PC Gaming Alliance Formed

[eswat]

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/02/20/Top-technology-companies-form-gaming-alliance_1.html?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/02/20/Top-technology-companies-form-gaming-alliance_1.html
http://www.developmag.com/news/29331/The-PC-market-is-not-dying-says-newly-formed-PC-Gaming-Alliance
Headed by Intel's Randy Stude as president and founding board member, the PC Gaming Alliance is an Amercan non-profit organisation whose mission is "to drive worldwide growth of PC gaming". Membership incldues key computer hardware and software companies from around the world.Members:
Intel
Microsoft (irony)
Dell/Alienware
Nvidia
AMD
Acer/Gateway
Activision Blizzard
Epic Games (soon-to-be irony)
Razer

[evilmojo12542]

could be a good thing if done correctly

[Oktoberfest]

eh all PC gaming has is RTS games and I guess FPS

which is basically the main reason why I'm going to back console after thinking I'd be a pure PC gamer, sometimes those types of games are too stressful

[crystalklear64]

Um.. and RPG's. Plus ports of tons of console games. And lets not forget the awesomeness that is free games. Tons of awesome opensource stuff you can get for free, and even non-opensource such as Gunbound, Rakkion, Gunz, etc. that are all free.

[eswat]

eh all PC gaming has is RTS games and I guess FPShttp://img138.imageshack.us/img138/2719/picardky8.jpg

[Oktoberfest]

well I probably said it the wrong way, I meant to mean that the only reason to get a PC over a console are those types of games... you can get everything else on a console no problem. Luckily for me, the only PC game I play is Starcraft and will be eventually Starcraft II so a decent laptop is all I need for a long time

to be honest, I'd rather spend my gaming time playing games that costs money (since they're usually of more quality). I'm not saying that all free games suck, it's just that I can't bring myself to really play a free game alot. It's just this thing I do.

[mercilessming]

The problem with the gaming alliance is that most of the participants are Hardware vendors. And the biggest problem (Not all the problem) with PC gaming is Piracy and pirates have to buy the hardware no matter, that is to say its not profitable for companies to make PC games. The whole reason I ever went into console gaming again a few years back was I couldn't get a working copy of Prince of Persia the two thrones and wasn't going to buy Star Force protected copy.

I really think to make PC gaming popular again or gain some lost ground is to lessen the ever increasing hardware requirements and use something like valves copy protection not intrusive and "NOT AS" pirated.

I remember when gaming was accomplished with any 8meg pci vid card, then voodoo 2000, then tnt2, then it got more about various versions of the cards for various levels of visual candy. Please correct me but about the Time of Geforce 5 series was when if you want to "enjoy" COD you had Geforce 5700 but to really "ENJOY" it you would get the 5900.

[level1online]

PC Gaming is awesome, and I'm glad to hear about this.

One thing PC gaming is severely missing though are Online-enabled Fighting Games like Street Fighter, DOA, Tekken, etc.

[p00ndawg]

PC Gaming is awesome, and I'm glad to hear about this.

One thing PC gaming is severely missing though are Online-enabled Fighting Games like Street Fighter, DOA, Tekken, etc.

fighting with a keyboard would be next to impossible.

and retarded.

[crystalklear64]

http://assets.jolt.co.uk/picdump/_mainsite/articles/051206/x360/controller.jpg
http://www.itreviews.co.uk/graphics/normal/hardware/h683a.jpg
http://www.geekstuff4u.com/images/JC-AS01BK_01L.jpg
http://www.bennadel.com/resources/uploads/desktop_arcade_usb_controller.jpg

ETC ETC ETC

[level1online]

fighting with a keyboard would be next to impossible.

and retarded.

gamepad. gamepad. gamepad.

[62t]

fighting with a keyboard would be next to impossible.

and retarded.

One of my friend actually prefer keyboard when playing fighting game since he can map extra buttons for shortcut.

