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PC gaming is far from dead, according to the gameplay producer of upcoming evolution god-game Spore.
Speaking to VideoGamer.com in an interview, Spore gameplay producer Thomas Vu said that the things developer EA Maxis is doing with the game “would be very difficult to do on consoles if we started out on consoles”.
While Spore was earlier this week confirmed for release on PC and Nintendo DS on September 7 2008, EA yesterday revealed that Spore would be coming to the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3, although details are thin on the ground.
The team, however, remains focused on the PC version of the game, and believes concerns that PC gaming is dying, a feeling fuelled by poor sales of some recent high profile PC games like Unreal Tournament 3, are unfounded.
“PC games are the frontrunners,” said Vu. “They innovate, they do the things that can’t necessarily be done on the consoles. RTS are PC games. FPS are still PC games. Sure consoles have come a long way, with Halo and Call of Duty 4 – the console versions are pretty good, but at the same time, if you really want to be at the forefront of making really interesting new games, PC is where it’s at, in my opinion.”
Vu also denied that the PC gaming market was in trouble, pointing towards the success of MMO World of Warcraft and EA’s own The Sims franchise as evidence of its rude health.
He said: “As for the market, it’s (PC gaming) still growing but it’s tracked in a very different way. Take for instance WoW. NPD doesn’t track the $15 a month that I pay for WoW, but it tracks the amount of copies that WoW sells off the shelves. The verdict is still out. For us, if you make a good game people will come. As WoW did. Blizzard could have made a console MMO but they stuck with the PC and they have the biggest game both on console and PC in the world. And The Sims continues to sell, and Sim City continues to sell. And all the FPS do pretty well, RTS games do pretty well.
“Maybe one day the market will move in a different way. For now there’s tonnes of PCs out there, there’s lots of avid fans. And honestly, the things we’re doing on Spore would be very difficult to do on consoles if we started out on consoles. Like the pollination stuff, social networking sites, the procedural animation, that stuff is not as easy to do on console. The RTS aspect – with a console controller you can’t get the fidelity you get from a PC. So the PC is perfect for what we’re trying to do.”
Do you agree with Thomas? Is PC gaming where it’s at? Let us know in the comments section below.
Check out the full interview with Spore’s gameplay producer for more juicy game info.
Spore is set for release on PC and DS on 7 September 2008, with a Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 version to follow.
