The current state of PC gaming and the "Sysifos problem"

Full disclosure before you start reading this article; I am a PC gamer at heart. But I am also a gamer that enjoys great games on whatever platform they are available.

I currently own an Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii (hey, don’t laugh, it seemed like a good idea at the time) and a Nintendo DS.

So I bear no ill will towards consoles, even though the majority of my everyday gaming takes place on PC.

It seems that as of late the PC is having somewhat of a resurgence as a major platform for “Triple A” games.

Battlefield 3 is a good example of a major release that flexes its muscles on the PC platform in comparison to the console version.

Battlefield 3 looks the most impressive on a beefy gaming PC

The current generation of consoles are getting pretty long in the tooth by now.

With 5-6 years under their belt, it is no wonder that game developers are trying to squeeze out the last drops of gaming juice from these partially mummified fruits of gaming hardware.

Of course, this also means that the current console generation has a huge audience by now, so there is plenty of incentive to still keep pumping out your games on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

The Xbox 360 - an amazing piece of hardware. In 2005.

But it does look like new games are now first shown on the PC, where developers can give a truly stunning presentation, before a more toned down version that can run on consoles is demonstrated.

This is a very natural development, as game makers will of course always be chasing those stunning visuals that will make the jaws of the public drop open and do their best “fish-on-land” impression.

Since the guts of the consoles have pretty much given all that they are going to give, it is becoming almost impossible to get this sort of reaction from simply being clever with your coding.

You need more horsepower than what you can find withering inside a Playstation or Xbox.

Enter the PC with its constantly shifting hardware that has by now completely and utterly eclipsed that of the consoles.

This allows game developers to create those stand out visuals that will get heads turning and preorders rolling.

Even if it turns out to be a bit of the old smoke and mirror, showing off the PC version of the game on a super high end PC, while Joe Mario Kart ends up ordering the Xbox 360 version that only has half of the graphical bells and none of the whistles of the PC version.

This is something that we have seen before and it’s a cycle that I call the “PC Sisyfos problem”.

Picture the preference for PC’s as a big hill.

At the bottom of the hill is a large rock that gets pushed up to top of the hill as PC games slowly gain momentum against their console counterparts, as their technology continues to evolve.

"Voodoo 2! Now we're getting somewhere guys. Push!"

Every new major console generation launch sees the release of hardware that is usually equal or better to most hardcore gaming PC’s that are out at the time.

Coupled with the fact that you are working with a fixed platform, this means that developers are able to churn out some games that put most of the contemporary PC games to shame and makes all gamers go “oooh, shiny shiny!”.

The rock is at the bottom of the hill

This effect starts to wane a bit, but after the first couple of years it’s not that pronounced, because developers may be struggling with hardware that is slowly becoming obsolete, but they are also learning all the tricks that they can use to cram still more power out of the box.

The rock starts slowly being pushed up the hill

Inevitably of course, this development of squeezing ever more power out of the same hardware reaches a limit.

This is when you start noticing that PC games are beginning to look noticeably better than their console counterparts, and probably where we were at about 12-18 months ago.

The rock is now very close to the top of the hill

The amazing graphics of Quake 2 were more than a match for any of the contemporary consoles

Finally we enter a brief period, where it is evident to everyone that the PC is just punching the consoles in the face and taking their lunch money in terms of hardware power.

All the visually impressive stuff is being shown on PC’s and consoles have well and truly hit their performance ceiling.

The rock reaches the top of the hill and everyone wipes the sweat off their faces and enjoy a brief and ill advised round of “hells yeah, in your face Microsoft/Sony/Sega/Nintendo”.

This is the point where the next generation of consoles is announced.

Crammed full of next generation hardware and sporting tech demonstration videos that make PC gamers weep salty tears of envy, they immediately rally the gaming public towards this new beacon of visual splendor.

The rock tumbles headlong down the hillside, crushing any PC fanboys foolish enough to try to stop it.

"Oh god, it's the Xbox 720. Run for your lives!"

Right now we are just coming up on the hilltop.

The PC is markedly stronger than the consoles and we have yet to see a response from the big two console makers (Nintendo has pretty much already given up on trying to create consoles that are hardware powerhouses).

So to all my fellow PC gamers that are pushing the rock alongside me I say; Enjoy our brief moment of glory and spot in the sun.

It’s been a fun ride and I’ll see you all at the bottom of the hill next Christmas.

Don’t stop pushing!