Gartner Says PC Will "Cease to be Important Game Platform"

[drwho1]

opened this "article" for the LOL.
mission accomplished.

 

[therealduckofdeath]

Why do people refer to these "analysts" any more? They're never right about anything, and they just seem to vomit random things out just to get mentions on tech blogs.

 

[Lessthannil]

Lol, this article's comments is filled with denial. AMD is losing money making PC hardware. NVIDIA's profits have dropped from 2007 despire "price gouging" on high end cards.

The fact is that a very small amount of people need the power acessible only to a desktop. Why keep spending billions on R&D and millions on drivers on PC gamers who hate upgrading and force NVIDIA and AMD to sell their stuff for almost 0 profit and come packaged with free games because of "value". There simply isnt much money to be made in PC gaming anymore.

Intel isn't trying in the desktop CPU market for a reason. The GPU market is seeing rebrands because AMD or NVIDIA is making enough $ or getting enough sales to justify spending so much to make a whole new architecture and drivers from scratch.

All 3 companies are investing heavily in the mobile markets because thats where the money and the demand is. The Desktop PC is experiencing white flight to smartphones, tablets, and other devices that can do everything most desktop users did in a far smaller package.

The only thing that is really going to push PC hardware anymore is the convenient gains from the companies developing on the mobile platform (die shrinks, etc) and console hardware to an extent.

Just my .02 cents, guys. I know this is going to get a shitload of thumbs down. Seems like Tomshardware users can't even fathom the possibility of desktop PCs going bust when the possibility is very real.

 

[ff6shadow]

lol, this can't be true. In my own area, I've seen PC gaming only increase. Plus, there's the fact that AMD got their hardware put into the next-gen consoles. There's also AMD's Mantle, Steam's SteamOS next year, a lot of indie startups, ect. I just can't see that PC gaming is declining, especially with PC hardware becoming more and more cheap all the time. You can easily build a great gaming PC for 600-700, and in the end get as many games for the same price you would buy a console and some games. Like other posters also said, PC hardware is always upgradeable and configurable. If anything, gaming consoles are becoming more like PCs than anything. Even phones are more like PCs. They have hard drives, RAM, GPUs, CPUs, ect. Same with tablets. Some people may disagree and say that tablets and phones are not PCs, but they have the same hardware. Maybe there are some differences. But, I think gaming is only growing into a more singular type of system rather than something that is separate from everything else. You can even connect a PS4 through an Xbox One. Very neat.

 

[alfaalex101]

Just proves to show how disconnected companies can be from the public.

 

[fatboytyler]

PC gaming was the one that revolutionized the gaming industry multiple times. To think that the crown jewel of gaming will end one day is ignorance.

 

[chumly]

...and console games are unimaginative rehashes of crap titles for tweens to make bucks. They don't drive the technology, and they sure as hell do not dictate to the rest of the gaming market.

The most played and profitable game ever? World of Warcraft has made more than $10 Billion and is a 10 year old game that still has subscribers (albeit less), not just players that have purchased the game, but players that have payed $10 a month for 10 years.

The PC market is NOT dead. The PC market is scattered, especially with the free-to-play market making a big move for players' time and efforts.

What are really hardcore PC gamers doing? The $10B+ market? They are waiting for it: that next big game. The one that blows away the conventions about what previously thought was the fundamental and core idea of gaming. An entirely new universe to explore that isn't a sequel or some rehashed, for-profit crap (Pretty much any game with a number after it, we're not looking for). And we desperately want it.

It's going to happen sooner or later. But this I can guarantee you: It will not be a console game.

 

[dozenfury]

This article reminds me of the old 1950's newsflashes that predicted that by 1980 we'd all be driving flying cars.

Gartner is generally quite reputable in the business arena, but predicting technology trends is a whole lot harder than business trends. They should ask MSFT how well their prediction that everyone would be using tablets by now worked out with Windows 8. Sure people use tablets, but more to compliment their PCs...not as a replacement. Tablets are slowly replacing laptops, but they are incorrect to assume that they are replacing desktops too. I don't see a tablet-ized digital keyboard replacing a keyboard and mouse for real work or input (gaming or business) in the near future.

