This is kind of at the heart of the problem with MS having a console in the first place, I don't think even they fully realize that a key part of their near monopoly with Windows rests on a pillar of gamers, and that they are increasingly alienating that segment. As a Mac user and sometimes evangelizer, I'm keenly aware of this, reason Number One that I always get from people on why they hesitate to even consider owning a Macintosh is the lack of new and "hardcore" gaming on Mac OS X compared to Windows. With more and more devs essentially "fleeing" the computer game market for the arguably more profitable console one, MS is shooting themselves in the foot.

Games (and lack thereof) alone won't kill Windows, but MS having this attitude about them sure isn't helping the situation any.

DaiMacculate

I remember when Shadowrun was in Beta, and it was preached that console gamers and PC gamers would be able to play the game together via Live. Mediocre gameplay aside, I was let down by the fact that Microsoft would try to mash PC and Console gamers into the same boat.

And I'm not saying that I love one more than the other.

I usually only PC game for strategy games (Although Civ Revolution and Supreme Commander on the 360 may change that) but at heart, I can only play games like Company of Heroes, Dawn of War, World of Warcraft as well as Total Annihilation on my PC and that good enough for me. Conversely, I'm more comfortable playing games like Halo, Gears of War, COD 4 and Portal on my 360.

AndrewG009

It's stuff like this as to why MS is in third place this year...

Consumers are more likely to buy your product when they aren't being bamboozled (aka when companies try to manipulate them)

stevenjazz787

It seems pretty boneheaded to me, considering that Germans with PCs tend to be strategy/sim gamers, where there isn't exactly much overlap with the 360. You're delaying a PC release, further diminishing the PC as a gaming platform, to "save" a few thousand sales on the 360, which is getting creamed on continental Europe anyway?
Whatever.

"If there's a gaming experience that you buy in a shop and through that you log in to a universe, not an MMO but a social network, where you play games, you meet, and interact - that's definitely something we're looking at"

There is such an experience. It's called Steam. You tried to charge people for less functionality, remember?

cdammers

I don't have a 360, and the reason I don't is because most of the games I want for it eventually come out for PC. So whats the point of getting one if you just want the games? PC, PS3, Wii - FTW

drywaller79

The only games M$ has made that are good, that I can recall, on PC are Age of Empires, which has always been a PC game anyway! And they know PC gamers wont buy Halo anyway, how many copies did Halo 2 for PC sell? Not very many I'd guess, as on PC Halo is overshadowed by just about every other fps.

Riotpoll

This has been a problem since the xbox platform's inception. There is an enormous overlap of PC gamers who own an xbox. This translates into a very fragile existance for the xbox platform until they get games from genres that are not equally (if not better) represented on the PC. Take the Wii and PS3 for instance, the majority of games released for those platforms are from genres not common on the PC (Platformers, adventure games, Japanese RPGs).

nootau

@Luke Plunkett: I do give a damn about my perspective, but I should also give a damn about them being straight with me and not trying to hide their business decisions behind flowery words. I know damn well what their perspective is even without them spilling it out, but them being candid about it is appreciated.

Why would any of that be surprising or shocking to anyone who has even a passing understanding of how the industry functions?

insane_cobra

They probably see it as releasing a new film in cinemas and on DVD at the same time. The PC has become their new bargain bin.

godot

Watch out Peter, the Germans aren't all smiles und sunshine.

Hugoku

Well, now I know that I'll be able to play most 360 games on my PC if I wait some months.. thanks to clearing this up Microsoft! I'm out to buy a PS3..

CockroachMan

Except for how we know they'll eventually release it for the pc so I just wait for the pc version...

Ajh

@Doomstink: Because that's a bad excuse and not a proven fact.

Polterg3ist

@Luke Plunkett: It's a bit of an odd situation, I agree. I wouldn't say it's boneheaded, but definitely a bit shortsighted, perhaps.

They do treat the PC as a viable platform, still, and they've said as much in the past. So they almost treat it like a directly competing platform for their exclusive games, in a way, and want to have that exclusivity window that some games might get on a 360 v. a PS3 or vice versa.

However, I know Sony and a lot of other companies simply just push out the multiplatform work as quickly as they can in that regard. Even CoD4 and Lego Indy (both in this week's top ten of PC releases) were shipped on console and PC, and sold well for both. Even released on Steam a few days short of release date.

