Are exclusives anti-consumer?

[Chazore]

SvennoJ said:

There are way too many hardware configurations on PC to go very far in that. The pro consoles are already muddying how well games run on either hardware profile. Either they don't make full use of the pro version, or the base version suffers too much. Console is still the way to go to get 6 years or more guaranteed performance from all new games. Well maybe some ports excluded.

Meanwhile on PC I got locked out of playing Elite Dangerous any further until I upgraded my hardware. On the plus side, now I've got a new gaming laptop it looks phenomenal again.

I started out with the keyboard with Doom, you could not aim up and down either. Quake introduced the mouse for aiming. It took me years to get used to playing fps with a gamepad on consoles. It took about 5 minutes to get used to the aim controller. Controllers have never been a good fit for fps, yet a whole generation has grown up with that control scheme and my kids now suck with mouse and KB on Fortnite. They rather play with controller.

I do rememebr this happening with the 3DS, in regards to the N3DS's release. There was the thought that with the N3DS, that devs would end up making better use of the hw and the extra juice it provided. The reality today, is that, to my mind, only Terraria ended up making decent use of the N3DS's extra power. I distinctly remember sun/moon getting rid of the 3D holo effect, because with X/Y, it posed a performance issue with the regular 3DS, so it was done away with by Sun/Moon, yet they didn't think to allow it for the N3DS.

I believe this is something that that the devs and console creators need to discuss between themselves, because on PC, it is harder, because you do have more hw configs to adhere to. I personally would aim for the past 3-5 years worth of hw configs, instead of 5-10 years worth. I would especially like to put more focus on the latest cards, since they are supposed to deliver, and getting much more use out of the latest tech, is something I would like to see more of, rather than "what can we fit on this tiny stopwatch (aka DOOM on a toaster and being marveled by it).

The thing is, consoles can play X/Y games for a certain amount of years, but then you end up having said games to be created, just so those systems can play it alone. This over time means that PC ends up being tied in some way to console gens, so while a PC can run said games at higher refresh rates and resolutions, the game is still designed purely in mind with what said consoles can handle. Consoles get a limited time pro per gen, but it comes at the expense of holding another platform to it's rules, which doesn't benefit the other platform, because said other platform has to play exactly by the baseline rules set by then current gen hw.

Like for example. I have a 1080ti. I can play games at a higher refresh rate and higher resolution and other settings. Whenever I see a game like Creed origins, I don't really see my hw being used to a decent extent, primarily because Ubisoft had designed that game with consoles primarily in mind, and console parity enforced, which meant that my own hw now has to play by rules set by Ubisoft, for another platform entirely. Consoles and PC had the same exact textures, which meant that my GPU wasn't going to get much use, and still the game demanded more power unnaturally, despite being able to run on baseline consoles. That tells me that they designed the game to work well with consoles, but demand much more, for little to no difference on PC. I'm also aware that they are only just now looking into TD2's PC performance issues, weeks after it's release, which tells me that Ubisoft once again consider PC, a secondary platform to dev for second (Despite their claims of loving PC gaming, but pulling exclusivity deals, enforcing console parity and, well, leaving PC issues till a later date, rather than ironing them out before and a day or 4 after launch). 

I still believe that my 1080ti, will still take me for a good few years more at 1440p. I will have to turn down settings, but I've been doing that for years, even on lower end hw. I do like being able to do that, but I'm also glad that consoles are slowly gaining the ability to pick and choose what settings to tweak.

Try playing an FPS with a trackball. I couldn't, and I tried for around 3 years XD. But yeah, I can see some kids growing up today, finding difficulty in trying to learn the K+M route. I'd honestly point them in the direction of the hand keyboard instead. it fits the palm of your hand, while allowing you to keep tabs on how many keys you have at your disposal (which means not having to have a big ol keyboard sitting on your lap/desk for gaming).