The State of PC gaming

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Really? Because I've got a ton of good games on my PC without crowdfunding. In fact, most of them are indie.

This is making my point for me.

 

[TrevHead]

PC gaming is doing fine although I wouldn't say we are quite back to the heady days of the PS2 era.

Having been a PC gamer since 2000 I know that generally PC gaming provides the best gaming experience by and large. However the problem with PC gaming is identity. Back in the PS2 era PC gaming had a good identity, it was the place for FPS and RTS with consoles doing their own thing with Japanese / arcade gaming. However since MS entered the fray gaming on different platforms has become pretty much the same. Consoles provide a close to PC gaming experience without any of the old PC gaming hassles. The gaming experience might not be as good as a real PC game, but it's good enough for the CoD loving mainstream.

And this is my problem with gaming in general, it's all multiplat games and very little exclusives that play to the platforms strengths and aren't held back by other platforms. As everyone knows the consoles and AAA industry is often their own worst enemy. The console manufacturers are happy to stick with old hardware and retail models while Steam and PC stores are increasingly better and more competitive at selling games and been pro active in creating interest in new gaming experiences. MS is the worst of the bunch by far with their shitty dashboard, backwards digital downloads anti indie / niche practices and the complete lack of sales and marketing. Increasingly the 360 is becoming a wasteland for none FPS and Sports games as ppl interested in other games jump to other platforms for those games and don't bother paying for Live locking them from all MP making it even harder for remaining to find ppl to play with in anything other than CoD and Fifa.

Also there are the big AAA publishers always shooting themselves in the foot. How most of them jumped from PC to the XBox years ago only been so kind to give PC gamers the odd shitty console port. However the AAA industry is no longer the land of milk and honey like it was five years ago. Milking the mainstream console gamer with a never ending deluge of shitty sequels that treat the gamer as a 5year old thicky has nurtured some very bad habits in their customers. Instead of gamers who buy a large selection of varied games like most of us on this forum still do. They have changed their buying and playing habits to something more like a MMO gamer who just plays one game and nothing else. That's why AAAs with their DLC and game mechanics are designed to hook ppl into playing them over the long term, F2p and shitty micro transactions is the next logical step in modern gaming as just getting someone to stop playing WoW or CoD and play something else is most the battle. Thats why every publisher apart from Activistion is running around like a headless chicken wondering how the hell they can survive in such a market.

Since community is more important than ever, it's often the lack of community that spells doom for most other MP games that are niche. Atleast until MS and Sony become more pro-active and implement cross platform play and better ways to find other gamers with similar tastes.

So like the great console crash of the 80s, there's an opportunity for computer games to step in, back then it was the UK home computing boom time and now it the PC and non AAA industry that is taking up the slack and provide an alternative for those who are sick with western AAA console gaming. Although the old guard of EA and MicroSoft are trying to do their best and fuck everything up with their greed. (Origin exclusives and Windows 8)

That said PC gaming has another threat on the horizon, that of the tablet as an increasing number of ppl stop buying PC desktops and buy tablets instead. Windows 8 will have made the threat much much worse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCs07FmjBC0&list=UUpf0HFUmqDTnUY0fgaLqnFA&index=2

This vid is interesting as it also mentions the problems with the industry as a whole.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1M4OSMZFwU

 

[SgtMcgee23]

I purchased a gaming PC about month ago and the only time I will ever touch an Xbox again is to play the new Halo. I am loving my PC. Even though the starting cost might be higher than purchasing an Xbox, things will even out because of cheaper games and not having to pay for Xbox Live. You can get so much more content on the PC for cheaper because of Steam's sales and digital downloads, and not to mention mods which add immense value to games. Oh and the graphics, which blow the consoles out of the water.

PC master race.

