Since as far back as I can remember, I've been a Star Wars fan. I *think* my Mom told me once that I saw Return of the Jedi in theaters during its original release back in 1983 (though I was all of 1 at the time), and I am confident that said experience is responsible for most of the good things that have happened in my life. Or at least responsible for the fact that I refuse to remain grounded in reality ;-) I've owned somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 versions of the original trilogy, which never seemed that unusual until I took the time to write it out just now. Awkward moment. And so with that as background, I'm sure it will come as no surprise to you that I consume Star Wars based video games like a madman.
The newest addition to the Star Wars gaming empire, "The Force Unleashed" is set for release in September of this year. And in a word, it looks "out-of-control-awesome", excessive hyphenation not withstanding. Seriously, just look at this concept art (which is not a far-cry from the actual gameplay footage I've seen). Hard 2 tha core.
But while I could happily ramble on for days about Force Unleashed, there is a point to bringing this up beyond the sweetness factor of the game. Lucas Arts, the studio who produces Star Wars games, has always been a player in the PC realm. Their list of produced titles for the PC is literally about 4 times longer than for any other platform, and for the longest time, Lucas Arts and the PC were like bread and butter. A big budget game from one would assuredly mean a release on the other. But given enough time, the winds of change will always blow, and it appears that time may have come.
The Force Unleashed, which is arguably one of the most highly anticipated Star Wars games ever made, will not be released for the PC. Why, you might ask? To find the answer, you need go no further than the words of the game's producer, Cameron Suey by way of an interview with videogamer.com.
Most interesting. A major developer backing away from the PC in favor of mass market appeal? Are we reopening the conversation about the death of computer based gaming? Though Suey does go on to point out that such a statement is not a swearing off of the PC by Lucas Arts, it does raise some eyebrows.
To be fair, the death of PC Gaming notion is one that has been going on for years - since the release of the next gen consoles, if not before. But despite Suey's claim that PCs are still viable, actions speak louder than words, and cash money speaks with a megaphone. Take a look at this chart from ARS Technica:
And these overall industry sales are low compared to others I've seen. The NPD group, a major market research firm has slightly different numbers, but the same general outcome - PC gaming dollars showing a 15% drop off since 2006. The gaming pie keeps getting bigger, and the PC slice keeps getting smaller and smaller. Now we have a major developer dropping computer development for a major title in favor of a broader market - the console market.
So whats the deal? Whats wrong with the desktop computer? A few thing says I.
What does it all mean? Maybe nothing. Maybe PC gaming is fine. Maybe declining sales numbers and blockbuster title independence is just a coincidence. And maybe the writing on the wall is starting to get a bit easier to read. Though the bigger impact, if any, is something I'll likely need to spend a bit of time thinking about. But we might be seeing the coming of "the console as the center of the living room" dream that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have been stressing. The computer as a tool for work - the console as the tool for everything else. Hmmm.
May the force be with you, PC gaming. It looks like you're going to need it.
Images from uk.gizmodo.com and arstechnica.com
The newest addition to the Star Wars gaming empire, "The Force Unleashed" is set for release in September of this year. And in a word, it looks "out-of-control-awesome", excessive hyphenation not withstanding. Seriously, just look at this concept art (which is not a far-cry from the actual gameplay footage I've seen). Hard 2 tha core.
But while I could happily ramble on for days about Force Unleashed, there is a point to bringing this up beyond the sweetness factor of the game. Lucas Arts, the studio who produces Star Wars games, has always been a player in the PC realm. Their list of produced titles for the PC is literally about 4 times longer than for any other platform, and for the longest time, Lucas Arts and the PC were like bread and butter. A big budget game from one would assuredly mean a release on the other. But given enough time, the winds of change will always blow, and it appears that time may have come.
The Force Unleashed, which is arguably one of the most highly anticipated Star Wars games ever made, will not be released for the PC. Why, you might ask? To find the answer, you need go no further than the words of the game's producer, Cameron Suey by way of an interview with videogamer.com.
