Why the PC Won E3

The console makers may have made a lot of noise during the show, but PC Gamer believes that our platform of choice clearly “won” last week’s E3 based on a few key games (particularly Star Wars: The Old Republic and Deus Ex: Human Revolution), a handful of upcoming innovations (such as 3D support and OnLive), and some important announcements (like The Lord of the Rings Online going free-to-play).

The best games at E3 in my opinion? Start with The Old Republic, then move to Crysis 2. Finish up with Civilization 5. Yeah they’re all PC staples. But they show a level of polish and grace that has been sorely missing from PC gaming for years. The Old Republic, my pick for game of the show, is insane it’s a monstrously well produced MMO that combines Dragon Age style storytelling with the open world questing of World of Warcraft. And every MMO staple system in-between. The Civilization 5 presentation was a perfectly produced snapshot of an experienced development house tuning their best work.

But it’s not just about PC exclusives. There are, at best, just a couple of console exclusives that aren’t available on PC. But everything else absolutely everything else incredible games like Deus Ex, XCOM, and Call of Duty, will arrive on our platform, with better, smoother graphics, smarter online support, for lower cost, and playable at your convenience on as many machines as you own through digital download platforms. PC gaming’s victory seems like a no brainer.