The next time one of your console-exclusive friends tells you PC gaming is dead, don’t react the way you usually do. Instead of getting defensive, reasoning with her, and eventually losing your cool, just pull out the facts. Look her dead in the eye, and point out to her that PC gaming grew by a cool 20 per cent in 2010. Then ask her which dead anything she knows that grows that much year on year.
PC Gaming Alliance aligned for truth
These figures come from the PC Gaming Alliance [via PC Gamer], who have released promising numbers for the industry. According to the group, revenue from PC games in 2010 was $16.2 billion (£9.93), an impressive 20 per cent increase over what was garnered in 2009.
What makes this performance so sweetfor the PC Gaming Alliance and PC gamers worldwide is it is decidedly contrary to what people have been saying about the industry. After years of the ‘PC gaming is dead’ siren going off without fail, the naysayers can eat crow, with the platform showing robust growth in MMOs, RTS games and first-person shooters alike.
Thanks, China, and everybody else
While much of this growth is attributable to the burgeoning Chinese market, which on its own generated $4.8 billion (£2.94 billion) in 2010, established markets like the US, UK Korea, Japan and Germany saw healthy growth. In these ‘developed’ gaming markets, revenue grew an impressive 19 per cent to total $7.3 billion (£4.5 billion).
I still fire up the ol’ PC for games
What makes the ‘PC gaming is dead’ discussion so hilarious is that it is still the only platform that has matureMMO games – a burgeoning market that can no longer be ignored. Furthermore digital distribution on PC still runs circles around the equivalent on console gaming, with the DLC and arcade downloads on Live and PSN nowhere near comparable to the vast full titles downloadsthat is Valve Steam.
While the PC gaming alliance no doubt has a vested interest in saying this industry isn’t dead, just a look at the PC games released in recent times is sufficient evidence that it could not possibly be.
By now you’ve no doubt seen the brilliant Volkswagen Star Wars commercial, right? If not, stop reading this right now, scroll down to the embedded video below, and watch it! We’ll wait. Done? Okay, it’s brilliant, right? Anyhow, when the commercial first aired the whole world wanted to know who the cute little boy playing Darth Vader was, and now we know. The world, however, was nearly robbed of his shining moment, when he almost died as a baby.
Max, you genius
The star of the Volkswagen Star Wars commercial is young Max Page, who reenacted the Sith Lord in pitch perfect, hilarious manner, even though we couldn’t see his face at a single point in the commercial. Max, who is now 6 years old, was diagnosed with a congenital heart disease when he was a four-month-old. At the time this meant, if he was to live, he would have to wear a pacemaker (something he still does). Thankfully the procedure means he will live a long, full life, and hopefully star in more fantastic commercials!
George Lucas, you genius
Star Wars and Darth Vader to this day remain part of the fabric of popular culture. Yet, for dedicated fans of the franchise, our relationship with George Lucas’ universe is an abusive one we cannot walk away from. For every The Empire Strikes Back, there’s a Star Wars Episode. For every Knights of the Old Republic II video game, there’s the awful Star Wars Obi Wan for the Xbox.
Heck, Lucas even found time and a way to butcher Indiana Jones while he was taking fans on this emotional rollercoaster.
The Volkswagen Star Wars commercial is a reminder of what has made, and continues to make the franchise so compelling, and one can’t help hoping Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO is more Max Page in terms of brilliance than Indiana Jones 4 in terms of dreariness.
EA and BioWare’s great MMO Hail Mary, Star Wars: The Old Republic may be nearing release if rumours are to be believed. Sources in the video game development world have told MCV that the long-awaited MMO may be released as soon as September 2011, marking the arrival of what many consider the only hopeful competitor to World of WarCraft’s as yet unchallenged throne.
September, friends
Incidentally, this falls right into the window EA itself indicated for the Star Wars MMO, when the publisher promised the title would see release in the period between April and Christmas this year.
Electronic Arts, the publisher behind Star Wars: The Old Republic, is reportedly throwing everything at the title, spending an alleged $300 million (£189 million) on its development. This would make this title by far the biggest production in Electronic Arts’ history, reaffirming how desperate the publisher is to get a piece of the MMO pie Activision has been hogging with its World of WarCraft franchise.
The problem is very few people believe it will work, with one major analyst going so far as to say EA’s investors were actually betting against the Star Wars MMO.
Why it might work… or not
Star Wars: The Old Republic has all the ingredients to succeed. BioWare, whose last three games were Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Massive Effect 2, certainly have the pedigree to deliver the goods. Quite the track record, yes? As if that is not enough, it is an MMO based on the most beloved fantasy galaxy world over – Star Wars.