 

[Rednog]

PC gaming is fine, Bob is talking out of his ass.
Seriously go look at the motherboards/cases/parts out there; stuff has gotten more and more idiot proof. I just bought a bunch of a new parts a few months ago and I was floored that damn near everything was color coded and labeled on the mother board. Hell even my new case barely had any screws everything had a plastic snap in. Heck I still remember manuals for the PC being massive books, my new one was basically a giant fold out because the thing is programmed for you to hook it up to the net and it downloads its own damn drivers, the same with my graphics card. The card is like 2 years old and on every other occasion I boot up my PC and its like "Hey a new version of your graphics driver is available, do you want to install it?"

Just a note: I didn't think any online videos could get even schlockier than entry videos from That Guy With The Glasses....Bob sure proved that wrong.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

I saw one of your sources was the game overthinker, that stopped me right quick. I think it's alive, but needs far more... How do I put it, credibility. Because honestly, in my 2 years of being a PC gamer, I've had so much more fun than I ever did on console.

 

[Bashfluff]

Today I picked up Mario Baseball, put it in my Wii, and started it up in seconds. Then I paused my 2 gig download of Eye so that I could watch videos on the internet. This is the main drawback to PC gaming. Other than the TV thing. We're not in an age where everyone has lightning fast internet and can download a game quickly, install it quickly, and PLAY it quickly. The games are cheaper, and the start up cost, if you have a PC already, is much the same. But games have the convenience factor going for them.

However, this is changing. Console install times, online updates on consoles, shitty publisher antics, distribution, nickel and diming for games as WELL as high prices--almost non-existent on the PC--modification ability...consoles are starting to become just as inconvenient while not possessing the same advantages as PCs do. As soon as this goes downloadable, as soon as we all feel like we can stop putting games on shelves, the PC might just take it.

Computers can now easily play most games that come out without any upgrades. They have a wider library of games! Can you imagine how little hassle it would be to get publishers to put out older games on the PC if it was the primary gaming console of choice? They don't have to pay much of anyone anything except the people who make it. They keep the rights. They get the profit. Just yesterday, I played about 15 amazing games that were free on the PC that were made by amateur game designers. I plugged in my PC to my tv, picked up a controller, and I had fun with interesting, innovative, free games. There have great communities, too. It's easy to communicate on PC. They're COMPUTERS. I can talk to my friends on Steam, browse the net and play some music while I play, and things of that nature. Consoles are specialized gaming computers, essentially, but they're becoming worse than your basic PC, and they cannot hope to compete if they continue in this direction.

 

[The White Hunter]

The only problem I have with PC Gaming is when this pops up

If you're not made by the company that owns this program, I should not be seeing you!

That thing pisses me off to be honest.

Why can't I play Mark of the NInja without booting Steam up to eat up my limited system resources? (my PC, it is shit.).

I don't even have Steam installed.

And this is the reason why, despite it's fans screaming that it isn't, Steam is in fact DRM

I have steam with a small library of games on it, but it is definately DRM and there are some nasty downsides to Steam.
Contrary to what people may believe Valve is not the gaming messiah.

I always enjoy the arguments that Valve's steam-box-fixed-system-that-isn't-a-console-despite-being-a-console of myth, will come from the heavens to the console market and vanquish all competitors, because Valve totally knows exactly what it is doing in a market it has never participated in.

Also, they need to count to 3, or that Steambox thing won't be around for more than 10 years.

Oh I disagree. I think the Steambox WILL release in the next two years... in beta. It'll stay in beta for half a decade before finally seeing an official release.

Because if there's one thing Valve loves more than taking their sweet old time, it's Beta.

Ah that is true, I don't see it being a huge success either way. Console gamers don't care, PC enthusiasts seem to think people are gonna buy it, though PC enthusiasts are still gonna just build their rigs rather than buy a fixed system.

To me it's market is what I refer to as the Village Shop market.

While we're having a dig at Valve; I really don't like Half-Life 2.

