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Apersonal computer game, also known as acomputer game,[a] or abbreviatedPC game, is avideo game played on apersonal computer (PC). The termPC game has been popularly used since the 1990s referring specifically to games on "Wintel" (Microsoft Windows software/Intel hardware) which has dominated the computer industry since.
Mainframe and minicomputer games are a precursor to personal computer games.Home computer games became popular following thevideo game crash of 1983. In the 1990s, PC games lostmass market traction toconsole games on thefifth generation such as theSega Saturn,Nintendo 64 andPlayStation.[citation needed] They are enjoying a resurgence in popularity since the mid-2000s throughdigital distribution ononline service providers.[1][2] Personal computers as well as general computer software are considered synonymous withIBM PC compatible systems; whilemobile devices – smartphones and tablets, such as those running onAndroid oriOSplatforms – are also PCs in the general sense as opposed toconsole orarcade machine. Historically, it also included games on systems fromApple Computer,Atari Corporation,Commodore International and others.Microsoft Windows utilizingDirect3D become the most popular operating system for PC games in the 2000s. Games utilizing3D graphics generally require a form ofgraphics processing unit, and PC games have been a major influencing factor for the development and marketing ofgraphics cards.Emulators are able to play games developed for other platforms. Thedemoscene originated from computer gamecracking.
The uncoordinated nature of the PC game market makes precisely assessing its size difficult.[1] PC remains the most important gaming platform with 60% ofdevelopers being most interested in developing a game for the platform and 66% of developers currently developing a game for PC.[3][better source needed] In 2018, the global PC games market was valued at about $27.7 billion.[4][better source needed] According to research data provided byStatista in 2020 there were an estimated 1.75 billion PCgamers worldwide, up from 1.5 billion PC gaming users in the previous year.[5][better source needed] Newzoo reported that the PC gaming sector was the third-largest category across all platforms as of 2016[update], with the console sector second-largest, andmobile gaming sector biggest. 2.2 billion video gamers generate US$101.1 billion in revenue, excluding hardware costs. "Digital game revenues will account for $94.4 billion or 87% of the global gaming market.[6][7][better source needed] TheAPAC region was estimated to generate $46.6 billion in 2016, or 47% of total global video game revenues (note, not only "PC" games).China alone accounts for half of APAC's revenues (at $24.4 billion), cementing its place as the largest video game market in the world, ahead of the US's anticipated market size of $23.5 billion.[citation needed]
Bertie the Brain was one of the first game playing machines developed. It was built in 1950 byJosef Kates. It measured more than four meters tall, and was displayed at theCanadian National Exhibition that year.[8][non-primary source needed]
Although personal computers only became popular with the development of themicroprocessor andmicrocomputer, computer gaming onmainframes andminicomputers had previously already existed.OXO, an adaptation oftic-tac-toe for theEDSAC, debuted in 1952. Another pioneer computer game was developed in 1961, whenMIT students Martin Graetz andAlan Kotok, withMIT studentSteve Russell, developedSpacewar! on aPDP-1mainframe computer used for statistical calculations.[9]
The first generation of computer games were oftentext-basedadventures orinteractive fiction, in which the player communicated with the computer by entering commands through a keyboard. An early text-adventure,Adventure, was developed for thePDP-11minicomputer by Will Crowther in 1976, and expanded by Don Woods in 1977.[10] By the 1980s, personal computers had become powerful enough to run games likeAdventure, but by this time, graphics were beginning to become an important factor in games. Later games combined textual commands with basic graphics, as seen in the SSIGold Box games such asPool of Radiance, orThe Bard's Tale, for example.
By the late 1970s to early 1980s, games were developed and distributed throughhobbyist groups and gaming magazines, such asCreative Computing and laterComputer Gaming World. These publications providedgame code that could be typed into a computer and played, encouraging readers to submit their own software to competitions.[11] Players could modify theBASIC source code of even commercial games.[12]Microchess was one of the first games formicrocomputers which was sold to the public. First sold in 1977, Microchess eventually sold over 50,000 copies oncassette tape.
