How to lose sales
polycounter lvl 11
rdr all over again
I don't think you guys understand.
They said "we have no details to share about a pc version at this time"
Not "we have no details to share about the pc version at this time"
Once again, I don't care if its delayed. I want to know if its cut out of the picture or not.
Replies
i'd still rather have no new big budget pc games than all the awful ports being shoved out these days. keep it the platform of choice for enthusiast games from people who care.
So the engine is within reach of the PC market. Can't believe they wont just port it.
The sad part is consoles look like absolute garbage nowadays. People really pushed gta 4 to look like real life with some pc mods.
Though I have more fun on the console versions its still a bummer.
Shit, if I ran a company and my community manager did something like that I would have his/her work and paycheck privileges suspended immediately and indefinitely.
Consumer: I don't see what the drama is about, just like always, they will release the game on console first, and PC later, like they did with all the GTA games, so this entire mentality of 'they owe us something' is just stupid at best to have early access to a game, it's not like the PC market is lacking games in the first place.
There is a reason DRD wasn't released on PC, it's because it lacks any kind of 'lineage' like GTA or Skyrim on PC to have a selling chance, especially for an engines that was modified and more closed then it's other counterparts.
Rockstar is a company making games, it's not your friend, it doesn't know you by name, it's not going to make 'allies and enemies' in the market off a whim, they're making a business decision, ones that makes sense.
Also, what MOD's? The ones that make your game look next-gen for GTA4? GTA4 looked pretty great for when it came out, just because every developer with a good engine is using reflections doesn't mean GTA4 had to do the same back then, when your average PC couldn't have even a physically correct Specular.
Seriously, there is no drama here, people are generating their own fumes at this point.
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Rockstar: OK, this was extremely childish on their behalf, for people who like to 'hide' alot of stuff and act important, while being 'cool' and 'edgy' they sure as hell don't have any self restraint.
They just essentially told people that they will have their privileges (I'm assuming site-forum-etc connect to the official site) suspended, if they keep on asking about this matter. I mean how many MILLIONS of emails did they get people asking about the PC version of the game? Are you honestly telling me they don't have a message filter system in place, which even basic Google account have, and I really doubt they got so many emails in the first place that it required such warning.
They could have very easily made a Global post saying "You know the routine boys, lets not get carried away", and voila, presto, done, instead of taking the Deity approach of "You pesky mortal who buy our products shall not ask these questions anymore".
What happens if some guys from Germany who cannot reach proper English (pun intended) asks this question? Will they get suspended? It kinda seems like a harsh rule, for what amounts of lazyiness and lack of any effort to even managing a basic internal message system.
Or maybe they don't want a re-happen of what occurred last time (where a person was able to lie and claim they didn't have access to the latest build version of PC for testing, and hence, got a confirmation that it was being made?), which would, again, be their fault, not the people who were able to gimp them into it.
Seriously, both sides need to calm down their tits, and stop being so passive-aggressive about everything.
the XIM3 is damn good for games. you pay out the ass for it but i have used it and it feels really close to playing natively on PC. of course all the console input lag bs feels nasty (similar to playing on a PC with a crappy LCD) but if you're playing on a console, you're already used to awful playing conditions and you will still stomp the crap out of controller kids.
The only downfall is it is expensive, so it is for very serious gamers only.
I LOVE IT!
http://xim3.com/
Side note... Ace-Angel is correct.
Well, the games industry exists because of the gamers. Don't they have a duty to serve them instead of the publishers? If the public wants a PC version, the developers would be smart to provide one, unless they don't like money. So I'd say gamers have every right to feel entitled. There would be no games industry without them.
*Troll: Very serious gamers play on PC :P
Well, I can't be bothered to have a tv or a console so the PC port is really the only option for me. So when publishers decide not to put out a game I want to play on my platform I get a bit sad
I've also bought a bunch of console exclusive games that I play on an emulator on the pc. I know it's not technically legal to download games you've payed for and own but whatevs.
I don't care about delayed release. They aren't releasing it at all for pc. Just like they did with read dead.
They're still serving gamers when they release games for all the systems that they do.
Well, it's no surprise that R* will take it's time for the PC port and I didn't think it was something worth creating a thread about.
I'm just baffled by the R* community managers telling people not to discuss the product they want to sell them.
I don't find it to be a healthy attitude to their customers. Banning people for asking for a pc port seems a bit disproprtionate and authoritarian. The worse thing you do when so many of your customers ask for something you can't provide is just ignore it. But shut their mouthes? I mean come on... This is something that would make me want to not buy any of their products.
They said "we have no details to share about a pc version at this time"
Not "we have no details to share about the pc version at this time"
Once again, I don't care if its delayed. I want to know if its cut out of the picture or not.
That was pretty awesome. Back to donkeys with clay pots, I say!
There's a LARGE problem with your hypothesis. The truth is, that making a PC port would actually cost a lot of money resources-wise and there's a very good chance they WOULDN'T make that money back. The GTA games (as well as other PC titles) have proven that they get pirated wayyyyy more than it would be bought.
So the only person that they owe anything are the console gamers, who largely pay their way enough to make it worth the developers time. So if they were sensible they would NOT make a PC title and those that really want to play the game will simply buy it on console instead (as long as they can).
So, any facts to support this claim?
I now own it, obviously. Two copies actually. But there is no fun only playing single player in reality.
yep, if there was a significant market there they'd be all over it.
