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IronChitlin: Well that just sucks, I was actually looking forward to Alan Wake, at least they didn't outright deny PC users like the Prince of Persia DLC fiasco. I still hope a good PC version comes through but I've been disappointed too many times.
It's things like this that make me think there may be some credibility to the whole "PC gaming is dying" theory. *sigh*

Almost every PC version of multiplatform games is better on PC. Also, PC exclusives like Civilization, Sims, Empire, The Witcher, WoW, Crysis or Neverwinter Nights don't support the "PC gamins is dying" theory.
EDIT: The only Alan Wake in game footage I've seen seems pretty bland IMO.
Post edited July 11, 2009 by ElPixelIlustre
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ElPixelIlustre: Almost every PC version of multiplatform games is better on PC. Also, PC exclusives like Civilization, Sims, Empire, The Witcher, WoW, Crysis or Neverwinter Nights don't support the "PC gamins is dying" theory.
EDIT: The only Alan Wake in game footage I've seen seems pretty bland IMO.

Well to be fair I am not one of the doomsayers, I would never say that an entire platform will die because one game doesn't get released. I was merely saying that this announcement, combined with many other developers seemingly disinterested attitude towards PC gaming, lets me see why others would say that. If that makes any sense.
Also there have been plenty of multi-platform games that ended up worse than the console versions (GTA 4, and Resident Evil 4 come to mind), still if it is a halfway decent port I would much rather play on my PC. I agree about the exclusives though, The Witcher was a fantastic experience and the Penumbra games blew me away.
As for the gameplay footage, I actually haven't seen too much beyond the tech demo showing tornadoes and real time environmental destruction, and a few clips from E3. I'm not sure whether it will be good or not, but the game at least sounds interesting enough to be on my radar.
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ElPixelIlustre: Almost every PC version of multiplatform games is better on PC. Also, PC exclusives like Civilization, Sims, Empire, The Witcher, WoW, Crysis or Neverwinter Nights don't support the "PC gamins is dying" theory.

Civilization is hardly PC exclusive and by Sims do you mean good games or the digital soap opera? The latter is not PC exclusive and many of the former are also on consoles. Wasn't there also a witcher version on consoles that got most of the way done?
Post edited July 11, 2009 by Aliasalpha
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ElPixelIlustre: Almost every PC version of multiplatform games is better on PC. Also, PC exclusives like Civilization, Sims, Empire, The Witcher, WoW, Crysis or Neverwinter Nights don't support the "PC gamins is dying" theory.
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Aliasalpha: Civilization is hardly PC exclusive and by Sims do you mean good games or the digital soap opera? The latter is not PC exclusive and many of the former are also on consoles. Wasn't there also a witcher version on consoles that got most of the way done?

Civilization Revolution is like "Civ for dummies who don't play on PC", is not really part of the series. By Sims I mean all the Sims games, which are indeed on consoles... and nobody plays them, because they are meant to be played on PC. And yes, The Witcher was going to be released on consoles, but is still PC exclusive.
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IronChitlin: Also there have been plenty of multi-platform games that ended up worse than the console versions (GTA 4, and Resident Evil 4 come to mind), still if it is a halfway decent port I would much rather play on my PC. I agree about the exclusives though, The Witcher was a fantastic experience and the Penumbra games blew me away.

