's so much better that console players and PC players have to be kept on separate servers so that the console players aren't at a significant disadvantage.
Ashbringer
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You really think you can't game on $500 PC? How about for $600? This video was made in October from last year but still relevant. Or just get this and be done with it.
You need to or can't? Cause you can certainly play games on PC with a gamepad.
I don't understand how that's irrelevant? Look at WatchDogs and Nvidia or TombRaider and AMD. They certainly incentivise to have games with certain tweaks.
You keep talking about high end as if PCs for the past 10 years haven't been under utilized. I'm still waiting for DX10 and DX11 games, but some graphic features that get turned on that use DX9 are for high end market? A $100 graphics card can out do a PS4 and there's very little performance hit on PCs that have these features enabled, if any.
The Steam survey shows HD 4000 graphic cards to be highest. Ok, so what? Intel makes up 16% of graphic cards in Steam. Nvidia makes up 52% and AMD makes 30%. Considering all Intel CPU come with integrated graphics it shouldn't be a surprise. Lots of people probably running hybrid GPU setups. That or Intel HD 4000 is what their laptop came with, and is good enough to play games like DOTA2.
There's that phrase again "high end". And again the Watch Dogs mod has little performance hit. Also PC games have settings, so why complain when you can lower the graphics or shut off features?
You might not want to accuse someone of being a troll, then use hyperbole immediately afterwards.
Valve is aiming for the long haul. If you look at things quarter by quarter, Steambox / SteamOS will be not be large successes. If you're looking at them 10 years out, anything could happen. I am GLAD a possible escape route is being created to Microsoft controlling everything on the PC gaming side of thing. I mean PC gaming nowadays still largely means Windows. I would love to see that change.
Yes and no. Crysis was ahead of its time AND could be optimized better. Crysis Warhead ran far more smoothly on systems than Crysis did.
No, everyone does not do it. This is highschool armchair psychology here, but from what I remember the quick adoption of someone elses mannerisms is some kind of insecurity/personality flaw. Basically you're trying to sound like them so that they like you. For a confident person there would be no fear of being disliked, so you maintain your own personality.
This is not to be confused with living in a new country for a year and slowly adopting their accent.
You haven't played Wolfenstein: The New Order have you? While it doesn't use directx, it does use a version of OpenGL that only a card made within in the last 3 years will support (Bitter experience with an HD 4850)
sfsuphysics
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So trying to adapt to a situation is a personality flaw? Sounds like if anything it is a survival trait passed down from our ancestors, where as the "confident" person would have been dinosaur food if it wasn't for blind luck
No wonder psychology often gets mocked so much.
Ozymandias
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That's a silly attitude to take, since Ubisoft isn't competing in a vacuum. Other developers/publishers aren't going to have the same policy and they'll see greater sales on the PC, now and in the future.