This will most likely be followed by a news blurb that EA has picked up the rights to make games based on the new Hobbit movie.

Look guys, you can debate the points. Consoles are kicking the PCs ass. Numbers say it. It's where I spend my time now too. The experience and selections are superior. If the PC market has to go back and dredge up classics of a decade ago to sustain any sort of legitimacy, then you have already conceded the point.

A really nice game such as the ones Creston mentions are fine and well. But there are so few, and they are so damn short. Mods are nice, they can help you survive the misery of not having something else to play and bad design decisions I agree. But at the end of the day the price for it all is too steep for little gain. FPS games on the PC are nice with mouse, but really after learning the anolog stick FPS stuff, not a problem. I think it's that issue that is the biggest hurdle. The tech aspects, non issue. It's like arguing you have a 600hp engine in a vette with only city streets to go 30 mph on.

Now the industry expects you to pay without owning, have private information tracked, a TSR active on your machine, make an account, and be required to log in to get a large portion of the game you already bought. "You expect me to do wot?! Hahahaha!" is about the only reaction low-brow enough to describe my reaction.

MMOs came in like a giant vacuum and stole talent, consoles did the same, now we got people chasing the browser games and hand helds, phones too. PC gaming is a sinking ship, someone needs to save it, and no, not with DRM. Blizzard and the guys at Impulse will keep me using my PC, and of course, those decade old games that we keep having to play to get satisfaction. If it wasn't for that and the fact PCs are useful for non game things, we might as well build an artifical coral reef with all the PC cases.

Playing a console on 1900x1080 with 50000:1 or better contrast ratio is better than running 1900x1200 on my 23" Apple Cinema display (yeah I know better displays). Subjective observation. The 750 watt receiver (not huge but better than PC) with 7 speakers delivers crazy good surround sound compared to headphones. Screw the couch, I have an complete thick leather lounger that is bigger than most couches compared to an office chair, no contest. Sure I could connect a PC up to it and then what? Why play a port when you can play it for the system it was really designed for? Play MMOs or Red Alert 3, Sins of a Solar Empire, or more Company of Heroes? Or I could go play some 10 year old games off GoG...

Selection on the consoles, in case you haven't noticed, is plentiful. And yes, you must take in to consideration PS2 many have a console that plays PS2/PS3, and another that plays Xbox/Xbox 360. I can pretty much plug and play them all as well. No reformating the OS (unless you want to on Ubantu and mod), no installing every time I want to play. I don't have to worry about bad code for the most part (Bathesda is the biggest fail on this) because the licensing standards of the consoles. 1 remote flick of the button and I am in PS mode, Xbox mode, TV mode, Blu-ray mode (seperate player), Direct TV mode. I can even PiP sports games while playing a console. Browse via PS3 or Xbox. I have a Wii too but the kids pretty much hijacked it and haven't seen it since. How can a PC even begin to compete with this? By it's software and performance. Well, that's not up to the task..

When you own all of these things, and have it in good conditions, your perception of the totality of computer/console based gaming is based on first hand knowledge, not conjecture, not following the mantra of recent past. Not reading articles. Yes it's subjective, but consoles are ripping PCs like never before and I don't see an end to it. This does not make me happy, this ticks me off, because the best hardware in my house (one of my PCs hit 24,000 on 3D mark), has the least entertaining games and less of them in my opinion. This DRM crap only piles on insult to injury. I am not typing this to bum people out, or tout console gaming, I am saying this because it's freaking sad, and people need to come to terms with what's really happening. It puts in to perspective my regrets that I am probably done building PCs for a very long time. It also puts in to perspective when I say this is more of a PC dark age than a golden one. Subjective, yes, but based on hands on observation. Steam is just a DRM service that happens to be in the middle of it at this point in time.

Edit: @Creston - Those titles you mention are a good portion of console ports. Why would I get them for a system they were not directly designed for? Sure the mods are cool, but I could be playing other things by that time. If you have to go back years to bring up a few titles worth playing, then something is wrong.

This comment was edited on Mar 12, 2009, 13:23.

Always avoid the producers when that want to make a classic show funny and contain antics. This can come from solid producers too. Anyone remember Legend of Kyrandia 3 (they put laugh tracks in the game, yes, I know, it is funny in that really bad way)? None the less that game tanked the series (well Westwood got bought out so that's my speculation anyways). I think Rick Gush produced the last one, as well as the first 2. So when these guys get the fever to do this stuff, someone please smack some sense in to them.

@Creston - WoW's figures would pad anything to make it look like it was growing. In fact the primary reason I even bothered upgrading my 3 PCs was for MMO's mainly prior to AOC and WH. Both are not worth the time for me. Consoles do everything better (comfort+HD+ease+playability+selection) excepts certain FPS, true RTS, and MMOs (which some of it is changing and some of the FPS are better on console). So really, unless you include piracy in that growth...

