PAX

PAX East 2010 started yesterday.

I want to say I'm particularly interested in it, it being a major video game conference. But beyond Starcraft 2 I haven't heard any rumblings or talk of any PC games I'm particularly excited about. There's the possibility of some unveils, sure. Or something I totally didn't expect, like Batman: Arkham Asylum, which I'll cover later.

But it could be my expectations of future delights have been colored by last year's bumper crop of excellence: Dragon Age: Origins, Borderlands,
Left 4 Dead 2 among others.

But the pickings are slim for a non-console gamer. More and more money is being spent on that sector of gaming, while it seems PC gamers are left to wither on the vine. There are notable exceptions, of course, BioWare's Dragon Age.Borderlands, however, was obviously a console game first, and a PC game second. As well, Oblivion had its UI gutted by the console dominant market(it is, however, still an excellent game.) And these are not just my idle preconceptions; PC gaming only accounts for 20% of the video game market, vs. 57 percent for consoles.

I don't expect PC games to be left in the dust; 20% market share is still a substantial portion. It will just mean us PC gamers will see a decrease in PC-exclusive titles, if not outright eradication(anyone remember Shattered Horizon?) And the games we do see will continue to have their UI destroyed by console accessibility.