It's not an unfamiliar topic. In fact, we've talked about it before. The whole concept of "Platform exclusivity" is a headache but I think it's one that a majority of people understand on its most base level.
Some games just won't make it to other consoles, and for a variety of reasons, but this isn't wholly about that. In fact, it's a pretty tenuous thread but bare with me.
Yesterday, Remedy Games released a TON of information regarding their new non-Alan Wake game, Quantum Break. They dropped a new live-action trailer, some information on pack-ins, console bundles, etc. One of the very cool pieces of news was that the game was also coming to Windows 10/PC. Not only that, if you purchase an XBOX version of the game through specific sources, you can get a free copy of the Win10 version. To me, that's pretty damn rad.
The PC will always have a pretty big step on the consoles. They're upgradeable, they're never forced to be static and they can change with the times/technology. This is a HUGE benefit to gamers because, even just talking strictly about fidelity, you're almost universally going to get a better *looking* game on the PC. It's the nature of the beast. It is what it is. Consoles have static hardware and even though that hardware hasn't been tapped to it's full potential, it's still not going to necessarily be on par with the PC.
And that's ok. Nowhere anywhere does it say that parity is required. Appreciated, wanted, supported, sure. But not required. Still, this is all kind of skirting the actual issue.
For some people, the fact that Quantum Break was meant to be a "console exclusive" means Remedy's decision to put the game on PC is a betrayal. A lie. It's such a horrendous thing because up until the final announcement, nobody knew the PC version was even on the table. And because Remedy decided to announce this with about a month to go before release, they've hoodwinked us all!
There's been at least one twitter exchange between head of XBOX Phil Spencer and a "concerned" gamer who has decided to cancel his Quantum Break pre-order just because it's going to PC. The users final response after Phil was, unsurprisingly, questioning his reasoning came down to one specific word in the whole sentence.
Principle.
For this person, Remedy's decision to "allow" the game on to PC was so egregious, it was so off-putting, that he canceled his pre-order (and we all know how bad pre-ordering is). Because the game isn't JUST going to be on the XBOX.
:|
I don't know if this is a techno-lax form of Stockholm Syndrome or what but it's a mindset that makes no sense to me. Perhaps it's because when I hear "console exclusive", I automatically assume it will be on PC. There's no reason for most games NOT to be on PC. The whole point of the console exclusivity thing isn't to make you feel better about your purchase, although that might be a consumer driver, it's about keeping the thing out of the hands of the competition. PC is a nebulous part of that because it doesn't really have competition.
But the mindset, I'll just never get. It's a funny thing, when a game that excites me is a console exclusive, I'm thrilled that I get to play it but it's a bummer that I can't necessarily share that joy with everybody else.
Games are made to be played. Why get upset when more people get to play them?
