Game Stash: The Death of PC Gaming

[Steve Butts]

Yeah, what I wrote is confusing. My fault. The Sims is not exclusive to the PC, definitely and neither are Half-Life or Counter-Strike. I guess what I intended to say was that they began as PC exclusives, became stupidly popular and were just shoveled onto the consoles in an attempt to reach a new audience. To me, the console releases of those games are kind of inconsequential; their popularity and influence are defined almost exclusively by their PC versions.

Sorry for being unclear.

 

[Incredible Bullshitting Man]

Spoiler

"The open hardware environment means driver and compatibility issues, which can be very frustrating at the end of a long day when you just want to sit down and unwind with your favorite game."

If this happens to you, I'd guess you're on a mac. The only issues I've ever experienced were when I knew I had an inferior laptop and I just wanted to see if the orange box would run on it. Or when I was 8 and bought a game for windows 95 that I couldn't even run on my 3.1. Problem solved after taking it to a friend's.

You see, here´s the consoles advantage; With a console you don´t have to wonder whether game X will run or not. You don´t have to come up with alternate solutions, like taking the game to friend´s, to play the damn thing. Console is convenient, because all you need to do to play a game is to turn on the console (and naturally put in a game), and that convenience can be a major deciding factor, if the potential buyer isn´t really that tech savvy (as an average consumer isn´t).

Of course, a rigid structure like that comes with its own set of flaws, like aging. PC is easier to keep up-to-date. whereas a console is stuck with its system until a newer consoles comes along, and that usually takes time.

I can see your point, and what you say is true. But it?s not as bad as everyone puts it. I would say 90% of all games i buy work first try. The other 10% (Like metro 2033) don't and you have to poke a few times with a stick to get going and that?s the games all the console players hear about.

Its not like every time I buy a game I have to recode the thing to get it to go.

I suppose that´s true. Not being able to play Crysis with the highest settings doesn´t really mean PC gaming is fundamentally flawed. Driver and compatibility issues being the main argument against PC gaming it´s easy to get a very one-sided view of matter and assume that´s all there is to it. That is, however, the view your average consumer, I´d wager, operates under, partly explaining the increasing popularity of console gaming. Consoles simply benefit from the small bumps in the road of PC gaming.

 

[Treblaine]

But STILL console ports are better on PC than on their original console. Why play at 720p and 30fps when you can easily play at 1080p and 60fps? Why settle for P2P multiplayer when you can have user-run dedicated servers?

That is generally true, but some console ports are horrible optimized, destroying all chance of playing it at a high-res, high setting, and good frame rates

GTA4 is an example of this. Many, many players reported very bad performance at max-settings, instances where shadows made frames suck and blow, the game was unplayable an dual/tri cores, and others issues. (It was supposedly patched)

While I personally think that the PC is the best way to play games, things like this make it so not all console ports were best on the PC (which is the message I got from your post)

Just sayin'

Well THERE'S your problem.

GTA4 is a MASSIVE open world game with no loading barriers (all streamed in continuously) and a LOT of shaders and detail, if you set the draw distance and model detail up to maximum you can inadvertently lead to trying to make the game render 50x as much as the console as amount of detail goes up with the POWER OF THREE with distance! So double the draw distance = 8x more to render - then factor in what an INCREDIBLE amount of extra detail the PC-Max settings offer over console's quality level.

Draw distance on console is only 1/5 the maximum achievable on PC (R* developer admitted that a draw distance of 21/100 is more than the Xbox 360 version). I think Rockstar just had a Crysis moment and unwisely allowed the settings to be set ridiculously high, just for those half-percentile of PC-gamers who have stupidly powerful rigs.

The problem here is CHOICE which is hardly the worst kind of problem. You can turn the settings up or down and yes, I know there are other issues, all solved with patches which is hardly PC's sole reserve (it's practically standard for console games to get patched nowadays).

