Why is PC gaming "dead"?

[AzrealMaximillion]

It's not dead, but it is smaller than console gaming.

No it's not.
It's bigger than all the consoles put together.

In which way specifically? Cause it's sure as shit not in software sales.

That and the PC just doesn't have as large a range of genres as consoles do.

There are more major and renowned developers for consoles so that's were the investments are.

The PC just hasn't had the amount of classics it did in the 90s.

Now it's crappy console ports, zombies, zombies, zombies, uninspired FPSs and RTSs.

no genres?

*points to the steam store genre selector*

no companies?

*points to the entire developer selector for steam*

No money in sales?

*points to the money made by steam every single year*

want me to go on? because i can do this all day.

You didn't prove how those lead to PC leading in any fashion.

Steam Genre Selector: Most of the games on steam that are not RTSs, Valve, or uninspired FPSs sell better on console.

Steam Developer Selector doesn't prove anything. Thete are still more major developers on the consoles than there are that work with Steam. That is a fact. There are lots of developrs that aren't on Steam pal.

And never did I say no money in sales. I'm pretty sure that Black Ops can prove that alone. I highly doubt Steam makes as much money as company like EA, Activision or Square Enix based just off of Steam alone. My point was that consoles in general make more money for devs and publishers than PC. That's also a fact.

Basing your entire arguement off of Steam was stupid. I'm talking ALL PC and ALL console. Steam is just one aspect of the PC. And if your going to say things like, "points to money made by Steam", put up a link to help your point out.

Last time I check Valve was making $70 million.

Last time I checked the Activision part of Activision Blizzard was raking in 2.9 billion a year. Which is my point. PC isn`t dead but it sure as shit doesn`t make money like major console companies do.

so you're basing the sales on ONE MULTIPLATFORM GAME? and never did i say its ALL steam. List the developers if you want but the fact of the matter is that most developers are mulitplatform. Sell better on console? Where are you basing your facts since digital distribution don't divulge their numbers.

For your information you are trying to compare A DIGITAL STORE TO GAME PUBLISHERS. STEAM IS NOT A PUBLISHER, ITS A STORE. Why not compare Target to mcdonalds while you're at it? Console developers? That implies the console exclusive companies which limits the companies to console exclusive developers which are quite small. If you notice console developers are big because consoles are expensive to develop for and high risk while the PC is low risk and cheap to develop for. Your gaggle of "big dogs" can't stand a fucking chance against the thousands of developing studios on PC. Need i pull out the game numbers of PC games versus console games?

I never based my arguement off of one multiplatform game. I based off of a company. I didn't mention a game. Nice try at word twisting. You essentially used Steam for all of your points so I pointed out that one company makes a massive amount more than Valve which deals mostly with PC. You really need to learn how to argue. And in terms of the big dogs not standing a chance against the thousands of developing PC studios, that statement is just asinine. You want to pull numbers out to prove me wrong? Allow me.

Out of the top 10 best selling video game franchises only one of them is exlusivlely PC. The Sims. The rest are console exclusive or games that were released on all platforms but sold more on consoles due to PCs always getting shafted on release dates.

Black Ops alone, which is the most Pirated PC game of this year, still made $1 billion dollars faster than Avatar, the top best selling movie of all time.

Yes there are thousands of developing PC studios. Likewise for console based studios. There are probably more developing console developers than on PC. Please name these thousands of PC studios. Then name what they've done. The develoing console studios grow faster then the developing PC studios. This can be show with Blow Entertainment, The Behemoth, and many companies that have released indie successes on XBL/PSN. I personally haven't heard of many developing PC studios but apparently you claim there are Thousands.

I never said PC was dead.

But comparing it's growth to the console industry is just silly.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Well when Valve holds %70 percent of the Digital Distrubution market for PC and doesn't make the billions that most major console based companies make every year that kind of tells me that much more people purchase console software. Meaning much more people play games on console.

Objection: Valve is a private company, and thus doesn't release revenue figures. For all you know, they could be making billions. Also, Sony and Microsoft isn't solely about consoles. Didn't Nintendo post up a loss last year?

Yes, Valve doesn't post it's revenue.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/119/119351.html
There's that.

And I know that Sony and MS aren't solely console companies. You'd have to be stupid to think that.

And so what if Nintendo posts a loss? They are one multibillion dollar company where there are dozens of other multibillion dollar companies. And Ninty`s loss was $280 million. They still have the billions that they have been making for the past 5 years so I think they`re good.

