In my distant pre-parenthood past I was a casual PC gamer. My gaming was casual to the extent that I’d buy about one game a year from the discount rack at Best Buy (usually after bonus time). As a software developer I’ve been interested in computer graphics and high performance computing since high school, so in addition to playing games I am interested in how they are developed.
I have been reading for quite a while about the decline of PCs as a gaming platform. It never really made sense to me, since PCs are typically much more powerful than consoles and easier to develop on to boot.
The decline didn’t make sense until Angry Overeducated Catholic bought me “Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade” for my birthday.
Let us compare the gaming experience for a casual PC gamer and a casual console player.
The PC Game Experience:
- Insert the DVD ROM. Run the autoplay that it starts up, if your PC is foolishly configured to run what ever DVD you insert into it.
- Run through the typically crappy win32 installation script.
- Type in 20 alphanumberic digits to prove that you are either not a thief, or a thief bright enough to copy a 20 digit number along with a DVD-ROM.
- Try starting the game.
- Find out that the “spooge could not be found.”
- Google for “Spooge could not be found” and discover it means that you don’t have direct X 9.0c installed on your PC.
- Install Direct x 9 on your PC. No, wait, unpack the installation files for Direct X 9 and then run an installation program off the directory.
- Hope your PC still boots. It does
- Start the game.
- Discover that the game lets you move the camera in every direction except up.
- Search the web for patches. Find several, none of which are hosted by the maker of the defective software.
- Fill out two registration forms, including ones that want your birthday, to download patches. Let me get this straight — I’m sold buggy software and now I have to provide my personal information to get the fixes for bugs?
- Try to figure out which ones you have to download. Do you have to download each one in order, or are they all inclusive?
- Struggle through the download process, which is the typical crapware that wants to install an executable so I can simply download a file. Not like that problem hasn’t been solved on TCP/IP for thirty years.
- Discover you’ve downloaded a patch for “Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War”, not “Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade”. Download the correct patches.
- Discover that the training module works, but that the game does not.
The console game experience on my brother-in-law’s PS whatever.
- Select DVD-ROM.
- Insert DVD-ROM.
- Start playing game.
You’ll notice that one of them sucks and the other doesn’t, and that the difference has nothing to do with the hardware. It’s the software. And near as I can tell, if the PC gaming market is failing, the market is working just fine. The PC gaming market deserves to fail.
June 15, 2007 at 9:53 am
Preach on brother, preach on. I mean delibrately releasing unfinished games and saying “We’ll take care of that in the patch”!?! We ought to cast our votes as consumers by not purchasing said suckfest. Players everywhere should refuse to drink the Kool Aid.
June 15, 2007 at 11:18 pm
You forgot step 4.
Hope your console doesn’t catch on fire.
June 16, 2007 at 1:39 pm
AFL wrote:
###Preach on brother, preach on. I mean delibrately releasing unfinished games and saying “We’ll take care of that in the patch”!?!###
Unfortunately, this cavalier attitude towards completion of product extends far beyond the PC games market. I’ve seen some pretty amazingly lame first releases of other software, not just games.
June 17, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Microsoft has been incredibly damaging in this regard.
When the near-monopolist for business critical applications like Office and Excel can successfully sell products which contain serious mathematical errors, why should we expect any better from game companies?
And when Microsoft can sell an email reader that, by default out of the box, allowed simple methods to hijack your computer (cough, Outlook, cough), why should we be surprised if game companies are cavalier?
And when the average computer user votes with his dollars that his operating system crashing regularly is normal, expected, and acceptable, why should game companies invest any effort in stability?
It doesn’t have to be this way, but it is, and we have only ourselves to blame.
June 18, 2007 at 2:24 pm
AOC wrote:
###When the near-monopolist for business critical applications like Office and Excel can successfully sell products which contain serious mathematical errors, why should we expect any better from game companies?###
Not to defend Microsoft, but the mathematical errors in Excel were (or are) nearly all repeated in software like Open Office. It took MS way longer than it should have to fix the errors, but they did finally fix most of the egregious ones about five years ago. (Easiest to notice: using their built in function stdev, calculate the standard deviation of {0, 1, 2} and of {100000000,100000001,100000002}. In real number arithmetic, these should both equal 1 but in older copies of Excel—and a lot of other software—the first quantity would equal 1 and the second 0 due to roundoff error.)
Many of these problems are due to the industry practice of handing off “serious” programming to code monkeys without guidance from actual experts to make sure the code monkeys did the right thing. It’s an industry-wide problem and not made any better by users’ tendencies to trust what computers give them. While I agree that MS doesn’t help matters being the market leader, the problem is bigger than them.
