What Would Matt Do

Isn’t that from that one movie? ;)

I’m still here, I’ve just been out of it for about a week or so. I’m back. And coincidentally enough, so is PC gaming…?

I know, I don’t believe it either, but according to industry experts PC gaming has some fight left in it.

Printer/scanner superstar Hewlett-Packard showed off its plans to enter the PC gaming market last night, and unsurprisingly there was an air of hostility towards those old-fangled games consoles the kids are talking about these days.

The first snipes came from a panel of industry leaders that included Games for Windows boss Rich Wickham and other gaming bods. “I believe the days of the console are numbered,” said Trion World Network founder Lars Butler. “There is one more generation of gaming consoles and that is it,” he claimed.

If this guy wasn’t a CEO trying to sell his company, I’d say that’s a bold claim. As it stands, he just sounds like a jackass.

But not as much one Mr. Romero (you might remember him as the guy who tried, and failed, to make you his bitch):

Next-gen console is big but its future isn’t too bright with the emergence of cheap PC multi-core processors and the big change the PC industry will go through during the next 5 years to accommodate the new multi-core-centric hardware designs. My prediction is that the game console in the vein of the PS3 and XBOX 360 is going to either undergo a massive rethink or go away altogether.

This is silly talk. Yeah, consoles which make bajillions of dollars compared to PC gaming are just going to go away because of the threat of… compatibility and upgrade requirements of PC gaming?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge fan of PC gaming. I’m a PC gamer at heart and probably always will be. If it’s not a sports game or fighting game, I MUCH prefer to play on the PC. And I don’t mind upgrading from time to time because I build my own stuff (most of the time) and love doing so.

None of my love for PC gaming changes the two biggest problems it has though. Compatibility and upgrading. The console, for the moment, has to deal with neither. That’s the beauty of the console. You put a game and it just works. No install process (on a side note, Halo 2 on Vista will have a similar feature. I like that a lot.), no worrying about whether a game will work or not (99.9% of the time), no wondering if your video card drivers are upgraded or whether you have a new enough video card at all. Those things don’t matter on the console and that’s one of the reasons it has such a huge advantage as a gaming platform.

But do I mind silly bastards speaking up and fighting the dying of the PC game era? Not all. I’d much rather the whole genre didn’t go quietly into the night. Fight I say. Fight for what you love as a developer and as a gamer. Fight for what matters, even when the odds are stacked against you. If it matters you fight for it.

So while I can’t agree with expressed future speak above, I really like to see it. I like that at least some people aren’t giving up on PC gaming and it can’t but be good for us, the gamers.

If PC gaming wants to save itself, it needs to take some serious steps.

For instance, quit developing for the top of the line hardware only. Really. UT3, I’m looking at you. Sure, your engine looks spiffy as fuck. But can it run on a system three or four years old now? No? Then you’re not helping the situation. Create the biggest, baddest engine you want, but make it work on older video cards too. It needs to scale, it needs to be able to work for the small and big time gamers.

Next, quit catering to the hardcore. Yeah, they are a part of the gaming world, but they aren’t the entire PC gaming scene. They aren’t even a majority of it. The guys whining on your forum aren’t speaking for everyone, etc. Listen, but don’t be listen like it’s the gospel (MMO makers, I’m looking at you).

After that, it’s up to Microsoft. I know, it’s crazy, but it’s true. No one else in the industry has the clout Microsoft does. If Microsoft gets off their ass and starts pushing standards for what computers should have, what directX will do for the next 5 years and what hardware makers should be aiming for, the industry would start to work together to get there. Otherwise, I’m betting it will continue all hodgepodge just as it does now. Preferably someone other than Microsoft could do this, but I don’t know who.

I would absolutely love for PC gaming to be around for the next 20 years, but I just can’t see it happening. On the plus side, it’s been one hell of a ride. Masters of Magic, I will always love thee.

What Would Matt Do: Play PC games for as long as I can. It sure as heck ain’t over yet. We’ve got all kinds of upcoming PC goodness this year and next.