News PC game sales constitute 14 percent of total sales

QFT!

I hate seeing stuff like this. PC gaming will never die. It's where new ideas come to fruition. It's where invention becomes innovation. PC titles Cheesecake!

 

I myself have bought over a 150 PC games in the last 14 years.

Do you know how may console games I have bought?

Only 3!

 

Oh PC gaming will never die, it's just far easier to go out buy a console and a game, hook the console to your TV, put your game in the drive and play. Setting up a gaming rig is tough, most people wouldn't know where to begin and they take the easier route to enjoying their spare time.

 

impar

14% + digital distribution = 16% or more, that for 1/6 (Veles post) (i am not considering the PS2) of the game market if all gaming systems have the same share, is quite good.... i am not considering that the DS and wii have a hugely insane amount of market share......

 

I know a lot more people who own a console than a pc. but they are all different consoles like everyone else has pointed out. i think that the pc game sales are on track with what is expected.
It would help if games were a little less demanding on systems. (crysis) and maybe there was more time spent on developing gameplay and a bit less on graphics. I still love to play some of my older games because they are fun. I was playing gothic 1 the other day and i liked it as much as gothic 2 and 3. although the controls really sucked in that game.

 

i bought bioshock, crysis, cod 4, ET quakewars all on digital distribution, plus got the 'black box' free with an Ati card via Steam, so none of these purchases will have been taken into account in the figures.

 

One thing is certain: PC games could do with a bit of innovation...

Too many FPSs and RTSs (I'm getting kinda tired of playing Wolfenstein 3D and Dune II over and over again.....) Even though HL2 and the episodes are marvellous games, World in Conflict is amazing, and I can't wait to get my hands on Call of Duty 4 (after I finish GoW - which is very, very good IMO), it just feels like developers are stuck to established genres and conventions.

Back in the 1990s, we used to have more variety in gameplay... Before the "3D arms race"...

 

Greetings!

Thats a misleading reasoning.
The game sales results being discussed here are from 2007 in America, in 2007 this was the user base for consoles in America:

As you can see the user base between the different consoles is not 1:1, there were three times as much X360 as there were PS3, for instance.
The user base for PC is even larger than all the consoles put together, unless all the mid to high end graphic cards sold are just for show.

PC gaming is still highly popular but, unfortunately, so is FWAE (freeloading with an excuse).

 

Interesting to see the sales figures of >£120 gfx cards going back a generation or two, that would give a fair idea of the size of the PC gaming market.

 

figures?

the numbers you linked there show over 87m consoles, are there really that many gaming PCs?
you cant really class any PC owner as a potential PC game buyer as a lot of them will not be used for gaming

 

It's funny....

I don't know anyone with a console who doesn't also game on the PC to some extent. Apart from 2 360 owners, the others are all older consoles (XBox/PS2). Most of them play a smaller selection of older games because the console AAA titles are so expensive.

Some also buy copies from the small-ads in the local papers - you know the type - overseas counterfeit goods with a blurry cover and a photocopied manual. But none of my PC gaming friends have any copied games from the last few years.

Admittedly, the majority of the PC gamers are playing newer games at reduced settings due to the hardware requirements.

Custom PC did a good Console vs PC article this month. While not perfect, it basically told us what we know - PC gaming is a little more expensive (didnt cover HDTV purchases), but is a lot 'better'. That is, the console plus half a dozen AAA games costs only a little less than a decent (C2D/8800GT) PC and the same games, while the experience was significantly inferior.

There are nothing wrong with consoles as such, but in order to make the experience match that of a PC, you are going to have to evolve the console so that it is almost a PC anyway.

The other missing factor is how many FREE mods each group plays. Rather than being a drain or distraction for developers, a moddable game rgnine provides the guarantee that your game will sell. People will always buy PC games and the developers will continue to develop them.

 

The sheer fact they left out online sales is huge.
I spent quite a lot on PC gaming last year, but NONE of it was retail, all games i brought were on steam or similar, plus a fair chunk of cash on a wow subscription...

 

Oh dear, even PC sites are spreading this rubbish now.
I expect better from the likes of Bit-Tech. Most of what i want to say has already been said.... this is the US only and NPD don't track Steam or Subscription sales.

PC gaming in the US makes up a much smaller percentage than it does in Europe and has done so for ages. Nothing to see here or worry about other than the piracy. Which is prevalent on all systems.

 

do you have sources, or are you just talking out of your ass?

 

Someone better tell ATI & Nvidia to stop making new cards!!!1!!1

On the serious side though: Every time I look at a new game I tell myself I have one yet to finish (Guild Wars: Prophecies=100%, Factions=50%, Nightfall=1 mission left, EotN=50% and there's lots left even after those are done, and that's only one character). Yes I spend less on games but more on hardware. Like many have said: older games still offer a lot of value.

Maybe PCs have better games with more depth or more replay value. Maybe PC gamers just have a longer attention span than console gamers.

 

Quoted for truth. The last few times i've bought games, it has all been done with Steam. HL2 EP2, GTA 1-SA(5),and Bioshock.

 

Greetings!

Some observations...
First, above numbers for consoles are for North America, numbers for graphic cards sales are reported as worldwide;
Second, I havent seen any numbers for graphic cards sales for the end of 2007, shouldnt take longer to have then published;
Third, not all graphic cards should be considered as gaming capable;
Fourth, above numbers for consoles are absolute, a graphic card sold may be for an all new PC gaming system or to replace an aging one;
Fifth, one can replace an old 7900 for a 8800 and sell/give the 7900 to other person, making the 7900 equipped system count as gaming capable.

All that said:
According to a new report released by Jon Peddie Research, nearly 83.5 million PC graphics devices shipped during the fourth quarter of 2006, ...
Now, that was 2006 and only a quarter worldwide sales, decide how many of those are gaming capable and how many were sold in America.

Actually, if you check the original article and divide the amount generated PC games income by the number of PC games sold, you get an average PC game price of only $25. That to me indicates that PC gaming supporters are not all buying the hardware demanding new AAA titles.

With almost half being the aging PS2.

Shouldnt HDTVs be included?
Also, doing the same math for consoles you get an average console game price of $43 and one still needs a PC in this day and age. Might as well get one with gaming capabilities.

Piracy exists in every system, but is widely more popular in the PC.

Choose a AAA game and check torrent sites. Some do show the number of downloads.
Not all P2Ped game is a lost sale? Ok. But from 10 P2Ped games, how many would have been bought? 3? 5? 8?

 

I can't agree with what you're saying, innovation is the wrong word you should have said PC games need more variety. Newer RTS's especially show a huge amount of innovation, but a lot of genres have become practically extinct (turn based strategy or adventure).

 

My two favourites The closest to adventure now is RPGs but even those are nowhere near as common as FPS & RTS (two I don't care for at all). Still, Id rather have one or two good RPGs than a shload of poor ones.

 

i concur, bring back the turn based strategy game!!!

+ if the pc market is worth almost a billion dollars it doesnt seem like dying to me....