Shiny New World?

Some things are just inevitable. As sure as Tuesday follows Monday, so Google – which has already created an operating system for mobile phones – has decided to enter the PC marketplace with a similar offering aimed at being an alternative to Windows.
And while the talk has been about knocking Microsoft from its perch and finally breaking the dominance the company has on computers across the world, there could well be implications for general gaming too.

For if the Google Chrome operating system gets a hold on to enough machines, it’s almost odds-on that, due to the search engine giant targeting lower-powered netbooks, we’re going to see more and more casual games being developed to cater for a new, less technologically advanced userbase.
Netbooks are primarily aimed at users who don’t need a massive amount of power and want the portability of a smaller device. They are also proving an attractive device to women and people who mainly use an internet browser in their day-to-day computing.
So it figures that they wouldn’t necessarily want to get too involved in the latest first-person shooters but would prefer, every now and then, to kick back with some pick-up-and-play games. What Google Chrome, with its emphasis on the use of the internet cloud, is most likely to do is promote the playing of such titles, and also encourage a greater uptake of online games.

Figures suggest that online gaming and digital downloads are causing major drops in physical sales – especially in America, where there was a 31 per cent year-on-year drop back in June, so what we may see is a further change in the way people play with access to portable PC gaming becoming so much cheaper and accessible. Indeed, Google Chrome may prove to be quite adaptable. It will be open-source and, in many ways, it is more of a direct competitor to Linux (although it is built upon a Linux kernel). Google is promising a fast, lightweight and secure offering that will be made available in the second half of 2010, which means this time next year we’ll no doubt have been getting to grips with it. And while Google Chrome may not smash Microsoft’s technically superior Windows 7 into a cocked hat, it will provide a mass-market alternative for those people who don’t need the power.
Now some may point towards the relative lack of games for Apple’s OS X and say Google Chrome will make a similar lack of impact. But Google Chrome is going to be a different kettle of fish. It’s going to be free for a start (Macs continue to cost the earth and they are primarily purchased by people who want to use their machines to be creative rather than to play games), it’s going to be developed for cloud computing and it’s going to be aimed at the mass market. And that final part is the crux of the issue.

One thing that Google will need to have on board, however, is games companies. And what these games companies have to do more than anything is be persuaded to produce games that are exclusive to the Google Chrome platform. Without it, some argue, why would anyone make a switch? It can be argued conversely, though, that more and more women are playing games on their PCs – some say the figure is getting towards 50 per cent – and they are going after casual games. If Google develop Chrome so that it enables the use of the right plug-ins and the operating system is free, then it suddenly proves to be a more viable option – especially if games are made easy to access.
With Google’s excellent search facilities, who would bet against it coming up with an integrated search for games within the operating system so that people can get straight to lightweight games with the minimum of fuss?

So what we are likely to see is a split, with Windows continuing to dominate the hardcore gaming base and Google Chrome becoming popular with casual gamers. It is no bad thing either – ultimately it will mean that there’s more people playing games on a PC no matter what operating system is being run. Those who start by playing casual games may, in time, fancy a greater challenge, and it’s the introduction to gaming that the PC needs to continue. That’s not to say core companies are not getting on board with Chrome, though. Already Nvidia has held up its arms and come out in support of this new OS. The company believes it opens up the way for smoother and speedier high-definition 3D graphics processing on netbooks.
Derek Perez, Nvidia’s public relations director, has said his company is “excited” about what Google can bring to the table. “We think that mobile internet devices like netbooks are great and are set to become very popular in the future, so we’re more than happy to work with Google and see what it can bring.”

One of the companies already planning for Chrome is Jagex Games Studio, which recently appointed Sensible World Of Soccer creator Jon Hare as head of publishing. He has recently been involved in producing fun, casual games (his most recent, CCTV, was canned, however) and, at Jagex, he will develop the online gaming portal FubOrb.com.

“I’m interested in games that can be created for browsers and for iPhones and that sort of thing,” he says. “What they offer is a cheaper way of developing a game and an idea, and what you can do is establish a brand and a concept and then go and say to someone, ‘look, this game works, why don’t we put some extra cash into it and take it to the consoles and make it into a bigger budget PC game?’”

There’s no doubt that Google Chrome could have some interesting implications – and positive ones at that – for PC gaming as a whole.