PC Gaming Alliance Talks PC/Console Crossover

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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PC Gaming Alliance Talks PC/Console Crossover


PC Gaming Alliance [http://www.pcgamingalliance.org/en/index.asp] President Randy Stude recently spoke out about the future of gaming on the PC, how PCs and consoles may someday intersect and the fallacies of blaming all your problems on piracy.

In a new interview posted at GamePolitics, Stude made some interesting predictions about the future of gaming, not least of which is a crossover with consoles that will see future PCs include console compatibility. "The guts of every console should tell you that the capability is there for the PC to act as the central point for all the consoles," he said. "If you bought a PC and as part of that equation you said, Okay, when you're on the phone with Dell [http://www.dell.com/], "Hey, Dell, on this PC, this new notebook I'm buying, can you make sure it has the PlayStation 4 option built into it?"

"Why shouldn't that be the case? [Sony [http://www.sony.com] is] certainly not making any money on the hardware," he continued. "I mean, can't they create a stable enough environment to specify that if Dell's going to sell that notebook and say that it's PlayStation 4 [compatible] that it must have certain ingredients and it must meet certain criteria? Absolutely they could do that. Are they going to do it? I don't know. I predict that they will. I predict that all of the console makers over time will recognize that it's too expensive to develop the proprietary solution and recognize the value of collapsing back on the PC as a ubiquitous platform."

Stude also called the idea of publishers abandoning the PC platform because of piracy as "ridiculous," saying, "If someone wants to leave the PC market, we'll miss you. We'll watch with admiration as your titles ship in a diluted fashion without a whole lot of game play innovation, at least until you copy the innovation that occurs on the PC. Well find the great games on PC and we'll play those."

"I've heard people say, well, we're just not going to publish this title for PC gaming because it's in a state of disarray or because of piracy or whatever," he added. "Okay, fine. Do what you want. If you're not going to release the C&C Red Alert 3 [http://endwargame.us.ubi.com/] instead of EndWar. You blew it."

He admitted that the complexities of the "PC ecosystem" sometimes make it difficult for console developers to properly port their games to the PC, and said that one of the goals of the PCGA is to establish a "minimum starting point" for PC gaming. "We want the hardware OEMs and the game publishers to support that guideline and to advocate the experience of gaming on the PC at a stable starting point, something will last a couple years and then move on to the next [standard]," he said. He also noted that the PCGA is discussing a logo for gaming-ready PCs, saying, "If there needs to be a logo then we'll probably have a logo, but we haven't made that determination yet."

GamePolitics' full interview with Randy Stude, touching on other topics including the impact of here [http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/default.aspx].


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Nimbus

Token Irish Guy
Oct 22, 2008
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I'm not convinced. Why would anyone need to "make sure it has the PlayStation 4 option built into it" when most console games are poor compared to the PC alternatives.
 

Skrapt

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May 6, 2008
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They are in a way as they are built on optimized versions of older computer hardware. Though I think the line is a little blurred because of the different programming languages that are usually console specific.

I like what Randy Stude is saying, but I think it's a bit of a fairy tale. I know people on both parts of the computer and console divide and many would not accept that the other is a viable gaming platform (myself belonging to the former group!). It would be nice at some point in the future for consoles and computers to merge, however I think that would require an Apple-esque totalitarian control over hardware and software to work. As the main reason for consoles performance is that developers get the time to learn the hardware inside, out and learn how to squeeze every little bit of power out of it. Whereas they do not get that luxury with computers, as by the time you've spent 6 months learning to develop for the latest graphics cards, a plethora of new ones will have arrived on the market.
 

Asehujiko

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Feb 25, 2008
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Hehe. Soon pc's can play console games too but consoles stil won't be able to play pc games. Victory draws near my mouse&keyboard brethren!
 

Chaos Marine

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Feb 6, 2008
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Cheeze_Pavilion said:
*Snip*
It's not--the FPS and Third Person Shooter and Adventure/Action and Platforming genres are console genres. Period. The majority of people prefer those games with a gamepad whether their first console was a PS3 or an Atari 2600, and there was a gap in their--okay, my--console ownership between the Sega Genesis and the PS2 they got to play God of War.
*Snip*
You're a moron. FPS games do not belong on consoles. They're horrifically imbalanced to the player giving him the ability to soak up insane damage and autoaim. No skill or sense of accomplishment whatsoever. Where as with the PC, most FPS games, you get hit maybe three or four times on the normal difficulty settings or one or two on the hard settings and you're dead. When you fight your way through a dozen or several foes each as capable as killing you as you are them, the sense of satisfaction is immense. Don't you dare assume otherwise. FPS games will always be a PC genre far more than anything.
 

Lt. Sera

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Apr 22, 2008
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Through virtualization, it would be doable to build the console as just a software shell. It would be interesting to see and be all shades of awesome.
 

Chaos Marine

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Feb 6, 2008
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I disagree. FPS games will always be a PC genre, just because a mediocre game like the Halo series was a console success doesn't mean it's better on a console than a PC. Comparatively speaking, the grade of FPS games on the PC often exceeds the scope of console games though I will admit that console FPS games are closing the gap in everything but controls. After playing UT3 on the PS3 and having it for the PC myself, playing the UT3 was horrifically slow in comparison. In the PC version, you predict and fire and make your kill within a literal split second or you're as dead as dirt. In the PS3 version, you can take a full second to consider what weapon to use before letting the auto aim do most of the work for you.

That is not how FPS games are meant to be played. Playing with demi-god mode (You can still die after all, adding in several stone of lead to your body weight of course)and letting the auto aim do all the work. But I repeat myself. But it bears repeating. FPS games are a PC market. Always has been and always will be.
 

Joeshie

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Oct 9, 2007
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Cheeze_Pavilion said:
It's not--the FPS and Third Person Shooter and Adventure/Action and Platforming genres are console genres. Period. The majority of people prefer those games with a gamepad whether their first console was a PS3 or an Atari 2600, and there was a gap in their--okay, my--console ownership between the Sega Genesis and the PS2 they got to play God of War.
You disappoint me Cheeze. I've always pegged you as an intelligent poster, but claiming FPS as a console genre? Tisk, tisk.

Most people like playing FPS on a gamepad because that's all they have ever played with. I'd say that 80-90% of most people who have played FPS on consoles have never even touched an FPS on a computer. How can they possibly have a preference when they have only tried one of the two options?

FPS will always remain a PC genre due to the more natural and fluid controls of the mouse over the crappy analog. Not to mention, mods have always been more linked to the FPS genre more than any other types of games have. But despite this fact, you argue that we need to focus on the modability of games on PC (a large majority have been done on FPS), but then argue that FPS is a console genre.

Way to fail buddy.

Note: I'm not suggesting that FPS shouldn't be played on consoles, just that the strengths of the PC lend themselves to the FPS genre more than the strengths of consoles do. Kind of like how the analog lends itself more to racing games than mouse/keyboard does, but you can still enjoy a racing game on your PC.
 

Ancalagon

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May 14, 2008
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The console-in-a-PC thing has already been done:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_Mega_PC

...albeit not very well.