The Consolization of PC Gaming
With the recent crop of consoles storming the video game market, it has come to my attention that PC gaming is reaching a sort of impasse. Game companies are beginning to falter in their support for the waning platform as sales for the equivalent console games, namely the Xbox 360 and PS3, reach into the millions of units sold in a matter of months. So where does the platform head to now?
According to this article Microsoft, AMD, Intel, and Nvidia are all banding together in an alliance in order to save PC gaming from going into extinction. What does this mean? Well right now I don’t know for sure. Nobody does except for those four companies. There is supposedly going to be a planned press conference about it at GDC this week, but nothing has come to fruition yet. Despite not knowing what this means, I can still take an educated guess at what will happen with PC gaming through these four companies. Consolization. . .
Now, when I say consolization I don’t mean these companies are going to give up on the PC and work exclusively with consoles now, nor do I necessarily mean that PC games, from here on out, will start playing like console games. What I am talking about with that specific term is that, like consoles, there will be a “brand” of gaming PCs that you can buy at an electronics store. This will make it so that PC gaming has a set standard of graphics and processing power. It will also make it so that developers working on games don’t have to worry so much about minimum and recommended specs, this will, in turn, make it easier for consumers who just want to buy a game and play it without having to worry about poor performance.
Another thing to note about consolization of PC gaming is what exactly will these games be running of off? Well there is a chance that these “alliance” branded PCs will come equipped with Vista, or XP but I seriously doubt it. If you are trying to keep costs down and simply want to establish the PC as a gaming system why bother with either of those OS’s when you don’t need all the extra utilities they offer? My best guess is that Microsoft (one of the four members) is developing a new OS specifically for these gaming PCs. They will be designed to work with nearly every recent game, however, classic gamers should be wary. This will be done for a number of reasons:
- With XP or Vista, you need a system with much more RAM for handling background utilities like virus scanners. A new OS means less virus’.
- Microsoft likes developing new software, don’t kid yourself, they love it. When they see a chance to monopolize another market through software, they take it. . . aggressively if need be.
- With a new system you need a new, fresh design. One that stands out from the rest of the PCs, something that appeals to younger, “hipper”, people. Expect it to look very sleek like the Xbox 360’s interface.
Of course, this leads to variables in my little equation such as internet usage, or word processing. Well don’t worry to much. I’d say, if this does come to happen, there will be IE7 (or some equivalent thereof) on these machines. A word processing program might also be installed so as to keep the thing a PC, instead of just a game console, but don’t expect much beyond those two things. With this new “alliance” PC gaming comes first, everything else comes second.
With a new PC system being designed with a new gaming OS, what comes next? Well, right now you are probably wondering what kind of control it will have. Naturally not everybody who plays video games today understands the unique system most of us have come to know as WASD. To put it simply it is a very awkward system that we use to game on our PCs. Does this mean you should expect a re-branded 360 controller with every PC? No, I would highly doubt it. Not only would that completely squelch the PC aspect of this system, but it would also enable internet usage and any sort of word processing as clumsy and irritating. With these new PCs you can expect a traditional mouse, however, the keyboard will be different. I would expect that this “alliance” would tap into the market that the Z-board makers have been trying to tap into for years. Expect a keyboard, but with some additional buttons and keys located somewhere on it to enable easy-gaming. Control is very important for any gaming platform, the PC is no different.
So, that’s pretty much it. My theory on where PC gaming is headed is now out in the open. Is it right? I have no clue. I also have no idea if it would even work. A lot of the appeal to PC gamers now is that they get to customize their own PCs and make them stronger, faster, and better at almost anytime they want. However, while I am on that subject, this new PC platform most certainly would not be designed with those people in mind. This new “PC” will be designed with the PS3, Wii, and 360 gamer in mind. I’m not sure if the world is ready for this type of PC gaming, and I’m not even sure if I am ready for this. However, that said, the consolization of PC gaming is coming. . . one way or another it’s coming.
I don’t know… I seriously doubt that the companies involved in the alliance would want to turn PC gaming into yet another platform of set specifications. All of the companies involved are those who earn money directly or indirectly from the fact that PC gaming is an evolving platform… and would have no real vested interest in this sort of initiative.
In similar fashion I don’t really see Microsoft working on a gaming-specific OS for specialized computers. Primarily because they’re already working on a new OS, namely the new version of Windows that’s supposed to be released in 2009. I don’t see why they wouldn’t integrate extensive game-functionality and streamlining into that, or even a gamer-specific version of it (Microsoft loves selling dozens of varieties of the same thing after all).
Furthermore, how would it be different from what an Xbox does? Wouldn’t Microsoft benefit more from working on a new Xbox console? I seriously doubt there would be a market for a gaming system placed in between PCs and modern-day consoles in terms of functionality. PC gamers such as myself wouldn’t want to switch because it would be way too limited, whereas console gamers wouldn’t want to switch because their consoles do just fine by them. There does not appear to be a foreseeable market for a product like this.
Lastly the control scheme is the very last thing a PC gaming alliance would change. There is a reason why a majority of hardcore PC gamers uses either regular keyboards or ‘enhanced’ keyboards (like the Logitech G15) : specialized gaming keyboards don’t offer enough customization and are ineffective for handling multiple genres of games. You can’t optimize for RPG and FPS gaming on the same controller, you need to sacrifice somewhere. The Z-Board (with it’s various incarnations) for example is great for MMOs and general RPGs, but useless in shooters and (for the most part) strategy games. Keyboards are easily usable in all respects, easily recognizable by any person in modern-day society (no one has never used a keyboard before) and fully customizable to suit your exact needs.
If they do change something about the controlling devices then I’d expect them to go for either a Logitech G15-ish keyboard, which is a generic keyboard with some extra customizable buttons… or for a fully customizable keyboard like the one which has completely configurable buttons (forgot it’s name, but it looks very cool). This seems much more likely than specialized gaming keyboards, mainly because gaming mice are doing the exact same thing right now and it appears to be working very well indeed. In the PC gaming market customization trumps specialization, or so it seems…
I’m sure the PC Gaming Alliance is working on something, but I doubt a new PC gaming platform is it. It seems to me that that sort of thing would only alienate current PC gamers, as it would for me, whereas console gamers would likely see no need to make the switch to this new platform.