Why you should be cheering at PC Gaming's "Funeral"

[Furiosity]

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/columns/[title-raw]

Interesting article...

Gray. Dingy darkness as far as the eye can see. The sky is gray. The mountains are gray. Even the snow looks as though Mick Jagger tried painting it black and got bored half-way through. A gruff voice struggles to be heard through a radio, practically clawing its way out of the speakers. ?I'm in position! I won't be able to hold it for long!? Helicopters swoop in as orchestral music swells in the background. This should be big. This should be epic. But it isn't, because you're a gamer, and you've been here a million times before. Oh, and here's the kicker: the thing I just described? It's the sequel to a colorful, over-the-top snowboarding game.

Announced during last weekend's Spike TV's Videogame Awards (a whole other can filled with equal parts worms and disgrace), SSX: Deadly Descents is pretty much everything that's wrong with big-name, triple-A game development these days. It's gray! It's edgy! It's realistic! It's... so damn boring that I'm going to stop describing it for fear of falling asleep mid-sentence. Most depressing, however, is the fact that it's certainly not alone. The grand majority of big-budget mega-games ? almost regardless of genre ? seem to be pandering exclusively to the testosterone-fueled manly man who thinks Michael Bay's filmography is the height of human achievement.

Creativity may not be dead, but it's whistling an all-too-merry tune while digging its own grave. Call of Duty: Black Ops, Medal of Honor, Killzone, Gears of War, Resistance, Halo: Reach -- what do they all have in common? They're the same stinkin' game! But their wide variety of three whole character stereotypes, two level patterns, and one color palette is where the money's at, and when budgets are this over-inflated, one wrong move will make the bubble burst. The bottom line? Caution. No unnecessary risks. Applying the same old formulas to new products over and over and over and over and, well, you get the point.

But hey, there's a silver lining here ? and a big one at that. This potentially fatal gaming industry disease has managed to quarantine itself almost exclusively to consoles. And that's why ? when interchangeable big-name mega-bucks publisher number 127 declares PC gaming ?dead? or decides not to port its new game over ? I jump for joy and shout praises to the heavens. It's such an exciting time to be a gamer right now ? just not in the big-budget sector. On PC, we've got out-of-nowhere indie sensations like Minecraft, inventive (and free!) mods from the game development rockstars of tomorrow, cloud and browser-based games changing when, where, and how we can play, and access to all our old favorites thanks to services like Steam and GOG.



And then you've got mobile gaming, which ? despite the attached ?casual? stigma ? has become one of the industry's foremost breeding grounds for rapid-fire, easy-to-access creativity. Developers don't have to spend as much money and neither do customers; it's a win-win. Whether you want ?hardcore? experiences like Epic's Infinity Blade or ?casual? ones like Chillingo's Cut The Rope, you can count on tons of brand new bite-sized options each day. Sure, some of it's bottom-of-the-barrel, barely playable scum, but there's so much brilliance sprinkled on top that I'm more-than-willing to reach a hand in and hope for the best.

Hell, even social games (think Facebook) are breaking new ground, and even though they're not really my thing, I can acknowledge that they're bringing new types of games to new audiences. Point is, creativity's everywhere, and the Activisions, Microsofts, and Sonys of the world are just bloated, lumbering dinosaurs that don't even notice the fiery meteor of inevitability sneaking up behind them. It's disgraceful, really. Microsoft recently tried to hide the Xbox 360's indie game tab under it's ?Specialty Shops? section ? resulting in all sorts of developer outcry ? and Activision's been treating its indie game competition with so little fanfare that you'd think it's ashamed of the poor thing.

Downloadable console games provide a thin ray of hope, but when you only get one or two big-time innovators like Braid or Limbo per year, the situation is most certainly not ideal. Unfortunately, it seems we're back in grade school all over again. The popular kids are accomplishing nothing of note while the dorky, creative types get sand kicked in their faces.

Enough doom and gloom, though, because we're getting all the good stuff. Now then, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play Octodad. It's a game about an average, everyday family man who's also secretly an octopus. Yeah. So long as games like that continue to exist, I think the gaming industry's in pretty great shape.

 

[Liliana]

So we should be glad people are stupid because they make bad games that we aren't getting while at the same time making other people make good games for us? Genius.

