I guess PC gaming IS dying

This sounds ridiculous, but some of the simpler, yet addictive, games out there are not even going to be on PC. An example is Peggle and Plants vs Zombies. Peggle 2 will be, get this, an Xbox One exclusive. This 2D sprite game will be exclusive to the next gen console just released weeks ago... wow. And Plants vs Zombies 2 is on Android and Apple mobile devices.

How does this segregation help anyone, and more importantly, sales of the product. It may seem minor but it's clear that even the simplest of games are avoiding PC release.

 

I really hope this is a sarcastic post. Please HT, don't be serious about this.

 

With consoles you can still lend and buy second had games, with pc`s all good games seemed to be linked to Steam or Origin so lending or second hand is not possible, though cheap sale games is an bonus.

John.

 

Considering this is the last gen for consoles, PC will be main gaming machine long years after that. Besides there is alot of AA titles coming to PC next year, we wont miss some 2D games on ours 2000€ laptops and desktops.

 

Don't listen to him, old man Wingnut has dementia!

 

Peggle is an Xbox exclusive because MSFT paid for it to be one. PvZ is a mobile game because frankly it's more suited to the mobile space. I think this is more heralding a trend where less demanding, simple games are shifted to mobile platforms while AAA titles remain on console and PC.

 

Probably because very few pc gamers bother with these type of games. PC is the best platform for fps, mmo and rts. Consoles are good for everything else.

Sent from my RM-937_apac_hong_kong_222 using Tapatalk

 

I haven't used Origin, but Steam works well for both lending and second-hand gameplay. You can gift your existing games to anyone else with a Steam account (or e-mail address), which covers second-hand gaming. And Steam lets you install and play games on an unlimited number of computers, so just let a friend use your Steam account username and password, and they can play any games you've got. You can't play them at the same time, but you can't do that with lending physical discs either.

 

Always turns out best for me:

PC = FPS (and hybrids) MMO, RPG, RTS, higher end strategy games (phone chess games are ridiculously easy)... really anything with any thought required.

Console = relatively mindless games, kids games, and sports games (games designed to be played intoxicated or high on sugar)

Phone = Brainless games used to help you wait 10-15 minutes.

 

If you consider the absence of mindless time wasters a herald for the end of PC gaming, well then I'm afraid you do have dementia Wingnut. Now if the next Total War or The Elder Scrolls is mobile exclusive then I may be inclined to agree with you.

 

PC gaming has been dying for how many years now? It's not going anywhere. It's like a zombie that you can't headshot. Keep killing it and it keeps getting back up to continue hunting you down.

 

[citation needed]

 

^lol

Seriously, just end with this dumb idea that's coming out every month or more often. Enjoy whatever you can on whatever platform you use.

 

haha got to say I for one will not be missing any of those games, and for every crap mobile game out there, there is 20 old school PC classics just waiting to be played, have a look on GOG or Steam, so many jewels .

 

PC gaming is not dying. Look at the rise of tablet sales however you want but it's worth noting that laptop sales have remained stable in the past two years. No matter how convenient tablets are there are still many who just can't abandon a mouse and keyboard yet.

 

Because there is something called emulator?

You really don't need a port for games that run on a phone GPU.

 

I don't think so. Desktop towers are nearing it's end though. With laptops and even some tablets having the power of a desktop, I don't see anyone besides hardcore gamers and professionals that need a very high end system buying a desktop any more.

 

not really GTX 780M is barely at the level of an GTX 660 Ti @ 3dmark 11

 

I thought Plants vs Zombies was a facebook game?

 

And they are both more than enough to have fun playing any game released. Most likely for the next couple years at least. My 675M is still rocking every game at 1080p just fine, I don't need to tick every last setting to ultra to have fun playing a game.

 

I actually think it's the opposite. More people would prefer to have a desktop at home and ultralight laptops on the go. Well that's a conclusion I came to personally although I still hang on to that lightweight hybrid pipedream.

Gaming laptop for me is an outdated concept in its classic sense because it's not really portable; it's used as a desktop most of the time. It's a sensible product for people who often move around from one place to another, however if you have a permanent place of residence I honestly don't see the point. Gaming laptop is jack of all trades, however it will come short in comparison to specified niche devices.

 

Microsoft bought Peggle 2 for a limited time only.

The new PvZ is a pay-to-win microtransaction filled abomination. Nobody should want to play that.

 

That doesn't mean that desktop enthusiasts are going away though. Just because you don't care about max performance doesn't mean there isn't a market for it.

 

Why isn't this obvious troll attempt in the Off-Topic section? I'm surprised y'all even took it at face value.

 

i think that casual gaming in pc is definitely alive and well but not in retail form. you will find them dominating social media like facebook, where most of the casual crowd are.