###And when the average computer user votes with his dollars that his operating system crashing regularly is normal, expected, and acceptable, why should game companies invest any effort in stability?###
My beef with game companies is less in terms of stability—given what computer games are doing on as shitty a platform as Windows, I’d say many are AMAZINGLY stable—but with ones that bugger up the content or release unfinished games. This means you, Lucas Arts….
June 18, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Hey Lucas arts let my tie fighter get blowed up by a Mon Calamari Cruiser jumping into the battle! I’ll put up with the VCR file bugs and strange 2D asteroid of glitchiness to have that happen
June 18, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Yeah, I didn’t mean to imply that Microsoft is the only culprit, but as the market leader their ability to sell crap without the normal consequences (lawsuits, dropped business, etc.) sets the standard.
Hey Lucas arts let my tie fighter get blowed up by a Mon Calamari Cruiser jumping into the battle!
Actually, that is pretty awesome. When I was watching the battles in Star Wars, I always wondered, “Don’t these fleets sometimes, you know, just drop out of hyper with some ships in just the wrong place (too close to an object to avoid it, etc.).”
Good to see that finally happen! Too bad it happened to you!
June 18, 2007 at 9:37 pm
No sympathies needed, I happened to have the VCR recorder turned on during the battle, when suddenly I just died, had no idea how, so while watching the VCR file from the exterior, I see it happen (including the small little puff of flame where my fighter had been). As ANM can attest it was one of my favorite moments in video game history!
While there may been some major bugs in the game, I’ll tolerate them for that
May 23, 2008 at 11:24 am
Your a fool, anyone that supports this blog is a fool. Say what you like about pc’s, but while you enjoy your console or handheld shit, remember that all games for all platforms are created and written on computers.
October 20, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Aww did the big bad blog man hurt you fewwings?
May 23, 2008 at 11:25 am
In fact why even bother with a pc I mean your running blog via one??
August 26, 2008 at 10:43 am
Playing a game on a pc is not worth the trouble it is meant to be. You got to keep buying cards and software to keep the damn thing up to date (which could cost you around $1000.00 and every other month). The damn computer goes aboslete within 6 months to a year meaning you have to buy more cards, new montherboard, sound card ext… Then to run the computer you have to be some sort of a genius (how many of you got an error sign and didnt even now wtf to do?.
There even is not a whole lot of games to choose from on the pc right now or even in the future. The only games im looking forward for the pc is starcraft 2, diablo 3, Duke nukem forever (if for console i would get rather than the pc), and left 4 dead (if for console i would rather get than pc). Most of the computer games i saw at wall mart, best buy and any other store suck complete a$$.
September 24, 2008 at 9:49 am
Todays PC games are just garbage to be frank. There is no though, no creativity involved at all! Its just some crappy FPS with amazing eye candy or some shitty RPG that breaks ever 3 minutes. What happened to Myst, or The Incredible machine, or even a good Fallout?!?
September 24, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I have been a hardcore PC gamer for 6 years now and I’m ready to give up and buy an xbox360. The PC game market SUCKS!!! We get a few good games a year, while consoles get 1 a month at least. If we do get a good game we have to wait a year for them to port it over. It’s also true that these hardware manufacturers (nvidia) take advantage of consumers by half ass upgrades to their cards. The MOUSE is mightier then the controller, period. The control you have with your wrist is far more coordinated then a thumb. That’s why I love PC games, but it looks like I’ll become a thumb jockey sooner or later.
September 26, 2008 at 11:56 pm
PC gaming sucks and it’s a waste of money! It’s crazy buy a $40 game then find out you need a $150 card to run it. And this will happen over and over again ram,cpu,gpu its a endless money pit cycle! I’m saving up money to get a PS3 or XBOX 360. I had enough of BS with the hardware treadmill.
November 9, 2008 at 5:22 am
PC Gaming- It was just meant for people who can buy stuff frequently
Console Gaming- graphics kind of suck against low settings on gaming and i mostly play first person shooter games and controllers kinda suck against keyboard and mouse accuracy.Plus to make matters worst with $400 you could build a Q6600,nForce 750i,8800GTX SLi,4GB PC vs PS3 with 3-core processor,7900GT GPU,256MB XDR
That’s why I always choose PC Gaming vs console plus with $200 you could upgrade your system to Q9550 rather than buy a console.
plus Next Gen Consoles: Are they really next gen if they were they would run Crysis at Low at least (It cant run Crysis at Low because of 256MB and lower RAM) and Crysis is upgrading to another level of realism graphics and have consoles ever upgraded to the “next level”. They are so 2006
HD1080p or XHD1200p or XD1440p or EXHD 10K Gaming.were upgrading in 2008 and 2009 1080p is not the “highest defintion resolution” available. it would be worth it to wait a while b4 buying a new console at least dont u think no t to mention a hdtv dont be discouraged by other people sayying ur “outdated” wait for the XDTV’s there coming out in around Q1-Q2 2009.They will be so freakin jealous at your 1440p XDTV
Just some reccomendations. Dont buy console now. there not next gen wait for the new ones or buy a PC. unless u dont want graphics and all that and dont care if u see a PS4 or something like that then go ahead buy a new ps3/x360/wii.
