PC gamers have been well aware that a bleak end for PC gaming itself was drawing near, but many were not ready for it to come this soon. The future was looking bright, especially when ID software released Doom 3 onto the market and literally shook the PC gaming industry. Today things are a bit different, and it is really no surprise that so many gamers are switching over to the console alternative. Many PC gamers have found that the following are quite true when it comes to consoles:

• Compatibility: When it comes to PC games there are always going to be clear compatibility issues that simply do not pan out. On a console, there are no compatibility issues because the game was tested and runs on your hardware — the same hardware that everyone else is using.
• Updates: One of the biggest problems with PC games as of late is the constant attitude of ‘Release now, patch later’. As a result of this, almost all games are released in a broken state and they are barely playable.
• Multiplayer: Unlike with PC’s, the user no longer has to jump through a ridiculous number of hoops to get the multiplayer working. One of the biggest problems with the PC was the fact that multiplayer protocols would often be rendered defunct, and eventually cease function no matter how popular the game is. With a console, multiplayer games will work indefinitely.

These are three major issues, and possibly things that John Carmack is taking into consideration when he says ‘he’s done’ with PC gaming. When Rage came out this month there was a sever issue among PC gamers, which is to say that almost none of them. This was attributed in part to a bad driver released by AMD which left the majority of ATI gamers dead in the water, and it seems that John Carmack finally recognizes the futility of designing games for the PC.

This does not mean that they have given up on the game by any means. As you read this they are scrambling to find a solution, but what exactly does this say for the future of PC gaming? To be honest, it does not bode well and any gamer should be able to recognize this. There will be even more switching to the console after this event, and many PC gamers are absolutely enraged. Some will blame Carmack and accuse him of incompetence while some will blame the hordes of PC gamers that have already made the switch to console. Either way, there are clear problems, and right now no one sees a patch coming in the future.