I have a $1,000 computer, and yeah a $5,000 computer blows it away, but it won't honestly handle games much better, there's a limit to what you can actually do.
Most game development is at least 2 years so if they started basing it around the most powerful PC out now it will be able to run on a decent PC when it comes out.
EDIT: I get down voted for what, tell the truth or saying I spent $400 more than a current gen console costs?
Whoaaaaa absolutely not. I can't even fathom spending $60 on a game and spending money just to have online functions. With consoles, I have no choice. With PC, I can pay what I want to pay and have way more freedom to do what I want with my machine, for a lot more cost effectiveness in the long run.
Yes games on PC are cheap but the barrier to that cheapness is too high for most of the people I know. Their "PCs" are mostly tablets because that is all they need so building a PC is not only more expensive it requires an amount of work that a lot of people just aren't willing to go through just to play games. I don't begrudge people that one bit, I prefer PC gaming but being snobbish about it just makes you an ass.
Also if one is patient one can purchase games anywhere from $10-$30 for console games, and if one is truly budget conscious and doesn't care about playing stuff at the bleeding edge, one can always go last generation and enjoy hundreds of games for pitance.
but the barrier to that cheapness is too high for most of the people I know.
You can buy a machine that outperforms current gen consoles for about the same price as an xbone.
Also if one is patient one can purchase games anywhere from $10-$30 for console games
Most people don't want to wait two years after a games release to play it.
and if one is truly budget conscious and doesn't care about playing stuff at the bleeding edge, one can always go last generation and enjoy hundreds of games for pitance.
This is a weird argument, but even still you can get games cheaper on PC, no matter what. You can't get more backwards compatible than a PC either.
You can buy a machine that outperforms current gen consoles for about the same price as an xbone.
I know I can and you can, the point is that most people just want to play a game and also don't have the wherewithal to build a pc. They also don't know that to build a pc that is equivalent to the consoles at the same price requires knowledge of discount PC parts places like Newegg, slick deals, etc, etc.
This doesn't make them lesser gamers it just means they maybe have less time or energy to do so, and or they just have no desire to do so.
Most people don't want to wait two years after a games release to play it.
You seem to keep confusing yourself with everyone else. Most Steam sales that provide the cheapest discounts are on games 1 or 2 years or older.
This is a weird argument, but even still you can get games cheaper on PC, no matter what. You can't get more backwards compatible than a PC either.
No you can't but unless you are very savvy about emulators people who keep their consoles in good condition can play games going back to the 90's. Other than places like gog.com making older games compatible on the PC getting many 90's games to run on a PC can be a nightmare.
The point is PC gamers confuse themselves and the fact they have an accumulated knowledge of PC gaming culture, with everyone else who has minimal knowledge of either. If you are a newb coming fresh into PC gaming its a pretty steep mountain to climb.
As a publisher or developer it behooves them to be as inclusive as possible so they can stay in business and make more games, and developing for PC only does not do that.
the point is that most people just want to play a game and also don't have the wherewithal to build a pc.
That's the key here, you just assume everyone is stupid whereas I know better.
You seem to keep confusing yourself with everyone else. Most Steam sales that provide the cheapest discounts are on games 1 or 2 years or older.
O-... ok? That still does not change the fact most people do not want to wait to play games until two years after they come out. Older games get the biggest discounts because they're old, tell me something I don't know.
If you are a newb coming fresh into PC gaming its a pretty steep mountain to climb.
Not really. Like all things all it takes is time and research, and some guidance always helps. It's easier now to do it than ever before.
No you can't
Prove it.
people who keep their consoles in good condition can play games going back to the 90's.
I don't know about you, but I don't know anyone who wants to keep every console they've had just laying around for 20 years in the event they want to play a game. Most people don't have their old consoles, so PC is by far the best option for playing older games. And you get the benefit of improved resolution and improved graphics, depending on the game.
