[Rictor]

Why do you make me hate you? Why have you forgotten your roots and are developing this exclusively for the 360? What do you go and make the finest, tastiest ice-cream ever, and then stick it on the top of Mount Everest where no one can get to it?

Damnit, it looks so cool, but I'm guessing if they release it for PC at all it will be a year or two afterwards, like Jade Empire or Halo. Stupid Microsoft money whores, watering down the PC industry with their console crap. Rictor smash!!

[GodisanAtheist]

Actually, Microsoft is trying really hard to get PC gaming back on track considering how much money and effort they put into rebuilding Direct X from the ground up for Vista and their "games for windows" PC box standardization.

Mass Effect is looking like X360's killer app in much the same way Halo was for the original. We will no doubt see a PC version down the line, but the fact that the game is slated as a trilogy leads me to believe it will either be a long ass time before we get our "Mass Effect Saga" or the 2-3 year downtime between sequels.

[Rictor]

My fear is that once they get around to releasing it, the "wow factor" won't be as great. Honestly, this games looks amazing, not only graphically but in terms of gameplay. I don't even particularly like Star Wars, and I still loved KOTOR. Now imagine a game set in a unique universe, better graphics and (presumably) better, more expansive gameplay. If this was coming out for PC, it would easily be among my Top 3 for the next year, along with Bioshock.

[Mefustae]

Ah well, I probably wouldn't be able to run it on my PC anyways, so I don't really mind console bastardisation... as long as it isn't console bastardisation for the PS3...


So, admin gonna slide this on over to the Gaming forum?

[Rictor]

We have a gaming forum?! Oh jeez, am I ever out of touch.

...say, they didn't happen to release FS3 or anything while I wasn't paying attention, did they?

[Mefustae]

...say, they didn't happen to release FS3 or anything while I wasn't paying attention, did they?

It did, as a matter of fact. Turns out the Second Great War was all just a dream-sequence.

[Cyker]

As long as they don't Deus Ex 2 it so the PC version sucks arse....

But both Halo and Deus Ex 2 were made for consoles and the PC ports are just *awful*. Its the controls - You can FEEL that they were made for a pad and not kbd/mouse, and no amount of customisation can get rid of that nasty feeling...

[aldo_14]

Bioware have a track record with consoles, though (KOTOR).  I'm not sure you won't see this crop up on PC in a few years time, anyways.

[Freespace Freak]

With Vista's "Live Anywhere" and the new software that'll allow mods and user-created games to be made for the 360, I have a feeling that in the future the line between console and PC will be blurred.

[Mathwiz6]

Die Microsoft, Die!

http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20031226

And, most definately, as all should see,

http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20040714

[Freespace Freak]

LOL.  To be fair, the fact that Linux is the only serious competitor to Microsoft, and that it's non-profit scares people.  The old adage, "you get what you pay for" scares people.  Right now there's no real serious competitor to Microsoft economically except Mac, and Apple forces you to buy their computer before you can use their operating system.  A thoroughly idiotic move on their part, because I think if they released their OS to the public to be used on any computer, we're talking about complete shut out of Windows, and major bucks to be earned by Apple.

[Deepblue]

The conversation system and the galaxy map are just so damn cool in this game. Theirs a little video on XBL that shows these really well.

[Freespace Freak]

I remember someone on another forum ask "Why only on the sexbox?"  I LOLed.

[SadisticSid]

LOL.  To be fair, the fact that Linux is the only serious competitor to Microsoft, and that it's non-profit scares people.  The old adage, "you get what you pay for" scares people.  Right now there's no real serious competitor to Microsoft economically except Mac, and Apple forces you to buy their computer before you can use their operating system.  A thoroughly idiotic move on their part, because I think if they released their OS to the public to be used on any computer, we're talking about complete shut out of Windows, and major bucks to be earned by Apple.

With respect, that's a laughable proposition. 90%+ of all commercial PC software is Windows-based, so most developers work with Windows, and until this changes Windows will always be more popular.

Without trying to sound too much like a Microsoft whore, it's also the case that NVidia and ATI are designing cards based around DirectX 10 rather than the current blend of DX9/OpenGL. It may no longer be the case that anything you can do in DX, you can do in OGL, at least for a time. For instance, if you look at the Flight Sim 10 screenshots that came out recently using the DX10 renderer, you can't do that with the current version of OGL. So other platforms, which only have access to OGL, might be at a disadvantage in game support once Vista arrives.

[Freespace Freak]

If Apple would come to their senses and release their OS to the general public instead of "only on our PC's" then they might be able to dislodge Microsoft from their position.  Of course, if they do that, then there'd be no justification for them charging $1500 for their systems since their only advantage over "normal" PC's is their operating system.

[vyper]

OGL will be upgraded guys, give it time.

[SadisticSid]

vyper, I'm sure it will, but that doesn't help the fact that designers are making games with DX10 because the framework and SDK exists right now. There hasn't been much talk from the OGL team apart from that "primitive shaders" are going to mirror DX10's geometry shaders in functionality.

It might be the case that OpenGL could secure a lot more developer support by offering the same functionality as Direct3D10 but on Windows XP systems. Given that Vista won't become mainstream for probably 1-2 years after release, that could be really significant.

[ME$$ENGER]

If Apple would come to their senses and release their OS to the general public instead of "only on our PC's" then they might be able to dislodge Microsoft from their position.  Of course, if they do that, then there'd be no justification for them charging $1500 for their systems since their only advantage over "normal" PC's is their operating system.

To be honest I doubt the success of a retail OSX if that ever happens. Part of the reason why it is so much more stable than windows is because Apple has full control on what hardware it is running on and thus ensuring high compatibility between software and hardware. It's sort of like console games versus PC games. Console games are more stable because they are run on an essentially closed and controlled environment. When you port them to PC all of a sudden they aren't that stable anymore. Driver optimisations/bugs, hardware conflicts, software conflicts, even clock difference could be a problem.

Also, as Sid said before, the software market is overwhelmingly leaning towards Windows right now. Without the software, an operating system simply won't sell. However, the majority of software companies will not make products exclusive to an OS unless the OS has a substantial market share. We are in an infinite loop here unless some miracle happens.

[Turnsky]

this OS arguement is a joke, seriously.

Linux = Network geekery & opensource horror by way of the "too many cooks" theorem, it also doesn't run photoshop, the reason that they're secure is that the average user doesn't actually use it, i'm sure if it became as widespread as windows, people would be poking security holes in it all day long.

MacOSX = Prestige machine and expense ensure that this machine stays out of the realm of the majority of the PC, like linux (apparrently OSX is built on linux to a degree) all the spyware and virii and ****e that give the PC's grief can be quite easily made for mac if people actually bothered to.

Windows = Bugged, memory hog programs, security holes, and whatnot make this OS something of a nightmare to stupid people who push the damn thing too far, i myself run a winxp system, and i haven't had it bsod NOT EVEN ONCE.

in short, i don't really care which OS is evil or what, or whether microsoft is the devil incarnate, it's time people learnt to get off their high chairs when it comes to operating systems and face reality like men.

Just to note, i know the Gimp is available to Linux, but i've KILLED the gimp trying to run it how i run photoshop, so those linux peeps who think they know better can shut it. 

[MrBig101]

I'm still waiting on Baldur's Gate 3...