PC gamers....why must we always get shafted?

[Vault101]

While the AAA publishers seems to have abandoned the PC platform Indie titles have taken their place. Not to mention all the F2P games available on PC. I primarily game on PC and I buy one to two AAA titles a year. The rest of the year I play indie games, F2P games, or some of my older games that I love. Oh, and we can't forget services like GOG that offer DRM free games.

So no, I don't think PC gamers are being "shafted". There's more to the games industry than the AAA.

and MMO's too? well in that case....

[img/]http://blog.eogn.com/.a/6a00d8341c767353ef01310f76297f970c-800wi[/img]

but seriously (well no I'm not being serious..put down that pitchfork)

they havnt abandoned PC...were that the case we wouldn't be getting anymore AAA games, my point is I guess I just have more....mainstream tastes and I see nothing wrong with wanting to experience AAA on a PC

 

[Something Amyss]

the fact is I know platforms have their advantages and disadvantages...you'd look pretty silly acting like its the biggest travesty/injustice in the world that you can't play Mass Effect on your Wii...because....[i/]well theres your problem[/i]

And PC is no exception. It sort of does look silly when PC gamers complain. Even worse, what is with the latest wave of faux "persecution" from the PC crowd?

 

[DeathQuaker]

As a long time PC gamer, I share your (OP's) frustrations with issues like DRM and retail pricing and so on.

At the same time, I think as consoles come to more and more resemble cheap gaming PCs--you download titles, you have to be online, console games are more and more needing to be patched and are no longer plug'n'play as they used to be--the same problems PCs have or had in the past will plague consoles, if they are not already. MIND, I think consoles still have their own benefits, and console gaming is still more accessible to the average consumer. But that is an issue that is happening.

And the *benefit* of PC gaming comes into light then at least in its versatility, its moddability, and the relative ease of running older games. I have my old Baldur's Gate discs from the late 90s and, while it might take a little trouble shooting, I can still get them running on my new gaming rig. I can't pop an original NES cartridge into a Wii though. Sure, I might be able to re-purchase an old console game, but I can't do anything with the old rom I have. Much less so with my PC.

Also, many PC developers, especially indie developers, as well as standout distributors like GOG.com are hearing the cry of gamers who are tired of being treated like criminals, and are working to make their games DRM free. Don't want DRM? Look up each game you want to buy and see what kind of DRM a game has, if any (I suggest reclaimyourgame.com as a place to start). Purchase the games that either come with no DRM or an easy to deal with DRM you can live with. It does take work and research, and while that is a pain in the rear, it's still possible to do. There is a HUGE library of games available to the PC, old and new--amongst them are a number of games that will be friendly to both your PC and your wallet. Don't just stick to the big budget AAA games because the publishers make them look the shiniest--often you'll find a more satisfying gaming experience if you go further afield. Vote with your wallet--when everyone does that and more money goes toward DRM free games and easy to install games, the publishers who try to make a living off screwing over gamers will notice. But you and you and you and you and you each have to act and stand firm to spend the money only on the stuff you can truly stand by playing. Buying a game full of DRM and awfulness and then complaining about it does nothing--the publisher still got your money, so they don't care. There are a lot of great developers and publishers who work toward making great games and treating their customers right--throw your money at them and not the guys who you pay to make you eternally miserable. It's just common sense.

It is possible to have a legal, DRM-free hobby playing PC games. It does require some work and research and backbone not to buy the stuff that doesn't suit your standards, but it is very much worth it.

 

[GoaThief]

Metro is a great example of RAM.

Just sped through 10 minutes of Metro 2033 (Chapter 1 onwards) and this is what I saw;

DX11, everything on Max

Not seeing this heavy RAM usage that's really going to warrant 16gb of it. SSDs are great for increasing Windows responsiveness and reducing load times somewhat, but remain largely irrelevant when it comes to in-game situations.

 

[GoaThief]

people hate on Gears Of War but it looks like alot of fun to me, and would totally have playes it had they continued the series on PC...but NOOOOOO they come up with some bullshit about piracy..I'm not buying an Xbox just to play a series I may find overhyped anyway

Gears of War is a pretty good game, far more tongue-in-cheek than many give it credit for and it plays nicely online with a pad unlike many other shooters.

I would recommend getting an Xbox though, not just for that but the tasty arcade/indie section and a handful of other retail exclusives. You can pick pre-owned consoles up very cheaply so there's no reason not to, plus you can get a decent controller for your PC thrown in for "free".

