Next-Gen Will Make 'PC Development Much More Attractive'

[mindcycle]

Firaxis might not be an obvious choice to ask about next-gen, but considering the PC-focused developer released XCOM: Enemy Unknown on consoles last year it could well be working on a next-gen game too.

"We only know what we read about," said Firaxis producer Dennis Shirk. "And we get sent briefs like everyone else. On the Civ side of the building, we’re not looking at anything specific."

With that said, Shirk admits that the tech inside the next-gen machines - more specifically the PS4 - could certainly provide some portential for Civilization developer.

"I mean there’s some neat tech coming out. We have Kinect on the Microsoft side, but what’s kind of interesting about the PS4 – from what we understand – is that they have the new coloured globe that they used to have on the wands are built into the controllers now."

With the precision of Move built into the PS4's controller, Shirk suggests the controller could enable you to 'point at any point of the screen'.

"Which is intriguing because we’re always making mouse-driven games and things like that," said Shirk.

"So the new consoles are definitely adding things in that will make future PC development much more attractive in terms of ‘do we want to move this over?’.

"You don’t have to do quite the overall that you might normally have to do when you’re taking a game that’s made exclusively for the PC and port it over like that."

Shirk finishes by clarifying the Civ side of the building is "not specifically looking at hardware" but adds that he couldn't answer for the XCOM side.

I think i'd still prefer my mouse overall, but that's definitely an interesting idea. I'm hoping this next gen there won't be such a quality gap between PC's and consoles. That can't last forever of course, but with support higher resolution TV's, "mouse-like" game support from motion controls, and whatnot, I hope it will be easier to develop decent ports instead of the typical lazy shit we get from console ports nowadays..

http://www.nowgamer.com/news/1892688/nextgen_will_make_pc_development_much_more_attractive.html

 

[RockinZ28]

Why can't they just add fucking mouse/kb support in games on consoles? How hard could that possibly be? Give gamers the choice on what they want to use. Would buy a ps4 day one if they did this.

I use my G27 wheel, xbox 360 controller, joystick or mouse/kb depending on the game on pc.

 

[UberNeuman]

Why can't they just add fucking mouse/kb support in games on consoles? How hard could that possibly be? Give gamers the choice on what they want to use. Would buy a ps4 day one if they did this.

Level playing field is why.....

 

[mizzou]

Why can't they just add fucking mouse/kb support in games on consoles? .

culture

 

[alcoholbob]

Why can't they just add fucking mouse/kb support in games on consoles? How hard could that possibly be? Give gamers the choice on what they want to use. Would buy a ps4 day one if they did this.

I use my G27 wheel, xbox 360 controller, joystick or mouse/kb depending on the game on pc.

Same reason why some pc games dont have controller support...laziness.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I still want the quality gap. I mean, when I game on a PC with SLI and a 4.5Ghz quad core CPU I expect it to be able to do more on screen than a console since it has the extra power.

So I hope they don't get even more lazy and give us garbage textures with no AA because the console was running 30fps @ 1080p and they just ported it to the PC side without accounting for the extra power available to them.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I still want the quality gap. I mean, when I game on a PC with SLI and a 4.5Ghz quad core CPU I expect it to be able to do more on screen than a console since it has the extra power.

So I hope they don't get even more lazy and give us garbage textures with no AA because the console was running 30fps @ 1080p and they just ported it to the PC side without accounting for the extra power available to them.

You're going to be sorely disappointed.

 

[RockinZ28]

Level playing field is why.....

Yes, but they have devices for xbox360 and ps3 so you can plug up a mouse/kb and destroy people. Hear it isn't the exact feel of a mouse on pc, but it beats the hell out of a pos analog stick in fps games.

Be nice if they just enabled it natively for SP games at least. MP I can understand wanting a level playing field, but unless it's a LAN tourney, it probably isn't.

I would even be down with Sony producing their own PS Mouse+KB that was required for use.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Actually...if that's the case, then they should just do it. If it's bad enough, they'd make a fortune on selling mouse/kb peripherals ;p

 

[cmdrdredd]

You're going to be sorely disappointed.

We will see

 

[Pr0d1gy]

I really see no reason to even get a next gen console at this point. They're overpriced, locked format computers that try to be like a computer but cannot do 90% of what a computer does. I think we will see a large spike in PC gaming in this generation comparatively.

 

[gorcorps]

I really see no reason to even get a next gen console at this point. They're overpriced, locked format computers that try to be like a computer but cannot do 90% of what a computer does. I think we will see a large spike in PC gaming in this generation comparatively.

You know what the unannounced price of each console is going to be? Man, you're good

 

[cmdrdredd]

I really see no reason to even get a next gen console at this point. They're overpriced, locked format computers that try to be like a computer but cannot do 90% of what a computer does. I think we will see a large spike in PC gaming in this generation comparatively.

Actually I think PC gaming will go down a bit due to the consoles having dx11 capable hardware now.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Yes, but they have devices for xbox360 and ps3 so you can plug up a mouse/kb and destroy people. Hear it isn't the exact feel of a mouse on pc, but it beats the hell out of a pos analog stick in fps games.

