What do you talk about with “Gears Of War” lead creator Cliff Bleszinski when he’s got nothing official to announce?
You talk about life, as he and I did last week at the DICE gaming summit in Las Vegas.
And you learn something(s).
You learn that there’s a whole new Cliffy B, that the game designer, who has a birthday this week, is looking at gaming and non-gaming in a whole new way: “I’ll turn 33 next week and I kind of had the same realization strangely enough when that silly movie ‘The Bucket List‘ came out. There are things you check off in life. Work hard and play hard. I’ve had to work hard to put the hours in, but to be a better person and a better designer you need the real life experience… I think that’s one of the problems with the business. It’s very very insular. Developers only ever hang with other developers. A lot of developers I know don’t really do anything outside of work. It’s an unhealthy pattern.”
That’s why, three weeks ago, Cliffy was taking a Zero-G flight over Florida. And the dreams he’s had of flying every night since then may inspire him to new game developments.
But is the new Cliffy B — the one refreshed for 2008 — not the kind of guy who would put his name on a “Gears of War” or an “Unreal Tournament” anymore?
Folks, he was raving to me about beating “Super Mario Galaxy” and really likes “Zack & Wiki.” Has he changed?
Read on to learn how he thinks this will affect his game development habits. (And catch some interesting PC vs Console talk in the process)
Now, let’s not get too carried away. Bleszinski’s favorite game of last year was “BioShock.” He dug “Portal” — even though it reminded him of an ex. (Quick tangent from Cliffy B: “[I liked] the fact that I wanted to get to the next room just to hear what GLaDOS had to say. We’ve all known a girl like that who is doing the whole… I dated this girl once and she texted me and said ‘Hey what are you up to?’ And I was taking a shower and didn’t respond immediately. And 30 seconds later she was saying ‘Hey, you a–hole, you’re not that f—ing cool. You can rot in hell.’ And then 30 seconds later, ‘Hey, I didn’t mean that, what are you doing tonight?’)
But understand this. The Wii-playing Cliffy B is not going to make soft games. He’s at peace with that. ” My girlfriend brought me to this metalcore show — Killswitch Engage was phenomenal and All That Remains. I realized, you know what? That’s the target audience for what I do. And I’m okay with that. I don’t want to win over their little college sister, because that’s not the kind of game I do. I’m not going to make “Zack & Wiki.” I’m not going to make f—ing ‘Cooking Mama.’ But that’s okay.”
What he’s saying is that he’s in his groove and not getting out. Although… “Sometimes you do need to step back a little and take a break. If I was tasked with creating a new universe I might just step back and say, “Okay, maybe no marines in this one. Let’s make it cops or pirates or something.”
Were you wondering ifBleszinski was going to address the development rumors of “Gears of War 2“? We talked around the speculation. Look for more in a post later this week, but rest assured he didn’t say anything official.
He and I did chat about PC development of games in general, though. It’s an important topic for the Cliff’s PC-borne development company Epic. And it’s notable how the company’s top people feel about PC game-making now, given rumors of softer-than-hoped sales for Epic’s “Unreal Tournament 3” on PC.
Here’s what he had to say: “I think people would rather make a game that sells 4.5 million copies than a million and “Gears” is at 4.5 million right now on the 360. I think the PC is just in disarray… what’s driving the PC right now is ‘Sims’-type games and ‘WoW‘ and a lot of stuff that’s in a web-based interface. You just click on it and play it. That’s the direction PC is evolving into So for me, the PC is kind of the secondary part of what we’re doing. It’s important for us, but right now making AAA games on consoles is where we’re at.”
That’s a Cliffy B update. That’s the state of the man who brought you “Gears of War” and will, this year, bring you… what exactly? If we’ve learned anything, it would be on console. It wouldn’t star Zack.
Or Wiki.
February 13th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Will Epic ever move into making mature games, or are they satisfied with milking the middle school to early high school crowd?
February 13th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Mature games? You’ll have to elaborate. Take the Kids to School Tournament?
February 14th, 2008 at 12:03 am
Big ups to Cliffy B for the Killswitch Engage mention, one of the best bands out there.
February 14th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Big downs to Cliffy B for the Killswitch Engage mention, one of the worst bands out there.
February 14th, 2008 at 4:21 am
way to sell out cliffy. hope you are proud of yourself. how many ferraris does one need anyway? maybe if pc gaming, which btw got you where you are today, was your main priorty, your game ut3 wouldnt be shite, and maybe wouldve sold more than 100,000.
