Editing PC game (section)

=== Growth of IBM PC compatible games ===
Among [[launch titles]] for the [[IBM Personal Computer]] (PC) in 1981 was ''[[Microsoft Adventure]]'', which IBM described as bringing "players into a fantasy world of caves and treasures".<ref name="bricklin">{{Cite web |url=http://www.bricklin.com/ibmpcannouncement1981.htm |title=IBM PC Announcement 1981 |last=Bricklin |first=Dan |website=Dan Bricklin's Web Site |access-date=2018-03-06}}</ref> ''[[Byte (magazine)|BYTE]]'' that year stated that the computer's speed and sophistication made it "an excellent gaming device", and IBM and others sold games like ''[[Microsoft Flight Simulator]]''. The PC's [[Color Graphics Adapter|CGA graphics]] and [[PC speaker|speaker sound]] were poor, however, and most customers bought the powerful but expensive computer for business.<ref name="williams198112">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1981-12/1981_12_BYTE_06-12_Computer_Games#page/n7/mode/2up | title=New Games New Directions | work=BYTE | date=December 1981 | access-date=19 October 2016 | author=Williams, Gregg | pages=6–10}}</ref>{{r|loguidice2014}} One [[ComputerLand]] owner estimated in 1983 that a quarter of corporate executives with computers "have a game hidden somewhere in their drawers",<ref name="solomon198310">{{Cite magazine |last=Solomon |first=Abby |date=October 1983 |title=Games Businesspeople Play |url=https://www.inc.com/magazine/19831001/5758.html |magazine=Inc. |language=en}}</ref> and ''[[InfoWorld]]'' in 1984 reported that "in offices all over America (more than anyone realizes) executives and managers are playing games on their computers",<ref name="mace19840402">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kC4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56 | title=Games with windows | work=InfoWorld | date=1984-04-02 | access-date=10 February 2015 | author=Mace, Scott | pages=56}}</ref>{{r|shannon19870825}} but software companies found selling games for the PC difficult; an observer said that year that ''Flight Simulator'' had sold hundreds of thousands of copies because customers with corporate PCs could claim that it was a "simulation".<ref name="cgw198410">{{cite magazine | title=The CGW Computer Game Conference | magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]] | date=October 1984 | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1984&pub=2&id=18 | access-date=October 31, 2013 | page=30 | type=panel discussion}}</ref>

From mid-1985, however, what ''Compute!'' described as a "wave" of inexpensive [[IBM PC compatible|IBM PC clones]] from American and Asian companies, such as the [[Tandy 1000]] and the [[Leading Edge Model D]], caused prices to decline; by the end of 1986, the equivalent to a $1600 real IBM PC with 256K RAM and two disk drives cost as little as $600, lower than the price of the [[Apple IIc]]. Consumers began purchasing DOS computers for the home in large numbers. While often purchased to do work on evenings and weekends, clones' popularity caused consumer-software companies to increase the number of IBM-compatible products, including those developed specifically for the PC as opposed to [[porting]] from other computers. [[Bing Gordon]] of [[Electronic Arts]] reported that customers used computers for games more than one fifth of the time whether purchased for work or a hobby, with many who purchased computers for other reasons finding PC games "a pretty satisfying experience".<ref name="halfhill198612">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1986-12-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_079_1986_Dec#page/n33/mode/2up | title=The MS-DOS Invasion / IBM Compatibles Are Coming Home | work=Compute! | date=December 1986 | access-date=9 November 2013 | author=Halfhill, Tom R. | pages=32}}</ref>

