Second Take: The PC Gaming Slump

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Yeah, I read that crysis in ultra mode even runs only around 30fps at 1920x1200 on a tripple sli 8800 ultra setup with a high end quad core. I run it in xp on my overclocked pentium D 805 @ 3.5ghz, and only a single 8800gtx and I run at 1600x1200 all settings high and it runs smooth. So, yeah, u don't need to spend 6 grand on a pc too play the best games. Last year I spent around 2000 to build my rig. But, since prices fell like crazy, u can build mine for about 1000 now. And, for the same price, u can't even buy a mild gaming machine in stores. So, basically, u can build a great gaming rig on the cheap, but u can't buy one. Another reason for pc sales.

Oh, i agree about the consoles for just relaxing on the couch. But, I can do that now with my pc since i bought the wireless 360 controller. 😀 Works great.

Anyone play FRONTLINES FUEL OF WAR demo yet? It's bad ass!! I just got the beta.
 


1. well, it really depends on how many games u buy, and how much u upgrade, and when. Cuz, U can upgrade ur computer faster then the consoles, but, if u wait for the proper time to buy, u can do it cheaper. Plus, games almost always cost more on the consoles. So, it also depends on how many games u are planning on buying. U buy a lot of games, then u are probably gone reach a point where ur games alone cost more for the same games and the cost of the hardware to run them for a pc. EX. I bought transformers for the pc and it was only 20 bucks. But on the console, it was $49. U buy ten games like that, it's 300 bucks u spent that could have went to a decent graphics card. Buy 45 games, and u could have urself an 8800gtx on the pc. The more games u buy, the more u save on the pc. So, in the end. If u r a serious gamer, the pc is the way too go. (yes- most games are cheaper on the PC)

2. This is the year 2008. If u don't know how ur way around a pc a lil bit by now, Im sure u know someone who does. If u don't, U should.

 


LOL, abomination? DID U PLAY IT YET? When i first played this morning, I thought the graphics sucked bad. Then, I looked at video settings, and first time when I set them on high, they didn't take. So i reset them back to everything high at 1920x1200. And it looks friggin awsome. Its like battlefield 2, except u get a lot more stuff. Fly jets, helicopters, drive tanks, ect. U have classes like battlefield 2, and u get one where u can control the RC vehicles like the army is using now for servailance and killing enemies. RC helicopter, a lil car, both blow up, and one with a gun. It's awsome. tons of things to do. Oh, and it has physics. It's as good as crysis and bf2. Oh, and the explosions are wicked. So real.
 
Now for a public service announcement:

I think we're heading away from the idea of a PC gaming "slump" and heading towards a total game machine battle royal type discussion.

I've personally got no beef with consoles. Heck, I don't REALLY want to be put in a box at all. I own a Wii, DS Lite, Xbox (used only for a dvd player), and of course a PC. I don't mind being labeled a "gamer" who primarily plays PC games. But I do mind shouting matches with kiddies who constantly slam one system over another. Yuck.

Actually, If I could have ANY game machine in the world? It would probably be either the Galage/Ms.PacMan stand up or the Ms. PacMan table top. Oh man that would be hot! They cost more then the best PC's out lol.

That said. I think it's FAR too early to count PC gaming out. I mean seriously, when you reeeeeeeeeeeeeealy think about it? They are ALL computers! One can just be used to download music, type assignments, balance checkbooks, build websites, render 3-D apps, etc. WHILE playing games LOL. That's all!

End of Public Service Announcment

 
Hey going back to the demise of unspecialized cross platform developers - The Witcher, an amazing PC only RPG has been selling amazingly well around the world.

Basically, the only argument supporting the death of pc gaming, is that some **** cross platform games didn't sell well on PC - UT3 and CoD4.

So while it sure managed to get an emotional response out of people, theres no way PC gaming is hurting.
 
the main reason for the ps gaming problems is because when nvidia releases a new videocard, the game makers instantly assume we all have that card

they need to know graphics is not everything. if i want good graphics and crappy gameplay, i would go outside

and games are also made less efficient

if you run crysis on the lowest, and run far cry on the highest, far cry will look better and will also perform twice as fast

anyway game makers just need to focus on gameplay first before going to graphics

the 360 has been out for a while and the games graphics are basically unchanged over time but it still does good because theres good gameplay

but when game makers move to pc they instantly assume that since many gaming pcs sold by this company has so much more processing power compared to a xbox 360, they want to make the game so high demanding that only 10% of their target consumers can run the game

and they need to learn that not all of us are willing to spend $800 a year on videocards in order to run their games that are mostly visuals and crap gameplay
 



