The Big Picture: PC Gaming Is Dead - Long Live PC Gaming!

[Kurt Horsting]

Until they make a gaming keyboard work as a controller for games on a console, I'm staying on my pc. Call me set in my ways, but I'm too awful with a controller for shooters to care about what they do with console fps. Also a lot of my games are on steam, and RTS have always been fucking awful on any other platform.

Like I said, until a keyboard and mouse becomes a controller for a console, I will stay playing on my PC. Nothing against console games (I play fighters on my consoles 10 times more then I'll play my PC in general), but I'm personally going to stick with pc gaming for the games I prefer on that medium (Shooters, RPGs, RTS, etc).

 

[Alexridiculous]

I've never done this before but...
Here is my response to the points Bob brings up in this video:
*snip*

Please take a minute to check it out, and let me know what you think. I'd appreciate it if Bob would take a look at it as well.
*snip*

*Don't want to get banned for "Advertising"

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Actually consoles are suffering from that as well. Consoles cannot sustain themselves with this business model. Why do you think the ten year replacement was upped another 5 years? Sony is still losing money of the PS3, and the Xbox is going to have the same problem next generation. Why? Higher complexity tech cannot fit into a small box like it used to. In order for them to make money and stay in the tech arena, they would have to start selling upgrades, which both consoles are already doing. The idea of a console is fundamentally flawed now, for them to have the same longevity they need to adopt more and more of the PC to survive. However, they are getting stiff competition from phones, and portable PCs. In short, consoles are in a tough place.

Console manufacturers are hitting a serious wall with the Loss Leader sales model - they need longer to achieve profitability but that increased length of time works against them in the market place because once peak sales have passed you need something to reignite consumer interest which boils down to either a must-have peripheral as a stop-gap measure or rolling out the successor generation of product.

Good point. Your lose money if you do and lose money if you don't. That only makes things worse.

On the other hand, they can't afford to drop the Loss-Leader model or they'll lose one of the console's major advantages - lower entry cost. That would seriously damage their sales especially if they kept the development licencing fees for software that inflates the sales price of console games.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

Bob... Let me tell you something you seem to not realize...

PCs haven't been considered to be big gray boxes with glass screens since the 2001. LAPTOPS, i.e. PORTABLE COMPUTERS, have been considered PCs as well for a long, LONG time now, and have therefore been used more often as a tool for PC gaming than any big box computer to come out in the last 5-10 years.

Seriously, Bob... Seriously. You're causing a controversy and then explaining it away by telling us everything we already know. WE KNOW LAPTOPS ARE THE FUTURE OF PC GAMES BECAUSE WE'RE USING THEM RIGHT NOW. You have seriously misinterpreted the entire idea behind the "PC gaming is dead" argument.

 

[Gindil]

...

So just one small question. How about the elephant in the room, Steam?

And if anything, how does PC gaming change in an era where people still love their laptops?

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Oh lord. Do you realize consoles are built with cheap PC parts? The ps3 tried to compete and look where that got them, in debt. Next generation will be the financial apocalypse for consoles.

Dunno about else where but at launch in Australia the PS3 cost as much as a decent gaming rig (over AU$1k)... and that was as a loss leader product.

Didn't help that there was a serious production bottleneck for the first 6 months of the PS3's life because of an issue with... I think it was production of the blue diode lasers for the BR-DVD.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

How about the elephant in the room, Steam?

Stop picking on Gabe's weight... oh, you didn't mean-

nevermind me then.

 

[DaHero]

Spoiler

Here come the fireballs.

Okay, pure win for that picture.


Just one question Bob, from a non-fanboy perspective, what about mods?

<spoiler=2011 PC Exclusives>


STRATEGY

Shogun II: Total War

Might and Magic Heroes VI
New entry in one of the most beloved turn based strategy series of all time.

Age of Empires Online
The rebirth of one of the biggest RTS franchises of all time.

DOTA 2
The mod that started the whole genre is now getting a commercial sequel from Valve Software.

Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy
After disappointing affair with modern combat Battlefront returns to what they do best: WWII tactical wargames

King Arthur II

Cities in MotionT
Spiritial successor to Transport Tycoon from Paradox Interactive.

