PC Gaming Decline, whats to blame?

What is to blame?

  • Quality of games

    Votes: 171 52.6%
  • Piracy

    Votes: 38 11.7%
  • Cost

    Votes: 45 13.8%
  • Other

    Votes: 71 21.8%

  • Total voters
    325
forgive me for grammar and spelling errors please, i just put in a long day of work, on not a lot of sleep.

when consoles have keyboards and mice on a regular basis, and develop an internet browser function... they will be more or less the same as my gaming pc. i use it to play games, check four websites on a regular basis, and occasionally use other websites and search engines as a reference tool.

it seems pretty unreasonable for developers to start putting out games that don't have support for a keyboard and mouse, especially with the popularity of RTS games... the one type where PC's have a unique edge. sure, the different consoles will be competing with each other... but it seems like more money could be made by converting a large amount of PC users, with cheaper hardware, and promises of new games.

i'm relatively young... but i've been a PC gamer since the beginning. i prefer a mouse and keyboard... but when i'm over at a friends house... i can certainly enjoy myself playing some games with a gamepad. I mean, sure PC's provide you with the capability to plug in a controller on a FEW titles... but if consoles were to provide you with the ability to plug in a mouse and keyboard on MOST GAMES? and give you the hardware for... lets be generous at this point and say... $700 or $800...

i'm sure you can see where i'm going with this....

eventually i can see consoles even allowing you to install your games on them, so rather than performing a reset and switching out the cd, you can simply bring up a side menu and quickly change from game to game. i mean really... what else could they be aiming at, by adding larger and larger hard drive spaces?

The main reason i haven't bought a console since the NES is that... i have no use for a television... i don't watch any television programs... ergo, i don't have a television. with the release DVDs i can now watch any film's that happen to snare my interest on my computer. if i'm feeling ambitious i can even plug in the projector.

i don't see it so much as pc gaming declining... but more so, consoles will be turning into what pc's are today.

hell, i could even plug it into a monitor instead of the television, put it in the office, and it would be EXACTLY like a PC.
 
forgive me for grammar and spelling errors please, i just put in a long day of work, on not a lot of sleep.

when consoles have keyboards and mice on a regular basis, and develop an internet browser function... they will be more or less the same as my gaming pc. i use it to play games, check four websites on a regular basis, and occasionally use other websites and search engines as a reference tool.

it seems pretty unreasonable for developers to start putting out games that don't have support for a keyboard and mouse, especially with the popularity of RTS games... the one type where PC's have a unique edge. sure, the different consoles will be competing with each other... but it seems like more money could be made by converting a large amount of PC users, with cheaper hardware, and promises of new games.

i'm relatively young... but i've been a PC gamer since the beginning. i prefer a mouse and keyboard... but when i'm over at a friends house... i can certainly enjoy myself playing some games with a gamepad. I mean, sure PC's provide you with the capability to plug in a controller on a FEW titles... but if consoles were to provide you with the ability to plug in a mouse and keyboard on MOST GAMES? and give you the hardware for... lets be generous at this point and say... $700 or $800...

i'm sure you can see where i'm going with this....

eventually i can see consoles even allowing you to install your games on them, so rather than performing a reset and switching out the cd, you can simply bring up a side menu and quickly change from game to game. i mean really... what else could they be aiming at, by adding larger and larger hard drive spaces?

The main reason i haven't bought a console since the NES is that... i have no use for a television... i don't watch any television programs... ergo, i don't have a television. with the release DVDs i can now watch any film's that happen to snare my interest on my computer. if i'm feeling ambitious i can even plug in the projector.

i don't see it so much as pc gaming declining... but more so, consoles will be turning into what pc's are today.

hell, i could even plug it into a monitor instead of the television, put it in the office, and it would be EXACTLY like a PC.

Not trying to be rude in any way... but you might want to go do some research on our current console platforms.

I don't have an X360 (yet) so I can't speak for it, but as for the PS3....

PS3 has a built in web browser, PS3 works with USB accessories.... So you can sit back on your couch with a wireless keyboard/mouse or wireless keyboard and controller to browse the internet. You can download pictures and movies from the internet to the PS3 (make sure it isn't a .wmv :p )

PS3 is supposed to start supporting M&KB for upcoming games... UT2K7...

PS3 already installs some data from games to the hard drive... you do have the ability to upgrade the hard drive, theres a video of someone installing an external terabyte hard drive to a PS3. I’ve also heard that theres already software that you can use to basically create an ISO of your games so you don’t have to CD swap.

You can plug in cameras and flash memory for uploading pictures and music. Drop a DVD with thousands of mp3’s on it and have them saved to the hard drive for future use.

BR player (not everyone likes it, but w/e) for all your 1080p movies :p

These are just some of the features with the current firmware, I’m sure theres more to come. (Home, etc)

Consoles are basically turning into a standardized PC. Allowing game developers to work on making code more efficient and worrying less about what type of hardware everyone out there is using.
 