 

[Naku_vamp]

Eh honestly the best games i have played latly have been indie releases or people who actually give a crap about pc games, my favorite competitive pc games ,
tf2- different style fps,
counterstrike- game that requires some actual skill,
INS - even more so than CSS AND its free,
bfbc2- Dice never fails pc gamers.
Some of my favorite single player -
Half Life 2- defiantly not a cookie cutter fps story,
Anything by Bioware
several Indie game titles like Amnesia

 

[a pet rock]

Emphasis yours?

 

[InkSix]

Whatever. I love Killzone and Resistance. Those games are fun and have great atmospheres. I'm sorry you don't like the color pallets. Maybe you should go out in the desert and throw paint cans around. Or maybe you should tell architects that buildings should resemble rainbows now. And frankly, the atmospheres and game play designs in each other those games can be rooted down to similar instances, but that's just how things are. Dilapidated cities aren't colorful. Urban areas and war zones typically have straightforward paths to make it through. We can't fly around or magically tunnel around really fast like a Pokemon or something.

Majority of gamers out there love dirty, messy, violent shooters. I'll be darned if I'm going to go to war and dress up like a care bear.

Regardless of whatever anyone ever says, those games make money, most people like them, and if you aren't a completely biased person you can find enjoyment out of most popular games even if you don't have strong interest.

I don't even understand the basis for this article. He name dropped mostly exclusives, while a lot of very good games come to PC and the console. This almost sounds like an angry spiteful rate that those games AREN'T coming to PC.

 

[Spitfire'd]

PC gaming is dead? I did not see PC Gaming in my paper's obituaries this morning! In fact I would disagree with this presumption entirely!

PC gaming is alive and well, and it will continue for a long time. That is a fact. Good day Sir!

 

[Nik :D]

PC Gaming is not dead nor dying. End of story.

 

[JunK]

i think pc gaming is dead and dying to a certain extent.
the typical game that you go buy in your stores and is also available for consoles, is dying. you will see less and less of these games due to hacking, poor ports etc, and for other reasons. but i don't play PC for these types of games. i play PC for CSS (well used to play for it), league of legends, mmorpgs, internet games and such like that. this is some of the best gaming available which is why im in this market.
also with the huge market popular games, you'll still get to play them on PC. like elder scrolls and such...so thats all thats important.

 

[maD]

PC gaming dieing? Never, personally thing it is slowing down thou because of the cost of parts that games these days "require" to run a game smoothly and if I was looking at it as a first time gamer getting a $300 console would be more cost efficient then buying a $400-500 Graphics card, $100 worth of ram, $200 motherboard and ect.

 

[Jarrod_38]

Remember if PC gaming is dying then so will the consoles.

 

[Furiosity]

Not one you really read or understood the article I think

He's saying that developers aren't being innovative. They consider it too risky and instead use the same formula over and over because it sells. However, the developers who don't make big bugget ultra realistic games are being quite innovative, namely the Indie market. At the moment the Indie market is flooded with innovation, however, the console manufactures downplay Indie games and treat them as second rate, while indies thrive on the PC and are supported by places like Steam and GOG.

The generic formula most of these developers are using is fading away from the PC(Developers abandoning the PC for consoles only), thus taking their generic games with them while most of the innovative games remain on PC.

 

[general_crash]

Not one you really read or understood the article I think

He's saying that developers aren't being innovative. They consider it too risky and instead use the same formula over and over because it sells. However, the developers who don't make big bugget ultra realistic games are being quite innovative, namely the Indie market. At the moment the Indie market is flooded with innovation, however, the console manufactures downplay Indie games and treat them as second rate, while indies thrive on the PC and are supported by places like Steam and GOG.

The generic formula most of these developers are using is fading away from the PC(Developers abandoning the PC for consoles only), thus taking their generic games with them while most of the innovative games remain on PC.

You good sir have stated a very cryptic point that no one has seen yet. It is so true it's the PC with all the creative games while all the non innovative games go to console. (imho i thought halo was very innovative how is it the same just like the others?) But yes kudos for PC shame on consoles (not flamming).

 

[FaTtY-mIc-FaTFaT]

yea..... pc gaming is not dying. when i get out from my finals today, ill get onto explain why in my eyes it is not.

o, and just to prove my point that it isnt, heres a list of a few games that proves it and ill explain later.

first and foremost, will be starcraft, no buts or um's, it is hands down one of the games that says 'we pcgamers are still as strong as ever'.

then theres css of course.

also there is the great companies like valve and indies.

ill come back and explain later, until then, just think about it, i mean reallllllllly think about it.

