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See the original image at news.filefront.com —

Epic Shifting Focus to Consoles

news.filefront.com — Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski has claimed that PC gaming is currently in “disarray”and because of this, Epic will now be concentrating more of its focus on console titles.

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  • MrMuffMeat, on 02/15/2008, -17/+19Well, I hope they start to shift their focus towards Gears of War 2 here soon (if they haven't already), I'm ready to take down some more of the locust! Be nice if they could have it ready by the end of this year...... but that is a big wish.
    • Drahkar, on 02/15/2008, -3/+26Epic hasn't been focused on PCs in years. This should come as no surprise to anyone. This is like Microsoft saying that they were going to focus on making a new OS.
      • o0joshua0o, on 02/15/2008, -7/+16That's exactly what Microsoft should focus on right now...making a new OS that people will like.
        • Chompy, on 02/15/2008, -1/+8How about making the current one work first?
          • Drahkar, on 02/15/2008, -2/+2I'd go for that. Make the Vista Footprint smaller, less resource intensive and more secure/stable would be very nice. I never understood the whole 'Lets put out something entirely new with all new problems' instead of just fixing what they have first. I understand they want to keep making new money and all, but c'mon.
          • aywwts4, on 02/15/2008, -2/+5Nope, they are just working on replacing vista in 2010 (so a few years late)

            "MinWin is 25 MB on disk; Vista is 4 GB, Traut said. (The slimmed-down Windows Server 2008 core is still 1.5 GB in size.) The MinWin kernel does not include a graphics subsystem in its current build, but does incorporate a “very simple HTTP server,” Traut said. The MinWin core is 100 files total, while all of Windows is 5,000 files in size."

            They are finaly going to replace their decade and a half old kernel, with a new smaller more modular kernel, and instead of putting in loads of backwards compatibility (bugs) they are just planning on virtualizing compatible systems. Vista is the new 'ME' about to be quickly forgotten.

            http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=842
          • BearinG, on 02/18/2008, -0/+2How about making the OS work before releasing it?
      • DanBoodro, on 02/15/2008, -5/+7I understand what you're saying, but your comment "literally" doesn't make sense.
        Should be "This is like Microsoft saying that they were going to focus on only developing for the Windows platform."
        And Windows is focusing on making a new OS, Windows 7.
        • Drahkar, on 02/15/2008, -2/+4Actually the comment makes perfect sense in response to epic's Press release. Their press release stated they planned on focusing on Consoles, something they are already doing. Microsoft is always focusing on making a new OS. Hence the comparison.
      • FredFredrickson, on 02/15/2008, -2/+2It's not like Microsoft is a small team of people... they've got thousands of employees, and they can focus on more than one thing at once, I would think.
        • Ahnteis, on 02/16/2008, -1/+1From the context, I'm guessing the parent was editted after the fact.
    • jgtg32a, on 02/15/2008, -1/+6Hijack

      Ok really what it comes down to is in the last 10 years they have made 2 games UT and Gears. Gears was a bug ridden port that was released a the year before. As for UT the first two were by far the best, every other one was just a repackage with a few extra features. We're PC gamers not console users we don't buy Roster Update games. It was a step in the right direction to add a story mode to UT as laughable as it is. What they really need to do is fix release a new game.
    • CrackaPleeze, on 02/15/2008, -4/+1Yeah, MuffMeat, and maybe this time around they can write a plot.
  • OBKenobi, on 02/15/2008, -48/+35Consoles suck and Cliffy B can go ***** himself.
    • gr0ver, on 02/15/2008, -10/+27I wonder if you'd say that to his face.
      • Step1Mark, on 02/15/2008, -11/+8no
        This is digg.
      • ekin09, on 02/15/2008, -7/+4Impossible, that would require him to leave his parents basement...
        You're right gr0ver, people can say what they want and not feel accountable, I see it not just on digg, but all over the web.
        If you are going to bash someone, especially someone well known, be a man and put your real name next to it.
      • SteeleJK, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3Why wouldn't he? Is Cliff really scary or violent?
    • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -7/+18That's exactly the reaction I had when I read Cliffy's comments. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, buddy. What a money grubbing jerk he is. The PC won't miss him at all.

      Gears of War on PC was pretty crappy. It had unnecessarily high system requirements, it requires you to log in to Live to save your game on a single player game, and you had to live with console style continue points instead of being able to save anywhere. Cliffy has obviously ignored the strengths of the PC platform, and that's a pretty high price to play for a game where you control a big beefy guy who spends 10 hours running and hiding (and resurrecting his idiot team mates who love running into firefights unprotected).
    • Chompy, on 02/15/2008, -2/+3I don't necessarily have a problem with consoles, but I'll agree on the latter point.
  • l0k0, on 02/15/2008, -11/+81UT3 was evident of this "shift" already. Texture streaming, those horrible menus, and a severe lack of graphics options. Really unfortunate, I've been a hardcore fan of UT for a very long time. The PC is where they started, it's where they became successful, and now they're looking back laughing at their original fanbase. It's no wonder the player count for UT3 is absolutely deplorable. But go ahead Cliffy. Just make a Gears of War 2 port for the PC. Hopefully it won't require a useless Games for Windows Live Service. Hopefully I won't have to edit an .ini file just to get surround sound working, even though it works perfectly for the 360. Hopefully I won't have to worry about my saves being deleting either. This stuff is pretty standard for the industry, but were a few of the many issues the pathetic PC port of Gears of War suffered from on the PC.
    • charlescheese, on 02/15/2008, -4/+60When I was a kid we walked two miles in the snow uphill to get home and play Unreal Tournament at 2fps on our computers, and we LIKED it.
    • olliholliday, on 02/15/2008, -12/+10gearsofwar for pc never worked for me either, however you're talking about UT3 and IME it's absolutely great.

      Runs smooth as anything, looking a load better and with about 3x the FPS as enemyterritoryquakewars. it's just a shame that nobody plays it!
      Personally I think a lot of gamers find that it's too fast, especially for people who play ***** like bf2/cs. they just get totally thrashed in ut3 because it's so intense - makes for a steep learning curve.

      not that i'm complaining, the speed is the best bit about it.
    • tacroy, on 02/15/2008, -20/+10The pc was were they started I played UT99 so much I almost had to leave college. The landscape, however, is changing. Pirates are killing pc gaming as we knew it. Unlike music, PC gamers are the "hardcore" audience; anyone that can upgrade their machine to keep it in top shape, work with drivers, and fix the problems related to pc gaming can also torrent a game, and the recent data from the game companys shows that they do.
      • yohnstoppable, on 02/15/2008, -3/+10"PC Gamers are the hardcore audience"

        That is why Sims is by far the most popular franchise around, right? And despite the huge amount of people who play WOW religiously, the fact is most WOW players play it casually. PC has just as many casual players to tap into as consoles do
        • MiDri, on 02/15/2008, -1/+6There is no casual wow, you are either on it or off it.
          • sv650touring, on 02/15/2008, -0/+7This is your brain [shows egg]

            This is your brain on wow [smashes egg into hot frying pan]
        • tacroy, on 02/15/2008, -2/+10That actually quite supports my point. Notice that the more casual players you have the more copies they sell. "Hardcore" games on the pc are trying to capture an audience that has no problem with just downloading the game instead of purchasing it. Most times its way easier to do.
        • jgtg32a, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2Possibly maybe its just because I grew up playing online w/ bliz games but when I bootleg a game I never play online and I know I'm missing out, if I like the game I will go out and buy it.
      • olbap, on 02/15/2008, -6/+23You're a ***** moron if you think piracy is the cause of this.
        • piper999, on 02/15/2008, -7/+4You steal games and you are just being 'clever', someone steals your hubcaps and you will be on the phone in tears to your mom. Your attitude is why companies want to take your toys away and no longer develop for PCs.
          • Azimuth1, on 02/15/2008, -1/+1Yeah, because those are clearly the same thing.
          • piper999, on 02/16/2008, -3/+3LOL. See what I mean about these idiots? Azimuth thinks stealing a game for his PC is not the same as stealing anything else...and now nobody wants to make games for his 'rig' or whatever he calls the PC his parents bought him AND HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHY. Seriously, you douches are dumber than *****!
          • OrangeSoda31, on 02/17/2008, -0/+3Piracy is not stealing - piracy is replicating something which you do not hold the rights to. Downloading is not theft. Uploading is piracy.
          • Ryosen, on 02/17/2008, -1/+1Call it whatever you want. It still removes all incentive for these companies to invest over a million dollars per title for the platform. It's amazing how all these people who claim that they don't represent a lost sale when they download a game don't seem to have a problem shelling out $60 for a console title simply because they haven't modded their XBox's.
            You're a bunch of ***** hypocrites and have no one to blame but yourselves.
            "My downloading doesn't hurt anyone.".
            *****. Here's the proof. Epic isn't the first company to abandon the PC and they won't be the last. More companies will be sure to follow suit, many of them good, quality companies.
            Stop acting like whole world owes you everything for free and start paying for what you take.
      • clubby, on 02/15/2008, -6/+18The people who can torrent a PC game can torrent a console game. Piracy is not a factor in this decision, it's just a convenient excuse.
        • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/15/2008, -2/+12The problem is usually a console requires soldering chips to it in order to get that torrented game to run while on a PC it requires running crack.exe
        • tacroy, on 02/15/2008, -3/+13Also, you can risk having your console banned from online play.
        • Juntistik, on 02/15/2008, -1/+12you're somewhat right, you can hack the DVD firmware for 360 and chip a wii, but as of now there is no possible way to pirate a ps3 game. With the 360, you have to have a hell of alot more knowledge to flash dvd drive firmware then you do to simply by mounting and cracking a game. As cyber Akuma said, you still have to have soldering experience or know someone that can solder a chip to pirate games on the wii. Console pirates are not even remotely close to the amount of PC game pirates.
      • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/15/2008, -2/+7"PC Gamers are the hardcore audience"

        Popcap games...
      • nattybohman, on 02/15/2008, -2/+2I agree. Piracy has been around forever. If anything, I'd say it's less widespread than it was in the 80's or 90's. Back then most of the games that my friends had were pirated copies. These days most people I know buy their games to avoid viruses, trojans and other mischief that infect games you download or crack.
      • SteeleJK, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3Companies can find solutions around piracy. Look at steam and their growing empire.
    • cigawoot, on 02/15/2008, -0/+9For some reason I liked UT99's menus. I wish they'd do that again.
      • mrelusive, on 02/15/2008, -1/+5The Unreal community has been telling Epic to go back to UWindows (UT99 UI) since UT2003. Obviously it looks like Epic listens to their customers. @_@
    • yohnstoppable, on 02/15/2008, -1/+40UT3 was dumbed down to *****. No invasion, domination, double domination, or last man standing ftl. Combining onslaught and assault in a way that prevents you from making assault maps... They killed the game to supposedly cater to the console crowd (as said in an interview. i'll try and find it in a sec), but it doesn't make sense. I'm sure the console crowd would love those modes as much as the pc players did...

