On a side note, GTA4 will require 18 gigs of HD space? Holy crap.

It costs next to nothing to put include 1 TB HD's these days. 18 gigs is nothing.

Your average U-Tube kiddie probably has that much in porn these days.

I've had bad experiences for the most part like anyone else with console to PC ports and generally avoid them 99% of the time, but Rockstar seems to put in a massive effort.

If you want to avoid that period you'll play it on the original console, that's just common sense.

I'd rather have a fun game that does justice to the PC controls than worry about some PCHP guy that played it SEVEN months ago on a console that I have no interest in.

Dude, GTA IV was released on two consoles and it was exactly the same on both. Even if you don't like either console, PC elitism's putting waaay too much energy into gaming.

I played Vice City on the PC quite awhile after it was released and loved it, sure the graphics were dated at the time.

Several weeks ago I got San Andreas for twenty bucks through Steam and after adding a few graphic enhancing mods, I think it's an excellent game. Not that the eye candy matters, it's a well designed and fun game in my opinion.

I wish someone would make a full-blown RPG like these games.

I've had bad experiences for the most part like anyone else with console to PC ports and generally avoid them 99% of the time, but Rockstar seems to put in a massive effort.

I could complain and nitpick about a few controller issues with the port, such as flying with a mouse (don't do it, reconfigure your keyboard) but all in all, they've done about the best job you really can in allowing you to remap controller keys to the mouse and keyboard.

I'm quite willing to buy GTA4 and look forward to it. As I don't know anyone with a console except for my buddy that has a PS2 and San Andreas (which I've never seen in action) I don't really care how late it is.

I'd rather have a fun game that does justice to the PC controls than worry about some PCHP guy that played it SEVEN months ago on a console that I have no interest in.

Thanks Rockstar, for your attention to detail.

I am sorry about my bad spelling, It was very bad but I did not have time to proof read it to fix it the best I could.

Wow.. do you interpret everything with a negative spin? How the fuck did you get that from what he said?

I'm making that call based on a lot of his comments here over a long time, not just this one thread.

As you can tell the written language is not my strong point and really hinders my communiction here but has not stopped me from spending hours reading what Jerrky as written of which I mostly disagree, but I do enjoy seeing him put forth his opinion on thing's.

More like "I'm an arogant cunt who was to selfish to pay for the games I had to play cos I had no friends, so I became a PC geek and pirated software to for full my ego and selfworth"

Apart for the bad spelling, I fell that's what your trying to commuicate with your post here.

Wow.. do you interpret everything with a negative spin? How the fuck did you get that from what he said?
Might want to comment on all the bad spelling in the unquoted parts of your post, too.

Oh that's some sweet logic, any game will be better on the PC because the PC is better than the Xbox.

Are you dense? I'm talking about performance-wise, GTA4 will run way smoother on my PC opposed to my 360, on which it runs like crap.

Call me an elitist snob if you will...

But the facts are plain and PC gaming is better in everyway save "simplicity".

Yep, pretty much. Tweaks and mods to almost every aspect of a game is what makes PC gaming so great.
This comment was edited on Sep 14, 10:59.

PC gaming isn't MS's core competency. It's the job of the PC Gaming Alliance, which so far seems to be a complete waste of time.

That's what I mean, GfW should promote a standard that hardware can aspire too. Much like, I don't know, DirectX? Assigning buttons to keystrokes was horrible on old Logitech stuff, true, but there's no reason to make GfW titles love the 360 controller.

I think we agree that GfW should be about all developers, hardware and software, having a common interface to work to. In reality it's just a badly conceived money opportunity. DirectX does a good job of doing this anyway so really, GfW is useless for what it was intended for and for what it actually became.

Quboid

It is a good controller but they should use an unbranded generic DirectX gamepad for the compatibility examples.

The pad is direct X (on PC) and therefore it's very easy for 3rd parties to be fully compatible. It basically sets a standard, all devs can simply code for a standard controller and all 3rd parties can produce a controller that works on all GfW games.

If you've ever had one of these pads where you have to assign buttons as keystrokes I think you'll see how everyone benefits. True, it reduces potential for hardware innovation, but I'll take standardisation over that since the baseline is already high.

I'll agree though with your main point, that MS using the GfW pseudo-standard to pimp their controllers is pretty shitty (let's not forget GfW is also used to pimp Vista). I'd rather they referred to "reference device" and allowed a GfW sticker on every fully compatible device.

Wow, that's left a sour taste in my mouth. I thought Games for Windows was more about a shitty online service than selling their hardware. It is a good controller but they should use an unbranded generic DirectX gamepad for the compatibility examples.

