Civ 4 sales.. your opinions?

[mistat137]

Everquest and FFXI played just as well on the console as the PC. If WOW were on the console, I would certainly get it so I can use my new big TV.

(Oh, and I figure only 500,000 copies of vanilla)

 

[Lucky The Fox]

PCs and consoles will merge eventually. There is no need for the two to coexist.

Bah. Even if the all the big companies abandon PC, there will always be plenty of tiny little companies that keep PC-gaming alive. Consoles have been killing PC for at least a decade, yet they haven't succeeded.

 

[Rayanth]

Everquest and FFXI played just as well on the console as the PC. If WOW were on the console, I would certainly get it so I can use my new big TV.

(Oh, and I figure only 500,000 copies of vanilla)

There is much talk of bringing WoW to X360 ... Blizzard refuses to officially comment, but there is plenty of gamer support for such a move, so I would not be surprised if they announce it soon. It's likely they're waiting to see how FFXI-360 does, first.

 

[Rayanth]

The reason I flamed you, was because you made one of the most ignorant posts ever, for the reasons I have described earlier. Your utter ignorance of almost everything, from the XBOX's specifications, to what the "top of the line" video card is, completely infuriated me.

Just leave these forums, you've done enough damage. You have proven that you don't know anything about anything, that you have come here to hype up the XBOX360 for some reason (To justify your purchase?). Do us all a favor and just leave and never come back.

I'm sorry but I will not leave these forums because i made one mistake. I am a human, mistakes are made. I learn from them, i don't run away from them.

I screwed up a couple things, but the gist of my post, if you ignroe the core numbers and slight inconsistencies, remains valid. I apologies for the mistakes, as stated, I haven't looked into PC hardware very much recently because it's too darned expensive. I have a mediocre gaming machine, it was top of the line in its day, but 6 months ago when i was considering an upgrade, it would have cost me a decent $5-600 to get what I wanted, in order to match the capabilities of the consoles.

I messed a few things up, sure. I was also somewhat infuriated at my interpretation that the poster was horribly misclaiming things -- you didn't flame HIM, did you? did you send Phoneix a totally uncalled-for PM calling him names? Did you ask him to leave the boards? Nope... but I get the cold treatment because i made a more accurate post with a few mistakes.

3 cores, 3 processors, i admit there's a difference, but in layman's (which I deal with a lot to explain to parents why what they're buying is so cool) terms it amounts to the same thing - more power. More power than your gaming PC can put out today. 9800 Pro, X850 GT, huge difference, but a huge difference in PRICE, and my intent was to try and build a computer for the same price, that would be capable of doing things the 360 could do -- something even the 9800 couldn't match in price, and the X850 still falls short in 3d capability for $300 more.

If anyone, you're the one who should be leaving these forums for flaming me -- I was NOT, contrary to your accusation, Trolling, and the moderators certainly didn't like to hear your flaming.

I'm not trying to say my dick is bigger than yours -- I'm just trying to indicate that the next generation of consoles are capable of far more than Gaming PC's that cost 10 times as much -- and consumers see that as a reason to buy consoles & console games over PC Games.

 

[Rayanth]

I too work in the industry (making games, not selling them), and there is some truth in Rayanth's statements. The PC market is far from dead, but a hit game on the PC sells only as many copies as a mediocre console title.

One thing that EB doesn't see though is the amount of revenue that comes in from subscription-based gaming on the PC. They sell one box. Blizzard is claiming 4 million current WOW subscribers. At $15 a month (before expenses, they have big time expenses) per subscriber, they are skewing the sales figures a lot because EB sees the first $50 but misses out on the $180 a year that the subscribers are paying straight to the company.

