[citation][nom]weaselsmasher[/nom]So here's an experiment. Take three DX11-capable systems that are hardware-identical and software-identical, down to the drivers. Take a few games that are capable of DX9, DX10, and DX11. Put them next to each other, run the game with maximum settings under each of the three DX versions. Now see how many people can correctly identify the DX11 game.I would bet good money that even among a knowledgeable set of testers (say, GDC attendees or something like that), that the rate of correct identification will not be much more than a "random" 33%. Crytek "owes" nobody DX11. Of COURSE they choose profit. They have to, if they want to stay in business, write paychecks that don't bounce, and pay rent and taxes. Any company that doesn't do that isn't a company for long (a fact utterly lost on the "I'm entitled to everything for free" generation, and on people who are utterly without clue on what it actually costs to run a AAA game company in the real world).[/citation]
Tired, boring argument that's basically the same as defending bands that sell out. There is no realistic defense. You're not allowed to say "Crysis 2 will not abandon PC gamers and will be built for PC gamers and we love you guys and would never abandon you" and then have textures and features that pale in comparison to your effort three years ago. Game companies get away with this all the time, remember Modern Warfare 2?
If a car manufacturer started making compact cars, but promised not compromise on the next model of their full-size sedan, and people bought one believing the company, and found out their fears were justified, there would be a successful lawsuit within the year. For some reason game companies are allowed to make bullshit promises that never make it into the finished product, and profit off of people that believed the bullshit promises. That would not fly in ANY other market except entertainment.
And Crytek does not NEED to choose money. The golden ferrari's they could have bought with the profits from Crysis 1 could have easy been repeated, but instead they got greedy.
The great justice to all of this is that the console release was pirated first. They won't learn that lesson, though.