Slashdot Mirror
Is PC Online Gaming Unwell?
Thanks to GameSpy for their 'Spy/CounterSpy' editorial discussing whether the rise of online console gaming will eventually lead to the decline of online PC gaming. On the one hand, it's argued: "Not only do I think that console gaming is not a threat to PC gaming - I think it actually helps the PC gaming scene by introducing new players to the online gaming world", but on the other hand, an alternative point of view is advanced: "My current love for certain online PC titles really reminded me just how annoying online computer gaming is... even though there are PC exclusive online games that I love to play, I'd rather be playing them on Xbox Live."
Dude, I'll take a keyboard and mouse with a high resolution monitor over a stupid xbox or ps2 controller with a standard tvs creen any day.
even though there are PC exclusive online games that I love to play, I'd rather be playing them on Xbox Live.
On a television? Without a mouse or keyboard? Obviously, more work is put into more games for consoles. The best writers are all probably employed on console games. Perhaps many of the best engineers and designers work on console games. However. You have to play them with mittens and bottle bottom glasses.
I need that like I need a broom shoved up my ass.
Some day, consoles will work with high res displays (for less $ than a PC setup, please) and will have more precise input. I dream of that day.
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
Online console gaming won't hurt online PC gaming. PC gaming is really good for two types of games: FPS and RTS. FPS controls a lot better with a keyboard and mouse than with a controller, and RTS would be practically impossible with a controller (yeah yeah there was StarCraft 64, but it sucked).
Consoles used more for games that play better with a controller than with keyboard & mouse. Online racing & fighting games will be a lot better on a console.
As for the online voice chat, I actually think that's a disadvantage. Anyone play WarCraft 3 online? A large part of the chat during games is some guy who sucks cursing out someone else trying to pass the blame for the team losing. You don't want to hear the majority of the chat; most of it is mindless bickering.
I don't know, right now the display thing is a wash as more and more XBOX games utilize HDTV support. And 40" of TV goodness even at standard resolution kills 17" of monitor for my taste anyway. I thought it was about the gameplay and not the graphics. Or is that only certain threads?
As for controls, another wash IMHO. You don't need controls as precise when everyone else isn't cheating their arse off. And everyone else is using that controller too, so its an even playing field. Hey, everyone has the same "computer" in this case too so noone has the new ATI Uber 9000 while you are stuck with a Voodoo3.
I don't know, I see both sides. I personally just signed up for a free 2 month trial of XBOX Live and I'm pretty stoked so far. My little bro invited me to a game of RtCW while I was playing Amped 2 offline. That was amazing. And the voice, wow. Actual for reals teamwork with strangers.
The console might not be over the top yet, but everyday it inches closer. Just wait until next generation...
The thing is, although XBox Live may be a great service and very much liked by those who use it.. There are relatively few who actually do use it. I don't have numbers, but it seems to me that online gaming has a very small penetration in the console world so far. I just think it's important to remember things like that when hypothesizing the death of PC gaming.. silly me, right?
Well, it's only $50. The $70 is the starter kit that comes with a headset, and MechAssault.
Yes, it is worth the $50.
Just like cable (or satellite) TV is worth paying for (for a lot of people) even though you can get stuff free over the airwaves.
No reason to lie.
PC Online gaming seems to be dying. It's easier and easier to get a new game these days that have multi abilities and no real servers to connect to. If it's not Counter-Strike or some blockbuster everyone else has, your chances of finding a decent online game goes down significantly.
One of the best online experiences I had was playing PSO on the Dreamcast. Friendly people for the most part (until, I guess, cheating sunk in) and you could always find a group to play with.
$70/year is a bit steep, but so is $70/month to setup a server.
The whole reason console gaming is killing off decent gaming as we used to know it (high resolution, brilliant shading and shadow effects, high polygon counts, all leading towards ultra realistic games) is because of the price. If consoles were as expensive as PC's (in terms of entry level), consoles would have died so very long ago.
The low quality of console games is holding back the entire industry. Console games that are released on the PC are very often exactly the same as the original console version, with no enhancements to take advantage of the sheer power of a real computer.
So now you want the low quality of a console game, but you're happy to buy a 40" HDTV monitor, so that you've also paid around the same as a decent PC rig for the privelege?
I'm curious. Please name a console game that wouldn't be better if developed to take advantage of the superior capabilities of a properly equipped PC. (Even one that has a bunch of little USB controllers plugged in for those who don't understand mouse and keyboard).
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
Also, did anyone notice how SOCOM 2 only owrks with an official Sony online adapter? They droppsd support for other network adapters. Why? SOCOM worked with other online adapters. Seems like Sony took a page from the non-Xbox-Microsoft's book for some reason.
And honestly in terms of MMORPG's, who bought Everquest OA? Almost everony I've talked to (PS2 fanboys and haters alike) said it blew, while a greater majority of them like Phantasy Star Online (though most of them say 'screw consoles, get lineage 2 when it comes out'). I'm personally looking forward to True Fantasy Live, hated Everquest, and liked PSO, but that's just me.
