Thursday, February 7th 2008

Epic Games' Mark Rein Confirms Gamers Moving Away from PC in Favor of Console

Epic Games is well known throughout the gaming community. Most well known for their Unreal Tournament series and the Unreal engine series, Epic Games has every reason to be at the peak of their game for the PC gaming crowd. However, they are beginning to doubt their fan base. While Gears of War for the Xbox360 was an instant success for the Xbox360, the PC version of Unreal Tournament failed to take off. In an interview, Mark Rein confirms that gaming itself has begun to move away from the PC, and towards consoles. Even inside Epic Games, a sizable chunk of employees play their games on the Xbox360. Outside Epic Games, a paltry 14% of gamers game on their computer. The reason for this, despite the superior technology the PC offers, is the sheer cost of owning and maintaining a gaming habit on the PC. While an Xbox360 is $400USD including games and extra controllers, a PC is upwards of $1000USD for a game-worthy setup, not including games, and only supporting one player at a time.
Source: DailyTech
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120 Comments on Epic Games' Mark Rein Confirms Gamers Moving Away from PC in Favor of Console

#26
Psychoholic
consoles arent bad.. but for some reason when i play them, it feels like im playing with a kid's toy or something.
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#27
ShadowFold
Psychoholicconsoles arent bad.. but for some reason when i play them, it feels like im playing with a kid's toy or something.
Heh I do too sometimes specially a Wii.
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#29
CDdude55
Crazy 4 TPU!!!
I love both PC and Consoles(Since i have a decent PC and all three Consoles:cool:). The only problem with PC Gaming is that when ever a new good looking game comes out you always have to look at you system and say, Is is up for the challenge?. If not you need to spend a pretty big amount of cash so you can fully experience it. Lot of people are moving to Consoles because they just find no point in spending all that cash(Trust me it adds up;)) just so they can game. In terms of Controller vs Keyboard and Mouse, well thats depends on what game you are playing, you can't keep thinking one is ''The most superior interface ever!!''. I hated play GTA on a keyboard(it made me cry), but i hate playing C&C:3 on a Console. But what do i know this is just my opinion.

Console:toast:PC
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#30
NympH
Stop smokin' crack Mark!
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#31
effmaster
CDdude55I love both PC and Consoles(Since i have a decent PC and all three Consoles:cool:). The only problem with PC Gaming is that when ever a new good looking game comes out you always have to look at you system and say, Is is up for the challenge?. If not you need to spend a pretty big amount of cash so you can fully experience it. Lot of people are moving to Consoles because they just find no point in spending all that cash(Trust me it adds up;)) just so they can game. In terms of Controller vs Keyboard and Mouse, well thats depends on what game you are playing, you can't keep thinking one is ''The most superior interface ever!!''. I hated play GTA on a keyboard(it made me cry), but i hate playing C&C:3 on a Console. But what do i know this is just my opinion.

Console:toast:PC
Well said. Why cant we all just get along.

I still enjoy playing COD2 on my laptop im typing from right now. But I also enjoy playing Halo on my 360 over my laptop. But hey thats just me I cant really see a huge difference for either one to be perfectly honest. I enjoy the best of both worlds
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#32
DaMulta
My stars went supernova
CDdude55I love both PC and Consoles(Since i have a decent PC and all three Consoles:cool:). The only problem with PC Gaming is that when ever a new good looking game comes out you always have to look at you system and say, Is is up for the challenge?. If not you need to spend a pretty big amount of cash so you can fully experience it. Lot of people are moving to Consoles because they just find no point in spending all that cash(Trust me it adds up;)) just so they can game. In terms of Controller vs Keyboard and Mouse, well thats depends on what game you are playing, you can't keep thinking one is ''The most superior interface ever!!''. I hated play GTA on a keyboard(it made me cry), but i hate playing C&C:3 on a Console. But what do i know this is just my opinion.