It seems they don't have enough faith in their 360 install base not just jumping ship for the next platform, but I do understand why they might make this decision.

nick.soapdish

@ryivanV2: Still, if you're armed with the facts you can make an informed choice. Stop buying MS products, or whatever. Convince your friends to wait for the PC ports. In fact, convince the Germans to stop buying PC games. That's the 100% logical course of action!

Kazzahdrane

@Kazzahdrane: it may be honesty, but its honesty about how they try to get the most money out of us, so you know... boo to them?

ryivanV2

Luke I really think you need to add more to the post as the comments from people who haven't actually read the article are going to be... well wrong.

Tob3z

Is everyone besides that one commenter overlooking the fact that PC games are easily pirated. Why launch a game on Xbox and PC at the same time when people are just going to choose to play the pirated PC version. Of course there is people who will actually buy the game, but majority will pirate.

Doomstink

I'd shoot them in their foot too if I had the chance.

Pepek

@NuZZ: If you pirate games then go ahead, but don't expect anyone to care about your opinion. I love the fanboy quote "not folding and creating console ports for their new games" - damn right, we don't want to dirty the pure playerbase of Diablo 3 with those horrible dirty console gamers.

Eeesh, just the thought of those commoners playing OUR games makes my skin crawl!

Microsoft can't get a break, can they? This interview is full of honesty and people are angry at their very reasonable argument for staggering platform releases. Yes, it sucks if you don't have a 360 and have to wait for the PC port/version, but MS control the 360 and make money from people having one and buying games for that rather than PC. Again, sucks for PC-only gamers but then PC versions are generally considerably cheaper these days, plus you have studios like Blizzard and Valve 100% committed to the PC as a gaming platform.

Can't we all get along etc etc?

Kazzahdrane

@insane_cobra: Who gives a hoot about their perspective? You should give a hoot about YOUR perspective. Damn theirs.

So what if it suits them. You don't see any/many other publishers doing it, because they realise its a cynical, boneheaded thing to do.

Luke Plunkett

It's always just so wonderful when good business decisions meet bad PR decisions

Wei

So this jerk off thinks that giving people a choice is a bad thing. Interesting. It's funny how the U.S. XBox 360 division is always talking about giving games a choie by not including wireless and the hd-dvd drive, and now this jerk off just said that choice is a bad thing.

Any title that comes out on the PC and the 360, I get for the PC. So I am part of the problem as well.

TheAngryHeretic

@konchy: You're mistaking the entire PC market as a gaming market. We have 3 PC's in our house none of which are used for gaming and will never be used for gaming...

Most 360 games outsell their PC counterparts.

Klopfer123

Meh, if its good enough it turns up on my PC. For everything else, there is PS3.

ryivanV2

@vx2: What? Did you actually read the article?

bighit006

PC all the way. Goto hand it to Blizzard for not folding and creating console ports for their new games. I think Blizzard know that their Starcraft 2, Diablo 3 and other releases will not be as heavily pirated as MS games are. Blizz has my money for their quality of game. MS, no, I think I will pirate your games.

NuZZ

@Kaizuden: Strategic decisions?

insane_cobra

Ah so that is why we had to wait 2 years to get a xbox port.....because microsoft are morons.

Xshinobi

Ummm...Not really. I know quite a few people who have 360s who don't have a computer even close to powerful enough to play a game like Gears of War. Personally, I would be somewhat torn between the two, but I would probably still go for the 360 version, since I'm just too lazy to hook my computer up to my HDTV.

Plus, they're somewhat shooting themselves in the foot anyway. In addition to the above friends, I also have a coworker who has a ps3, wii, and an up-to-date PC. His argument against buying the 360 was that the best 360 games would eventually be released on the PC anyway, and would be updated at that.

In my opinion, they'd lose just about as many purchases from releasing the games at the same time as otherwise. (shrug)

sariah

Piracy people, piracy.

vx2

...?

They really don't think people would just WAIT for a PC version?

happycodemonkey

i don't get it. he would rather sell less games on a smaller 360 base instead of selling MORE games on a bigger PC market?

He needs to get his money calculations right...

konchy

So.... they don't want to make money why? I'm sure its to sell hardware and accessories, but really now. It's just alienating a whole other market... But if they go on the hacking defense just dismiss it.

