I heard that the PC version of games is often delayed due to developer/publisher fears of piracy. Can anyone confirm that?

-Ue_Carbon: If the reason for delay s just PC gamers giving feedback to developers, how come some of them take so freaking long to develop a PC version. GTA:IV took six months, Halo 2 took years! And most of the time, PC versions stink. I believe the reason is due to piracy, and that developers sometimes have a negative additude towards PC's.

Another thing about PC games is they can be Beta tested where console games cannot. Gamers get to test, and provide feedback, and devs will sometimes incorporate those ideas into the game (I know Draginol/Frogboy often asks for gamer feedback and ideas during the beta phase). This could contribute some to a delay in a game. Or another possibility is new technology comes out that they want to incorporate to cash in on. Or perhaps another company comes out with a similar game or similar game mechanics and the developer wants to tweak or change his game so that it's not like that other one.

 

When you talk about PC version stinking, Are you talking about Console games ported to PC? I for one think PC only game do not suck. While if its multi-platformed game it tends to suck bad on PC. Piracy may be an issue but there are also pirated verison of Console games. Granted its hard to find/use but you can. I dont think we can safely say one issue is the reason for the delays. I for one, do not mind delays if given a proper reason by the devs. Like I stated, I like my games flawless and have no problem waiting till then.

and don't forget it's filled with bugs and plus you have to install Games for Windows Live (just to save it) and you have to buy Rockstar Social Club just for it to run, also Rockstar Social Club drains your memory.

You had to buy another program just to get it to run. What was Rockstar thinking?

Actually you had to download both from the internet. Also GTA IV has Securom. Also that is the same question the GTA fanbase is asking and some are protesting against Rockstar.

Just a quick question since consoles such as the Wii and the xbox can connect to the internet now, Im taking a guess now that is it possible for them to get viruses or get hacked?

I might have heard something about that. Since console don't use a real operating system, have no real means of input, and have limited internet, it would be difficult to hack a console via traditional means. I think I might have heard something about someone creating a phony console game, which had some bad program on it. I''m not sure what happened, but since many console connect to the internet, a virus for consoles cpuld be widespread.

Actualy I've seen a fully functional internet on the Wii, in person, and i seen real internet, we googled for anime videos that we were missing, he who owned the Wii, was also steaming videos from his computer at his home to where the Wii was at, which was at a friends house.

I can think of two reasons: fear that piracy will cannibalize sales (unfounded or not, it is a perception) and desire to protect the consoles from PC competition.

Microsoft is guilty of the latter. Here's what Microsoft Game Studios European business director Peter Zetterberg has to say:

"If we launched a Halo game on PC and 360 in Germany simultaneously, 80 per cent of sales would be on the PC," he told GamesIndustry.biz. "We basically shoot ourselves in the foot by allowing the German market to choose to play the PC version."

Also note that Microsoft has shuttered its once-powerful PC game studios and focuses on Xbox gaming. Why? Money talks. With the Xbox, MS controls the platform and gets a cut of every transaction. Outside of Windows licenses, PC gamers aren't really giving MS any money.

Last time I was at Best Buy, many new PC games (L4D, RA3) were being sold in plastic DVD sleeves. I think the days of miniboxes are numbered, at which point my attachment to retail will be zero.

This is true: many PC games have crappy matchmaking services. But this is the developer's fault. Valve's server browsers, for example, are brilliant.



Agreed.

Randy Stude, president of the PC Gaming Alliance (what a silly name), said something pretty insightful about PC gamers:



So even if you only play Halo 3 on your Xbox, MS is still making money off of you because you're paying a subscription fee. In the last year, 70% of my gaming time is with TF2, which doesn't really make Valve any money.

That's probably why a hardcore modding community will never develop on the consoles. Mods extend the lifespan of a game (for free). Consoles are all about people buying new games (hence the hatred of the second-hand market) and DLC. Imagine having to deal with MS if you wanted to release a mod. They'd charge people for it, at which point it would become DLC and not really a mod in the traditional sense.

Mods would probably confuse your average console user, too. The chief advantage to a console is ease-of-use and compatability. But the PC can be easy to use (Steam and Impulse make managing a game collection easy), it's just that many developers release shoddy games that frustrate people with technical problems. Valve and Blizzard wouldn't be selling millions of PC games if their products were difficult to install and use...

At the end of the day, treating the PC as "just another console" is a sure-fire way to get lackluster sales. Digital distribution platforms and MMOs wouldn't exist if their creators limited themselves to a console paradigm.

this is not really true i have never encountered a PC game that is poorer quality than a consel game in fact i have seen many times consle games be worce than PC games

Please list some.

fallout 3

C&C3 and C&C3 kanes wrath

i could name more but most games on the conncle arent that great to PC gamers quoting one of my friends PC gamers expect more from there games than the consoles users.

and i believe this state ment to be true because many hit console games wherent massively populer on the PC if u can prove me wrong i dont mind but these are my beliefs

Oh I did not know that C&C3 was on a console too, ex: the xbox360, I wonder how in the world can you play it using an xbox controller. I have it for the pc which is a great game, and it tkes precision with mouse+keyboard combo

I have C&C3. I enjoyed the campaign, though I hate playing skirmishes. Medium gets hard for me, while easy is ust stupidly easy. There is a huge gap between AI skill levels. I haven't gotten the expansion, because I didn't really love C&C3. The pacing was just too fast. And yes, I heard about a console version of C&C3. RTS games just don't work on consoles.

Microsoft is just being stupid. Being the publisher of the game, they would still get huge profits from the sales of the PC version. They're just being idiots by delating the PC version so people will forget about it, and buy the XBox version. Similtaneous release = more sales and more game popularity.

As for piracy, that fear is mostly being spread by EA and other pro-DRM companies. Speaking of DRM, EA STILL hasn't learned it's lesson from SecuROM. They're putting it and its five install limit into a lot of games that have PC versions.