 

[Vault101]

Gears of War is a pretty good game, far more tongue-in-cheek than many give it credit for and it plays nicely online with a pad unlike many other shooters.

I would recommend getting an Xbox though, not just for that but the tasty arcade/indie section and a handful of other retail exclusives. You can pick pre-owned consoles up very cheaply so there's no reason not to, plus you can get a decent controller for your PC thrown in for "free".

it is true that Xboxes are Cheap as chips thease days...buuuuuuuut aside from gears I don't feel theres alot I missed out on, I do have a PS3 afterall (and am saving up for a new computer)

mabye when the next gen rolls around..but by then I may be distracted by all the shiney

 

[Meight08]

Piracy.

It's cheaper and easier to hammer out a game for the consoles than make one that'll run on a bunch of different systems

But that doesn't matter when you spend months optimising it so it can even play on consoles.

 

[R3dF41c0n]

they havnt abandoned PC...were that the case we wouldn't be getting anymore AAA games, my point is I guess I just have more....mainstream tastes and I see nothing wrong with wanting to experience AAA on a PC

Lol, I guess my tastes in games are more... hipster. Joking aside, you have to look at it from a business perspective (like the big publishers do). They look at high piracy, lower customer base, and sometimes higher development costs (after all they have to account for all the different hardware configurations).

There is far less piracy on consoles, a much larger customer base, and lower development costs (because the hardware is consistent). Strictly from a business perspective it's a no brainer to develop a mutli-million dollar project for a console.

I bought a 360 just for playing some of these games. In fact I played the entire Mass Effect series on console because I didn't want to deal with the PC DRM. I had to practice and reteach myself how to aim using a thumbstick but I think that experience made me a better gamer.

There's nothing wrong with wanting the AAA experience on PC. The fact is big publishers don't concentrate their efforts on the PC platform for the reasons I mentioned.

My point is there are so many great things being done in the indie realm. Because the financial risk for an indie game is so small the developers can try new things instead of falling into a secure formula every time (like COD, Madden, etc). The PC is alive and well it's just different than it used to be.

 

[GoaThief]

That's virtual memory, not physical. As in hard drive space, not RAM.

Not true; clicky [http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-IE/perfmon/thread/6608ebac-a7ec-43b0-88d6-e8d95ab8d9cd]. Although resource monitor is a much better and accurate tool to use, I agree. Was just quick 'n dirty for the purposes of this thread.

You left the game to check the usage? You notice how Firefox is using more memory? That's because Metro is sitting in the background, not doing anything.

You check memory usage in game with console commands while you're actually performing actions.

No and no, although I was standing still at the time. Of course you might claim otherwise so I took the liberty of firing up some monitoring tools and took this screeny for you;

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=95987371

... same settings as before, several tabs on Waterfox, 2 different software programs, monitoring server, Steam, blah blah, etc. First column is physical memory used, second is physical memory available and third is physical memory load. I'd not closed Metro since earlier, had played through Chapter 2 then restarted in Ranger Hardcore for a challenge. 16gb of RAM is simply not needed for gaming at present.

 

[jbm1986]

...Dont quote me on that.

Sorry, couldn't help it.

The bad ports are the worst part of being a pc gamer. its bad enough that you are bottle necked by consoles, you actually perform worse due to lazy porting.

This^

 

[G32420NL]

I see your points and i agree it's not all rainbows and sunshine with pc gaming, especially DRM.
that said i tend to focus on positive things, steam and now steam greenlight, mods that make games like skyrim playable for far longer times, dark souls gets a fix in 23 minutes,

And too say that ports are getting worse, i slightly disagree, there will always be good and bad ports, saints row 2 sucked balls, saints row 3 runs pretty good, resident evil 4 vs 5 is also a no brainer.

Whould like to see more fighting games on pc though, the main reason i still think about getting a ps3/xbox360

 

[GoaThief]

It's using more than 3GB of ram

No, it can't be as that is total RAM usage, including Windows and everything else as I said.

and you don't even have anti-aliasing smoothing all those edges. The textures also look rather muddy. What settings do you have that on?

Are you kidding me? You're sounding a bit petulant now, here;

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=95991919

You don't need 16gb of RAM for gaming. It's useless. Now, if you were video editing or something you might but not for gaming.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Because console games are cheaper to produce and thus much more profitable and we live in a market driven society.