February 14th, 2008 at 4:43 am
Cliff had zero to do with UT3 afaik. He’s long past his UT days for that matter.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:20 am
$$$ and just produce same game all over again
February 14th, 2008 at 5:35 am
You know what? Perhaps gears would have sold on PCs if it wasn’t a boring piece of *#%?.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:59 am
I loved Unreal 1, UT 1 and UT2004. Really, loved them.
Then I played the UT3 demo and saw some info, and bought the Orange Box
It seems to have happened to a lot of people, but of course if Cliffy says is due to a casual PC audience, it surely is, right? It certainly could not be that their games are not as good, because console guys like them, right?
Of course
February 14th, 2008 at 6:26 am
Great to hear that you support Consoles in such a way. Please do us all a favor and do not develop any future PC titles, as up to today 95% of anything built on the UT3 engine for PC has be a total Disappointment.
Thanks.
February 14th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Cliffy B keeping on making games that you love & a lot of floks enjoy playing.
Ignore the hate from the PC gamers there just bitter & lash out at anyone who acknowledges the platforms decline & the fact that Epic were once PC gamings favourite but now focus on the consoles instead.
You can bet your paycheck that if Gears and UT3 were PC only the snobbery factory and hate would not have kicked in and PC gamers would be cheer leading those titles (I should know I was one of them for a very long time all the way back to Epic’s beginnings in the DOS era).
February 14th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Ah yes, Unreal Tournament 3
- consolified
- released to compete with Call of Duty 4 AND Team Fortress 2, both of which are far better games
SHOCKINGLY, it tanked. Oh yes, must be the pirates or something. Damn those curs
Oh and you could literally have played the first level of Gears over and over and you’d have experienced everything the game has to offer. Take your convenient slabs of granite and go f yourself, s—’s awful. Can’t blame him though, if I wanted to w***e myself out for money, tasteless horde of console gamers is the best way to go. You don’t have to actually make a good game to make them praise your name in songs and shove wads of cash down your pants
February 14th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I say Cliffy B’s comments aren’t all that valid. First of all, if Gears of War sells 4 million on the 360 and a year later sells 1 million on the PC, then is that really bad considering most people have already played it?
Secondly you take UT3 and you realize that it was basically the same game in a shiny new engine. The singleplayer was an embarrassing joke.
http://www.thesimexchange.com/search.php?string=unreal+tournament+2007
As you can see, UT3 sold virtually the same on PS3 and the PC, despite the PS3 market having far fewer shooters. So the point is, maybe there was something wrong with the game? In the end, yes, we do still have a problem here, but I don’t think UT3 was that good of a game to begin with.
February 14th, 2008 at 11:34 am
You know, this is really disappointing. The “PC decline” is a total myth put out there by retail sales tracking. Just because console gaming growth is large doesn’t mean PC gaming growth is small. The latest Second Take video at tomshardware puts it nicely, where they talk about total revenue of the PC gaming market not being taken into account at all by the proposed sales figures of these groups who are either ignorant, or more than likely, somehow affiliated with a major console publisher or *gasp* manufacturer. That’s not to say the console gaming market, as a WHOLE, isn’t larger… but to say PC gaming is in DECLINE? That is absurd.
To have Cliffy state that it is in disarray doesn’t even make since. All the best games (for the hardcore crown) used to come out for PC for a while there. Now, great games are coming out for us all. Why does that make PC gaming is disarray? If anything, we are seeing a shift toward multi-platform titles. So we’re getting the same games no matter how we choose to play. And in fact, Mr. B, a keyboard/mouse control scheme and a resolution/AA/AF setting that BLOWS away HD console games, makes the game much more enjoyable in my opinion.
You can tell that behind the miniscule praise of one title is some disdain for valve. valve kicked Epic’s @$$ at their own game (no pun intended) more and more as time passed by. The fact of the matter is that Epic decided to move into the console space first and foremost because the game title they wanted to make would work on it. Not because it would work BETTER on it, but because it would WORK on it. And THAT means more cash for them. Stupid move? No, but it has absolutely nothing to do with PC gaming. What is so disappointing is that instead of just saying that their current titles would expand well into the console arena or that (heaven forbid) they just couldn’t compete with some other games for the more refined hardcore PC audience, they just blame it on the market. Easy out for them.
Part of the reason UT3 failed was because it was not as revolutionary of a title as some of their past UT titles. Part of the reason was the simple fact that this year PC gaming had some of the best titles ever, all packed into one quarter. Oh yeah, THAT really shows the decline of the PC gaming market?