      Epic has failed in an epic way.
      • spinaltap87, on 02/15/2008, -1/+30Epic fail. ha.
      • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -0/+15UT2k4 had pretty much the same modes, plus the enormous user mod community to keep it alive. UT3 is incompatible with all that content so it's a huge step back for everyone but console gamers who couldn't benefit from that stuff (until now). Epic failed for trying to be EA, releasing a marginal upgrade too soon.
        • Ahnteis, on 02/16/2008, -1/+4You think UT3 was marginal? Remember UT2k3?! They don't even acknowledge it existed any more.
      • iofthestorm, on 02/15/2008, -0/+13Yeah, UT3 just feels so dumbed down over 2k4. The menus are such obvious console ***** it's ridiculous.
    • staticneuron, on 02/15/2008, -12/+5This is how it starts. Pay attention. The sales and numbers are steadily declining for these games, the devs say we aren't getting much of a return, partially MS's fault, partially piracy. Epic isn't the only company saying this. Now epic sucks? When Infinity Ward takes a look at the statistics on their server and says they are dissapointed in the amount of pirated copies they see then they are dismissed by these yokels and PC elitist?

      Oh man, the downfall fall of PC gaming "IS" happening. Put your ears in your fingers all you want but these companies aren't in it just to look good. They want to see profits. The sales, the fans and this stubborn belief that devs will not abandon the PC will all lead to a conclusion that will have many ignorant gamers left with stupid looks on thier faces.

      Hurl insults now at the dev's slowly walking away but when all that is left on the PC are MMORPG's, simulation games and ports from consoles, what is going to be said then?
      • neuroelectron2, on 02/15/2008, -4/+10That PC gaming sucks because all that is left on the PC are MMORPG's, simulation games and ports from consoles...

        Piracy has always taken a chunk out of PC gaming. If they stop releasing games on the PC pirates will just start pirating console games. It's not that much harder.

        The big issue right now that is causing lack of sales is the console war/race. But Microsoft's piece of crap Direct X 10 and Vista is keeping a lot of money out of the entire PC sector.
        • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/15/2008, -6/+6You're acting as if there isnt piracy on consoles...

          The reason piracy on console is lower is because its much more difficult to get a pirated game to run on a console than a pc
        • mythicflux, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3No Microsoft's refusal to allow DirectX 10 to work on Windows XP is what is killing the PC market. People are not going to upgrade to run Vista and take a 10% - 15% performance hit in the process. Couple this with the fact that developers don't want to be bother developing optimized versions of their games for both DirectX 9 and 10 and you should be able to see why PC gaming is dying.

          Ultimately Microsoft Windows Vista is killing PC gaming.
        • Ahnteis, on 02/16/2008, -3/+2>No Microsoft's refusal to allow DirectX 10 to work on Windows XP

          Ummm... you realize that to get DirectX 10 to work on Windows XP they'd have to completely rework a large portion of the driver interface? Of course you don't, you probably think programming is magic. Snap your fingers and it appears at 0 cost.

          You also are completely ignoring the fact that DirectX 10 is required for almost 0 games. It's not DirectX that is killing PC gaming. It's rising costs combined with rising piracy.
      • yohnstoppable, on 02/15/2008, -4/+7I call ***** on this whole piracy killing pc gaming thing. Look at how well the ds is doing, and that is far, FAR easier to pirate for than the pc is. buy an r4 chip, download game, put game on r4, and play. I can think of any ds game released and be playing it on my ds in the matter of a few minutes. And the ds is still beating the hell out of all consoles on the market

        And "Put your ears in your fingers all you want"... Um, you're doing it wrong.
        • Juntistik, on 02/15/2008, -6/+3The DS is mostly aimed at kids. How many kids do you think know how to operate an R4 chip?
          • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/15/2008, -1/+5You'd be surprised...

            How many kids do you know that can setup the IP, gateway, and DNS settings for their parents that can barely turn the PC on? I know a few... and used to be one of them....
          • MonkeyFarts, on 02/15/2008, -1/+4Actually, I see college-aged adults all over campus playing on their DS (mostly in class). Nintendo isn't just a kid's company.
          • IndigoMoss, on 02/17/2008, -0/+1I see way more adults using a DS than kids. I see a ton of people playing their DS on campus, a lot of them girls which is pretty crazy. All of my friends own a DS, so does my little brother, older brother, and my older sister. Of course this is just my case and what I see, but pretty much anyone I see playing a portable gaming device is playing a DS.
        • Gerz1219, on 02/15/2008, -2/+6But the average DS customer isn't tech savvy enough to do everything you just described. There is a huge overlap between hardcore gamers who play FPS games online, and people who pirate all their music, movies and video games. It's less about the ease of copying for each platform, and more about the fact that hardcore PC games rely on a target demographic that is the most predisposed to pirating.
          • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/15/2008, -0/+5Using a R4 to play DS roms is about as complicated as using a USB flashdrive...
          • yohnstoppable, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3"Using a R4 to play DS roms is about as complicated as using a USB flashdrive..."

            Yup. In fact, that is EXACTLY what you are doing when pirating ds games. You put your flash drive in, move the games over to it, remove hardware, and then put the card in your ds. I GUESS I could see people feeling too intimidated to try something like pirating games, but it really isn't that complicated. Basic introduction to computing classes in high school teach you more complicated tasks
        • hockey, on 02/15/2008, -2/+3It's harder to pirate on the console. Not impossible just harder. So as a developer I will develop on the platform which is most likely to result in direct sales which is a console. You can yell all you want but if a game company says "we are moving to consoles because of piracy" (like Id) what can you do? You can call them a liar all day, you may be wrong and you may be right but at the end of the day they are still moving to consoles and away from the PC. Perception drives reality and the perception is PC game piracy is stealing millions of revenue from developers.
      • Ahnteis, on 02/16/2008, -1/+2Besides the inaccuracies already pointed out, you're completely skipping over the fact that PC games (of the "Hardcore" variety) cost significantly more to produce. Halflife 2 cost over $40,000,000 to create.
    • clubby, on 02/15/2008, -4/+11"Put your ears in your fingers all you want"

      I would, but I can't get my ass out of my thumb.
      • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/15/2008, -5/+4Just how did you manage to get your ass into your thumb?
        • Azuroth, on 02/15/2008, -1/+4The same way you put your ears in your fingers.
    • rblancarte, on 02/15/2008, -1/+8Pretty much what the article said. From it's last paragraph:

      "So there you have it folks. Cliffy B has spoken. No soft games, less focus on PC games, more hardcore titles. How is this any different than what he was already doing? Sometimes I think he talks just to hear himself. ....Maybe if gaming companies focused on giving us a PC title that was worthy of the time and money spent on it console makers could or would not insult it they way they have been as of late. Especially ones that love to toot their own horn as much as Cliffy B does - it is almost like he has inherited John Romero’s godlike complex . I would suggest that he get his ego in check before it burns him in the tail-end."

      Look, make games, stop talking. It is fun to be a rock star, but if you burn too hot, you burn out fast. Focus on your games, ultimately they are your bottom line. Look at guys like Romero and Broussard, talk and talk and talk. But in the end, their games are what matter, and both have been taken to the mat for their lack of delivery.
      When it comes right down to it, Cliffy is no different, he can pump out his chest now, because he has done great work, but just let it slip and see how this kind of rhetoric goes over. And even worse, watch how your fan base will turn on you. Just focus on making games, it speaks much louder than you ever can.
      • FredFredrickson, on 02/15/2008, -1/+2WHy is it rhetoric? The guy's a good designer, and he's entitled to have opinions about things, and speak about them if he wants. Let's not be jealous of Epic's success...
    • caleb4mj, on 02/15/2008, -3/+5What? No Linux support? ;)
    • Azradesh, on 02/15/2008, -0/+14What puzzles me greatly is if Infinity Ward can tell the games are pirated online, then why the hell are they letting them play? It's actually fairly easy to curb pc game piracy, just tie the games multi-player to a steam/battlenet like service. Yes you can still pirate the game, but if you want to play online have a pirate copy would massively limit, who can play with and how you can play. For example, how many people played Warcraft 3 or Starcraft online with a pirate copy, the answer is very, very few. And it's the same with valve games.
      • OrangeSoda31, on 02/17/2008, -0/+1Lots of people pirated Broodwar, but your point still stands.
    • LMN8R, on 02/15/2008, -0/+19Exactly. Bottom line is this - Valve makes incredible games, hosts an incredibly successful platform for which companies are selling tons of games on. Valve says that PC Gaming is thriving. http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=news& ...

