The recently-formed PCGA has one primary goal in mind: to make the PC a more viable option for gaming. As consoles continue to gain popularity from the masses, PC gaming is falling victim to rampant piracy, compatibility issues, lack of interest at retail and cost concerns from consumers.

But the PCGA, an amalgamation of companies including Activision, Epic, Microsoft, AMD, Nvidia, Intel, Dell, Acer, Alienware and Gateway, just might be able to turn the platform's gaming fortunes around through education of game makers and consumers, standardization and generally better communication.

As a hardware maker in the PCGA, what's your biggest goal? Is it simply to get more GeForce cards into PCs, or is there more than that?

Roy Taylor: If that was the goal we wouldn’t have joined and the other members wouldn’t have wanted us. Seriously.  We joined because our goal is the same as the other members – to make PC gaming a genuinely better experience.  That’s not only noble, it’s good business too. If PC gaming is truly the best it can be, then more people will want to do it. Right now it’s not always the best it can be by any means.

The top 50 selling PC games last year all had different minimum specs, for one thing. For another, publishers and developers are laboring under the illusion that PC gaming is in trouble, and the most misinformed are looking at not even developing for the PC.  That’s a solvable problem but it needs tackling urgently. The PCGA is in a good position to do that.

What exactly is in this for the PC makers? Why would they spend the extra money to include decent graphics cards with all their systems when places like Dell already have lines like XPS targeted at gamers?

Gaming is great for all PC makers for all SKUs. PC makers know that if a user is only going to run Microsoft Office, then they don’t need much of a PC, so gaming is essential for them for all of their model lines. Unlike console gaming, PC gaming is scaleable; so while high-end machines meet the needs of some gamers, others might want to start off with less demanding games like The Sims or virtual life applications like Second Life.  Too often, even those first experiences are not very good.

If I read one more article quoting NPD as saying the sky is falling for PC gaming I am going to scream!
What’s more, it does not cost more to make a PC that provides a good experience. If OEMs and users select the right components inside of the PC, it’s easy to have a great gaming experience without paying one cent more than users do today. The PCGA aims to give guidance to PC makers, developers and publishers on what minimum specs should be to ensure that everyone gets a good experience whether they are playing SimCity or Crysis.

How do you convince companies like Dell and Acer, and even Intel with its crummy integrated graphics, that computers need to be gaming capable, with non-integrated graphics?

All of the members know that unless we improve the experience for all and help the entire PC gaming industry, then we face the danger of publishers moving away from the platform.  So we have an imperative to act. All of us. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with integrated graphics so long as they perform adequately for the tasks asked of them. We expect the bar to be raised significantly this year on minimum graphics performance for integrated solutions. But 90 percent of what has shipped so far fails to do anything except cause frustration, anger and disappointment if the PC is asked to do anything except e-mail.  That’s bad.

Have there been any new developments since the PCGA has been announced?

Yes! Lots. We now have three sub-committees kicked off. One is for data research: to collect and share real numbers on PC gaming.  If I read one more article quoting NPD as saying the sky is falling for PC gaming I am going to scream! Another committee is to set out, agree and share what we think minimum specs should be for all games.  And the third committee is for marketing to spread the message about PC gaming. A fourth important sub-committee is also being investigated to tackle piracy. Our aim for each area is to investigate, invite comment and share results with the industry, users and the press.

What are the smaller goals of the PCGA?

Well we want to recruit more members from other regions and sources. We are looking for more input from Europe and Asia, for example, and we would like to see more developers take part.  Then we aim to make the web site friendlier and begin developing an online community. I would also like to see us start blogging on it too.  The more interactive we are, the better. Then we want to organize PCGA participation at events so that we can meet face to face with as many people as possible. Lastly, we would like to get more air time with the media so we can educate and correct falsehoods and tackle issues that affect us all. This interview is part of that so I thank you for the chance to talk to you.