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The traditional imageof the FPS player as a PC gamer with keyboard and mouse doesn'tnecessarily hold true any more, according to id Software's director ofbusiness development, Steve Nix, who told Eurogamer this week that hebelieves many hardcore PC FPS players are now getting their jollies onconsoles.
Chatting to us in London about the upcoming consoleversion of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Nix said that id is"absolutely" seeing a shift to consoles, even from formerly diehard PCgamers.
"I know that I have friends who are considered coregamers, who years ago were just keyboard and mouse guys - now, when agame ships on all platforms, they buy the console version, even thoughthe PC version is sitting there and they have a PC that would run itperfectly well. It's just their preference," he explained.
DesignerGreg Stone, who has been working on Quake Wars at Nerve Software,chipped in to agree. "For me, I'm exactly what he's describing - I'm aguy that used to play on PCs, and now I'm totally console. It's so muchmoney to keep up with the bleeding edge of technology on the PC, and itreally just is easier to take a console and say, well, this is goodenough. I think that's the way it is for me, and for a lot of people atthis point in time."
Eurogamer wrote:
However, Nix was keen to point out that he'sdescribing a limited trend - and that there's still plenty of space forthe PC in the games market, even if FPS games are certainly no longerentirely a PC-centric genre.
"There are plenty of people who arediehard mouse and keyboard guys that may never go to console, and alsoright now, if you have the highest of high-end PCs, you're generallygoing to get a better visual experience," Nix said. "There's no consoleout there that's as powerful as a God machine right now, with aQuad-Core and a GeForce 8800 - it's very hard for any console tocompete with that."
"So you still have PC players, and someplayers are just console guys, but have players moved over? Absolutely.We love PC gaming, and we continue to support PC gaming - but you can'tignore the market realities and the size of the console market thesedays."
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars came out last September on the PC, and we rather liked it - to the tune of eight out of ten.The console versions are being developed by Nerve (360) and ActivisionUnderground (PS3), and will be out in the coming months. You can readall about how they differ from the PC version - and why they mightactually be better?
You can't ignore the market realities and the size of the console market," says Nix id Software's Steve Nix believes that a significant number of'hardcore' PC gamers are shifting over to home consoles to get theirkicks.
Speaking to our sister site Eurogamer.net,Nix said that id would continue to support the loyal PC gamer, but itcouldn't afford to ignore the size of the market for first-personshooters on console.
"I know that I have friends who are considered core gamers, whoyears ago were just keyboard and mouse guys - now, when a game ships onall platforms, they buy the console version, even though the PC versionis sitting there and they have a PC that would run it perfectly well.It's just their preference," explained Nix.
Greg Stone, designer for Nerve Software, the developer working onthe Xbox 360 version of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, agreed with Nix:"For me, I'm exactly what he's describing – I'm a guy that used to playon PCs, and now I'm totally console.
"It's so much money to keep up with the bleeding edge of technologyon the PC, and it really just is easier to take a console and say,well, this is good enough. I think that's the way it is for me, and fora lot of people at this point in time."
However, Nix was keen to point out that he's describing a limitedtrend - and that there's still plenty of space for the PC in the gamesmarket, even if FPS games are certainly no longer entirely a PC-centricgenre.
"There are plenty of people who are diehard mouse and keyboard guysthat may never go to console, and also right now, if you have thehighest of high-end PCs, you're generally going to get a better visualexperience," Nix said. "There's no console out there that's as powerfulas a God machine right now, with a Quad-Core and a GeForce 8800 - it'svery hard for any console to compete with that."
Quote:
"So you still have PC players, and some players are just consoleguys, but have players moved over? Absolutely. We love PC gaming, andwe continue to support PC gaming - but you can't ignore the marketrealities and the size of the console market these days."
I'm a PC gamer through and through. Consoles can be fun, but, as the article says, they just don't match up against Quad Cores with nvidia 8800s and 3.5GB RAM