Jagged Alliance 2: Reloaded
Remake of a classic tactical TBS.

Jagged Alliance 3

Sword of the Stars II
Sequel to a great 4X game.

End of Nations
MMORTS from Petroglyph. Their last RTS was Universe at War, which scored 8.0 at IGN.

Frozen Synapse
An indie simultaneous turn-based tactical game.

Dungeons
Spiritual successor to Dungeon Keeper.

The Sims Medieval

Real Warfare 2: Northern Crusades
Continuaton of XIII Century: Death or Glory, which scored 7.2 at IGN./

A Game of Thrones: Genesis
Epic strategy game based on legendary novel series. It?s being designed Cyanide, which is the studio that made Blood Bowl videogame adaptation.

Pirates of the Black Cove
Pirates-themed RTS.

Project MyWorld
A virtual recreation of the real world combined with 3D gaming and social media.

Stronghold 3

Anomaly: Warzone Earth
Tactical game that plays like a revers of tower defense genre. It?s being made by 11 bit, a new studio formed

Magna Mundi
Commercial follow-up to the best Europa Universalis 3 mod ever made.

Panzer Corps
Spiritual successor to Panzer General.

Xenonauts
Indie turn-based tactical game inspired heavily by X-COM.

Blight Of The Immortals
Web based strategy game set in fantasy universe. It?s being made by Iron Helmet, a small australian company formed by ex-Irrational Games people who already made Neptune?s Pride.

Six Gun Saga
A primarly singleplayer card strategy game from Cryptic Comet, creators of Armageddon Empires and Solium Infernum.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II ? Retribution
Second add-on to this great RTS.

Battle of Kingdoms
MMO game inspired by Defense of the Ancients, made by creators of DotA Chaos.

Trapped Dead
Commandos-like zombie game

HistWar: Les Grognars
A tactical and strategical game of insane depth by Battlefront

Stronghold Kingdoms
Browser adaptation of Firefly Studios? most well know series.

The Settlers Online
Browser adaptation of classic series.

Dungeon Empires
Browser game inspired by Dungeon Keeper.

Dungeon Overlord
Browser game inspired by Dungeon Keeper.

Cultures Online
Browser version of popular city building series.

World Supremacy
Turn based ?conquer the world? grand strategy game from Malfador Machinations, makers of Space Empires series.

Spice Road
a trading and city management game by the people who created Light of Altair (7 from IGN and 7.5 from Out of Eight and )

Men of War: Vietnam
Single centric stand alone expansion to Men of War (great tactics-heavy wargame that scored 8.0 at IGN)

Men of War: Assault Squad
Multi player centric stand alone expansion to Men of War (great tactics-heavy wargame that scored 8.0 at IGN)



ROLEPLAYING

Diablo 3

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Sequel to one of best roleplaying games on last few years.

Dead State
Indie zombie RPG from ex-Troika and Obsidian designers.

Drakensang: The River of Time
Prequel to Drakensang

North Star
A space trading/combat RPG with turn-based combat by Kerberos (ex Barking Dog guys
and makers of Homeworld: Cataclysm and Sword of the Stars)

Grim Dawn
Action RPG from ex Iron Lore staff (where they worked on Titan Quest)

Chantelise
Japanese indie RPG from EasyGameStation (makers of Recettear: An Item Shop?s Tale)

Darkspore
Hack and Slash from Maxix (makers of Sim City, Sims and of course Spore)

Avadon: The Black Fortress
New RPG from makers of Geneforge and Avernum series. This time Spiderweb finally has completely redesigned their graphics system.

Age of Decadence
Hardcore indie RPG

Torchlight II
Sequel to a hack and slash RPG that scored 8.6 at IGN.

The Broken Hourglass
An old-school Baldurs Gate 2-like RPG, done by Planewalker Games-indie team consisting of cRPG modders, lead by Jason Compton (the best BG2 modder, he did wonders to NPC and party members dynamic interaction). The game takes place in Tolmira (sword-and-sorcery setting, which PlaneWalker licensed) has isometric perspective, unlimited party, complex party-to-party interactions, lots of good old-school roleplaying and real-time with pause combat system

Dropship
A turn-based SF wargame with RPG elements developed by ex-Troika guys using the Source engine

Drakensang: Phileasson?s Secret
First add-on to rakensang: The River of Time.

