PC the biggest threat to Xbox?

Should the PC be grouped with consoles for contracts and sales tracking?


  • Total voters
    99

zurich

Kendoka
Veteran
IMO, (this is something I've wanted to discuss for a while), the biggest threat to the Xbox ISNT the PS2 or GC, rather the PC. The initial lure of the Xbox was the PC-like approach to consoles, with many PC oriented titles cross over for no-hassles gaming (thus tapping a new user base). Whats happened instead, is that many publishers have decided to port/recompile their Xbox games with little to no trouble, and release them for PC. This is essentially easy money, as very little labour is involved. What it does for the Xbox is make slick games like Halo, Rallisport Challenge, Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams, etc NOT "Only on Xbox". PC gamers now realize that they don't have to buy into MSs machine to play these titles, they now know that if they wait patiently, it'll eventually be ported. This is usually because of a loop hole in an exclusivity contract (ie: PC is not a console) that publishers want to cash in on, or in-fighting within Microsofts games division (PC vs Console).

In anycase, I have a lot of PC gaming friends, one of which bought an Xbox due to all the fun he had at my place playing Halo, Rallisport, etc, and now he's pretty pissed that had he waited, he could have gotten them (for free :eek:) on PC. I also can't really gloat about Xbox exclusives anymore, as many ended up being ported. It also looks bad on the system, kind of like "well our Xbox game isnt selling its quota, port it to PC and see if we can't make it up".

Blah, pretty OT, but its something thats been irking me for a while. PC and console systems have come alot closer over the years, that I'd almost be inclined to group them in one catagory for sales tracking and legal contracts.

Your thoughts?

zurich
 
How many casual gamers own a computer with anything better than a Geforce 2 MX?

...yeah, I thought so. Come now, Microsoft must not consider the PC market a threat to the Xbox because they have no qualms with stamping the 'Only on Xbox' tag on games that are going to the PC. I'm inclined to agree. The PC market is so over-run with pirating, and it's so hard to get shelf-space for your title unless you're Blizzard or EA, that the PC market really is a non-issue.

edit: Halo's out for the PC? :eek:
 
m$ has a lot more information, no doubt their contract guys know a hell of a lot better what will make them more money than us.
 
If they're investing so much in the Xbox, obviously they think the Xbox will have payoffs. Taking the bread and butter (games) of the system and releasing it on a competing platform isnt supporting your initial investment.
 
People ask this question every couple of years. The PC has zero impact on the consle market. It really is a different set of gamers. There's always goign to be cross over titles between platforms. PS2 is another system that also has lot's of PC style games ported from PC or released on PC afterwords. It's really up to the developer and or publisher.

In anycase, I have a lot of PC gaming friends, one of which bought an Xbox due to all the fun he had at my place playing Halo, Rallisport, etc, and now he's pretty pissed that had he waited, he could have gotten them (for free ) on PC.

Well Halo doesn't come out until next year, and a few months after that HAlo2 will only be available on Xbox for the next year and a half. In fact, it may never appear on PC again after that... It's up to MS. the only reason they are letting it do that IMO is for the exposure releasing on PC will accomplish. those people are gogn to be interested in the game and possibly want the xbox version later.

I also can't really gloat about Xbox exclusives anymore, as many ended up being ported. It also looks bad on the system, kind of like "well our Xbox game isnt selling its quota, port it to PC and see if we can't make it up

Well for one thing, when any console says exclusive, that just means to a console itself. The PC is not a console and that doesn't count. Also, teh fact your firend said he'd get the game "free" is the exact reason most PC games don't sell very well. Pirating.

You'll never see anyone say, it's not selling well on a console, port it to PC. That just doesn't happen since PC sales are small for the average title, compared to average console game. the only reaosn you see MS do it is because they want more PC gamers to move over to Xbox. They already draw in quite a few PC gamers, and releasing titles on PC after they have peaked in console sales is another way to keep that trend happeing.
 
I suppose you could look at it that way. I just see the PC gamers and console gamers converging more than ever this generation (especially on the xbox), and I think that releasing xbox games on the PC is just a reason for said gamers _not_ to pick up a system, especially when virtually anyone can pirate the software on a computer.
 
If alot of Xbox games is also PC games, than PC is a threat to Xbox.

But none of them is best seller, so nothing to worry, unless say MS released Halo for PC and it sells way better than Xbox, or Halo 2 did alot better for PC.
 
Okay, since the vast majority of you think the PC is a unique, special gaming platform, _why_ shouldn't it be grouped with other gaming platform's software sales?

zurich
 
I don't folow all the release lists closely, so maybe you can tell me which of the XBox "exclusives" that matter (meaning they should be a fun game) have been ported to PC so far?

Can I play Halo on PC? DoA3? How about PGR, Rallisport Challenge, JSRF, SEGA GT, Quantum Redshift, Shenmue 2, Blinx, Deathrow, Gun Valkyrie, T&E3, HOTD3 or a load of other games, 'cause I'd really be interested in playing those on my PC today or in the near future! Upcoming games like PDO, Brute Force, Racing Evoluzione, Steel Battalion, Fable, DoA:XBV, Ninja Gaiden, Tao Feng, Halo 2, PGR2 or the upcoming Rare titles to name just a few, would sure be cool to play on PC too. Which of those are likely to get PC versions within a year of release or at all? Somehow I have a gut feeling that I will need to buy an XBox to play almost all of these titles, unless I am willing to wait years for a solid emulator to pop up.

Anyway, even if several titles get PC versions, I don't see a couple of exclusives getting ported to PC as a threat to XBox any more than Final Fantasy or GTA on PC is a threat to PS2...
 
You can play Halo on the PC in a quarter or two, and Rallisport went gold I believe. SH2:RD should be out soon, as should Enclave. Not to mention Splinter Cell and MGS2:S are being released on PC and Xbox simultaneously, same goes for SW: KotR.

I still don't understand why 13 people here think that PC as a gaming platform != other gaming platforms. Whats so special about it, beside the buggy games, patch-ware, and rampant piracy?

zurich
 
Easy.

PC sales can't be compared to console sales VERY simply because not every PC owner plays games on their system. In fact it's probably less than 1/3 in the end... whereas every owner of a console will definitely own at least one game.

Also, PC components and such are ALWAYS sold at a profit... except in rare cases (AMD).

Then there's the fact that PC's aren't a fixed system, and some PC's can't even run some games (spec too low, sometimes even too high).
 
I'm not talking about PC hardware, I'm talking about PC _software_. Units sold is units sold is units sold.
 
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