Is PC Gaming Dying?

seems to me that the pc gaming crowd are in general the older generation, people in their 30's and up, people who experienced the glory days of the pc during the 90's and earlier.
just an observation...

 

For the next few years I'm not so sure. However, in 20 years I think laptops with integrated will be so powerful that everyone can game on them with 3d and whatever other stuff we have in the future.

Basically, after the point of diminishing returns I think consoles will become obsolete. Even more likely, the line between PC and console will get blurred by some new company.

Only time will truly tell. But for certain: PC gaming will never fully die.

I remember gaming on my old Pentium 133mhz. Even if it was just magic school bus games, it was awesomeness I really regret to say it, but I think my generation (I'm 18 fyi) is usually unaware that PC gaming even exists. They think PC gaming = WoW = nerds.

 

yeah it could be that pc gaming still has that nerd stigma attached to it while consoles are generally considered the 'cooler' gaming platform.

 

I hope not everyone has the power like that, then it'll be just a culture similar to console gamers, everything looks the same, no variables, plays the same. I don't want a world like that, that's for sure. Sure IGP power will increase, but discrete GPU power has always been greater than IGP's, so, and discrete GPU power will increase as well, so i think maybe the standard of power we have will be generally higher, but it's all relative.

 

Well things might change on the developer's side of things first i.e. Average hardware requirements for PC games go down because the game design is tethered to the console version

 

pc gaming will never die.
i think its more of a question of whether it will ever go back to its former glory.
well i think that really depends on what you mean by pc gaming. if for example you mean gaming on a high end desktop i believe it will never get back to those glory days in popularity.
however i thin the next frontier of pc gaming is mobile pc gaming. there has been an explosion of laptop sales the past years, driven by netbook sales. now imagine if everyone could play a game on their portable pc's. in a sense its happening already, with all those games on facebook.
if you consider that pc gaming, albeit casual as casual can get, then pc gamers far outnumber console gamers even now.
now imagine them being able to play higher end games through internet streaming or some other technology. as long as its offered at a reasonable price i can see this exploding.

 

Given how computer hardware has been getting cheaper as of late I don't doubt that. With Intel's system-on-a-chip we'll see more video cards in the smaller laptops

 

I think there's a calm before the storm here. Hopefully the amazing trend of gaming laptops will turn the tides. As they become more affordable and many younger console players finish school and get job's it could be huge shift.

 

mobility is something the consoles will never have and could be the ace up the sleeve of pc gaming.

 

Um... so what would you call a PSP or GBA other than a mobile console?

 

thats true but a psp will not give you the same level of experience a ps3 can.
a notebook can give you the same exact game you play on a desktop.

 

But a laptop capable of playing the same games as a gaming system won't fit in even the largest pants pocket, and the battery won't last more than an hour, unlike handhelds. Besides, I think that $700 cell phones will displace handheld gaming systems long before laptops get the chance. Especially because $700 cell phones usually have over half thier cost hidden in a 2 year long contract while a laptop is all upfront cost, and that will tend to push people towards the cell.

 

true. thats why i said this:

gaming laptops as they are right now are not the future. something in the formfactor and usability of a netbook will more likely be that future.
it could also supplant the cell, since there may come a time when videocalls will be the norm and who would want a tiny video screen.
or we could see the two machines merge into something inbetween.

 

Lots of people want a video chat on a screen that small (or perhaps through a video display that projects on a wall or directly in to your eyes) because they like being able to stick thier communication device in to their pocket rather than having to carry around even a bag large enough for a netbook. That's what lots of tech afficiandos don't seem to get. Most people are willing to deal with a 3" screen with a 1024X768 screen because the convenience offered by the device that has that a screen that size outweighs the inconvenience of the small display and lower power of the system overall. Even for me, I used to carry a backpack with reading material, CDs, a CD player, and a laptop in it almost all the time. Then I got an MP3 player and dumped the CD player and CDs, even though the sound quality isn't quite as good. Recently, I got a Droid, and I find myself wearing a backpack less and less. Why, when walking around the city doing things or on a bus or at a restaraunt, would I want to deal with a bag that I could forget or have stolen that weighs me down when I can just stick my Droid in my pocket and have the internet, tower defense, and streaming music on hand at all times?

Netbooks are exploding yeah, but ultimately, I still think they will prove to be a niche product. They just aren't convenient enough to become as ubiquitous as you seem to envision.

 

Consoles are convenient. And convenience sells. The last thing non-tech people need or want is to buy a new piece of hardware every time a new eye candy game comes out. It just works on a console. And guess what, those types of people out number PC gamers. So the new titles will go where the money is. But PC gaming is not dying.

