I’ve bought and followed most of the FPS exclusive Sony PS3 releases. Rage is the first multi-platform FPS I’ve bought and followed that has had such a venomous response. Sure all the excusive games had their distracters, but nothing like I’ve seen here.

It appears by looking at sales statistics that the PC platform only accounts for about 10% of sales. It also appears that 90% of the most venomous attacks on this game are from a subset of this minority.

I assume the vocal aggressiveness of this small percentage of users has affected the sales numbers on the other two platforms. If the vocal minority deterred more sales from the other two platforms than their own numbers, then there is no reasonable developer/publisher that would continue to target this minority group.

Any smart developers watching this fiasco, would be crossing off PC plans altogether. It’s just too risky on all the tech support costs on the thousands of variables in personal PC gaming machines, let alone the negative publicity of such a demanding consumer.

You guys and gals are killing yourself.

BTW, great game ID/Besheda -- I loved it.

Yeah guys, next game that comes out as a sloppy wreck and doesn't work, just bend over and take it. All this whining about getting your money's worth... PFT! Eff that, just bite your pillow and enjoy the reaming. Because that way, it will encourage other companies to sell us unbearable, non working, unpolished, dog feces.

Sir, with all do respect, you are a lemming and a moron. Some people don't want to walk off the cliff with you.

I’m a lemming and a moron because I suggest that the days of PC gaming development are coming to an end, based on economics, aggravated by a vocal minority?

Ok, well keep forking out those big bucks on those gaming rigs! Xbox720 and ps4 are really going to put a nail in the coffin.

Even this moron can read the writing on the wall.

Keep up your belly aching, it is fun to see the tantrums of the elitist few, as they aggrevate their own problems.

It's not about the platform...
It's about money.
What do you do when you buy a broken TV?
RAGE, and get that [censored] back to the store ASAP!
What do the responsable company does?
Fix it and listen to it's costumers because that's where they get their money from.
It's the same with the gaming industry, it's not like it used to be anymore where only kids played games, now it's a serious multi billion dollars/euros (or whatever) bussines.

I was trying to allude to this point, or thinking of it anyways but you articulated them perfectly. There are level headed PC users who do know think as you do to some degree, although the cries of the death of the PC Is nothing new...I dont think the PC is going anywhere, it's just a way more versatile platform currently and still has the biggest install base last time I checked and has the biggest grossing IP in the history of gaming (WOW)--with that said its probably never looked so dim.

Sure, the smartest thing Bethesda/ID could have done immediately upon release and seeing all the PC bad mouthing and various driver issues, was to offer a full refund to this small group, so as to silence their complaints as early as possible, thus picking up more console sells to make up for it.

However, my point was not for this version of Rage, but for upcoming games. Not only from Bethesda/ID but from all developers that surely have watched this train wreck with great interest.
It seems obvious that avoiding a repeat might well involve simply dropping all PC development. Enjoy your dwindling game base while it lasts!

I don't believe there are any figures available yet for PC downloads, just sales of disks. Also, a recent market study indicated that PC game sales will surpass those of consoles within the next 3 years.

As PCs capable of playing games like crisis become cheaper, easily upgraded, and more ubiquitous people will buy more games for them rather then spending money on a separate console system. Eventually I suspect every snot nosed kid will be lugging around a small tablet PC that's their movie player, internet, phone, and portable gaming device. Rage follows that trend and is capable of being played on something as wimpy as an iPhone. However, that means we'll likely hear even more complaints from all those snot nosed kids who can't get a game to work on their cheap Walmart tablet. I'm sure the industry will eventually make PC gaming more idiot proof and instant gratification friendly then they already have, but I'd guess its gonna get worse before it gets better.

I guess I am a moron too, because I have been worried for sometime now about this very topic. I think Microslush has been trying to corner the market on gaming for some time now and they seem to be succeeding to a certain extent. I never thought id would turn traitor but with this game it looks like they have. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Rage is that bad of a game, but it was designed mostly for councils, with PCs as after thought IMO.

