Wii version much more expensive than PC version?

[supermaz]

Hi Telltalegames team,

I just finished the first chapter on the Wii and I must say that this a really nice game. The riddles aren't to hard so no frustation during the play (also it could've been a little longer...).

But something really sets me up. I just saw that the PC version can be bought for 35 $ for the complete 5 episodes.

I bought the first episode as Wiiware for 10 € (which are about 15 $ atm). So, buying all 5 episodes on the Wii will cost me 50 € which are about 75 $ !!!

So buying the Wii edition will cost me more than twice as much as the PC version would.

I sadly must say that I have no understanding for this difference! There must be a different solution and then I would be happy to buy the other 4 episodes for the Wii (as playing living room is nice)!

[Tacobob]

Console games always seem to cost more than their PC counterparts. Just note the price when you see a game coming out for the PC/Xbox 360 and PS3. For example, Assassin's Creed 2's PC version goes for $10.00 less than the console versions.

[Olivil]

That's because when you buy the game off telltale for 35$, the 35$ goes directly to telltale. On the Wii (or any other console for that matters), Nintendo take their part, which is why it's more expensive. Oh and blame Nintendo for 1$ = 1€, 1000 points = 10$USD here.

[TomPravetz]

In Japan, it's probably $1 = 1€ = ¥1. And ¥360 is equal to $1.

Hope the Japanese aren't getting THAT good of a deal.

[The Commissioner]

Originally Posted by supermaz

But something really sets me up. I just saw that the PC version can be bought for 35 $ for the complete 5 episodes.I bought the first episode as Wiiware for 10 € (which are about 15 $ atm). So, buying all 5 episodes on the Wii will cost me 50 € which are about 75 $ !!!

That's why I'm a PC gamer. You get better quality at a better price, and you don't have to buy a different console every time a new console comes out.

The PC version of Tales of Monkey Island has better graphics quality and also better sound quality. You might as well buy it on PC from now on. The $35 season pass + the €10 you already spent on the wii version is still cheaper than $75.

The only reason I have a PlayStation 2 at all is because I wanted to play only one game - Metal Gear Solid 3 which has no PC version. I'm disappointed that Metal Gear Soild 4 is exclusive to PlayStation 3, but I'm not willing to buy one of those! Seriously... developers should just release everything on PC.

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by The Commissioner

That's why I'm a PC gamer. You get better quality at a better price, and you don't have to buy a different console every time a new console comes out.

It's actually far more expensive to keep a PC up to date than to drop $250-$600 on a brand new console every 5-6 years.

[StarEye]

PC gaming is more expensive if you count the hardware. I know it's been a while since you had to upgrade your PC every sixth months to keep it upgraded - but you need to at least upgrade two or three times to keep it up-to-date during one console cycle. And you'll pay maybe double the price of a console every time.

[Fury]

Originally Posted by The Commissioner

That's why I'm a PC gamer. You get better quality at a better price, and you don't have to buy a different console every time a new console comes out.

That's true, but you have to update your PC heaps, it costs waaay more to play games on PC than it does on a console. Consoles last 8 years or so before a new one comes, PC's cost twice as much and only last you 2-3 years max.

[Jazzy]

Originally Posted by Fury

That's true, but you have to update your PC heaps, it costs waaay more to play games on PC than it does on a console. Consoles last 8 years or so before a new one comes, PC's cost twice as much and only last you 2-3 years max.

Unless it's a dreamcast. :P

But seriously, where do you get your figures from? PCs last alot longer than 2-3 years, that's just bollucks, most games don't even push my one. Sure, if you want to stay on the cutting edge with maxed out settings then and run multiple games at once then yes you have to keep upgrading, but most PCs will still be able to run games at decent settings for years.

Oh wait this is the internet, should make up some stats. 99% of computers can beat up consoles for their pocket money, and 95% of consoles spontaneously combust.

[WinterSnowblind]

Originally Posted by Fury

That's true, but you have to update your PC heaps, it costs waaay more to play games on PC than it does on a console. Consoles last 8 years or so before a new one comes, PC's cost twice as much and only last you 2-3 years max.

While I'm typically more of a console person, this is a little off. Console cycles have typically been no more than 5 years, even the SNES and Genesis only lasted 5 before being replaced.

The 360 and PS3 may be the first to really break that cycle, simply because there's no where for the technology to really improve right now, except into motion control territory, and that doesn't require a completely new system, hence why they're both releasing add-ons next year.

[supermaz]

Hi Guys,

thanks alot for the answers.

Yes, I know that the graphics is a lot better on the PC version and my PC is surely capable of playing TOMI well enough.

BUT as I'm getting older and doing my dayjob sitting at the PC, have a wife and a kid, I gladly like to sit in the living room at my free time. And as we already have a Wii it makes sense for me to play the game on that console (the Wii was my first console ever!). Additional to that, graphics aren't that important for a good adventure.

But to come back to the costs for purchasing that game. It is indeed frustrating that Nintendo have chosen to set 1$ = 1€. But I found a few seller on Ebay which sell the 1000 points for 7,5€ which is nearly exactly what it would costs when paying in dollars.

So, I've decided to buy the episode 2 for the Wii and continue on playing the game on the Wii even it is still a few dollars (or Euros) more expensive than on the PC.

But what makes it even worse is, that is for Nintendo, not for TT-Games, that you can't sell you Wiiware games as it is bundle to your special Wii.

[Aise]

Also, you don't get the free season DVD, on the Wii..

[SHODANFreeman]

Originally Posted by Jazzy

Sure, if you want to stay on the cutting edge with maxed out settings then and run multiple games at once then yes you have to keep upgrading, but most PCs will still be able to run games at decent settings for years

The person we were responding to had said "You get better quality" so it was kind of assumed we were talking about moderately high end rigs.

