Second Take: The PC Gaming Slump

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I think the main reason why consoles are loved so much is because they are convenient. People like the ease of plugging in a cartridge or cd and play a game with a small hand held controller. That is why the Wii is so popular. Even granpa can play it and a lot of the games are fairly simple. If you want to play a computer game on your TV you have to have a place to put your keyboard, mouse etc.

I agree too that a lot of people are just plain lazy or are non-tech and that is why the console is appealing to this group. Plus the console offers more types of games. Like racing games, sports games. The computer is mainly used for MMORPGS or FPS or RTS's.

I would love a good racing game for my pc or a good sports game....mainly football.

You get more bang for you buck from a PC. A lot of the games have mods that are free. There are a lot of free games that you don't even have to pay for out there. I still play a lot of my old PC games. I was playing Diablo last night and was enjoying it very much. Why would I buy a new game when all the best games have already been made and I can still play them on my PC?
 
Has anyone checked(or has been able to) the sales figures for those insipid little web games like the dinner dash's and bejewled's?In my travels as a computer tech ive been in many offices and homes and its rare to find the people who have the machine to play a cod4 much less a doom 3 but if they do play games the play those easy to buy and download or play online games that have the system requirements of 11 years ago.Most people want cheap machines, they dont know or care about the video card they have or even the processor and memory, they just care about the fact that when they are done with word/excel or checking email they or thier kids can mindlessly click to wait tables or cut hair or whatever nonsense they come up with.It makes them happy and its simple and you dont need an 8800GTX to do it, just some crappy integrated graphics and 256mb of memory and a celeron 1.5 or something to that effect.
 
In my opinion, the problem is the desktop pc is going out of style. With almost any desktop pc, usually you're just a videocard away from being able to play a game with respectable quality settings. The only exceptions are the craptastic dells and a few others that don't have the proper slot.

You can't upgrade the video on 99% of laptops, and it doesn't help that intel's wonderful gma igp's are running the video on at least 2/3 of them. Since more and more people are buying laptops, fewer people can play newer pc games.

Unless either AMD suddenly takes over the laptop market (unlikely, but their X1250 is roughly as powerful as a radeon 9700) or Intel's IGP's suddenly get about 3x as powerful with drivers that don't suck (even less likely), I think the trend will continue.
 
I'm talking more about casual gamers. Hard core gamers would either spend $3000 on their laptop or desktop to ensure it can run what they want.
 
I agree with rob on the abysmal state of the computer game marketing section of stores like best buy or circuit city, etc. Maybe they should add a demo computer to show off the PC titles, similar to how they have demo consoles displaying current console titles.

I prefer computers over consoles just for the fact that I can enjoy a better looking game at higher resolutions and typically better fps. Consoles lack the ability to be "upgraded" and downgraded since, some console games have horrible fps so that, you can't upgrade to better equipment or lower a setting to fix the fps issue.

Consoles might be cheaper in the long run but now it seems to gain this higher quality or full experience of the game I need to purchase a HD TV while for a computer I can keep the same monitor and maybe have to upgrade to a better video card. Last time I check the cheapest 1080p was about a 1000$. Thus, it is about 1600 if combined with a PS3 which is still okay price range for a pretty good computer.

But the biggest beat that a computer has over a console is the keyboard and mouse and the versatility it offers to do almost anything.

Including!!!! Watching a football game and playing a video game at the same time without the need to flip a channel. =P
 
I slip back and forth between PC gaming and console gaming myself. I'm mostly a FPS, MMO, and Strategy PC gamer. For the console its mostly RPG's, and an occasional action game like the GTA series (although, I pick them up for the console and then get them for the PC when they come out for the improved graphics and mods). Still, most games have gone down hill completely anyway. There are very few games that have an excellent story, life-like characters, and game play that just pulls you in. Most console games seem to push the graphics as much as possible, but leave out everything else. Graphics are great, but if the game isn't fun, the characters aren't interesting enough, or the story is sub par, I'm not going to bother with it.