PC game sales rose by 198% year over year in the first half of 1987, compared to 57% for the market overall. The formerly business-only computer had become the largest and fastest-growing, and most important platform for computer game companies. More than a third of games sold in North America were for the PC, twice as many as those for the Apple II and even outselling those for the Commodore 64.<ref name="shannon19870825">{{Cite news |last=Shannon |first=L. R. |date=1987-08-25 |title=Finally, the Right Stuff |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/25/science/peripherals-finally-the-right-stuff.html |access-date=2025-04-14 |work=The New York Times |department=Peripherals |pages=C8 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="keiser198806">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1988-JUn-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_097_1988_JUn#page/n81/mode/2up | title=MS-DOS Takes Charge of Fun Software | work=Compute! | date=June 1988 | access-date=10 November 2013 | author=Keiser, Gregg | pages=81}}</ref> By 1988 ''Computer Gaming World'' agreed with [[Joel Billings]] of [[Strategic Simulations]] that an inexpensive clone with [[EGA graphics]] was superior for games.<ref name="brooks198711">{{cite magazine | title=Titans of the Computer Gaming World / MicroProse | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1987&pub=2&id=41 | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=November 1987 | access-date=2 November 2013 | author=Brooks, M. Evan | pages=16}}</ref><ref name="proctor198803">{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1988&pub=2&id=45 |title=Titans of the Computer Gaming World / SSI |last=Proctor, Bob |date=March 1988 |magazine=Computer Gaming World |access-date=2 November 2013 |pages=36}}</ref> The Tandy 1000's [[Tandy Graphics Adapter|enhanced graphics, sound]], and built-in joystick ports made it the best platform for IBM PC-compatible games before the VGA era.<ref name="loguidice2014">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZnpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA84 | title=Vintage Game Consoles: An Inside Look at Apple, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, and the Greatest Gaming Platforms of All Time | publisher=CRC Press |author1=Loguidice, Bill |author2=Barton, Matt | year=2014 | pages=85, 89–92, 96–97 | isbn=978-1135006518}}</ref>

By 1988, the enormous popularity of the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] had greatly affected the computer-game industry. A [[Koei]] executive claimed that "Nintendo's success has destroyed the [computer] software entertainment market". A [[Mindscape (company)|Mindscape]] executive agreed, saying that "Unfortunately, its effect has been extremely negative. Without question, Nintendo's success has eroded software sales. There's been a much greater falling off of disk sales than anyone anticipated." A third attributed the end of growth in sales of the [[Commodore 64]] to the console, and [[Trip Hawkins]] called Nintendo "the last hurrah of the 8-bit world". Experts were unsure whether it affected 16-bit computer games,<ref name="ferrell198907">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1989-07-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_110_1989_Jul#page/n29/mode/2up | title=Just Kids' Play or Computer in Disguise? | work=Compute! | date=July 1989 | access-date=11 November 2013 | author=Ferrell, Keith | pages=28}}</ref> but games lost shelf space at computer software stores, and many of the hundreds of computer-game companies went out of business. Hawkins said that while foreign videogame competition increased, "there's an increase in product supply without an increase in demand".<ref name="microbytes198902">{{Cite magazine |date=February 1989 |title=Optical Drives Could Boost Entertainment Software |url=https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1989-02_OCR/page/n15/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2024-10-08 |magazine=BYTE |pages=16-17}}</ref> He in 1990 had to deny rumors that Electronic Arts would withdraw from computers and only produce console games.<ref name="cgw199003">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1990&pub=2&id=69 | title=Electronic Arts Reaffirms Commitment to Disk-Based Software | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=March 1990 | access-date=15 November 2013 | pages=14 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405105848/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1990&pub=2&id=69 | archive-date=April 5, 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> By 1993, [[ASCII Entertainment]] reported at a [[Software Publishers Association]] conference that the market for console games ($5.9 billion in revenue) was 12 times that of the computer-game market ($430 million).<ref name="wilson199306">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=107 | title=The Software Publishing Association Spring Symposium 1993 | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=June 1993 | access-date=7 July 2014 | author=Wilson, Johnny L. | pages=96}}</ref>

