is pc gaming dying

[=[ETw]=Dodgysod]

after 2 years of no releases of the big hitting games do you feel pc gaming is dying out?

[no!se]

?
There have been plenty of great games in the last years. And it will still take a long time until consoles are close to capabilties of PCs, just in terms of online gaming.

[Ed_122586]

Somebody asks the same question every year and the answer is still "NO"

[Berzerkr (GER)]

Only if it's punished by law. :-/
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/01/17/HNeurulesonvideogames_1.html

[jammie_d]

Dying? Nah. Its bigger than ever. Well, probably too big - there are way too many games now, meaning that its a LOT more difficult to make a revolutionary game that stands out from the rest.
Just look at the biggest games on PC in the last decade- Doom, Half Life, Quake, Unreal and GTA etc. Nowerdays, there are at least 5 other games that are nearly identical to the original, ground-breaking game.

[WaltX]

Yes. Consoles is taking over! :)

[Brinkman]

no, simple as that.. all these dooms day kids out there want to think it is but it's bigger than it ever was.

[exoteror]

I don't think pc games are dyeing at all, the only game i think pc's need to get is GTA games. I hate seeing the last 3 GTA games and the new one isen't on pc's first or at same time as consoles.

GTA4 i will be hopeing it comes to pc's in future, as GTA is a great game and sales show that.

[SENT]

its actually the opposite
PC gaming is on the increase, despite the new consoles.
up 15% on last year already

[Afterglow]

Due to scalability I doubt pc gaming will ever die. That unless of course until the day everything becomes integrated.

[The Pope]

Only if it's punished by law. :-/
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/01/17/HNeurulesonvideogames_1.html

Thats hilarious.

VE DON'T SHOOT HUMANS! ONLY ZE UNTERMENSCH!

especially since that type of law is usually circumvented by recolouring the blood texture green and calling them zombies.

[Blazen Ace]

PC LANing is dying, because of the internet. IMO. But PC gaming is booming with the expansion of online gameplay. MMORPGs are pulling in a lot of non-traditional gamers. FPSs are changing, some recent FPSs have been...lackluster (BF2142), but the industry today doesn't stand on a single game, nor will it fall by one.

[urwathrtz]

I don't think it's dying out, I do feel that certain company's (Ubisoft :rolleyes:) have shifted more focous on consoles.

[Dante]

No for Sure, So many great games coming out, and no Consoles aren't taking over, They're just evolving, PC is still No.1 Imo

[Stektr33]

i most certainly hope that it's not dying... but pc gaming is only as strong as the community itself.. i.e. if developers keep innovating with new ideas and gameplay, and publishers keep backing them up and letting their creativity loose, and also on all of us.. we have to buy the games and show our support so that corporate doesn't pull plugs on projects.

i'm a pc gamer 4 life... i bought the ps2 and xbox the day they came out, respectively, and i turned around and sold it to my friends after 4 months. with your hardware limited on the consoles, you can really only push the envelope so far with software... which means, if you do want to push the envelope, a new console would have to be released with bigger and badder hardware every so often.. and there in lies, the strength of pc gaming.

die? i say nonesense.

[Kamikazee]

Dying?

I think not, at least not until consoles allow people to make games with no cost.

[2112(AWG)]

Consoles no doubt have gained a lot of ground. But when taking the entire industry into focus most agree PC gaming did reach a slump a few years ago. It has recently shown a major surge and PC gaming is gaining once again. Both have their advantages and sure both will continue to have success. Well that is minus the PS3 which has cost the big "S" a lot this year.

Through the years this topic seems to always be brought up and normally 50% say yes and 50% say no. I would guess PC gaming will be here for a long time coming. Although not a fan boy of Vista I would say the future with DirectX10 should push this realm way past what any current console can do. Granted it will cost us plenty with having to upgrade this and that.

