Are PC Games Dead?

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eracode

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#63305 24-Jun-2010 02:50

I started playing games on PC about 15 years ago and was never an uber gamer but loved certain types of games like Transport Tycoon, Civilization 4 and then got hooked on Silent Hunter 3. About five years ago I moved from a desktop to a high-end laptop that was good for gaming.

When we got an HD TV about three years ago we bought a PS3 as a BluRay and DVD player and I started playing some games on that. Have since got hooked on games like GTA4, Assassins Creed, Prototype and currently Red Dead Redemption.

At some stage I will replace the laptop and have been looking at the current crop of gaming-friendly lappies. However the fact is that I hardly ever play games on a PC any more. I was just looking at Metacritic to see what are the current highly-rated PC games - and there really aren't any. Whereas PS3 and Xbox have many games that rate in the 90's on Metacritic, the PC platform has nothing recent that rated above 87. Metacritic puts PC games in a category called "Other Platforms" along with the likes of N-Gage and Dreamcast.

It seems that PC games have been relegated to an enthusiasts' corner while the consoles reign. I don't think I really need a gaming-friendly laptop if/when I replace this one.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

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#344727 24-Jun-2010 03:22

You seem to be right about that, but I think there's a renaissance coming for PC gaming. The upcoming Civilisation V title is really hammering home the power of PC gaming, and again there's a load of MMORPG's that aren't going anywhere in a hurry. I'd like to see the figures on sales and subscriptions for those to see how they stack up against console games.

The barrier to entry for console gaming is small....it's a one off cost for the console itself and its a relatively low cost. Whereas putting together a gaming rig can, as you say, end up being an enthusiast project. There are of course pre-made gaming machines, laptop and desktop, but there will always be that die-hard techie niche market in PC games I think.

The introduction of Steam on OS X is also likely to help the proliferation of "PC" gaming in the near future.

itxtme

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#344734 24-Jun-2010 06:26

The problem with PC gaming is there are too many variables in the end users platform specifications and preformance. Wheras there are clear cut capabilities of console systems that ensure a game designer what they think they are putting out is exactly what the end user is experincing!!

eracode

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#344736 24-Jun-2010 06:49

itxtme: The problem with PC gaming is there are too many variables in the end users platform specifications and preformance. Wheras there are clear cut capabilities of console systems that ensure a game designer what they think they are putting out is exactly what the end user is experincing!!

Spot on.

And the enthusiast thing applies not only to the building of great rigs but also the whole realm of game modding. I was highly aware of the modding community involved in Silent Hunter 3 - and that was truly impressive. Massive projects which some guys seemed to have made a full-time occupation.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Mattnzl

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#344739 24-Jun-2010 07:32

The ongoing value for the moddable pc game that is picked up by a group is hard to beat (and probably another pc only thing game publishers aren't all that stoked about!).

I still play a bit of BF2 thanks to the awesome work of the AIX mod and the great selection of maps. Without this add on the game would have been uninstalled a long time ago.

The only console in our house in the Wii, so it's easier to stay hooked on pc games for me than some of you lucky guys with ps3/xbox360 hehe!

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#344740 24-Jun-2010 07:48

eracode:
itxtme: The problem with PC gaming is there are too many variables in the end users platform specifications and preformance. Wheras there are clear cut capabilities of console systems that ensure a game designer what they think they are putting out is exactly what the end user is experincing!!

Spot on.

+1. For me it is also the fact that you can lend a PS3/Wii/Xbox360 game to a friend easliy, but with PC games which TEND to require CD keys/online registration, its much harder. However, with DLC on the rise this point is getting weaker.

xpd

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#344742 24-Jun-2010 08:08

For PC gaming, I just cant keep up the cost of upgrading my PC every time "the next big game" comes along. OK, the PC I currently have Ive spent almost zip on it due to being given it by a friend, but for me to get back up to date now to play games such as COD4:MW2, BF:BC2 etc, Id have to upgrade the whole box which is going to be approx $1000 on the low end, escpecially if I want it future proofed a bit.

Whereas next week, Im going into EBGames and buying a PS3 with a few games - the games will run fine without upgrading anything, newer games will happily run and be just as much fun as the PC versions.

My PC is actually up for sale atm, so PC gaming will be almost a nil thing for me...only PC gaming Ill be doing is playing games that Ive purchased on steam such as Monkey Island, Half Life series etc on a laptop altho some are available on PS3.... pity I cant gift my games to other Steam users.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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maverick

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#344748 24-Jun-2010 08:30

Bloody hope not... I want to use my TV for TV..... I want to play PC games on my PC and watch TV at the same time coz I can Multi Task.

