Dairuka

It seems that 2008 is going to go down in history. Like 1991, like 2001, PC gaming is going through a bump that is causing financial analysts and PC gaming fans to panic. Pirates are rampart, swashbuckling their way through torrent sites, stealing whatever they can get away with at the expense of game companies and because of this, we are undergoing changes that could very-well destroy the world of PC gaming as we know it. - At least, thats what failed developers who point their financial woe troubles towards pirates would have us believe.

I for one don't agree with them.

ILE has recently become more famous for Michael Fitch's post regarding the reasons as to why Iron Lore Entertainment had shut down, than it has for it's vastly inferior Rogue-Like/Diablo 2 clone, Titan's Quest. I suppose that for a new developer, it's not wise to put all of your eggs in one basket - especially if those eggs reek of rotten day-old ideas.

Sadly, because I was one of those poor deluded fools who were suckered into buying Titan's Quest. I'm going to get my money's worth out of this game by posting a picture that emulates how I truly feel about this wretched waste of a DVD-Rom Disc.

Yes. Titan's Quest played like something my cat pooped out. Using Michael Fitch's own words - It was such a difficult freaking slog forcing yourself to play through this game. I personally never beat it, mostly because I suffered from s***ty-game induced Narcolepsy every-time I tried to play this game.

Did Michael Fitch ever stop to think that the reason that this game didn't make much money was because it wasn't very good? I for one warned four friends not to buy this game - and as that word spreads among their friends, and their friends friends, less and less people are induced to shell out $59.99 for a vastly overpriced penis ornament.

Speaking of poor games, has anybody ever played any of the NHL, Madden or Fifa games made by EA sports for the Personal Computer? It turns out that EA Sports isn't releasing Madden 09' for the PC... Apparently it's because the sales suffered greatly due in part thanks to piracy... EA sports would have us believe that for every thirty console games sold, that only a single PC version of that very same game would sell. I actually believe them. Clearly this is the work of pirates; right?

Well, after doing some research into the EA Sports' NHL library of games at the behest of a complaint from TGN|Agent844 about the quality of NHL 05' in comparison to it's predecessors. Well, it turns out that they did indeed make it a very different game from NHL 04'.

NHL 05' provides the awesome brand new features:

- The same graphics as NHL 04'
- No customization
- No Team Creation
- No Character Creation
- No SB/EAX or Surround Sound Compatibility

Is it any wonder that nobody wants to waste their money on a clearly inferior EA Sports product? Piracy isn't to blame for the loss of sales - EA Sports blatantly turned a cold shoulder to the PC market, deemed us inferior and tried to sell us placebos under a brand name that frankly doesn't deserve the NHL, NFL or FIFA Licenses.

I myself was burned when I was stupid enough to buy Fifa 08' - a game that had all of the same wonderful options as Fifa 06', only with less responsive controls. I essentially paid $59.99 CDN for Fifa 06' with more teams I've never heard of on it.

So... Guess what I think of Fifa 08'?

It only took two hours of gaming and I suffered from a hand cramp trying to magically hit all of the control sequences needed. Using a PS2 controller through a third party converter didn't help much either even with sensitivity turned way up. I finally just gave up and just bought it for the PS3, and it turned out to be a completely different game. The PS3 versions graphics were crystal clear, perfect in every way... The controls were perfectly responsive that I was doing god-like Ronaldo style tricks after only twenty minutes. After doing a comparison between the two versions of the same game just goes to show how much EA sports really cares about it's PC fans.

Personally I'm glad they've finally stopped making s***ty EA Sports games for the PC. The only thing worse than abandonment is false hope.

Finally... Theres Crytek and Epic. Admittedly, Epic lives up to it's names under most cases - but it's most recent offering to the PC market was met with yawns rather than cheers. Come now Epic. After Unreal Tournament 04' did you really expect people to jump at the chance to play yet another sequel to the Unreal Tournament series?

Now, Crytek... Honestly, Crisis is one of the best single player games I've ever played. I honestly advise friends who own computers that can handle the huge load this game requires to run decently, to go out and get Crisis.

Sadly, the mass majority of my friends aren't as insane as I am. They aren't willing to spend $400 per video card, just to be able to play a $59.99 game. Especially when that game's Multi-player is at best, an after-thought. Expensive upgrades are something that only a very small niche of personal computer fans are willing to go through just for a single game - Which explains in full why your awesome single player title failed to deliver the sales to match the large amount of work you put into it.

We're still fans of Crytek, we don't blame you for porting titles to the consoles. Just don't forget about us when you hit the jackpot.

Now, I'm sure I've missed some publishers and developers in my tirade, but I'm moving on just to get to my point. Pirates don't matter. They never have, and they never will matter - At this point they are nothing more than a pathetic scapegoat being used by lazy, or failed publishers and developers who aren't willing to open their eyes and see what is actually selling. Let alone are they even capable of keeping track of how much of what is selling.

For instance. Online sales are a huge boon for PC-gaming, yet Steam, Direct 2 Download, GamersGate.com, Stardock Online and other PC game pay-to-download distributors aren't being counted in NPD's studies. It seems that if it doesn't come in a pretty box, or with an instruction manual - it doesn't count in the closed minded market that doesn't realize that PC gaming's future revolves around online distribution.

Then theres the fact that PC gamers are far more finicky than their console gaming cousins. Even sequels aren't guaranteed to sell if it doesn't provide us with a new game-play experience. You have to remember that we're prone to go back to 1999 to play Counter-Strike if the latest shooter doesn't meet our expectations. We'll gladly go back to play Warcraft III if the latest RTS isn't fun. There is a huge library of wonderful games that have set genres, and raised the bar of expectations that run perfectly on nearly every person's computer, which means that if a developer actually expects us to go out in droves to buy a game, that game had better be genre defining.

That is why Sins of a Solar Empire, Call of Duty 4, and The Orange Box are the PC's best sellers. Each of them provides us with new and unique gaming experiences, that have all defined the genre in their own unique way.

I for one look forward to the future of PC gaming... I can't help but see this panic over PC gaming's future as something that is as silly as it is stupid.

Maybe if I ever feel like getting around to it, I'll make another blog post to go into detail as to why I feel that the state of PC gaming is nominal, with MMORPG's, RTS's, and First Person Shooters at the helm.

~~ Dairuka Sutain.