November 9, 2008 at 5:25 am
what about the 8800GTS it’s sufficient enough to play games and it was released like what a year and a half. Dont be saying oh you gotta to upgrade every six months.
at least the 7900GX2 is enough to play Crysis at All Very High 2xAA. and that was released 2 1/2 years ago!!!!
Ur so stupid/.
November 9, 2008 at 5:29 am
plus xbox 360 has that ring of death faulty thing so why waste urmoney on one then find out its already broken in 6 months.
ps3 has this dvd/blu-ray disc reading problem where it wont read the disc.and this is what i get for spending almost $500 for one
games are freakin $60 on the consoles while PC games are like $40. id rather save the money.
$20 buys u a 8400GS which plays crysis on low vs a ps3 not capable of playing it.
November 17, 2008 at 1:30 pm
WHAT??? “with $400 you could build a Q6600,nForce 750i,8800GTX SLi,4GB PC ” Where do you buy your parts? q6600 is $180 alone and and 8800gtx in SLI is more then $200. Please have your facts right before posting nonsense. I have built 5 gaming rigs in the last 6 years and never has it EVER been under $400. The difference is with consoles the games themselves are optimized for the systems as where with PCs the games are made to blow away all previous hardware to gain graphic superiority.
P.S. I have also seen XBOX-360 in HD 1080p and it looks amazing.
December 2, 2008 at 1:10 am
Fuck the PC AND all of these seventh generation consoles. All I want and need is my PS2.
December 4, 2008 at 12:12 am
I opted out of PC gaming long ago, though I still do single player on the crash-prone PoE2 mod for Battlefield 2 until my 360 gets back from the MicroSweatshop (had it for over a year, it started overheating in my first session of GTA4 and soon got to the point where only arcade games could be played without overheating). I prefer to replace a 360 once every 1.5-2 years instead of having to upgrade my PC every six months (and just so I can play an increasingly shitty selection of games to boot).
January 27, 2009 at 6:43 pm
I used to be a console gamer…and oh how i miss those days. Been gaming on PC for about 2 years now and it sucks. 1/2 of the games I have downloaded wont run right, have errors or wont even run at all. I’ll be so glad when I can afford to buy another console because PC gaming sucks and can kiss my @$$. The only decent game I have found thats free and runs good is Urban Terror. All the others just suck.
January 27, 2009 at 6:45 pm
btw justin your an idiot!
March 11, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Well, you all have very good comments as to why you’re having trouble with PC games. But you might also think that consoles are just as bad. For one thing, the consoles do “change” IE: PS One, PS2, PS3… see… you still have to spend tons of money for new shit. Either way, it’s one big circle jerk of fun. One thing good with PC games is that most, if not all, are very customizable and can make mods for them, or download modifications for them. As for consoles… forget it.
While you’re at it, if you’re bored with PC gaming, you can surf the net on… guess what? A PC! A console lacks this option unfortunately.
Consoles also have a very hard time with pirated games, as for a PC doesn’t seem to have a single problem with it at all, AND you can also copy CONSOLE games to your PC and play them ON YOUR PC. WHOA! HOLY SHIT BALLS!
And in case you have no fucking clue as to how, just look up emulators.
A console can not do this…
Sure some consoles may release some … ok games. But what happens when you beat it? there’s no modifications to make the game more exciting and even extend the game play.
As for upgrading a PC, don’t be such a lemming and buy a PC as soon as they release a new mother board. Parts do get cheaper as the years go by, as for this PC, I spent a total of $300 on this and I can run any game on it
HOLY SHIT!
Sure, I do like console, cause they are easy to work with, and take absolutely no knowledge what-so-ever to run them.
Sure, a PC may need some software to get a game to run, that takes what… a few minutes? maybe 10, depending on your connection.
Either way, both console and PC’s have their ups and downs. Therefore, they’re just as bad or as good as one another. So stop your bitching and shut the fuck up.