This is a shame, because I remember the old Epic. I remember the original Unreal. In their day… wow. There weren’t a lot of major players back then, and the market wasn’t so saturated. Epic kind of came out of nowhere at the same time valve did. They were innovative and visionaries. They may still be, but I think a lot of their attitude has changed, and I don’t know how many of the original devs are still with the team anyway. Gears of War was a great game. UT3 was actually a solid game. They are still a great developer, but they need to get their heads on straight.
You want pure TRUTH about gaming and markets and developers, read interviews with Gabe Newell, not this joker.
February 14th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Not_another_PC_Bash… says:
February 14th, 2008 at 6:26 am
Great to hear that you support Consoles in such a way. Please do us all a favor and do not develop any future PC titles, as up to today 95% of anything built on the UT3 engine for PC has be a total Disappointment.
WTF IS THAT? just cus of 1 game u think everything else will be as bad in that engine? you clearly dont no anything about the gaming
and yeah its gay cliff left
February 14th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Ermm..Gears of War is as casual as shooters get nowadays :]
February 14th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
I wanna play that(
February 14th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
UT3 stood no chance against games that were COMPLETE at their release. It looked like they had the idea but scrapped it for a PS3 release somewhere down the line. Within the following months of the PC release, the community found itself being the BETA testers for the game. Way to go to rob the loyal PC crowd, give them dirt so other programmers can fix their game for free…
After robbing the loyal PC crowd, he probably has two options, make more games just for money or quit completely before all hell breaks loose. Since the appearance of the German UT3 torrent, he only has one..
I shouldve got that before I bought the game.. $50 I wont see again
February 14th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
“Sometimes you do need to step back a little and take a break. If I was tasked with creating a new universe I might just step back and say, ‘Okay, maybe no marines in this one. Let’s make it cops or pirates or something.’”
This IS a joke, right? I mean, the way games are these days, I’d be willing to accept that as a serious statement, but please. It’s a joke. Right?
February 14th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
you do know people that
“Sometimes you do need to step back a little and take a break. If I was tasked with creating a new universe I might just step back and say, ‘Okay, maybe no marines in this one. Let’s make it cops or pirates or something.’”
was written by the author of the article and not spoken by Cliffy B.
and what he is trying to get across is to be a game design a lot of s**t goes into it and it takes a good mind into seeing where the market is a will be.
I highly doubt that the people on here slagging him off could come up with a decent idea that could get past publishers
February 14th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Mark:
To me, the way it is in quotes seems to imply that it is, you know, a quotation. As in, that is exactly what he said.
February 14th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
You people are so daft. In an editorial interview, what is in quotations are the ONLY lines that were actual dialog spoken from the individual being interviewed. You had that one completely backwards you dolt.
February 14th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
I say stop crying!Be happy!Just think whut life would be like without (GAMEING)
February 14th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
I guess people are always going to get angry when you say anything negative about their platform of choice, particularly if those people happen to be those wierdo PC elitiest who rarely touch a console and can’t fathom people enjoying both, but I kinda agree with what he said about PC gaming. I, at least, am seeing a massive shift of people who used to be PC only gamers to either pure console gamers or both PC and console players.
As for UT3, I think it was a perfectly good game that had the misfortune of being released right around the same time as a bunch of other shooters that were vastly superior. Nothing more, nothing less. I think it would have done much better had it been released early in the year during that massive void of quality titles. Though it is obvious it wasn’t really ready when it was released so I am sure it was better to keep it.
On the subject of Gears, I love that game because they actually put effort into the co-op, which is something that just seems to get ignored lately. It is usually an after thought or just left off completely. I had a blast playing through that game multiple times with friends in split-screen and other FPS games of late simply don’t have that.
My 2 cents anyway…
February 14th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
This is a prime example of the gaming industry. They let morons like CliffyB get a job and it brings everyone down.
February 14th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
MattyC, the funny thing about elitists is that no matter how annoying and pompous they are… they are usually right.
Also, isn’t it possible that people are starting to play more console games because consoles and their games are getting better? What does that have to do with PC gaming? You can systematically list various reasons why PC gaming is superior to console if you leave out the fact that A) It usually costs more money (a fact that matters little to most, seeing as how they use their PCs for far more than just gaming) and B) Technical issues (no plug in play). Well, the fact of the matter is most “PC elitists” are, how should I put this… more educated than the general population of console gamers. Now I’m talking about a GENERAL audience here. You usually don’t see some moron jock or doper or ADD riddled teenie bopper championing PC gaming. There’s a huge portion of console gamers that are just flaming idiots. Is there a portion of PC gamers that have those same characteristics? Sure, but that portion is a small percentile. PC gamers are elitists because most of them are both intelligent and, more importantly, hardcore gamers. They are generally (again I stress generally) more mature and have a greater appreciation for the product in its entirety.
