Heya guys!!

So as you may have picked up on, I’ve been thinking about this website, gaming, writing, etc…  If you didn’t, and you’d have to be pretty slow not to, that’s the short version.

Some of my sources have been X-Play, Metacritic, Steam, Zero Punctuation, and various other sites regarding pc/console gaming, including random google results and youtube vids.

But whether it’s single player, multi-player, co-op, or MMO…  I’ve been trying to check it out.

This is relevant because I’ve been “out of the loop” with pc and console gaming due to my immersion in MMO gaming.  And a lot has changed.  Some for the good and some for the bad, but the gaming world is not as I left it.

Console Systems

I recently borrowed an X-Box 360 from a friend and found out that I have lost all console system skills.  I suck at controllers now…  >.<

I’ve been using mouse and keypad (yeah…keypad…I don’t even use the keyboard anymore) for *so* long that there are 6 year olds with more skill with a console controller than me.  *shakes head*

But there are also all of these new movements with the systems coming out as well as Sony and Microsoft attempt to capture the Wii audience…  /sigh

But that in essence has also set back the entire console market.  This is the time period where the big boys of the industry should be talking about new hardware, as far as systems are concerned.

Instead you’ve got this momentum towards movement controls, or even a complete lack on controls with the Microsoft option.

What am I talking about for those uninformed?

Kinect – you are the controller!  Think voice and motion controlled remote from hell.  As of now it sucks, but then it’s not even released yet.  That said, the potential applications look to revolutionize the future of not just console gaming, but home entertainment as well.

PS3 Move – hello ice cream cone controllers!  Looks like a revamped Wii controller system that just happens to be ugly as hell.  Considering the Wii and Kinect, it feels like PS3 is going to fall behind in the arms race…

PC Systems

While they far out perform consoles (when built properly) they have serious short comings in the modern day gaming world.

Many games coming out for consoles are poorly ported over to PC with tons of issues, bugs, problems, and lack of proper support.  And that doesn’t even count the fact that many games don’t ever get ported over to PC at all.

Yes, yes…I am aware that there are many games that never hit the console market.  Blizzard’s Diablo, Starcraft, and WoW are great examples.

But I find myself looking at more and more games out for consoles and thinking, “I really wish they had that on PC…”

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not going to be purchasing a console system.  But the thought, and regret, is there.

And while PC systems continue to expand their hardware to be more and more adaptive and powerful, there does not seem to be a movement (outside of 3D, and I’m getting sick of the failed attempts already) to think outside the box in regards to PC entertainment.

And that may, in the end, lead to PC gaming having issues in the next 10 years if they do not adapt to the growing console market.

Game Reviews

I’ve been looking into new and old games, trying to find stuff that I’d like to play.  And it’s getting frustrating as hell.  Game reviewers are not answering the questions that gamers need to know.  And it’s BS.

The vast majority of game reviews cover the basics of the game:

• Graphics
• Mechanics
• Single Player
• Multi-Player/Co-op
• Fun
• Story/Cohesion

Now these are important.  They are *very* important actually.  This is the core of what will make a game fun, or not fun.  But what about the peripheral issues that are just as important as those?

System Performance

No, I do not mean System Requirements.  I mean the actual performance.  If a game works well on the system it is reviewed upon (multi-platform games), it’s not always reviewed on another system where it won’t run as well and has issues.

And even with PC games, the reviews don’t get into the hard details.  How many people play WoW where it works great in small PvP and 5 mans, etc…  But then you put them in a 25man raid or Dalaran and their system crumbles under the pressure?

No one bothers to tell you what to expect the performance of the game to be if you’re not running the “ideal” system they used in testing/reviewing.

PC/Console Ported Games

Often a game is given glowing reviews, but the ported game issues are not covered at all.

Borderlands was almost unplayable for multi-player when released for PC.  You couldn’t host a game without being an IT tech, or spending 2+ hours changing ports and reading up on workarounds to host games.  And the DLC was seriously delayed for PC users.

Transformers has set controls that cannot be rebound.  You have to also find workarounds and edit files just to change your controls.  And it’s also been announced that DLC will never be released to PC users.

