PC gaming… Not quite dead yet.

Reports of the PC being dead as a gaming platform have been greatly exaggerated. The doom

sayers have often said it's the end. Usually around when a new console generation is set to appear, and yet here we are. We're still gaming on our PC's.

Gamerdad has a good look at the PC as a gaming platform, and concludes that it's not dead. In fact, it's doing rather well. It is ironic, however, the article cites Battlefield 2 as a shining example of PC gaming, when it's been a joke of a release, really, highlighting a lot of what stinks with PC gaming. The PC has some great games, for sure. Gaming on the PC also causes a lot more headaches.

PC release: Install the game. Download the already released patch which, if on dialup, could take more than an hour. Run the title, find it won't run due to the copy protection not liking your particular hardware setup. Hunt down a no-cd crack. Run the game. Watch it crash, Update your graphics drivers. Watch it run, only to realise it won't recognise any of your controllers, despite the documentation clearly saying your controller is supported. Give up and use keyboard controls. Try and connect to online server, only to be told it can't validate your game files, because you've had to use a no-cd crack to get the game running in the first place. Quit in disgust, only to find out two other programs are now broken due to the graphics driver update, and you can no longer play AVI's without the bottom third of the picture being blurred and unwatchable.

Console release: Put disk in system. Play.

I wish I was making that PC information up, but sadly, I'm not. It's an amalgam of problems I've had with two games on the PC recently.