Do console games get better treatment than PC games?

Capcom's big name titles will be great on PC/ Capcom PC seem to relish making games that look better the their console counterparts, as seen in SF4 and soon to be seen in RE5 and Dark Void.

Yes Capcom is the one company that's been doing PCs right. I agree with the dwindling number of PCs, but the PC always makes a comeback towards the end of the console cycle, and it still has the biggest "install base" of any of the platforms, and as such will never be entirely irrelevant, no matter what some people insist. 
 
Steam and Stardock are also making big strides in making the PC a more viable platform, and I think one cross-platform play becomes more of a standard, it will come back in a huge way.

Did the PC version of bionic commando not feature xbox button prompts? That's a capcom game.

I think in most situations console do get better treatment but then you look at companies like Valve who truly appreciate their PC community and basically ignored the console versions of The Orange Box.

I've definitely noticed a major shift in recent years away from PC gaming more towards consoles in the last few years.  Obviously there are specific company exceptions, but this gen we saw companies like id and Epic focusing on consoles which never happened before.  In previous generations after a single year you'd see PC games exceptionally better looking than console games, right now the only truly standout PC game graphically is Crysis, IMO.  I think things have fundamentally changed in the industry, and I don't see any short term way things will change back.  I think the fact that you had consoles like 360 and PS3 slightly further up the development curve (and selling for $400 and $600) made a difference.  It's mostly economics related more than anything else.  Everything from people not having the money to buy expensive PCs for gaming to games costing more to make than ever before.

The ports from console to PC is what drives me crazy. GTA4 is a great example. Horrible optimization. I appreciate Capcom's massive effort to making their games work on PC.

Yes. In theory, for any game that comes out on consoles in addition to the PC, the PC version should be the best on account of it having the highest specs. But then you look at shit like GTA4 which got such a half arsed port, it really does seem like they do it on purpose because if they gave it the same amount of care as the console version, the PC would be very clearly the vehicle of choice for gamers.

"The ports from console to PC is what drives me crazy. GTA4 is a great example. Horrible optimization. I appreciate Capcom's massive effort to making their games work on PC. "

  The part that I hate is that PC games almost always come latter, and as a person that is always looking ahead it is hard to stop and go back.

It won't die, don't even think about it :(

Capcom are also the company who released RE4 on pc. A good contender for worst port ever.It didnt even have mouse support.
Good to see they've mended their ways.

Absolutly, the biggest reason is that they sell more. Another reason is that developers when making a console game only have one set of hardware(or two) they need to optimize the game for when thats not the case for PCs.
Also, console games sell alot better then PC games so its obviousl for a developer/publisher what to focus on.

yes, i think that console games get more treatment. a lot of the ports that come from console to PC are horrible. PC gaming is still here and will still be here.

" @hamlaser said:

"The ports from console to PC is what drives me crazy. GTA4 is a great example. Horrible optimization. I appreciate Capcom's massive effort to making their games work on PC. "

Ive heard so many horror stories of GTA 4 for PC   "

" It won't die, don't even think about it :( "

" Did the PC version of bionic commando not feature xbox button prompts? That's a capcom game. "

Note: This is not an anti PS3/360 rant. I have owned all of them at some point and they all do something well with their own pro's and con's.This blog is just made to hopefuly remind people that the PC is still a strong platform for gaming. Despite what the press and industry seems to be expressing these days.

You don't need one of these to play PC games.

It's sad and very maddening when ever i see the PC getting treated as nothing more then an afterthought. One of the big ones for me is when companies ignore the PC version of collector editions, and just flat out don't offer them to the PC consumers, while the PS3/360 get them. Modern Warefare 2, Assassin's Creed 2 and Batman:AA are three of the most recent culprits to do this. But thankfully there are still a handful of companies that still see the PC platform for how good it is, and they do their best to play to its strengths. Valve for example is one of the best and most well known companies to do this.

There are still many good things about the PC, all it needs is for the developers and publishers to play to what the platform does well, instead of just porting over what works on a console. Below is just some of those strengths that hopefully developers and publishers will start to look at in the future.

