PC Gaming Alliance Formed [Feb 20, 2008, 10:29 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Top technology companies form gaming alliance (thanks Mike Martinez) officially
announces the formation of the gaming alliance first revealed last week
(story) to help promote/revive the PC gaming scene. Here's word:
Some of the top technology companies, including Intel, Microsoft, Dell, and Advanced Micro Devices joined forces Tuesday to form the PC Gaming Alliance, which will try to promote the PC as a gaming platform.
The alliance will bring hardware makers, software companies, and game publishers under one roof to "accelerate innovation, improve the gaming experience for consumers and serve as a collective source of market information and expertise on PC gaming," the alliance said in a statement.
The companies will work together on challenges facing the PC gaming industry, including piracy and the establishment of hardware requirements for PC games, the alliance said. PCGA also hopes to accelerate growth of the PC gaming industry and standardize the development of gaming PCs and software by developing and promoting guidelines.
The alliance comes at a time when PC video game sales are falling. PC games sales in the U.S. were $910.7 million in 2007, down from $970 million in 2006, according to research from NPD Techworld. PC game sales in 2007 dwarfed in comparison to the sale of software for video game consoles like Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's Wii, which were $6.6 billion.
Unit shipments of PC game software totaled 36.4 million in 2007, compared to video game software unit shipments of 153.9 million, according to NPD.
The U.S. gaming industry already has the Entertainment Software Association, which represents vendors that publish games for both computers and consoles. About 90 percent of the $7.4 billion revenue of PC and console gaming software in 2006 belonged to ESA members, giving the association a dominant presence.
Other PCGA members include Acer, Epic, Nvidia and Razer USA.
The announcement comes during the Game Developers Conference, which is being held in San Francisco. During the show PCGA member Intel launched a new gaming platform formerly code-named "Skulltrail." The Intel Dual Socket Extreme Desktop Platform includes two quad-core microprocessors, totaling eight-processing engines, and supports graphics cards from ATI or Nvidia.
Well, companies don't spend money for nothing - so here's to hoping this makes a difference.
we walk the streets at night
we go where eagles dare........
we walk the streets at night
we go where eagles dare........
Yup. And I'd rather see those other companies involved instead of just Microsoft. It's too easy for MS to ignore PC gaming in favor of their 360 platform or add artificial requirements to increase Vista sales.
Just optimize your games and they will come.
Examples: Crysis, insane hardware requirements, failed.
Call of Duty 4, moderate requirements, smash hit.
You know, I stopped upgrading my desktop PC and just bought a core 2 duo laptop with a mobile 8600gs geforce. Now I know I won't be able to play all the new games in full HD resolutions but, for example, Crysis ran (and looked) like shit on even the lowest settings possible. Call of Duty 4 ran very smooth on medium resolutions and medium to high settings.
Yes of course, you can't compare COD 4's engine to that of Crysis but hey, I'm Joe Average-Gamer, I don't care.
Examples: Crysis, insane hardware requirements, failed.
Call of Duty 4, moderate requirements, smash hit.
You know, I stopped upgrading my desktop PC and just bought a core 2 duo laptop with a mobile 8600gs geforce. Now I know I won't be able to play all the new games in full HD resolutions but, for example, Crysis ran (and looked) like shit on even the lowest settings possible. Call of Duty 4 ran very smooth on medium resolutions and medium to high settings.
Yes of course, you can't compare COD 4's engine to that of Crysis but hey, I'm Joe Average-Gamer, I don't care.
Supporter of the "Chewbacca Defense"
It was m$ leading the charge against the PC for the last 7 years by dumping billions into buying off the most talented PC developers to make simplified, dumbed down and less technological games on insane timetables so willingly accepted by the big boys like ea whom basically were enslaving their employees for several years at the turn of the century.
So if this is real then we need to see REAL and measurable actions WITH verifiable Timetables, sort of reverse fascism if you will. Otherwise this is just another fraud, perpetrated on PC gamers such as the most recent m$ fraud against gamers, vista.
Oh lets not forget the CURRENT and continuing fraud about DirectX10 not being made computable for XP, which with the limited reading I have done, most techies and gamers feel this was about trying to sell vista, not that it couldn't compatibly run in XP.