COME ON PEOPLE, even if you’re a console gamer you can just admit the facts. That doesn’t change that consoles have their appeal and great games. Five years ago, PC/console flame posts were at least pitting FACTS against one another. Now all that happens is someone points out the fact that PC gaming is “smaller” than console gaming. What exactly is that supposed to be saying? I find it pathetic.
I am generally a PC gamer, and I am most definitely a hardcore gamer. However, there are certain aspects of certain consoles and their games that I love as well. The only console I own is a Wii right now, because Wii is the only console that has something to offer my PC doesn’t… the input controls.
Wow, I am going off on a tangent here. Time to put down the redbull…
February 14th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Actually while PC gamers are more intelligent (not necessarily mature), they do not necessarily have better taste than console gamers. For one, most PC gamers really don’t know what art direction is in games. Any attempt to explain will leave them arguing about textures and engines. PC only gamers also have no idea what gameplay polish is, or even games that really are pure fun, given that in their consideration a “good” PC game has a 3 hour learning curve and must have the complexity of something like flight sim
February 14th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
fathamburger… boy your name just says it all doesn’t it. I don’t even know where to start with you. Because I don’t fear being a hypocrite (everyone is I suppose), how on earth could you back up that statement about PC gamers not knowing anything about art direction? You’re kidding right? Where do developers come from young buck? I really don’t see a large mod community out there for console games yet. That statement is so ironic it is laughable, and I have some authority on the subject being that my degree is in computer animation and design, and also having a fine arts background. I suppose though that taste is a matter of opinion correct? Well some people’s opinions are founded upon a finer… how did you put it… taste. In fact, my point about the greater appreciation of the game in my above post was specifically geared toward this.
Someone can sit down and have an argument about technology in game engines… they could ramble on and on about how PCs handle shaders better, or particle systems, or what have you… and yet you’re implying they are unable in their intelligent minds, as you’ve admitted (probably to feign some sort of unbiased standpoint to make your true motive seem more founded), to differentiate between said topic and art direction/design elements? One doesn’t negate the other, and often times (more in the past than present), they went hand in hand. For a while there, art direction was vastly held back by technology. So we were getting large technical leaps which allowed for greater artistic freedom. This is not so much the case anymore, as the steps in engines we are seeing don’t necessarily make for more artistically refined game assets.
You talk about polish and fun, all GAME aspects, and yet you don’t seem to recognize that a lot of the same great developers are developing their titles for different platforms. You can’t just split console games and PC games down the middle into two columns and compare game titles, you can really only compare the system and its marketplace. Ugg, some people.
And complexity? While I admit I don’t love repeating the same thing over and over (in single player games anyway), and really do enjoy depth to my gameplay, storyline, and other elements, I really hate over-complex games. However, once again, we are talking about genre divisions there, not PC vs consoles.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
The biggest problem with UT3 was that it was unfinished on release. even after a patch it’s buggiest game out there. Server admins can’t run the servers properly, clients can’t connect or get invalid url errors everywhere, friends list is bugged as well as the server list and server favorites, there’s even a bunch of crap in the editor that will crash it.
I think UT3 could’ve been recieved a lot better had it been finished first…how many gamers do you think bought it and told their friends not to bother? I know I did.
oh, and the “campaign” mode was pathetic. the story was more hollow easter bunnies
February 14th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
OK Fathamburger…Most pc gamers are adults(Not mature??)Most console players are kids.We PC gamers get to use more of that engine…no editor with stupid shitty consoles…art can be your own in your map you made! Consoles are for noobies who can’t use a computer
February 14th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
BLAM I am not sure what world you live in, but no the PC audience is just as bad (in general) as its console counterpart. If you are unsure of this fact, you can go spend 15 minutes in a CS pug, lowbie WoW zone, or some place like the gotfrag forums
The two are, overall, no better or worse. You find jerks everywhere. People able to throw together a PC doesn’t filter that out.
I never said I thought PC gaming was dying. I game on my PC all the time. Actually it is all I game on until my 360 gets back from its RROD
Just that the games have improved to the point where you are seeing people who wouldn’t own a console buying them. Now hard facts for this? I don’t have any except for the large number of big name console games / ports lately. I did list my own experience just for whatever it is worth. Heck I am an example of this. 4 years ago you would never have found me playing a console game other than a RPG or racing sim. I never even liked Goldeneye all that much. Now? I love playing COD4 with friends (though blast their lack of good split-screen co-op or guest play - see my praise on Gears on that) and had a great time with Gears. Most of my friends have, sadly, fully moved over. That is the reason I even bothered to try COD4 on the 360. I would have prefered the PC version, but now that I have the 360, I must admit it can be fun shooting it up with a controller. 
