Mike Capps Upset About Lower Gears PC Scores

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hal

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From our friends at VE3D comes a MunoRare Gears of War 2 video interview with Epic Games' Mike Capps. During one notable moment, the question "Why do you think Gears 1 got lower reviews on the PC?" is raised, to which he replies:

"I think it's bullshit," he told MundoRare. "Because what we did was take a great game, Gears of War 1 for Xbox 360, made it run at higher resolutions and added three new hours of really good gameplay and it got lower reviews. I think that's bullshit, and I don't understand it. I can't figure out what it is.

"Like, 'It's an old game.' Well, yeah, but it's new on that platform, so I was really surprised to see lower reviews for what I think a much better game. It had new multiplayer modes, new levels, three hours of gameplay you never saw on 360 that the 360 guys are still upset we haven't given them, right? So to get lower reviews for more game that's good? It just doesn't make any sense."

Here's the whole shebang:

 

StreetPreacher

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Mar 10, 2001
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I think the fact that he's so upset may show how they're increasingly out of touch with the PC market. The bar is simply set higher on the PC. You'd think that a company who helped forge a platform-defining genre would understand that.

Being the best shooter on the console (esp. early on in the generation) is like being the prettiest girl at Jenny Craig. It's all well and good while you're hanging out with your fat friends, but don't act all surprised when you go to the clubs and someone tells you that you could loose a few pounds.
 
It's a legitimate argument I suppose, assuming that the port only added instead of losing something in the translation. For me, I was always one of those nutbars that, for some reason, never seemed very impressed about Gears to begin with. It's quite possible that one reviewer may feel less about the game than another, regardless of extra features. If the same guy made both reviews well, you could argue opinions change. I have not looked at the link, but generally ports do receive lower scores. Besides. Reviews are opinions. It's like saying one film review is crappier than another because it has minus half a star. Maybe the extra content wasn't enough to make a second playing experience any better than the first.

In short, I don't see the point worrying about it. You made a hit game. You made lots of profits from it and millions love playing it. You've got a sequel coming out. Be happy, things are good.
 
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T2A`

I'm dead.
Jan 10, 2004
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I think the fact that he's so upset may show how they're increasingly out of touch with the PC market. The bar is simply set higher on the PC. You'd think that a company who helped forge a platform-defining genre would understand that.

Being the best shooter on the console (esp. early on in the generation) is like being the prettiest girl at Jenny Craig. It's all well and good while you're hanging out with your fat friends, but don't act all surprised when you go to the clubs and someone tells you that you could loose a few pounds.
Post of the year? :)
 
C

Churl

Guest
I think a better title for this post would have been "Gears of War 2 fed on acorns for 3 years."
 

Soggy_Popcorn

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Feb 3, 2008
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I think the fact that he's so upset may show how they're increasingly out of touch with the PC market. The bar is simply set higher on the PC. You'd think that a company who helped forge a platform-defining genre would understand that.

Being the best shooter on the console (esp. early on in the generation) is like being the prettiest girl at Jenny Craig. It's all well and good while you're hanging out with your fat friends, but don't act all surprised when you go to the clubs and someone tells you that you could loose a few pounds.

Yup, epic comparison. :lol:
 

N1ghtmare

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Jul 17, 2005
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Well, It had horrible bugs and didn't work on one of my computers. In the PC market you always need a rather bug-free game, which is harder to get since everyone has a different setup for their computer.
 

StreetPreacher

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Glad my comments are well received, but to be fair to Mike I suspect that he knows exactly why it wasn't as well liked on PC (for the reason I mentioned above and others that should be obvious, like using Live for multi and the crushing weight of other competing AAA titles on PC at the time that weren't "old"). But none of those truths can be spoken in the PR world, so he's playing the part of a good President; feign indignance and sing the praises of your product.

He's just doing his job.
 

RoadKillGrill

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Dec 11, 2004
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I had more issues running GOW than UT3 on several systems, that is lower score for me already. That and that the game couldn't create DEDICATED SERVERS on the PC might also contribute to a lower score.

The games multiplayer might be ok for a console but was inadequate for a PC title. Still baffled how UT3 shipped without a history and favorites tabs... and a list 5 pages long of other common features.
 

Kantham

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Sep 17, 2004
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It doesn't need to stop there. If they released the game by the same time they release it on the Xbox 360, maybe that would help.
 

NitrousUser

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I think gears on PC is the bomb diggidy shiznit...if you have a 360 controller.

:p I can't speak for bugs for online or anything though since i was purely playing single player and had the sans-windows live fix.

I'll see how I feel about it later when I upgrade my rig and run it on a new setup. =p
 

MonsOlympus

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One thing to consider here might not be just the reviews from people who had played the 360 version but also ones that havent. A big thing for me looking at Gears was the whole pay for live thing which just isnt a standard on PC like it is on 360, not only that but the MP on PC could have suffered because of the console exclusivity for a year.