Console:toast:PC
And I hated playing GTA with a controller...
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#33
TheGuruStud
UT 3 didn't take off b/c it was delayed too long and several other games were bought in its place. People lost interest b/c they took to long to release it. I'm a die hard UT fan, but I haven't even bothered to play it yet.
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#34
AddSub
I haven't touched a console in almost 10 years. Ever since I got my first 3D accelerator card for PC (Voodoo Banshee). That was back in 1998. Last console I owned was PS1. No point really, once you have a dedicated gaming PC machine, it is easy to expand its capabilities to match and/or surpass the tech level of whatever console that comes along. Movies & media? Dedicated player box, or even a decent media-PC box will always beat whatever capabilities a console can give. Especially in terms of customization and expandability. Most games that come out for consoles, come out for the PC as well. Again, PC ports always have more customization vs. their console versions. As for games for which there are no PC ports, usually these games are console-only for a reason. (kiddie crayola games, with few exceptions thanks to their publishers for mostly marketing reasons) Also, there are emulators. Sooner or later (usually much later), every console is reverse engineered and an emulator pops up. Nearly half PS2 games are already playable on an emulator (providing you have a powerful & modern machine), and within a short period of time the rest will be as well. If you care about console games that is. (I don't.) By the time PS4 rolls around, there will be a working emulator for PS3.

Seriously, if someone is over the legal age, I don’t see a reason why that someone should own a console. Unless that someone is some kind of a eccentric billionaire who still likes to play with his cho-cho trains. I mean, if you have the technical know-how to put together a gaming PC from the ground up, why do you want a console your 8 year old neighbor plays with?
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#35
Luke
I Will NEVER Stop Gaming on Pc

I haven’t played console for about three years because I hate console controllers
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#36
DEFEATEST
I cant believe anyone would think that we will see the end of pc gaming in our lifetime, or ever!
I mean comon! PC gaming is not for everyone, because it can be complicated and frustrating and expen$ive. We all know this. But it is a enthusiasts hobby. We who love it will always love it. Anyone , and I mean anyone who plays games on PC for a while and gets used to the controls and mouse knows that there is no alternative. Sure consoles are fun and can be powerful in a 2 years ago kinda hardware way, but they will never match the cutting edge PC.
There is a reason games like Crysis are for PC only. There is a reason WOW and BF2 are so popular. There is a reason that millions of graphics cards and multicore cPu's and tons of ram and 22inch monitors and gaming mice are sold everyday. We crave our Ventrillos and teamspeaks and CAL compititions and yearly massive lan partys and on and on and on.........Because we the few and lucky know that nothing beats it. We have endless things to talk about and argue about, we help each other out, we lend , sell , buy and give an old graphics card to a buddy or younger brother who wants to get in on some 64 player fun!!!!

OK, Ok I know what I'm starting to sound like. Anyhoo, PC gaming will always be here. Do you think games are developed on consoles?

The way I look at consoles is this. They are great, dont get me wrong, but you cant find a more controlled, over priced, corporate American form of entertainment anywhere. It is what it is. I like to think with a PC , I have a little more control.

Know lets all have a cold beer!
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#37
ktr
CDdude55Another excellent point.
On top of that, i want to add that the 300-500 dollars in upgrades wont guaranty you in playing games from a year from now.
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#38
CDdude55
Crazy 4 TPU!!!
DaMultaAnd I hated playing GTA with a controller...
I didn't think that was possible.lol
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#39
Ravenas
I love PC games as much as the next guy, but the only thing really setting PCs apart from consoles is mouse and keyboard. Soon enough, that won't be so anymore, and mouse and keyboard will be a standard option on all console games. Sure you have the ability to upgrade your PC, but there is no need to on a console because all of the games are optimized for the console.
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#40
ktr
I say the main question is..."Why do we like the PC over the console?"
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#41
Makaveli
RavenasI mean when nvidia is charging 500$ for a medium range graphics card, I could either buy a entire console or a graphics card... Hmm...
lol never heard of a 8800GT or HD3870 I don't think they cost $500!
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#42
Makaveli
I kinda prefer Pc's being single player, if you want to play with more people that is what multiplayer is for.

