Support NeoGAF

[tr1p1ex]

While true, same could be said about console gaming. The 6th generation the consoles offered much more exclusives, and more often then not 3rd party games never saw PC, like SSX, TimeSplitters etc. Nowadays you only need a PS or Nintendo if you want to play those AAA exclusives, which arent that much anymore compared to PS2 era. About 15 to 20 exclusives at the most over a period of 8 years isnt that staggering.

Also, with MS basicly being all in with PC gaming, as much as Xbox gaming, PC will see much more console AAA exclusives like Halo Infinite which is being designed with PC in mind. AMD offering more and more competition, and Intel entering the GPU market will reduce hardware prices overall.

True you can buy a pc now to play console ports. Whereas before you couldn't because they didn't port console games to pc. But why do that when you can spend considerably less to play them on console and the games are made for console in the first place. There's just less of a reason to pc game.

YOu're not getting the unique exclusives on pc like you used to. MS isn't all-in on pcgaming. They are all-in on the Xbox. They always say things like they are "all-in" in pcgaming and have been saying that since the Xbox first came out. But they aren't. IF they were all-in they wouldn't have an Xbox. Halo Infinite being designed with pc in my mind just means it is going to be ported to pc day 1 and not just a console exclusive.

And I have to say the graphical upgrade on pc isn't what it was either. Graphics are becoming good enough. The leap isn't what it was every gen. The generations take longer. And then yet graphics cards are costing more than ever. Less of a reason pc game. And then my tv looks better than my monitor. Color is a lot better. That favors console as well.

I'm a pcgamer, and yes I've seen the pcgaming dying diatribes for over a decade now. But I don't think the analyst is saying it will be dead in 2 years. He's just saying he thinks console gaming is going convert a bunch pc gamers over (particularly those buying lower end machines) because of specific changes that are happening.

I will say one thing pcs have that isn't talked much is portability. I don't believe in using a laptop for pcgaming. But lots do. And I don't think the analyst factored that in his report. The ability to play your game in any room or outside the home on a laptop is attractive to some. Not sure what the market is for that, but a lot more laptops are sold nowadays than desktops.

 

[Freeman454]

There's just less of a reason to pc game.

There was even less reason to do so 20 years ago. The PC now is kind of a middle ground, the only thing you wont have are mostly sony exclusives, but even some of those come to PC. I think its more of a change, rather then PC is dying or anything like that.
Same could be said about console gaming, PS2 offered huge amount of games not avaible on other platforms, now its maybe 20 games max, if even that for the whole PS4 life-span. I dont think its that much more then what pc gaming offers, even if those PS4 games are bigger hitters offcourse.

YOu're not getting the unique exclusives on pc like you used to. MS isn't all-in on pcgaming. They are all-in on the Xbox. They always say things like they are "all-in" in pcgaming and have been saying that since the Xbox first came out. But they aren't. IF they were all-in they wouldn't have an Xbox. Halo Infinite being designed with pc in my mind just means it is going to be ported to pc day 1 and not just a console exclusive.

Xbox=PC, i think we can see Xbox more and more as a service, a platform.
Also, thats not what im reading, even stating that 'PC users will be treated as 'first-class citizens'

Halo Infinite Developed with PC in Mind, Will Have Four Player Splitscreen

343 Industries said that Halo Infinite and the Slipspace Engine have been created with PC in mind. The game will have splitscreen for four.

wccftech.com

And I have to say the graphical upgrade on pc isn't what it was either. Graphics are becoming good enough. The leap isn't what it was every gen. The generations take longer. And then yet graphics cards are costing more than ever. Less of a reason pc game. And then my tv looks better than my monitor. Color is a lot better. That favors console as well.

Well, PC has still been pushing graphics even this gen. Ray Tracing in games like BFV, Tomb Raider, Metro, Atomic Heart etc, but also things like Minecraft RT and QUake 2 RT. PC during this gen is also the platform for the best VR experiences, native 4k and 60fps or higher. Often featuring also higher settings etc. Star Citizen goes to great lengths in many areas too. The leap isnt what it was, but thats for consoles too, from PSX to PS2 the jump was huge, to PS3 it was kinda big, but not the jump from before. To PS4 the jump was even smaller. Dimishing returns affect both.