Personally I just wish that the game developers would get to photo realistic graphics already and be done with it. I am so tired of buying a new game playing it for a while and realizing that the 2 years that it took to develop it was all spent on the graphics.

In my opinion, there are a very few games that actually entertain people anymore. Yes flashy graphics are entertaining for a while. But after that wow factor is done, do you replay a game due to the graphics? I know I don't.

I keep a fully upgraded gaming desktop with eyefinity because I am a geek. Mass effect series was good, had great graphics but imagine what could have been developed in that game if a bit more time was spent with playability and content in the game itself.

Sorry for the rant, but just seeing a trend. Too much Crysis not enough content/playability.

 

mobility will always be a fight between convenience and power.
but on a purely gaming standpoint a powerful ultraportable notebook will always beat out a cellphone. its just a better form factor in terms of controls and view; more power to play modern games etc.
of course if your just talking about simple games like your tower defense then you may be right.
but if your talking about modern games now and in the near future, its a no-brainer.
this is going way off topic however so ill end it at that

 

thats why many guys my age reminisce about the good old days of gaming when graphics were soso and you had to make up for that by excellent gameplay.

 

I think many console players do not get much exposure to gaming laptops. If they sold "Gaming" laptop's alongside console systems the laptops would take over. At least I hope. Convenience does sell however.
My last console was a playstation I and as soon as I got a PC with Quake multiplayer, it was over. Maybe people don't see the good side to a more complex and deeper game/interactive experience.

 

well the problem with gaming laptops is that they are relatively expensive and are not that much portable.
in terms of power, the high end ones can give you a 'desktop experience' in most games (thanks to the graphical impasse caused by the consoles).
this could change quite soon though. hopefully lighter, more powerful laptops with good battery life - and cheaper, come out soon enough.

 

It's not just convenience, but reliability. With only specific sets of hardware to develop for it costs a lot less to develop, and in theory should have a lot less bugs. There's also the cost factor i.e. $299 for a convenient games and entertainment device. Throw in the social factor of being able to sit back on the couch and relax with your friends/family w/ splitscreen and not looking like a nerd slouched at your computer monitor.

But IMO the true limitation of a console gaming experience is the method of input. Many PC games would have no trouble being ported to consoles but playing the game would be a whole different story. I couldn't imagine playing a fast-paced RTS game like Starcraft with a gamepad. But some games have tried and compromised by taking that into account the gamepad's strengths namely the ease of use of a dpad or analog stick.

Dragon Age uses a radial menu for the console versions
So does Mass Effect, with skills that can be assigned to buttons
The RTS game Red Alert 3 uses the radial menu for construction.
So does Halo Wars

It's not perfect as there are limitations but a game can be designed around them or from ground up be designed for the game pad. For example Civilization Revolutions was pretty much a dumbed down version of Civ 4, but still offered a suitable experience by console terms.

Also there's been a shift towards slower paced games. It's easier to keep up with the action therefore making it easier to beat the game to give the player a sense of accomplishment and therefore to continue in playing video games. The most prevalent feature that brought about this would be the cover system where by taking the time to dodge bullets and take cover, gameplay is somewhat slowed. The games Killzone 2 and Gears of War have cover systems, allowing the games to push beautiful visuals at the cost of more sluggish gameplay.

I know at least one console game that has native KB/M support - PS3's Unreal Tournament 3. Why there aren't more games supporting it is probably because none of the console companies sell their own KB/M.

The one thing that consoles will never have over PC games are the mods. Games like LittleBigPlanet and ModNation Racers allow for custom designed levels, but they don't have mods to change the game itself. Which is one of the bigger reasons why PC gaming will always be supported: mods are a great source of game development talent.

 

I disagree about the cell phones and netbooks.

One of the key factors in high end PC Gaming has always been about screen size and resolution. As long a this continues, people will want a 17"-19" notebook they can travel with. They want to be able to go gaming on their downtime during trips or be able to join a LAN event or whatever. Netbook just doesn't cut it.

I have no interest in gaming on my cell phone... Anytime I need to use something that small, I don't want to be gaming. I'm not going to be gaming on the loud subway with people brushing up against me, or while I'm walking and certainly now at a restaurant while family and friends are trying to talk to them, and I say no, I'm busy gaming on my cell phone. You can tell I really think it's incredible rude when people talk on their phones like this.

Anyways, we'll just see if high end PC gaming becomes more popular again.

 

no. although many large companies of the gaming industry are trying hard to kill it.
even m$ with their awful GFWL (& 360 pads [altho it's good piece of hw imo]) trying to make ppl used to something similar to 360 so they'd make a switch when they get fed up w/ unoptimized games.

then the companies blame piracy, pfft, they're making ppl pay so much for hardware with no optimization whatsoever on new games, it's inevitable, at least to some degree.