 

Well, I have both a gaming laptop and desktop, and I would rather play my desktop because I can put every single setting in a game on ultra/maxed out settings. Even with graphical mods my desktop breezes through that... can't say the same for my laptop lol. Also, I like a bigger screen, and yes you can hook up a mobile device to a screen but if you are doing that might aswell just get a full gaming tower for better visuals.

@OP
There are Windows 8 tablets with the app store full of those mindless games, even though it's a tablet it is still considered a "pc." I however never play these, I would much rather read on my tablet than waste away my time with these games >.>

 

PvZ 2 is a pay-to-win game? I did not realize that.

My original post was partially sarcastic and partially honest. I'm happy with my PC, always have been, and probably will be until they tear it from my cold dead hands. I never believed that PC gaming will go away, and it probably never will. I think just fewer titles will require the pure grunt of a desktop, and most of the games will run fine on more mobile platforms including laptops. As long as they don't eliminate the keyboard/mouse, I'm fine.

I guess I'm just used to most of the popular games and ones that were made popular on PC would extend their sequel games on PC as well. I just find it ridiculous that games like Peggle 2 would be a console exclusive, lol, in the same way that Halo Spartan Assault is a Win 8 exclusive. It's not like someone would buy a console or that OS just for those games. It's not like a AAA title that you can invest a hundred hours or more in, and can have tons of DLC, etc.

 

I have such a huge backlog, that even if PC gaming died TODAY, I would still have enough new stuff to play for the next 5-10 years

 

PC gaming is dying... that's why Valve, a multibillion dollar gaming company with the largest and best games marketplace for PC is investing in it's own Steam Machines, which run on normal x86 hardware and Linux

 

Dont worry HTWing. We still have Candy Crush on facebook and Papa Pear (same game type as peggle) on facebook as well. A lot of developers are putting the games on there so that you can play it on all devices that can access facebook.

I deleted my facebook account a long time ago but had to sign up just to play CC. Im not proud of it

There is a lot of value in these simple games. They dont need a ton of developing time, the game itself only cost a small penny but have a system that encourage people paying to have boosters, more life etc. I am pretty sure there are a ton of people who have payed the same as a full PC game cost if not more, for the boosters and such on Candy Crush. So you cant blame them for focusing on putting out those games for mobile devices such as mobile phones, iPads etc. There are a ton more of them than PCs. Combine that with the fact that people use these devices all the time, home, in the bus, at work etc.

Mobile phones are also getting reasonable powerful hardware as well now, so the graphic in the games are not sucky either.

Easy money for the developers that focus more on other fields than PC.

 

You enjoy your Peggle and Plants vs Zombie, I'll enjoy my DayZ and JC2 Multiplayer.

 

If you like casual games an Android tablet or iPad is really the best bet. I have a smartphone, tablet, notebook and desktop and I don't see any reason to break out a PC to play anything that doesn't need the performance.

 

Never underestimate the need to occupy some of the brain while chilling on the sofa. Either its my cell phone, or its my iPad, or its switching brainlessly between all the TV channels. Usually all of them combined

 

It's for my kids, primarily, not me. I don't participate in such games usually, except maybe to help the kiddos figure out a level. But alas, I didn't even know these things existed, but Samsung makes a Galaxy Tab for kids. Santa brought them each one, and they are awesome as hell. I don't know why Samsung doesn't advertise these more. I'm getting PvZ 2 on it for them.

Amazon.com: Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Kids Edition (7-Inch with Carrying Case and Stylus): Computers & Accessories

 

It is and it isn't. With the exception of some pay-per-use superpowers (at least one of which requires touch, since it's a pinching motion) and a couple plants that, at least on the China Unicom version, are given out when you pay for phone service, anything in the game can be gotten with time and repetition. In reality though, getting all of the plants would require hundreds of hours of playtime over several months, due to daily limits on the puzzle pieces that unlock many of the plants, and the sky-high prices on some plants that are bought with the rather scarce game cash.

The easier way to do all that would involve about $50 and ten minutes of clicking...

 

Once upon a time, you didn't need a client to play pc games. I actually like Steam, its convenient, and they have awesome sales. Origin is kind of the same thing, but I don't like how origin uses your internet browser. I kind of wish Valve would of made HL3. The half life series was classic.

 

$50 for PvZ 2? What is this world coming to? As long as you can finish the game without the purchased add-ons, but they probably make it hard as heck.

 

As sad as that makes you, Micropayments are the future of gaming, i've witnessed many of my favorite games having them implemented.