March 13, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Me,
You made alot of good points until you threw up ignorance like an internet retard with “So stop your bitching and shut the fuck up”. It sucks when someone tries to defend something and does it fairly well just to ruin it by acting like a total idiot and ruining all credibility. Sad…
Any argument for PC vs Console is settled in one sentence that I already wrote.
“The difference is with consoles the games themselves are optimized for the systems, as where with PCs the games are made to blow away all previous hardware to gain graphic superiority.”
March 27, 2009 at 12:33 pm
censored. you are pathetic.
April 24, 2009 at 9:30 pm
One thing so many have left out is gameplay. Maybe it’s because I started gaming back in the 80s and having given it up yet but the game play on the new PC games is absolute shit at best. Granted the graphics ala cut scenes etc are top knotch but eventually you have to play the game. 5 minutes into some shitty interface and you want to put the disks away and never play the BS again. What ever happened to market testing these games. Example, games like Black and White, Star Trek Armada, hell even Pools of Radience lacked what these new games have in graphics but you could play these games for years! I just finished comparing Shogun Total War with Rome Total war and it’s night and day! Rome rocks the graphics and options but the base game etc sucks in comparison. I’m tired of blowing 40-50 on a game I can’t get past 5 minutes playing. I’m out.
May 29, 2009 at 1:28 am
Using a PC for games is like using your car to mow the lawn.
Instead of using one blunt instrument to do two completely separate things, it’s a hell of a lot easier to use two different tools for the two different jobs: computer for work, and console for play. My “non-PC” does everything I could ever need from a computer, all in one device. I can take it anywhere, and it absolutely never crashes. EVER. And needless to say, once you use a trackpad, you’ll never want to use a clunky mouse ever again. I simply can no longer abide the massive (and massively outdated) mouse-and-keyboard design, and as clumsy as it is for writing, it is even less suited to modern gaming.
On the flip side, my console does everything I could ever want from a gaming system, and with only two devices (the console itself and the controller) that take up very little space. I can play it virtually anywhere in the house with ease, whether I’m on the couch, in my favorite recliner, or in bed. Despite the early overheating problems (which have now been fixed), the system has worked perfectly, and games such as GRAW2 have shown just how awesome modern gaming can be, not to mention how easy it is to add a friend or two on your couch and play simultaneously. Why would we ever settle for anything less?
And neither of these devices requires any maintenance or upkeep whatsoever. I never have to worry about constantly upgrading just so I can play the latest games, nor do I have to spend much money at all to get the full gaming experience. It’s a total no-brainer, and it’s no coincidence that all of the best games ever made have come out on… you guessed it…. consoles.
PC’s are dinosaurs.
July 9, 2009 at 2:09 pm
[...] I know no one actually will stop playing them (myself included) but this article adds one reason the dozens of others. [...]
August 25, 2009 at 10:53 am
pc is much better than consoles, consoles are for dumbasses that cant think a little bit by their own. you people suck, and aint worth caling you gamers!!pc rules ps3,xbox360 and wii sucks
August 30, 2009 at 4:11 pm
man i was just like you, I used to think that the pc was the best until I found out that I have to upgrade my pc every time a more powerful game comes out (which now and days happens almost every 3 months). Sure the pc has valve and bizzare for games, but if you think about it those are the only 2 companies that actualy provide the pc with good games, my point is that 3 years from now the consoles will surpass the pc in games and in quality- gears of war is only the beginning, and soon consoles will soon enjoy the team fortress updates and crysis, and NO consoles don’t suck, for one I don’t have to build my console, my xbox360 has much better online than my pc, my ps3 actually came with a blue ray and my wii has motion detection, my friend you are the one who sucks.
September 29, 2009 at 2:03 pm
PC gaming sucks, some people are saying the ps3 and the 360 cant play crysis ?! look it up a bit more before spewing S*** ! It was good… 7 years ago… its still good for those games 7 years ago and the occassional MMO but otherwise, suck… I have spent 1000’s euro on PCs and if i hadnt stopped with them, i would have spent 1000’s more ! I mean, consoles = Quantity and Quality ! Pc = Quality sometimes ! I can surf the net with my ps3 ( infact, writing this on a ps3 ) and have games like Killzone 2, which pc will never have seeing as KZ is like 50gb of memory ! Im done with PC’s, nice to know other people are as well !
October 25, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Seriously, what is a console? £200+ for a box that plays games with poor graphics, and crashes all the time. Despite being more expensive, I’d much rather have my PC, that does a lot more than just games. it’s also always ahead in terms of hardware and easier to repair. Like Microsoft, sony or Nintendo even give a shit if your console breaks.