Kaizuden

Oh Luke.

That's true from their perspective, isn't it? Like he said in the part of the interview you forgot to quote, they want both platforms to be equally successful and in some markets, such as Germany, PC is way ahead.

insane_cobra

So they're basically saying they care more about 360 than "Games for Windows". Thanks Microsoft...

Swordmonkey

Goddamn those Germans. I find it very hard to believe that the German PC market is single-handedly determining whether or not 360 games are released on PC. That's about the lamest excuse I've ever heard.

Of course, any game that's on 360 and also on PC I get on PC (i.e. Bioshock, Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect, Oblivion, etc.) so I guess I'm part of the "problem".

Strangelove

Well, it's true... It's not just very smart to blurt that out in public :D

Ehetyz

"Not so much on the 360" I mean, at the end of that last paragraph.

Edit button plz? kthxbye.

RawSteelUT

@sariah: This is the real problem. There needs to be more on the Xbox 360 that will not go to PC, period. There's a large variety of that on the PS3, but not so much on the PC.

Microsoft COULD have had a successful 360-only games division. The problem is that they want it both ways: They want the 360 to succeed, but they also want to use gaming as a push to get Vista into more homes. At some point, MS is going to have to start making some very hard decisions.

RawSteelUT

Microsoft is not winning any love from me lately. After my 360 died and they didn't want to fix it for free, I gave up on it. So I only play on my PC now (and Wii). From a company that was supposed to jumpstart the PC gaming industry again, these sure are hypocritical words. Someone at MS needs to figure this out.

doodoohead

@arstal:

ANYTHING on the PC can be modded!

EnigmaNemesis

@Gutter_Trash: Your 360 or PS3 controllers with a driver will work in USB ports.

Honestly, if SFIV is released for PC in a reasonable timeframe, I'm getting it, I just wonder if the game can be modded.

arstal

The only reason I got a 360 over a PS3 was due to VF5, which has served its purpose, and the fear with PS3 netplay for fighting games is crap, which is the only reason I even own a console.

The PS3 has a better selection of games for me, but the most important part is done better on the 360 to me (online play)

Generally, I don't mind what Microsoft does, the games that tend to get simultaneouses releases are not ones I play much. I'd be annoyed if I had to get a console version over a PC version, and would wait.

Generally, with console games, I want a level playing field and smooth online play- that's what is important- a good multi-player experience. For PC, I want a good single-player experience.

arstal

Damn Germans, 70 years later and they're still causing problems.

Absent Blue

Why is it that every time someone at Microsoft says something like this, some people are shocked? If Microsoft released released every game they published on the PC and 360, wouldn't that defeat the point of owning a 360 since most people already own a PC?

If you want to play Halo 3 that bad, just pick up a 360. The price is dropping on them soon anyway.

Akira119

Capcom is even gonna pump out Street Fighter IV for PC (online players and controller adapter freaks rejoice).

But MS does not think in the same lines, they want you to buy a 360.

At least that European rep was honest about it

Gutter_Trash

Theres a reason I don't own a 360. You have a PC, even if a humble one. It's true that as of late I see all the games staying on consoles, but I still prefer mouse+keys to joypad for FPSs. Plus there is so much more I can do on my PC then just gaming... even as a multimedia device, it surpasses the 360. By the way, I ->BUY<- my PC games. True, I don't have many in relation to my consoles, but if it is one I like, you can bet I have it original (Blizzard games, Unreal Tournaments, all C&Cs, All Dawns of Wars and other Relic games, All Half-Lifes, Freelancer and a few more). In some ways, the 360 somehow fells more like a PC then a console... that's a major turnoff for me, Im currently looking for different gaming experiences. Of course, if games on 360 would come out on PC, I would be more then pleased to purchase the ones I like. I would have bought Halo 3, but I doubt I will buy it when it comes out a few years for PC... by that time, the game will be rendered irrelevant, just like the time Halo 2 came out for the PC. Too little, too late, too bugged. No excuse for that last one... also, I would expect a smoother translation of Gears to the PC... but it didn't happen either... hopefully, Criterion will do a much ebtter job converting Burnout Paradise. They can count with my money for that one.

