Bits Episode 6 of the CPC and bit-tech podcast

http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2009/08/29/episode-6-of-the-cpc-and-bit-tech-podcast/1

We're back with another podcast - this time talking about all things gaming. Join us as we discuss MMO addiction, Shadow Complex, GamesCom 2009 and the sad news that Beyond Good and Evil 2 has been cancelled. Also, Joe seems oddly fixated on what people are wearing this episode...

 

agree completely on PC gaming die out, graphics is much better than consoles. and the ports are getting worse and worse.

i think there should be more AAA titles ports like GTA4 (without the long delay) higher texture and model details. IMHO those are enough to keep the PC community going.

the reason PC gaming is dieing is because the failure of computer manufacturers: the crappy "desktop replacement" and the "gaming laptop". neither of those can game, and people who've spent thousands on those are turned off PC gaming because of this.


(typed this out on the train, while going home after Asus event )

 

Harry still, unbelievably, needs to be louder.

 

Really enjoying these guys

edit: Starcraft 2 is not boring . Bear in mind one of the main reasons Starcraft is so popular is LAN play. Also, you missed out the Diablo 3 news, the unveiling of the monk class! (which is basically the Paladin from D2)

edit2: you didnt give the email for the screencap competitition? podcast@custompc.co.uk IIRC.

edit3: link to gamasutra article pl0x

edit4: my views on PC gaming dying out is two-phase. I think it's less stratified than it used to be - PC games used to be hardcore, simulators, that kind of thing and console games were platformers etc. whereas now you can develop all sorts of different kind of games on both (but I find for most platformers on PC like Assasin's Creed I *much* prefer using an xbox 360 controller). And in that, consoles are more popular, so there is a greater emphasis now on producing console games then porting them to PC.

However, some developers / publishers produce content almost exclusively for the PC. Valve and Blizzard spring to mind. I think there will almost definitely always be a market for games on the PC for one reason or another. I think we have had a lull, but a lot of that has been because of games companies stifling innovation - consider there seems to be fewer big game companies now for the PC, so less competition, so less innovation. Just look at EA for the proof of this, they buy a franchise and produce games with the same engine over and over again. The console market has more players, so moves a bit faster, which means devs / producers have to invest extra to make sure their games beat off the competition.

Which game is TF2 competing against? Or Left4Dead? Or Company of Heroes? Whereas a few years ago when starcraft came out there was age of empires and command and conquer etc. it seems the smaller companies have been absorbed into the bigger ones so they can just slowly do all their own thing. Even different companies don't go head-to-head so much, look at EA aiming C&C4 at the 'casual' market so that it doesn't compete with Starcraft 2. The guy said as much in the interview last week.

Battlefield 2 hasn't really had a decent competitor for it's scale / use of vehicles, except perhaps for THQ's Fuel of War that was very underwhelming.

I think indie games developers are still doing well in patches though - but it is difficult for them to break through in a market which is now pretty mature and dominated, and seems to a degree stuck in a routine. Blizzard-Activision are the slowest developers in history which I'm sure if they had a vicious competitor they would re-address, but with the 56% revenue from WoW which all they need to do is keep running pretty much, the incentive for them is just not there to make new games.

In effect, I think the market for high-quality (or triple A as you said) PC games is something of an oligopoly, and suffers the negative effects of that. (imperfect competition leading to; lower quality goods, higher prices for goods, less innovation, etc.)

 

wolfenstein pretty much a letdown.. I got playing it the other day, don't know if I'll finish.. just not fun and incredibly easy.. with the pimped sniper rifle and mire bullet time, it's practically unlimited slomo they have refill points every 2 steps.. saw that upgrade your talking about that kills everyone.. haven't unlocked

why not make all games like bayonetta, and create a forum called saddle poppers unite, they can upload footage of them owning- from a camcorder filming a tv set.. playing on a saddle backwards

 

Yes, as the guys forgot to mention at the end, the email address for the screenshot competition is podcast @ custompc . co . uk - good luck!

 

Hooray! I won the episode 5 'Guess the Hardware' contest. How do I claim my prize, I assume it'll be sent through Steam?

Also taking part in this episode's screenshot contest for the fun of it. I can name two that fit the description, but not sure which is the right one.

Oh and first post on the forums btw, but been an avid reader of bit-tech since the second half of 2006.

 

Hallo

 

Just started it and all I can say is what's with the sucky audio? Sounds like an incredibly low bitrate song =\
Also why is there so much skipping? Bad cutting? If so fire whoever done it ^_^

EDIT: Forgot to say the audio of the past podcasts never used to be this bad

EDIT AGAIN: Just checked, you went to 64Kbps....fail

 

I am not so sure that PC gaming is dying out per se but it may well start if shops carry on the way they are going now. Here in Nottingham we have 3 HMV shops, all pretty big and whilst each of the consoles get loads of shelf space, PC games are left with maybe a 4' shelf unit and in one nothing more than a 2' end plinth and that is it.

Both of our Game shops have massively downsized the PC gaming sections so I think that the shops themselves are partially to blame for the decrease in PC game sales, there is just not the choice in the stores anymore.

 

That'd be Clive this week :O

 

Interesting and refreshingly sloppy podcast. Found the stuff on Orson Scott Card especially interesting.

 

Oooh, I like that. While the audio quality and so on is something we'll improve on, it was always my intention to make the gaming podcast a bit more of a casual affair.