 

your right about both the cellphone and netbook.
although when i talked about the netbook i was referring to something in the near future that was powerful, light, cheap, and had long battery life. something with the formfactor of todays netbook but not necessarily a small screen. maybe we will see fold-able screens or something like that in the near future.
but your right about cellphone games. to me its not even what you can call gaming- more like passing time when your bored.

 

Price isn't the problem. Console games usually cost more. Piracy likely has a large effect on the industry. If companies like Ubisoft are going to extreme forms of DRM, PC staples like Epic go console exclusive and PC centric devs like Crytek go multiplatform... well you get the picture. It says something about the extent of the problem.

Is PC gaming dying, no. Is it changing, yes.

Don't forget PC gaming includes things like Farmville which have spiked like crazy over the last couple years. Ignoring casual PC games is like ignoring the Wii (the most bought console in the world).

 

You dont know people who have circles of friends through games like WOW? hard to believe. your forget that MMOs have an undying fanbase and its in fact growing larger with Star Trek Online and Star Wars the Old Republic coming out.

As far as the strategy games go it may not be your cup of tea but those game have quite a following themselves. theyre good games to those who like something diffrent than a classic run down a hallway and shoot anything that moves type game.

As far as the gamespot review goes they still do dual reviews. in fact gamespy.com which is an affiliate of gamespot and ign was stating in several reviews of how the pc version of a game was actually better than the xbox or ps3 version i.e. Dragon Age: Origins where they say the xbox version just cant touch the pc version.

so i wouldnt start digging a grave for your pc yet even if u arent a gamer.

 

HAHA right on fight the power! i'll gladly pick up my old Thief 2: The Metal age over the newest splinter Cell or Deus Ex 1 over modern warfare 2 any day.

 

Actually I don't. Not one. Blizzard claims 11 million, about 6 of that million is in Asia. You do the math, it's not hard to belong to a social group that doesn't play WoW.

 

we have a nice discussion about pricing and piracy here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=464679&page=3

its just too much info to repeat.
i did also mention a couple of posts back that if you consider casual games, like those found in fb, as gaming then even now there are more pc gamers than console gamers

 

Piracy is nothing more than an excuse... lazy companies blame failure on piracy.

Stardock has it right... pirates are going to pirate your game no matter what... so ignoring them is the best solution.... concentrate on your customers. They put no DRM on games like galciv2 and sins of a solar empire and those games were very profitable.

Steam also has the right idea... their insane sales are some of the best things you can do to prevent piracy..... selling 5 million copies at 10 bucks each is a lot better than 500,000 copies at 50 bucks

 

The last two biggest selling games on the PC in the last 10 years:

The Sims and World of Warcraft

You have casual gamers who will play games like The Sims, Farmville etc

You have the powerhouse known as Blizzard Entertainment

and you still have PC trend companies like Valve (although its getting smaller and smaller)

RTS, MMOs will always reign supreme on PC

with PC game trends, its harder and harder to remain PC as your primary gaming option (had both CoD4 for PC/X360; only got CoD2 for X360)

Since the Jan 09 when I finally quit WoW, my PC hasnt really been used for gaming until Starcraft2 Beta came out

 

What I really have a hard time getting a grasp on is how people keep mentioning to game on the console instead of PC's. I'm sorry, but I will NEVER be able to use a gaming controller effectively, and I'm not alone. Who ever thought about using one of your least dextrous apendages, your thumb, to control most of the action, yet it continues to stay.

Plus, consoles absolutely dumb down the gameplay. Sure there's some unique experiences like Bioshock and Mass Effect that are great PC games as well, but that is more the exception than the rule.

 

hmm i think our thumb is our most dextrous appendage actually.
but just like you i just cant get used to a game controller.

 

I thought opposable thumbs was what set our animal family(or whatever it's called) from others?

I repeat again, why can't we have both? Unless the industry decides that playing games is something that need only be done on one machine, I see no reason why we can't have both consoles and PCs exist for gaming purposes >.>

 

Well, PC game on the whole won't really die, even if some developers gave up and move else where, there will always be fresh blood more than willing to take their place. The industry won't let PC gaming die, it's too important to die, PC gaming is the main driving force behind computer hardware advancement, without it, I can foresee it's not just the gaming industry gone, but tons of semi-con factories and related industries closing down as well, will probably cause an even greater economic depression than the current one.

 

Hyperbole is fun While I'm a fan of PC gaming, I SERIOUSLY doubt that if everyone stopped buying anything PC gaming related tomorrow, it would cause an impact on the economy as large as a massively over inflated housing market coulpled with irresponsible lending.

