PC游戲不死

????微軟（Microsoft）和索尼（Sony）在6月初的電子娛樂展（Electronic Entertainment Expo）上詳盡介紹他們的電子游戲機的同時，PC機游戲也開始顯露出復蘇的跡象。盡管主流電腦市場正在垂死掙扎，但硬核PC游戲看起來卻活得很好。

????遙想當年，PC機曾是這個展會的絕對主角，近年來卻逐漸讓位給了游戲主機。不過，隨著這一代主機年歲漸長，PC游戲又看到了復蘇的希望。盡管如此，PC機并未成為今年大展的中心，這一點也是意料之中的事。微軟和索尼不僅在規?？捎^的游戲市場上爭搶蛋糕，同時還在為占領玩家的客廳展開一場大戰。

????與此同時，在內容流中樞的角色上逐漸失寵的PC機仍然是可靠的游戲平臺。此外，電子游戲機在價格上非常穩定——索尼的PS4到今年秋天售價仍為399美元，微軟的Xbox One價格則是499美元——而PC機價格卻一跌再跌。由于即將上市的游戲主機在技術上與PC機相似，傳統電腦今后可能會更具價值。電子游戲機行業顧問，鮑德溫咨詢公司（Baldwin Consulting）的馬克?鮑德溫說：“20多年來，一直有人問我PC游戲會不會走向消亡，但它們現在仍然存在著。所以，我看不到任何消亡的跡象。PC機仍然擁有巨大的用戶基礎，也仍然是探索性產品低價進入市場的堅實平臺?！?/p>

????今年的E3大展表明，各種類型的游戲仍然有很大市場空間。世嘉（Sega）曾經專營游戲主機硬件，如今卻是跨平臺的游戲發行商。它展示了即將發布的《羅馬2：全面戰爭》（Total War: Rome II）。這是一款僅能在PC機上運行的游戲，玩家將扮演即將演變為帝國的羅馬共和國后期的一名將軍。如果玩家行動無誤，甚至可以完全避免凱撒大帝被刺殺的事件。

????世嘉還奉上了以二戰為背景的《英雄連2》（Company of Heroes II），將這個策略游戲帶上了俄國戰場前線。此外，盡管曾是PC機統治領域的射擊游戲和競速游戲如今走向了跨平臺化，策略游戲很大程度上仍然是PC獨有。恩德勒集團（Enderle Group）的首席分析師羅布?恩德勒說：“對于許多類型的游戲而言，PC機表現遠遠優于游戲主機。它失去活力的原因在于，沒有人真正把它作為一個平臺來推銷它的優勢所在。非常遺憾，從許多方面看，考慮到升級性和指令輸入的廣度，PC機對許多類游戲而言都是更好的平臺。它們只是沒有得到足夠多的營銷推廣?！?/p>

????動作射擊類游戲大行其道，而微軟和索尼也希望借助這個類型的獨家游戲推廣自己的游戲系統。但這類游戲的重磅作品，比如美國藝電公司（Electronic Arts）的《戰地風云》（ Battlefield）系列和美國動視公司（Activision）的《使命召喚》（Call of Duty）系列，在電子游戲機和PC機上同樣可用。獨立電視游戲分析師比利?皮德根說：“PC機并沒有切斷與市場的聯系。即便游戲在電子游戲機上得到了發展，PC機仍是大型射擊游戲授予運營權的重要陣地?！?/p>

????PC也從一些小型游戲開發商那里得到了獨家運營權。今年秋天，波西米亞互動公司（Bohemia Interactive）將發布《武裝突襲3》（Arma III），這是這家公司開放世界式軍事策略射擊游戲的最新力作。這家捷克開發商并不是唯一一家堅持PC游戲的廠商。皮德根說：“東歐的游戲開發商仍然以PC平臺為依靠。在一些特定的市場，如拉美和亞洲大部分地區，因為擔心將游戲移植到游戲機的成本過高，PC游戲即將占據統治地位。在這些地區，游戲機可能難以深入發展，而PC仍是主要平臺?！?/p>

????While Microsoft and Sony elaborated on their new video game consoles earlier this month at the Electronic Entertainment Expo there was another system that showed signs of renewed life: the PC. Despite the moribund market for mainstream computers, hardcore PC gaming seems to be alive and well.

????In past years the PC had been a dominant part of the show, but in recent years it has taken a backseat to consoles. While PC gaming saw a resurgence as the current generation of consoles grew long in the tooth, it was no surprise that the PC wasn't on center stage this year. Microsoft (MSFT) and Sony (SNE) are competing not only for the sizable game market, but also for prime position in the war for the living room.

????Meanwhile the PC, with its diminishing role as a streaming hub for content, still remains very much a credible game machine. Moreover, while the video game consoles have remained somewhat steady in prices -- Sony's PlayStation 4 will cost $399 when it arrives this fall, while Microsoft's Xbox One will cost $499 -- PCs continue to fall in price. Because the upcoming consoles are technically similar to PCs, it could be that traditional computers offer more value going forward. "I have been asked about the demise of PC games for over 20 years, yet they are still there. So no, I see no demise," says video game industry consultant Mark Baldwin of Baldwin Consulting. "The PC is still has a massive user base, and it is still a solid platform to allow cheap entry for exploratory products."

????This year's E3 proved that there is still very much of a market for some genres. Sega, a company that was once in the hardware console business and now is a cross-platform game publisher, demonstrated its upcoming Total War: Rome II, a PC-only offering that puts players in the role of a general during the era of the late Roman Republic as it transforms it into an empire. If players make the right moves they can even avoid the whole Julius Caesar assassination thing.

????In addition Sega offered up the World War II-themed Company of Heroes II, which is taking the series' tactical gameplay to the Russian Front. Moreover, while shooters and racing games -- once almost solely the domain of the PC -- have gone cross-platform, the strategy genre remains very much a PC exclusive. "For certain kinds of games the PC is far superior to a console but languishes because no one really markets its advantages as a platform," says Rob Enderle, principal analyst for the Enderle Group. "It seems a shame because in many ways PCs are a better, in terms of upgradability and range of input, platform for many types of games. These just don't get the marketing needed to make their case."

????Even in the popular action shooter category, where Microsoft and Sony are looking for exclusive titles to help launch their systems, the biggest titles -- such as Electronic Arts' (EA) Battlefield series and Activision's (ATVI) Call of Duty -- are on PC as well as the consoles. "The PC isn't cut out of this market at all," says independent video game analyst Billy Pidgeon. "The PC remains important for these big shooter franchises even as the games grow on the consoles."

????The PC is also getting its own share of exclusives from some smaller developers, and this fall Bohemia Interactive will introduce Arma III, the latest title in its open world tactical military shooter. The Czech-based developer is not alone in sticking with the PC. "In Eastern Europe the game developers continue to lean on the PC," Pidgeon says. "In certain markets such as Latin America and much of Asia, the PC is going to dominate because of worries of costs of bringing a game to consoles. These are areas where the consoles aren't likely to penetrate and the PC will remain the dominant platform."