Why aren't more video games made for the computer?

[Genecks]

I have been attempting to read over literature in relation to why more video games are not made for computers.

 

I keep finding people giving ideas and clue. However, I feel as though these people are writers more than computer program designers or engineers. In the time I spent reading over how the Playstation 1 and Playstion 2 console system was made, I read into the engineering aspects. Supposedly, the engineering went into depth so that graphics would be more easy to present at a faster rate and speed. As such, a different kind of programming language had to be made for people to develop video games for the video game console.

 

As such, this makes me wonder if the situation really has to do with engineering aspects. In other words, many modern computer systems are not made to handle video games. I've read once before that computers should to be as good as they can in order to handle flight simulator software, as this can be considered a benchmark how of good a computer is in terms of displaying graphics.

 

I am under the belief that the reason that more video games are not made for the computer is because the graphics systems in modern computers (such as computer system between 2011 and today) are not capable of meeting the graphics standards that people want to evolve.

 

The reason I believe that more video games are not made for the computer is because the graphics are not as good. There is a desire for programmers to continually make things more "realistic."

 

Any other competing opinions in relation to the science and engineering are welcomed.

 

I am attempting to steer away from an economic standpoint, unless the economic standpoint has to do with the cost of engineering and programming.

[lightburst]

I'm sure they'd be making more videogames than they already do if it was so easy to make a videogame that will be readily consumed by the masses. This is why companies just milk already established titles dry because at least half the titles that come out every year fade out of existence really fast.

 

For videogame graphics to be 'realistic' is just another milestone engineers and computer scientists strive for. Truly, this is perhaps the future of videogames, but this is not the whole picture. This is why nintendo games still remain popular, which I'm sure you can tell isn't anywhere near realistic. Indie games also thrive off original content and gameplay rather than real expensive graphics.

 

Of course, technology is limiting the development of videogame graphics(or its delivery to the public), but this is also true for science, medicine, and even the arts.

 

It's not so much as modern computers aren't made to handle videogames(GPU's ARE exactly for that purpose, at least in the mainstream) as processing graphics can really be resource heavy. To create those nice animated characters alone can necessitate the highest end of computer hardware, and all it does is turn a character 360 degrees and display nice fur. Imagine how resource heavy processing a whole terrain, including player actions, that aims as much realism as possible will be.

 

Though I think that computer scientists need to meet the engineers half way as well. More efficient algorithms for use of the graphics engines would be really great. Then again, maybe we've already reached that point.

 

So yea, it's not so much a limitation of the hardware as it is the nature of the business.

[CharonY]

Computer games were popular even when the graphics were extremely crappy by today's standard. If the gameplay sucks, the graphics is not going to rescue it. Gaming is the whole experience which also includes accessibility. This is why consoles, with their ease of use and relatively low price tags as compared to high-end computer rigs, have a larger market share than (desktop) computer games. And this is despite the fact that from a technical point of view computer rigs are way more powerful.

As lightburst indicated, production of video games is dependent on the market and not how technically advanced the hardware is. In the end, people buy games when there are fun. And due to novel distribution models, low end and retro games are making a revival now.

Partially because many modern games almost exclusively focus on graphics, while omitting decent story lines or engaging gameplay mechanisms.

[redshift1100]

I think you are right .... Also Video game consoles are entirely designed for games and for the price, despite being sold at a LOSS (yes, I said LOSS), are quite expensive. In other words, they are more purposeful, gaming computers could be made but consoles are more friendly and ultimately more profitable. The 90s had a lot of waring back and forth and I suppose that the Console won. I don't think it had to do with graphics alone, it was just that everything made consoles a more viable option.

[Bill Angel]

Another class of computer game that remains popular is the strategy game, such as chess. The limiting factor in a computer chess game is how fast the computer can perform algorithmic searches in the background looking for its best move, and not how fast the computer can render the graphics of the pieces.

[DevilSolution]

Video games are popular on computers, they are made on them. Certain genres are more popular such as RTS and MMORPG but your standard COD and fifa will be released on PC, pretty much every major title gets released on PC, PC also has better graphics if you buy enough RAM an a good graphics card. Skyrim shows this.

[CarbonCopy]

The big companies usually make the same games for consoles as well as PCs. We have plenty of games for the PC as DevilSoluton said. But, we are starting to see a shift away from the PC.

I think it is because that PCs can have wide ranges of hardware capabilities and it becomes difficult to make a game with heavy graphics for all of them. Also, PCs have different OS, which adds to the trouble.

In that sense, consoles are standardized, so it is easier to program for it

[Elite Engineer]

Larger market for Xbox and PS3..simple economics mi compadre