DICE: PC Development Has Positive Trickle-Down Effect
Making the PC as the primary development platform has its benefits according to DICE.
In an interview with PC Gamer, EA/DICE executive producer Patrick Bach said that leading game development on the PC has a positive trickle-down effect for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Unfortunately, not everyone in the industry agrees, focusing solely on the console sector and ignoring PC gamers entirely due to concerns over "piracy" and "fragmentation." Still, it's good to hear a top publisher/developer stick up for the PC gaming sector as a leading platform despite all those in the business who have settled on consoles.
"Our biggest benefit for the console has been that we’re leading on PC," said Bach. "It has forced us to push the limited technology of consoles compared to the PC to a new level, because we set the bar with what we wanted to create on PC and said, 'How the heck are we going to do this on consoles?'"
He added that by developing primarily on the PC, DICE had to prioritize its decisions on what to toss out for the console versions. "The PC version can include things that are really cool but not key for the gaming experience," he said. "You know it’s easier for you to make those decisions when you have a robust PC build to look at, and the console versions look great because of the PC."
Bach also went on to talk about multiplayer and how a certain number of simultaneous players on one map could be overkill. "Games are about having fun, it’s not about doing the most you can do," he said. "If we can jump two meters it must be better to jump four meters. No. 64 players is kind of the maximum where it’s still fun and you can still control the Battlefield. It’s like I can understand where I got shot from and why."
Guess Battlefield 3 will never see more than 64 players in multiplayer at one time.

Guess people forgot about the modders who were running 200 person servers in the beta. It'll be a short time before we see the same thing here.
Guess people forgot about the modders who were running 200 person servers in the beta. It'll be a short time before we see the same thing here.
As for 64players, it is all about map size. I dont see a reason why we shouldnt go beyond 64players, if our map size is right. In BF3 most of map size is smaller than the ones in the classic BF1942. Woudlnt it be fun to have 5 tanks(2 players each), 5 Jeeps(5 players each) 5 Jets, 5 Helis, 20 diff class free-running soldiers doing all that in one big map? In real world with dont fight a war with just 64 soldiers.
Problem exists between the keyboard and chair.
DICE will be one of the few companies to survive the longterm. They understand that developing for the PC is developing for the future. Maxing out current console hardware is like hitting a ball passed the pitcher's mound: it was tough when you were 2, but is a joke now.
Remember the Shareware days Mr. Carmack? It wasn't about money, it was about getting your product out there.
And all this crap about piracy is crap. Have less DRM, make a quality game and people will buy your product. Put horrible DRM and make a crappy/buggy game, people won't buy your product, it's that simple.
The PC market might not be as big as it used to be, as I too have kind of jumped ship, but we still want quality titles, not half assed console ports and DICE realizes this. If the PC gets put first, maybe more people will be willing to buy/build a computer to play those games? I own the BF series up to BF2, and haven't played in years, but looks like I will finally get my BF fix back with BF3. 1943 is ehhh.
Thank you DICE, I still have your back because I have pretty much given up hope with iD. Even though I own all iD games up to Quake 4, which was solid in my opinion, Single Player was forgettable.
I wish I had to rig to play BF3, but I don't
GO DICE!
You forgot to mention that piracy is the stupidest excuse ever because of the simple fact that it's also possible on consoles.
So, in other words, putting PC first is NOT as difficult as Carmack and EA pretend... no really? Good to see that at least someone has some sense. What's easier, develop a game for the PC, then scale down the graphics and cut some content - everyone is happy, PC and console players alike - or develop for consoles, make a half-assed port with outdated graphics and badly ported controls (yes, I'm talking about you, SW:TFU) - PC gamers pissed off? I think that RAGE showed that the first is a better path because it went the second path and screwed up.
I don't like BF3 so much because I'm not into military shooters, but that DICE executive producer has some brains. Even if it's a publicity stunt, it's a good one. Better than Carmack's ranting about PC drivers' fault or how cool consoles are. (Where're you now, haters who thumbed me down when I said that Carmack is FOS - before RAGE came out? Huh? What?) As the article said:
Limited technology. Get it? That's all consoles will ever be. Push their hardware limits all you like, release new generation, whatever - PC is always ahead. Simply because I can throw in a $160 graphics card to any $700 modern office machine and kick any console's ass in visual quality. Simply because the excuse "PC gaming is too expensive" is bull$h!t - you get what you pay for. Simply because PC is the way it's meant to be played.
Em... Are you talking about Battlefield 3 or some other game??? Super backspawning, proning in every single bush available, being shot around the corner and having suicidal quadbikes??? Those sound more familiar than "understanding where I got shot from and why."...
But yea, the statement is really nice, it's not the typical rage inducing crap other developer tends to put out now-a-day...
Cut off your Windows 7 hatred already and get it...
xbox 720 will be released in 2013-14, it will have the configuration of a mid range 2008-2009 pc (that is purely based on what wii u will be, plus some more),it will have a 5-7 yr life cycle so the gaming on all platforms in 2020 will depend on what a 2008 mid range pc looked like.
the consoles are barricades on the road to the "world of ultimate gaming" and i am not getting any younger.
so sad!!!!!!!
They may have there drawbacks in terms of how long there cycles are now, but in reality the PS3/Xbox 360 were equipped with a custom 7800GTX GPU in them. That card was released around the time those consoles came out. Yes i know it was only for the PS3 but the Xbox 360 had a similar ATI card in it. So i am sure when the Xbox 720 comes out it will be running either 2013's GPU of the year or 2014's. Just saying, but i get where your coming from.
And also, piracy has been around since the dawn of time. It's like they are only looking at piracy today and aren't looking at piracy of yesterday. Copying floppies anyone? And you are right. Pirating console games is almost just as easy as PC games, with a few more hoops.
Also, to whoever you might be, what didn't you like about my post? I am open to constructive criticism.
Also for the people that don't know, BF1943 in both PS3 and 360. Wasn't talking about 1942. God I miss Desert Combat
Speaking of Desert Combat, I just want to say, I miss the mod community for games of the early 2000s
However i am not one bit concerned about PC gaming. Main rule about economics is that when there is a gap to fill for profit, it will fill, and if all developers move away from pc, there will be those that move in. If they are small, we will have less games but with better quality.
If Big companies, we will have more games with lesser quality. Lets see...