Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
|  PC Gaming Really Is Dying
I used to fight this idea that the consoles are killing PC gaming, but after the wash of feeble releases this holiday gaming season, I think it's finally coming true.
Look at the titles released this fall of any worth:
Age of Empires 3: Absolutely zero innovation. City home-base concept was cosmetic, hype about graphics weren't warranted. Essentially a decent, but thoroughly unimaginative and mediocre title.
Quake 4: More FPS, mindless button hunting, rat-in-a-maze gameplay. Absolutely no innovation whatsoever on any level.
Civ 4: The best reviewed of the fall launches is essentially a rehash of the past civilization titles. Buggy release, no innovation.
Fear: Probably the best fall title released, but again, once you got past the fun office-firefights, you get bored. Same "look, there's some ductwork to crawl through" gameplay.
Call of Duty 2: Call of Duty 1 1/2. Again, no innovation.
Now look at the EBGames releases from now until next summer:
»www.ebgames.com/ebx/categories/p···PC+Games
Not only are there no smart, deep, original PC games coming out, there's now starting to be fewer even mediocre titles.
About the only "must have" title for real PC gamers this fall is Oblivion. While I'm excited, I can't shake the feeling it's going to suffer from some "consolitis". Consolitis being what Deus Ex 2 suffered from, namely a dumbing down of gameplay, and more "my first font" Fisher Price GUI implementation.
Maybe "The Movies"?
Note that after Christmas, nothing of any real interest gets released until February (Hellgate: London).
Not only are my favorite type of PC games no longer being made (RPG), nobody is willing to add any depth to the FPS genre the way Deus Ex and System Shock did, for fear of alienating dumb game buyers.
Damn you, dumb game buyers! |
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justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY | maybe everyone is playing world of warcraft? |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | The only really stellar title to come along in the past two years....
Easy to port to PS3 or Xbox 360 subscription services next generation, and they'd make more money. |
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BBR_InsUW
Americas Army
Premium,Mod
join:2000-04-22
San Diego, CA
clubs:
Host:
Suddenlink
W.O.W.
Cox HSI
Cable users
Cyberonic
| reply to justin
said by justin  :maybe everyone is playing world of warcraft? Nope not everyone, but I refuse to pay for a game and have to Pay to play it? |
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SKYHN
Lu.. Lu.. Lulululu
Premium
join:2001-09-16
99999
| said by BBR_InsUW :said by justin :maybe everyone is playing world of warcraft? Nope not everyone, but I refuse to pay for a game and have to Pay to play it? 4.5 million people are. Thats a pretty big chunk of everyone.
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Well, you can rock it you can roll it, you can slop and you can stroll it Gravitastastas...tas |
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crazediamond
That's Dr. Craze to you
Premium
join:2002-01-19
Germantown, MD
| reply to Karl Bode
civ has significant gameplay changes from civ3, and aside from some "big picture" concepts, quite different than civ 1 and 2 (not as different when compared to 3 tho).
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And if I show you my dark side, will you still hold me tonight? And if I open my heart to you, and show you my weak side, what would you do? |
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jps_valdosta
join:2004-05-10
Valdosta, GA
| reply to Karl Bode
I have been gaming since the 8 bit days and I have played a lot of great games over the years. Sadly this year is probably one of the worst years as far as quality games are concerned. I have enjoyed several games this year, but it seems the good ones are few and far between now. I wonder where the innovation is today? Even Black and White 2 was mediocre at best and that game was made by one of the masters of game development. I think that companies like EA are mostly to blame with their deadlines and profit margins. Maybe everyone is just out of good game ideas? |
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dogma1029
join:2005-09-15
Torrington, CT
| reply to Karl Bode
Although some good points have been made I refuse to believe that computer games are dying. I have been gaming all my life, I remember when space invaders came out at the arcades. Yes, that old!!
I've seen good times and bad times as far as quality gaming is concerned and my biggest worry is that the small developers that are willing to take a chance on a new idea are being "elbowed" out by the big boys.
It's the smaller developers that are more willing to push the envelope and the bigger studios(because of deadlines and publisher pressure) that give us cookie cutter games. |
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Mustang
Premium
join:2005-06-27
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| reply to jps_valdosta
Maybe we're spoiled by the raised bar. Don't forget that this was the year we saw Half life 2, BF 2, Chronicles of Riddick, Doom 2 (graphically innovative) released as well as others I'm sure I'm forgetting.
Admittedly the pickings are slim for XMas, but maybe they're purposefully waiting for the hype of the consoles to get out of the way?
The creators of Ghost Recon working on a PC release has to show some good signs to PC Gaming industry.
We have come to the point though where all the smaller coompanies being bought by the big corporations seems to have reduced the enthusiasm and innovation that seemed to gush onto our screens to a small and teasing trickle.... |
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LBadvance
join:2002-04-27
| said by Mustang :Doom 2 (graphically innovative) released as well as others I'm sure I'm forgetting. Doom 2!!!!!!
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Keeping up with technology is like trying to find the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow... |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| reply to Mustang
quote:
Maybe we're spoiled by the raised bar. Don't forget that this was the year we saw Half life 2, BF 2, Chronicles of Riddick, Doom 2 (graphically innovative) released as well as others I'm sure I'm forgetting.
