Gaming Is PC gaming dying?

Developers and publishers see consoles as an easier option because they are closed platforms with identical hardware and piracy is supposedly less prevalent. I can understand that, they want to make money but they think we are just going to pirate the games and they'll end up making a loss. Fair enough I think.

People come onto gaming forums saying they are going to pirate this or that, either because of the DRM or just because they think it is acceptable to essentially contribute to the downfall of PC gaming, yet as a community, we don't turn around and say "No, that's not cool, go away". If we want the cutting edge titles to keep coming, shouldn't we marginalise and ostracise those who insist on pirating games instead of handing over £25 - the price of a takeaway and a couple of beers - for a few hours entertainment? Piracy isn't a victimless crime - it's just that the victims are other legitimate gamers who see a flurry of poorly optimised console ports instead of groundbreaking, graphically impressive and original titles - not the developers who will just take their business elsewhere.

PC gaming itself won't die out, but the charts will be full of Sims 3 addons and subscription MMO's as well as dated console ports.

 

I wonder how well wolfinsten, UT3 , fear 2 and other console lead games have done.

yyou want to tlak piracy the wii has a much bigger pirate than pc gaming.

here is the real truth about game devs big companies like microsoft ,gamestopand sony want pc gaming dead!

http://www.shacknews.com/laryn.x?story=60207

http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/07...led-pc-gaming-in-retail-stores-one-site-says/

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/53403

http://downloadablesuicide.com/2009/07/16/pc-gaming-its-problems-stem-from-mistreatment/

http://www.edge-online.com/news/microsoft-pc-gaming-still-a-priority

http://www.edge-online.com/features/is-microsoft-really-committed-pc

mirco soft’s game devs that spread lies about pc gaming

http://kotaku.com/5058402/molyneux-says-pc-gaming-market-in-tatters

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/36390/118/

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2008/02/gears-of-war-cr/

http://www.digitalbattle.com/2008/09/30/why-gears-of-war-2-isnt-on-pc-piracy/


where is all the console pircay rates why are they not posting them? they use to post the pircay numbers on console games.

the gaming industry is a joke

the gaming industry is hustle to wards pc gamers and pc gaming, why because big companies like sony and microsoft are losing billions on consoles!

 

oh I for got here is another good link

http://www.pcworld.com/article/172300/hey_microsoft_we_need_more_games_for_windows.html

 

That link is wrong. We need LESS GFWL, not more.

 

No, we need good GFWL. I'm sure if it wasn't rage-inducingly awful then most people wouldn't care less.

 

Also, bemoaning the lack of achievements on games? Does that really add anything to the experience? Yeah I killed one gazillion enemies. I spent ten years getting all the achievements. The developers should be able to make the game enjoyable without needing to draw on the 'Ooh shiny' reaction of sheeple.

 

I think they have to put piracy checks in single player games.. I have no idea why they would need to in multiplayer.. simple key checks stop it

but in single player, if you left the dvd open.. what happens is everyone pirates it day one- if the crackers have to work on it awhile to make it playable, some will just go out and buy the game- so it's increased sales

think the batman game shows where they are headed with it.. put a check into the game that's nothing but a front.. the crackers think they've cracked the game, but another check knows it's running illegit.. it let's the player go to a certain point and then billyshafts their ass

this leads to a broken version being posted.. the saddle poppers are foaming at the mouth and then bam! they get a facefull of sea grogin and run to the store to buy a working copy

 

I don't know what you just said, but it sounds awesome!

 

Whenever there is an argument or discussion about PC versus console gaming, I love to read the difference in the way an obvious console gamer expresses themselves, compared to an obvious PC gamer.
PC gamers make good points, have interesting views and tend to articulate better than console gamers, who pretty much don't have brains.
I'm not just a crappy PC fanboy either, I still play my Wii and xbox, and enjoy it! but clearly, smarter & better informed people use PC's as a primary gaming platform.

I think we'll definitely see a genre distinction emerging. Racing, adventure & platform games are great on consoles, and RTS, FPS games are great on PC.
there's still room for both though, look at RE4 on the wii for example, has anyone -ever- used a game with more satisfying, intuitive controls?
There's more than enough room for both platforms, provided developers & publishers are like minded D:

 

I don't think it's necessarily a difference in brainpower between PC and console gamers, but there might be a difference of maturity. I feel like console gamers tend to be younger, and the voicechat makes them more likely to whine or argue each other, while communication via PC must be typed out into coherent.

