PC gaming is going down the tubes

[Maximilian]

It really is its really starting to show... PC gaming is dying. Whats there to look forward to? If you dont count console ports there isnt much. Starcraft II, Diablo III and i guess the next WoW expansion if you're into that, all blizzard games. Theres nothing else on the horizon thats gonna be any good. Personally i will be fine if starcraft II was the only game to come out in the next 10 years but really... looking at pc gaming today compared to 2007, and 2007 compared to even earlier, its not looking good. If starcraft II and diablo III wasent coming out i would have zilch to look forward to on the PC. Also just look at this forum as well, what are people talking about "i suck at civ 4" "star trek online beta" Whoop de doo plus a few "MW2 sucks now" threads, which i have to say are justified given the circumstances. Anyways is that it? Is that all there is for PC gamers to talk about? Wheres crysis 2 or the next groundbreaking FPS game? Wheres the next awesome RTS? Sucks. Tropico 3 is the only PC exlusive thing being talked about and its basically a remake of tropico 1 with pretty graphics (not a bad thing, its a good game my point is its not really anything new). I neglected to mention console ports because 1. they suck on PC and 2. theyre more fun on the consoles, which they were designed for.

This whole thing dosent bother me as much as some since i have an xbox and its pretty good i like it, but its a shame to see my exclusive platform of choice from 2000-2006 go down the tubes

Oh and this isnt a lets pick something out of the usual list of piracy, MS, consoles, casual gamer, all of the above and bitch about it wrecking pc games im just saying its finally really obvious to me that PC gaming is dying out, maybe it was obvious to others at an earlier time since we all like different devs and types of games but its clear to me now its gone south and dosent look like it will ever recover and become what it once was.

 

[zerocool84]

How many threads a month do we need of this?

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: zerocool84
How many threads a month do we need of this?

14.3 on average.

 

[Red Storm]

Become what it once was? You mean like the sole platform to play games on? Well yes, those days are over. But PC gaming is not dead, nor will it ever die.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Originally posted by: Maximilian
It really is its really starting to show... PC gaming is dying. Whats there to look forward to? If you dont count console ports there isnt much. Starcraft II, Diablo III and i guess the next WoW expansion if you're into that, all blizzard games. Theres nothing else on the horizon thats gonna be any good. Personally i will be fine if starcraft II was the only game to come out in the next 10 years but really... looking at pc gaming today compared to 2007, and 2007 compared to even earlier, its not looking good. If starcraft II and diablo III wasent coming out i would have zilch to look forward to on the PC. Also just look at this forum as well, what are people talking about "i suck at civ 4" "star trek online beta" Whoop de doo plus a few "MW2 sucks now" threads, which i have to say are justified given the circumstances. Anyways is that it? Is that all there is for PC gamers to talk about? Wheres crysis 2 or the next groundbreaking FPS game? Wheres the next awesome RTS? Sucks. Tropico 3 is the only PC exlusive thing being talked about and its basically a remake of tropico 1 with pretty graphics (not a bad thing, its a good game my point is its not really anything new). I neglected to mention console ports because 1. they suck on PC and 2. theyre more fun on the consoles, which they were designed for.

This whole thing dosent bother me as much as some since i have an xbox and its pretty good i like it, but its a shame to see my exclusive platform of choice from 2000-2006 go down the tubes

Oh and this isnt a lets pick something out of the usual list of piracy, MS, consoles, casual gamer, all of the above and bitch about it wrecking pc games im just saying its finally really obvious to me that PC gaming is dying out, maybe it was obvious to others at an earlier time since we all like different devs and types of games but its clear to me now its gone south and dosent look like it will ever recover and become what it once was.

Originally posted by: happy medium

Originally posted by: happy medium
If this game isn't just as good or better on pc I'm buying a xbox 360.:frown:

I took the money for the upgrade and bought a Jasper 360 with a 6 month warranty for 170$ last night.

And people wonder why PC gaming is dying?

 

[Malak]

Everyone jumped on the MMO bandwagon. Or freemium. Things took a turn for the worse in 2004, and it was brought on by PC gamers. It won't get any better now.

 

[JoshGuru7]

The last 5 games I've played (last 3 days):
Aion (PC)
Anno 1404 (PC)
Uncharted 2 (PS3)
Everyday Shooter (PC)
UT3 (PC)

That's 4 PC games and one PS3 game. On top of that, I can think of more titles I'm waiting for on the PC (SW:ToR, ME 2, Div II, Starcraft II, Dragon Age, Bioshock 2) then PS3 (Heavy Rain) so I don't see where all the doom and gloom is coming from.

