Rumors of PC Gaming's Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
I'm a gamer. To be specific, a PC gamer. To be very specific, a non-MMO PC gamer, which places me in about the 98th percentile of the entire gaming population.
The Commodore 64 from my youth got me hooked on games, primarily flight simulators. I never had an Atari or Nintendo, and I don't have or plan to ever have an Xbox, Wii, or Playstation. The two greatest games I've ever played - Deus Ex and System Shock 2 - were PC-only titles. All through college, and for years afterward, I regularly played PC games either online or at LAN parties with friends who were just as enthusiastic about it as I was. For me, the PC is where it's at: the combination of the most advanced technology with being the system upon which the vast majority of the games I'm interested in appear makes the choice of platform a non-issue.
Partly this is because I partake enthusiastically in the tired PC-vs-console debate, which, like all good completely subjective disputes, is endlessly unproductive. Unless you consider the apparently ever-shrinking and less-profitable PC gaming market, which may render the platform obsolete by sheer economics alone, thereby handing the victory to the console.
When I was growing up, the "serious" games - like flight sims, RPGs, and turned-based strategy games - were all found on the PC, while the "kiddie" games - platformers, side-scrollers, and arcade titles, not to mention the games specifically intended for children - were on the console.
The partitioning has since become much less strict, but the fact remains that the most technologically advanced, highest resolution, most complex titles are better suited to the PC.
Sadly, the direction that gaming has taken in general reflects, in my opinion, the increasingly short attention spans and juvenile tastes of the general population. It's my strong conviction that usually when something is embraced by the masses, it gets corrupted and has its soul sucked out. Sounds snobbishly elitist, I know, but look at the games that have been bestsellers the past few years: Grand Theft Auto, The Sims, and a million MMOs. To me, the first two reflect a desire for people to now play games that mimic the over-dramatic garbage they've been watching on TV since the advent of the awful 'reality' show. The popularity of MMOs seems less ill-inspired, but still derives much of its appeal from those who simply want to play 'house' or 'tea time' with others in a digital world.
The apparent imminent demise of PC gaming stems from three issues: 1) the increasing difficulty of coding a game that works across such wide variations in hardware and drivers, compared to the fixed box of parts that a console is; 2) the continuing inability to effectively fight software piracy, which is extremely rampant for PC games, thus diminishing sales; and 3) the popularity of consoles, especially as they continue to improve technologically and take on other features, such as playing DVDs. All three of these have no real solution, from the point of view of wanting to save PC gaming.
Evidence for the demise is everywhere; stores like Best Buy and Gamestop that used to have huge, current PC gaming sections have now relegated their dwindling stock to the back of the store to make room for console games. After a 10-year run, Computer Games Magazine, one of the better non-glossy publications, and the one gaming magazine that I subscribed to for the past four years, and which I fondly remember introducing me to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, was suddenly shut down last month with no warning. Most of my friends, if they have time to game at all, have shifted most or all of their gaming over to consoles, both because of their limited patience and budget for keeping up with the latest PC hardware, as well as the increasing appeal of the console as a multi-tasking companion to the TV in the living room.
However, I strongly feel that the demise of PC gaming is over-hyped. Here's why: look at a genre like combat flight simulators. For years, industry observers have been announcing "the death of flight sims", when in fact, the recent past and near-term future have been chock full of quality titles: the ultra-hardcore 'study sim' Falcon 4.0 (which was picked up by Lead Pursuit two years ago, improved, and re-published as Falcon 4.0: Allied Force), the IL-2 Sturmovik series (which had four major expansion packs released, and whose successor, Battle of Britain: Storm of War, is coming along nicely), the Lock On: Modern Air Combat series (which has had one successful expansion, with another on the way), and Third Wire's Strike Fighters series (plus two expansions). All of these series also have extremely active and productive mod communities that are in some cases solely responsible for keeping the games alive and attracting commercial interest in publishing expansions.
Likewise, look at any genre you like, and you'll find quality PC games that are neither ports of console games nor tired license-tie-in titles. Take shooters, for example: we have STALKER, Far Cry, Half-Life 2, FEAR, Prey, Bioshock, and Crysis, to name a few.
Ironically, it may be the genres of PC games that I generally disdain - MMOs, Sims-type games, and GTA-type games - that help keep the market profitable and the industry afloat. If this led to publishers abandoning less profitable genres, however, then of course from my perspective the ends would have most certainly not justified the means. But luckily I don't see that happening. For now, it appears to me that any successful PC games help the entire range of genres for the platform. And the existence of vibrant user-made mod communities - a phenomenon unique to the PC - has proven time and again to help invigorate and extend the life of many a title.
I've always been a PC gamer and I always will be. I'll never be able to attach my flight stick, throttle, rudder pedals and headtracking device to a console, nor will I be able to run my favorite games at 1920x1200 resolution at 60 frames per second on a console, and so for me, the PC is here to stay. But there is something inescapably dismal about seeing your hobby get squeezed out of both the retail market and your friend's lives. I have a lot of great memories, but I really wish they didn't have to be just memories.