 

Where there are electronics, there will be games. Hate to say it but back in time when I was carving tablets out of stone, we had scientific calculators with 4KB RAM and had a book on programming hundreds of games. Games will always be there. In a way, I hope it gets back to Indie type games because those people have a lot more to lose. To a corporation, sure they can lose millions, but what do they care? For an Indie game, its their lives and survival at stake. It's their skills that they are using to make something decent that will end up putting food on their table.

 

I do not think we need 80+ posts in this topic when it really is a one word reply:

Yes.

Look at PC games sales 15 years ago. Then 10. Then 5. and now. The PC has become a niche gaming platform for the complicated games that may not work so easily on a simple controller input of the dedicated gaming consoles.

MMORPGs like World of Warcraft
Some RTS games

Price and lack of standardization are the 2 problems with the PC. A high end video card costs as much as a gaming system and then you have to deal with possible compatibility issues. Worst case scenario you pay $399 and you have a gaming system that you won't have to tweak just to play games.

 

Food on the table is not the motivator I want game devs to have. I want them to make labors of love that aren't governed by sales projections and focus groups. Focusing on the bottom line (food on the table) is what got us to where we are.

 

See I think you are attributing "dying" to the market shift when the PC market sectioned off the section of gamers who were incapable of handling installing a video card driver... Most PC gamers DEMAND the ability to tweak...

Also, PC gaming communities that have similar console games tend to get rid of the mental pre-teen crowd. A positive thing in my mind.

Console gamers get their easymode "auto-aim-auto-win" they require and PC users get their "complete" and "hardmode" versions.

It's better this way really as it IS two different markets that have gone separate ways.

There will always be a market for those of us who WANT "I am Death Incarnate!" difficulty. I do not mind at all that consoles have arrived for those that want their "Can I play Daddy" version.

 

Hot off the press from the PC Gaming Alliance (Microsoft, Intel, AMD, nVidia, Dell, etc)

( Bold font added by me for those who have ADD like me...)

Please, please, please let me be monetized...I would like to be monetized in every way imaginable...progressively, aggressively, successively, impressively...yum yum...

While obviously NOT an unbiased source (nVidia would hate to see high-end PC gaming go away...be akin to the auto manufacturers realizing the golden days of the highly profitable SUV sector were disappearing...long live the compact...), you can check out the website to see what PC gaming's lobbyists have to say... PC Gaming Alliance Home

 

I do not agree with the assessment that "most" pc gamers demand the ability to tweak. I find the problem with technical forums is that as a collection of tech-minded people we forget there is a grouping, and a large one at that, that are not upgrade-minded.

Many customers that want to play games go into a PC shop with this mindset:

"I want to play games / I want a gaming machine. Sell me one."

Don't get me wrong, the PC market has its share of people that will upgrade, patch, and troubleshoot to play the latest games but I do not believe it is the majority.

Let us take World of Warcraft for example. Highly successful game in terms of units sold and monthly subscriptions. But somewhere along the way they took WoW from a place that lower end GFX cards could play to a place that it is a struggle to walk to the Auction House in Dalaran because you are getting 9fps. It pissed off alot of people. People did not take the approach that, hey I am a PC gamer and I expect to upgrade. The average person does nto have disposable income to sink on a game.

But to wrap this all up, PC gaming is dying the same way plasma is dying. When you do not get the sales people move away from you as an avenue for their product. That may be a bad analogy because plasma is poised to completely die out whereas there will always be a place for PC games, just on a small scale compared to console games.

 

Games used to be a lot harder across all platforms around a decade ago but the general difficulty really has been scaled down to cater to larger markets, however I blame consoles for this since the large proportion of recent PC releases are ported from their console counterparts. Gamers who've grown up on the PC may well have decided that this was too much to bear with and "given up" on the platform.

 

Just in case so I do not get this wrong:

"The PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA) today unveiled its 2009 Horizons Report, an exclusive research study encompassing all aspects of the PC gaming industry worldwide. Among the key findings is that PC gaming software revenue was a $13.1 billion industry in 2009, up 3% from 2008."

So this is $13.1 billion worldwide?

Compared to $19 billion in the US alone for console? The source is this article - http://www.gamespot.com/news/6246425.html by the NPD. Digital downloads were not tracked.

That is quite a lopsided comparison. You won't give up on 13 billion but that is why console is so much more attractive.

 

That particular comparison in your post is apples and oranges...

You are correct that the PCGA report is 13 billion USD worldwide...

And you are correct that the NPD report is 19 billion USD for the U.S. alone...