Paul, you can say a lot about current things and even his current opinion on the PC vs console issue, but if you think ‘hiring’ CliffyB hurt PC gaming, then all I can say is wow… I guess you missed the original Unreal and the early UT games.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Hmm… well I suppose that is a good point.
I blame that on the fact that large amounts of the PC audience, being so mature, have jobs and can’t find the same amount of time to play online, hence the over abundance of the younger crowd
Doesn’t mean we’re not there, just not as prominent with the online community with respect to play-time.
February 15th, 2008 at 2:03 am
Console gaming is growing faster then PC gaming. Its because Gears of War was supposed to be for PC and then EPIC wanted to just on the money train. Halo anyone? So, even I used to be a PC only guy and then was forced over to buying a console as well because like any hardcore gamer I didn’t want to miss out on some great titles.
As for UT3, that game is the biggest POS I have ever een from EPIC. They tank a game because they are likely more focused on Gears of War 2 (which is most definitly in development, don’t anyone kid themselves) and UT3 was given a small development team and it shows. To this day Instant Action won’t work on my PC even after the patch. So how can EPIC and I say EPIC not Cliffy B. I consider this Cliiffy B and likely all of EPIC as I can see them stroking each other when Gears became a big hit.
Id Software is also doing some wierd things as well. Making their next game “RAGE” a rated TEEN title when based on the environment and the creatures that inhabit the game world it really has business being that. TEEN = Very very little blood. If ya think that sucks as well come on over.
http://www.petitiononline.com/bfg9000/petition.html
Maybe won’t do anything but its nice to have a place to express yourself about the current shady dealings with PC gaming, as Epic games forums deletes anything negative.
Back on topic. This is extremely sad for me because way back in 04 I was drooling over footage of Unreal Engine 3 waiting for it to come out. What was on my mind?
THE EDITOR! Me and a friend who worked on Shadow Run were so excited UT3 was coming out cause we finially had a great engine to work with. We created all this concept art in preperation and really worked our asses off. We were going to make a 100 percent custom map for UT3. We had plans of not one in-game texture being present. All assets were to be modeled in Max and bright into Z Brush. Then the game came out and we were depressed about he whole thing and we are still waiting for the COD4 mod tools to come out.
We couldn’t map for a game that was that bad. Not considering all the work it would take to make a great map for UT3 when the core gameplay, UI and generally some things don’t make sense in the game. Just something, a perspective that I thought I should share. It sucked way more for me then just a disappointing game. An entire project planned for five months was scrapped.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:13 am
Comeon Epic, UT3 is utterly crap just because of the consoles. You should have gained from the past, know what things are atleast among standard and atleast come up with those standards and put the cream on top of that. But you were to busy with the cream, forgetting most of the important basics feautures we, online gamers, need in in this franchise.
This is the reason and solely the reason why it’s going crap.
Epic puts a semi-finished game in the shops and expects 4.5 milions in sale. Comeon, you know better. Where are the spawn-sound what’s with the air controll why can’t i see from what side i’m being shot at, why can’t you develop great E-Sport maps…. Really comeon… Gaming will become the soccer of the future, but it won’t if you arn’t able to build a franchise that’s going to last and grow and grow. And this point, your demolishing and forgetting a lot of the great basic essentials you once introduced to use.
Epic is lucky that the Online Console market isn’t developed and experienced to have these kind of standards that the PC online market has. Seems to me epic just doesn’t have the balls and skills any more to develop for gamers that are ahead of the console gamers, pc-gamers are the future they use the future if you can not come op with these standards your right: you should take a step back, and focus on the console market.
Shame shame shame… all i can say
February 15th, 2008 at 7:33 am
I am a PC gamer first and foremost as I believe that the PC platform offers me the most cutting edge gaming experience.
I also own a X360 which allows me to have different gaming experiences, experiences that are just as cool but equally seperate.
To me, gaming is all about the experience and I look for it in hand held, consoles, PC and the arcade. I’m a believer in that the market is open enough so that multiplatforms can co-exist and perhaps in the future platforms will co-operatively work together in delivering a variety of new experiences in an effort to attract more people to gaming in general.
I like the way in this last generation of consoles shared various elements that PC gamers have enjoyed overtime. I feel that it’s these new features/abilites has helped bridge the gap for many people that were either completely new to gaming or had thought indifferently about gaming as a genre prior to now.