Thanks for the additional PoV on that one, warp, i totally negleceted to include MMO Revenue... I am not sure why. I shell out $30 a month for two FFXI accounts, which is just shy of buying a new Square Enix game every month (probably more the equivelant given packaging/printing costs and retailer markup of tangible physical games)

Of the PC games we sell, MMO's count for probably a good 70%. (just an estimate mind you, thinking back over the PC titles i've sold recently)... We also sell the monthly time cards and those account for a small portion of our PC Game sales, but I'm not even sure if we make money on those since they cost the same as the subscription.

Of the MMO's we sell, WoW accounts for a vast majority... that might skew the numbers slightly; while it's true that blizzard makes a lot of money on subscriptions, they're more of an exception than a rule for MMO's... the others aren't quite as profitable with significantly fewer players...

I'm enough of a PC Lover that I run three computers at home. One's a dedicated linux box that hosts my more important data on a shared disk, as well as operates as my internet gateway and programming machine. One is my... er... capable machine for gaming (i won't post the specs, it's horrible ) which is primarily used for FFXI, but also runs Civ3, AoM, Guild Wars, Dawn of War, and Sims 2. The third is another machine that i'm considering upgrading so it can run other games while i'm in FFXI -- its current use is mostly for email and web-browsing. I'm not giving up on PC Gaming any time soon - another RTS coming out that has my complete attention (I demo'd it in Vegas last week at a vendor show) is Star Wars: Empire at War... it's the biggest reason i'm looking at upgrading my computers, i'm sure it'll require a much better graphics card...

 

[Lucky The Fox]

There is much talk of bringing WoW to X360 ... Blizzard refuses to officially comment, but there is plenty of gamer support for such a move, so I would not be surprised if they announce it soon. It's likely they're waiting to see how FFXI-360 does, first.

That would actually make me reconsider my subscription.

 

[THARN]

Hearing the talk about the mmo's- Could it be possible that since alot of those people put so much time into playing the MMO- that they might not be so quick into buying any other title? or are alot of these MMO' subscribers not your typical gamer and were talked into trying it by friends and then became hooked?..
either way I really think that someone who loves Gaming(especially strategy games) will always purchase a good/fun/challenging game, no matter what hardware is needed.

on that note I take back what i said about waiting for a review- I preordered from amazon because of the free shipping and 5$ off- plus the pre-order special/case and overlay etc... Im a sucker for a free gift...doh!

 

[Rayanth]

Hearing the talk about the mmo's- Could it be possible that since alot of those people put so much time into playing the MMO- that they might not be so quick into buying any other title? or are alot of these MMO' subscribers not your typical gamer and were talked into trying it by friends and then became hooked?..
either way I really think that someone who loves Gaming(especially strategy games) will always purchase a good/fun/challenging game, no matter what hardware is needed.

on that note I take back what i said about waiting for a review- I preordered from amazon because of the free shipping and 5$ off- plus the pre-order special/case and overlay etc... Im a sucker for a free gift...doh!

It's sort of split down the middle. many MMO players were not gamers, but had friends or coworkers who played and decided to give it a shot.

Of the veteran gamers that play MMO's, many play an MMO on their computer, while they play other games on a console beside their computer. But you make a valid point -- MMO Players are more likely to think twice about buying other computer games, as they are already paying a monthly subscription to one game. That subscription cuts into their new-game-budget and they have to more readily justify the cost of a new game. In addition, playing a game other than an MMO while you're still paying for the MMO every month introduces a conundrum, you feel like you're paying for something you're not playing.

 

[warpstorm]

Hearing the talk about the mmo's- Could it be possible that since alot of those people put so much time into playing the MMO- that they might not be so quick into buying any other title?

It is true. Many of my friends have fallen into an MMO pit where they haven't played another game for a year.

 

[covenant]

Yes... Because gamers have evolved to a completely new species in the last four years.

 

[garric]

I'm sorry but I will not leave these forums because i made one mistake. I am a human, mistakes are made. I learn from them, i don't run away from them.