My biggest complaint about PC games is that I can't go out and rent the game or try it out (demo's are useless in most cases) like I can for a console. Being able to rent a game has saved me a lot of cash, and kept me from buying console games that I didn't like. In fact, some games have gotten way too much hype and turned out to be extremely disappointing for me (Final Fantasy XII as a good example). There are very few console games that I will go out and buy without actually renting at least once, and I no longer pre-order games because of running into some of these disappointing games. GTA4 will be the only game I will pre-order this year and I have yet to be disappointed with the GTA series.

PC games do not have this option, unfortunately. The number of bad games I have purchased over the last couple of years has been horrible. Some of them could have been quite good, but just didn't interest me (SW: Empires at War, F.E.A.R + Expansion, AOE3, Total War 2, etc, etc, etc). I have at least 15 games purchased starting 2006 to the end of 2007 that I just don't play. At $50 dollars a pop, thats $750 dollars I have wasted on games. I can't get rid of them anymore thanks to Game Spot buying EB and ending any chance of me trading them in for cash to put on another game.

Bit Torrent has been a bit of a cash saver, as in some cases the demo didn't show me what I wanted to see. Well, except for the Crysis demo, as soon as I played it I new it wasn't my type of game. Reminded me too much of Far Cry. ~shiver~ Especially comparing it to a masterpiece like COD4. So with most games these days I use the following formula - I download, I try, if I like I go buy it, if I don't I delete it and move on. Still, the major problem with downloading a game, is that people aren't thinking of the company they are stealing from. For me, its a buying tool, and one that has save me a lot of money on bad games. If the games great, I want to support the company that made it and hopefully they will continue to keep putting out enjoyable games. If its not a great game and I buy the blasted thing, I have just wasted money telling a company that yes I will buy a mediocre game just because it looks pretty and was well advertised. I hate wasting my hard earned cash on a pretty, well advertised, yet mediocre game.

Those companies like Rockstar, Valve, Bioware, and Activision that keep putting out excellent games will get my money. The following companies, I am just going to start avoiding:

Square-Enix - That was a horrible combination, their games have dropped horribly since they joined together. Its kind of bad when I think of FF4 and FF6 as Square's glory days.

Sierra - I can't think of any games I ever really liked of theirs.

Sega - why won't you go back to the roots of the Shining Force and Shining in the Darkness and Phantasy Star series instead of giving us horrible action-rpg's.

EA - It would be really nice if Madden NFL 2009 didn't look like Madden NFL 2006!!

Anyone even attempting a Star Trek game - Whats the point, they all seem to suck. /cry

As for the point of games like World of Warcraft, your right. I have wasted a serious amount of time playing that game, pretty much to the point where I ignore every other game on my hard drive (except the COD and GTA series, I love playing those games over and over again). There's almost no point in buying another game that I will ignore unless it is an one of a kind gem like the two series I continue to mention.

When it comes to game security, I understand its usefulness versus the armature hacker. As a PC gamer, I don't want to have to fight with it. I'm already running a Windows machine (Vista on my laptop, have to buy another copy of XP Pro for that one ASAP), XP Pro isn't too bad, but some of the horror stories I am hearing about on Vista just is too much. Its already bad enough that I have to take a chain saw to some of these packages just to get at the games, I don't need to fight with the security just to sit back and enjoy it. Which is the whole point of buying a game in the first place.
 
One thing I don't hear much of as a solution to piracy is law enforcement. Why do people not commit crimes? A significant amount do this because they are morally opposed to the act. Another significant amount is because they are afraid of getting caught. Most people who steal video games and music do not steal from stores because there is a good chance that they will be caught. Companies might do better lobbying legislation instead of trying to devise security. Security measures will always be cracked as many, many smart people enjoy doing it because they are somehow inadequate in some other area of there life were they feel the need to be affirmed as a code breaking hacker.

I think that saddest thing is what happened with Radiohead's "In Rainbows" - They offered the complete album on their website for any amount of money you wanted to pay (even 0$ if you wanted!). People still choose to download it illegally. All DRM "the man's trying to bring us down" BS kinda goes out the window when people show their true nature like that.

I vote for fines high enough to pay for the court/prosecution costs and maybe make some money to send some kids to college. Couple thousand dollars and I bet that person will stop pirating.

