PC gaming not as dead as we though?

[lars573]

I've never partaken of online stores for games, yet. For my other less mature hobby I have, many times. However the day will probably come. Thing is most forms of digital distro really can't apply to me. Most require a credit card. I don't have one, and probably couldn't get one (for 2 reasons).

And the "PC is teh deadz!!1!!" wasn't really me. It was a general sentiment. I though it was declining. But changing is the better word.

[hrvojej]

*rant*

Well, I don't think PC gaming is going to die if other developers learn a few things from Stardock, for example. PC gaming is losing the fight with the consoles for the bells-and-whistles audience, but it may win out on the people who like involved, complex gaming experience - myself included. Things I like about Stardock's GalCiv series:

- complex yet open-ended games, obviously the work of love, which is a rarity on the shelves today
- one of topmost priorities is the AI development, which equals fun and rewarding experience
- the games are single-player only, meaning that every improvement to the game directly enhances MY enjoyment
- the patching support is excellent, showing that they care
- there is no copy protection, and therefore no hassle for their customers to play the game
- though it doesn't affect me personally right now, I applaud their focus on scalability of graphics so their games can be played on older rigs
- online distribution means that most of my money goes to the devs who made the game, and not some middleman schmucks

Online distribution also means that the devs tend to listen to their customers who pay them directly, and not some shady publisher company who financed them and is now calling the shots. The middleman in the gaming business model usually makes the decisions that are detrimental to the game and to me as a customer, like "put in bells and whistles, the AI takes too long to code" or "don't patch the game for which you have already been paid for", because they care about things other than the game itself. And even if the devs want to do something about it, they can't because of their financial and other dependencies. But looks like this approach is finally coming back to bite those big publishers, and it is their own decisions, and focus on short-term gain, that brought this 'end of PC gaming' upon them, and not the lack of audience. The audience is there, you only have to know how to reach it.

And you bet that for games like Stardock's I don't mind putting my money where my mouth is. The older I am, the more I prefer complex games, but at the same time I can also afford to pay more for games now than I could when I was a teen. I gladly paid full price for both GalCiv2 itself and its expansions, whereas in retail I bought 99% of my games at discount prices. Heck, at Stardock they even convert all the prices directly from dollars to other currencies when you buy online instead of having special pricing per region, so even the exchange rates are going in my favor right now!

It sure feels good to again be a part of the target audience in gaming after so many years.

*end rant*