Why Overbuild Computers for Gaming?

The era of the "gaming computer" began during the "great DOOM upgrades." It was a time when there was really no such thing as a Pentium, and Nintendo ruled the console space. At the time, there were a lot of computers that had 2-inch speakers with little or no sound hardware at all. The purpose of the speakers in those early systems was basically to play a warning tone if the mainboard didn't boot correctly, and that was about it.

What DOOM required was a lot of CPU cycles and a sound card, and then some more CPU cycles. So the upgrades began.

One of the oft-traveled bridges across upgrade canyon was the bridge from the old x86 SX architecture to the newer DX series, the most popular of which was the 486DX2, running at 50 or 66 Mhz. Yeah, clock speeds were counted in millions then. There was also the mega-popular Soundblaster 16 ISA sound card which became almost as standard in the peripheral market as the x86 processor architecture. There are undoubtedly many computers still running SB16 compatible sound hardware or drivers somewhere.

From there, the race for more began, all the way up to the current monster systems with their 8GB RAM/2GB VRAM setups. This only followed the games, which had a distinct advantage on the PC platform: multiplayer. Consoles were a little late to the multiplayer world, but with the recent introduction of technologies like the home network and the hardware emphasis on convergence, consoles have caught up.

So the question becomes: why overspend by thousands overbuilding a computer when for hundreds, the finest consoles with massive game libraries, high-definition displays and new technologies like the Nintendo Wii's motion controls? Well, it isn't really that simple.

It is likely overbuilt computers will become a niche not unlike overbuilt cars, with custom after-market accessories and companies like Alienware specializing in assembling machines built to order. The game industry will probably continue to support the personal computer platform for some time, given computers have pretty much always been capable of just about anything consoles can do.

What will be most interesting to watch is how personal computers and consoles interoperate in the future. Will personal computers ever have the ability to play console games, or vice versa? It would certainly save a lot of time and development costs and if game companies could ship a single binary playable on any system.