Peter Hines admits PC platform has problems

Format complexity putting players off...

Fallout 3 producer Peter Hines has admitted that the PC platform has its troubles, speaking to play.tm in London last week.

Developer Bethesda will release Fallout 3 on the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 this autumn, but the game maker concedes that the complexity of the format; the unclear nature of system specifications, has left the PC lagging behind consoles.

"In general I think PC gaming still suffers from the fact that it is one platform, and 10,000 platforms, at the same time," he explained.

"The fact that you could get 100 gamers together and every single one has a different PC config, whether it's the hardware they have, or the drivers they have installed for that hardware, is still a problem from a development standpoint and one that has never, really, been solved."

Several big name PC releases have failed to sell as well as hoped lately, although MMO games, and online distribution services like Steam continue to thrive.

More soon.

By Luke Guttridge