now there's the rare case of a hacker and network disruptor that I would support. The good guys need to fight fire w/ fire
If piracy is so much of a problem, or better has been so much of a problem for years, why are no real efforts made to combat piracy?
.mp3 piracy only affected publishers and riaa, not the bands/singers
If they go live often there's no problem
Mass Effect seems to be an exception. The previews say the PC port Bioware outsourced to god-knows-who is excellent and removes all signs of consolitis.
If the content is on your hard drive how does that prevent the pirates doing what they do?
This thread depresses me
The thing is I wouldn't have a problem moving to consoles if I could play the games I enjoy on PC there with a similar gaming experience. Unfortunately the games I enjoy the most are the very ones that will never make that transition - party-based RPGs just aren't viable on a console, especially when forced to use a controller instead of keyboard/mouse. As it is, there's very few console games I ever even consider buying - the death of PC gaming would mean the death of the games I love. Mass Effect was a good example of a game that gets about as close as a console can to what I like... but even there it fell far short of my preferred gaming style.
And the worst thing is that I can't do anything about it - I already buy my games, it's the people who don't that are in the process of ruining it for all.
I hear you on that. It's not a happy topic.
My point: I think the chances are very high that wireless keyboards and mice will be part of the supported input controls on the next generation of consoles that will follow this one.
That does not mean that console developers will necessarily end up making the games you prefer to play. But, I think the pressure to make the console more like a computer will be inexorable.
So long term? I think the mouse and keyboard will be there for you.
Did you read my post, at , all? part of the game content is on your hard-drive like models and graphics heavy stuff, but logic and some other parts are streamed from server.
That in itself will likely mean that at most input will be limited to the dozen or so input mechanisms of the controller - a mouse/keyboard may be possible, but I suspect most of the time that will be limited to remapping controller inputs. Leaving many, many input options un-assignable.
I'm in the camp that thinks the problem is way more the hardware on PC's than piracy. But it's not the cost, and it's not the need to upgrade every year. I've been able to play games on the same system for several years now with a couple hundred dollars spend on more memory and upgrading my vid card.
Steel_Wind, I sounds like you know what you are talking about. It still amazes me, though. TQ turned a profit, no? Despite 90% piracy it turned a profit. If you can calculate a business plan assuming 90% piracy and make a profit, why are publishers shying away from that? What is the logic behind this "OMFG without piracy we would make 100% more money, that Sucks! Let's rather not make any money at all!"?
A business needs to do more than turn a profit, it needs to provide a return on capital sufficient to compensate for the risk. In this case they couldn't convince the publishers that the likely returns were worth the risk of further investment. Wide spread piracy doesn't just reduce the profits, it also increases the perception of risk.
It's not the cost, it's the sheer availability of poor PCs being touted as doing all you need.
If you go into a mainstream shop and buy a X360, you can guarantee that every X360 will be able to play games labelled as being for the X360.
Then I saw that Bioshock was selling 5 to 1 on console vs. PC. And Call of Duty 4 was selling 10 to 1
* The Sims (16 million shipped,[149] 29 million including expansions)[150]
* Lineage 2 (14 million customers)[151]
* The Sims 2 (13 million)[152]
o The Sims 2: Pets [expansion pack] (5.6 million)[153]
o The Sims 2: Seasons [expansion pack] (1 million)[153]
* World of Warcraft (10 million subscribers)[154]
o World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade [expansion pack] (3.5 million)[154][155]
* StarCraft (9.5 million, includes StarCraft: Brood War)[156]
* Half-Life (8 million)[157]
* Myst (6 million)[158]
* Guild Wars (5 million in North America, Europe, and Asia; includes Factions, Nightfall, and Eye of the North)[159]
* Cossacks: European Wars (4 million)[160]
* Diablo II (4 million)[161]
o Diablo II: Lord of Destruction [expansion pack] (1 million)[161]
* Frogger (4 million)[162]
* Half-Life 2 (4 million)[163]
* Populous (4 million)[164][165]
* RollerCoaster Tycoon (4 million in North America)[166]
* Doom 3 (3.5 million)[167]
* EverQuest (3.5 million)[168]
* Theme Park (3.5 million)[165]
* Age of Empires (3 million)[169]
o Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome [expansion pack] (1 million)[169]
* Command & Conquer: Red Alert (3 million)[170]
* Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (3 million)[171]
o Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne [expansion pack] (1 million)[172]
* Anno 1602 (2.5 million)[173]
* Cossacks 2: Napoleonic Wars (2.5 million)[174]
* Diablo (2.5 million)[161]
* Battlefield 1942 (2.44 million)[175]
* Battlefield 2 (2.09 million)[175]
* Baldur's Gate (2 million)[176]
* Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2 million)[176]
* Black & White (2 million)[165]
* Civilization III (2 million)[33]
* Doom II: Hell on Earth (2 million)[177]
* Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven (2 million)[178]
* Neverwinter Nights (2 million)[179]
* Ragnarok Online (2 million North American subscribers)[180]
* Riven (2 million)[158]
* Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (2 million)[181]
* Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (2 million shipped)[182]
* BioShock (2 million shipped, includes Xbox 360 version)[19]
* Sacred (1.8 million)[183]
* Civilization IV (1.7 million)[105]
* Quake (1.7 million)[184]
* S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (1.65 million)[185]
* Age of Empires III (1.5 million)[186]
* Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun (1.5 million)[187]
* Duke Nukem 3D (1.5 million)[188]
* Star Wars Galaxies (1.5 million)[189]
* The Orange Box (at least 1.5 million)[27]
* Battlefield Vietnam (1.34 million)[175]
* Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1.3 million in US)[190]
* SimCity 3000 Unlimited (1.1 million in US)[190]
* Zoo Tycoon (1.1 million in US)[190]
* Crysis (1 million)[191]
* Age of Mythology (1 million)[192]
* American McGee's Alice (1 million)[193]
* Blade Runner (1 million)[194]
* Dungeon Lords (1 million)[195]
* Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars (1 million)[196]
* Empire Earth (1 million)[197]
* Glory of the Roman Empire (1 million)[198]
* Imperivm III: Great Battles of Rome (1 million, distributed only in Italy and Spain)[199]
* Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (1 million)[200]
* Patrician III: L'Impero Dei Mari (1 million, distributed only in Italy and Spain)[201]
* Phantasmagoria (1 million)[202]
* Quake II (1 million)[203]
* Return to Castle Wolfenstein (1 million shipped)[203]
* Return to Zork (1 million)[204]
* Runaway: A Road Adventure (1 million)[205]
* The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3 (1 million)[206]
* Unreal (1 million)[207]
* Unreal Tournament (1 million)[207]
Perhaps the titan quest simply wasnt good enough - pc gamers are bored to playing diablo clones the last 10 years. Console gamers though might have bought it as a new experience.