 

[Sexy Beast]

PC gaming isn't dead and neither is creativity. The author of the article is an idiot who is essentially saying "all the popular games look so unoriginal and I'm glad that they're not making them for the PC."

In every type of art form where the end product can generate lots of money, you'll find the biggest money makers to be some of the dullest and the safest products that you'll ever find. But even in the top of the crop, you'll find some great stuff. Notice how the author neglected to mention Uncharted 3, a sequel to one of the most colorful and enjoyable games the generation has produced.

Or did he bring up Arkham City? A game that has a dark color pallet and is a sequel, no he didn't. But why? It's not a PC exclusive and there's no way of knowing how it's going to play on the PC. He didn't touch it because he probably loved the first game and is looking forward to the second. Anyone and their mom can decry that PC gaming is dead or originality in mainstream games is gone the way of the Dodo, but just because they can say it doesn't necessarily make it true.

 

[FaTtY-mIc-FaTFaT]

ok back from finals and here it is.

blizzard, makers of WOW which just introduce cataclysm, and once again made a great sale. then they also have starcraft 2, with not only 1, but 3 FULL games and the other 2 coming out soon.

lets not forget that starcraft is like a national, hell, it IS a national sport in Korea. it even has a group of casters who devote their time telling you about the gameplays. the prize money can range from $1000 all the way to $80,000. yes, if im not mistaken it can reach that much. starcraft 2 has pretty much reach Olympic level. lets see a console game do that, o wait, it hasnt, awwww.

and again blizzard is coming out with another game thats going to be a instant classic, Diablo 3. look at what 2 did, imagine 3? enough said.

now moving away from blizzard, here comes the next one, crysis. where did this come from? PC. crytek, the makers of crysis, what did they make before this? far cry. if it wasnt for the pc, you think console gamers would have gotten far cry 2? nope. and guess whos making time splitters 4. o yea, the makers of far cry and crysis 1 and 2. crytek.

and now lets move on to the NEXT game. o im sorry bioware, i forgot ALLLLL about you. what did you bring us PCgamers and console? mass effect? *GASP* yes, where did mass effect first land? PC. BAM lawyered (marshall ericson fom how i met your mother) and then one of the most anticptaed games of the year, star wars: the old republic. and where is it going to be? not a console. boom lawyered again.

and some other games, dc universe? o my

now to free games. hmmm, where do i want to start. maple story? guild wars 1 and 2? vindictus? company of heroes online?

o my i can go on and on.

so please, PC gaming is not 'dying' it will get stronger as the years pass. if anything, consoles will always die first before pc games do. why? well think about it, consoles are pretty much computers that are made just for gaming. really, just think about it.

so yea, PC gamers will continue to grow and 'dying' is far from what it is becoming.

good day.

 

[IDigitalDeadI]

PC gaming dieing? Never, personally thing it is slowing down thou because of the cost of parts that games these days "require" to run a game smoothly and if I was looking at it as a first time gamer getting a $300 console would be more cost efficient then buying a $400-500 Graphics card, $100 worth of ram, $200 motherboard and ect.

With $400, I can build a computer than can play games pretty well. Also $100 ram and $200 motherboard? At a certain point, price does not make quality. I guarantee the majority of pc gamers will not buy a $400-$500 Graphics card. If you have the money to burn, I'd say use it for something else.

ok back from finals and here it is.

blizzard, makers of WOW which just introduce cataclysm, and once again made a great sale. then they also have starcraft 2, with not only 1, but 3 FULL games and the other 2 coming out soon.

lets not forget that starcraft is like a national, hell, it IS a national sport in Korea. it even has a group of casters who devote their time telling you about the gameplays. the prize money can range from $1000 all the way to $80,000. yes, if im not mistaken it can reach that much. starcraft 2 has pretty much reach Olympic level. lets see a console game do that, o wait, it hasnt, awwww.

and again blizzard is coming out with another game thats going to be a instant classic, Diablo 3. look at what 2 did, imagine 3? enough said.

now moving away from blizzard, here comes the next one, crysis. where did this come from? PC. crytek, the makers of crysis, what did they make before this? far cry. if it wasnt for the pc, you think console gamers would have gotten far cry 2? nope. and guess whos making time splitters 4. o yea, the makers of far cry and crysis 1 and 2. crytek.

