The PC Centric Extravaganza 3.05.08

Posted by Chris Evans on 03.05.2008

Birthday’s rule!

The PC Centric Extravaganza 5th March 2008

Sorry again about the column arriving a few days late everyone, it has been a busy past few days. First off last Friday I travelled to Bristol with my girlfriend for a few days and that was brilliant. Then Monday was my 20th birthday so as is to be expected I didn't get around to doing much blogging or whatnot! So now I valiantly try to complete my column after spending a good portion of today working on a university essay! So, on with the limited news!

Chris Taylor on the PC

Last week I featured what Chris Taylor had to say about the PC, now there is some more juicy stuff emerging!

"PC gaming as we know it is dead... secure gaming is the future."

That is what Chris Taylor said in coverage of a GDC conference by Gamasutra, this is following on from a recent interview with IGN where he explained that piracy is killing the PC.

Ex-Sony exec Phil Harrison agreed with Taylor;

Ex-Sony exec Phil Harrison concurred, saying, "There is a generation of kids who are already on the planet who will never ever buy physical media,"

The advocacy from two leading figures in the games industry for digital distribution shows the platforms like Steam are the way forward for the PC. I really think people are starting to open their eyes and realise that something has to be done to ensure the PC remains a desirable platform to develop for. Distribution methods such as Steam, DigiDelivery and Metaboli are the devices which will take PC gaming forward.

I really hope many other developers realise that with online game verification and digital distribution many sales normally lost to piracy can be regained. However, developers must realise that it is not just distribution methods that have to change, they are going to have to make the purchasing of PC games an easier task for people who know nothing of the specifics in PC gaming. Games like Battlefield Heroes are in my mind the games showing one of the ways forward for the PC, but more on that later in the column.

Games Industry in the UK

In a recent Press Release from the Department for Culture Media and Sport it has been revealed that the software and computer games sector are the biggest sectors and contribute the most growth among creative industries in the UK. Creative industries contribute £60 billion to the UK economy according to the report and the software and computer games sectors contribute massively to this.

Software and computer games comprise the biggest sector and contribute most to growth, accounting for over 50per cent of turnover growth between 1995 and 2005.

The report which can be found here also indicates that NCSoft, the company behind games such as Guild Wars and City of Heroes, has signed an agreement to help provide 5,000 formal apprenticeships by 2013 from the entire creative sector.

In a related report entitled Creative Britain: New Talents for the New Economy a Centre of Excellence for Computer Games is due to be set up. The report also details that there are over 100 further education courses in the UK dealing with computer games, it goes on to say that University courses dealing with computer games are looking for students with a mix of Maths and Art A Levels. This is an unusual mix and the Government plans to increase awareness of the skills required to University computer games courses.

Further the report says that;

The Government will also increase awareness of the current R&D tax credit scheme and investigate how to make it more user friendly for small business, with a particular focus on the computer games industry.

These are two very interesting reports, it will be very intriguing to see if they have any effect on the Byron Report. For now, we must wait and see what the next few weeks and months bring in what is sure to be a crucial time for the games industry in the UK.
(All of this was originally posted on my blog right here.

PEGI better than the BBFC – Microsoft

PEGI is better than the BBFC when it comes to games classification according to Microsoft's head of corporate affairs in the UK, Matt Lambert. GamesIndustry.biz reports that Matt was at a recent Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee which is focusing on the effect of violence in videogames and is running parallel to the Byron Report.

"If there's going to be one ratings system, it should be PEGI," he said. "With PEGI, they think very carefully about age appropriacy…but the BBFC is set up to rate films, and it takes that approach for games when a different approach is required.

"PEGI breaks it down to a different level. If there's bad language it will give you a specific symbol, if there's gambling there's another symbol, and some games will have a whole raft of symbols on the back. It's a different depth, it's more sensible, and it also has a European aspect to it."

This is a very interesting story, read the whole thing here.

Battlefield Heroes Trailer



BAM! That is the first proper trailer for Battlefield: Heroes. Wow! While Rock, Paper, Shotgun may have some detailed impressions based on what they saw at the GDC...I shall give a quick rundown of my thoughts based on that video.

If this isn't a game to show that EA are pushing forward and trying to regain their crown that Activision-Blizzard stole from them, then I don't know what is. This game looks set to give the classic shock-paddle treatment to the PC gaming scene by taking away all the GFW:Live crap that is plaguing the PC these days.

Low specs, cartoony graphics, jump-in-and-play gaming, free, fun. This is what PC gaming should be about, (in addition to the monster Far Cry 2's of the world) making a game accessible to one and all and giving people the chance to really enjoy a game. With the game landing in the summer we can be sure to see much more information coming out between now and then. I am confident this will be good, if not great.

Gaming Sales greater than Music Sales in the UK

Long header there...feck it! Over on CVG there is news that the games industry pulled in more money last year that the music industry did in the UK. The Entertainment Retailers' Association has revealed that spending on games rose from £1,345m in 2005 to £1,719m in 2007 while spending on music during the same period fell from £1,839m to £1,417m. This is a clear sign that gaming in the UK is taking off big time and only time will tell whether it can become bigger than DVD sales.

"Games have overtaken music massively this year - music revenues are down on last year's figures and game sales are huge in comparison now," said Kim Bayley of the ERA. "In years to come, games and DVD will vie to become the biggest market."

Counter-Strike 2...

The wildly successful Counter-Strike has been around for a long time now, nearing in on its tenth birthday, so it is only fair that CS2 should be talked about. On GameTrailersTV Doug Lombardi revealed something on the possibilities.

With Counter-Strike 2, there's a big question between, do we go start over from scratch and build a whole new game, do we do something that looks more like Team Fortress 2 that is rooted in the old game but has a ton of new stuff, or do we just sort of take everything that's new that we've released and put that out in a new box.

I think we're leaning more towards the two more radical places than just sort of rolling up the new box and re-skinning the box and putting out all the new stuff.

Highly intriguing, for me I would rather a complete overhaul of the game and see where it goes from there. I have never been a big CS lover so for me, I care little on this. [Kotaku]

Deadliest Catch



Watch it, tis quite amusing! (From 411)

Wrapping Up

So that is it for now, again apologies for the delay in the column arriving and the lack of news compared to last week, but that is what happens when I ain't really about!

Check out all the great stuff around 411 this week, Fact or Fiction is on top form and a review of The Club has
also appeared, check them out and whatever else there is about!

Finally, keep checking on my blog (linky) to keep as up to date as I am!