over and over again, we have to read that PC gaming is on the verge of extinction, that the best games are for consoles, that the studios will release ever less games for PC,... and then we read, that Sony has made almost 5 milliard dollars in loses from PS. Where is this future then? in nintendo Wii???
http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/2009/09/01/is-pc-gaming-dying/1 The Wii? No. People have come to realise that's a one-trick pony. PC gaming isn't dying, it just has a smaller percentage of the market now as casual gaming has gained in mainstream popularity and isn't seen as much of a 'geeky' activity anymore.
Sony have made losses on the consoles, as have MS, but the developers make more money from the console games than they do from PC games, mostly down to piracy and demand for anything that isn't The Sims or WoW.
im 27 and ive seen a lot of things come and go in the 20 odd years ive followed the gaming scene and with prats like IW and epic ditching the pc as a platform to go revenue/greed chasing off uneducated 12 year olds combined; not to mention the other companies that are following suite, the pc platform is fast becoming a desolate void with poorly consolified ports. there are several reasons for this. 1. thanks to the horseshit that is bittorent it has become FAR too easy for mainstream piracy, yes it was cool when it came out but as with all things that reach the mainstream audience, it has became rubbish. 2. gaming originated as a hobby that only really started taking off back in the early to mid 80's and has followed an passage of evolution with new games pushing the boundries of gameplay and design, however we're at a new stage with a new generaton of gamers (i use taht term in its loosest form) and its much easier to simply recycle old and simplistic gameplay for a new audience, coupled with todays ruthless advancements in marketing hype sees real gamers stunned at how games like halo can reach an iconic status, i suppose it could be considered as doom for the 21st century but i know hands down which recieves more respect. the pc is possible the greatest gaming platform ever concieved, so many millions of enthusiastic gamers willing to throw thousands into thier gear to get the best possible experiance, many have gone so far as to mod thier games for even more life whilst others have teamed up to build thier own games, not in a quest for profit or glory, but because of an idea that was probably dreamt up around a bar table on a saturday night with a pack of peanuts and a beer coaster. these people, pour hours of blood sweat and tears into thier work and it annoys me when a problem like mainstream piracy stops them from making a small earning (we've all got bills to pay) from something they've done as a hobby, if only we had a massive system that could advertise and protect the works of these enthusiasts...oh wait...we do...its called STEAM. we as PC users like our freedom and we rebel against all things that try to tie us down or into licence agreements, we fought mp3 DRM but when you think about it steam iitself s a form of DRM. so why havent we rebelled against it? sure it had its issues when it first come out (what big system doesnt at first) but now we've come to accept it as the norm, i put it down to the people behind it; Valve. Valve are just like us, they are gaming enthusiasts, they havent released many games but what ones they have done are considered benchmarks, not because they followed thier statistics and business models but because they love what they do and they love it enough to continue supporting thier games until long after they have been released. this "fire and forget" business model adopted by the majority of devs has all but killed gaming communities and I dare you to name a community as stong as the one UT99 or TF2 has. we get gamers from all formats and age groups and i wouldnt really expect a console gamer born in the mid 90's to understand a word of what i've just wrote, in fact they'll probably be the first to stand up and argue over thier favourate platform (because todays console war is basically like ****ing enlisting in the army) for all i care they can willingly accepting a business man in a suit to stick his penis in thier mouth and charge them 50 quid a shot. the future for hte pc my friends is INDIE and my crystal ball does not lie
NO, it took a hard kick to the nuts when the 360 and PS3 came out. Thats normal when new consoles are released. However, if you recall Windows Vista came out about the same time which in addition to the usual nut cracking was also given a black eye due to Vista being a turd. Windows Vista has been patched up to workability but even better Windows 7 is out so the PC is all healed up. The PC is back on the upswing again. Don't let console fanboys confuse the truth. If you do a little searching you'll realized the PC has more exclusives than the 360 and PS3.
True, i spent most of yesterday playing demos from steam's indie section and then bought a couple for less than the price of a AAA title and they'll probably keep me going for longer. Though the best £20 i ever spent has been the orange box vive tf2.
On the radio the other day i heard the number 1 most played game in the entire world is the counterstrike games and the game with the largest online audience was world of warcraft. Console games diddnt even get close. + look on cod 4 there are ove 75,000 players on pce and only something like 35,000 on xbox. thats physical evidence that with the huge prices on console games and the fact u have to pay for the online services and downloads for the 360, consoles are more likely to die out than pc gameing.
I would throw the ARMA Community in there with TF2 and UT. PC gaming will change, but I feel lately the games that have come out PC oriented have been WAY better than a few years ago. L4D a perfect example, APB Hopefully will stay PC Exclusive things like this keep it going. We will get smaller but the people and developers we are losing are weak any way. Hell let Valve and indie developers make all the money because when the 12 year old's leave so does a lot of Piracy. People say hip hop is dead all the time but people still are coming up and making money... how is that dead?
People just have a raging boner for doomsaying. It's a bit sad really, and I take it as a sign of widespread boredom and small-mindedness when people start second-guessing things. The question isn't so much "is PC gaming dying?"; rather, it's "do we need to know about it that far in advance if it is?" If it's dying, we'll know about it when it happens. If not, huzzah. I mean, people who keep asking this question, unless you're head of Crytek, or have just built a 10-year-futureproof £2000 rig or something, I don't see why you're concerned.
The truth. I think really the people to watch are Eastern European and Russian developers. They don't have access to the same development budgets as many big western software houses and consequently don't do much in the way of console games. This means they are concentrated on the PC and can produce some pretty cool games. You really have to look at the new and upcoming dev studios for the best games as big labels are just churning franchises at the moment.
I have had this conversation with a friend of mine (sotu1) No PC gaming is not dead, and nor will it ever be. All consoles used to do was play games, fo example you never saw a NES playing tapes. However times have advanced and people have gotten VEEERY lazy, and now want one machine to do it all, hence why the new consoles connect to the internet, play music, play DVDs, allow you to chat to friends, and play video games. Basically they are desperately trying to be PCs...but failing as PCs will always have the upper hand. You can upgrade your PC to whatever you want it to be (depending on how much cash you have to splash) you can give it better graphics, a faster hard-drive and so on. So yes the PC market may dip because of "casual gamers" but the passionate gamers, the hard-core gamers will continue to revel in the ability of this wonderful machine. I have no doubt that the online market for PC gaming is THRIVING! and will continue to do so. I just wish my consoles made toast...man that would b the best modification ever
Absolutely. It seems to be where the interesting and original PC-only titles are coming from these days. I just wish Clear Sky multiplayer had taken off!
3 words. Dragon. Age. Origins. I've been following this game for ages with interest in how much effort Bioware has put into its console porting process. It seems despite this effort, one of the best games of the year will belong to the PC, and PC alone. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/dragon-age-origins-xbox360-review?page=2