Forged by Chaos
Online action-rpg using CryEngine2

Star Wars: The Old Republic
Star Wars MMORPG from Bioware.

Guild Wars 2
Original Guild Wars scored 9.0 at IGN

Mytheon

Villagers and Heroes
Action-rpg from Mad Otter games, a small indie company made of Dynamix veterans, headed by Damon Slye(co-founder of Dynamix and lead designer of Aces of the Pacific, Aces Over Europe, Red Baron and A-10 Tank Killer) who previously released Ace of Aces on Instant Action

Otherland
Cyberpunk MMORPG based on novels by Tad Williams, handled by the development studio Real U, formed around a core of ex-Melbourne House talent (as Eurogamer put it? 8-bit heroes of The Hobbit and The Way of the Exploding Fist, and then cult classic Shadowrun, who in later years struggled valiantly with the tide of licences and conversions heaped on them by Atari, sometimes triumphing against the odds (as in PS2 Transformers)? )

Drakensang Online
Cooperative online RPG.

Neverwinter
Online cooperative RPG with powerful adventure building tools, from Cryptic (makers of City of Heroes and Champions)

Tera
Beautiful MMORPG with action-game like combat, by ex-Lineage devs.

Stellar Dawn
Sci-Fi MMO from makers of Runescape

Rift: Planes of Telara

Salem
Crafting-heavy MMO with perma-death from Paradox (makers of series like Europa Universalis and Hearts of Iron)

Untitled Carbine Studios MMORPG
Carbine is a team composed of RPG veterans(including Blizzard ones) like Tim Cain
(one of creators of Fallout and Arcanum) and Jeremy Gaffney (founder of Turbine)



ADVENTURE

Gray Matter
New adventure game from the empress of the genre: Jane Jansen (creator of Gabriel Knight series)

Black Mirror 3

Vampyre Story 2: A Bat?s Tale
Sequel to one of the best adventure games of 2008

Haunted
New aventure from Deck 13, makers of Ankh series and Jack Keane

Hazard: The Journey Of Life
First person exploration puzzler that?s a commercial follow-up to one of best UT3 mods ever made.

The Next Big Thing
New adventure game from Pendulo Studios. The last game from this team (Runaway: A Twist of fate) scored 8.0 at Adventuregamers.

Deponia
Hand painted post apocalyptic cyberpunk adventure game in glorious 1440×900 resolution

Culpa Innata 2: Chaos Rising
The first one got 7.5 from Gamespot

The Book of Unwritten Tales

The Book of Unwritten Tales: the cattle?s chronicle.
Prequel to humoristic adventure game that scored 90% on Adventure-treff, 91% at Adventurecorner.de and 85% from Gamestar, making it one of highest rated adventure games in germany in years)

Dead Mountaineer Hotel
Last-Express like adventure game(meaning non-linear, NPC have AIs, goals, daily routines and walk freely over the gameworld) based on Strugacki Brothers? novel, made by Akella.

Black Sails
Pirate themed adventure game from Deck 13, makers of Ankh series and Jack Keane.

Gemini Rue
SF adventure game that?s one of the student prize winners at the 2010 Independent Games Festival

Bracken Tor: The Time of Tooth and Claw
New horror adventure game from Shadow Tor Studios, makers of Barrow Hill, which got 8.0 from Adventuregamers

Edna and Harvey: The Breakout
An english version of one of best german adventure games of 2008 (it gathered 84% average of scores from german sites and magazines, including 83% at Adventure-Treff and 87% at Adventurecorner)

Blackwell Deception
Fourth entry in popular adventure series.

Prominence
Indie hard-sf adventure.

Dracula: Origin 2
The first one got 7.0 from Adventuregamers

Mozart

Coven
New game from makers of Rhiannon (7.5 from Gamespot)

Shades of Violet: Episode 1 ? Tale of the Clockwork Princess
Indie steampunk adventure game

Resonance
First commercial game from maker the incredible freeware adventure game ?What Linus Bruckman Sees When His Eyes Are Closed?

