Let me qualify the title before anybody gets offended: PC gaming probably isn’t dead. So long as there are antisocial, overweight people playing with programming code in between cashing their benefit cheques, the spirit of the late 80s and early 90s will live on, and there will be cheap (or free) quality gaming for all.
What I mean is that PC gaming is dead in the minds of so many people, people who would laugh if you even suggested spending the cost of a week long cruise for two on a piece of gaming equipment. I think it proves that the big names in gaming PCs are out of touch with what the regular person wants.
Razer promised a lot before finally revealing the Blade laptop. They said that console gamers suffered; too busy being “part of the crowd” to realise the beauty of playing video games on a PC. But this situation was soon to end, they said, speaking as if something was coming that would change your life.
The reveal ended up being the Razer Blade laptop — an ironic moniker considering that’s exactly what depressed fans might have been reaching for after days of waiting for the assumed PC messiah. It features a touch screen, awesome specs and custom parts which allow for the ultimate in portability; a mere snip at just under $3,000.
The thing here is that the Razer Blade is an amazing package. If I could afford it (and if it was ever getting a release in Europe) I’d be first in line. But it’s also a sort of confirmation, a confirmation that PC gaming is very, very expensive. If you want to play the top games at top quality, expect to pay for it. Expect to have to put time, money and effort into your rig.
Most people aren’t interested in that, they want to stick in a disk and then play their hearts out. They don’t want to have to Google for DirectX errors or graphical mishaps, they want to know they’re getting a version of a game that has been play tested on systems not unlike their own.
The reason console gaming works is because it is so easy. It’s relatively cheap, it works without any effort and, if anything goes majorly wrong, you know it’s unlikely to be your system and either the developer or Sony/Microsoft will sort it out as soon as possible (even replacing broken consoles if you’re lucky).
What we need is for a company to release a ready-made PC that has a custom Windows OS that works similarly to consoles, a true gaming PC that does away with word processing and internet surfing and just plays the games. They could release regular, optional hardware packages to stores and it could be as simple to upgrade your graphics card as it is to upgrade your HDD on the PS3.
And while I’m sure some PC users are gagging right now, I honestly think it would do the PC a world of good. And while you’re at it, stick in a little advertising — let people know about the awesome deals on Steam.
It would make life that much easier for technophobes who want to play and enjoy the very best, but don’t understand the need for, say, a processor.
The only other proviso? Don’t make it cost three grand.
10 comments
PC Gamer says:
Sep 5, 2011
Not to flame on the author or any other but let me explain the cost of the Razer Blade. This is a real “PC Gaming Laptop” that no other PC manufacturer has risked releasing for the sake of profits. The Razer Blade is built not just at the performance level, or at its visual appearance. It’s not “or this”, it is all around gaming laptop period. Razer has got it right only problem is the price which can be significantly dropped in the future, which I can explain towards the end.
“awesome specs and custom parts which allow for the ultimate in portability; a mere snip at just under $3,000.” -MAT
Exactly, the price is high for the reason of portability to make it attractive to the general audience. Portability significantly raises any technology as a result of tighter restrictions; heat, power, space. And the cost for these specific specifications are more expensive because they are more or less unique to this specific model and as a result of the “Blade” being the first of its kind. Just as Apple iPods are expensive but the price is lower as a result of millions being sold yearly. The parts of the iPod can’t be bought at your local store for replacements of the hard-drive, screen, or scroll wheel.
PC gaming hardware is very affordable in the desktop area. You can search the internet and find systems built with a $400-500 budget and high FPS on a majority of games. Ask Microsoft to release a Xbox 720 Laptop with an affordable price, it can’t be done, it wouldn’t sell.
PC gaming will arise stronger with the Thunderbolt(formally Lightpeak) interface or even USB 3.0 that will allow external GPU’s to be connected to laptop’s instantly. It was tried with Usb 2.0 but was too slow, was not worth it. So Let’s wait when Intel releases a USB 3.0, thunderbolt laptop and Nvidia/AMD release an update external GPU, then let’s watch how much this will catch on.
