GDC: Devs Concerned About PC Viability
PC vs. console. The battle of the platforms. Who is winning, who is losing, how does one turn the tide? Recurring questions for the gaming industry, and they seem to ramp up everytime something new and exciting (new consoles, or WoW) pop up on either side of the debate. Developers at GDC last week took a turn at probing the question of whether or not PC gaming can survive the onslaught of new consoles.
In a panel discussion made up of David Edery (Xbox Live Arcade), Richard Hilleman (EA), Soren Johnson, (Firaxis), Michael Capps (Epic Games), and Chris Avallone (Obsidian Entertainment), the tone didn’t sound overly optimistic. Falling sales, a lack of diversity and, as Edery sees it, a “steep decline” in sports games, simulations, and action games all threaten PC gamings viability. Capps, whose Epic company created the Unreal Tournament series, believes that “PC gaming is really falling apart”.
Market smarts and creativity (a word supposedly lacking in the entire industry according to some), will be key to survival. Richard Hilleman put PC gaming in a transitional perspective, saying that box buying will be replaced by a more service oriented role, and that niche marketing, rather than uber-blockbusters seemed to be the direction that companies were now taking. Additionally, knowing the types of games that cater more to PCs, and knowing demographics, can help ensure the success of games that are released.
One of the major red flags for the panel members with regards to PC gaming, was piracy. Downloading demo cracks, full versions, keygen software and file-sharing vehicles such as BitTorrent are easier than ever to access and use. The impact of these practices was mentioned by the panel as being damaging to all involved.
Not surprisingly, the success of MMORPGs like World of Warcraft were cheered as a ray of hope in an otherwise bleak picture. Soren Johnson, involved in the development of the Civilization series with Firaxis, feels that the difficulty in pirating this account based sort of game and the flexibility of the PC will see game desing for the platform “bend[ing] toward persistence.” The ability to include and accomodate user generated content was also seen as a big plus in the PC camp.
Interesting notions in an ongoing debate. How about you, loyal Play-Girlz readers? What do consoles have going for them versus PCs? Is this sort of platform divide necessary or is the gaming industry needlessly segmenting itself? Who do you see pulling out victory?
Extremetech Via | Digg
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POSTED IN: MMORPG, Mods, News, Online Gaming
1 opinion for GDC: Devs Concerned About PC Viability
Matt
Mar 12, 2007 at 1:39 am
I’m just happy the console guy looks like a total dweeb in the pictures you chose.
But it is a sad topic. PC gaming, as much as I enjoy it, is on the decline. With it getting costlier and more of a hassle to stay “next gen” with PCs it’s much easier to buy a console that will last for several years and the games will still look great and you don’t have to worry about drivers or patches. You just pop in the disk and play. Another big factor I see to the decline in PC gaming is stuff like Microsoft’s Live service. It’s huge. Being able to download trailers, demos, movies and arranging online games. That’s the sort of thing that was restricted to PC gaming for so long. And now it’s been brought to the console market. People really don’t need a PC for their gaming needs as much anymore.
That being said, WoW is an amazing push forward for the PCs. People who normally wouldn’t be gaming are playing and are actively searching out upgrades and stuff to help WoW play smoother. To get those extra frames per second. I think the MMO market has definitely found it’s niche on PCs because people don’t want to pay for xbox live AND a monthly fee for the game. I mean you look at it people are paying forInternetXbox Live Gold subscriptionMonthly subscription for the game
That extra fee is enough to put people off. MMO’s are definitely here to stay on PCs, it’s just a question of for how long?
Another big hitter is exclusitivity. How many games are coming out for the consoles that aren’t coming to the PC? Quite a few. One of the reasons I got a 360. There are games I wanted to play that just aren’t on the PC. Plus it’s kind of nice to just plop down on my couch and fire up that bad boy(looking sexy with a skin from decalgirl).
The one redeeming thing about PCs is that you have those games that are constantly pushing the boundaries of what we’ve seen. Games like Crysis. You may need a small demi-god to run the game but you won’t be able to see that kind of thing on a console. They’re stuck with that hardware and while developers may be able to push those limits. They can only go so far. With PCs you can push and push as new hardware and software comes out forever “amazing” everyone with what can be done.
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