As attention has shifted to sophisticated video game consoles such as the Xbox and PlayStation 2, PC gamers have watched their preferred platform wither.

Retailers have been squeezing shelf space for PC games to accommodate more console and handheld titles, and many PC game creators have migrated to the console market.

PC game sales in the U.S. peaked at $2 billion in 1999, and then fell every year after that, landing at $1.1 billion last year.

Console game sales, on the other hand, were already twice the size of PC game sales in 1999, and have increased every year since, reaching $6.2 billion in 2004.

But several major companies – including Microsoft Corp. and Texas-based heavyweights like GameStop Corp. and Dell Inc. – are trying to revitalize PC gaming.

"The shelf space has been shrinking," said Chris Donahue, director for the Windows gaming and graphics team at Microsoft. "We underinvested in making sure that hasn't happened, and that's one of the things we're going to fix."

And the big boys are getting help from scores of smaller game developers and sellers who want to bypass retail shelves altogether and turn online game sales and downloads into a thriving industry.

Microsoft – which makes the Xbox game console and its upcoming successor, the Xbox 360 – is one of the companies responsible for the ascendancy of console gaming.

In 2001, the Xbox console was launched with a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz.

Last year, Microsoft pushed video game hype into a new realm with the release of its Xbox game, Halo 2.

Sales of Halo 2 hit $125 million on the first day of availability, the largest first-day gross of any entertainment product in history, to that point.

Now, the Xbox 360 is set to hit on Nov. 22, and Microsoft has publicly proclaimed its goal to attract one billion gamers.

Whether or not that lofty pinnacle is reached, it's clear that Microsoft, as well as competitors Sony and Nintendo, have turned console gaming into a mainstream entertainment medium on par with movies and music.

Lost in the shuffle has been the PC, the original king of interactive entertainment.

Dan DeMatteo, chief operating officer and vice chairman at Grapevine-based video game retailer GameStop, recalls two decades ago when consoles were mere upstarts.

"I remember when, back when I was at Software Etc., the day came when console games became 25 percent of my business, and I said, 'Oh my goodness, this is terrible,' " he said.

Now, GameStop – which recently spent $1.4 billion to acquire its biggest competitor, Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. – reserves about 85 percent of its store shelves for console games, Mr. DeMatteo said.

"I would hate to see it go away," he said of the PC games segment. "I wouldn't be the one to cause it to go away. If the consumer is there and publishers are making good games for the PC, I will be there."" [more]