I'm a pcgamer, and yes I've seen the pcgaming dying diatribes for over a decade now. But I don't think the analyst is saying it will be dead in 2 years. He's just saying he thinks console gaming is going convert a bunch pc gamers over (particularly those buying lower end machines) because of specific changes that are happening.

PC gaming is stronger then ever now,. It Wont 'die' and if it will someday, consoles wont be much better of as we know them today. Both arent going anywhere.

 

[faraany3k]

PC gaming has become much more mainstream.

 

[GametimeUK]

I know this is really anecdotal, but it seems more and more people I know are showing interest in PC gaming. More and more kids seem to be interested in it due to streamers. I dunno, I think PC will continue booming.

 

[V4skunk]

Pc gaming has been on life support for years now.

 

[somerset]

Tim Sweeney and co speaking thru the mouths of their puppets again. Let's look at the facts.

1) PC gaming, thanks to Steam, has never been healthier. And a *lot* of this is down to smaller indy devs, and the freedom the PC platform gives them.

2) PC gaming has been impected by the vile activities of Intel and Nvidia, artificially inflating the cost and reducing the performance of PC hardware. When Intel saw that competition from AMD was ending (during the Bulldozer phase), it reversed policy, canned the plan for 6+ desktop cores, and actually pushed *two* cores for gaming, and paid devs to go back to single-threaded code. Nvidia chose instead to inflate the cost of GPUs by more than twice.

3) But AMD is back, and on TSMC. Zen2 has knocked out Intel, and made possible the concept of 8 *powerful* CPU core console design. AMD's future GPU designs, now the 'problem' engineer works at Intel, will match Nvidia at a fraction of Nvidia's current cost.

4) The PS5 and Xbox Next will offer a level of gaming performance that most people will have to spend twice as much to get on their gaming PC (well informed PC home builders can always get better value, but they are less than 10% of PC gamers).

5) After the new consoles hit, there will be the usual two years+ period where publishers assume the average gaming PC barely matches the last gen (your current gen) consoles, so make rubbish PC ports. The PC like nature of the current and new consoles may alleviate this issue this time, but may not.

6) AMD seems set to launch new PC GPUs designed to be *slower* than the new consoles as a sop to Sony and MS, although this should still allow near 1080TI performance on the desktop for a fraction of what Nvidia charges for this today.

7) the new console target rez is 4k, but the gaming PC is 1440P, making things easier on the gaming PC.

8) new levels of RAM/CPU/GPU resources in consoles and gaming PCs makes game dev easier than ever before.

9) if AMD chooses to pull out their finger, and release a gaming APU on the desktop anything as powerful as the consoles get, 1080P PC gaming could get very cheap indeed- in much more lounge friendly cases.

The real question is whether computer gaming ends up coming down to hardware entry cost. The new consoles are going to be astonishing value for money when compared to an equivalent gaming PC- but tons of console owners are already crying like babies at the thought of 500 dollar consoles. For them, they have no awareness of value, just a concern about the ticket price. PC gamers are much more informed, but this could mean *they* are converted to the new consoles on cost per spec alone.

On the other hand, when PC gamers talk in forums, it is to appreciate everything the freedom of the PC brings to the table. A philosophical position where the cost is something that just has to be swallowed in the name of the hobby.

Now the *PC* market is declining thanks to the greed and the shenanigans of those that make the RAM, HDD, and the despicable strategies of Nvidia and Intel. Too many companies chose to screw over the PC market during the 'good times', and the fallout is now. But that's *general* PCs not gaming PCs.

