Good forum members,
This is my first visit to the site, and my first post in the forums, so pardon any lack of erudition or etiquette as the mistakes of a newbie trying his best. I've spent some time perusing the feedback section, and as far as I can tell, the webmaster's sentiment about computer gaming is distinctly negative. In specific, he regards the support of the Windows platforms for many of today's games as an utterly insufficient reason to stick with the operating system. I freely admit to being uninformed about the capabilities of other operating systems, but I know a few things about computer games and gaming - in fact it is my field of choice unless something more interesting comes up. I'd like to share my feelings on this issue, and I sincerely hope you'll provide me with sound counterarguments... I don't want to use Windows forever.
Here are my arguments from a gamer's standpoint. It is very true that the games I play are supported fully by Windows. I am almost as sure that the various incarnations of Linux, Unix, and OS X do not have nearly the support for computer gaming. I use my computer for a fairly narrow range of activities: text and image editing, email, web browsing, a little programming, and games. This seems to me to be fairly representative of the average use of an average Windows computer.
Of these activities, I have invested by far the most time and money into games. They are one of my primary sources of entertainment, having supplanted television and coming in a close second to reading. Again, among Windows users this is not atypical.
Thus it rankled me quite a bit when the webmaster suggested that the best solution is to switch OSes and buy a gaming console. There are a number of reasons why this proposal seemed ludicrous or at the very least infeasible.
1. I have already bought many games which, to be frank, are dear to me. These games will not work under another OS, and are not available for any console. I do not want to give these games up, nor do I want to have wasted the money I spent buying them.
2. Consoles are fiendish and pernicious to me. I do not like their controllers. With few exceptions, I do not like the games made for consoles. I do not like the fact that most are not reverse compatible: unlike with computers, I must buy an original Nintendo if I want to play original Nintendo games. They are costly, underpowered, overhyped pieces of crud. My computer is a better gaming system than most consoles on the market, and were I to upgrade it only slightly it would blow them out of the water. Console makers are just as greedy and monopolistic as Microsoft, and while their access to my inner life is less, their control over the content I can use is far greater.
3. My computer can do more than a console. I don't want to buy a console which can only duplicate some of the functions of my computer, when I have a computer which is already as good as a console. If a computer which could do everything I want it to except games were cheaper, then a computer and a console would be a good deal. But my computer would cost just as much without the "gaming components" because I don't have any "gaming components." I prefer an all-in-one approach.
4. Thanks to emulation, my computer can play classic console games. I don't need to have an 8-bit Nintendo to play those good old games, because I can download an emulator and ROMS. As far as I know, many of the best emulators are being developed mainly for DOS/Windows boxes. I wouldn't mind giving up some of my other games, but my emulators are very nice and to buy the consoles they duplicate would be ridiculously expensive.
5. I truly believe (others may disagree) that we are on the cusp of a revolution in gaming. Games are becoming more and more sophisticated, as brilliant programmers, musicians, artists, and other professionals plow countless hours into creating a game which is not only entertaining, but complex, challenging, and perhaps even moving. For a person like me, this is immensely exciting: it's sort of like what it must have been like to be around at the time that movies were coming into their own as art. I absolutely cannot miss the opportunity to see where these advances take us, and perhaps participating personally in the creation of a new form of art. Deride me if you will, but this is desperately important to me. Therefore, since Windows remains the OS of choice for game developers, I must stick to it, loathing it though I do, if I want to play new games; and if I want to create new games, I must program for Windows because that's where the gamers are.
So. These are my reasons for staying with Windows 98. I'm doing it for the games alone. That's reason enough for me. Now if there were some way for me to keep the game support and lose the OS, I would switch over even if it took quite a bit of trouble and work. But games, sadly for me, are my deal breaker. Does anyone even care, and if so, what do you recommend?
Thank you for your time and patience.
edit: Pardon me for posting before reading. Another thread already brings up these issues (I believe it is titled "Webmaster, in your replies... " or something like that), so this little rant of mine was unnecessary. That said, if you would still like to address my personal opinions in the matter, I certainly wouldn't mind.
[ April 02, 2002: Message edited by: SpittingTrashcan ]
