So we’re almost a year into the so-called next generation of console gaming and things are looking not all that revolutionary. They’re barely even looking evolutionary. Sure, there were interesting titles at launch for the two major consoles, and even some nifty recent releases, but this generation has been more ho-hum than hair-raising.
Meanwhile the house that PC gaming built looks like it’s now in full party mode. All sorts of exciting events are spilling out onto the street and we can’t help stand there with our mouths agape in both excitement and amazement. “And what is it we’re seeing?” you may ask? Well, there are five very specific things that seem to be causing the PC gaming star to rise once more.
eSports Are Big Right Now and the Biggest eSports Are on PC
I could almost just point at the picture to make this point…almost. That’s an overview from the 2014 League of Legends World Championships in Seoul, South Korea. That event managed to fill up Sangam Stadium, the same venue that hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Now, you may throw up the argument that eSports is huge in Korea, with Korean players getting the same treatment as many big-4 sports stars in North America. I’d then point out that a previous League of Legends World Championships event completely sold out the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, a venue that is home to the LA Kings of the NHL and the LA Lakers of the NBA. With 2 of 4 big sports covered, League of Legends is in good company.
It’s not just about the crowds though. eSports is big business as well. The aforementioned 2014 League of Legends World Championships drew in all sorts of sponsors, and not just PC companies. We’re talking mainstream corporations like Red Bull, with coverage being provided by the likes of ESPN. Pro gamers can actually make a living now, with the best making a pretty good living, not unlike their sports star counterparts.
As for the games played, League of Legends is big, but it’s not the only title. Valve’s Dota 2 is also very popular with its championship events pulling huge crowds and big purses. The International recently made headlines with its multi-million dollar, crowdsourced prize pool. The professional popularity of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is also on the rise, with big events being held in Europe. These are all games only found on the PC.
The PC Is the Place for a Carte Blanche Gaming Experience
The Internet has become a huge component of gaming with the past two console generations, but it was the PC that planted those seeds. Digital distribution has only been a part of the previous generation of consoles, with gaming stores available on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. On the PC, digital distribution has been a foregone conclusion for acquiring new games for almost a decade. Steam has been the big player for the majority of that time period, but it isn’t the be all and end all.
Good Old Games exists to scratch your classic gaming itch, and Green Man Gaming is there to provide an alternative to Steam both in pricing and title availability. These options highlight the openness of the PC platform, allowing you to pick your experience. With the consoles you’re locked into their ecosystem and platform. That doesn’t just stop at gaming titles either.
If you like a title and want to interact with its community, you can indeed do so on the console, as long as you’re interacting with the community built into that console. You can’t really talk to Xbox One players from your PS4, not without using a PC. The PC is the place where social interaction in gaming tends to flourish, and this benefits PC games the most, since the tools are there and can easily be accessed. While the Internet is available and usable on modern consoles, the PC still provides the best, most customizable experience.
The PC Has the Better Hardware, with Horsepower to Spare
With previous console generations, upon release the new consoles could perform at the same level or pretty close to their PC contemporaries. You would see very similar graphical quality from either camp with their AAA titles and it would take a couple years for the PC to surpass the console. We’re almost a year into the eighth console generation and the PC appears to be a year ahead of itself, taking an early lead over consoles in the performance battle.
The pending release of Assassins Creed: Unity has brought this issue to the forefront, with many gamers accusing Ubisoft of artificially limiting the performance of the game to be able to work similarly on both the Xbox One and PS4. The game is said to be running at 900p and 30 frames per second. You’ll quickly note that this is not full 1080p HD and well below what you can expect from any decent PC. This isn’t the first time this has happened either.
The release of Titanfall was something many looked forward to, and when it dropped it could barely go above 720p on the Xbox One. Meanwhile, we PC players were able to while away the days at full 1080p for the short time the PC community existed in Titanfall (a story for another time).
The PC Platform Is Open, Accessible, and Expandable
From both the perspectives of hardware and software, it’s impossible to deny how open and accessible the PC platform is. Consoles are divided up into generations and those generations each have their own milestones. While this may make life easy for a gaming historian, it locks in the actual gamer to a particular level of performance and experience with little room for deviation. Not so with the PC. You can pick your PC experience, mold it, and change it to suit your needs and wants. When you’ve finally managed to outgrow the piece of hardware you’ve been using, you can then expand and upgrade it in any number of ways.
This also leads to openness in what exactly a PC can do and what specs are available. In the above mentioned 30 FPS debacle, PR from both the console manufacturer and game dev team have been rather cagey as to what exactly the console and game can do respectively. On the PC side, we always have the same benchmark suites available, with the same reproducible tests that provide consistent results. This means you have a good idea of what level of performance you can expect from a new PC component or software title, sometimes before either can be easily purchased.
True Innovation Happens on the PC Platform
The console market has had its fair share of firsts, but for the most part those have been limited to the console market. Most of the innovations found in modern 3D console gaming has roots in the PC platform. Hardware is the most obvious, with the last three generations of consoles sourcing their configurations from a mixture of off the shelf components and custom parts manufactured by what are traditionally PC hardware companies.
The first Xbox was the most glaring of examples, being little more than an off-the-shelf Pentium III based system with a custom BIOS. While this can be beneficial for PC users, as it makes the process of porting software between platforms a little easier, it means that the console is a static platform while the PC can change for the better at any time. The newest CPUs, GPUs, storage, and other even more amazing technologies will be seen on the PC first.
As for actual gameplay, the console market only holds one or two sole innovations. Those are usually in areas like fighting games, racing games, and platformers where the console experience is preferred. However the big money is still in first person and RPG titles, and the PC was first to market with many staples in those genres. Online multiplayer? The PC did it first with Doom and Quake in the 90s, and then went to massive multiplayer with Ultima and Everquest. Halo was a late bloomer comparatively. Something as simple as thinking with Portals was done first on the PC. Even the foundation of one of the major consoles is based off PC technology, with the OS used in the various Xbox consoles running the gamut from being built from Windows-based tech to just being a derivative of Windows 8 itself.
PC Gaming Is Where the Action Is
I’d be willing to concede that consoles have their place, but the PC platform is clearly where the action is. The once humble PC is at the forefront of many revolutions, with the biggest being eSports. The tournaments and purse sizes are swelling, and front and centre is the gaming PC and the titles found on-board. It helps that anyone can pick up any title they want and master it in any environment, since the PC is truly the paragon of customization.
You’ll never be left wanting for choice either, since there is a broad selection of both software and hardware available. Yes, the console gamer can take it easy on their couch in front of the big screen, but if you’re a PC gamer, you’re much closer to the edge of your seat. You get to be on the cutting edge of gaming, and get to try out all those new experiences before you’re chilled out console cousin even gets a taste.