BUGS - Consoles and PC's

juno75

Silly question I ve had in my brain for a while:

How come games for consoles are able to be released without requireing further patching yet with a PC game you end up having patches coming out a few days after release.
Pretty much all PC games have a patch (or loads) at some point.

Are console games released 101% complete and bug free if so why aint PC games released like this?

Cant they apply the same approch to PC games?

Im mainly referring to patches that fix errors rather than offering any form of expansion.
I aint really used a console since the PS1 so Im not very up on them
Do consoles games suffer form bugs to any degree?

Thanks

damnyanks

Consoles should have the same hardware. I'd imagine that would help to stopping silly little bugs

That's all I can think of.

steviec

Console game bugs are not unheard of but they are much rarer.

Every console is the same, so its easy to test for them.

When you make a PC though you need to test it on a huge number of different configurations and there are so many variables to consider that makes bugs more common. Although you do see some silly bugs that just give the impression they're releasing the game in the knowledge they can just patch it later...

juno75

Of course,
did not think of the hardware angle of it!!
feel stoopid now.

id agree that this probably has become a bit of an excuse to release partally unfinished software to hit dead lines.

My fave games are usually the buggiest fekkin ones out :mad:


Thanks

steviec

The only PC game I've *really* looked forward to in the last year was KOTOR2 and it was a buggy mess that I had to stop playing. Been meaning to get back to it and hope its been patched to a decent level. I'm almost tempted to buy an X-Box just to play it properly.

juno75

yeah, I hear you.

I am debating getting one of the consoles on the horizon, just for a change from PC's for a bit.
PC will always be my no.1 platform but sometimes I can feel my hair turning grey with frustration for one reason or another.

I think consoles are better when you are drunk.
trying to optimize PC settings after a few tins can be a bit messy (remembers last night).....

Retr0gamer

There is probably the psychological effect of knowing that a game can be patched on the PC but not on a console so maybe there is more effort into routing out bugs on a console game.

Another reason is the open ended nature of PC games due to having loads of ram. Ever notice its big games like H&D that have the most bugs. It's easier to bug test for a linear game.

Then there are the exceptions like the Xbox and Gamecube versions of the dire Enter the Matrix.

stevenmu

It's simple really, in the publishers eyes. For a console the cost of doing a decent amount of testing is less than the cost of having a game so full of bugs it needs to be patched. For a PC, the cost of releasing a patch is less than doing proper testing. As the publishers are the ones who finance development, they're the ones that decide what gets released and when. Of course the hardware differences and type of game differences add to the mix aswell, as does the fact that PC patches often contain enhancements that only come about through user feedback.

juno75

Ever notice its big games like H&D that have the most bugs. It's easier to bug test for a linear game.

yeah, thats what I was hinting at. H&D + H&D2 are my fave modern games to the point of obsession but Ill be the first to admit that they were probably the buggiest games I ever played.
The worst thing about it was the SAME bloody bugs were in H&D2 as the original. Its like 4 years later man!!!!!! grrrrrr

walks happily along and then falls through the floor.......

that stuff abou the publishers makes sense when you put it like that also.

Ri_Nollaig

i find they rush games too sometimes, such as vampire bloodlines that was actually released early and look what happened... they release them knowing that they can just patch them later when they see enough people have the same problem. one thing tho all the current console and id assume the next wave have some form of downloadable content lets hope they wont start thinking the same