[Serik]

Yay, the companies that do the most to ruin PC gaming want to save it...from themselves. If I burned down a house and then showed up 10 minutes later dressed as a fireman to save the day, would people be calling me a hero? :p

With Steam, Valve has already accomplished most of what this alliance wants to do. And why is MS involved? Games For Windows + DX10 for Vista only did more to harm PC gaming than anything...

PC gaming is just fine; it's not going away. In fact, thanks to Steam, it's gaining more independent titles than ever.

ps: Fighting a war against piracy is as stupid as fighting a war against drugs: you'll spend a lot of time and money doing it and have crap to show for it. Piracy won't go away. Companies need to find a way to compete against piracy, just as they would any market force. The fact is pirate groups turn out a better products: no copy-protection, no DRM, no CD-in-the-tray requirement. Valve rarely complains about piracy because they actually came up with a succesful way to compete with it.

pps: "Non-profit organization" my arse. Just look at the players involved.

[Richard Longfellow]

"non-profit"?!?!? :roll: Why do consortiums think that throwing out a "non-profit" tag magically gives them respectability? Come on, of course it's for profit...the whole idea is to expand the customer base and make more profit. Geez. Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine.

As others mentioned in this thread, one thing they need to do is make gamepad setup more accessible. Developers need to insert a standardized set of plug-and-play analog controller maps into their games. So that at least a gamer can expect to be able to plug in one of the most popular analog pads and start playing in a reasonable amount of time. One of the biggest turn-offs from PC gaming is having to spend a half hour tinkering with controls.

[keithp]

eh all PC gaming has is RTS games and I guess FPS

Haha, ever hear of a genre called MMORPGs? Maybe a little game called WORLD OF WARCRAFT?

[Apossum]

PC Gaming is awesome, and I'm glad to hear about this.

One thing PC gaming is severely missing though are Online-enabled Fighting Games like Street Fighter, DOA, Tekken, etc.


You can play Third Strike, Melty Blood, and any console/arcade fighter online with kaillera and other programs.

[pcktlnt]

I used to be a PC gamer, but when I needed to upgrade something every 6 months or so. I just switched over to console. At the moment, I purchase a new but relatively cheap computer every 4-5 years (not gaming intensive ones) and playing the old games that I missed out on. I find this the cheapest method. Screw their alliance.

[Serik]

It depends on who's designing the games, pcktlnt. My 3.5 year old system can competently run TF2 on 1920x1200 resolution (!!!) with medium graphics settings, something I find extraordinarily impressive. But that's because the Source engine/Valve is amazing like that. Sid Meier's Railroads!, on the other hand, runs like total ass despite the rather minimal graphics. And I'd imagine Railroads! aims for a more casual audience, the kind that doesn't have an uber rig.

Guild Wars, The Sims 2, World of Warcraft, and Half-Life 2 (all best sellers) share one thing in common: they look great on a wide range of systems. Even though WoW lacks the visual realism of Crysis, I still prefer its overall character and ambiance.

The point is developers who fail to optimize their games alienate otherwise interested customers. Ironically, none of the members of this "alliance," save Epic, actually make games and therefore don't do the optimizing. Indeed, optimized games would actually hurt NVIDIA's bottom line because, presumably, the collective PC gaming populace wouldn't need uber graphics cards as often.

[eswat]

6 things I want to see out of this alliance, but probably won't :roll:
Reduced hardware prices. I think prices are fine, but this is still the main bitching point of non-enthusiasts.
Reduced minimum requirements on software & little-to-no "futureproof" features. Most people outside PC gaming still have the idea that if you can't play the game at max, you can't play it at all. This has to stop.
Standardized copy-protection. Get rid of the Star Fuck and implement a less-obtrusive method like SteamWorks
More backing for gamepad support. Not something I would particularly care about, but I agree it could only help at the moment
A campaign to set the record straight. Put all those stupid myths floating around the internet that you "Need dual Quadros in SLi and the blood of a virgin to run Crysis" behind.
Microsoft to stop making stupid decisions like the DX10 Vista and Games For Windows LIVE garbage.

