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State Of PC Gaming In 2003 Probed
An anonymous reader writes "Netjak has just published an overview of the past year in PC gaming. Unlike all the doomsayers, it was very enthusiastic about the console ports that flooded the market, because, for the author, they indicated the beginning of a renaissance in PC gaming. However, there's also some perceived negative developments. They were surprised to see Electronic Arts lose its last spark of innovative spirit, and unhappy to see a growth in false advertising, especially the usage of established franchise names to support the sales of unrelated games." What were your PC highlights and lowlights for the year?
The prediction is that as the PC gaming market gets flooded with increasingly lousy console ports, that there will be a backlash against them, which will lead to a renaissance in PC gaming in a few years.
In other words--like everything else--console-port hell is cyclical.
He decided to just watch the government, and kind of scale it down to size, and run his life that way. --Laurie Anderson
Electronic Arts: When I purchased Might & Magic VI, Might and Magic VII, Heroes of Might and Magic III and the first Army Men, I thought 3DO would be here forever. That was 3-4 years ago...
It's not a case of one becoming another - it's a case of moving to common ground. Console games are not only becoming more PC-like in hardware, but also in games. Games like Gran Turismo are the kind of simulation-heavy titles that were once exclusive to PCs. RPGs are no longer limited to Japanese console RPGs, but produce things like Knights of the Old Republic, and heartily welcome a port of Morrowind.
Sports titles are beginning to have the level of features and sophistication that PC sports titles were known for "back in the day".
There is still a division between them, and it's not likely we'll see a Falcon 4.0 on a console anytime soon. But consoles have come back in the PC's direction in more than just hardware, and are much better off because of it.
BTW, this is coming from a self-proclaimed PC gamer, who is waiting to see consoles live up to a System Shock 2 or a Fallout or a Total Annihilation. Consoles are producing a lot of good games, though.
An alternative that the author didn't contemplate:
PC gaming is being marginalised by the game production houses. There isn't really a huge growth in new PC game development by the big players. Independants are making a few small games, true, but the majority of the work is being done in the modding community. This will only last as long as new games are released for PC in a moddable format (which means the games are developed for PC, again a diminishing trend). It will also only last for as long as mods aren't available on consoles. The Xbox already has an internet connection and a hard drive. All that needs to happen is that Xbox games get downloadable mods and game fixing patches, just like PC's, and game houses will be able to code exclusively for consoles, seeing no advantage of releasing games for the "uncontrolled" DRM free PC.
Furthermore, as you can see, console ports are continually on the rise and they're continually failing on the PC. Yes, this is because PC gamers bathe, have haircuts, and are generally distinguishing. But the gaming industry will just interpret the low sales as a lack of demand rather than product inferiority, and further reduce efforts to develop for PC.
This is where the so-called rennaissance comes in. Independent houses don't have the resources to produce a game with the same content as the big houses. Games developed in the "first cycle" that the author mentioned could have been achieved (and often were) by a small handful of talented staff. I know iD wasn't huge when they made Wolfenstein! But Wolfenstein won't cut it anymore. An independent rennaissance cannot be.
One factor for contemplation, however, is the PC hardware industry. Despite the lack of growth in the PC gaming sector, the PC hardware sector is skyrocketing. AMD and Intel both need a stong gaming community to push product like the AthlonFX and the Xeon^H^H^H^HPentium EE. ATI doesn't need PC gaming anymore thanks to Xbox2, but nVidia doesn't have a console anymore (not that they made money on Xbox anyway). So nVidia needs PC gaming to stay alive (they also need a competitive graphics architecture, but that's another story). Will these companies have any influence over the console-pushers and big gaming houses? Will they be able to turn the tide away from consoles?
Console gaming killed the arcade machine, because the console game had better graphics, sound, and you could play it at home. But will the console kill the PC? The only advantages that the console has on PC is the low entry cost, and the vast industry backing. Arcades died because that was what customers wanted - but will the PC game die because Namco and Sony and Activision want it to?
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
Call me a pessimist but I have very high expectations of games (it's the 21st bleedin' century here). We've seen some really awesome titles this year, but some of the best ones have a common problem.
Call of Duty - amazing game, perfect control, secondary fire mode (barrel aiming) revolutionalizes FPS... but I finished it in 2 days and the levels are almost totally unrelated.
Max Payne 2 - excellent control, very nice sharp texturing, runs at a better frame rate than some 4 year old games... but I finished it in a day!
Postal 2 - decent control, awesome premise (normal guy in a normal town), creative goals, hilarious execution... but I finished it in a day!!
See where I'm going with this? Granted, these VERY SHORT GAMES are super fun and truly have set a benchmark (for better or for worse) in graphics, gameplay, and content. But it's just plain unfair to charge full fare for 1 or 2 days of entertainment.
I think game companies are getting lazy and\or misdirected. They are pouring all their resources into graphics, sound, and presentation and coming up empty on substance. The titles I've mentioned are action games, but action without contrast is pretty dry. It's okay for there to be a suspenseful lull in gameplay to pad the story a little.
At least Max and Postal developed their own engines. CoD just rehashed the Quake3 engine! I suspect gaming companies are starting to ride on their laurels - leaping off the blocks with a bang but coming up short in depth. My opinion is that they are waiting for the mod community to do their job for them.