After investing time and money in beating a game, gamers are happy to know that they are the best player in the house…but what about being the best in the world? As you’re probably know, the future of PC gaming is being wrapped more and more into online play and the network opportunities there. Furthermore, it doesn’t matter what console or system you are playing on with digital convergence taking place; it’s all packets going to a server anyways. Microsoft realized this and last month decided to integrate its Xbox Live subscriber base to a new Vista platform called Games for Windows – Live (link). Pure money making genius Mr. Gates! Instead of going through the growing pains of building a new network standard, leverage an existing one to make both platforms stronger. What a novel idea… why not do this across all gaming platforms whether PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, or PC? Since my colleagues are covering online games I’m not going to say anything more about them. Instead I’m going to focus on how this interaction with the gaming industry is changing the PC world.
Massively single player
With all things moving online, does that mean that the PC industry is doomed? Not quite. As I mentioned before, one of the major problems is the lack of a gaming standard due to different hardware configurations. Nevertheless, over time the PC will always outpace the consoles in performance and makes it an exceptionally good stand alone device that allows users to think strategically in a dynamically processed world. Take for example the upcoming game Spore from EA. Having missed the online frenzy with The Sims 2, revolutionary game designer Will Wright plans the game to use something called “procedural animation” which models behaviors and physics, then allows the engine to determine how objects should move and act in response to stimuli. This is unlike your traditional AI which operates in linear and often “stupid” ways (think about some shooter games today: the enemy comes at you only in a frontal assault and often follows the same path). Wright couldn’t have put it better saying, “Instead of making fixed definitive things that we put out into the world, I think we’ve both decided that it’s much more interesting to make things that even we can’t predict.” This idea is appropriate given that the game is about evolution from the primordial ooze to the colonization of new planets. Furthermore, while this game does have an online component where people can share beings, you won’t need a broadband connection, or an internet connection at all because an entire spore universe can be condensed into a file about 80 kilobytes and therefore transferred on (if you still have one...) a floppy! (This reminds me of the ending to Men In Black and how infinitesimal we all are.) By allowing the procedural engine to take over and the users to create and introduce new beings, this allows for unique replay-ability all the time, everytime. Since it is easier to get a computer into remote and developing locations of the world than internet connection, Spore and other PC titles still have relevance and growth potential in these markets. Spore also represents the trend toward in-house developed titles rather than relying on expensive licensing.
Haptics
The history of gaming thus far has focused on visual sensation: being able to draw things that look and imitate reality or fantasy. But what about the other senses? Enter the Novint Falcon which aims to imitate movement and the sense of touch. Recent developments in computing power have made the Falcon technically feasible and with PCs at the fore of the performance curve, don’t expect to this technology any time soon on your console. In gaming this device can be used to feel the weight of shooting a basketball, the recoil of firing a gun, or the force of swinging a bat. Aside from pure gaming though, this device can be used for educational purposes such as in surgery. In the operating room knowing where to make the cuts is useless if you don’t know with what strength to apply them. I can easily see this device training new surgeons, but also teaching wannabe’s what goes on after the nitrous oxide. (Furthermore, why not have a surgeon on the other side of the world perform surgery in a location with a robotic arm? This could reduce the need for a specialized surgeon in every hospital and save many lives in “risky” and poor countries.) Another application of this device is perhaps in art and specifically painting. If you’ve ever tried drawing with a mouse you know how hard it is to get the right shape and color intensity down. Haptic devices can be used to imitate the feel of the brush tip on the surface of a canvas, while offering laser fine precision.
In Sum...
Through my analysis, I hoped to show you that the PC gaming industry is reacting like kung fu: what was once perceived as a weakness has been turned into a strength. While PCs lack the standardization that consoles offer, they still are excellent platforms for cutting edge performance (massively single player games) and the latest technological advancements (haptics). Nevertheless, the industry is making strides to combat piracy in online distribution and has new opportunities for revenue utilizing this business model. Lastly, the domains of gaming and education are currently under-explored and as convergence continues to take place the two can intertwine to make an awesome gaming experience and a better world.
4 comments:
Depending on what type of person and player you are, you either prefer to play alone, or with a group of people. The online trend in PC gaming and the whole industry is strengthening the concept of community and groups.
It is also more interesting and challenging to play opposite of real people rather than the "stupid AI". You will feel more rewarded when you win. Somehow, psychology enters our discussion in gaming and it is definitely a major factor.
The devices available in conjunction with PC games are numerous, and they are getting more innovative. These devices are trying to bring a real life experience to gaming. This is why the Wii console is outpacing its competitors in terms of sales. People are impressed with its features and feel. PC gaming has multiple devices that offer such an experience, but there are just too many and people have a hard time deciding which is the best.
Very interesting point you brought up about the capabilities of computers which also affects the quality of PC games. While I was writing my blog, one of the thoughts that I had was that the future will be all about consoles and online gaming, since web services and connectivity is the next big thing.
PC games to me seems to be moving downhill, not because of the lack of capabilities, but because of the increasing trend of digital convergence and internet capabilities. In one article that I read, many of the hardware companies in fact are diverting their attention to either concoles and console based games.
Although the current generation of consoles may not have the haptics technology that you talked about, the current generation of consoles are very capable graphically. They have robust online components, they make good media players, and they remain relatively inexpensive.
You know the more I read about pc games the more I don't understand. I don't mean it in that sense, but I just can't understand the distinction between pc games and online gaming. After all, the PC is just another platforms. Is that the only thing that PC game developers did. Why not create a console?
What I see in PC games is a predecessor of online gaming. It was the PC (or mac, whatever way you want to look at it) that was the launching pad for online gaming. Though you now see online spreading to consoles and of course other devices, I think that PC and online are still interconnected. What is it exactly that distinguishes online from PC. I mean Albert made the comment that it's fun to play with other people. How is that possbile without the web?
Agreeing with Charis' point, I think PC game is going a bit downhill because today's world is really about online activity. Maybe gamers do not want to play online, but if the game doesn't offer online capability to play with users overseas, it might be seen as a disadvangtage or shortage.
Hence, I think the future of PC games might be mixed with the online games since PC games might allow for more online capabilities due to popularity of internet access, especially when almost all PCs are connected.
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