PC games going out?
- Thread starter DemonicVixen
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I just would like to point out that the fact that consoles sell more games means absolutely nothing. What matters is that PC gaming is still PROFITABLE, and therefore someone is always going to be there to give PC gamers the opportunity to give them money. If smaller then the biggest names, but still with a dedicated fan base who will buy the product was not a viable strategy, Kevin Smith would not be making movies. Even if some nonsense PC Gaming apocalypse came along sweeping PC Gaming from the world, we will still get Ports, Mods, casual and indie games, which is more then enough for a consistent gaming diet.
Of course, the less lengthy discussion is to just say, "Digital Distribution. Nuff said". Or for an even shorter rebuttal, "Steam".
Of course, the less lengthy discussion is to just say, "Digital Distribution. Nuff said". Or for an even shorter rebuttal, "Steam".
PC gaming from the beginning has always experimented with different methods of distribution, with things like subscriptions that would send you a new game every month and the thing that made PC gaming so popular in the first place, and probably the most ingenious way of distributing and marketing a game: shareware.Xanadu84 said:
Steam is a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications platform developed by Valve Corporation. It is used to distribute a large number of games and related media entirely over the internet, from small independent efforts to larger, more popular games. Steam is set apart from its peers in terms of functionality primarily by its residency in the system tray, and the desktop tasks that the client software performs to make use of that position.DemonicKitten said:
There are 788 games available on Steam, and in February 2009 Valve claimed to hold over 20 million active user accounts. It regularly services in excess of two million concurrent users. Although Valve never releases sales figures, Steam is considered by its competitors and clients to be the market leader, controlling an estimated 70% of the digital distribution market.
/EndShamelessWikipediaQuote
Steam is a very, very reliable company. They have a very large forum for each game, and a very large support page for any of your games. They nearly always work, and have never given me much of a problem at all. The only time when they had large amounts of trouble was when steam first came out with Half Life 2.
By the way, pass me a link to your steam profile. I'll help you if you need anything.
EDIT: UltraTwinkie, Console games are well on their way to be almost completely-downloadable. The XBOX 360 has hundreds of games from the XBOX Live Arcade that are completely from online downloading, and several demos are available also. The Wii has the same, the WiiWare store and the VirtualConsole store. I'm not surprised if console games have complete $50+ games available by the end of next year.
A quick look through some PSN titles and you're wrong. You can actually buy games over the internet for consoles. Heck, if you make a Japanese account (easier than making an american Steam account), you can download EVEN MORE games. And these aren't just tine ones, either. I'm not so sure about XBL and it's capability to download full games, but it handles the arcade games well enough.Ultratwinkie said:
But anyway, PC gaming is healthy, and TBH the 'loss' of companies like IW and their COD franchise doesn't really hurt as much as the console-only guys think. Partly, because if they chose to go for a console-only MW3, nothing of value was lost, but because for every good console shooter there's 3 others that are better on the computer.
Nwabudike Morgan said:
My throat is still dry from all that sucking. So is my hard drive coincidentally after I wiped that poison off of it.
edit
also, yea. Steam is amazing. I really only by box copies of games anymore if I can find it cheaper locally (pretty rare. Steam is always running some stupid cheap deal.) or if the mood strikes me. I bought dragon age at best buy. I don't really know why. It was there, I was there, things happened.
Three? I only see two...PoisonUnagi said:I can see three things wrong with that image.Blizzaga19 said:
No, if the game doesn't work in either case, you're screwed. Retailers with half a brain don't allow this.DemonicKitten said:
However, there's these cool things called "System Requirements" and, in some cases, "Demos".
Read the System Requirements and try the demos, and you will NEVER have a problem.
"I didn't get a harrumph out of that man."Actsub said:
"Give the governor his harrumph!"
In all seriousness, I find this rather funny. Now, all the console VS computer wars can be put to an end because all the PC equipment is moving to a different country, so to speak. And thank Gazuga for that. I was really getting tired of those. I know segregation isn't the best of all solutions, but sometimes you have to keep foxes and wolves apart because they'll keep fighting over the same prey in the same spot.
Nah, it's not dying. It's just not being sold on store shelves.
The biggest reason that it won't ever die (unlike any console) is that the platform is not owned by anyone. If MS releases two or three generations of consoles to crappy consumer reception and massive financial losses, it would probably stop making consoles. PCs don't have that problem. PC developers also don't need to pay anyone royalties, and PC games don't need massive development studios.