And that’s just 2 examples off of the top of my head.  Continuously sites will review a game from a limited perspective of one system, and not expound upon the repercussions of the game being ported over to a system it was not designed for leaving many customers, and readers, frustrated and angry.

Trust/Lack of Faith

You can’t really trust game reviewers.  While they are far more reliable than movie critics, who are stupid and moronic, you still have to take everything a game reviewer says with a grain of salt.

Larger companies, who have multiple reviewers, are by and large far more reliable.  They can have “specialists” if you will.

They won’t ever be forced to have a “sports game guy” do their review of the latest RPG.  So you have people who like specific genres doing the reviews of the genres they are interested in.  Now if only movie critics would do the same…

But there is still the “human factor”  Some people like, or dislike, things that everyone else doesn’t.  That’s when it’s time for checking multiple reviews.

Metacritic is a great resource because it consolidates multiple reviews into one score, and provides the links to the reviews in question.

But in the end, reviews tend to be lopsided and do not paint the larger picture.  Typically speaking, if you go out and read 5 different reviews you will learn new things from each one about a game.

Multi-player Problems

Whether it’s population, or peer to peer/dedicated server issues, multi-player issues are rarely covered in depth as they should be.

It is difficult to find out on many games, without purchasing it, whether it has P2P or dedicated servers.  And that’s a big deal.

And it’s also rarely mentioned that the lower game sales, or multi-player re-playability issues, could seriously impact your enjoyment of the game.  Why buy a game for multi-player when the multi-player is dead?  This has happened to me.

Summary

I find that many games require me to delve into forums, google searches, and various reviews to root out the problems and issues that I want to be aware of as a gamer.

I’m not finding a single reviewer (even the ones I love and am biased towards) who provides that resource.  And I keep asking one question.  “Why?”

These are things gamers want to know about.  It’s relevant and important.  So why in the hell does this stuff fall through the cracks?

The Future of Gaming

Sadly, I will bring this up to get it over with, 3D is in our future.  Especially with the new hand held “DS like” system coming from Nintendo.  The overwhelming reaction has been jaws dropping, with it doing full 3D without glasses.

And while this tech is nowhere near ready for multiple viewer televisions, it will likely impact the future goals and benchmarks set for game development.

Also I see Kinect from Microsoft changing the entire home entertainment movement.  True voice and motion controlled technology is becoming a reality that will enter the common household.

And before you scoff at the concept, imagine walking into a room and just giving a few short commands like this:

TV On

X-Box Netflicks Avatar

Play

In the future that will be possible, and so much more…  Saying 6 words and suddenly your system is running and playing a movie for you.  That’s pretty fricking cool if you ask me.

So what about PC’s?

They are already moving in the correct direction.  How many times have you seen, or heard about, systems that can directly stream content to your television?

But the true future is more in Microsoft’s hands than anyone else.  While you’d think Apple would be a part of this, their current direction lies more in the portable and hand held arena.

Microsoft is the only “big boy” that has their hands in both the PC and Console market atm.  So the bottom line is that until such a time where someone comes along to challenge them more seriously in the PC arena, I don’t think much will evolve.

Doing so would directly bite into the console market, and Apple has made no attempt yet to bring the PC and Home Entertainment Systems into a new melding of technology.  So why would Microsoft do anything that would cut into their console systems?  They wouldn’t.

Skeleton Jack’s Summary

So yeah…this is what I’ve been thinking about and reading up on.  Interesting stuff if you ask me, but then I wrote about it so that’s an easy guess to make. 

3D, motion/voice control (like Kinect), and a bridge between console and pc gaming is the future of gaming within the next 10 years if you ask me.

The one thing that has not been moved upon yet is that bridge.  But eventually it will be made.

If for no other reason than Microsoft finds a way to bridge the PC and X-Box as a multi-platform conglomeration with dedicated servers and home entertainment system merges which would make competition pale in comparison.

Such a merger, which would be closer to 5-10 years away at best, would demolish competition.

But eventually, something like that will be created to capitalize on the growing market desires discovered by companies like Valve who control Steam.  Gaming is moving more to a “customer service” industry, which is well overdue.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters…

Tags: Coming Soon