Resident Evil 4 port is not bad at all. It looks exactly like the PS2 version (worse than the GC one) but you can use plenty of mods which make it look much better. I have to agree with the GTA4 port though, is f*cking disgusting.
Well yeah your point about civ is valid, at least if you forget the playstation version of Civ 1 & 2 and the fact that whilst civ rev isn't as complex as the PC version, its still pretty much civ
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ElPixelIlustre: Almost every PC version of multiplatform games is better on PC. Also, PC exclusives like Civilization, Sims, Empire, The Witcher, WoW, Crysis or Neverwinter Nights don't support the "PC gamins is dying" theory.
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Aliasalpha: Civilization is hardly PC exclusive and by Sims do you mean good games or the digital soap opera? The latter is not PC exclusive and many of the former are also on consoles. Wasn't there also a witcher version on consoles that got most of the way done?
I actually liked the Sims 1 on Gamecube better than the Sims 1 because it was more objective like and felt more like an actual game than just a life simulator.
It's annoying, because i was looking forward to it.
It's annoying because Microsoft seems to be actively trying to kill PC gaming, and definitely not doing anything to support it.
On the other hand, it sounds like they have cut down the original sandbox idea to something more standard, so it doesn't have half the appeal it used to.
Sounds to me like it is a project in trouble, and they tried something too ambitious that they couldn't really pull off.
Saw it coming miles away. I mean, what do you expect from Microsoft these days? Their so called "dedication to PC gaming" simply put isn't.
It is a pity though, I was looking forward to that game. Oh well, if they don't want me as a costumer, so be it. There are lots of other great software coming up.
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On a more unrelated note, as for the future of our beloved platform, I don't think the PC will be abandoned at all, in spite of Microsoft best attempts to sabotage it. At first, I think there is going to be more of what we already see: ever more titles developed for all platforms, whether it be a PC, XBox 360, PS3, or Wii, I think the number exclusives for any of them will drop substantially. I believe that the largest change will come within a decade, as that's when I think the prices for hardware start to plummet as the tech stabilizes. After all, it only makes sense to upgrade graphics cards and CPU's that far for us gamers; we have already come pretty close to photo-realism now, and companies are starting to move away from pushing pixels, and come over to new ideas for gameplay and story-telling.
Rather than pushing for more power, tomorrow's entertainment machines will push for ever smaller components that saves energy, production costs and environment, without sacrificing any of the entertainment experience along the way.
I think what we are going to see by 2020 is a machine that essentially combines the best of both world - both the open-ended swiss-army-knife of the digital age that is the PC, combined with the ease and user-friendliness of the consoles. With a more stable and universal hardware architecture, the price for developing games should also start to drop; giving developers even more freedom to come up with ever smarter solutions. Far from being abandoned, I believe the PC is what will eventually rule this industry. I can only hope it stays liberal...
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soulgrindr: On the other hand, it sounds like they have cut down the original sandbox idea to something more standard, so it doesn't have half the appeal it used to.

To be honest, I never really thought that a horror atmosphere could be done correctly in a sandbox environment. Horror is all about feeling trapped in a situation, the feelings of hopeless, claustrophobic despair; things that don't really carry through in a sandbox gameworld. I kind of expected the sandbox elements to be toned down.
TBH, I was never awaiting Alan Wake. For me it was "just another hyped game with a lots of PR bullshit saying how perfect it will be", nothing more.
But what Remedy did clearly states how they "like" us, PC gamers
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cogadh: But it isn't a series. This will be the first and only (so far) Alan Wake game. They've been teasing the game for years now, but there has never been another Alan Wake game.
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Weclock: hah, I guess I got it confused with something else.

When they first started pushing the Alan Wake game, they did call it a "spiritual successor" to the Alone in the Dark series, so that may be where the confusion comes from.
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Andy_Panthro: It's been like this for a while, PC gamers aren't considered worth the bother.
Chances are Alan Wake will be a lousy port even if it does make it across.
I take heart at the few developers who appreciate the PC (Blizzard etc.)
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Weclock: Even Blizzard doesn't like us, example: No Lan in SC2.

