Interesting article.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/videogames/260447_pcgaming.html
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/videogames/260447_pcgaming.html
Microsoft's mission: Revive PC gaming
It charges back into the fray, sparking hope for a revival of sales and evolution of the platform
Thursday, February 23, 2006
By BRIAN D. CRECENTE
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
Three months after its heralded introduction of the Xbox 360, Microsoft is prepping to launch another gaming platform: the computer.
With computer-game sales in a tailspin and a new generation of sleek, graphics-spewing consoles hitting stores, the software giant is promising to not only pull the computer out of its slump, but to deliver a PC-gaming renaissance.
Andrew Saeger / P-I
"I want to apologize for the dereliction of duty to our company's No. 1 platform, the PC, in terms of gaming," Microsoft vice president Peter Moore said. "We've been a little distracted for the past few years. Mea culpa, we've been busy."
And the neglect shows.
Last year, computer-game sales dropped 14 percent from the previous year, the worst dip in a five-year decline. Retail stores have taken note, relegating PC games into back corners.
"PC gaming used to take up the entire store," said Ken Levine, president and creative director for Irrational Games. "Now PC gaming get's a tiny little shelf."
So which is it for the future of PC gaming? Is it a dinosaur marching toward the tar pits or a sleeping giant ready to wake and reclaim its past glory?
The industry's top advocates say there are plenty of problems keeping PC gaming down, but just as much potential that portend its inevitable rebirth.
Some of the PC gaming's hurdles include:
Piracy -- Gamers are downloading the product rather than buying it.
Stagnancy -- Developers keep cranking out sequels when they should be innovating.
Some of PC gaming's promise includes:
Power -- PCs boast more technological muscle and, unlike a console, can regularly be upgraded.
Microsoft -- The company is throwing its weight behind PC gaming and contends a new operating system due at the end of the year will help push the platform to new heights.
"I don't believe PC gaming is going to die, but it is bleeding right now," said Tim Willits, lead designer and co-owner of id Software, makers of such PC powerhouse games as "Quake" and "Doom."
He points to piracy as a chief culprit in the sales drop. He says developers need to first find ways to make people pay.
"What developers and publishers need to do is come up with distribution plans and new copy protection plans," he said. "When you see a game that requires you to be online to play, people can't steal that game."
That's the plan for id's upcoming title, "Enemy Territory: Quake Wars," developed in association with longtime partners Activision and Splash Damage Games.
"One of the things we've done is make it an online game that requires you talk to a master server and have a unique key code," he said.
The industry needs to make such anti-piracy procedures mainstream if PC gaming is to survive, Willits said.
Others think the innovation shouldn't stop there. PC games have, in many ways, become formulaic.
"Publishers need to take more chances," said Robert "Apache" Howarth, editor of gaming site Voodoo Extreme. "PC gamers are sick and tired of color-by-numbers-designed World War II games, generic real-time strategy titles and massively multiplayer tripe.
"PC gaming in general is in a rut."
Moore echoed that sentiment during his speech last week at the Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain summit.
"We are becoming like TV and film in that we are sticking to a formula," he said. "We are a superior medium, and we should take the next step to rekindling originality."
Despite the hurdles facing the PC gaming industry, few think that gaming on the computer will become a thing of the past.
"It's like saying people are going to stop browsing on the Internet," said Mark Rein, vice president and co-founder of Epic Games. "It's idiotic."
Willits argues that no matter how fast and high tech a console starts out, it eventually will become outdated. Unlike with PCs, you can't upgrade a console.
"PC technology moves faster than the consoles. Consoles have a three- to five-year life span," Willits said. "You can get new video cards every few months, so the PC will always be more powerful, and it has better connections to the Internet."
Rein points to the object of his latest PC passion, a limited-edition computer from Dell called the XPF600 Renegade.
"Michael Dell said that it has four times the power of next-gen consoles," he said. "There is so much power in that PC and there is so much potential.
"But just think: a year from now that will be your average PC and think of what you will be able to buy then.
"It's just ludicrous to say PC gaming is on the way out when PC gaming hardware is just exploding."