Can you elaborate on this 10% figure?

From reviewing studies published by Intel and nVIDIA, it seems that as of 2011 revenue from the PC platform exceeds all other platforms combined:

http://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Picture21.png

Also, AFAIK, the digital download sales are not published in any public sales charts; however, PC digital downloads seem to be vastly outselling PC packaged retail discs (at a roughly 6 to 1 ratio):

http://techgage.com/articles/editorials/september_11/nvidia_trends_07.png

Anyone that advocates that consumers should never complain about broken products in fear that they will stop producing products for a market audience that brings them MILLIONS + dollars is a moron and a lemming. It is like someone not returning a book missing it's pages in fear that all authors will hear about it and start writing movie scripts.

I am all for consumers getting what they pay for. If you want to silence outraged consumers for something as STUPID and ASININE as an unfounded and illogical fear that developers will start shunning away from making PC games then you need to just walk off the lemming cliff and get out of the way. There are better voices that need to be heard and you are consuming thread space.

@timpanogos

I don't know where your numbers come from or how you correlate them to PC-users divesting themselves of the opportunity to play games on the platform. At first read of your comments, you appear to be trying to convince we nasty PC users to "play nice or do without."

To you I will say the following:

- Some PC users have had installation and graphical rendering issues and have, rightly, been vocal about it. This is obvious if you review the PC-based technical forum. That's what these forums exist for. It's a separate and on-going issue as some PC users have had and continue to have trouble playing the game on their systems despite the fact that many have systems within the required specifications. This situation has been exacerbated by lack of, or vague, technical support, last-minute patching of a "completed" product and nothing less than very unusual and unprofessional mud-slinging at PC video card manufacturers and console makers.

- This forum "General Discussion" is - not - platform-specific. While some people may be incorrectly-posting about their on-going technical issues with or without mention of other problems they wish to share, the fact is that many people are taking issue with the content of Rage or more precisely, lack thereof. I am one of those apparently ill-behaved folks who has no problem with coming to this forum and sharing a negative opinion. Do I think I'm ruining my chances to play games on my PC - no. Do I think that the great many other people posting similar thoughts are ruining their chances? - no. I support my assertion by saying that Id / Bethesda are - most definitely not - the only game-makers building for the PC-platform. A great many other companies have demonstrated not only their ability to effectively develop specifically for the PC first, and consoles second but, have also made and continue to make a very good living at it as well.

- If you're really interested in assessing impact on sales, call around to some of the better known video game retailers and inquire about their stock of this title, new and "pre-owned." I did.

- Speaking for myself and quite-possibly the "vocal minority" as you put it, we are not put off by your subtle threats of doom and gloom for PC-users as we see you as one of many "white-knights" permeating these forums in some apparent attempt at defending a mediocre product by industry standards or it's developer or both. Promoting coercion via public forum using subtle language may persuade a few of the younger less-experienced people but, if you seek to convince the more discerning and insightful among us, you have failed.

For some strange reason, offering a negative viewpoint on these forums, regardless of how succinctly or constructively they are offered meets with nothing but, derision and criticism. Not by Id or Bethesda but, by fellow forum users bent on suppressing our right to express our opinion. You're entitled to your opinon - I respect that fact. I just wish that those of us expessing differing views were afforded the same courtesy.

Thanks for that, and agreed. We all have our own experiences and opinions which we are free to share. Unfortunately some are quick to immediate ad-hominem attacks. Maybe the hated “white knights” are really only guilty of sharing their own, positive experience with the game, and not being nasty about it.

I’m not a novice to FPS shooters, gaming computers or the PS3 console. Like I said in the OP, the level of “hate” about rage just seems way out of whack from what I’ve seen in recent AAA console exclusive releases. I enjoyed rage every bit as much as crisis2, kz3, r3 etc.

