PC Gamers, I'm sorry

I was just Stumbling around the internet when I happened upon an article clearly written by a PC gamer decrying the lack of console controls and dedicated server setup in Modern Warfare 2, among a few other things. These PC gamers, from what I read, didn't like the ability to tweak weapon damage or modify the visual field of view to be removed from their playing ability. They took issue with the fact that Infinity Ward was responsible for picking the host machine, and they raised arms over the inability to kick problem players.

Of that list, I agree with them on the problem players part.

The rest of their "shit list?" Utter bull-honkery. Why? Let me explain.

I read another article a few months ago that made a very clear case (numbers were involved: sales figures, online populations, etc) that PC gaming was dying. I doubt it will ever truly die. There's no need for that. But, the numbers showed that the clear majority of video gamers in the world were, in fact, using consoles. Ever since the Xbox developed XboxLive (which continued with the Xbox360) and Sony introduced the PlayStation Network, the majority of online play has become console based.

Given that information, is it any surprise at all that game manufacturers would construct games for the larger (and growing) player base? Not at all. In the case of Infinity Ward, they added extra graphics features to take advantage of more powerful PC video cards available, and they included support for PC gamers' preferred control scheme. For them, that's all they really needed to do. PC gamers were not happy with this.

Although, I will admit that I would have liked a "lean" feature in the game. That would be nice.

My second reason for calling bullshit has to do with the console. Many PC games have this feature. It's something that console gamers have had to learn to do without. This console allows PC gamers to alter fundamental aspects of the game; ranging from weapon damage to added perks. Most normal people have a term for this. It's called "cheating." While I don't begrudge them the want to alter field of view settings, I do take issue with them gaining an unfair advantage over what the game was meant to allow.

Now, don't get me wrong. PC gaming is awesome. Many of my favorite games were built for the PC; System Shock 1 & 2, the Fallout series, The Elder Scrolls, and Aliens vs. Predator (to name a few). Some of these even have editors for them (Fallout and TES especially). The big difference here is that these editors were released specifically for this purpose and for the sheer joy of creating new and amazing things (well, sometimes anyway) for these games. Yes, there are people out there who create additional content that completely breaks the game (there is absolutely no need for Brotherhood of Steel power armor in Oblivion. That's just crazy), but my point stands. These editors were released to be used as such.

Not so much with Modern Warfare 2.

I sincerely hope that Infinity Ward doesn't crumble under the pressure. Most console gamers that I know of have been dealing with the lack of these things for years and we don't really bitch about it. Most of us see the dwindling PC gamer crowd as a bunch of self-righteous, self-important jackasses who want to tweak things game designers use to balance the games they make.