Timewaster's Guide Archive
Games => Video Games => Topic started by: Spriggan on August 04, 2006, 05:46:57 PM
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While it's no surpise that Blizz hasn't had much luck with the console market consiering they haven't even managed to get a single game out despite like 4 years of development, they decided to move back to PC only games for the time being. So ya, if the last annoucement about Ghost being axed didn't convince you this one should hope you that the game will never see the light.
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/04/blizzard-refocuses-efforts-away-from-consoles/
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Oh oh, wasn't Starcraft on the N64 or some other console? Didn't that happen? Heh, that was funny.
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As was command and conquer... what person came up with the idea to put strategy games on a console?
Hmmm, that's a lot of tanks, of south border? ok, I promise not to send my air units down there.
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not that i've played either, but before Halo, FPS was considered a no no for the console too. I don't see why RTS couldn't be done well there too.
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That's the thing though SE. Done well. Halo survived, not because of the storyline, but because it was actually fun (and bearable) to play.
When I say bearable I'm coming from the POV of someone who has played FPS' on PC's dominately. At first I was turned off of Halo and even when playing found it slow and rather boring.
But then I went through the campaign (in about... 4 hours) and started to play with friends. That's where it really shines. Multiplayer. Halo 2 just grappled onto that. The storyline there was also subpar.
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and this means RTS can't survive.... why?
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When did I say it couldn't? It could depending on how well it's made. Yah hear?
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"that's the thing though" implies disagreement with my conclusion.
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OHH , ok. Pick and choose will you. There's still the next sentence you're forgetting. "Done well." Ahem? You assume too much from my text's. They are simple and docile. They mean you no harm. There are no layers of text here. I don't find myself needing to layer text around here.
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that phrase isn't in your previous post. I was just explaining why I reacted like I did.
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I would find it hard to adapt to playing RTS's on a game system, I think. First of all, there are only 12 buttons on the Xbox controller, if you include the joysticks. That means that you can't use as many hotkeys as you normally could. For most RTS's nowadays, there are hotkeys for attack, attack-move, defend, move, numbering units (which adds a lot of extra keys, and, I believe, most players rely on to organize their troops), stop, build (again, adds a lot of keys, which, granted, can be the same as some other commands, but still), force attack (for attacking friendly or neutral units), etc. Without hotkeys, RTS's slow down considerably. I suppose it's not an insurmountable barrier, but I think that it's enough to keep RTS's, at least good ones, on the PC for a while.
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Archon brings up a lot of good points, in addition to no keyboard, no mouse; That makes a huge difference.
And while in a first person shooter knowing what a person has and where they are going doesn't get them killed, your lack of skill gets you killed.
where as on a starcraft, as soon as you start building a control tower on your starport, I know you are going to be building battlecruisers and valkeries, it's a given, or else you are wasting your money.
I just start massing goliaths.
It's like playing paper, rock, scissors where as soon as you make your choice, the other player has 1 second to choose after you do.
Those two reasons are the biggest reasons why I never got into them. I rented both (C&C and SC) neither was any good for those reasons. And when I talked to everyone else who played them that was their biggest reason for hating them.
No one wanted to start making anything, because as soon as you do, your opponent starts making counter units. And you can't make a secret base anywhere.
Sad sad sad.
It will be very interesting to see what happens in the near future with BFME2 that was recently released for the Xbox360.
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I think you over simplify the RTS game. Sure, if you have a control tower you're building battle cruisers, but if I have another science building, I can also be pumping out ghosts and nukes. Or, simpler, I could also be building a wad of seige tanks to smack around your goliaths.
I *still* don't like console FPS. I prefer my mouse for facing. I can't move as well with that stupid console controller. And it was *this* reason that FPS took so long to take off on consoles in the first place. I'm pretty certain that the controller issue is something that can be innovated around.
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Ever tried to drop a nuke while the other guy is watching your screen? :P :)
Anyway, I don't disagree about fps, i prefer a mouse, keyboard and seperate screen, but i think they are fun for a recreational play.
i could not ever get used to rts on cons. maybe a turnbased.
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no, i usually set up my lan parties so you can't see two monitors. *shrug*
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haha, right, so do I.
I am just saying why you can not use a console for an RTS.