Theres a great starting point m$ release DX10 for XP, then I will believe this PC love.
So if this is real then we need to see REAL and measurable actions WITH verifiable Timetables, sort of reverse fascism if you will. Otherwise this is just another fraud, perpetrated on PC gamers such as the most recent m$ fraud against gamers, vista.
Oh lets not forget the CURRENT and continuing fraud about DirectX10 not being made computable for XP, which with the limited reading I have done, most techies and gamers feel this was about trying to sell vista, not that it couldn't compatibly run in XP.
Theres a great starting point m$ release DX10 for XP, then I will believe this PC love.
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Marcus: ... Bullies. Tiny d*ck egotists who hurt people for no reason, make people lock their doors at night. People who make general existence worse, people like you.
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Not much mention of games, ya know, the thing that's really missing from the PC gaming scene. How about the cost of PC hardware, no mention of that. Piracy, hardware requirements, blah blah blah. I'm reading this as a bunch of companies, dependent on PC gaming, suddenly realizing that their revenue stream is drying up. But since most of the them also have a large stake in the console market, I don't think they will have any real impact. It's been said before, but it's still true - it makes no sense to spend hundreds of dollars more for a gaming PC, only to play the handful of PC exclusive games.
Not quite sure how DX10 exclusivly being vista only has damaged the Pc gaming industry. DX10 is hardly a massive improvement graphics wise. Its the dev's that are choosing to use the dx10 platform, if they were so worried that it was damaging the industry then they woulden't bother.
Anyways, its an excellent annoucement, can't wait to see what comes of it.
@flo - not quite sure how crysis was a failure. It hit over 1 million copys sold worldwide at the end of january, above EA's expectations, I didn't like the game that much myself - more of a graphics showcase than a proper game imo *shrug*. COD4 was always going to sell well whether it was good or not, it already had an established fanbase.
This comment was edited on Feb 20, 11:13.
Anyways, its an excellent annoucement, can't wait to see what comes of it.
@flo - not quite sure how crysis was a failure. It hit over 1 million copys sold worldwide at the end of january, above EA's expectations, I didn't like the game that much myself - more of a graphics showcase than a proper game imo *shrug*. COD4 was always going to sell well whether it was good or not, it already had an established fanbase.
This comment was edited on Feb 20, 11:13.
After 10 years, personally playing PC games, I give up.
Crysis was the last straw for me: releasing a game for the next generation... What a load of idiots, shoot themselves in the foot... We don't need next, we need now!
Incompatibility issues, DX10 sucking badly, Vista woes, ongoing driver troubles...
What is the point in all this?
Add to that rampant piracy, then worsen that with locking out legitimate users...
No more, no thanks.
I bought a 360 and PS3, and life is GOOD!
P.S. So what if you have quadruple, 60 billion friggen processors and 1 million Gig of video RAM! You still get DX issues, sound driver issues, GPU issues, Windows issues... No matter what power they put, power they add to the Desktop PC - there will always be major problems with simply running the damn games!
This comment was edited on Feb 20, 11:14.
Crysis was the last straw for me: releasing a game for the next generation... What a load of idiots, shoot themselves in the foot... We don't need next, we need now!
Incompatibility issues, DX10 sucking badly, Vista woes, ongoing driver troubles...
What is the point in all this?
Add to that rampant piracy, then worsen that with locking out legitimate users...
No more, no thanks.
I bought a 360 and PS3, and life is GOOD!
P.S. So what if you have quadruple, 60 billion friggen processors and 1 million Gig of video RAM! You still get DX issues, sound driver issues, GPU issues, Windows issues... No matter what power they put, power they add to the Desktop PC - there will always be major problems with simply running the damn games!
This comment was edited on Feb 20, 11:14.
Ultimately what will happen is a return to indie gaming.
Not a bad thing - but we will have a NUMBER of years with limited titles.
We are VERY fortunate now - I can't recall when I had so many titles to play.
we walk the streets at night
we go where eagles dare........
This comment was edited on Feb 20, 11:11.
Not a bad thing - but we will have a NUMBER of years with limited titles.
We are VERY fortunate now - I can't recall when I had so many titles to play.