Gaming now is far more accessible to people from all walks of life than the gaming world of yesterday because of multiplatforming.
As a PC gamer, fanboy, whatever, it irks me to see people mouthing ‘cromulent’ facts suggestive that PC gaming is in decline.
The last quarter of 2007 was a bumper crop of games I haven’t seen since…well ever. Tell me of another time when there were as many releases.
The era of pedigree PC gaming is kinda over as most titles are multi-platformed. But there is the odd exception when it’s platform specific and that’s the same for consoles.
I walk past EB Games on my way to work and see the store packed to bursting all day every day and I know that PC & console gamers have had something to do with that success. To me, it’s a win win situation for a developer to produce games for both platforms.
Oh and just quietly, I am kinda of bored with franchise games like UT, I recognise that it’s beautiful and fun n’ all that but in all seriousness if you were expecting to see mega-bucks from the same ole same ole format then you’re sadly mistaken.
If PC gamers are responsible for anything is that we’ve seen all the different incarnations of UT and are well….bored.
I’m not entirely sure why UT has had more success on consoles, has it?
February 15th, 2008 at 9:56 am
yes! goodbay PC!
February 15th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Dmitrii, why would you say that? Do you own a high end gaming PC? Because everyone I know who does and many of my friends own both always say that they prefer PC. Did you know if PC gaming died out that the GPU war between Nvidia and ATI would be stagnant. Its the PC gamers who stay on the bleeding edge of technology which drives advances in rendering hardware which is in your beloved console.
If you want a way to slow down the advancement of graphics in games on any platform then kill PC gaming. You would be shooting yourself in the foot. We were talking about console gamers being uneducated. Prime example right there.
Does a mouse and keyboard scare you or something? Or do you think its stupid? Well get ready! Because I heard the PS3 supports mouse and keyboard already. Ask yourself this. What features do you think a furture xbox or playstation will incorperate? The ability to surf the web (which may already be there on PS3, I haven’t done my research) which will need a keyboard. Also its just the next evolution of consoles to support keyboard and mouse in games. EPIC was pushing for that for UT3 on PS3.
So now all you have is a fixed function gaming machine that does nothing else besides surfing the web. Console gamers or PC gamers will use their new founded ability to use mouse and keyboard in console games and console gamers will get owned across the board. Theres no way a controller can compete.
The reason console gamers frown on this is because its out of their zone of comfort. Its something new that has a learning curve of about 2 weeks to get the hang of. For me at least. I can see it now, the new xbox allows you to copy games to your hard drive disk to eliminate loading times and increase performance in your games through xbox live validation. I can see a press release like that not far off. So the only difference in the future will be that Microsoft and Sony controls what you can and can’t do. There will never be a huge mod community on consoles as long as modders/mappers have to go through all these hoops to get their content released.
Console gamers time and time again prove to be uneducated. I once had an argument with a guy on xbox live where he was telling me that PC didn’t support HD?!!! I am not kidding you guys! Look at what resolution 1080p is. PC gamers have been enjoying high resolutions for a long time (over ten years) which is what you guys call “HD”. The tech like everything else was bright over from PC and incorperated into TVs. So when you first experience HD remember that PC gamers have been enjoying that for a decade or longer!
And if PC was gone, disappeared off the face of the earth you would have no games at all as you can’t make games on consoles. Think it through, before you throw something that stupid out there.
February 15th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
yes! goodbay Dmitrii’s brain!
Armagon, there you go. Many good points there. Consoles are now becoming better because they are becoming more like PCs; ironic no? That is better for players and maybe even more so for devs. Controls hardly define a PC/console now… because I can buy a 360 controller for my PC, or you can use a mouse/keyboard (the BEST control for hardcore FPS/RTS/P&C RPG) on your PS3. And now hardware is fairly similar as well.
You can’t upgrade your console like you can your PC, so obviously after about 4 months, the newest consoles are going to be outperformed by PCs. However, console hardware, for their releases anyway, is now extremely similar to current PC hardware setups. There are many times when I realize I could even swap a few parts. This is why many more developers can finally create their games for consoles as well and why multiplatform titles are becoming more common.
So when you look at it, what’s actually happening is a merger. All of the sudden all the systems are getting all the games… all the control schemes… all the same basic hardware architecture… and soon we’ll hopefully even see cross-platform gaming take off. Heck, I can even hook a 360 up to my computer monitor/speakers or my PC up to my home theater system. So in the end, what will the differences really be?