While we're taking digs at Valve and throwing firecrackers down a fanboy hole, I really hated Team Fortress 2

I hate Team Fortress 2. I played it for a while, and y'know it didn't really seem all that different from the vast majority of multiplayer shooters out there. It just had a prettier aesthetic. At the end of it it was still a hollow cycle of spawn/kill/die and the chat was still full of toss pots arguing over who's mother was fattest.

Team Fortress gets by on being free and Valve fans. No different from any first person shooter, online or offline

Exactly the same, screaming 12 year old shits and all! reminds me of CoD4.

 

[FFP2]

There is literally zero risk involved in pirating at consoles (well, except you are a moron who also seeds like my brother who got caught - but this is just acquiring software). Get a used / baned console, let it crack for a few bucks / euros and voila, you are ready to go and the entry costs are low as fuck.

The Witcher 2 numbers were estimated guesses pulled out of their arses...

The big problem with console piracy is... that no one seems to give a fuck because the manufacturers still get the money for the hardware one way or another (the used / banned console belonged to someone who still bought it). That is the only reason I can think of why people still think that piracy is lesser of a problem on consoles. But may I point out that about every big titles AAA leak happens on the 360? This is not some legal game they acquire, it is a pirated copy, and yet piracy numbers of consoles are nearly ever talked about.

This is sadly also the reason why "I would argue" it. I won't state that this is a fact, I work of the few numbers I saw and my knowledge of the console piracy market.

I don't know much about console piracy so I'm just gonna trust what you're saying

The piracy numbers weren't estimated by CD Projekt, some torrent news site did an article on the most pirated games and TW2 was near the top. They used actual numbers gathered from the torrent data itself or something like that.

I think devs don't complain about console piracy because it's nothing compared to the numbers on PC. Plus they have to waste additional resources optimzing and porting.

 

[omgeveryone9]

The only problem I have with PC Gaming is when this pops up

If you're not made by the company that owns this program, I should not be seeing you!

That thing pisses me off to be honest.

Why can't I play Mark of the NInja without booting Steam up to eat up my limited system resources? (my PC, it is shit.).

I don't even have Steam installed.

And this is the reason why, despite it's fans screaming that it isn't, Steam is in fact DRM

I have steam with a small library of games on it, but it is definately DRM and there are some nasty downsides to Steam.
Contrary to what people may believe Valve is not the gaming messiah.

I always enjoy the arguments that Valve's steam-box-fixed-system-that-isn't-a-console-despite-being-a-console of myth, will come from the heavens to the console market and vanquish all competitors, because Valve totally knows exactly what it is doing in a market it has never participated in.

Also, they need to count to 3, or that Steambox thing won't be around for more than 10 years.

Oh I disagree. I think the Steambox WILL release in the next two years... in beta. It'll stay in beta for half a decade before finally seeing an official release.

Because if there's one thing Valve loves more than taking their sweet old time, it's Beta.

Ah that is true, I don't see it being a huge success either way. Console gamers don't care, PC enthusiasts seem to think people are gonna buy it, though PC enthusiasts are still gonna just build their rigs rather than buy a fixed system.

To me it's market is what I refer to as the Village Shop market.

While we're having a dig at Valve; I really don't like Half-Life 2.

While we're taking digs at Valve and throwing firecrackers down a fanboy hole, I really hated Team Fortress 2

Ah well, there shall always be people who will hate the game I love, but unlike others I respect your opinions unless you have a horrible reason.

The only problem I have with PC Gaming is when this pops up

If you're not made by the company that owns this program, I should not be seeing you!

That thing pisses me off to be honest.

Why can't I play Mark of the NInja without booting Steam up to eat up my limited system resources? (my PC, it is shit.).

I don't even have Steam installed.

And this is the reason why, despite it's fans screaming that it isn't, Steam is in fact DRM

I have steam with a small library of games on it, but it is definately DRM and there are some nasty downsides to Steam.
Contrary to what people may believe Valve is not the gaming messiah.

