Are we entering a PC gaming golden age?

It's not a PC in the sense that "PC" is synechdoche for "Windows-based x86 computer" but I think it's important to consider how the overall history of "computer gaming" encompasses these platforms (Apple II, C64, Amiga, etc.) That's the distinction I would draw.

Well I largely feel the same way, but when you get that abstract things start to really blur, to the point where making a distinction between "console" and "pc" becomes meaningless to me. As an example - the MSX. Is it a console, or a PC? Its got a keyboard, it runs basic, but it uses cartridges and has a evolutionary base that the Sega Master system and colecovision share.

Granted, I think the distinction is even less clear today. I really don't see a point in distinugishing between the PS4 and Xbox One and windows PC and Linux PC and Mac today.
 
I still need a quality X-wing/TIE Fighter game to agree on the new golden age.
It's coming

Wings of Saint Nazaire
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I loved PC gaming growing up, but I kind of dropped out of the high-end scene when the rts and adventure genre died out and consoles were matching pc settings (or at launch, outclassing them). Now that both Sony and Microsoft seem quite content to pump out underpowered hardware that has an increasing reliance on third parties that release their games on pc anyway, I have gone ahead and built a pc that will last me one console generation if not two.
 
PS4 for the exclusives. PC for everything else. That's how it should be, and has been for me.

Or if you prefer Xbox One, then that works too.

But 3rd party content is almost always better on the PC, and that's where it should ideally be played if you can afford it.

I love my PC.

Pretty much this for me. I'm having a blast with Until Dawn, but it's hard to imagine playing multi platform games on anything other than PC for me.
 
One of the great things of the current era of PC gaming is that the number of games being released is massive and the selection is incredibly diverse. Not only that, but almost everything gets released on PC these days, including the overwhelming majority of the non-Nintendo console libraries. Back in the 90s you would miss out on a ton of third-party games if you didn't own at least one console. Now someone can be a PC-only gamer and still enjoy almost all console titles on his PC. This is unprecedented as far as I can remember.

This is what I love about PC gaming right now. I chose to upgrade my PC over buying a PS4 and besides a few titles like Bloodborne I don't really feel like I'm missing out not owning a console from this generation. I can still play GTA V, Witcher 3, MGSV, Just Cause 3, etc. And often with better visuals/performance.
 
entering? hahahahahhahahahahhah

We have been in a PC golden age for the last decade and a half!!
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HAHAHAH

Nothing says "Golden Age" like the dark era of former PC exclusive IPs going console exclusive or making consoles their lead-platform, along with several console centric studios no longer doing PC ports or saddling them with GFWL and/or SecuROM after Crytek's loose lipped and irresponsible comment about the majority of Crysis installs being pirated 8 years ago.

So no, not decade and a half. More like half a decade. We've barely recovered from Crytek's "piracy" shit-stirring 8 years ago, in a rather karmic inverse proportion to Crytek losing credibility and influence in the industry.

But believe me, I agree. Ever since Dark Souls arrived on PC, and the first major indie kickstarters took off, this has been an undeniable golden age like the 90s and mid 2000s was. JRPGs on PC, and with good quality versions surpassing their console counterparts, like Valkyria Chronicles, Mmmhmm.

I almost wonder if Sony is concerned. PlayStation has historically been the exclusive platform of JRPGs, but now a lot of IPs, like Souls, Tales or Valkyria are suddenly venturing beyond Sony's borders onto Steam and finding success there. This stuff alone is the reason I didn't bother with the PS4 despite having every other PS platform before it, and I wonder if the JRPG Renaissance on Steam has affected anyone else's console buying decisions to a point that Sony would notice.
 
Whenever I play games on the PC I always get sidetracked. I built a $1500 PC but have only played Witcher 3 on it. I couldn't make it passed one hour playing, I got too sidetracked by other stuff on my PC. I blame social media, whenever I'm on the PC that's all I want to do lol. I feel like I'm missing out. I think it's WoW's fault, played that game for 7 years and since there's so much downtime in that game I would alt+tab and do other shit all the time.

On consoles though I can play all day.
 
I suppose so, PC is getting more console ports so I guess it would be a golden age for a PC gamer being able to play most of what you get on consoles, the extra graphical bells and whistles is a bonus too.
 