[b0rsuk]

i most certainly hope that it's not dying... but pc gaming is only as strong as the community itself.. i.e. if developers keep innovating with new ideas and gameplay, and publishers keep backing them up and letting their creativity loose, and also on all of us.. we have to buy the games and show our support so that corporate doesn't pull plugs on projects.

I think you get it wrong. Since when developers are community ?

Community is great benefit for games. Splash Damage made 2 mods before their first commercial game.

Natural Selection was originally a mod, and it looks like Natural Selection 2 will be commercial.
Team Fortress 2 - Quake World Team Fortress was a mod, too. Now TF2 is to be sold for money.
Red Orchestra anyone ? Again, developers spawned by community.

It will be very interesting to see what kind of games ET:QW community spawns.

[fusen]

there is a huge uptake of console gaming for the mass public, including being publicised in the media alot but I really do not see pc gaming truely dying for another 5-10 years

there is still a market for non-dumbed down games which you won't find on consoles

[Dante]

Consoles are spreading up and growing on power, but not as much as PC is

[Penn]

Not even close to dying. It will take another generation of consoles to completely kill PC's, even then it will still be very hard for consoles to take over.

[ruE]

PC games > console games no doubt:rolleyes:

[DreAdeDcoRpSE]

Me, personally have owned almost every console system out there, sadly to admit, but one thing I find is I can never convert totally over to console for the lack of controls. I always hated doing those stupid combo's,(up,down,left,left + x). And I know that there are alot of others that would agree. As for those people and the new generation of kids now getting into gamming on there PC's I dont think it will die. Not anytime soon...

[Stektr33]

I think you get it wrong. Since when developers are community ?

are you saying developers aren't part of the community?

Community is great benefit for games. Splash Damage made 2 mods before their first commercial game.


right.

Natural Selection was originally a mod, and it looks like Natural Selection 2 will be commercial.
Team Fortress 2 - Quake World Team Fortress was a mod, too. Now TF2 is to be sold for money.
Red Orchestra anyone ? Again, developers spawned by community.


when i said developers, and given the context that i'm talking about the "community", it was termed loosely (i.e. modders, artists, coders, etc.).
i disagree that developers are a byproduct of a community.. if you want to get technical, how can you have a community without a game... and how can you have a game without developers? and being commercial with your game has nothing to do whether you're a developer or not.

It will be very interesting to see what kind of games ET:QW community spawns.

you mean, mods? right?

[Mr.Cripples]

ehh.. QW is gonna show why it isnt dead lol

[GK-Canada]

seeing as technology moves so fast u cant predict whats gonna happen in 10 yrs id say that neither consoles or pc's will exist in 10 yrs but we'll have some other thing that does all our entertainment /phone / tv needs

[b0rsuk]

I need to be quick before lunch break finishes



when i said developers, and given the context that i'm talking about the "community", it was termed loosely (i.e. modders, artists, coders, etc.).
i disagree that developers are a byproduct of a community.. if you want to get technical, how can you have a community without a game... and how can you have a game without developers? and being commercial with your game has nothing to do whether you're a developer or not.


You can have a game without developers. If there are people who like to play games, they will make games. First games weren't created for money.
While many games are created in a fully commercial way, increasing number of games /developers comes from modding community. Add CS to the list I posted ealrier.

By the way
http://www.gwn.com/news/story.php/id/12672/Valve_On_User-created_Content.html

Comments later.



you mean, mods? right?


First mods, then commercial games made out of them. Especially that with games on ID Software engines, engine source code tends to be released on GPL after 5 years. Many mods became standalone games.

[Hakuryu]

I think PC gaming is fine, it is console gaming that is dieing.

Every year consoles get more and more like computers, and now they are getitng to a point where there is little difference... except PC scalability, not having to pay extra for online service (on top of your cable bill), tons of cheap and/or better hardware choices, etc, etc.

