PC gaming has been in a steady state of decline over the past several years. But what could be causing this?

Consoles have been elevated from a niche gaming market for Nintendo and Sega games to perhaps THE foremost platforms to release new games. I vividly recall scoffing at anyone who wanted to be taken “seriously” as a gamer whose primary game system was a console. However, it’s become obvious that console are no joke.

The biggest problem, it seems, is the ease of use that the console systems enjoy. There’s no updating your drivers, installing DirectX, waiting 30 minutes for your game to install, worrying about background applications, compatability issues… nothing. You just put the game in the drive and play.

Why can’t PC games be made that easy?

Software support. Simply put, the console runs on software that’s already loaded with drivers, libraries, and programs required for games designed for that platform. The problem with PCs is also it’s biggest virtue: utility. PCs are useful for other things besides gaming, and as such they can’t be crammed full of gaming libraries because that would limit their functionality. As such, all the information needs to be loaded into memory. With such a mix of different hardware, it’s difficult for programmers to anticipate what consumers will have at their disposal.

Gaming companies are always quick to blame piracy for the flagging sales of PC games. While their complaints are somewhat justified, it is often used as an excuse for the poor sales of their games for the media and their investors. Tech savvy computer users have almost no difficulty pirating games, in contrast to console systems that require physical modification in order to achieve the same ends.

The industry’s solution?

DRM. This is perhaps the dirties three letter word of all time. Companies like EA, looking to safeguard their investment, have turned to draconian DRM and copy-protection schemes that only hurt the consumer. For instance, Electronics Arts turned to the failed SecuROM technology to protect Spore. The end result? EA faced a massive consumer backlash over SecuROM — Spore gets low reviews from consumers and sets records for amount of pirated copies downloaded in a 24-hour period.

Meanwhile, EA Execs blame the low reviews on “disgruntled pirates”, further proof that they just don’t get it. Pirates aren’t worried about DRM… they just get the hacked DRM-free versions anyways. It’s the end consumer that has to suffer through having it… and trying to get rid of it.

The long and short of it is, if PC gaming were as simple and hassle free as console gaming, then PC gaming would probably once again be the premiere platform for gaming.