I think the main thing is that the demographic for quality PC video games is too small. To be honest, PCs are not the best choice for the majority of gamers for all the reasons that previous posters have said -upgrade, technological knowledge, price, less social environment.

The interesting thing is how PC games drive the hardware. I built my first system about two years ago. I really had no interest in games. I just started taking some old computers apart and thought "hey, I could do this." After I built the computer, I had to do something to test the capabilities. That's why I started playing games. Then, I played Half-Life 2 and I was hooked. I've spent $4,500 in the past two years (I know its an addiction). What type of gamer does that? I am a computer geek that likes to build computers and make them go as fast as possible. Games are sort of a side thing. I would probably lose interest in the computers though if it weren't for games (3DMark is only so much fun).

I see more of a coming together of consoles and PCs were consoles get better and better but PCs are always more customizable.

Other things that suck about PCs - OS, Highspeed internet cost, pasty nerd complexion.
 
There are several factors at work here.

First, cost.
Xbox 360 Elite WITH 2 GAMES is $550 at newegg.
Comparatively, a PC may cost up to $2000+ to play games at a decent frame rate. If you have tried to play Crysis with a 7800GT, 2.6Ghz AMD X2, and 2gb of ram, you will realize that your system is quite underpowered for the job.

Second, availability of quality titles. PC games are nice, but some of the best titles just don't come out for PC, and when they do, they're gimped (see Gears of War... Live subscription required for full functionality, BARF!). New and exciting games don't really come out for PC anymore. The only real titles that DO come out are ones that use a mouse and keyboard better than a controller.

Third, the new DRM hassles. Some, like myself, have banned certain games that are starting ridiculous trends. Bioshock looked like a fantastic game and I was really excited to play it. Then, I installed the demo and a present from 2k in the form of a sudo-quasi-rootkit. I had to reformat to oust the unwelcome and uninvited guest. Needless to say, I am boycotting Bioshock. I am also boycotting other games that make me pay for services I used to get for free. Steam is free and offers many features. You can contact your friends, join their games, use voice chat... if you're playing newer HL titles, you have achievements...... why pay $50 for these same features in new games? STUPID trends designed to suck every penny from your pockets. Think of the big picture here. Would you rather play one good game and contribute to the idiocy of these new marketing schemes, or skip one or two in an effort to keep prices of services reasonable?
 
simply:

I didnt buy games this year because there are too many.

It works like this: I want a first person shooter that i'm going to play ON LAN competitively against many other people for prizes at game tournaments. I want to play online against many people in a clan practicing for this. As it stands, every 6 months is the next best thing in FPS games. Everyone moves to the new thing, and the strive for competitive gaming is lost as the community becomes too small.

There are more people then ever, but they are split amongst instead of Q3 vs HL to ET:QW vs TF2 vs COD4 vs etc etc.

So many games, and not one would i invest money in because they wont be around in 6 more months.

The turn around for games is too high.
 
Well, amid the Western Financial Slump consequences, the gaming industry slump seems no wonder.
Piracy has been an obvious deteriorating factor for the income of game design studios, while complicated code and production is surely another one.
Since myself has never been a 'game addict' even a total collapse of the gaming industry would be no big deal. On the other hand, the thought that the computer gaming principle has such an addictive effect, makes one wonder wether it could partially have the potential of becoming a tool for social evolution.
If games could be designed under the principle of educating people they possibly could incorporate educational values as language learning, history, presentation of future technologies, provoke the judgement ability of the gamers and a lot, lot more.
The gaming industry up to now has shown its worse face of splatter killing, materialism, arrogance and selfishness and similar stuff.
I'd rather be optimistic for the future; before fun and pleasure we need education. And if we don't decide for education soon, soon it will be too late.
😛
 
Over a year ago, I purchased a 60” 1080p HDTV and set up a surround sound system for watching sports and movies. I was so thrilled with the experience that I wanted to enjoy gaming with this equipment.
I took the time to move my computer and connect it to the new TV but couldn’t connect it to the sound system. The wires for the keyboard and mouse wouldn’t reach the couch so I added USB extensions but this wasn’t a very comfortable arrangement. Then I experienced difficulties at the resolution I had to use because my computer wasn’t strong enough to project a 1080p image. I contemplated the computer upgrade and the rearrangement of furniture required in the room to bring my desk closer to the TV.
End result, I’m now the happy owner of a PS3 with eight games purchased in the past year. The only gaming I do on the PC is because of my addiction to racing simulations.

