News Sega: PC market is bigger than you think

"Sega: PC market is bigger than you think" because we own so much of it and are raking in the cash!

 

Hardcore Versus Casual


We can have another debate about what is the difference between "hardcore" and "casual" games.

You were trying to make it sound like hardcore PC gaming is dying because less and less gamers want to play "hardcore" games.

Yet the best selling PS3 and XBOX games are the very same type of games that many hardcore PC gamers with high-end rigs are playing.

Such as Killzone is a similar type of "shooter" to Crysis. Halo on XBOX is quite a similar game to Halo PC.

List of best-selling video games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games

Halo 3 (8.1 million) No.1 best selling game on XBOX 360

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, 2nd best selling game on XBOX 360 (7.479 million approximately; 6.471 million in US, 85.411 in Japan, at least 1 million in UK)

Gran Turismo (10.85 million shipped) No.1 best selling game on Playstation 1

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (17.33 million approximately) No.1 best selling game on Playstation 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Best selling game on Playstation 3 (4.74 million approximately; 3.531 million in the US, 219,338 in Japan, at least 1 million in UK)

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (4.65 million) 2nd best selling game on Playstation 3

Regardless of how popular casual gaming gets, such as "Wii Sports" (60.69 million copies sold), not many people buy XBOX 360s or Playstation 3's for casual gaming. They buy them for high graphics 'hardcore' gaming. That's why those consoles were made with higher processing power than the Wii.

My personal experiences of seeing 'console-only' gamers get into PC gaming is extremely unpalatable for you, and it completely goes against everything you want to believe. This is why you choose to smokescreen the facts and make a big issue out of whether or not I like a particular PC case that someone else chose.

I don't like the looks of the Playstation 3, at least when it's laid down and you're seeing it from the viewing angle of the front and optical drive bay under the curved top. It looks horrible. But that doesn't mean I would try to prevent one of my friends from getting their dream PS3's. I have a PS3 as well. But to be honest, if all games were available on PC, I probably wouldn't have a PS3. This is what happens unfortunately: PC gamers are 'forced' away from the platform.



Crysis Versus Killzone


You want to know why I keep on mentioning Crysis?

It's to remind you that it's not 'universally' classed as a 'casual' game, just like 'Call Of Duty' and many other 'hardcore' games that push XBOX and Playstation sales.

Killzone 2 (sold 2 million) - an over-hyped PS3 exclusive game that advertized 24/7 on national TV. Not bad.

Crysis (sold 1.5 million) - Considering the PC hardware specs required, and the fact that PC gaming is a kind of "hidden, underground way to game", Crysis (the PC exclusive with almost zero advertizing) sold extremely well.

Now imagine if Crysis was advertized like Killzone 2.

This is the type of thing that YOU fear, and this is the type of thing that MICROSOFT also fears.



The hidden, underground way to game


You mentioned how Gaming PCs are not selling in your local stores.

It doesn't surprise me at all.

These stores 'sell' PC gaming similar to the way YOU would sell it: -

Let customer walk into store and be greeted in face with 'consoles' playing all the latest games for everyone to gather around and try - But let 'Gaming PCs' be put to the back of the store without even being switched on and having any demos playing. Then scratch head and wonder why they're not selling.

 

The Noisy Retreat

I was hoping you would try to come with some response a little bit better than the ones above, so that I could have a bit more of a challenge. But you failed.

So here's the deal

I will now lay in silence and watch your predictable response (waits for dog to return with bone).

I will filter out all the predictable 'noise' and see if there's any valid argument under the smokescreen from you that's worthy of a response.

That means any mention of an aftermarket kickstand (hehe) will be filtered out as wasted noise based on no facts.

Any other highly-predictable noisy response such as: "I am not the one retreating - you are. Because I spoke last and you didn't respond. Boo hoo" will be filtered out.

Then we will see what we're left with ... MEH ...


The truth is undeniable

So far, the best arguments we have had above are: -

Quote from Tron - "Killzone 2 (sold 2 million) - an over-hyped PS3 exclusive game that advertized 24/7 on national TV. Not bad. Crysis (sold 1.5 million) - Considering the PC hardware specs required, and the fact that PC gaming is a kind of "hidden, underground way to game", Crysis (the PC exclusive with almost zero advertizing) sold extremely well."