As withsecond-generationvideo game consoles at the time, early home computer game companies capitalized onsuccessful arcade games at the time withports orclones of populararcade video games.[13][14] By 1982, thetop-selling games for theAtari 8-bit computers were ports ofFrogger andCentipede, while the top-selling game for theTI-99/4A was theSpace Invaders cloneTI Invaders.[13] That same year,Pac-Man was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers,[14] whileDonkey Kong was licensed for theColeco Adam.[15] In late 1981,Atari, Inc. attempted to take legal action against unauthorizedPac-Man clones, despite some of these predating Atari's exclusive rights to the home versions ofNamco's game.[14][16] Thousands of children attended the 1982West Coast Computer Faire to see computer games there, despite organizers warning that the convention "is designed for mature individuals".[17]
As the American video game market became flooded with poor-quality cartridge games created by numerous companies attempting to enter the market, and overproduction of high-profile releases such as theAtari 2600 adaptations ofPac-Man andE.T. grossly underperformed, the popularity of personal computers for education rose dramatically. In 1983, American consumer interest in console video games dwindled to historical lows, as interest in games on personal computers rose.[18] The effects of the crash were largely limited to the console market, as established companies such asAtari posted record losses over subsequent years. Conversely, the home computer market boomed, as sales of low-cost color computers such as theCommodore 64 rose to record highs and developers such asElectronic Arts benefited from increasing interest in the platform.[18]
The North American console market experienced a resurgence in the United States with the release of theNintendo Entertainment System (NES). In Europe, computer gaming continued to boom for many years after.[18] Computers such as theZX Spectrum andBBC Micro were successful in the European market, where the NES was not as successful despite its monopoly in Japan and North America. The only8-bit console to have any success in Europe would be theMaster System.[19] Meanwhile, in Japan, both consoles and computers became major industries, with the console market dominated byNintendo and the computer market dominated byNEC'sPC-88 (1981) andPC-98 (1982). A key difference between Western and Japanese computers at the time was thedisplay resolution, with Japanese systems using a higher resolution of 640x400 to accommodateJapanese text, which in turn affectedvideo game design and allowed more detailed graphics. Japanese computers were also usingYamaha'sFM synthsound boards from the early 1980s.[20]
To enhance theimmersive experience with their unrealistic graphics and electronic sound, early PC games included extras such as the peril-sensitive sunglasses that shipped withThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or thescience fiction novella included withElite. These extras gradually became less common, but many games were still sold in the traditional oversized boxes that used to hold the extra "feelies". Today, such extras are usually found only in Special Edition versions of games, such as Battle chests fromBlizzard.[21]
During the16-bit era, theAmiga andAtari ST became popular in Europe, theMacintosh andIBM PC compatibles became popular in North America, while the PC-98,X68000, andFM Towns became popular in Japan. TheAmiga,X68000 andFM Towns were capable of producing neararcade-quality hardwaresprite graphics and sound quality when they first released in the mid-to-late 1980s.[20]
Amonglaunch titles for theIBM Personal Computer (PC) in 1981 wasMicrosoft Adventure, which IBM described as bringing "players into a fantasy world of caves and treasures".[22]BYTE that year stated that the computer's speed and sophistication made it "an excellent gaming device", and IBM and others sold games likeMicrosoft Flight Simulator. The PC'sCGA graphics andspeaker sound were poor, however, and most customers bought the powerful but expensive computer for business.[23][24] OneComputerLand owner estimated in 1983 that a quarter of corporate executives with computers "have a game hidden somewhere in their drawers",[25] andInfoWorld in 1984 reported that "in offices all over America (more than anyone realizes) executives and managers are playing games on their computers",[26] but software companies found selling games for the PC difficult; an observer said that year thatFlight Simulator had sold hundreds of thousands of copies because customers with corporate PCs could claim that it was a "simulation".[27]