God lord you are slow. I ended up finding my own facts regrading the GTA IV sales.
GTA IV was released 8 months later for PC.
GTA IV PC sales, 0.70mil
GTA IV Xbox360 sales, 9.84mil
GTA IV PS3 sales, 9.35mil
For example if you take a look at the GTA III sales, 1 year later released on PC.
GTA III PC sales, 0.01mil
GTA III PS2 sales, 13.10mil
GTA III Xbox sales, 1.39mil (0.01+13.10-14.5=1.39 there are no records for the Xbox sales so this is just an estimate.)
Now if we take a look at GTA San Andreas which was delayed 8 months for PC.
GTA San Andreas PC sales, 0.81mil
GTA San Andreas PS2 sales, 20.81mil
GTA San Andreas Xbox sales, 1.95mil
Vice City is pretty much the same, 7 months later released for PC.
GTA Vice City PC sales, 0.01mil
GTA Vice City PS2 sales, 16.15mil
Sadly there aren't any information about the PC sales of GTA and GTA II.
p.s. games for windows live has to be the worst piece of shit software, ever!
I feel like I'm missing out, and I feel like its because slot of games do not get the ports they deserve. It's sad and 'The developer can do what they want' whilst true, is kind of disappointing.
I would argue that if PC ports where done with the same care as Console releases, 3rd part software was minimalised, and the games marketed towards PC fairly, publishers would see a return on the investment of porting it. Which I know, is a bigger cost and time effort than people realise. And yeah, this approach would delay releases by months without a dedicated PC team in house. But I can dream of a better world, right?
Incidentally Frell, if you pirated GTA4 I can't say that I'm overly sympathetic to your plight.
You can make two things out of those statistics and they are that
1. GTA games are really cheap and easy to port, why would Rockstar else port them to the PC market if no one buys them?
2. The people in charge at Rockstar are complete morons who never learn anything. I mean why would they port GTA IV if the 3 other games sold so poorly. Easy it's number one.
Yeah about those numbers, Ubisoft pulled them right out of their asses. Dragon Age Origins sold 0.4mil on PC, if 5% actually bought it and the rest pirated it they real sells would have been 7.6mil. To get a comparsion DOA sold 2.37mil on Xbox 360, and 1.48mil on PS3 2.37+1.48=3.85mil. So according to them DOA should have sold doubled the amount that the console market sold in a whole. Yeah that's unlikely.
Dragon Age 2 sold 0.45mil on PC, 0.63mil on PS3 and 0.95mil on Xbox 360 if anyone still believed Ubisoft they shouldn't do it anymore. Do anyone in their right mind believe that DA2 would sell 8.55mil copies 0.63+0.95=1.58mil. So basically Ubisoft thought DA2 would sell 5,5x times more on PC then on consoles combined.
No, Ubisoft are a bunch of lazy people who don't want to admit that their games are bad and blame it on piracy instead. Anything Ubisoft says should be taken with a big lake of salt, compare it to believing anyone on 4chan.
That's not an acceptable conclusion. You're saying that they should just let the publishers walk all over them. Why? Because piracy? That's not a concern of paying customers and they have no reason to find that acceptable, they want to pay. Why would you ignore people who want to give you money? They are perfectly justified in loudly demanding to be served given that these people also want to buy the game. People that want to pirate the game will find a way and don't really care what platform is supported. They've made sure they can get it regardless. This attitude also ignores the body of evidence that a large number of "pirates" are also the same people that pay for entertainment and are just risk-adverse to buying a lemon.
If the developer can't make money making a PC game, I question their methods. Clearly, they are doing something wrong. It could be done if publisher didn't clutch the old retail model so tightly to their chest. Perhaps it would be wise to gauge interest by starting a crowd fund? If people really want to play the game, they'll put their money where their mouth is.
As far as piracy rates of games go, it's irrational to point to that as justification for not releasing a PC port. Paying customers of PC games are just as loyal and deserving as console customers. It's unfair and unjust to punish them for the actions of a disparate group of people. That's like revoking licenses of safe drivers because some reckless drunks kill people on the road.
They can only report what the companies report. It's not their fault most companies don't want to have the numbers out in the open.
If you hold off the PC version of a highly anticipated game up to 12 months after the console version releases, of course there won't be enough sales to justify the port. The people that don't want to wait just buy the console version, even though they probably wanted it on PC. The lackluster PC sales are their own doing.
So many people just bought the console version? That's a pretty good argument not to port to PC.
I never implied that, you did.
As I said before, if American companies do not release information about sales there can't be any statistic to report, or you do you want the website to make up it's own information when it can't get any?
And yet, no one said that.
Yes they are, they are representable in the region they were sold. You can't just call all the statistics bullshit because there aren't any from USA. If there aren't any statistic or a really low number, just compare region with region. Is it really that hard?
But yea be a typical polycounter and totally ignore the where I said I bought it for pc and xbox. Throw me into the same bin as the revolution anti-publisher hippies who pirate everything and think everything in the world should be free.
The sales numbers are pretty extreme... Probably because GTA is a more irl-friend social sandbox game whereas PC players are generally lone wolves.
Im not genuinely pissed. I mean if this gets the game to consoles quicker and helps speed up content then im all for it, its just a bummer because the game looked beautiful on pc.
Aka.. clueless as to how things actually work in the industry and go by wikis and random websites for their facts which are mostly other people making stuff up and guessing how things work.