Those "10% sales are on PC"-stats you are referring to, are likely the ones from VgChartz, which dont include online sales and/or digital copies (Steam et.c).

It's almost offensive how you have a game that works on your platform, and when some people complain about it not working on their platform you then come up with "Oh you are in the minority, svcks to be you - haha! You should be ignored anyways".

Actually, I quite liked Tempest51’s note that a forum dedicated to PC issues exists on this board, and that this forum might possibly be misused.

If PC’ers with issues were more willing to try and be part of the solution (in the PC forum), or by directly contacting customer support it would likely help their cause, where I’ve only suggested that pure angry bad mouthing is not helping your cause.

I’m not trying to say “it svcks to be you”. I’m trying to say that I hear a lot of “this game is total junk”, and that is not my experience. Assuming the consoles outsell the PC by a large margin is speculation on my part.

BTW, mine was not a perfect experience:

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1239499-corrupted-save/

Resistence 2 had similar data corruption issues when it first came out.

@timpanogos

Personally, I don't "hate" anyone - white-knights included. I don't go out of my way to marginalize positive opinions only, state a differing view when it's warranted. As I'm sure you're aware many people use official forums and the comments presented within to help them decide whether a game is worth purchasing or not. To that end, I will not tell those who are happy with the game that their opinion is invalid because I have a different view but, I will make sure that people reading my words for decision-making purposes about a game are presented with an alternate view. It is that person who will judge my comments as worthy or not. I'm ok with that.

As for your assertion that the level of hate is any different for Rage than other games, I will say that I've seen far better comments and far worse comments both, individually and en masse about other games. Rage is no exception to the rule.

I am also no stranger to FPS or video games in general. Video games have been one of several hobbies for me since the days of the Atari console. I enjoyed parts of Rage and don't wish ill to it's developer or publisher. I only hope that they do a more recognizable and expected job of it, next time.

Did not have you in mind at all. Your thoughts are acknowledged and appreciated.

@tempest much better tact and tone,

@swansong

I strive to communicate to the best of my ability, it's a personal choice. I have said much about my opinion of Rage in these forums and always with suitable tact and tone. To that end, I don't require approval, correction or praise. I respect the right of others to share opinions and ask for the same for myself.

And yet it seems that Portal 2 sold more on PC than on all the consoles combined and it was a very-very popular game, possibly GOTY for many publications and users.

Are consoles dying?

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/08/30/portal-2-sold-more-copies-on-pc-than-consoles.aspx

I wasn't talking about a refund, I was talking about the interest/attention that the developers must put into their product to get their desired sales.
But let's be thankful that we still have games like this, the market is flooded with games having killstreaks and all these flashy things, but in the end it's a matter of preference.

That is a very interesting factoid. I do own Portal 2 on the PS3. The concept was fantastic, the game was fun, but shall we compare the blood and guts of Portal 2 with say Rage (i.e. length of play - what 2-3 hours, ai very simplistic, graphics very simplistic, story very simplistic, final boss simple etc.). Interesting that one of the lowest demanding games on cpu/gpu computing power was the one winning the sales on all those powerful gaming PC rigs. I'd suggest that it's the higher demands/expectations of console gamers (for high quality graphics, story, gameplay etc.) that were the causes for the lower sales on console in this case.

I'd also suggest that it was likely good press/word of mouth among the various PC forums that made this game a GOTY candidate for the PC (opposite effect of that presented in the OP).

Portal 2 would not even be in the running for GOTY in the console world, and for good reasons in my book.

These are your personal opinions. Your comments about technical prowess are biased - and it's fine, they're your assumptions - seeing as how some of the most successful games this gen are not particularly pretty.

My own assumption is that most console users don't like puzzle games.

id will never be the same since they're now run by pencil-pushing bureaucrats from ZeniMax who haven't played a single game in their lives.

Correction: Most console users aren't smart enough to solve puzzles.

There are plenty of websites out there where you can engage in platform bashing and console wars to your heart's content.

This forum is not one one of them.