From mid-1985, however, whatCompute! described as a "wave" of inexpensiveIBM PC clones from American and Asian companies, such as theTandy 1000 and theLeading Edge Model D, caused prices to decline; by the end of 1986, the equivalent to a $1600 real IBM PC with 256K RAM and two disk drives cost as little as $600, lower than the price of theApple IIc. Consumers began purchasing DOS computers for the home in large numbers. While often purchased to do work on evenings and weekends, clones' popularity caused consumer-software companies to increase the number of IBM-compatible products, including those developed specifically for the PC as opposed toporting from other computers.Bing Gordon ofElectronic Arts reported that customers used computers for games more than one fifth of the time whether purchased for work or a hobby, with many who purchased computers for other reasons finding PC games "a pretty satisfying experience".[28]
By 1987, the PC market was growing so quickly that the formerly business-only computer had become the largest and fastest-growing, and most important platform for computer game companies. DOS computers dominated the home, supplantingCommodore andApple. More than a third of games sold in North America were for the PC, twice as many as those for the Apple II and even outselling those for the Commodore 64.[29] By 1988Computer Gaming World agreed withJoel Billings ofStrategic Simulations that an inexpensive clone withEGA graphics was superior for games.[30][31] The Tandy 1000'senhanced graphics, sound, and built-in joystick ports made it the best platform for IBM PC-compatible games before the VGA era.[24]
By 1988, the enormous popularity of theNintendo Entertainment System had greatly affected the computer-game industry. AKoei executive claimed that "Nintendo's success has destroyed the [computer] software entertainment market". AMindscape executive agreed, saying that "Unfortunately, its effect has been extremely negative. Without question, Nintendo's success has eroded software sales. There's been a much greater falling off of disk sales than anyone anticipated." A third attributed the end of growth in sales of theCommodore 64 to the console, andTrip Hawkins called Nintendo "the last hurrah of the 8-bit world". Experts were unsure whether it affected 16-bit computer games,[32] but games lost shelf space at computer software stores, and many of the hundreds of computer-game companies went out of business. Hawkins said that while foreign videogame competition increased, "there's an increase in product supply without an increase in demand".[33] He in 1990 had to deny rumors that Electronic Arts would withdraw from computers and only produce console games.[34] By 1993,ASCII Entertainment reported at aSoftware Publishers Association conference that the market for console games ($5.9 billion in revenue) was 12 times that of the computer-game market ($430 million).[35]
However, computer games did not disappear. The industry hoped that theCD-ROM and otheroptical storage technology would increase computers'user friendliness and allow for more sophisticated games.[33] By 1989,Computer Gaming World reported that "the industry is moving toward heavy use ofVGA graphics".[36] While some games were advertised withVGA support at the start of the year, they usually supported EGA graphics through VGA cards. By the end of 1989, however, most publishers moved to supporting at least 320x200MCGA, a subset of VGA.[37] VGA gave the PC graphics that outmatched the Amiga. Increasing adoption of thecomputer mouse, driven partially by the success ofadventure games such as the highly successfulKing's Quest series, and high resolutionbitmap displays allowed the industry to include increasingly high-qualitygraphical interfaces in new releases.
Further improvements to game artwork and audio were made possible with the introduction ofFM synthesis sound.Yamaha began manufacturing FM synth boards for computers in the early-mid-1980s, and by 1985, the NEC andFM-7 computers had built-in FM sound.[20] The first PCsound cards, such asAdLib's Music Synthesizer Card, soon appeared in 1987. These cards allowedIBM PC compatible computers to produce complex sounds using FM synthesis, where they had previously been limited to simple tones and beeps. However, the rise of theCreative LabsSound Blaster card, released in 1989, which featured much higher sound quality due to the inclusion of aPCM channel anddigital signal processor, led AdLib to file for bankruptcy by 1992. Also in 1989, theFM Towns computer included built-in PCM sound, in addition to aCD-ROM drive and24-bit color graphics.[20]
In the late 80s and throughout the entire 1990s decade, DOS was one of the most popular gaming platforms in regions where it was officially sold.[38]
