Altered Allegiance

Chaos Marine

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I can not see any point at all about this article. You're giving up on PC gaming. Okay. Who cares?

I believe the term 'Cool story bro' would sum up my reply pretty succinctly.
 

toapat

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pompom8volt said:
toapat said:
"There was a time - let's call it 2007 - where I resolved that any game released on a console where there was likely to be a PC port was either worth waiting for the port or not worth my time. I did so, stubborn and full of self-righteousness at the purity of my chosen platform. To my mind, RPG and RTS games projected onto my television screen were threadbare silhouettes of what could be accomplished by my Windows enabled computer."

ok here is how it goes:

PC:
Shooter
Strategy
RPG
Simulation

Console:
Driving
Hack&slash (all fighting games, Dynasty Warriors, and God Of War)
Sports
Platformer

games under one category suck on the other

2000 is the end of Quality media, not just gaming
Since when do driving games suck on the PC? Sure, with the basic keyboard+mouse set up it rough going, but with the right peripherals the game play far surpasses that of a console.
this is assuming you dont have a wheel and pedals for computer
 

veloper

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Now that was very honest and all, but does mr. Sands also know what comes after a confession?
 

300lb. Samoan

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Sean Sands said:
It all changed with the millennium. If I were forced to pick the year that the torch was passed, I choose 2000. I concede that 1995-1997 were probably the last golden years of PC gaming, and at that point we should have seen the writing on the wall, but Y2K is when I think the baton was passed. The year began with The Sims, Diablo II, Deus Ex, EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark, Shogun: Total War and Icewind Dale.
I think it's technological. 1995-1997 is about the time my PC gaming instincts were cemented, it was simply a great time to be alive! The economy was climbing, and processor technology was moving so fast that there was zero incentive for console companies to make a tech-competitive system. We could all rest assured that Doom would never get a proper port, Descent was never going to be playable even on N64, and everything that was coming out on PC was going to look and play gorgeous while the PS1 and N64 were laughable in comparison.

Then, IN THE YEEEAAAAR TWO THOOOOOUUUSAAAAAND

Dreamcast showed us that console graphics could be good... very good... mind-blowingly good. Even I wanted one! At the same time, PS2 brought us the brilliant Emotion Engine and Microsoft's DirectX API/architecture was so advanced that they could build a stand-alone system around it (the DirectXbox). Between PS2 and Xbox, companies saw two powerful and standardized platforms that rivaled the development possibilities of PCs and had comparable performance. The end of an era.
 

Fearzone

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Dec 3, 2008
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Abengoshis said:
Dirty Apple said:
mattman106 said:
I am going to blow some minds here; you can use controllers with PCs.
I've always wondered, if the second gen consoles offered mouse and keyboard peripherals, would it unbalance the status quo? If the only obstacles to the contentiously prominent PC genres (ie: RTS, Sims, FPS, Strategy) are control options, why hasn't this been addressed?
There is a mouse peripheral for the PS3...
You can plug a USB keyboard into the PS3 and it will function. So I've heard. I've never tried it. Great idea though. If you can do that with the mouse too and maybe get a USB extention cord, bring on the PS3 strategy games I'm down.

Consoles predate PC gaming in the 2D market, and if I had to guess I would say they always dominated there. PC gaming enjoyed it's glory days in the mid-90's with the advent of 3D acceleration for a time which it had and the consoles didn't. Once consoles adopted 3D acceleration, they reclaimed their dominance of casual gaming.
 

Therumancer

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Nov 28, 2007
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I don't think the PC will ever die as a gaming platform simply because there are so many out there. Probably as many PCs in homes as there are consoles, going by the fact that most consoles are internet enabled and most people have the internet for their PC to begin with.

That said, I think the big thing that killed PC gaming was simply greed. You basically had a situation where with constant hardware updates, gaming companies were releasing games only with the newest hardware. PC gaming companies often didn't bother to worry about trivial things like testing hardware and ensuring that their games were compadible with all the versions of the things they said they were compadible with. This is something an angry user calling tech support and being told to "contact their hardware manufacturer" (and then being told it was a software problem if you were ever stupid enough to do it) is probably quite familiar with.