 

It's not really add-ons, just a shortcut to getting the cash/puzzle pieces to buy all of the plants. $50 is an estimate as to what it might cost, based on the prices on my girlfriend's Chinese smartphone. There are a couple plants that can only be acquired by spending money, but I gather that, at least on a China Unicom phone, they're unlocked with your normal phone payments.

 

How does that work? I have it installed on my China Unicom phone. It shows that I can buy the in-game crap with money from my China Unicom account (fat chance), but I can't find anything about any free stuff given. The only thing remotely like that that I've been able to find is the rewards for reaching days logged in milestones, but that has nothing to do with phone service provider. I know a kid who is addicted to the game and has gotten extremely far in it without using real money. I'll see him on Saturday so I'll ask him if he knows anything. The only problem is that he is on China Mobile.

Anyway, I hate all this free to play, pay to win nonsense. Obviously it makes a lot more money than pay for play and creates an exponentially larger player base, but it is so annoying and I refuse to pay for that crap. I did waste money on something like that once. I blew a total of $100 on ladder items during a two-month-long Diablo II bender almost 4 years ago....

 

I'm not actually 100% certain since I haven't read anything very closely, but some of the plants seem to be offered for "充值活动" or something like that, though without reading that more closely it could actually mean that you get those plants as a secondary perk when you pay to play. Her phone's new and we have yet to make a payment beyond what we charged on it when we bought it, but from the very beginning she has had one of those plants available, though I don't recall which one it is. If I recall correctly, the cherry bomb plant is another one of those, so maybe I'll find out more when we have to make a phone payment. I don't know if it's different across carriers, but if it's really tied to making phone payments, then I imagine Popcap must have the details worked out with the telecom companies or they wouldn't be able to make it work that way.

 

SteamOS and Valve will bring PC gaming back to the top. With Steam Machines releasing in 2014 for as low as $500, console peasants will bow down to Gabe Newell.

SteamOS: what you need to know | News | TechRadar
PC gaming is thriving
One of the persistent myths in gaming is that the once-mighty PC scene is dead.
That couldn't be further from the truth. While Microsoft has around active 48 million Xbox Live users, Valve boasts more than 54 million active user accounts on Steam, which represents what one developer called "the lion's share" of the hardcore PC gaming market. The PC Gaming Alliance estimates there are around a billion PC gamers globally.
Steam has a catalogue of nearly 3,000 titles, with more being added weekly. It matches easily up to consoles when it comes to social features, and also supports user-generated content in a selection of games in the Steam Workshop.
It's available in 185 countries and 25 languages, and has automatic patching and cloud saving across platforms. If you're coming from the console world, you'll be impressed by scale of the community and ecosystem that Valve has managed to quietly build in the shadows of Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony's bombast.

 

500? I will buy one just to rip the 780 and other components out.

 

Ones selling for $500 won't come with GF780.

 

iBuyPower has a $500 prototype and it's fitted with a 270

 

780. ding, please

 

I have dual R9 270X's, and I have played games without crossfire and the card is a beast. At 1080p you can play BF4 on ultra near 60fps - on high settings it pushes way past that. However, this is the R9 270X and not the R9 270 - but they are basically the same card with different clocks.

 

Yep they are great cards from what I've read. $500 for that ibuypower machine seems very competitive and will run rings around the consoles.

 

A powerful desktop for me...the acoustics are not as good as a good gaming laptop with good cooling. My G46 with an ssd, i can't even tell it's on when browsing the internet or word processing. Also a laptop is a lot more power efficient especially at load. I also like just having one machine that I can do everything on. And with a desktop your kind of stuck sitting at your desk when your using it. Laptop you can take with you to another room and put it on your lap, on your bed, etc.

True but those 48 million likely bought a xbox unit. I don't know if the Steambox will do well. It's basically a PC with a modified linux os that can play games. I'm more interested in the OS than the steam box. I think the Steam OS will be very successful. I just hope you can install it alongside windows 8 with secure boot enabled. Right now I can't even install windows 7 as a dual boot with secureboot enabled.

That's very competitive. I'd rather own a steambox than a console. I think the PS4 only has the equivalent power of a 7870. But if consoles do feel threaten they are just going to lower that price. Now if the PS4 went to $299....that would be huge. At that pricepoint I don't think steambox could compete.

 

Most of those 3,000 titles will NOT run on a SteamMachine because they're Windows-only games! If it doesn't run on Linux, a Steam Machine can't run it (unless you own a Windows license and install Windows on your Steam Machine, in which case you may as well just buy or build a PC). Despite Steam's library including almost all AAA games (except for Blizzard and recent EA titles), there's basically only one AAA game right now that will run on a Steam Machine, and that's Metro: Last Light. Otherwise, hope you like indie games and Valve titles, because that's all that currently runs on a Steam Machine.