"Someone with a $4,000 high-end system would definitely be able to play the Euphoria, the DMM and really technical elements of the game. But someone with a low-end PC would have a watered down experience, they would have to turn all the settings down and it wouldn't be the same game. On the other hand if we made that game for as many people as possible, because we are trying to make mass market games, something that everybody can enjoy, well then it's not taking advantage of what those $4,000 systems can do."
Most interesting. A major developer backing away from the PC in favor of mass market appeal? Are we reopening the conversation about the death of computer based gaming? Though Suey does go on to point out that such a statement is not a swearing off of the PC by Lucas Arts, it does raise some eyebrows.
To be fair, the death of PC Gaming notion is one that has been going on for years - since the release of the next gen consoles, if not before. But despite Suey's claim that PCs are still viable, actions speak louder than words, and cash money speaks with a megaphone. Take a look at this chart from ARS Technica:
And these overall industry sales are low compared to others I've seen. The NPD group, a major market research firm has slightly different numbers, but the same general outcome - PC gaming dollars showing a 15% drop off since 2006. The gaming pie keeps getting bigger, and the PC slice keeps getting smaller and smaller. Now we have a major developer dropping computer development for a major title in favor of a broader market - the console market. So whats the deal? Whats wrong with the desktop computer? A few thing says I.
- Loosing the Arms Race. Mr. Suey is dead on and is describing what I like to call the arms race theory of PC gaming. Game designers are constantly pushing the envelope as to what a game engine can do. Thats great for tech shows, but terrible for the average consumer because it turns PC gamers into obsessive masochists. There is always SOMETHING you can do to make your game look better, and that something involves spending money to upgrade this that or the other. And no matter how you spend, you can never "win", because in 6 months your high priced components will be in the bargain bin at Best Buy and Moore's Law will be laughing at you. OR you can just buy a console for several hundred bucks, and play easy knowing that your games will look as good as they were intended to look. And because of the ever increasing costs of gaming, decisions need to be made.
- Power - Game consoles are getting more and more powerful. At one point, the PC was the undisputed king of the ring and if you wanted a heavy hitting title, it had to reside in a desktop. But consoles have a come a long way since the Nintendo, to the point where they are now driving the innovation that was once a PC exclusive (see the Playstation 3's cell processor). The good old tower still has the edge for the highest of high performance, but the gap is far smaller than it used to be and it is getting to where the difference isnt worth the cost.
- Interfaces. A few years ago, you wouldnt dream of playing a first person shooter game on a console. Why? Because without your trusty mouse, you'd be dead long before could aim at anything. But as the controller has evolved and as people have become more comfortable using them, that stigma has started to slip away. Don't believe me? Go compare console vs PC sales of Call of Duty 4 (a franchise that began as a PC exclusive in 2003). There are still a few things consoles don't do as well, namely intricate micromanagement games (like real time strategy or MMOs), but even that is starting to change.
- Society and the Interweb. My Fiance does not like it when I play computer games. And though shes is not too fond of Xbox games either, the Xbox is a tolerable evil. Why? The computer is in the
study, and our study, like most people's, is not really a hangout spot in the house. The Xbox meanwhile, is in the living room, hooked up to the greatest invention in relationship history - the splitscreen television.
At one point, PC gaming was the only way you could game and be social at the same time because it was the only device that could connect to the internet. But times they are a changing, and features like text chat, voice chat, and online play are now as accessible to the console world as the PC. And with services like Xbox Live and the PSN, consoles may in fact be MORE social than standard computers.
What does it all mean? Maybe nothing. Maybe PC gaming is fine. Maybe declining sales numbers and blockbuster title independence is just a coincidence. And maybe the writing on the wall is starting to get a bit easier to read. Though the bigger impact, if any, is something I'll likely need to spend a bit of time thinking about. But we might be seeing the coming of "the console as the center of the living room" dream that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have been stressing. The computer as a tool for work - the console as the tool for everything else. Hmmm.
May the force be with you, PC gaming. It looks like you're going to need it.
Images from uk.gizmodo.com and arstechnica.com
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