Apr 18, 2011 21:21 GMT  ·  By

Consoles like the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 are keeping the PC platform from reaching its full potential, at least according to the developer of the upcoming Battlefield 3 title.

PC versus console gaming has always been a hot topic, as many developers are focusing on consoles first with their new releases and then bring their creations to the PC platform, usually by porting it directly, with various degrees of success.

Some developers, however, think that it should be the other way around, and that the PC platform should be the main one used in making a new game, which can then be scaled back for less powerful consoles like the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.

Patrick Bach from DICE, the developer of the upcoming Battlefield 3 title, also believes this, as he chimed in on the subject during an interview with graphics card manufacturer Nvidia.

In it, Bach said that while consoles were better than PCs five years ago when they were launched, in the present, the PC has all the right attributes for being the main platform in the creation of any new game.

"That's the biggest problem we have today. Most games are actually still based on the same core idea that the consoles are your focus, the superior platform or something. I don't know why. That was the truth 5 years ago, but the world has moved on."

He goes on to say that, with the development of Battlefield 3, DICE is using the PC as the lead platform, and won't just add things like better textures or anti-aliasing to the PC edition of the upcoming first person shooter, like other developers are doing with their versions made for the platform.

"PCs are way more powerful than the consoles today and there are actually almost zero games out there that actually use the benefits of this. So for our target of what we want to hit, we are now using the more powerful platform to try and prove what we see gaming being in the future rather than using the lowest common denominator, instead of developing it for the consoles and then just adding higher resolution textures and anti-aliasing for the PC version. We're [doing] it the other way around, we start with the highest-end technology that we can come up with and then scale it back to the consoles."

Battlefield 3 will have a wide array of customization options on the PC, as well as a multiplayer mode with support for 64 gamers, unlike the consoles who will have just 24-player support, and lots of other features.