Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Q&A

DailyGame has published a lengthy Q&A with Bethesda’s Pete Hines about Oblivion, their upcoming fourth installment in The Elder Scrolls series. An excerpt to follow:

Q: Many people have trouble believing that the Xbox 360 and PC versions of Oblivion will be nearly identical. Are we finally reaching the point in hardware where game content will be identical across the board from PC to console, or does the PC still have an edge?

We really identify the kinds of things we want to do with our game and then put it out on as many platforms that can support that kind of game. For us, the consumer’s decision of one version over another is really two-fold. One, where do you prefer to play this type of game? For example, some folks prefer playing shooters on a PC at a desk, but other types of games on a console while sitting on a couch. It’s whatever you’re most comfortable with. That’s really the most important decision. Second to that is, what have you got to play the game on? If you don’t want to compromise on a single thing, then you’ll need a high end PC with one of the latest video cards. If that’s not something you have, or can afford, then you may look at getting the 360 simply because it makes more economic sense. Are PCs and consoles about the same in terms of hardware? Probably. It really depends on what kind of PC you have as to how a game console compares.