Death of PC Gaming Editorials

Two more editorials have rolled out on that favourite topic of us all; the death of PC gaming. Strategy Informer looks at PC gaming and its future.

And the winner is…

The PC isn’t dying, the very stake of the world rests in the nurturing hands of motherboards Mother Nature too I guess. We all apparently live in a Web 2.0 community now where devices are communicating just as much as we do, in fact some have even filled in for us. PC gaming isn’t going away, it’s not even slowing down if anything it’s savaging the sound barrier by now and this is an exciting time to be in the industry, especially if your job entails sitting around and playing videogames for (research) purposes.

User input is going to increasingly play a big role in the future of the videogames market and not just for PC, even the consoles are getting bit by the custom content bug. While we may toast all this new freedom and creativity there’s a price to be paid and things like the Trusted Platform Module chip I feel is just the beginning. Software piracy can’t be left at the levels it is today and anyone who’s visited a widely used torrent site — which ironically is exactly the peer-to-peer philosophy games seem to be embracing now knows just how quick a game gets online.

Massively Multiplayer Online and casual bite sized games are not the sole saviours PC gamers have only to look forward too, there’s always going to be the triple ‘˜A’ titles and its unrealistic to think they’ll be gone one day. This is a platform that delivered the videogame to the world and it’s had its share of ups and downs for sure but, and as cliché as it sounds, the futures bright. There’s never going to be a victor, consoles are always going to come out every so many years and that’s an excellent thing. Having the competition helps keep those guys and gals with the pen and paper pushing their imaginations and trying to find new ways to make the games we love.

In this last decade we’ve seen phenomenal technological advances in the computing industry, just imagine where we’ll be in the next ten.

The Australian site Gameplayer has a kind of dialogue between two of its staff, one defending EA’s actions and one detracting them, to discuss if EA is killing PC gaming.

[CS:] I agree with your hatred of PC piracy and that it is ultimately very bad for the industry. But punishing the good’ consumers out there with such ridiculous demands is not the way forward. While I don’t agree with it, I can suddenly see the argument why buying Mass Effect is actually now the worse option and waiting for a hacked version to rock up on a torrent site so you can complete it at your leisure is better. How is that good for PC gaming?

BM: A corporation’s need to recover ROI is essential to its growth, and an obligation to its employees and shareholders to ensure it brings in revenue to fund future games. It’s not (greed). EA may not have developed PC Mass Effect, but I bet the cost of the Bioware acquisition included projected revenues for the game. It is not (institutionalized hate mongering), it is sound business practice.

The copy protection is not invasive. Everyone is online these days. I don’t hear any complaints about Steam games needing a player to be connected. Is that because Steam is ‘˜cool’ and EA is gvil’? Is that what is really bothering you?

EA provides helpline support for anyone having trouble activating the game after an upgrade as does Microsoft for Windows. It is a minor inconvenience, like income tax, but ultimately for the greater good.

What it seems to boil down to is that you are so indignantly outraged by an attempt to stop you stealing, that you will be exacting revenge by stealing more. And you wonder why game publishers are banging their heads trying to overcome this problem.

CS: No, what I am saying is they don’t need to take out their frustration by making the lives of those who willingly bought the game a god damn misery just so they may or may not squeeze and extra buck out of the few pirates that want the game enough to actually pay for it which is probably only around 1%. No I don’t think I should have to ring EA, halfway across the world, sit on their help line for God knows how long and hope I can convince them that I am a genuine consumer so I can finish the game I paid full price for, just because I installed a new graphics card.

Steam is a different story most of the games specifically released through the format are online titles anyway, not offline (see The Ship, counter-strike): the rest you can walk into a shop and buy. I am online so have no issue with such problems; but I am not fighting this fight for me, I fighting it for Joe Consumer.

What it boils down to is restricting the use of a PC product to such a small window of opportunity that it takes away from the point of buying it anyway. I am not outraged by an attempt to stop piracy, I am outraged by the methodology they have taken to go about it. I find it strange that a PC man who likes getting into his case and tinkering with the tech would support a system that would allow you to only do such a thing three times. ever. and still be able to play Mass Effect. Or God forbid, install a version on your laptop to play on long travels OS.

Your worried that piracy is killing PC gaming. I think this move by EA would suggest that in their opinion, it is already dead and they might has well rape the last few customers for all they are worth.