Never coming out = Holiday 2009.

collusioned

@Zorba: No, what he said was any idiot with 1/10th of a brain could make stolen software work on a PC. He implied correctly that it is more difficult to make stolen software run on the 360.

robinandtami

Oh noes, pirates on teh PC! Everyone should pirate the Xbox 360 version. Cliff doesn't seem to realize that there are pirates on the Xbox 360 just like there are pirates on the PC. Granted, there's more PC pirates than 360 ones, but the problem still exists. Piracy happens from the smallest piece of software to the biggest tank-hauling cargo ship.

Piracy doesn't happen for no reason at all. The fact that piracy continues to flourish is evidence that the approaches to it by companies like Epic Games have been completely ineffective and have backfired in many cases. Piracy is a message in most cases. Over-hyped inadequate stripped-down games, poor support, abusive project managers turned forum PR trolls, poor design, poor security, and other things are common issues. Unfortunately, companies are so thick-headed that badly rating a game, pirating it to the moon and back, and complaining about the game endlessly didn't work so the only way to bring a major flaw to someone's attention was a lawsuit, or you can sit on hold and be endlessly transferred from rep to rep.

In a world where console games are starting to release in just as poor and unfinished state as many PC games have been for years, piracy on the consoles will catch up to developers like Epic Games. Sure, that guy with the big expensive PC, top-of-the-line video card(s), and water cooling sure knows his stuff and probably knows how to pirate a game. It's not that big a jump to take the next step to console piracy. It will catch up to them, all in good time.

Good riddance Epic Games!

BigDragon

@Kayin: There are no mod chips. There are firmware hacks. They arent exactly easy to do and since they dont run any form of homebrew 99% of people stay away from it.

parad0x360

Considering how the GoW 1 PC port was buggy, and really not a very good PC game in general, they are doing the PC gaming community a favor by keeping their console trash* off the PC. Oh, and CliffyB IS an asshole.

*Note to Trolls: I'm Not calling consoles trash, just calling most Console to PC ports trash.

Eldragon

This is the sort of thing I'm talking about when I say it's bad for consumers when people pirate games. It's always the criminals that ruin things for honest people, and suffer none of the consequences.

TheRockingDead

@HueyFreeman: i agree. some games are just better for a certain community. i picked up halo when it was released for pc and it just wasnt the same. not enough 13 yr olds whooping my ass and cursing up a storm, i guess :/

ajadoniz

@FP_slomo788:
I bought a 7900GT in December 2006 and a HD4850 in July 2008. That's 19 months.

I'm not very rich.

Rohit_N

@CheekyLee: I imagine the 200,000 people who were going to pirate it are much more miffed.

RawSteelUT

@Zorba: Gotta love the spin you're putting on it. That is, at the very least, partly right. PC gaming - at least of the level of technical sophistication as most mainstream videogames - are easy to pirate with even the slightest technical proficiency. Just set up a bittorrent client and off you go. You have to be a whole lot savvier to pirate games on console, including - in most cases - the ability to physically modify your hardware. The accessability of the 360 means that the piracy it suffers is mitigated by a sizable market of people that don't know how to mod.

RawSteelUT

@FP_slomo788: I'm pretty sure I said I was getting it on the 360 too in my last post.

At any rate , I prefer them to be on PC. The Xbox is just a overpiced low end pc to begin with , so why not port it , all the money it makes in the long run is going to Microsoft post haste anyways.

Exclusives are on thier way out anyways.

휘성

@Strife56:

Exactly. I drop $2K on my machine once a year or so to keep it "top of the line." Someone that has a PC required/needed to play the new games and drops that kind of cash is a more "qualified" customer than a console gamer imo (though I have a PS3 & Xbox 360 as well) as they are... how to put it? More likely to be affluent... compared to the everyday console gamer who has a meager $300-400 buy in to get started.

With systems like Steam it makes piracy a little more difficult. Why not distribute through those means? I'd image porting a 360 game to Windows is not too difficult.

MS executives look at sales figures of games released on the PC 1+ years after the 360 release and want to blame piracy so they can keep their jobs another quarter.

d1gw33d

When will they realise that Steam=Anti piracy second to none?

Oh yeah, because Microsuck is too busy masturbating all over everything about how *awesome* Windows Live is.

Dejanus

@Ken:
Took the words right out of my mouth.

Strife56

don't xbox360s have mod chips now ? seems a bit far from pirate free to me.

Kayin

If it's anybody that knows the state of pc gaming, it's Dudehuge. How you may ask? Cliffy B launched his career on the PC.

MysteriousStranger

You know, it sounds more like this is a response to "360 has no exclusives because the games always come to PC" arguments.

Which is pretty much true.

I still think this will come to PC. Just a smokescreen.

Remember, if RE4 comes out on PS2, what's his name is going to chop his own head off (yes, I know it's a Japanese term for getting fired; the translation makes it outrageously funny, though).

boringjob2

What rotten luck -- I just upgraded my videocard to play 360 exclusives. Although I'm a strong proponent against DRM, these cheapskate pirates are spoiling all the fun.

YHWHMystic

I call bullshit.

Reason?
1)Why would anyone want to pirate a game when the save files disappear 24/7 ( [www.gamefaqs.com] [www.amazon.com] )? It goes something like this (Language Warning)...

"OH YEAH! GENERAL RAAM YOUR MINE! Hold on... lemme get something to eat...

WHAT THE FUCK? ASHES?"

2) Sins of a Solar Empire. Enough said.

Papa Midnight

I beat GoW 1 on my cousins 360 and it was fun. So when the PC version came out I bought it to play on my PC along with multiplayer.

Well that was a bad decision as the game was buggy as hell. Games for Windows Live sucked really bad and there are barely any games online but at least it's free now. And the lack of any support for the PC version just pretty much killed it. I'm really sad I spent full price on it too.