However, computer games did not disappear. The industry hoped that the [[CD-ROM]] and other [[optical storage]] technology would increase computers' [[user friendliness]] and allow for more sophisticated games.{{r|microbytes198902}} By 1989, ''Computer Gaming World'' reported that "the industry is moving toward heavy use of [[Video Graphics Array|VGA graphics]]".<ref name="cgw198907">{{cite magazine | title=The Shadow of Your Style / New Directions at the Consumer Electronics Show | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1989&pub=2&id=61 | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=July 1989 | access-date=3 November 2013 | pages=4}}</ref> While some games were advertised with [[Video Graphics Array|VGA]] support at the start of the year, they usually supported EGA graphics through VGA cards. By the end of 1989, however, most publishers moved to supporting at least 320x200 [[Multi-Color Graphics Array|MCGA]], a subset of VGA.<ref name="sipe199211">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=100 | title=3900 Games Later... | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=November 1992 | access-date=4 July 2014 | author=Sipe, Russell | pages=8}}</ref> VGA gave the PC graphics that outmatched the Amiga. Increasing adoption of the [[computer mouse]], driven partially by the success of [[adventure game]]s such as the highly successful ''[[King's Quest]]'' series, and high resolution [[bitmap]] displays allowed the industry to include increasingly high-quality [[Graphical user interface|graphical interfaces]] in new releases.

Further improvements to game artwork and audio were made possible with the introduction of [[FM synthesis]] sound. [[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha]] began manufacturing FM synth boards for computers in the early-mid-1980s, and by 1985, the NEC and [[FM-7]] computers had built-in FM sound.<ref name="hg101_retro" /> The first PC [[sound card]]s, such as [[AdLib]]'s Music Synthesizer Card, soon appeared in 1987. These cards allowed [[IBM PC compatible]] computers to produce complex sounds using FM synthesis, where they had previously been limited to simple tones and beeps. However, the rise of the [[Creative Labs]] [[Sound Blaster]] card, released in 1989, which featured much higher sound quality due to the inclusion of a [[Pulse-code modulation|PCM]] channel and [[digital signal processor]], led AdLib to file for bankruptcy by 1992. Also in 1989, the [[FM Towns]] computer included built-in PCM sound, in addition to a [[CD-ROM]] drive and [[24-bit color]] graphics.<ref name="hg101_retro" />

In the late 80s and throughout the entire 1990s decade, DOS was one of the most popular gaming platforms in regions where it was officially sold.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Jennings |first=Peter |title=The Century |last2=Brewster |first2=Todd |date=November 1998 |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |isbn=0-385-48327-9 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=551 |author-link=Peter Jennings |author-link2=Todd Brewster}}</ref>

