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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?
What were your PC highlights and lowlights for the year?
;)
I'm on a Mac. Our gaming highlights and lowlights are the same thing.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
Savage
Max Payne 2
Final Fantasy XI
Warcraft III Frozen Throne
Knights of the Old Republic (yes it came out on Xbox first, but I don't mind the extra wait)
Lowlights :
A cheap attempt to save C&C:Generals from EA Games with an expansion of what it should've been. (Read up on the reports before the original came out))
MOO 3 sucked, went back to playing MOO 2.
Halo PC's multiplayer is insanely laggy even with all broadband players.
No news about future RTS games I should get excited about.
Half-Life 2 delay. End of list.
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.
I'm not sure if this is a good thing, and it's definitely not a renaissance in PC gaming. For a renaissance in PC gaming to occur, there would have to be a resurgence of PC games, not console ports. I always liked the fact that PC games were different from console games; I hope the fact that consoles are becoming more like PCs doesn't destroy the diversity that video games have thus far enjoyed. Unfortunately, with the "consolification" of various PC franchises, that may be wishful thinking.
BTW, to answer the question posed in the submission, the comment about "false advertising" dovetails nicely with my personal PC gaming lowlight of the year, Final Fantasy XI. As for my highlight, well, it's hard to say, since I've only recently upgraded my computer, and thus haven't played the big hits that came out over the holidays yet. I expect KOTOR will be my favorite out of them all, though.
Rob
[console ports] ... they indicated the beginning of a renaissance in PC gaming
A what? Console ports on the PC is as much of a renaissance as PS2 backports to the original Playstation (Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 anyone?) represented a Playstation rennissance in some bizzaro world where the Playstation is more powerful than the PS2.
Remember 1994? Apogee, Id, Epic, 3dRealms, Sierra... That was a Renaissance. A year of console ports is more like a depression.
A real 'low-light'- Buying the ATI Half-Life 2 bundle.
(tap)...(tap)...(tap)...still waiting...
No reason to lie.
The Good:
Max Payne 2
Completely outdoes the original in every way, loads of fun and had amazing graphics, physics to die for and a campy, dark story.
Enemy Territory
I'm quite sure this was 2003, correct me if I'm wrong. Free? Fun? Free?? You bet.
Halo PC
Finally playing Halo without resorting to bad net-code and Xbconnect. I can actually join 16 player games in an instant. Hard to beat the keyb/mouse combo. People complaining about lag? Find a better server, I have no problems.
Call of Duty
Hooked me in an instant, yeah it's scripted like MOH, but it felt like the real thing!
The Bad:
Deus Ex
Wtf?
Upgrading
Spent $1000 upgrading last year to play Halo and the like, and yet I still went back to console gaming.
PC Gaming in General
I figured out with my gaming habits, the only real reason I hop on the PC for gaming is to play Online FPS. You will never beat the keyboard/mouse combo - period. Yes I play Socom II and you do get used to the PS2 controller, but sometimes you just want to curse non-stop at how innaccurate it is. Bottom line, gaming from my living room is more comfortable, enjoyable and more immersive on a whole - if console Online gaming really takes off and the next generation means every game is 1080i, I just might find myself spending less and less on the yearly PC upgrades.
Microsoft also scored another moderate hit with Freelancer, the sequel to Starlancer. Unfortunately, this multiplayer-only game suffered from low replay value.
What?
EA is only a shadow of its past self and unless it's willing to invest into new, innovative products, in a few years it may follow 3DO's footsteps.
What!?
Excuse me, waiter. Could I have some of what that guy's smoking? Thanks.
Rob
2003 highlight:
Duke Nukem Forev...oh, wait.
Steam.
The unlikelyhood of running HL2 under anything that isn't Windows.
The idea that games need to be "monetized" into a subscription mode - in other words, Steam.
www.eFax.com are spammers
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.
HIGHLIGHTS :-
:-
:-
call of duty - predictable but fun
vice city - except i struggle with the heli controls on pc
rise of nations - finally, something new to RTS
need for speed underground - who said racing games have to be even remotely serious?
neverwinter nights - expansions just keep making this game better and better
jedi academy - i thought they were never going to get it right
vietcong - hey SOF2, this is how jungle fighting is done
LOWLIGHTS
people that seem to think that online gaming is all thats left on the pc nowadays
BLACK ISLE R.I.P.
halo - mouse and keyboard doesnt fix the atrocious level design and boring enemies/weapons
deus ex 2 - i want to like it, but it makes it so hard to
MOO3 - i like complication sure, but i also like to actually play games
fallout 3 - exactly.
IN BETWEENS
temple of elemental evil - an awesome game initially wrecked by release before it was ready
freelancer - i still cant see what people see in this
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.
Lowlights:
Fallout 3 cancellation
no more Black Isle
delays