THE PC vs. CONSOLE WAR: PC's are LOSING.

[caamsa]

Flyin15 has hit the nail on the head IMO. People are all logged into WoW and dont have time or dont feel the need to purchase new games.

Go tell Blizzard that PC gaming is dying, they will laugh in your face, I guarantee it.

I agree to some extent as I have been playing City of Heroes for three years....but that money (my monthly fee) goes back to the game company so I am supporting games that Cryptic and NCsoft. Remember that there are a lot of cool games and mods that cost nothing for the pc gamer. Zombie panic and Hidden. Tons of new maps and mods for BF2 etc.....so you get your money's worth with a pc.

Also our society is getting older.......that will affect the market as well. I have some friends that I LAN with and they are in their early 20's to early 30's with me being the old man in the group at 41. Well they are always buying new games and playing them 24/7. I no longer have that desire or time to play all these new games.

I did play a lot when I was younger. I remember playing Pirates Cove, and Zork games that were text only games. I logged in a lot of hours in those games staying up all night some times just to try to beat them.

People want instant gratification now and IMO a lot of the new games really are not that good.

Which brings me to another problem....we need good games.............

 

[OrderChaos]

WAIT I HAS A SOLUTION!!!! but before I get to that please know that imho pc gaming is not dead, rather it has evolved.

It is now beyond consoles. Consoles are what every average joe gets and plays on, for the truly hardcore elite gamers, pcs are the way to go.

Only those of us who have put the hard work, elbow grease, and time (and on occasion a little blood from sharp edges) into building computers and tweaking them to get the max performance can truly understand what it means to love to game. I can honestly say that I enjoy and appreciate d games MUCH more than I ever did after building my first computer.

Not only that, but look at the games that come out for PCs versus those that come out for consoles. The thousands of games that come out every year are filled with games ranging from crappy to so awesome that the english language is unable to describe exactly how utterly uber they are. If you look at the amount of crap games that come out for the various systems, PC games have the best ratio of Awesomeness to crap. Meaning that PCs (while having less total games) still get most of the same awesome games consoles do, without having to drudge through all the little pokemon and other nonsense games that console players do.

Anyway that's my opinion on what PC gaming truly is. Now back to my plan to bring PC gaming revenue up to par or beyond the consoles!!!

There are two relatively easy steps to bring PC gaming up to the multi-multi-billion dollar industry that console gaming is today.

The first would be dependent on Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony. The three current console kings. They would need to release software that would allow you to play their console games on your PC. I can guarentee you if one company did this, the other two would soon follow suit. This would make PCs the number one gaming platform of choice. This would also be relatively cheap for the companys. If Microsoft did it they could use it as a major selling point for Vista. Sony and Nintendo (the ones I think less likely to do this) always have the option of making it work as a separate operating system that you install on a separate hardrive just like a console would have it and all you would need would be the capability to play the discs (Thus blu-ray for the PS3 which you can now get a blu-ray drive for less than $200 = cheaper than PS3).

So that's number one. If you could play a console game on your pc it would remove much of the cost developers face in designing a game and would bring many more games to the PC (the downside being this would remove the Elite status I believe PC gaming to hold currently).

Number 2: PC games and hardware need a rating system. Just like the ESRB rating for game content, if hardware had a rating, and so did the games, then it would be much easier for people to see what type of hardware could play what games. For instance you say a computer of Rating 1 from dell can play 90% of games at max graphics. Then games would have ratings like a rating 1 game would require a mainstream PC bought within a year and a game with rating 5 could be played on PCs bought within 5 years, etc.

No it's not perfect, but either or both of these solutions would bring in enormous amounts of revenue for both hardware and game companies.

That's my 2 cents please criticize at will, but don't hate me because I actually proposed a solution rather than whining about the problem.

 

[caamsa]

@orderchaos One thing I agree with is that I do love messing around my my computers. Putting them together etc....is half the fun. Can't do that with a console.

 

[miketool21]

PC Games will not be able to compete with console games in the near future. I can think of 6 main reasons for this:

First, knowledge. There is almost zero knowledge required to operate a console versus a considerable amount of pc knowledge required to find the right gaming pc (such as what makes a good gaming pc? what makes a good graphics card? etc), let alone to build one's own gaming pc (which is necessary to really get a decent setup for a reasonable amount of money).