I believe the home theatre experience is the main reason PC gamers are making the switch to consoles. When I do finally upgrade my computer again, it will be with the intention of connecting it to my TV and sound system but I don’t have the time or money right now because I’m too busy enjoying the convenience of the console.
 


You really need to scroll up and read my "Apples to Apples" post. You'll see from the post that there really isn't a cost difference between consoles and PCs. No, an AMD X2 with a 7800 GT won't be able to max Crysis settings with playable flame rates. Can a console? I don't think so. Crysis is still very playable on the specs you mentioned and will look as good or better as any game on the console. If Crysis were ported to the console, you can bet your a- that settings would all be on low to have playable frame rates.
 
Well, I read the first page, and the first few posts on the second page, but skipped the rest as you guys love to rehash old arguments to hear yourselves type.

As to the issue with Infinity Ward being astonished that there are so many pirated versions in their online test, I'll tell you my story.

Bought COD4 for PC on release day. Went home, played it, beat the SP in 3 sittings on the setting below veteran, and got ready to do some multiplayer action. Only one problem... I have to have the stupid COD4 DVD in the computer at all times while playing. Well, sometimes I have other CDs or DVDs in the tray, and occasionally I'll bust out a music CD that I haven't converted to mp3 yet.

In fact, the requirement to keep the DVD in the tray irritated me so much, I downloaded a pirate version just so I could play online withouto having to keep the stupid disc tying up my drive.

So one of those "pirated" versions that the Infinity Ward guys saw was probably me, and the reason I'm using it is because its BETTER than their legit version.

I like better.
 
How about they are putting out mediocre games that require high end system for average performance, and crawl on average systems. I can't stand choppy and laggy games, so I don't play them.

I used to try and keep up with the gaming requirements, but guess what im not upgrading on a yearly basis any more. I'd just rather play older games and save money on both games and hardware.

I'm off to reinstall GTA:SA, I hear that got some awesome mods out for it.

 


Listen, Meorah, don't take this personally...but come on. I hear what you're saying -- you want to to play what you want on your computer when you want to play it. But is being required to have the disc in the tray that much of an imposition? Really? You downloaded an illegal copy of CoD4 because you didn't have the time to convert some of your CDs to MP3s?

And furthermore, I'll reiterate the point I made to Impar earlier in this discussion (you may have skipped over it because you were tired of hearing us type): I take you at your word, Meorah, that you bought a legit copy of CoD4 and then downloaded a pirated version of the game. But I don't think there's a single gamer in the world that would say your actions represent the majority of folks who prowl the torrents and places like Pirate Bay.
 
I dunno what everyone is talking about PC's costing so much. I mean, yeah they are, in fact, more expensive than a console, but the extra 500 dollars you spend also goes toward the fact that you're getting a workstation to do, i dunno... work... a music system, an entertainment device... etc.

I've built 3 computers and have used the same monitor for all three and it's still alive and kicking. The keyboard and mouse I rarely change out. I used to have the MX1000... and it lasted me for a good 2 and a half years.

So, taking the monitor out of the picture, you can build a nice gaming rig/workstation for about 1000 dollars. You may not have an Intel Q6600, but you might run an AMD 6400+ Black. I mean, the board, the aforementioned processor and 4 gigs of ram costs only 300 (give or take about 50). An 8800gt is now like... 259.99. Power supply, 100-ish. CD drive, 30-ish. HDD's basically sell for 23-28 cents per gig, so an HDD should cost between 100-150.

That's basically a console, just the machine. No monitor, no games. And if you want to include the cost of a "controller" add 70 dollars. So, about 800 dollars. You get the productivity of a workstation with an even more powerful gaming platform.
 