Cargo
New puzzle game from makers of Void and Pathologic.

Asylum
New horror adventure game from people who created Scratches, which scored 8.0 at Adventuregamers.

Saturated Dreamers
Indie exploration game from makers or Immortal Defense



ACTION

Night Sky
NightSky is a nice place to visit. The physics-based gameplay is clever, but the real draws are the beautiful scenery and the ambient electronic soundtrack. It?s recognizable at a glance, which isn?t something that can be said for every game. ? from IGN

Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad
Sequel to 8.5 WWII tactical shooter. What?s more, RO2 will singleplayer campaigns for both Russian and German sides.

Minecraft
Indie retro action and sandbox construction game.

Firefall
Massive online FPS from RED5 Studios (ex Blizzard people) and lead designer of Tribes 1 and 2.

Natural Selection 2
Commercial sequel to one of best mp MODS of all time

Heroes and Generals
Online WW2 FPS from a studio formed by lead designers of Hitman series.

CHIVALRY: Battle for Agatha
First-person medieval online combat game running on Unreal Engine 3.0. It?s being developed by a team behind Age of Chivalry mods.

Depth
Indie aquatic stealth game running on Unreal Engine 3. The team is filed with people who created the first version of Killing Floor.

Contagion
Single and multiplayer horror FPS from makers of Zombie Panic! Source mod.

Bounty Arms
Indie platformer running on Unreal Engine 3.0.

The Spire
Indie FPP action-adventure with strong puzzle element built on Unreal Engine 3.0.

Warface
Free military FPS from Crytek.

Snapshot
Snapshot is a 2d sidescrolling game in which the player takes on the role of ?Pic? The player controls Pic as well as a camera that can take photos of the environment. Photos can capture objects such as boxes, enemies, and other things. The player can then use these photos to move objects around in the world to complete each level. One of finalists for 2009 Independent Games Festival?s Excellence in Design Award

Rusty Hearts
Action fighting MMO.

Sanctum
Interesting mix of FPP action and tower defense, running on Unreal Engine 3.0.

Tactical Intervention
New tactical FPS from creator of Counterstrike

Dead meets Lead
Indie zombie action game.

Musorqua
New indie action title from Dejobaan Games, makers of AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!-A Reckless Disregard for Gravity (82% average at Gamerankings)

Closure
Unique puzzle platformer that?s expanded and improved follow up to a great freeware game.

Monaco
Indie heist game that?s nominated for 2010 IGFSeumas McNally Grand Prize, developed by Pocketwatch games, makers of Wildlife Tycoon(IGF finalist) and Venture Arctic (Gametunnel?s sim game of the year)

Delta Force: Angel Falls

Swarm Racer 3000

Naumachia ? Space Warfare
A multiplayer space battle sim in which you can start piloting individual fighters with standard FPS controls (mouse/keyboard) and then when your rank advances it?s possible to command capital ships and their fighter squadrons with a dedicated RTS-like interface. Developed by people who previously made Specialist mod for first Half-life

ArcMagi
As developer himself put it: ?I like to think of it as a true PC fighting game. Dynamic and up-to-the-point, but very strategic, controlled by mouse and with strong character development elements.?

Blitz 1941
MMO Tank action game with light simulation elements from the makers of Navy Fields (it was similiar MMO action game with sim elements)

Lone Wolf: Flight from the Dark
Action-adventure based on legendary ?Choose your own adventure? gamebook series

FEIST
Unique puzzle platformer, which was awarded Best Overall Game and Best Visual Design at the Unity Awards 2008.

Ascension
Freeware spiritual successor to Tribes, created by the team that made the Renegade mod for Tribes, Tribes2 and Tribes: Vengeance

Assault Knights
Indie mech game

Gettysburg Armoured Warfare
A large scale RTS/FPS hybrid set in an alternative universe and featuring persistent armies.