Well consoles still offer a more cost effective way to get into a great gaming experience, if you don’t count the $1000+ for the TV/speakers, which can go well above that figure for many people. They are also good to have when friends come over without any of their own gear and you want to play a quick game together. They are also good for people that want to pop in a game and play because their brain hurts when the word “install” or “configure” comes up on conversation.
PC gaming is more cost effective for people that already need computers for other uses (which is pretty much everyone). I mean, what do you need to do, buy another gig of RAM for $40 and upgrade your graphics card? I’ve spent FAR less upgrading my PC over the years and being able to play the latest games with highest settings than my friends that like to buy a bunch of consoles. PCs will probably always offer the more powerful graphics experience, because the hardware advances constantly and some technologies (like extremely high resolutions far exceeding 1080p HD, Anti-aliasing and Anisotropic filtering, or X-Fi’s on the fly digital sound remastering) are only available on PCs. PCs also seem to provide a more robust community, because on the same system I can play the game, make levels for the game, get onto websites and fan sites about the game, download free content for the game, talk to my gamer friends on any messaging service about the game, etc.
Other than that what are we really looking at here? I mean really… aren’t those about the only major differences anymore? I imagine that system exclusive titles will all but disappear in the immediate future if publishing a-holes don’t completely take over our universe. If anyone wants to add to the list feel free to. Looking at those differences, the PC is still a no-brainer for me. I’m playing Gears of War for PC right now, and I smile when I think that it looks better, controls more precisely, and even has more levels/content than the 360 owners. My first experience with the game has a one up on them, and that’s the way I’ve always felt about PC gaming. Granted there was a bug, but I guess that’s due to the fact that instead of Epic insisting on multi-platforming the thing they settled for a port. Well, we can all see from the interview what their attitude is, so way to go current Epic higher-ups for uh… well… I’ll think of something someday.
February 15th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
You PC Fanboys amuse and amaze me.
It’s simple economics people.
They release a game on a PC, people pirate the heck out of it, and it sells ok.
They release a console version, which is less likely to be pirated, and it sells a heck of alot more.
You want PC games to flourish as once before, then the pirating has to stop, and people need to buy the PC version. If the PC version sold more, then console versions would be secondary, and not the other way around.
February 15th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
How many people do you think pirated Half Life 2? Probably not that many. Steam is awesome. I know people who pirate games just because they want to try the game out and then go buy it if the game is good. Piracy is a problem. BUT if the game is really good then people will buy it. In the case of UT3. With proper protection the game should be made impossible to play online.
Valve is leading the way on how to defeat piracy. Many PC gamers though do not know about bit torrent, and other ways to steal games. If online activation for PC games was incorperated with all games a lot less piracy would be going on. Most of the time its just.. you have to keep the disc in the drive type thing which is easy to get around.
So piracy is a problem but not as big as some would make it out to be. Most PC gamers will buy a game if its great. My shelf above my PC is covered with game boxes. More developers ae starting to release their titles through Steam as well which will cut down on this.
Faethor, the reason consoles have always been so popular is because they’re cheap. The PS3 was way too expensive for many people. They were used to paying 300.00 max. Those days are over and with buying a decent HD TV to play your console on many were looking at a large sum of money. What is going to happen is Sony and Microsoft are going to want to have the more powerful console. This fight will cause them to put more powerful hardware in the systems.
This will raise costs eventually to the level of high end gaming PCs. Or even worse they will look to make up for it and inflate the price of games. The standard is now 60.00 Expect that to go up as well. Eventually informed console gamers are going to realize that they could just buy a bad ass PC because consoles used to be about cheap gaming and that is coming to an end.
PC has the advantage of upgrades instead of replacing your entire system. There is one thing that a PC has that consoles will not be able to compete with anytime soon. You can customize a PC. I mean you can get new themes, I’m not talking about a hundred available on xbox live THAT YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR. On PC they’re free. You can make your own icons! You can change your bootup screen, or sound with a .wav file. When I boot up my PC its my own. Everything is where I want it to be.
I have multiple displays, (3 actually) PC is far superior to consoles. Over the span of less then two years Half Life 2 sold 4 million copies. Wiki it. Its still selling as PCs aren’t generational like consoles. This is important because there are people out there with old PCs who wait for hardware to hit dirt cheap to play games. I know many people who say I’ll wait a year and play it with better hardware. So it will keep selling. Halo and Gears are supposed to be the most sucessful games ever. Well how come Half Life 2 is never mentioned as one of the best selling games.
Look at world of Warcraft. How many millions of subscribers? Cliffy B mentioned that in his interview. I don’t wile WOW, although I respect it. It just isn’t my type of game and I realize that. To say all it is some web based boring game, which he didn’t but certainly implied. Read the article carefully is complete BS. The game was on South Park! So economics?! I don’t buy that. Need more examples of great selling PC games? Let me know.
