[QUOTE="skrat_01"][QUOTE="DrinkDuff"][QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]Yet again consoles prove they don't work as PC's. I don't even know why developers waste time porting PC games to consoles anyways.DrinkDuff
I can tell you why. Money. There's a larger gaming market on consoles than PCs, and of course PCs are superior to consoles in every way. Computer technology becomes outdated months after the hardware is released on the market, and the only platform that can keep up with the constantly changing standards is a PC. I thought that was pretty much a cold hard fact by now.WoW selling 9 million copies, HL2 selling 8 million (more including ATI cards sold), Starcraft 8 million, and 13 million steam users - all off the top of my head.Estimated over* 200 million PC gamers world Wide - quote by MS
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The PC market cant simply be called neiche. It is too broad. Overclockers and hardware nuts YES, a neiche market.
You're right the PC market as a whole is pretty large. However, that's not what I meant, and I didn't specify that correctly. The market I am talking about involves new high profile games that can't run on 3 year old hardware, which is pretty much what a lot of people have. I am talking about games like Crysis. At this point in time, those are in a niche market. Compare the sales of Bioshock on the PC to the 360 and you can see what I mean. Maybe a year or two later they will be thriving with users, but right now only people with $1000 PCs will be able to run it, and that isn't going to be the majority. Most will turn to cheaper alternatives (consoles), like myself.
Besides saving money, I am further reassured by the fact that the console version of the game I bought is standardized so I know it will be an optimized experience, so I don't have to worry about messing with PC settings or buying a new graphics card (if the devs made a good port anyway). And even if the PC version of the game sells better, console sales won't exactly be an abysmal failure. It's still money in their pocket.
In terms of sales you have snagged a problem. Bioshock sold VERY well on PC, trumping the 360 in Europe. Look at all the other big name or smaller name PC FPSs. FEAR sold millions on PC - thus the devs have made an expasion, and a second one is due soon, Far Cry sold well over 4 million, as did Doom 3 and UT04, HL2 sold a whopping 8+ million, heck the list goes on. The FPS genre thrives on PC, the most out of any system by a HUGE margin. Look at games like ArmA and Swat 4. These games are aimed for a smaller market, yet generate enough profit to justify expasions and sequals.The development costs of a shooter on PC, is considerably lower than a console games development - and there is an array of reasons. Another noteworthy element is distribution on PC. Not only is hard copies cheaper to sell for the PC platform - any developer + publisher can get a game on the shelves - but digital distribution has made a huge impact on the market.
As for PC costs, look at GPU sales. I'll have to find the table, but in performance GPUs alone in late 2006, over 13 million were sold. The PC hardware market is massive - the console hardware market doesent even remotley compare. There are TONS of people out there willing to pay considerably more for a computer - however. You dont need a $1000 rig to run these games. They all scale down to run on older hardware. Look at Counter Strike, the worlds most popular FPS by a huge margin, as is the most played by a huge margin, and it runs on virutally any computer. Games like Crysis can run on 3 year old hardware. Sure the visual treat isnt there, but the gameplay still is. Heck back at the start of 04, i beat Far Cry and Doom 3 on a 4 year old computer.
This is the thing what console gamers forget. You dont need to 'buy a new graphics card' to play these games, nor is it difficult to even run the games - messing around with settings. 200 million PC gamers playing those games is testiment to that.
And yes more platforms = more profit. The only problem here is, much more console titles will come to PC, rather than the opposite, primarily due to hardware conflicts - e.g. 360s lack of RAM and standard HDD. This is why console gamers could expect a spinoff of PC titles e.g. Battlfield, for their systems. And of course this means more multiplatform titles to generate more profits - but again it is a benifit for PC gamers as the PC version nearly always turns out the better one.
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