I watch DVD's on my PC, chat, email, listen to music, mod games, use art programs, use it as a TIVO with a TV tuner card, and many other things. Sooner or later people will realize it's dumb to have 50 proprietary items that in the end cost alot more. My PC has taken over nearly everything except that I still run the sound through my Kenwood receiver - no seperate TV, stereo, TIVO, DVD, or even an alarm clock...do it all with my PC.

Oh, and I love not having to pay $60 a game, especially for a port from 3 years ago lol. Picked up FEAR for $14.99 and STALKER for $34.99.

[TruB]

Somebody asks the same question every year and the answer is still "NO"
every year.. try every 3 months.

[Reuben]

There will always be a market for PC games as long as people have PCs, I HIGHLY doubt people are going to make spreadsheets on a console.

[PetriP-TNT]

Well, I would say yes. Or somewhat yes.. Amount of proper commerial games are decreasing every day and its not nowhere near the amounts of 1990's. Also, most PC-games these days concentrate on multiplayer and multiplayer only instead of singleplayer. The latest news about computer gaming blooming is probably because of success of World Of Warcraft.

Console gaming on the other hand has been on the rise since NES-times. New big time projects are announced every day plus the main hitting point of PC-gaming, online play, is nicely moving towards consoles due to Xbox Live, Playstation Network and possibly Wii Online.

Also, I would say that piracy is a way bigger problem to PC-developers than console ones. Consoles have better protection every generation, where as PC-gaming is stuck to same ones since 1990. CD-keys arent doing any help lately when compared how easy it is to get a spoofed one or so. Other solution is Steam-like service, where every program must be authenticated with the program. On the other hand, it doesnt give the much needed plug&play appearance to the games. The last (and certainly most hated) way is external spying programs. They might prolong the time needed to hackers to break the security but it might screw up many pc's of innocent people.

I dont have the exact numbers, but I would say that at least 1/5 of every (non-mmorpg etc.) PC-game is illeagally downloaded and it is certainly a big risk to game developers.

Also, the all time rising system requirements dont attract major public so much these days. Having to update your PC every 6-12 months (the usual time of hardware getting "old", not old as in useless) with multiple hundreds of euros/dollars, it isnt as attractive as buying a console for 200-400e/$ that will last for 3-7 years.

In short: PC-gaming might not be dying but it certainly isnt as strong as it used to be.

[Stektr33]

You can have a game without developers. If there are people who like to play games, they will make games.

exactly, what is your definition of a developer?

[CodE-E]

Imho it's consoles which haven't had any good releases lately. All console releases are so mediocre and overpriced. Of course, there are tons of mediocre PC releases too, but we've at least had some amazing ones like Company of Heroes.

[b0rsuk]

exactly, what is your definition of a developer?

My definition is: developer company. My point was that big game developer companies can go away to consoles if they like. Someone else will fill their place. There are lots of indie games never mentioned on gamespy, 1up , ign, gamepsot etc.

http://www.gametunnel.com/
They are struggling in shadow of big fishes. Occassionally one of them makes something big, like Galactic Civilisations 2 by little known developer Stardock.

Computers are omnipresent. Even outside of work people need them. Computers are like workshops for many modern people. As long as computers are capable of running games, people will make games for computers.
---------------
You should also read the article I linked before.
PC games are excellent for modding and user-generated content. Unnoficial games with no certification. These include:
Team Fortress (originally developed for QuakeWorld)
Counterstrike
CTF
These milestones in multiplayer games all started as mods.

http://www.gwn.com/news/story.php/id/12672/Valve_On_User-created_Content.html

[space]

The number of AAA titles being produced for PC gets lower and lower every year while consol gets more AA titles year to year.

There is no doubt PC gaming is dying off as consols meet and exceed PC's these days. You just have to look too hard too see PC gaming is lagging behind.

[assassin]

obviously this poll on a pc game forum isn't going to be exactly fair.

This game will bring life to all systems though =]

[JiggaJigga]

No, It will never die out. Mainly because blizzard and splash damage will bring it back up and because im sure new gaming companies will pop up and make new and better games. By the way just because EA screwed up so bad that they insult PC games and gamers doesn't mean pc's are dying, just the dumbass company.

