I'm Staying a P.C. Gamer... [WARNING: No Harsh Language]

This thread is in response to a thread made earlier about a ducking out of P.C. gaming because of a certain number of reasons. For a detailed list go to the thread link. And although he makes some very valid points, I have a counter-argument on why I AM staying in the P.C. gaming world.

So what if there is DRM, how many times are you really going to install one game? And if your pirating, I might remind you it's a FELONY.

Games are not always just made for the money. I recently read an article in which Johnathan Blow, creator of the hit Xbox Live Arcade title Braid, was interviewed. In this interview Blow mentioned how he wants full control over his projects and thats why he'd turn down a huge deal. A huge deal would, in turn, cause him to lose some control over the overall direction of his project. This is a prime example of "games as art," not "games for money."

Also, whether companies make games for money or not, what's the difference. Tons of quality titles are coming out, and have already been released! In addition, why wouldn't companies want to make money?! If you think about it, every business is out to get money. Even a doctor really wants money, regardless of whether or not he wants to save his patients.

Finally, I highly doubt consoles will introduce DRM. And even if they did, whats the big hairy deal? Everybody wants to protect their things, especially big corporations which get pirated every day.

I'm just saying, whether P.C. gaming is "dying" or not, I'm in it until the end. I love P.C. gaming, and although the orignal poster of the original topic makes some very valid points, and is entitled to his own opinion, I think some of his statements are blown out of proportion and SOME are outright incorrect. Give it another chance jamyskis!

Im with you, I love PC gaming, I have over 115 title going back to the first monkey island. PC gaming is what I do, its what im known for (not that im known). I can't ever stop until PC gaming stops (never gunna happen). So yeah, you are preaching to the choir :)harrisi17

 Hahhahahah. That line made me crack up. 

But anyways, yeah, ever since my cousin turned me to PC gaming I have barely touched my XBOX and my XBOX 360. 

[QUOTE="harrisi17"]Im with you, I love PC gaming, I have over 115 title going back to the first monkey island. PC gaming is what I do, its what im known for (not that im known). I can't ever stop until PC gaming stops (never gunna happen). So yeah, you are preaching to the choir :)bedram793

Hahhahahah. That line made me crack up.

But anyways, yeah, ever since my cousin turned me to PC gaming I have barely touched my XBOX and my XBOX 360.

Not to mention the guy who posted the orginal topic has over 1000 PC games?!

This thread is in response to a thread made earlier about a ducking out of P.C. gaming because of a certain number of reasons. For a detailed list go to the thread link. And although he makes some very valid points, I have a counter-argument on why I AM staying in the P.C. gaming world.

So what if there is DRM, how many times are you really going to install one game? And if your pirating, I might remind you it's a FELONY.

Games are not always just made for the money. I recently read an article in which Johnathan Blow, creator of the hit Xbox Live Arcade title Braid, was interviewed. In this interview Blow mentioned how he wants full control over his projects and thats why he'd turn down a huge deal. A huge deal would, in turn, cause him to lose some control over the overall direction of his project. This is a prime example of "games as art," not "games for money."

Also, whether companies make games for money or not, what's the difference. Tons of quality titles are coming out, and have already been released! In addition, why wouldn't companies want to make money?! If you think about it, every business is out to get money. Even a doctor really wants money, regardless of whether or not he wants to save his patients.

Finally, I highly doubt consoles will introduce DRM. And even if they did, whats the big hairy deal? Everybody wants to protect their things, especially big corporations which get pirated every day.

I'm just saying, whether P.C. gaming is "dying" or not, I'm in it until the end. I love P.C. gaming, and although the orignal poster of the original topic makes some very valid points, and is entitled to his own opinion, I think some of his statements are blown out of proportion and SOME are outright incorrect. Give it another chance jamyskis!

nicknees93

1. I don't really care about DRM so long as it doesn't hurt my machine, but I HATE the idea that my game may become useless 10 years down the road. If Full Throttle used some MS-DOS 6.1 rootkit functionality, I wouldn't even be able to play my legal copy. I don't like the feeling that I will lose my games.

2. (the thing about braid) There are games that do push artistic creativity. Unfortunately, like Braid, they seem to be indie downloadables and not the next big thing that we all camp out at our local game store for. However, these kind of games are not what you will find when you go to Best Buy or whereever.