Masx

@beem:

Ahaha. Looks more like a marketing ploy than an ultimatum after seeing that.

t3hdragon

That's kind of sad. It's reasonable on Epic's part, but still sad. If they really feel like a PC port is such a poor investment-- that whatever the actual sales figures, a PC port represents leaving a much, much larger number of sales still on the table or under it-- they're certainly within their rights to make this call. It's just weird that the community is made of people who feel so entitled that they won't abdicate their piracy rights even if the alternative is that the industry will collapse.

wild homes loves you but chooses darkness!

I definitely am smart enough to pirate games, but Gears of War PC (and UT3) were day 1 purchases for me.

Gears of War ended up sucking because of a lack of basic features-- I mean c'mon, who in Christ's fucking name releases a PC game with support for dedicated servers? Oh yeah, low quality console ports-- this and Lost Planet. Gears deserved way fewer sales than it got-- it wasn't hurting because of piracy. It was hurting because it sucked.

Gears has a terrible singleplayer, and in terms of a PC release, they didn't make the multiplayer what it should have been. If the PC release had great, dedicated-server supporting multiplayer it would have been a decent hit... well, as much as a third-person game that plays best with a gamepad can be on PC. It just isn't a good game for the PC platform-- particularly well after the hype and advertising died down.

UT3 suffered because of a lack of basic features that basically slapped the hardcore UT fans in the face, causing them to scream "console port" and talk almost anyone out of buying it. Also, these hardcore fans are the ones that meant constant populated servers... something that Ut3 definitely lacks.

Epic needs to just take a bit more time on its PC releases and not fuck up the edges.

Harmatia

@henri1kk: I'd build another computer , if a nVidia made that thier tag line.

휘성

Oh and I sold Gears 1 off ages ago (360 version), and have no plans on buying Gears 2 anyway.

RPGZero

@salaminizer: People are still going to pirate games no matter what kind of business model you have. You can't beat free.

Kankel

@Hamsfork:
fo real. its not dying, its dead... until d3 and sc2 at least.

polarity

Fellas, read this:[news.softpedia.com]

beem

@t3hdragon:

ALSO LOL "pointing to a worsening PC gaming environment."

GET ON STEAM THEY'RE NOT HAVING ANY PROBLEMS.

Clueless.

t3hdragon

"HAHA PC GAMERS ARrrrrrrrE ALL PIRATES!!!"

Thanks for that, Clifford.

RPGZero

Good! I'm pretty sure that PC gamers don't want bad games on their computer anyway *hrrmph*

Nikral

@xiked: How's playing Dead Rising, Halo 3, Fable 2, Crackdown & various others doing it for ya?

Thought so....

The Chicken Kicker

So, cliffyB is basically saying piracy is not a problem in consoles because console gamers are stup--- er, technology-challenged? And he's saying all smar-- er, tech-savvy people are pirates?

Oh man, cliffy sure does know how to troll on innuendo, doesn't he.

solar_tf

@휘성:

That's a cop out. People didn't buy Gears of War for the PC because it felt like a port. They really didn't tune it correctly to the PC. Not because people pirated it.

Shit, if you are saying that anyone with the know how to use the internet is going to torrent, then that's technically 3/4th of the tech population. Maybe you should hone your game and make it feel authentic before releasing it on the PC, and not slap PC gamers in the face with a watered down PC game. BioShock did amazing on the PC, people didn't pirate that all to heavy. All of Valve's games are selling like crazy. Cliff is hurting the PC scene by not releasing games on the platform and treating it like a bastard child.

That's my two cents.

MosesMonster

@nickymouse: It's like three people pirating on the 360 comapred to 1000 pirating on the PC.

Kankel

"Therefore, high-end videogames are suffering very much on the PC."

I've heard of more people pirating old games that they can't find anymore instead of the new ones...

AssassinXaero

god cliffy is a tard, i cant stand him. port it, its not like you dont have millioins, or do you need that gold plated shark tank???

a thank you south park

EVIL_V2

@Xallin: I'd love a console mouse for gaming. Imagine how much better shooters would be.

휘성

PC gaming won't get any respect until companies start optimizing content for it anyway. Most ports are glitchy as hell, even to the point where you'll be booted straight out of the game or be locked completely out of saving it.

Either way, piracy isn't that big of a problem if you play your cards right. Require a legitimate CD key to play an awesome, fun online mode and even pirates will go out and buy your game. These stupid, big-mouth devs don't pick up on the fact that pirates can't play online without creating their own servers that directly support the older clients. Seriously. And not many people actually play those, at least not enough to be a realistic threat. Plus, they're a lot of work to program and set up.

The fact is, pirates are now getting more efficient than developers and companies who throw DRM around. They may not get online features, but they bypass aggressive, annoying protections and more often than not, fix fatal bugs within a day or two that the devs take long blocks of time to tackle.

Plus, we don't have to pay full price for a game that either doesn't play well, or is a terrible port since nobody actually bothered to test it. Here's looking at you, Capcom, and every port to the PC you've made since forever. A little update: nobody really wants to aim with their arrow keys unless we're talking about an old Duke Nukem or something.

I, for example, was ready to go out and buy Spore. Guess what stopped me? Three guesses, and your Kotaku registration gets disabled. You'll have to go through a long e-mail process to reactivate it, and you may or may not be charged an additional fee.

t3hdragon

time to be more creative, Mr. Bleszinski. so, if I can recall correctly, we have: CryTek screaming piracy without having Crysis on a DD (wonder what they have to say now that Crysis + Crysis Wars are available on Steam), Capcom complaining about DMC4 sales without having the game on a DD (sorry if it's on DirectDrive, Steam, Impulse and Gamersgate are my references), and now Mr. Bleszinski complaining about Gears of War sales with their GfW Live crap.