By 1990, [[DOS]] was 65% of the computer-game market, with the Amiga at 10%; all other computers, including the [[Mac (computer)|Apple Macintosh]], were below 10% and declining. Although both Apple and IBM tried to avoid customers associating their products with "game machines", the latter acknowledged that VGA, audio, and joystick options for its [[IBM PS/1|PS/1]] computer were popular.<ref name="cgw199012">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1990&pub=2&id=77 | title=Fusion, Transfusion or Confusion / Future Directions In Computer Entertainment | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=December 1990 | access-date=16 November 2013 | pages=26}}</ref> In 1991, [[id Software]] produced an early [[first-person shooter]], ''[[Hovertank 3D]]'', which was the company's first in their line of highly influential games in the genre. There were also several other companies that produced early [[First-person shooter|first-person shooters]], such as [[Arsys Software]]'s ''[[Star Cruiser (1988 video game)|Star Cruiser]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=16126|title=Star Cruiser|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101010101/https://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=16126|archive-date=2014-01-01|url-status=dead|website=[[All Media Network#AllGame|AllGame]]}}</ref> which featured fully [[3D computer graphics|3D polygonal graphics]] in 1988,<ref>[http://www.4gamer.net/games/008/G000896/20080428044/ スタークルーザー] ([https://translate.google.com/translate?&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.4gamer.net%2Fgames%2F008%2FG000896%2F20080428044%2F translation]), 4Gamer.net</ref> and [[Accolade, Inc.|Accolade]]'s ''[[Day of the Viper]]'' in 1989. Id Software went on to develop ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]'' in 1992, which helped to popularize the genre, kick-starting a genre that would become one of the highest-selling in modern times.<ref name="fpssales">{{cite web | url =https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/analysts-fps-most-attractive-genre-for-publishers | title =Analysts: FPS 'Most Attractive' Genre for Publishers | access-date =August 17, 2006 | last =Cifaldi | first =Frank | date =February 21, 2006 | archive-date =June 27, 2022 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20220627230555/https://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=8241 | url-status =live }}</ref> The game was originally distributed through the [[shareware|shareware distribution model]], allowing players to try a limited part of the game for free but requiring payment to play the rest, and represented one of the first uses of [[texture mapping]] graphics in a popular game, along with ''[[Ultima Underworld]]''.<ref name="texturemapping">{{cite web |url=http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2003/05/05/doom/index.html?pn=2 |title=Masters of "Doom" |access-date=September 23, 2006 |last=James |first=Wagner |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070813010113/http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2003/05/05/doom/index.html?pn=2 |archive-date=August 13, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In December 1992, ''Computer Gaming World'' reported that DOS accounted for 82% of computer-game sales in 1991, compared to Macintosh's 8% and Amiga's 5%. In response to a reader's challenge to find a DOS game that played better than the Amiga version the magazine cited ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]]'' and ''[[Civilization (video game)|Civilization]]'', and added that "The heavy MS-DOS emphasis in ''CGW'' merely reflects the realities of the market".<ref name="cgw199212">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=101 | title=Letters | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=December 1992 | access-date=5 July 2014 | pages=122}}</ref> A self-reported ''Computer Gaming World'' survey in April 1993 similarly found that 91% of readers primarily used IBM PCs and compatibles for gaming, compared to 6% for Amiga, 3% for Macintosh, and 1% for Atari ST,<ref name="cgw199304p176">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=105 | title=What You've Been Playing Lately | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=April 1993 | access-date=7 July 2014 | pages=176}}</ref> while a [[Software Publishers Association]] study found that 74% of personal computers were IBMs or compatible, 10% Macintosh, 7% Apple II, and 8% other. 51% of IBM or compatible had 386 or faster CPUs.<ref name="wilson199306" />

By 1992, DOS games such as ''[[Links 386 Pro]]'' supported [[Super VGA]] graphics.<ref name="mcdonald199211">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=100 | title=Links 386 Pro from Access | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=November 1992 | access-date=4 July 2014 | author=McDonald, T. Liam | pages=72}}</ref> While leading [[Sega]] and [[Nintendo]] console systems kept their CPU speed at 3–7&nbsp;[[clock rate|MHz]], the [[i486|486]] PC processor ran much faster, allowing it to perform many more calculations per second. The 1993 release of ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'' on the PC was a breakthrough in 3D graphics, and was soon ported to various game consoles in a general shift toward greater realism.<ref name="realismshift">{{cite web|url=http://www.gamepilgrimage.com/Consolehistory2.htm |title=Console history |access-date=September 23, 2006}}</ref> ''Computer Gaming World'' reiterated in 1994, "we have to advise readers who want a machine that will play most of the games to purchase high-end MS-DOS machines".<ref name="cgw199401sound">{{Cite magazine |date=January 1994 |title=Sound Philosophy |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=114 |department=Letters from Paradise |magazine=Computer Gaming World |pages=120, 122}}</ref>

By 1993, PC [[floppy disk]] games had a sales volume equivalent to about one-quarter that of [[console game]] [[ROM cartridge]] sales. A hit PC game typically sold about 250,000 disks at the time, while a hit console game typically sold about {{nowrap|1 million}} cartridges.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Microtimes |magazine=Microtimes |date=July 1993 |volume=10 |page=74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Dw9AQAAIAAJ |publisher=BAM Publications, Incorporated |quote=But the reality is, today's business is cartridge business. The difference in volume is about four to one per title. With exceptions{{mdash}}a {{nowrap|Falcom 3.0}} will sell as much as a cartridge title would out in the open market. But even a hit title in the floppy disk market is a quarter million copies. (Cartridge game) Street Fighter II sold nine million copies worldwide.}}</ref>