 

[mmnno]

Originally posted by: Maximilian
I neglected to mention console ports because 1. they suck on PC and 2. theyre more fun on the consoles, which they were designed for.

Wrong.

50% of console games have a vastly superior PC port. Even MW2 will be better on PCs (not least because it will actually be in HD), it's just that it will be inferior to other, better games on the PC.

Sounds like you're a console gamer.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> PC gaming is going down the tubes

Nope, not true unless you have some crazy notion that you can't ever play a game that's more than six months old. There are piles of good, cheap PC games to catch up on if you aren't a graphics snob compelled to push his 5870 to the xtreeme!!

... and games coming out this year that make no sense to buy at $40-50 will be a cheap bit of fun next year at $5-20.

 

[Nebor]

Are you kidding? I have so many great games piled up on Steam that I literally don't have time to play them. They just keep putting them on sale so I have to buy them! Good new PC games are coming out all the time. Just because they aren't sequels to big names doesn't mean that PC gaming is dying.

 

[Sahakiel]

I seem to remember numbers for PC game sales declining the last few years. If true, that means the PC as a gaming platform is dying.
I'm guessing the primary culprit would be development costs. The larger and more complex the game, the more programmers, artists, etc. you need to produce workable code. Unless you recycle game engines. Game development is starting to look more and more like Hollywood's movie development.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Originally posted by: Nebor

Are you kidding? I have so many great games piled up on Steam that I literally don't have time to play them. They just keep putting them on sale so I have to buy them! Good new PC games are coming out all the time. Just because they aren't sequels to big names doesn't mean that PC gaming is dying.

This

I have so many damn PC games (especially from steam) that I just don't have the time to play them all. I still play the shit out of madden 07 (best football game to date, even on PC) and NBA 2K9. Shooters are vastly superior on PC as well as racing games (Dirt and Dirt 2).

PC gaming is still alive and well. If I need to play on my TV, i'll bust out my HTPC to play old gamepad games or hook up my PS2 or GameCube.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
> PC gaming is going down the tubes

Nope, not true unless you have some crazy notion that you can't ever play a game that's more than six months old. There are piles of good, cheap PC games to catch up on if you aren't a graphics snob compelled to push his 5870 to the xtreeme!!

... and games coming out this year that make no sense to buy at $40-50 will be a cheap bit of fun next year at $5-20.

These are certainly valid points, but does one look to the past to see where an industry is headed? As a target platform we've seen the PC go from primary, to console equal, to console secondary in about 4 years.

Granted, we might see a resurgence of PC gaming as the PS3 and 360 begin to limit developers' visions, and they actually start putting exclusive content/technology in PC versions of cross platform games. This is already the case with Batman AA (gpu accelerated PhysX) and the upcoming DiRT2 (DX11 features not found in the console port).

The flip side of this... Are we going to continue to see delayed release dates on the PC (Borderlands/DiRT2), and the omission of previous PC gaming features on multi-platform titles (dedicated servers MW2)?

...only time will tell, but right now the signs don't point to the brightest outlook for PC gaming.

 

[Dkcode]

As long as humans need tools then there will always be games for the PC. You don't need expensive development kits to make software for it and you can distribute your software anyway you see fit. So lets get rid of the notion that the PC as a gaming platform is dying.

I love my online shooters. The bulk of my online gaming which started around 2000 has been spent playing great total conversions that focus on areas of gameplay big budget titles would not take a second look at. Developers such as Tripwire who come from the modding scene have shipped with SDK's for their retail released games right from the start. Throwing the tools to the community has been a great success and their games are thriving because of it.

I hate the Call of Duty series. To me, i find the game highly polished but incredibly shallow. I also find it too mainstream. I am not a realism junkie but i like my shooters with a bit more depth. To me hearing the news that it will not ship with dedicated servers is the equivalent of the new Brittany Spears album shipping with 2 tracks less than expected.

I consider myself a focused gamer and i know what sort of games i like. There is plenty of quality stuff around if you look hard enough for it. I think the PC has never had it better in terms of the technology and stability that it brings. To say the platform is dying is ludicrous, the mainstream has just shifted its focus on other areas. You don't have to buy into Hollywood voice acting, and insane budgets in order to enjoy gaming.

 

[Ackmed]

Originally posted by: Red Storm
Become what it once was? You mean like the sole platform to play games on? Well yes, those days are over. But PC gaming is not dead, nor will it ever die.

It was never the sole platform. Console games have been mainstream longer.

But not, its not going to die. And threads like this are silly.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

There are tons of PC games I want to play...

 

[SpunkyJones]

Originally posted by: Nebor
Are you kidding? I have so many great games piled up on Steam that I literally don't have time to play them. They just keep putting them on sale so I have to buy them! Good new PC games are coming out all the time. Just because they aren't sequels to big names doesn't mean that PC gaming is dying.