As Daniel James said in PA: "Find a business model that's actually appropriate to the 21st century, and perhaps scale back your expectations of vast profits accordingly (oh, and fire some lawyers and lobbyists, too, please)."

To me it's a clear case of "ur doing it wrong".

salaminizer

@TaggarT6: I think MS actually owns the Gears IP these days

NecronomiconUK

I knew this would happen. I always said one day devs are going to get sick and tired of people pirating their games and they'll just quit making pc games. This is just the start sooner or later we will see more and more devs not making games for the PC because of piracy.

Kankel

@Aex: Wow, talk about taking shit way too seriously.

Don't buy the game, see if "Cliffy B" gets upset.

The Chicken Kicker

"Thanks a lot, assholes."
Why thank you! You know, I never get thanked anymore for pirating, stealing, and generally being an asshole. It's good to see that some people these days still have manners.

Also, can't people pirate games for the 360?

nickymouse

You guys! A new quote from Bleszinski!

Bleszinski: "The person who is savvy enough to want to have a good TV to upgrade to HDTV, is a person who is savvy enough to know [cable infrastructure] to know all the elements so they can steal cable," says Bleszinski. "Therefore, good programming is suffering very much on the TV."

Tomo

I find this insulting.

I spent a good amount of money on my PC, it's a high-end gaming machine, and bassically, you've just called me a thief for doing so, even though I never pirate games, I didn't do it with Gear of War either, I bought that legit.

Maybe you should find a better solution to stop the real thieves and not punish the honest people who work for a living and actually buy their games, instead of just saying "Screw you all" bassically

Strife56

I applaud their strategy!
PC gamers have to realize that, in order to keep getting good games on their platform of choice, they have to actually start paying for the things they want to play!
If everyone's just going to keep going down the easy road, I think most companies will start thinking like Epic!
And I really support them! Why spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of working hours to port a game if 80% of the people (just an estimation) are just going to steal it!
Doesn't make sense from a business point of view!

henri1kk

Way to Fail Microsoft, you can get a game on one of your systems but not the other since both actually suck.

Braddigan

@tsathoggua: Untile is see this mentioned story they speak of , it falls in line with every other marine style shooter on the market. All shooters to an extent are generic...unless it's unique like Half Life.

휘성

So he's saying that everyone that has a good video card is a pirate? nVidia should use that for marketing "GEFORCE 9800GTX! THE PIRATE'S CHOICE!"

He works at Epic, so he obviously have knowledge about good video cards.. is he admitting that he pirate PC games too?

CockroachMan

@bloog: I didn't say he said anything. I said he "insinuated" that I pirate games, which I don't.

homernoy

@zeke009:

Yes steam does but for some reason (and it suprises me) developers don't go down that route often enough and then moan that there games are getting pirated.

It also works out better for consumers because then companies [EA] don't need to fill our computers with virus like DRM [securom] software.

However steam isn't full proof and pirating still happens on steam. I just wish people would stop being so cheap and just buy the damn games and eventually DRM wouldn't be required and everyone would be happy.

I wouldn't be buying GoW2 on PC anyways I feel for it's co op it's much better on xbox 360 with xbox live unless of course it worked along side Xbox Live servers like Lost Planet: Colonies.

Raptr569

@jimmyNewtron: Are you trying to make a name for yourself as a moron? If so, BRAVO!

boringjob2

@휘성: Except I'm not talking about a game that's coming out on both (you're free to choose which platform you buy your games for, who am I to judge?). Officially this is a 360 exclusive and if you really want it you'll buy it on 360. Kinda tough titties to get it on PC for better aiming, mods and what not don't you think?

FP_slomo788

The biggest, best, and most badass dude and you make him cry. Pirates, be ashamed.

WallaJoy- Snorlax?

Errr, it's about as easy to pirate games on the 360 as it is PC. In fact it's easier cause most pirated games on PC don't work very well... not that'd I'd know or anything. 360 is pretty much just like Dreamcast bootlegging back in the day, except you gotta put a little more effort into it.

nyaz

@DTM_Returns: Blizzard and Valve would probably like to refute that argument as would probably Relic and more other choice developers. There are far more freedoms to making a PC title than working within the restrictions of console licensing which from reading Kotaku, we all know the 360s is one of the most stringent.

Ken

so if your a geek your automatically a pirate?

shit, if thats the case where the hell did all these game boxes on my shelf come from?

invadrzim

Like all gaming markets, Epic games have announced in the past that Gears of War was an Xbox 360 EXCLUSIVE title and look where it ended up. On the PC with added bonuses and more achievements. It's all a prolonged lie, stretched out until THEY want to reveal to the world officially that it's coming to the PC.

acez2087

@The Chicken Kicker:

Good for you, know you actually have an exclusive game after all. The rest is out on PC or on PS3.

xiked

@Ken: Yup. Halo 3 PC in 2009 is almost inevitable. They've done it before, countless times, they'll do it again.

Candlejack

Surely this will drive the sales of Xbox 360's !

TheFamous1

@Sheogorath: Haha, I was gonna post the same thing. Good show.

As an aside, I find it awesome that I actually know what those little brackets with the numbers and symbols mean now. Oh the joys of finally learning HTML.

Marius13

@homernoy:
That's not what I read.

He didn't say you pirate PC games; he said you know how to pirate PC games.

Do you not know how to pirate PC games?

bloog

haha or bad reviews , because not payed enough to do a good one.

dracu

@jimmyNewtron: As opposed to their current 360 controllers? C'mon, gimme a break.

Floral

His reasoning is terrible, but he is right. PC gaming is dead, except for MMOs. I see no reason for PC developers to keep up the fight, they are better off supporting Sony, at least they would be in an environment similar to where they are now, in terms of the ability to interact with their community and release editors and etc.