PC can easily keep up with console sales when a good game is released. Its no wonder people are pirating UT3. PC gamers are more informed and maybe want to check it out before they buy it. They find its crap so they don’t cough up any money.
There is also a very important factor of why consoles seem to be more mainstream. Advertising. Microsoft advertises for game developers on TV. So does Sony. There is no huge rich entity that advertises for PC games. Yes you see online adds here and there but mostly word travels person to person or through places like Gamespot. I think even though the lack of advertising (anyone see Half Life 2 advertised on TV?..I didn’t) shows that there are more PC gamers out there then you think. My friends who are PC gamers right off the top of my head.
Brian, Dave, Jimmy, Robbie, Steve, John, Brian, Tony, Chris… This is just off the top of my head and I don’t have time for many friends. This is maybe a third of my true friends that I see a lot. I didn’t meet them at a lan party either. Just some personal insight.
If you like violence in games.
http://www.petitiononline.com/bfg9000/petition.html
February 15th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
True Faethor, PC gamers have something to do with what would be considered a “slump” (not halt, the market is still growing) in growth due to their tech savvy greed. Let’s hope more developers move over to Steam and forget about publishers. The middle men take money away from developers and customers and then give nothing back in return. We get piratable distribution without any proposed solutions for solving it and games that are worse due to deadlines, pushed restrictions and content change, and less $$$ for the developers to make the games they want to make.
February 19th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I think UT3 on the PC is a great game and gears was the best coop game I have ever played to be perfectly honest!.. The graphics are better on the pc on both of those games if you’ve got a good rig.
only problem with the pc is that with one decent graphics card i could have bought 2 ps3’s… And there is the catch..
PC’s will always have the better graphics..obviously cos you pay a hell of a lot more for that luxury but even I (A PC fan) am starting to change my way of thinking about the PC gaming market… its just too damn expensive to keep upgrading to be able to play the latest titles.
February 20th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
“way to sell out cliffy. hope you are proud of yourself. how many ferraris does one need anyway? maybe if pc gaming, which btw got you where you are today, was your main priorty, your game ut3 wouldnt be shite, and maybe wouldve sold more than 100,000.”
Uh… no. It would have sold more copies if PC gamers didn’t STEAL by pirating. PC gamers love to jump all over developers for DME and other anti-piracy techniques being used to thwart thiefs, but the idiot PC gamers keep doing it. don’t blame the developers, blame the pirates. Theyare the ones killing PC gaming.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Gears of War was horrible. I played for about an hour and got so ?#**%~* bored I had to uninstall it.
UT3 was just a huge disappointment. You replace the fun tournament mode, which I think 2k4 improved on, with some emo @?~*@%@$ sob story written by a bunch of middle school kids? You take out assault? You give us a dumb as #$?# AI that keeps getting the vehicles stuck in corners? Come the $%@~ on.
Don’t blame PC as a platform or PC gamers because we don’t buy shitty games.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
BTW, CliffyB’s name isn’t on UT3 anyway, he’s only listed in the credits under “thanks to.”
February 27th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Oh, you silly PC fanboys.
February 27th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I’ve never understood this schism. Nor the fury which comes from the ‘great debate’ about which platform/console/Whatsusits is better.
Do you enjoy the games you play on the system you own? Yes? Well good. Then stop enfusing these systems and/or games with more important than they justify. Since when has mere entertainment become such a cult that we must defend our chosen messiah’s with such furor? Have our lives become so bereft of meaning and truth that we must find it in video games?
February 27th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Gears of War is a fun game, especially the multiplayer. It would be nice if in addition the company could hire someone capable of building a compelling world and characters that aren’t ugly musclehead apes. I’m not sure who the characters in GoW are supposed to appeal to, but it’s certainly not anyone I know… Maybe 15 year old jocks…?
February 27th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
@dubsdj
“only problem with the pc is that with one decent graphics card i could have bought 2 ps3’s… And there is the catch..”
I’m calling BS on that statement. If you’re telling me you payed $800-1200 for your graphics card I’m telling you you’re either a liar or a chump.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
PC games and console games appeal to different audiences. While there are plenty of people who play both console and pc, you just can’t expect something like gears of war or UT3, which were geared more towards consoles, to do as well with a pc audience. Especially when the console versions are fine tuned to work better on consoles, so the pc experience generally isn’t as good. I would not play gears of war on a pc, just like I wouldn’t play WoW on a console.