First, crysis takes more processing because of physics,and ur arguement is conflicting with it self. First u say graphics don't matter, then u r complaining about graphics compared to far cry. What do u want every developer to make all there games look like they are 6 years old? Ur argument makes no sense. If u want to play with ur current graphics card, just stick too ur older games like far cry and half life 2. No one is twisting ur arm to buy a new graphics card or games when they come out. Obviously the pc is the only platform that can push that kind gaming technology, so thats why they are making these games, cuz there are people who actually want to play better games then the ps3, or xbox360 can handle.Besides, lots of pc games are still being made that don't require top notch hardware too play. And, u don't have to spend 800 bucks on a video card. wait 6 months and the price will come down. Or, play games with the settings turned down, to console quality. Yes, u turn down the settings on these games, turn AA down to 2x or off, and turn the res down, and turn some settings too med or low, and u have console quality game then. Then, u only need like a $150-300 dollar card too play them. See, problem solved. Just takes a lil education.
 


From EA/Infinity Ward's perspective, it's only one disc. From my perspective, I may have to swap out anywhere between 4-5 discs over the course of a single week, possibly 2-3 times each. Yes, over time that is a HUGE hassle compared to the exceptional ease of downloading a pirated version of each of those games that allows me to swap from one game to another without worrying about changing media. In fact, its one of the few reasons I still prefer PC over console.

And of course I may have my CDs ripped to mp3 somewhere on some external drive, or I may have forgotten to archive a drive before wiping it and lose them, or maybe the CD was right there on my desk where I can grab it and pop it in the tray without having to tab out of my game.

The point is, the PC experience is supposed to be a fluid organic experience, and when publishers try to tell you how to use THEIR software with YOUR hardware, and you're in the room and they aren't... guess who's gonna win that argument?

Now realize how easy it is to take that next step and just pirate without purchasing if its generally accepted to be "a bad game" instead a high-quality production like COD4 and the end-user could care less about supporting the development studio. The pirates infrastructure is so stream-lined, and has so much red-tape cut out of it, that its the obvious choice if you just want to play the game and don't want to worry about calling tech support to figure out why their encryption won't let you play their game in your disc tray.

But of course, that goes into the argument about the absurdity of copyright in the 21st century, and the fact that publishers losing the distribution battle to hackers because they started caring more about controls and reports and accounting and the hackers just cared about... distribution. We'll save that for another argument.
 
Official NPD's are in for the PC for year 2007, it's a slight dip in US Brick and Mortal retail, but still doesn't include Digital Distro or MMO fees, and is US only. I would love to get Europe and Asia's numbers as well. I don't see this as a PC Gaming slump, just a few underperformers like Crysis and UT3. CoD4 seems to have sold almost 400,000 copies plus whatever was sold on STEAM + Europe.

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8836&Itemid=2
 
Oh and here's a direct comment from the NPD

""The PC games sales landscape is changing to one that is increasingly reliant on digital sources of revenue," NPD analyst Anita Frazier told GameSpot. "Our sales reflect the retail climate but there is a lot of gaming sales activity that is generated from digital downloads and subscriptions. I think the PC market continues to be quite healthy and we're continuing to work on how to get our arms around the spending that occurs outside of retail. A number of our [surveys] ask respondents to indicate which platforms they game on, and the results of those questions make it very clear that the PC remains very prevalent, if not dominant, in the total gaming picture."


http://www.gamespot.com/news/6185089.html

Digital Downloads need to start being tracked. Not only that but let's not compare one platform vs. 3 current gen consoles and take this way out of perspective, which it seems all the anti-pc crowd enjoys doing.
 


WOOT!! WOOT!! NICE FIND!! :lol: 1 PC GAMERS vs. 0 CONSOLE GAMERS = WE WIN!! CONSOLES SUCK!!
 
As I suspected Rob Wright is full of scaremongering BS. I would have more respect for him if he came out and admitted he was wrong and he jumped on the bandwagon after a reading a few disappointing press release on a couple of big games rather then trying to defend his comments.

You only have to read the front page of Toms to see were the revenue for PC games is going, the next version of Stalker is going to Steam ONLY. Now for me that says a lot of about how many games are now being sold via digital distribution as opposed to retail outlets. Also notice that it is the PC not the consoles that is shaping and revolutionising the market place, no doubt the Xbox 3 and PS4 will be offering games via a digital media………in 4 years time.