DTM_Returns

@zeke009: wat

FP_slomo788

1) Yeah only low end games sell well on PCs and aren't pirated, Crysis for example, with its 1.5 million copies sold. Don't want to release for the PC, fine, but this is a terrible excuse.
2) I agree with the people who mentioned steam.
3) Also will people stop saying PC gaming is dying already? How many years has it been since you've been saying that?

Hamsfork

@FP_slomo788: Hmm.Ok.No.
I prefer shooters on PC as the aiming is better , the mods are better and the support for the game is usually better.

I have a 460.00 console ( elite/controller/live sub ) and I will play both on said setups.

휘성

@Candlejack: Yah, didn't they say the same line of BS for Gears and more was said for Halo?

Halo 3 and Gears 2 will be on the PC at some point. The real reason why it's pirated more is because they wait so damned long when it should be a day one release (I highly doubt the PC market would cannibalize the 360 market, at all). They come out two years after the console release and frankly, no one gives a damn at that point.

Ken

@Sheogorath: Pretty sure those two games have nothing in common besides aliens. Why must we throw the word 'generic' around when it doesn't even apply? Oh, right, because it's 'in'. Mmmkay, carry on.

Cliff's reasoning is the same reasoning for DRM, isn't it? Anyone who can buy a graphics card is a potential CRIMINAL! If they put it on Steam, they wouldn't even have to manufacture it, and they'd get a not-a-pain-in-the-ass DRM scheme to ease their piracy woes.
The way he puts it, it's like he thinks piracy is the smart choice. Odd.

tsathoggua

@FP_slomo788: You sound savvy and rich, want to buy me one and shut me the fuck up?

zeke009

@jimmyNewtron: That's the most random comment I've read all day.

Methusalah

[www.penny-arcade.com]
No one's put that up yet?

FreakyFavabean

@jimmyNewtron:

since when is gears about being realistic?

fucking aliens and guns with chainsaws on them? yeah, thats what I thought.

eyeshield

@jimmyNewtron:

And... you think somehow a 360 joystick is more realistic?

*swivel swivel... nudge nudge nudge...*

bloog

@Bleszinski: Tool.

p0wd3rd

This game looks beautiful, so I'll enjoy it on the 360 instead of my PC this times.

I'm glad I'm not stupid enough to call it another generic shooter or some phrase along those lines. :)

Shandy706

@Sheogorath:
I liked AvP2 better.

Tizlor

I just want to punch the crap out of locusts, don't care what console it's on

Ieatbears

@휘성: Exactly.

Apparently, anyone with a computer good enough to play games is a pirate now. Thanks Xbox 360 for finally showing Cliffy B. the way.

I was going to buy Gears of War 2 for the Xbox 360 anyways, since I bought the first one for it as well... But now, I'm not so certain... Maybe it'll turn into a rental... or a borrow now... Maybe I'll just give Cliffy B. the big fat single finger salute and fall into his stereotype and chip my Xbox...

Aex

So that's one more 360 game the PS3 fanboys won't be able to say "Well, i'll get it on the PC in a few months."

lol, oh well.

Gears belongs on the 360, that's where the fanbase is and will remain.

The Chicken Kicker

I am really starting to think Cliffy is a tool. Fucking ballsy insinuating that I pirate games because I build my own PC's. Not to be negative towards the 360 version of Gears, but Gears on the PC was terrible.

It ran fine for awhile, then I upgraded my machine and while getting 90+FPS with everything maxed in DX10 it stuttered so badly it gave me a headache. Virtually unplayable now.

homernoy

@Zorba: That's what I read

vega480

Stupid argument, really. Get a better distribution model and make the game less buggy, maybe?

I sold my 360 because I knew most of the premium titles will be on the PC, as well and I plan to get a PS3 for later console exclusives that are multi-platform.

This just saddens me, but also makes me want to steer further away from the 360 console and their choice moves (Not saying Sony hasn't made plenty of dumb ones, along with Nintendo).

I just want the games and the tech. I miss my 360 for LIVE and the Arcade some days, but I knew if I only took the time and effort (or if I had the time or effort thanks to school) I could easily find replacements for both... oh wait, Steam and Kongregate.

Nevermind.

XD

PS: Unlike Jane Wells son, I made a better decision and got a shiny new DS and PS2 with my 360 so I can have more mobile gaming and classic/cheaper gaming while in college. PC games are naturally cheaper, as well. Hooray for informed decisions. Bye Epic, it's been fun playing your games :)

Ken

Haha. I'll be picking up my PC copy in 6 months, Cliffy. Enjoy.

Candlejack

I hope the PC gamer who is savvy and rich enough to buy a new video card every few months is reasonable enough to buy a $200 console and shut the fuck up about Gears 2 not being on his/her "superior" PC.

FP_slomo788

@Methusalah: That, sir, would be the second coming.

SuperTongue

I'm sure the 20 or so people who were going to buy it on PC are devastated.

CheekyLee

YARR HARR FIDDLE DEE DEE!
BEING A PIRATE IS ALRIGHT TO BE!
DO WHAT YOU WANT 'CAUSE A PIRATE IS FREE!
YOU ARE A PIRATE!

I, personally, couldn't care less. If I wanted Generic Alien Shootan Gaem #46653 I'd go play Alien vs. Predator.

Sheogorath

@Xallin:
because mouse pointers are more realistic...I bet the guys in Iraq wish they had mouse pointers.

jimmyNewtron

Hmm...I may be wrong but it seems Cliff Bleszinski just called all xbox360 users so dumb they can't torrent GeoW off the 'net =)))

Zorba

Doesn't Steam have a delivery platform/mechanism that minimizes piracy and puts more cash in the pocket of the developer?

