Games that the PC master race is ignoring

[Damien Lee]

PC gaming has risen in stature over the past few years. Steam played a big part in saving PC gaming from the abyss. Generally, I think PC gaming is great even though I come from an arcade and console gaming background. However, there a few thing that the so called 'PC master race' is getting wrong.

For one, there is definitely a focus on hardware specs. That high-end PC hardware is superior to the current generation of consoles, there can be doubt about this. But any real gamer should not care about hardware specs, it's the games that counts at the end of the day. The PC does get a huge variety of games these days but there is still a focus on a select few genres.

PC gamers need to embrace a larger variety of genres such as fighting games and platformers. While these have been a staple of console gaming, PC gamers have been turning away from these and missing out some excellent, nuanced gameplay experiences.

What other genres are PC gamers missing out on?

 

[Shimus]

I come from a family who enjoyed gaming to the core - all consoles, an updated computer (mine), and mostly any game you could chuck at it - there are a lack of SOME genres of games from console-to-PC, but mainly PC gets everything consoles do (Maybe earlier, maybe later) but they still get them.

There's still a decent amount of platformers for the PC, though they're over trumped by the fact mostly everyone on 'PC master race' as you put it is into MMORPGS or into MMOs of a nature, because consoles just don't offer the MMO experience of a PC. Where consoles lack this and have some multiplayer on some games that FEELS MMO, only having up to 8 or so people in a party is NOT MMO. No matter which way you crack it, massively stands for more then 10+ people.

But, to be honest the games we're lacking or behind in the PC definitely are fighters and racing games, simply because consoles can emulate that experience better then a keyboard or mouse can. A controller feels more natural for sports games, as well. I notice a lack of those around the PC unless they're futuristic sports games or the same renditions of FIFA all the time. But FPS, RPG, Platformers - the PC is current if not on level or above with those.

 

[CemeteryGates23]

I've always maintained an opinion that I feel PC gaming is complementary to console gaming (and vice versa), and this is precisely one of the major reasons why I think so.
In the same way StarCraft 64 and The Sims for Xbox (forgot the subtitle) were extremely awkward to play and you see very few simulators and RTS games on console, there is a parallel.
There are tons of games I still think of as "console games" and while the PC adopting a controller option has bridged the gap greatly, I still think some games just feel "right" on certain platforms. I guess some games feel awkward to play up close on a smaller screen. I also think there's a different type of immersion in say, Assassin's Creed, than Total War, and not just the genre.

But yeah, to be more on-topic, PC gamers are definitely missing out on racing games, fighting games, sports games, and I think genres like beat-'em-ups/hack'n'slash (there's retro indie games, but nothing like, say, Devil May Cry), and from the better versions of many games they have available, whether it is about controls or even bad porting (*cough*GTA4*cough*).