There is no doubt that PC gaming is, and always will be, superior to consoles. Mouse and Keyboard is never going to be overcome for most game generes by keypads. As it is FPS games and the like that have seen shared arenas between PC and Console users have had balance issues due to this (Shadowrun being paticularly infamous, even if they are working on the problem).

The problem of course being that a console stays "up to date" for five years, and then oftentimes sees further development of titles even when a next gen system is out there for a couple of years. In comparison I bought a new PC last year, and I'm already worried if next year (3 year cycle tops) I'll be able to play the latest games and MMORPGs. On the other hand I have no fear that I will be able to find new games for my PS-3, 360, DS, or PSP.

I feel that PC gaming could be "saved" if game developers were to pretty much pick a hardware set, and then have the willpower to stick with that general PC hardware/driver/software set for several years rather than updating constantly to a new plateau. If the game industry worked together for anything but gouging consumers this is a problem that could be easily addressed and the PC could easily become as good as the
consoles out there.

It should also be noted that when it comes to things like RTS and RPGs the PC is still king. Dragon Age: Origins has garnered some eyebrow raises with the fact that the 360 version is not going to allow for an overall strategic perspective (and this is a "WTF" moment when your looking at the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate). I have no doubt it will be workable, but I have a feeling the PC will hands down be a superior format. For reasons related to my RL lifestyle I will be getting two versions (PC and 360) pretty close to each other and will probably be able to compare them for people pretty soon after release (unlike most users) I might very well put this up on The Escapist when I have the abillity to make a fair comparison.

It could also be noted that going by the Japanese-Origin mods and such, it seems that Japanese gamers themselves seem to think PC-based Western RPGs are superior to a lot of JRPGs. Indeed I've actually read articles years ago comparing the two from their perspective, and while very racist and put-downish, a lot grudgingly admit that JRPGs could stand to copy more from WRPGs. Back around the time of say Final Fantasy X, when I was reading some of the stuff about why neither "Final Mission" (ending the story), or the "International" version were going to make it to the US, I also remember reading translated comments on why the Japanese had yet to produce much in the way of Sandbox games, or an Oriental themed sandbox RPG on the level of Oblivion featuring pan-asian themes, as opposed to a mish-mash of ancient western themed material. The answer seemed to be that the J RPG format is "Japanese invented" pretty much and as such maintained as a matter of national pride, and adapting more western methodology would be considered a blow to many... even if the exact writer seemed to think this was foolish (while at the same time claiming they could do it better and steal the Western RPG). It also made referance to the enduring inspiration of games like "Wizardry" which Japan adopted from the US and still continued to an extent (and ultimatly lead to me running out to get "Forsaken Lands" which was one of the only Japanese Wizardry games to make it to the US).


The point of this being that all racism and such aside, I feel that with the general increase in computer gaming internationally, I think that if the format was to switch back to PC, or balance out more, you would see the Japanese game developers (who frankly shovel out most of the video gaming one way or another it seems) change formats.

This in response to points made elsewhere through the years that the console focus is in part due to Japan and the whims of their game developers. There is SOME truth to that, but then again gaming just happened to "Boom" (for economic reasons among others) when consoles happened to be pushing ahead, so that happens to be what they use. There is a bit of assumed cultural superiority behind companies like "Sony" and their success that helps fuel this, but the Japanese also produce a lot of computers (as anyone on the receiving end of the old RAM trade war can attest) so really, I think that if PC game developers (here and overseas) ever decided to get it together, I think a lot of developers would jump on board.
 

Sanaj

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Mar 20, 2009
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An interesting read Sean Sands.

I wouldn't describe myself as either a console gamer or a PC gamer first.
The platform that you play games on isn't something that I'm going to judge you for...
=================================================================
I've been enjoying Torchlight and some older games that I missed entirely from gog
(one of them is Beyond Good and Evil).

I've also been playing Batman Arkham Asylum and Critter Crunch on the PS3.
=================================================================
RTS and MMO games usually play better on the PC.

