Will PC Gaming Die

The generation of gaming has gone up to the next level with the release of the latest gaming consoles such as the SONY PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and many more. The games developed for such high end consoles have amazing graphics with incredible textures and detailed levels of gameplay. Such high end consoles with the most advanced technologies are entering the market, thus increasing the competition and the craze amongst gamers.

As years will pass by, newer and more advanced versions of consoles may come out and when they do, they will definitely come out with a force. However, will these consoles affect the future of PC gaming, or to be more precise, are these consoles currently having a serious impact on PC gaming.

Hence the question “Will PC Gaming ever die?” is a question which needs to be dealt with. According to me the obvious answer is a big NO. This is not only my answer but the answer of thousands of gamers who are dedicated to PC Gaming and have played almost every PC game till date. Let hundreds of consoles with the most advanced technologies and graphics come out, but they will never beat the graphics of a fully upgraded PC with the most advanced graphics card. The development of games for the PC based genre has increased and also improved over the recent years. With every PC game making its entry into the market, there is a rush to buy games which have better graphics than those games created for the consoles.

With the increase in LAN and online gaming, I am almost sure that the future of PC gaming is in safe hands and the question of PC gaming dying will become almost worthless. Multiplayer games such as Counter Strike Condition Zero, World of Warcraft, Age of Empires and many more will keep all PC gamers hooked to such games. Their numbers will rise in the future due to the popularity of such games which are developed only for the PC. Consoles also have games which have multiplayer options, but the craze and excitement in playing online games on a PC with fellow gamers all around the world will put the craze for console gaming to a lower level. The bottom line for me is that you just can do as much with a console as you can with a PC. I can have up an instant messenger client and answer messages, I can search Google for tips, and I can do any number of things on my computer while gaming that I can not do with a console. Also many gamers prefer the hardware setup of a monitor instead of a TV and a keyboard and mouse instead of a controller. It is very difficult to make an RTS or MMORPG that could use a controller compared to a keyboard/mouse setup. To add more fuel to the fire, there are no real mainstream ways for people to mod console games, or use any decent map editor. All these are features used primarily by PC gamers.

The younger generation today is getting hooked to PC gaming, thanks to the rise in the number of gaming cafes in the neighborhood. The number of such gaming cafes which have the latest gaming PCs for playing single player as well as multiplayer games is more than that of gaming cafes that have consoles like the PS3 or Xbox 360. The number of PC gamers is increasing constantly from beginners to professionals and hence as years pass by, this number will increase even more.

To give an even stronger foundation to PC gaming is the development of the latest graphics cards with the most advanced features that they bring along. The development of the NVIDIA GeForce 8 series such as the GeForce 8800 GTX and the GeForce 8800 GTS have created history in the generation of graphics cards. The GeForce 8800 GTX has a memory capacity of almost 768mb which is truly amazing. These cards are the first to come out, which have been developed to support the latest Microsoft Directx 10. If not for PC gaming we wouldn’t have games like Age of Empires III, World of Warcraft, Everquest, Doom III, FEAR, the list goes on and on. Even though many games are played well on a console, you just will not get the same level of experience that you do from the PC. There are certain games that play better on console (like sports games) and certain games that play better on the PC. They both compliment each other in various ways. Also the release of the newest version of the Windows Vista by Microsoft is a big hit. Microsoft did not create the Xbox 360 in order to kill their future operating system sales; in fact they did this to fill a large void in the living room. Microsoft is focusing a ton of resources into Windows Vista in order to make it clear that Vista is the ultimate operating system for gaming, entertainment, amongst other things. Microsoft Vista is going to raise the bar for gamers, and it’s going to allow developers to wring out all of their creative juices in order to conjure up the ultimate experience on the big screen.

Let me be stiffer by stating that the day PC gaming ends up “in the grave” is the day that gaming in general dies. This day will never happen – at least not until we lose interest in playing video games. If gaming in general dies, then we might as well go back to the 1970’s because the computing industry as we know will die and CNET and everyone else in this space will be out of business. I don’t care what console you have, you just cannot play a game at 1920×1200 with maximum detail enabled, maximum audio settings, maximum “experience” enabled on a console. It’s just not possible – because the console doesn’t allow you to adjust such settings, they are already pre-configured. Although the Xbox 360 has raised the bar for all previous consoles, it certainly hasn’t eliminated the need for a PC.

The beauty of a console is the “plug and play”. Being able to slide a game into the device, turn it on, and play is the sell. With PCs it requires installation, setup, configuration, perhaps a driver update – the list goes on. Then again, being able to patch your PC games is actually a plus – it ensures you have the latest, most stable version, and also gives you added features for free. The fact of the matter is, if you don’t mind working with the PC you’ll have a much more rewarding experience.

PC gaming has been growing at a faster rate than console gaming for a number of years now.

There is no way PC gaming is going to die, that’s the bottom line. Even with the best of consoles making their entry into the market they can’t force the future of PC gaming to come to a standstill.

By Clive D’Souza