 
Great artlcle/video and thread. Growing up I was a console gamer. For the past 10 years I have been a pc gamer. I have no plans yet on going back to the console as I love the upgradeability of pc's. Vista is not the problem.. You can play both dx9 and dx10 games on Vista. Hardly any games are Vista exclusive yet

In a nutshell, my thoughts to the pc gaming slump are below:

1) Addictive multiplayer online games.
a) MMO's (subscription based bullcrap). WOW is the main culprit as of today. Tomorrow it will be another MMO. While I would love to play a game like WOW, I refuse...REFUSE....REFUSE to pay a subscription service for a game. All of the 8+ million WOW players probably rarely, if ever, buy another pc game for several years.
b) Clans. I am in a BF2 clan so I am guilty of this. Since I like to play online with friends and we all play the same game, we stick with that game as long as possible. You risk fragmenting the clan once the members start playing different games so we tend to stick with a game as long as possible.n That being said, I still buy other games since I enjoy a good single player experience as well.
c) Persistent Stats. For example games like BF2 that track your stats so you can earn medals and gain ranks. In order to get the goods, you got to spend a lot of time playing the same game. I am guilty here. When is BF3 coming out (hehe)?

3) Piracy. No need to go into detail here. It is stealing. For the people that think otherwise and rationalize it, get a clue. I hope you get fined or thrown in jail if you are one of these people. You are ruining it for the rest us.

4) Death of AGP. Probably 50+ percent of pc owners still have agp motherboards but now must buy an entirely new pc for a decent graphics card to play the latest games. Once more and more of them buy new pc's, pc game sales will increase.

5) Cost. Much more attractive to pay three or four times less for hardware to play the same game. Usually consoles fall way behind the performance curvey fairly quickly but this generation of consoles are more powerful relative to pc's than ever before.

So, how does the industry and/or gamers fight this?

1) STOP PAYING FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS! ACK! YOU ARE FEEDING THE FIRE! IF GAMERS AS A WHOLE WOULD STOP, THEN A GAME LIKE WOW WOULD NOT BE SUBSCRIPTION BASED BUT WOULD BE EXPANSION BASED AND END UP BEING A LOT CHEAPER.....HELLO PEOPLE!

2) AS MUCH AS I HATE THIS, FORCE PC GAMES TO BE VERIFIED ONLINE BEFORE EVEN A SINGLE PLAYER EXPERIENCE CAN BE PLAYED. PEOPLE WONT STOP PIRATING OR CHEATING SO TO SURVIVE, WE NEED BLOATWARE. ISP GOES DOWN, SORRY CAN'T GAME. THAT IS LIFE AND THE PRICE WE MUST PAY. BRING ON STEAM FOR OUR OWN GOOD.

3) STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT COMPANIES PUSHING THE GRAPHICS ENVELOPE AND GO OUT THERE AND USE GOOD JUDGEMENT TO BUY NEW HARDWARE FOR YOUR PC. CRYTEK SHOULD BE PRAISED NOT CURSED FOR PUSHING THE ENVELOPE. LETS ALL GO BACK TO PAC MAN EH? THEN YOU COULD PLAY ON YOUR OLD COMMODORE 64. THIS IS THE MAIN WAY PC'S ELEVATE FROM CONSOLES....PUSH THE ENVELOPE SO CONSOLES GRAPHICS PALE IN COMPARISSON. PUSH ON I SAY!

4) MAKE IT A PRIORITY TO BUY AT LEAST FOUR PC GAMES A YEAR NO MATTER HOW ADDICTED YOU ARE TO ANY ONE ONLINE GAME. EVERYONE NEEDS A BREAK. DONT LET STATS AND EXPERIENCE POINTS TOTALLY TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR GAMING LIFE.

In the end, I think the pc will continue to survive and grow. As to the long distance future, I can only guess. I just can't wait for the next breakthrough in technology to push the envelope. Chances are, you will see it available on the pc long before the console.



 
They were pretty wrong about a lot of those retail numbers, those numbers are US NPD numbers. If you look at the score internationally COD4 sold over a million copies on the PC in 2007. The Witcher for example sold a million in it's first week even. Stalker sold 1.4 million copies worldwide. I hate to say it, but you were just straight up wrong.
 