I just finished reading this thread and am a bit surprised that no one has even mentioned the rise of the independent gaming houses. A good friend of mine and I were talking about this just the other day. My current machine is much to old to play any new games at a resolution and FPS that I would find acceptable, so for the last 6 months or so I have been playing almost exclusively (for my PC gaming habit) independent titles. Mount and Blade, Dwarf Fortress, Kingdom of Loathing, Pax Nora, a bunch of flash games and I just saw the savage 2 trailer on the Games video page. I will probably be playing that this weekend or next. In my humble opinion these games are some of the best I have ever played, and I have been playing games since atari 2600, vextrex (I am old enough to not even remember how that one is spelled) Kampfgraffe on the apple IIe.

These independent games cost on average $20 they all have play before you pay models. Somehow I just feel better about giving my money to 2 or 4 people coding in their homes instead of the EA, Sierra, Microsoft, (insert big megacorp here) marketing team.

I would be interested in seeing what the sales figures are for independent games. It wouldn't surprise me to see an explosion nearly the same as console games in the independent PC market.

P.S. I am building a new PC just to catch up and check out some of the newer titles, and yes I download demo's and then buy the retail versions of games I like. Pirating is for music and movies 😉. I used to work in the game industry and have no love for the PC game pirate. I only use NO CD cracks for games I own so I don't have to have a desk full of jewel cases.

P.S.S. The reason I am building a new PC is because I think it is cheaper and more useful then buying a new console. The only "next Gen" Console I own is a Wii and that is because the controller and multiplayer "Party" games are just to good and friendly for my "I hate Video Games" friends. The Wii has converted at least 5 of my friends. I won't buy a "next Gen" console until FFXIII and Grand Turisimo HD are out, so next Christmas I figure, the price should have dropped by then as well.
 
Starcraft II will sell 10 mil by default...

and 1 more thing , you are forgetting about the MMOS , with online fees...WoW is funding Starcraft II atm (unlimited as blizzard says).
 
Crysis was mentioned several times as a great game with disappointing sales....are you really that surprised? I'm not going to buy a new graphics card just to play one game, nor am I going to switch to a pudgy OS so it can look pretty. I don't mind upgrading, I knew that I'd be doing that with a PC, I'm just not going to do it for one game when virtually everything else runs fine.

Piracy is a much bigger issue outside North America. For the prices of games in many countries, people making average wage have to save up for months and months to buy one game legally. That's simply not an option, it's too much of a luxury - so if they want to play, they download it or shop for the much cheaper illegal copy on the street.
I don't see as big an issue with this, as in most cases these people wouldn't be able to buy the game if they wanted to, so the publishers aren't really losing anything. It's different for people who can buy the games, but chose to pirate them.

Publishers can combat piracy if they really want to, but they chose to keep prices high, even raising them more than needed, and then blame piracy for it. Well, if they opened up to the fact that people actually prefer legit copies of games, they just don't prefer it that much when it's a matter of $70 vs. $0. So, follow what the music industry is finally starting to do, make games available for download at a reasonable cost. Apple makes a fortune with itunes at 99 cents a song, no reason you can't have sometthing similar with games for $5 or $10. People will much prefer that than to have to fight with slow-assed, unreliable torrent downloads, the hassle of cracking games after the download, no manuals, risk of virus/trojan, etc.

And like others have mentioned, MMOs do take a away a lot from new sales. It's not just WoW, you get yourself going on any MMO, and then jump into Oblivion or something, and you find yourself missing your guildmates and friends.

Also, as the video game industry has been expanding to mainstream, consoles have more appeal as a social activity. A few years ago it was getting the guys over for Super Bomberman marathons, now it's going beyond that with Halo or NHL '07 or whatever on the big screen with your friends. PC's are much more geared for solo play, even if it is an online game, it's still just one person on the opposite side of the screen. And if a family with a couple of kids is looking at gaming, they're facing three or four PCs vs. one console...that's a quick decision in most cases.
 


Good call, Khicks. Defcon is a great example -- it's a cheap but utterly addictive multiplayer game. In fact, there's more smaller, independently developed titles on the Web now, and I think that's a good thing. Steam's Indie category is growing with games like Gish and Garry's Mod, and I couldn't be happier.

This could be the way PC gaming is going -- you're either playing time-consuming MMOs/RTSs, or you're on the opposite end of the spectrum playing smaller indie titles or casual games. Everything else will be relegated to the consoles. I hope this isn't the case, but I can't shake that feeling.
 
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