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Capcom: PC Support Key for Emerging Markets
In many regions, gamers primarily choose consoles over PC gaming, partly due to ease of use and cost issues.
Not all regions prefer consoles, however, particularly in emerging markets. Capcom is one game company that wants to take advantage of the PC userbase by releasing PC versions of frontline console games like Street Fighter IV, Lost Planet, Bionic Commando and Devil May Cry IV.
Capcom VP of strategic planning Christian Svensson told Rock Paper Shotgun, "We have brands that are very appealing, but the platform of choice in many countries is not a current-gen console. I’ll point to Russia, to Brazil, to emerging markets in the Middle East. India is an emerging market, even if it is a few years away from doing the kinds of things that we need. The PC is global, and it’s ubiquitous."
It's a global PC strategy that is opposite of some other game makers, who have steered clear of the platform amidst sinking PC game retail revenues and piracy concerns.
But as more publishers leave the PC gaming arena, Capcom hopes to capture that abandoned market. "Quite frankly, the more people who shy away from [PC], the bigger the opportunity."
The countless PC configurations in the world make for more difficult software testing, Svensson admits, and piracy also hinders PC support. A strong focus on digital distribution and a better understanding of the nature of the piracy beast may help turn unauthorized software use into a viable business model.
"As a distribution network [piracy] is useful, and perhaps that can help us distributed software trials and so on," Svensson said. "There are aspects of piracy that, if they can be turned around, can become positive."
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In your eagerness to defend the PC as a gaming platform you lot missed the point I was trying to make. Not everyone who plays games has the knowledge (or indeed the energy) to fiddle around with their PC and the game settings. Average age of gamers being what it is more and more of us have jobs/a life which limit our spare time and it is easier to pop your game into a console for a 30min session rather than install a new game, optimise things, get the drivers, download patches et al.
Yes, Barla Von, it is a cliché, well done for pointing out the bleedin’ obvious. Clichés are clichés for a reason. In this case it’s because nothing has changed to address the issue. Which is why these points keep coming up.
Coprophagic – £513 is still over 4 times the price of a 360 Arcade. If we are looking at the PC as a gaming platform that wants to compete – that is ridiculously expensive(I’m not including a decent, gaming keyboard and mouse or whatever you use). Not to mention you would have to put all that cheap and cheerfulness together yourself.
Someone mentioned that you don’t need to have a degree in computer science play games on PC. Well, as it happens I do have a Computer Science BSc (Birmingham) yet I seem to be giving up on the PC, at least for games. I agree with you in the sentiment though, it is sad to see the PC ailing. The PC has always innovated and filtered the innovations down to the one-step-behind consoles – it would be a shame to lose that, or even have that relationship reversed.
£1000 for a gaming PC... Pfffft, not a chance:
ATI Radeon 4850 £115
Phenom X3 2.2Ghz £89
4GB Crucial 1066Mhz Ram £65
Gigabyte 740G mobo £55
Hitachi 500GB hard drive £45
425W Hiper PSU £30
Asus Mid-ATX Case £22
Vista Home Premium £92
*Prices taken from overclockers.co.uk, including VAT
I didn't include a monitor since Sony & Microsoft don't include a TV (or even a hdmi lead for that matter)
That's £513 for a gaming PC that will max just about any game @ 1920 X 1080 bar Crysis.
In those areas, is PC really preferred, or just more reliably profitable? Piracy of console games is pretty rampant outside of the US and Japan.
i don't think piracy very rampant in Europe or Australia/New Zealand either.
The PC is a long-standing format and one that has brought some amazing games to the table. BUT it seems to be dying on its feet. And it is the same, age-old, tired gripe of lack of standardisation (at least of controls), ease of use, not being sure whether your PC will shit the bed when you try to play an older game etc etc. These are all old complaints about the format but nothing has been done about them. We get slapped in the face with DRM instead.
No wonder people are jumping ship.
SaintJude said
BUT it seems to be dying on its feet. And it is the same, age-old, tired gripe of lack of standardisation (at least of controls), ease of use, not being sure whether your PC will shit the bed when you try to play an older game etc etc.
Congratulations, you take the cliche quote of the month award for this month.
well when the PC platform does receive a form of standardisation, pc gamers don't seem to like it. Microsoft tried GFWL, but for various reasons it isn't liked. It's mainly because it restricts the format, compared to games that don't use it.
It was however an approach to standardisation.
Are you saying it isn't doable?
I think the format needs a good kick in the arse. Of course the problem is control isn't centralised in any way like it is with consoles. As a result you have a platform so blinkered that it demands a payout of over £1000 before you can even attempt playing anything recent, nevermind any of the Crytek offerings. And people piss and moan about the PS3 price tag.