MAT says:
Sep 7, 2011
They then went on to announce a $3000 laptop. I’m not saying I was surprised nor disappointed by the announcement, but it’s never going to attract the console crowd.
YES, you can build a decent PC at a great price, so long as you don’t mind it quite quickly going out of date. But you need a knowledge set that most people just don’t have or aren’t interested in acquiring. It’s not always as complicated as it sounds when you’re reading it up online, but that’s more than most people are willing to do in the first place.
My point, I think, is that PC gaming is and will always be an amazing way to game, but it moves too quickly for the average person. What can we do to get that average person into it?
bednet says:
Sep 7, 2011
That being said, I was gaming on a 8800GTX a month ago and was quite happy with it…so I believe that even with a middle tier card…one can enjoy PC gaming for a few years, if you’re not anal about Max settings.
The way I see it is if you’re gonna buy a Desktop PC, might as well add a few hundred dollars and make it a gaming PC…a Gaming Laptop, in my opinion, is overkill.
MAT says:
Sep 8, 2011
Strongly recommend it to people just upgrading from integrated, you really can’t beat that price.
Does the Razer Blade prove that PC gaming is DOA? | Computer Gaming says:
Sep 5, 2011
[...] Does the Razer Blade prove that PC gaming is DOA? Posted by admin on September 6th, 2011 document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src=%27http://s10.histats.com/js15.js%27 type=%27text/javascript%27%3E%3C/script%3E")); try {Histats.start(1,1591082,4,0,0,0,""); Histats.track_hits();} catch(err){}; {lang: 'en-US'} function open_win(url,id) { var win = window.open(url, 'popup','width=600,height=300,status=0,toolbar=0'); var tpopup = setInterval(function() { if(win.closed) { reload_to(); } }, 1000); return false; } function debugEvent() { reload_to(); } twttr.events.bind('tweet',debugEvent); window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.Event.subscribe('edge.create', function(href, widget) { reload_to(); }); }; (function() { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.type = 'text/javascript'; e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; e.async = true; document.getElementById('fb-root').appendChild(e); }()); Does the Razer Blade prove that PC gaming is DOA? The reveal ended up being the Razer Blade laptop — an ironic moniker considering that's exactly what depressed fans might have been reaching for after days of waiting for the assumed PC messiah. It features a touch screen, awesome specs and custom … document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src=%27http://s10.histats.com/js15.js%27 type=%27text/javascript%27%3E%3C/script%3E")); try {Histats.start(1,1591082,4,0,0,0,""); Histats.track_hits();} catch(err){}; Read more on Games Catalyst [...]
Robert says:
Sep 6, 2011
Ezio Bruno says:
Sep 7, 2011
However, going to the other extreme, which is touting the consumer oriented, dumbed down, feature stripped, locked down consoles – that is also a miss. All the fuss over linux on PS3, and hacking furor, show that console gamers are starved for more options and deeper experiences.
I own both a 360 and a PC, and there is no contest – paying a monthly fee for playing online? On top of internet access? Are you kidding? No user created modifications? Awful resolutions? And I can’t shop at amazon, or update my website, on a 360.
Your idea about the windows console is fantastic and has been batted around, but taking out features won’t work – it has to be a ‘real’ PC.
Taemobiglol says:
Sep 7, 2011
Taffelost says:
Sep 7, 2011
And still people are buying supercars whenever they can afford one. Strange? So yeah PC-gaming is dead just like supercars are. But now I have to run. I have an appointment with Dead Island on a machine John Carmack said is 10x faster than a console. Yeah you guessed it I’m a PC-gamer.
Does the Razer Blade prove that PC gaming is DOA? – GamesCatalyst » Mat Growcott says:
Sep 10, 2011
[...] Read the rest of the article at GamesCatalyst [...]