I bought a 360 and PS3, and life is GOOD!Well, I bought a 360, and honestly, there aren't many games that pull me in like PC games do. I look through the top 100 games on metacritic for 360, and the list of things to purchase is very small. If it wasn't for GTA4, I wouldn't have bought one, and would have been just fine. I truly think console gaming is dumbed down.
we walk the streets at night
we go where eagles dare........
This comment was edited on Feb 20, 11:11.
I like that a middle man like Dell is involved (never thought i'd say the words liking a middleman involved), atleast their motives should be more in line with what the consumer wants without some side agenda to cell GPU's, CPU's, Vista, etc.
Yep console wise this time of year the games out are pretty poor. Ive got a 360 myself and all ive played on it so far this year is guitar hero due to its replay value.
Unless your planning on buying games that were released over the past few years I woulden't bother grabbing a console just yet.
Unless your planning on buying games that were released over the past few years I woulden't bother grabbing a console just yet.
As long as I have:
The MMORPGS
The Indie gaming scene (Mount & Blade, Dwarf Fortress, Unreal World.. etc)
Mods
Strategy Gaming (RTS and TBS)
Buying games online
And the few daring companies like Stardock etc.
The Consoles can fuck off.
I dont need the occasional nice car game and tons of JRPGs.
And I most certanly dont need FPS with a fucking gamepad.
This comment was edited on Feb 20, 11:18.
The MMORPGS
The Indie gaming scene (Mount & Blade, Dwarf Fortress, Unreal World.. etc)
Mods
Strategy Gaming (RTS and TBS)
Buying games online
And the few daring companies like Stardock etc.
The Consoles can fuck off.
I dont need the occasional nice car game and tons of JRPGs.
And I most certanly dont need FPS with a fucking gamepad.
This comment was edited on Feb 20, 11:18.
"I truly think console gaming is dumbed down."
I agreed with and vehemently believed that too, in the past. THE PAST!
Look at the games being released on consoles now, the kind of games they simply couldn't deal with before, are being released and in development - RTS's, RPG's, MMO's, FP's... The console has finally come to appeal to even hardcore PC gamers like myself, because what I want they either have, or are creative enough, and knowledgable enough to now bring to the console.
With WiC, and End War coming to console this year, we are seeing a new era in console gaming. With Resistance 2, up to 60 players in one server alone, this is on par with PC gaming.
Right now I play Resistance MP, with UK players, Asia players, American players LAG FREE. This does NOT happen with any PC game I have ever owned, and own now (I still play CoD4 on PC).
PC Gaming shot itself in the foot a long time ago, and WoW does not help either... It takes far too many people away from buying anything else. MMORPG's in general ruin the market I feel, keeping players in one game for months and years on end?! Why buy anything else when this one game can occupy my time for years? And this is mainly the PC gaming world.
Screw PC gaming, I'm sick of it.
Mouse/Keyboard rules, but Microsoft, shite DX10, failing drivers, consistent issues... ENOUGH!
I agreed with and vehemently believed that too, in the past. THE PAST!
Look at the games being released on consoles now, the kind of games they simply couldn't deal with before, are being released and in development - RTS's, RPG's, MMO's, FP's... The console has finally come to appeal to even hardcore PC gamers like myself, because what I want they either have, or are creative enough, and knowledgable enough to now bring to the console.
With WiC, and End War coming to console this year, we are seeing a new era in console gaming. With Resistance 2, up to 60 players in one server alone, this is on par with PC gaming.
Right now I play Resistance MP, with UK players, Asia players, American players LAG FREE. This does NOT happen with any PC game I have ever owned, and own now (I still play CoD4 on PC).
PC Gaming shot itself in the foot a long time ago, and WoW does not help either... It takes far too many people away from buying anything else. MMORPG's in general ruin the market I feel, keeping players in one game for months and years on end?! Why buy anything else when this one game can occupy my time for years? And this is mainly the PC gaming world.
Screw PC gaming, I'm sick of it.
Mouse/Keyboard rules, but Microsoft, shite DX10, failing drivers, consistent issues... ENOUGH!
Is InfoWorkd owned by Intel? What's with the free advertisement for Skulltrail? Are they really trying to pass this off as a reasonable gaming rig? The more you look, the more obvious it becomes.
"I truly think console gaming is dumbed down."