I think that smart developers will learn to utilize the PC gamer community as a kind of free development team. Release their games on the PC (it was coded on the PC to begin with, so it's not that difficult or costly), and let the modding community show them how to make the game better. Incorporate those improvements into the sequel, rinse and repeat. Almost every single innovation (at least, the ones that don't involve controllers) in gaming was born on the PC.
The biggest reason that it won't ever die (unlike any console) is that the platform is not owned by anyone. If MS releases two or three generations of consoles to crappy consumer reception and massive financial losses, it would probably stop making consoles. PCs don't have that problem. PC developers also don't need to pay anyone royalties, and PC games don't need massive development studios.
I think that smart developers will learn to utilize the PC gamer community as a kind of free development team. Release their games on the PC (it was coded on the PC to begin with, so it's not that difficult or costly), and let the modding community show them how to make the game better. Incorporate those improvements into the sequel, rinse and repeat. Almost every single innovation (at least, the ones that don't involve controllers) in gaming was born on the PC.
Ahh just because of this subject you had to be a jerk and diss console gamers? Maybe YOUSaris Kai said:
need a kick in the head.
OT: Once again, it's not that PC gaming is dying or becoming less popular, it's because digital distribution is far more common these days. Hardly anyone gets games from the stores themselves anymore. Actually, those small retail game stores are what don't have it anymore because it seems people buy PC games off store shelves far less nowadays.
Steam, digital distribution, etc.
I'm glad to see PC games leaving the shelves, and I'm not surprised at all about it. Here in Australia Steam offers games at a much more reasonable price, EB sells most games for $100-$120AU, while Steam sells most of them at around $50-$80US, a significant saving even after you do the conversions. Now I understand that retailers don't make much on new games as it is and they're just trying to keep their profits up, but you can't blame customers for picking the cheaper option. Heck, even without the price difference there's still the fact that Steam games are always there to install when you want to play them, sure there's the download but it's ready to go straight away, no searching for the game you want, no install DVDs and key labels that always seem to go missing, no having to fumble around swapping disks when you want to change games. And it installs updates for most of the games automatically and usually while your system is idle, so you don't have to hunt around for it when you happen to run into a game breaking bug.
I guess I see the merit in saying consoles are "winning" the "game war", but considering that pretty much every game I consider worth playing winds up with a PC version on Steam anyway I don't see what the issue is. If anything I think digital distribution will become the norm, even for consoles, and a few years from now physical game disks will go the way of NES cartridges. It's why I think BluRay is struggling to get a foothold, they've essentially released an upgraded version of a medium that's on the way out anyway. You'll probably find them in garage sales for fifty cents a box while every new game, movie and software package is purchased with credit card or Paypal or some prepaid system like MS Points. Heck, I reckon the next gen of consoles will be solid boxes with no disk drives, and a power and AV port as the only connection points with wireless handling everything else.
I'm glad to see PC games leaving the shelves, and I'm not surprised at all about it. Here in Australia Steam offers games at a much more reasonable price, EB sells most games for $100-$120AU, while Steam sells most of them at around $50-$80US, a significant saving even after you do the conversions. Now I understand that retailers don't make much on new games as it is and they're just trying to keep their profits up, but you can't blame customers for picking the cheaper option. Heck, even without the price difference there's still the fact that Steam games are always there to install when you want to play them, sure there's the download but it's ready to go straight away, no searching for the game you want, no install DVDs and key labels that always seem to go missing, no having to fumble around swapping disks when you want to change games. And it installs updates for most of the games automatically and usually while your system is idle, so you don't have to hunt around for it when you happen to run into a game breaking bug.
I guess I see the merit in saying consoles are "winning" the "game war", but considering that pretty much every game I consider worth playing winds up with a PC version on Steam anyway I don't see what the issue is. If anything I think digital distribution will become the norm, even for consoles, and a few years from now physical game disks will go the way of NES cartridges. It's why I think BluRay is struggling to get a foothold, they've essentially released an upgraded version of a medium that's on the way out anyway. You'll probably find them in garage sales for fifty cents a box while every new game, movie and software package is purchased with credit card or Paypal or some prepaid system like MS Points. Heck, I reckon the next gen of consoles will be solid boxes with no disk drives, and a power and AV port as the only connection points with wireless handling everything else.
Honesty, every time I see that picture, I roll my eyes at the futility of it. It's all very well you want to defend your platform of choice (I know I'm primarily a PC gamer myself) but saying that PC gaming was "happily dying since 1985" is a sign you didn't start until 2003 or later and consequently have no real mental reference for what constitutes a healthy PC gaming industry.syndicated44 said: