Is PC gaming really dead?

[Daz]

Originally Posted by Bijstan

The same can, of course, be said for PC gaming. Programmable joypads have been available for PCs for many years (I have one with about 3 inches of dust on it), did these cause a major unleveling of the playing field?

Maybe, maybe not, but I'm not arguing for a level field on PC's. By it's very nature the PC is 'unlevel, just from the infinite number of different hardware combinations you can have - it's part of the deal.

Originally Posted by Bijstan

Some of us prefer the keyboard/mouse combo and some prefer the joypad option. At the end of the day, if you can afford £300 for a console and £20-£50 for each game, you can afford £20 for a keyboard and a mouse if you feel it gives you an advantage.

But is that in the best interests of the gaming masses on the particular platform?

Gaming arguments aside - my real problem with adding a 'proper' keyboard and mouse combination - or making support official - is the potential future direction of the console. Put Office available on the marketplace and what have you got? A proprietary PC (hello Apple? though at least this one can play games ). Even if we ignore the politics of that, the net result could be a big hit on the consumer PC market.

2 reasons why that's unlikely to happen though are, as I said before, they're pimping the image of the 360 as a games centric console, not a computer in it's own right (and I support that attitude, so part of that is living without a proper keyboard and mouse combo) - and secondly if Microsoft has a console that could replace it's own PC operating system then it will ultimately hurt them - their software business model is based on a 3 year refresh cycle, something that just isn't conceivable in the console market.

Are we off topic now or not? I'm not sure anymore

[Desmo]

Originally Posted by Daz

and ties into online services seamlessly.

Speaking as a non-gamer, I think this is the real key. It's the one thing that has been a major difference between PC and console gaming.

[Daz]

MS have lead the market there I'll be the first to admit. It's so refreshing to have a single service/interface to manage the online side of gaming, rather than many different things on the PC (Steam/Gamespy etc, Teamspeak/Ventrilo etc etc).

[Haly]

Daz has pretty much said what I was going to say, but I'd also like to throw in that using a keyboard and mouse while lazing about on the sofa would be bloody awkward compared to a controller
And for the most part I like to be relaxing while playing on a console not sitting up straight with a flat surface to put a mouse on.

[petemc]

I do love strategy games and so far thats the only thing I really miss from PC gaming. My PC is currently sat next to me turned off because the northbridge fan died and I cba replacing it. I have CNC3 and I do want to play it. I love the 360 for reasons mentioned. Hassle free gaming. Put game in, play. I can't say I've had any issue playing any FPS game on it. I can still pull of headshots with GRAW. I think the PC does have a future. Theres Enemy Territory: Quake Wars coming out some day and that looks great. Hopefully it should rejuvinate the quake community. Crysis looks stunning with brilliant physics. However, neither game makes me want to rush out and spend £600 to upgrade my PC to run them.

[Admiral Huddy]

No matter how hard I try, i can't get used to using a controller for FPS games.. It doesn't seem to have the speed and accuracy of a mouse and keyboard.

[Feek]

There are certain genres of games which will never die on the PC platform, things such as the serious simulations like Flight Sim and rFactor which have a huge following and have an enormous number of mods and add-ons for them. I don't believe it's possible to tweak console games like that.

[Daz]

http://www.theregister.com/2007/04/2...se_48_percent/

Relevant article, quoting some facts and figures. Interesting comment:

The result of years of decline have hurt the variety, not the quality of PC games. Developers are sticking to what they know will sell. A once flourishing smörgåsbord of game variety has turned to a trickle of first-person shooters, sims and the latest flight of fancy (thanks largely to Blizzard's success) - massive multiplayer online RPGs.

Quality of the technology? Fair enough. Quality of the game play? Hmm.

[Darrin]

Well, I just started playing (again) a game I used to be fanatical about - Jumpgate.

It's really the only true online game I've ever played. The only problem with it is that after playing Jumpgate, there's really not anything bigger/badder/better to go on to. Anything else is a big letdown due to the total immersion in the game.

Everything else seems so 2 dimensional in comparison. Yes, it has dated graphics and there's hardly anyone ever on the server anymore, but it's still so much of a player involved game that nothing else has ever come close to.

Oh, and as for trying to do something like Jumpgate on an XBOX? Will never happen. WAY too much for the controller to handle (a Saitek X-45 can't manage ALL of the controls) and the multiple page web content would be impossible on a game console. I mean, when I'm playing I've got at least 5 different tabs open on FF, generally on another computer so I don't have to Alt-Tab out to view them. I just don't think that level of game play is possible with a console. Plus the player-instituted graphics changes like my personal HUD couldn't be done on a console.