Post 24: State of PC Gaming

Battlefield 3 looks like all kinds of awesome.

Here's an interesting article on where the developers of Battlefield 3 see PC gaming going in the near future, as well as their concerns surrounding Sony's recent hacking issues.  For those of you that are unaware, Sony's Playstation Network, their answer to Xbox Live, was hacked on a large scale.  In response, the company has been beefing up it's security measures.  Of course the main problem is that the event in itself has shown other hackers the vulnerability of such systems.

This is a loyal console gamer.

In the linked article, the General Manager of DICE states his opinions regarding the future of PC Gaming.  I have to disagree with him on a few points, but overall I understand and agree with what I read.  Karl indicates that he believes that consoles are being tapped out.  That nothing much can continue to happen with them and that PC gaming will rise to the top purely based on performance.  PCs do have more capabilities and are better from a hardware perspective, but as a console gamer I don't see that happening for two reasons: 1) console gamers are too loyal and too entrenched to stop the market from creating better and better consoles, and 2) what is a console at this point but a computer?  The line between PC and console has been blurred beyond recognition in many respects.  The crossovers and ports are great in number and my 360 has essentially all of the same components of a computer, it's just reduced for marketability.  If the 360 was priced as a gaming computer was, with all of the top-end hardware and software, there would be no way it could be labeled as affordable gaming. 

Overall, I dislike Apple as a company.

Karl also argues that Apple could be a force to be reckoned with in the near future.  I don't see why Apple hasn't already tossed their hat into the ring with both a console, and better game compatibility.  Microsoft did so at the end of the PS1 era and they are already the king of PC gaming.  Maybe Apple's too damn scared to get in there.  Hell, if I were going up against a giant like Microsoft in a field that my audience didn't really care about, I too would be pissing my pants.

Ick, it's indie.

The final comment that the article leaves us with is that Indie gaming is about to explode.  I hate Indie games.  I literally fucking hate them, but they are a necessary evil.  I am very comfortable with my corporate Halos, Fallouts, and Dead Risings, I don't want to see some random-ass kid make a game where you run around as a stick man and have it gain popularity.  Not because I'm a complete asshole, thought I am a bit of one, but because I don't want the games that I actually like to be replaced by pieces of shit like "Running Stick Man."  Indie gaming spawns creativity, there's no mistaking that, but when it replaces good games on PC or on a console, I foresee less development taking place on series like Call of Duty or Battlefield.  Creativity is necessary, but it can be evil when wielded by the inexperienced.