When a useless psuedo analyst corp like JPR looks at anything, there's no science to the process. Which is why they *always* fail to predict *new* trends. Their only method is extrapolation from the simplest data in its crudest form. So they take the fact most people have played 'minefield' or 'solitaire' on their office/work PC, and call that decline a "PC gaming" decline. Disingeneous, dishonest and meaningless. Like the stats that declare that "more women are gamers than men"- as if the people that read the 'funnies' in the newspapers should be included in the list of people who read novels.

I think PC gaming will continue to have healthy growth, for I think it is a male hobby still popular with males desperate for a safe home activity who think consoles too 'mainstream'. Besides a console is hardly a hobby when the corporation has the console owner by the short and curlies.

The whole history of home computing is remarkable, and at every stage, the usual braindead mainstream 'journalist' has mocked it and described it as a 'fad' soon to be over. I speak as one whose first computer was the self-build Sinclair MK14 (that you literally had to code in *machine code* on a hex membrane 'keyboard' that had no user storage device, so each time you wanted to use it you had to type the program in first- funfact the tech term 'bootstrap' originated from the same idea, where a minimal program had to be hand entered each time the computer was started, that would then 'boot' the OS from a strorage device, pulling the computer up by its own boot-straps).

Before I owned my MK14, I remember a news report from years earlier showing a production like turning out early single chip CPUs, and saying this tech would change the world. I promise you, those that call themselves game and tech 'journalists' have no love of tech, and despise those that do- a psychology that goes back to their school days. People who make their living writing are almost never part of 'nerd' culture- tho sometimes it benefits them to pretend they do.

PS I still think tech costs matter. The internal HDD has priced itself out of interest of many PC owners for no good reason except blind self-defeating greed, and of course the external HDD and SSD has taken its place. What Nvidia and Intel did to hurt PC gaming sickens me, but it is glorious that PC gaming survived to see a true renaissance for AMD, and a real possibility for sane PC gaming components. If AMD's Navi is around 200 dollars for a little less than 1080TI performance (which only adjusts the historic price of GPUs back to where they were before Nvidia's tech lead allowed them to screw over gamers), PC gaming costs are good for another two years and this covers the tough time of the new consoles hitting.

Nvidia will do nothing to save PC gaming without AMD regaining some parity, and Intel is now down and out *forever*. I don't like having to place my final hope in one corporation, and AMD has made some astonishing management mistakes in the past- but honestly today AMD is the *only* hope, and that AMD also makes the leading console tech is a clear conflict of interests that certainly makes things 'interesting'.

 

[EverydayBeast]

PC Gaming strives off the myth that they're on dying, and I am picking them to stay on top with the likes of Halo MCC and continued support from VR, Microsoft and Steam.

 

[Afro Republican]

Console people have been saying that for decades, yet the reverse seems to happen.

There is literally only Two times consoles weren't way behind PC or other computers at launch in most areas. (Xbox 360, and Xbox original+GameCube)

If neither MS or Sony mess up and this isn't a lopsided gen or a wii fad gen it might actually do some taking of share away.

 

[Damian black]

Pc gaming sure is healtier than xbox, so I dont see how this is accurate.

 

[Kenpachii]

Analyst is completely missing the point where twitch and making money with streaming is a thing and pushes far more people to PC as result.

Add with it content creation.

Consoles are the ones dying out atm. There market is shrinking massively already for a while.

With china entering the PC market, PC market is going to explode to new limits in the future.

Just check steam for example on the screenshot section and see the massive influx of Chinese people. WIth PC gaming company's getting stamped out of the ground on china every day.

Honestly dude doesn't seem to have much of a clue about PC in general.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

lol ... the sad part about this is this analyst got paid for this nonsense

 

[manfestival]

They are probably basing this entirely on Intel and Nvidia turing sales lol

 

[Zannegan]

That's funny, I was just thinking that I might skip my traditional new console at the start of the generation in favor of a gaming PC. Depends on whether Navi can deliver and the price and first year lineups of the PS5/XBox4K, and also on how Valve's new VR headset turns out.

 

[Phunkydiabetic]

Are they bad? Never read or visit them, never even heard of them before.

