I just had a thought...
It may seem stupid and obvious to you guys, but I've never thought about it this way before, and I've never seen it written down... at least not in a way that it connects to me.
Anyway, what I just realised is that the reason that computer (for now, PC stands for personal computer) and console games were so segregated is that they came from completely different paths, and it's almost by coincidence that they both exist.
Console games are an evolution of arcade machines, which were created to entertain for profit. Thus they are the home of the more arcadey experience, at first because this was their sole purpose, and then later because it was associated with them.
Computer games (such as PC games) are an evolution of the technical toys that people created for mainframes and office computers. I'm guessing that's why adventure and exploration games were much more prevalent on early PCs, as they came from the original computer game, Adventure. Also, they took advantage of the computers high capacity (in relation to consoles) storage, and ignored the lack of dedicated throwing-sprites-around-the-place ability.
Obviously, both scenes had a large amount of crossover. In recent times, much more so. But there's still a big gap between PC games and console games, even though they're both virtually as capable as each other (and in the case of the XBox, identical)
This would be more of a psychological issue?
And then we have the evolution of, and death of, particular genres. Is this a form of natural selection? (from a business point of view, maybe)
I'm trailing off, so I'll stop.
Again, sorry if this seems stupid or obvious. Feel free to flame me as you wish.
*bows*
It may seem stupid and obvious to you guys, but I've never thought about it this way before, and I've never seen it written down... at least not in a way that it connects to me.
Anyway, what I just realised is that the reason that computer (for now, PC stands for personal computer) and console games were so segregated is that they came from completely different paths, and it's almost by coincidence that they both exist.
Console games are an evolution of arcade machines, which were created to entertain for profit. Thus they are the home of the more arcadey experience, at first because this was their sole purpose, and then later because it was associated with them.
Computer games (such as PC games) are an evolution of the technical toys that people created for mainframes and office computers. I'm guessing that's why adventure and exploration games were much more prevalent on early PCs, as they came from the original computer game, Adventure. Also, they took advantage of the computers high capacity (in relation to consoles) storage, and ignored the lack of dedicated throwing-sprites-around-the-place ability.
Obviously, both scenes had a large amount of crossover. In recent times, much more so. But there's still a big gap between PC games and console games, even though they're both virtually as capable as each other (and in the case of the XBox, identical)
This would be more of a psychological issue?
And then we have the evolution of, and death of, particular genres. Is this a form of natural selection? (from a business point of view, maybe)
I'm trailing off, so I'll stop.
Again, sorry if this seems stupid or obvious. Feel free to flame me as you wish.
*bows*
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