I always enjoy the arguments that Valve's steam-box-fixed-system-that-isn't-a-console-despite-being-a-console of myth, will come from the heavens to the console market and vanquish all competitors, because Valve totally knows exactly what it is doing in a market it has never participated in.

Also, they need to count to 3, or that Steambox thing won't be around for more than 10 years.

Oh I disagree. I think the Steambox WILL release in the next two years... in beta. It'll stay in beta for half a decade before finally seeing an official release.

Because if there's one thing Valve loves more than taking their sweet old time, it's Beta.

Ah that is true, I don't see it being a huge success either way. Console gamers don't care, PC enthusiasts seem to think people are gonna buy it, though PC enthusiasts are still gonna just build their rigs rather than buy a fixed system.

To me it's market is what I refer to as the Village Shop market.

While we're having a dig at Valve; I really don't like Half-Life 2.

While we're taking digs at Valve and throwing firecrackers down a fanboy hole, I really hated Team Fortress 2

I hate Team Fortress 2. I played it for a while, and y'know it didn't really seem all that different from the vast majority of multiplayer shooters out there. It just had a prettier aesthetic. At the end of it it was still a hollow cycle of spawn/kill/die and the chat was still full of toss pots arguing over who's mother was fattest.

Team Fortress gets by on being free and Valve fans. No different from any first person shooter, online or offline

There is a reason why TF2 is so successful, and that it is more relaxed than other FPS, it is the only game that has made Classes work, and has a good horde mode without zombies (I'm sick of devs thinking that the only way they can make horde mode is through zombies). If any of you guys know a good PC game with a zombie-less horde mode/game. Tell me, because I like those games.

 

[Something Amyss]

That era concerns me deeply, publisher dictated prices? Can't fucking wait for £50 PC games and £70 console games. One glance at the prices year old games go onto the PlayStation store for should say all that needs to be said about concerns for the Digital future (which I think is many years off still).

Well, with American ISPs still fighting to not have to actually provide the services we pay for, I'm pretty sure the DD era will take some time to really take over, but I fear we're on the cusp.

So far the digital age has been unprecedented in stripping consumer rights, so I'm not looking forward to it.

This is making my point for me.

You just insisted crowdsourcing (Kickstarter) was necessary, a light at the end of the tunnel. I demonstrated otherwise. That's not making your point.

Unless your point is something like "Kickstarter will have almost no impact in terms of quality gaming's continued existence," in which case you said it very poorly.

If it's a statement on the quality of indie games, then I can only react thus:

Spoiler: wot

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

This is making my point for me.

You just insisted crowdsourcing (Kickstarter) was necessary, a light at the end of the tunnel. I demonstrated otherwise. That's not making your point.

Unless your point is something like "Kickstarter will have almost no impact in terms of quality gaming's continued existence," in which case you said it very poorly.

That's not entirely accurate. In my original post, I mentioned that indie games and kickstarter was all that PC gaming had now. My point of view is that it is not really enough. I don't care how good an indie game might be. But to call the state of PC gaming healthy is to lie to oneself. Big developers develop for consoles now, PC is barely a second class citizen that gets token lip service from a tiny number of them.

 

[Snotnarok]

It's hard for PC as a platform to die since it does everything, you can paint, make music, make things in 3D, write books, make games, netflix, do your homework , make websites yadda yadda. But no when devs or more specficially indie Devs say their game made more money in 1 week on steam vs 1 year on xbox then no it's pretty much fine.

PC isn't a platform that can die because it's not limited to just games, it does everything.

 

[Bob Thenecromancer]

PC gaming is doing fine but the community is not. There are a lot of ass holes in the PC gaming community and its getting worse.

 

[KronosGaming]

I honestly think that the PC world has been thriving for years now. As long as the console companies's lies are believed by the console owners there will always be console players but that shouldn't last forever considering how the business for those console companies are going down hill.