GameSpot's attention to PC gaming lacklustre?

Has anyone noticed that GameSpot seems to not bother reviewing or rating PC versions of multi-platform games?

I think it's kind of unfair, because some people prefer PC games and can't get decent reviews from GameSpot before they go out and buy games.

GameSpot should just change their name to "ConsoleSpot" because it really doesn't like the PC.

Just a though. :P

(and I know I'm probably about to get loads of hate...)

PS: did you also notice that in the forums PC is lumped in with Mac?

Gamespot's PC coverage is porportional to it's fan/readership. It's not unfair...it's logical and makes sense as a business.

Gamespot's PC coverage is porportional to it's fan/readership. It's not unfair...it's logical and makes sense as a business.

Renevent42

Driving away PC gamers - who buy millions of PC games every year, is "logical and makes sense"?

;

You must have a different definition of logical than I do.

[QUOTE="Renevent42"]

Gamespot's PC coverage is porportional to it's fan/readership. It's not unfair...it's logical and makes sense as a business.

Born_Lucky

Driving away PC gamers - who buy millions of PC games every year, is "logical and makes sense"?

;

You must have a different definition of logical than I do.

To be fair, they at least reviewed the PC version of COD: MW2 seperately from the consoles and scored it differently, where IGN didnt even give a different score or review to the PC version.

I'm satisfied with the PC coverage and also agree with what others said above. Unfortunatly, PC is not near as popular as the consoles so we shouldn't expect equal coverage.

This is old news, pc lacks attention from everyone and everything!!! (Pointing out the recent news of no pc version for dead space :cry: For example there is a prequel for Necrovision and last time i checked GS did not know it even existed!

This is old news, pc lacks attention from everyone and everything!!! (Pointing out the recent news of no pc version for dead space :cry:) For example there is a prequel for Necrovision and last time i checked GS did not know it even existed!dakan45

A bit off topic, but that dead space 2 news is crazy. But, if the 1st REALLY only sold 40,000 copies.....thats just pathetic. Expect to see more publishers follow unless sales pick up. I hope this doesnt happen and PC remains profitable, so we can keep getting high quality releases.

[QUOTE="dakan45"]This is old news, pc lacks attention from everyone and everything!!! (Pointing out the recent news of no pc version for dead space :cry:) For example there is a prequel for Necrovision and last time i checked GS did not know it even existed!mkaliaz

A bit off topic, but that dead space 2 news is crazy. But, if the 1st REALLY only sold 40,000 copies.....thats just pathetic. Expect to see more publishers follow unless sales pick up. I hope this doesnt happen and PC remains profitable, so we can keep getting high quality releases.

Thats a good point. None of them ever seem to count Steam sales or other DD companies. Its pretty stupid IMO because i think that digital sales has grown tremendously in the last year or two.

Maybe i'm one of the weird ones to those people who count sales, but i bought 80-90% of my PC games digitally this past year.

Only 40,000 copies? Wow...that's sad. I never played the game but heard it was very good.Renevent42

The game was probably good unfortunately the implementation of the PC version was appalling. The main problem I believe was the mouse control they completely cocked it up. You just need to google "Dead Space Mouse Control Problems" and you will find plenty of articles/blogs/posts on the issue. The developers put zero effort into the PC version and just made a quick sloppy port well cry me a river if your sales aren't very good then.

As for gamespots lack of attention regarding the PC, it is nothing new nearly all sites are guilty of it. The PC is seen as "boring" and "hard work" so they concentrate on the consoles. In my experience console gamers are easier to please and swallow all the bull that the industry shovels out plus they make a hell of a lot of noise so it is easier to cater for them.

Hahahahah...dudes everyone knows that GameSpot is a xbox fansite...GameSpot is not a review game site...its a xbox360 fan site...lol didnt you guys know that allready?

[QUOTE="Born_Lucky"]

[QUOTE="Renevent42"]

Gamespot's PC coverage is porportional to it's fan/readership. It's not unfair...it's logical and makes sense as a business.

Renevent42

Driving away PC gamers - who buy millions of PC games every year, is "logical and makes sense"?

;

You must have a different definition of logical than I do.

I'm a diehard PC gamer, but this still makes sense to me. It business.

Has anyone noticed that GameSpot didn't even bother giving BioShock 2 on PC rating, let alone a review?

I find it disappointing, especially since PCs are generally best at FPS.

And GameSpot haven't even taken away the "Read Previews" button on BioShock 2 on PC.

Gamespot PC coverage completely sucks in every way. They don't give a ****. The best PC gaming site is Rock Paper Shotgun.RichardStallman

Thank you sir for giving us another option!

To everyone:

Is there any other sites like the one Mr Stallman suggested that focuses on PC gaming?