I don%u2019t like to knock people but after this fiasco Ben and Rob journalistic credibility is all but gone. The comments made in the video was not backed up by any credible analytical data all they had was a couple of press releases and a blog entry, I can%u2019t believe how unprofessional they were.
 




Excellent post, Good point, I completely forgot about that. I think that is why a lot of people are holding off on the new PC's. I just switched from agp to PCIe and I had to wait until tax time to afford it. Obviously just built a whole new system. I am sure many people are going through the same dilemma. Probably just waiting till they can afford it.
 


Sorry you feel that way, JeanLuc (and Free2Game). We did mispeak when we said the PC version Call of Duty 4 sold 100,00 copies all of last year -- we should have said in its first month. We apologize for the error, and it will be corrected after I tar and feather Ben.

However, that slipup aside, check out these numbers.

http://www.techspot.com/news/28750-pc-retail-games-sales-dip-in-2007.html
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/50939
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17110
http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/pc-game-sales-bring-us-industry-to-1885-billion-in-07/19186/?biz=1

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare sold less than 400,000 PC copies via U.S. retail in 2007. That was number 4 on NPD's list. Meanwhile World of WarCraft -- the original -- sold nearly a million while Burning Crusade sold 2.25 million.

So let's do the math -- WoW contributed to more than 3 million PC game sales for 2007. Yet sales actually FELL from $970 million in 2006 to $910 million this year. If it hadn't been for Blizzard, 2007 would have been even worse for domestic PC game sales here in the U.S. The fact is we said in the video that PC games sales were down, and they are. Yes, the decrease can be partially attributed to digital downloading from Steam, GameTap, etc. But a lot of major titles like UT3 and Crysis did not sell as well as many people expected. In fact, many people were predicting a record year for PC games sales, one that would beat the billion plus earned in 2004. That didn't happen. In fact, we appear to be getting further away from that benchmark and that's not a good thing.

Worldwide could be a different story, but since Toms Games US is based in the....(drum roll)....US, I only look at the North American/US data. BTW, I can't wait to play the Witcher, and I'm glad it's sold over a million overseas (didn't care for Stalker myself, but Clear Sky looks promising).

As a PC gamer, I have no desire to se PC gaming decline. But the recent data has me worried. I don't think that's scaremongering BS, but hey, I appreciate your concerns and taking the time to express them.
 
ROB WRIGHT

Seriously, I like most of ur video reviews. But, I think u need to take in all the factors. And instead of doing a video on blaming pc gamers for pirating, and not buying games, u should do a video on how the pc gets put in the shadows, and
how the consoles get all the publicity and get put in the lime light all the time. Maybe instead of focusing on the bad retail sales, do something to help get the manufacturers, devs, and retailers to actually push the PC, like they do the consoles. Read my post below.
 
NOTICE IN ALL THE LINKS THEY SAY "RETAIL SALES"

How can the pc possibly beat them in retail sales? For years the section for pc has been getting smaller and smaller. Obviously its hard to buy a game u can't find.

SIMPLE SOLUTION- Start putting up more games on the shelves.

Its there faults the sales are low not the gamers. Everytime I go to the store I can't find the games im looking for. It's like they are blaming the pc for being a bad system, or the gamers for not buying the games. They should be blaming themselves for not investing enough to get the game out there. Put pc games in commercials, and start running the games for windows platforms, and start stocking the games. No one likes buying games online. Shipping (cuz slow) and downloading sucks (cuz most of the time doesn't work).

ITS RIDICULOUS!!

In my opinion they are just feeding the fire to keep the hackers pirating. If the games were there, im sure people would buy. But, they aren't there. I know, i've looked many times for the games when they came out. Most of the time they have crappy games like bejeweled, or the sims. No wonder the sims is a hit. It's always on shelves. For real, I would rather have the boxed copy. Cuz, I know I can go online, I know I can get support, and I know i won't go to jail or get a huge fine. Just, quit feeding the fire. As long as they aren't in stores, Pirating is just gonna keep getting worse. It's a vicious cycle. If they want to stop pirating, then they need to stock the shelves and have a lil faith in the pc gamers.


As far as I can remeber pc games have always been put in the back corner, and in low numbers, or only unpopular games. Never have they gotten the spotlight like the console.

I bet u anything, That if u added up all the pc games on shelves, in comparison to the console games, u would find that it is directly proportional to the ratio of retail games being sold. Overall PC vs. CONSOLE stock ratio aproximately = to PC vs. CONSOLE sell ratio.
 
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