The Big Picture: PC Gaming Is Dead - Long Live PC Gaming!

[Darkauthor81]

I think you oughta take a look at TellTale Games, check where they started and where they are going, neither has ever been the Wii. They started upon the PC and are now going towards iOS devices and the PS3.

Well, Bob may have a point... twelve months ago, when Telltale were releasing Tales of Monkey Island for Wiiware. However, the only console versions (so far) of their current and previous series (Back to the Future and The Devil's Playhouse) has been on the PS3. That said, he's incorrect in saying that consoles had much part to play in the revival of point & click, since ALL of Telltale's games are available on the PC.

Yes I'm sure 2D boy is going to be very eager to develop another game for the PC and watch 95% of their potential profits fly out the window when their WII version had an insignificant piracy rate.

For falling for the "1 pirated copy = 1 lost sale" fallacy and reporting inaccurate figures (2D Boy actually claimed about 80%), please flog yourself. About 0.01% of pirated copies are lost sales. [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17350] Of course, between the long tail affects of PC games sales and various Humble Indie Bundles, I think it would be fair to say that 2D Boy has made more money on the PC versions than on the WiiWare version.

I was looking up sources to combat your argument when I came across this http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21123 My God, could it be, some random person on a forum changed my mind about something? Never. The news article did though.

 

[pubesz]

I'm sorry Bob, this time you don't know what you talk about. PC gaming is not what you described in the video. What you explained is the stereotype not the actual thing. One does not buy a computer because one couldn't get a console, but because one decides to primarily play on a computer. On PC you can experiment ideas that you couldn't otherwise. Case in point: Citizen Abel Gravity Bone (no this isn't a typo) http://www.blendogames.com/files/gravitybone_v11.zip Try it out, it'll cost you only 20 minutes.

 

[zjspeed]

This trend is more about ergonomics than anything.

There are three types of computing:


DeskWindows, Macintosh, web browser
SofaWii, Playstation, Xbox, Apple TV
MobileDS, PSP, iOS, Android, Windows Phone


There is some overlap. And there will be more. A Windows computer with a controller is a sofa experience. An iPad with a keyboard dock is a desk experience. Etc.

Desks aren't going anywhere. But, Bob is right that desk gaming is hurting.

Few "serious" games are made exclusively for people to play while sitting at a desk (keyboard and mouse). Most Windows games are either browser-based "casual" games or else ports of Xbox and Playstation sofa games (better played with a controller)

I expect that at least the development, distribution, and licensing of these experiences might converge around software. Think of Netflix instant watch. I imagine something like this:



I don't know that Valve/Steam will be the winner. But, it serves to illustrate my point.

 

[CleverNickname]

2 things:

- Yes, PC Gaming is dying. In America.

- Bob lost me at "hunched over keyboards". If you're hunching, you're doing it wrong. I'm reclined so far back, my feet have trouble staying on the ground. hhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[DarklordKyo]

I dig the reference to "The King is Dead-Long Live the King."

 

[SirAxel]

*sigh*

Redefine words to mean what you think.

Lovely.

I'd love to think that you just created this for page views, out of spite, because most of the reviewers have their own little hate pad against computers.

I know this isn't true though. You've just redefined all the words. Whee. That's nice. And added a disclaimer that if anyone flames, you're right as well.

I'm not going to get angry, because the writing on the wall's been there for some time. You work on PCs, you play on consoles, so because you hate work, you have to differentiate them.

Comfort over Versatility. Sad. Maybe it's all just for page views though? Part of me wishes it was just a troll attempt.

Here's the Little Picture: [HEADING=3] Consoles are becoming PCs.[/HEADING]

Well this sums it all up.
On a side note pc hardware>console hardware lets see a console game pull of the graphics of (for example) The Witcher 2.
Btw what was that bs about FPS being fully migrated to the console?Srsly have you ever played a FPS with a keyboard'n'mouse.
Well since everything (or atleatst most of it) that could have been said about this has already been said I'm gonna go play with my powerglove.

 

[Bugerion]

Ummm just to say PC games have been sold 20% more in 2010 than in 2009 if that's dying ok....also the last part of the video where he says you have consoles,ipads,laptops etc. and that they together do everything a PC does is just retarded.Who that has IQ over 70 would buy all those or PC that can do all of that?Also how can PC gaming die if consoles are being turned into PCs that just makes no f***ing sense

 

[Delusibeta]

Snip.