      Epic hasn't made anything for PC worth a damn since 2004. Of their last two games, one of them was a terrible console port, and the other one was a terribly consolized game with tons of features removed from its predecessor. Epic says that PC gaming is in disarray.



      Gee, who should I believe here? The developer who pushes the platform forwards? Or the developer that's stuck in the past? The developer who provides arguably the best PC platform ever created? Or the developer who allows ***** like Games for Windows Live to interfere with their game, *STILL TODAY* causing it to work incorrectly?

      hmm...
    • Stevethegreat, on 02/15/2008, -1/+2Now tell me how is this good or pragmatic from their point of view?

      I mean congratulations Epic by killing PC gaming you kill nVidia and ATI (the ONLY authorities on gaming hardware) and as a result the next gen of console gaming also. Now stick with your beloved IBM to see how well it would compete on graphics cards, NOT .... idiots.
    • Katana314, on 02/15/2008, -4/+2To be fair, Epic is laughing at their player base...but only because their player base is laughing at them. Stop. Pirating. You. *****.
    • Ben1220, on 02/18/2008, -0/+2Exactly, PC gaming just takes so much more commitment, to get the best performance you need to spend more, and there is so much more that can and always does go wrong. I agree PC gaming is better, but all the draw backs mean that it is unable to attract an audience that dont want to spend their whole weekend messing around with drivers and over clocking and spend $500 every six months for the next graphics card/cpu/ram Why do games run fine on consoles that cost less and have worse stats then pcs? This should be addressed, all the technical issues are turning alot of people off pc gaming
    • OJXs, on 02/26/2008, -0/+1The save-game issues on Gears of War for pc are terrible
      and wtf, its been how many months? Still no fix
      how can you complain about your game not selling well, when it only crashes on systems, and you cant even ***** save ur checkpoints!
  • ahatter, on 02/15/2008, -4/+35I wounder if poor sales Gears of War PC had anything to do with it?
    • mungins, on 02/15/2008, -33/+7No it had nothing to do with it, It has to do with illegal downloading. BTW nice way to spell wonder.
      • Comanche, on 02/15/2008, -6/+6What do you think ahatter was saying. Poor sales = tons of freaking piracy. Just like Crysis.
        • MacSuxWindozSux, on 02/15/2008, -1/+8I bought Crysis for PC.
        • Yazilliclick, on 02/15/2008, -0/+9Problem with Crysis is pirating. Problem with crysis is the only reason to own crysis is if you have a kick ass computer to play it with the settings turned up and the majority of people don't. That's what happens when you're releasing a game engine with gameplay tacked on and not gameplay with a good game engine.
        • caleb4mj, on 02/15/2008, -3/+0What is Crysis?
        • OrangeSoda31, on 02/17/2008, -0/+4Crysis sucked. It was a hog, had repetitive game play, and didn't offer anything new. I wonder why it sold poorly?
          • IndigoMoss, on 02/17/2008, -0/+1I thought it was pretty entertaining. It didn't have the best storyline ever, but it was nice being able to go your own way and do it the way you want instead of COD4's move forward in a line approach. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed COD4's SP, but I'll never play it again, where as Crysis is a totally different experience this time.
      • thugok, on 02/15/2008, -0/+6You would be correct, but only technically. I constantly download game torrents but I also constantly buy games. See, I like to know I am not getting another "8.9" rated game that sucks a fat dick before I drop my $50. If the game has merit I buy it, if it sucks I delete the torrent and look elsewhere for my entertainment. This is how pirating is killing PC games. People no longer have to pay $50 to find out that a game sucks. The lack of quality is what is really killing PC gaming, not illegal downloads.
        • hockey, on 02/15/2008, -2/+1you may pay but most don't because if that were the case then piracy wouldn't be a big deal. If the majority of people actually bought the game after they tried it then people wouldn't be complaining about lost sales due to piracy because there would in fact be a sale of the game. The MAJORITY of people are downloading and playing all they want and never buying a thing.
    • vx69, on 02/15/2008, -2/+17Gears really isn't that good with a mouse, running around killing everything with the sniper rifle unscoped made the game feel broken.
      • Matt2k, on 02/15/2008, -3/+4You either played on pansy-assed mode or you're stretching the truth. Without a crosshair that rifle is only good at point blank range unscoped. And if you're that close, you melee. Anyway, you don't really run around without cover in gears.
    • spudnic, on 02/15/2008, -2/+17I bought it and thought it felt clumsy, clunky, and the graphics were frankly a bit ugly.
      The huge install time didn't help either, nor did the god-awful script.

      Wish I hadn't wasted my money.
      • FredFredrickson, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3A bit ugly? Maybe on a ***** rig.
        • spudnic, on 02/17/2008, -0/+4I'm a PC gamer, I have a rig more than capable of playing it... overclocked water cooled intel quad core/8800GTS/2GB ram, 24" monitor etc etc... maybe that's the problem, it looked great on the 360 a year ago, but there were better looking games on the PC even then if you had a good enough PC, never mind a year later.
        • IndigoMoss, on 02/17/2008, -0/+1Yeah it was pretty ugly compared to a lot of games I've seen on the PC. The AA sucked pretty bad too.
    • WaltJay, on 02/15/2008, -1/+5More like poor sales of UT3, though I'm sure GoW PC didn't set the world on fire either. It's hard to justify working on a PC game that ends up selling < 100k its first month when Gears has sold millions.
      • andycr512, on 02/15/2008, -0/+9UT3 is just plain disappointing. It sits on my shelf, and on the odd times I try it, there's nobody online, and the few servers there are lag so badly you can't move without stuttering.
    • exomni, on 02/15/2008, -0/+7Poor sales of UT3, you mean.
    • Yazilliclick, on 02/15/2008, -0/+12Don't see how he could reasonably expect the PC sales to compete with the 360 sales considering it was released on PC a year after the 360. Some of these devs are pretty clueless. 'oh pc gaming is dead, my poor quality dumbed down port from a console with no advertising of it's release to the new medium a year after it was on the market didn't sell as much as the original release. boo hoo".
    • caleb4mj, on 02/15/2008, -1/+2I wonder if my pro-Linux comments had anything to do with it. I see there is still no UT3 Linux client available. Fool me once.
    • FredFredrickson, on 02/15/2008, -1/+1Gears on PC was ported by another company... I don't think they really had much at stake with it. It's still one of the best looking PC games I've ever seen though.
    • illt, on 02/15/2008, -2/+1I think it has to do more with poor sales in general of all their titles.
      UT never really hit it big time compared to the likes of valve/id games on PC
  • Corey2, on 02/15/2008, -5/+66No wonder he thinks pc gaming is in disarray, they released gears as a games for windows game. The games for windows initiative is a giant steaming pile of disarray. Should have gone with steam.
    • mattyice11, on 02/15/2008, -2/+12Microsoft publishes Gears of War...of course it ended up on GFW Live.

      And be sure to differentiate between Games for Windows releases and those that rely on GFW Live for online play. GFW Live is an abonination, but regular GFW is a good thing - just an assurance that the game supports certain features (64 bit, HDTV resolutions, etc).
      • PurpleSfinx, on 02/15/2008, -7/+4Kinda like how buying a game on 360 is an assurance that the game supports certain features, like antialiasing and 720p resolution... oh wait, most games I have (including the console's biggest title, Halo 3... or at least one of its biggest) don't have those, because Microsoft lied to us.
      • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -1/+6How can you differentiate between GFW and Live when Gears makes you log in online to save your single player game?
        • mattyice11, on 02/15/2008, -0/+5Because there are lots of GFW games that don't touch GFW Live - like Crysis, Bioshock, Company of Heroes, etc. Gears is a GFW Live game - hence the difference.
          • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -2/+1Fair enough, though I don't recall any distinction being made on the game box. I never would have bought Gears if I knew I had to log in online to play the single player game (unless it was a Steam game).
          • mattyice11, on 02/15/2008, -1/+4Fortunately, Microsoft is the only publisher really using GFW Live and they aren't major a player in PC game publishing. Steamworks all but assures that GFW Live will die before it ever has the chance to take off.
    • LimeParrot, on 02/15/2008, -19/+2I admit games for windows sucks but steam is just as bad.
      • cigawoot, on 02/15/2008, -0/+20Steam was bad a long time ago, its gotten way better and much more reliable.
      • reconflux, on 02/15/2008, -2/+15Have you been on Steam in the last year? List for me the things wrong with Steam and I will listen.
        • andycr512, on 02/15/2008, -3/+1Darn offline mode still doesn't work right, but it's not that bad anymore overall.
        • OrangeSoda31, on 02/17/2008, -0/+4I have loved steam since I got it (I refuse to buy games not on steam). Offline mode still sucks, but I have cable, what do I care?
      • Scrappy1850, on 02/15/2008, -0/+11uh, steam kicks ass. are you refering to another steam i dont know about?
      • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -0/+10Steam is a million times better than Live (on Windows), and now that Valve has released Steamworks it will be easier for developers to add the benefits of Steam (matchmaking, VOIP, universal buddy lists, etc.) to their games.

