Why is PC gaming "dead"?

[TiefBlau]

On the contrary, I haven't the slightest doubt in my mind that PC gaming is going to swallow console gaming in the future, but not in the way you think. Modern consoles are, to begin with, essentially PCs that do less than normal PCs. And with things like Facebook integration, web browsers, and even keyboard peripherals being added to consoles, the consoles are all starting to look more and more like normal, multipurpose computers...

In fact, the only thing stopping them from actually being marketed as game-specific PCs are companies like Microsoft, who earn money for every program designed for their platform, every PC unit they design and sell, and every service the user has at their disposal (XBox Live). The moment they make their XBox into a full-fledged PC, anyone can make a game for it, so they don't have to pay Microsoft to do so. Anyone can provide internet access to a PC, so Microsoft's XBox Live can't monopolize the market at drive prices up.

So that's pretty much the only reason why console gaming still exists: Because these companies have a horizontal monopoly to maintain. That being said though, the question remains: How big a problem is this, and what will it take to overpower it? I don't know the answer, but depending on it, console may sooner or later (or never) become PC gaming.

One thing's for certain though: PC gaming will never die.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Go back and read all of the points I said to support that statement, which you aparently chose to ignore.

No, I didn't ignore them. You made no qualifiers in your original statement. If PC gaming isn't 'the attractive choice for gamers' as you claim then explain the section of the gaming community that are PC gamers.

 

[Neotericity]

PC gaming's not dead to me, just bought 4 games off Steam with the holiday sale and all Soo excited and I paid less than a full price game!

 

[ShankHA32]

I used to be a hardcore PC gamer, but then FIFA 11 was much better on consoles. I go over to my friends house and play FIFA a LOT now. The only time I play on the PC is to play some Dragon Age: Origins.

I wouldn't say I think PC gaming is dying or dead, but I know there are a lot of PC gamers like me, slowly migrating towards consoles.

You went back to consoles for FIFA? And for the version with (apparently) the best PC port yet?

Honestly, I'd understand it if it was something like Gears of War or Uncharted, or something similar that's exclusive to consoles and not guaranteed to get a sequel next year (e.g. anything made by Platinum Games), but FIFA?

Yeah I went back for FIFA. I liked the console version a lot better than the PC version I saw at a friends house. Best yet, I could actually play it with my friend locally making it more social.

Maybe it wasn't just the fact that FIFA '11 is (imo) a great game, but the fact that console gaming has better "local" play thus making it more social. (at least to me)

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Go back and read all of the points I said to support that statement, which you aparently chose to ignore.

No, I didn't ignore them. You made no qualifiers in your original statement. If PC gaming isn't 'the attractive choice for gamers' as you claim then explain the section of the gaming community that are PC gamers.

So not having as big of a genre selection, not having as many reknowned companies, not having as many must have games, getting crappy ports, and not having any titles that bring anything new to PC gaming aren't quailifiers?

How the hell not?

Most RPGs on the PC are now trying to be singleplayer MMOs. The Witcher is the last exclusive PC game I can name that is any different.

Last time the PC tried to do something innovative was Spore, and we all know how massivley over hyped that game was.

RTS games keep getting pumped out on the PC with not much variety, and with Ensemble Studios shutting down, a couple of the major titles(Red Alert 3 being an example) are now porting to console.

There are very few genres on the PC that can done better ON PC gamplay wise.

Now for the lack of renknown companies.
Ensemble Studios getting shut down is really a sign of the times. As good of a company as it was, they made and RTS every 2-3 years. That doesn't show longevity. Especially in a market where RTSs are pumped out so vehemously.

PC exclusive reknown companies are really dwindling. The only ones I can name are CD Projeckt and Blizzard Entertainment. With the loss of Black Isle, Bullfrog Productions, and a lot more PC developers that made classic after classic after classic gets shut down, it's really a sign of the markets shifting.

PC ports have been horrible weven with the major releases. GTA4 has a shitty port, Saint's Row 2 has a shitty port, no one bothered to look at Street Fighter 4's port, same with RE5's port. And Fallout New Vegas' PC version was the worst of the bunch for bugs and crashes.

And what was the last title to do for PC what Halo, GTA, Gears of War, Uncharted, or Metal Gear Solid did for console?

Like I mentioned earlier, Spore was a dissappointment. It seems WOW is one of the only games that can claim to have done that. Crysis is a mediocre shooter that looks pretty.

If those aren't qualifiers for why the PC market is not as attractive for gamers as console gaming.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

It's not dead, but it is smaller than console gaming.

No it's not.
It's bigger than all the consoles put together.

In which way specifically? Cause it's sure as shit not in software sales.

That and the PC just doesn't have as large a range of genres as consoles do.

There are more major and renowned developers for consoles so that's were the investments are.

