The mainstream of the game player will not with computer

Even though personal computers forever changed the video game industry back in the early nineties, they are not the leading platforms for games anymore, according to John Carmack, a legendary game designer whose Doom and Wolfenstein revolutionized the industry. Game consoles are much more popular devices used for video gaming and therefore id Softwares latest Rage title was tailored for Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3.

"We do not see the PC as the leading platform for games. That statement will enrage some people, but it is hard to characterize it otherwise; both console [Rage] versions will have larger audiences than the PC version," said John Carmack, the lead programmer at id Software, in an interview with IndustryGamers web-site.


Nowadays most of the quality of a game comes from the development effort put into it, not the technology it runs on. A game built with a tenth the resources on a platform 10 times as powerful would be an inferior product in almost all cases," added Mr. Carmack. 


The recently released highly-anticipated Rage video game has major issues with quality on personal computers. id Software said that the problems were conditioned by driver issues of ATI Catalyst and Nvidia ForceWare and would be resolved shortly. The main reason for the issues is that the latest title by id was designed with PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles in mind, whereas the PC version is essentially a port with high-quality graphics.
 

"You can choose to design a game around the specs of a high-end PC and make console versions that fail to hit the design point, or design around the specs of the consoles and have a high-end PC provide incremental quality improvements. We chose the latter. A high end PC is nearly 10 times as powerful as a console, and we could unquestionably provide a better experience if we chose that as our design point and we were able to expend the same amount of resources on it.

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Required at Holyrood For Computer Games Industry to Reach

The SNP Government has reaffirmed its support for the computer games industry in Dundee and across Scotland.


MSP for Dundee City West Joe FitzPatrick is confident that the games industry has a bright future but he said, during First Minister’s Question time today at Holyrood, that for the sector to achieve its full potential, greater powers for the Scottish Parliament must be in place, including control of the tax levers.


Speaking in Parliament, he said: “In Dundee and across Scotland the SNP Government have supported the creative and digital industries.

“I am currently in the process of establishing a Cross Party Group focussed on the Computer Games Industry in Scotland to maintain this support.


“The Scottish Government has already showed clear leadership on this issue in the face of Westminster neglect, with £3.35 million direct support provided to the games sector as part of an overall £6.75 million given by the Scottish Government and its agencies in the last year.
“Over the last few weeks I have been in contact with TIGA to discuss this interesting proposal for a Creative Content Fund to provide direct funding to games developers that can then be recouped from the profits made by successful developers and reinvested yet again to allow even more small businesses to flourish.


“TIGA’s Games Tax Relief proposal estimates that while it would initially cost around £200 million in loss as tax receipts, they would ultimately generate almost £400m in extra tax receipts for the Treasury as these businesses grow.

“If the Scottish Government was given control over these vital tax powers then we would be able to get crucial support to these small businesses, enabling them to create jobs and fuel the economic recovery.


“TIGA and the industry recognise this but the UK Government is at odds with the best interests of the games industry’s needs in Scotland.


“The First Minister has promised a meeting between the SNP Government and TIGA to discuss the Creative Content Fund and the best way to move forward.”

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