PS: To be honest theres more then one reason why I don't own a 360, and all of them are Microsoft's fault. Notice that I didn't write Micro$oft as to not offend people with sensitivity issues about Microsoft. Yes, I kid, because I care. Fell free to call me a troll all you want, because as far as I am concerned, all these years workign with Microsofot, I have the right to form my own opinion, thank you very much.

Shiryu

@mva5580: resi 4?

noliferuin (PSN+XBL)

I'll gladly wait for any game to come out on the PC, as the PC version is better 100% of the time. It's not debatable. Nice to hear someone openly admit this fact.

Consoles are nice for the ease-of-use/lazy crowd, but we all know PC gaming is where it's at.

mva5580

true. a console will always be better to play a game than it's pc counterpart because the console is specifically made to play that game. PCs are not.

If i had the choice of buying either the console and game or the game for my pc, I would buy the console and game.

shade-black

I would buy the PC version over the 360 any day if it launched at the same time. (American)

EnigmaNemesis

This must be a problem more specific to the German market, as given the choice I'd always buy the 360 version of a game, even though I own a high-end PC. A joypad, a big screen and a decent seat beat hunching in front of the PC any day in my book.

I suppose I could hook the PC up in the lounge but it's more effort than it's worth when you can just boot the 360 up.

photoboy

@MistaJeff: I can remember when Bioshock appeared here in Germany the PC Collectors Edition was 55€ and the Xbox Normal version was like 65€...

No joke and then they are wondering why people would rather buy a Pc title then the xbox one - especially if its a FPS...

But true it sucks bullocks to wait like month on the PC version...

Holgerm

if ms really wants gaming on pc to do well, they need to stop releasing shitty console ports. the people that want halo already have xbox to play it. nobody is gonna pick up halo3 on pc, get blown away by it and decide to pick up an xbox because of it.

foofed

yeah seriously, FUCK choice. why should we be letting people use the hardware they already have?

MistaJeff

@Swordmonkey:

Of course they do. For starters they games won't get pirated as much.

Antiflow

The German game market is after the American the biggest in the world.

Many German Game developer only create titles for the german market (like this uber economy simulator games)where nobody else in the world is playing them but still this companies makes enough money to continuous this way.

Also because of this Germany is the only country in the world which has privileges to get special (cut) version of games (where blood is cut or like in Command & Conquer all humans are replaced by Robots) - its still profitable enough.

For example if a game doesn't meet the requirements in Australia the game doesn't show up there - but for Germany they gone create a new version at all.

Holgerm

Well hes right i think. If you don't own a 360 and a 360 game comes out on PC the same time then theres no reason for you to buy a 360 for said game. PC games are also a lot cheaper which would affect the console versions sale.

Its sad in a way that theres so much expectation on Microsoft to support the PC gaming platform just because its their OS, when third parties also need to pick up the slack when it comes to game releases. Microsoft need to also support 360. The real problem lays with Microsoft Game Studio, they just don't push out enough games for both the 360 and the PC. The PC games should be made for the PC, not console games ported to PC.

Walker

Games for Windows costs a LOT more than other PC games here.. If they were as competitively priced as others. I am sure the same theory can be applied here too.

Reetesh

I told you guys! Microsoft does like its new 360 as the bread maker of their name. The ol' PC is being put being the closet for them.

adragonfang18

I'm sure it's been said before, but I'll say it nonetheless: No Microsoft; you shoot yourself in the foot with any game that you release on 360 and PC at any time. Simple. That's why to me, as tough as it sounds, the 360 is only half a console. Do we see Wii first party exclusives hitting PC? PS3? PS2? Gamecube? PS1? .............

Face it :\ I say either go all the way or don't go at all. Give the 360 its own console exclusives and don't let the PC get them too.

But hey, that won't ever happen, because Microsoft only wants to exhaust the games and make money on more than one platform.

Candlejack

proving once again that PC gaming isn't dying it's being activly murdered.

tetracycloide

Its nothing to do with piracy, or killing the PC.

They'd shoot themselves in the foot because they want their console to do well, and it wouldn't do very well if everyone bought the PC version of the games instead.

Not sure why you all seem to be dissecting this and coming up with overly complicated reasons when it's pretty spelled out.

Lemming

to add to that... we buy their operating system which costs 1/3 to that of a console and imu sure they get large profit margins on that compared to a console in which they have to also sort out hardware costs.