Also stops the war we would have in the house if I'm using the PS3 for games and my Wife wants to watch TV.

Long live the PC game

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rossmnz

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#344750 24-Jun-2010 08:51

i think not.

i have a ps3 and do almost no gaming on the PC atm.

However once the latest Starcraft and diablos come out...the expansion for wow.....

There are just some games that fit better on PCs than consoles.

ie Dragon age origins!

However, it is so sweet gaming on the ps3 with beer on table, on my couch, on 42" HD TV!!!(when i get the mrs away from watching TV!)

The force is strong with this one!

Che

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#344755 24-Jun-2010 09:05

No. I desperately trying to find the article I was reading last week to back up my figures`, but PC games outsold nearly every SINGLE console last year. The problem with the "figures" is that people tend to lump consoles together and then pit them against PC as a whole. Thats like saying the Wii is on it's way out because it has been outsold by the rest. That is nothing less than fudging statistics.

So you want to play one of the MANY upcoming PC titles due for release in the next six months? Starcraft II perhaps? Sure, you not-just-out-of-the-box rig may stutter a little, but turn the settings down a bit. Jesus, turn them all the way down if you have to. I bet you'll get to play the game, and after a while, you won't notice the drop in graphics. If you do, you could look at the weak point in your system and just upgrade that. New GPU, more memory; even switching from dual to quad core. Not entirely expensive and no where near the cost of a new system. Not even the cost of a console...
Now tell someone with a PS2 to drop resolution/particle effects etc and play Mod Nation. That poor person has no choice but to go out and get a brand new console to play the current releases.

People are buying PC's every day. When you buy a console, you buy it to game. When mom and dad go to Harvey Norman to get a computer, they inadvertently bring the entire household into the PC gaming market whether they realized it or not. Sure, that may not happen too often, the kids will put their two cents worth of requirements in, but it adds to the argument.

I'm not anti-console, I'd love to have every single one, but that fact is the few hours I can relegate to gaming are more than occupied with the abundance of PC titles being continuously released.

xpd

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#344759 24-Jun-2010 09:12

My box wouldnt "stutter" at SC2, itd just go "fudge you" and load up Giana Sisters for me.

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#344761 24-Jun-2010 09:14

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2188339,00.asp

Sorry for the double up - there is no edit button!
All Nay sayers should read this. There is even a section on the supposed expense of PC gaming.

Myth #3: PC games don't sell, and are falling far behind console game sales

Sales tracking firm NPD said there were "over $970 million" in PC game sales, and $7.4 billion in total game sales. So, roughly a billion in sales for the PC, and $6.4 billion for consoles. Consoles are slaughtering PCs, right? Actually, it's not that simple.

First of all, it's a stacked deck. The PC is one platform, the Xbox 360 is one platform, the PlayStation 3 is one platform, the Nintendo DS is one platform, etc. If you make a game for the PS3, it doesn't magically run on the 360 any more than it magically runs on the PC. PC game sales as tracked by NPD are being beat over 6:1 by the combination of all console platforms. Of course it is! NPD did not provide a breakdown by platform (except for the PC), though. Divvy up that $6.4 billion in console sales into its respective separate platforms: Xbox, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, and PSP. There are at least nine major "console" platforms, each as incomparable to each other as the PC is to consoles, contributing to that $6.4 billion in sales. If the distribution were even (and it's not), you'd have about $711 million per console platform. Now, the PC is leading! Of course, consoles like the PS2, Nintendo DS, and Xbox 360 had the lion's share of game sales, while newer and more expensive systems like the PS3 with a more limited software lineup had less. It's safe to assume, in the absence of specific console-by-console data, that PC game sales fell somewhere in the middle of the pack—behind the top few console systems, and ahead of several others. You could certainly characterize the PC as selling games at retail "just as well" as "the average console system."

Che

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#344764 24-Jun-2010 09:20

xpd: My box wouldnt "stutter" at SC2, itd just go "fudge you" and load up Giana Sisters for me.

You have an Amiga? Can I sleep over at your place?

xpd

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#344767 24-Jun-2010 09:27

Che:
xpd: My box wouldnt "stutter" at SC2, itd just go "fudge you" and load up Giana Sisters for me.

You have an Amiga? Can I sleep over at your place?

LOL used to.... big Amiga nut

My father in law still has an A500 that he wants me to test and sell for him... Id love to keep it but wouldnt get enough use really and Ive got oodles of ADF files to use with WinUAE.

My Amiga history here

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#344773 24-Jun-2010 09:36

Che:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2188339,00.asp

Sorry for the double up - there is no edit button!
All Nay sayers should read this. There is even a section on the supposed expense of PC gaming.