But even playing the same map, the same game, and the same day, you see a huge range of e-egos. Yesterday, I played a WC3 TFT "Battleships" game. I had one game where the other team whooped my ass, and we were able to stay friendly, and talk about some of our cool strategies, and agree on which strategy was the deciding factor. A few hours later, I play the same map, and this time the other team is flaming the crap out of me. I was using a powerful but difficult-to-use ship - it has very low health and no armor, and can't equip any items that improve that, but it has a very powerful melee one-shot attack (which is easily dodged by 2 of the 3 ships with a low enough health that it kills them instantly), ad that I've been playing the game for years, and I'm pretty much an exnd a semi-disable. It's very easy to counter. There is a very inexpensive item that adds enough armor that the melee thing doesn't kill you in one hit, so all you need to do is buy that item. He never did. I killed him like a dozen times in a row. He even had the same ship as me, but didn't learn the melee one-shot attack ability, because it was "too noob". Neverminpert at it, and I have tons of practice in the quirks of this ship, learning how to avoid having my weak glass cannon being destroyed on my way in to hit that 1-shot blow. Then he saved up his money for a more expensive ship, that had two long range guided projectile attacks, each of which was powerful enough to kill me in one hit. Of course, by then it was "too little, too late" - but it reminded me that it doesn't matter whether you're playing the newest Xbox title, or a mod map to a 7 year old PC game - there will always be hypocritical idiots who call you a "noob" just because they don't understand simple counters, and they don't know how to use certain aspects of the game as well as you do.

 

Oh for god sakes, stop doing this story, it's getting very boring.

 

point well made. I agree.

Having read your story, and despite my previous statement, I'll admit that WC3 is a game I tend to rage at :3 some people are just too friggen good at it. >=(

 

Totally agree with you.
But there is another view on this................................
A majority of hardware manufacturers look at the PC based gaming industry as a means to an end.
If everyone stuck to 'cough' consoles, then hardware manufacturers would slow down R&D and production of GFX cards etc.
Without 1, the other would suffer.

I am not a console fan, I think they are just for teenagers that have nothing better to do, PC's (though upgrades can be expensive and frustrating) are the ideal system for games, if it ain't fast enough to run a game, spend some money.

I started play Quake many moons ago (dial-up 3.2p per min), I have seen companies come and go, games come and go, but currently, I am worried that the PC gaming industry will start to fade, moving over to consoles, as it is cheaper and easier to develop a game for the console market.

 

The point is not is PC gaming dying, but is gaming overall dying? The signs are there - more interest in retro gaming through 360 Live and PS3 Arcade, as well as GOG.com and 5 million DOSBox downloads for PC.

Then we have the fact that PS2 has pretty much kept up with the PS3 in sales - at least until this Summer.

Then we have the fact that most non-shooter genres are disappearing as shooters are the biggest section of the market, and is the only part of the market that can make a big enough profit for the publishers.

Then we have the fact that the 360 and PS3 are getting on for six years old, with no sign of new consoles. No new console will appear within 2 years, so that will make them 7-8 years old! The reason for this is that generally games for a new consopl are 25% higher than the previous one. With the cost of bringing games to market, there is no profit in new machines!

As more and more of the AAA mainstream market becomes shooter after shooter after shooter, the market overall will decline faster and faster.

I think we are looking at gaming overall being a bit player, with everything being online because retailers don't carry games any more, and fewer and fewer gamers knowing where to go to get games and so losing interest and moving onto other interests.

 

Interesting point and I think you may be onto something. I personally blame the Wii for the rot that we are seeing. The Wii had people out buying them in their droves, yet months later people started to realise that there are hardly any games worth buying and there are even fewer on the horizon. £180 down the drain isn't going to do much for a gamer's enthusiasm.

Next we have the 360, which is by far the most poorly constructed, unreliable piece of consumer electronics equipment made in recent times and it has very little besides over-rated shooters and driving games. When you are not playing Hide & Seek of War 1 or 2 or one of the Forza's you are waiting for the UPS man to collect your console again.

The PS3 was late to the party, it was better made than the 360, quieter and far more reliable, but harder to develop for, so it bore the brunt of the latest crop of lazy developers who either didn't bother to port the games or did a terrible job of it. The 1st-party titles and exclusives are great, but they are few and far between and the other games are often buggy and missing textures.