and now lets move on to the NEXT game. o im sorry bioware, i forgot ALLLLL about you. what did you bring us PCgamers and console? mass effect? *GASP* yes, where did mass effect first land? PC. BAM lawyered (marshall ericson fom how i met your mother) and then one of the most anticptaed games of the year, star wars: the old republic. and where is it going to be? not a console. boom lawyered again.

and some other games, dc universe? o my

now to free games. hmmm, where do i want to start. maple story? guild wars 1 and 2? vindictus? company of heroes online?

o my i can go on and on.

so please, PC gaming is not 'dying' it will get stronger as the years pass. if anything, consoles will always die first before pc games do. why? well think about it, consoles are pretty much computers that are made just for gaming. really, just think about it.

so yea, PC gamers will continue to grow and 'dying' is far from what it is becoming.

good day.

Lets see.....starcraft 2. Well, it feels like a lifetime since SC1 and brood war, so why the delay between campaigns for SC2? I believe blizzard should have each campaign finished by now, its not like the starcraft division of blizzard is doing anything else (maybe they are, I wouldn't know). On to competitive SC2 playing. I wouldn't say it has reached Olympic level....yet, considering one of the biggest tournaments related to starcraft 2, GSL (Global Starcraft League) has been around for a fairly short time and has very few foreign players (Westerners in particular).I'll just leave it at that and move on.

Crysis...one of more difficult games to play on pc, because of its notoriously high system requirements for its time. A good boost for the pc gaming community, as gamers rush out to buy graphics cards, ram, etc. just so that they could play it. Reminds me of doom 3. Anyway, crytek, before they made crysis, made far cry. It was received very well. Unfortunately, Far Cry 2, was not. All in all, it was a decent game, but it suffered from many small issues, and not just on consoles, pc as well. Next on the list, Timesplitters 4. I had TS2 on xbox and I loved the game. I would have done anything for TS4 to be released already. But unfortunately, plans change and companies fall. Crytek just happened to be around to pick up the pieces, including an almost finished TS4. Unfortunately, crytek hasn't said a word about releasing TS4 anytime soon, as they work on a new IP. I won't go down that depressing road in my life, so I'll move on.

Bioware! Such a hit or miss company imo. They made Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for PC and xbox (Oh, I neglected to mention, KotOR was released on Xbox first. You'll see why I mention that later). I remember getting it on my birthday, I was so happy. Then they gave the rights to Obsidian. Nothing wrong with that, since KotOR 2 was even better than 1. While everyone expected a KotOR 3, they worked on a new game, Mass Effect (Which was released on Xbox 360 first, not PC). It was praised as one of the best RPGs of this generation at the time (consoles, pc). I personally loved the game very much. Heres the miss, in my opinion. Mass Effect 2. Bioware listened to the community, but for the worst. ME2 was more of an third person shooter with small RPG elements in the game, which was, I thought, was very important in the first game. I don't really have much to say about The Old Republic, so I'll end with this:

PC gaming won't die anytime soon, but that doesn't mean consoles will. Consoles are becoming more accessible to everyone everyday. I mean, a 4 year old to a 90 year old could play a game or two. People are growing up with games. I've grown up with games. I remember sitting at home, playing Killer Instinct on my Super Nintendo. I remember playing Command and Conquer on my friend's PC. I remember doing all of that all the time. Now look at the present. There are handhelds for toddlers, that teach them letters, numbers, etc. while they are having fun. Every kid that wants a Nintendo Wii or DS is almost guaranteed to have one. Consoles aren't going to die for a long time. I don't mean to side with consoles however. PC gaming isn't going to die anytime soon because of the dedication. There will always be people playing Counter Strike, either 1.6 or Source. There will always be people playing Team Fortress 2 (the fanbase isn't going down anytime soon). There will always be people playing World of Warcraft, and other MMOs.

I'll end with this, gaming in general isn't going to die for a long time, PC or console

 

[runo]

I wonder if the author of that article believes that the world ends in 2012, too.

 

[Dutchoper72]

Consoles suck! Nuff said

 

[Liliana]

-Massiveness-

Notice "Funeral" in quotes, as in you're agreeing with the article, as in the article is saying that people who are mistaken about PC gaming being dead are some of the unoriginal people.

 

[Orange_Kun!!!]

PC gaming isn't gonna die on this guy's watch.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7eREddMjt4[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3muhlQYFgLE&feature=related[/ame]

Too many awesome indie developers out there.

To Infinity and beyond indeed.