You've never heard of PCGamer? The most popular PC gaming publication that's been around for almost three decades?

 

[Stuart360]

Ah so its finally died eh?, it only took the last 25 years since they started saying this.
Anyone want to buy a decent PC off me?

 

[wipeout364]

I would think with this analysis the average midrange GPU price and CPU price would drop and the benefits for high end GPU would decrease. This would mean the entry point for a decent set up would decrease as there would be far less point in going for cutting edge tech. It would also mean your investment would have a longer duration where it could keep up with the current releases.

I also feel like the amount of players on PC is growing looking at the numbers DOTA, LOL, PUBG, Fortnite, and other big games are putting out there.

 

[zcaa0g]

I will say that the XBX and PS4 Pro optimized games are the first time in console history that they looked as good as PC games.

With that said, his prediction will never be close to happening unless consoles start fully supporting mouse and keyboard to the point the Diablos and RTSs can be played as they are meant to be played.

PC gaming will always be my primary platform though.

 

[Despera]

Can we get a specific date for this pc market crash event?

 

[Durask]

Gaming laptops are getting cheaper, lighter and more powerful. For many people why buy a separate console when you can game on your day to day laptop - even hook it up to a big monitor if you want to.

 

[Trojita]

Bruvs your beef is with the stupid analyst not PCGamer. It's fucking PCGamer for fucks sake, not Why Aren't You Playing On Consoles Monthly?

Take the guidance with a grain of salt, though. From our vantage point, PC gaming is growing, not shrinking, with increased interest from the industry at large. Microsoft, now a trillion dollar company, has made gaming a point of focus in Windows 10. But it's not just Microsoft.

 

[Freeman454]

Good someones paying attention

 

[EDMIX]

Hasn't PC gaming been better than ever? PC gaming will always be the high tier of the gaming side and never die out.

Better? In what respect? PC is better like phones are better based on how many of them exist, but when was the list time a exclusive PC game got GOTY? Heck when was the last time a exclusive AAA PC even released?

So when was the last time a phone game got GOTY?

So this isn't saying folks don't play it or the install base doesn't exist, simply the install base is not the focal point of the industry.

Consoles are.

Consoles basically decide when a generation is starting, ending, push development in regards to actually hardware to make developers shift to and by default of how first parties work will always have a substantial amount of games not coming to PC. Because PC is open source, MOST making titles on it can't actually afford to JUST leave some AAA PC game ONLY on PC. So because no one really "owns" PC in terms of the platform, those developers have no ode to keep something on a system with such a shifty install base when the majority is playing stuff like PubG and Fortnite.

It would be like expecting lots of current gen releases to appear on PS3-360 despite the active install base shifting. Now.....could you imagine if the MAJORITY of the console market in terms of active users was just on PS3 and 360? You'd have so many games seeking the BARE minimum as they'd NEED to support PS3 and 360 to keep making expensive AAA games, but it also means not using all the hardware in PS4 and XONE.

That is what is happening to PC RIGHT NOW ,where the majority is casual, thus publishers seemly seek PC to port to, not to make AAA expensive exclusives for the handful that have the hardware to push it.

Know how many PS4's or XONEs run that base hardware? All.

There is no massive shift in those install bases in terms of power, everyone gets the same base power and Pro and X don't even have exclusives, this keeps it on a level playing field and allows developers to work on hardware not that they THINK someone will have, hardware they know 100% of those install bases actually have at the minimum. This can't be done on PC. It being modular also means that shift in install base and if the majority favor PubG, Fortnite etc and their PC's hardware reflects that......so will the lack of AAA PC exclusives.

So I don't think PC gaming will die out, but no longer seeing those massive AAA PC exclusives is very much a sign of the times as last gen we saw that happen and this gen is pretty much that nail in the coffin in regards to PC gaming ever being where it once was.