        The only people I know who badmouth Steam either have unreliable internet connections or are just uninformed haters. Which are you?
      • IndigoMoss, on 02/17/2008, -0/+2Steam rules, the only time it sucks is when my internet is down. It can be a bitch getting offline mode to work for a quick game of CSS over LAN while you're waiting for the internet connection to start working again.
  • terminalpariah, on 02/15/2008, -26/+13I find it hilarious that they delayed UT3 for 360 to punish Microsoft. "Mods are what players really want! If you won't let us do them, we'll take our business elsewhere!"
    Seriously, did they even break 250,000 copies across BOTH PS3 and PC? Gears is their best-selling game EVER. Gears probably outsold all the Unreal Tournament games put together.
    Don't get me wrong - I love mods. But if you want to SELL your shooter, you put it on the 360. Call of Duty 4 went up against Halo 3 on the 360 and still sold FOUR TIMES as many copies as the PS3 verison. And don't get me started on the moddable, dedicated-server-ing, mouse+keyboard PC version. The superior version in almost all respects and it didn't sell. At all. Infinity Ward has said as much.
    1) Are you making WoW?
    2) Are you making The Sims?
    3) Have you figured out a way to make money off your game being pirated?
    If you answered "no" to these questions, don't port your game to the PC. You're wasting your time and money. Okay, rant over.
    • charlescheese, on 02/15/2008, -5/+17COD4 on PS3 has sold 2.3 million copies, and it's sold 4.6 million on the 360. That's far from 4 to 1. The attach rate is higher for COD4 on PS3 as well, and seeing that the PS3 is not outselling the 360 worldwide every single week this trend will get better for sony.


      If you're going to make silly points, you should at least be right with your facts.
      • kmoed, on 02/15/2008, -12/+6Thats because it's one of the 4 games to choose from that have been released for the Blue ray movie player 3...I mean PS3.
        • TritonX, on 02/15/2008, -6/+3You are wrong it's the F@H machine ;P. I'm starting to believe it was their plan to build a cheap supercomputer by making sony fanboy pay for it.
      • BabyWookie, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1How is not outselling the 360 is going to make it better for Sony, again?
    • WhereAmI, on 02/15/2008, -1/+9So when it does come out on 360 your saying that UT3 360 version will sell like Gears of War?
    • MacSuxWindozSux, on 02/15/2008, -0/+6One of the big things about Unreal games is the online community that makes user generated content. New Characters and levels. And yes even mods.

      You don't have that sort of feature on consoles. XBL is good at delivering new content (for a price), but it's far out classed by what's available for PC Unreal games for free.

      UT3 had almost no advertising going on the time it was released.
      • yohnstoppable, on 02/15/2008, -0/+5No advertising, gimped by removing game modes, and released the same time as Orange Box and COD4
        • MacSuxWindozSux, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3Yeah game modes. I got the impression that they removed a few of them.

          There's only:
          Deathmatch
          Team Deathmatch
          Capture the Flag
          War Zone / Power Core

          Missing:
          "King of the Hill" (defend an area for longest time)
          "Power Ball" (capture a ball and score in enemies goal)
          "Tag" (hold a powerup or flag for the longest time)
          "Last Man Standing" (be the last person alive)

          Racing Game Modes (all those vehicles and no rally style modes: shameful)

          I might have got some of those game mode names wrong but you get the idea.
      • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1You can supposedly install mods on the PS3 version. I'm pretty impressed with that. Good for Sony for actually making use of the console's hard drive.
    • ahac, on 02/15/2008, -3/+1CoD4 (demo) doesn't even run on my PC. It just crashes 2 sec after I run it.. there no info why, it just does.
      So why should I buy it? First they need to make PC games work. Just look at Portal. Great game, runs great even on my old PC... and it sold great!

      Oh.. and Sims can be pirated but they outsell everything else.
      • logicalnoise, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1funny same thing happened on my PC only with the UT3 demo COD4 ran just fine.
    • Matt2k, on 02/15/2008, -4/+11) Are you making WoW?
      2) Are you making The Sims?
      3) Have you figured out a way to make money off your game being pirated?

      Lots of good games came out for the PC last year that weren't #1 or #2. And more would have come out, but the sales aren't there. It's simple business. Companies will focus their attention for the console where they can stand to make a lot more money, and if they do well enough, then worry about porting it to the PC. The main market for games is teens, and teens on the PC like to pirate -- it's a bit tricker with the console.
    • dingleberry, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3" The superior version in almost all respects and it didn't sell. At all." Oh really? There are over 10,000 dedicated servers and lord knows how many players. I can assure you, the PC version of COD4 is going strong. Keep in mind a lot of those servers are for 40+ players and are FILLED. Though in my opinion it is yet another crappy console port to PC. The game browser is dismal and the hit detection reeks of console. Shoot someone in the chest and get a head shot, yea ok.
      • IndigoMoss, on 02/17/2008, -0/+1Thank you. I 'm glad someone agrees with me on that. Two weeks after I bought CoD4 (thinking how awesome it's going to be since CoD2 rocked so hard) I was sadly disappointed. No decent sized maps, ***** server browser, no friends list, crappy stat tracking, and crappy hit detection. I got all the way to Lvl.55 in about 2 weeks and haven't played it since.

        On the other hand, I bought TF2 around the same time as part of the Orange Box, and I've been playing it non-stop. It's clear that Valve took a lot of time to create the PC version of TF2 and that's why it's popular and there's a ton of custom content. CoD4 is clearly a port.
  • charlescheese, on 02/15/2008, -16/+1.
  • Joeshie, on 02/15/2008, -13/+100This is the very definition of a "sellout". You abandon your original fanbase in order to make more money.

    I have absolutely zero problems with Epic wanting to develop for consoles, the more the merrier. But when you turn your back on long time fans and then blame your poor sales for UT3 and GoW on PC gamers, that's pretty pathetic. Noone wanted GoW for windows because we all know Games for Windows LIVE blows massively. UT3 had almost no advertising going on the time it was released.
    • theaceoffire, on 02/15/2008, -5/+15It doesn't help that the Window's base is now split between vista and xp...
      • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -0/+7Doesn't hurt either in this case. Gears works on both OSes.
        • mythicflux, on 02/15/2008, -1/+1But were did Epic spend their time optimizing it? DirectX 10 or DirectX 9? If it runs like crap in DX9 and only a small percentage of people are using Vista with DX10 what are the odds that the sales would be lower?
      • Yazilliclick, on 02/15/2008, -1/+2Or you know, you could just make a game that runs on both. Heck, it's not like it really takes anything different than following the proper windows dev guidelines that have been around since like win 95.
        • OrangeSoda31, on 02/17/2008, -0/+2but, you need to optimize. Crysis runs on both, but they didn't optimize. What do we get? About 2 FPS.
    • SaxxonPike, on 02/15/2008, -7/+18It's selfish to expect them to stay tied to the PC. Look, any business that tells you "we're not in it for the money" is full of *****, it doesn't matter what their name is. If they are expected to have great performance, they've got to be where the mass majority of gamers are.
      It also doesn't help that PC gamers are seen as a renegade group of hardcore junkies that pirate everything and expect to pay for nothing.
      • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -3/+14Epic used to be Epic Megagames which started as a teeny tiny PC shareware company. Epic owes everything to PC gamers. Their motives have changed and now they're just in it for the money, as Gears for PC proves.

        Many other studios are very profitable and publish to PC first and consoles second. Valve, Firaxis, id, Maxis, and Telltale are great examples of this.
        • mattyice11, on 02/15/2008, -8/+4Epic owes nothing to PC gamers (or console gamers). You didn't donate money to them...you paid them for products that they delivered. That's how business works.
          • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -1/+2You're right, that's how business works. If the little people who made you famous are still just little people then you're fully justified to burn your bridges and take your business to a new market. I agree with you that Epic is a business and little more.
          • caleb4mj, on 02/15/2008, -1/+1Especially Linux gamers. I deserve nothing but spite from the new Console Gaming Industry.
          • hockey, on 02/15/2008, -5/+1spyrochaete if you have a pirated copy of anything from Epic then you are the problem. They spent years developing a great title and you in essence took it, enjoyed it and didn't pay them a dime for it. If you did that then they owe you nothing because you in fact betrayed them. Maybe if everyone complaining actually bought the products that they used ALL THE TIME then PC gaming wouldn't be in "disarray". Why should Epic continue to honor thieves?
          • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -1/+4hockey, please indicate where I said I steal Epic's games. And even if I did steal their games it's because I wouldn't have bought them anyway. I even registered Jazz Jackrabbit. Epic owes me thanks if nothing else.
          • hockey, on 02/15/2008, -2/+1spyrochaete I said "if you have". However I think my point is clear. If the people complaining on this list calling Epic "sellouts" have games made by Epic that they didn't pay for. . .well you see where I'm going.
        • OrangeSoda31, on 02/17/2008, -0/+2id is no longer a PC developer - they are doing console first.
    • Comanche, on 02/15/2008, -6/+9Welcome to the business world. Companies are in it to make money not provide free games to the rampent pirates of the PC world. We all pirate, you know that, and don't tell me you havent because its complete BS. They arent selling out. They are finally coming to their senses about where the real game players live and where the money grows.
    • Matt2k, on 02/15/2008, -8/+10> This is the very definition of a "sellout". You abandon your original fanbase in order to make more money.
      > I have absolutely zero problems with Epic wanting to develop for consoles, the more the merrier. But when you turn your back on long time fans

      Oh bull ***** *****. A company that sells a product has "sold out". That even sounds stupid.
      Don't lecture them about turning their back on the fanbase. What about the fanbase that pirated their *****.
      When your friend gets drunk and tries to ***** you in the ass, you don't LET HIM just because he was your friend.
      You punch him in the face. Then spit on him
      • Aharoni, on 02/15/2008, -0/+5Your friends try to ***** you in the ass when they get drunk?
        Man, really, its time to get some new friends....
    • exomni, on 02/15/2008, -1/+2If they had "long time fans" on the PC platform, they wouldn't have been forced to focus on consoles.
      Did you buy UT3? How about GoW PC?
      Well plenty of people bought these for 360 and PS3.
      • yohnstoppable, on 02/15/2008, -0/+7I didn't buy either UT3 or GOW for the pc, because both games were terrible. I did, however, purchase UT and UT2K4. I can't speak for all pc gamers, but they lost my business purely based on their console shift.
      • fourcorners, on 02/16/2008, -0/+2UT3 sales have been dismal on the PS3. My guess is that even the PC sales are higher than PS3 sales. Hard to believe since what has been keeping me away is the 3rd party they went with to manage the PC server back end stuff.. gamespy was it? What a horrible step backwards from the previous games, it's too bad since the game itself while losing a few modes I like is still tons of fun.
      • IndigoMoss, on 02/17/2008, -0/+1It could be that both of those games sucked major ass. You'll see that they sold a ton of copies of UT2K4, which was probably the easiest game to pirate of the time. UT3 isn't doing bad because of piracy, the PS3 isn't selling them worth a ***** either, and I can only see the trend being the same for the 360. It's a ***** game and that's all there is to it.

