nVidia/ATi need to serve it to Rockstar (GTA IV)

I LOVE flightsims on the PC (I have a 360 and PS3 as well :) ) but I know the amount of development vs the number of sales is low - therefore they become rarer and rarer

conversely a "rubbish" - non-top rated console game would get more sales for them unfortunately
 
ferr said:
Yep, not even on the 2007 charts:


Notice the type of games that manage to find the most success on the PC are hard to pirate MMO games and casual games that cater to a less savvy audience.


Here's console's 2007 chart for good measure:
Click to expand...

Seriously, NPD? Don't you know it's completely irrelevant for PC sales numbers? Crysis sold over 1 million copies so far, and the NPD didn't show that because the majority of the sales were in Europe and by digital distribution: http://www.incrysis.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=612

What Valve had to say about this whole 'pc gaming is dying' fad:

doug lombardi said:
Not only are small independent games brought to the limelight on steam, but older titles are also being brought to the forefront as well. Lombardi asserted that the recently released Rockstar and id game packages are doing quite well. "At this point, you're looking at the PC market being tougher and tougher on shelf space... when you look at a place that has endless shelf space and 15 million targeted accounts to go after, it's really interesting for indies as well as older and AAA debut launches," said Lombardi.

Lombardi also had very optimistic words for the state of the industry, "I can remember this story coming around in the mid '90s... and then 3D accelerator came out, and Carmack released that patch for GL Quake, and everybody shut up, because all of a sudden PlayStation looked like crap. There's a big shift about to come in the post-GPU space... all of a sudden PC will leapfrog what's going on on the consoles, in many other ways besides graphics." In addition to the PC being an open platform that is able to adapt to current trends, he cites the sky rocketing costs of consoles and their infancy in the downloadable content arena as deterrents for console gaming.
Click to expand...
 
AceCR42 said:
Seriously, NPD? Don't you know it's completely irrelevant for PC sales numbers? Crysis sold over 1 million copies so far, and the NPD didn't show that because the majority of the sales were in Europe and by digital distribution: http://www.incrysis.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=612
Click to expand...

Yeah, I found it curious when I saw neither Crysis nor TF2 on the list.

Though you should also consider the fact that console games also have a worldwide presence as well as online distributions (whether it be through purchasing full games or the insanely successful downloadable content services).
 
WHEN GTA4 comes to PC it will get my money. Period. I agree that i would have loved to have it on the April 29th Release date for PC also (i am on vacation from work and school, perfect time to game). The fact is i knew that it would not come out the same day and the consoles so it was not a big deal to me. though seeing all those gameplay makes my wait seem longer than i would like.
 
Compared to consoles with variety of games available, I think the PC is fighting a battle it lost a long time ago. I've always wondered, my PC is more powerful than an Xbox 360, why can't I play Guitar Hero or DDR on it? Hell what about FightNight360? I have an 8800GTS, Opty170 and a 360 Controller. Is FX Fighter and Primal Rage the best I'm going to get?

Somewhere along the lines I think hardware and culture come into the picture. Most people are still running Windows XP, unless you purchase a new PC, then you're probably going to get Vista. What does that mean? Most people have XP hardware. And therein lies the problem. On the PC platform, developers have to write for the lowest common denominator. With all the PC's out there that LCD is just too low. How can a game look the same on an 8400GS as it does on a 9800GTX? It can't, because if it did there would be no reason for the 9800 to exist. Also if developers didn't write for the LCD then you have a Vista-like situation where people who have no business running a game on their hardware get pissed off when their game experience sucks.

Think about the still novel idea that a PC can record TV and play live tv, play videos from the internet and computer games... all while hooked up to your TV. The culture to enable all the other types of games on the PC, just doesn't exist becasue we just don't see computers as flat out entertainment devices. Especially when they're tied to a 17" monitor, the prevailing notion is "yeah it can do it but I have other devices built for the entertainment purposes (enter the DVD player, and console)." I'd make a wager that more PC's are used for work than gaming. Assuming thats correct, you get your development priorities right there. Develop for the strict entertainment platform first (console) then port it over to the work platform if the case can be made (Gears of War & Halo 2). Most PCs built aren't designed to maximize frame rates and thats the problem.

When the PC isn't treated like an entertainment device, across the board (in all situations) then there simply isn't the necessity to develop for it as if it is one. And it's funny, becasue I thought Games for Windows was supposed to fix this. So why is GTA IV coming to the PC later? Because on the large majority of machines it won't run well. Piracy aside, there is no point in making the PC a primary release platform if you don't get anywhere near 50% platform compatibility. With the consoles you're guaranteed 100% compatibility becasue, at the most, there's only three hardware combinations (PS3, XBox360 and Wii). And that goes back to user experience in that it is one less thing you can take out the equation as a potential barrier to enjoyment. How many hardware combinations are there with the PC?
 
I think it's more Microsofts battle to fight than it is NVidias or ATI's. As the developers of the OS they should theoretically be in the best position to put forward some form of content protection mechanism at a low level to encourage game developers to develop for windows. I'm unsure what and I wouldnt want it to be intrusive, but if MS along with others can get around the issue of piracy or at least to a certain extent then it may entice developers to develop more for the PC. Some form of online account system perhaps similar to Steam or MMORPG's. Doesnt have to be at an OS level of course but having a common platform at least negates the need for each developer to code their own solution.

Another reason for MS to take it on board is that it's gaming capabilities is one of the most enticing reasons for home users to actually use windows over linux. When games are taken out of the picture alot of home users could quite comfortably live on linux or mac and not really notice any big difference. As such in the home market PC gaming is something vital to windows and while it's not looking to change given the use of direct x, it would seem to me that getting more and more developers back on board with PC gaming would be a good move financially.

But yeah, I don't feel pc gaming is dead regardless and I happily own a gaming PC and a console.
 
Why borther with a bad console port for PC anyways?
GTA is for consoles = younger audience...keep that away from the PC and let the rest of us spend the time on shit that consoles can't do, like ArmA
 
Atech said:
Why borther with a bad console port for PC anyways?
GTA is for consoles = younger audience...keep that away from the PC and let the rest of us spend the time on shit that consoles can't do, like ArmA
Click to expand...

so your saying that you will never play GTA4?
 
It has not been oficially confirmed by Rockstar, but a Rockstar employee mentioned in the GTA official forums that the earliest a PC version would come out would be October of this year. (If can find the link agian, I'll post it.)

I'll rent it for my X360, just because I want to try it. But, I really want to own it for the PC. I still boot up San Andreas from time to time. The PC version is so much better. Mouse and Keyboard control is so much better. And, one word: Mods!

Also, I don't know why everyone is in a hoopla over the fact that there wasn't a PC release of GTA4 at the same time as the console.

San Andreas was released for the PS2 on Oct 26, 2004. The PC version wasn't released until June 7th, 2005. 8 months later!

Edit: 1st PC release hint:
http://www.digitalbattle.com/2008/01/25/gta-4-pc-this-october/

2nd?
Another forum, made mention that a PC release date was given in the X360 version's Game Manual as 13th December 2008 . Come someone confirm/deny this? Post a pic, if true?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top