By 1990,DOS was 65% of the computer-game market, with the Amiga at 10%; all other computers, including theApple Macintosh, were below 10% and declining. Although both Apple and IBM tried to avoid customers associating their products with "game machines", the latter acknowledged that VGA, audio, and joystick options for itsPS/1 computer were popular.[39] In 1991,id Software produced an earlyfirst-person shooter,Hovertank 3D, which was the company's first in their line of highly influential games in the genre. There were also several other companies that produced earlyfirst-person shooters, such asArsys Software'sStar Cruiser,[40] which featured fully3D polygonal graphics in 1988,[41] andAccolade'sDay of the Viper in 1989. Id Software went on to developWolfenstein 3D in 1992, which helped to popularize the genre, kick-starting a genre that would become one of the highest-selling in modern times.[42] The game was originally distributed through theshareware distribution model, allowing players to try a limited part of the game for free but requiring payment to play the rest, and represented one of the first uses oftexture mapping graphics in a popular game, along withUltima Underworld.[43]
In December 1992,Computer Gaming World reported that DOS accounted for 82% of computer-game sales in 1991, compared to Macintosh's 8% and Amiga's 5%. In response to a reader's challenge to find a DOS game that played better than the Amiga version the magazine citedWing Commander andCivilization, and added that "The heavy MS-DOS emphasis inCGW merely reflects the realities of the market".[44] A self-reportedComputer Gaming World survey in April 1993 similarly found that 91% of readers primarily used IBM PCs and compatibles for gaming, compared to 6% for Amiga, 3% for Macintosh, and 1% for Atari ST,[45] while aSoftware Publishers Association study found that 74% of personal computers were IBMs or compatible, 10% Macintosh, 7% Apple II, and 8% other. 51% of IBM or compatible had 386 or faster CPUs.[35]
By 1992, DOS games such asLinks 386 Pro supportedSuper VGA graphics.[46] While leadingSega andNintendo console systems kept their CPU speed at 3–7 MHz, the486 PC processor ran much faster, allowing it to perform many more calculations per second. The 1993 release ofDoom on the PC was a breakthrough in 3D graphics, and was soon ported to various game consoles in a general shift toward greater realism.[47]Computer Gaming World reiterated in 1994, "we have to advise readers who want a machine that will play most of the games to purchase high-end MS-DOS machines".[48]
By 1993, PCfloppy disk games had a sales volume equivalent to about one-quarter that ofconsole gameROM cartridge sales. A hit PC game typically sold about 250,000 disks at the time, while a hit console game typically sold about1 million cartridges.[49]
By spring 1994, an estimated 24 million US homes (27% of households) had a personal computer. 48% played games on their computer; 40% had the 486 CPU or higher; 35% had CD-ROM drives; and 20% had a sound card.[50] Another survey found that an estimated 2.46 million multimedia computers had internal CD-ROM drives by the end of 1993, an increase of almost 2,000%.Computer Gaming World reported in April 1994 that some software publishers planned to only distribute on CD as of 1995.[51] CD-ROM had much larger storage capacity than floppies, helped reduce software piracy, and was less expensive to produce.Chris Crawford warned that it was "a data-intensive technology, not a process-intensive one", tempting developers to emphasize the quantity ofdigital assets like art and music over the quality of gameplay;Computer Gaming World wrote in 1993 that "publishers may be losing their focus". While many companies used the additional storage to release poor-qualityshovelware collections of older software, or"enhanced" versions of existing ones[52]—often with what the magazine mocked as "amateur acting" in the added audio and video[51]—new games such asMyst included many more assets for a richer game experience.
Many companies sold "multimedia upgrade kits" that bundled CD drives, sound cards, and software during the mid-1990s, butdevice drivers for the new peripherals further depleted scarce RAM.[53] By 1993, PC games required much more memory than other software, often consuming all ofconventional memory, while device drivers could go intoupper memory withDOS memory managers. Players found modifyingCONFIG.SYS andAUTOEXEC.BAT files for memory management cumbersome and confusing, and each game needed a different configuration. (The gameLes Manley in: Lost in L.A. satirizes this by depicting two beautiful women exhaust the hero in bed, by requesting that he again explain the difference betweenextended andexpanded memory.)Computer Gaming World provided technical assistance to its writers to help install games for review,[54] and published sample configuration files.[55] The magazine advised non-technical gamers to purchase commercial memory managers likeQEMM and386MAX[53] and criticized nonstandard software likeOrigin Systems's "infamous late and unlamented Voodoo Memory Manager",[56] which usedunreal mode.
