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General discussion (archive)What makes a PC game?(49 posts)(49 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted November 18, 2008
I've been arguing my point of view in my other thread about the awesomeness that the gaming industry is today and how it will continue to thrive in the future. However it seems some here don't completely agree with me. Perhaps it's because I'm not focusing enough about PC gaming. I play videogames across all systems that I can afford which includes at the moment the PC and PS3. But I still have only the highest regards for even the systems that I don't own such as the Wii, DS, and SexBot 360.
I have a feeling that some people think PC games aren't what they used to be. Perhaps because they're being "console-ized'? Or some other reason...?
But my main question is, what features exactly make a game exclusive to the PC?
Posted November 18, 2008
Games For Windows Logos on the cover.. oh wait. XD
Posted November 18, 2008
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fuNGoo: But my main question is, what features exactly make a game exclusive to the PC?

When it says on the box "Exclusive to the PC" on the box.
PC games are not under threat, some abandon PC coding as there are too many an hour spent coding for the many thousands of variants of PC but there is no threat to PC gaming, that subject has been banded around for a few years, me old mucka, and some would say done to death but nothing has come to pass as of yet, the PC is still around strong as ever.
I am just wondering which website or online mag is discussing this at the moment, I'll wager there are some.
Post edited November 18, 2008 by Clagg
Posted November 18, 2008
If there's a PC version, and it's made by Valve, anybody who buys the console version is going to feel like an ass.
Posted November 18, 2008
Console games have finally caught up with what the PC was always capable of (almost). The high definition graphics and vastly superior processing power had given the PC the edge since the latter half of the 90's, now the 360 and PS3 can do just the same. Except you can play the games in the comfort of your lounge on your big TV screen. I think some people resent that the PC doesn't feel quite as "special" anymore (I'll admit that I do from time to time, although I bought a 360 a year ago and am truly stunned at what a fantastic games machine it is).
There's also the feeling that console gamers domination of the market has brought a huge tide of meaningless shooter/platform games, while the PC produced games for people who wanted to think. This argument isn't entirely true as meaningless shooters always existed (Doom, Quake) but I feel that they've been brought to a whole new level these days and it bugs me. I grew up in the age of point & click adventure games and I still feel the main draw of playing any computer game is to be wrapped up in a story. Until recent times, console games would only provide that experience rarely (thank God for Square Enix!).
Case in point, I was watching a friend play Gears of War 2 the other day and he was actually skipping the cutscenes. When I asked why he didn't want to know the story, he replied "who cares about that? I just want to chainsaw these guys and get the achievement." Easy answer: he was, and always had been, a console gamer.
All the PC has left going for it now is the *slight* edge in graphics power and the unbeatable mouse/keyboard control system.
These days I'm willing to buy a game on whatever format produces the best version, though I generally tend to go with the PC due to a better technical experience. The lure of achievement points have made me weak though!
Post edited November 18, 2008 by LeftHandedMatt
Posted November 18, 2008
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LeftHandedMatt: Console games have finally caught up with what the PC was always capable of (almost). The high definition graphics and vastly superior processing power had given the PC the edge since the latter half of the 90's, now the 360 and PS3 can do just the same.

You forgot something.
Flash
Posted November 18, 2008
What makes a PC game?
Simple.
Innovation.
Posted November 18, 2008
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LeftHandedMatt: Case in point, I was watching a friend play Gears of War 2 the other day and he was actually skipping the cutscenes. When I asked why he didn't want to know the story, he replied "who cares about that? I just want to chainsaw these guys and get the achievement." Easy answer: he was, and always had been, a console gamer.
All the PC has left going for it now is the *slight* edge in graphics power and the unbeatable mouse/keyboard control system.

Since when was that a case in point? I'd love to meet you in a tribunal or in court. What it demonstrates is that the player was impatient, nothing else. I've seen many a cut scene on the Xbox or PS3 which I can also skip through.
How can you have a "slight" edge and refer to an unbeatable control system, if it's unbeatable it most certainly isn't a slight edge!!
Posted November 18, 2008
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Vagabond: What makes a PC game?
Simple.
Innovation.

Painkiller
Posted November 18, 2008
What makes a PC game is a console nowadays. Hardly ever do we get PC games only any more. After all has Microsoft forced 360 publishers to make sure a keyboard and mouse can be used with all 360 games, or have they just forced all PC games to be able to use a 360 gamepad? I rest my case.
Oh and as sad as it is, what also makes a PC game is Fallout 3 selling 71,000 units in the last 3 days of October in the USA and managing to be the No.1 PC game for October. This meaning every other PC game in the top 20 must have sold less than 71,000 for the whole of the month of October.
So ever shrinking sales is a sign of a PC game unfortunately.
But also what makes a PC game is having games that are more likely to exercise your brain as well as your wrist, giving access to 1,000's of classic games for very little money, either via GOG, boot sales or charity shops, or even abandonware and freeware (with the advent of DOSBox). You also get a closer knit group of gamers that despite quite often being juvenile, are generally more mature than console gamers.
Finally, with PC games you have a history. On console you go 360, XBox PS1, Megadrive. On PC you go PC, PC, PC, PC. Only on PC can you talk about a 1994 game and it is a PC game just like that game you bought last week. You don't associate with that PS1 game you bought 2 consoles ago, but you can still be connected with that 15 year old PC game. Look at Fallout fans for example. Do you really think they'll be rabid console fans in 15 years supporting a certain niche title on PS3 or 360 today? Neither do I.
Post edited November 18, 2008 by UK_John
Posted November 18, 2008
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UK_John: Finally, with PC games you have a history. On console you go 360, XBox PS1, Megadrive. On PC you go PC, PC, PC, PC. Only on PC can you talk about a 1994 game and it is a PC game just like that game you bought last week. You don't associate with that PS1 game you bought 2 consoles ago, but you can still be connected with that 15 year old PC game. Look at Fallout fans for example. Do you really think they'll be rabid console fans in 15 years supporting a certain niche title on PS3 or 360 today? Neither do I.

