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Mediocre PC Ports- Is it just my imagination?

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by Prince of Snark Euphoric Ennui I on May 23, 2011 at 07:51 AM
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8

 

I hope nobody comes into this blog ready to fight (lol...it's the Internet. I'm not naive). I would like to state that it is far from the purpose of this blog to depict this new trend in gaming as being 'evil,' and that's coming from a PC gamer. I'm actually more curious on everybody else's take.

But before we get to that, I'm just going to talk about a bit of what I've observed.

In the past, it was the other way around with PC games being ported over for consoles. It happened with games like Doom 3, Half Life 2, and Jedi Knights: Jedi Outcast among a number of other titles. However, the trend in the current generation of gaming has reversed things. While it's not unusual for games to go multiplatform, there has been a much more notable emphasis on creating console-centric games and then placing them on the PC.

 

While the original Xbox version wasn't as amazing as the PC,

the series was done proper justice in the Orange Box collection.

 

It's not inherently bad either way, if you ask me. But just so long as the experience holds up. Frankly, after reading quite a number of reviews on Crysis 2, I'm not sure I'm going to bother getting it because it honestly sounds like throughout it's development, console play took a priority. Not saying it's bad, but for a guy who plays pretty much exclusively on PC, there's little incentive for me to pick it up now.

Thankfully, not all games are like this. Bioware was smart when it came to their first Mass Effect game (not so much with Dragon Age...) and made sure to cater to both the Xbox 360 and PC platforms with different interfaces. Not saying that's easy, or even cheap to do, but when buggy excuses of a port like the PC version of GTA4 or lazy attempts like that of Fable 3 and Crysis 2 that fail to even get rid of certain console-centric features are released, I get kind of...really...annoyed. And as it so happens, ported games like Mass Effect are more often the exception than the rule in this generation.

 

The separate interfaces catered to both control systems.

 

The way I see it, if you are really so inclined to "share your gift with the rest of the world" do it right or don't do it at all. More often than not, half-hearted attempts only serve to alienate future customers. And yeah, PC gamers are the minority, but I'm talking about it going both ways, not just one. And I say this because it's been proven time and again that it can be done. You can release multiplatform titles that play just as fine on any system. So why can't that be done with ports that come later?

Don't you think if companies were to take the time to show ports a little more love they'd fare better? People do notice when you're giving them the short end of the stick and nobody likes that.

Honestly, the first thing I expect for people to bring up on the matter is pirating. The PC crowd is, unfortunately, notorious for pirating. I'd ask for them to stop because those involved are only serving to hurt PC gamers in general, but that's unlikely. I realize that's one of the major reasons video games today put PC gaming in the backseat. Still, from my perspective, if that's what is deterring developers from putting more effort into PC ports, I have to wonder whether or not they're better off just not bothering. I'd personally prefer not ever having a chance to play a game on the PC than wasting my honest, hard-earned money on a mediocre port. But that's just me.

So now it's everybody else's turn to weigh in on the matter. What do you think of the mediocre PC ports we tend to see these days? Are they even mediocre? Or am I just seeing things? It certainly wouldn't be the first time :P

Plus, what do I know anyway? I'm only a single, extremely fallible human.

Take care gang! And you know me, I don't mind being proven wrong. :D

E.E.

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Comments
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  • by Monday, May 23, 2011 at 09:45 AM
    There's always Civ V...
  •
    by Monday, May 23, 2011 at 09:53 AM
    I'm with you on this. I don't want cheap BS ports. I used to be a huge PC gamer but lately it's been consoles. Not essentially because of this, but because I can't afford a new PC on a regular basis.

    But if a company is going to port a game, they should make it work good for that machine, not for just one and give it to another machine that can't use it.
  •
    by Monday, May 23, 2011 at 11:38 AM
    Get a Wii and then tell me ports on the PC are mediocre.
  •
    by Monday, May 23, 2011 at 01:44 PM
    The crowd around here likes to discuss why gaming development takes to one new direction or another, but in the end... it's almost always (95%+) about the numbers. Console development is cheaper (no system variables to consider)and sells more units right?

    I used to prefer PC for gaming, but consoles have come a long way. You can't ALT+TAB, and the graphics generally aren't going to be as good - but consoles do what they're supposed to. You don't get software conflicts, or corrupted patches or any of that nonsense... and if there's a hardware failure - you can replace your whole dang console for the price of a new high end processor or video card... not even true "high end"
  •
    by Monday, May 23, 2011 at 02:53 PM
    That's why I stick with consoles for the most part. Don't get me wrong, I loves me PC. Still, PC ports are just half-assed for the most part, so I do agree with you. And consoles are pretty much a one stop shop. Buy a console and you're set. Never have to worry about graphics cards, conflicting software, or games that are too old to run anymore (I'm looking at you System Shock 2). Good read yet again.
  •
    by Monday, May 23, 2011 at 04:09 PM
    Yes, I agree. I recently purchased Halo 2 for PC, and the game, along with its interface, did not feel at all like it had re-adapted for PC. The interface was exactly the same, the maps, the guns - it felt like a straight-to-PC port.

    Halo PC, Gearbox's port of Halo: CE, fared somewhat better. With full gamepad support (Although no aim assist, as far as I can tell) players had the ability to plug in any USB controller and play Halo with it, so those with Xbox 360 controllers can manipulate their character in a way that the HUD encourages.

    The controls for HPC were also nice, but a little awkward. With a gamepad, players could customize the control setup, so people that wanted to press A to fire their gun were free to knock themselves out. However, players could not map several commands to the same button, so using X for interaction, reloading, and picking up weapons - something that was done in the console version - was not possible without use of third party software (or a modified controller) [EDIT: Players had to map their extra commands on the -ugh- d-pad)

    But I know what you mean. It's even worse when a PC developer switches its attention to consoles and leaves its dedicated PC gamers in the dust. Take Infinity Ward - did you know Call of Duty used to be a PC exclusive with multiple expansions? Not anymore - the recent CoDs even abandoned dedicated server support on PC. And I'm sure we all know about DICE (Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment) who made the Battlefield franchise. BF2: Modern Combat was the first BF game to grace consoles, followed several years later by BFBC, a console exclusive, and BFBC2. It's great to hear that BF3 will be built from the ground up for PC, taking care of its dedicated following, and porting it to consoles.

    There's been a big debate about whether BF3 will beat MW3 or not, but I'm pretty sure its PC incarnation will trump MW3PC. Consoles is a different story.
  •
    by Monday, May 23, 2011 at 11:06 PM
    I don't know why people bother to play games on pc in the first place because they arn't really designed for that. Got Starcraft 2 a couple of months ago (my first pc game) and I was sorely disapointed. But I'm not a hardcore pc gamer so what do I know?
  •
    by Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 08:10 PM

    I tend to stick with consoles for shooters(minus Valve games) and then PC for RTS and RPG(minus ME). Generally, PC games have more free DLC(speaking from steam) and you get the modding community behind games like Oblivion and Fallout to help finish the games. Sure, many heavy hitters ports arn't as solid but the reverse is also true. I referred Oblivion and Fallout series already and then games like TF2 and L4d.