Vault101 said:
I don't quite understand why people have been proclaiming the PC gaming is "dead" for so long I mean I go to the store and there's still a big selection of games..and many games coming out this year
also I know to do it properly you have to buy/build som monstrosity of a machine...but I have my laptop which works reasonably well graphics wise and runs most things on High (though I wouldnt trust it to run Crysis) ok I'm probably not doing it "properly" but anthing that can run far cry 2 on high is good enough for me
A lot of reasons, chief among them simply that the industry is so conflicted as far as it's concerned.
There is an ingrained paranoia about piracy, and whenever a game is released no matter how much money the producers make, some bean counter leads them to believe they could have made ridiculously more money if it wasn't for pirates.
This leads to the DRM "wars" with legitimate buyers getting all peeved about all the limitations put on their software usage. Not to mention the push for digital downloads which would give companies full control, which are increasingly resisted by PC gamers who want to actually own and control physical media. I've seen a lot of anger over the last couple of years from people who bought games on disc only to find tons of online requirements, or how the disc simply connected them to STEAM and gave them a code.
With consoles it's somewhat easier for the companies to control the media, and release downloadable content. Consoles also don't need to be upgraded like PCs, and are easier for the masses to operate. Less filtering abillity also means it's easier to spam users with advertising.
Then of course there is the MMORPG factor, simply put WoW changed the industry so companies can't simply throw together a trashy online game and expect it to make money. With MMORPG gaming taking so much time, a lot of PC gamers are focused on a select few of those games, and just aren't buying as many games as they otherwise would. I know a lot of people who play WoW who talk about how despite the $15 a month subscription fee, it's worth it, since the game keeps them occupied, and they wind up buying a lot less games. Truthfully I think WoW has done a lot to strangle PC gaming as a market all by itself, with other MMOs simply stacking on top of that.
That said, I do not think PC gaming will die. Simply put PCs are everywhere,and people are going to want to game on them. The industry is not going to ignore that potential market, as long as it's there someone will produce for it, even if the production slows.
I think PC gaming is simply "dead" compared to what it used to be. You walk into a gamestop and you don't see more than one or two miserable racks of PC games, when you used to have walls full of them. Nowadays it's almost all consoles.
It's possible things will snap back in the other direction, markets work in cycles, we'll see what happens.