Be nice if they just enabled it natively for SP games at least. MP I can understand wanting a level playing field, but unless it's a LAN tourney, it probably isn't.

I would even be down with Sony producing their own PS Mouse+KB that was required for use.

That's far too old of an arguement, everyone has a mouse & keyboard lying around. Hell sell an optional Sony/Xbox styled mouse/KB and make some extra dollars.

 

[ImpulsE69]

You know what the unannounced price of each console is going to be? Man, you're good

To be fair...the Wii-U was already released, and you can pretty much guarantee MS and Sony's systems will cost more than that by the time you're done buying all the required add ons.

I figure if I'm paying PC prices to play subpc standard games, I might as well just use a PC where I can use it for more and have more control over it. It was different when consoles were relatively cheap (read, they took a hit to sell games). Now they want top dollar for everything.

 

[shortylickens]

 

[cmdrdredd]

There are some games that never will be available on PC and they are just too good to pass up.

 

[ImpulsE69]

There are some games that never will be available on PC and they are just too good to pass up.

I'm old now, I have enough backlog of must haves to pass up the 1 or 2 must haves in the next 10 years No game is worth $500+ dollars

 

[Aikouka]

I still want the quality gap. I mean, when I game on a PC with SLI and a 4.5Ghz quad core CPU I expect it to be able to do more on screen than a console since it has the extra power.

So I hope they don't get even more lazy and give us garbage textures with no AA because the console was running 30fps @ 1080p and they just ported it to the PC side without accounting for the extra power available to them.

If I had to guess, I would say that we'll still see a good visual benefit on the PC, but it just won't be as stark of a comparison as it was before. Console games will most likely use higher resolution textures, which should be a benefit for us PC gamers as developers may stop releasing games that only have those low-resolution muddy pieces of garbage that they call textures. However, I highly doubt that you'll see games with high visuals that are using things like 4x SSAA/MSAA with 16x AF. I guarantee that they will probably have some sort of anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering enabled, but probably not one that's nearly as taxing as SSAA or MSAA.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I'm old now, I have enough backlog of must haves to pass up the 1 or 2 must haves in the next 10 years No game is worth $500+ dollars

Games with an S on the end lol.

I've played probably 200 games on my PS3 since I bought it. Start to finish. Got my money out of it. A lot of us probably buy $400 video cards but call a console at $500 too expensive lol.

 

[mindcycle]

Why can't they just add fucking mouse/kb support in games on consoles? How hard could that possibly be? Give gamers the choice on what they want to use. Would buy a ps4 day one if they did this.

I use my G27 wheel, xbox 360 controller, joystick or mouse/kb depending on the game on pc.

I agree. Just add sensitivity settings to all games and you're set, or at least the ones where it makes sense to use a KB/M. The PS3 actually had the capability of using a USB mouse and keyboard already built in, and if i'm remembering correctly, I think Unreal Tournament 3 actually made use of it. In the case of the PS3 it came down to the games though, and whether or not the developer/publisher wanted to support it. Obviously, most all of them did not..

 

[alcoholbob]

Games with an S on the end lol.

I've played probably 200 games on my PS3 since I bought it. Start to finish. Got my money out of it. A lot of us probably buy $400 video cards but call a console at $500 too expensive lol.

200 games? Hope you didn't pay msrp

 

[dagamer34]

Same reason why some pc games dont have controller support...laziness.

Actually, pretty much every PC game I've purchased recently not only has Xbox 360 controller support, but all of the on-screen prompts switch to 360 images. Other than graphical quality settings, you would have no idea you were playing a PC game.

For instance, Crysis 2, Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Max Payne 3, Borderlands 2, Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, and Sleeping Dogs are all recent games I've played that have zero-config Xbox 360 controls. And people actually get quite vocal when games don't *ahem* Bioshock 2 *cough*. And many of those are FPS games where most people would think you were crazy to use a controller.

I expect it to continue in the future. Not having a 360 control scheme is clear negative points for a developer in this day and age. I like playing on my 60" HDTV with 5.1" surround sound on my couch more than in my room. Plus, sitting so far back = effectively free-AA.

 

[dagamer34]

Actually I think PC gaming will go down a bit due to the consoles having dx11 capable hardware now.

I'd consider it a true 3rd platform now instead of just being an FPS box. More and more Japanese developers are releasing PC ports(though of varying quality). There are still entire genres that basically exist only on consoles though, JRPGs being my reason to still own a console.

 

[alcoholbob]

Actually, pretty much every PC game I've purchased recently not only has Xbox 360 controller support, but all of the on-screen prompts switch to 360 images. Other than graphical quality settings, you would have no idea you were playing a PC game.

I expect it to continue in the future. Not having a 360 control scheme is clear negative points for a developer in this day and age. I like playing on my 60" HDTV with 5.1" surround sound on my couch more than in my room. Plus, sitting so far back = effectively free-AA.

Bioware still doesn't support support controllers with their PC games sadly.