The PC just hasn't had the amount of classics it did in the 90s.

Now it's crappy console ports, zombies, zombies, zombies, uninspired FPSs and RTSs.

no genres?

*points to the steam store genre selector*

no companies?

*points to the entire developer selector for steam*

No money in sales?

*points to the money made by steam every single year*

want me to go on? because i can do this all day.

You didn't prove how those lead to PC leading in any fashion.

Steam Genre Selector: Most of the games on steam that are not RTSs, Valve, or uninspired FPSs sell better on console.

Steam Developer Selector doesn't prove anything. Thete are still more major developers on the consoles than there are that work with Steam. That is a fact. There are lots of developrs that aren't on Steam pal.

And never did I say no money in sales. I'm pretty sure that Black Ops can prove that alone. I highly doubt Steam makes as much money as company like EA, Activision or Square Enix based just off of Steam alone. My point was that consoles in general make more money for devs and publishers than PC. That's also a fact.

Basing your entire arguement off of Steam was stupid. I'm talking ALL PC and ALL console. Steam is just one aspect of the PC. And if your going to say things like, "points to money made by Steam", put up a link to help your point out.

Last time I check Valve was making $70 million.

Last time I checked the Activision part of Activision Blizzard was raking in 2.9 billion a year. Which is my point. PC isn`t dead but it sure as shit doesn`t make money like major console companies do.

so you're basing the sales on ONE MULTIPLATFORM GAME? and never did i say its ALL steam. List the developers if you want but the fact of the matter is that most developers are mulitplatform. Sell better on console? Where are you basing your facts since digital distribution don't divulge their numbers.

For your information you are trying to compare A DIGITAL STORE TO GAME PUBLISHERS. STEAM IS NOT A PUBLISHER, ITS A STORE. Why not compare Target to mcdonalds while you're at it? Console developers? That implies the console exclusive companies which limits the companies to console exclusive developers which are quite small. If you notice console developers are big because consoles are expensive to develop for and high risk while the PC is low risk and cheap to develop for. Your gaggle of "big dogs" can't stand a fucking chance against the thousands of developing studios on PC. Need i pull out the game numbers of PC games versus console games?

I never based my arguement off of one multiplatform game. I based off of a company. I didn't mention a game. Nice try at word twisting. You essentially used Steam for all of your points so I pointed out that one company makes a massive amount more than Valve which deals mostly with PC. You really need to learn how to argue. And in terms of the big dogs not standing a chance against the thousands of developing PC studios, that statement is just asinine. You want to pull numbers out to prove me wrong? Allow me.

Out of the top 10 best selling video game franchises only one of them is exlusivlely PC. The Sims. The rest are console exclusive or games that were released on all platforms but sold more on consoles due to PCs always getting shafted on release dates.

Black Ops alone, which is the most Pirated PC game of this year, still made $1 billion dollars faster than Avatar, the top best selling movie of all time.

Yes there are thousands of developing PC studios. Likewise for console based studios. There are probably more developing console developers than on PC. Please name these thousands of PC studios. Then name what they've done. The develoing console studios grow faster then the developing PC studios. This can be show with Blow Entertainment, The Behemoth, and many companies that have released indie successes on XBL/PSN. I personally haven't heard of many developing PC studios but apparently you claim there are Thousands.

I never said PC was dead.

But comparing it's growth to the console industry is just silly.

Indie releases on XBL/PSN isn't what a console developer makes. An indie release for XBL/PSN is practically the same as an Iphone game. The PC however supports much more indie studios due to the lack of fees that are required to develop for the console. This is why only big companies can be true console developers. The cost to make is so big, and the chance to get the money back is too small. "there are probably more console developers" isn't going to cut it. Want numbers? Okay here's the numbers.

Decent (non shovel ware, 70% score) games by Platform:
PC: 1275
XBOX 360: 479
PS3: 341
WII: 242

If consoles have more developers, you would think they would have more games than the PC. However, this is a far cry from the old generation. Also i should note that this graph only shows games with 5 reviews or more and does not include free games like Dwarf fortress, or survival crisis Z.

PS2: 792
Xbox: 472
Gamecube: 263

If you notice the total number of general console games DROPPED since the last generation. PC may have been hurting last generation but this generation it has jumped back in a big way.

You calling a console indie game the same as an iPhone game really makes not take you seriously anymore. Braid, Castle Crashers, Trine, Costume Quest, and Joe Danger are not comparable to iPhone games.

And where the hell are you getting your numbers from? If you can't post up a link then these numbers are bullshit. And how the hell did you find numbers for "non shovelware" games? Prove that please. That and you cutting out shovelware really skews the numbers, sorry to say.

If consoles have more developers, you would think they would have more games than the PC.