Myth #3: PC games don't sell, and are falling far behind console game sales

Sales tracking firm NPD said there were "over $970 million" in PC game sales, and $7.4 billion in total game sales. So, roughly a billion in sales for the PC, and $6.4 billion for consoles. Consoles are slaughtering PCs, right? Actually, it's not that simple.

First of all, it's a stacked deck. The PC is one platform, the Xbox 360 is one platform, the PlayStation 3 is one platform, the Nintendo DS is one platform, etc. If you make a game for the PS3, it doesn't magically run on the 360 any more than it magically runs on the PC. PC game sales as tracked by NPD are being beat over 6:1 by the combination of all console platforms. Of course it is! NPD did not provide a breakdown by platform (except for the PC), though. Divvy up that $6.4 billion in console sales into its respective separate platforms: Xbox, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, and PSP. There are at least nine major "console" platforms, each as incomparable to each other as the PC is to consoles, contributing to that $6.4 billion in sales. If the distribution were even (and it's not), you'd have about $711 million per console platform. Now, the PC is leading! Of course, consoles like the PS2, Nintendo DS, and Xbox 360 had the lion's share of game sales, while newer and more expensive systems like the PS3 with a more limited software lineup had less. It's safe to assume, in the absence of specific console-by-console data, that PC game sales fell somewhere in the middle of the pack—behind the top few console systems, and ahead of several others. You could certainly characterize the PC as selling games at retail "just as well" as "the average console system."

The boats not sinking - its just a bit of water really... This is the Titanic... Its unsinkable...

Fact is you can get someone on the internet to write some stuff that will support anything, including some peoples love with small farm animals for example...

The reality is you only need to look on the shelves to see whats really happening - How many blockbuster releases are you seeing on the PC anymore - see any "Insert Name Here" Hero, or "Insert Name Here" Rock Band's coming out for the PC???

PC's are down to a handful of die hard games. Consoles on the other hand, are embracing whole families and introducing a whole new generation of both gaming and home entertainment.

Fact is for the price of an average graphics card for the PC, your console gaming on a current gen, HD console.

In the case of the XBox, my ones over three years old, and still going, spending another $200 bucks or so on Kinetic, will see it living on for probably another 3 years. The whole family gets to use it, often all together. So the graphics don't look as good as an ATIRadeonVidia 78 Kabillion core, 5 million wattakahuna graphics card plugged into a 6 million core Intel R78 billion processor, in a water cooled (fish included) heavily modded case - but who cares... The entertainment factor of the Xbox kills the PC dead.

Pretty much the only people alive who believe PC gaming is still alive probably haven't seen sunlight for 20 years, eat at least one pizza every day, have over 10,000 friends, but have never met any of them in person, and purchase at least one new graphics card every month. They will have also had an electrician modify their house power supply to cope with the 10,000 watts of power needed to keep the 8 card SLICrossover rig going into the small hours of the night...

RustyGonad

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#344774 24-Jun-2010 09:36

Che:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2188339,00.asp

Sorry for the double up - there is no edit button!
All Nay sayers should read this. There is even a section on the supposed expense of PC gaming.

Myth #3: PC games don't sell, and are falling far behind console game sales

Sales tracking firm NPD said there were "over $970 million" in PC game sales, and $7.4 billion in total game sales. So, roughly a billion in sales for the PC, and $6.4 billion for consoles. Consoles are slaughtering PCs, right? Actually, it's not that simple.

First of all, it's a stacked deck. The PC is one platform, the Xbox 360 is one platform, the PlayStation 3 is one platform, the Nintendo DS is one platform, etc. If you make a game for the PS3, it doesn't magically run on the 360 any more than it magically runs on the PC. PC game sales as tracked by NPD are being beat over 6:1 by the combination of all console platforms. Of course it is! NPD did not provide a breakdown by platform (except for the PC), though. Divvy up that $6.4 billion in console sales into its respective separate platforms: Xbox, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, and PSP. There are at least nine major "console" platforms, each as incomparable to each other as the PC is to consoles, contributing to that $6.4 billion in sales. If the distribution were even (and it's not), you'd have about $711 million per console platform. Now, the PC is leading! Of course, consoles like the PS2, Nintendo DS, and Xbox 360 had the lion's share of game sales, while newer and more expensive systems like the PS3 with a more limited software lineup had less. It's safe to assume, in the absence of specific console-by-console data, that PC game sales fell somewhere in the middle of the pack—behind the top few console systems, and ahead of several others. You could certainly characterize the PC as selling games at retail "just as well" as "the average console system."

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