Fair enough. I started the thread because somebody else made one claiming that consoles messed up Sykrim.

While I totally agree that the game would have been better if left as a pc exclusive, I thought I would try to make people understand the money end of Bethesdas decision.

I meant no ill will towards pc gamers. I just thought tha maybe if they saw the numbers, they might better understand why Bethesda made the decisions that they made.

This was NEVER meant to be a pc vs console thread!!

The reality of the game industry is that consoles rule the registers. cha-ching!!

As long as that remains true, expect developers to cater to them first.

Now would you get off my back?

oh... btw... i did post a link, if you cared to read the entire thread.

configure, build, install, optimize <- this is all done for you and bundled with your PC purchase the moment you leave the retailer
upgrade <- optional; I choose to replace my PC every 5 years. Nevertheless, you can't upgrade consoles so it's a moot point.
update <- automatic in most modern operating systems
keep everything secure <- don't give out your account passwords ? Applies to consoles, also.

Aaand what do the majority of the pc-users with normal knowledge of a pc do?

Same here. I used to be a big PC gamer. I didn't mind being a bit far behind in terms of console tech. But when the transition came to the current generation of consoles that all changed. From being able to get by for the better part of a decade simply upgrading small parts of my PC, which was plausible and cost effective, after about 2006 prices and regularity of upgrades for each new game totally changed. I can't afford to effectively upgrade two or more components of my PC every year, just to make it compatible for the next 18 months at best.

I CAN afford to shell out once for a 360 and actually get to play the same games without being flat broke.

PC Gaming has becoming a marginalised luxury industry, eating itself out from within. Millions of gamers who could afford to play new titles regularly on a PC in the 90s and early 2000s have long since been priced out of the market. Swapping over to consoles may be a compromise, but the reality is that it's the only way they can now play those games.

Maybe for you its easy, but as someone who has done support for IT I can say catagorically that most PC users cant even do the basics properly never mind game on one.

Configure/install=selecting components that will:

1. Last at least 5 years(?)
2. Cooperate nicely with each other

And this not only for your specific purpose (skyrim) but for everything else out there for the next 5 years

Optimising: driver updates, other sw-updates of other sw, fine tune gfx-cards, downgrade drivers etc etc etc

Security: firewalls, port forwarding, av-setups and tweaking etc etc

Xbox gaming: "hey I want an Xbox with skyrim"...done

That's how I feel anyways

Exactly. And seeking advice for what modern components play well with each other is almost always a contradictory experience...

Dude I could tell you some funny funny stuff about how dumb people are when it comes to computers. Like one woman who thought the mouse had to be touching the screen, or the guy who (and Im not making this up) said his windows was fine because they were open and the curtains were drawn, or the guy who took a disc in to the yard and set fire to it when he was told to "burn a copy" of some software for backup.

Honestly true those, and a lot more where that came from.

Ok ok ok, I won't call you again!! Geeez

Word.

You win this round.

Seriously, though-- I think a gamer would at least know the purpose of his PC and how to use it. The people that are totally clueless to computers are likely also totally clueless to gaming. Unless you count Solitaire.

A friend of mine works in IT support, for a County Council, and had a painstaking long phone conversation where the Official on the other end of the Line claimed adamantly that none of the program shortcuts they were supposed to have were on their desktop. When told over and over to 'look for the button' (It got to that point...) it eventually turned out that the confusion was actually based in their trying to find a physical button, to press with their finger, on the wooden table top on which their PC was sat.

I kid you not.

http://i.imgur.com/iTZtG.jpg of 2012's exclusive and multiplatform releases begs to differ with you. A lot. PC has twice the amount of exclusives as any other platform, even if you cut out the ones that probably won't be out this year (...or ever ) like Black Mesa, Fallout Online, and Natural Selection 2.

It is if you want to play on a couch with a controller connected to a HDTV. You may not need a PhD in computer science but it is no where near as easy as plugging in a PS3 or Xbox. I recently upgraded my harddrive on my PS3 to an SSD. You know what? The whole process was quicker and easier than updating the virus software on a PC.

Those figures don't include digital sales which makes them meaningless. Given the hype, ck, steam workshop, steam registration requirement etc there was a big incentive to get the digital version on this title. Digital sales could easily be 80%+ of the PC total.

Logically, plausibly, yes. But the wonderful thing about digital distribution? You can keep the ACTUAL figures to yourself...

Enough of this platform war.