Everytime they release it for the PC the hype has already gone down, or nobodys too interested anymore, or that its 2 years after. :D Microsoft really is trying to kill us PC gamers. Anybody here have enough resources to venture into creating a gamers Operating System???

Leepox

lol what a dumbass comment and he got that job??

how the hell

Leepox

I'm glad at least somewhere is acting like a bastion of resistance for the pc gaming market.

I haven't owned a console since the n64 and don't intend to in any forseeable future. I like my games on the pc where i can mod and customize and not have to be forcefed everything.

It sucks that german games have all sorts of violence and nazis cut out, but hell, at least someone is still making sim type games. So sick and tired of all these durr hurr GOW and Halo clones. I want some goddamn mechwarrior.

Flyingdebris

@arinthel: I think there's a hint at Piracy in that statement.

Read it this way: ''If We Launch A Game On 360 & PC Simultaneously, We Shoot Ourselves In The Foot by allowing people to pirate the game''

Cry, argue, whine, deal with it.

interstate78

its simply a wtf!?

If you sell it on PC instead of 360, you still just sold a copy of the game, right? RIGHT?!

arinthel

Well when you add extras to PC games and the 360 games cost more...
Yeah, I can see myself buying the PC version too.

Guvnah

Wow... I've been saying this for years, and now Microsoft have gone and admitted it flat out.

They're trying to kill PC gaming. Bastards.

PurpleSfinx

PC is easy to pirate games so it will reduce a lot of sales on either platform

mcool93

Yup, Microsoft couldn't care less about PC gaming, they just want to sell more XBoxes, that's what I was laughing back when they issued that press release how Live for Windows was doing oh so great. It's logical for them to push Xbox first, but it's rather hilarious to see them touting how great PC gaming is when they don't actually give a shit.

ara

@Vargas: it's not just MS, capcom, konami, bungie, take2, bioware, and EA all do it as well.

look at DMC, bioshock, masseffect, metal gear etc console games are more profitable and piracy kills companies profits, it's very easy to run pirated games on PC.

jigglypoofs

F*ck microsoft!! Companies like these kill pc gamming!!

Vargas

Duh! that $10 price difference of 360's game go right to MS...

OmegaKulu

Jeez, to all of you who cite piracy as a reason, this has nothing to do with it even as it is a problem in PC gaming. Microsoft has absolute monopoly on PC gaming and they get no royalties from released titles, they have no reason to invest a dime on it, they just want people to buy more XBoxes. Microsoft has done this since the launch on original Xbox, titles like Halo, Fable, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, etc. that are published my Microsoft Game Studios always get delayed PC release, from six months to over two years. And not all of them are even published by Microsoft on PC, that's how much they care.

ara

"it will reduce a lot of sales on either platform"

[citation needed]

Cerathi

We're talking $10 less a unit, or whatever the number is in Euro.

HenryHSH

a great idea to get the 360 going, microsoft, is to NOT release games over PC if you also plan to release it on the 360. also, pirates will always find a way to copy PC games and to an extreme extent, 360 ones too.

genbeef

Im guessing most people here are too young enough to understand the basics of business...

Hurry up and finish whining...then deal with it...

Elemence

@DaiMacculate: There's also the absolutely HUGE premium you have to pay for the hardware in a mac, and usually it's low budget stuff in it anyway!

Riotpoll

The majority of people are just tight, so rather than go go for the best, they'll go for the cheapest. As such this guy is completely correct, the PC version will sell more, because its cheaper.

PC games are artificially cheap, because they have to be cheap enough to make the fans buy the game, over pirating. Console games are overly expensive, because you have a captive audience, with little piracy.

Its a pity Microsoft cant find a middle ground, where both versions are the same price, so people can pick their prefered version, rather than getting the first version, or the cheapest version.

Mr_Ed

I trust this is referring mostly to the European market, so I'm not going to let my "American ignorance" judge this too harshly. He may very well have a relevant point.

DARTH_TIGRIS

@KafkaTamura: I mean ffs, if they wanted to sole a console in europe, they could have at least made a functioning one.

KafkaTamura

@KafkaTamura: Which is not to say that I won't play them...

KafkaTamura

And this, my friends, is the problem with capitalism. Products are not created for the benefit they might provide, but for the profit that they might reap.

Microsoft can go suck a fat one. I will not pay for their games anymore.

