This year has seen many changes most off which I think have been to damage pc gameing.

Either by new OS or hardware changes and games that just dont cut it.

We appear for the most part to be Beta testers not only for games but hardware software of all types.

This below piece sums up the year well I think.



State of the PC: 2007
Sal 'Sluggo' Accardo, Editor-in-Chief, GameSpy PC



"I've been writing these state-of-the-PC editorials for the past few years, and inevitably I end up talking about how PC games are cyclical in nature. For obvious reasons, it's tied to new console launches and rises (and falls) in technology. So heading into 2007, we knew it would be an "up" year for the PC; what we didn't know was just how good a year it would be, or some of the obstacles those games would have to dodge to be as good as they turned out to be.

On the down side, the biggest disappointment of the year by far was Microsoft's launch of Vista and the related Games for Windows initiative. Out of the box, Vista was a downer, with random hardware incompatibilities and games that had a hard time catching up. S.T.A.L.K.E.R., which launched in March, had its issues under XP but was an absolute horror show under Vista. Lost Planet boasted DirectX 10 support (exclusive to Vista), but barely looked any different and ran slower. Gamers who spent $600 on fancy DX10 graphics cards had to deal with sub-par Vista drivers for most of the year. Even now, the OS still lacks a killer app, a single game compelling enough to convince gamers to make the jump to Vista.

Then there was the Games for Windows Live initiative, and the lackluster titles used to showcase it. Halo 2 was a stellar game three years ago, but looked dated when it finally arrived on the PC; Shadowrun felt more like a decent mod than an actual standalone game. In retrospect, it would have been more effective to bundle both games with Vista for free, which would have given both titles a guaranteed long-term audience as well as offering users a little carrot to upgrade. The actual GfW Live interface is still unintuitive and lacks a standalone app (like the Xbox 360 Dashboard), and with games like Universe at War now requiring paid Gold subscriptions to play the types of online games PC gamers have gotten used to playing for free for years, it's hard to imagine what Microsoft is thinking.

But PC game developers obviously found ways around dealing with the launch of Vista and continued to push the platform forward in 2007, especially in the FPS genre. Valve not only released The Orange Box, which crammed Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal into one amazing package, but the company continued to soldier ahead with its digital distribution and community initiatives. Could anyone have guessed heading into 2007 that Valve would eventually offer id Software's entire back catalog via Steam? Games like Crysis and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. continued to push forward towards massive environments and unscripted gameplay, and, when you toss in BioShock, experimented with giving the player near-unlimited choices, whether it's Crysis' nanosuit or BioShock's genetic plasmid upgrades. The days of the corridor shooter, playing whack-a-mole with Nazi zombies and scrounging for health boxes, are nearly dead. It can't happen soon enough.

2007 also saw the PC fall somewhat more in step with its console cousins. For every Halo 2 there were far more Call of Duty 4s and BioShocks, which often looked better on the PC instead of getting gimped PS2 assets. Hey, they even released Guitar Hero III for the PC! 2008 will have a hard time matching up to 2007, but with a year to work out the kinks with Vista and DX10, we're sure there'll be tons of exciting stuff in the months to come."

-- Sal 'Sluggo' Accardo, Editor-in-Chief, PC


Next year well the first 4 months will be similar I think, we will see both xp and vista service packs out and lets hope Driver makers can really get their acts together.


Games.

Well that`s another topic but Im looking at farcry 2 the new engine for this looks really good.

Some news on Ghost Recon 3 or 4 what ever its going to be called will be good.

We need to make ourselves heard about what we love and also hate about new games.

As far as Ubisoft is concerned I feel things will get better signs comeing out are good.

I guess that I am either getting to old and pesimist at the same time as I don't believe this new UBI hype of bringing in new blood to the forums (RSE devs and other devs).

So far, all they have said are General things and as soon as you ask them a direct but simple question, they go into hiding mode... Classic UBI style I guess.

On the other hand, I hope (for my sake as well), that they prove me wrong and my plate of CROW is ready to be eaten but... I am not going to be holding my breath or praising anything just yet!

No mather what, the facts still remains, 2007 PC games where for the majority Console ports which means 2007 can not be considered a "Good year" for PC gaming. And we the PC gamers are cynical ?
No way we are, we swallow anything that comes our way! I mean come on, if we where cynical we would not even buy R6V, Gears of War, MoH:A, GRAW2 etc. etc. for PC.

The only ones that ruins for PC gaming is PC gamers, we will buy anything just as long as the preview videos seems great, even John Unknown could produce a great looking "preview" and post it at youtube, we know this, but we swallow it anyway. It doesn't take much effort to make **** seem fantastic, it's all about what details you want to show.

Next time you are thinking about what it is that makes PC gaming less attractive than 5 years ago then look your selves in the mirror (me included) and say to your selves "Maybe I am to blame to?!!" heck, I am even willing to bet that lot's of you even bought Soldier of Fortune Payback after the video previews ?!! That must have hurt badly.

Wake up people, don't buy into every video preview, every video interview, every promise made, especially do not buy into previews or even reviews from sites like IGN, Gamespy (same network), Gamespot (who are firing people that writes bad reviews of sponsored titles) or any other "commercial" site for that matter! Let the publishers know that a demo is required to get your hard earned cash!

Seriously, why not make crappy games when we are so willing to buy them ?
Soon there's only Valve and ID left to be trusted

What Mysticaly said.
Mainly it's been the year of the console port. Just like it was X box and PS2 launched.

The ubequtous COD's and MOH's.Bioshocks and Gears of War. All just a waste of expensive equipment.

A couple of nice expansion packs. One for WoW and one for Company of Heroes.
A few intresting looking titles, with Enemy Territory, Stalker, Armed Assault and Hellgate London, but essentially PC games have been sparse on the ground this year.

I have of course picked up a copy of Crysis,and and my faith in PC games has been restored. What a fantastic technology title. Baff's game of they year. Full expect I will be launching the game everytime I upgrade for the next 2 years.