However, the PCGA report is essentially software only:

"...from every part of the PC gaming industry including retail, online gaming, digital distribution, and online advertising."

That's basically the gross income that publishers/developers will see.

And the NPD console report includes hardware:

"US non-PC hardware, software, and accessory sales came in at $19.66 billion for the year, down 8 percent from the $21.4 billion the industry brought in during 2008."

Some of that income obviously isn't going to game publishers/developers. I have no idea what percentage though the same article hints at hardware sales figures.

But...your conclusions (console software, digital distribution, online subscriptions, online advertising vs the same for PC) may still be valid.

I guess when I look at the question "Is PC Gaming dying?', I don't feel the need to compare PCs vs consoles. I tend to compare where I feel PC gaming is now to where it was a year ago to where it was a decade ago. And it's based on my personal opinion and the type of gaming that I prefer.

Yes, I feel that the type of PC gaming that I prefer is dying. And I don't think the cause is primarily consoles or piracy...consoles were widely available in homes before PCs were...'piracy' existed since PCs existed...copying C64 games was hugely popular in its hey-day...'pirated' games couldn't be distributed digitally so it wasn't as prevalent or easy as it is today, but then overall game sales were a small fraction of what they are today...

Consoles were designed to bring the arcade experience home, and as such, were designed around you and several of your friends or family sitting around playing quick-in/quick-out games...PC games (I think) were initially deeper, single-player experiences getting their inspiration from table top war games and Dungeons & Dragons (nerds moved from the table to the computer)...the gamer was supposed to be pulled into a world and stay there for a while...

Over time, console games got smarter (Adventure on the 2600 to Zelda on the NES) as the hardware became more powerful and volatile memory allowed save games; and, at the same time, PC games got dumber as the masses (designers, publishers and gamers) flocked to it due to the hardware's capabilities...

And that sounds elitist (and probably is), but over time, I got dumber, too...I no longer play in-depth RPGs...just don't feel like I have the time (however, the time this post took probably could have got a monk on Bard's Tale from Level 1 to Level 5...)...so, I guess I should really say: "The PC gaming that I used to like is dying." (Again, in my opinion, NOT solely due to either consoles or piracy.)

 

There are some great console games that never show up on PC
sport games - NHL/FIFA/NBA etc...better with controller anyway
God of War
Gran Turismo/Forza
Final Fantasy
Metal Gear
Halo3/ODST/Reach
Rock Band/Guitar Hero
Mario

another thing is, even for multiplatform games like Call of Duty/Left4Dead; pretty much all of my friends have more or less have console as their #1 gaming device. I would like to play L4D2 on PC...but i rather play along with friend too

 

I own both an Xbox 360 and just recently a PS3 Slim. I did buy the God of War bundle (I & II) for the PS3 along with MGS4. I owned about a dozen Xbox 360 games, all of which I sold on eBay because any gaming time I have is spent on the PC.

I'm sure I will plow through GoW I & II and MGS4, but after that, there's not much else that excites me. I go the PS3 mainly as a Blu-Ray player but since there were a few games I wanted to play I got the PS3 instead of a straight BR player. My Xbox 360 mainly acts as a Netflix video streaming box now, with an occasional Live Arcade romp. I've already probably put 20 hours on my PS3 as a BR player and NetFlix streaming machine too, and about 3 hours with GoW I.

Otherwise, for me it's PC all the way. Even with console ports, the mouse and keyboard are just so much more comfortable to me. Everyone loved Halo. I hated it because my thumb control is awful and would never get the crosshairs on the target.

 

i think its a generation thing. guys who are in their 30's and older grew up with pc gaming, and guys in their 20's or younger gerw up with consoles.

 

I've got wii and xbox360 as well, but usually I only play exclusive JRPGs on them, the other games on wii and xbox360 are most shoddily made and I would throw them to the side and never touch again after 1-2hrs, most of the time I would still be on my PC. Console games are no fun without friends playing together, PC games still suit the single player purpose better, because most console games have no depth at all whatsoever, even in current time's diminished depth of PC games it's still tons deeper than console games, and no, I'm not 30+.

 

pc gaming will never die because its just to big of a market not to put games on.

for instance there are around:

25 million xbox 360's out
24 million ps3's out

but there are over 100 million pcs world wide.

even if you can only get 5% of pc users to game thats still 5 million systems.

 

I just hope the PC Gaming industry continues to make awesome games like ME2 and Dragon Age and more story driven games.

Annon 1404 is a lot of fun and fairly unique.

I love single player campaigns for RTS games.

I hope there will be another team based, class based FPS like TF2.

Cross my fingers more awesome PC games will come.