Electronic Arts, the world’s largest publisher of video games, said recently that it plans to mark personal computers in accordance with their capabilities to play the forthcoming Crysis Warhead game. Actual details were not revealed, but such an approach may imply that the upcoming title requires even more complicated hardware than the predecessor.
According to Remowned blog dedicated to video games, the systems, which will come in various configurations, will be marked according to graphics details they are capable of enabling at comfortable speed levels. It is reported that Electronic Arts was looking at systems in the $600 - $800 price-range, which is a bit surprising, as the original Crysis game title cannot run properly even on systems that cost several thousands of dollars.
It is unclear whether Electronics Arts will sell pre-built desktops or laptops itself, or it will just certify certain machines from renowned PC vendors, such as Alienware, Dell, HP or Voodoo, and put certain marks on them.
While it is a good idea overall to provide consumers with an idea whether or not they will be able to play a title on the particular system, it should be noted that PCs are bought for a wide number of applications, not a single video game. Therefore, it would be more relevant for game developers to create titles that can be played using performance-mainstream or high-end hardware with proper graphics settings and comfortable framerate.
Earlier this week Electronic Arts said it would not develop version of Red Alert 3 for Sony PlayStation 3 game console due to complicated development for PS3's exotic hardware.