Sounds like they are being lazy and scared of the Spore fiasco.

That's fine, I'll just cross this title off my list as one to watch.

zeke009

Q: Definitely not?
No.

I think that could definitely be a 'maybe'!

Zegridathes

big deal, pirates will decompile the code and the homebrew community will bring it to PC in a few years anyway.

jimmyNewtron

I agree steam is the best way to go

GRECS

And so the Age of Consoles began...

AdeptVoice

Tis true, we pirates are a savvy bunch.

ARRRRRR

Spenze

@휘성: Agreed. It's just a poorly thought-out excuse. And I know plenty of morons that know nothing of hardware that pirate things all the time.

Methusalah

Meh...it's not really his call though since he doesn't own the IP. It's up to the CEO which in turn will basis the final decision on sales and future market predictions.

TaggarT6

I'm pretty sure there's a significantly less chance of piracy if your game doesn't have an assinine install system, but I could just be ignorant.

orcus116

Thats dissapointing. Gears looks and plays way better on my PC than it does on my 360. I MISS MY MOUSE AND ACCURATE AIMING!

Xallin

under my post will be ppl that says no to the fact that piracy is one of the biggest reason that pc gaming is dying...those ppl needs a reality check.

xiked

Hey, at least he's honest. Now, in before lots and lots and lots of piracy spin artists and Cliff-B haters. Just remember folks, he's not the only one and all the excuses in the world don't hide that fact.

Foxstar Sixtail

Wow. I build computers. I must be pirating at all times because I can.

No really , what a stupid reason.

휘성

Just put it on steam exclusively.

Methusalah

Damn those pirates. ARRR!!

kaish

I apologize for being an asshole. However, I wouldn't pirate Gears of War 2, I'm planning on buying it.

SonicNirvana

And sure the same people yelling well you've lost my business are the same douche's that never gave any PC developer their business in the first place.

twesterms 2nd

Who cares? Gears 2 works better on 360 anyways.

HueyFreeman

Huh? Hows the piracy any different then say 4-5 years ago? Hows' the pc gaming environment getting any worse? If anything, it's getting better, for example mid-range video cards 4-5 years ago used to cost $150-200 more then they do now. Same thing for CPU's. You could have bought a e6600 back in 2006 and it still kicks ass today. Will probably continue to do so for at least another year or two.

Pc gaming is picking up again, it's always the weakest 1-2 years after a new generation of consoles come out (for obvious reasons), but for the remaining 3-4 years until the next wave of consoles touches down, it kicks ass! I for one bit the bullet and put down some cash for a couple of upgrades recently ... haven't touched my ps3 since.

Anyways, GOW2, release date:fall 2009 platform: PC.

220

@Foxstar Sixtail: Obviously, the decision to wait to release GoW 1 till months after Xbox 360's release did not impact PC game sales at all ...

der13manner

@Papa Midnight: "There" isn't the same as "So easy a caveman can do it." (Geico reference.)

RawSteelUT

@Kankel:
Obviously that's the case as there are millions more PC's out there than there are 360 owners.

I just don't see slapping a sticker saying "THIEF" on everyone who plays games on their PC is a very respectable thing to do, as I myself game on my PC quite a bit, and I've never pirated any game, I like to have the game in physical form, and for all the trouble people go through to pirate a game, I'd rather just go out and pay £25 to avoid all that.

Strife56

The real reason is not due to piracy, but because they don't think enough people would buy it. Piracy is just a convenient excuse. Generally good games sell well.

Stardock's response to companies who say this "Please feel free to leave. More market share for us." That's what will happen.

There are enough games similar to GOW on the PC where it wouldn't be missed. The key is to support the people who will pay for games, which there are enough of those out there, they just happen to not care for generic shooter games all that much since they got older and their preferences changed (being polite and neutral)

arstal

@F22: So says you, I would rather have my Oscruo's Oblivion Overhaul versus 360 Version of Oblivion, mind you looking better at a higher framerate and native resolution and... for kicks... I could still play it with the 360 controller.

Totally crappier than 360 Vanilla version.

;) Unless it's a tragic console to PC port, the PC version = Winner. I keep a PS2 around and will get a PS3 for the console exclusive and JRPGs, but I would never claim the console as the better of the two (since the consoles are just pre-fabbed PCs nowadays thrown into an idiot box and only can produce the quality of graphics they do due to lower resolutions of gameplay + single environment + scaling chips).

Ken

@QuietStorm: I agree. UT3 is sitting on my shelf collecting dust, it was very lackluster.

As for Gears of War and it's better on Xbox mentality, I didn't think that was the case. It's sitting on my shelf next to UT3 after I beat it.

Personally, I think it's because the shooting crowd on the PC either a)owns an X-Box or b)Prefers a better multiplayer game ala Team Fortress 2. We are a spoiled lot.

I'm curious how game designers get to keep claiming that piracy is killing their games ... I can't seem to recall a point where I've heard of a game being made or broken on the back of pirates.

Closest I recall was the fiasco that was Titan's Quest. As I recall, the game was labeled as buggy due to Day Minus 5 piracy (5 days before day 0). Anyways, the game wasn't actually all that great anyways, so it's not surprising it failed. (I bought that one from Steam.)

Ah, well, Microsoft and team haven't been showing much love for PC of late, here's hoping we'll see Fable 2 eventually on PC.

der13manner

I'm glad, no one told Cliffy about piracy on the 360 :)

Kajetan

@Rohit_N: Even if you still had the 7900GT you could still play most new games, maybe not maxed out (bar source games) but reasonably well.

-Hairball-

No prob, i will buy Left 4 Dead instead and have a lot more fun anyway.

Thanks Cliffy for saving me some money.

Krumm

@Methusalah: That'd be extremely unlikely to happen, because GoW2 is microsoft..