Half-Life 2 was well made, but I wasn't as thrilled by it as everyone else. I'm pretty bored with straight first person shooters. I feel like a lab rat when I play them these days. It's like I actually have to turn my mind completely off.
Doom 3 was an utter rehash, and I'm not sure moody lighting is an innovation. Chronicles of Riddick I'll give you, that was well made.
It seems like with broadband being so pervasive, we should really be seeing more titles that fully take advantage of it. In game video-chat that shows up in the first person view of your attack jet's console.....VoIP in every title....more persistent world global war type games....
Or maybe I'm just irritated by the death of good PC RPG's like Fallout, Ultima, etc. |
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Clipper
join:2002-05-23
Stoney Creek, ON
| Did you ever play Ultima IX: Ascension, Karl? It was an AWESOME game that had alot of potential, especially for lovers of the Ultima series (Quest of the Avatar for the NES was one of the best games ever made). U9 was linear RPG, first person perspective of the ultima world. It's too bad the unpatched version had so many bugs, some that even prevented you from finishing the game. The graphics for the era were cutting edge and created an awesome epic world to explore.
If you liked the ultima games and morrowwind, you would love U9. I don't know if you can even find it in stores nowadays tho. |
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dogma1029
join:2005-09-15
Torrington, CT
| reply to LBadvance
said by LBadvance :said by Mustang :Doom 2 (graphically innovative) released as well as others I'm sure I'm forgetting. Doom 2!!!!!! It was only a test and you caught it!! |
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ken225
join:2003-11-22
Brunswick, OH
| reply to Karl Bode
The problem is that, as games become more expensive and publishers consolidate by buying each other, people get less enthusiastic about titles that are interesting but might fail. However, this isn't exclusive to PC games. Take Hollywood, for example. This summer saw mostly sequels, remakes and rehashes of 70's TV shows. It was also one of the Hollywood's worst summers in terms of making money. Is anyone surprised? Television is the same. How many truly innovative shows are there? Once one style of show does well (reality TV for example) they rush to copy themselves.
However, there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. A recent PC Gamer podcast talked about homebrew games that can avoid the massive costs by licensing game engines instead of developing them, and distributing the games directly to the customer over the Internet. Perhaps this will breathe new life into PC Gaming. Remember, most of the classic games we all loved were created by only a few guys with a passion, not a warehouse of overworked coders. |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| quote:
A recent PC Gamer podcast talked about homebrew games that can avoid the massive costs by licensing game engines instead of developing them, and distributing the games directly to the customer over the Internet. Perhaps this will breathe new life into PC Gaming.
Good point and I hope you're right! |
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LaZ3R
Premium
join:2003-01-17
Waterloo, ON
clubs:
 ·Rogers Hi-Speed
| I actually think the reason many PC gamers are fading away is because not everyone is rich and can afford these super expensive parts which are needed to play a game at nice quality.
Consoles offer the same stuff almost but at $500 (or less) and still offer just as good or even better graphics.
Money is the biggest concern in my opinion for the majority of us 
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Life is a game of blackjack. You keep playing until you bust. |
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justin
Australian
join:1999-05-28
Brooklyn, NY
Host:
IPv6
Business Connectiv..
Home/Office setup ..
Console/Handheld g..
Console Tech
| it isn't that the consoles offer just as good or better graphics as much as they offer a game that is identical to the one the reviewers played. When you add the possibility of hardware or OS incompatibilities in with the possibility of the graphical and sonic experience not being the same as the person who rated the game a solid "8 out of 10", only the diehards and technically savvy are still confident enough to buy. |
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LaZ3R
Premium
join:2003-01-17
Waterloo, ON
clubs:
·Rogers Hi-Speed
| Well that's quite understandable, I just believe that consoles make the experience feel a lot better and you feel a lot better knowing that when you play online with someone else, that they don't have any type of advantage while playing against you meaning that you have the ability to play a fair game where both users get the exact same frame rate (Or fairly close).
Computers and Consoles both have their own ups and downs and I'm not really sure which one is possibly any better because the pricing of it all has a huge impact these days.
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Life is a game of blackjack. You keep playing until you bust. |
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Maranello
ChannelFlip
Premium,MVM
join:2000-12-08
Butler, PA
·Armstrong Zoom In..
| reply to Karl Bode
Riddick was the one I never saw coming... I mean it was a silent release. I only came across it while looking up a review for another game then went to Wal-Mart and shelled out a very wallet pleasing $17 for it and fell in love.
What Im waiting for is at least one real driving game for PC.... the GT4 for the PC world. I know a non fast and the furious style game like GT4 would sell... so where is it? |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| reply to LaZ3R
I also think piracy is probably eroding PC gaming faster than it's hitting consoles, because of the need for a mod-chip, which at least in the Xbox's case, can keep you from playing on-line if present.
I'll feel a lot better about it all when I can plug a wireless keyboard and USB mouse into my PS3 and/or Xbox and use them for gaming.
(And when I can someday afford a 50" plasma  ) |
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