        Gears of War on the other hand was poorly designed for the PC and used the crappy Games for Windows for online play which is a complete mess. The feature set wasn't that great either. Then you have to factor in the fact that a lot of people already owned the game for the 360 and that PC gamers didn't want to buy a year old game and you have yourself a dud.

        Further proof of my argument is the Orange Box. it was beautifully optimized for the PC with strong support from Valve. No crappy console menus, no ***** Windows Live, and a dev team that listened to the PC fan base. Needless to say, you don't hear Valve saying, "Yeah we are only going to develop for consoles now, because we make made no money on the Orange Box."
      • Meatball01, on 02/18/2008, -0/+1I've bought UT2003, UT2004, UT, and Unreal Gold.
        I bought both UT3 and GoW on the PC. I was very disappointed with UT3. GoW is great though(after I got it to work), the only problem with it is the lack of dedicated servers.
    • KAMiKAZOW, on 02/15/2008, -10/+4The "original fan base" moved to consoles. Epic moves with them.
      • caleb4mj, on 02/15/2008, -3/+0Guess I wasn't an "original fan". Unreal, what's that? Sorry for gaming.
      • jgtg32a, on 02/15/2008, -2/+1lawl
      • Stevethegreat, on 02/15/2008, -0/+4Yeh, I'm sure the fast-paced action junkies moved to the slooooow consoles, that makes perfect sense, NOT. It's only that fast-paced games are dead, UT is half as fast, in general everything changes to accommodate the hardware and peripherals' limitations of consoles. PC gaming used to be for the grown man while consoles were for kids, now everything is for kids. Congratulations Epic and Microsoft you deemed worthless the ONLY innovative genre of gaming.....
      • Lunarbunny, on 02/15/2008, -0/+4I have Unreal Gold, UT99, UT 2004, UT3, and I still game heavily on my computer. *****, I bought an upgrade for it last week. Who told you we moved to consoles?

        Epic can do its diddling around in the console market but I won't be buying the games. Good luck Epic, hopefully id or Valve can keep me satiated.
    • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/15/2008, -4/+2Guess that would technically make Square-Enix, ID, Bungie, and even Sega sellouts by your logic huh?
    • kernel16, on 02/15/2008, -4/+1It has more to do with the fact that most PC games are dlled, only way to get people to buy the CD is if you need some form of account activation to play online, and only if online offers enough to make it worth while. Basically, make better games worth paying for. SC2!!
    • NecroSexy, on 02/15/2008, -4/+1Sellout: a term for the naive.
    • Pikachelsea, on 02/16/2008, -2/+1This just in: The goal of a business is to actually make money. More at 11.
  • dotspot, on 02/15/2008, -18/+49buried, because PC still is a great gaming platform despite all this claims
    • Greyline108, on 02/15/2008, -5/+20The news story was just related what Cliffy said. You don't shoot the messenger just because you don't like the message.
    • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/15/2008, -1/+1It may be a great platform but it has almost none of the genras I like.

      I have more or less only seen FPS, RTS, and MMORPGs get released on the PC lately, with the occational WRPG. (I am talking about full retail games you can pick up at a store, not some small $5 download-only game)

      Of those genras, I only like FPS, and I am getting a little tired of the avalnche of nonstop FPS titles lately.

      Wheres the platformers? Racing games that aren't simulators? JRPGs? Fighters? etc etc?

      The vast majority of the games I like to play lately do not have a PC port, hence why I mostly have been playing console games lately.
  • deathweaver108, on 02/15/2008, -7/+40I can't wait to see Starcraft 2 on the 360... oh wait....
    • yohnstoppable, on 02/15/2008, -1/+7Or Spore... oh wait. Damnit!
      • n4tune8, on 02/15/2008, -8/+0Actually, there is a good chance there will be a version of Spore on consoles...
        • yohnstoppable, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3Only for the wii. it won't come out for the ps3 or 360
    • KAMiKAZOW, on 02/15/2008, -2/+1That's only a controller issue. At least on PS3, which has Bluetooth, there's no problem using a mouse with it. E.g. there could be a special edition of SC2 that bundles a Bluetooth mouse and a mouse pad for those people who don't own a Bluetooth mouse.
    • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/15/2008, -7/+4I can't wait to see the PC version of Final Fantasy 13, Mario Galaxy, Smash Brothers Brawl, Resistance, Motorstorm, Metal Gear Solid 4, Lost Odyssey, Burnout Paradise, Warhawk, Devil May Cry 4, No More Heroes, Zelda: Twilight Princess.... oh wait....

      See? I can do that too.
      • ortucis, on 02/15/2008, -5/+4Well, PC Gamers aren't into games for retards actually. Microsoft tried to make us pay.. err.. play using Games for Windows, but we just don't give a *****. See what I didn't do anything at all over there?
  • nytejade, on 02/15/2008, -3/+80PC Gaming wouldn't be in disarray if the pioneers of modern PC gaming (see: Epic w/ Unreal Tournament 99) would actually release complete products that weren't riddled with disgusting bugs that literally make the game unplayable (SEE: Epic w/ Unreal Tournament 3).

    I'm 25 years old. I've been playing games since I was 3. I've been using computers since I was in 8th grade. I'm a Computer Science major and I do research as an undergraduate. With all the knowledge and patience I've acquired over the years I still find it quite frustrating and nearly impossible to deal with all the bugs Epic hasn't addressed in UT3 (note, it's been out since NOVEMBER).

    Bugs since the demo that haven't been addressed:
    Random crashing (happens on MOST systems)
    Mouse sensitivity resetting every time a map is loaded
    Client side demo recording

    The list goes ON AND ON.

    So before Mr. CliffyB decides to ***** on PC Gaming, he better take a look at his own company and realize who's causing these problems. World Of Warcraft has like 10^6 subscribers, which proves people are still interested in playing PC games. However, I don't think people are interested in upgrading their PC's every 6 months if they're just going to get ***** incomplete games that never have their bugs addressed.
    • Comanche, on 02/15/2008, -11/+410 Million subs of WoW does not prove anything. Its an amazing game that you can only play by PAYING to play. If wow was free, it would be a completly different story, just like any other pc game that is pirated. No money = no sequals/expantions/content = loss of interest = less subs.

      Most of the "gamers" in my guild are console gamers that also play WoW.
    • MacSuxWindozSux, on 02/15/2008, -0/+9I purchased and play UT3 on PC. I like the game.
      The first thing I noticed is that there's only about 10 or so servers with more than 4 people playing on them.

      I noticed that there are random crashes, they happen perhaps once every 4 or so hours, they're uncommon. I didn't notice any problems with mouse sensitivity.

      The game doesn't seem as polished as the previous titles. The menus in single player and multiplayer are kind of spartan.
      The graphics seem very well done, once you get into a match.

      Oh yeah and I'm also 25 yrs old, I started using computers in 8th grade, and I'm also a Computer Science major. Eerie Stuff.
      • SteeleJK, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2Me too, it was weird reading that paragraph.
    • bulgingbritches, on 02/15/2008, -5/+2The only flaw in your thesis is that you have to buy the game first to find out about all the bugs. Epic's complaint is that pc sales aren't there like consoles.
      • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -3/+9I agree with you 100% there. PC gamers are blessed with the ability to pirate games to try before buying. I've always tried or even finished games before buying them (usually waiting until they come down in price). I recently bought Hellgate London Collectors Edition on opening day because I had such great faith in the former Diablo 2 team, but that game is a steaming pile of ***** and their tech support is less than worthless. Thanks to Hellgate London I will never buy a game again without pirating it first.

        As for console games, I've wasted so much money on ***** Wii and DS and PS2 games that I don't buy them until I've read extensive reviews, and even then I still dislike critically acclaimed games.

        Long story short, if the software industry lowered prices and allowed for refunds 50% of piracy would disappear on the spot. People are just sick and tired of being tricked into buying ***** games that can't be returned. It's a crooked industry.
        • exomni, on 02/15/2008, -9/+4lol. You'd still pirate even with cheaper prices. You were pirating when PC games were $20 and you'll still pirate when they're $60.
          • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -1/+7Here's a screenshot of my purchases from the Steam store alone.
            http://www.demodulated.com/crap/steam.PNG

            This is nothing compared to my collection of game boxes and jewel cases. $30 is the magic number for me. I have bought thousands of dollars of PC games in my lifetime.

            exomni, go ***** yourself. You don't know me, and if you did I'd avoid you.
        • Yazilliclick, on 02/15/2008, -1/+3Agreed. I've been burned many times before myself by horrible bug ridden pieces of crap.