If the PC has more developers than how come there are more big name titles on the console? And just because there's more doesn't mean they have a large library of games.

This is why only big companies can be true console developers. The cost to make is so big, and the chance to get the money back is too small

You know it's just as expensive to create a major PC game as it is to make a major console game right?

Now back to your ghost numbers.

You say there are:
345 PS3 games when there are 647.
479 Xbox 360 games when there are 747.
242 Wii games when there are 962.
792 PS2 games when there are 2015.
472 Xbox games when there are 966.
263 GC games when there are 640.
(All numbers found simply by typing in "X" games in wikipedia and google.)
You can't tell which companies are making the most shovelware by cutting out the numbers of shovelware. And the amount of games doesn't show if each game was sucessful. So the numbers don't matter.

The PC market isn't as big as the console market. Get it through your head.

 

[Ramin 123]

It is dead in the same sense that the bicycle industry is dead since the invention of the car.
Sure cars (consoles) make more money, have the bigger companies, than bikes (PC), but that doesn't mean that it's dead.

That's a good comparison, I would be more into PC gaming only for the amount of troubleshooting that is required. But once you get past it I'm sure its well worth it, I thoroughly enjoyed my COD2 days.

I would agree about "more troubleshooting needed" 10 years ago, but today? This PC I'm using right now was bought 3 years ago, it never had a single problem, and it runs all the games I throw at it. Windows versions are pretty stable and things work better. Of course you can run into problems, same as an XBox RRODing or any other console defect.

OT: I have owned consoles of all previous generations, except the current one. I don't live in the US, and console games are expensive here. Sometimes I think about buying a current-gen console. Then I see that 80-90% of the console games I want to play I can buy for the PC for one tenth of the price I'd pay for the console version (thanks to Steam sales). Plus there are so many good games I couldn't play on consoles, it's just not worth it.

It's not the bigger market right now, but it's not dying.

Yeah but I think there are a lot of dodgy "gamer" PC's built these days, I should know considering I got one and I spent more money sending the fucking thing back than playing. The amount of problems that arise with PC hardware are numerous in amount and the probability of it being a simple fix are far and few in between.

It's things like that that stop me from getting back into the PC scene. Add in all this DRM bullshit and STEAM (omg the evil) and the level of approachability is narrowed down to a select few who can get through all the technical evils and enjoy a good gaming experience. I wish I could have the balls (and money) to build a PC but the technical problems leave me to my Xbox 360 again as it does for a lot of people

 

[Delusibeta]

Now for the lack of renknown companies.
Ensemble Studios getting shut down is really a sign of the times. As good of a company as it was, they made and RTS every 2-3 years. That doesn't show longevity. Especially in a market where RTSs are pumped out so vehemously.

PC exclusive reknown companies are really dwindling. The only ones I can name are CD Projeckt and Blizzard Entertainment. With the loss of Black Isle, Bullfrog Productions, and a lot more PC developers that made classic after classic after classic gets shut down, it's really a sign of the markets shifting.

Objection: all those has one thing in common; the parent company decided too close down the subsidiarity. Black Isle, admittedly, went down due to some Interplay brouhaha, but Bullfrog and Ensemble both got shut down by their owners.

And neither Bullfrog nor Ensemble was PC exclusive companies.

Ultimately, companies getting shut down does not mean you can make grand statements about the state of a specific section of the market (see also: Pandemic, Clover Studios).

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

If those aren't qualifiers for why the PC market is not as attractive for gamers as console gaming.

Sorry, I must have fallen asleep as you repeated the same stuff again. Did I miss the part where you explain how the section of the gaming community that games on PCs exists if your original statement is true?

Those aren't qualifiers, btw, they're supporting points.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

I can't remember anyone ever saying 'PC gaming is dead' without being sarcastic when they said it. It's just a phrase PC gamers like to wheel out and mock whenever anything nice happens to the platform. It doesn't mean anything. It just lets them get smug in the face of a ignorant console-playing mass that they have conjured in their minds.

Like the statement 'Halo is the best game ever'. The one person I have ever heard say that and mean it was someone who now has arguably the best job in the world because of it, so I think they're allowed to like it more than most.

 

[Danceofmasks]

I can't remember anyone ever saying 'PC gaming is dead' without being sarcastic when they said it. It's just a phrase PC gamers like to wheel out and mock whenever anything nice happens to the platform. It doesn't mean anything. It just lets them get smug in the face of a ignorant console-playing mass that they have conjured in their minds.

Like the statement 'Halo is the best game ever'. The one person I have ever heard say that and mean it was someone who now has arguably the best job in the world because of it, so I think they're allowed to like it more than most.

Video game store owner said "PC gamers are a dying breed" seriously.
I raged somewhat, and there were impromptu mechanics, technical, and historical lessons to be had ...

