I just recently was reading another thread talking about someone choosing to buy a whole new PC because essentially the xbox360 sucks and all its games come out on PC.  It got me thinking about how much I enjoy PC gaming, though right now my computer is outdated and currently cant afford a full rehaul of all its major components. So i mainly stick to playing new games on consoles. 

Plus, a lot of games that do come out on the PC tend to end up on the console anywayz, so i dont feel like right now im missing on too much.  But this is where i start to see the problem.  Does anyone remember like just 10 years ago when PC games were complex and allowed so much?  Remember playing flight/ combat sims that had almost every key on the keyboard mapped out for some sort of function?  Granted you never used most of the keys, but it did allow you to essentially get as in depth with the game as you felt was necessary.  

A good example of complexity in a game series was Mechwarrior.  There was a time when it had all sorts of different controls.  Where setting up a Mech with weapons required you to acknowledge each limbs weight limits, how much armer to put on each limb, on top of the overall weight of the Mech.  Then you look at the most recent adaptations (MechAssault) and its simplicity is appalling, just making sure the weapons fit in the boxes and dont cause too much heat.  (PS. Chromehounds does try to bring back that sort of complexity, but i saw it as a pretty crappy game)

Another example is the Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six Series. Compare the originals to those series (originally PC games) and look at the grandchildren now, and all i see is a lack of tactical choose in these games, replaced with a simplified "squad control" scheme, that no longer really allows for as in depth tactical and strategic options as previous versions allowed for.   

Theres tons of examples of this, i dont need to go through them all, but the basic question i ask; Are consoles essentially causing game developers to dumb down games and simplify them to be able to fit console control schemes? Are PC/Console ports being simplified in order to accomdate the growing number of "casual" gamers in the market and essentially increase revenue? More and more im seeing franchises of great games be simplified to fit on consoles.  Is this because of consoles?  Is this because theres more money in console games then PC games?  Whats everyones opinion on this?

***PS: i would like to not have this thread filled with a ton of comments from 15 year old kids who've only play videogames on Playstation saying "ITS CUZ PC GAMES SUCK AND CONSOLES RULEZ!!!" 

The only console that can ruin the industry is the Wii, and there's about a 15% chance of that happening. I don't believe the Wii is anywhere near powerful enough to ruin a generation like the PS1 did. God, I hated that system.

No, its expanding it, example the Wii.

Complex is not necessarily better, a good design would have as much as complexity that's required to run the game without over burden the user with extra commands. While I do agree there are some games dumbed down due to console/PC multiplatforming, these games usually originated on console. In addition, this year is apparently quite good for PC, so you shouldn't be too concerned.

Also, there's plenty of good games still on PC, they are just harder to find since most of them come from EU and Asia (minus Japan, I miss Taikou Risshiden and Uncharted Waters, sigh) Russia?.

In short, consoles can cause games to be dumbed down, but those games are usually focused on the original console anyway and get ported to PC. Any PC game that get ported to console and still not up to standard might mean that it wasn't so good in the first place. As for "casual"... Flash games, anyone? As for simplification, that depends on the region, I guess, some franchise appeared to have died out... although new ones are always there to take its place. It's probably because there's more money on console gaming, for the moment at least, than PC, though PC should have pretty good legs (and is cheap to produce).

P.S: Give Relic's SLG games a try, anything by Valve and (minus any MMO) Blizzard should be pretty good too. Remember, complex game is not necessarily a good one (since it's much diffcult to make a game that's complex because it's so brimming with contents that it have to be, than it is complex because the developers lack understanding of a good user interface)

Edit: Man... Is this Wall of Text even readable? I really should sleep NOW.

I actually think the opposite. I feel like PC's are ruining the gaming industry.. simply just because of their nature
Their prices, the fact that not everything works with everything, most games won't run on a mac or linux O.S. it's inhibitive.

There's GPU's CPU's Memory Hard drive space and many other things people need to think of with a PC game, one of the first things I see people do when considering a PC game is check the recommended system specs. Some games are fine but then you have things like Crysis which I don't believe will run smoothly on any of the current systems. This will change yeah but you'd have to buy an whole new PC for hundreds of dollars every few months to keep up or a GPU for the same prices.

The prebuilds that people normally buy in the department stores just don't have the power to run the high end games.

In the end yeah a PC can do more if it has the power but you can't make it for only the top end systems or it won't run on the low end ones. In addition having no set format and specs for PC's can be inhibitive, what is the sweet spot for performance and appearance who's gotta decide this?

I feel like I buy a console and for the next 5 years I KNOW every game I buy for that console will work on it and let's face it that's damn convenient. Most people don't have the time, money, patience or know how to update their PC every few months because some new FPS or RTS decided they'd have 30x AA(exaggeration)

Edit: I tend to keep my PC's updated fairly well but I cannot count how many times I bought a PC game got it home and couldn't play it or got some error message or my soundcard apparently wasn't good enough etc. Is it just me?

Short answer is yes. Its has happened, is still happening to franchises, and will continue. The reason is simply capitalism. You make more money by creating games that cater to the normal person... who happen to be really dumb and lazy.

Good new is, the market for games that we like hasnt shrunk. It just hasnt grown as fast as the other areas in gaming which means games will always be made. I just dont believe in franchises any more because they always sell out.

Oh, i totally understand the point more complex isnt necessarily good. Some complex games are still out there though too (i.e. Oblivion is extremely in depth, though the lack of macro slots on the console version makes me wish for a keyboard, haha.)

Im just trying to say the more and more i look out there, i feel like, on average, games have become more shallow then they were even just 10 years ago.

@misteromar mk4
Did you even READ the OP? How the hell is the Wii expanding the games in the gaming industry when its filled with more casual and "party" games then the other 2 systems? Im talking about depth of video games , not if more senior citizens are playing video games.

Hmm. From your post, it seems you like the complexity of PC games but let me just say that games are meant to be fun. Simple concept. Some games made on the PC are more fun because of its complexity but from my experience, most aren't. You used Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six as an example. I can tell you that I enjoy RSV very much due to it being more simplistic but I hate GRAW so damn much and that was built separately for the PC. I would have prefer the 360's version of GRAW instead. I'm spending most of time in GRAW ducking, find cover, and persistently looking around for enemies, dying, and starting over again. It's just not that fun.

Secondly, PC gamers get a lot of exclusives because of its unique interface from consoles. There's no lack of complex games on the PC right now. (Of course, people might have different definitions of complexity.) Those games aren't going anywhere. For every developer who decides to switch to console development, there will be another one who decides to concentrate on PC development only.

Thirdly, not all PC exclusive games are complex. A huge majority of them are casual with simple controls and they are fun towards the people they're being market to. There's no harm in that. The gaming industry is big enough to account for all types of gamers. There's no need to start point the finger towards certain groups just because a few franchises you love are no longer what they used to be. Things change. You can usually find new games to play that fit your needs.

 I get what your saying, i used to be a big PC gaming freak, just cant afford the hobby anymore.  But one point of mention is, that while PCs themselves are fairly expensive to buy, PC games themselves are cheaper then Console games.  If anyone says otherwise they are full of crap, and can easily prove it by going to walmart and comparing games on PC and those on consoles.

Hell, PC game prices also DROP faster then console game prices, because they make more off each unit sold due to no Royalty costs to the console maker.  Thats why sometimes you'll find PC games at 30 bucks or even 20 while the Xbox/PS3 version are still at 60 bucks.  So, when you think about prices, in the end, if you a top end PC player, you might come out even.