The tides of the gaming industry are shifting towards next-generation consoles. I hate that, and so does a majority of hardcore PC gamers. Even though I enjoy playing certain Xbox and PS2 titles, I despise what consoles are doing to the market and I am generally disheartened to witness several well-known developers working on console projects, instead of devoting their creativity to making a decent PC game. Some say PC games need to be taken more seriously, considering the large number of supporters worldwide. And while most publishers are targeting younger audiences and console gamers, others are focusing on luring gamers into vast (and lucrative) MMO worlds. Certain developers, thankfully, are steering clear of such contemporary clichés, going back to more traditional single-player CRPGs. Piranha Bytes, for instance, focuses its latest project, Gothic 3, exclusively on classic single-player RPG content, in order to stay true to the Gothic series. 

The unstable history of the Gothic series didn't hinder the diligent folks over at Piranha. Gothic 2 went through different publishers, but in the end it managed to please gamers in Europe (and in the US, eventually). The third installment of Gothic has been in development for some time, although actual in-game media has been scarce, there's no doubt that the game is safely on its way for a Q1 2006 release (according to the official web site that is). American distribution rights were recently acquired by Aspyr Media, so there shouldn't be any worries this time around.