Glazun

@Zorba:

Yes apparently console users aren't savvy.

arcum

Hey, Cliff, I'm one of those PC gamers savvy enough to have a great PC, and I do know about Bitorrent.

But guess what? I don't use it! Ever! I want to buy Gears of War 2 from you (I bought Gears of War 1 on the PC!)! Why won't you let me?!

ShirtGuyDom

@QuietStorm: Don't even pirate then, if it was to come to the PC it would come ages after the initial 360 release and will be largely ignored because anyone who wanted to play it that badly probably has already got it for the xbox. PC gamers just don't seem to interested in greyish/brown blandy games, which was my experience when playing it on a friends xbox.

Also, if a PC gamer has the kind of money to blow on an expensive rig, the cost of a the game won't put them off it.

-Hairball-

@TaggarT6: Do we really want a sloppy port by a 2nd-string team? Doesn't the PC get enough of those?

RawSteelUT

@nyaz: "Except you gotta put a little more effort into it."

You don't have to put ANY effort into making pirated PC software work well. And sorry, but I have to call bullshit on the whole "Pirated games on PC don't work very well" nonsense. We both know that's not true, especially in the era of Bit Torrent, where companies can't insert junk data into the wild.

RawSteelUT

@Strife56: It's called an example. I don't know how many people pirate on the 360 but it's sure as hell a lot less than the pc.

Kankel

did you know? that piracy wouldn´t be as bad if the electronic industries made products that almost encourage missuse. Like a dvd burner, vcr, taperecorder etc. like how many use an external harddrive mostly as a backup?

basseman

@wild homes loves you but chooses darkness!: Very well put, man. In a rush to be cheap and rip games off for free, they could eventually end up running even larger devs into the ground. I guess console piracy would have to go mainstream before that really happens, but who the hell knows.

I proudly pay for all of my games on the Xbox 360. That wasn't the case when I was a 14 year old kid in the early 1990s and all I did was game on a PC. I don't recall buying a single game back then since there was no DRM protection of any kind.

The truth of the matter is that with even some of the most advanced DRM stuff out there right now, PC remains very exposed as a platform. Till that changes, expect more announcements like this.

DaPress

@Ken: Starcraft is big more in Korea than anywhere else, where it's more of a sport than anything else. I'll give you Diablo, but we'll have to see how well 3 does compared to 1 and 2. Warhammer Online is, again, an MMO, and really the first real competition to WoW in a good long time. As for Spore and Crysis, great, they sold 1 million. Assassin's Creed sold 6 million between the PS3 and 360, Halo 3 sold 4 million on the 360 alone. EA expects Mirror's Edge to do 3 million in sales, and while that may be an over-estimate, they can get pretty close if they market it right. PC gaming may not be dying, but it's not anywhere near as green a pasture as consoles are nowadays.

RawSteelUT

@BigDragon: You do realise that piracy on PC is at a point where it's quite plausible that releasing a game on the format means you could actually make no money from it?

Yes piracy happens everywhere, but your reasons for it are laughable. So their attempts to fluster piracy are weak, therefore we shalt pirate? SOMEHOW games have software bugs (have you tried programming on such a large scale before)? ...and games are sold like movies with huge buzz and PR natter? Therefore, we shalt pirate... Are you serious?

Yes, some games are released in a poor, unfinished state... but with all due respect, most games are released perfectly fine, albeit with some kinks here and there. Did you pirate LOTR because there were tracking issues on one of the sweeping camera shots too? A bit of clipping on one level isn't going to hurt the overall experience.

I'm going to assume most people posting here on Kotaku towers enjoy videogames. How about you stop bitching about unfinished products, realise that in fact, these products have bugs in the same way ALL software does, and have the same kinks that other entertainment products do (all movies have issues, music production can be weak in spots, etc.).

If you disagree then so be it... but don't get on some moral high horse because the products aren't 100% perfect. As weak a come-back as this is, why not go try to make a game yourself on the same scale, and entertain the same numbers of people?

Forget CliffyB, Epic, or anyone else for that matter... the programmers/designers/artists involved in games do a far superior job to their "standard" software engineer brethren.

projectmayhem

@Kankel:
That's like saying there's 3 people pirating for the Wii...

I think we all know that's not the case.

Strife56

@robinandtami: Not by much though. A a cable here, a bootable flashdrive there, a bit of command line fiddling, and off you go. I've seen it done. It's so easy any half-wit could do it if he really wanted to. Thankfully, most don't.

MadMinstrel

Bottom line, these guys dont make these huge blockbuster games out of the goodness of their hearts, but to make money!

Every single person who pirated the original Gears of War PC Is to blame, no one else!

I dont know why people would think he would make up, or use PC piracy as an excuse, because had the game sold well, you can be damn sure the Gears 2 would've been on the PC aswell.

KEELr

@Silent Predator:
I like wiimotes...I have yet to really buy any games for my wii though. So I can't state that there are no good shooters or whatever for it.

@MadMinstrel: ... Let me rephrase : It would be great IF there were mice for console systems.

휘성

I hate it when people take what he said out of context. He clearly said "the kind of people who know how to upgrade their pc, to run high-end games, regularly are the kind of people who know how to pirate games".

Did he ever once say every person or even a miniscule portion of people who upgrade their gaming rig regularly, are pirates? He didn't even say that people who don't know how to upgrade their PC, don't know how to pirate games.

Refused

@mfwahwah:

No Cliffy shuns the PS3 because of the stylish money hat Microsoft gets tailored for him.

There will be a GoW2 on PC. It wont be made by Cliffy so that will be his out but someone else will make it. Why? Because regardless of piracy it will make more money then it will lose. Announcing the PC port now wouldnt be smart as ti would hurt 360 sales. MS has stated as much in the past.

