The State of PC gaming

[omgeveryone9]

Hi, I'm new to the escapist fourms, so don't expect too much in terms of familiarity of the fourms. I just want to start a discussion and see what others think about this topic.
Let me first clarify that I am a PC gamer and I think that the status of PC gaming is healthy. But I just want your opinions on it. Also, I am presuming that the people here are mostly PC gamers, but if you are not please add in your thoughts, I appreciate it.

The links below comes from two people who talk about video games and the industry. The first one is from the Gameoverthinker, and the other is from Jimquisition. Both are on the topic of PC gaming.

http://blip.tv/gameoverthinker/episo...he-end-6511476 start at 9:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4I64oHN7oY

Place your thoughts here. Is PC gaming dead, dying, alive, or prospering?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Uh...it's fine. Prospering, I guess? I've been a PC Gamer my whole life, and I've never been happier with the quality or quantity of games, nor the price I am able to get them at.

 

[Rose and Thorn]

I think thanks to Steam, PC gaming is much more accessible and just plain easier. I got tired of PC gaming back when I used to play it back in the Warcraft 3 days, but I find it is much easier now. Having a decent laptop makes things nice also.

I think PC gaming is growing, with Steam it is starting to feel more and more like console gaming, but with all the benefits of PC gaming. Not to mention Steam shows you all the DLC you can buy for the game and patches all your games for you! Also all the great indie games that seem to be popular these days that don't take much of a powerful PC to play. Like FTL, Terraria, Legend of Grimrock, Dungeons of Dredmor, Binding of Isaac, ect, ect.

I got XCOM for PC this year and it works great. Two years ago I wouldn't have even thought about getting a game like that for PC.

I still prefer a lot of games on my console/TV. Like Dead Space, Fallout 3/Skyrim, Rockstar games. I have never cared for mods, so I don't really have anything to complain about.

I like First person shooters on both PC and Console. Like Halo on Xbox, or Killing Floor on steam. I don't really play FPS's anymore however.

So yeah, I think PC gaming is becoming easier and more popular. The days of "will my system run this?" are starting to smooth out it seems.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

Anybody that thinks that PC gaming is dead or dying obviously hasn't been paying attention to the state of gaming in the past few years. PC gaming is bigger now than it has probably ever been. There are several reasons for this: the rise of digital distribution, the continually growing free to play market, the explosion of indie games, and the relative decline of consoles (although this is most likely a temporary and predictable slump resulting from the current consoles being so damn old) are all major factors for this. Additionally, the ease of using a gamepad on pc, the huge amount of crazy good deals (like steam sales and humble bundles), and people no longer thinking that you need to buy a $1500 rig every two years have made people more willing to give pc gaming a shot.

So basically, the idea that pc gaming is somehow dying has never been more false.

 

[thesilentman]

Hi, I'm new to the escapist fourms, so don't expect too much in terms of familiarity of the fourms. I just want to start a discussion and see what others think about this topic.
Let me first clarify that I am a PC gamer and I think that the status of PC gaming is healthy. But I just want your opinions on it. Also, I am presuming that the people here are mostly PC gamers, but if you are not please add in your thoughts, I appreciate it.

The links below comes from two people who talk about video games and the industry. The first one is from the Gameoverthinker, and the other is from Jimquisition. Both are on the topic of PC gaming.

http://blip.tv/gameoverthinker/episo...he-end-6511476 start at 9:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4I64oHN7oY

Place your thoughts here. Is PC gaming dead, dying, alive, or prospering?

Ooh, another new guy! Welcome to the Escapist, stay out of the basement, and blame Kross if anything goes wrong. Enjoy your time here!

OT- PC gaming is prospering very well. I can never use a console anymore due to the customizability of a PC when it comes to gaming. There's no need for the best machine out there, and I can keep all of my games ranging from Elder Scrolls: Arena to Dishonored. I don't see it dying at all in the near future.

 

[Luca72]

The indie games that I've found just this year alone are some of the best games I've played since I was a kid! PC gaming is prospering in a completely new way, I think mainly because of the ease of distribution. The tools for making and editing games are getting easier to use and more widely available every day.

I suppose it's a little frustrating when I play a big-name game on PC and realize it was clearly optimized for consoles first, but the staggering variety of experiences on the PC is just too good to complain.

Oh, and nice to meet you new guy!