I don't think there's been a whole lot since Red Alert 3 to even consider playing on a PC. DOW2 has a whole lot of disappointed fans out there. TW is also not everyone's cup of tea regardless of how it's sold. It's easy to be at the top of the sales charts when you are the only game or two in town that just got released. I bet you Pokemon blows away total sales on everything PC related to date in 2009 besides MMOs. To me that's a sign of some seriously dysfunctional management of an entire industry, and not something growing. At least no where near what it should be. Piracy isn't the issue either.

The good news is, the ball is being fumbled so bad by the big names, that the indy/small guys are getting people looking at them for something to buy. I take the excitement of people being able to buy 10 year old games from GoG as a screaming red warning flag of just how sad PC gaming has hit all time lows. Nestolgia is one thing, but people are actually buying them. That's a pretty starved audience.

EDIT: Sins of a Solar Empire: Entrenchment for PC is one thing since Red Alert 3, that's about all I can think of unless you want Dow2 or TW via Steam. The rest looks and plays pretty nice on a console with a good HD system. I say this as someone who's built pcs for decades and loves the PC...

This comment was edited on Mar 12, 2009, 00:49.

The Steam age comes before the mechanized age. Who will it be? I think that's the point. Last I heard the accounts made per G.N. was 15,000,000. If only 1.5 million are logging in daily, that's your real number plus a few off liners. That's pretty pathetic considering the numbers console titles get. Forcing people into Steam isn't really an "age" unless you think of it as the dark ages.

People are fed up with the bs the computer games industry has been doing for decades, dropping like flies. Turning to piracy or consoles. DRM is just making it worse. There is nothing golden here.

Yeah, I grew attached to my dog too. I won't say anything to spoil the game. Just know when someone who finished it says they got attached to their dog, those of us who also finished it know exactly what happened.

I enjoy this game on the PS3. Has multiplayer/coop without internet, then of course the free online play. I actually made a map for it (very easy to do). It's a hex based, real time, base capture game with some upgradeable things like armor/speed/guns.

You basically fight over resource points (towns/bases) which can also be upgraded. You get your income from these, random villages that spawn on the right tiles you defeat, and crates left in the water. There are also some power ups gained from defeating npc ships or opponents. Combat is real time as well and any time you are near a target your guns fire.

For a pick up and play casual type game, it's pretty good.

Awesome, thanks guys. I will go order this now.

I keep looking on the net and can't find any reference to if it uses DRM, if so what kind. Anyone know what the retail version will be using, if any?

I think the day anything blizzard shows up on Steam is the day they are no longer Blizzard. That company is extremely independent and I doubt all the growing pains many of us endured getting that crappy Blizzard Torent downloader to work early in it's life, will be wasted by paying extra money to a source thay don't need. Not trying to ruin your day, just trying to taper your expectations.

As for Brad... I hope he learned something here. No matter how good intentioned being cornered with a question and having to answer it is, text and editors will make you look like crap. Hopefully he will stick to being very positive about his own service which honestly, can't be ruled out. I know if Impulse had most the games that have come out recently, I would have bought them, unlike the Steam versions. So there is merit to his comments and this is something software companies should take in to consideration. There is no harm having them on other services too.

Role playing is confined by the boundaries of the situation the character you play finds him/herself in. The freedom to go off on a alternate universe tear likened to good Kirk, bad Kirk does not a good role playing game make. It's a nice feature, but that's it.

For example in FF12, your main character is a young street urchin who lost his parents to plague, his brother to high court conspiracy, and has been watching everyone he knows get crushed under the boot of a conquering kingdom. Before he even has much time to parse his situation, and what to do about it, he is swept up in the resistance spearheaded by the queen, who is claimed to be dead, a loyal knight of the queen who was branded a traitor, and a cast of 3rd parties like the Sky Pirate Balthier and the playboy bunny with a head on her shoulders, Fran (I love these 2, they make the story charming).

By probability, peer pressure, motivations, and conditioning, most of his choices are already set in stone. Getting there is the only thing left to choice. To have the freedom to go against, character, story, and what that character really would do in that situation makes for a horribly bad playing of the role, not good.

To me what makes a good RPG are... Is the story good and does it make me believe? Is it fun? Do I find myself liking the cast? Is there enough depth to keep me interested? Will I want to play it again? Will it surprise me with added value and unforseen replay?

There are also other factors that are more personal like preference for turn based. Larger than life bosses that are different and complex. Puzzles hidden in a secret, wrapped in an enigma is a plus. Fanbase level quests like figuring out how to get the best weapons, hidden things that usually no single player will discover on his own is something I like too.

For me, min maxing is required. I find it funny all the people who whine about min maxing, and 9 times out of 10, they min/max the hell out of the characters they play. So many times this has occured, is so funny to see. I don't say anything, just chuckle to myself.

