Now – I’m not arguing whether or not the ‘best gaming experience’ is on the PC or a console – that’s a different argument and many of my favorite games ever are on PCs … but something can be the best and still not be the most influential … nobody’s arguing that Harry Potter are the ‘best written books ever.’ But they sell well … as does Twilight. I’m just saying that I think the pendulum is going to swing back a little bit in the PC favor and this will create a tailwind until the next console generation.

You can’t get the PC gaming experience on a console. Consoles are great for sports or certain action/rpg hybrids (Prototype, Assassin’s Creed). But the best gaming available: The Fallout series, Diablo series, or the MMGSs like WoW or EQ2 can NOT work on a console- until consoles become… You guessed it… PCs.

I love my 360- it is my “in bed” chill and relax entertainment. But if I’m really gaming- really seeking the full experience (including online play, which I avoid like the plague because consoles have a younger gamer age- and at 37 I’m not interested in a 13 year old discovering how to make an idiot of themselves swearing every word) – if I want the best graphics, the best gameplay, the best controls (keyboard/mouse always trumps controller)… I’m on my PC.

There’s a reason a console is a few hundred bucks, and my Alienware was $6k: My Alienware can obliterate anything that comes out for the next 5-8 years on max settings. My 360 will be long dead. (Tangent: Build your own purists: difference in price for a custom system was less than $1k, with no warranty and a butt-ugly appearance. Best purchase ever made was my Alienware! Georgeous, full warranty, top of line components, instant top notch in-the-US tech support, not that I’ve had a single flaw in a year!)

Both are valuable- but have wildly different cultures and uses. I prefer the modability, depth, superior graphics of top of the line PC games. I also enjoy crashing on my 360 before bed, for some single player sports franchising, after I’ve been on the PC.

But just like Prince- there’s no “comeback” possibile- PC gaming have been following Prince’s lead with number one hits all this time. It’s up to the consumer to realize this instead of buy into the false rumors of the death of the PC.

The PC is still Prince of the gaming scene- which has no King. Because before you can be King, you must be Prince.

I don’t mean to say that somehow PC gaming is going to become dominant and NPD is going to focus on PC games from now on … more like influences will shift a bit and maybe developers would look at PCs as a legitimate platform again and focus equally on them just because many of their core mechanics work best with PC inputs and styles rather than doing a knock off port 2 months later that is a throaway.

Also for the graphics thing – PCs have always had the graphics advantage, of course – but at what cost? If you look at Steam statistics, it really seems like the average PC doesn’t really have an advantage over a console, especially when a game like Uncharted 2 comes out and shows what the PS3 can do …

If in 3 years, however, a $1000 PC can outperform any of the other games, it will become more accessible to a large proportion of the gaming community.

Lots of Western developers have come from PC game modding, but it’s been that way since long before consoles took over traditional PC sections of gaming. Lots of those people are making console games now.

An extended console cycle might move a few extra graphics-lovers back to PC gaming, but the highest end PC games already have an edge on the consoles, so it’s not a huge number of people.

I don’t see the thing that’s going to really bring back PC gaming right now. It might happen but publishers and developers don’t seem to be moving in that direction, and gamers don’t either.