I'm the guy with the unpopular opinion
I think PC Gaming will become more of a niche market or hobby, as the lure of sales from console games has attracted many publishers, but I don't think PC gaming will die away completely, since consumers like myself don't mind spending money for non-standard systems.
I think the reduction of commercial PC game publishers may be a good thing, since hopefully this should provide a better market for quality developers to keep making titles they are passionate about, much in the way the PC game market had developed at one point (id software, the old 3DRealms, old Raven, Westwood Studios, many others).
I don't mind paying higher prices for PC games as long as they have quality and can be customized.
Currently I am enjoying Bioware's Knights of the Old Republic on my expensive laptop. Despite the lack of customization, the game is a quality title, and has so much variety that extra modding or customization isn't necessary.
And I'm able to play a bunch of my old PC games on this laptop thanks to DOSBox and Windows Compatibility mode in XP.
Now, if console makers introduced a mouse and keypad to their PC-like systems then I may be tempted to buy a console, since I will face spending at least $1000 or more to upgrade for Doom3 and Half-Life2.
At least card and PC prices should drop some more while I wait for those titles to be released.
With PC's you have cheaters who like to mod their games and then get into the multiplayer environment and proceed to ruin it for everyone who is out to just have some fun in their limited free-time. At least with Xbox live I know that I'm in a fair environment where I don't have to worry about someone playing with a hacked version of the game that allows them to cheat and ruin the fun for everyone in the game. This is true with every single online game I have ever played on my PC or Mac including Red Faction, Myth, MOHAA and now Halo. I doubt very much that after my latest experiences with multiplayer Halo via Gamespy that I'll ever play a non-console multiplayer game ever again. As for the TV argument... Halo and MOHAA look and play great on my Xbox on my 53 inch regular TV as well as on my plasma screen. And I don't have to have my face 5 inches from the screen to play it either.
PC gaming still has something that assures its survival: mods, patches, and expansions.
1 - patches - if you can't patch your online console game, and it gets hacked, you're totally screwed. This is gradually being fixed by putting hard drives on consoles.
2 - expansions - again, something being gradually addressed by consoles adding hard drives. Still, expansions for console games so far rarely stray from the extremes - they're either very very small, or they're so huge that they cost as much as a new game.
3 - mods! User-created mods! The online gaming killer app! This is still the exclusive domain of the PC. Console makers still refuse to give the users this level of power, and if they *did* give us that much power, we'd start writing software for their systems and consoles would become equivalent to PCs.
Mods vastly increase the useful lifespan of a game by keeping the experience from stagnating. They add replay value, sometimes years of replay value (remember good old Teamfortress?).
i'll bite: first of all, console gaming doesn't mean low resolution. HDTV means 480p, 720p, and 1080i. that for the most part matches, and at 1080i, beats, the resolutions that most people's PC monitors are at.
couple that with a 50" inch 'monitor', and the visual 'richness' far surpasses that of PC gaming. and just try to convince me that you don't enjoy a nice comfy couch over an office chair.
as for controls, once you get used to it, it's actually alot nicer than using a mouse and wasd, simply because movement is analog, and you don't ever have to look down to find hotkeys -- all the controls i need are millimetres away form each other, and in very sensible places.
its also much more realisitc -- aiming is much harder, and while most people complain about this, i think its just a matter of how games are made -- in most PC fps's, it takes 10-50 shots to kill someone, because everyone is always so precise. ergo, very little people play, for instance, tom clancy games on PC, versus more arcadey games like CS and BF1942.
but on XBOX, for instance, Rainbow Six 3 is the most-played game online, followed by Ghost Recon: Island Thunder. Because aiming is so much more realistic, one or two shots can kill, and so more people play these games. otherwise, you get into 'death ballets' where everyone dances around everyone else trying to hit them the required 10-15 times.
the real added bonus of this is that headshots are harder to get, and skill is therefore rewarded more.
(don't even bother with ps2 though imo, because the analog sticks are too short -- xbox has longer sticks, meaning better precision, hence the popularity of FPS's on it.)
as for RTS's, i agree. consoles can't do them at all. but you know, just as well as i, that even PC's can't do RTS's right. its just absolutely pointless to command one unit at a time (or even small groups) of a large army, in real-time. a mouse is designed move one, not 500, objects at a time.
Newsie, Moderator, www.tauniverse.com
There are two forces working against PCs and for consoles.
/bow_head for moddown.