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by Pale Man

The person we were responding to had said "You get better quality" so it was kind of assumed we were talking about moderately high end rigs.

I'm pretty sure your computer doesn't have to be updated within the past year or two for thousands of dollars to run Tales on max settings. Telltale isn't exactly CryTek.

[The Commissioner]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

I'm pretty sure your computer doesn't have to be updated within the past year or two for thousands of dollars to run Tales on max settings. Telltale isn't exactly CryTek.

Yes. You can knock up a PC or upgrade your existing one using quite cheap mid-range products like a graphics card and get max settings on Tales. My PC's about 2 years old now and even then when I bought it, it was using 2 years older technology (AGP graphics!) and still I can run Tales on setting 9.

As long as the PC you start off with isn't crap to begin with and has a reasonable amount of future proofing it will last years. And even when that time is up, you might get away with sticking in a budget price new graphics card and have extended it's life cheaply.

Plus, I can play any of my older games. Sometimes I dig out Theme Hospital from 1995 and it runs flawlessly on the PC. A couple of months ago I was playing ToonStruck (made for DOS).

You can't say the same for consoles. You'd have problems running a Super Nintendo game on your Playstation 3! But actually there are some pretty good SNES emulators on the PC too...

[StansCoffins]

Unfortunately I can't run Tales on any setting higher than 3 without MAJOR slowdown. It's a shame, but it still looks quite nice. It's not like Escape which has character models covered in jagged edges that hurt my eyes. Is there a noticeable difference between 3 and, say, 6 or 7?

[JedExodus]

With the PC you get a avast back library beating any console out of the water and not to mention new and exclusive games, PC gaming obviously appeals to a certain type of gamer, but if you're not afraid of a bit of upgrading and GPU envy then it's a good way to be. My PC is definitley the most useful gadget in my house by a long long long way, be it for work or entertainment

[JohanShogun]

I'm going to point out that quality wise you get better games on the console, less bugs and generally runs better. Console games make up about 90% of the market, computer games aren't more then 8% or something like that or the rest are arcade games (unless my memory betrays me) You get a lot more money in and out of the console market and the developer can specialize their development for a set of hardware which is known. When it comes to cranking out juice from the hardware you got and removing bugs consoles are way superior mainly since the majority of the money is in that market. If a developer gets to pick between patching the computer version or the console version, they will always pick the console.

We all have to keep in mind that the people who buy Piestation 3s and Eggbox 360s aren't the same people who you'd generally see play tales of monkey island on their computers, they play fallout 3, mass effect, assasins creed 2 (when that comes, can't wait) and so on which any 2 year old laptop with 4 year old stuff in it can't run. If you want to keep up to date with the AAA releases you will spend a lot more of money on your computer then on the console, the basic cost for a console is around 300$ you won't get a computer that can run the same games with the same graphics for as much

Oh and hardware wise, don't compare the Wii, the Wii is a last generation console Nintendo needs to update it badly.

[The Commissioner]

You do get a different class of games for PCs compared to consoles - e.g. SimCity 4wouldn't work so well on a console platform. But if you have the correct hardware on the PC then you can pretty much run any game.

Graphics hardware wise, PC graphics are continually improving. This was PC graphics a couple of years ago before Playstation 3 was out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1Q2kbcw6-k

I'd say that PC graphics cards coming out around now and with DirectX11 in Windows 7 and Vista, consoles will probably have that level of graphics later on. But PCs can have it today.

While you have fixed hardware in a console, and that makes it idiot-proof for sticking in a games disc and having it run and for games developers, that also means that it will be outdated from the moment it goes on sale. E.g. if you have a PS3 with a 40GB drive, wouldn't you be envious of the people who are buying current ones that look smaller and have 250GB drives in them? You'd have to replace the entire console to upgrade to a new feature set. But on a PC if you want a bigger drive, you just get a bigger drive.

Well, it all depends on what you want really. There was an interesting article I read comparing Telltale games on console and PC and there were definitely advantages on the PC versions (besides the free DVD and episodic releases) - things like the saved games being able to communicate with each other (DeSoto decals being carried forward to next episodes in Sam & Max season 2 for example).

I'd guess most people with consoles must also own PCs anyway - they do much more than just games - you can shop online, buy stuff, visit forums, watch movies, download music, burn photos, email, video...

When it came to deciding should I get a mid-quality PC and a PS3 and an XBox, or should I just get a PC that does it all, I'd go with the PC that does it all and can be upgraded when I want to do more. The only problem is console exclusive games. Which would be solved if they just released everything on PC too.

On that note, I don't mind games being developed for XBox because most of the time they also get released on PC as well. I was thinking that's because Microsoft made the XBox hardware similar to a Windows PC, so it must be easier to develop simultaneously on both.

[JohanShogun]

It's as easy to change a HD in an Eggbox or a piestation as it is in a computer, if you want to upgrade the HD just buy a new one and strap it in there.

The eggbox graphics are based of directX, and yes the xbox programming interface is a lot like coding for windows games. As for the hardware being old on the consoles, it's not the same hardware that you put in the computers and the enviorment allows you to get more power out of the hardware, the power of the hardware in the consoles doesn't really matter that mcuh as long as it is "good enough". The games are optimized to run on that specific hardware. The hardware in the consoles still haven't reached their full performance, none of the current consoles on the marker are used to their full potential, you could get those exact graphics showed in that video or better on a console.

The fact that the hardware is cheaper to be bought on a console then on a computer counts for a lot when it comes to sales, it is as I said above, the reason people make so many games for consoles is because there is where the real money is.