Second, accessibility. Can you rent pc games at blockbuster? How about gamefly? Little joey's 7 year old friend (or younger, I started playing zelda when I was 3 years old) jacob has a nintendo wii, and so does his friend zach. Zach also has a PS3 and his older brother has a xbox360. Even mom plays the wii now. My freaking aunt and uncle who NEVER play video games even own a wii. The point is, most people either own a console system or they know someone who does. Accessibility breeds familiarity, and that's the key, getting someone to be familiar with what it is you're talking about. Think about it, how many people (honestly) do you know that you can talk about how the 8800 GT smokes the 8600 GT? Now think about video games, how many people can you talk to about how the nintendo wii or ps3 make the nintendo or psone look like crap?

Third, price. Not only Microsoft and Sony LOSING MONEY on the systems they sell, but they are putting their systems out there for around $500 or less even when they debut (the PS3 being the rare exception, but even still it was in that neighborhood). So you're getting a custom designed gaming rig for less than cost. Then you see a major price drop 1-2 years in and the console market usually settles in around 2-300. Compare that with $500 BARE MINIMUM (only by REALLY KNOWING YOUR SH*T ABOUT COMPUTERS) and more likely 1K on any decent computer gaming rig and you can see how pc gaming is NOT economical at all while console gaming can be a christmas present even for a low-income family. Consoles fit nicely into the low-income bracket while computers tend to be more geared toward middle to upper-income brackets. Most people are in the low-income bracket, which really limits the amount of potential pc gamers.

Fourth, convenience. I buy the Grand Theft Auto IV. I have a PS3. Therefore, I know I can play GTA IV. I put the disc into the system, turn it on, and I am done. This is really simple and that's what counts. People are fundamentally very simple; if something is easy to do, chances are people will do it (right or wrong). I don't have to study the box and my video card before I buy it to decide if the FPS will be adequate. I don't have to question my HDD space. I don't have to install anything. I don't have to have the right operating system (HALO 2 ANYONE). I DON'T HAVE TO HAVE INTERNET JUST TO FU**ING INSTALL THE DAMN THING, LET ALONE PLAY IT (bioshock and the steam installer for HL2 come to mind)

Fifth, longevity. The playstation lasted at least 5 years. The playstation 2 lasted at least 5 years. The playstation 3 will probably last at least 5 years (especially being that it has blu-ray which is still 1-2 years from mainstream). Notice a trend here? How many people in here can look back at their 5 year old computer and laugh their ass off? I can't even run some OLDER games because they were designed for windows 95/98 (nhl 98 comes to mind), let alone the converse!

Sixth, compatibility. There's just so much that can go wrong with a pc game. OS conflict, bad ram, bad hdd, overclocking issues, power supply issues, and just the fact that there's no real way to cover all computer configurations when designing a game, which makes bug testing hindered. For consoles, most people would look at you and say, "what do you mean by compatibility issues?" Don't get me wrong, pc game designers do their best, but overall there is just no comparison between console and pc games in terms of bugs and compatibility.

These are just some of the reasons why the pc game market will continue to be left in the dust by console games and sadly (or wonderfully, depending on your perspective) these reasons are not slated to change for a long while. Long-term, we may see something revolutionary such as the government or schools providing a computer and internet or requiring a computer and internet. If and when that happens, then we could really see a twist. Until then we're just going to have to be satisfied with what we've got (I'm ready for Diablo 3 how about you? )

 

[emp]

Ummm haven't we been told for the last 15 years that PC gaming was dying? Yet here it is.

You think its dying because you dont see as many games in stores? How about FilePlanet and Steam?

You're saying if gaming dies that the LCD market is going to stop producing 19" or greater LCD screens? Obviously you've never worked in an office. Hell everyone here is using at least 1440x900 monitors, several have dual 22" monitors setup.

You think memory, CPU, and mobo companies are going to die off because the smallest niche of their revenue will be gone? Please, AMD/nVidia make their money off cards that go in Dells, not enthusiast cards. Same goes for memory and mobo manufacturers.