And they deserver to die.

[Dark Matter]

if there was a console sitting next to my foot instead of a computer, and nothing else changed, I wouldn't care. But that isn't how it works. I can't play multiplayer FPS on xbox or PS because controls are horrible.

[SniperSteve]

ehh.. QW is gonna show why it isnt dead lol

Ayep... And there were a whole lot of PC games released this year and the past year... Where have you been??

[RotzKotz_ere]

I don't get this...
Did a black hole steal your game-releases?

[bouncer123]

pc is getting better and better now that good MMO's and fps games are comming out..bcuz now consols cant play them so evry1 is switching.

[b0rsuk]

Have a look at PC games released in 2007: http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=24525221

[CodE-E]

Have a look at PC games released in 2007: http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=24525221

So much crap, so little good stuff. That's the same on all platforms, though.

[Flesh]

=Dodgysod;17277']after 2 years of no releases of the big hitting games do you feel pc gaming is dying out?

wtf where do you get of saying stuff like that? Have you been living under a rock the last 2 years? Or have you constantly been playing the same old games over and over? They can't make exactly the same games all the time. At some point you will have to move on with your life and start playng other games, and the sooner you do that the better.

[Sublim3]

LMAO @ this topic..

i voted NO for obvious reasons :P

[Simblade]

=Dodgysod;17277']after 2 years of no releases of the big hitting games do you feel pc gaming is dying out?


Big hitting games. well all Ih ave to say is fewy! You dont know what your are talking about. The bf series has been outstanding even though it has problems but the game is still great.

[TruB]

PC will transform rather than becoming instinct.

[b0rsuk]

A cool picture. How many PC games do you recognize ? I recognized about 38. How about you ?

http://dahr.ru/n_86b.htm

Can you do better ?

[space]

This poll is unfair.. of course all the PC gamers are going to vote no.. when in reality the answer is yes.

[drekwon]

never! just grow bigger

[space]

You can have a game without developers. If there are people who like to play games, they will make games. First games weren't created for money.


Yeah dude.. you mean stuff like this: Echos game (http://www.ggl.com/index.php?controller=News&method=article&id=4992)

[Sublim3]

This poll is unfair.. of course all the PC gamers are going to vote no.. when in reality the answer is yes.

and what poll/survey did you get this fact from?
link please.


cuz all the polls ive seen about this point to the contrary ;)

[Dead_Stop]

yes. I mean just look at how things were 15 years ago. There was plenty of games and they were so great. The number of great games has decreased severly

[Dead_Stop]

A cool picture. How many PC games do you recognize ? I recognized about 38. How about you ?

http://dahr.ru/n_86b.htm

Can you do better ?

44

got a solution somewhere so I can check If I'm correct/what I missed

[JAM]

71 from memory - there was some others I recognised but I couldn't remember the games.

[The Pope]

This poll is unfair.. of course all the PC gamers are going to vote no.. when in reality the answer is yes.

Someone go tell blizzard that WoW made no money because it didn't get released on consoles.

[kamikazi]

No offense to anyone here. Personally the only console gamers I know are those who were young and/or had no clue about PC gaming. They started gaming on consoles as little kids and never knew a thing about PC gaming. They evolved using console controls and therefore have a hard time with the keyboard - and that usually kills the deal for them. Other then above I don't see why anyone would choose console over a PC. So the answer is NO - Never.

[JAM]

I have a 360 and Wii, but I've been a PC gamer all my life. All this about little kids is totally bullshit - and I haven't chosen a console over a PC, or vice versa; I play both.

[Basiley]

Someone go tell blizzard that WoW made no money because it didn't get released on consoles.

more looks like opposite Thruth in REALITY.
consoles CANNOT be profitable[enough].
no way.[except Japan market, maybe]

[signofzeta]

I think the market is gearing towards the consoles because publishers know, as people have said, that there are more people who play exclusively on consoles more than people who play exclusively on PCs. Those who play on PCs who also play on consoles would cancel each other, since the publishers get a PC sale, and a console sale.