By spring 1994, an estimated 24 million US homes (27% of households) had a personal computer. 48% played games on their computer; 40% had the 486 CPU or higher; 35% had CD-ROM drives; and 20% had a sound card.<ref name="cgw199405">{{Cite magazine
| date=May 1994
| title=Software Publishing Association Unveils New Data
| department=Read.Me
| url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=118 
| magazine=Computer Gaming World
| pages=12}}</ref> Another survey found that an estimated 2.46 million multimedia computers had internal CD-ROM drives by the end of 1993, an increase of almost 2,000%. ''Computer Gaming World'' reported in April 1994 that some software publishers planned to only distribute on CD as of 1995.<ref name="cgw199404">{{Cite magazine
| date=April 1994
| title=Invasion Of The Data Stashers
| url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=117 
| magazine=Computer Gaming World
| pages=20–42}}</ref> CD-ROM had much larger storage capacity than floppies, helped reduce software piracy, and was less expensive to produce. [[Chris Crawford (game designer)|Chris Crawford]] warned that it was "a data-intensive technology, not a process-intensive one", tempting developers to emphasize the quantity of [[digital asset]]s like art and music over the quality of gameplay; ''Computer Gaming World'' wrote in 1993 that "publishers may be losing their focus". While many companies used the additional storage to release poor-quality [[shovelware]] collections of older software, or [[video game remake|"enhanced" versions of existing ones]]<ref name="cgw199304p24">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=105 | title=Forging Ahead or Fit to be Smashed? | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=April 1993 | access-date=6 July 2014 | pages=24}}</ref>—often with what the magazine mocked as "amateur acting" in the added audio and video{{r|cgw199404}}—new games such as ''[[Myst]]'' included many more assets for a richer game experience.

Many companies sold "multimedia upgrade kits" that bundled CD drives, sound cards, and software during the mid-1990s, but [[device driver]]s for the new peripherals further depleted scarce RAM.<ref name="weksler199406">{{Cite magazine
| last=Weksler
| first=Mike
| date=June 1994
| title=CDs On A ROMpage
| url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=118 
| magazine=Computer Gaming World
| pages=36–40
}}</ref> By 1993, PC games required much more memory than other software, often consuming all of [[conventional memory]], while device drivers could go into [[upper memory area|upper memory]] with [[DOS memory management|DOS memory managers]]. Players found modifying <code>[[CONFIG.SYS]]</code> and <code>[[AUTOEXEC.BAT]]</code> files for memory management cumbersome and confusing, and each game needed a different configuration. (The game ''[[Les Manley in: Lost in L.A.]]'' satirizes this by depicting two beautiful women exhaust the hero in bed, by requesting that he again explain the difference between [[extended memory|extended]] and [[expanded memory]].) ''Computer Gaming World'' provided technical assistance to its writers to help install games for review,<ref name="weksler199306">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=107 | title=Memory Management and System Configuration for MS-DOS Games | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=June 1993 | access-date=7 July 2014 | author=Weksler, Mike | pages=99}}</ref> and published sample configuration files.<ref name="cgw199401load">{{Cite magazine |date=January 1994 |title=Load For Bear |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=114 |magazine=Computer Gaming World |page=34}}</ref> The magazine advised non-technical gamers to purchase commercial memory managers like [[QEMM]] and [[386MAX]]{{r|weksler199406}} and criticized nonstandard software like [[Origin Systems]]'s "infamous late and unlamented Voodoo Memory Manager",<ref name="wilson199312">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=113 | title=The Sub-Standard In Computer software | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=December 1993 | access-date=29 March 2016 | author=Wilson, Johnny L. | type=editorial | pages=10}}</ref> which used [[unreal mode]].