Chris Taylor: "PC gaming as we know it is dead"
Category: Industry, Posted: 02/26/2008 at 08:51PM CST by Billy Wang, Previews Editor
Chris Taylor, founder of Gas Powered Games and creator of RTS games Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander, shared some words during GDC about the state of PC gaming. Echoing similar statements made by other gaming developers, including Peter Molyneux and Cliff Bleszinski, Taylor said, "PC gaming as we know it is dead."
But before the PC gaming enthusiasts start sharpening their pitchforks, Taylor only lamented over the impending death of PC gaming in retail sales. Taylor also believes digital distribution will be the true forerunner for sales. In addition, flash gaming will take-off.
"Flash is the next console. It's pointing its way to the future more than the next generation of consoles. Retail PC is in dire straits, but... the web is kicking the console industry's ass."
Flash and casual games are certainly making an impact in the current gaming market and many big-named developers and publishers are gathering resources to meet the demand. A few presentations at GDC were also devoted to casual gaming as well.
As of now, Gas Powered Games and Chris Taylor are working on the second expansion pack to Supreme Commander (subtitled Experimentals) for PC, a Xbox 360 port of Supreme Commander, RPG Space Siege (think Dungeon Siege in space) for PC and action/RPG/RTS hybrid Demigod (inspired by Warcraft III mod Defense of the Ancients) for PC.
[Via Gamasutra]
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NOOOOO! WHYYYY!!!! Please this can't be so!!!!
/endsarcasm
I swear, this whole "casual" thing is going to eat itself with the flood of crap. As for Flash, I doubt many flash games will sell once people start realizing you can play them for free.
I'm glad the people making these statements are tempering their seemingly alarmist intentions with "Online distribution is going strong though!"
I find it funny, Mercer. It's basically admitting that there's no hope for PC gaming anywhere but major cities with broadband infrastructure in place. And I still find it funny that everyone's suddenly so in love with casual games that they're seemingly thinking that everyone's going to turn in their awesome game consoles for Diner Dash.
I still fail to see why it's dead, sure, maybe if you're sticking to a 2001 model for PC gaming it IS dead, if you're still relying solely on initial retail sales of your product... yes... it is dead.
If you're involved in Digital Distribution, extending your content beyond the game's release with CONTENT patches (something Chris Taylor's Supreme Commander failed to achieve beyond 2-3 new units in an early patch and a mediocre expansion pack) than it is not so dead.
Blizzard Entertainment, Valve, Maxis, iD Software, European Game Developers are all still focused on the PC, and they're shaping the industry now with World of WarCraft, Steam, Spore's community interface/features and iD's continued preference for PC-focused game development (high-def MegaTexturing is something I don't expect to see on a this-generation console, Enemy Territory Quake War's Mega Texturing is nothing compared to what is used in iD Tech 5).
Good freaking Luck with the Supreme Commander Port too lol!
i don't see how these people think flash gaming is a serious market for pc gaming. either way most of these devs are clueless to pc gaming anyway and any time they do a pc game is a crappy port, much like the situation with he wii. the few companies i respect are, like galaxy above me, are valve and blizzard because they're dedicated to innovating the pc experience. not throwing a shitty port at it and charging too much
Well actually Chris Taylor has been a highly recognised PC developer for over a decade, a peer among Molyneux, Meier and Wright, but he hasn't adapted, he has big dollar signs in his eyes, and his games just seem to be unable to evolve with the market. It'd be like releasing an RTS without Grouping Hotkeys, or a FPS that doesn't use the mouse.
How many articles have been posted now about PC's sales being dead? Seems like I am having to pull myself out of a deja vu here almost every day:p
*cough* User Mods *cough*
Right on the tailgate of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. announcing 1.65 million copies sold and The Witcher noting it sold 600k copies in a short timespan, industry dude note PC gaming is dead.
Maybe they should just do a lil' reality check and realise that PC gaming still dominates in Europe and online. Just because North American NDP numbers show "DEATH" doesn't mean anything. I mean literally: it means nothing. Nada. Zilch.
Even if PC gaming were dead, then we'd just have to FIGHT IN THE SHADE! AAAAAH!
Also, KindGalaxy, it might be a controversial viewpoint, but I think Chris Taylor is an idiot that makes dumbed-down Diablo clones. No idea why anyone thinks of him as a luminary. He's certainly no peer to Molyneux, Meier or Wright.
Indeed, None. I can't help but wonder if retail sales would be better for PC if they focused on content instead of "OMG NEXT GRAPHICS CARD!" (which I imagine GSC had to do at some point just to get the damned game done). PC gaming needs more STALKERs and less Dungeon Sieges.
I agree with you, Yuko. It's actually quite amazing how fast a graphics card becomes obsolete, as well as the graphics are thought of in a particular game to be "dated." The turn-around is astonishing, really, and yet, there are very few out there with enough crazy resources to keep up with such a drastic change anyway. I can't afford buying a new card every 6 months, or whatever, and certainly when I buy one, I can't shell out enough for the top of the top. I got a sweet deal on an 8600 GTS a few months back. The 8800 series, all of them, are way out of the realm for me. Now, they're starting on the 9 series for nVidia also...