118 réponses à ce sujet

[Little Paw]

I guess I put this in the wrong place so will repost in "off topic" as instructed. Not sure how it is off topic if it is about ME2 specifically giving me the below impression....but hey, Stanley said move it here.
I am not a kid by the way, so keep in mind, if you have not seen the decline of PC gaming over 15 years until now, you may want to avoid the topic.
I did not want to erase this comment. It was a bad way of trying to avoid a flame war and I did not intend to say people should not disagree. My bad. The jury has been instructed to wipe this comment from the records...LOL.
Everyone has been quite pleasant in their reposnes.


While ME2 is a great game, I think it more than marks the beginning of the end for depth in PC gaming.
PC gaming used to be considered the more "artsy", less "streamlined", smarter,
key mapping happy, deeper version of gaming. I am sure there are other
adjectives, but you get my drift.

It is obvious that the "streamlined" approach for ME2 makes it feel more console based.
It seems that the PC platform is an afterthought, especially since ME2
makes little to no use of the fact that we have a KEYBOARD and how
limitless that actually CAN be. The space bar has multiple
functions????? That's a console technique rarely used in on a PC game, or even a PC port.
At least fake us out and give us three different
keys, even though you can never use those funtions simultaneously
anyway (again, a console thing and called "streamlined" for the sake of
a "nice" word).

Take into consideration that PC sections of stores are shrinking to the point of only having new releases and PC
game sales are lower, and it all makes sense.

There is an obvious difference between a game designed for the PC and a game that
comes out on multiple platforms at the same time.
(ME2 is an XBox game)

This is not a complaint as much as it is a realization.

ME2 feels like a simple game, with a great story and superb cinematics. You
almost don't feel as responsible for the action as you did in ME1.

PC gamers are NOT looking for developers to limit the amount of utility the keyboard can offer.
PC gamers do not button mash. We plot. We fiddle around. We get into the muck of the games.

Great game, but "streamlined" is being used too often for what really is just "dummied" down for the casual gamer.

Modifié par Little Paw, 31 janvier 2010 - 05:12 .

[Little Paw]

Good point, beer - good point.

[XianduSER]

I have liked pc gaming for awhile now, but it has always had 1 big problem, money.

The biggest reason for pc's decline is because it is too expensive to upgrade your computer to play the newest games. Where as consoles have cycles and it's a 1 time purchase for typically 5 years or more in the current gen. I think if pc gaming wants to compete then it needs to slow down how fast it grows or the game companies need to make the game not as intensive on computers for people with a tight budget. So with that said, game companies do see consoles are the money machines and even great pc companies like Bioware are in a way forced to make things more console like. Sad but true.

[Angie Long]

imported_beer wrote...

Honestly, I don't think it is dummied down as much as made specifically for people who are playing primarily for entertainment and do not wish the complications that hardcore gamers like you and I found fun. And still do.

To a FPS gamer for example ME2 is more involving in some ways given the choices and story. To us, it feels vastly more empty. It depends on where you started from.

Well that's where the money is. ME 1&2 seem to be going for more of a third person shooter, with just enough RPG mixed in to make the shooter fans go "wow" but not "yawn".

[Humanoid_Taifun]

XianduSER, your argument would have a lot of weight if PCs were mere gaming machines. But as things stand (at least where I live) everybody has a halfway modern PC. It'd be possible to do your work or surf the internet on a 400MHz computer, but that's not what people use.

I think the real reason for the decline in deepness is simply the growth of the casual gamer percentage. And I'd reckon that a lot of these casual gamers use PCs (because that's what they've got anyways).

[Eurypterid]

Why would you want three separate keys if you cannot use those three functions simultaneously anyway? I have no trouble with the 'streamlining' of that nature. I think it's a mistake to call it dumbed down anyway though. Keep in mind Mass Effect was a console game first and foremost, so that's the real market this franchise is aimed at, IMO. As well, I_B makes a good point about where you start from. Finally, the ME franchise isn't meant to be a hard core RPG. It's a hybrid, and is meant to be a hybrid. It's aimed at a different section of the gaming community.