I can only think of two companies making any substantial manoey off of the PC. Valve and Blizzard. Both due to one major product. Steam and WOW respectively.


Even though I made a point of saying PC isn`t dead in my original post I still have to deal with people. Say one bad thing about PC and now I`m arguing with two people. I merely pointed out how the PC just isn`t marketable like it once was. Calm down.

 

[Delusibeta]

Yes, Valve doesn't post it's revenue.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/119/119351.html
There's that.

Founded in 1996, the company started off with a bang by publishing the highly successful Half-Life in 1998.

:/

I question the accuracy of that website. Sierra published Half Life.

 

[RaikuFA]

im not either but ive dealt with a lot of pc gamers who acted like what my previous post said.

What, this?

its mainly pc gamings attitude towards new people. asking which OS the best? youre the devil incarnate in a pc gamers eyes. it turns off a lot of newer pc gamers. thus making them stay to console

Odd. I've never seen someone abused or ripped on for asking that question (at least, not unless they started acting like a dick). Most PC gamers I've seen answering that will answer either Win XP or Win 7 and then go on to heap abuse on other Windows OSes and bemoan the lack of proper game support for Linux.

i have. its really annoying to see someone try and ask what the best part is for playing X game and nearly every pc gamer in said topic jumped on them over asking saying they dont deserve to play pc games if they dont know.

lesson? PC gamers are only killing their own medium when they act like this. if they stop acting like this, then there will be less people saying pc gaming is dead

 

[imperialreign]

There's nothing really odd about that twist considering now that when the big game devs finally got their (relatively) piracy proof systems, the big issue suddenly became used games (leading to THQ's and EA's Project Ten Dollar bullcrap).

Agreed - although, the odd thing is, DRM usage in the RUS gaming market is on the uber-1337 level. They do employ some severely draconian forms of DRM . . . I have nothing against such measures at all, personally I think they actually do what they're intended to do. But the average user has a bad mental image of what DRM is and does, and that negative image has stirred a lot of grief and mis-information.

Funny, though . . . the RUS gaming market has lowered PC game prices in order to combat piracy, and it's actually worked. PC titles are roughly 1/4 of what console titles sell for, and such a maneuveur has actually been effective at cutting down on the number of pirated titles.

The US gaming market could learn from that.

Hey, titles by CDProjekt (The Witcher), Bohemia Interactive (the original Operation: Flashpoint) and Croteam (Serious Sam) are already reserved as well as GSC for STALKER.

Agreed. only reason I pointed out GSC (STALKER series) and 4A Games (Metro2033), they're the more "well-known" for being of the RUS gaming market origin. But, the above goes to show that there have been other big-ticket titles from Russian developers.

 

[Atmos Duality]

-sniporama-

Good post: but...

a) WoW is, by definition, competing against console games as well. Likewise, I'd argue that Call of Duty is having a similar effect to userbases of console (and PC) games.

b) Although I wouldn't argue that, out of the gaming systems, PC piracy is well known to exist, it's fairly insignificant compared to music piracy (for example). And even then, I don't think you give enough credit to the handheld pirating scene.

c) Fair point, however the same argument can also be applied on consoles directly.

a) WoW was a major industry-changer for PC. Even today, unless it's an RTS or some wild new Indie game (or, ugh..Zynga) I don't really hear about many games made specifically for PC now.
You really have to go digging for them (though many sites are trying to prop up the indie-market now by word of mouth).

CoD is simply capitalizing on an already super-popular genre. WoW re-forged the MMO market almost in its entirety; it was not all that popular except in Korea (I used to play a couple of those old-ass MMOs. Apart from Everquest, they were not that well-populated).
Activision found what their market wants, and they are going to exploit the shit out it.
Halo Reach was all the talk until Black Ops came out; while that might be a point in CoD's favor, the fact that Reach commanded such a presence before then shows how fickle this market can be.

b) Though I'm comparing games to games (markets, that is), music piracy is done primarily via PC given how stupidly easy it is; that logic could very easily extend to movies and video games. Thus, I can say with certainty that piracy on PC is, by far, the most widely known.
As for handheld piracy, well, you got me there...in Japan. Though I suspect that the majority of the pirated content moves via PC as well before even reaching the R4.

"Stand next to the train long enough, and you'll see who gets on and who gets off." (to invent a totally unnecessary metaphor)
Awareness is key. Awareness drives marketing, but it also drives word-of-mouth (which can indeed lead to the black market).