A lot of those are not exclusive at all!

List the non-exclusives that are not in the "Multiformat" section, please.

 

[Captain Underbeard]

I don't think we'll see PC's disappear anytime soon. I'd wager PC use will decline at the same time as fossil fuel use does - not for any particular reason, it's the way these things go.

But yeah, convergence will mean the death of the PC as we know it - something else will take it's place. Having one machine and one screen you can use for work and for play is where it's at.

I enjoyed that episode.

 

[Captain Underbeard]

Ummm just to say PC games have been sold 20% more in 2010 than in 2009 if that's dying ok....also the last part of the video where he says you have consoles,ipads,laptops etc. and that they together do everything a PC does is just retarded.Who that has IQ over 70 would buy all those or PC that can do all of that?Also how can PC gaming die if consoles are being turned into PCs that just makes no f***ing sense

He's not talking about replacing PC's in 2011 or 2015. He means more like 2050.

 

[James Raynor]

The mouse and keyboard interface is still better then what's on the consoles, there even tests showing it. That's why developers rarely let the two groups play each other because the PC gamers have such a huge advantage.

 

[Ruptuk]

Bob! Again you dissapoint me with your flawed and ultamatley misguided arguments, make me think you only did it for the lul's.

I don't know if you realise this but all games are made on a PC! I went to work today and made part of a game on a PC! In order to get the game to a 360, PS3 or Wii you need to programme it on a PC with a PC viewer thus making ever game released today a PC title, they just don't release that to the public. This isn't going to change any time soon as you need a vast amount of processing power and memory to make something from scratch, non of these attributes are available in the console market and never will be. The platform holders have tight control as to what you can and can't do thus making it unworkable if it did have the power.

 

[Bugerion]

Ummm just to say PC games have been sold 20% more in 2010 than in 2009 if that's dying ok....also the last part of the video where he says you have consoles,ipads,laptops etc. and that they together do everything a PC does is just retarded.Who that has IQ over 70 would buy all those or PC that can do all of that?Also how can PC gaming die if consoles are being turned into PCs that just makes no f***ing sense

He's not talking about replacing PC's in 2011 or 2015. He means more like 2050.

I don't see anywhere where he means it if he does then why make video about it everything will be replaced in 2050 we will probably be able to smell things in games and play with holograms or some stuff like that,if he meant in 2050 he wouldn't say only PC gaming is dying.

 

[RA92]

If PC gaming dies... so will the progress of gaming technology. Consoles with a lifespan of 10+ years will ask for new GPUs and chipsets after a decade their predecessor was launched. So for a whole decade, the manufacturers have no incentive for development. If you ask them to keep the development process alive for 10+ years, are you willing to pay the price of this long development period? This is not a problem when PC gaming is alive, as the PC gaming market is going to go through several GPUs compared to the console gaming market. Note, I'm not talking about manufacturing (as the GPU manufacturers are going to keep on producing as long as the consoles are produced), but rather pushing the envelop of the technology continuously (which the console market doesn't demand due to its monolithic nature). Same goes for the CPU market, with the competition between AMD and Intel.

Why do people fight over this? Technology changes all the time, thing become obsolete. It's just how it is. This whole thing reminds me of these two guys in the Air force fighting over weather the Raptor was better than the new JSF-35. Of course the JSF-35 is better, it's newer and more efficient.

Just so you know, the JSF and Raptor were both developed nearly at the same time frame, with the F-35 only getter better avionics. Other than that, the F-22 is kinemetically far superior and has a larger payload. The F-35, on the other hand, can carry only two A2A missiles in it's internal bay, is underpowered with the single thrust engine and has a higher RCS despite having a smaller cross-section. There's a reason why the F-35 is being exported, while the F-22 is not.

You really shouldn't be talking about things you have no idea about.

 

[Newbiespud]

I'll sidestep the PC gaming issue, simply because that the idea of the PC itself being dead was more interesting. Valid points made, but there was a concession made about how Bob would only need his PC for video creation. That scratches the tip of a whole 'nother iceberg.

If you're going to do any high-resolution video production (especially at the professional level), I personally don't look at a laptop and say, "Yeah, I want to do my editing and rendering there." I could be wrong - maybe half of the film-making world has moved to running Final Cut Pro on their laptops - but that isn't the only thing people go to PCs for.