By 1996, the growing popularity ofMicrosoft Windows simplified device driver and memory management. The success of 3D console titles such asSuper Mario 64 andTomb Raider increased interest inhardware accelerated 3D graphics on PCs, and soon resulted in attempts to produce affordable products with theATI Rage,Matrox Mystique,S3 ViRGE, andRendition Vérité.[57] As 3D graphics libraries such asDirectX andOpenGL matured and knocked proprietary interfaces out of the market, these platforms gained greater acceptance in the market, particularly with their demonstrated benefits in games such asUnreal.[58] However, major changes to theMicrosoft Windows operating system, by then the market leader, made many older DOS-based games unplayable onWindows NT, and later,Windows XP (without using anemulator, such asDOSBox).[59][60]
The faster graphics accelerators and improvingCPU technology resulted in increasing levels of realism in computer games. During this time, the improvements introduced with products such as ATI'sRadeon R300 andNVidia'sGeForce 6 series have allowed developers to increase the complexity of moderngame engines. PC gaming currently tends strongly toward improvements in 3D graphics.[61]
Unlike the generally accepted push for improved graphical performance, the use ofphysics engines in computer games has become a matter of debate since announcement and 2005 release of thenVidiaPhysXPPU, ostensibly competing withmiddleware such as theHavok physics engine. Issues such as difficulty in ensuring consistent experiences for all players,[62] and the uncertain benefit of first generation PhysX cards in games such asTom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter andCity of Villains, prompted arguments over the value of such technology.[63][64]
Similarly, many game publishers began to experiment with new forms of marketing. Chief among these alternative strategies isepisodic gaming, an adaptation of the older concept ofexpansion packs, in which game content is provided in smaller quantities but for a proportionally lower price. Titles such asHalf-Life 2: Episode One took advantage of the idea, with mixed results rising from concerns for the amount of content provided for the price.[65]
The defining characteristic of the PC platform is the absence of centralized control, anopen platform; all other gaming platforms (exceptAndroid devices, to an extent) are owned and administered by a single group.
PCs may possess varying processing resources of video gaming systems. Game developers may integrate options to adjustscreen resolution, framerate,[66] andanti-aliasing. Increaseddraw distance andNPCs amount is also possible inopen world games.[67][68] The most common forms of input are themouse/keyboard combination andgamepads, thoughtouchscreens andmotion controllers are also available. The mouse in particular lends players offirst-person shooter andreal-time strategy games on PC great speed and accuracy.[69] Users may use third-partyperipherals.[citation needed]
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The advantages of openness include:
There are also disadvantages, including:
The openness of the PC platform allows players to edit or modify their games and distribute the results over theInternet as "mods". A healthy mod community greatly increases a game's longevity and the most popular mods have driven purchases of their parent game to record heights.[74] It is common for professional developers to release the tools they use to create their games (and sometimes evensource code[75][76]) in order to encourage modding,[77] but if a game is popular enough mods generally arise even without official support.[78]
Mods can compete with officialdownloadable content however, or even outright redistribute it, and their ability to extend the lifespan of a game can work against its developers' plans for regular sequels. As game technology has become more complex, it has also become harder to distribute development tools to the public.[79]
Modding has a different connotation on consoles which are typicallyrestricted much more heavily. As publicly released development tools are rare, console mods usually refer to hardware alterations designed to remove restrictions.[80]
PC games are sold predominantly through the Internet, with buyers downloading their new purchase directly to their computer.[2][81] This approach allows smaller independent developers to compete with large publisher-backed games[1][82] and avoids the speed and capacity limits of theoptical discs which most other gaming platforms rely on.[83][84]
Valve released theSteam platform for Windows computers in 2003 as a means to distribute Valve-developed video games such as Half-Life 2. It would later see release on theMac OS X operating system in 2010 and was released on Linux in 2012. By 2011, it controlled 70% of the market for downloadable PC games, with a userbase of about 40 million accounts.[85][86]Origin, a new version of theElectronic Arts online store, was released in 2011 in order to compete with Steam and other digital distribution platforms on the PC.[87][non-primary source needed] The period between 2004 and now saw the rise of many digital distribution services on PC, such asAmazon Digital Services,GameStop,GFWL,EA Store,Direct2Drive,GOG.com, andGamersGate.
