Have consoles held back PC gaming?

[Iam3G]

Seeing the announcement and release of 'next gen' games has got me thinking. Surely consoles have held back PC gaming quite a bit, as many games are developed on consoles first, and thus PC gaming has had to lag behind waiting for 'next-gen' consoles to be released.

Of course they do update the PC versions often with better graphics features, and there are games developed specifically for PC, but I reckon quite a lot of games could have been made far better on PC had they not been held back by consoles.

When you talk about "held back by consoles", are you specifically talking about visual quality of the games?

[Pooky]

When you talk about "held back by consoles", are you specifically talking about visual quality of the games?

Yes mostly, but also with game mechanics/engine etc.

I'm no game dev, but surely PC processing power allows for more complex engine design and features, and this will also be held back.

Not to mention PC input is not limited by the buttons on the console controller. We already see how this blatantly puts PC users at a disadvantage with examples like Skyrim and Oblivion, which had crappy inventory management, solved somewhat by mods on PC, while Morrowind's inventory still is way ahead.

[Iam3G]

Yes mostly, but also with game mechanics/engine etc.

I'm no game dev, but surely PC processing power allows for more complex engine design and features, and this will also be held back.

Not to mention PC input is not limited by the buttons on the console controller. We already see how this blatantly puts PC users at a disadvantage with examples like Skyrim and Oblivion, which had crappy inventory management, solved somewhat by mods on PC, while Morrowind's inventory still is way ahead.

And I'm guessing it would take too much time for them to just make 2 different versions, one specifically designed for console and 1 specifically designed for PC?

Like for example have 2 different teams designing the same game but for different platforms to to the best that they can get out of each.

[Pooky]

And I'm guessing it would take too much time for them to just make 2 different versions, one specifically designed for console and 1 specifically designed for PC?

Like for example have 2 different teams designing the same game but for different platforms to to the best that they can get out of each.

Yeah I think most of the money lies in consoles so they would rather port the console version to PC.

[Iam3G]

Yeah I think most of the money lies in consoles so they would rather port the console version to PC.

Well, consoles are preferred (IMO) for convenience (especially by me), which is why I moved away from PC gaming. And for the fact that I could never own a decent graphics card.

[Orion]

I think the main reason a few of us want a console rather than a pc , is because of the high price of components.

A console have an average life of 8 years or so.

But a new component can change a pc completely. So Yes consoles have held back pc gaming.
Because a pc has no limit, just a high price for the same gaming

[Ike_009]

I think the main reason a few of us want a console rather than a pc , is because of the high price of components.

Depends how you look at it, I did a calc a while back with buying one game a month. Effectively if save your R100 from buying the pc equivalent you would have R2600 to spend on PC upgrades after 2 years.

[Necuno]

Yes mostly, but also with game mechanics/engine etc.

I'm no game dev, but surely PC processing power allows for more complex engine design and features, and this will also be held back.

Not to mention PC input is not limited by the buttons on the console controller. We already see how this blatantly puts PC users at a disadvantage with examples like Skyrim and Oblivion, which had crappy inventory management, solved somewhat by mods on PC, while Morrowind's inventory still is way ahead.

You did play half life 2, right?

Compared to what was before it came out it already improved a lot on mechanics, design and graphics. I don't see star citizen being hold back, do you?

OMG I am botheredz by how it looks ugh ugh guh gah kakkas. lol.

You been whipped

HOWEVER... you are correct in a sense. Most developers dev consoles first and that base code is reused for the pc.

Is it still viable to dev for the PC as a primary platform? I would say yes, but what are you pushing out? Is it kak? Is it just a tech demo? There is a good reason why Indie and Kickstarter has taken off like it did.