They Hunger: Lost Souls
Original Hunger was THE best single-player mod for Half-life. Now the team returns with commercial follow up based on Source engine

Sugar Rush
Online arena combat game from Klei Entertainment (indie dev responsible for Eets)

Black Sky
Open ended StarControl2 like game

Iron Seed 2
Follow up to forgotten classic (it?s not well known now, but back in the days it rivaled Star Control 2 in quality)

Seasons after Fall
Beautiful indie puzzle platformer where you use effects seasonal changes to overcome obstacles.

The Swapper
Very promising and unique puzzle platformer based around the idea of a device that can create copies of yourself with whom you can then swap placesIt features interesting light, shadow and relativeness based game mechanics blended with an ambiguous storyline embedded directly into and told throughout the game.

Battlefield Play4Free
Free to play entry in classic FPS franchise.

Bloodline Champions
Indie arena-based game.

Cobalt
Indie platformer from the makers of Harvest: Massive Encounter.

Swimming Under Clouds
An indie 2-D physics-based puzzle platformer

Sky Legends
Online arcade flying game from the studio that made Snoopy: Flying Ace (console game that scored 9.0 at IGN)

Rising Storm
First add-on to Red Orchestra: Heroes of Stalingrad, made as colaboration with mod teams.

E.Y.E
Indie FPS/RPG hybrid running on Source engine. People who work on it previously made great Half-Life mod called Syndicate Black Ops

Ground Branch
Tactical shooter from Blackfoot( which is composed of RainbowSix, Rogue Spear and Ghost Recon leads)



RACING

rFactor 2
The first rFactor became the rulling standart of PC racing sims and the most popular modding platform for fans of the genre, not to mention it?s engine was the basis for majority of other good PC racing sims of recent years (like GTR 1-2, Race series, Arca simracing or GT Legends)



SIMULATION

IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover
Follow-up to one of the greatest flight sims ever made.

DCS: A-10C Warthog

Microsoft Flight
Finally, a new flight sim from Microsoft.

Steel Armor:Blaze of War
Mew tank sim from the makers of Steel Fury (which was one of the best tank games of all time)

Space Shuttle Mission Simulator 2
Sequel to the best sim of it?s kind.

World of Tanks
A MMO PvP tank combat game set in World War 2 setting from Wargaming.net,akers of Massive Assault (8.4 from IGN) and upcoming Order of War

Battlestar Galactica Online
Space combat MMO

Jet Thunder
Historical air combat sim from Thunder Works

Jumpgate Evolution
A sequel to space sim MMO that got 8.6 from Gamespoit

Black Prophecy
SF space MMO.

Fighter Ops

Seven-G
Indie F-18 Flight Sim.

BlackStar Chronicles
An action MMO described as a mix of the single-player traditions of Wing Commander with the multiplayer feel of Descent. It?s being developed by a team of people who previously worked on sadly canceled Privateer Online as well as on Star Wars Galaxies

Infinity: The Quest for Earth
MMO space simulator with huge procedurally generated universe



PUZZLE/CASUAL

SpaceChem
SpaceChem succeeds as a very interesting puzzle game thanks to innovative mechanics with limited design constraints. You are given the freedom to combine elements and destroy compound bounds as you see fit; the end product is the only set goal, and the efficiency in which you deliver your requirement is up to you. (?)SpaceChem is a fantastic puzzle game great for any fan of the genre. ? 8.5 from Out of Eight website

Subversion
Fourth Introversion game (after Uplink, Darwinia and Defcon)

Arcada Mia?s
New puzzle game from the maker of Dangerous High School Girls In Trouble.

Farmlands
By Caffeinated Games, a company founded by the former Lead Tools Engineer of Zipper Interactive (SOCOM fame) Greg Chudecke who prior to Zipper worked on Backyard Skateboarding (Atari) and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Black Label Games)

Revenge of the Titans!
Tower defense game from Puppy Games, makers of Droid Assault, Titan Attack and Ultratron.

Fool and his money
Sequel to legendary Fool?s Errand.

Pontifex III
Sequel to one of best indie puzzle games ever made


MULTIPLATFORM


Mass Effect 3

XCOM

Bulletstorm
SF FPS from People Can Fly, makers of Painkiller.