I don't see this heralding the death of PC gaming. Nor do I see the shrinking shelf space in retail outlets as an indication of this either. On-line sales and digital distribution is where PC gaming is heading. That's the future for this platform, and I don't see it dying any time soon.

[SargeantRenegade]

Eurypterid wrote...

I don't see this heralding the death of PC gaming. Nor do I see the shrinking shelf space in retail outlets as an indication of this either. On-line sales and digital distribution is where PC gaming is heading. That's the future for this platform, and I don't see it dying any time soon.

QFT.

PC gaming is not dying.  It's evolving.  PC technology improves a lot faster than console technology, so it also stands to reason that the development and distribution of PC games is going to change a lot faster too.  If anything, it's console gaming that's at risk of dying if the console developers can't find a way to link their overpriced boxes into the new methods of distribution that PC gaming is spearheading.

[wrexingcrew]

Little Paw wrote...

The space bar has multiple functions????? At least fake us out and give us three different keys, even though you can never use those funtions simultaneously anyway (again, a console thing and called "streamlined" for the sake of a "nice" word).

Wait - a serious question. You can't remap keys in the PC version of ME2?

[Chained_Creator]

SargeantRenegade wrote...

Eurypterid wrote...

I don't see this heralding the death of PC gaming. Nor do I see the shrinking shelf space in retail outlets as an indication of this either. On-line sales and digital distribution is where PC gaming is heading. That's the future for this platform, and I don't see it dying any time soon.

QFT.

PC gaming is not dying.  It's evolving.  PC technology improves a lot faster than console technology, so it also stands to reason that the development and distribution of PC games is going to change a lot faster too.  If anything, it's console gaming that's at risk of dying if the console developers can't find a way to link their overpriced boxes into the new methods of distribution that PC gaming is spearheading.

if you're talking about digital distribution, Microsoft has been on that scene for a while now. (Download full 360 games for cheap, huzzah.) The only thing really holding them back is the size of hard-drives, but they're improving, as well.

[vengEXwolf]

Keep in mind mass effect originally was only intended to be an xbox game, but then was later ported to the PC because of high demand.



That in mind I would naturally assume they put the most work into mass effect 2 thinking of the xbox sales and fan base.

[Lotion Soronarr]

PC has one MASSIVE, and I mean MASSIVE advantage. Modding.

That alone is enough to give consoles a massive finger.
Consoles? F*** em.
Good if you want to have a few friends come over so can play split-screen. Otherwise? I'll take my PC anytime.

Modifié par Lotion Soronnar, 28 janvier 2010 - 07:42 .

[Stanley Woo]

No swearing, Lotion. And remove that swear from your signature block.

[Inhuman one]

Sadly many developers or publishers seem to think we dont want split screen and they give us online multiplayer only versions of games, and I dont like playing on the internet. Consoles are about playing games with friends beside you.



So as far as I am concerned, GTAIV, Mercenaries 2, Crackdown and Saint's Row 2 have no multiplayer.



Bioware is doing fine, EA should stop pushing them around about PS3 releases and such. It seems as if Bioware is not its own master anymore and EA makes their decisions now.



And if not I would hope that Bioware can prove they are still calling the shots.

[Dewnis]

PC gaming is aa lot bigger than console gaming.



Doubt it will lose the upper hand any time close.

[Godak]

SargeantRenegade wrote...

Eurypterid wrote...

I don't see this heralding the death of PC gaming. Nor do I see the shrinking shelf space in retail outlets as an indication of this either. On-line sales and digital distribution is where PC gaming is heading. That's the future for this platform, and I don't see it dying any time soon.

QFT.

PC gaming is not dying.  It's evolving.  PC technology improves a lot faster than console technology, so it also stands to reason that the development and distribution of PC games is going to change a lot faster too.  If anything, it's console gaming that's at risk of dying if the console developers can't find a way to link their overpriced boxes into the new methods of distribution that PC gaming is spearheading.