I suppose so, PC is getting more console ports so I guess it would be a golden age for a PC gamer being able to play most of what you get on consoles, the extra graphical bells and whistles is a bonus too.
Looking at Steam, PC-exclusive indies and such definitely outnumber the multiplatform stuff. Especially if you include GOG and itch.io, and games available through Humble widgets or directly from dev sites
 
Is anyone else bummed that the PC-positive mantra so often seems to focus on better graphics and visual effects? Anymore that seems to me like a bonus, and PC gamers should do more to emphasize stuff like (nearly) endless backwards compatibility, mod support and the sheer variety and depth of the platform. Obviously these are brought up plenty around here, too, they just always seem to get drowned out by graphics wars.
 
But to answer your question:

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Totally a console. And stuff like Wing Commander was much much better on the CD32 than it was on an IBM PC at the time.

Yeah definitely and the first 32-bit console to release in a western market, though this one being the very first and Japan-only.

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I suppose so, PC is getting more console ports so I guess it would be a golden age for a PC gamer being able to play most of what you get on consoles, the extra graphical bells and whistles is a bonus too.

I feel like the reverse has happened. It used to be, consoles felt like they were getting all the hot shit and the PC was lucky to get good ports. Now it feels like not only are most games released on PC as well, but the mid-tier indie scene has exploded on PC and now consoles are lucky to get ports of the pc ecosystem.
 
I almost wonder if Sony is concerned. PlayStation has historically been the exclusive platform of JRPGs, but now a lot of IPs, like Souls, Tales or Valkyria are suddenly venturing beyond Sony's borders onto Steam and finding success there. This stuff alone is the reason I didn't bother with the PS4 despite having every other PS platform before it, and I wonder if the JRPG Renaissance on Steam has affected anyone else's console buying decisions to a point that Sony would notice.

not really seeing this jrpg renaissance tbh

square announced a cavalcade of ps4 games the past coupla months and aint none of them slated for a steam release. after type-0 being a bunk port i'm not convinced they actually know what they're doing on the platform. bamco has a decent foothold thanks to the souls games but a hardcore dark fantasy arpg is a no-brainer for the steam crowd, less bullish about tales of zesteria being a good port however (not to mention the game as a whole looks pretty shit). valkyria was a good port but it's a dead ip and sega is really inconsistent with their porting behavior, not mention atlus literally doesn't give a shit about steam.
 
Is anyone else bummed that the PC-positive mantra so often seems to focus on better graphics and visual effects? Anymore that seems to me like a bonus, and PC gamers should do more to emphasize stuff like (nearly) endless backwards compatibility, mod support and the sheer variety and depth of the platform. Obviously these are brought up plenty around here, too, they just always seem to get drowned out by graphics wars.

With ease of use improvements and the increase in console ports, there is definitely a lot of PC converts, at least on gaf, that are looking for a console like experience but with the extra PC horse power. The control over hardware and file system, tweaking and modding, input device options and the unrivaled backward compatibility are what draw me to the platform most.
 
As for whether this is the best period of PC gaming history, in a lot of ways it is, but there is at least one exception. In terms of accessibility, ease of use, and affordability it has become notably better. The quantity of great releases is perhaps better than it has ever been. The state of multi-platform development has made it so PC receives the vast majority of released games, and the state of console ports is better than it has ever been, with a few exceptions. The future is also very bright with technologies such as VR that will flourish in the PC space.

The one caveat is that there are still many older games that have yet to be surpassed. In fact, part of what makes this period of time so special is the renaissance many genres are experiencing. I would go so far as to say that Kickstarter, and crowd-funding as a whole to be one of the largest positive contributing factors for this period of time. It's this "return to form", and revitalizing the design principles of the classics. This is most evident in CRPGs, but is present to some degree among Point and Click Adventure games, Space Simulation, Arena FPS, etc. Not every game has been successful, but there have already been fantastic examples of games that not only live up to their inspiration, but in many ways set new standards such as Divinity: Original Sin. That said, I'm still looking for the games that set new standards above examples such as Planescape: Torment, Fallout, and Baldur's Gate II. I'm mostly focusing on CRPGs for my examples, but others have their examples as well. Then again, the relatively near future could be very bright indeed. Examples such as Torment: Tides of Numenera, UnderRail, Age of Decadence, and Star Citizen have a lot of potential. And you also have to consider that for many of these developers, they've only released one game so far. It's often the case that when you can build upon systems, and what was already established, not to mention the experience gained, the following game or sequel can be so much better, just look at Shadowrun: Dragonfall.

