PC gaming - Alive and kicking

Why is the insecurity looming large after the release of Xbox 360? PC gaming is not dying or dead. The games present on the launch line-up of the 360 like Call of Duty 2, Gun, Need for Speed, Madden 06, NBA Live 06, FIFA 06, King Kong, and Tiger Woods 06 are all out for PC at this point. Even Olivion is soon going to hit the PC screens. Madden and NBA PC versions are turning out to be better in lots of respects than their 360 counterparts.

Gamers would be better off if they wait for a better catalog. Games like Gears of War, Mass Effect, Dead Rising, Fight Night Round 3, and Halo 3 are definitely going to pull around some weight in the line-up.

We have been hearing this from quite sometime now that the future of PC gaming is doomed. However, over the ages, we have seen TV and Video games evolving by the day with cutting-edge technology providing not only ultimate in graphics, sounds and live action to say the least. But did we see PC games declining? On the contrary, we have seen game programmers creating newer games for PC like never before. When Sony launched its Playstation, the pundits started writing the obituary of PC games and it seemed the death knell of PC games had been sounded when Microsoft jumped into the fray with its Xbox. But PC games not only survived, but evolved even further. With internet evolving to high-speed broadband that is not only affordable to the end-users but easily available too, PC games were the factor that gave the gaming world what 'live' action is all about. Not only this, even MS has and still is actively promoting PC gaming through its Zone.com portal and one of the major peddling USPs of its IM software is the feature that enables gamers to play games online. A vast majority of MS's own developed games like Age of Empires find active support for PC platforms and with Internet companies like Yahoo! and AOL too putting a huge amount of capital in it.

Not only this, only about 110 million consoles are sold worldwide. Consoles are just gaming specific for which you have to shell out around 300 dollars for a console like the Xbox 360. With a couple of hundred dollars more, you would rather buy a PC and do all that it is capable of doing, gaming included. Besides, only a miniscule per cent of gamers are hardcore gamers. What about people like my academic elder sister who likes to play a game or two given an opportunity?

When a major console maker like MS is actively supporting and developing games for PC the future of PC gaming is far from being doomed. Rather, taking all the above factors into account I would like to bet on the fact that PC gaming is not only going to be there as long as PCs are, but it is also going to thrive and develop like never before.

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