Consoles Are a "Massive Barrier" for Crysis 3 Development

[Strazdas]

and yet you develop for it. [...] and no, consoles port arent your biggest moneymakers. that is, if you ever created a decent game.

In every major AAA release I've been following recently, console sales were ahead by quite a bit, in addition to having a lower piracy rate (which doesn't equal lost sales, but contains a certain amount of them). Current AAA games are insanely expensive, and thus really high risks for a publisher to take. Thus, you gotta fine the largest audience possible to make back the money + some profit.

A really big chunk of that production cost goes into graphics, so of course Crytek will have the biggest problems with it. Meanwhile Activision laughs and keeps codblops profitable by not focusing as much on graphics as others, which also makes it accessible to a larger crowd with low spec PCs.

console profits usualyl get ahead because PC releases are multiple months late and gamers are impatient people that woudl rather play inferior version on eggsbox if it meant trying ot out 1 month earlier. FOr games released at same time, PC is a clear leader. Consoles have huge unreproted piracy rate, because there is no consistem system of reporting piracy, black market and all, so if you take a PC based piracy site, and claim that since its mostly PC games PC is pirated more you would just make a fool out of yourself.
I did add that you have to create a deceont game. not a piece of poop that you just throw 300 millions are "just because" and expect to be entitled to buys. Gaming is the only indsutry that thinks their costumers "have to buy" or "they must be evil pirates if they dont". whiel the rest of the world would just think their products are crap and try to get better.

 

[Nieroshai]

A good carpenter doesn't blame his tools.

Agreed. Let's also not forget that the PS3 has a lot of untapped processing power. If anything, this is a problem of designing an engine that requires something about a PC. Maybe the engine required .exe's or DOS or something? Some other software requisite consoles aren't built with because they're exclusively for games? PS3 can handle it, so what's the problem? Besides, here comes the age-old problem that started with Crysis. They're building a game intentionally too complex for what it's going to run it on. Crysis had to be played on minimal settings for all but the best computers, if any of us remembers. And all that just to make an average shooter win awards for looking better than any of the others. Does anyone remember playing Crysis, or do they remember not being able to run it?

 

[DTWolfwood]

Beggars can be choosers apparently.

Quit your bitching Crytek.

 

[Griffolion]

Cry me a river.

 

[UberNoodle]

Interesting. Title says consoles are a barrier to the game's development. Developers say that the limitations of the consoles have forced them to make a better product.

Pearls can't grow without adversity.

 

[surg3n]

A good carpenter doesn't blame his tools.

Agreed. Let's also not forget that the PS3 has a lot of untapped processing power. If anything, this is a problem of designing an engine that requires something about a PC. Maybe the engine required .exe's or DOS or something? Some other software requisite consoles aren't built with because they're exclusively for games? PS3 can handle it, so what's the problem? Besides, here comes the age-old problem that started with Crysis. They're building a game intentionally too complex for what it's going to run it on. Crysis had to be played on minimal settings for all but the best computers, if any of us remembers. And all that just to make an average shooter win awards for looking better than any of the others. Does anyone remember playing Crysis, or do they remember not being able to run it?

Not sure where you get your facts from dude. Console sales always outweigh PC sales, no matter what - that is why a lot of publishers leave the PC til last. You think that the PC sells more games than a console? - that's just crazy, console sales are always more than double the PC sales, sometimes as much as 10 times more across all formats. Developers won't prioritise 10%-20% of their sales in favor of 40-50% on the 360.
As for piracy, well piracy does a lot more harm to the PC market than the console market. With the PS3 and 360, people tend to avoid piracy because they know it could end up with them being banned, and people like multiplayer games, and there are so many barriers put in front of people who pirate console games. On the PC on the other hand, people tend to buy the multiplayer games, but then single player games are pirated left right and centre. The only console that is really heavily abused with piracy is the Wii - I know lots of people with cracked Wii's, I don't know anyone with a cracked PS3 or 360.

 

[Woodsey]

So make it a PC exclusive. Crysis did sell 3 million copies.

 

[kasperbbs]

Perhaps you should think about making your game more interesting instead of making it pretty if it's not working out so well?

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

I get it, we all like money and this is probably more true for EA, the producers of Crysis, than some others. But with the outcry surrounding Skyrim on PS3, why wouldn't you just put the game out as a PC exclusive. If it's going to blow chunks and people are going to complain about the console versions -- why bother. All Cevat Yerli ever does is harp about how great his graphics are, so just use the platform that allows you to do what you want; ie showcase graphics.

Or as some people have mentioned, wait for the next console generation. Crysis 3 isn't even slated until next year. They could pull a Bioshock Infinite and just push it back another year while waiting for consoles.