Modus_Operandi

@휘성: Wait, so are you saying he's wrong? You build computers, but you don't know how to use BitTorrent?

'Cause that's what he said. He didn't say everyone who knows what a video card is pirates PC games.

Vaegrin

I do agree with the obvious issue of PC gaming being exposed to piracy at a far greater extent than console. I mean I think its safe to say that PC piracy is pretty rampant.

The part of the comment that doesn't sit all that well with me is the way he phrased it about a person who is savy enough to upgrade a computer is savy enough to download torrents... well not for anything my 12 year old cousin in middle school is retarded when it comes to computers, but sure knows how to BitTorrent and Limewire their music to fill up his iPod.

If anything I would think the people that are going to be spending $400 or so on a GoW2 capable video card, I would like to assume they wouldn't mind dropping $50 on a game if it is decent. Especially with a game like Gears that was so driven by the MP aspect of the game (which everyone knows is usually the feature you lack with the bittorrent special).

So essentially I think it is a bit of a cop-out.
Would people find a way to "hack" it and post it on torrent? Yes

Would they be losing money from this? Naturally they would lose some, however for the most part, people that pirate have no interest in buying the game to being with.

Essentially this has cop-out written all over it. Especially with the games for windows possibility of linking with Xbox Live servers. It's a shame too because I personally think Gears would be awesome with mouse and keyboard.

itloser

@salaminizer: You seems to be taking it for granted that games sell like crazy on Steam. How do YOU know? Valve doesn't release those numbers.

RawSteelUT

Bullshit. The incremental cost of porting and distributing the game on PC is negligible. If they sell any copies at all (and who thinks they won't, even in the face of rapant piracy?) they'll make money. The only thing to be afraid of is if piracy on PC impacts sales of the 360 version. It seems entirely plausible, but is not, in fact, the given reason.

shimage

I think the pirate situation can be a boon to a console manufacturer. Right now their licensing rate is functioning as a tax. The first one to send their licensing rate for software down to a lower number will pick up the most developers, most software, most pc support, and will have the competitive advantage. I would prefer Sony to do this, since it seems they have turned the corner on nickle and diming their userbase to death.

If Sony or MS doesn't do this, I could see a company like Google or Apple eventually entering the marketplace.

DTM_Returns

Yeah I'll bet this is a "good" reason not to release it too the PC gaming masses.

Will_Lucky

@Kankel: Indeed. If you can't figure out how to make pirated software work on PC, you're dumber than shit. Pirating on the consoles, at least modern consoles, isn't easy (legacy consoles - PSOne and earlier - are easily emulated nowadays). So if you're looking to make a dollar making software, where are you going to make your software - Where it's incredibly easy, or where it's hard? My guess is the latter.

RawSteelUT

@CheekyLee: Yes. We are. My MightyRig was built to play something else than Crysis sometimes. All that horsepower is going to waste. Maybe it is the end of PC gaming after all.

MadMinstrel

@parad0x360: But the fact of the matter is that it is there.

Papa Midnight

@RawSteelUT: So much better off that they let EA handle their ports? Or is it that they have a succesful business model and I'm sure Orange Box has sold well over 1 million copies thanks to STEAM.

There are many other PC franchises are amazing on the PC and Blizzard does more than WoW, which I do not even care for. Starcraft and Diablo. 2 Amazing series. EA, basically the largest publisher in the gaming industry, sees the PC as viable since September was loaded down with 3 big hits; Spore, Crysis Warhead, and Warhammer Online. Spore is near or above 1 million strong and the other 2 will follow suit. PC is not dying when it's a 10 Billion dollar industry.

Ken

@SpiritBoy: I mean couldn't care less.

SpiritBoy

"Hmph! Thanks a lot, assholes. Oh, not you, Cliff."

I think Cliff is an asshole actually. He shuns the PS3 because of his personal controller preferences? PSH, that's totally lame!

mfwahwah

@twesterms 2nd: Oh? The only games I've ever pirated are those "I'm only going to play this once at a LAN party" games. And if I continue to play them, I buy them.

Any developer who says, "You have a good computer, you're a pirate," can fuck off. I will not support their games.

The fact that he's from Epic just makes it funny, though. Epic is all butthurt from UT3 failing. Thing was, it didn't fail because of piracy, it failed because it was a shitty game. They pissed off the UT2k4 community, which was their best chance for sales.

QuietStorm

The death of PC gaming will eventually be the rebirth of PC gaming. Afterall, those pirates have to go somewhere when there aren't any more PC games to pirate, and it isn't like you have to be a whole lot more savvy to pirate games for consoles either.

DimensionWarped

@tsathoggua: No hate train implied. There are lots of good shooters with awesome features and control setups , but storylines do help. GoW did not have a epic storyline , and I don't see it having one.

Will I not play it , probaly not . I'll play it because multiplayer for the first one was great. The control setup for a console is the best I've seen in some time ( that is until MGS4 ).

They are in overall pretty similar yes. Very few stand out on thier own. GoW is shades better then Halo in terms of originality , if I had to pick a start point to go by.

휘성

@MosesMonster: He's not saying anyone using a computer, he's saying anyone who can maintain a high-end gaming PC. Short of blowing $4k at Alienware (constantly), you have to be pretty knowledgeable and tech savvy to have a system capable of playing high end games. Seriously, does anyone here know a single person who can build/maintain a gaming PC, but doesn't know about major warez/torrent sites?

The argument isn't so much "OMG everyone's a pirate" but more "...the barrier for entry to piracy is way too low on the PC, and its a lot higher elsewhere".

verrius

That is major bullshit.
I, for one, can care any less about GoW2 but piracy is a poor excuse to not port a game.

SpiritBoy

@휘성: There's a new device called "Wii-mote", I think you'd like it.