3. We do get quality games. But do we get quality Platformers? Adventure games? Action/adventure? Save a few instances, most of the quality games are MMOs or FPSs. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I've seen in my travels.

Still, it's no reason to ref ormatt C:\ and install FreeDOS. PC gaming will always have something awesome going on. However, I still find a lot to dislike about PC gaming today.

Does GS ban the use of the word "re form at" or something?

[QUOTE="nicknees93"]

This thread is in response to a thread made earlier about a ducking out of P.C. gaming because of a certain number of reasons. For a detailed list go to the thread link. And although he makes some very valid points, I have a counter-argument on why I AM staying in the P.C. gaming world.

So what if there is DRM, how many times are you really going to install one game? And if your pirating, I might remind you it's a FELONY.

Games are not always just made for the money. I recently read an article in which Johnathan Blow, creator of the hit Xbox Live Arcade title Braid, was interviewed. In this interview Blow mentioned how he wants full control over his projects and thats why he'd turn down a huge deal. A huge deal would, in turn, cause him to lose some control over the overall direction of his project. This is a prime example of "games as art," not "games for money."

Also, whether companies make games for money or not, what's the difference. Tons of quality titles are coming out, and have already been released! In addition, why wouldn't companies want to make money?! If you think about it, every business is out to get money. Even a doctor really wants money, regardless of whether or not he wants to save his patients.

Finally, I highly doubt consoles will introduce DRM. And even if they did, whats the big hairy deal? Everybody wants to protect their things, especially big corporations which get pirated every day.

I'm just saying, whether P.C. gaming is "dying" or not, I'm in it until the end. I love P.C. gaming, and although the orignal poster of the original topic makes some very valid points, and is entitled to his own opinion, I think some of his statements are blown out of proportion and SOME are outright incorrect. Give it another chance jamyskis!

DOS4dinner

1. I don't really care about DRM so long as it doesn't hurt my machine, but I HATE the idea that my game may become useless 10 years down the road. If Full Throttle used some MS-DOS 6.1 rootkit functionality, I wouldn't even be able to play my legal copy. I don't like the feeling that I will lose my games.

2. (the thing about braid) There are games that do push artistic creativity. Unfortunately, like Braid, they seem to be indie downloadables and not the next big thing that we all camp out at our local game store for. However, these kind of games are not what you will find when you go to Best Buy or whereever.

3. We do get quality games. But do we get quality Platformers? Adventure games? Action/adventure? Save a few instances, most of the quality games are MMOs or FPSs. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I've seen in my travels.

Still, it's no reason to ref ormatt C:\ and install FreeDOS. PC gaming will always have something awesome going on. However, I still find a lot to dislike about PC gaming today.

Does GS ban the use of the word "re form at" or something?

The other post had a lot of good points that I agree with. However, that doesn't mean I'm giving up PC gaming. It does mean that the new games I've bought recently has been limited to Fallout 3. I might get the Gotihc 3 and the NWN 2 expansion .... maybe.

Lately, I've been going through the NWN modules I've collected. So, far the only one I recommend is the Eye of the Beholder remake.

Ever since I turned PC gamer, I haven't been playing console games. The only titles I play on the consoles are exclusives like Gears of War 2. Other than that, I have no desire to ever go back to console gaming.

PC gaming is a great platform for those of us that prefer quality graphics and games at reasonable pricing. Consoles have there place, but will never replace my computer as my platform of choice. It is all a matter of skill and preference. Skill comes in at times getting the settings right and loading in the right patch or patches.

Nothing to date can compare to the quality graphics of a computer. Using a mouse and keyboard is second nature to me, a hand controller would feel empty.

Im with you, I love PC gaming, I have over 115 title going back to the first monkey island. PC gaming is what I do, its what im known for (not that im known). I can't ever stop until PC gaming stops (never gunna happen). So yeah, you are preaching to the choir :)harrisi17

I know you! 

Want to shoot some hoops later?! 

Roll on PC Gaming!!

1. I don't really care about DRM so long as it doesn't hurt my machine, but I HATE the idea that my game may become useless 10 years down the road. If Full Throttle used some MS-DOS 6.1 rootkit functionality, I wouldn't even be able to play my legal copy. I don't like the feeling that I will lose my games.