I screwed up a couple things, but the gist of my post, if you ignroe the core numbers and slight inconsistencies, remains valid. I apologies for the mistakes, as stated, I haven't looked into PC hardware very much recently because it's too darned expensive. I have a mediocre gaming machine, it was top of the line in its day, but 6 months ago when i was considering an upgrade, it would have cost me a decent $5-600 to get what I wanted, in order to match the capabilities of the consoles.

I messed a few things up, sure. I was also somewhat infuriated at my interpretation that the poster was horribly misclaiming things -- you didn't flame HIM, did you? did you send Phoneix a totally uncalled-for PM calling him names? Did you ask him to leave the boards? Nope... but I get the cold treatment because i made a more accurate post with a few mistakes.

3 cores, 3 processors, i admit there's a difference, but in layman's (which I deal with a lot to explain to parents why what they're buying is so cool) terms it amounts to the same thing - more power. More power than your gaming PC can put out today. 9800 Pro, X850 GT, huge difference, but a huge difference in PRICE, and my intent was to try and build a computer for the same price, that would be capable of doing things the 360 could do -- something even the 9800 couldn't match in price, and the X850 still falls short in 3d capability for $300 more.

If anyone, you're the one who should be leaving these forums for flaming me -- I was NOT, contrary to your accusation, Trolling, and the moderators certainly didn't like to hear your flaming.

I'm not trying to say my dick is bigger than yours -- I'm just trying to indicate that the next generation of consoles are capable of far more than Gaming PC's that cost 10 times as much -- and consumers see that as a reason to buy consoles & console games over PC Games.

Yet again you continue to spout hype and ignorance further more into this topic. First of all, like I've said before, 3 cores =/= 3 times the power. It's not "technically the same thing.". An AMD 3800+ dual core isnt as fast as TWO 3800+s. 3 cores don't mean anything unless they are used right, at the most all it means that they can process multi-threaded stuff better. Keep in mind these are also POWER PC cores, that power MACs. Not all processors are created equal.

And you didn't just screw up a little bit - you screwed up a lot, a whole lot. Almost all of your post is completely wrong. And so much for your upgrading argument-- you're paying $400 to upgrade your XBOX to a better version.

And just so you know - "The XBOX360's power is better than anything we've seen on PCs". Are you from the future or something? Last time I've checked the XBOX360 isn't out yet.

And you make stupid assumptions like including case price in your calculations... HELLO, almost everyone here has a case, I don't need to upgrade my case when I upgrade my computer. Neither a hard drive or a keyboard and monitor is need for an upgrade. Keep that in mind lest you say something even more stupid. BTW: When I buy a computer, I don't buy it just to play games, ever heard of web surfing? Chatting? Watching videos? Email?

It's funny how all of you dumb asses buy into hype of consoles all the time. Every time it's the same: "It's going to be better than all the PCs! It's going to take 20 years for PCs to catch up!" Guess what? It's all hype, hype that you're going to buy into. The XBOX360 is just a regular XBOX that has better graphics. And newsflash - unless you have an HDTV you're not going to be seeing much improvement, you will be limited by your TVs - "640x480" resolution. Turn your screen monitor to that resolution and see how you like it.

And now you want me to leave? You really need to pull your head out of your ass.

God, I hate blind fanboys.

 

[Rayanth]

Yet again you continue to spout hype and ignorance further more into this topic. First of all, like I've said before, 3 cores =/= 3 times the power. It's not "technically the same thing.". An AMD 3800+ dual core isnt as fast as TWO 3800+s. 3 cores don't mean anything unless they are used right, at the most all it means that they can process multi-threaded stuff better. Keep in mind these are also POWER PC cores, that power MACs. Not all processors are created equal.

And you didn't just screw up a little bit - you screwed up a lot, a whole lot. Almost all of your post is completely wrong. And so much for your upgrading argument-- you're paying $400 to upgrade your XBOX to a better version.