Crysis 2

RAGE
New shooter from id Software

Dragon Age II
Sequel to a great RPG from Bioware that scored 9.2 at IGN.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Test Driver Unlimited 2
Sequel to a racing game that scored 8.0 at IGN.

Duke Nukem Forever
It looks like it will really happen by Gearbox?s (developers of Borderlands) hands.

Brink
FPS from Splash Damage, makers of Quake Wars (8.5 from IGN)

Beyond Good and Evil 2

Deus Ex 3

Portal 2

American McGee?s Alice II
The first one got 9.4 from IGN

Max Payne 3
Max Payne got 9.3 from IGN, while it?s sequel scored 9.4

Dead Space 2
The first one got from IGN

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine PC
Action game from Relic.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Fantasy RPG from Big Huge Games (makers of Rise of Nations) and lead designer of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Trine 2
Sequel to 8.2 platformer.

Rock of Ages
A head-to-head, real-time tower defense game in which two players alternate between defending and attacking. When attacking you control a big-huge boulder that?s rolling towards your opponent?s gates. If you?re the one on the defense your attempt to slow and divert your boulder by placing towers, fans and units in boulder?s path. It?s being made by ACE Team, makers of Zeno Clash (which got 8.4 from IGN).

Tomb Raider
Reboot of a classic franchise.

Assassin?s Creed: Brotherhood
Console version scored 8.0 at IGN.

Columbus 4
Episodic adventure series from Animation Arts, makers of Lost Horizon and Secret Files series.

Jurassic Park: the Game
Episodic action-adventure from Telltale Games (makers of Sam and Max Episodes, Back to the Future and Tales of Monkey Island).

Defenders of Ardania
Tower defense set in Majesty series world.

Hamilton?s Great Adventure
A co-op puzzle game from makers of Lead and Gold (7.0 at IGN).

Dust
Spiritual successor to Populour created by Eric Chahi, the designer who made Another World (known as Out of this World in USA).

Red Faction: Armageddon
The previous entry in this franchise (Red Faction: Guerrilla) scored 8.0 at IGN.

Dungeon Siege III
THird entry in the popular hack and slash franchise. This time it?s being developed by Obsidian Entertainment, known for creating RPGs like Knights of the Old Republic 2 or Neverwinter Nights 2.

Operation Flashpoint: Red River

Orion: Prelude
Commercial follow up to a popular mod.

Top Spin 4
New entry in the best tennis series of all time.

Section 8: Prejudice

Bastion
Inie action RPG from ex-EALA team members.

Captain Morgane
Semi sequel to adventure game So Blonde, which scored 8.0 from Adventuregamers.

The Haunted: Hell?s Reach
Multiplayer horror action game that?s a commercial follow-up to a mod that won Make Something Unreal competition.

Kings and Castles
Fantasy RTS from Gas Powered Games, makers of Supreme Commander series (on IGN first one scored 8.9, while the sequel 8.4 got).

The First Templar
Co-op centric action-adventure from Haemimont Games, makers of games like Tropico 3 (8.4 from IGN) or Celtic Kings: Rage of War (8.2 on the same site) and The Punic Wars: A Clash of Two Empires (8.0 from IGN).

Vessel
Indie platformer which gameplay based on manipulating fluids.

Dungeon Hero
From Firefly studios (makers of great Stronghold series and medicore Stronghold: Legends and CivCity, we?ll see how they do here)

Agency
Spy-themed action MMO from SOE

The Secret World
A MMO from makers of Age of Conan and Longest Journey franchise

Batman: Arkham Asylum 2
Sequel to action-adventure game that scored 9.3 on IGN

Spec Ops: The Line

Metal Gear Solid: Rising

Tom Clancy?s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

Driver: San Francisco

Mechwarrior
The classic series returns.

Solaris Assault Tech
Multiplayer game set in BattleTech universe from people who for the last 12 years modded previous MechWarrior games as MekTek group.

Need For Speed: Shift 2
Sequel to a racer that scored 9.0 from IGN.

The Cursed Crusade
Action game from ATLUS

Gatling Gears

Alien Breed 3: Descent

A Vampyre Story: Year One
Episodic prequel to humoristic adventure game series.

