The Death of PC Gaming

[TTP]

I would tend to agree with the article except for one caveat. New hardware. Consoles hardware dev are on a 3-5yr cycle. PC's hardware dev are on a 1yr cycle. And the drive to upgrade has always been the 'killer apps'. Doom started it all with 3d. And we've been upping the ante ever since with alot of spillage over to consoles on the upgrade trail. Sure, the initial entry prices have been steep, but those prices always get pushed downward within the year of release. Console gamers don't have the expectations of high-end graphics and eye candies, PC gamers demand it.

To see if PC gaming is really dying you need to look at the direction of the gaming designs. Consoles fulfill mostly single player interactivity. With some dabbling in multiplayer. But PC's are where the really popular games (namely MMO's) are developed. I think what the author states regarding the death of PC gaming is really a transition of gaming on PC from single-player centric designs to multiplayer centric designs. Not a lot of games can make that transition. MMO's have been gradually pushing development funds toward the multiplayer designs since they generate consistent $$, residuals and secondary merchandising opportunities (WoW trading card games).

Until consoles can reach the capability to handle MMO level interactivity, PC will still remain the staple gaming machine.

 

[brakezone]

A lot of you whiners make me sick. If you don't want to use Vista then just don't buy it and STFU. Microsoft is pushing innovation and of course you are going to need hardware with more processing power.

I think that everybody, even you, has the right to express their opinion. This goes for people who do not want to use Vista as well. I already have vista but it is on a system that I use for school, and not on my main rig in signature.

Okay, now I am going to invent a NEW company that nobody has ever heard of before; however, as soon as you hear it, you should know what I'm talking about. This company is called Microhard, and it is a computer hardware company that makes 95% of all the commercial computer hardware in existence. Microhard makes huge major hardware releases once every 5 years.

The big problem, where things went wrong was when people invested all of their money into microhard, instead of investing the money in to many of different competing companies, that may also often work together in order to achieve their objectives. There really is no reason why software components cannot be designed similar to the method that the PC is designed. The PC has standards which are typically drawn up by established organizations. These standards are very important and allow for many different companies to compete with each other and also work together to achieve the human need for computer systems in the home and at the work place. The problem is that Microsoft is a monopoly. Last time I checked those were illegal, for obvious reasons. There should be established organizations who can draw up operating system components and software standards, so that the concepts that make PC compatibility so great can extend into the world of software. Microsoft would never take a step in this direction, but people with money who invest can.

why aren't there standards for operating system components like PC components? because Microsoft is a monopoly.

A. True
B. False

I would even go so far as to say that Microsoft be required by law to release many of its applications that are not actually operating system components to run natively on other operating systems that have a commercially driven development and a certain percentage of market share. They would still get to sell them for money, and if their operating system was better, people would buy that too. Microsoft argues that it is better for the consumer that they are able to operate in a monopolistic fashion, but I am not really convinced. Is commercially driven computer software really the exception to the rule that monopolies are bad???

 

[TTP]

You might want to go read the Sherman Anti-Trust Act again.. monopolies are NOT illegal. They exist in many industries. But this is a threadjack.. so back to topic at hand. Games are still going to be on the PC for many years to come.

 

[brakezone]

Well, monopolies in general may not be illegal, but there are certain characteristics about them which may be. Also, monopolies don't necessarily have to be illegal for my opinion to change. You are right though, I did make a incorrect assumption based upon my limited knowledge of the law.

Another thing I probably said incorrectly was that standards should be imposed upon Microsoft. Once they are imposed they are not really standards but regulations.

The question in my mind is what is best for the consumer. It's my opinion that what is happening is worse for the consumer. I can't prove that it is worse because I can't show precisely what the outcome would be had things been different.

So if Microsoft should be regulated, I would propose that they be required to sell different components of their system separate, and according to standards that would allow them to work in other operating systems like OS X, BSD, & Linux. This would bring competition to the market and make PC software development more like hardware development.

On the other hand, I really do want a hands off attitude. I don't like the idea of regulating a business like that, but nobody out there has the guts to create standards like that in a commercial operating system market that would allow for software components to exist with PC-component characteristics. It would be really cool if a bunch of companies would form an alliance and do something similar to this. I think one of the main reasons this doesn't happen is because most of the application market that is dominated by Microsoft, could not be tapped because the applications will only run on the Microsoft operating system. One of MS favorite things to do is to solve as many needs as it possibly can in a single product.

Microsoft would much rather you bought Microhard hardware than PC hardware. That's how this is relevant to PC gaming, because the way that software components are being developed for PC-hardware by Microsoft, does not really require PC hardware.