I think people would find this easier to live with if hardware manufacturers weren't so anxious to reinvent the slots that everything plugs into. I know people that would like to replace their video cards, but they have motherboards with AGP slots, and they don't want to buy an AGP card because it won't carry over when they purchase their next motherboard, which will have PCIE. Similarly, who wants to put more 184-pin DDR RAM in their current PC, knowing that their next system will use 240-pin DDR2, even though it's not a huge increase in performance? While this sort of "progress" is inevitable, it would be nice to see them striving for the longevity of, say, the USB port or the 3.5 inch floppy.
Piracy
Despite the fact that most software pirates would like to believe that they have no impact on the game industry, piracy is a serious problem for several reasons. As well as being a direct loss of revenue, it has made PC game rentals unheard of, and has forced retailers to refuse to take returns of PC games after purchase. Where would the movie industry be if you had to buy movies on DVD rather than renting them?
Adding to the problem is that anti-piracy measures on PC software sometimes backfire, causing problems for legitimate users. Developers are fighting back with online confirmation mechanisms like Steam, but such efforts are not always well-received. Consoles make pirating games a lot more difficult, and that's something developers can't ignore when they decide on a platform.
The Vista Factor
Microsoft has become increasingly aware of how much gaming drives sales of their Windows OS, so they've apparently made it a priority in the next version of the software, Windows Vista. Part of the package will be DirectX 10, which promises not only shinier graphics, but better hardware compatibility. Windows System Performance Ratings (WinSPRs) are intended to show users at a glance which games their system can handle. They're also going to offer a Games Explorer that sounds a lot like Xfire or GameSpy Arcade, giving you access to the latest patches, demos, and game information without any Web searching. Toss in some game-oriented community features and Vista starts to look pretty attractive.
Whether it will all work as advertised remains to be seen. We've heard our evil Microsoft overlords talk big before, and we've also seen countless blue screens of death. If Vista falls flat on its boot sequence, it's liable to take the entire PC game industry with it, because Xbox 360 bundles will be selling for $200 by then. That's roughly the same price as full version of Vista, with the upgrade going for around $100. On the other hand, if they can pull it off without breaking everything people are currently running on their systems, it will be good news for gamers, and we will start seeing more cross-platform titles.
Bottom Line
The PC is still my favorite game platform, but if it doesn't get some love from Microsoft and the hardware companies, I'm afraid my kind will soon be facing extinction, despite recent successes like World of Warcraft. The next-gen consoles are very capable graphically, they have robust online components, they make good media players, and they remain relatively inexpensive. If you could surf the Net and check your email on them, a lot of people would never touch their computers again. Obviously, PC gaming is going to have to adapt or fade away, because it needs to get considerably more accessible to hold its own in the increasingly competitive video game market.