Death to Spies 3
Stealth action game heavily inspired by Hitman and set in Cold War era.The first one scored 8.0 at IGN.

Tropico 4
Another entry in this great city building series. Tropico 3 scored 8.4 from IGN

F.E.A.R. 3
First one scored 9.2 at IGN, while the second got 8.2 on the same site.

Fable 3

DC Universe Online
Superhero MMO from Sony Online Entertainment (Everquest 1-2, Planetside, Star Wars Galaxies)

Battlefield 1943
Downloadable-only MP game in vein of original Battlefield 1942.

Burn Zombie Burn
Indie action game. PlayStation 3 version scored 8.3 at IGN

Sky Gods
A tactical shooter from BlackfootStudios(made by Red Storm veterans), bassicaly this is a smaller game that will provide funding for Ground Branch as well as be a testing ground for the tech and gameplay ideas,

A New Beginning

Postal 3

Project Owlboy
Retro platformer

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes

Skulls of the Shogun
Turn based strategy game from ex-EALA developers.

Off-Road Drive
Off road racing simulator.

Captized
Baitiful indie retro platformer.

Toki Arcade
High res remake of the classic arcade game

Source - "Reasons to be a PC Gamer" [http://www.pcgamingfan.com/]


As for the Hardware debate. In no way shape and form can your phone, your laptop or your console provide the same high fidelity experience that a modern desktop can.

Desktops have better visuals, audio and overall performance. Heck the basic gaming desktop of today is easily a generation ahead of the console. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.247185-Crytek-PCs-Are-a-Generation-Ahead-of-Consoles]

If graphics, sound and data storage did not matter, we would all still be playing Space Invaders.


Edit: Corrected generation gap and provided a link to the article. My old memory is not as good as it used to be.

Gah!

Let's not forget about all the free-to-play titles that aren't being advertised that much. That's 50+ this year alone. The whole concept of the PC dying is blown out of the water with this.

 

[Yulai Liu]

so how about laptop gaming? It takes less space, it runs PC games and a mouse is the best FPS controller ever. Sure, PC gaming is coming to an end, but the reason to me maybe the expenses from the hardware pressure. If you want to run Crysis 2, either spend a lot on a new computer, or just play it on Xbox or PS3.

 

[Balobo]

I honestly don't know why people complain about the price.

I bought a GPU for 50 USD and I have a crappy 2.2 GHZ dual core CPU. I run most games maxed out most of the time, with some added antialiasing as well.

 

[Shoelip]

This is kind of disappointing. Bob usually has a really interesting take on things but this time he just showed a severe lack of knowledge on the subject. It's typically well thought out as is most of his stuff, but unfortunately based on such flawed premises that I'm not really even sure where to begin to refute it... Indie games are flourishing doing things consoles simply can't and big console game makers would never consider anyway. I mean... if you are just going to ignore that completely how can you expect people to respect your position?

It almost seems like he was just trying to get a rise out of the "PC Elitists".

 

[Vibhor]

ugh. PCs ARE 500$ DOLLARS. anyone who saves otherwise is a con artist or uses it for actual work.

Care to suggest how its 500$ dollars?
It has been established over 9000 times that Buying a gaming PC is actually cheaper than a console.

If you are going with buying the best parts in the market instead of efficient ones then you deserve getting ripped off.
Also console requires you to own a TV which would cost 2000$ more because you are going for the best.
Now even a fool could calculate that 2000$ is way more than 500$ plus games are shit tons cheaper in steam sales on the PC which means it is also better in the long run.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

It's interesting to see people going "Yeah eventually things will be able to do what PCs do today" but never seem to stop and consider that by that time it's possible PCs will be doing other things that their little gadgets can't match.

 

[Stammer]

Suppose M$ put Windows on their next xbox and it can run everything including office, then you don't have a 480 console, but a 480 PC.

"Consoles are dying", would be a bit more appropriate (though still far from the whole truth).

Actually, yeah... It's not so much that consoles are dying, it's that consoles and PC's are merging together.