As long as people are using PCs, they will be making games for them. As long as there are PCs and consoles, the consoles will win.

Please post this in the section it belongs and put a warning saying "Wall of text ahead" in the title.

What he is most likely referring to is that innovation and constant strive to offer faster performing products will end, because there is no need for them. The fast performing CPU and most importantly, GPUs, are needed to run games more than anything... Sure it's true that there are other applications that can strain a computer, but none of them are popular enough to sustain the whole PC industry at the rate we are used to.

Remember that even though Nvidia and ATI make most of their money on their midrange offerings, it is their high end offerings that all the R&D revolves around, spawning afterwards their midrange and entry level offerings. If PC gaming were to die, then Nvidia and AMD would not halt, but slow down on their R&D (less frequent GPU generations, less frequent dieshrinks, etc...), slashing their R&D budgets, and thriving for less powerful new products (since they are not needed anymore and would not sell otherwise). CPUs would suffer a similar fate, but nowhere near the same magnitude.

How does this affect consoles you ask? All the research for the Xbox 360/PS3 GPUs was based off the Radeon X1K and GF 7K, and the aforementioned were just derivatives from these GPU architectures that are funded by... you guessed it... PC gamers, so if future consoles are to be released with the kind of mammoth-like jump in graphics that average joe expects, then PC gaming must live to fund these new technologies, because we are not talking of a single graphics generation jump, but several (in average 4 to 5) for every console, and while all this research is done, there has to be a point for it to be done in the meantime.

To sum this up, to everyone who loves their consoles, they have to remember that they may have the advantages in numbers over gaming capable PCs, but in reality it is PC gaming and the drive and technology behind it that keeps their consoles affordable and up to date, because consoles are only cheaper derivatives of GPU architectures intended for PC gaming.

EDIT: I guess what I'm trying to say is... comfort in the fact that PC gaming cannot die, for not only it would result in an influx of simplified games geared towards the console crowd, but more importantly we'd be facing the Netburst era of Gaming, where not only graphics, but also gameplay will not see revolution for a long time to come ... After all PC gamers are the more demanding crowd when it comes to the quality of their games, not the other way around.

 

[Clob]

The reason PC gaming is going down hill is because its not Simple, and its not Cheap.

Average Joe Schmo doesn't know the difference between 720p and 1080p, so Costs can stay down on consoles, and graphics can be allowed to stay average at best. Most people in the console genre don't care if this texture has 4x more polygons and has pixelshader 4.1 and bump mapping, so what is in it for them?

I showed my 14 year old brother the difference between DX 10.1 and 9.0C and he said, they look the same. I almost fell out of my chair. He owns like 50 xbox 360 games. He constantly says 720p games look better than my 1920x1200 games because he doesn't know any better.

You know why I know this, its because I work for an ISP and I support their TV service. The average customer has no idea what HD really is. They have no idea the difference between 480 lines and 1080 lines on the screen. They think its "HD" and they eat it up.

90% of customers buy the largest and cheapest TV they can get no matter how ugly the picutre is. ITS HD!!! WOOT!! Lets watch some foot ball on basic cable that I think is in HD! WOOT!! That's where the money is... Ignorance of customers.

Ignorance is the reason why PC gaming is falling in comparison to console. Plain and simple. That is also why Blueray isn't taking off, because customers just don't know the difference between the different formats.

How many people do you know that have an Xbox 360 on a 20" tube screen from the 80's and they say its the best "Grafix" they've seen. Yeah... See...

 

[Grimmy]

@orderchaos One thing I agree with is that I do love messing around my my computers. Putting them together etc....is half the fun. Can't do that with a console.

Pretty much agreed what you've said, but my old xbox I got to mess around with, on the mod chip.

One of the things that piss me off on consoles, is when the DVD has problems reading the disc. So when I pass a level, I'm sitting there waiting for the xbox to read the dvd, but yet it freezes up. That was when I had enough, and used mod chip to load games on the HD, which ran like a dream, not to mention, its an alright FTP box as well.