• The install base: The 360/PS3 can fight and brag about what ever sales numbers they wish, but at the end of the day there are more PC's in peoples homes then there are consoles. And that means more potential customers, if the development and publishing communities got off their butts and realized this  they could try and develop more games for that wider demographic.

• What do you think the games are made with in the first place?: Games are made on PC's not on a console. Every part of a game has been developed by a countless number of people sitting at their PC's for years. Every piece of hardware that makes your 360/PS3 go vroom and make all the shiny things happen on your TV was designed and perfected on PC's.

• Mods and Skins: The PC lends itself to allowing developers to make programs and applications to let people make mods and skins for their game. This potentially makes a game's re-playability limitless. Just look at games like Warcraft 3, that's an old ass game, but because of the modding community people still play that game to this day. Another example of this is Fallout 3 and Oblivion. They have had mods made for the game that make it run better, look better and have had many parts of the game improved that where ether just flat out not available or broken and a pain to deal with out of the box. All things you will never get on a console.

• DLC: Most DLC is free on PC's while its ether just not available to some(PS3) or they ask you to buy it(360/PS3).

• MMO'S: Love em or hate them, MMO's are still a major genre exclusive on PC's, with a few exceptions. For people who can only afford to buy 2-3 games a year an MMO is ideal. For the price you would pay for 2-3 games, that at best would last you 3-4 months, you could get an MMO that you could play for a year, Plus there are hundreds of free MMO's out there that are just as fun as the pay to play ones only they are free!

• PC's are not just for games: If you have a PC you can listen to music, watch movies/tv, surf the web, post on this very site your reading this on right now, watch porn, Instant message, watch streaming videos, do work/school work, make mods for you favorite game, learn how to make games, actually make games, buy games/books/DVD's/anything on online stores, read reviews and watch videos about upcoming games, stream live music/video, use social networking websites, and play tons of fun free games online. While the PS3/360 can do some of those things nether of them can do all of them, nor can they do them as easily and quickly as you can on a PC.

• You save more money in the long run with a PC: The myth that PC's cost too much just is not true any more. You can buy a pretty good pre-built PC for around $400-$500 if you shop around, and they can run games that look and play just as well as their console counterparts if not better. Then there is the long term where you save your money. PC's don't cost anything to play online, and the games are always at least $10-$20 dollars cheaper then on a console. If you shop around online stores like amazon they are usually an extra $5 dollars cheaper on top of price drop in actual stores. And then there is steam, these guys know how to do deals. Almost every weekend they have full priced new released games for $20-$30, or packs of whole games for $40-$50 that include 5-10 games. If you add up all the money you will save on the games you buy with a PC you will easily recuperate the initial cost of the system in no time. Or if you prefer to look at it this way, you will be able to buy at least 2-3 extra games per year that you wouldn't have been able to otherwise. Or again, if you want to upgrade a part of your system the money you saved will cover the costs.

At the end of the day people will play on what ever platform they enjoy the most. The platform that offers them the most interesting features and games. It's just sad to see so many people these days who never even think of the PC, or dismiss it off hand. I believe a lot of that has to do with the media and publishers who constantly ignore and hide the PC platform like its some dirty secret, never even mentioning that there is a PC version of their game. Or waiting six months to release the PC version. That to me is criminal.

"PC's are not dieing, there are just less people enjoying the best platform to game on."

" Have you guys completely ignored blizzcon? this week has made me wonder how much it would cost to get a gaming PC "

I think the one difference is that the very mainstream triple-A titles seem to be more conspicuous on consoles. I think that's because retail on the PC is struggling in favour of direct download stuff on platforms like Steam. I don't quite see what the complaint is - most triple-A titles are released on the PC. GTA4 had technical problems, yes, but that is very much a one-off these days.
 
Gaming on the PC in general is in a fantastic state I think. Blizzard and Valve of course, the flourishing indie scene, the hugely ambitious MMOs, the mod scene, the super-hardcore strategy games, the casual/browser-based stuff. The variety has never been better I think.

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• The install base: The 360/PS3 can fight and brag about what ever sales numbers they wish, but at the end of the day there are more PC's in peoples homes then there are consoles. And that means more potential customers, if the development and publishing communities got off their butts and realized this  they could try and develop more games for that wider demographic.

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