Meh. Soon enough the only differences between any gaming platform is just going to amount to brand names and maybe a couple exclusive titles. The PS3 and 360 are pretty much there already.

 

[mechanixis]

Goddamn, does this video touch people's nerves. I like how Bob brought up the stereotype of the elitist, derisive PC gamer as a joke, and then hundreds of Escapist users dogpiled the comment thread in confirmation of it.

What Bob is actually saying - to all of your who are defending PC gaming as being "too awesome to die" - is that the PC gaming market is only going to get less practical to sustain as years go by. As hardware specs continue to rise and owning a powerful desktop computer becomes less and less essential in day-to-day life, the niche market of gaming-rig owners is only going to shrink. Back in the day, any gentleman with a desktop computer could pop down to Best Buy, pick up "a video card," wedge it into the machine and play Baldur's Gate 2. Nowadays, playing most AAA titles on the PC requires a much more deliberate investment and technological know-how. Eventually, more publishers will realize they can make more money designing for consoles than hardcore PC gamers, and PC games will become more and more rare.

Bob's statements aren't about the quality or appeal of PC games and genres: there's no denying PC games are great and allow for more depth and finesse than most console titles. What Bob is discussing is the marketability and practicality of designing expensive games for a shrinking demographic that's difficult to join. Like he said, we'll have our StarCrafts and our WoWs for a long time to come, but other than that things will only get worse from here.

Actually consoles are suffering from that as well. Consoles cannot sustain themselves with this business model. Why do you think the ten year replacement was upped another 5 years? Sony is still losing money of the PS3, and the Xbox is going to have the same problem next generation. Why? Higher complexity tech cannot fit into a small box like it used to. In order for them to make money and stay in the tech arena, they would have to start selling upgrades, which both consoles are already doing. The idea of a console is fundamentally flawed now, for them to have the same longevity they need to adopt more and more of the PC to survive. However, they are getting stiff competition from phones, and portable PCs. In short, consoles are in a tough place.

What distinguishes consoles, though, is accessibility. Any schmuck can buy a console, hook it up, and play a game that was released yesterday. The technology is irrelevant - console gamers have access to the whole library right out of the box. PC gaming has a dedicated base, but because the initiation into that base is so difficult and expensive, it's going to assimilate new members much more slowly than the console base.

Of course it would be for the best if the two markets spectacularly merged into a single demographic. If the Wii 2 came out with an optional mouse-and-keyboard peripheral and the other consoles all followed suit, then PC games would be able to truly migrate to consoles and the PC hardware market would definitely dwindle away.

 

[Thedarkness77]

All i can as is thier is no right or wrong answer on this topic.

 

[Firehound]

Since ad hominem attacks against people that don't share the same views is okay for bob, I can only say this is bob being successful troll. That being said, this is why I try not to watch the big picture.


PC= Tower computer. PC= Personal computer. PC=Laptop. Whether that is the powerful yet bulky Tower, or the portable yet slightly weaker and prone to over-heating laptop, is irelevent. They are personal computers.

Furthermore, I disagree with your opinion. Maybe mainstream gaming is heading to the console, but the vacuum in power is being filled with independents. We have Mojang productions for an example. A game not even out of beta is getting millions of people to buy it. Perhaps you should reconsider the future of gaming.

At your comments about consoles, if they did not restrict use, then they'd be fancy computers you don't have to worry about serial codes with.

Bringing me to my next point. Consoles are not killing computer gaming. Nor is computer gaming becoming more casual because of them.

DRM is killing computer gaming. DRM and EULAs is what is causing people to go to consoles from computers. This is because that if there is two things people don't like to do before they have fun, they are: One, being told they don't actually own what they payed for, and instead are being leased it, and are subject to whatever the corporation who made it tells them to do, and two, having to jump through hoops to before being able to have fun.

Instead, you can have a console, which utilizes a disk system and you both own the product, and can enjoy it immediately upon using said product. This is what is killing computer gaming, which would be going towards casual anyways, with the other games just dieing out slowly as people stopped playing them and preferring games that don't hassle the user before allowing them to play.

 

[Steady Drain]

FPS=MOUSE AND KEYBOARD? But i mostly agree