-Crysis seems to be having this identity crisis as well. It jams multiplayer in each of its games, because that's what we expect nowadays (apparently), but I haven't heard of a following for Crysis multiplayer. And the story is pretty awful. So it's neither a devoted single player game nor a devoted multiplayer. Console players have a number of other eggs in their basket if it comes down to Crysis being a pc exclusive.

 

[MegaManOfNumbers]

Sheesh, if it was that much trouble, why not make this PC exclusive? The first one was and I'm just now playing it on my Xbox. The newer consoles are around the corner, save time and effort for those.

It has to do with maximizing profit. And the next-gen Xbox/PS4 is still just speculation at this point.

Maximizing profit by failing though.

Crysis 1 as a PC exclusive sold quite a bit better than Crysis 2 did on 3 different systems.

I never said it was an intelligent idea.

 

[The White Hunter]

A good carpenter doesn't blame his tools.

Umm he isn't. Tools would be the cry engine. He is complaining about the house that he is supposed to work within.

OT: You wanted console money, you gotta work for it. Deal with it

My grandfather is a very good carpenter and he'd complain about being given hopelessly indaquete tools. It isn't a case of blaming the hardware, the hardware is out dated by nearly a decade now and it must be very difficulty to smush down high end focused PC games onto consoles.

This is why I'm getting my new rig :3

Also fuck installs and updates onc onsoles, and overpriced digital distribution. No more says I.

 

[The White Hunter]

How hard can it be to find a few websites that sell components, stick them in your basket, and when they arrive, slot them in the only places they will fit?
In all my years building PCs, the only problems I've had is when mainboards first started using that extra lead from the PSU. Thing wouldn't start and I was all like "What the deuce?" and then I was all like "Of course!" and then no more tears.

Only dreams now.

This so much, I have NEVER built a gaming PC, I'm planning on starting with my next PC, you know what I did?

Looked it up, if I can't figure out where to put a piece?

Youtube it.

It's not fucking rocket science.

Shit even then man plenty of places will build it for you for fuck all. I'm buying one built from Scan for around £1300, know how much I'm paying them total for build, delivery and onsite wrranty? £80. Because I feel lazy.

I've given up on consoles now, all the same problems as a PC with none of the benefits.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

In every major AAA release I've been following recently, console sales were ahead by quite a bit

It's difficult to get solid numbers for PC sales as the likes of VGchartz don't count digital sales at all, as far as I'm aware.

For example, Valve claimed that Portal 2 sold better on PC than on console. VGChartz lists the total PC sales for the game as 0.61 mil and the Xbox 360 sales as 1.55 mil.

Most of the PC gamers I know primarily buy games from Steam.

Still, it's probably fair to say that console games do outsell their PC versions. More people own consoles than gaming PCs, after all.

 

[Twilight_guy]

I'm surprised that they even bother for Console development I would think making the engine run on lesser hardware might have also been a viable option.

It's CRYTEK for god's sake, to run Crysis properly at launch you needed hardware that hadn't been invented yet. Why aren't they sticking to that? Oh yeah, greed.

A company that wants to make money by tapping into the vastly larger group of gamers that don't have super high end hardware and make more money? Yep, must be greed. Why do companies even want to make a profit, they should all be non-profit or operate in the red!

It's a company, it's goal is to make money and expand and this huge untapped demographic is an easy way to do that. Aside from not being exclusive to super high end stuff and upsetting some people who think they are going to replace their engine rather then having two versions I don't see how this upsets anyone.

 

[ResonanceSD]

lol

Your post might actually be valid if Crysis didn't clearly outsell Crysis 2.

So yes, in fact, they should have stuck to their guns of "only people with kickass computers can run this" because they would have made more money.

 

[Major_Tom]

Translation: "Our engine is an unoptimised piece of shit, without consoles to hold us back we would make a game that only 0.9% of current PCs can run."

 

[antipunt]

We're 3 pages in, and no console war? It's....it's....

LOL. I think it's kind of like this b/c it's pretty much Crytec VS everyone

PC gamers are shouting 'this is what you get for being sell outs'

and console gamers are shouting 'stop whining about our hardware'

 

[CardinalPiggles]

I'd rather they use them resources to make a game that is more fun/ has a better story. As long as they do that, and FPS is at a solid 60 throughout, I don't care if the game looks like it was made using the same engine as a CoD game.

Well, you wanted the console money, gotta deal with the limitations.

Ah, this thread is already turning into the weekly asinine "PC vs. Console" yelling match, nice.

Guys: You won't win, each side will leave the argument feeling exactly the same, albeit frustrated from a useless debate.

At the moment it's more like PC elitists releasing their anger. There are some civil comments in there, but for the most part, yeah...