          The first time I started downloading stuff from the net was for demos. I'd download real demos and try them back on ye old modem taking days to get something. Eventually I moved on to full copies and it was partly to test/partly because at that age I didn't have the money to get the stuff anyways so big deal, they weren't missing out on any sales. Because back then it was $81 after tax for a game, pretty hard to afford at age 14-16. Then I kept downloading, mostly to experience more stuff and what I liked I'd buy when I had money. Then the games industry started taking a big turn to releasing really buggy software with many problems and multiple patches. Now I still buy games, but it's only because it's really not a big amount of money to me so it's not a huge loss when I get a piece of crap. If I was still under 20 years old with a crap job then you could forget about getting sales from me, the only thing catering to the customer these days is the advertising not the product itself. As it is I try to test and then 'reward' the companies I see doing new stuff or making quality product by buying what they make. The others can go ***** themselves because they've ruined the industry all on their own.
      • TheUngod, on 02/15/2008, -2/+2Ever hear of a demo?
        • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -0/+6Demos demonstrate very little. They are often given an extra layer of polish to obscure bugs, they usually depict the most exciting level of a game, and they don't give an idea of the longevity or replayability or pacing of the game as a whole. Plus, since demos often show levels from the middle of the game they spoil the story. I avoid demos like the plague.
    • Brettus, on 02/15/2008, -9/+2Is it me or was nytejade's comment really annoying? .... like, super annoying....
      (Puts on Monacle) You know Jeffrey, I am a Computer Science Major. I do research as an undergraduate. I was in the local lo-bore-a-tory the other day and I was doing some research, you know, reading EGM and *****.com and I read an interesting article....blah...blah....bleh.....
      • yohnstoppable, on 02/15/2008, -1/+5What he said was relevant to the discussion. If you've ever worked as a software engineer, you know how difficult it is to release a product that is polished and for the most part bug free. So you would generally have more patience than the normal person when dealing with buggy games
    • Yazilliclick, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3You're right. PC development has partly suffered from developer laziness. For example there have been basic guidelines for how to create windows software (where settings should be saved and things like that) that developers just never bothered adopting. Now that vista is out software is breaking because they didn't follow guidelines that have been out since like windows 95 days. On consoles they've much more forced to code properly as it's a very closed system that doesn't make allowances for things like this and so there were less bugs very naturaly. Of course now consoles are getting more complex and allowing developers to go off the path a bit and fix bugs later so now we've got console games with bugs.
    • milkmage, on 02/15/2008, -3/+1what does your educational background have to do with your tolerance for bugs? i'm 37, have no comp sci background, have been playing games since 5th grade and I'll still get frustrated with bugs in games... what's your point? - and 10M WoW subscribers who PAY to keep playing doesn't mean PC titles are still popular, it means WoW is still popular.
    • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/15/2008, -0/+7Id say the reason its in disarray is due to the lack of different genras recently.

      When was the last time you walked into a Frys/BestBuy/Microcenter/Whatever and saw a retail PC game on the shelf that WASNT a FPS, RTS, MMORPG, or collection of miniscule casual popcap-like games?

      Meanwhile, if I walk across a PS2, PS3, Xbox360, or Wii shelf of games I can more or less find a game of every possible genra out there.

      You can only shoot things in first person so many times before you start to crave variety.

      When was the last time the PC got something original or creative/artistic like Okami, Viewtiful Joe, No More Heroes, Killer 7, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, Katamari Damacy, etc that was an actual retail game you can physically pick up at a shelf instead of some obscure download-only game at a budget price that few heard about?
      • Stevethegreat, on 02/15/2008, -2/+3Exactly, you proved my point. PC died and western gaming innovation died too. Excuse my artistic taste, but I never liked most of Japanese games' feel, maybe it's me but they seem so foreign to my idiosyncrasy, I would play from time to time one or two just to have a taste of something exotic but you just can't eat chinese every day. I LOVED games like Half-Life, Starcraft, Planescape Torment, Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Max Payne, UT (the original) and where are those now, all dead. Keep your innovative games to yourself they're not my taste, plus I'm sick and tired of playing a 16yo screwing 12y olds.

        Play some Portal to see what Western gaming is still capable of before deeming it dead, I can't judge your aesthetic impression but in the process I will never accept it as mine. Ico is a great game but for me it has nothing of Half-Life's ingeniouty. Final Fantasy XII also has great story but it pales in comparison with the maturity of Fallout or even -the recent- Witcher. My case is rest.
    • T1mVV, on 02/16/2008, -0/+1PC is still home to the two best developers. Valve and Blizzard.
  • markbrown, on 02/15/2008, -15/+8It's not that PC gaming is in "disarray," it's more like, more people are learning how to pirate.

    Plus, have you even tried to have a decent game with the Counter-Strike community nowadays? It's like logging into a pre-pubescent AOL chat room.
    • nytejade, on 02/15/2008, -2/+7Yeah, but so is XBOX Live and people are still subscribing in record numbers.
      • markbrown, on 02/15/2008, -2/+5I'm more content with my 360 and Live than 13 year olds, hackers, and ***** servers.
      • tacroy, on 02/15/2008, -3/+3Actually xbox live (even halo3) has been really pleasant lately. Very few of the traditional immature cussing people. I don't know why the shift, but maybe since there is not an active live modding community to create the cheaters and frustrate the legits?
    • olbap, on 02/15/2008, -4/+5Yay! Another moron who thinks piracy is the cause of this. HAHAHAHAHA!
      • NinjaBoy, on 02/15/2008, -4/+10I haven't bought a game in over two years. I steal 100% of em....so do ALL of my friends i think it does have some impact
      • markbrown, on 02/15/2008, -1/+6Actually, piracy is the cause of this. If people can download a game for free, why the hell would they pay for it? ***** noob, take some economics/common sense classes.
        • dingleberry, on 02/15/2008, -3/+1You can't play pirated games online. So if the game is only single player, then yes piracy is a big problem (Bioshock anyone?). I played COD4 single player through to the end before bought it for multiplayer. I don't want to buy a game that sucks and how can you tell if a game sucks without playing more than 1 level?
        • dungbeetle, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1I certainly know how to pirate and I don't. I just don't buy games that install intrusive copy protections, or if they are awful. So in reality I've only bought maybe two games in the last year that were worth it. Look at Bioshock. That securom garbage and the activation servers. PC gaming is going down because companies don't sell games anymore. They rent them. Not to mention 98% of them are ports or just suck overall.
  • Comanche, on 02/15/2008, -28/+9Finally. A developer that has seen the results of piracy in full effect. EA is about to see it with Mass Effect. When you make millions of dollars with millions of sales on consoles.....and then make ***** sales on the PC...what do you think would happen. PC fanboys, you guys need to realize that consoles are the "cool" thing to have. Not an overclocked, water cooled word processor/internet surfing/porn/MMO machine. As a former PC only fanboy, even I could see where this industry was heading to.
    • Soulhuntre, on 02/15/2008, -8/+10Here on Slashdot there is a belief that companies are supposed to spend millions of dollars to supply new content for pirates to steal! Its almost their duty to get ripped off.
      How dare they expect to get paid for their work!
      • spinaltap87, on 02/15/2008, -2/+9This is digg not slashdot. Stupid.
      • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2"Here on Slashdot"

        WARNING!

        WARNING!

        ***** approaching!
    • ahac, on 02/15/2008, -6/+3Mass Effect on PC won't sell because:
      1) single player rpg are out.
      2) it will be an old game when it comes out
      • olbap, on 02/15/2008, -0/+9Then please explain Elder Scrolls and The Witcher?
      • Matt2k, on 02/15/2008, -0/+10Multiplayer RPGs are not *really* RPGs. We want a story, narrative, and character development.
      • whyufail, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2You're half right. Nobody buys year old ports. However, single player RPGs are FAR from out. Personally, I'll keep my story and narrative thank you.
    • olbap, on 02/15/2008, -3/+9You are an idiot for blaming this on piracy.
      • hockey, on 02/15/2008, -1/+2Answer me 2 questions.
        1. Do you own the game?
        2. Did you pay for it?
        If you and everyone else digging you up and the piracy blamers down says yes to those 2 questions I won't blame piracy either.
    • FSHero, on 02/15/2008, -3/+0I agree with you. I had a feeling that games (at least FPSs) would shift from PCs to consoles, but not for the piracy reason. (I don't know the extent of piracy of games, but I do personally know someone who does this (whom I discourage, to no avail)).

      My gripe with PC gaming is that you need to spend at least GBP £1000 on a PC that can run a game with highest-quality graphics, whereas one needs to spend only a fraction of the price on a console which has comparable graphics.

      Furthermore, I would need only one console to play co-op or a small multiplayer, whereas, I would need a lot of PCs + monitors... and a whole lot of space.

      Consoles have a number of things going for them now: I can play multiplayer games over the internet now. (PCs previously could claim 'monopoly ' on this.) I know my game _will_ work on a console, I wouldn't have to play around with settings close "background programs" or do extensive troubleshooting like I would on a (Windows) PC. Finally, I don't have to shell out on a £1500 rig every 2 years to have the highest quality settings. (Part of the faults I feel lies with the game-makers: I mean, AFAIK, consoles don't have the spec of a fully-specced PC, so how come they can have pretty graphics and sound?)

      I used to be a PC 'fanboy', citing that you have a mouse and keyboard for FPS (better precision), strategies and RPGs. But that's about the only plus on a PC now. [Space-flight sims are dead nowadays... :( ]

      P.S. Nearly all games run on the crappy proprietary-software Windows. Game-makers should make some for Linux!!
    • whyufail, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3You went the "PCs cost more" route, which is wrought with fail and ignorance.
      • Comanche, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1Where did I say PCs cost more moron. I have a machine that ran run crysis just fine. What about you?
  • kmoed, on 02/15/2008, -1/+23There is no big loss here. Unreal & Unreal Tournament were great games for their time. Unreal2 was complete garbage and the rest of the tournament series sequels are pretty much rehashes of themselves. I'm sure there engines will still be used in many a PC game.
    But really, what would PC gamers be missing out on. UT2010? Who cares.
  • sol3535, on 02/15/2008, -5/+70Epic can go. Valve FTW.
    • TheUngod, on 02/15/2008, -0/+5And as long as Bethesda keeps coming out with PC games, I'll be a happy PC gamer
  • souljaboytellem, on 02/15/2008, -12/+3Is this really a suprise? I mean there are some great PC games like almost all the MMORPGS but with consoles being online now and all the pirating on PC, it's really no wonder why console gaming is becoming the main focus
    • olbap, on 02/15/2008, -2/+3Piracy is a cheap ass excuse. To use it as the reason why the PC industry is the way it is means you know nothing about the industry.
  • welk, on 02/15/2008, -1/+29People have been writing off PC gaming for at least 20 years. I don't think it will die any time soon - indeed it has really been helped by online gaming, which makes it easier for the gaming industry to ensure people are using legal copies of games.
    • hexydes, on 02/15/2008, -1/+8When games first appeared on computers, people said that they were too complicated to use, no one would play them. But they did.

