PCGA Discusses The Future of PC Gaming at PAX Prime

The PC is by far the most prevalent gaming platform in the world and is likely to be for the foreseeable future. The majority of innovations in gaming continue to be driven on the PC platform. Recent examples include 3D, touch screen, and multi-screen technologies – but what lies ahead? Come to this PC Gaming Alliance-led panel discussion to find out. Panelists will include Kevin Unangst, Microsoft; Jeffrey Cubillos, Dell; Matt Ployhar, Intel; Ritche Corpus, AMD. The panel will be moderated by Ron Jenkins, SMU.

The Future of PC Gaming
Saturday September 4, 2010
PAX Prime
Seattle, WA
8:00 - 9:00 PM
Wolfman Theater

PCGA at CES 2010 Report

By Bryan de Zayas

The PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA) attended CES 2010 with a focus on raising overall PCGA awareness and promoting the capabilities of PC gaming. PCGA board members, along with member company volunteers, interacted with consumers, press and prospective members to showcase new PC gaming technologies including 3D, touch screen, and multi-screen applications.

Five gaming stations were on display and available for anyone to play, including:
· DIRT 2 – Powered by ATI Eyefinity technology on three HD displays;
· Dark Void – Playing on the Alienware M15x laptop;
· Street Fighter IV – Controlled by new Mad Catz Street Fighter IV Fight Sticks TE 2nd Edition
· Resident Evil 5 – Demonstrated in 3D utilizing NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision technology;
· World of Goo - Touch enabled via Windows 7 for a new and exciting experience.

The reaction from prospective members was amazing with numerous companies interested in how to join and tap into the knowledge and expertise that is shared among member companies. We would love to divulge more information about which companies are most interested in joining, but for now, we’ll keep it confidential.

In addition, the feedback from people walking through the booth and media was very positive as well, including the publication of stories and interviews by Gaming Shogun, Over Clockers Club and others. Many comments surrounded the DIRT 2 racing simulation running on the three HD displays and Resident Evil 5 in 3D demonstrations. For many visitors this was the first time they had seen these innovations and remarked about how amazing the experience would be in their home. This type of sentiment is exactly what the PCGA is promoting and it is great to see the message being received by the public and media alike. To see what was on display and the PCGA’s latest efforts to promote PC gaming, check out the video interview conducted by Christian Svensson from Capcom and Gaming Shogun: http://tinyurl.com/ycjebbt

Before wrapping this up, it is important to communicate how these kinds of events are executed on behalf of the PCGA. All aspects of planning and execution are completed by the individuals that volunteer for the PCGA sub-committees. Without the dedication of these individuals and their parent companies, participation with events such as CES 2010 would not be possible. Their commitment clearly demonstrates a dedication to driving the worldwide growth of PC gaming and promoting solutions that drive the PC gaming industry forward through the PCGA.

Through activities such as participating within CES and the distribution of the PCGA Horizons report, the PC Gaming Alliance will continue to drive growth of gaming on Personal Computers, the world’s most popular platform for gaming.

PCGA Members at E3 2009: Windows 7 Gaming Lounge

By Corey Rosemond from Microsoft

The Windows 7 E3 Video Blogger Lounge and Windows 7 Cocktail Reception was held at the J Restaurant and Lounge about 4 blocks from the LA convention center on June 3rd and June 4th and was designed to draw the most buzz and attendance for the Windows 7 Cocktail Reception on the evening of June 3rd.

The Windows 7 Video Blogger Lounge contained 6 gaming laptops and 2 desktops outfitted with some of the most popular PC games including Wolverine Origins, Plants vs. Zombies, Left 4 Dead, Battlefield Pacific, Call of Duty: World at War and Crysis. By showcasing these PC titles, and providing Windows subject matter experts to answer any questions influencers posed, we could showcase how seamlessly Windows 7 integrates into a gaming lifestyle.

The lounge also featured a video blogger area that encouraged influential attendees to record their own E3 coverage using Windows branding as a backdrop, while also sharing their thoughts about Windows 7 gaming for Microsoft highlight channel videos which were distributed to YouTube throughout the day.

In addition to the activities at the J Lounge, we had a camera crew cover interesting PC Gaming stories from exhibitors and attendees on the E3 show floor. These stories were captured for use in the daily YouTube videos, as well as a final Windows 7 Gaming mini-documentary.

Windows 7 Video Blogger Lounge Critical Reception
The overall response to Windows 7 Video Blogger Lounge was extremely positive. While almost all of the Lounge attendees had PC experience, some had not gamed on the PC, or had lapsed in their PC gaming. Although some of the attendees had recently moved to the Macintosh platform, and expressed that their lack of gaming on the computer helped make that decision, they did state that they would likely use boot-camp to dual-boot in order to install Windows 7 to play PC games.

Most attendees stated they liked the speed, and responsiveness of Windows 7, and were very surprised that the laptops we had in the lounge were running games like Wolverine and Call of Duty: World at War with excellent framerates.

There was a rush of influencers the first several hours of the Video Blogger lounge which created a slight backup in the video interview and editing process. One or two influencers were unable to record a video due to prior appointments, but everyone understood the process.