Edit:

I also play my Xbox off my TV card on the PC. :lol:. o O (every.. now and then, not as much as I use ta)

 

[samuraiblade]

completey disagree on this , stand alone single player games are dieing , but multiplayer online games are not , piracy might work on single player stuff as theres no way of monitoring the cracks. but as most people buy games these days to play online the cd key check is 99% foolproof. Call of Duty 4 etc , (what codemasters were thinking when they released Grid without cd key i have no idea , although i own the game i know for a fact it works online with cracked copy) also the mmorpg market is soley for pc's , look at the recent figures , World of warcraft - 8 million subscribers , Age of conan - at least 1 million subscribers , Eve online just to name a few. also Warhammer online has 750,000 beta applicants and is set to match World of Warcraft on release , games like Spore are going to draw big crowds. Grand theft auto 4 is dubbed for release next month on pc.

sorry but pc's are getting cheaper and stronger imo , not dieing. the market has always had piracy , i remember the atari st and amiga had companys like pompey pirates, activision (not the software guys!) , waznotwaz to name a few that regulary hacked , consoles have iso's constantly uploaded and chips are easy to come by , you'll never iradicate it , but it does encourage the developers to make sure they dont release utter tosh , if the games good enough people will buy it. if its substandard or average people download it to try as they dont want to commit to wasting money.

 

[hixbot]

Why are people lecturing me about LAN parties? My point was about local multiplayer on the same machine on the same screen. You all diss local multiplayer, yet it will be the first you'll do if you have friends over, you'll all sit around a tv and challenge each other to your favorite CONSOLE games.

Since a PC is fully capable of having local multiplayer on the same screen with multiple USB input devices, i see no reason why PC games can't offer the same local multiplayer features that the console versions offer.

Piracy is not the reason PC gaming is dying. People have been pirating games since the first PC's over 25 years ago. Console games are pirated just as much.
PC gaming is dying because they no longer offer more features than their console versions. If you have the hardware, sure, a PC can offer better graphics. That is the ONLY feature it still has that isnt available on console.
Consoles have integrated all the great features that used to only be available on PCs.
There isnt enough to set the PC above the console to justify the extra expense.

 

[reichscythe]

*squints* ... Man i'm gettin' some serious Déjà vu.... I JUST responded to this exact post two threads over! WTF?!?

In any case--

@hixbot- Except for fighting games, sports games and Guitar Hero, most console gamers aren't sitting around a TV challenging their friends and, for the record, when such games appear on PCs they offer local, same-screen multiplayer gaming... So, really, the only types of games on PC that don't offer same screen multiplayer options are FPSs, Racing Games and RTSs... and, to be completely honest, playing an FPS or an RTS on a divided tv screen in a room with three of yer mates crowded on the same couch is about the lamest experience on the planet. The only reason "same-screen multiplayer" even existed on consoles is because consoles couldn't connect to LANs back in the day and the, rather pathetic, split-screen-gang-play was the best substitute Golden Eye on the N64 could vomit upon the masses of FPS deprived console junkies.... Nowadays, most console gamers aren't even using local multiplayer options: they're hoppin' on LANs just like PC gamers... So, I don't think it's necessary to have local mutliplayer on the same screen in most PC games and the lack of local same screen multiplayer is hardly a reason for the so-called decline of PC gaming...


As far as your other point, you're partially right about consoles integrating great PC features, but not so much about what PC games have delivered in general. PC games never really offered more "features" than their console versions because up until recently, there was simply a very small area of intersection between PC and console games. It was never so much a battle of features between PC and consoles because, really, the experience on each was so vastly different. Moreover, PC games sold well because the types of games a gamer played on PC were generally ONLY available on PC and most PC gamers weren't interested in the stuff that was widely available on consoles. Case in point, the zenith of computer gaming era was full of Adventure games, Text heavy RPGs, Simulations, RTSs and FPSs; consoles were for platformers, scrollers, crumby arcade ports, fighting games, and simple Japanese style RPGs that were more like fast-twitch arcade games than the novel-esque PC RPGs of yore... When PC games finally started coming to console, they were basically the same (in fact, with the initial push, console ports of games like Doom 2 featured extra bells and whistles to spice up the deal for skeptical console buyers who were unfamiliar with the strange PC stylings), just with inferior graphics...and it was that way for years... (remember Wing Commander for 3DO? Oh how Origin tried so hard to make PC gamers jealous of the consoles!) It's not that the FEATURE set has changed or varied over the years, the difference now is that PC gaming TRENDS have shifted from Adventure games; while FPSs--once primarily a PC only titles--are currently major sellers on the consoles. Western style RPGs like Mass Effect and Oblivion are being played on the systems formerly purchased by people who laughed at PC gamers for playing games with "so much reading/talking." The entire gaming arena now involves PCs and Consoles fighting over the same TYPES of games.