There has been no real media coverage of the R4 here in America, though I am aware that Nintendo has spent a tremendous amount of capital just tracking those illicit companies down and suing them.
This might change in the near future, or it might get glossed over by the torrent of obvious piracy that's sure to strike the 3DS.

c) Yeah, between consoles, this point applies as well, though I'd like to believe that's because the market has been slowly trying to bring consoles "Up to PCs" in functionality [sub](while systems like Games for Windows Live are trying to drag PCs back down...I kid! I kid!)[/sub].
When you get right down to it, a Console is a computer with a defined hardware and software profile.
I mean, shoot, the Dreamcast ran a modified version of Windows CE (as did the original, pre-patch PSP), and it was shown that you could run emulation software on it without needing an electrical degree.

Hardware performance aside, the major practical differences are in the controls, and it's not like you can't plug a USB mouse and keyboard into any modern console and use those (if the developers or firmware allowed it).

 

[Levi93]

during the steam sale im wondering how a thread like this even exists, i mean over the alst week or 2 i've bought enough low priced high quality PC games to last me until the next winter sale.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Yes, Valve doesn't post it's revenue.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/119/119351.html
There's that.

Founded in 1996, the company started off with a bang by publishing the highly successful Half-Life in 1998.

:/

I question the accuracy of that website. Sierra published Half Life.

Well seeing as how it's Yahoo one of the biggest companies in the world I can trust it. The "publishing" was probably a typo. We're talking about Valve's revenue here.

 

[Delusibeta]

Yes, Valve doesn't post it's revenue.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/119/119351.html
There's that.

Founded in 1996, the company started off with a bang by publishing the highly successful Half-Life in 1998.

:/

I question the accuracy of that website. Sierra published Half Life.

Well seeing as how it's Yahoo one of the biggest companies in the world I can trust it. The "publishing" was probably a typo. We're talking about Valve's revenue here.

Its titles are available for console systems and portable devices from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.

I still question the accuracy of that webpage. Since I question the accuracy of the webpage, I therefore question the accuracy of the specific figure they've come up with. Valve has, far as I know, not released a game for a Nintendo console, nor any handhelds.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Yes, Valve doesn't post it's revenue.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/119/119351.html
There's that.

Founded in 1996, the company started off with a bang by publishing the highly successful Half-Life in 1998.

:/

I question the accuracy of that website. Sierra published Half Life.

Well seeing as how it's Yahoo one of the biggest companies in the world I can trust it. The "publishing" was probably a typo. We're talking about Valve's revenue here.

Its titles are available for console systems and portable devices from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.

I still question the accuracy of that webpage. Since I question the accuracy of the webpage, I therefore question the accuracy of the specific figure they've come up with. Valve has, far as I know, not released a game for a Nintendo console, nor any handhelds.

Fair enough, but yo probably can get Valves company report somewhere. I just didn't want to pay $43 to get a 153 report that shows it in PDF.

 

[subject_87]

It's not dead; Valve is still around, we just got a new Civilization game and WoW expansion, there's Minecraft, and the continuing success of Steam.

 

[doodger]

For a while PC gaming wasn't too healthy, but now it's as strong as ever. Even more than console, i'd say

I'd doubt that statement. I'm not some "Rabid Console Fanboy" like some other people, but I can tell you that PC gaming is pretty much behind console gaming in most cases.

The reason why PC gaming isn't as popular as console gaming is simple, playing games on a PC is too confusing/annoying for the average consumer. Most people (me included, sadly) have no bloody idea about graphic cards or modems or anything involving any of that. That's why consoles are so popular, no downloads, no having to spend hundreds of dollars constantly upgrading it, no having to have a slight idea what adjusting the settings on a game would do to it. All you have to do is pop in the game and play it. It's a shame because PC games actually do look pretty good, there are some PC exclusives that I would just love to play, unfortunately, to the average consumer. Getting a PC meant just for gaming is too expensive, too confusing, and probably just to stressful.

Now, I know I'm probably just going to get the standard, "Lol, just build your own PC!" remark, but here's the thing... Most people don't know how, most people don't know anything about graphic cards, or modems, and when you say build your own PC, most people probably just think that means going to a factory and buying each individual piece for a PC and putting it together with a screwdriver or something. Plus, even if you do build it, it usually costs around 500 or so dollars, which is 200 more then what I payed to buy an Xbox 360 elite, not to mention the constant upgrades you would need to keep running with the same PC for years.