Now let's analyze your response, which was, quote Warrior "It (Killzone 2) totally outsold an overhyped, and overrated PC exclusive game, that recieved 12 months of continuous hype, that totally disappointed it's user base and sent it developer running for the cover of console development. Not bad? Nah, it was easy."

Ask yourselft this question. Be serious now, be serious .. Was that a valid answer meant to disprove the point that Crysis outsold Killzone in terms of the relative rate of sales to the money the publisher spent on advertizing Killzone round the clock over the world on expensive TV ads targeted at millions of gamers and potential gamers? Be serious now.

Scratch your head and think about it carefully ...

You mentioned that Crysis was hyped 12 months leading up to its release. But you failed to mention two important points: 1) What type of hype was it? Was it TV ads to millions? No. I suppose that's why most of the gaming public who are interested in hardcore games of the same genre of Crysis didn't know of its existence. Exactly, because it was only hyped on Crytek's own developer website, and the PC section of a few trailer sites, and on some PC enthusiast forums. 2) Killzone 2 also had the same type of 'hype' during 12 months leading up to its release. So try to smokescreen yourself out of this one. Considering the general lack of public exposure that Crysis had, it should never have sold as well as it did. Now that hurts doesn't it? RETREAT !

Another of your arguments go like this: -

Tron said - "You mentioned how Gaming PCs are not selling in your local stores."

Warriors attempt at responding was - "You want a gaming desktop, then you go online or build it yourself."

So tell me Warrior, do you seriously think that your response actually answered the point I was originally making, or is this another of your attempts at talking just for the sake of showing that you have managed to respond.

Let's take a closer in-depth look at your response: -

You originally tried to prove that PC gaming is dying and nobody wants to buy prebuilt gaming PCs in their local stores.

I then said I am not surprised because those stores are not advertizing the gaming PCs properly. So it's no wonder they are not selling.

Your response to that is, "You want a gaming desktop, then you go online or build it yourself." - huh !

You also later said that hardware doesn't sell games and the PC has it the wrong way round.

So according to you, games sell hardware. I'm so glad you said that.

So using your own logic, you would not fail to understand that if all the stores greet the customer as they enter the store with consoles playing demos of Call Of Duty, yet the Gaming PC is switched off and left at the back of the store for people just to stand there and marvel over it's awesome looks. Then read the specs and use their imagine of how good it could be. No 'call Of Duty' game is playing to sell the hardware. If games sell hardware, then the PC should be running a game. If it's not even switched on, and PC games (minus one game W.O.W.) are seldom advertized on TV to the general public, then What does your own logic conclude.

You can't handle the facts that prove that PC gaming is a "hidden, underground way to game".

Any mention of a console gamer getting interested in PC gaming, your response to that is: "Oh, they must have been mislead or something". So according to you, it is not possible for PC gaming to sell unless someone is 'tricked' into it.

You also think that PC gaming cannot sell itself in equal situations where it has a side-by-side level public exposure alongside consoles. An example would be for PC World stores to have Gaming PCs at the shop entrance beside the consoles playing games like Call Of Duty and Just Cause 2.

Why would YOU fear this? Hmm I wonder...

Is it because you know that a potential buyer will look at a side by side comparison of the ultra sharp resolution of the PC version versus the 'upscaled' console version?

Or is it because the Playstation 3's lack of processing power to use a suitable amount of anti-aliasing samples and rid the screen of the noticeable jaggies?

Or is it because the customer will notice a wider range of peripherals on the PC platform, such as keyboard & mouse or gamepad controller to suit the whole family's needs?

Is it because they may notice the PC version seems to be running a smoother framerate, such as 60 solid fps versus the same game on console running at 25 to 30 fps with the occasional infamous console slowdown?

You see, this is how the PC sells itself when only given the same exposure that consoles are given.

The facts are undeniable: PC gaming is a "hidden, underground way to game"

 

Hey tron, let's wait till he replies to my rebuttals..

Then we stop since this is basically post pumping.

 

yaay

 

Why wait, stop now. I replied

 

Not to my post you didn't. XD