Alan Wake PC Cancelled; X360 More Compelling
Another snub for the PC.
Remedy Entertainment, the developers behind the superlative first two Max Payne games, has been working on Alan Wake for at least the last five years. The release is almost upon us, with a date set for the Xbox 360 version this May.
Sadly, there will never be a release date for the once-hoped PC version as Microsoft has confirmed that it's been cancelled.
A Microsoft spokesperson said to Strategy Informer:
Some games are more suited for the intimacy of the PC, and others are best played from the couch in front of a larger TV screen. We ultimately realised that the most compelling way to experience "Alan Wake" was on the Xbox 360 platform, so we focused on making it an Xbox 360 exclusive. Both Microsoft and Remedy have long histories in PC game development. This decision was about matching this specific game to the right platform.
While we respect the artistic vision of the skilled folk at Remedy, we can't help but feel that those with gaming-capable HTPC setups linked to HDTVs (with nearby couches) are feeling a little left out.
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son of a
Oh come on MS. You know you cant say no to money. We all know you just delayed it because you want to compete with heavy rain.
WTF....
Honestly this is really starting to get me going now..
Even Microsoft has dumped the PC on the gaming front.
This really could of been a console arse kicking dx11 3d stereoscopic extravaganza.
Right now i want to punch head of microsoft games.
because its just impossible to hook a pc up via hdmi with a hdtv and connect a usb 360 controller.
total bs they can shove where sun dont shine
Some games are more suited for the intimacy of the PC, and others are best played from the couch in front of a larger TV screen. We ultimately realised that most gamers dont give a crap about the most compelling way to experience "Alan Wake", so we focused on making the most money. Both Microsoft and Remedy have long histories in PC game development. This decision was about milking the most money out of microsft for making "Alan Wake" an Xbox360 exclusive, and then releasing it on Games For Windows in 2 years time.
Buy more PC games, I am
If they think by stopping releasing games on teh PC they are doing then selves any favours they can think again.
If all the decent games stop coming out on PC I wont go buy a Xbox to play them on.
What will happen is that my PC will serve no useful purpose as a gaming machine and i can bulid a new one running Ubuntu etc and save the cost of Windows.
Mactronix
True that - I only bought Win7 for games and DX11 - certainly not for working LOL
MS really don't like their customers
How the hell can MS push windows as a gaming platform when they are cancelling games?
What a Joke a game that PC Gamers made what it is.
Most games are developed on the PC anyway regardless of what its released on its just a bloody great big joke
Mactronix
bullshit, facts is that this is almost a peace of junk on PC, its a game old 5 years damnit..... and cannot compete with classical PC adventure. So Graphic its not so innovative anymore on PC and storyline is nothing of special.
Try it with a 24" monitor at hi-res, you dont need a TV.... this is some of the worse and stupid thinks ever listened for marketing purposes.... maybe the same stupid person that did marketing of this game all graphic oriented.
This is Bull...
Shame, that PC users have to lose out, just so they make sure that PS3 users who want the game, can't just go out and buy it for their PCs, but now have to buy or own an Xbox 360 for it.
I for sure, will not be buying it for my 360, just out of being as hard headed as they are being.
If they think by stopping releasing games on teh PC they are doing then selves any favours they can think again. If all the decent games stop coming out on PC I wont go buy a Xbox to play them on. What will happen is that my PC will serve no useful purpose as a gaming machine and i can bulid a new one running Ubuntu etc and save the cost of Windows. Mactronix
Now that's a VERY interesting point. I wonder how many people buy PC's for mostly gaming? and whether or not MS have taken it into consideration when deciding to screw PC gamers.
As you say, although my PC isnt solely for gaming it is main thing I have it for and it's probably the only thing stopping me from moving to Linux.
I can certainly say the only reason I've spent countless thousands on my PC's over the years is for gaming...
Its the PC pirates fault - cause they dont make enough money out of selling PC games... look at the recent shift from Crytek which tells that story.
I wont buy the Xbox version out of spite... modern pc's now with quad core and radeon 5x series blows the xbox away so their statement above is rubbish, it would look far better on a decent monitor
This is just a very obvious push from M$ to try and get more people gaming on their Xbox 360 system, nothing more nothing less.
Many people blame piracy for the demise of PC gaming, the actual blame lies with microsoft, they don't want you gaming on the PC, why? because they cant make money from it, they make a surcharge on each game sold on the 360, they make NOTHING from a game played on windows, it is in their corporate interest to kill of PC gaming.
They have a vision of how EVERY household should be, PC in every room, media sever as a hub, XBOX 360 connected to the main TV linked into the media server. All running a version (the latest & most expensive version if possible)of M$ operating system.
It is not about what is best for you or me, it is about maximising their profits. Whether this becomes self defeating (as mentioned in previous posts) is the main question that springs to mind, it is not just whether people decide to change to an alternative operating system, it also affects the development of PC's overall, for example I got a ATi 4870 when it was first released, why because I wanted to play the latest and greatest games in directx 10, now the 5870 has been released, normally I would of moved heaven and earth to get it, but I have not bothered nor am I planning to in any time soon, why well because there is nothing being released my current card cant handle and deal with.