But I wouldn't say that consoles have any advantage--as you pointed out, consoles have "integrated" a lot of PC features. And I say, this has been done much to the detriment of the console as a viable future gaming platform. What were some of the major complaints about PC games and PC gaming? Long install times, patching requirements for buggy games, OS errors and crashes, susceptibility to viruses, the need/desire to upgrade the system every few years, the expense, etc. Well, guess what? Go to any console forum and you'll find a bunch of console-ites complaining about one or more of the above issues on any of the current generation of consoles. Consoles are rapidly becoming PCs, and the faster they "integrate" PC functionality (e.g., web browsing, media distribution, encoding, etc.) the more quickly they will adopt the "problems" that console users claim plague PCs...The more consoles become PCs, the more PC gamers will be left as the only viable gaming community for developers to woo, impress, and design for-- people right now are trying to upgrade harddrives in their PS3s... Either that or spend ANOTHER 350 - 400 on the new release with the 20 extra gigabytes of space... Fear of obsolescence? The requirement of a tech savvy user? The Wii is having a storage crisis as I type this because its developers are trying to allow the console to mimick the long held pc tradition of classic game download and storage... Console innovation? Fresh Ideas? New console game genres that are rehashes of PC staples, hard ware derived from last gen pc parts?

And let's talk about the effin' expense 'cause I'm sick of people claiming that consoles save SO much money...
Any brand new next gen console (wii included) [$300 - $600] with a brand new high def TV [$600 - $3000], four wireless controllers [~$50 x 4 = $200] (for your local same screen multiplaying) and a few games (each priced at $10 to $20 more than the exact same title on the PC but with inferior graphics) is gonna set you back about as much as a decent PC with a 22" monitor...I know this because i've built two PCs recently, one's capable of playing Crysis with everything on HIGH at 1440x900 and it only cost about $700 (~$950 with the monitor)... the top PS3 was about $600 when it came out and couldn't dream of playing Crysis (even at 1280x720, which is about the highest res a PS3 can actually crank out at a playable framerate for most decent lookin' games anyway)...

And really...none of the "Advantages" of consoles really matter when anybody with a few extra dollars to burn can buy all the console peripherals [thank you xbox 360 compatibility] and a 50" LCD screen and play PC games on the couch if he or she desires (and i do, from time to time)

 

[hixbot]

I have to disagree with you about the appeal of splitscreen FPS gaming on the couch. Me and my friends absolutely love it. On a HDTV its not that terrible looking.

(goldeneye was awesome, because you could share FPS glory with your buddies in the same room, without setting up a friggin LAN party, yes the graphics sucked split in 4 on a crappy TV, but it was still FUN!!!)

The other big feature, is ONLINE splitscreen.
Like Gears of War for 360. I can play with my buddy on the couch in a splitscreen environment, WHILE online. That f#ckin rules! (PC version, does not have those features)

Mariokart for the wii, same deal, splitscreen play, while online, with 10 other players.

I'm just saying, while you may not like split screen gaming, some do... and the PC is fully capable of supporting those features, so why don't they?

I'm NOT trying to say that those setups beat a PC setup on a high resolution monitor, by yourself, playing FPS with other friendless nerds online.

But consoles cater to having your friends over, whether its fighters, or FPS, etc.. they allow for you to have some fun with your buddies.

Thats why I always had a few consoles AND a gaming PC. When i wanted the absolute best singleplayer, or online experience, i played my PC.. when i had friends over, I player the consoles.
Now that consoles are moving toward PC features (as you described), my gaming rig is collecting dust.