I loved Military Madness. That game alone was a system buyer for me.

I loved Y's back when Turbo Grafix 16 had it. The anime stuff was new to most of us westerners. Those saucer sized blue eyes, the floating cities... Well, it's 2009, doesn't really do it for me anymore... But maybe another generation will like it. I wonder if you can still exploit the massive spawns of spiders in the basement still hehe.

I am just glad they are finally releasing Star Trek to Blu-ray. I have all 40 yellow dvds (2 episodes per) that I have waiting to compact to 3 brd cases. I hope for a speedy release of the other 25 seasons of material.

You get the satisfaction of doing the right thing.

@Dryden - I despised X-2. It was very, very fashion model Barbie in FF universe. I don't know why they didn't just give us more of the same. It did however answer some question as to the fate of the main character in FF10, and the logic behind it. I am glad Square is trying all these different things with products. I think at the end of the day, they will realize you can't shortcut what players expect.

BTW the Gambit system was part of the ground up approach they take with each FF game. Back in the day the first 5ish FF games were pretty much the same system. But at 6 or so they started redesigning every game to be a new experience with just enough of the standard stuff to keep it real. I haven't played 8 and 9 so I don't know if they did there as well. But with 12, they really tried something new (Last Remnant they incorporated up to 18 people in squads) and I find it good in the way that it is something different.

I still like 10 better. It is my favorite and won't be dethroned for a very long time. Even after you finished the game, found all the secrets (yes even dodged 200 consecutive lightning bolts), there was an arena with scores of bosses in it that you had to quest to populate the arena, then defeat each boss. The bosses were varied enough to make you change tactics. Heck, I think the PAL version even had more content than what I got. I have to see if it will run on a PS3 with the chip, regardless of region. If it's worth getting.

@Jerykk - Ok Spoiler alert, stop reading if this kind of thing bugs you.


Roberto presents 3 "high road" questions. He is morally right to most people's perceptions. Ophelia presents a low road path each time and wants vengence. If you ever agree with Roberto, you miss the lesson of taking the low road via a hidden quest, and seeing it played out, along with it's words of advice. The rewards are Ophelia's Sword (special item), opening a part of Numor mines that can be opened by other means but it involves talking to every NPC and some people have trouble. It also counts towards achievements if you chase those. Numor mines portion that it opens contains many special guild quest and rare monster targets. It is easily missed, and even if you find it, easily messed up. That quest is one of the big know before you play tips (of many) if you want to only play the game 1 time and see everything.

The article is totally designed to spin people on the fence away from buying a PS3. Probably more MS ninjas at work. It's garbage, and not sure why it's even on Blues.

@Jerkk - Look up Roberto and Ophelia, The Last Remnant. It's just one of the things worth mentioning. I think there should be wrong choices in the sense you can't manipulate the game and the outcomes aren't always predictable.

JRPGs are coming back with a vengence. We have had what, 5 released in 12 months? Maybe more? Most next gen.

BTW I disliked Blue Dragon. Too kiddyfied and the incestant searching every thing in the world. Combat was shallow characters boring. Story was ok but probably appeals more to Dragonball Z fans.

Lost Odyssey - Ok but simplistic character system and fixed. I played it for the story.

Tales of Vesperia - Was good. I quit about half way through and will go back to it one day. It was one of the better this year but it didn't hook me.

Persona 3-4 (ps2) - Very complex and detailed but I don't like being forced to have a sim high school life for half of the game.

Eternal Sonata - Really wanted to like this one but just so simplified it was too little to keep my interest.

Enchanted Arms - Actually liked this one as the boss fights actually required some thinking.

See, I am picky as hell about JRPGs, and all games. I don't care if a game is on a console or a computer, if it's good I am there, if it isn't, adios. Anyone who hates all JRPGs has a smaller gaming universe, and my pity that they won't enjoy some of them as much as I do.

Baldur's Gate 2 was the closest CRPG players ever got to understanding what makes JRPGs so fun. Most people who do not like JRPGs only know the surface game, judge a book by it's cover and move on. Once people started figuring out the ins and outs of BG2, they started expirementing, digging and finding secrets, replaying and uncovering the hidden game. Most JRPGs have had this for ages. But some gamers are either embarassed or too obtuse to allow themselves to enjoy them. To each his own.

As for no long term concequences... Most Square games bust you "squarely" in the balls if you make wrong decisions or pass things up. Expect 2-3 play throughs for a perfect finish. Square Enix is notorious for playing shell games with fate. Even The Last Remnant will send you packing on a particular set of moral decisions and quite a few missed events. Decisions you make with your leaders have game lasting consequences and benefits. Who you hire and what party make up you make will dictate your strengths and weaknesses for the whole game, unless you substitue heavily which dilutes your strength in trade for change. That's just TLR.

This comment was edited on Mar 8, 2009, 23:20.