The problem is BioWare is going up against Blizzard, who, depending on your stance, is widely considered the only developer who equals and bests them in RPG stakes. Furthermore it is going up against the unstoppable World of WarCraft franchise. Considering WoW happens to be the fastest selling PC game of all time, it wouldn’t be unfair to say that that’s a pretty tall order. Yes, even for a Star Wars MMO, a world that inhabits Darth Vader, Yoda and all manner of Jedi.
2010 has seen something of a resurgence in the PC gaming industry. Steam, the digital retailer, proved PC users were easily the most savvy in terms of adopting digital distribution, while legendary PC developers showed off why they were the undisputed kings of the platform. Below are the top three PC games of 2010.
StarCraft II
StarCraft II was remarkable merely for the fact that it was finally released. A decade of agonizing waiting for gaming fans worldwide – and the whole SC crazy Korean populous – the sequel mostly lived up to its impossible hype.
The truth is, considering it is a sport in South Korea, Blizzard’s hands were mostly tied with what they could do with the title, in terms of dramatically changing the gameplay or design. As such, they played it safe and refined relentlessly to deliver what is easily the new benchmark in RTS games and one of the best PC games of 2010.
World of WarCraft: Cataclysm
World of WarCraft: Cataclysm, with its dramatic updating of old locations, while also adding several new locations to Blizzard’s popular MMO makes WoW feel like a brand new game. Honestly. And, more than that, with the title blitzing to 3.3 million units sold in no time, World of WarCraft: Cataclysm reaffirmed WoW’s place as one of the most important – if not the most important – PC titles in the world. This one waltzes onto our best PC games of 2010 list.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
We were anxious about adding COD: Black Ops to this list, mainly because it isn’t exclusively a PC game, and it is arguably seen more as a console title. Regardless of all of that, we kept gravitating back to this title, due to it being a technical achievement and, more importantly, an unexpected technical achievement.
Treyarch, who were long considered the B-Team to Infinity Ward, stepped to the plate successfully, particularly in the wake of IW and Activision’s fallout. Nevertheless, the Call of Duty formula is beginning to feel long in the tooth, but even a stalling COD is better than most other games. Suffice to say, this sales behemoth is without doubt one of the best PC games of 2010.
What do you make of this list? Are there any glaring omissions you feel strongly about? Let us know in the comments.
Our unbridled love for Valve is well documented. The service did for download PC games what iTunes did for downloadable music, and it’s run by a publisher that ranks amongst the most influential, and gamer-centric, in the world. What is there not to love? Well, if you’re a retail store, it seems there’s a lot not to like.
Retailers threatening Steam Ban
According to MCV, two key retailers are threatening to stop supporting titles with the Valve Steam functionality built into them out of fear that it drives gamers to want to purchase from Valve’s digital retail service by default. MCV was told by retailers that ‘Publishers are creating a monster – we are telling suppliers to stop using Steam in their games,’ a telling phrase that indicates how powerful Steam has become and how fearful brick-and-mortar retailers are, as a result.
Could this be you, Gamestop?
While the two ‘major’ shops demanding the removal of Steam functionality are unnamed, one can’t help but wonder who they are. On a British front, it could be a chain like Game or HMV, while across the pond, a big player like Gamestop could be responsible for these anti-Steam cries in the US.
Either way it’s funny that this is happening to retailers, especially since, through the ubiquitous ‘game resale market’, publishers have felt like their brick-and-mortar partners have been cutting them out of the sales loop. Now the shoe seems to be on the other foot, with digital retailer Steam and the publishers cutting the brick-and-mortar stores out of the loop. It’s ugly out there, folks!
The pain
It’s hard not to be empathetic to retail stores, when word is Valve Steam has crossed the 30 million user threshold and controls a whopping 80 per cent of the PC download market. The digital retailer has gone from strength to strength and its iTunes-like inevitability already seems etched in stone.
Oh, and when Valve isn’t squeezing retailers out of business, as per their accusations, they make great games like Left 4 Dead and Half-Life. And their current project is the hugely anticipated Portal 2.
With the belated arrival of Plants vs Zombies on the Xbox 360, console gamers are finally able to see why we’ve been making a fuss. Having said that, though, consoles are still way off the mark when compared to PC games in the independent games stakes. Below is our current top three PC indie games.
Plants vs. Zombies
Still. Over a year later, and Plants vs. Zombies on PC/Mac is still amazing. Seriously, though, it’s a classic tower defense game with a lick of foliage and the undead as characters mixed with phenomenal balance, to make it easily the best game Popcap has ever made. Zombies versus vegetables! Come on, that concept alone makes it classic.
To be fair to PC indie games, Popcap, as popular as it is, shouldn’t be considered a PC indie games developer, but can we turn a blind eye simply because Plants vs. Zombies is so awesome? Just this once? Thanks
Machinarium
Photo: Amanita Design / Flickr
Machinarium was on many people’s shortlist for PC indie game of the year, and for good reason. This point and click adventure took everything that makes point and click and indie games good and blended them with a generous serving of character. The cutesy robot on a mission to rescue his girlfriend and get revenge on the bullies who tossed him out of town is insanely endearing. Machinarium dominated 2009’s PC indie game playtime for me, with the love carrying over into 2010.