Both consoles have forms of digital distribution. And you can buy them in digital form for cheap.

[SargeantRenegade]

Godak wrote...

Both consoles have forms of digital distribution. And you can buy them in digital form for cheap.

My point is that the consoles are very slow off the mark.  PC gaming has been using digital distribution for nearly a decade already.  Game consoles have been using online technology since the Dreamcast, but have only started to dabble in digital distribution in more recent years.  Even then, they currently don't have the hardware to make this a viable form of game distribution for all console gamers, despite the high success of this distribution method.

The consoles are being left in the dust here, and still have a way to go before they catch up with the PC.  I guess that gives us a reason to look forward to the next generation of consoles, to see if they're capable of adapting the same way that the PC is going.

[Godak]

SargeantRenegade wrote...

Godak wrote...

Both consoles have forms of digital distribution. And you can buy them in digital form for cheap.

My point is that the consoles are very slow off the mark.  PC gaming has been using digital distribution for nearly a decade already.  Game consoles have been using online technology since the Dreamcast, but have only started to dabble in digital distribution in more recent years.  Even then, they currently don't have the hardware to make this a viable form of game distribution for all console gamers, despite the high success of this distribution method.

What do you mean "they don't have the hardware"?

[Little Paw]

Dewnis wrote...

PC gaming is aa lot bigger than console gaming.

Doubt it will lose the upper hand any time close.

Can you quantify this?


That aside - great responses, thanks.
Some very valid points.
I should clarify, that ME2 is not killing PC gaming directly. It is the gradual decline due to its success that will further the thought that developing games for PC (even if they are ported to console) is not means to achieve the success story. PC games will be the port and not the developing platform, more and more.
Fallout 3, to me, felt like a PC game.
DA:O more than ME2 even.
ME2, yes, being an XBox baby should feel more console, but ME1 felt more "right" on the PC.
Also, the shelves in the stores getting smaller is a diefinite sign of PC gaming shrinking. Just talk to the employees and managers. They will gladly share the numbers with you.
If buying online was more popular there wouldn't be full walls dedicated to all the other platforms.
I also agree that with gaming becoming more popular (this is good and bad and another discussion), and gamers becoming more casual, games will become more "streamlined".
But - we all know some developers create out of love and art, not just money, and us PC gamers will just have to take note of those releases and give them a shot.
The Witcher comes to mind. I know I mention this game a lot, but you can see that it was a PC developed game, and plays like one.

Modifié par Little Paw, 28 janvier 2010 - 02:07 .

[SargeantRenegade]

Godak wrote...

What do you mean "they don't have the hardware"?

Hard drive storage space.  Neither the XBox 360 nor the PS3 has a standard hard drive capacity (the smallest being 20GB for both platforms, which isn't going to store much with the size of games these days).  Their storage capacities have been growing since initial release, but it's still a slow process which could have easily been skipped by going direct to the larger drive capacities.  The technology was there, but it wasn't implemented as early as it could have been (and in the case of the XBox, units without hard drives are still being manufactured and sold).

[AshedMan]

Mass Effect was released on the 360 and then on PC a year later after it was a smash hit. The sequel is released on both the 360 and PC at the same time. If anything that shows an increase in PC support and popularity.  It's also not a direct port from 360.  BioWare took the time to customize the UI for the PC, hence hotkeys.

Modifié par AshedMan, 28 janvier 2010 - 02:40 .

[Falklol]

The PC won't die. There's just no way for the current consoles to ever compete with the advantages of PC gaming. Like the level of performance you can achieve on a PC, aswell as the graphics. The controls are also a huge advantage, I would never be able to play any game except for a racing game on a console. And the modding, oh the modding. How can we live without it?

[Eurypterid]

wrexingcrew wrote...

Wait - a serious question. You can't remap keys in the PC version of ME2?

Yes, you can. Not sure if you can split the actions covered by the space bar into three separate keys though.