March 09, 2007KIOSKS & PC Gaming - Can PC Gaming Survive in a Console WorldPC Gaming Series -- panel discussion at GDC 2007 explores the viability of PC Gaming. Sales of blockbuster PC games (several by EA) have fallen significantly. The reign of the triple-A boxed title is in jeopardy. One key advantage for PC games is user-generated content (mods) are standard whereas consoles are tightly controlled. The MMO and other social networking games could become the norm. This series on pc gaming is sponsored by Zazoox PC Game Stations March 8, 2007 Whenever a hot, new console arrives on the market, someone declares the demise of PC gaming. It happened with the PS2, the Xbox, the Dreamcast (well, to some extent), and it's happening now in the era of the "next gen" consoles. Does PC gaming have a future? Of course it does. But is it anything like the hardcore gaming contingent is used to? In a panel discussion at GDC 2007, a quintet of industry creative types, including David Edery (Xbox Live Arcade), Richard Hilleman (EA), Soren Johnson, (Firaxis), Michael Capps (Epic Games), and Chris Avallone (Obsidian Entertainment), kicked around the idea of PC gaming's viability. Since 2001, annual sales of PC games have fallen significantly. In 2006, of the top ten PC games, five were in Electronic Arts' Sims franchise. Sports games, simulations, and action games are, according to Edery, in "steep decline." Clearly, the reign of the big, triple-A boxed title is in jeopardy. How can the PC platform compete with next gen consoles? Hilleman sees gaming gradually turning into a service industry, rather than one of boxed product. "PC gaming is in a state of transition," he said, adding that companies are starting to cater to niches rather than continuing to create wide-ranging blockbuster titles. Gaming, said Hilleman, is "a bunch of different things to a bunch of different people." "You need to think differently about what types of games can be developed [for the PC]," said Johnson. Indeed, the PC currently has freer and better Internet access. It features keyboards and mice. It's more open to social gaming. Capps, who has worked on Unreal Tournament titles as well as Gears of War, was bleak: "PC Gaming is really falling apart. It killed us to make Unreal Tournament 3 cross-platform, but Epic had to do it to [recap its investment in the production costs]." Part of the problem is piracy. Big titles get stolen by cyber thieves, and it hurts revenue. "The market," said Capps, "that would buy a $600 video card knows how Bittorrent works." Does that mean casual games, which exponentially outsell what PC gaming traditionalists think of as A-list titles, will one day rule? Hilleman made a point: casual is a poor choice of words. The average player on EA's Pogo "casual" game network plays "for 24 hours a week. There's nothing casual about that." There is some light in the PC gaming world. World of Warcraft, for instance, is a massive hit, and the upcoming Spore looks not only creative and different, but promising. The MMO and other social networking games could become the norm for PC gaming, with big-ticket titles growing rarer with each passing year. Johnson added that MMOs are "successful because you can't pirate WoW. You cannot pirate an MMO. Period." Therefore, he said, "game design on the PC is going to bend toward persistence." The final feather in the PC's cap is user-generated content, a.k.a. mods. Modding is easier and more open on PCs than it is on consoles (even with XNA), and will continue to be. Console manufacturers tend to wield much more control over their titles. Censorship, said Hilleman, will always be an issue on consoles, but possibly not on PCs. Pointer Graphic for FingerlinksRead all of our GDC coverage. Creativity and knowing the market are the keys to saving PC gaming, the panel agreed. For example, the real-time strategy genre could use a serious boost. Johnson said: "Defcon is a great example of that. It's important for people to start making medium-size games for the PC because the PC can do that. The PC is that flexible." One final thought to consider: Trends are often hard to predict. The A-list title might never die. Capps, almost startled to say it, mentioned, "Shooters are doing well on consoles now. Nobody thought that would ever happen." This series on pc gaming is sponsored by Zazoox PC Game Stations Posted by staff at March 9, 2007 09:12 AM |