The PC gets abused by publishers like Activision, who release lazy ports, charge more than the going rate and have killed off any hope of a 2nd hand market, so people essentially pay full price to "rent" their games - a console game you can sell on and get some money back if you've finished it or it doesn't live up to expectations - a PC game is a one-shot deal, you pay £25 (or £35 if its Activision) and that's it, if it turns out to be rubbish or it has game-ending bugs that are never patched, hard luck. PC gamers get a bad deal from the publishers, but the publishers complain that PC gamers are just pirating them anyway.

The corporate greed shown by many of these publishers also means that new and interesting titles are thrown to the side in favour of guaranteed sellers that just re-hash the same old cr**...with maybe a bit of shock-factor thrown in to differentiate it from the game that came before...like MW2.

The older games bring back memories of happier times when games were new and original. They may look a bit dated now, but they are often simple, honest fun.

As a gamer I feel rather demoralised and I don't think I'm alone.

 

Just to add some perspective to the discussion:

So PC gaming has been "dying" for quite some time with software piracy presumably being a slothful serial killer who keeps falling asleep on the job.

What is fair to say is that console products have been getting a huge amount of advertising (and subsequent mindshare) along with an increasing share of store shelfspace. And the reason is simple - tighter controls on pricing mean better margins. Which makes them far worse value for consumers, who in the end have to pay for that advertising.

PC games on the other hand have been available at increasingly heavy discounts (first by mail order then online suppliers) to the extent that only the seriously cash-careless would consider buying from a high-street gaming store. Hence less advertising and more reliance on good reviews and word of mouth.

This leads to the situation where the console environment almost encourages mediocrity (since it is the flashy ad campaigns that are the main sales drivers, rather than good game design - though the latter certainly helps) while the PC environment is less tolerant of dross - arguably a good situation for PC gamers.

Without the licensing controls and restrictions imposed by console manufacturers, PC games can be sold directly to end consumers, meaning lower prices and better value - another plus. Digital distribution has the potential to greatly improve this, as long as gamers avoid rip-off vendors who charge the same (or even higher) prices rather than passing on the significant savings that can be made.

Add to this the sometimes significant expansion to gameplay that modding can offer on PC games - extra value for PC gamers but a likely downside for an industry that relies on selling the "next big thing".

It could also be argued that there are too many PC games being released currently, so having companies leave for the "greener fields" of the console market may be good for those who remain. Conversely, more console games may result in poorer sales for newer titles - possibly even leading to "console games are dying" articles in a couple of years' time.

There are downsides to PC gaming certainly - the increasing complexity of the hardware and software environment (for example with Dragon Age, users have not only reported graphics card/driver issues but also PhysX problems, often due to older versions being present on their system). DRM is an increasing problem, whether the more immediate problems caused by buggy CD/DVD filter drivers or the longer term longevity issues posed by online activation (and, as Joe noted, the unspoken intention by games publishers of killing off the legal and legitimate second hand market).

Software piracy is best ignored by the industry as those who don't pay shouldn't have a say (polite requests for financial support are a reasonable step and likely more effective than DRM). Yet too many publishers are giving this group attention at the expense of their legitimate customers. I've not pirated games since my teen years (when I simply couldn't afford any) but I am boycotting an increasing number of games (and distribution systems) because I have no reason to believe they will still be working in 5 years' time, let alone the 20-30 years I expect my games purchases to last.

 

The problem in PC gaming is the developer's reluctance to actually make PC games.

Couple that with increasing costs, the economic downturn and pretty much the fact that consoles seem more of a profitable area(short term at least), you got yourself a steaming kettle.

 

Bummer! How the hell am I going to test out my high end hardware without PC games? Besides what is the point of high end GPU's if there are no games to make use of them? Seems like GPU developer's and manufacturer's should be all over a move to encourage PC games.

 

I think there is another aspect to this is cross platform development is cheaper than making different versions tailored to each platform. If you can make one game for the lowest performing platform and then port it to the other two, you save a pile in development cost. The problem with this approach from the consumer's standpoint is that all the platforms are tied to the performance of the least of them.

PC gaming is not dying, nor is console gaming really ascendant, they are both just being homogenized into one standard "gaming" product to cut development costs and sell more games.

 

No, not as long as developers like Futuremark keep putting out instant classics like Shattered Horizon!