Take animation for example. For all the time it takes to create, animate, and render 3D animations (especially production animation, like for video games and films), do you really want to dedicate your personal laptop for all those hours of processing? Wouldn't the animator rather leave it to a slightly more powerful machine that's less likely to be carried around?

Not to mention the applications of PCs in the business world. Companies that rely on heavy-duty computer technology (film studios, animation companies, software developers) are quite likely to have a series of on-site workstations for their employees to use, connected to a repository server network they control. It's far more convenient and secure for everyone involved, given the work that has to be done.

A lot of that doesn't really involve the "Personal Computer." I realize that. Maybe the "PC" as we know it will simply turn into the "Workstation." But I don't think the form of this technology is going to fade away anytime soon.

And besides, the video brought up (and immediately discarded) the whole social/casual game market that will keep people glued to their computers. But that's enough arguing for me.

 

[Muco5681]

aw man forget religion sports and politics this video will start a epic flame war...but i must say i disagree with bob on this one

 

[JoshuaNorton]

i thought pc gaming is dying because the publishers are becoming more reluctant to release stuff for the pc due to the piracy issue. consoles got a huge plus (in the eyes of a publisher) when many legislators around the world illegalized the sale and use of modchips that allow to circumvent the copy protection. it's extremely easy to pirate on the pc when you can simply download the dvd image from a filehoster or whatevet, use a a virtual drive to install the game and then just download a freely available crack and start playing. consoles, however, need a piece of electronics carefully soldered at the right places before you can play a pirated game and since modchips have been made illegal (in europe at least), only college students can do it.

 

[brimstone1392]

Okay... I have something I'd like to point out to you, bob. Now, someone else may have already said this (probably several times) but I'm not about to read through several hundred flame-centric posts to find out. You are right - the pc is being replaced by a dozen other smaller devices that take the place of the individual functions that once made it necessary to own a home computer. However, I think you may have forgotten the most important lesson to come out of the tech industry over the last decade. Simply put, people don't want to fuss around with twenty devices when they can use one.

This is the trend as I see it - Large device is created with limited capability/purpose. Those who grow fond of it push it far beyond those limitations and discover/create whole new content and purpose. The industry evolves and is able to make smaller devices that take the place of the larger one to cater to people who don't want/need ALL of that content. Each of these smaller devices continues to evolve until it to is capable of doing more and is no longer limited by the initial design or market niche that brought it into existence in the first place.

You know what you're left with? A smaller device that does what the initial large device did (and everything that was picked up along the way) but takes up a fraction of the space. Guess what - that's a pc, only smaller.

Just my opinion, but I think the evidence of this can be found in almost any industry starting from its base creation to current incarnation. (Hey, that rhymes!)

 

[Bre2nan]

Wow, this has really opened a 6-ton can of worms.

I've agreed with you on quite a few topics, Bob, but this is where I draw the line. I do most of my gaming on consoles, but there is still a place for PCs. There's a massive game library with infinite backwards compatibility. I could load up System Shock 2 on my PC today, but I wouldn't have as much luck trying to play Shadow of the Colossus on my PS3 (I have a newer one). Also there's the factor of upgradeable parts. I have a 10-year-old case that I've constantly been slapping new parts into until now I could run pretty much any new game on.

Not to mention the experience, convenience, etc... and going on.

However, there is a pretty good point that can be drawn from this. There are still many reasons to own a gaming PC, but that list is getting shorter with every passing advance in technology. What if consoles offered interchangeable and upgradeable hardware, backwards compatibility with every single console that has ever existed, and viable keyboard-and-mouse controls. Sure, they'd basically be PCs, but the PC as we used to know it would cease to exist. Hooking a keyboard and mouse up to your souped-up Xbox would have a feeling of deja vu about it, but it still wouldn't quite be the same.

 

[Newbiespud]

2 things:

- Yes, PC Gaming is dying. In America.

- Bob lost me at "hunched over keyboards". If you're hunching, you're doing it wrong. I'm reclined so far back, my feet have trouble staying on the ground. hhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

And whats the main difference between america and europe masses?

There's more to the world than America and Europe, buddy. I'll just point at Korea (where online gaming is a far bigger market than most other places) and leave it at that.