PC games going out?

[Bobbovski]

I don't have any trouble at all finding PC games in the gaming stores of my country... I guess the US and UK market is less PC-oriented then the mainland Europe market.

 

[likalaruku]

PC games are incredibly easy to pirate & developers/prodecers have discovered that they can save a bundle cutting out the middle man (shipping, packaging, stores) & just sell games online. You can download direct & for a few extra bucks, get a backup disk if you absolutely feel you need one. But some you can just redownload endlessly so long as teir site is up & running, so some won't bother getting a disc until it looks like the company is going to sell or fold.

& the lazy people who chart sales by stock sold in real world stores don't even bother checking into online sales.

 

[EmiteXX]

Why buy computer games?
Every game that has been released between now and about 2 years ago was utter poo...
I usually download the game to test it, but there haven't been games that amused me for more than 2 days....

 

[EmiteXX]

My local Gamestation has one tiny rack for PC games now.

We have around 4 gamestores in a 3 mile radius.
For the really really mainstream games there's a big general store.
We had a small shop for the old en imported games where you could also trade your own games... But that store closed about a year ago

 

[DemonicVixen]

Also, if you pay to download a game, what happens if the damn thing doesn't work? Can you send it back and get your money back via online? I think its easier to buy in a store, get a reciept and be able to take it back easily with no risks.

No, if the game doesn't work in either case, you're screwed. Retailers with half a brain don't allow this.
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.

No offence but i have tonnes of experiance to say that system requirements do not always work. I had a game that fitted my computer capabilities perfectly. When i installed it (this was brandnew not even second hand) it said "Disk Malfunction" and aborted the startup. I let three mates try it onto their computer and the same thing happened. Turned out several games had been reported as being faulty so i was able to get my money back and a new working game.
As for

By the way, pass me a link to your steam profile. I'll help you if you need anything.

I have put my link onto my escapist profile, due to lack of money i get the feeling its going to be a while before i can use Steam anyway.

You can't take computer games back? Not once the box is opened because of how easy it would be to just go in, buy a game, install it and get the money back.

Well, more to do with selling a game with the same CD Key to multiple people because of that.

this is a good point but again i have experiance to say that people have been putting KeyGens online giving you the ability to download the key and load it. But even then, the gaming stores i have been in allow you 14days to bring your game back if its damamged or not to your satisfaction even if its been opened, its customer right. If your local store does not do this then they are actually violating policies because all customers have the right to return any item within a certain ammount of time if they are unhappy with the product (yes i have looked into this as i had a problem once with Asda and needed to look up the customer policies in general).

i do know a few people who can get me games easily via internet and rely sometimes on them if store prices are high, otherwise i buy second hand and hope for the best. I have spent over £30 and games that either didn't work first time or didn't work after only a few months. I have now also been informed that the disks can wear down, something i didn't know about and feel stupid for not considering.

 

[Roocifer]

What I do know is that the amount of space devoted to PC Games in my local Game store has shrunk by 75%. Seriously, its now just two sides of a pillar and it used to be a whole wall for new releases and a couple standup shelves for the budget games. I dont think there is even a PC chart anymore. Everything else is consoles.

Im not slagging off console owners, I used to have a 360 and Ive currently got a Wii, but Game have totally deserted the PC gamer. But thats commerce I guess, seems like they can make more money out of the console gamers.

I wonder if thats cos PC gaming has some sort of geek stigma...Like people would snub you if you played MW2 on the PC but if you play it on the 360 you are just a 'lad'. I think that idea may need some work.

 

[Super_Nintendo_Chalmers]

Wii, Xbox, PS3 and Nintendo have taken over.

You may be meaning the Wii and the Nintendo Ds separately. But I'd like to point out that the Wii is part of Nintendo.

 

[NickCooley]

You're probably just going to the wrong stores. My local GAME store has plenty of PC games. Some pretty good deals too. Maybe just shop around more.

 

[boxcat]

flash games are still pc games. so pc gaming will never be "going out"

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

2. Its cheaper and easier to make console games because they are typically smaller and have less interactivity than PC games.

That's the stupidest thing I've heard all day. Granted, it's only 3am, but still.
How is there any difference between the potential size of a PS3/360 game and a PC game? I mean, theoretically, you COULD have a massive game taking up 100's of GB on the PC, but there's no game on the PC that couldn't theoretically be ported to the consoles. Blind elitism makes me sad, and I'm a PC gamer (apparently)

Way to think inside the box

Modding and Keyboard vs. controller, thats how.

Modding: Lets look at Oblivion as an example since its both on PC and Console. As a console game its pretty limited even with the option of DLC but on the PC there is exponentially more you can do with the game. If someone really wanted they could make a Pokemon total conversion mod using it *stops a minute to laugh at that idea*. This allows the game to grow far beyond what its sold at on a level DLC simply can't.

Keyboard: More inputs = theoreticlly more interactivity if the designers want it

Way to miss the point entirely.

The interactivity you don't need and won't use, if you did need it then console gaming wouldn't have taken off in the first place. But that wasn't what you said. You said the developers would be more likely to develop games on a console because is has less buttons. Which is stupid. But whatever, devil's advocate. A 360 controller has... 10 buttons. You could also use the d-pad to switch between controller layours, giving you 40 buttons. But people don't go that because it would be difficult to navigate. That's the same reason why PC devs don't assign all the buttons.
And modding. Yes. Ok. What? The original point was "are PC games dying out?" ie "are developers making less games on the PC?" Talking about modding is completely irrelevant. Also, read up on exponentials. You can' one think exponentially higher than another, exponentials are to with rate of growth or increase.