Time Gentlemen, Please
Time Gentlemen, Please is a secret pleasure of mine. For my money, it is one of the best adventure games in the world. Period. The writing is inexplicably witty and intelligent, proving a worthy follow up to its solid predecessor Ben There, Dan That.
Very rarely do videogames – especially something that is ostensibly a point-and-click adventure – leave one laughing out loud, but Time Gentlemen, Please, had me in stitches many times throughout the game. Its just confirmation, really, that there is certainly a place for brilliant writing in video games. Warning: don’t buy it for your kids, though. They may learn a few words and terms you would prefer they didn’t know.
We’re getting really excited about StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. With each passing the day, the painful twelve-year wait to the sequel to one of the greatest PC games of all time will sooner be over. And according to the Wall Street Journal Activision Blizzard has spared no expense developing the title, with reports indicating it has cost over $100 million to develop. Yes, to develop only – this excludes marketing and promotions costs.
A fairly safe bet
Given that the first StarCraft, now released over 12 years ago, has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide, making it one of the highest selling PC games of all time, it is a safe bet that Activision Blizzard will recoup this money. South Korea, the spiritual home of StarCraft, alone is likely to take the company a long way towards turning a profit with Wings of Liberty.
The title has been in development since 2003, but was officially announced only in 2007.
A second reason StarCraft II, as a whole, is likely to make heaps of money is because Activision Blizzard has split the sequel into three parts. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, followed by quasi-sequel/expansion packs Heart of Swarm and Legacy of the Void. Long story short, Activision Blizzard has cleverly split a very expensive to develop product into three manageable chunks, while charging their customers three times.Good business.
Seven pillars of opportunity
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick described StarCraft II as one of the company’s seven pillars of opportunity, meaning it has the potential to bring in operating profit of between $500 million and $1 billion. The other six pillars of opportunity for Activision Blizzard are Guitar Hero, World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Diablo, a new MMO Blizzard are working on, and the new IP by famed Halo developer Bungie. For those keeping score, Blizzard, who are developing Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, have four titles out of the seven. Crown jewel, huh?
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty releases 27 July for Mac and PC and we strongly advise you to pre-order your copy now.
Call of Duty: Black Ops is inching closer to its finish line release date in November, and more information is slowly pouring in, the latest info to come from E3 and interviews focuses on the game’s single-player aspect.
We know the setting
When Call of Duty: Black Ops was announced on April 30th of this year, we essentially knew nothing about it, other than it would feature ‘covert missions’ in a modern setting. Now, that’s changed a little and we know more, but not really a lot more. For instance, we know CoD: Black Ops will span the era of the Cold War, specifically featuring ‘undisclosed’ secret missions that took place during that time, and giving Treyarch lots of leeway to take us all over the globe. We actually got to see two missions from the single-player at E3, to give us a little idea about what Treyarch is talking about, and the action definitely looks exciting.
Single-player showcased
The two levels showcased at E3 were called WMD and Payback. Both were very cinematic and feature dialogue from the main character, a CoD first. In WMD set in some snowy Russian wilderness, you have to storm a relay station and then escape; some cool things we noticed included using a crossbow and repelling down a cliff covert ops style. The Payback mission, set in some Vietnam looking jungles, featured much of the same action packed shooting and saw the main players capture a helicopter and then pilot their way out. The graphics looked impressive, although admittedly nothing extraordinary or stunning. Still, if you want to know what the game actually looks like, you now have a taste.
Still in the dark on multiplayer
Fortunately, it seems Treyarch isn’t neglecting what CoD fans care most about, namely, the multiplayer. As it turns out, the multiplayer has apparently been in development longer than the single portion and is being worked on by a dedicated team. More good news is that we might have dedicated servers (see video below), at least for the PC version, which is probably the number one thing on everyone’s wishlist. Then there’s co-op, which will have two modes, namely two player splitscreen or four player online multiplayer, that also has it’s own separate levels and team developing it. The signs all look good for any fans of the CoD genre, but we know Treyarch will have to get cracking to meet their somewhat ambitious, and we assume engraved in Stone by Activision, November 9th release date this year. More info on the CoD game coming to the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and PC when we actually get to see the multiplayer.
Blacklight Tango Down is a purely downloadable game, coming to the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC this summer, that looks to offer some high quality online FPS action and co-op missions for cheap.
For download only
People have often spoken of download only games as being the wave of the future, with higher broadband speeds, PC sites like Steam and of course, the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live gaining in popularity. Well, the latest proof of this trend comes from Blacklight Tango Down, the futuristic online shooter currently in development by Zombie Studios and Ignition Entertainment, and slated for a summer release via download only.