Not trying to say PC gaming is dead, not trying to insult PC gamers, just trying to give my opinion.

I wasn't very clear, i meant to say i think that there are some PC releases that are better than console releases. Most of what you said is true, and it's a real shame that it's hard to get into pc gaming. Altough buying a good 500 dollar pc is a great investment as you need a computer aniway those days.

 

[TiefBlau]

On the contrary, I haven't the slightest doubt in my mind that PC gaming is going to swallow console gaming in the future, but not in the way you think. Modern consoles are, to begin with, essentially PCs that do less than normal PCs. And with things like Facebook integration, web browsers, and even keyboard peripherals being added to consoles, the consoles are all starting to look more and more like normal, multipurpose computers...

In fact, the only thing stopping them from actually being marketed as game-specific PCs are companies like Microsoft, who earn money for every program designed for their platform, every PC unit they design and sell, and every service the user has at their disposal (XBox Live). The moment they make their XBox into a full-fledged PC, anyone can make a game for it, so they don't have to pay Microsoft to do so. Anyone can provide internet access to a PC, so Microsoft's XBox Live can't monopolize the market at drive prices up.

So that's pretty much the only reason why console gaming still exists: Because these companies have a horizontal monopoly to maintain. That being said though, the question remains: How big a problem is this, and what will it take to overpower it? I don't know the answer, but depending on it, console may sooner or later (or never) become PC gaming.

One thing's for certain though: PC gaming will never die.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Go back and read all of the points I said to support that statement, which you aparently chose to ignore.

No, I didn't ignore them. You made no qualifiers in your original statement. If PC gaming isn't 'the attractive choice for gamers' as you claim then explain the section of the gaming community that are PC gamers.

 

[Neotericity]

PC gaming's not dead to me, just bought 4 games off Steam with the holiday sale and all Soo excited and I paid less than a full price game!

 

[ShankHA32]

I used to be a hardcore PC gamer, but then FIFA 11 was much better on consoles. I go over to my friends house and play FIFA a LOT now. The only time I play on the PC is to play some Dragon Age: Origins.

I wouldn't say I think PC gaming is dying or dead, but I know there are a lot of PC gamers like me, slowly migrating towards consoles.

You went back to consoles for FIFA? And for the version with (apparently) the best PC port yet?

Honestly, I'd understand it if it was something like Gears of War or Uncharted, or something similar that's exclusive to consoles and not guaranteed to get a sequel next year (e.g. anything made by Platinum Games), but FIFA?

Yeah I went back for FIFA. I liked the console version a lot better than the PC version I saw at a friends house. Best yet, I could actually play it with my friend locally making it more social.

Maybe it wasn't just the fact that FIFA '11 is (imo) a great game, but the fact that console gaming has better "local" play thus making it more social. (at least to me)

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Go back and read all of the points I said to support that statement, which you aparently chose to ignore.

No, I didn't ignore them. You made no qualifiers in your original statement. If PC gaming isn't 'the attractive choice for gamers' as you claim then explain the section of the gaming community that are PC gamers.

So not having as big of a genre selection, not having as many reknowned companies, not having as many must have games, getting crappy ports, and not having any titles that bring anything new to PC gaming aren't quailifiers?

How the hell not?

Most RPGs on the PC are now trying to be singleplayer MMOs. The Witcher is the last exclusive PC game I can name that is any different.

Last time the PC tried to do something innovative was Spore, and we all know how massivley over hyped that game was.

RTS games keep getting pumped out on the PC with not much variety, and with Ensemble Studios shutting down, a couple of the major titles(Red Alert 3 being an example) are now porting to console.

There are very few genres on the PC that can done better ON PC gamplay wise.

Now for the lack of renknown companies.
Ensemble Studios getting shut down is really a sign of the times. As good of a company as it was, they made and RTS every 2-3 years. That doesn't show longevity. Especially in a market where RTSs are pumped out so vehemously.

PC exclusive reknown companies are really dwindling. The only ones I can name are CD Projeckt and Blizzard Entertainment. With the loss of Black Isle, Bullfrog Productions, and a lot more PC developers that made classic after classic after classic gets shut down, it's really a sign of the markets shifting.

PC ports have been horrible weven with the major releases. GTA4 has a shitty port, Saint's Row 2 has a shitty port, no one bothered to look at Street Fighter 4's port, same with RE5's port. And Fallout New Vegas' PC version was the worst of the bunch for bugs and crashes.