      When the NES came out, people said it would drive people away from the computer, because it was so much easier. Then computer games started using multimedia content, and blew the NES away.

      When the SNES came out, people said no one would play computer games anymore because finally the graphics were looking so much better. Then 3D games started coming out for the computer.

      When the Playstation came out, people said no one would play computer games anymore because you could play the same games on the Playstation. Then 3D hardware accelerators came out for the PC and blew the Playstation away.

      The point here is two-fold:

      1. The console has always been about convenience, ease-of-use. The PC has been about driving technology. Both platforms offer great games, but have different driving forces.

      2. Convergence. Now that video games are a legitimate big business (which only becomes more true every year), consoles are becoming more and more powerful. At this point, you can basically use them exactly like a computer for just about any entertainment purpose. Consoles are being designed with portability in mind, because third-party developers like having options. I don't think that we'll ever see PC gaming "go away", I think we're just seeing that the line between a "PC" and a "console" is quickly blurring to the point where, at least for gaming and other entertainment purposes, you really can't differentiate major differences anymore. Case in point: I build a HTPC. It runs Vista. It is attached to my 42" LCD TV. I have a rule that I don't install any productivity software on it. It only has my games, movies, music, TV shows, and a web browser on it. For all intents and purposes, how is this any different from a console?
      • caleb4mj, on 02/15/2008, -0/+0And here the whole time I've been playing my games on NES, SNES, C64, i486 win3.11, 6x86 win98se, N64, Athlon win98se, PS2, Athlon XP win2000, Athlon X2 Linux, Wii, Phenom Linux.

        Am I supposed to stick to one gaming platform? If so, will the new Console Gaming Industry standardize on one and let me know what I should buy? Or are they all the same?
    • Cyber_Akuma, on 02/15/2008, -1/+5When games first appeared on computers... actually, even since about 10 years ago just about every genra imaginable was on the PC.

      Now about 99% of PC games are FPS, RTS, and MMORPGS. They arent doing much to draw in fans of any other genra. JRPGs, Racing games (that arent simulations of Nascar or something else similar), action games, platformers, fighters. You only find these either in a collection of old games (like GameTap) or as some $5 download-only game. You will almost never see such games on retail shelves anymore for the PC.
      • Lunarbunny, on 02/15/2008, -1/+2Dude, before you make another post about this it's GENRE, with an E on the end.
  • dafragsta, on 02/15/2008, -10/+9***** it. Give me my mouse, keyboard, and user created DLC for free and I'll happily say goodbye to years of hardware compatibility and configuration hassles. Not to mention the more expensive upgrade cycles.
    • LXicon, on 02/15/2008, -5/+2you just asked for a PS3 :)
    • whyufail, on 02/15/2008, -4/+2Protip: There is no expensive upgrade cycle. Way to buy into an ignorant myth.
  • zeebo, on 02/15/2008, -2/+10This is no surprise to me. Epic's primary source of income has been other game developers licensing the engine for use in console games for a long time now. Its no surprise that they would make their primary target those same consoles.

    The split between Vista and XP, along with the horrendous DRM typically attached to PC games these days are killing the PC gaming industry. As is the exodus of longtime PC gamers to MacOS or Linux with consoles to do the gaming.
  • Recluse84, on 02/15/2008, -3/+24This is just a stab in the dark here, but could this also be that MOST PC gamers own a console or two also. If they release a game on a console first and sell 4.5 million copies, that 4.5 million people who most likely own PCs that wont be buying the PC version. I dont know the numbers, but I'd bet my highly valuable asshair that Half-Life 2 sold like ***** on the Xbox compared to PC. Same with most other games that were PC-exclusives to begin with.

    Then theres the whole porting = a ***** ton of bugs, thing.
    • kmoed, on 02/15/2008, -0/+11Steam recently celebrated having 15 million users. Who's left to buy the orange box on consoles.
      • Aiwanei, on 02/15/2008, -3/+3Well if you assume all 15 million of those people bought orange box (likely the vast majority did, but not everyone) and then you subtract them from the xbox360 and ps3 user base and you still have 6 million users (that is under the assumption that 1/4 the 360 owners also own a ps3) the ps3 and 360 together have around 27 million consoles in the wild. So basically they could have doubled their user base with the consoles.
      • mattyice11, on 02/15/2008, -0/+6The 360 version has actually done pretty well...north of 700k, I believe.
      • hollismb, on 02/15/2008, -0/+5And probably would've done a lot better had they not put it out within a few weeks of Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4.
      • kmoed, on 02/15/2008, -0/+4Just stating that Steam has 15 million users. I do belive that is still more than Xbox live. PC gaming dead, Think not.
  • Cerialthriller, on 02/15/2008, -14/+9I used to be almost exclusively into PC gaming, but the quality of the games and the fact that a lot of the games are ported from the xbox360 or PS3 much later down the line has made me pickup a 360. Once you get the hang of a FPS on a controller, its much more relaxing sitting in a recliner with a big tv then hunched over your 21" monitor
    • Scrappy1850, on 02/15/2008, -7/+6my computer plugs into my big screen tv. my xbox 360 controller works flawlessley with bioshock and crysis and my logitech controller was easily adapted to play HL2. PCs get some games first, just not the ones you see commercials for during wrestling.
    • mGARANDEUR1, on 02/15/2008, -4/+2PC gaming is far more expensive than console gaming. For about $500, you could have a ps3 and be playing awesome games. For high end PC games, people buy 8800s which alone cost $400. I know a lot of people like consoles because PC gaming has become very expensive.
      • Memitim, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3And that's a personal choice that you can make when you have a PC. Top of the line equipment is not a requirement for entry, although it sure is nice having the option. There hasn't been a game released yet that I can't play because my two year old Geforce 6800GT that I picked up for about $150 can't handle it. I can still run at higher resolutions than the current generations of consoles can handle in most games as well. Yes, the options exist for me to blow truckloads of cash on psychotically powerful upgrades for my PC. I'm thankful that those options exist as options are always a good thing and help to drive down the price of lesser, yet still quite powerful hardware.

        I knew a few people who dropped the $500 on an Xbox 360 Elite, a couple whom already had Xbox 360s. For what? An HDMI connection and a (from the Microsoft promotional material) "massive" 120GB drive? Wow. At least they finally had some kind of options, even if it was for about $50 worth of PC capabilities.
      • ufee, on 02/18/2008, -0/+1You know, an 8600gt is more than adequate for most games.
  • Cirrius, on 02/15/2008, -15/+7Are people still wearing blinders and trying to say piracy is not killing pc games? If it's not subscription based, it is most liekly going to be moving towards console. Consoles are as easy to develop for as pc now, and the pay share that goes to Sony/ MS/Nintendo is far less than lost sales to piracy. Game companies are a business, and they have to pay their employees. Seeing a million copies sold on the street illegally (the larger source of piracy) and downloaded (the small percentage) pays their employees dedication and love of the craft absolutely nothing.
    • exomni, on 02/15/2008, -5/+3Prepare to be dugg down. Ignorant douche's don't like confronting the truth.
      • whyufail, on 02/15/2008, -1/+3No, we just don't care to listen to ignorant fantrolls
  • Po0py, on 02/15/2008, -1/+32PC gaming is in disarray because companies like Microsoft and Epic Games have allowed it to get to this state. You have epic releasing half assed ports of games like Gears of War and then you have microsofts Games For Windows Live crapware bogging it down, depriving simple things that PC gamers have come to expect. E.g: dedicated servers. Team Fortress 2 is a success for a very good reason. Valve understood all along what gamers wanted as well as what they did not want and the created a game to fit those specifications. Microsft understood all along what it wanted and made sure they had enough of a monopolisation on it's ip's to make sure they conformed to those specifications. And shame on Epic Games, a once great company, for completely ignoring their fan and signing any old contract that microsft threw at them.
  • wankelrotary, on 02/15/2008, -4/+37Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, pal.
    • exomni, on 02/15/2008, -8/+4Epic has done more for PC gaming, and video gaming in general, than almost any company. So suck on my big hairy scrotum.
      • frsrblch, on 02/15/2008, -2/+5Losing Epic years ago would have been tragic, this is just "good riddance."
    • piper999, on 02/15/2008, -3/+3Crybaby. With people like you as their target market its no wonder game companies are kissing you goodbye.
      • Memitim, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2Crybaby? "I do not think it means what you think it means."
  • heresy_fnord, on 02/15/2008, -2/+26I would agree with the comments over "Games for Windows". I specifically did not buy Gears of War, because when I read that is uses Windows Live service for online gaming that killed if for me. Console gamers are stupid. I'll take my countless PC games with free online multiplayer any day over paying $50-60 a year for some stupid ***** matchmaking service.
    • DavidGX, on 02/15/2008, -10/+2You don't HAVE to pay any money for Live for windows you moron.
      • heresy_fnord, on 02/15/2008, -1/+7You don't if you want the light, useless silver service, MORON. You do if you want standard things that PC gamers get for free. My point is consoles and the gamers that play them seem to think there is some better ground to be had in a world where the hardware is stagnant, and the online gaming (that's worth a damn at least) isn't free.