[Szakalot]

2 year bump, epic.
Id say its not dying, its just not developing as fast, and pales in comparison to consoles.
Dying would implicate that there is less potential profit made in pc-gaming, and its quite the opposite.

@and Basiley
i dont know the current data but in the first month of release Halo3 had 250k players at any given time, stable.
Thats more than all PC fps's combined.

[Basiley]

but this not makes consoles profitable :-)
and NOTHING can[in current state].

p.s.
susbsidary priced consles itself, costly development, weak platform capablites, narrow market ...
nevermind, to compete PC market - consoles[market] might grop up to compared size. which is impossible at current [(market)development]profile.

p.p.s.
what else can do poor XBox owner, because not even one decent online FPS on them, yet, for years ?
right ! play Halo, of course, which is only exception at this time. ETQW superior in many aspect, but player itself - not[to realise that]

I think the market is gearing towards the consoles because publishers know, as people have said, that there are more people who play exclusively on consoles more than people who play exclusively on PCs. Those who play on PCs who also play on consoles would cancel each other, since the publishers get a PC sale, and a console sale.
but im think:
1. you dont know, what publisher think.
2. you dont know how right he might be.
3. you dont even know how competent he.

but my main point is you "mistake" source and "input".
"publisher" actually own whole gamedev market[Overseas] can do ANYTHING with them[and consumers].
welcom to wonderful Real World.

[dazman76]

but this not makes consoles profitable :-)
and NOTHING can[in current state].

Are you saying console hardware isn't profitable, or console games? If you're saying games, I'm pretty sure most publishers and developers would disagree with that! :) Quality console games make a huge amount of money, and when it comes to EA the absolutely rubbish ones can make a fortune too.

I don't think PC gaming is dead or dying, but I do think the quality of *most* PC games has lowered over the past few years, just as many console games are utter crap these days, with shiny bits(tm) :) There are good games out there for all platforms, but I don't see the quality I expected from the hardware being used. And when I say quality, I mean clever AI and genuinely creative design, not a larger draw distance and more shader effects.

[sion47]

EA also knows now from first hand experience that top quality games just dont make big money (Dead Space is a great and sad example of this), thus the gamers (well the stupid majority of us) force EA and ActiBlizzard (the new and worse EA) to publish mass rubbish to the "mainstream" and thus make zillions of money.

Anyways i dont see anything wrong going on with today's PC's and hardware developement.. (excepts that progress in performance has been slowed down since like 2007 since games simply dont utilize hardware more or better since then) so its obviously all the developers+publishers fault. More precisely its the greed of the developers/publishers. I mean they still make profit on pc titles (well on good games), they actually make much more then in the past, its just not enough for them if they can make more money on consoles.

Passion is just lost from gaming nowadays. Games are just soulless franchises, tools of moneymaking and not necessarily a dream of a bunch of guys who wanna create some cool stuff for themselves and everyone.. any maybe produce some money as a byproduct. (Respect for the exceptions.)

Also many devs seems to forget that if they make crappy games they DON'T deserve to make big profit and DESERVE every bit of "lost sale", and piracy and deserves to be out of busyness if they cant keep up with the competition. Not everyone can be successful at the same thing, thus the ones who are, survive. -Its called evolution. Making excuses and killing an entire platform is just seems easyer than admitting this.

[whiteaden]

lots of chatter:

I've read some insider info on this, and yes, Consoles cost more than that they make... but the games make up for that! (the licenses etc.)

[Basiley]

Are you saying console hardware isn't profitable, or console games?
yes.
all console market[both parts, which is you artificially try to select]CANNOT be profitable.
unless someting changes in THIS market development profile.

