Most of modern sci-fi is. I mean, space fantasy. Instead of magic they say pulzeviromental capacitators or crap like that

Most of the pc games set in a Science Fiction setting are rather crappy in the Science Fiction department. The same could be said for games set in a fantasy setting, but I feel that the Sci-Fi genre in computer games is a lot more underdeveloped.

As DarthKaal and Fenixp more or less said before, most pc games are space fantasy or space opera rather than Science Fiction. What most developers don't care about or forget is that one of the things that define Science Fiction is an element of realism. In fantasy it is important to make an internal consistent world to achieve realism. In Science Fiction it is important for the story to be rooted in the physical laws to be realistic.

Computer games are for the most part not inspired by the great golden wealth of written Science Fiction that exists. They are often by films, television, comic books and of course other games. I don't know much about Science Fiction in comic books but in movies the genre is in a very sorry state.
Sure there are some greats like 2001, 12 Monkeys and Aliens but the most of it is not very good. To be fair the quality is a lot better for Science Fiction films set on earth in a future not too far from us. For space faring films the opposite is true. There are probably a whole lot more good computer games set in space than movies.
For those that only knows Science Fiction from movies, games and comics; there is such a vast world of possibilities out there in there in the written realm, waiting for you!

While I said that that most Sci-Fi games aren't really Sci-Fi, I expect that there are many that is. But most developers don't care about realism at all. The habit of throwing a Nebula and other coloured lights everywhere is really annoying. These beautiful objects should be something that you only see rarely, and that would make them much more wonderful too.
Sounds from space explosions? Why do you really need them? Are gamers so stupid that they can't adapt to a new environment? There are so many other things you could to with sound design anyway. Both Space sims and RTS games could use the internal sound of the spaceships themselves. A not too loud mix of chatter, electronic and mechanic sounds. Different in every spaceship or at least different between different types of spaceships. Voices that suddenly gets cut off are much more ominous than an explosion.
A good mix of sound and silence would make both more effective. One of the great things about space is that it is an alien environment, developers should see the possibilities in this.

I'm not saying that every Science Fiction game should be as realistic as possible, most computer games aren't meant to be simulations and that is a good thing. I'm however sure that the gameplay in most Sci-Fi games would be much more fun if the developers used both more creativity and realism.

The 4X games especially are a very sorry bunch. Galactic Civilizations 2 is absolutely horrible in its Science Fiction. The same is true for Master of Orion 2 but it is more a space fantasy game and in that respect it is not as bad.

Just think of the greatness of a game that combined the best gameplay aspects of Master of Orion 2 and Galactic Civilizations 2 with a realistic (that means highly speculative realism, as we know very little of other solar systems) and detailed galaxy. Think how great it would have been if it had been designed by someone with a good understanding of our current knowledge of space. They would of course need a good imagination too.
We might very well be able to play a game like that sometime in the next twenty years.

I'll take that over mana and midichlorians.

I'd be a happy camper with a hard sci-fi game, I don't care what genre.

Give me a detective mystery on a new planet where a crime takes place that heavily involves Earth somehow that deals with realistic space flight; where it literally would take hundreds of years in some cases to solve some crimes if the victims and assailants weren't born and raised on the new planet. You'd be able to ask interesting questions in that scenario: is it still worth solving the crime long after anyone else would care, or where even witnesses, bank statements, and who knows what else may be lost in the meantime?

Give me a failed colony on Mars that's sabotaging the multi-trillion dollar terraforming facilities just for a chance to get enough attention for someone to send them back home. Again, you get to come up with interesting questions: is it worth them suffering in order to make a new planet hospitable for humans who think Earth's resources are being drained; should the governments and businesses instead be focused on mining Earth's moon instead of sending people out on dangerous journeys through radiation-laden space for much longer periods?

Give me a new colony fighting to keep Earth governments from encroaching on their new country, from being labeled as evil and potential threats just because they're far away, have the means to send their spaceships or whatever crashing into Earth to cause untold damage without much warning or not at all being able to stop that kind of attack, and the evolution of a new kind of cold war that would bring. I mean, think about the questions they'd have to ask with that: security over freedom, should we ever allow people to leave and create a new colony like that without it being government sponsored, would that colony be in the right for doing their own thing and telling everyone else to fuck off?

Good science fiction is supposed to make us think.

Give me something besides just giant mechs and space ships shooting each other on occasion. Variety, choice, and a limitless possibility for telling great stories are being lost here.

i wonder, are midichlorians mentioned in the old trilogy?

As mentioned by another poster the Warcraft universe has a blend of fantasy and tech elements. D&D also gravitated towards this with the whole Spelljammer concept.

Book-wise, Stephen King's Dark Tower series had this whole magic vs. technology theme going on in the background but I don't recommend it -- started out well then petered out after the 4th or 5th title as he rushed to complete it. He calls it his 'opus' but it's probably some of the worst of his work (which isn't anything amazing to begin with).

Sorry =( I'll try my best to refrain from saying midichlorians again on GOG.

Yeah, That's the one.

I agree. I really loved the first two books but then the next one was so bad I just lost interest completely. NO WAY is that his opus series. He's done far better books.

Wizardry and Might & Magic obviously, as others have already mentioned.

I guess most games I can think of have been mentioned except WarWind (basically a WarCraft II clone with fantasy orcs and elves and then sci-fi humans with mechs, tanks and helicopters as the third race).

The more recent WorldShift might also apply. I bought it months ago but still haven't installed it, but as far as I can tell it's setting is some kind of post-post-post-apocalyptic fantasy setting, where aliens came to Earth, wiped out mankind, and many centuries later there are the standard fantasy races fighting against the aliens among the overgrown ruins of human civilization.

Not at all. The Force was metaphysical in the original trilogy, until George Lucas decided to turn it into stupid microorganisms in The Phantom Menace. When I saw that, I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. ;)

As some might have mentioned the big one that stands out to me is the Final Fantasy series, specifically 7, 8 and 10 (which was the last I played). They had a lot of high technology and sci-fi aspects, but yet also kept the dragons and knights and such. I really dug that kind of mixture, though 6's steampunk atmosphere was my favorite.

As for which is better I prefer sci-fi when done right, mostly by which I mean cyberpunk. Playing all those D&D games in the 90's certainly made me love fantasy too though.

And don't forget Republic Commando. That's a pretty good FPS.

exactly what i expected! these are indeed dark times we live in :p