Lombardi - PC to overtake Consoles

[Evo]

In a very frank interview with Gamasutra Valve's Doug Lombardi takes the time to talk about the success of AudioSurf, continued indie game support, Steamworks and on how he views the PC market as overtaking the console market.[br]

Recalls Lombardi, "I can remember this story coming around in the mid '90s... and then 3D accelerator came out, and Carmack released that patch for GL Quake, and everybody shut up, because all of a sudden PlayStation looked like crap. There's a big shift about to come in the post-GPU space... all of a sudden PC will leapfrog what's going on on the consoles, in many other ways besides graphics."[br]In fact, continues Lombardi, the question mark might be floating squarely in the console's future, as their prices continue climbing and more post-purchase purchases are becoming necessary. "How much longer will that story still have credibility?" He posits.[br]"Somebody go back and look at next-gen console install base numbers since launch time, and compare it to PSone and PS2. I wouldn't be surprised at all if we saw these guys stuttering out at 25,000 -- nobody's going to get to 100 million, which we saw from Sony on the last 2 [console generations]. I don't think anybody's even thinking of this."

This is a very in-depth interview and it presents a fantastic insight into how Doug views the PC gaming market and the future of the console industry. Check it out here.

 

[DigiQ8]

What an amazing interview, Valve doing very well with Steam and Steamworks.

 

[Asuka]

That is probably one of the best interviews i have ever read. Great read.

 

[Trevelyan]

That was a good interview. I think I fall in the "somewhere in between" category which the microtransaction market would appreciate and i'd reciprocate.:cheers:

 

[Beerdude26]

Good read.

 

[FunkyHippo?]

Lombardi is a pc fanboy. Lombardi needs to realize that a majority of games on the pc hardly make any money, and that's ok because computer will never go out of business due to lack of video game sells. The world needs computers.

Consoles are actually doing well, spending 10 dollars more on a video game isn't going to give you a heart attack, if you were extremely poor to the point where you know you wouldn't be able to spend 10 extra dollars on a video game, then you wouldn't have bought the console in the first place. And believe me, America alone can afford a video game for their console.

Lombardi is not even getting his facts straight.

 

[Barnz]

lolwut?

 

[PvtRyan]

Lombardi is a pc fanboy. Lombardi needs to realize that a majority of games on the pc hardly make any money, and that's ok because computer will never go out of business due to lack of video game sells. The world needs computers.

Consoles are actually doing well, spending 10 dollars more on a video game isn't going to give you a heart attack, if you were extremely poor to the point where you know you wouldn't be able to spend 10 extra dollars on a video game, then you wouldn't have bought the console in the first place. And believe me, America alone can afford a video game for their console.

Lombardi is not even getting his facts straight.

If you buy 20 games in say, 2 years (not a crazy number) that difference adds up to 200 dollars. Add in the price of extra controllers, and perhaps the price of things that are free on PC (downloadable content and online subscriptions like Live) and the price difference between a console and a decent gaming rig becomes negligible or non-existent, if we assume you buy a new PC every 2 years (I don't think many do, most just add a videocard or CPU). Especially when you consider the extra utility you gain from a PC (but admittedly, you would have that utility on a slower PC too) and the large indie gaming scene that doesn't exist on consoles (because games can only be published after the approval of Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony).

 

[Kadayi]

Hippo

Consoles are a joke in comparison to PCs because the locked hardware format means developers are forced to compromise every step of the way in what they can do. Don't get me wrong I'm not a hater, there are certain games types that excel on consoles, such as beaten ups, racing and sports games, but they fail drastically when it comes to FPS, RTS, RPG and sandbox games. It's pretty much always the case that the PC version is always a superior product. The only problem the PC has at present is the lack of a clearly defined champion to promote it. I think Valve are stepping up into that role in some way with the recent steamworks release.

 

[ríomhaire]

I would have thought PC development would have to involve more compromise due to the games needing to work on a variety of hardware, including lower-end PCs.

 

[Kadayi]

I would have thought PC development would have to involve more compromise due to the games needing to work on a variety of hardware, including lower-end PCs.

That's an optional approach for PC developers (consider Crisis), there aren't optional approaches with a console.

 

[Naph]

I thought PC's were superior already :/

 

[Barnz]

You can mod for consoles? No.

Case closed, consoles sucks.

 

[Kadayi]

You can mod for consoles? No. Case closed, consoles sucks.

This is the other argument as well. There was a lot of talk about console gamers being able to play mods in UT3, but the bottom line is the mods have to be developed on the PC in the first place. The other big issue is getting what you do onto a server you can access.

There is some user generated content out there for consoles, but it's a drop in the ocean compared to what PC users generate.

 

[Buveed]

Hippo

Consoles are a joke in comparison to PCs because the locked hardware format means developers are forced to compromise every step of the way in what they can do.

Yeah, but that's the developer's problem to solve, not the consumer's. The Developers know the money's in the consoles, so if they have to cut corners and compromise this or that to make it sell, then they'll do it. Considering all game production are done on PC's, it's ideal to release it on the PC, but it doesn't always pan out like that. Not every game can be a HL2, considering how overcrowded the genre already is. Developers don't have to make the console version look good enough to match the PC, but instead good enough to make it sell.

Just like Valve did, they knew that XBox 360 was a great place to move units, so they did. It ended up being very lucrative for them to do so, as well. Clearly, the PC's the perfect platform for the Orange Box, but it also gets their money-maker into millions of hands that would've never had played it at all.

You can mod for consoles? No.

I'll take that to heart when the HL2 mod scene takes off.

 

[Kadayi]

Yeah, but that's the developer's problem to solve, not the consumer's. The Developers know the money's in the consoles, so if they have to cut corners and compromise this or that to make it sell, then they'll do it. Considering all game production are done on PC's, it's ideal to release it on the PC, but it doesn't always pan out like that. Not every game can be a HL2, considering how overcrowded the genre already is. Developers don't have to make the console version look good enough to match the PC, but instead good enough to make it sell.

Consoles are decidedly lacklustre when it comes to hardware essentials. The HDs are pitiful in size compared to your standard off the shelf PC these days and some don't even ship with HDs as standard. Which is why games like Mass Effect have such stupid loading times because they have to write the level into memory, rather than access it directly from the HD. Developing for a console means you have to cater for the lowest level model every time, which hamstrings development in a big way.

I'll take that to heart when the HL2 mod scene takes off

You need to think beyond the FPS framework and your own personal interests. Look at things like The movies, or Sims 2, Oblivion, WoW, etc, vast amounts of user made content/mods are out there made by PC using enthusiasts. Consoles are never going to cater to these people short of becoming PCs themselves.