First, the consumer. Yes, your PC has higher precision in FPS games. Yes, your PC gets higher FPS. Yes, your PC can display games at a higher resolution. Does the 26 year old bachlor who has broadband to have it (that is to say, porn) and PS2 and Madden 2004 give damn about FPS and 1600 pixels and 128mb of gpu ram yadda yadda yadda? Nope. It matters to us because, well, it's always mattered to us. Because we're PC fanatics. But better FPS and higher accuracy doesn't necessarily mean more fun, it just means a higher FPS and accuracy. Whoopie. Personally, I've yet to see anything on PC that eclipses the strinking visuals in titles like Viewtiful Joe, or Zelda, ICO, or Panzeer Dragoon Orta. Additionally, while consoles aren't existing within some kind of non-cheating utopia kingdom, it's a far better situation than the PC, particularly on Xbox Live. You only have so many credit cards for new XBL accounts, whereas IPs come as easy as power cycling your modem. Lag is typically better, as every player on XBL and in most PS2 games are required to have broadband. Most of these same games also require voice (which, granted and thanks to the seemingly shared low IQ on XBL, is sometimes detrimental) and have a built in unified awareness system (I know when my friend is online regardless of what game she's playing). Basically, the mainstream consumer is on the side of console onling gaming if they're on either side at all. It certainly won't be PC, which includes significanlty more hurdles to really play online than the console, even in the relative childhood of online console gaming. Path of less resistance, remember?
Secondly, if they don't already - and many of them do - I think publishers will prefer console online gaming to PC. There's more control there, even if it's through the Microsoft controlled XBL. Particularly with XBL, there's less liability. Some guy sexually harassing little kids? No problem, you have his credit card, not some untracable IP that leads you to a library or wireless hotspot. There's also financial control. It's much harder to charge for a roster update through a PC than it is on a console, when you've stored their credit card number. Whether this is good for the consumer is debatable, but I think the cards, which are predominately in the hands of the publishers, are definitely stacked against PC gaming. If there is any altruism, it's because companies like Valve and id have a certain spot in their heart for PC gaming, not because they see any financial reasoning to do so. If you think this is the norm rather than the exception, you're the only one still getting $15 off coupons to Amazon.com every week in your email box.
Face it: when it comes to at least racing and sports, consoles have quite easily dominated online gameplay (yes, I know how cool Live for Speed is). All that's left is RPG, FPS, and RTS, and I think console devs will be happy to leave RTS firmly in the grip of the PC.
I think what most people who've posted are doing is examing their own habits with regards to online gaming but have largely neglected to truly examine the entirety of the video game market. Sure, PC gaming will always be here and for some ungodly reason people will still be playing dust on CS, and PC online will most certainly for the next year or two to come what with Half Life 2 and Doom III on the horizon. However, I'm as enamored with the net integration in PGR2 as the article writer is, and I think it's a glimpse of what can really be accomplished with online console gaming. PGR2 not only meets PC gaming, but it smacks in the ass, trips it out, and has surpassed what PC gaming should have been doing this whole time. If PC gaming does survive, it'll have been done with the mantra "evolve or die;" and I think in many ways it will begin to resemble console gaming (i.e. Steam significantly resembles XBL).
All this "endless tweaking" is a myth - if you have a properly configured computer (I can go from blank HD to fully up and running incl. office suite and various utils) in about 35 minutes. I haven't had a problem with hardware OR software in years.
And when I said "high priced games," I meant console games that cost 5-10$ CAD more on day of release, and sometimes 10-20$ more after a few months.
Finally, if you can afford a console, chances are you have a PC too. You're paying twice for basically one appliance. Why bother?
I understand what you're saying, but when games like KOTOR and Deus Ex: Invisible War for the XBox ship with show-stopping bugs (bugs that can't be fixed with patches, mind you), then I'd imagine that you'd be much more frustrated than simply paying for the PC version, investing a little bit of time (i.e. waiting for a patch) and having a fully-functional product.
For the record: I have a GBA SP too, and wouldn't replace it for the world.
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
Actually those cards are pretty useful for 3D modeling. I have a couple friends that are really into that.
It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds. - Captain Hammer
I think that utimately, piracy is what will kill (and in some extents, has already killed) the PC as a gaming platform.
Let's face the facts: About everyone has a personal computer at home, and a lot of people play games, but nobody buys them (this is from an European point of view). Compare this to the console market, where piracy is present but much less widespread (it often needs some hardware hacks that all the users aren't willing to do). How are developpers supposed to make money from this ?
But, you will probably say:
"I buy PC games, sometimes"
"Online games that require a cd-key defeat piracy"
You're right, but these facts did not protect the decline of the PC platform, and in a way they contributed to its impoverishment. Nowaydays, the only games which you can expect to be successful on retail are : High profiled games that people will buy because they've been waiting for them for a long time (Half-Life 2, etc...) or online multiplayer games. In a short, RTS or FPS.
PC used to be a wonderful platform for gaming, because the diversity of the games available was formidable. Turn based games, combat flight simulators, adventure games... Sadly, this is becoming less and less true.
Hopefully, some developpers/publishers aren't ignoring the PC platform yet, releasing their games on multiple plaforms including PC (example: Worms3D is available on PS2, NGC, XBOX, PC and Mac) but I wonder for how long...