Splinter Cell - Double Agent.
The Xbox 360 / PC version is missing essential parts of the story that is included in the Xbox / PS2 / GC version.
There were 2 teams working on those versions and one fucked up and forgot to make their storyline coherent.
I recall it was the Shanghai office while Montreal did a fine job with the other version. This was never addressed / patched.
To sum it up:
Montreal office: Sure hits and good quality control
Other offices: Proceed with caution!
PC gaming isn’t d0med, it’s just… delayed.
The reality is a PC port is a relatively inexpensive asset. In the case of many AAA console releases, it could be effectively free. The cost of PC development is of no consequence here. PC ports will continue to be made, but the days of simultaneous launch are over.
Despite all the whining from people like the aforementioned Mr. Walker, it’s guys like Mr. Bauman who have it right; in almost every paragraph he’s written above. Complaining about it and demanding publishers put forth empirical data isn’t going to accomplish jack.
The road to profitability runs through the consoles. True, there are torrents available for Xbox and PS3 games, but let’s be honest; it’s much easier to steal PC games. The numbers don’t lie. Let’s look at some recent AAA releases (NPD data from July 2008):
Lego Indiana Jones
PC: 26,784
DS: 360,512 PS2: 315,486 Wii: 349,437 PSP: 109,002 X360: 181,502 PS3 92,302
Mass Effect
PC: 40,685
X360: 981,502
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
PC: 507,039
X360: 4,239,753 PS3: 1,619,292 DS: 308,114
Bioshock
PC: 242,359
X360: 935,050
I could continue to pull example after example, but the most telling example here is CoD4, a game which plays beautifully on a current rev PC and should have done much bigger numbers on that platform. There’s no way the install base of PS3 FPS players is 3x the size of the PC market, and yet the sales numbers are proof for all to see. What more empirical data do you need?
I reserve judgement until I see that the Xbox 360 beats the PC significantly once the Xbox 360 is technically outdated which will happen pretty soon (one can argue that Far Cry 2 will start this).
I want to see if all those gfx whores that currently play Xbox 360 games on their comfy couch will stay with the inferior graphics or come back.
I assume they will run back and we will see lesser sales on the Xbox 360.
This is my personal opinion though.
And as some food for thought here are the last Xbox 360 scene releases.
For example “Saint’s Row 2” is not even out in retail yet. Also the fact that we seem to have a lot of release groups indicate that pirating those games can’t be too hard (I never looked into it technically):
2008-10-07 Xbox 360 Fracture © LucasArts PAL RETAIL SWAG
2008-10-04 Xbox 360 NBA Live 09 © EA PAL RANT
2008-10-03 Xbox 360 NBA 2K9 USA XBOX360 x360inT
2008-10-03 Xbox 360 Fracture © Lucasarts PAL READNFO MULTI5 ARROGANE
2008-10-03 Xbox 360 Fracture © LucasArts NTSC STRANGE
2008-10-01 Xbox 360 Saints Row 2 © THQ PAL PROPER DIPLODOCUS
2008-10-01 Xbox 360 Saints Row 2 © THQ PAL MRN
2008-10-01 Xbox 360 Silent Hill Homecoming © Konami NTSC IMARS
2008-09-30 Xbox 360 FIFA 09 © EA Sports PAL STRANGE
2008-09-27 Xbox 360 Baja Edge Of Control © THQ NTSC VORTEX
2008-09-25 Xbox 360 Warriors Orochi 2 © Koei NTSC VORTEX
2008-09-25 Xbox 360 Brothers In Arms: Hells Highway © Ubisoft NTSC VORTEX
2008-09-23 Xbox 360 Lego Batman USA XBOX360 PROPER PROTOCOL
2008-09-23 Xbox 360 Lego Batman USA XBOX360 VORTEX
2008-09-23 Xbox 360 Brothers In Arms Hells Highway X360 PAL
Dumping a 360 game to a DVD image is easy peasy, nobody would ever claim otherwise. What stops 360 piracy from being widespread isn’t that the games are hard to dump but rather that it is (relatively) difficult for would-be end user pirates to get those dumps to play on their 360s.
Can’t I simply buy a modded Xbox 360 paying some above market price for it as it was / is the case with modded PS2 consoles?
Then I probably have to disconnect it from the internet while playing the burned dvd to not get caught on Xbox Live. Can’t be harder than that.
Can’t I simply buy a modded Xbox 360 paying some above market price for it as it was / is the case with modded PS2 consoles?
Then I probably have to disconnect it from the internet while playing the burned dvd to not get caught on Xbox Live. Can’t be harder than that.
Casual pirates aren’t going to do that. Clicking a link and running an EXE is a far cry from buying a modded XBox, downloading and burning DVDs, and pulling the network cable when you want to play certain games.
Nothing says it isn’t both: the glass is half-full and half-empty.
And now, staggered release dates “treat customers like criminals.”
Just to play devil’s advocate: Plater’s statement indicates that if given the choice between a free pirated PC copy or paying for the console or PC version, at least some people will choose the former - enough to make a dent in sales; but if choosing between paying for the console version now or pirating the PC version at some unspecified later date, impatience will win out over moral turpitude in at least some of these would-be pirates - again, enough to have an impact on sales. Thus, he’s basically saying, “Given that some of our prospective customers would pirate the game if they could, what can we do to get them to buy it instead?”