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I think thanks to Steam, PC gaming is much more accessible and just plain easier. I got tired of PC gaming back when I used to play it back in the Warcraft 3 days, but I find it is much easier now. Having a decent laptop makes things nice also.

I think PC gaming is growing, with Steam it is starting to feel more and more like console gaming, but with all the benefits of PC gaming. Also all the great indie games that seem to be popular these days that don't take much of a powerful PC to play. Like FTL, Terraria, Legend of Grimrock, Dungeons of Dredmor, Binding of Isaac, ect, ect.

I got XCOM for PC this year and it works great. Two years ago I wouldn't have even thought about getting a game like that for PC.

I still prefer a lot of games on my console/TV. Like Dead Space, Fallout 3/Skyrim, Rockstar games. I have never cared for mods, so I don't really have anything to complain about.

I like First person shooters on both PC and Console. Like Halo on Xbox, or Killing Floor on steam. I don't really play FPS's anymore however.

So yeah, I think PC gaming is becoming easier and more popular. The days of "will my system run this?" are starting to smooth out it seems.

This is a nice post, and I agree with most everything you have to say.

But it makes me want to cry that you "never would have considered" getting XCOM for a PC. The series started on PC! You only adopted XCOM. We were born with it. Molded by it. It wasn't available for consoles we were already men, and by then it was nothing to us but TOO RANDOM!

 

[Username Redacted]

PC gaming is doing fine. I am at the point where unless a game is going to require a specialized controller (or I suspect that the company making it is pants-on-head-retarded when it comes to ports) and I am given a choice between console and PC I will go with the latter option. This has become especially pronounced in one area that can be make or break for a game and that is the ability to patch it. It seems to me at this point that the PC had badly eclipsed the PS3 and X-Box for ease of patching simply because the developers don't have to deal with Sony or Microsoft (i.e. file size limits, restrictions on number of updates, having to pay $ony and M$ to fix their own game, etc.) to do so.

 

[Maxtro]

Ever since I built a gaming PC to play Skyrim, my computer has been my preferred gaming platform. The only games I play on my PS3 are the ones that don't have PC versions, or the PC versions don't support controllers *shakes fist at Bioware*

 

[Rawne1980]

According to some people PC gaming is dying .... they have been saying that for about 20 years.

PC gaming isn't even wounded .... not even a scratch.

It's very much alive and kicking and will be for some time now.

 

[The Madman]

PC gaming has been doing really well lately, but then it always does really well around the end of a consoles lifespan. I imagine once the PS4 and Xbox 7239x2 come out there will be another 'PC gaming is dying' uproar as there always is, followed by a span where everything sort of evens out as the consoles loose their novelty and developers learn to work properly with their hardware, resulting in not only better games but more cross-platform games as well. And then finally as the time wears on and the consoles begin to show their age the PC shall once again experience a little mini golden-era where the developers, tired of working on outdated hardware, begin to show more focus towards the PC not necessarily with exclusives but with betters ports that boast more features.

Happens every time and will continue to happen until there is some upset in the industry, perhaps a new means of gaming or a new technology that introduces a new market to the gaming genre. You can sorta see that with handheld devices now, but for the most part those remain casual which for now has left the divide between them and the console/PC gaming industry. What's really going to shake things up is when sometime comes along that challenges the existing market, perhaps some new medium or platform for gaming... I'm crossing my fingers for holo-chambers myself, can't wait!

And on a side note no offence to movie-bob, but I wince every time he talks about PC gaming. He's pretty obviously just not interested and as a result knows little of the platform, regardless of any research he might have done for his occasional segment on the subject, which makes it really hard to take anything he says about the platform seriously. Not necessarily that he's always entirely wrong, but there are a lot of things he tends to gloss over, ignore, or not know about.

 

[darlarosa]

I think it the state of PC games depends on what you're looking at.
I think the indie market is booming and that certain genres are going strong. MMOs I think are starting to wane and many will not last much longer judging by sales and critic reviews\

I think PC gaming used to be awesome and had more going for it than it does not because people used to be more willing to experiment and there was less porting and redundancy....I think it's not struggling on the whole, but if you break it down its hard to say

I will add I miss point and clicks adventures...

