Are We Entering The New PC Golden Age?

[Rattja]

To be honest, I've never really "believed" in golden ages. When people talk about golden age I find that they're talking about the past 90% of the time and a certain amount of nostalgia is playing a factor there. So are things pretty good now? Yes. But I'm not calling it a golden age.

Well that is simply because the term "golden age" is a retroactive term, so it can't really be anything else but the past.
You can't really talk about how something was "at it's best" when it has not happened yet, same if you are in the middle of it. You can't know until it's in the past and you have something to compare it to.

As for a new golden age? I don't think it hasn't ended yet and we are still in one. Since we are still using the same systems we did years ago, just improved, I think the golden age of PC and PC gaming will stay until we invent a entierly new system and not just a more powerful version of what we already have.

 

[Stats ^1]

Out of all of the Next gen consoles, I'd say the Wii U is the only one worth buying.

I've gotten my money out of mine, between Rayman Origins, Wonderful 101, Pikmin 3, Super Mario 3D World, Nintendoland and Hyrule Warriors (which is an amazing game), there're enough games to keep me occupied.

And my logic is that when a console has enough games that you can't afford them all, then it means that it has enough games to warrant the purchase. The PS4 has no exclusive titles that I want, while the Xbox One only has about 1-2 which aren't even released yet. The Wii U has about 3-4 upcoming titles, and 2-3 titles which are out which I want, as well as the games I've already bought.

Still, that doesn't mean the PC is in a golden age, it simply means that the PS4 sold enough units to morons purely with their marketing that they haven't tried very hard with games.

 

[stroopwafel]

The thing is that the new consoles were released a year too early. Things are picking up a bit what with all the fall releases and all, but this has been somewhat of a slow year. Some decent 'launch' titles(if we extend launch for over a year) but definitely not what I would consider system sellers. Unfortunately lots of games that could have 'saved' this crappy year got delayed(like The Order and Arkham Knight).

However I think people's minds will change completely beginning next year when titles like Bloodborne and The Order are released. From then on 2015 seems to be an amazing year for games in general. So yeah, good times ahead.

 

[RICHIERICAN]

Golden age? not sure I just have a strong dislike for pc snobs just as much as i do for the console fan boys!! No matter how you play your games just enjoy yourself and stop with this childish noise!!

 

[the_retro_gamer]

PC golden age? No. PC gaming becoming more popular in the last decade? Yes

We are still getting shitty ports of console games and some games are still poorly optimize, and then we have the shovel ware on steam that now cropping up. But all pessimism aside, I do find more people looking at getting/build a gaming PC then console. It may have to do with the new consoles being disappointing or if they are like me, all the controversies surrounding consoles at the beginning of the generation push them away from console gaming.

 

[J Tyran]

Not going to get into the games side but in hardware terms, yes absolutely. There has never been so much choice and competition in gaming hardware, the prices are far better than they have ever been in the last 10yrs I have been gaming on a PC too.

So from someone that gets as much entertainment out of building and fiddling with a PC as actually playing games on it things have never been better.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

The thing is that the new consoles were released a year too early. Things are picking up a bit what with all the fall releases and all, but this has been somewhat of a slow year. Some decent 'launch' titles(if we extend launch for over a year) but definitely not what I would consider system sellers. Unfortunately lots of games that could have 'saved' this crappy year got delayed(like The Order and Arkham Knight).

However I think people's minds will change completely beginning next year when titles like Bloodborne and The Order are released. From then on 2015 seems to be an amazing year for games in general. So yeah, good times ahead.

how could they have been released a year early? last gen was really freakin' long

 

[Atmos Duality]

"PC Golden Age"
The phrase seems pretty arbitrary.

How is one measuring the requisite success for a golden age?

PC gaming has grown financially for decades, but is the growth qualitative or quantitative?
Where is that effort going: Are we seeing better games or just more exploitative games?

What about overlap with other platforms? Is it fair to count the financial success of ports when their contributions dilute those of games with merits unique to PC game design? This is especially relevant for console ports.

I'm not saying that console ports are bad, but if their design trends are propping up PC gaming financially, then what is PC gaming but (in part) another arm of console game design? In that respect, if "PC gaming" lacks its own identity because it relies on others, then what meaning is there to saying PC is experiencing a "golden age"?

The only real merit here seems to be PC's technical flexibility and power; but that doesn't actually say much about game design itself.

I would definitely say PC underwent a "dark age"(2005-2010) where its merits were largely neglected and consolidated vs console gaming, but today being a "golden age" even by comparison? No. I think not.

 

[Rozalia1]

how could they have been released a year early? last gen was really freakin' long

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_games

1st generation (1972-1980) (8 years)
2nd generation (1976-1992) (6 years)
3rd generation (1983-2003) (20 years)
4th generation (1987-2003) (16 years)
5th generation (1993-2007) (14 years)
6th generation (1998-2013) (15 years)
7th generation (2004-) (currently 10 years)
8th generation (2011-)

The above is going by the dates of the last games put out for consoles of those generations, or they finally stopped making/replacing the things (I think if it was the NES and/or SNES lasted ages)

If you go by when the main support got cut and it started drying up than it'd look more like.

1st generation (1972-1976) (4 years)
2nd generation (1976-1984) (8 years)
3rd generation (1983-1992) (9 years)
4th generation (1987-1996) (9 years)
5th generation (1993-2002) (9 years)
6th generation (1998-2006) (8 years)
7th generation (2004-) (currently 10 years)

Only when you use the above does it lend credence to the whole "long generation" and only just now has it overtaken the average time of a console generation. Even than I can't even say those numbers above you could use as evidence are even fully accurate as I see sources saying 3rd was till 1995 (making it 12), 4th till 1999 (making it 12) and so on. The end of a generation is vague at best really, and only at the absolute harshest are you barely correct.

The problem with all this is people have been saying the last generation had been going on forever for the last several years.
Its at best a tad longer than average, to use the phrase "really freakin' long" is inaccurate.

Anyway I need to remember to copy one of these posts into a text document at some point, because this comes up far more often than I'd like.

 

[The Lunatic]

Snip

It appears to me that, developers are now paying a lot more attention to the PC as a platform, and more enthusiast are joining the platform after having grown tired of the consoles.

Do you just really not get what "And" means or something.

They're two different statements.

Developers are paying more attention to the platform: MSG 5 Release, FFXIII Release. Etc.

AND

More enthusiasts are joining the platform: PC's revenue exceeds consoles.

 

[Rozalia1]

Do you just really not get what "And" means or something.

They're two different statements.

Developers are paying more attention to the platform: MSG 5 Release, FFXIII Release. Etc.

AND

More enthusiasts are joining the platform: PC's revenue exceeds consoles.

Except your statement wasn't just that now was it? "Grown tired" ring a bell? What I responded to in the first place. You posted the evidence of that somewhere and I didn't see it or something?

That old chestnut. No idea what that has to do with there being "more enthusiasts" as all platforms are growing across the board.
I'd talk of the makeup of that revenue, but I'm not going to bother going into an irrelevant point not to mention one I've responded to you about in the past anyway.

 

[The Lunatic]

Snip

I'm sorry you don't understand what "And" means, I cannot continue conversation with somebody who doesn't understand how two statements can be joined together with a single word.


Perhaps another time.

 

[Rozalia1]

I'm sorry you don't understand what "And" means, I cannot continue conversation with somebody who doesn't understand how two statements can be joined together with a single word.

Perhaps another time.

So instead of answering the question I've asked twice you're running got it. Perhaps you think you answered the question, well you didn't as when asked of evidence of something, going into an irrelevant point does not provide said evidence.