Rather than designing for the group that's not interested in videogames, wouldn't you rather people made games on hardware best suited for videogames.
Those who aren't interested full stop wouldn't put any money towards a system. I'm talking about people who aren't us, the hardcore. We are a small niche. And anyway, markets grow, people who aren't gamers may become gamers later. Sometimes they just need to be targeted. That's not a bad thing.
Maybe it's not the worst thing, I'd just rather they designed for the niche. I think it's a more valuable community. Sorry if it's not following, am way under the weather at the moment. Can't think clearly.
Because they're good. If they weren't good they wouldn't succeed. Like Sean said it's not an idea of Open vs. Closed it's an idea of what is easiest and most streamlined. You can bring up the point of people just needing to think a bit, but ease isn't the only reason. I don't choose an Xbox because it's easier than a PC, it is also more streamlined and offers a direct and focused service. I don't need to buy an operating system that comes with features I don't want. I don't need to install different software or keep track of it - it's not hard to do so, but it's better when something does it for me. The 360 gives me a good service - games, film streaming, online play, demos and patches - all without any configuration or worry. I built my own PC - I'm fairly savvy when it comes to this kind of thing, but it always annoys me having to tweak graphics settings to get a maintainable framerate, or having to patch something by going into Program Files, or my games and their saves being stored all over the place. My 'closed platform' is a lot more intelligent when it comes to this and just means I have no need to worry.
These few points you complain about are hardly issues anymore.. for one I can't even remember the last PC game that had me manually download a patch and extract it in the folder. Its 2012 man almost every game auto updates... matter a fact every game on Steam does . Saves are not complicated either 90% of saves go to Documents/games/ or they have cloud saving which is free unlike both the PS3 and 360. On the settings.. this also use to be an issue but most modern games also auto detect these days. Games like Skyrim and such will just test your settings and choose the best options.. you can tweek those options if you choose but it should be giving you the best performance. Most games the only setting you may need to change is your monitor resolution. Talking about streamlined even mods for Skyrim have become simple as hell thanks to Steam.. its just one click now and steam will download and continue to update the mods you choose. Anyways it just sounds like you need to try out Steam.. But yeah.. I'm not sure why I keep argueing about PC gaming with you guys. Its clear we have different tastes and there are reasons I have grown to love PC and for reasons you still like consoles. Its not like I hate consoles... Guess I just get frustrated when people don't understand. Sometimes these things you find complicated are good.. Ive talked about it before that I have some slight hearing issues, low and high towns do not sound right to me so I can almost not understand people on console mics at all. PC how ever sense there is so many options (that some would find complicated) I can now hear people clearly without any problems. This is one of the first things I fell in love with... not supped up graphics or whatever garbage people seem to think of PC gamers. Then I started to realize I like the communities on PC so much better.. one thing about PC gamers is they tend to be a bit older and more mature than your average 15 year old screaming cunt on COD. Most games I will manage to meet nicer people.. now this isnt always the case, some games do attract vile people (such as Dota... they are so angry).. but for the most part I would say the community is better without a doubt. Not to mention games last longer, look at Counter Strike and TF2 they have been around for years yet the community is still bumping and the developers are still supporting them. Console games communities seem to die in a few weeks specially once a new COD is released.. its terrible. Shaffer is such a lovable dude. This whole thing seems like it will be awesome. Really looking forward to seeing the game slowly developed.
The problem with the online games on consoles is the community's too well trained. Every year they'll buy the new installment and wasn't last year shit afterwards. It's the thing I'm most tired about with console games. It's like people don't get tired of the same bullshit. Call of Duty never really has a problem with retaining players. It's more any other game that isn't Call of Duty on consoles. Maybe it's why every game's becoming Call of Duty.
Its a crime how Call of Duty games don't get any support. All the past installments slowly turn into hackerfests and Activision is to lazy to patch it. They would rather you move on to their new game.. which are pretty much 60 dollar expansions. Sometimes I seriously wonder if they leave these security holes in their games so people will move on. TF2 is a huge example of how to keep a community alive.. its a totally different game than what was released. Tons of new maps, weapons, gear and gameplay tweeks. If developers supported their games then maybe gamers wouldn't need to buy a new COD every year (and valve has proven you can still make money off older games without screwing the majority). But back to consoles closed platforms Valve did not have the option to update TF2 on 360 like they wanted to.. pretty much leaving it in the dead sad state it is now. If Shaffer is to be believed who know how much it would have cost and how long it would have taken to actually update the game like on PC. Just redonk..
