PC Games Will Outsell Consoles by 2014

[adamtm]

I personally wish that the future contains one MASTER platform, where it can do anything and everything, everyone has one...

This already exists and is called a PC.

This sums it up nicely.

After the new console generation comes out people will find a way to get the last gens emulators working simply on the PC.

I enjoy the fact that my PC has fully backwards compatibility. Hell, I can use a wiimote on my PC if I wanted (HL 2 is kinda fun on a wiimote I will admit.)

But hey, I am lucky enough to own all three current gen consoles, So I am happy playing on all four (though my Wii has been collecting dust for months..)

Now if only console retailers would finally understand this.

Emulators on PC are -beneficial- to your market. I bought Tekken 3 and Tekken TAG recently, yeah, i dont own a PSone or PS2, but my PC runs it just fine.

If retailers would finally get the point that games should be cross-platform they will win.

Example: I don't have a 360, i'd like to play Alan Wake, but i wont buy a console just to play -one- exclusive.

Make official emulators, optimized and efficient, yes, let me pay for them like for any other software, even 100$ is fine.
Not everyone can run them at first (like always a gaming-rig PC is more expensive than a console) so you don't loose money on your console-sales.
Additionally console games are more expensive than PC games, so you do not loose profit from them either.

Its win-win for everyone really.

 

[GonzoGamer]

wow a whole lot of people completly misunderstood this article and ran with the same old PC vrs console war bullshit.

the whole topic was about game sales and how Nvidia is predicting that PC sales will be greater than Console by 2014. nowhere were they saying that console will not have new games or lesser quality games. take a chill pill console players!

This is most likely because the ability of laptops are starting to get in range of mid range desktop PC in gaming abilities and prices of those same laptops are dropping. you no longer need to shell out $2k to get a gaming capable laptop. this is direct competition to smartphones and tablets and quality of low-mid range increases that drive down the costs. There is also windows 8 having a new interface that supposedly makes it much more simple to use for those who are not tech savvy. Those reasons and theres console players that will get a laptop for whatever uses such as school or work rather than a desktop may start using it for gaming.

This is not a bad thing for console players simply because game companies will start inovating with having the extra horsepower before the next generation of consoles comes out. Thats a good thing because when the next gen arrives they can implement these inovations much faster since they should already have a better idea of what works and what doesnt.

Thank you for trying to bring this back on topic.
It would be a great thing for consoles because when that next generation rolls around you will have a choice of more than 5 launch titles and they'll probably entertain you for more than 2 hours.

The real trick for Nvidia (since MS is quite obviously fully behind the console market at this point; they've done more damage than good to the PC gaming market lately and who can blame them: the pc market can't be talked into paying them a monthly fee to play online) is if THEY can convince the publishers to stop making the shittiest ports possible for the PC. Most multiplatform games now a days are real nice on the 360, often playable on the ps3, and a complete mess on the PC. Luckily there are modders but we shouldn't have to depend on them for that: they should be busy trying to make sure you can turn every game into a 40K game.

 

[Keith K]

Am I supposed to care? Nobody's giving me any kickbacks.

 

[Merlark]

I don't know about 2014, but maybe by 2020. I mean it's already a bit unfair when you think about it. these days you don't need a console but pretty much everyone needs a computer and to waste time playing games on them.

Though I think its not even going to be a fair fight when by 2030 we are going to be putting computers into the base of our skull, who here would not get the Qbert implant?

 

[Atmos Duality]

Will we even have PCs at that point? I think tablets and smartphones are going to catch up to PCs before PCs catch up to games, sadly.

Eh...PCs (even my 2-year old laptop) just puts out far more processing oomph pound-per-pound, and not everyone is going to migrate to the Purely-Casual crowd; there will always remain a strong core gamer market.

Smartphones have the serious limitation of controls, which means they can't infringe indefinitely upon PC's market; eventually, the market will exhaust all the Angry Birds/Worms Armageddon, Tetris, Bejewled clones and be forced to move into more specialized productions, or they will stagnate.

Tablets are doing better, but now they're starting to push the boundaries of current battery-life vs processing power (the core computer battery tech hasn't really moved all that much in the last 8 years. We moved from Nickel-Cadmium to Lithium-Ion) as laptops did before them.