I know, it is annoying that almost every other game you can set to maximum settings and play well... then this GTA4 comes along and plays poorly on max-settings. So people go "WTF? it must be broken! Shitty port GRRR!"

The problem here is graphics settings are not standardised across games, you have to realise how some games will throw a curve ball. The bottom line is you need not obsess over maxing out the settings but finding settings for you in how the game actually looks and feels.

This source details just how low the PC settings can be to match the console graphics:

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/43354/Grand-Theft-Auto-IV-PC-Graphics-Settings-Detailed

That's right, even medium settings are higher fidelity than the console release. And on console the framerate was more often than not around 25 frame per second and MAJOR dips.

GTA4 s STILL better to get on PC.

 

[Treblaine]

Well, I can see PC gaming getting a revival, but I'd never turn completely to the PC for my gaming needs.

It can't do everything, despite the rabid barking of the PC community.

Me neither. Why turn 100% to ANYTHING when for many developers they'd much rather develop for a single well known system (Kojima's persistence with Playstation) and there are so many unique (but limited) opportunities with exclusive in-house 1st part development that Nintendo has always specialised in and Sony have proven to be probably the best at it now in terms of quality and quantity of 1st party titles.

My computer monitor has a HDMI and VGA port... why not plug a PS3/Wii in as well?

The way I see it, third party games, especially multi-platform releases, are best on PC as they are forced to find the lowest common denominator, where PC can steal a lead with is inherent advantages.

But i'll never completely turn my back on consoles just for those dedicated 1st-party projects from uncharted to killzone, and hell, everyone saw Nintendo's E3 lineup.

 

[rossable]

i left PC around the time Crysis came out. it was too expensive to stay up on all the beta-ware and i was tired of moding my PC every couple of months just to play the newest game. sadly, in the process of the hive-mind switching over, and the greed of the manufacturers, game technology has stagnated. if they went back to exclusive games for each system then we may get to see some revolution again but it's not profitable. it's just all so mediocre any more. it's a new decade and i'm anxious for the new ripple-maker game like Halo was, or the old Kings Quest series, something new that breaks the bounds. fortunately for you it's more likely to hit the PC first.

 

[Skizle]

Consoles are PC. Compair the specs of a PS3 or 360 and they just as good as some of the Pc people play on. Consoles are just computers with a shitty OS in reality.

And old hardware. Give it a few years and we might see some stuff moving back to PC as the hardware gets older. Not sure why, buy we can all cling to hope, right?

I just hope Starcraft II gets some serious sales. I'm gonna buy it. Have you seen what's being done with mods already? and the game isn't even out!

Personally I despise mods, unless your talking about some of the maps and scenarios that people made. Those I cant really call mods because they dont alter the program in any way imo. Interesting that there are already mods out though

 

[Sebenko]

Consoles are PC. Compair the specs of a PS3 or 360 and they just as good as some of the Pc people play on. Consoles are just computers with a shitty OS in reality.

And old hardware. Give it a few years and we might see some stuff moving back to PC as the hardware gets older. Not sure why, buy we can all cling to hope, right?

I just hope Starcraft II gets some serious sales. I'm gonna buy it. Have you seen what's being done with mods already? and the game isn't even out!

Personally I despise mods, unless your talking about some of the maps and scenarios that people made. Those I cant really call mods because they dont alter the program in any way imo. Interesting that there are already mods out though

MechWarrior: Living Legends. The screenshots alone make me wet.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/mechwarrior-living-legends

If you despise mods, I'll just say you're missing out and leave it at that.