Photo: Ignition Entertainment
Plenty of content
Though it’s being released as DLC, Blacklight Tango Down is far more than just an expansion with minimal content and gameplay. In addition to a multitude of different maps, the online FPS includes a special weapon customisation system, character growth, as well as a large variety of online game modes, including deathmatch, team deathmatch, retrieval, detonate (a sort of reverse capture the flag) and the crowd favourite, last man standing. If you fancy a little more controlled action, moreover, there’s also a co-op Black Ops mode with multiple specialised missions.
Photo: Ignition Entertainment
All about multiplayer
For many shooter games, the single-player action comes in a distant second to the multiplayer player where people spend the vast majority of their time. Zombie Studios thankfully have their priorities straight and have therefore concentrated on creating a fun, dynamic and balanced online shooter first. This isn’t to say there’s no backstory, but just that the focus is where it should be. Speaking of the setting, you’ll find yourself 25 years in the future in Eastern Europe, either fighting for the good guys, team Blacklight, or the bad people known as ‘The Order’. Pretty standard online shooter stuff. Unlike many team shooters, however, Blacklight Tango Down has no classes. No medics, soldiers or anything of the kind. Instead, players earn experience points through online combat, which they can then translate into all important weapons upgrades.
Photo: Ignition Entertainment
Major weapon customisation
With over 13 possible sniper scopes, different magazines, barrels, stocks, and 100 different so-called weapon tags (unique looking improvements), you’ll find the weapon customisation aspect of the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 FPS game knows no bounds. There aren’t too many restrictions either, leading to some pretty cool hybrid weapons, like a shotgun with an advanced sniper scope, for example. How you decide to upgrade will determine where your character has their strengths and ultimately determine your team’s strategy. In addition to weapons, which fall into the standard sniper, shotgun, pistol, assault rifle categories, there’s also some support weaponry, like the DigiGrenade, which blinds its enemy. So, in short, despite a lack of classes, the combat is still very dynamic and varied.
Fun co-op mode
We mentioned the co-op mode earlier, which is something Ignition Entertainment are definitely proud of. Essentially, the so-called ‘Black Ops’ cooperative mode will feel like an actual mission single player based game, where up to 4 players trek through the ruined streets of Balik and the Blacklight universe. The story unfolds as you progress, but the focus on team play is just as important as ever. You’ll still gain experience, as well as additional weapons tags when playing through the Black Ops mode. Moreover, after completing a mission, your performance will be scored based on a number of factors, including speed and the difficulty setting. The best players will get ranked on an online leader board, just like the other game modes, apparently.
Photo: Ignition Entertainment
DLC like price
Though Blacklight Tango Down tries hard to distinguish itself as a fully standalone game, there is one advantage that come with its multiplayer focus and DLC status, namely, the price. Priced at a mere €15 ($15 in the US and we expect around £12 here), the online game is cheap, very cheap. With the hours of online fun that it should provide, moreover, if Blacklight Tango Down lives up to the hype then it can definitely be considered one of the cheapest video game deals out there. The game is expected to be available by the summer of 2010, when users can download it to their PC, from Xbox Live for their Xbox 360, or from the PlayStation Store onto their PS3.
The setting for Metro 2033 is post-apocalyptic Moscow. The nuclear bomb has been dropped, the mushroom cloud has settled and the humans have taken to the numerous underground metros. But, they are not alone. The dark and dreary theme of hopelessness is perfectly executed in this first-person shooter thriller, which will leave even the bravest gamer with a lump in their throat as they make their way through Moscow’s underground.
Artyom looks for hope.
The hero in this PC first-person shooter is Artyom, and from the first moment he embarks on his mission to save his people from their hardship, the HUD says it all. A clock watch dial indicates the amount of oxygen the hero has left, the tunnels are dark, and for most of the time the only source of light is a flashlight requiring frequent recharging, through manual pumping.
Photo: 4A Games
Ammo is currency and shouldn’t wasted, but at the same time it takes a lot of ammo take to put human enemies down and even more for mutants. 4A have definitely done an incredible job in making sure that the sense of barrenness and destitution is carried onto the player. Though gameplay may be very frustrating at times when looking to quickly progress through the game and needing to replay the same stage frequently, 4A does well to deserve some credit.
The challenge
4A faced the difficult challenge of having to re-create the gloomy world while tell the gripping tale of the nuclear aftermath found in Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novel and at the same time keep the game playable. Though the gameplay may have its flaws here and there, they fit in with the game and contribute to the overall darkness of this first person-shooter. Metro 2033 is not for winners, but for survivors and with no quick save available and checkpoints a bit too far apart, it can lead to a few lost hairs during gameplay.