The Commodore 64 from my youth got me hooked on games, primarily flight simulators. I never had an Atari or Nintendo, and I don't have or plan to ever have an Xbox, Wii, or Playstation. The two greatest games I've ever played - Deus Ex and System Shock 2 - were PC-only titles. All through college, and for years afterward, I regularly played PC games either online or at LAN parties with friends who were just as enthusiastic about it as I was. For me, the PC is where it's at: the combination of the most advanced technology with being the system upon which the vast majority of the games I'm interested in appear makes the choice of platform a non-issue.
Partly this is because I partake enthusiastically in the tired PC-vs-console debate, which, like all good completely subjective disputes, is endlessly unproductive. Unless you consider the apparently ever-shrinking and less-profitable PC gaming market, which may render the platform obsolete by sheer economics alone, thereby handing the victory to the console.
When I was growing up, the "serious" games - like flight sims, RPGs, and turned-based strategy games - were all found on the PC, while the "kiddie" games - platformers, side-scrollers, and arcade titles, not to mention the games specifically intended for children - were on the console.
The partitioning has since become much less strict, but the fact remains that the most technologically advanced, highest resolution, most complex titles are better suited to the PC.
Sadly, the direction that gaming has taken in general reflects, in my opinion, the increasingly short attention spans and juvenile tastes of the general population. It's my strong conviction that usually when something is embraced by the masses, it gets corrupted and has its soul sucked out. Sounds snobbishly elitist, I know, but look at the games that have been bestsellers the past few years: Grand Theft Auto, The Sims, and a million MMOs. To me, the first two reflect a desire for people to now play games that mimic the over-dramatic garbage they've been watching on TV since the advent of the awful 'reality' show. The popularity of MMOs seems less ill-inspired, but still derives much of its appeal from those who simply want to play 'house' or 'tea time' with others in a digital world.
The apparent imminent demise of PC gaming stems from three issues: 1) the increasing difficulty of coding a game that works across such wide variations in hardware and drivers, compared to the fixed box of parts that a console is; 2) the continuing inability to effectively fight software piracy, which is extremely rampant for PC games, thus diminishing sales; and 3) the popularity of consoles, especially as they continue to improve technologically and take on other features, such as playing DVDs. All three of these have no real solution, from the point of view of wanting to save PC gaming.
Evidence for the demise is everywhere; stores like Best Buy and Gamestop that used to have huge, current PC gaming sections have now relegated their dwindling stock to the back of the store to make room for console games. After a 10-year run, Computer Games Magazine, one of the better non-glossy publications, and the one gaming magazine that I subscribed to for the past four years, and which I fondly remember introducing me to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, was suddenly shut down last month with no warning. Most of my friends, if they have time to game at all, have shifted most or all of their gaming over to consoles, both because of their limited patience and budget for keeping up with the latest PC hardware, as well as the increasing appeal of the console as a multi-tasking companion to the TV in the living room.
However, I strongly feel that the demise of PC gaming is over-hyped. Here's why: look at a genre like combat flight simulators. For years, industry observers have been announcing "the death of flight sims", when in fact, the recent past and near-term future have been chock full of quality titles: the ultra-hardcore 'study sim' Falcon 4.0 (which was picked up by Lead Pursuit two years ago, improved, and re-published as Falcon 4.0: Allied Force), the IL-2 Sturmovik series (which had four major expansion packs released, and whose successor, Battle of Britain: Storm of War, is coming along nicely), the Lock On: Modern Air Combat series (which has had one successful expansion, with another on the way), and Third Wire's Strike Fighters series (plus two expansions). All of these series also have extremely active and productive mod communities that are in some cases solely responsible for keeping the games alive and attracting commercial interest in publishing expansions.
Likewise, look at any genre you like, and you'll find quality PC games that are neither ports of console games nor tired license-tie-in titles. Take shooters, for example: we have STALKER, Far Cry, Half-Life 2, FEAR, Prey, Bioshock, and Crysis, to name a few.
Ironically, it may be the genres of PC games that I generally disdain - MMOs, Sims-type games, and GTA-type games - that help keep the market profitable and the industry afloat. If this led to publishers abandoning less profitable genres, however, then of course from my perspective the ends would have most certainly not justified the means. But luckily I don't see that happening. For now, it appears to me that any successful PC games help the entire range of genres for the platform. And the existence of vibrant user-made mod communities - a phenomenon unique to the PC - has proven time and again to help invigorate and extend the life of many a title.
I've always been a PC gamer and I always will be. I'll never be able to attach my flight stick, throttle, rudder pedals and headtracking device to a console, nor will I be able to run my favorite games at 1920x1200 resolution at 60 frames per second on a console, and so for me, the PC is here to stay. But there is something inescapably dismal about seeing your hobby get squeezed out of both the retail market and your friend's lives. I have a lot of great memories, but I really wish they didn't have to be just memories.
posted by GregP at 3:03 PM
2 comments