I already know the response: there's no/not enough good shooters on the Wii! I know. I can only replay MP3 so many times. At least The Conduit looks good. =(

Silent Predator

Let's hear it for timed exclusives!

MysidianMan

@휘성: What's a console mouse?

MadMinstrel

@BigDragon: I think you paint pirates in far too noble of a light. Most of my friends aren't riding about of white horses crying, "Alas, we must right the wrongs caused by greed and send a message to the corporations." They're saying: "Haha, I didn't have to pay!"

guitarzan2k5

@firelogic: Mainly because it's a giant waste of time. Sadly though , like the last xbox it won't be long before the 360 goes under the knife.

휘성

@MysteriousStranger: yeah and then abandoned it...

JellyDoodle

That screenshot is very brown.

Also, dude makes a valid point, at least he's not advocating stronger DRM.

Calavera302

@Kankel: considering you can't effectively stop pirates (as in "100% effectiveness"), you think that companies would at least try to minimize its effects - be it removing DRM (Sins) or doing like Valve, Paradox, etc., which undoubtedly suffer from piracy but still attracts millions of customers spending their bucks. when someone like id mentions the size of console market as a reason to use consoles as primary platform, I'm OK with it. when Mr. Bleszinski screams ARRRR when his game uses a poor multiplayer system, worsened by the GfW Live crap (which was paid back then), it's tough to accept it.

salaminizer

His argument is quite valid because NO ONE mods their 360's and download games to play on it. NO ONE...>.>

firelogic

@휘성: In that you shoot guns, yes, yes they are. This is like saying RTS games are generic because they're in real time and involve strategy.
Gears of War might not be the pinnacle of innovation, but I certainly haven't played any games that seemed like it since then. Have I played games with guns? Oh, indeed. Aliens? Quite! That's not really enough to call them similar.
To call a game 'generic' because it shares baseline features with other games of its genre is foolish - but don't let me get in the way of jumping on the hate-train :P

tsathoggua

@휘성: Well that's exactly what I meant. The 360 might not be your platform of choice (it's not mine) but at this pricepoint and if you're used to upgrading your PC at least once every year, this should not be a real problem.

@Rohit_N: Sorry to hear that. I'm sure you can appreciate that my post was not targeted at you though, right?

FP_slomo788

@HueyFreeman: Thank you, Captain Obvious. Of course it works "better" on the 360, since it doesn't work at all on any other platform.

MadMinstrel

consoles > pc

such is the way of things.

F22

@Ken: Blizzard makes over 200 million a month on an MMO, so that fits his point perfectly. And really, does Valve really sell that well outside of their most diehard fans? They make their 1 million copies, but with the exception of the Portal phenomenon, Valve's appeal doesn't ever grow. And notice that DTM said that they'd be better off with Sony.

RawSteelUT

@The Chicken Kicker: How...wait. No...because the PS3 has something to do with this overall post and article.

Oh snap it doesn't. Your point is highly invalid.

휘성

@SonicNirvana: I'm with ya. Dear Cliff Belinsky,
I have a gaming pc because I like gaming on the pc. I have a 360 too, but its for Rock Band and xbox arcade and playing dvds. My gaming PC is nice, a couple of gtx 280s in sli...nice. I have lots of pc games that are on both the 360 and PS3, but they're better on my pc. I have Bioshock, Orange Box, Cod4, Grid, Supreme Commander, and lots of older games including Gears of War and Halo 2. I paid for Gears of War the first time, I'd pay for it the second time too, but you're being a whiney jackass so now I don't have the option. I guess I'll buy Dead Space, COD WAW, Left 4 Dead, oh and I guess I'll get GTA IV with the money I didn't spend on Gears II, I don't normally like that style of game, but it will look good and run much better on my pc than on my 360, which is in my living room by the way, where my kid and my wife hang out. My pc is in my office, its private I can blow guys apart and not worry about who is watching. Anyway just thought you'd like to know: I built my PC all by myself and I don't pirate games. Thanks for still being a jack ass, looking forward to you being fired for having bad hair and a stupid smile, coffeeguy

tasty%20crabcakes.">coffeeguy

@Gouki4u: This is why Gabe Newell is a PC gamer's best friend. Nobody else will stand up for the PC gamer like he does.

DaveKap

"The person who is savvy enough to want to have a good PC to upgrade their video card, is a person who is savvy enough to know [BitTorrent] to know all the elements so they can pirate software,"

Read: Everyone.

Cheezsama

@Rohit_N: "savvy and rich enough to buy a new video card every few months"

Thought I was clear enough. No need to get into name-calling, eh?

FP_slomo788

@DeusGear: boo hoo

NecronomiconUK

Epic has changed. I remember a time when they released a massive free expansion for Unreal Tournament on the PC. Now they won't even bring one of their big titles to the platform because of pirates? Clearly they've discovered the cash cow that is console gaming, and no longer give a fuck about PC gamers.

Gouki4u

Here, let me help Cliff out a bit. I'll let all you Kotakuites know what he wanted to say, but couldn't, because no executive/developer has the balls to say it.

"Hi, I'm Cliff Bleszinski. A lot of you have been asking if we're going to make a PC port of the sequel to our smash hit game you're not playing anymore, Gears of War. Unfortunately, our first port of the game was so horrible that we see no real reason to make another horrible port.

We don't have the time or effort to do more PC ports. Quite frankly, we just don't want to do it. Ask any of our Epic developers and they'll tell you, making ports sucks. We have Microsoft riding our asses to use Games for Windows Live and making sure it works for both Windows XP and Vista. Have you ever tried coding that kind of shit? It sucks! Especially when porting!

What I'm trying to say is that we are lazy developers who don't believe the returns are good enough to try and code more effectively to ensure a port would run well. What do you care, you probably have a 360 anyway."</