 

[fatboytyler]

PC gaming was the one that revolutionized the gaming industry multiple times. To think that the crown jewel of gaming will end one day is ignorance.

 

[terinate]

and these are the same type of tards that says what people like to watch on tv- the tv industry goes by their recomendations, and now tv has terrible programing. they may be tarded, but unfortunatly so many companies rely on what these ferms say that those very companies will make a shift based on the recomendation. how unfortunate.

 

[d3seeker]

Oddly enough I could ALMOST see this. Considering how a lot of devs seem more cozy with letting the consoles dictate their games as opposed to taking advantage of the PC as a platform, though that is just one side, so... meh

 

[deftonian]

This isn't April 1st Mr. Gartner, April fools is a ways away.

 

[gerard1021]

More people making uneducated guesses about a subject they have extremely limited knowledge about....Four out of five voices agree.

 

[teh_chem]

"Cease to be important" is a pretty bold statement. Maybe "emphasis will shift away from primarily PC's due to the new consoles" could be a more-accurate statement. Although the PC industry is dwindling from where it was, it's still an active gaming platform.

 

[Baldarhion]

Nooooooo, it's logical :

Working hours and hours, 7/24, trying to understand the market = less time to play = casual gaming.

So, they just are jealous about hardcore gamers

 

[thechief73]

Seriously, how are these people still in business? Someone shut these idiots up for GOOD! Stop re-posting their drivel, you have been doing it for years now Tom's... Just sad. But I guess in today's world if you get enough fools to believe the BS the BS just must be true. Sigh....

 

[jimmysmitty]

This is funny because actual consoles are actually PC`s at base with custom OS....

Even better is that the Xbox One is using a Windows 8 kernel so short of the custom GUI and custom GPU with the EDRAM its a HTPC.

 

[Innocent_Bystander-1312890]

Is Gartner still only counting retail sales? Because if that's the case they probably have a point.

They probably missed the news about Steams 65M active subscriber base though.

Anal-ysts.

IB

 

[bystander]

The one thing no one has mentioned is how much pirating has effected the profitability of PC gaming. If pirating doesn't get under control, PC gaming could still be on the out.

 

[RazberyBandit]

I'm a PC user/gamer, and I have been since 1993 -- the first time I played Wing Commander Privateer. I also have a 13-year-old brother who lives with me. Over the last few years, at least 10 of his friends have visited, and each one is in awe of our PCs and our games. They used to just sit and watch us play games with their jaws hanging open. So, I built a spare system so someone could play PC games along with us when visiting. Each time someone visits, I hear, "Forget Xbox/Playstation! I'm getting a PC for my birthday/Christmas," and I just smile.

I am constantly seeing more and more younger, "console generation" kids getting into computers and computer gaming. The best part about it isn't the gaming, but the fact that they view a PC as a power tool that can do so much more than play games.

 

[beaulieu80]

too many games still require mouse and keyboard to be playable

 

[bystander]

too many games still require mouse and keyboard to be playable

That's a good thing. The mouse is great for gaming. Perhaps it isn't good on a couch, but on a desktop, it is a great thing.

 

[smeezekitty]

And they want $1.3K for this piece of crap LOL

 

[belardo]

PC ceased being important to gaming years ago. Sure the hardware murders the consoles. But when it comes to actual SALES of software, that is were PC loses.

A PC game is doing well to sell 100,000 copies, while that same title may sell 2~10+ millions on the 360/PS3 consoles. The PC Multiplayer servers are bare... compared to consoles - which are mostly cursing kiddies.

Consoles gets more AAA titles over PCs. Or such titles comes out many months later. Even Microsoft makes Xbox games that never or rarely see the light of day on the PC.

 

[24oz]

Never heard of Gartner before today.I will probably never hear from them again with fail news like this.