Quite why I'm having a conversation about the pros and cons of PC and console gaming with someone who said "the lowest common denominator of gamer culture are console gamers" I'm not sure. But then I'm also not quite sure how I ended up at the Marble Arch today. Life sends you down weird roads, or in my case all the way down Oxford Street.

 

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

Today i visited my local Gamestation store and to my horror they had no PC games at all. Not even one shelf dedicated to them. I know the numbers have been going down lately but it seems Wii, Xbox, PS3 and Nintendo have taken over. All i can afford are computer games. I have no other console. Every Game or Gamestation store i have visited in the past have only have one section or less dedicated towards PC games.

So my question to you Escapists is why are computer games so bad that they are dying out and why are the shops seeming to get rid of them from their shelves?

Use Steam, its a hell of a lot cheaper but if you want games you need a hell of a lot of internets!

 

[sephiroth1991]

it's true, i ask for a PC game and they resond "PC game? What's that?"

 

[Safety 3rd]

Ok, ok, i'm quite new here but i get the feeling people open this thread up fairly often? Pretty much whenever they feel like trying to tell people they're wrong? Right well instead of writing the same old thing I.E. How PC gaming RULED in the 90's, or How much it's still alive and kicking today, or This thread was posted yesterday please stop it, why not just post the address of your local game shop that sells pc games. Or just not reply at all?

 

[lacktheknack]

I can see three things wrong with that image.

Three? I only see two...

Doom, Counter-Strike and Half-life.

You would consider those bad? The problems I see are "Duke Nukem Forever" and "Spore"...

 

[cuddly_tomato]

1. The lowest common denominator of gamer culture are console gamers who wouldn't know a good game from a bad one if it kicked them in the face (looks at whats happened with the Wii). These people will buy crap so why bother making any better or more complex.

Seriously, get over yourself.

PC gaming is not dying... I hope. The thing is, less people are selling them. I don't know why... It's actually pretty disappointing that I can't find them anymore, but there's still Steam and some stores selling them. I don't know why because plenty of games are still being made for the PC and you can special order a lot of them if you ask the guys that work there. PC gaming is still the king of online.

People are turning to consoles more and more, and as more people gravitate towards consoles that is where game developers are focusing more of their energy. As more games start appearing on consoles, more gamers switch to consoles, causing developers to focus even less on PC gaming.... and on it goes.

PC gaming isn't dying it but is undergoing a serious transition. The old style of PC games are dying off. The Baldurs Gates and the Fallouts and that kind of thing. Rising to take their place are either MMO type games, or games which are basically console games which can be put onto a PC.

I think the PC will see a resurgence at some point. I think the ham-fisted way the current gen consoles have been handled by the industry (RRoD, overpriced DLC, bugs and patches, cut content) will mean that the next gen of consoles will see a lot of casual gamers (the main console market) simply walk away from gaming altogether.

Look out at the city of London, and you will see thousands of consoles. Look out at the same city, and you will see millions of PCs. But the industry has to stop being retarded and start making games that your average home PC will run comfortably. Making great looking games that don't run smoothly on most PCs even two years after its release (Crysis) is just economic suicide.

 

[NoNameMcgee]

Seriously, get over yourself.

Please know that not all PC gamers put themselves on a pedestal like that... Just, most of them.. (I'm allowed to say that because I'm a PC gamer. It's like a black person saying the 'N' word, it's fine.)

Sometimes I call my brother a 'console tard' and comment on the awesomeness and precision of a Keyboard & Mouse, while my description of using a gamepad is 'just pressing random buttons and hoping for the best.' But he knows I'm only pulling his leg so it's all good. I love you console guys really, you're a cuddly bunch. A lot of PC gamers are so uptight and self-righteous, ffs.

PC gaming isn't dying it but is undergoing a serious transition. The old style of PC games are dying off. The Baldurs Gates and the Fallouts and that kind of thing. Rising to take their place are either MMO type games, or games which are basically console games which can be put onto a PC.

I've gotta say, personally I think this is a good thing (Except for MMO's, they suck). I hate those overly-complicated tactical games and I generally go for more casual games that are rather pick-up-and-play. About as complicated as I'll go is something like The Witcher. I like getting the same games the console guys get but with extra features, the PC controls and better graphics; and then of course a bunch of good PC exclusives. That's all I really ask for, and at the moment i'm very content with what I get as a PC gamer and I don't think its dying at all.

I don't get into the whole 'platform wars' thing, I think it's retarded. We all like what we like.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

Sorry had to do it. PC gaming is not dying as you may think. It's just less profitable for stores to keep them. Besides my local Game and Gamestation still have shelves with PC games. A lot of people buy online nowadays anyway.

I find that image unintentionally ironic. It contains a number of games that are essentially console ports. The Unreal Tournament 3 is a particularly bad choice, as it was very poorly received compared to it's previous installments, with Epic now being much more focused on Gears of War (while now refusing to create a PC version).

I think that the most telling thing is this: Crysis was released two years ago, and since then nobody has bothered to surpass it graphically simply because nobody wants to spend a ton of money making a game that they can't put on consoles. DX11 is right around the corner and we aren't even seeing developers taking real advantage of DX10 yet.