I agreed with and vehemently believed that too, in the past. THE PAST!
The reason you don't see the ills of consoles yet is because it's getting the influx of current PC games moving to it. There was a reason PC games were better and more diversified for the last decade. So yes 50% or more of the top ten games on xbox are PC originals from PC game developers but that will soon change. Just wait till the developers will dumb down future games as they are made for console primarily and then PC is an afterthought, if that. I think people lack foresight of what will happen, same thing that happened in the last decade. Plus you can put alot less work into games on console and sell alot more to easily impressed console players, so that doesn't bode well for production value either.
This comment was edited on Feb 20, 11:44.
"Incompatibility issues, DX10 sucking badly, Vista woes, ongoing driver troubles...
What is the point in all this?
Add to that rampant piracy, then worsen that with locking out legitimate users...
No more, no thanks."
Still stands;)
What is the point in all this?
Add to that rampant piracy, then worsen that with locking out legitimate users...
No more, no thanks."
Still stands;)
Not quite sure how DX10 exclusivly being vista only has damaged the Pc gaming industry
I could argue the point, but in thinking about my comment, I feel it does distract from the central issues here, so I removed it.
Stephen "Blue" Heaslip
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During the show PCGA member Intel launched a new gaming platform formerly code-named "Skulltrail." The Intel Dual Socket Extreme Desktop Platform includes two quad-core microprocessors
Yes, this is what will save PC gaming.
The problem with gaming is that all progress so far this decade has been on textures and polygons and not the actual games. I can count the number of innovative games since the turn of the millennium on one hand.
Incompatibility issues, DX10 sucking badly, Vista woes, ongoing driver troubles...
there will always be major problems with simply running the damn games!
You mean like the absolute lack of problems that I have with my computer and the games I run? All of those non-existent problems. Yeah, they're tough. Really time consuming stuff.
You know, sometimes I get this system tray notification that I have new updates waiting to be downloaded and installed. I click it and then install the updates. Oh and every couple months I have to go to the Nvidia driver download page I have bookmarked and update my video card driver - it takes like 2 minutes, I can't believe how time consuming this all is!
Man, I wish I was cool like you and incapable of maintaining a computer.
/sarcasm
Honestly though, I don't see what you're talking about. My stuff works. My games work. I even played STALKER without a single crash or bug. Crysis had a couple bugs where after reloading a quicksave, the dead enemies would be standing up, but I just hit quickload again and everything goes back to normal. No different than the bugs and glitches found in console games.
This comment was edited on Feb 20, 12:31.
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PC gaming needs to use the hardware that consumers have rather than designing for what they want them to buy. I don't see myself spending money on new hardware for my PC anymore so if it won't run on a 7800 GTX then don't bother because I won't buy it.
The best thing the gaming alliance can do for PC gaming is encourage developers to stick with a common denominator that will work for the most possible users. If that means designing your game on a ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, P4 3.0GHZ, 1 GB RAM...so be it.
Seeing how popular the cartoon style graphics are in TF2 should make it clear that consumers will buy something that looks fun but doesn't have the flashy graphics ofFarcry Crysis.
This comment was edited on Feb 20, 12:37.
The best thing the gaming alliance can do for PC gaming is encourage developers to stick with a common denominator that will work for the most possible users. If that means designing your game on a ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, P4 3.0GHZ, 1 GB RAM...so be it.
Seeing how popular the cartoon style graphics are in TF2 should make it clear that consumers will buy something that looks fun but doesn't have the flashy graphics of
This comment was edited on Feb 20, 12:37.
I like that a middle man like Dell is involved (never thought i'd say the words liking a middleman involved), atleast their motives should be more in line with what the consumer wants without some side agenda to cell GPU's, CPU's, Vista, etc.
Ummm... you do realize that Dell spent quite a little fortune on acquiring Alienware not too long ago, right? Dell very much has a very profound interest in selling all of these thingies that you mentioned up there.
I sincerely hope that you also realize that every single company entering into any type of alliance always is pursuing one form of agenda or another.
Or what kind of fairytale world do you live in that you seriously believe in what you wrote up there? Or are you four years old and still have this romantic vision of everyone in the world being buddies? Then you are excused, of course...
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