However, due to the industry-imposed lag on gaming tech requirements (thank the console overlords) even a modest laptop with discreet graphics can run most productions fairly smoothly today (even with half the shadow effects and anti-aliasing turned down, Deus Ex: Human Revolution STILL looks better on my laptop than on 360); a tablet can't, and if they push for more hardware in the same physical profile, they run the risk of heat damage.
The logical fix for that is to increase the profile (increasing the weight)...which eliminates the practicality of a tablet in the first place.

I see the tablet-smartphone boom winding down starting sometime in the next 2-3 years as the Battery Monster catches up with them. Hell, even Sony and Nintendo's handhelds are sporting some serious criticism there, and Nintendo has been in that business a LONG time; longer than any of the cell phone companies.

 

[Astoria]

Why does there have to be this battle between them? Some people like PC and some like consoles, so what? Can we all just enjoy the games for crying out loud? This also seems a pretty stupid conclusion. One good year doesn't suddenly mean everyone's turning to PC.

 

[I forgot]

numbers are the easiests things to manipulate. This does not convince me one bit that PC games will outsell console games.

 

[veloper]

This was maybe news worthy 2 years ago.
PC gaming is doing very well, financially. Game quality is a different story.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

With the new kinds of DRM coming out and becoming a mainstay in the huge titles, I don't think this article has much to base on. People are already straying away from PC versions of new games because of it, except for Diablo III, but if there was a console version of that, believe me it would out-sell in a flash.

And modding your games will soon become a joke, with always-on. Plus some of the moddable games have simply been to buggy for people to do anything about, like New Vegas. I have high hopes for Skyrim!

Digital distribution platforms have all of my support though, as long as they stay reasonable. Steam was a crock of bullshit when it came out, but have slowly learned the error of their ways. I just hope sites like GOG.com will start expanding to more newer games eventually, I really love their model of sales and distribution.

 

[Clonekiller]

PC gaming forever! My hope for a new (good) rts has gone up. (And no, Starcraft 2 doesn't count because it has one strategy: rush)

 

[TitsMcGee1804]

As the owner of a $1500 rig...i LOL'd at the 'relative performance' graph

Of course my PC outperforms consoles by a factor of 6 or 7...it cost me a grand more!

In all fairness, i really like the numbers on the digital download revenues, I just wish this would have been an article by a trusted source, there has got to be some nVidia bias here

 

[Ace of Spades]

Make the PC stop breaking every time I look at it funny and we'll talk about it beating out consoles.

 

[SageRuffin]

Forgive me for rolling my eyes. All I see is how even graphics cards manufacturers are fueling this asinine PC vs Console debate.

If anyone would like to show me my erroneous judgement, feel free.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Punching the baby seal because any time you mention console vs. PC or console vs. console it inevitably is just supper antagonist action.

I don't think Nvidia necessary represents the sum total of PC gaming and sales, mostly because of AMD and other companions also make graphics cards and share the market. Not to mention that other factors go into PC sales besides buying a graphics card. (and GPGPU programming for my CS buddies!) It seems kind of fishy like a big marketing stunt or something.

 

[Arina Love]

When PC will have Disgaea, FF, atelier , Agarest , Ar tnelico and so on in to big big list, call me. but for now PC gaming is pretty much dead to me. Why i must spend money on new pc if i can play J-RPGs on my console AND pretty much all AAA titles without problem on my 250-300$ console. dont care about graphics don't care about mouse and keyboard and don't care about digital distribution (i like to have disc of my game)

 

[Madshadow]

Blizzard started on Console Nes/Snes generations. But they peak at PC. Current console generation its nearing it's end graphic wise and won't push much harder in that regard. PC will will Shine now till at least the next Console Generation will come out

Even New Macs will come Tablets and Windows 8 might change allot unless it still to expansive to go to a new MS OS.

 

[Robert Ewing]

The console wars have died down. It's inevitable that the PC will return to it's former sales glory. It's happened every generation, this one is no different, and neither will the next one be.

 

[JET1971]

Why does there have to be this battle between them? Some people like PC and some like consoles, so what? Can we all just enjoy the games for crying out loud? This also seems a pretty stupid conclusion. One good year doesn't suddenly mean everyone's turning to PC.

There is no battle here except the ones people brought. the article said nothing bad about consoles or console games and yet console players came in and had a fit over an article they didnt quite understand.

I read this article as more of a stock market speculation piece than anything else. historicly console game sales increase when a new console comes out and then when it gets old PC sales increase. Nvidia predicts what historicly happens...