Let me preface this editorial with a little disclaimer. In no way am I implying the death knell of PC gaming. No doom and gloom about the future of the industry. I’m very optimistic about PC gaming as a whole. Neither is this an attack on console gaming. Consoles have their place, and has provided countless inspiration for game developers everywhere. What this is about are what I believe to be bad decision-making made by game developers and publishers.

It’s been dubbed, as of late, by gamers everywhere as “Consolitis.” It is an affliction in which a PC game exhibit the characteristic of a game made for console gaming. It is largely beset by these common factors:

• clumsy and frustrating user interfaces
• super-large fonts (used to be seen on televisions from afar)
• extremely poor visual quality, characterized by low texture resolutions, low polygon counts by current generation standards, etc.
• poor control not optimized for the keyboard/mouse control scheme
• horrible handling of saving games, or limited save model
• lack of options (resolutions, audio settings, graphic quality, etc.)
• the inability to remap keys to certain actions
• platform-style gameplay suited for gamepads
• simplified game mechanics
• unoptimized performance not taking advantage of the latest PC technologies
• no support for mods, and no editors for customization

This is by no means the complete list, but most of the common characteristics. It is largely the result of a lazy or hurried port from a console game to the PC. It is a trend that seems to be picking up steam, rather than fading away. Developers/publishers just want to get a game out quickly, within budget, to start reaping additional revenues. Publishers especially love games made for multiple formats; PSP, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, Nintendo DS, and the PC. This is favored for the multiple revenue streams, boosting investor confidence. While all the console and handheld games are suited for their respective units, it is the PC users that get the ugly end of the stick in most cases.

Sure, I understand game makers want to make money. They have the right to pursue the path to financial bliss. However, it shouldn’t come at the cost of the PC gamers, by invoking our ire. Constantly we’re being kicked to the curb in pursuit for more financial opportunities, and that shouldn’t have to be the case. Particularly when the developer got big and rich by releasing a quality game for the PC, then decide to punish PC gamers with a sequel that was more suited for console gaming, not PC gaming.

Some recent examples of PC gamers receiving the short straw is Deus Ex 2: Invisible Wars. The original Deus Ex, widely regarded as a classic game for the PC, ushered in a new era of smart shooters. However when Deus Ex 2 came out, the howls of agony by PC gamers could be heard everywhere. It suffered from the affliction known as consolitis. All the elements that made the original Deus Ex great was stripped bare and a ghost of its former self was left in the sequel. The same company behind the Deus Ex series, also botched Thief 3, the final in a three-part series. A once legendary series went out with a sour taste in our mouth.

Another recent example is Rainbox Six: Lockdown. Rainbox Six being the franchise billed by PC gamers as “the thinking man’s shooter.” It had a slower, deliberate feel to it, where planning a mission was just as important as executing it and ensuring that your squadmates were kept alive. After so many successful games in the series, the developers decided to make the new Rainbow Six game for the PS2, Gamecube, the Xbox, and the PC. A franchise that originally started on the PC, has suddenly become a console game for the PC. What was a thinking man’s shooter became an arcade shooter. The accurate damage model was replaced with a more forgiving one, the mission planning was thrown out the window, and the A.I. was largely missing the I. Lockdown was essentially a FPS with the Rainbow Six name tacked on it.

Remember when Halo was a game being developed for the PC? It was ambitious, and was destined to change the world of PC gaming. However, Microsoft, who was working on their first console system, the Xbox, wanted a huge exclusive to introduce their new system with a bang. So they bought up Bungie and made Halo a console-exclusive game. When it finally came out for the PC, ported by a 3rd party, years after the original game came out, PC gamers were left wondering where the real Halo went. Repetitive level designs, sub-par graphics at the time, and a familiar FPS gameplay mechanic made PC gamers realize they’ve played lots of games like this for the PC already. To Halo’s credit, it did introduce some positive elements; the vehicles were great, as was the story, but that’s about it. For PC gamers, it was too little, too late. What would’ve Halo been like if Microsoft didn’t intervene and made it a console title?

This is just a tip of the iceberg. There are a lot of other games I could list, but the above examples are the more famous ones. The more negative publicity we give games that suffer from consolitis, the sooner game developers and publishers will wise up, especially if they don’t make a profitable margin on these sloppy games.

Are there solutions to this consolitis problem? I have a few ideas. Either stick with making only console games and don’t release a half-assed game for PC gamers to waste money on. Or release console games, and port the game to the PC properly, either internally or given to a 3rd party developer. Properly means taking advantage of the PC and not exhibiting any of the characteristics outlined above.

Stop treating PC gamers as a minority and an afterthought, and respect our joy for gaming and we’ll reward you with loyalty as long as you give us great games to play. id Software and Epic Megagames didn’t become huge and financially strapped by jumping on the console bandwagon and pushing PC gamers aside, but by giving PC gamers quality titles game-after-game. Then they gave console gamers a piece of the pie suited for their capabilities, and all was good on both end of the gaming world.