PC Gaming Continues to Grow
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
I am certainly happy to hear this (I am primarily a PC gamer myself) but I have my doubts as to whether this trend will continue. I'm not predicting the "death" of PC gaming at all, but I think that the new console generation might take some of the market share away from them. I think that Valve pushing their Steam Box might have a significant effect on the PC side of things, however.
Well I'm not sure what you think the initial investment is supposed to be but honestly even $600 can run plenty of games well if you know what to get (if you don't ask online) and $800-$1000 should be able to run all but some of the most graphically intense or poorly optimized. Not to mention just waiting long enough will have great parts go down in price. So far RAM and hard drives have gone down plenty over the past year and even graphics cards from the past generation (or 2 generations ago for AMD/ATI) hold up amazingly. If those are still too much money fine that's understandable but don't think it's as expensive as the rumors.Mr Smile said:
As someone playing most games on PC myself, I should be thrilled by this, right? Frankly, this isn't really exciting news for me.
I'm expecting, not fearing, that games we proudly play on the PC are going to shift over to tablets, phones and social media, as those platforms can handle more data. For example, imagine your mother, who's probably playing Bejeweled and FarmVille at this moment, playing non-dumbed-down versions of Starcraft and SimCity on Facebook within a plausible future. On her iPad.
This is the future MovieBob is pretty much predicting, and you should embrace that future, removing the PC gamer stereotype for the better.
I'm expecting, not fearing, that games we proudly play on the PC are going to shift over to tablets, phones and social media, as those platforms can handle more data. For example, imagine your mother, who's probably playing Bejeweled and FarmVille at this moment, playing non-dumbed-down versions of Starcraft and SimCity on Facebook within a plausible future. On her iPad.
This is the future MovieBob is pretty much predicting, and you should embrace that future, removing the PC gamer stereotype for the better.
ive never believe the PC gaming is dying crap. . . No matter how good cnosoles are performing since the invention of the internet the computer became the prime spot for entertainmenet and even though consoles too can have digital distribution people need to remember that gamign is not just about gaming.
Facebooking, skyping and reading a walktrough for a game at the same time while playing is not possible on an Xbox360 xD
Its the multitasking and all the other things that you can do on a PC that will always keep that market ahead.
No matter how hardcore gamer you are you never use the PC just for gaming. . . but we cant say the same thing about Consoles. (watching dvds dont count)
Facebooking, skyping and reading a walktrough for a game at the same time while playing is not possible on an Xbox360 xD
Its the multitasking and all the other things that you can do on a PC that will always keep that market ahead.
No matter how hardcore gamer you are you never use the PC just for gaming. . . but we cant say the same thing about Consoles. (watching dvds dont count)
wait what? what sort of braindead person would want to use controller on a PC? One of the strongest PC selling points is ability to use mouse.ph0b0s123 said:
also this my look good on the surface, but if you look deeeper, the rise was coming mostly from facebook games and the co. consoles dont even attempt to compete with those, therefore putting the two together is absurd. its like saying "my truck cant float therefore it sucks". its not supposed to.
funny thing is, most of the games in this picture are actually bad and sold pretty bad. there were better examples.Qitz said:
This is an age old excuse, "PC games are too complicated to get running".Viridian said:
I would agree that they are very complex if you are mentally challenged but for most people you simply pop in the disc, install and then play. If clicking 'next' 'next' 'place icon on desktop' is seen as complex then I really do worry for people.
My father is pretty rubbish at computers and thought that google IS the internet, but he was able to install a PC game himself due to his ability to read words and click buttons.
There is NO messing unless you really want to mess.
As for the whole 'hooking it up to the TV' point, that is relatively fair. It requires roughly 5 minutes of google searching and perhaps 20 minutes of tinkering (even for a noob) and is certainly not as easy as hooking a console up.
But again, if people are finding such a thing just too damn hard then I despair.
When you use the "PC Games are difficult and that's why people use consoles" argument it just ends up making console gamers sound like utter morons who find even putting food in their mouths a challenge, which just isn't the case.