Fighting games and platformers usually play better on consoles.
 

GunFox

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Nov 1, 2009
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You bought Borderlands for the console?

You purchased an FPS for the console over the PC.

Turn over your PC gamer title and pack up your things. Security will escort you out.
 

Wakefield

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jamesworkshop said:
PC exclusives
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Starcraft 2
Diablo 3
Guild Wars 2
Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising
Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer
Torchlight
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Shattered Horizon
Cities XL

I would still say the Golden age of the PC is now
I would argue that there's far too many mmos on that list. Which doesn't make this the golden age of PC games (I PC game almost exclusively now but I can't stand MMOs) Just my opinion.
 

jamesworkshop

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Wakefield said:
jamesworkshop said:
PC exclusives
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Starcraft 2
Diablo 3
Guild Wars 2
Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising
Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer
Torchlight
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Shattered Horizon
Cities XL

I would still say the Golden age of the PC is now
I would argue that there's far too many mmos on that list. Which doesn't make this the golden age of PC games (I PC game almost exclusively now but I can't stand MMOs) Just my opinion.
PC exclusives are the icing not the cake we basically get every decent console game and get the better and cheaper versions of those multiplatform titles in genres we never used to get on the PC which is far better than how it used to be.
 

SomeBritishDude

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Populus89 said:
I own 3 consoles and 4 pocket ones. I spend most of my gaming time on my PC.

I am a person who likes to play video games, I detest the word "gamer". I don't get what's the big deal with the whole "pc gaming vs console gaming" thing. I just enjoy the games and don't care about the so called wars.

And no, I'm not a casual gamer.
I have to agree with this. I see both sides as having there ups and downs. PC gaming is just as problamtic as console gaming and visa versa.

I find the PC Elitists more annoying than console Fanboys now-a-days; at least with fanboys you can put it down to just being a bit dim. The very word Elitist cunjures up images of self righteous pricks.
 

Sinister Minister

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What makes me laugh are all the people saying that a console controller is a horrible way to control a game, and that couldn't be farther from truth. Hell, it's an opinion. You know what? Some people prefer controllers over keyboard and mouse. (keep the buying controllers for PC out of this, we're talking consoles and PCs solely here) Just because some of you PC players suck something awful with controllers doesn't make them a terrible input device. I realize this makes me sound like a console fanboy but I play on both PCs and consoles and I see absolutely nothing wrong with either input device. Use what you want and stop being so goddamn stuck up.
 

dududf

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Hold up, you freaken bought borderlands for your console ?!!!

Bastaaaaaaaaaard!!!!
___

Anyways, I'm gonna have to disagree with you, it was a good article but I still think the PC is going strong, it's not number one (Due to idiots aparently "Not being able to work it"(Or that's what devs and publishers shout when they announce console or console game >.>))

I'm proud of my PC, I'm proud of my Mouse (Well, not at this second, it's going wonky on me gotta get a new 1) and I'm god damn PROUD of my Keyboard.

As long as I have my crack, erm I mean Valve, then I'll be happy.
 

paketep

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Jul 14, 2008
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Don't know why Sean Sands always reserves his condescending bastard tone for the Escapist articles. I knew the article was his without reading the author's name after only the first paragraph.

Whatever, Elysium. You're a console convert?. Good for you. Despite Microsoft (mainly), Activision and the rest doing all they can to kill the PC (as a gaming platform, obviously), still I find PC games to be the most interesting year after year. I won't be moving to consoles anytime soon.
 

WickedArtist

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May 21, 2009
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The PC has been declining and dying as a gaming platform for, what, about ten years now or something? And yet it is still here, and still getting new titles.

I think PC gaming will do just fine.
 

Spygon

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wow the descent of the PC faithful not that i got anything against PC gamers well not most of them.But the way every time someone brings up a console favoring article you jump on it like its going to bring down PC forever is rather amazing.

But both sides have there pros and cons i honestly hardly touch my pc to game anymore as my 360 seems to do everything i need but thats just me.