For curiosity on the perceived quality of RPGs throughout history, take a look at this graph from RPG Codex's Top 50 CRPG results.

 
Is anyone else bummed that the PC-positive mantra so often seems to focus on better graphics and visual effects? Anymore that seems to me like a bonus, and PC gamers should do more to emphasize stuff like (nearly) endless backwards compatibility, mod support and the sheer variety and depth of the platform. Obviously these are brought up plenty around here, too, they just always seem to get drowned out by graphics wars.

It's because the PC is compared to consoles, and graphics/performance are pretty much the only ones that can directly be compared.

You can't tell someone "The PC is great because of mods!" When they've never used a mod in the life. The impact won't be there.

Even stuff like graphics and performance is sometimes downplayed because people don't regularly see higher resolutions than 1080p and 30fps. So they don't fully understand the difference.
 
It's because the PC is compared to consoles, and graphics/performance are pretty much the only ones that can directly be compared.

You can't tell someone "The PC is great because of mods!" When they've never used a mod in the life. The impact won't be there.

Even stuff like graphics and performance is sometimes downplayed because people don't regularly see higher resolutions than 1080p and 30fps. So they don't fully understand the difference.
I care less about graphics, more about the massive indie scene. Indie games are what brought me to PC

No other platform comes close
 
Nothing says "Golden Age" like the dark era of former PC exclusive IPs going console exclusive or making consoles their lead-platform, along with several console centric studios no longer doing PC ports or saddling them with GFWL and/or SecuROM after Crytek's loose lipped and irresponsible comment about the majority of Crysis installs being pirated 8 years ago.

So no, not decade and a half. More like half a decade. We've barely recovered from Crytek's "piracy" shit-stirring 8 years ago, in a rather karmic inverse proportion to Crytek losing credibility and influence in the industry.

But believe me, I agree. Ever since Dark Souls arrived on PC, and the first major indie kickstarters took off, this has been an undeniable golden age like the 90s and mid 2000s was. JRPGs on PC, and with good quality versions surpassing their console counterparts, like Valkyria Chronicles, Mmmhmm.

I almost wonder if Sony is concerned. PlayStation has historically been the exclusive platform of JRPGs, but now a lot of IPs, like Souls, Tales or Valkyria are suddenly venturing beyond Sony's borders onto Steam and finding success there. This stuff alone is the reason I didn't bother with the PS4 despite having every other PS platform before it, and I wonder if the JRPG Renaissance on Steam has affected anyone else's console buying decisions to a point that Sony would notice.

You seem to be giving Crytek a lot more credit than they warrant about the downfall of the pc at the start of the HDtwins generation.

Nearly all of the traditional pc devs were saying irresponsible shit about piracy and viability of the pc as a gaming platform back during the dark days of early last gen. I would go as far as saying Epic are more responsible for those times than Crytek were.
 
Nowhere near Golden Age. If you had lived through 90's PC gaming, where there were TONS of unique amazing games filling HALF of games retail stores in the U.S., and practically every PC game was doing stuff no console game could do. That was a golden age.

Companies like Origin, id, Epic Megagames, Maxis, LucasArts, etc at their absolute PEAK.
This.

I left PC gaming around 2003, and I don't miss it a bit. The couple of flirtations with PC gaming since then have only confirmed that PC gaming is still mostly a niche I don't care about.

It's still a pain to evaluate what you have, what you need, and what you will need in the future.
If you are invested in educating yourself, it's great. If you just want to install games and play, the masses are not nearly as impressed.
 
This.

I left PC gaming around 2003, and I don't miss it a bit. The couple of flirtations with PC gaming since then have only confirmed that PC gaming is still mostly a niche I don't care about.

It's still a pain to evaluate what you have, what you need, and what you will need in the future.
If you are invested in educating yourself, it's great. If you just want to install games and play, the masses are not nearly as impressed.

You left during the worst time.

PC gaming is still not plug and play, but it's more much easier and accessible than it was, while console gaming has actually gotten less robust.
 
Nothing says "Golden Age" like the dark era of former PC exclusive IPs going console exclusive or making consoles their lead-platform.