 

[Windcaler]

The state of PC gaming right now is pretty good. In the last 2 years we've gotten a variety of great games, especially from the indie market, that fill some very niche roles. Games like Legend of Grimlock, FTL, mark of the ninja, and Chivalry: Medeval warfare. The modding scene has only gotten stronger too. Ive seen an increase in Morrowind mods being produced and Dark souls and Xcom both have their own modding sites now

The future of PC gaming looks absolutely amazing because of three pieces of equipment. The Steambox, Nvidia's project Shield, and the Razer edge. Razer's edge is the one Im most interested in because you can use it as a handheld to play PC games! Till a few weeks ago this was science fiction and now its becoming science fact. If this thing takes off it could revolutionize the handheld market.

IMO its an awesome time to be a PC gamer even though, you know, "PC gaming is dead" (that was sarcasm)

 

[Tdoodle]

It's looking pretty good, and with the next generations of consoles on the way I'm tempted to take the plunge on a serious gaming PC. Would be great to have something seriously powerful playing through my TV.

 

[The Madman]

I will add I miss point and clicks adventures...

Point & Click has been having a resurgence in popularity as of late, as have many other more neglected genres. Just looking at GOG's catalogue we've got:

Gemini Rue
Resonance
Botanicula
Machinarium
Deponia
The Whispered World
A New Beginning
Chains of Satinav

And more, not to mention sequels, HD remakes like the really well done Special editions of Monkey Island or Broken Sword, all the Telltale games from Sam & Max to Back to the Future and Walking Dead, plus the classics. Best news of all in my mind as well; there's FINALLY a new Longest Journey game in the works. About time!

Point & Click has also become a very popular genre in Germany of all places, go figure, so there's even more coming from there as well though the translations are sometimes a bit spotty I've been told.

It's a great time to be a fan of niche PC markets as pretty much all of them have been getting a resurgence in popularity. There are multiple old fashioned PC rpg in the works, including Wasteland 2 and Project Eternity. Space sims have come back in style. Management sims & strategy games of all types are booming in popularity.

2013 is going to be an amazing year to be a PC gamer, I can't wait.

 

[BathorysGraveland]

The only things that really worry me about PC gaming these days are DLC and on-line activation/registration etc. Paid DLC is a practice I utterly and completely despise with every ounce of my being as a fan of video games and I fear it will only get worse. As for on-line activation and the requirement to be on-line while playing, that's more of a fuck over move than anything else. What if the internet is down for awhile? What if I simply do not wish to have it on? I see no real need to require the internet on to play a video game unless it's multiplayer. Maybe it has something to do with those oh-so terrible pirates that everyone has this crusade against. Ahh, pirates, oh woe!!

But yeah, whether these problems are also apparent on the consoles or handheld devices, I know not. It's just something that irks me honestly.

 

[Windcaler]

The only things that really worry me about PC gaming these days are DLC and on-line activation/registration etc. Paid DLC is a practice I utterly and completely despise with every ounce of my being as a fan of video games and I fear it will only get worse. As for on-line activation and the requirement to be on-line while playing, that's more of a fuck over move than anything else. What if the internet is down for awhile? What if I simply do not wish to have it on? I see no real need to require the internet on to play a video game unless it's multiplayer. Maybe it has something to do with those oh-so terrible pirates that everyone has this crusade against. Ahh, pirates, oh woe!!

But yeah, whether these problems are also apparent on the consoles or handheld devices, I know not. It's just something that irks me honestly.

As i understand it XBox has a pretty big pirating scene because you only need a refurbished and unregistered xbox to play a pirated copy of a game.

Frankly the whole piracy thing is just a scapgoat to nickel and dime paying customers even more. Much like DRM and always online requirements.

 

[Twilight_guy]

The OP linked in videos that come from major contributors to the Escapist. I don't know what that means. Also, Bob's opinion is stilted as hell. I don't trust Jim because I didn't like his videos and I've heard that he plays a character making me trust them as much as the average Yahtzee review.

OT: Yeah i think its doing fine. I also think labeling gaming with one platform is kind of odd since usually companies don't rely on a single platform and they more or less determine the health of games. Well, unless there is a mass Exodus of games on a platform for some reason.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

PC gaming is the best. I switched over from consoles a couple of years ago and now I hardly ever touch my ps3 or xbox cept for exclusives. I get the feeling that this ridiculously long console cycle has caused a fair few people to switch to PC gaming.