2. (the thing about braid) There are games that do push artistic creativity. Unfortunately, like Braid, they seem to be indie downloadables and not the next big thing that we all camp out at our local game store for. However, these kind of games are not what you will find when you go to Best Buy or whereever. 

3. We do get quality games. But do we get quality Platformers? Adventure games? Action/adventure? Save a few instances, most of the quality games are MMOs or FPSs. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I've seen in my travels.

DOS4dinner

2. I'd camp for Braid. I can't wait for it to come out on PC. A lot of my favourite games lately have been indie games. My most anticipated game right now is Crayon Physics Deluxe. Just because a game is downloadable doesn't make it a lesser game. 

3. What? PC gaming is the leading 2D platforming system, and has been for the past 10 years or so.  We get adventure games all the time (we're pretty much the only ones getting adventure games, as a matter of fact). We do get action-adventure games (Devil May Cry, Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia, etc.) Most of the quality games on PC are spread throughout pretty much every genre (except for JRPG and 3D platformers, though there might be some great doujin JRPG out there I don't know about). 

I stick with PC gaming for several reasons:

1. All the games I like are on PC.

2. If you know where to go, there's an enormous amount of ( legal) free games available.

3. If something happens to my Frankenstein machine, I can fix it myself; I don't have to box it up and ship it off half-way across the world to get it repaired. :D

Finally, I highly doubt consoles will introduce DRM. And even if they did, whats the big hairy deal? Everybody wants to protect their things, especially big corporations which get pirated every day.

nicknees93

If you think about it modern day consoles have DRM built in. If you insert an illegal copy of a game it won't work without moding the console. If you use a modded console on Xbox live for example your account had a huge chance of getting banned.

I agree with you on pretty much everything though. I honestly don't care about DRM since it hasn't caused me any issues with playing my games.

You all know my stance on SecuROM 7.xx and StarForce, so I'm not going to regurgitate it here.  I will say that the number of games I've bought over the past year and a half has declined drastically as a result of such malware being included with many games.  I won't put my PC at further risk.  I also dislike online activations for single player games, though I could put up with that (I have bought some games through Steam for example).

Limited activations is out of the question, however, because I keep all my PC games long-term and play them years and years after they were first released.  In the past ten years I've had three PCs and upgraded them all inbetween - and if limited activations had been used 10 years ago, there would be a lot of games on my shelf that I would simply be unable to play again.  That is unacceptable to me.  I've seen no guarantees whatever that publishers will release DRM free versions of popular games later on, or that they will release patches to remove these activation limits.

Really the current DRM schemes are the only thing holding me back from buying more PC games.  I just cannot support such intrusive measures that could result in another DVD drive failure or worse.

Anyway, I'll never stop being a PC gamer.  I have over 200 games in my collection that I will continue to play, regardless of whether I buy any more. I think the guy in the other thread with a collection of over 1000 games is just silly for giving up on that.  There's a hell of a lot of replay value with over 1000 games.  If you played one a day, it would take over 3 years to get through them all, and then you can start again with the first one.

When it comes right down to it, I can manage perfectly well without a console, but I couldn't manage without my PC, because it's used for a lot more than games.  It just makes sense to keep it up-to-date enough to play games on it as well.

[QUOTE="harrisi17"]Im with you, I love PC gaming, I have over 115 title going back to the first monkey island. PC gaming is what I do, its what im known for (not that im known). I can't ever stop until PC gaming stops (never gunna happen). So yeah, you are preaching to the choir :)biggest_loser

I know you! 

Want to shoot some hoops later?! 

Roll on PC Gaming!!

yeah Ill grab a plane ticket in the morning

I'm all for PC gaming, and I don't ever see that changing, as long as PC gaming is alive.

However, and I touched on this in another recent post, I am getting frustrated with it.  Some might say it's stupid, but I like to play games on high settings, high resolution, etc., so I usually build a nice gaming box every couple years, and make upgrades between.

This year has been the most dissapointing by far.  I built a new box, spent about $1800, and the new games this season are like mods, mediocre console ports, nothing that pushes the envelope.  All the games are coming out simultaneously on consoles, or often ahead of PC, and the PC version just ends up being a decent game that doesn't wow me like they did in past years.  Like wow, look at those graphics, wow look at the interaction with the environment, wow look at the physics and destructible environments, etc etc.  It's all missing this time around, and I fear this will be the case from now on.