Then you have variable performance of the software dependent on your PC and (to some extent) your knowledge of the PC. It might run silky smooth or it might chug along at 10FPS.
So here's one measure, of the top of my head, to help. Have the software run and run properly, as the developer intended OR not run at all (maybe give you a "spend more money on your PC" message.)
SaintJude said
As a result you have a platform so blinkered that it demands a payout of over £1000 before you can even attempt playing anything recent, nevermind any of the Crytek offerings. And people piss and moan about the PS3 price tag.
Wow, your comments are getting silly now:
The conception surrounding PC gaming is that you need the best card in the world to play games at a decent rate. This is nonsense, my current GPU (8800GT with 512 memory) can run games like:
Dead Space: at 1680x1050 with settings at full.
Race Driver-Grid: at 1680x1050 with 2x Anti-Aliasing (game runs at 60fps).
The Orange Box: 1680x1050 with settings at full.
Left 4 Dead: 1680x1050 with settings at full.
Devil May Cry 4: 1440x900, 2x Anti-Aliasing, rest of the settings at High (game runs at 60fps).
Lost Planet: 1680x1050 with settings at full.
Crysis: 1280x800, 2x Anti-Aliasing, with the rest of the settings at Medium. (game runs at between 30/40fps).
The point is: i'm running a modest GPU (which you can pick up for £90, or £50 on ebay) and getting an excellent performance on all my games.
I'd urge anyone out there with doubts about PC gaming to give it a go because it's not as "technical" as one might think.
Also, ignore SaintJude. He'll suck the intelligence out of you!
Saint judes view that technical considerations affect the number of people going with the PC over the console, is a valid point. The good thing about a console is not worrying about the technical side. Like it or not, you need a certain level of understanding how a PC works, to get the most from current games. On consoles you just pop it in and off it goes.
Im not saying you need a degree in computer science, but a willingness to get your hands dirty to get a game running sometimes.
Saying one needs a £1000 system to run games is silly, hence it isn't a valid point, it's more like talking nonsense. He's ranting on about a topic he clearly knows nothing about...and it shows.
well my PC probably cost just under £1000, of course i use it for more than games. But in terms of price the PC is a lot more expensive hardware wise, Though it tends to be not as expensive as many claim. Especially since the price is often inflated with the added price of necessary software that is needed to run a PC ( like the OS and antivirus software).
no im saying that PC gamers, on the whole, don't really want a standardised platform. I don't think giving a message saying "your PC is rubbish, get a better one" is a good idea. It may annoy people. Generally whenever anybody tries to constrict the PC, gamers don't like it.
There is also a problem with "Have the software run and run properly, as the developer intended OR not run at all ", there is a huge number of different configurations for a pc. How do you decide what configurations aren't acceptable. For example, if someone manually set the voltages and bus speeds for their pc it would perform differently from someone who didn't.
Fair enough, but you've just illustrated my point. It's too complicated to manage properly. I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say things are looking grim and something needs to change. Soon.
Personally I would prefer a clear message that essentially boils down to - "buy a better graphics card/more RAM/new PC, you cheapskate." Though all I'm getting at the moment is - "you know you can play this on the 360 right?"
well, imo the choice is play on pc or console. If you want to be able to get the best experience possible play on a PC. If you want an integrated service, without worrying about hardware play on a console.
The only real option for a standard PC platform is GFWL, but suggesting that the hardware should be standardised doesn't make the most of the PC's strengths.
I personally play on PS3 and PC. Since most of the 360 games i would want to play are on the PC anyway and i don't mind fiddling about with my PC, of course i built my PC from scratch, so that may tell you something.
It's quite clear you have NO experience with PC gaming what-so-ever as your comments above reek of inexperience. You're clearly talking gob-shite on the matter.
theres no need to be offensive.
The point i am trying to put across is that on consoles you don't have worry about what settings to run your games at, worry that your system has the latest drivers, etc.
It all comes down to a choice.
Kudos to Capcom for supporting a great format. I couldn't go back to consoles to be honest, plus the fact you dodge all the fanboys of each system, which is a bonus.
Not sure Capcom give a flying f*ck about 'fan-boys'. Kudos indeed, but it feels like too little too late. For every Capcom there about 3 companies leaving.
I'm waiting Resident Evil 5 PC. Low cost PCs these days can match the horsepower of the Xbox360 and PS3. I think Capcom has a forward thinking strategy. Developers turning their backs on the PC are having knee-jerk reactions. Kudos Capcom.
It's good to see companies trying to use piracy, instead of trying to fight it.