But at the end of the day, store owners may think that because they don't have reasonable prices .. while console owners have less in the way of choice when it comes to shopping around.

 

[SkinyJim]

I see these "Why do people say PC gaming is dying" and "PC gaming is not dying!" threads all the time. Not once have I actually seen a "PC gaming IS dead" thread though :S

Video game store owner said "PC gamers are a dying breed" seriously.
I raged somewhat, and there were impromptu mechanics, technical, and historical lessons to be had ...

But at the end of the day, store owners may think that because they don't have reasonable prices .. while console owners have less in the way of choice when it comes to shopping around.

Stores don't sell a whole lot of PC games. Mostly because people prefer to buy them online (steam) or pirate them. Stores won't have much mark up on pc games. Developers simply sell them to retail stores for a higher price because it's a whole lot more hassle to create manuals, packaging and discs. However it doesn't cost very much to copy-paste a bunch of 1's and 0's.

 

[Norris IV]

I wouldn't say it's dead as such more taken a back seat as console gaming is a much easier way of enjoying games. Don't get me wrong pc games are good but to get the best out of the latest games you need to update your pc every 6 months or so and check it all works with the game, which can prove very costly as opposed to a console which is relatively cheap and doesn't need replacing for a good 3-4 years. The downside of consoles is the absence of any modding community so the pc will always have the edge over consoles. But really pc has never been alive nor dead, it's just been there.

 

[geokes]

It kinda is, well not really dying just ill.
Big companies are kinda leaving us behind :/ even though we're ahead..
The 3 Biggest issues are piracy, the wide variety in hardware and that pc games are used to bigger and more complicated games than console gamers, for example I found the Mass Effects good games but felt really dumbed down.
But I feel like things are looking up with more indie games especially with mainstream engines that are now free to use.

 

[Uncreation]

For years i keep hearing pc gaming is dying, and it still has not died yet. Probably because the whole pc gaming dying stuff is bullshit. I doubt it will ever die. There are still plenty of pc gamers. I don't really give a crap about console gaming myself.

 

[Mardok45]

PC gaming isn't dead, consoles/handhelds have become mainstream. However, there's some things that are inherent to PC gaming that consoles simply won't be able to beat (yet).

http://xkcd.com/484/

PC's have free-to-use programming languages and tools that can allow anyone to start developing games for free. There's plenty of flash and indie games to kill time with. I don't know about anyone else, but I think I have more fun playing N than I do with AAA titles like BF:BC2. However, most flash/indie games simply won't be able to bring the same experience as Shadow of the Colossus or some of the classic Final Fantasy games. XBLA is the first step in the right direction to bring more indie developers to consoles.

Also, PC gaming can be expensive if you want it to. If you don't have a good PC, you won't be able to play some of the best titles out there, but there's plenty of flash/indie games that have extremely low hardware requirements that can bring you the same kind of fix as professional games. Plus, there's plenty of old AAA games out there that, despite the outdated graphics, have plenty to offer, like Starcraft and Thief.

I'm also looking forward to WebGL, that could bring a new kind of gaming to PC's.

 

[Chibz]

I wonder if Steam will eventually sink PC gaming.

They're trying to win the whole market with ridiculous sales and the service and accessibility problems will just piss more players off as time goes on. If I couldn't play my games because of Steam for whatever reason, it would be the last time I deal with it. Between Steam and GFWL, it's pretty hard to find games that don't have these bullshit restrictions, right? Doesn't bode well.

What killed the idea of me buying new PC games was the idea of merely being leased the game.

(Not directed at quoted poster)
I spent the past day or two checking. At no point did I ever explicitly agree that I was being leased a game. Sorry, PC gamers. Stop trying to apply the fallacies of your tiny niche of the hobby to the hobby at large.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Now for the lack of renknown companies.
Ensemble Studios getting shut down is really a sign of the times. As good of a company as it was, they made and RTS every 2-3 years. That doesn't show longevity. Especially in a market where RTSs are pumped out so vehemously.

PC exclusive reknown companies are really dwindling. The only ones I can name are CD Projeckt and Blizzard Entertainment. With the loss of Black Isle, Bullfrog Productions, and a lot more PC developers that made classic after classic after classic gets shut down, it's really a sign of the markets shifting.

Objection: all those has one thing in common; the parent company decided too close down the subsidiarity. Black Isle, admittedly, went down due to some Interplay brouhaha, but Bullfrog and Ensemble both got shut down by their owners.

And neither Bullfrog nor Ensemble was PC exclusive companies.

Ultimately, companies getting shut down does not mean you can make grand statements about the state of a specific section of the market (see also: Pandemic, Clover Studios).

Yeah, it kind of does. Underperforming companies get shut down. A lot more of that happens in the PC world. Also Bullfrog and Ensemble made very little console games.