Digital distribution also slashes the cost of circulation, eliminates stock shortages, allows games to be released worldwide at no additional cost, and allows niche audiences to be reached with ease.[88] However, most digital distribution systems create ownership and customer rights issues by storing access rights on distributor-owned computers. Games confer with these computers over the Internet before launching. This raises the prospect of purchases being lost if the distributor goes out of business or chooses to lock the buyer's account, and preventsresale (the ethics of whichare a matter of debate).
Valve does not release any sales figures on its Steam service, instead it only provides the data to companies with games on Steam,[89][90] which they cannot release without permission due to signing anon-disclosure agreement with Valve.[91][92]However,Stardock, the previous owner of competing platformImpulse, estimated that, as of 2009, Steam had a 70% share of the digital distribution market for video games.[93] In early 2011,Forbes reported that Steam sales constituted 50–70% of the $4 billion market for downloaded PC games and that Steam offered game producersgross margins of 70% of purchase price, compared with 30% at retail.[85][94]
Modern computer games place great demand on the computer's hardware, often requiring a fastcentral processing unit (CPU) to function properly. CPU manufacturers historically relied mainly on increasingclock rates to improve the performance of their processors, but had begun to move steadily towardsmulti-core CPUs by2005. These processors allow the computer to simultaneously process multiple tasks, calledthreads, allowing the use of more complex graphics, artificial intelligence and in-game physics.[61][95]
Similarly, 3D games often rely on a powerfulgraphics processing unit (GPU), which accelerates the process of drawing complex scenes in realtime. GPUs may be an integrated part of the computer'smotherboard, the most common solution in laptops,[96] or come packaged with a discrete graphics card with a supply of dedicatedVideo RAM, connected to the motherboard through either anAGP orPCI Express port. It is also possible to use multiple GPUs in a single computer, using technologies such asNVidia'sScalable Link Interface andATI'sCrossFire.
Sound cards are also available to provide improved audio in computer games. These cards provide improved3D audio and provide audio enhancement that is generally not available with integrated alternatives, at the cost of marginally lower overall performance.[97] TheCreative LabsSound Blaster line was for many years thede facto standard for sound cards, although its popularity dwindled as PC audio became a commodity on modern motherboards.
Physics processing units (PPUs), such as theNvidiaPhysX (formerlyAGEIA PhysX) card, are also available to accelerate physics simulations in modern computer games. PPUs allow the computer to process more complex interactions among objects than is achievable using only the CPU, potentially allowing players a much greater degree of control over the world in games designed to use the card.[96]
Virtually all personal computers use akeyboard andmouse for user input, but there are exceptions. During the 1990s, before the keyboard and mouse combination had become the method of choice for PC gaming input peripherals, there were other types of peripherals such as theMad CatzPanther XL, theFirst-Person GamingAssassin 3D, and theMad CatzPanther, which combined a trackball for looking / aiming, and a joystick for movement. Other common gaming peripherals are a headset for faster communication in online games,joysticks forflight simulators,steering wheels for driving games andgamepads for console-style games.
Computer games also rely onthird-party software such as anoperating system (OS),device drivers,libraries and more to run. Today, the vast majority of computer games are designed to run on theMicrosoft Windows family of operating systems. Whereas earlier games written for DOS would include code to communicate directly with hardware, todayapplication programming interfaces (APIs) provide an interface between the game and the OS, simplifying game design. Microsoft'sDirectX is an API that is widely used by today's computer games to communicate with sound and graphics hardware.OpenGL is across-platform API for graphics rendering that is also used. The version of the graphics card'sdriver installed can often affect game performance andgameplay. In late 2013,AMD announcedMantle, a low-level API for certain models of AMD graphics cards, allowing for greater performance compared to software-level APIs such as DirectX, as well as simplifyingporting to and from thePlayStation 4 andXbox One consoles, which are both built upon AMD hardware.[98] It is not unusual for a game company to use a third-partygame engine, or third-party libraries for a game'sAI orphysics.
