Interesting article on the BBC News website today, featuring the thoughts of James on the PC market: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15536488 Anyone think BF3 and Skyrim will be the saviours of the PC?
I'd love to believe so, but can't. I still think that a lot of the damage has been done. Sure, games will look much better on the PC than their console counterparts, but if you already own a console, why would you spend potentially a lot of money upgrading your components to make a game you can spend a fraction of the cost on, on a console look prettier. If you don't own a PC, then you would have to again, spend a decent amount of cash putting together a system to play these games at their highest potential. Consoles do well because they're instant, you don't have to upgrade them over time and they often fall in to what I call the Apple syndrome "It's cool to own one" despite the competition offering a better product. Maybe I've just become defeatist, over the years of watching developers ho them selves at consoles, or it could be that I haven't had lunch yet. Maybe that's it.........
i'll be brutally honest, i probably would not own my current desktop or even a PC if it wasn't for my love for PC gaming. i see my iPad 2 perfectly adequate for internet browsing. and a netbook/cheap laptop/Macbook Air for occasional limitations on a tablet. for average consumer, there simply isn't any need to upgrade that Core2 processor. just slap a low-end GT 430 so Firefox can take advantage of hardware acceleration.
I'd like to think that more people would pay for it but I can't see it happening, even though the actual games tend to be a bit cheaper on the pc. Its all down to the fact that you buy a console, its the same as every other one. A pc can have so many variations that you can't create a direct game program (easily) that can handle it all efficiently. The hardware in consoles is lower tech but more able due to specific programming. I'm sure there was an article at some point on this. The pc does have the advantage with upgrading bits a at a time rather than a large upgrade at once on a whole new console. I also agree with wuyanxu for most people a tablet/low end laptop will do everything they need and more than that for some. If I didn't like pc gaming and running programs, editing etc I probably wouldn't have a desktop either, although I hate laptop screens, track pads, and keyboards, generally.
Interesting article, particularly the comment on the upgrade cycle becoming longer - that explains (in part) why many people haven't been buying new PCs for the last two years, myself being one of them. There are still a lot of people in the same boat who have "last gen" hardware and are very happy with it. Also, let's not forget the overclocking community... it is a very strong body of system builders who aren't interested in how hard the most recent games push the most recent components; they just want the new hardware to put it through its paces, which in turn makes people want to buy it. New and better PC components are a bit like the iPad: we buy not because we need, but because we want. That, in marketing terminology, is a result.
Not sure about Skyrim, but the large differences between console and PC versions of BF3 (especially as shown in the trailers) really has introduced a good number of people (who more than likely had no real idea about gaming on PC, or what its advantages are) to see the potential of the PC, and to allow comparison with their console. The main issue I see with PCs is the companies who make them. Either they tote the crappest systems as "gaming PCs" with something like a GT210 which would be incapable of playing games, leading people to believe that gaming on PCs is a waste of time, or at the other end of the spectrum, things like Alienwares and such being so OTT in all areas and really expensive. This leads to the oft-uttered fallacy: "If you want to game well on a PC you must spend a fortune" Whereas, if PC makers actually produced some nicely balanced systems (something like a mid-range i5, 4GB RAM, and 6870/GTX560) in a decent case (something a self-builder could achieve with £500): YOUR BASKET 1 x Intel Core i5-2300 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £145.99 1 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £139.99 1 x MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** £61.99 1 x XFX Pro 450W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £45.98 1 x Fractal Design Core 1000 Midi Tower Case - Black £28.99 1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT25664BA160A) £21.98 1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99 Total : £462.92 (+W7 +HDD when the prices are normal) (Apologies for using OCUK, but there's a handy shopping-cart extension for Chrome) If this was mass-produced, factoring in that the components would be bought at lesser prices (and OEM variants used), a good gaming PC could easily be achieved by Dell or HP or whoever for ~£550-600 including Windows, which, while a lot more than the cheapest Xbox, is not beyond the realms of most gamers, especially given how PC games are cheaper, as are many peripherals, and the fact that most people have a PC anyway, so this could replace that too. Our UK retailers try their best, but they haven't got the buying power of someone like Dell, and besides haven't got the brand awareness.
More kids are playing more games and these kids will graduate to more functional technology as they grow older and require technology for more than one use. This should be good news for the pc market I feel in the long term. Saying that every knobber at work is always asking me what laptop to get for x and y when they really would benefit from a desktop solution, but they seem drawn away from them without reason.
Because again........A laptop conforms to the "what's hot" at the moment. What makes me chuckle, are how many times people have told me they prefer a laptop, because of it's mobility use, yet they mostly use it sitting on the sofa, or at table.......ummm okaaay.
The PC may not be selling as a whole, but I'm guessing the sale of individual components has increased due to the ever increasing number of "enthusiasts". I see this as a good sign for PC gaming.