KafkaTamura

@sariah:

That bit about 360 games going to PC anyway is exactly my attitude as well. PC ports haven't always been perfect, like the PC port of Lost Planet and several others, but there are the multiplatform console releases for that. Having a reasonably up-to-date PC cuts the legs out of most reasons to own a 360, unless you really really care about Live.

Plus, this comment proves Blizzard's earlier assertion that MS's purported commitment to PC gaming is little more than lip service.

Staggering ports over time makes them more money over all, since MS practically owns both the 360 AND the PC gaming market.

Impatient or impoverished gamers buy the console version, while patient gamers who still have yet to plow through Persona 3 or want to finish playing Fallout, Planescape: Torment, or Freespace 2 for the umpteenth time don't mind waiting anyway, smug in the knowledge that they can play at high resolution, all the while task-switching to look at porn.

unangbangkay

@unangbangkay: Exactly. PC gamers did just fine, and actually much better, before there was an Xbox. Absolutely no reason to buy one. (or a PS3 for that matter.)

All these moneyhats are screaming "PIRACY!" now, why weren't they screaming that ten, fifteen years ago? Piracy was just as bad then or even worse. I'll tell you why...too much money on the line. Way too much money charged for games, way too much money needed to develop these games, way too much money on the line. Gaming was a lot more fun when it was a hobby, than a multi-gajillion dollar shitfest.

malio

Then they should go ahead and make Alan Wake a timed 360 exclusive.

beem

Wow, lots of venom here. Microsoft wants to make money. They make less money if they release a game simultaneously on multiple platforms, for reasons noted by them and by other commenters here. Microsoft isn't going to take a cut in profits so they can appease customers who have a problem understanding or accepting capitalism (which, by the way, is the greatest engine of product innovation and customer choice the world has ever had). Tough shit if you don't like it. Grow up.

AtomicPlayboy

This is why competition is good and why monopolies are bad. Microsoft decided to enter the console market, and they also happen to control the OS that most people game on with PCs. So, they are intentionally hurting one to prop up the other and drive more money into their pocketbooks.

If another OS had a solid base in the PC space and also a good games following, this type of situation wouldn't have happened. Microsoft would have had to keep both their PC and console spaces competitive.

This is happening so many times, it's sad. Microsoft stopped working on IE for the most part once it killed Netscape. It took Firefox to come along and force MS to make a new browser. The Zune only came along because of the iPod. And so on. Microsoft does their best in an area where they have to compete, and areas that they don't, they just go for the minimal effort needed. It's a shame PC gaming is now in that minimal effort category by MS.

drakino

@malio:

Piracy wasn't worse. The very act of burning HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of copies without digital distribution via file sharing was cost prohibitive.

SnakeCL

Isn't PC gaming dead?

Replica23

@nootau: Exactly. That's the reason I've always been a bit annoyed at Microsoft for creating the Xbox. Essentially, all it has done is siphon off developers and franchises from the PC. Are there really any notable games for the Xbox and 360 whose developers didn't start out on the PC/Mac?

PiotrSkut

..which is why they should have stuck to PCs. Too bad for fucking Halo or the Xbox would have failed miserably. Now PC gamers get shit on more than the old days.

GhaleonUnlimited

@Kaizuden: It's not about making money, it's about controlling the market: in this case, the gaming market. The PC cannot be controlled, but a console can. You can control almost every aspect of a console, and it has the potential to generate revenue exclusively for you. MS (and others) apparently figure that the money will be made *after* they crush the PC for gaming (and their rivals). In the meantime, it's all about gaining that control.

Madoc

I've said this many, many times, both here on Kotaku and elsewhere: MS has *not* been supporting the PC gaming industry, but rather trying to co-opt it by buying PC game developers and having them develop for the 360 instead. Then, MS goes and says, and has other people say, that the PC gaming world is dying, and that you have to upgrade your system every 6 months, etc.

Well, I hope the 360 fails. I didn't used to hope that, but I do now. This kind of grasping attitude of theirs pisses me off. The way they're canabalizing PC Dev companies pisses me off. The BS organizations they create and the insincere PR statements about PC gaming that they tend to release piss me off.

It was, however, refreshing to hear someone at MS (in Europe) speak the truth for once. I'm sure he'll be flogged for it, but they can't unsay what he said.

Madoc

Hehe. Smooth moves Pete. Real smooth.