PCGA Members at E3 2009: Alien Invasion

By John Blain from Dell/Alienware

Just as E3 began this year, agents dressed in black wearing mirrored sunglasses and earpieces began making appearances in hotel lobbies across downtown Los Angeles, all sporting locked silver briefcases handcuffed to their wrists. “Today at 1pm, at the convention center”, was the only information these mysterious messengers would import to curious bystanders. The display caused a stir on many occasions, and several times these agents were politely asked to leave by members of various hotels’ security.


At the prescribed time these agents filed into black Suburbans and took the act to the entrance of E3, successfully setting the tone for what was to follow. I was able to catch the display on camera with the help of a few friends http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbFMFH71lhU

With the ceremonies out of the way, E3 attendees were unleashed upon the brand new M17x laptops waiting inside the Alienware booth. The wait was finally over. The ‘World’s Most Powerful 17-inch laptop’ was finally here.

I spent most of the second day at E3 following these agents around as they escorted VIPs to the Alienware booth for press interviews. Their subdued secret-agent style was a stark contrast to the glitter and glam most exhibitors at the event chose to showcase, but was rewarded with the curiosity of the gawking crowd. “I wonder who they’re escorting,” I often heard as our lead agent cleared a safe path through the masses. Thanks to the M17x, I now have had a taste of what it might be like to be an important dignitary being escorted through public places by the secret service. It’s surely an experience I’ll never forget.

On the third day I finally got a chance to check out all the great games being previewed at the event. After the excitement from the previous days, I was almost too tired to enjoy them. ALMOST. You can read the rundown of the games that impressed me most here.

With over 41,000 attendees, this year’s E3 was bigger than ever, and was an experience I wouldn’t have missed for the world.

PCGA Inaugural Supper Club Successful!

The Monday night of the Game Developers Conference, the PCGA held an informal members dinner at the House of Prime Rib in San Francisco in the name of networking and socialization.

In attendance were several members of the board, a few of our promoter members and invited guests from Ubisoft, Stardock, Gas Powered Games, Gamepro and the AIAS. The atmosphere was laid back and jovial with some serious conversations on issues surrounding our business mixed in.

This was the first of what we hope will be a growing series of events over the coming quarters.

PCGA's New Website

We are delighted to announce the launch of their new website. We think the new look provides a premier showcase for the PCGA and 'speaks' more cleanly and clearly to PC gamers everywhere. We hope that visitors to our new website will see that the PCGA is the place that PC Gaming companies of all types can come together to collaborate to help solve problems and work to advance the cause of PC Gaming. We will endevor to continuosly improve our website with the goal that PCGA members and non-members alike will find it useful, relevant and important. Let us know what you think!

PCGA Validation Testing Lab Video Tour

See the lab where the PCGA's minimum specifications are tested and validated...
http://www.youtube.com/PCGamingAlliance

PCGA in the News - Gamasutra Piracy Special Report

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21133
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21329

Here is a snippet...

The PC Gaming Alliance is a group of industry leaders including reps from Microsoft, Dell, Activision, Capcom and many others, who meet to work on solutions for challenges facing the space and promote the health of the platform - and piracy is a particular problem for PC in particular. With that in mind, the PCGA has formed a new subcommittee to start examining ways to take the crucial first step of learning to quantify piracy and its material impact. Christian Svensson, senior director of strategic planning and research at Capcom, is a member of the PCGA, and tells Gamasutra that the new impact-oriented subcommittee is just now getting off the ground. There's a complicated road ahead with a good many factors still up in the air, but the subcommittee knows that quantifying that impact is a key first step. "We're just starting to lay out the groundwork," Svensson says,"I would hope within the next three months we have started to make some progress toward that."

If you are interested in anti-piracy, please consider joining the PCGA to help us craft our anti-piracy plans and deliverables. We have recently changed our membership plan to encourage every company in the PC Gaming industry to get involved. See http://pcgamingalliance.org/en/join/membership_benefits.asp for more information.

We are the Guardians of PC Gaming

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081110-pc-gaming-alliance-we-are-the-guardians-of-pc-gaming.html
The PCGA has a clear mandate. "We are the guardians of the PC as a platform for gaming. We need to make sure there is an environment where publishers are not afraid to invest tens of millions of dollars in developing great gaming experiences," Stude says, and while it doesn't seem like the average gamer will often know what goes into the work the PCGA does, many of the group's ideas are compelling. Giving PC gamers a voice and proving their value as a market, while trying to maintain a balance between publishers keeping their content safe and gamers being able to play the way they want to... these are the biggest challenges in PC gaming right now. We wish the PCGA luck in trying to fight the good fight.

The Urgent Imperative Of Piracy

PCGA President Randy Stude recently sat down with Gamasutra for a frank discussion regarding the industry, especially piracy. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20668

Here is a snippet:

Meanwhile, the PCGA hopes to attract game companies to its efforts -- and while potential committee members acknowledge the importance of platform stability, says Stude, "there's a far more urgent imperative they want to see discussion and debate going on around, which is piracy."

So the PCGA has formed an anti-piracy and DRM subcommittee which is just kicking off its efforts, starting with an endeavor to try and quantify the size of the piracy issue.

"At some point next year, we expect to be able to quantify the potential impact of piracy on the industry," says Stude.

So, now we turn to you readers. What type of change would be good for you? What are your feelings on DRM and other hot-button piracy issues? And even further, if you are a company in the PC gaming industry and you would like a voice in determining the direction of the industry, we invite you to join us!