I know, blasphemy of the highest caliber... but let the truth be known, it is inevitable... as more games move to consoles, you will have less pc customers to market to. But, as I said originally... in the distant future.

Let us hope so. For all of our sakes. :eek:

I mean, who knows. You might have made the guy at Virginia Tech kill 31 people at his school yesterday for spouting that stuff about consoles. "DIE XBOX LOVERS, DIE!" or something of that sort. :eek:
 
Let us hope so. For all of our sakes. :eek:

I mean, who knows. You might have made the guy at Virginia Tech kill 31 people at his school yesterday for spouting that stuff about consoles. "DIE XBOX LOVERS, DIE!" or something of that sort. :eek:

I don't find any humor in this. :rolleyes: I feel really bad for those who died yesturday, worst school shooting in US history. :mad:

The shooter actually didn't say anything during the shootings. Poor students. :(
 
Let us hope so. For all of our sakes. :eek:

I mean, who knows. You might have made the guy at Virginia Tech kill 31 people at his school yesterday for spouting that stuff about consoles. "DIE XBOX LOVERS, DIE!" or something of that sort. :eek:

I think that was the other guy yelling the anti-console comments, send the police his way.
 
Not trying to be rude in any way... but you might want to go do some research on our current console platforms.

I don't have an X360 (yet) so I can't speak for it, but as for the PS3....

PS3 has a built in web browser, PS3 works with USB accessories.... So you can sit back on your couch with a wireless keyboard/mouse or wireless keyboard and controller to browse the internet. You can download pictures and movies from the internet to the PS3 (make sure it isn't a .wmv :p )

PS3 is supposed to start supporting M&KB for upcoming games... UT2K7...

PS3 already installs some data from games to the hard drive... you do have the ability to upgrade the hard drive, theres a video of someone installing an external terabyte hard drive to a PS3. I’ve also heard that theres already software that you can use to basically create an ISO of your games so you don’t have to CD swap.

You can plug in cameras and flash memory for uploading pictures and music. Drop a DVD with thousands of mp3’s on it and have them saved to the hard drive for future use.

BR player (not everyone likes it, but w/e) for all your 1080p movies :p

These are just some of the features with the current firmware, I’m sure theres more to come. (Home, etc)

Consoles are basically turning into a standardized PC. Allowing game developers to work on making code more efficient and worrying less about what type of hardware everyone out there is using.

sorry, i just felt like i was getting a bit lengthy... so i missed a few keypoints... what i was implying was that it will be more widespread. thanks for completing my thoughts. :)

the basic point is still the same... consoles are becoming more and more like PCs.
 
Let us hope so. For all of our sakes. :eek:

I mean, who knows. You might have made the guy at Virginia Tech kill 31 people at his school yesterday for spouting that stuff about consoles. "DIE XBOX LOVERS, DIE!" or something of that sort. :eek:

sorry, but thats definitely the wrong comment to make right now.
 
1: MMO factor

First I think they should include MMO games. WOW will be edging near a BILLION dollars in revenue in 2007 by itself. This is definitely a factor. People spending all their time in WOW or other MMO game will be spending less on traditional games.

So first point MMO revenues should be counted, because they are PC Games and second they factor into the decline.

2: Hardware Market Fragmentation.
The large installed base of PC's only has a small niche that can support requirements to play games. AKA needed upgrades. Most PC's have integrated graphics and can't play any game today, but even enthusiast machines are quickly out of date. My once mighty ATI 9700 Pro is pathetic today. I upgrade every 4 or five years. I won't do it every 2 years just to play games. After 3 years it is hurting big time.

Others have mentioned this as upgrade expense. Two of my favorite games are Total Annihilation and NWN. Both "sequels" NWN2 and Supreme Commander required fairly powerful systems to play. As a result, I didn't bother with either as I am a few months from upgrading my system. These would just be too frustrating to play.

3: FPS factor.
It seems like 80% of games are FPS games, further driving PC gaming into the hardcore niche. Many of my friends, me included (Admitedly old timers in late 30s and early 40s), get motion sick from these games. Even my Beloved RPGs have gone FPS and become unplayable.

But even for FPS fans, don't you get tired of the same old thing? Genres have pretty much died in the race to become hard core FPS everything. Adventure games. Where are they? Used to be one of my favorite Genres but I haven't played one in a decade.

4: Game Quality/Novelty/Originality.
Games are big buisness with big dollars funding them, so they are risk averse. Thus you get more of the same X10 and sequels up the wazoo. Originality/Novelty is out the window as a result.

5: Piracy: BS.
I can't imagine it being any worse than when I was a kid on my C64 and my biggest problem with pirate games was storing them. I would cram as many on a floppy as possible, flipping the floppy over to use the other side. No one even had modems and being kids we didn't even have cars to get around but we were all sinking in pirated games. I couldn't tell you where they came from, but we all shared loads of them.

Bottom line. PC's are finicky and you need to spend top dollar continuously to keep the newest games running, you also need some geek in you to keep everything working right, and the novelty is wearing off for new titles. So small market that is harder to excite.