Quboid

fwiw -

Or are you going to sit there and tell me that when a game's control configuration has a giant picture of an XBOX CONTROLLER in it, as SO many have lately, I am playing a genuine PC game?

It's a requirement for the Games for Windows logo:
http://www.gamesforwindows.com/en-GB/AboutGFW/Pages/gamesforwindows.aspx

If this game has draconian DRM I won't buy it.

I read in a Brad Wardell interview that Take Two was one of the publishers that agreed with the Gamer Bill of Rights. Hopefully this means they won't follow the EA route of ridiculous DRM.

Call me an elitist snob if you will...

But the facts are plain and PC gaming is better in everyway save "simplicity".

If this game has draconian DRM all of your arguments won't matter. If this game has draconian DRM I won't buy it.

-----
http://www.gamemusicjukebox.com/
Game p/reviewer for http://www.gameindustry.com/
DRM needs to die... now

"Apart for [from] the bad spelling, I fell [feel] that's what your [you're] trying to commuicate [communicate] with your post here."

Great job, chief.

I began as a console gamer myself but I wanted something more, so I did what was needed to become a PC gamer

More like "I'm an arogant cunt who was to selfish to pay for the games I had to play cos I had no friends, so I became a PC geek and pirated software to for full my ego and selfworth"

Apart for the bad spelling, I fell that's what your trying to commuicate with your post here.

In other news, HD-DVD SOOOO would've won the HD format wars if movies were released on HD-DVD instead of Blu-Ray!

Durr? Of course HD-DVD would have won if it had the support of all the big studios. Instead, they gave that support to BluRay and now HD-DVD is dead. Kinda like PC gaming will be if all the big publishers keep giving all their support to consoles.

On a side note, GTA4 will require 18 gigs of HD space? Holy crap.


This comment was edited on Sep 14, 02:17.

There are plenty of other reasons. Firstly, the cost of the hardware. Secondly, knowing that the game will perform properly out-of-the-box. Third, being able to play games on a larger display (37"+ monitors are becoming common place) while sitting down in a comfortable chair. Fourth, being able to play with friends gathered round.

The cost of PC gaming has dropped significantly in recent years. When you factor in the added $10-20 cost of console games, as well as other expenses like multiplayer fees and overpriced peripherals, PC gaming really isn't that much more expensive. However, it does require more tech savvy. You have to know the difference between a 9800 GTX and a 9800 Pro. In other words, you have to be willing to spend the time to sit down and learn about computers. It's not difficult and doesn't require any real skill or talent. It's simply a matter of putting forth the time and effort required. I began as a console gamer myself but I wanted something more, so I did what was needed to become a PC gamer. I read all the magazines I could, I checked out all the demos and shareware, I tinkered with my machine.

As to your second point, I agree. Knowing that your game will work out of the box is a big factor. However, it is also one that ties into the whole patience thing. A patient person will read reviews and message boards. They'll wait for demos. They might even pirate the game and test it that way. If you know that the experience will be superior once you get it working, that means you have a long attention span.

Your third point is valid. Your fourth point is arguable though. PC's can be a social experience. LAN parties are a testament to that. It's just that it's much more convenient to make consoles a social experience, even if it requires a tainted game experience. I can't stand playing in split-screen but many gamers tolerate it because it's much easier than hauling their PC's over to their friend's house.

PC gaming is a huge amount hassle than it should be. I congratulate people like us that actually bother putting up with it because the gaming experience is much better at the end of it but it's a huge amount more effort than it should be.

Yeah, it can be a hassle but our patience rewards us with better gaming experiences. Both the greatest strength and greatest weakness of the PC platform is its flexibility. It gives the more dedicated among us the ability to get the best out of our games. For those with short attention spans, it is a burden, as they desire instant gratification and are willing to compromise their experience to this end.

And the PS3 sales would have been much greater if they weren't released on X360. It's simple mathematics and isn't exclusive to the PC.

No, it isn't exclusive to the PC. However, PC suffers the worst. The 360 and PS3 are largely interchangeable and cater to the same audience. They have very similar hardware and peripherals, unlike the PC. The average gamer is still more likely to buy a 360 or PS3 version of a game than the PC version.

As a lifelong PC Gamer who has dabbled in consoles from time to time, I know that I can't help but think when I'm playing a game like San Andreas (or presumably GTA4 when it is released on PC) about how much better the game would have been had it been designed for PC first. No console built to date can simulate open worlds to anywhere near as well as a mid-range PC can. When I play GTA I feel like I can actually see all of the corners that had to be cut to make the games run on hardware inferior to PC's. That's not me being snobbish; that's just me stating what I hope is obvious.

Are the Grand Theft Auto games creatively brilliant and fun? Sure. Could they have been so much better had they been designed around the superior hardware of personal computers? I certainly believe so.