 

[Reg0]

I gotta say its only a matter of preference what platform you play on now, altho it still seems the most competitive on games are generally speaking on PC and thats why i think pc gaming will take a long time to die out but on the other hand i feel that consoles are a simplified version of a pc

PC gets the best titles tho ^^

 

[300lb. Samoan]

The one constant I find in PC gaming is it's duality - every aspect of it that makes it unique also makes it more difficult. You can use cutting edge hardware - you'll pay an arm and a leg and have to configure it manually. You can play an endless succession of independently developed games - many exist on the fringes of definable genres and have such limited and narrow appeal that you could spend years playing through all the shovelware, but you might just end up with the game of your dreams. Now the same can be said for the influence of consoles upon the PC gaming scene: thanks to everything being optimized for XBox, you can play almost anything as long as you have a GeForce 8600 or better. On the other hand, the homogeneity of the console market is also pervading the PC scene. I remember the glory days of Doom, Quake and Half-Life - PC had one killer genre up it's sleeve that single-handedly drove the development of new technology and new tech markets, and it was the FPS. Now that the consoles can do FPS games just as well, the PC doesn't have a trump card anymore. But it will always be the most liberal format, and as long as there are games such as TF2 and many many others that make the utmost use of that freedom then there will be a dedicated following.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

"...If we only ever make games based on their potential to appeal to everyone, eventually we're all going to be playing exactly the same game."

Excellent closing.

 

[Jenx]

Amen! Say it like it is brother!

To be honest, I personally feel very lucky to have grown up entirely with PC gaming in my youth. These days it tends to give me a very different view on gaming in general, than what most people seem to have. Then again, most people have grown up with Mario Brothers. I've grown up with Diablo.

Personally, I don't really need the big mainstream developers making games for the PC. (For one thing I couldn't run those games, my PC is pretty old). As said in the article - they'd never try anything risky, since the cost of failing these days is just way too big. So I'm perfectly fine with them making console exclsusive games, while the indie developers work on on the PC.

 

[Skizle]

Consoles are PC. Compair the specs of a PS3 or 360 and they just as good as some of the Pc people play on. Consoles are just computers with a shitty OS in reality.

And old hardware. Give it a few years and we might see some stuff moving back to PC as the hardware gets older. Not sure why, buy we can all cling to hope, right?

I just hope Starcraft II gets some serious sales. I'm gonna buy it. Have you seen what's being done with mods already? and the game isn't even out!

Personally I despise mods, unless your talking about some of the maps and scenarios that people made. Those I cant really call mods because they dont alter the program in any way imo. Interesting that there are already mods out though

MechWarrior: Living Legends. The screenshots alone make me wet.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/mechwarrior-living-legends

If you despise mods, I'll just say you're missing out and leave it at that.

A respectable PC gamer with no flaming. Now we just need more people like you on the internets

 

[Sebenko]

A respectable PC gamer with no flaming. Now we just need more people like you on the internets

Spoiler: One is a respectable fellow!

Haha, my elaborate ruse is working perfectly!

 

[Treblaine]

i left PC around the time Crysis came out. it was too expensive to stay up on all the beta-ware and i was tired of moding my PC every couple of months just to play the newest game. sadly, in the process of the hive-mind switching over, and the greed of the manufacturers, game technology has stagnated. if they went back to exclusive games for each system then we may get to see some revolution again but it's not profitable. it's just all so mediocre any more. it's a new decade and i'm anxious for the new ripple-maker game like Halo was, or the old Kings Quest series, something new that breaks the bounds. fortunately for you it's more likely to hit the PC first.

Sense. That makes none.

What is this "All or nothing, now or never, Max-settings or give up" attitude.

You know you DO NOT HAVE to play Crysis on Very High? You don't NEED the latest and most expensive hardware to play PC games. Hell mid-level PC hardware from as far back as 2008(!) will spank all but the very best console games have to offer.

Those max-settings for Games like Crysis are really for the hobbyists who have the time, money and the know-how to push the absolute limits of what PC gaming can be with multiple hugely overpowered cards and cooling system and enough RAM to run a Google server.

You wouldn't give up driving and buy a bus-pass just because you can't afford a super car nor drive it at +200mph.

PC games have adjustable graphics settings for a reason, they aren't just there for bragging rights when setting to max as standard. You know on almost all games that see both Console + PC release, the console-equivalent settings are almost always low-to-medium. Why abandon PC and go to console when you could just abandon the frankly ridiculous practice that people get of setting every game to the highest settings.