There needs to be more novelty building games that don't require the hardcore power user machine to run. Take the Nintendo Wii philosophy and apply it to PC gaming to bring back the casual gamer.
 
very few games worth while are released, games that are supposed to be "the next killer app" often are let downs... (DOOM 3, Oblivion imo) its rare we get gems like HL2, Civ 4 or RoN....

i have to agree with last poster on the "FPS factor", too many of them - and too many of them are cookie cutter. same formula no innovation.
 
1: MMO factor

First I think they should include MMO games. WOW will be edging near a BILLION dollars in revenue in 2007 by itself. This is definitely a factor. People spending all their time in WOW or other MMO game will be spending less on traditional games.

So first point MMO revenues should be counted, because they are PC Games and second they factor into the decline.

2: Hardware Market Fragmentation.
The large installed base of PC's only has a small niche that can support requirements to play games. AKA needed upgrades. Most PC's have integrated graphics and can't play any game today, but even enthusiast machines are quickly out of date. My once mighty ATI 9700 Pro is pathetic today. I upgrade every 4 or five years. I won't do it every 2 years just to play games. After 3 years it is hurting big time.

Others have mentioned this as upgrade expense. Two of my favorite games are Total Annihilation and NWN. Both "sequels" NWN2 and Supreme Commander required fairly powerful systems to play. As a result, I didn't bother with either as I am a few months from upgrading my system. These would just be too frustrating to play.

3: FPS factor.
It seems like 80% of games are FPS games, further driving PC gaming into the hardcore niche. Many of my friends, me included (Admitedly old timers in late 30s and early 40s), get motion sick from these games. Even my Beloved RPGs have gone FPS and become unplayable.

But even for FPS fans, don't you get tired of the same old thing? Genres have pretty much died in the race to become hard core FPS everything. Adventure games. Where are they? Used to be one of my favorite Genres but I haven't played one in a decade.

4: Game Quality/Novelty/Originality.
Games are big buisness with big dollars funding them, so they are risk averse. Thus you get more of the same X10 and sequels up the wazoo. Originality/Novelty is out the window as a result.

5: Piracy: BS.
I can't imagine it being any worse than when I was a kid on my C64 and my biggest problem with pirate games was storing them. I would cram as many on a floppy as possible, flipping the floppy over to use the other side. No one even had modems and being kids we didn't even have cars to get around but we were all sinking in pirated games. I couldn't tell you where they came from, but we all shared loads of them.

Bottom line. PC's are finicky and you need to spend top dollar continuously to keep the newest games running, you also need some geek in you to keep everything working right, and the novelty is wearing off for new titles. So small market that is harder to excite.

There needs to be more novelty building games that don't require the hardcore power user machine to run. Take the Nintendo Wii philosophy and apply it to PC gaming to bring back the casual gamer.

great reply.

as for the last paragraph... it doesn't look like it's going to happen, at least not at this point. but i, for one, would certainly be happy if it did. i used to be a hardcore gamer... but now, between working full-time and a half, raising a (holy crap he's getting big))three year old, and paying COUNTLESS numbers of bills.... i just don't have the time, money, or energy to do so. i think it would be fantabulous if i could afford to play a couple new releases a year on a machine that only gets upgraded twice a decade.
(just last year i got rid of my EPOX-8kha+ ... tehe. *sigh* the good ol' days*
 
There are a couple of reasons IMO that are impacting PC game sales:
PC gaming quality has to deteriorate to repetitive levels with different scenery and a poor story line all of which you are expected to excuse because of the “shock and awe” graphics. Originality is a thing of the past. Sounds like the movie industry and FX.
As more and more people buy HD console to go with their HD TV’s I would expect this trend to migrate to consoles.
With the demands of work and other priorities constantly increasing, I do not have anywhere near the time I used to have to play games. I am building a new rig at the moment, but I doubt I will get a lot of playing time unless I take vacation and part of that time has to be reserved for family fun and ‘honey dos.
 
It depends how picky you are about the graphics and the games you play on the PC. Over the course of 5 years, you may only have to upgrade the graphics card once in a PC if you don't play anything too demanding. Most people here will have replaced their entire gaming rig by then, but it is possible to have a gaming PC last 5 years or more with a single $100-$200 video card upgrade.

What's the life expectancy of a console these days? 4 years? And look at the cost of console games. They're $10-$20 or more (brand new) over the PC. If you buy a lot of NEW games, consoles wind up being just as expensive.


Trooth.

I had the same AMD 64 Setup (Ran about $1000 to build) ever since the AMD 64 was released (4-5 years ago) and rebuilt my system around christmas time for about $1100... runs any games decently today, but I'll grab an 8800 GTS/GTX for games coming out..

People aren't realizing how much they put into consoles...

$300 System
$150 Controllers
Other Misc. Stuff

You own 10 xbox 360 games... that's typically $600

So you're at 1050 for 10 games and a console that can...play games...

PC isn't limited to really anything...
 
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