Introduction

Is PC gaming dead? Console gamers say so, and PC gamers will respond with the likes of The Sims and World of Warcraft. Unfortunately, sucess on the PC seems to be limited to Sims and Warcraft... and Steam also. But, Steam (and similar services such as Impulse and Good Old Games) are sucess models for the PC not because they cater to the mass market, like EA and Blizzard's games are able to - but because of their ability to guaranteed lock down games and prevent them from being stolen.



Now, this isn't a post about piracy, it's a post about free software, and a more specific type of free software at that. A few days ago, the story Is Free Really the Future of PC Gaming? appeared on Slashdot. The article is about how developers on the PC are discovering that free with micropayments or free with ads is an increasingly attractive idea on the PC, because the model has already seen sucess, specifically in the Korean MMO space and in social "games" like Habbo Hotel, but also because, of course, you can't pirate what's free.

And while many people will say that people who pirate a game were unlikely to have bought it anyway, Relic has said in the past that more people download their patches for Company of Heroes than they've sold copies of the game. Now suddenly it's not just people "trying" the game out or whatever, it's people invested in this game's multiplayer, but got it all for free. Is it any wonder the Chinese version of the game is on the free-to-play model?

In this uh, "series," I'll be looking at the development of "open games," why or why not games should be open, what tools players should have, and if full-on, open source games are feasable. Expect something new and exciting once a day.

Question: Is PC gaming dead? Or at least dead to you?

Monday: Introduction
Tuesday: Construction Kits
Wednesday: Designing By Community
Thursday: Why Open Source?
Friday: Why Not Open Source?
Saturday: Open Games
Sunday: A Social Experiment