Why did you give up with Crysis in the same year that Team Fortress 2 and COD4 came out on PC(?) that play SO WELL even on modest specification PCs. And Left 4 Dead 1 & 2... that is a game that puts gameplay before graphics.

PC gaming is not left behind; the 8800GT was great value back in Oct 2007 and It'll play BF: Bad Company 2 on PC at 2x the resolution and much higher quality settings than on either console version. A modest PC from 2007 will still outperform Just Cause 2.

 

[rossable]

Sense. That makes none.

What is this "All or nothing, now or never, Max-settings or give up" attitude.

You know you DO NOT HAVE to play Crysis on Very High? You don't NEED the latest and most expensive hardware to play PC games. Hell mid-level PC hardware from as far back as 2008(!) will spank all but the very best console games have to offer.

Those max-settings for Games like Crysis are really for the hobbyists who have the time, money and the know-how to push the absolute limits of what PC gaming can be with multiple hugely overpowered cards and cooling system and enough RAM to run a Google server.

You wouldn't give up driving and buy a bus-pass just because you can't afford a super car nor drive it at +200mph.

PC games have adjustable graphics settings for a reason, they aren't just there for bragging rights when setting to max as standard. You know on almost all games that see both Console + PC release, the console-equivalent settings are almost always low-to-medium. Why abandon PC and go to console when you could just abandon the frankly ridiculous practice that people get of setting every game to the highest settings.

Why did you give up with Crysis in the same year that Team Fortress 2 and COD4 came out on PC(?) that play SO WELL even on modest specification PCs. And Left 4 Dead 1 & 2... that is a game that puts gameplay before graphics.

PC gaming is not left behind; the 8800GT was great value back in Oct 2007 and It'll play BF: Bad Company 2 on PC at 2x the resolution and much higher quality settings than on either console version. A modest PC from 2007 will still outperform Just Cause 2.

i believe you misread me, but to address your comment on the "all or nothing", if i cannot play a game at it's max settings and experience it at it's full potential what's the point in PC gaming. if i want mid settings then the console is the demographic i'm in anyway. Max settings is the only appeal that PC has left for new games without getting into the "controller vs. keyboard/mouse" war. the only other thing going for PC is ease of game mods and cheats, and if your not into that then what's the value of PC gaming!? also, all the tech you quote wasn't released when i left PC gaming or was still too expensive for me to consider it a viable option considering i began loosing interest in '04 and turned my back entirely on it late '07 early '08 the time of which any more upgrades to my box would have required at minimum a new motherboard along with the upgraded chip-sets... it just wasn't worth it anymore.

 

[bam13302]

good article, still gona be a pc gamer till the end, online flash games will never die, that is the standard starting point for almost all young game developers and if that dies, most of gaming will die with it.
The hardest part about killing PC gaming is to completely remove it, you would have to remove the platform, and due to our complete dependence on the computer to keep our world turning, that wont happen.
I think we will be safe for a good long time
especially if consoles die like bioware says they will

 

[Doug]

I have to agree with you, on all points, especially as a life long PC gaming first player. I do have an XBox and a Wii, but the PC is where my true home is for gaming.

 

[UnSub]

Hell mid-level PC hardware from as far back as 2008(!) will spank all but the very best console games have to offer.

Fully aware that this thread exists as a big group hug around PC gaming, but having a stable architecture to develop on sees devs / studios learn how to optimise that experience. So while a PC may spank a console in terms of pure power, the actually on-screen difference is minimal (except for the bleeding edge crowd, who care about such things).

The 'death' of PC gaming is often overstated, but it is facing a lot of challenges, including the dominance of MMOs, the increasing rise of casual games and the huge number of competitors (being an open platform means low barriers to entry, after all) jostling for player attention. And piracy, which is the elephant in the room.