PC gaming is an intriguing area of video gaming. Many people thought that as video game systems grew by leaps and bounds first with new consoles like X-box 360, Play Station, and Wii, but strangely that hasn’t happened. Despite many of the most popular PC games also expanding onto consoles, PC gaming has actually continued to grow and thrive in the same way that other gaming systems have.
Why is this? There are certain games that many die-hard fans prefer the mouse and PC experience to holding a controller with buttons. There’s a difference between working a keyboard because you have all the keys memorized from years of typing and typing classes, and the finger dexterity needed to handle a gaming control with all its buttons, side buttons, joy sticks, and bumpers.
In other words, it’s hard to convince a gamer set in his or her ways that a new method is better. There’s also the simple fact that online gaming has made a strong PC a great way to connect with friends, especially with the wide number of stunningly popular MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) that allow friends to quest and play together for hours on end. The World of Warcraft might be the best known one, but there are dozens of others.
There’s also one other factor that goes into this: power. While a gaming console has some limitations on how much memory can be provided or executed, gaming computers have no such limits. As the technology has improved for them, they simply offer bigger, better, and faster graphics and advanced game play. It’s also hard to argue with the sheer amount of options that come with a gaming PC, which can also be used for convenient tasks like writing, school work, surfing online, or anything you need a computer or Internet connection for.
This isn’t to say that the world of online PC gaming isn’t changing. It is, and as video games in general continue to change you will notice that the PC world is not exempt from this. PCs do offer a nice option of online games and flash RPGs which also offer a variety of entertaining free games that give a different experience from any console game but that access to a wide array of free options is going to be appealing.
As studios pour more and more money into series based video games and experiment less, more gamers are going to get sick of the limited choices and decide to move towards PCs to recapture some of that nostalgia, in addition to simply enjoying trying something different.
While PC games used to dominate the gaming market, it’s not out of line to argue that PC gaming is more of a niche market now, but it’s a powerful and solid niche with a strong following, and that will take care of a lot of consumer desires. While things may change in the future, for now the PC is still solid.