3 ms·

> Kids that have grown up with an XBox of PS3 aren't going to want to fiddle with drivers or find out how to patch their game using the "Downloader App" or endl

by clinth 14y ago

> Kids that have grown up with an XBox of PS3 aren't going to want to fiddle with drivers or find out how to patch their game using the "Downloader App" or endlessly wrestle with DRM. Have you used Steam? It patches games automatically and you don't have to fiddle with DRM. My Steam client keeps dozens of games perfectly current without asking me. This is part of why everyone loves it: specifically because it makes it as close to painless as you're going to get. Also, I'm guessing that a good number of current PC devs/gamers grew up playing a Nintendo console, and they still migrated over, somehow.

astrodust 14y ago
Steam is a great delivery platform which handles most but not all DRM issues. I've bought several Steam distributed titles that were very strict about re-installs, something only apparent after I'd bought them. Thanks Ubisoft! Even as painless as Steam is, there's still the driver wrestling, yak-shaving that is maintaining a properly working Gaming PC. Some people enjoy the challenge. This is not going to fly with those used to the "put in disc, play game" crowd. In time the "PC" will slowly fade away to be replaced by other things just as the precursor to the PC, like the "Minicomputer" and the "Mainframe", will become an anachronism. I'm not saying this will happen tomorrow, but you'll see a shift over the next ten years. There comes a point where the performance advantage offered by the PC, which is considerable, is negated by the fact that developers can't make use of it. What good would a graphics card with 3,000,000 shaders be today? Why should you need a 256-core CPU to play games? If your equivalent console had only 1,000,000 shaders and 64-cores, which would surely attract scorn and derision, would you really be missing out on much in the scheme of things?
- masklinn 14y ago
  > Steam is a great delivery platform which handles most but not all DRM issues [...] Thanks Ubisoft! aka it handles all DRM issues as long as you leave Ubisoft rotting.
- EthanHeilman 14y ago
  The advantage of the PC is the ease of writing and publishing a game for the PC. With the exception of screen resolution graphics haven't really mattered for the last five years. It's creativity, good writing, and good gameplay. It's cheaper to take risks and innovate on the PC since it requires so little capital to make a game vs consoles. Only mobile is competitive on this front.

by clinth 14y ago

astrodust 14y ago

Steam is a great delivery platform which handles most but not all DRM issues. I've bought several Steam distributed titles that were very strict about re-installs, something only apparent after I'd bought them. Thanks Ubisoft! Even as painless as Steam is, there's still the driver wrestling, yak-shaving that is maintaining a properly working Gaming PC. Some people enjoy the challenge. This is not going to fly with those used to the "put in disc, play game" crowd. In time the "PC" will slowly fade away to be replaced by other things just as the precursor to the PC, like the "Minicomputer" and the "Mainframe", will become an anachronism. I'm not saying this will happen tomorrow, but you'll see a shift over the next ten years. There comes a point where the performance advantage offered by the PC, which is considerable, is negated by the fact that developers can't make use of it. What good would a graphics card with 3,000,000 shaders be today? Why should you need a 256-core CPU to play games? If your equivalent console had only 1,000,000 shaders and 64-cores, which would surely attract scorn and derision, would you really be missing out on much in the scheme of things?

masklinn 14y ago
> Steam is a great delivery platform which handles most but not all DRM issues [...] Thanks Ubisoft! aka it handles all DRM issues as long as you leave Ubisoft rotting.
EthanHeilman 14y ago
The advantage of the PC is the ease of writing and publishing a game for the PC. With the exception of screen resolution graphics haven't really mattered for the last five years. It's creativity, good writing, and good gameplay. It's cheaper to take risks and innovate on the PC since it requires so little capital to make a game vs consoles. Only mobile is competitive on this front.