And just so you know - "The XBOX360's power is better than anything we've seen on PCs". Are you from the future or something? Last time I've checked the XBOX360 isn't out yet.

And you make stupid assumptions like including case price in your calculations... HELLO, almost everyone here has a case, I don't need to upgrade my case when I upgrade my computer. Neither a hard drive or a keyboard and monitor is need for an upgrade. Keep that in mind lest you say something even more stupid. BTW: When I buy a computer, I don't buy it just to play games, ever heard of web surfing? Chatting? Watching videos? Email?

It's funny how all of you dumb asses buy into hype of consoles all the time. Every time it's the same: "It's going to be better than all the PCs! It's going to take 20 years for PCs to catch up!" Guess what? It's all hype, hype that you're going to buy into. The XBOX360 is just a regular XBOX that has better graphics. And newsflash - unless you have an HDTV you're not going to be seeing much improvement, you will be limited by your TVs - "640x480" resolution. Turn your screen monitor to that resolution and see how you like it.

And now you want me to leave? You really need to pull your head out of your ass.

God, I hate blind fanboys.

The x360 may not be on store shelves, but that doesn't mean nobody's ever played on one. They've been manufacturing them since july, and i happen to have played one first-hand at the las vegas vendor show last week.

I'm also not upgrading my xbox, I am buying a new one. My current xbox will remain totally intact in its current form, capable of playing the same games it always has. I will effectively have two. Thus, my PC price comparison remains valid -- if you were buying a new PC, you WOULD need a case, hdd, etc

I feel that I have given ample supporting evidence as to the intent of my original post. You continue to ignore its original intent, because you're so set on hating me because i like both consoles and PC's. The name-calling is entirely inappropriate.

Also - I did NOT repeat that three cores = three processors. I simply stated that 3 cores = more power. Hmm. amazing how you're so blinded by your hatred of me that you overlooked that.

Do everyone a favor and just drop the whole thing, would ya? I've done no harm by my OPINIONS, which I am fully entitled to, and have every right to express. You're the one making things worse by continuing to bring up every little typo and shove it in my face, complete with the name-calling each and every time. The only flamer here is you...

 

[EdCase]

Food for thought for both Garric and Rayanth.....

Your differing opinions matter for naught....simply put...a console is a toy..a computer is a tool....You can almost certainly buy a console with excellent abilities..but it will always be a toy will not evolve or upgrade (if it does by adding k/b mouse HDD, web browsers e-mail etc...it becomes a computer and a not very flexible one at that)
A computer is capable of being the self same toy, but at the same time is much, much more...
The differences are in viewpoint alone...so what if you "upgrade" your console every 3/4/5 years? I constantly upgrade my PC in increments...don't believe the hype..bleeding edge technology is nice but not essential...most PC users out there (if they are honest) are NOT using "state of the art" machines...because they don't need too.

(clarification for balance...I AM an early adopter..I have the disposable income and its my hobby..but its easy to buy a reasonable rig for gaming with some "future proofing" for a reasonable price.)

 

[Lucky The Fox]

Sounds like someone's being sarcastic.

 

[Turner]

Moderator Action: garric, rayanth, that's enough with the flaming trolling.

 

[lordex]

I went ahead and pre-ordered civ4, even after the Doom3 fiasco (not really a fiasco by itself, just not deserve grabbing on the first day out). I think it's going to be good -- but then I hope my high hope won't disappoint me.

 

[Sildo]

Xbox and PS3 will be limited like all mouduals, to get a real Civ feal or any game with a massive amount of depth (not levels) the PC is the way to go.

 

[sekong]

At least I agree that conquest is the only version I like to play..

I think that if they put forth a great game, then people will not hold back in purchasing it. But I have a feeling half of the people who normally would just go and get it the first day are going to wait for the reviews.
Civ 3 was only worth getting until after 'conquests'. But somehow that didn't stop everyone from getting it right away- Today's gamers are a bit more cautious I believe.