Bolded part might have been true 6 years ago but the world moved on. It is just as easy to pirate any game - most of the time even easier, case in point the bootleg version of Skyrim was available ONE WEEK before release - on the console nowadays.

( Disclaimer: I bought Skyrim on steam and don't own any console. I have eyes though and can find stuff on the interwebz )

Publishers are more concerned about used game sales than piracy on consoles, EA said that used games are costing them more money than piracy is, which is why we are seeing so many 'online passes' and day one DLC these days. All platforms have their own issues, so it's silly for one group to place their system above others.

Also a PC copy nets Bethesda more money than a console copy thanks to Steam and less royalties.

lol op didnt even read the ARTICLE........he must work at Fox News.

If Bethesda chooses to build more toward consoles, it's about time. So many games that come to 360 are really, really bad ports from PC and they are horrible. The tables are turned, and I'm sorry it svcks so much for you PC users, but I'm not losing any sleep over it.

Yes, the PC to console ports will always svck. Why? Because your pitiful 2004 console can't handle 2011 games unless they get stripped down. And I ain't losin' any sleep over that.

I think that maybe it's easier for the majority of people to use a pirated PC game than it is a pirated console game. (And not counting the older consoles) At least that's what I think people mean when they say "it's easier to pirate a PC game."

Well, if Bethesda decides to make games exclusively for consoles, well, no problem I guess. Lucky, for us pc players we are left with companies like Cryteck and others who are always striving for technical innovations in the world of pc gaming. What about this "headache"? That smell like a diplomatic excuse for perhaps misdoing certain things in Skyrim on the pc platform?

Which is a big part of why console sales fall off a cliff outside of the first couple of months. Any console gamer that doesn't buy in the first two months is probably not buying new, which nets them no money.

Of course, retail copies of the PC version (that 300,000 number, without the additional sales from Steam) have the places like Gamestop taking just as much of a cut, although, of course, they don't deal in used PC games, if they even deal in PC games at all, anymore.

But still, Piracy affects both, but the Gamestop problem is really only worth mentioning on the console side, and it's a far bigger hit on company profits.

Gamestop had a deal, apparently, where if you bought Battlefield 3 at release, and didn't like it, you could turn it in before Modern Warfare 3 came out, and get Modern Warfare 3 for something like $1. That's basically the retailers going out of their way to undermine your business model, right there.

lol No, it's not. It's harder to explain how to pirate and crack a PC game to the casual person than it is for that same casual person to actually buy and plug in a dongle for the PS3 or pay $30 to get their 360 hacked.


Also, Bethesda really ought to think about what they're saying. So it's so much easier to develop for consoles because consoles all have the same hardware config. So then, why is it Bethesda can't even make the console games work right without needing patch after patch to fix them, eh??

It's all you if you feel the need to be bitter and jaded but usually the ports suffer all the same major issues I'm hearing about this one in the reverse direction. The UI gets wonky, the controls don't gel and it just doesn't fit the system well. I'm not here so you can measure your e-peen so grow up.

It's true developing for PC may offer a few extra challenges, however it would be nice if they made the effort to better design basic elements of the game for the PC, the UI for example

About this driver thing. I suggest the dev (not only bethesda) to work closer to the video card manufacturer and INCLUDE DRIVERS into the game installation.

This way, even people who never update their graphical drivers can have a least possible bugged experience.

Of course it is more complicated to dev on PC because of all configs. But PC gaming was there before consoles, and many devs made very nice games on it... So it is possible. It may cost a bit more for testing, but the PC crowd can be very faithful when you show them some goodwill, and that gives a good potential for add-ons and DLCs.

While on console, the gamers fidelity will more materialize in buying the next game of the same serie, I think.

when $500 million+ in sales just aren't enough I guess?

They develop for how long now on PC's?

15+ years?20+ years?

And now they start to get headache from it? o_O
They should be the masters of PC programming.

Not really. Stores pay the companies for the games they sell up front. Companies don't ship the games and then say "pay us when you sell 'em all". So the developers and publishers have already made their money before Gamestop made that $1 deal.

What irks them is that they can't have the money from the used sale also. And I sure as hell don't send the publisher a check when i sell my used games on Craigslist for more cash than I'd get in credit from Gamestop, either.

I love how all he says is that PC games are a head ache, EVEN THOUGH THEY DO THEM ANYWAYS, and elitist PC gamers with a chip on their should jump all over it as if it's some sleight against PC gaming. As a life long PC gamer I'm getting tired of the tribalism and xenophobic psychology.

Why do game developers even spend resources on pirate protection? Pirates will always find a way to crack their game! so its just a waste of money and time.

I always buy games i like anyway. I some times DL games, but in those cases I would never have bought the game in the first place, or if i really like it, i go and buy it after having tested it. way better than reading countless subjective reviews.

And for the statements about PC development; they're true.

I agree with the technical point, kinda hard since PC stuff is changing all the time, and the range is darn huge. sigh

Well having to mod your console yeah is a little more involved than just downloading a cracked game. Or costs money as you pointed out.

You do realize Skyrim hit a record high on number of concurrent steam users?

That's all non-pirated users. Piracy exist, but the game industry are making more money than ever before... then there were Minecraft.

Edit: If they didn't release on PC, then a large portion of their profit would be void, in addition, the added marketing and innovations (which they themselves can build upon to enhance their games and sales - like with the new bow system) that comes with mods would also be void.

Stick with Blizzard... They still care about and make quality PC games.

Diablo 3 in a few months...

No [censored] console ported [censored]...

Your wonky UI and controls is because PC games use keyboards that have dozens of keys to map to compared to the 12 on your controller pad. So when they port it down to the itty-bitty console, they have to cram dozens of keys into 1 dozen buttons, which means you get funky menu systems instead of nice clean interfaces. On the flip side, the only way to make a bad UI/control scheme when porting to PC from console comes down to pure laziness, such as the case with Skyrim.

casuals dont buy hacked consoles, and of course its more easy to play pirate games on pc...even a monkey can understand that
have fun when your hacked console get banned online...


tsss Diablo 3 console port inc..

I started to delete all the references to piracy, since this cannot be discussed on this forum, before realising this thread is a lost cause.

It can only, inevitably, descend into platform wars.

Perhaps some members would be interested in an article on http://www.tweakguides.com/Fallout3_13.html discussing Fallout 3: "The simple truth of the matter is that PC gaming is a dual-edged sword. The very fact that a PC allows us so much freedom of choice as to what type of hardware we use, and what type of software we install on it, also results in much greater potential for a wide range of problems. PCs are not a 'plug and play' gaming machine, and never have been." I believe that is all that was meant by the OP's quote, and no slight towards PC players had ever been intended.