And what was the last title to do for PC what Halo, GTA, Gears of War, Uncharted, or Metal Gear Solid did for console?

Like I mentioned earlier, Spore was a dissappointment. It seems WOW is one of the only games that can claim to have done that. Crysis is a mediocre shooter that looks pretty.

If those aren't qualifiers for why the PC market is not as attractive for gamers as console gaming.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

It's not dead, but it is smaller than console gaming.

No it's not.
It's bigger than all the consoles put together.

In which way specifically? Cause it's sure as shit not in software sales.

That and the PC just doesn't have as large a range of genres as consoles do.

There are more major and renowned developers for consoles so that's were the investments are.

The PC just hasn't had the amount of classics it did in the 90s.

Now it's crappy console ports, zombies, zombies, zombies, uninspired FPSs and RTSs.

no genres?

*points to the steam store genre selector*

no companies?

*points to the entire developer selector for steam*

No money in sales?

*points to the money made by steam every single year*

want me to go on? because i can do this all day.

You didn't prove how those lead to PC leading in any fashion.

Steam Genre Selector: Most of the games on steam that are not RTSs, Valve, or uninspired FPSs sell better on console.

Steam Developer Selector doesn't prove anything. Thete are still more major developers on the consoles than there are that work with Steam. That is a fact. There are lots of developrs that aren't on Steam pal.

And never did I say no money in sales. I'm pretty sure that Black Ops can prove that alone. I highly doubt Steam makes as much money as company like EA, Activision or Square Enix based just off of Steam alone. My point was that consoles in general make more money for devs and publishers than PC. That's also a fact.

Basing your entire arguement off of Steam was stupid. I'm talking ALL PC and ALL console. Steam is just one aspect of the PC. And if your going to say things like, "points to money made by Steam", put up a link to help your point out.

Last time I check Valve was making $70 million.

Last time I checked the Activision part of Activision Blizzard was raking in 2.9 billion a year. Which is my point. PC isn`t dead but it sure as shit doesn`t make money like major console companies do.

so you're basing the sales on ONE MULTIPLATFORM GAME? and never did i say its ALL steam. List the developers if you want but the fact of the matter is that most developers are mulitplatform. Sell better on console? Where are you basing your facts since digital distribution don't divulge their numbers.

For your information you are trying to compare A DIGITAL STORE TO GAME PUBLISHERS. STEAM IS NOT A PUBLISHER, ITS A STORE. Why not compare Target to mcdonalds while you're at it? Console developers? That implies the console exclusive companies which limits the companies to console exclusive developers which are quite small. If you notice console developers are big because consoles are expensive to develop for and high risk while the PC is low risk and cheap to develop for. Your gaggle of "big dogs" can't stand a fucking chance against the thousands of developing studios on PC. Need i pull out the game numbers of PC games versus console games?

I never based my arguement off of one multiplatform game. I based off of a company. I didn't mention a game. Nice try at word twisting. You essentially used Steam for all of your points so I pointed out that one company makes a massive amount more than Valve which deals mostly with PC. You really need to learn how to argue. And in terms of the big dogs not standing a chance against the thousands of developing PC studios, that statement is just asinine. You want to pull numbers out to prove me wrong? Allow me.

Out of the top 10 best selling video game franchises only one of them is exlusivlely PC. The Sims. The rest are console exclusive or games that were released on all platforms but sold more on consoles due to PCs always getting shafted on release dates.

Black Ops alone, which is the most Pirated PC game of this year, still made $1 billion dollars faster than Avatar, the top best selling movie of all time.

Yes there are thousands of developing PC studios. Likewise for console based studios. There are probably more developing console developers than on PC. Please name these thousands of PC studios. Then name what they've done. The develoing console studios grow faster then the developing PC studios. This can be show with Blow Entertainment, The Behemoth, and many companies that have released indie successes on XBL/PSN. I personally haven't heard of many developing PC studios but apparently you claim there are Thousands.

I never said PC was dead.

But comparing it's growth to the console industry is just silly.

Indie releases on XBL/PSN isn't what a console developer makes. An indie release for XBL/PSN is practically the same as an Iphone game. The PC however supports much more indie studios due to the lack of fees that are required to develop for the console. This is why only big companies can be true console developers. The cost to make is so big, and the chance to get the money back is too small. "there are probably more console developers" isn't going to cut it. Want numbers? Okay here's the numbers.