I've been playing computer games longer than some gaffers have been alive. Yeah the gaming industry(formerly the computer gaming industry) has been acting like they've had half their brains removed. But the gaming itself has been wonderful for a long time. Those companies that have been ruining the industry have only ruined themselves and their prospects, because game players have simply moved around them, or away from them to other things.

You make a good point, but it only explains why I have 250+ digital games and don't have a box of CD cases and manuals or big name AAA titles anymore. They fucked up their market, retail, big budget, big tent productions. They didn't fuck up my gaming. And now its time for Consoles to find out what happens when you break bad, because I'm probably skipping this gen too, save for a Nintendo deal when it comes around post-peak.
 
This.

I left PC gaming around 2003, and I don't miss it a bit. The couple of flirtations with PC gaming since then have only confirmed that PC gaming is still mostly a niche I don't care about.

It's still a pain to evaluate what you have, what you need, and what you will need in the future.
If you are invested in educating yourself, it's great. If you just want to install games and play, the masses are not nearly as impressed.

You loved 90s PC gaming but find PC gaming to be too complicated today? And PC gaming is far from a niche.
 
With ease of use improvements and the increase in console ports, there is definitely a lot of PC converts, at least on gaf, that are looking for a console like experience but with the extra PC horse power. The control over hardware and file system, tweaking and modding, input device options and the unrivaled backward compatibility are what draw me to the platform most.

Sure, and I'm not saying it's not important. Just that it tends to suck the air out of the room in many threads, like the first three or four pages of this one.

It's because the PC is compared to consoles, and graphics/performance are pretty much the only ones that can directly be compared.

You can't tell someone "The PC is great because of mods!" When they've never used a mod in the life. The impact won't be there.

Even stuff like graphics and performance is sometimes downplayed because people don't regularly see higher resolutions than 1080p and 30fps. So they don't fully understand the difference.

I suppose that's true. Still, I think "more games from more genres and you get to play them whenever forever" is a pretty good selling point that isn't thrown around too often.
 
I loved PC gaming growing up, but I kind of dropped out of the high-end scene when the rts and adventure genre died out and consoles were matching pc settings (or at launch, outclassing them). Now that both Sony and Microsoft seem quite content to pump out underpowered hardware that has an increasing reliance on third parties that release their games on pc anyway, I have gone ahead and built a pc that will last me one console generation if not two.

Sony gave us an underpowered machine just not as much. The ram and the general architecture are great but everyone with a decent pc knows how much a solid cpu makes a difference.

It's because the PC is compared to consoles, and graphics/performance are pretty much the only ones that can directly be compared.

You can't tell someone "The PC is great because of mods!" When they've never used a mod in the life. The impact won't be there.

Even stuff like graphics and performance is sometimes downplayed because people don't regularly see higher resolutions than 1080p and 30fps. So they don't fully understand the difference.

We can't compare certain stuff that is prolific on the PC cause all big 3 still don't believe in tweaking, graphical options,add ons, and dlc just console are still so limited in in the degree by which users can take control or some users dimisss it we never have the debate. Nor is it necessary outside of discussing what devs/publishers should be aware of when making games. Also people have used mods anyone whose played modern FPS games has modders to thank for the some of the biggest changest including regenerating health. The same could be said for pc users and GTA before GTA3 came. People know mods just need to relate it in a way they can understand how it impacts them. People can downplay all this stuff my current debate is why profit driven companies are walking away from consumers when they should be embracing them. I will not accept time and money as an excuse with industry that uses millions and billions of consumer dollars. Investors might but I don't care after this point batman AK and that dumb ubisoft GTA game are huge examples of what makes consumers not trust the industry or the process it goes through at times. Doesn't bug me I've game far more cheaply than I did in the 90's and all fronts have a better experience.
 
I suppose that's true. Still, I think "more games from more genres and you get to play them whenever forever" is a pretty good selling point that isn't thrown around too often.

I agree, but I believe, and this is just my opinion, that when someone says "Oh PC gaming just doesn't have any games that appeal to me" they just haven't looked. It's not like they're LYING, but Steam alone already has over 6,000 games, and if you haven't looked at all of them, how can you really say it has no games that appeal to you?

So my point is, even if you tell them about more games, most people won't actively look for them If they don't already have a PC.
 
I agree, but I believe, and this is just my opinion, that when someone says "Oh PC gaming just doesn't have any games that appeal to me" they just haven't looked. It's not like they're LYING, but Steam alone already has over 6,000 games, and if you haven't looked at all of them, how can you really say it has no games that appeal to you?