But the sales numbers on CoD4 and Bioshock, which were released on PC and consoles simultaneously, suggest that this argument is a flawed one. Unless Activision and Take 2 really do think console sales would have been a lot higher if there was no pirated PC version available. In fact, compare Mass Effect (delayed PC release) to Bioshock (simultaneous PC release) as games which sold almost a million copies on X360 and you might come away with the conclusion that delaying the PC release hurts its sales far more than it helps the console version’s sales.
I wouldn’t scream, “OMFG they’re treating us like criminals!!1!” but they are making paying PC gamers wait longer solely because of the actions of criminals. It would be kinda like a grocery store saying, “We’ve gotten robbed way too many times; so from now on we’re only open on Saturday afternoons.” It inconveniences their paying customers and cuts into their own sales, all in the hopes that the thieves go away.
Just a note as you throw up straw men here… they’ve said exactly that, they are declaring war on the resell market.
Good analogy. And yes, that is precisely what is happening. It happens everywhere: at night, you have to pay for your gas before you pump because thieves pump-and-dash, consumer electronics are stored behind glass and only brought out once payment is proffered, jewelry stores have to buzz you through double doors before you can even enter the store… examples are endless where paying customers are inconvenienced because of thieves and brigands.
A game publisher is running a business. It is in their interest to maximize profits. After years of allowing things to run loose, they’re trying to staunch to flow. I think it’s safe to say that if the numbers bear out that sales are being lost due to staggered platform releases, things will change back. I’d also wager that things won’t change back. If anything, it’ll get “worse” for PC gamers.
To be honest, I don’t really mind if us PC gamers get ports a little bit later, although the whole thing seems like a self fulfilling prophecy. If you release a game on console first, people will buy it on the console rather than buying it on the PC and console sales numbers will be higher.
Mass effect would have probably sold 20 000 extra copies if it wasn’t for the DRM anyway.
I’d like to see some numbers on how Civ IV sold on the PC (all retail outlets, both box store and digital distribution) vs. how well Civ Revolution sold on consoles.
I admit that I haven’t followed that story. Did some EA rep explicitly say this?
For example, I’ve bought DVDs that included a free movie ticket to the sequel. It was a consumable item with an expiration date. Is this also “declaring war on the resell market” because once used, it can’t be transferred with the original DVD and therefore lowers its theoretical resale value?
While be reducing the value of resells is a side effect, it’s still a half-empty statement to fixate only on the negative and ignore the, “Hey, they’re incentivizing new purchases by including more stuff in the box” side. Oddly enough, giving pirates a better reason to buy the game at retail is a usually offered up as a solution for the piracy problem.
How useful would that be in this issue? The games weren’t alike. They were exclusive on their platforms. There was a three year gap between Civ IV and Revolution. It would be like drawing conclusions by comparing the sales of No One Lives Forever and Perfect Dark Zero.
It’s not a matter of entitlement. It’s a matter of the hostility that publishers generate with PR stunts like this, and the lack of willingness to support publishers who say, “Because you play PC games, and because PC versions tend to be more pirated, you, as a customer, need to wait before you can play our game.”
Publishers think they need to combat piracy in order to keep their profit margins up. What they don’t realise is that they also need to keep paying customers happy.
Yes, because not letting PC gamers purchase a finished game is obviously a good thing.
What they don’t realise is that they also need to keep paying customers happy.
They do realize that. That’s why they release on console first. ducks
1)Why, precisely should I have to wait an extra day,week, 6 months to play a game the console tards get to play now?
The alleged big draw of the “next-gen” consoles was that “Since console tech is now on par with PC tech, it’ll be much easier to port between the 2” but, the reality is, release on console first, then, eventually if you feel like release on PC.
Could you give a specific example of this.
About the only thing I’m aware of recently released that fits is “Crysis” and that was due to hardware limitations of the consoles.
Then, there’s “Star Wars: Force Unleashed”, allegedly this wasn’t released on the PC due to the “excessive physics calculations” involved in the game.
Really, cause my outdated-goin-on-4-years-old-piece-of-shit-PC runs “Crysis” just fine. (something no console can do)
So, a more probable reason/excuse that SW:FU (wow, the initials say it all) wasn’t released on PC is purely due to piracy concerns.
Used PC games have out of the mainstream for years, and it’s surprising that it’s taken them this long to go after used console sales.
I’ve seen people at the local Gamestop choose the used copy of the game that is only $5 less over a new one about 80% of the time.
Retail copies have been sent out to the press, which actually makes me wonder who the hell is letting pirates make ROM dumps of their review copies.
Because you call them “tards” and this is your punishment. And because you hate paragraphs.
Yes, because not letting PC gamers purchase a finished game is obviously a good thing.
Yup, no sense of entitlement there.
Why should you care when you can play a game relative to its console release? If the reason was legitimate—PC development hit a snag, a small ferret ate their PC source code—would it suddenly be OK?
- The alleged big draw of the “next-gen” consoles was that “Since console tech is now on par with PC tech, it’ll be much easier to port between the 2” but, the reality is, release on console first, then, eventually if you feel like release on PC.
The alternative is “no PC version at all.”
- Could you give a specific example of this.
I was joking about calling companies that go console first over PC “treating customers as criminals” versus PC-only companies that choose not to release console games at all.
I suspect this was their big mistake. Instead of being honest, they should have just had a marketing shill announce that the PC version was delayed because of technical issues. That way you don’t piss off the PC-only crowd by telling them the truth, and having them be indignant that they’re being treated like criminals, while still accomplishing the company’s objectives. Honesty is … overrated? In this case, dishonesty would make everyone happy.