Maximum PC

We're familiar with the term "Bad Port" - obviously referring to a game developed for consoles and is later converted so it can be used on a PC - but what exactly does that mean?

**A recent article on MPC's sister mag (PCGamer) indicated a bad port was low graphics, or lack of graphical options to enhance the appearance.
**I always thought it referred to buggy games that wouldn't play correctly...OR games that were so difficult to play with a mouse and keyboard that it was nearly impossible to enjoy. Case in point, one of the Lego-based games (Lego Star Wars) was originally mapped so that you had to use both hands on the keyboard - the mouse wasn't easily configurable. I don't know if they eventually fixed that in later releases because I stopped buying after that initial experience.

I'm interested in your opinion, so, what do you say? Is it graphics? Poor game play? Both? Or are there a list of criteria that a game must fail before it can be deemed a "Bad Port"?

To me a bad port can have one of the following:

• Game is really buggy or doesn't work.
• The graphics/sound/etc. are inferior to the other platform for no real reason. It can have the same quality, but it can't have worse
• Controls obviously not tweaked for keyboard + mouse. Some games I can't fault for this one however, like Assassin's Creed or Mirror's Edge.
• Limited system options.
• Forgetting to change the UI to reflect that I'm not using a controller (though this is more laziness)

The game also has to have existed on another platform first, before moving to PCs. If there was co-development, it's not a bad port. It's just bad.

For me a bad port is mainly about using non-PC standard control schemes.

I'm not as picky when it comes to the comparatively lower graphics. Unless they are games like Crysis where they are supposed to push the visuals to their limits then I want the best quality.

How about a game that still requires a console-type controller on the PC? I have one of those Resident Evil games, and I've never played it, because I don't like those console controllers.

Many other ported games don't fully support mice. Some don't allow you to change the keyboard controls at all.

A game that runs like ass on a PC costing ten times as much as a console (while running great on said console) is a bad port. Halo was like that. Oblivion was like that. Bad ports.

Fallout 3 is a great game, but still a sloppy port from the consoles.

For me a bad port is a game that doesn't take advantage of the capabilities of a PC in such a way that it greatly hinders the experience for the user. The range of bad port properties is extensive. Some are cumulatively frustrating (to the point of making the game unplayable) while others are just annoying.

Some of the basic bad port symptoms are low resolution textures, shorter view distances (or fogs), limited field of views, poor menu navigation and design, limited graphical and sound options. Things like this can annoy but might not totally ruin the experience of a game.

On the other hand more grievous offenses can out right ruin the game for me. Button mashing quick time events, weapon balance issues and broken game mechanics do to different control systems, limited or no controller options, frame rate and loading issues, and choppy or unresponsive controls, among other things make a game almost unplayable IMO.

obviously referring to a game developed for consoles and is later converted so it can be used on a PC