In effect they have broken my chain of progression, all the coming out games are more or less a console port, my current hardware will always be more than capable of handling any game being released. This affects hardware developers, the return on investment made when developing new advanced hardware is going down, this will lead to stagnation in PC hardware development, and ultimately stagnation in the windows operating system, if people have no need to upgrade a PC there is no need to upgrade the operating system 9most sales for Windows comes from upgrading PC's.
I have been thinking about this situation and it does seem like there is no solution to the problem, it is far more cost effective for developers to make a 360 version of a game port to the PC, rather than employ an extra development team. And so games will stagnate too, the hardware in the 360 does not progress therefore games will reach the limits of the current hardware soon (if not already)
The only possible way for the PC to fight back is if the big hardware companies such as Nvidia and ATi to go into gaming development themselves, to purchase their own software development house who are exclusive to the PC, making Directx 10 & 11 games of such a suitable quality people need to upgrade their equipment to enjoy fully. It is actually in their own best interest to do so, they even see the writing on the wall, that's why they are pushing their graphic cards as parallel processors so much, they know as a gaming requirement they are dying
It is sad but true...
Indeed, you and mactronix raise an important issue. Games are the hardest things to get for FOSS, (unless they are made by id software). Unless acts to stop the apparent decline in PC deveopment, many users are going to look elsewhere for their OS. Both Mac and Linux have some advantages over windows in many areas. The new spins of Ubuntu and fedora (etc) are becoming ever more user ("Grandma") friendly. Give someone a live DVD-spin which has media codecs, graphics drivers WINE, Firefox and open office all preconfigured and you would cover 99% of most home user's needs.
I had reason to make a USB boot version of Ubuntu to test out a lappy with a borked drive recently. It was stupidly easy to get to a working PC. Put Stick in USB click stsndard when it asks how to run, click yes when it asks if you want it to connect to the available wireless network and enter passward. Job done. Working PC with as said evrything you want. Except gaming ability. Im looking for a decent netbook with no OS now so i can run and get more familiar with the OS.
Mactronix
they even see the writing on the wall, that's why they are pushing their graphic cards as parallel processors so much, they know as a gaming requirement they are dying It is sad but true...
I would say they are pushing an additional avenue for their products rather than giving up on one and focusing on another
the global market for PC games sales is around 10 billion per year, I'd hardly call that "the writing on the wall" - it's about 14% of all video games sales... with PS3 at about 60% globally and wii and xbox at 12-14% each, the PC is still a very strong games platform to develop for
I would say they are pushing an additional avenue for their products rather than giving up on one and focusing on anotherthe global market for PC games sales is around 10 billion per year, I'd hardly call that "the writing on the wall" - it's about 14% of all video games sales... with PS3 at about 60% globally and wii and xbox at 12-14% each, the PC is still a very strong games platform to develop for
I think you are missing the point, not to mention having your "facts" completely wrong, firstly the Wii is the dominate sales in games, followed by the xbox and the PS3 falling into a distant 3rd. All that is irrelevant though, Yes there are still large (way behind console) sales made in PC games, but how many of those games are actually directx 10 or 11 compatible? How many of those games require you to purchase a more powerful graphics card than you needed 18 months ago? Therefore people do not need to upgrade their graphics card for these or any forthcoming titles, the graphics card business slows, the returns on investment is lower, development slows down and stutters.
Please read a post and try to understand it before refuting it, especially with made up facts
I think you are missing the point, not to mention having your "facts" completely wrong, firstly the Wii is the dominate sales in games, followed by the xbox and the PS3 falling into a distant 3rd
you need to check your facts, in the US wii has the largest share, but globally it's a completely different picture
p.s. make sure you're looking at GAMES sales and not hardware sales too
What about people that have a monster-pc connected to a HD-tv and 2 X-box controllers...? F. U. Microsoft!
p.s. make sure you're looking at GAMES sales and not hardware sales too
This might educate you, again please don't post assumptions as facts
http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Seve [...] ideo_games
yes, I've just trawled all over that link and what i see is massively out of date data (mostly up to Jan 2009), i see mostly hardware graphs/sales data and very little about global software sales late 2009 / early 2010
well done on finding an almost entirely irrelevant set of data
anyway, you're missing the point - PC + online (e.g. PC Online) gaming is currently around 10 billion in software sales and "experts" are predicting that to be 15 billion in 2-3 years... and you're calling that "the writing on the wall" for PC gaming
yeah, I'd hate to be running a company that picks up even 1% of that market
Alan Wake on xbox runs at a very low resolution 960x540 and 25-30fps. Is not even 1280x720...
We need the pc version of Alan Wake in order to play this game properly 1920x1200 and 60fps.
1920x1200 pixels = 2304000
960x540 pixels = 518400
over 4 times smaller resolution than PC standards...