Well it is has been a while since I have done an editorial and with recent events in the industry it is definitely time for one. I am going to talk about the State of PC Gaming in 2003. As most of you have heard the gaming community lost two key players last week. First off, one of the oldest gaming publishers, Microprose, has gone under. For the younger audience out there they published some big name games as Civilization, Combat Flight Simulator and the ever popular low budget Roller Coaster Tycoon. The one that hit the hardest was Digitalo Games. I personally knew a couple of these guys and it sucks to see them leave. They were a company that listened to its fans but just didn't have a big enough hit to stay in the game. Which brings me to this... What is the state of the PC gaming industry in 2003?

To understand that we need to take a look at the recent events in the biz. Not only did we see some big delays (UT2004, Doom 3, S.T.A.L.K.E.R), we also saw some small mistakes that turned into big nightmares (Half Life 2 code stolen). 2003 was supposed to be a marquee year for video games and bring some great joy to us gamers. To say this was even a good year for gamers is not true. While there were some good games to come out (Halo PC, Max Payne 2 and Call Of Duty) there were a ton that weren't (Planetside, EVE Online and unfortunately Unreal 2).

Have we hit a wall in creativity? When was the last time we truly had a great FPS? Over a year? (Battlefield:1942 was released in 02) When was the last time you were completely submerged in a game world that you couldn't believe you were in? (American McGee's Alice November 2000) I think it is time for a PC gaming renaissance or at least a revolution. Too many gaming companies are not listening to their fans in the right context.

A recent example of this is Gearbox Software. They are relatively new to the competitive FPS scene. They wanted Halo PC to become a game that could be played at LANs, on gaming ladders or just for fun. Now they had a great base game to work with but didn't have the foresight to implement things such as demorec, HUDs that are catered to online FPSes, and strong network coding. Will this hurt Halo PC in the long run? I don't think so. I have personally met Randy Pitchford and he is definitely a guy that doesn't like to leave things unfinished. I think Halo PC will be a stronger game in 2 months.

An example on how a company can use its fans to help out is Epic Games. I have butted heads with Mark Rein several times over the last few years. I know a bunch of fans have as well. Did our stubborness pay off? You bet it did. After the fiasco that was Unreal 2 (in removing Multi Player) and the alienating of their base hardcore fans (UT2003), they have sucked it up and implemented things that gamers want.

Is the almighty dollar all that matters anymore? Well to some extent maybe. If you look at what is happening with Doom 3 I think this may be true. Here we have a cool storyline with a lot of history. A game that has a chance to scare the hell out of you and then has a lot of replayability (Multi Player). Now all of the sudden iD says they are only going to have 2 on 2 DM and concentrate on the Single Player aspect of the game (storyline and graphics). WTF? I mean if I was a Doom/Quake fan I would be pissed as hell. They are relying on a different company to resurrect the franchise (Raven) and are going to market their graphics engine. Don't get me wrong the lighting in Doom 3 kicks ass but it gets overshadowed by the cheesy 'plastic looking' textures.

If you look at graphics engines from a pure number stance it is both staggering and scary. Take the Unreal Engine for example. The cost of leasing the Unreal Engine is $375,000. Currently Epic has 9 games under license. That adds up to almost $3.5 million dollars in revenue and that doesn't even include Unreal games themselves! Those are some big numbers my friend. Now you see why companies such as Valve and iD are trying to make the best looking games. Unfortunately the best looking game doesn't always insure it is going to be a great game with gamers (UT2003 which I personally liked).

I feel that recently the emphasis has been placed so much on making a great looking game that creativity has been thrown out the window. Will this change in the near future? I think it will and here are a couple of examples how. Epic is incorporating a game type that was originally developed by a fan that had a great idea (Onslaught). Valve is building a great looking game on an incredible Sci Fi storyline (Half Life 2). Finally there is a sleeper hit that is unknown no longer (S.T.A.L.K.E.R).

I don't envy developers nowadays. Creating a great time is hard by itself but creating a great game that hasn't already been done is close to impossible. There is hope though. Some ideas just need to be redone with proper thinking. Could you imagine playing a Co-Op game of Halo PC with 4 players taking on the Covenant? What about a 5 on 5 CTF match old Loki-style with the Doom 3 engine?

Are we not going to see these kind of games for a while? I don't know. Honestly I don't. I really hope that in the quest to make a perfect game a company doens't take too long and miss their window of opportunity (Duke Nukem Forever). There is a fine line between keeping your fans on the edge and losing them altogether. I can tell you this though. The first game that comes out with a nice balance of graphics and gameplay with solid Multi Player code is going to sell an enormous amount of games. I feel the winds of change coming and fortunately they are coming soon.

As always, thanks for taking the time to stop by the site.

Tycho