I'm all for PC gaming, and I don't ever see that changing, as long as PC gaming is alive.

However, and I touched on this in another recent post, I am getting frustrated with it. Some might say it's stupid, but I like to play games on high settings, high resolution, etc., so I usually build a nice gaming box every couple years, and make upgrades between.

This year has been the most dissapointing by far. I built a new box, spent about $1800, and the new games this season are like mods, mediocre console ports, nothing that pushes the envelope. All the games are coming out simultaneously on consoles, or often ahead of PC, and the PC version just ends up being a decent game that doesn't wow me like they did in past years. Like wow, look at those graphics, wow look at the interaction with the environment, wow look at the physics and destructible environments, etc etc. It's all missing this time around, and I fear this will be the case from now on.

hystavito

Well, I don't think it's stupid at all, everyone has different aspects of gaming that they enjoy.

Your "fear" is likely well-founded though. Multi-platform development is the trend, especially with the enormous development costs of the types of games you apparently like to see. Developers and publishers want to get as much return on those investments as possible, and the consoles of today (more like PCs and vice-versa than ever before) allow that to happen. With this strategy consoles are always going to be the "common denominator", potentially higher-profitable, but certainly considered the lead/target/baseline platform for development. There are some advantages to this for PC gamers as well though ;)

On a brighter note, we're definitely on a convergence path, who knows how that convergence will play out in the future though. As consoles become more like PCs, ever more complex, and with tremendous roll-out and costs of production which take a while to recover (if ever), and as we move towards games as services, who is say at some point "consoles" are nothing more than PCs based on some "standardized specs"? If games are services and by far and away multi-platform centric, does it make sense to continue to make different "versions" of these machines at such a high-cost?

I could be wrong, and not necessarily having to do with "console demise" as perhaps a single console emerges as the de-facto gaming platform, who knows, but I think elements of this are why companies like EA view the PC optimistically and have plans for the platform into the future.

Oh yeah, I expect to remain a PC gamer also.

I don't think I could ever give up PC gaming, but ever since I got a 360 my PC is seeing no love. 

I miss the glory days of the 90's though, remember seeing people's faces when you showed them Doom for the first time :P

Or the day UO came out, what a rush.  

As far as I'm concerned pretty soon PC is going to be the only platfom receiving interesting games.

Think about it, if you was a large company looking to pump out generic titles to a mass audience cash cow where would you go? In contrast if you are a starter games company with a small budget but interesting ideas where would you go?

Consoles are loaded with barriers that block new talent. You need to somehow convince the console company to let you develop for the platform, you need to adhere to their development requirements and standards, you have to give them a cut of your earnings to pay for licencing fees on top of publisher fees, you have to go through their quality checks just to apply a patch, you are forced to use their online network, they can charge you to distribute content over their network and so on.

Then you look at PC and you need no ones permission to release a game, there are no standards you are forced to work by, you only need to share your profits with your publisher, you can release patches and distribute content for free at will, you can design your own online network and so on.

Games that don't stand a chance on console thrive on PC, games like STALKER wouldn't have made it through console company quality requirements despite people loving the game today. Some of these big shot console orientated game companies wouldn't have been around today if it wasn't for their PC upbringing, they forget that.

Epic released a disappointing UT game because they forgot their PC heritage and tried to appeal to the PS3 audience, now they have lost their decade old fanbase and have to rely the GOW franchise. In the meantime games like Left for Dead and Team Fortress pick up the PC online shooter audience they left behind.

When companies decide to abandon PC and run off to consoles there is talent waiting to take their place on PC. Valve has an eye for this talent as we have seen, a surprising number of their best sellers started out as mods and student projects. Consoles on the other hand have increasing licensing fees to help pay for selling the hardware at a loss, Microsoft forces design choices on developers and Sony's PS3 is a nightmare to start development on.

The console environment is a deterrent for new talent, PC welcomes all with open arms. So while the big name companies milk the big name franchises on console; I expect we will be getting the more creative content from the smaller developers trying to differentiate themselves.