This. Dam Steam deals.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Sims 3 wont even start with updated Nvidia drivers, but it does once I reverted em' to the older version...Im knowledgeable enough to solve the problem, but what for the less technically inclined people who just wanted to play a game? You think they would now how to properly uninstall/reinstall video drivers or even the exact cause? Hey come on, it's already going to be 2010 and this shit still happens? No wonder people are going to consoles even if gaming PCs costs the same.

 

[mizzou]

Alot of big blockbuster PC only games, those days seem to be dying.............................until xbox playstation get long in the tooth, then its back to big blockbuster PC games lol

Most of my favorite games are still PC only. Total War series: Madminute games: Civil War series: Hearts of Iron: etc.

 

[chevyman88]

BF:BC2 will be for PC, looking forward to that. So there are still some places who know what PC gamers want.

 

[MarcVenice]

I think PC-gaming isn't dieing, it's console-gaming that's thriving, hence producers flocked to it and are focusing on consoles instead of pc-games now.

The fact that PC-exclusives still come out proves that pc-gaming isn't dieing. You mentioned SC2, Diablo III, and I could add the Total War-series and Cal of Pripyat. There's more, like Dragon Age: Origins, which isn't an exlusive, but they are adding a developer pack which pretty much ensures countless modifications to be available within months. Console players are pretty much left out of those mods though.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

As imperfect a system as it is, Steam and solutions similar to it will rejuvenate PC gaming.

 

[ZzZGuy]

Really.. REALLY?

I'll get back to you when I run out of games to play, currently getting around to Baldur's Gate II. I was also thinking of Risen but I won't have time to play it because Dragon Age is coming out in little over a week. Good games (for me) are coming out faster then I can keep up and have been for some time.

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: mmnno

Originally posted by: Maximilian
I neglected to mention console ports because 1. they suck on PC and 2. theyre more fun on the consoles, which they were designed for.

Wrong.

50% of console games have a vastly superior PC port. Even MW2 will be better on PCs (not least because it will actually be in HD), it's just that it will be inferior to other, better games on the PC.

Sounds like you're a console gamer.

No im a gamer i dont limit myself to a single platform, i cant do that anymore which is partially the point on this thread, and no console ports generally suck, i dont know where you pulled that 50% figure from because its BS lol. You think MW2 wil be better?! Hahaha ok then... "Actually in HD" i dont know what you mean by that, consoles do HD, 720p anyways i dont really care to be honest but if you think no dedicated servers + HD!!! is a winning combination then i hope you never enter the pc development buisness.

Sounds like you're a blatant fanboy :laugh:

Originally posted by: JoshGuru7
The last 5 games I've played (last 3 days):
Aion (PC)
Anno 1404 (PC)
Uncharted 2 (PS3)
Everyday Shooter (PC)
UT3 (PC)

That's 4 PC games and one PS3 game. On top of that, I can think of more titles I'm waiting for on the PC (SW:ToR, ME 2, Div II, Starcraft II, Dragon Age, Bioshock 2) then PS3 (Heavy Rain) so I don't see where all the doom and gloom is coming from.

I dunno where to begin here... ME2 i assume is mass effect 2? Well thats a console port right there itll be designed with consoles in mind, same with bioshock 2, SW:ToR is an MMO, which we already have boatloads of and are pointless because none of them are half as good as WoW and usually end up only catering to some niche type of gamer.

Plus annos never really been a massive PC hit and 1404 isnt the best of the series, 1701 had multiplayer which 1404 lacks, UT3? Come on, UT3 sucks... I cant comment on the rest. But is this it? PC gamers are down to citing niche games, console ports... UT3, and i saw another guy talking about madden and sports games as the highlights of the platform, this would never be the case back 5 years ago! There would be something interesting and fun and something the consoles wouldnt be getting just on the horizon, today theres ah heck all. Some people may think its still looking good and its alive and kicking but i personally think its alive... but its on life support, hooked up to blizzard, which is keeping it alive.

 

[photi]

actually, likely the reverse is true. console gaming is doomed.

cloud computing is where the industry is heading. at some point, bandwidth will be a non-issue, and once all the logistics of cloud computing are worked out, whichever gaming interface we decide to use will be nothing more than a portal into an already up-and-running and spectacular gaming environment.

at that point, why would anyone want to buy a gaming console? a console has quite limited uses, whereas a PC has practically an unlimited number of uses. clearly the PC (or its successor) is how we will access those monster computers in the sky.

imagine Valve's biggest supercomputer driving the graphics behind the fully immersive 3-d world of HL5. that's gonna be sweet.