So my point is, even if you tell them about more games, most people won't actively look for them If they don't already have a PC.
Tagy got a point, there's always somebody with some inane dismissal whenever someone points out one of Pc's more subjective benefits (of which there are shitlooooads) Visuals and performance are go-to metrics for comparison because you'd have to be a real asshole to try and argue against that shit generally
 
Nothing says "Golden Age" like the dark era of former PC exclusive IPs going console exclusive or making consoles their lead-platform, along with several console centric studios no longer doing PC ports or saddling them with GFWL and/or SecuROM after Crytek's loose lipped and irresponsible comment about the majority of Crysis installs being pirated 8 years ago.

So no, not decade and a half. More like half a decade. We've barely recovered from Crytek's "piracy" shit-stirring 8 years ago, in a rather karmic inverse proportion to Crytek losing credibility and influence in the industry.

But believe me, I agree. Ever since Dark Souls arrived on PC, and the first major indie kickstarters took off, this has been an undeniable golden age like the 90s and mid 2000s was. JRPGs on PC, and with good quality versions surpassing their console counterparts, like Valkyria Chronicles, Mmmhmm.

I almost wonder if Sony is concerned. PlayStation has historically been the exclusive platform of JRPGs, but now a lot of IPs, like Souls, Tales or Valkyria are suddenly venturing beyond Sony's borders onto Steam and finding success there. This stuff alone is the reason I didn't bother with the PS4 despite having every other PS platform before it, and I wonder if the JRPG Renaissance on Steam has affected anyone else's console buying decisions to a point that Sony would notice.

I feel like we've lost out on certain elements of PC-driven game design, however. The RTS still sucks. Simulation-driven game design is more associated with Metal Gear than the PC right now. Sure, we're getting Battletech back, but instead of the simulation-driven Mechwarrior series, it's turning into yet another turn-based board game.

Julian Gollop said once that the new XCOM was more like a board game than the simulation-driven game he would have made, and I think he's right. I think there's an entire element of computer gaming that's more or less dead, and nobody's even paid attention, because that design methodology is something we never really fully expressed in a way that could be considered as an established design philosophy, yet the vast majority of computer games used it as a guideline.

It's hard to explain in the limited time I have, but it's a conversation I really want to carry on with people some time.
 
I'm still happily gaming away on my 3770k/gtx760 pc, I can run everything on high at medium resolution.

Two weeks ago I upgraded to a 1440p monitor and oh boy have i been missing out. I'll build a 4k box in about three years time when I own a 4k oled tv.

also the bullet is through the church, in november I'll be buying the xbox elite controller + a steam controller! I was on the edge which way I would go but I've decided to just buy both of them.
 
I feel like we've lost out on certain elements of PC-driven game design, however. The RTS still sucks. Simulation-driven game design is more associated with Metal Gear than the PC right now. Sure, we're getting Battletech back, but instead of the simulation-driven Mechwarrior series, it's turning into yet another turn-based board game.

Julian Gollop said once that the new XCOM was more like a board game than the simulation-driven game he would have made, and I think he's right. I think there's an entire element of computer gaming that's more or less dead, and nobody's even paid attention, because that design methodology is something we never really fully expressed in a way that could be considered as an established design philosophy, yet the vast majority of computer games used it as a guideline.

It's hard to explain in the limited time I have, but it's a conversation I really want to carry on with people some time.

Proper Mechwarrior simulator... *drools*
MWO is a fucking joke really. (And not interested in that Battletech game, because i'll play the actual tabletop game rather than a PC game that is unlikely to have all the rules options and units.)

Heck, i wouldn't mind more simulation. Possibly what i'm looking from a game.
Because i can't find anything that interests me.
 
Nothing says "Golden Age" like the dark era of former PC exclusive IPs going console exclusive or making consoles their lead-platform, along with several console centric studios no longer doing PC ports or saddling them with GFWL and/or SecuROM after Crytek's loose lipped and irresponsible comment about the majority of Crysis installs being pirated 8 years ago.

So no, not decade and a half. More like half a decade. We've barely recovered from Crytek's "piracy" shit-stirring 8 years ago, in a rather karmic inverse proportion to Crytek losing credibility and influence in the industry.