 

[Scylas]

I really hate these people that are yammering on about piracy piracy piracy killing the PC market.

Fact is it's a multitude of things killing it from multiple angles, and yes piracty has a very small part of it, but I think the much bigger problem is this:

PC games are much much more similar to console games than they used to be - many old PC gamers are moving to the console market, since if the games are virtually the same: why not get the thing that is easier to deal with(compatibility and get one complete system rather than worry about components), is also cheaper, plus you can invite a couple of friends over for some social gameplay without worrying about the hassles(or even possibility if you dont have the right components on hand) of a LAN party.

Take a look at most games that have come out for PC within the last few years, they share many of the BAD aspects of console games which didn't used to be there in the old days. Just for example, checkpoints, lack of options, autoaiming, lack of depth, and many other frustrating aspects of consoles, while not adopting any of the good aspects of consoles(such as many of the things that were good in the console "blockbusters", such as Finaly Fantasy 7(which in its own right reminded me of the depth of PC gaming). Thankfully so far some companies(such as EA and Blizzard), have done well to avoid this disappointing trend, while others have embraced it thoroughly(such as ubisoft and bioware) and still seem to make it well on the review sites.

In conclusion I lay a lot of the blame on the common person, such as anyone in this thread whining about the same thing over and over again(piracy?), and the review sites for not being honest and mentioning which games feel like a damn console port. This isn't even referring to the games that actually ARE ported over from consoles because I can understand why they are like this. The fact is the dev's try to give us what we want, because that's how they make their money, and they don't know PC gamers tend to hate the way console games are designed(i'm sure there are some exceptions, and maybe you should go pick up a xbox or something if you are). They don't know we hate this because nobody speaks up about it and mentions this specific fact.

 

[E3210]

I didn't read all 66 replies... so I don't know if you all stayed on topic. There is a lot of effort being put into stopping pirating. Right now it is a copryright loop hole being exploited by people using foreign servers. The use of torrents and torrent tracking is not illegal in Europe, even if sharing the pirated material is. The European courts work slowly though... but expect pirating in its current form to be gone in a few years. I see the point that pirating is so bad for gaming. It is expensive enough as is it to develop a game, escpecially when profits are sucked dry by stealing. And trust me, I know, pirating is definitely a big deal and happens on a huge scale.

That being said I actively participate in it pretty much ever day. I don't like that so much of software is vastly over priced and games are so expensive, but I won't lie I don't want to pay for it. Although I see what it does to the markets I love so much, I will keep doing it until I am unable to do it any more. I will be glad when that day happens. I look forward to the day that internet piracy becomes all but extinct. However, until that day comes I will take advantage of it to its fullest. And if torrent tracking becomes illegal I will buy games and softeware then, but I have to admit if I find another way to steal what I need I won't resist the temptation. Pirating sucks, but so many of us contribute to it because we are selfish and want are instant gratification. Kinda like global warming. I contribute to the problem, am intelligent enough see the consequences, and believe that in theory the world would be a better place without it. Doesn't mean I am going to work overtime to stop it.

Anyway, that is how I feel about it.

 

[turkxt]

I think one big problem is the lack of knowledge that some people have when it comes to PC vs Console.
It is too easy for people that are not big pc enthusiasts to go buy a console game, throw it in and start playing. I argued with one of my best friends for a few weeks about how my PC was atleast 5-10 times faster and able of producing better graphics than his XBOX 360. This all from someone that had trouble running World of Warcraft even at medium graphics settings. He finally came over to watch me play Crysis and Mass Effect on the highest graphics settings possible, and his jaw dropped. It does make me sad when I go to my local Wal-mart or Fred Meyer to buy a new game for my pc, and the selection is so small. Don't get me wrong there are still some good games out there, its just that they are becoming fewer and farther between. Also because of the lack of interest in PC games these days you can go get quite a few excellent games for your pc for 20 dollars or less. So if you enjoy playing games on your pc, and you pirate games please stop, it is only hurting you and the pc gamer community in the long run.