I don't know. I think there's something great about the Call of Duty formula or people wouldn't keep buying it. But really I'd just love to see some other games keep a community for more than a year. I like the idea of measuring an online game's worth by how long its community sticks. Really that's all there is for online games, it's just a shame it's not happening on consoles. Especially for smaller devs.
I doubt TF2 during its entire run has made as much money as one of the recent CoD games. Supporting CoD with anything more than just expansions just doesn't make sense for Activision since it'd cannibalize sales from year to the next. But, as sad as that may be, I don't think most CoD players want to play the same game more than the one year. They've been well trained to move on to the next hotness; it's how they roll.
Thats the thing though.. COD is the same game with some slight changes. Just like how TF2 has changed so has COD yet they are charging up the ass for those changes. People shouldn't support that kinda shit. Also I would be willing to wager that the average TF2 dev is making more cash than the average COD dev.. they are a much smaller team were as COD had what? 3 teams working on the last game? TF2 dosnt need to make millions. I am sure they are a far happier team to.. I don't hear people storming out of Valve about stress in the work place.
I'm not sure comparing Team Fortress 2 sales really speaks to any kind of quality. Maybe if we compared sales of hats. I think it's better but it's also Valve. When I hear people say they've put hundreds of hours into TF2 I'm not really surprised. When they mention putting the same time into a single Call of Duty I wonder what went wrong.
With regard to PC v Console, my 360 cost £90, you find me a PC that can do what my 360 does for that price. I would like a PC, but can't justify the money.
So what you're saying here is that actually you want PC gaming to continue to be more niche than console gaming. Otherwise the moment everyone is using PC, that community quality drops dramatically. These games are exceptions to the rule, rather than being the rule. CS and CSS are two of the most competitive FPS games ever made and are unsurpassed in quality. TF2 is lauded too and has since gone F2P which has further boosted its numbers. But what about all those other FPS games? The little ones which don't have the support. They die.
I'm not sure about this, there are people who lightly jest at others to play on PC, but then you get those irritating PC gamers who pop up in threads all the time to attack console gamers. There's that one guy on NeoGaf, who always has to post his PC screenshots and shit on console gamers. He doesn't even come across lightheartedly, he literally thinks he's so fucking supreme. It's sickenly sad.
Not all last forever but I'd still say almost all multiplayer games last a bit longer than the console versions. For instance Monday Night Combat had a community for a good bit after the XBLA version. So much that they arent even bothering with another XBLA version. Recently Dungeon Defenders has given up on XBLA/PSN and gone full Steam support with updates every other couple weeks. Some that would cost them to much on the consoles. Well based on your complaints it didnt sound like you were . And hes not banned yet? Just like 360 and Sony their are the fanboys that make things awkward. Of course there will be a few sour apples, but I still think on average you will meet more pleasant people than when match making on a console game. Maybe I am over exaggerating but from personal experience I think its pretty obvious.
I wasn't talking about quality in terms of CoD compared to TF2. I was merely stating what Activision does makes sense for their business model; it's the same thing sports games have been doing since EA Sports landed on the Genesis. I won't begin to know all of the updates TF2 has experienced over the years but I doubt it delivers the equivalent of a 6 hour high-adrenaline campaign every 12 months. That may or may not be of value to most CoD players, but you can look at the community here and I'd say most of the people here who play CoD finish the campaign and dabble in the mp, rather than the opposite. Do not misunderstand me, I think what Valve has done with TF2 and their other franchises - minus Half-Life - should be lauded, but as Calvin has stated, they are an exception. Part of that is because they are in the unique position where they can be an exception, since everyone who plays their game on PC got TF2 through Steam. Whenever you play anything on Steam you are a Valve customer and that creates an easy gateway for them to feed the consumer content, and it's great that it's free, but they can afford to do that because you're always on Steam and always aware of their other products. Activison is making their money primarily on console, I'd guess, and in that space they need to remind consumers every year that they are top dog. When you're playing Battlefield 3 on console you're not still playing in Activision's virtual playground.
Why would I sit bolt upright in my chair with a keyboard and mouse after a hard day's (hypothetical) work when I can slouch in an armchair with a wireless controller on the nice big TV? For better frame rate.
All games on Steam have that opportunity though. Look at Magicka, Terraria, and now Dungeon Defenders.... I am sure Super MNC will be another Steam success story as well. Hook your pc up to the tv with HDMI then use or Walla comfy couch pc gaming...
