The Rise and Fall of PC Gaming

A few years ago, maybe even as many as ten, my father purchased a subscription to Computer Gaming World magazine. I loved it because at that time, the PC was the only means of video game entertainment available to me. I wasn't allowed to have a console, because my parents thought it would make me lazy, what they didn't know was that I was already lazy. But that's a topic for a different blog. At that time, PC gaming was for the most part, on top of the gaming industry. Graphics, sound, controls, all aspects of the computer gaming experience was superior to the console in every technical respect. But this was even before the generation of the original Playstation. When the Internet was a series of beeps and clicks from an internal speaker somewhere inside your case, and being 'online' with a console was unimaginable. I even got Gordon interested in computer gaming as a whole, which he had never even been introduced to beforehand.

The PC's gaming prowess reached its peak for me sometime between X-wing vs. Tie Fighter and Everquest. Half-Life 1, Team Fortress, Counter Strike, the Dark Forces series, all got major playtime on my computer. Everquest put computer gaming on top, before its inevitable fall, and like many, once i was in the full swing of that game I played nothing else. Then the sixth generation of consoles was here, which according to wikipedia, is the generation of the PlayStation2, the Xbox, and the Gamecube. It was then that consoles were more than just ports of arcade games. The controllers became something different, easier to use and more intuitive, but most importantly of all, the develops really turned their attention to these new consoles. This isn't to say that PC games ceased to be made, but no one was talking about them. PC gaming magazine choices went from numerous to slim, and most gaming technology released for PCs was related to the the MMORPGS that had become the staple of the genre. World of Warcraft is one of the largest grossing games of all time, but it and other Massively Multiplayer games have deadened the market for PC games.

I had discussed doing an article on the fall of PC gaming after a discussion on the slim, and dying choice of PC games to purchase, and being released this year. Amid discussions of developers like Crytek moving on from the PC market to exclusively the console market, the list of PC only developing houses has dwindled to nearly nothing. Instead of building a game for a PC player, they simply port their console version, often times very poorly, to be adapted to a keyboard and mouse interface.

But the PC market won't go away either. My confidence in its market share has been revived. With client programs like Steam and Impulse (in Beta development) allowing for online purchase, and digital download and backup, PC gaming is easier than ever. Steam automatically updates your games when new updates or patches are released, lets you keep up with friends and what they are playing, and even stores stats for games, such as Team Fortress. Impulse is promising all of that and more, and with Stardock's impressive library of software, it goes far beyond just gaming. But client software like this might be the wings on which the PC shall soar. Downloadable Content (DLC) on my 360 is nice, but due the limited space on its drive, as well as the pricey cost to upgrade hard disk space, there is only so much space to be had with all the Rock Band songs taking up all the space. And more and more games for the PlayStation3 are requiring installs onto its hard disk drive as well. They may not be very large, and may increase the games performance, but it also takes up the space that can be used for something else, games, demos, even full length movies. My PC has plenty of space, and with 500 gigabyte drives going for less than 75 dollars, it seems more logical to download new games here, than on the 360. So if this generation of gaming is defined by anything, it should be Hard Drive space, and the PC will always win that fight.

Not to mention, with the cost of the current generation of consoles, and the next round of them slated for 2009-2012, what kind of price point can we expect next time? Upwards of $1000 would seem to be the most logical assumption, especially with the hardware showcase PlayStation3 releasing at $599. My computer, while not top of the line technologically, plays everything I've thrown at it, including Crysis, on high at high resolutions, without any slowdown, ~30 frames per second. I paid $650 for everything in the case. And I will be able to play games released in the next generation or even upgrade for $300 or less. Still way below the guesstimated price point of the next generation console.

So, is PC gaming dead, or dying? No way, I expect to see a resurgence in the PC as a gaming medium in the next few years. It may not be immediate, and it may be a while before the PC is viewed as anything other than "that thing you play WoW on," but it will happen, and I'll be here playing the games when it does.
-j