I’m a devoted PC gamer and I maintain a rather strong commitment to my desktop, which is something I’m sure a few other GN staffers can attest. So, of course, I tend to roll my eyes when people say PC gaming is on its way out, but wasn’t that said 10 years ago? While console gaming, especially in the U.S., is insanely popular, PC gaming still has its niche.
The same can’t be said for Mark Rein, co-founder and vice president of Epic Games; when speaking with the Guardian Unlimited, he mentions that consoles are stealing hardcore gamers from the PC. While Rein remains devoted to PC gaming and development, he can’t help but give the nod to console gaming.
"I’m a real fan of the PC, but yes, consoles are definitely stealing a lot of hardcore gamers from the PC. When Call of Duty 4 came out, I heard some of our guys sitting around talking about the great game they’d had last night and I’m like, ‘Hey guys, what server are you playing on? I’d love to come and join you,’ and they said, ‘Just send us a friends request,’ It was at that point I realized they were all playing it on console. Plus, the sales of the console versions are something like ten times the sales of the PC versions."
In addition, Rein talks about the huddles being jumped now for Epic Games to persuade Microsoft to let user-generated content for Unreal Tournament 3 onto Xbox Live. It appears Epic Games is just waiting till Microsoft gets them the "yes". Also Microsoft runs a tight ship when it comes to Xbox Live too.
"Not yet but we’re hopeful. Microsoft hasn’t said "no" yet, but then they haven’t said "yes" either. We need them to say "yes," and we need them to do it soon.
Well, yeah and we don’t fault them for that. They’ve got a closed system where everything’s checked, users know the quality of everything they download, and you know it won’t crash your machine. User generated content – well, it can be dangerous, you could theoretically download a mod that uses too much memory and crashes your machine."