A bit off topic, but that dead space 2 news is crazy. But, if the 1st REALLY only sold 40,000 copies.....thats just pathetic. Expect to see more publishers follow unless sales pick up. I hope this doesnt happen and PC remains profitable, so we can keep getting high quality releases.

mkaliaz

If I remember right, the 40,000 copies thing was from NPD data about the sales of the game by the end of the month it was released in. In other words, it sold under 40,000 *in North America* *at retail only* *from October 20th to the end of October*. Remember how Crysis was reported by the NPD to have only sold 86,633 copies by the end of November (from November 13th)? We now know the game eventually reached 1.5 million worldwide as of early-mid 2008, a figure EA put out before the game had even been released on Steam, and it most assuredly has sold more than that by now.

Dead Space more than likely sold not too much less on the PC than it did on consoles, if not comparably. It wasn't exactly a huge hit on consoles either, as it had only just reached over 1 million sales (EA's figures) across all three platforms by the end of 2008.

[QUOTE="Renevent42"]Only 40,000 copies? Wow...that's sad. I never played the game but heard it was very good.charmingcharlie

The game was probably good unfortunately the implementation of the PC version was appalling. The main problem I believe was the mouse control they completely cocked it up. You just need to google "Dead Space Mouse Control Problems" and you will find plenty of articles/blogs/posts on the issue. The developers put zero effort into the PC version and just made a quick sloppy port well cry me a river if your sales aren't very good then.

As for gamespots lack of attention regarding the PC, it is nothing new nearly all sites are guilty of it. The PC is seen as "boring" and "hard work" so they concentrate on the consoles. In my experience console gamers are easier to please and swallow all the bull that the industry shovels out plus they make a hell of a lot of noise so it is easier to cater for them.

Makes sense to me too, it may not be politically correct but most likely the average median IQ of PC gamers is probably higher than console gamers.

Seeing as the majority of users here game on console, it is not surprising.

No video review of STALKER COP. I guess that makes a bit of a statement. chandu83

ohh i noticed that. I was hoping on actually watching the review instead of hearing it....oh well.

I was saying this three years ago, when we still got PC charts and seperate console charts, not multiformat charts which you see everywhere. Imentioned a games award show I saw 2 years ago that had six 5 minute vignettes about 'the history of games'- PC wasn't mentioned in any of them!

Gamespot reviewed 30% less PC titles in 2009 than it did in 2008. The average review for a PC game in 2008 was 78%. Last year it was 68%!

If a game is PC only, (Empire Total War, STALKER Call of Pripyat, etc) it hardly ever gets a video review, where as games on PS3 or 360 only do.

Nowadays, with video or written reviews, you are likely to go to the PC page of a site, see that such-and-such a game has been reviewed, and then on clicking on the link find you are taken to the PS3 or 360 review which may have one sentence saying the game is also available for PC. I saw many many more video reviews of Dragin Age, for example, that reviewed the console game and then spent 30 seconds on the PC differences, covering about 30% of the actual ifferences!

PC gaming is now second class. The reason PC game sales are 23% down at retail is that stores will now only carry 2 or 3 untis and when they sell will not get any more. Many stores will tell customers they have to pre-order as the store will only put 2 copies on the shelf.

There is also a bias against non U.S and small publishers of PC games, with a prefence by themedia of talking to Microsoft and Sony and getting all th info in one go, rather than having to deal with individual PC publishers. Hence so many great titles like Space Rangers 2 and King Arthur the Roleplaying Wargame falling under the radar!

I have been a PC gamer for over 20 years, never having played console games at all. I find this all depressing!

10-15 years ago, when many of these gaming sites and multiformat games companies first started, theywere game PC publishers/websites. They derived their income from PC gamers around the world. If it wasn't for all the PC gamers buying those deep, non linear open worlds games like Baldurs Gate and Neverwinter Nights, for example, Biowarewould never have had the money to make those multiformat'action based RPG's for the console market - sorry, the multiformat market! And so it goes with many other publishers. They have stabbed their early PC gamer customers in the back in order to chase the mighty console dollar, and have dumbed down and shallowfied gaming in the process. So much now that you'll find console gamers complaining about dumbed down games as much as you do PC gamers!

Gamespot PC coverage completely sucks in every way. They don't give a ****. The best PC gaming site is Rock Paper Shotgun.RichardStallman

On topic: You do know that developers primarily send the 360 version to reviewers first correct?

Oh and to the yahoo who thinks GS is bought by M$

I find it sad they they bother reviewing "petty" PC games such as Hotel Giant 2. Honestly, does anyone that visit a gaming website care about those games? They should dedicate more time into PC multiplatforms and PC exclusives that actually people want to play....

they probably holding out on bioshock 2 review for widescreen fix. you know the double standard for hyped/gs advertised games.

all the pc gamers (intelligent people) left gamespot already. I dont by the bs about gamespot user base either, look at the top ten games on the site... always a bunch of pc games in there.