But believe me, I agree. Ever since Dark Souls arrived on PC, and the first major indie kickstarters took off, this has been an undeniable golden age like the 90s and mid 2000s was. JRPGs on PC, and with good quality versions surpassing their console counterparts, like Valkyria Chronicles, Mmmhmm.

I almost wonder if Sony is concerned. PlayStation has historically been the exclusive platform of JRPGs, but now a lot of IPs, like Souls, Tales or Valkyria are suddenly venturing beyond Sony's borders onto Steam and finding success there. This stuff alone is the reason I didn't bother with the PS4 despite having every other PS platform before it, and I wonder if the JRPG Renaissance on Steam has affected anyone else's console buying decisions to a point that Sony would notice.

Care to provide an example of such at least? I'm struggling to remember any here.
 
Been playing on PC since '98 and right now I'm feeling as satisfied with PC gaming as I felt back then, so I guess it's a return to form (counting these past couple of years as well). Good days to have a capable PC and to be a fan of cRPG's... aw man, Divinity: OS, Shadowrun and Pillars almost bring tears to my eyes. Bring on Torment and Divinity: OS2, I'm not ready.

For people with money. We have to be clear about that. As long as you need a new 300 euros GPU every 2 years to play medium-high settings(console settings in other words), then it's a no-go for millions of people.
Consoles stay shy from PC high settings on a whole (we've already seen examples where even the low of a specific setting on PC is higher than on console - was it MGSV?), without bringing resolution and frames per second into play. Maybe you need a GPU every 2 years to maximize every setting, achieve 4k, 60fps or 120fps, but certainly not to game in the quality of the console version of a certain game.
 
For people with money. We have to be clear about that. As long as you need a new 300 euros GPU every 2 years to play medium-high settings(console settings in other words), then it's a no-go for millions of people.

please explain the logic to me..

the ps4 is released, it never gets upgraded and the hardware stays the same through its lifespan... so a game that comes out 6 years into the lifespan of the PS4 will require 2-3 GPU upgrades to keep the same settings as a console that has 6 year old hardware?

wtf?
 
There is no way we do a useful conversation of you take and quote things from different people's posts. You have to pay significant amounts of money to even play on par with console-like settings. Then in order to go higher than that, and see something different(which is MY personal desire) you have to pay even more than that.

Thats my opinion, but too many people are arguing at the same time! Its difficult to reply to all of you guys. So thx for the talk, we have different opinions on the matter, which is good!

both of the quotes that Durante quoted in the message to which you are replying were made by you.
 
Not really. It's a great age for gaming, PC is benefiting from that by proxy, very few big names are taking the time to create mind blowing reasons why consoles are the red headed step children of gaming, in fact a lit of the big names that used to are focusing in red heads first now; and placating the PC crowd with nips amd bobs in the graphics and sounds menu to make them feel better about what in all truths is a downgrade from what could have been if PC was the lead.

PC is taking what it can get, often console leftoversn steam is full of unfinished games, that does not a Golden age make.
 
please explain the logic to me..

the ps4 is released, it never gets upgraded and the hardware stays the same through its lifespan... so a game that comes out 6 years into the lifespan of the PS4 will require 2-3 GPU upgrades to keep the same settings as a console that has 6 year old hardware?

wtf?
I'll explain his logic for you

"I actually don't know shit about the costs of PC gaming today so I'll go with a consensus established by people who know less about the costs of PC gaming than even I do"

PC gaming often aint cheap but the constant upgrade rhetoric is just so got danged dumb for lots of reasons not the least being that it's debunked over and over again in like every second PC thread on this site
 
Proper Mechwarrior simulator... *drools*
MWO is a fucking joke really. (And not interested in that Battletech game, because i'll play the actual tabletop game rather than a PC game that is unlikely to have all the rules options and units.)

Heck, i wouldn't mind more simulation. Possibly what i'm looking from a game.
Because i can't find anything that interests me.

I'm not talking about simulators, though, right? I'm talking more like... elements that make games lean away from "games" and more towards "virtual realities," like... simulations the way Tamagotchi was a simulation. They're less abstract. They're not so much about scores, but about actions the player engages in within the space. I'm talking about stuff like System Shock and Deus Ex. Heck, even games like Age of Empires tackled this in some way.

Essentially, it's about the game space as a real space, rather than the game space as merely a space with rules and regulations and a win condition.
 
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