My brother kept trying to nuke me, didn't work.
for obvious reasons.
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oooooh. HAHAHAHA. yeah, that makes sense.
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Screenhacking is just BAD eticut at LAN parties and we usualy frown on it.
Durring the CPTournies and the other CS tournies I have moderated I always would DQ players who "screenhacked"
But if you set up your space correct, Screenhacking is pretty hard to do.
On a split screen TC as used by a Console, these measures are impossible
As to Blizard.. Good for them. The PC market is going through tough times with all the Downloading and illegal copying that is going on.
Games like WoW and other MMOs have the advantage of mandatory online play, with a 1 use account key that keeps players honest.
Valve may have had the other counter with their STEAM system that verifies the validity of your copy even if playing singleplayer.
Then there is also BF2 that integrated a feature that required you to register your account key like a MMO in order to play online. This is seen as a feature by the players as it vallows you to develope your player as you progress in BF2's multiplayer. I think the original UT started that with the stat-tracking. BF2 actualy has a MMO style unloick system as you progress.
Companies that try to keep making PC games the old way, with no such anti-piracy measures are suffering heaviluy and those who do not addapt to the new environment will go extinct
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Uhm...
Explain Galactic Civilizations 2, a game with NO anti-piracy measures that sold about as well as any game in it's genre does. Introversion software doesn't put any copy protection on it's stuff either. Know why? Because none of it works. It's a matter of a week or so before no-cd cracks are available and there are other methods (powerISO and mini-images and such) that bypass the need to no-CD crack. And yet... companies continue to make money! HOW COULD THIS BE?
Perhaps because the majority of people buy their games? Yes, perhaps that is it. It's only a small minority that bother pirating games and even they often buy the games afterwards. Piracy is not killing the video games industry. It isn't doing anything of any particular note to it, is my feeling.
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The measures I list have nothing to do with dry CD Keys.
Unverifiued CD Keys w/o any communication back to home are useledd. I can grab anyone of them in a matter of 45 seconds. If we were on IM I'd have you time me.
CD Checks have always been more of annoyance than a protection. NO-CD Cracks are something I can grab faster.
But
If HL2 is gonna check your registration key against Valve's central DB everytime you play single or Multiplayer. It gets alot harder to crack. Especialy when it kills that install if it detects duplicate keys.
There have been recent rumbelings that piracy is why you are seeing the PC Game section in EB shrink each day so that its now a single shelf in the middle when it used to be 50% of the shelves in the store...
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Entsuropi is right. Many compaines have realized that copy protection measures do more to annoy legitimate customers than they do to stop pirates.
Also, piracy has nothing to do with the recent decline in PC gaming. Consoles are responsible for that.
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Also, piracy has nothing to do with the recent decline in PC gaming. Â Consoles are responsible for that.
Actually it depends on who you ask, there's no 100% correct answer for why pc games are in decline because in truth no one really knows it's to hard of a thing to judge accurately.
What is known is companies loose lots of money to piracy, not just because of loss of sales but also due to the time their Customer Service and Support and to spend dealing with people that call. One game maker said about half of all their support calls were made by people with pirated copies of their games.
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It's an opinion. I've seen PC games decline pretty much every time the new consoles are about to start popping up. In my opinion, they'll rebound soon.
Of course game companies lose money due to piracy. It is, however, something they've been dealing with since the beginning and I have a hard time believing that it's hurting the industry significantly more now than it has in the past.
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It is alot easier to grab a pirated copy of a game now a days. And if there is no MP component, what incentive is there to pay when you can get it free?
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First of all, just because you can track down CD-Keys and cracks on google, download your favorite games via BitTorrent and/or disassemble and edit the executable doesn't mean everyone can.
Secondly, yes, broadband internet, peer-to-peer technology, and mass storage has made it easier to obtain pirated software, but the market is much bigger and less savvy too. In the old days PC gaming was the pervue of nerds, further, relatively wealthy nerds as obtaining a PC for under $2000 was nearly impossible. I don't have the exact stats to back it up but I'll wager that the ratio of pirates to customers has remained close to the same over the years.
Finally, many of us who do know how to pirate don't do so on moral grounds.
I don't deny the impact of piracy on the industry but I do not believe it's suddenly responsible for a decline in the industry.