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Comment by galleywest200 | Hacker News Reader

Rockstar was very open as to why: PC players are a fraction of a fraction of their income. Xbox One players (yes, the previous gen) give them more money than PC players for GTA Online.

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But isn't that also a result of them always releasing their games much later than on console? PC gaming has been on the rise.

The PC release was two years after consoles. Anyone who really wanted to play the game already had their opportunity.

Yep - I am a heavy pc gamer but I much prefer GTA on my PlayStation

What's the difference? I always play on pc with my Xbox controller and it's the same as on a console.

I could imagine PC gamers are less interested in online and the whole shark card thing though. IMO that's really damaged the GTA experience.

I think the difference is phycological. I am way more relaxed infront of a TV. It is like a different mood.

Ah but you can do that too with moonlight :)

Though I rarely game on the TV, for me it's uncomfortable.

You can also connect a general purpose computer to that TV?

Didn’t Valve spend a lot of time and money to get the Steam Machine to turn on by using the controller? They had to do some magic with HDMI CEC.

Was that the important psychological factor the person mentioned?

Can’t think of anything else that would make connecting a console to a TV vs connecting a PC different

Gladly you don't need to make anything else up, you can just refer to the experience of the person at the beginning of this conversation

Hmm ... yeah I guess I would feel the same with an always hooked up PC connected to the TV with some sort of nice splash screen.

I was too fixated on a classical gaming PC with mouse and keyboard.

Unlike consoles, general purpose computers are designed to be operated with a keyboard and mouse, not a controller. Yes, you can use steam in big picture mode, but you still have to launch it.

I did that for a long time. It works, but it's very difficult to match the ease of using a console:

- Steam's Big Picture mode works, but there are lots of sharp edges (launcher support being the biggest).

- PC versions of games frequently have no way to switch to a couch-friendly UI (loading menus designed for PCs)

- The power management and hardware setup is not at all streamlined

- Controller management can be painful

- Streaming apps mostly need to work in a browser, which won't have controller support.

Sure, but isn't that my point? PC players are a fraction of their income because by the time it gets to PC nobody cares.

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