[p00ndawg]

6 things I want to see out of this alliance, but probably won't :roll:
Reduced hardware prices
Reduced minimum requirements on software & little-to-no "futureproof" features. Most people outside PC gaming still have the idea that if you can't play the game at max, you can't play it at all. This has to stop.
Standardized copy-protection. Get rid of the Star Fuck and implement a less-obtrusive method like SteamWorks
More backing for gamepad support. Not something I would particularly care about, but I agree it could only help at the moment
A campaign to set the record straight. Put all those stupid myths floating around the internet that you "Need dual Quadros in SLi and the blood of a virgin to run Crysis" behind.
Microsoft to stop making stupid decisions like the DX10 Vista and Games For Windows LIVE garbage.

I agree with one through 5, more or less, not 6.

Reason being is that alot of games run in dx10 look pretty damn awesome, so if harware prices are reduced, being able to run dx10 games because much more viable.

Windows live though is retarded, but as long as its working for them with their xbox, they are going to try to get it to work else where.

Especially where they have little competition and own 90% of the market.

[Richard Longfellow]

#7: Stop lying about minimum system requirements. Every PC game I've played in the 3-D era needs like 150% of the minimum requirements to play well on minimum settings. To play on medium+ settings I usually need twice the "recommended" hardware. I understand they do this to encourage more purchases, but it just leads to disappointment.

[itachiitachi]

Some of the things they could do is
1. Allow for multiple copies of the game to be run off one disc on a lan and allow for smaller lan installs(from my personal experience much piracy occurs at lan parties when people have to install a full copy of the game and then copy the cd or crack)
2. Bigger online componets, something so if the game is only played offline then they are missing out.
3. Trying to get more graphics out of games using current hardware rather than having every game look fantastic because its designed for the new $2,000 video card.

[level1online]

You can play Third Strike, Melty Blood, and any console/arcade fighter online with kaillera and other programs.

true that, true that... I used to do Alpha 3 on WinKawaks a few years ago.

But what I had in mind were the 3-D fighters.

I'd love it if SFIV to came to the PC. C'mon Capcom!!!! I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!:bouncy:

[eswat]

That would be something. Seeing a preload announcement for Street Fighter IV on Steam.

[CaptainPlanet!]

If this alliance is done right, this could be one of the greatest things to ever happen to PC Gaming. Right up there with Doom and Half-Life.

[SpreadTheWord]

#7: Stop lying about minimum system requirements. Every PC game I've played in the 3-D era needs like 150% of the minimum requirements to play well on minimum settings. To play on medium+ settings I usually need twice the "recommended" hardware. I understand they do this to encourage more purchases, but it just leads to disappointment.

Really? I've found that a PC with minimum specs is able to play games just fine at minimum settings. Although they obviously don't use the hardware to max. But the games are playable.

The two things that I think need to happen with PC gaming is:

1. Intel (even Nvidia and ATI/AMD) need to have more powerful baseline graphics chips. Why is the standard for a laptop (and a lot of desktops) in 2008 weaker than an FX5700?
2. Games need to look better on older hardware. Crysis at low should not have looked worse than Far Cry at high. Games wouldn't have gotten away with having such blurry textures while running on a 6800 back in 2005. Why is it ok two years later?

[eswat]

Well, it looks like they started #5 on my list... sort of. They really need a website/public platform to be releasing this info from.

Non-casual PC Gaming made 8.3 billion in 2007.

http://www.developmag.com/news/29331...aming-Alliance (http://www.developmag.com/news/29331/The-PC-market-is-not-dying-says-newly-formed-PC-Gaming-Alliance)

Notes
This number represents non-casual game sales (PopCap, Gamelab, etc.)
US accounts for 30% of worldwide sales (2.76 billion)
Retail accounts for 30% of US sales. This number, unlike NDP's (910 million), includes digital distribution.
WoW accounts for 14% of worldwide sales (1.2 billion)