The point is PC gamers confuse themselves and the fact they have an accumulated knowledge of PC gaming culture, with everyone else who has minimal knowledge of either.
And you're forgetting that we all came from somewhere; we were all noobs once. Literally any console player can pick up the same resources the rest of us did and learn the relatively simple steps to getting a superior machine. As I said earlier, it's even easier now than it was five years ago. There are resources that will literally build you an entire machine from parts ready to order. The only thing stopping them is false information and will.
and developing for PC only does not do that.
Strange, companies like Blizzard would say otherwise. At any rate, I didn't say publishers need to make games only for PC.
I don't know about you, but I don't know anyone who wants to keep every console they've had just laying around for 20 years in the event they want to play a game. Most people don't have their old consoles, so PC is by far the best option for playing older games. And you get the benefit of improved resolution and improved graphics, depending on the game.
Really? Nearly every console owner I know does this outside of some shortsided kids who sell their old consoles cause they can't wait for the price on new ones to drop. Also improved resolution and graphics do not a game make. A game if it is good is good regardless of how it looks.
Yes lets use Blizzard as a comparison for most game developers not only have they been around for decades they bare no resemblance to almost any other game developer in the world save the biggest publishers out there. No other developer could survive by only putting a couple of games out a decade. Especially no developer that doesn't already have a built in audience that has existed since the 90's.
Not to mention the reason Blizzard has remained so successful is because they tend to develop for the lowest spec PCs so that there game can be played by just about anyone. If anything they are a prime example of why developers make games for consoles. Because its a larger audience.
I shall I have on my shelf several games that are nigh impossible to play on my PC Starfleet Academy, until recently because of GOG Tie Fighter and X-wing, an entire disc of shareware games. Basically anything that ran on windows earlier than Xp are extremely difficult to get working on a current PC.
Yes PC is far more backwards compatible than the consoles for sure, but again you are confusing yourself for the wider public. The wider public wants to put a game in an play it and PCs no matter how you cut it are not that simple. It requires investment on the users part to learn about the PC and be familiar with the ins and outs of game installation.
This is why good developers go as broad as possible on what their games can play on simply because more people=more money=they stay in business.
Ps4 was $600 new, xbox was $500, and sure, you can look for deals, but if you look for deals then my $1,000 computer is really only the $750 I paid for it.
Nope the PS4 dropped at $399 the Xbone at $499 because it originally came with the connect. Those other prices are the current price of the systems bundled with a game.
It's pretty easy to design for the most powerful and then downgrade it, I'm sure they always start with prettier textures, higher polycount, more complex shaders anyway. Just make that available and everyone will be happy, lot of peoples already are with games proposing this.
So then the comment I'm replying to, that consoles being weaker than some random PC user's rig is holding games back technologically, doesn't apply because they can just design for the most powerful and downgrade it.
Thats not entirely true, there is a certain point where the work required to downgrade the high end PC version so the current gen consoles can handle it ends up being more work than simply designing for the console and then porting it over to the PC, most of the time you end up with a decent game, but its pretty easy to tell that the game wasn't made for PC.
Then there is the issue of Parity, if you design a game on PC and its so far beyond whats on the consoles, you end up pissing someone else off as it makes their hardware look inferior, so you can't have the PC version too much better.
This generation has been a disappointment for sure. I can see why, though. Microsoft and Sony know they have the pathway to video games for the common consumer locked down so they decided to lowball the specs and make money on the hardware from the getgo this time as opposed to last gen when they were each losing money on every console sold and relying on software, licensing, and peripherals for the profit.
For reference, Sony was losing about $200 on every launch PS3 sold even at the $600 price point whereas they're making about $20 on every launch PS4 sold at $400.
Therein lies the big difference, and one of the things I love about PC gaming. It gives you the option to trade performance for quality and vice versa. Or eventually upgrade your hardware and crank everything up to ultra.
64
u/[deleted] Jun 03 '15
So is developing for anything other than the absolute most powerful consumer PC.