 

[gamerk316]

Part of the PC's problem is the fact that for many years, you had all these third party titles...and most of them stunk. Throw in successful FPS on consoles (used to be PC only territory), and you get a perfect storm.

PC's still have far more games released then consoles, its just most of them are by companies too small to get noticed nationally. How many of you heard of Stardock, for instance?

 

[crockdaddy]

Dunno about all of you but for me and most of my buddies we PC game quite a bit.

L4D
CoD:5WaW
Sins of a Solar Empire
Mass Effect
Fall Out 3
CoD:4 Modern Warfare
TF2
Company Of Heroes
Dawn of War 2
Civ IV (one of the expansions)
Titan Quest Gold
Europa Universalis III

Just to name half of the games I have purchased over the last 18 months. I download games as well .... but clearly I support the industry. I use consoles mostly for sport/racing games .... party games and HALO. Back in the day I bought consoles for Gran Turisimo and Tekken lol.

If the majors drop out of PC games will that be so bad? Seriously ... I like CoD ... but the release rate of their games is quickly fracturing the gaming community. EA is worse ..... BF xx (1942,Vietnam,2,2142,many expansions) UT is not as good IMO now but I will go ahead and buy it from Steam now that it is on sale.

I have become more interested in the independent studios lately. Valve being the largest.

 

[on_orbit]

I'm sorry, but what you just said is the main reason I am convinced that piracy is no where near as dangerous as you and various companies say it is, because the figures you just used, were, to be frank, pulled out of your ass, you have NO IDEA how many people pirated the game instead of buying it, and so its fair enough (as far as statisticians are concerned) to assume that every copy of the game that didn't sell, was due to the person who would have bought it pirating it instead, and it doesn't seem to occur to people that its possible that there is a fundamental flaw with the GAME, and people aren't taken in by all the hype out there (hence why I don't think crysis would sell, even on the console). So to summarise, if you are able to accurately count the number of times its been pirated, i'll believe you, but until then, sod off and stop using it as a scapegoat so you can keep churning out rubbish games and then sueing people for not buying it. (I don't deny there will have been lost revenue, just not nearly as much as is claimed)

We are not a big company that some of you love to hate and pirate, and we have a unique but successful game which has two pirated copies for each one we sell. This ratio is based on statistics we get from major file sharing companies, torrent downloads and attempts to get support without a valid serial number. Actually we regard this ratio as only the tip of the iceberg. We are now seriously considering our next step to be on the consoles, and yes, piracy is the ONLY reason for this thought. I honestly don't CARE if you believe it or not since it is clear that your lame posts here are meant to whitewash thieves and accuse software developers of "ripping you off" and subtly justifying software theft. Is recklessly accusing people of "pulling numbers out of one ass" without supplying any kind of base to your irresponsible accusations and imbecile claims, is your poor excuse for supporting piracy (indirectly) by dismissing its destructive effects? I wish you were a developer and get to see your hard work being stolen with impunity - it is the wake up call you deserve for your pathetic attempt to point your fingers to others and away from yourself.

And again, regardless of what you so pompously claim and challenge, it is people like yourself we can thank for the situation described in the article. Don't waste your breath throwing your stupid remarks here. It is nothing you can say that can change the facts and numbers we see daily, and these numbers tell us that at least in our case, piracy kills our R&D for PC and we better adapt and leave the PC platforms before piracy kills our company.

Incidentally tell us honestly - how many LEGAL and how many ILEGAL software do you actually have on your PC(s)?

 

[cjl]

Illegal?

One. I doubt it's even illegal anymore either - it's ancient, and the company that made it is no longer in existence. You would be quite hard pressed to find a copy anywhere available for sale.

Legal?

Currently, on this computer, I have 34 games purchased either through Steam or through retail stores, and that's not counting some of the older titles that I don't have on this PC (but I do have on my laptop).

I may be in the minority, but I am of the opinion that if a game is good enough for me to want it, it is also good enough for me to pay for it. Don't get me wrong - I look for sales and bundles and such all the time, but I don't illegally download any current games. Ever.