While it might have been a better game or not on PC it doesnt matter if the timing for the PC version wasnt too good. There are other games which score higher, lower or even the same across platforms so instead of bitching about it why not make it your job to find out why so you can take action to see it doesnt happen again.

By the time I got my hands on the much hyped Gears I had UT3 so Gears got put on my "to play someday" list, as Ive said in the past. GTA4 though, waiting just biding my time with no talk of "zomg PC is dead, intel graphics is ****, exclusive, exclusive" and what do you know, its on the horizon for us PC peeps around the same time as Gears 2...

By the time we get Gears 2, if when how ever never, it wont matter how good it is if everyones played in on their friends 360 a year ago.
 
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[GU]elmur_fud

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Mar 15, 2005
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It doesn't need to stop there. If they released the game by the same time they release it on the Xbox 360, maybe that would help.

I couldn't agree more.

Hey Epic stop climbing in bed with MS and you might find yourself getting less and less screwed. It's been downhill since your first xbox exclusive (Unreal Championship). Other then the rogue in the equasion (GOW1) it's been a downhill slide mostly. And one could argue that GOW's success on the 360 was due to it's ground breaking graphics and typical immersive (for epic) gameplay... that it did as well as it did despite the platform it was on. Not because of it.

I know I for one would have bought a PC copy as well as many of my friends and relatives but since we boycot xbox we wont even buy it on games for windows. I can personally vouch for at least 30 copies of that game that will never sell simply because it was a xbox exclusive and they chose to be a ms bedbuddy b4 working on the Unreal series.
 

Shakey_Jake33

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Jun 3, 2008
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It didn't help that it was really a diabolical port, one of the buggiest PC games I've played in a long time. Epic made the mistake of farming the port out to an external company with little notable history, and they delivered a port that reflected Epic's effort with the PC version - lets face it, they're more bothered about Gears 2.

Couple that with it's use of the Games for Windows Live stuff, and you have a real disaster here. If Capps is oblivious to what made the PC version get lower review scores, I worry about their idea of quality.
 

LMN8R

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Jan 22, 2008
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Let's see...

1) Games for Windows Live Gold bull**** that only recently went free
2) An installation that took a fricking HOUR on my pretty damn good computer
3) Gameplay that may be awesome for 360, but simply average when put up against games like STALKER, Crysis, and other incredible shooters on PC


Just a few reasons why the game deserves to be lower.
 

Sir_Brizz

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Feb 3, 2000
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[GU]elmur_fud;2168330 said:
I couldn't agree more.

Hey Epic stop climbing in bed with MS and you might find yourself getting less and less screwed. It's been downhill since your first xbox exclusive (Unreal Championship). Other then the rogue in the equasion (GOW1) it's been a downhill slide mostly. And one could argue that GOW's success on the 360 was due to it's ground breaking graphics and typical immersive (for epic) gameplay... that it did as well as it did despite the platform it was on. Not because of it.

I know I for one would have bought a PC copy as well as many of my friends and relatives but since we boycot xbox we wont even buy it on games for windows. I can personally vouch for at least 30 copies of that game that will never sell simply because it was a xbox exclusive and they chose to be a ms bedbuddy b4 working on the Unreal series.
Oh, come on. The game was PUBLISHED by Microsoft. That means it was FINANCED by Microsoft. That means Epic couldn't have released a PC version if they wanted to, that was up to Microsoft.
 

JaFO

bugs are features too ...
Nov 5, 2000
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To be fair ... it wasn't that good on the 360 either.
It just got a ton of hype (so the reviewers played along) and it was a relatively new experience when it was released.

The pc-version ... did not get any marketing (as per usual), the competition was tougher and the game itself wasn't new anymore.

In fact I am sure that trying to port a pc-game to consoles and not marketing the 'new' version would get the same results.

3 hours of 'extra' mean nothing when the game was just long enough to be fun.
Higher resolutions won't get noticed if your pc can't handle them either.
 

MonsOlympus

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Oh, come on. The game was PUBLISHED by Microsoft. That means it was FINANCED by Microsoft. That means Epic couldn't have released a PC version if they wanted to, that was up to Microsoft.

Definitely. Keep in mind though that neither MS nor Sony consider shipping on PC a violation of that exclusivity.

Mind you that could be talking about the non publisher perspective but I think it does have some weight to this argument also!
 

Akbalder

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It's logical that, one year later, the "excitement" about the game is lower.
PC players won't think that it is totally new just because it hasn't yet been released on PC.

They just have to release it nearly at the same time on XBOX360 and PC.
 

-=WolverinE=-

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Apr 16, 2006
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To be fair ... it wasn't that good on the 360 either.
It just got a ton of hype
Can't agree with you more. :tup: The game was epic fail for me on the PC, but I guess some people who had a 360 and not many good shooters (if at all) could enjoy it. It was uber boring with very weak plot. I felt like I'm in Uwe Boll's movie ffs!
 
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