Multiplayer gaming was largely limited tolocal area networks (LANs) before cost-effectivebroadband Internet access became available, due to their typically higherbandwidth and lowerlatency than the dial-up services of the time. These advantages allowed more players to join any given computer game, but have persisted today because of the higher latency of most Internet connections and the costs associated with broadband Internet.
LAN gaming typically requires two or more personal computers, arouter and sufficient networking cables to connect every computer on the network. Additionally, each computer must have its own copy (orspawn copy) of the game in order to play. Optionally, any LAN may include an external connection to the Internet.
Online multiplayer games have achieved popularity largely as a result of increasingbroadband adoption among consumers. Affordable high-bandwidth Internet connections allow large numbers of players to play together, and thus have found particular use inmassively multiplayer online role-playing games,Tanarus and persistent online games such asWorld War II Online.
Although it is possible to participate in online computer games using dial-upmodems, broadband Internet connections are generally considered necessary in order to reduce the latency or "lag" between players. Such connections require a broadband-compatible modem connected to the personal computer through anetwork interface card (generally integrated onto the computer'smotherboard), optionally separated by arouter. Online games require a virtual environment, generally called a "game server". These virtual servers inter-connect gamers, allowing real time, and often fast-paced action. To meet this subsequent need,Game Server Providers (GSP) have become increasingly more popular over the last half decade.[when?] While not required for all gamers, these servers provide a unique "home", fully customizable, such as additional modifications, settings, etc., giving the end gamers the experience they desire. Today there are over 510,000 game servers hosted in North America alone.[99][non-primary source needed]
Emulation software, used to run software without the original hardware, are popular for their ability to play legacy video games without theplatform for which they were designed. The operating system emulators includeDOSBox, a DOS emulator which allows playing games developed originally for this operating system and thus not compatible with a modern-day OS. Console emulators such asNestopia andMAME are relatively commonplace, although the complexity of modern consoles such as theXbox orPlayStation makes them far more difficult to emulate, even for the original manufacturers.[100] The most technically advanced consoles that can currently be successfully emulated for commercial games on PC are the PlayStation 2 usingPCSX2, and the Nintendo Wii U using theCemu emulator. APlayStation 3 emulator namedRPCS3 is in development.Most emulation software mimics a particular hardware architecture, often to an extremely high degree of accuracy. This is particularly the case with classic home computers such as theCommodore 64, whose software often depends on highly sophisticated low-level programming tricks invented by game programmers and thedemoscene.
Other projects aim to bring compatibility of older games and its features back to modern platforms such as WineVDM (for running 16-bit games on 64-bit Windows), nGlide (for enablingGlide (API) to other video cards), IPXWrapper (for enablingIPX/SPX based LAN play).
PC games have long been a source of controversy, largely due to the depictions of violence that has become commonly associated with video games in general, with much of the criticism stemming from the fact that the PC gaming industry is not as regulated as on other platforms. The debate surrounds the influence of objectionable content on the social development ofminors, with organizations such as theAmerican Psychological Association concluding that video game violence increases children's aggression,[101] a concern that prompted a further investigation by theCenters for Disease Control in September 2006.[102] Industry groups have responded by noting the responsibility of parents in governing their children's activities, while attempts in the United States to control the sale of objectionable games have generally been found unconstitutional.[103]
Video game addiction is another cultural aspect of gaming to draw criticism as it can have a negative influence on health and on social relations. The problem of addiction and its health risks seems to have grown with the rise ofmassively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs).[104] Alongside the social and health problems associated with computer game addiction have grown similar worries about the effect of computer games on education.[105]
"The third member of the deadly troika that lays the videogame industry low is the home computer boom currently in full swing by 1984
But the reality is, today's business is cartridge business. The difference in volume is about four to one per title. With exceptions—aFalcom 3.0 will sell as much as a cartridge title would out in the open market. But even a hit title in the floppy disk market is a quarter million copies. (Cartridge game) Street Fighter II sold nine million copies worldwide.
We've been developing games that are community-based for more than ten years now, ever since the original Unreal and Unreal Tournament. We've had games that have had free online gameplay, free server lists, and in 2003 we shipped a game with in-game voice support, and a lot of features that gamers have now come to expect on the PC platform. A lot of these things are now features that Microsoft is planning to charge for.