 

[Alex843]

I’m surprised nobody has mentioned laptops as a reason pc gaming isn’t more popular. At least 95 percent of people have a laptop, only, at my school, so they usually have terrible integrated graphics that aren’t upgradeable.
Also at one time pc fps’s were so much better than their console counter parts. As of late the controls have gotten better on consoles, the graphics have improved to pc levels, and they have online play too. Now they’re starting to put almost every rts on consoles (I couldn’t believe they tried to put supcom on the 360.) It won’t be long before you’ll able to plug up a keyboard and mouse for rts’s on consoles, and then there will be no advantage for pc’s in that area.
I don’t think pc gaming is going to end suddenly or anything, but I do think that the lines between consoles and pc’s are going to continue blur.

 

[radguy]

thats because of battery life and most who buy a cheap laptop / non capable of gaming laptop don't care. A lot of people buy consoles and have less than 6 real games for it. Yes I spend 150+ on graphis every 1.5 to 2 years but the avg joe only wants his simple time wasting game to run fine snood peggle bejeweld are fine and run fine on anything that runs xp. pc gaming isn't going anywhere soon but I do worry cause of the cheapness of the games. I can buy pc games at half for console based buy shopping around. that worries me but my pc hobbie won't end

 

[radiowars]

I don't think PC gaming WILL die, but I think it is definitely slowing down. PC gaming is by far the best, in terms of playability, graphics, DLC, price, etc. etc. etc. I love my PC and never want to see the death of the best gaming system ever.
BTW- Originally Xbox 360's and PS3's used to cost ~1000$, the only way MS and Sony made money was through the 10$ console fee of every game.
PC- FTW
(doesn't mean I hate Xbox or PS, I just <3 my PC )
Cheers.

 

[JaredAudiophileGamer]

Well from what iv'e concluded reading almost every inch of this topic is that the vast majority of the people that have posted in this forum believe that pc games are on their way to the morgue at this point. In my honest opinion i would have to disagree, the way i see it the way we can keep these games alive is by spreading our knowledge of computer hardware and software usage. I believe that since the money hungry software developers and (Dell) have no real regard for the pc gaming world, i think the way for it to be saved is for us to spread the knowledge and to educate people on the ways of hardware assembly, and show them how truly fun it can be and how rewarding it is. I for one send my friends who buy $2000+ Alienware systems to newegg and put together a little shopping cart full of grade A components for half the price of the generic pieces that the sheistering company alienware assembled in a big shiny case for them, to compare the price and show them how a little education could have saved them hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but seeing this reminds me why ultimately, unless consoles make huge steps in regards to better IQ and even tesselation and AI, the PC willbe the motivator we will see in gaming regarding HW and other abilities
http://www.gamespot.com/features/6202552/p-3.html

 

[Andhrimnir]

I know this thread's aging, but I'd just like to throw in the fact that PCs aren't that old in the scheme of things. Many of the young people now (hopefully myself included) stand to make a lot of money in various areas of the tech industry. People who build their own PCs to play games are educated in a way that people who buy consoles are not. It's a pretty broad spectrum of people out there, but I'd guess that, 20 years from now, the kids of today's nerds will have more money to burn on PC gaming than the console kiddies' kids will have to drop money on their hobbies. I got into computers because my dad always had a new one at home for work... I remember learning to fly the original MS Flight Sim when I was three.

Long story short: PC nerds will be more successful, generally, the general audience for this sort of media (mostly console people). PC gamers may be fewer, but we stand to spend more money than the average person on our hobbies.

note: no harm to console gamers - I'm not calling you idiots or anything. Chances are if you're here on the forums then you're in the 'PC nerds' category, and own a console because there are cool games out there which will never be out for PC (Curse ye, Sony). All I'm saying is that consoles appeal more to the average casual gamer than PCs do, since they are simpler to configure, etc.

 

[skeetlo]

You know i was one of those people who pirate games on my pc. BUT not any more. I did work hard to get the rig that i got (well manly to play crysis on very high lol... i see why guys like us is a dieing legend. NO more pirateing games for just my pleasure. ALL OF US NEED TO STAND UP AND CLAIM WHATS RIGHTFULLY OURS, THE ENTIRE GAMEING INDUSTRY. We own that and need to show what these console loveing pussies what can be and what we are made of