So what your saying is that people don't have a connection to older console games like people do with older pc games?
Games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Super Mario Brothers, the legend of Zelda, Metal Gear Solid, The Adeventures of LoLo, Super Mario RPG, Sonic, Phantasy Star Series, Castlevania, and at least a dozen other Series that keep selling because people want to play them.
There may be a lot of things that seperate the supposed superior thinking man's PC game from the console game, but connection to older titles isn't one of them.
As for the original question, what makes a PC game? Generally a "PC" game is one that has controls more suited for a Keyboard and mouse then a gamepad and is published on a PC or another type of computer.
I don't think the audience for PC games are as seperate from Console gamers as people like to think; I've played both for years and years myself. I'm sure there are others out there like me :)
Posted November 18, 2008
I would think it has to do with the perception that console gamers just want to sit down in front of the TV and have some fun. No hassle, not too much thinking, not too much challenge, not too much involvement. There might be some truth to that, if you consider that PC gamers are willing to invest time into the requisite fiddling around with drivers, graphics configurations, OS compatibility issues, etc. (even though I'd say that's a negligible amount of time compared to, say, the DOS era) As such, they'd be willing to invest time and effort into games as well.
And these are the sorts of more thoughtful experiences that I miss with the "consolization" of games going on. I certainly don't see myself reading pages upon pages of text in a console game, as in Planescape: Torment. Nor do I see myself losing track of time and realizing that four hours had passed and it's six in the morning only after the battle has concluded, as in X-COM.
Don't get me wrong, I've nothing against consoles. (In fact, I haven't ever pre-ordered or bought a collector's edition version of a game, except for one certain console title) It's simply that certain types of games I really like don't get made on consoles.
If Fallout, Planescape: Torment, X-COM, Jagged Alliance, IL-2 Sturmovik, Warhammer: Dark Omen, Ground Control, Starcraft, Rise of Legends, SWAT 4, Monkey Island, King's Bounty: The Legend, etc. were console games, I wouldn't consider myself a PC gamer, either.
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Vagabond: What makes a PC game?
Simple.
Innovation.
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Weclock: Painkiller

It has a gun that shoots shurikens and lightning. That's gotta be innovative enough.
Posted November 18, 2008
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Weclock: Painkiller
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pkt-zer0: It has a gun that shoots shurikens and lightning. That's gotta be innovative enough.

Pffft! Posers... I like Painkiller way before Yahtzee liked it. I win the internet.
But you're right, games exclusive to the PC subcategory do tend to consist of titles that skew towards more depth and complexity. But there's a fine line between complex and just plain life wasting. Personally I play videogames to escape reality. With an MMORPG like E.V.E. Online that's really pushing the boundary.
I guess you could think of it as Checkers versus Chess.
Posted November 18, 2008
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pkt-zer0: It has a gun that shoots shurikens and lightning. That's gotta be innovative enough.
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fuNGoo: Pffft! Posers... I like Painkiller way before Yahtzee liked it. I win the internet.
But you're right, games exclusive to the PC subcategory do tend to consist of titles that skew towards more depth and complexity. But there's a fine line between complex and just plain life wasting. Personally I play videogames to escape reality. With an MMORPG like E.V.E. Online that's really pushing the boundary.
I guess you could think of it as Checkers versus Chess.

Here is the thing: I'm playing through fallout 3 right now. I find it has all the qualities of the first 2 fallout games that I loved, but the perspective is different and there is more voice acting in it. Yet the mood, the setting, the story, and the freedom are all very Fallout... I think it fits my idea of a PC game, but it is a game that is across multiple consoles.
I know (and have read) People will complain that the game is to 'console' like now...yet the core game has everything people have come to associate with PC games.
I honestly think that a lot of people are being pc-centric snobs when it comes to modern games. The line is starting to blur and I don't think some people can handle it.
Just for the record: I wouldn't be at GOG.com if I didn't like PC games, heh. However I've found as much complexity is a game of Final Fantasy Tactics (Or Tactics Ogre) as I have in Jagged Alliance.
Posted November 18, 2008
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deejrandom: Final Fantasy Tactics (Or Tactics Ogre)

TAKE YOUR JRPGS AND GTFO
/Just kidding
//I am playing Mother3 on my PSP.
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This is my favourite topic
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General discussion (archive)What makes a PC game?(49 posts)(49 posts)
(49 posts)