i've done the Console thing with all my drunk buddies over, guess what shit gets broken when the morons start fighting over a cheap goal.
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#43
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
PC is better because you have choice. its the PC vs mac argument.

on console, you're stuck with default stuff - PC you get to choose controllers. THOUSANDS of mouse and keyboard combos. If you want more AA and less shadows, you can do that - if you want to use voice chat you use teamspeak - the GAME doesnt need it.

Audiophile? upgrade a sound card, cant do that on a console.

Its all about the choice - and most people are too dumb/uneducated to know there ARE choices, so they buy something that 'just works'
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#44
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
ktrI say the main question is..."Why do we like the PC over the console?"
if i were a rich man i would only use my ps3 for blu-ray movies and to stream media wirelessly to my receiver and would spend thousands of dollars every few months on a top of the line computer to play games.
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#45
GSG-9
He can tell that to my keyboard and mouse...which are better in windows than on a console...he can also tell that to my nice chair i sit in while i play my pc games.
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#46
CDdude55
Crazy 4 TPU!!!
The PC vs Mac arguments are so stupid. Even they should know PC is better. And the Mac commercials make me so mad:mad:.
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#47
GSG-9
RavenasI mean when nvidia is charging 500$ for a medium range graphics card, I could either buy a entire console or a graphics card... Hmm...
What? 500? are you on crack kid? thats sure as f_*k not a mid range. :shadedshu
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#48
BYOB
First of all, I think reason that ut3 tanked is because it feels too much like a console port. Also, games that are made by epic seem to be buggy at first takes a while for them to fix there problems like Sli or crossfire support (ex. Hellgate London, and UT3). I believe that upgrading a PC is neccessary, but since the economy has hit a low not many people can afford these new graphic cards that can run things smoothly at a reasonable resolution w/ AA enabled or hell even afford to buy a game.

I remember when UT2004 demo came out it was incredible ran smooth and the graphics looked awesome at the time still look good and movement was so much better.

If game publishers would release things with moderate graphics that run smooth and then add patches when newer technology comes out to improve the graphics kind of like Farcry did.
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#49
jocksteeluk
If every console game release was available for PC you see PC's for games sales increase but i do concede the continual upgrading cycle of PCs could be rather off putting to just a general gamer.
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#50
GSG-9
BYOBFirst of all, I think reason that ut3 tanked is because it feels too much like a console port. Also, games that are made by epic seem to be buggy at first takes a while for them to fix there problems like Sli or crossfire support (ex. Hellgate London, and UT3). I believe that upgrading a PC is neccessary, but since the economy has hit a low not many people can afford these new graphic cards that can run things smoothly at a reasonable resolution w/ AA enabled or hell even afford to buy a game.

I remember when UT2004 demo came out it was incredible ran smooth and the graphics looked awesome at the time still look good and movement was so much better.

If game publishers would release things with moderate graphics that run smooth and then add patches when newer technology comes out to improve the graphics kind of like Farcry did.
If you remember the low end of the high end did not start at 200 eather. The 3870s
are a new price range for cards. For the past five years it has been high end at 500+ (Some later card at 1000 tops) low hiend at like 400 then down to 300ish and mid and below at 250 and down.
ATi has RELEASED their high end setup at just over 200. What do you want? Then to add in 4 gigs of ram on the side. Its not a 8800XT, but it really is on the same field after its clocked up. As for smooth running, my (now $180) videocard runs it excellently at 1280x800. sure they need SLi support but you know what, so did crysis (crossfire). Even though you cant run it happily on your 6150 (speaking from experience.) and you could with 04, there was no new pricepoint then. The market has changed a bit.
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