I sorta wish it'd go back to being niche so all the games would stop being bloated messes. Oh well, my time has passed.
No the selling point of PC's was you can use what ever controller you want or what ever is best for the job. That's why I don't use mouse and keyboard for racing, I instead use a wheel. There are plenty of game I prefer a joypad to mouse and keyboard. Mouse just happens to be arguably the best controller for FPS type games. Even here thought I don't use a keyboard anymore, but a Logitech G13 gameboard which allows me to use an analog stick for analog movement. That's what the PC is about choice vs consoles forced way of doing things.Strazdas said:wait what? what sort of braindead person would want to use controller on a PC? One of the strongest PC selling points is ability to use mouse.ph0b0s123 said:
also this my look good on the surface, but if you look deeeper, the rise was coming mostly from facebook games and the co. consoles dont even attempt to compete with those, therefore putting the two together is absurd. its like saying "my truck cant float therefore it sucks". its not supposed to.
funny thing is, most of the games in this picture are actually bad and sold pretty bad. there were better examples.Qitz said:
You saying mouse and keyboard is best for everything is the same mentality / snobish elitist attitude as console owners saying joypad is best for everything. People should have a choice.
Then why is it that developers are always talking about the ease of development on a console over a PC? It's harder to develop games for different builds. You can't tell me that you've never had a game that either took a long time to get working in a stable condition, or one that you just gave up on trying to run. Yeah, anyone can install a game. What if the game crashes to desktop as soon as you execute? There are so many reasons it could go wrong. Maybe you have a driver that needs updated. Maybe it didn't install correctly. Maybe it needed a day-one patch that you aren't aware of. Yeah, you could google it, but what if it still crashes? These things happen. And they're frustrating. Consoles don't have to deal with that shit.Li Mu said:
I'm not sure why you are bringing devs into the argument when it was about the users.Viridian said:
Did I mention games development at all in my post? Nope, I didn't.
As strange as it may sound, I have actually NEVER had any of the problems you have described.
Perhaps I am the only lucky PC gamer in the world.
Strike that, I did have a problem getting Dungeon Keeper 2 to work on Windows Vista.
But given its age it would be no different to trying to get a N64 game working on a Nintendo Wii...which is impossible as you well know.
Old games don't work on most new consoles because they're not back compatible and old games don't work on Windows Vista because it's a retarded pile of poop.
But anyway, regarding your "crashes", I have really only ever had a game crash once or twice. Actually, I can say the same for games crashing on my old PS2. Once I got stuck in Cosmo Canyon whilst playing FFVII. For some reason the game glitched and wouldn't trigger the next part of the story. So lets not pretend that console games are free of crashes or glitches. Infamous RED RING OF DOOM on the Xbox360 anyone?
But in short, no, I have never had the problems you describe and neither have any of my friends. We're not magical Gods of PC gaming, we're just normal people.
You're right, you didn't. I mentioned it because it was relevant. There are lots of different PC builds, and lots of issues when developing for PC because of different builds. This translates to issues that the consumer has to deal with. Go to the Steam forums. Pick a game. There's always someone with a problem. We can't pretend that ALL of these problems get solved, sometimes you just have to tinker with it on your own or give up. You and your friends never have any trouble? Good for you, other people aren't so lucky.Li Mu said:
And I never said that consoles are free of crashes and glitches. Yeah, it happens. But consoles are uniform in their make, and a patch can be released that solves everyone's problem. If you have a patch for the PC? Maybe it'll solve most people's problems. If you're really lucky, maybe it'll make NEW problems!
...And the RRoD was a hardware problem, not a software problem. You can attribute crashes and the like to the Red Ring if you want, but it isn't a troubleshooting problem that can be solved by the average consumer.
Mine too. You should come round sometime, we can discuss overclocking and new graphics card coming out this year.lancar said:
OT: Good and actually unsurprising news. Until PC's stop being at the forefront of gaming technology (which is highly unlikely due to their ever evolving nature) and until their nature no longer allows for rapid adoption for new sales/distribution techniques (again, unlikely), then don't expect PC gaming to die any time soon.