[dazman76]

Where are your figures coming from Basiley? Is there a report that states game software is not profitable? It has been known for some time that consoles are not profitable - which by the way, does not apply to the Wii, and neither did it apply to the Gamecube. The PS2 was also a highly profitable machine. Software, on the other hand, seems to be making plenty of money for most of the people involved in it? Sure, developers are closing their doors - mostly because publishers are pushing their money in the direction of yearly updated crap that almost guarantees cash flow.

[Road-Kill]

With a Console you pop in your disk and play, with PC you load your game faf around with graphics/sound settings, play for a while, have graphics issues so start messing again etc! From the perspective of the gamer, PC is better in the long run, console is better when you have half an hour to kill.
The big issue wont be what we prefer, it will be what publishers/developers prefer, with the amount of PC software that is pirated these days I would suggest that the majority of offline games will favour the console while the only games released for PC will be online (ETQW, L4D, COD4/5 and so on) so the publishers retain control and put dollars in the bank.

[Jelster]

With a Console you pop in your disk and play, with PC you load your game faf around with graphics/sound settings, play for a while, have graphics issues so start messing again etc! From the perspective of the gamer, PC is better in the long run, console is better when you have half an hour to kill.
The big issue wont be what we prefer, it will be what publishers/developers prefer, with the amount of PC software that is pirated these days I would suggest that the majority of offline games will favour the console while the only games released for PC will be online (ETQW, L4D, COD4/5 and so on) so the publishers retain control and put dollars in the bank.

Funny that because I put Killzone 2 in my PS3 and immediately got prompted to download a 16mb update, it's surprising I'm not required to install to buffer the data. Even something like the 360 (which has optional buffering) is hardly the switch on and play experience we used to enjoy with cartridges. I think people are being a little too critical of the PC experience without looking at where consoles are right now. Fact is, once a PC game is installed it can be more accessible and faster loading than a console game. I'll also throw out Steam as great platform that doesn't require a disc, hunting for updates or intrusive DRM.

Honestly the graphical/setting tweaks are there to give you a choice, even with my outdated system I can pretty much put a game in the drive, install and play without changing any settings. You no longer need to write some 100 line custom config just to get a game working on a PC, but you can if you want to (or just use a menu). Again this seems to be something console owners want to demonise because they lack the capability to do the same, I'm sure if there was a 30fps or 60fps option in games they'd be all over it.

If your drivers are up to date (which isn't hard) then it'll likely work out of the box. One of the reasons I didn't get a 360 over the PS3 was not wanting to go through the ownership ordeal of a RROD return, something that kinda makes all your games stop working for several weeks. :)

Do you have figures regarding PC piracy or are you just taking the word of people who think excessive DRM actually prevents piracy and rewards their paying customers? It's been said before but that piracy doesn't just vanish on consoles, someone who'd pirate on a PC will pirate on a console. However because there are more paying customers on consoles the numbers don't look as bad. Given a 360 is only $200 and a mod (installed) no more than $100 it's hardly a massive risk for a pirate even if it's a second system.

[Basiley]

With a Console you pop in your disk and play, with PC you load your game faf around with graphics/sound settings, play for a while, have graphics issues so start messing again etc! From the perspective of the gamer, PC is better in the long run, console is better when you have half an hour to kill.
The big issue wont be what we prefer, it will be what publishers/developers prefer, with the amount of PC software that is pirated these days I would suggest that the majority of offline games will favour the console while the only games released for PC will be online (ETQW, L4D, COD4/5 and so on) so the publishers retain control and put dollars in the bank.
in theory.
in practice we got improperly positioned and designed platform and PC market games cannibal attack of freaky aliens from publishing industry.
i mean "consoles" in reality - one thing and in dreams[both consumer and publisher and developers, beside its is 3 different things(at least)]
and in result ... "crappy games" for all platform, equaly not suitable for anything from buying and gaming to more worst thing, like Strogg assault on humanity.
kill the consoles !! save Earth !!