Milky_Jo

Obviously.

Spartan1308™

Microsoft are really funny,they actually think that pc gamers are desperate for their games.seriously? lol

UFO

@SnakeCL: Disagree. There were plenty of BBS systems that housed games that you could pirate games from. No floppies or CD's had copy protection on them for a long time. There was even a period of a few years you could buy a game from Babbage's or EB or Software Etc., take it home, copy it and take it back for a full refund saying you didn't like it.

There wasn't as many gamers back then as there are now, so the ratio of those who bought the game to those who pirated it would be close to today's numbers.

malio

While this makes decent marketing sense, the logic is faulty, I for one would never buy a console for ONE game, I would buy for at the very least 3. So why not simultaniously release, if the game is added to 360 games, and I had, for example, 2 other games I wanted on 360, I would say, "The hell with it, I shall buy a 360 and the game, my pc isnt good enough for top quality anyway." That is just my logic..

Colt45J

It's not simply a matter of software units sold, there is also the question of development costs. Eliminate having to develop for the PC (and yes while it is a cheaper/easier platform to develop for) along with additional marketing overhead (advertising in PC magazines, etc.) and you cut some margins. It's not just Microsoft, look at EA's unprecedented decision not to release Madden 09 for the PC, their flagship series.

It's problematic to simply say PC releases are necessarily superior to console counterparts. I spent $2,000 on my rig two years ago and yet I can't get Crysis to operate at a decent FPS. Every 2 years or so (and even that seems conservative!) you have to spend the equivalent of a 360 on a new video card to keep in pace, who has that sort of money? You can't blame developers for being weary toward that shrinking market when the single biggest hurdle is quickly outmoded hardware. The problem with PC gaming has to do more with the distance between Intel and NVidia, not MS.

KobaSounds

and this is why I HATE consoles.Ruining the pc gaming, stupid consoles

Chosen1

and this is why I HATE consoles ruining the pc gaming market. Stupid consoles

Chosen1

why couldnt they just sale xbox 360 drives that gamers could put into their computers? I mean come on I know not everyone has the skill or common sense to put a disc drive in their computer but a lot of people especially the community of gamers that would be interested in this would.

ivegoneincognito

Microsoft will always put the 360 first when it comes to gaming, they make money from every title sold. Put simply it's just not in their interests for PC gaming to do well enough to compete. If Linux beame the choice platform over Windows, PC gaming would be better off: free OS - cheaper for people to get into PC gaming; faster, more stable OS - better performance, less expensive hardware required, less hassle; not controlled by a monopoly that has no desire to see it prosper. Shame.

Aname

@PiotrSkut:

/agree

And answer ... NONE!

EnigmaNemesis

I hate to comment this late, because hardly anyone ever reads past the first page of comments, and especially since the story is so far down, but oh well I had to say it anyway.

Microsoft is cannibalizing the PC gaming industry to further it's console offerings.

They did it with Deus Ex 2, Oblivion, Bioshock, Gears of War, Halo 1, 2, and 3, and much much more.

Basically giving developers large sums of money to forsake PC gamers in favor of the 360.

Scuba Steve

It's about piracy. If they come out simultaneously then people would download it rather than buying it for the 360. Though I'm sure that MS not getting royalties from PC games doesn't help either.

TheHun

He's saying that they use timed exclusives to drive sales of their proprietary hardware. It's good business sense, but that doesn't stop me from hating this man's guts.

@Replica23:

In Europe it's still bigger than console gaming, if you can believe it.

Pantsman

@AtomicPlayboy: What, so I can't criticize an economic system when it doesn't work? And that makes me a little kid? *palmface*

KafkaTamura

@Pantsman: "In Europe it's still bigger than console gaming, if you can believe it."

I was just being sarcastic 'cause many studios have been whinning about the state of the PC market and such; which is complete BS. And I totally can believe it.

Replica23

Halo doesn't sell well on the pc anyway, it's a low grade fps.

zehoo

Well, lets just screw over everyone else because Germany doesn't want to buy 360s. Wont they buy the game either way? What does it matter? Sure they want to move their hardware, but instead of buying a 360 for a game, they'd rather wait for a mediocre PC port. Maybe that's why most PC ports are so miserable.

Talleh

this only goes to show the guy doesn't understand the German market, or the PC gaming market in general really.

ydmos