        I speak from experience, I used to have an Xbox and Xbox live and I woke up one day and realized that paying for online gaming just to have matchmaking is dumb.
        • DavidGX, on 02/16/2008, -2/+1"You don't if you want the light, useless silver service,"

          Exactly, you don't HAVE to pay. I accept your apology.
      • whyufail, on 02/15/2008, -1/+3Yeah, it's free, if you want to pay for halfassed neutered service. Protip: Nearly every "games for windows" title that forced Live down PC gamers throats has done horribly. gee, I wonder why...
    • NinjaBoy, on 02/15/2008, -8/+3I ***** LOVE that matchmaking service...
    • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -2/+2You can actually sign up to Live for free to play these games, but there's no Live client that lets you chat or join games with friends unless you already have that game loaded. Live for Windows would have been innovative about 10 years ago but today there are countless free alternatives with infinitely more functionality.

      That's not to say that Live is bad on Xbox. I haven't used it much but it's light years better than any other console's online community. It's perfect for Xbox but pathetic on PC. Microsoft totally dropped the ball and Valve worked hard to scoop it up.
  • reconflux, on 02/15/2008, -2/+20Epic thought they had it in the bad by releasing this watered down version of UT. The PC market isn't in "disarray". Look at the Orange Box! It's selling well and people are playing the crap out of TF2. TF2 delivers something new and refreshing and this is something that UT3 does not. Not only is the balance of vehicles out of wack, they REMOVE the best part of UT2004... Assault. If you want to sell in the PC market, you are going to have to bring something new the table.... Nothing something rehashed.
    • Aiwanei, on 02/15/2008, -0/+9Another game to look at for thriving on the console is Sins of A Solar Empire which was just released. An amazing little 4X RTS that has been getting rave reviews all over (the only negatives have been the lack of a single player campaign, but once you start playing you can easily forgive that.) RTS games and MMO's will still thrive on the PC even after more and more of the FPS crowd goes to Consoles.
  • maxlightz, on 02/15/2008, -10/+3Consoles are spectacular because there is no lag or performance issues. Each one is identical so each user has the same experience. PC users all complain about the controls (and i prefer PC control setups as well).

    My Question is: Why the hell hasn't any 3rd party developer stepped in and created a keyboard and mouse control that interfaces with the console for actual gameplay control?!?!?!
    • Comanche, on 02/15/2008, -2/+4UT3 is one of the first true mouse and keyboard games for consoles. PS3 version anyways.
    • kmoed, on 02/15/2008, -0/+5You get plenty of lag on online play with consoles.
      There is some sort of third party interface for plugging in any USB keyboard & Mouse for the PS3. Try Google.
    • PurpleSfinx, on 02/15/2008, -2/+3They have, they just weren't that popular. Google around and you'll find them easily enough. Also, I have no idea how well they worked. Alot of console games have things like autoaim anyway, which is just ***** on a mouse (I'd assume).
    • olbap, on 02/15/2008, -3/+3They exist. But most console gamers won't use a mouse/keyboard combination because they are afraid their jock friends will call them a nerd.
    • hexydes, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2I had a mouse and a keyboard for my Dreamcast, and that was almost 8 years ago...
    • mrelusive, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3Obviously someone here hasn't experienced Xbox LIVE, which has been running like ***** since EARLY DECEMBER.
      Yeah, consoles FTW?
      For the record, I do have a 360 and used to play CoD 4 regularly. Ever since Christmas, not so much (and not for a lack of trying to).
  • SketchaMPM, on 02/15/2008, -3/+5How about Jazz Jackrabbit 3?

    Or even adding Jazz Jackrabbit 2 to X-Box Live and PS3? That would be brilliant, the online muliplayer is too perfect.
    • FSHero, on 02/15/2008, -1/+2Yeah!!

      Man, I thought _I_ was the only one who played (and loved) JJ2!
    • NeuralClone, on 02/16/2008, -1/+1No doubt he'd consider that game to be too "soft." Apparently for a game to be good it has to be full of marines, guns, and blood and guts flying everywhere. What the industry needs is more games like Portal and fewer marines with guns games. Whatever happened to creativity with shooters? I'd love to see No One Lives Forever 3. It'd be great if a company had the guts to try to revive the adventure game and side-scroller genres too.
  • stmyers, on 02/15/2008, -1/+19If you keep making basically the same game with just updated graphics (UT series), then it's no wonder people stop buying your games. If you port a highly successful console 3rd person shooter to PC a year later (GoW), PC gamers are going to pirate it because they already played it on 360, and don't want to shell out the $50 to play a game they already beat.

    Console gamers are simple - they will pay for the same game w/ updated graphics.
    PC Gamers generally yearn for more...innovations in game play, ability to mod, online community, etc.
    I think this is the definition of Epic Fail.
    • FecalHurler, on 02/15/2008, -10/+3Ohh the PC gamer fanboyism. Console gamers are simple? Maybe I don't want to spend 500 dollars just to play a game like Crysis, only to find out that it was nice from afar, but far from nice. I can respect people when they say they need a keyboard and mouse to play a shooter. But really, how much different are these games on consoles and PCs? The differences are shrinking, and owning a console version brings none of the possible headaches the PC version does. Personally, I like a controller better. Does this make me simple?
      • stmyers, on 02/15/2008, -0/+7Some of the greatest, most popular and financially successful PC games started as mods made by small teams of amatures (Team Fortress series, Counter-Strike etc...). That simply isn't an option for consoles.

        And the who reason why Crysis sucks is because it reminds me of a console game - simple, boring, and brings nothing new to the table except fancy graphics.

        As for fanboyism...I own 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, and DS Lite. I play them all, when I want a simple, relaxing single player experience. I say console gamers are simple from my own experience as a both a simple console and "advanced" PC gamer.
      • yohnstoppable, on 02/15/2008, -0/+8I think the success of the Madden series proves console gamers are in fact simple. They basically update the roster every year and people eat it up.
      • Biznarie, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1Chill out, hes not saying your simple, hes saying the games are simple as compared to pc games and they are. Its all about taste, some really simple games i love, like jet-man on facebook (LOL) being simple is what makes games good sometimes.
  • vidalsasoon, on 02/15/2008, -3/+3Not looking forward to a single PC title except Star Craft 2.
    This means I won't have to spend another penny on hardware for another 2 years+ since Blizzard knows very few people give a ***** about 600$ video cards.
    • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -1/+4Spore? Sacred 2? The continuing Sam and Max series? Conan and Warhammer Online? Postal 3? If you're not looking forward to PC titles this year you're not looking at all.
    • Krodis, on 02/15/2008, -1/+0Out of those, only Spore interests me, so...
      • spyrochaete, on 02/15/2008, -0/+3... so I'll phone up those other developers and tell them to cancel their projects for you.
  • MrP420, on 02/15/2008, -1/+18I am tired of hearing Epic blame their epic failure, UT3, on PC gaming being in decline. PC gaming isn't in decline and consoles have always had more sales than PC because a tranquelized howler monkey can operate a console. Children wana play on consoles more than on PC. It has always been this way. Nothing new here. Console always has been an attractive gaming option that appeals to a large crowd. While, PC has always been the more hastle for more power and versatility option. Nothing new here.

    Epic is doing nothing more than living in denial about the fact they totally dropped the ball on UT3, their flagship game, and honestly I don't think I'll ever purchase another game from them. I bought UT3 and invested in servers and what do ya know the game shipped without there being servers for Linux. Wow. That is interesting seeing as how Linux really is the best way to run FPS servers. Now, here we are, months later ... still no Linux servers, and guess what else?!?! Noone is playing the game. Interesting.
    • hexydes, on 02/15/2008, -0/+8Uhm, yeah, and what about the UT3 Linux client? It was supposed to ship on the disc, that didn't happen. Then it was supposed to be released "soon", but here we are going on five months later, no client...

      I was all set to buy UT3 the day it came out, but I waited since it was missing a Linux client. I never bought it because the Linux client was never released, and now that I read the venom they are spewing about PC gaming, I'm glad I didn't. Guess what Epic: Not only will you not make any money off of me for your console version (I don't have one) or your PC version (you lied about the Linux client), but because you didn't release a Linux client, and what you have said about PC gaming, I'll no longer buy ANY game from you in the future.
    • frsrblch, on 02/15/2008, -1/+5They shipped without Linux servers? Holy *****, you'd think they've never made a PC shooter before.
  • kraln, on 02/15/2008, -6/+16Everyone is going on about piracy, but I think what they mean about the PC arena being in disarray is the whole Vista/DX10 micro$oft fiasco. You'll notice iD software has no problems on the PC...

    Go with OpenGL... it's good for the soul.
    • olbap, on 02/15/2008, -0/+8Neither is Valve having a problem either. Piracy is not killing the PC gaming industry. If this were true, the industry would have died ten years ago.
      • hockey, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't steam help to cut down on piracy levels?
        • Biznarie, on 02/15/2008, -0/+1No, you can still download any valve singleplayer game. Just not online, but that rule goes for pretty much every PC game.
    • hockey, on 02/15/2008, -0/+2Didn't Id say a few years back that they were going to focus on consoles because of piracy? I believe Digg's response was "I pirated Doom 3 because it sucked and Id made a crappy game"
  • ahac, on 02/15/2008, -1/+9Consoles have always followed the PC. There are MMOs being developed for consoles. there are Sims for the Wii....
    Does Cliffy really think boring linear shooters will still be the best selling games on the consoles in a couple of years?
  • o0joshua0o, on 02/15/2008, -5/+3For Epic, console games make more money than PC games. Therefore, investing capital into creation of console games is wiser than investing capital into making PC games. It's a very easy, logical decision.
  • spinaltap87, on 02/15/2008, -1/+16UT3 suuuuuuuuuuuuucked compared to Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3.
    • olbap, on 02/15/2008, -0/+8Not to mention TF2 and Bioshock and Crysis. All best sellers on the PC. Proof that pi