Decent (non shovel ware, 70% score) games by Platform:
PC: 1275
XBOX 360: 479
PS3: 341
WII: 242

If consoles have more developers, you would think they would have more games than the PC. However, this is a far cry from the old generation. Also i should note that this graph only shows games with 5 reviews or more and does not include free games like Dwarf fortress, or survival crisis Z.

PS2: 792
Xbox: 472
Gamecube: 263

If you notice the total number of general console games DROPPED since the last generation. PC may have been hurting last generation but this generation it has jumped back in a big way.

You calling a console indie game the same as an iPhone game really makes not take you seriously anymore. Braid, Castle Crashers, Trine, Costume Quest, and Joe Danger are not comparable to iPhone games.

And where the hell are you getting your numbers from? If you can't post up a link then these numbers are bullshit. And how the hell did you find numbers for "non shovelware" games? Prove that please. That and you cutting out shovelware really skews the numbers, sorry to say.

If consoles have more developers, you would think they would have more games than the PC.

If the PC has more developers than how come there are more big name titles on the console? And just because there's more doesn't mean they have a large library of games.

This is why only big companies can be true console developers. The cost to make is so big, and the chance to get the money back is too small

You know it's just as expensive to create a major PC game as it is to make a major console game right?

Now back to your ghost numbers.

You say there are:
345 PS3 games when there are 647.
479 Xbox 360 games when there are 747.
242 Wii games when there are 962.
792 PS2 games when there are 2015.
472 Xbox games when there are 966.
263 GC games when there are 640.
(All numbers found simply by typing in "X" games in wikipedia and google.)
You can't tell which companies are making the most shovelware by cutting out the numbers of shovelware. And the amount of games doesn't show if each game was sucessful. So the numbers don't matter.

The PC market isn't as big as the console market. Get it through your head.

 

[Ramin 123]

It is dead in the same sense that the bicycle industry is dead since the invention of the car.
Sure cars (consoles) make more money, have the bigger companies, than bikes (PC), but that doesn't mean that it's dead.

That's a good comparison, I would be more into PC gaming only for the amount of troubleshooting that is required. But once you get past it I'm sure its well worth it, I thoroughly enjoyed my COD2 days.

I would agree about "more troubleshooting needed" 10 years ago, but today? This PC I'm using right now was bought 3 years ago, it never had a single problem, and it runs all the games I throw at it. Windows versions are pretty stable and things work better. Of course you can run into problems, same as an XBox RRODing or any other console defect.

OT: I have owned consoles of all previous generations, except the current one. I don't live in the US, and console games are expensive here. Sometimes I think about buying a current-gen console. Then I see that 80-90% of the console games I want to play I can buy for the PC for one tenth of the price I'd pay for the console version (thanks to Steam sales). Plus there are so many good games I couldn't play on consoles, it's just not worth it.

It's not the bigger market right now, but it's not dying.

Yeah but I think there are a lot of dodgy "gamer" PC's built these days, I should know considering I got one and I spent more money sending the fucking thing back than playing. The amount of problems that arise with PC hardware are numerous in amount and the probability of it being a simple fix are far and few in between.

It's things like that that stop me from getting back into the PC scene. Add in all this DRM bullshit and STEAM (omg the evil) and the level of approachability is narrowed down to a select few who can get through all the technical evils and enjoy a good gaming experience. I wish I could have the balls (and money) to build a PC but the technical problems leave me to my Xbox 360 again as it does for a lot of people

 

[Delusibeta]

Now for the lack of renknown companies.
Ensemble Studios getting shut down is really a sign of the times. As good of a company as it was, they made and RTS every 2-3 years. That doesn't show longevity. Especially in a market where RTSs are pumped out so vehemously.

PC exclusive reknown companies are really dwindling. The only ones I can name are CD Projeckt and Blizzard Entertainment. With the loss of Black Isle, Bullfrog Productions, and a lot more PC developers that made classic after classic after classic gets shut down, it's really a sign of the markets shifting.

Objection: all those has one thing in common; the parent company decided too close down the subsidiarity. Black Isle, admittedly, went down due to some Interplay brouhaha, but Bullfrog and Ensemble both got shut down by their owners.

And neither Bullfrog nor Ensemble was PC exclusive companies.

Ultimately, companies getting shut down does not mean you can make grand statements about the state of a specific section of the market (see also: Pandemic, Clover Studios).