The lack of LAN in SC2 isn't because they don't like PC gamers, it's because they don't TRUST PC gamers. They want everybody using battle.net for multplayer, so that they can track what's going on with distribution of the game. (Battle.net will get emulated anyway, but they will sue anybody who does that, and have before.)
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Skystrider: Saw it coming miles away. I mean, what do you expect from Microsoft these days? Their so called "dedication to PC gaming" simply put isn't.
It is a pity though, I was looking forward to that game. Oh well, if they don't want me as a costumer, so be it. There are lots of other great software coming up.
---
On a more unrelated note, as for the future of our beloved platform, I don't think the PC will be abandoned at all, in spite of Microsoft best attempts to sabotage it. At first, I think there is going to be more of what we already see: ever more titles developed for all platforms, whether it be a PC, XBox 360, PS3, or Wii, I think the number exclusives for any of them will drop substantially. I believe that the largest change will come within a decade, as that's when I think the prices for hardware start to plummet as the tech stabilizes. After all, it only makes sense to upgrade graphics cards and CPU's that far for us gamers; we have already come pretty close to photo-realism now, and companies are starting to move away from pushing pixels, and come over to new ideas for gameplay and story-telling.
Rather than pushing for more power, tomorrow's entertainment machines will push for ever smaller components that saves energy, production costs and environment, without sacrificing any of the entertainment experience along the way.
I think what we are going to see by 2020 is a machine that essentially combines the best of both world - both the open-ended swiss-army-knife of the digital age that is the PC, combined with the ease and user-friendliness of the consoles. With a more stable and universal hardware architecture, the price for developing games should also start to drop; giving developers even more freedom to come up with ever smarter solutions. Far from being abandoned, I believe the PC is what will eventually rule this industry. I can only hope it stays liberal...

I agree that this will happen. There's an article about the cycles of gaming development, about how game developers essentially alternate between pushing pixels and focusing on developing art and story, and have been doing so since the beginning of the industry. (I think it was Lord British who wrote it. If I can find it again I'll add a link.) As platforms stabilize and pushing pixels has lost it's novelty, the successful developers will focus on story and the overall artistic elements of telling that story. (I just hope that they maintain an open platform, and that DRM free becomes the norm. I think it's totally essential actually.)
EDIT: Here's the article I mentioned above (actually an interview), about games as an art, and the cycles of gaming, kind of a tick-tock between technological development and deeper artistic development. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3535/interview_richard_garriott_is_.php
Post edited July 12, 2009 by barleyguy
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barleyguy: The lack of LAN in SC2 isn't because they don't like PC gamers, it's because they don't TRUST PC gamers. They want everybody using battle.net for multplayer, so that they can track what's going on with distribution of the game.

Nonsense. StarCraft and many other games supported LAN play from a single disc. This was an officially-sanctioned feature, not an exploit or workaround, and this came to be an expected component of any game good for LAN purposes (those that didn't allow it had to be cracked, which is actually worse for the company since each player is left with a mostly fully operational copy at the end of the session).
By requiring each and every player to have a disc, Blizzard has automatically and exponentially increased their profits as even casual players will need a copy in order to play a round or two with some friends. This is the same reasoning behind the campaign being sold in an episodic manner; charging more money for less content.
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Arkose: By requiring each and every player to have a disc, Blizzard has automatically and exponentially increased their profits as even casual players will need a copy in order to play a round or two with some friends.

this is bad how? I honestly see nothing wrong with the idea of "if you want to play with people, you have to buy the game." Expecting otherwise would be like a casual MMO player expecting to not have to pay for his account if he only played with his friends.
(You'll note I removed the note about the episodic campaign, which I DO disagree with)
Now, I DO think that LAN should still be supported, as sometimes your connection to B.Net is finicky.
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Arkose: By requiring each and every player to have a disc, Blizzard has automatically and exponentially increased their profits as even casual players will need a copy in order to play a round or two with some friends.

Is there any problem with buying legal software, or casual players don't need to buy games if they want to play?
The only problem it will cause is that if you have to be online if you want play MP. Without LAN, Blizzard has only achieved that pirates won't be able to play through Hamachi and that they will be forced to use eurobattlenet or another b.net substitution.
EDIT: typo
Post edited July 12, 2009 by klaymen