And when the newest PC hardware hits, game developers can start taking advantage of it immediately.
"Six months from now when the next uber-awesome graphics card comes out we can take advantage of that right away," said Scott Brown, president of Louisville-based NetDevil.
Microsoft contends the PC gaming evolution will get a big boost from Vista, its latest Windows operating system that is due out later this year. The company says it will streamline computer gaming for both developers and gamers.
"In the past we haven't done a lot to foster the (PC gaming) ecosystem, we've just allowed it to exist," said Chris Donahue, director of developer relations for Windows graphics and gaming. "With Vista we are going to do specific marketing and retail stuff."
Moore, who is responsible for the Xbox division, recently took control of Windows gaming, too. With Moore's involvement comes a much greater emphasis on the PC platform, Donahue said.
Microsoft's push for its new operating system and PC gaming in general will include an attempt to standardize some aspects of the industry. From game packaging to online play and installation, the hope is that PC gaming will adapt some of the better traits of its console competition.
The Vista system also will streamline the way games are presented on your computer.
A built-in "games explorer" will organize the games on your computer and provide game details.
Developers are already singing the new operating system's praises.
Epic Game's Rein says Vista will make it much easier for developers to squeeze every bit of power out of a computer.
"It will get us much closer to the hardware," he said. "Right now you can get a lot more work out of an Xbox than you could get out of a PC."
Rein, whose Epic Games is developing titles for both consoles and PCs, says that in many ways the two markets complement one another.
"The good thing about next-gen consoles is that they are such powerful machines and that will translate into better games on the PC," he said.
That's because many developers create games that can play on all platforms, PC and console, and often they have to limit their titles to the lowest common denominator -- usually the console. As the consoles elevate their power, the games can catch up.
"I think we are going to see a resurgence of PC gaming," he said.
And Rein says there's far more innovation yet to come.
"The idea that there are no mountains left to conquer is absolutely ludicrous," he said. "People have no clue how much further we can go."
HELP IS ON THE WAY
Ten games coming out in 2006 that should keep your computer busy
Unreal Tournament 2007 (Epic Games)
Bulked-up artificial intelligence, melee combat moves and multiplayer variety promise to make the popular first-person shooter franchise that much more beloved.
Auto Assault (NetDevil)
This multiplayer online game mixes sci-fi and fantasy with car combat and role-playing to create a wicked blend of racing, shooting, exploration and car upgrades.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda)
This latest in a string of successful role-playing games gets a new life through more realistic computer controlled characters that make choices based on your actions and their personalities.
Gears of War (Epic Games)
This third-person shooter adds subtleties by introducing cover, transforming the genre from an exercise in running-and-gunning into something more akin to real-time tactics.
Rise Of Nations: Rise of Legends (Big Huge Games)
Set in a steam-punk industrial age, this real-time strategy game is the "spiritual successor" to the much lauded "Rise of Nations" and has fans salivating at the prospect at a streamlined follow-up.
Age Of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (Funcom)
Set in Robert E. Howard's rich world of fantasy and sorcery, this massively multiplayer game promises to deliver deep story-driven single player adventures that build to massive multiplayer melees.
Spore (Maxis)
Ever the innovator, "Sims" creator Will Wright is broadening his life simulator and tackling creation. Players will start as a single-cell organism and guide it through evolution until their creation becomes a unique society worthy of space travel, colonization and, of course, war. Player organisms also will be shared with other online gamers automatically.
Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Microsoft Game Studios)
The culmination of nearly a quarter-century of flight simulators, "Flight Simulator X" with 24,000 airports situated around the world. The new heights of graphic realism will include such real-world distractions as the glare from the plane's wing or glints off glass and chrome.
Prey (Human Head)
Featuring an American Indian protagonist and alien-invasion story line, this first-person shooter includes a number of unusual gameplay mechanics, such as shifting gravity and having to fight for your spirit to continue the game after a death.
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (Splash Damage/id Software)
This first-person shooter returns to id Software's seminal work, this time putting players in the midst of the Strogg invasion of Earth. You can choose to play as either side in a game that features strategic team play, day and night battles and the ability to hop into 40 different vehicles.