New Gears of War 2 Details, No PC Version 63
IGN has an interview with Cliff Bleszinski, design director for Epic Games, in which he discusses the achievements and unlockable content in Gears of War 2. He mentions that the game won't be getting a PC version as its predecessor did. Gamasutra has a related interview with Epic's Rod Fergusson, who talks at length about developing the new game after experiencing the popularity of the old one, and how he manages the franchise's growth into other forms of media. He also explains the decision-making process behind issuing Title Updates.
Three game press releases in a row? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:No PC version? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:No PC version? (Score:4, Insightful)
From what I understand, it takes relatively little effort to port from the 360 to the PC. So, it really boils down to: "small" chance of making money > zero chance of making money.
And plenty of developers are still making games for the PC. The market isn't going to die just because some doom and gloom prophets say so, they've been saying that for a while now.
Re:Three game press releases in a row? (Score:3, Insightful)
Is that because 'real geeks' don't play games now? Or because 'real geeks' can only like things that aren't 'mainstream'? Help me out here. This geek is 46 now and I'm unsure what kind of uncool you think I need to be to be cool now.
Re:Gears of War? More like Gears of Snore. (Score:5, Insightful)
Ill bring up a recent experience I had. The Dark Knight. I was told by many people this movie was amazing, that this would be "The Empire Strikes Back" of my generation. I didn't see the movie till about three weeks after its opening. By the time I saw it, my head was filled with so many people saying how great it is, how amazing, and the fact that a few people were comparing it to one of the best sequels ever made, that I psyched myself out. I was now sitting in a seat in a movie theater trying to enjoy movie instead of actually enjoying the movie. I expected every scene to be amazing. I felt as if the movie was spoiled because everyone said it was amazing and instead of judging it myself, I let others judge it for me. And instead I was criticizing the movie all the way through.
The other issue is aging a game. Some games just don't age properly. Some last years and years, some only a few years. Goldeneye was amazing back in 1997/1998. But try getting someone new to play it now for the first time and they wont get it. Try getting someone to play Half-life now for the first time, they wont get it(and I am talking original build not the Source stuff). Now yes, Goldeneye is from 1997 and Gears of War is from 2006. Its only been two years, but there are so many games that carried mechanics (gameplay, graphics, etc) from it since then, its nothing special anymore. The reason gamers go back to old games is not to play them for the first time, its to play them again. Its tough to go back in time and attempt to play a game with graphics that are considered laughable today. With AI that is simple look and shoot. For a lot of games, there's a window of opportunity to play them, and if you miss that window, you've screwed yourself.
Thats moronic. Please stop and think (Score:2, Insightful)
You are wrong on so many levels.
1) Piracy is commonplace on consoles, too, you just don't hear about it as much
2) Very few game developers have completely abandoned PC - these developers were gemerally butt-hurt from poor sales after producing a few shitty titles. See Valve, Blizzard, and Stardock, for a few big names
3) If porting the game generates some profit, it will be done. Since porting the game costs effectively nothing, doing so will churn an enormous profit.
Yes, it is completely logical to have a game that's no longer making any money ported to another platform where it can generate additional profit.
It is completely ILLOGICAL to not port the game.
As we've seen time and time again, 360 exclusive games are eventually ported to PC 90% of the time
Re:Gears of War? More like Gears of Snore. (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, major hype is part of the market isn't it? I had the same reaction with Halo: "it's ok". Not a bad game by any means, but not a revolution either. The level design was pretty crappy with its endlessly repeating identical corridors and floors. The two-weapon system was in my opinion just a workaround for not having a lot of keyboard keys to easily select weapons, rather than a wicked strategic choice. The enemy AI didn't really seem all that much smarter than that in other contemporary games.
So, not a bad game, but just one of a great many similar games, with no particular outstanding features. The thing I enjoyed most was driving the warthogs. But it is way, way overhyped...
Re:Thats moronic. Please stop and think (Score:2, Insightful)
A PC port of GoW2 would generate some profit, but I think spending their resources on a different, console project would generate even more profits. Gears of War PC didn't sell well. That and the PC port had many bugs. Not so easy and cheap to port, is it? Half-assed ports and games tend to piss off your buyers and would decrease future sales. For example: EA.
All in all, a PC port is not as logical as you make it out to be.
PS: Did you even buy the PC port of GoW? I'd venture no. You just seem to be "butt-hurt" over developers abandoning the PC.
Re:No PC version? (Score:3, Insightful)
"The market isn't going to die just because some doom and gloom prophets say so, they've been saying that for a while now."
Yeah, at least 10 years. I remember Evil Avatar saying "PC games are dead! Dying soon! " a few years ago...