The console market leads the industry and PC must follow. It is unfortunate the price to pay for being modular when the majority favor casual.

edit.

https://www.cinemablend.com/games/Witcher-3-Wouldn-t-Exist-Consoles-72064.html

"we can lay it out that simply. We just cannot afford it, because consoles allow us to go higher in terms of the possible or achievable sales"

So there you go. You might be able to build a extremely powerful PC, but what good does that do that install base when you are the only one that can afford it? So.....NASA also has a lot of super computers, when was the last time you say any massive expensive AAA titles release for that for the 126 people who could afford it? Consoles have just caught up to PC and Crysis last gen shows that gamers were not really that into some of those PC exclusives enough to have the majority build to support those type of games. So if PS5 or XBNEXT uses some 10 or 12TFLOP GPU, 100% of the games that release are able to use it as they know 100% of the install base HAS THAT HARDWARE FOR A FACT! PC has that power right now, where are those exclusives to max it out? Do you now see why PC gaming is here to stay, but will likely never match what is continuing with console gaming?

 

[SlashBringingHasher]

am not sure why is it dead. when 99% of console games are also on PC.

back in the day like half console games were on PC. PS2 generation sometimes even less. ps1. even less.

nowdays on PC you can get almost every game. more indies. more frequent updates to games etc.

its not dead at all. please. it has way more games than any console. including new games. this year for example. the only playstation exclusives launching are Days gone and TLOU2. how many pc only games are out there? sure. maybe not as big. but you can find something you enjoy.

 

[tr1p1ex]

There was even less reason to do so 20 years ago. The PC now is kind of a middle ground, the only thing you wont have are mostly sony exclusives, but even some of those come to PC. I think its more of a change, rather then PC is dying or anything like that.
Same could be said about console gaming, PS2 offered huge amount of games not avaible on other platforms, now its maybe 20 games max, if even that for the whole PS4 life-span. I dont think its that much more then what pc gaming offers, even if those PS4 games are bigger hitters offcourse.



Xbox=PC, i think we can see Xbox more and more as a service, a platform.
Also, thats not what im reading, even stating that 'PC users will be treated as 'first-class citizens'

Halo Infinite Developed with PC in Mind, Will Have Four Player Splitscreen

343 Industries said that Halo Infinite and the Slipspace Engine have been created with PC in mind. The game will have splitscreen for four.

wccftech.com

Well, PC has still been pushing graphics even this gen. Ray Tracing in games like BFV, Tomb Raider, Metro, Atomic Heart etc, but also things like Minecraft RT and QUake 2 RT. PC during this gen is also the platform for the best VR experiences, native 4k and 60fps or higher. Often featuring also higher settings etc. Star Citizen goes to great lengths in many areas too. The leap isnt what it was, but thats for consoles too, from PSX to PS2 the jump was huge, to PS3 it was kinda big, but not the jump from before. To PS4 the jump was even smaller. Dimishing returns affect both.



PC gaming is stronger then ever now,. It Wont 'die' and if it will someday, consoles wont be much better of as we know them today. Both arent going anywhere.

Opposite. There was way more reason to pc game 20 years ago. Not even close. Today you are missing little to nothing if you don't have a pc. Back in the day you missed everything. I mean we were gaming online before console. Doom, quake, duke nukem 3d, half life, battlefield, civilization, starcraft, diablo, medal of honor allied assault, rainbow six, ... These games were pc only back in the day. All those games pushed what the pc could do and just couldn't be done on console. Yes some eventually got ported in some watered down form to console but at best they were inferior versions and appeared much later. Pc gaming is just console ports nowadays in the AAA space.

Halo Infinite is just going to be a console port. Marketing can tell you (the pc gamer) that you're important but it's marketing. The reality is Halo Infinite is just the next Halo for the Xbox and they are also releasing it on pc day one.

Graphics just face the law of diminishing returns. You're paying more and more for less and less of an upgrade. I mean Battlefield 3 still looks pretty good. Graphics haven't improved that much since it came out which is 8 years ago. Just another reason pcgaming isn't as exciting as it was.

I'm still a pc gamer. But...It's just not what it was. PLaying console games with higher settings just isn't exciting. Every console looks more enticing compared to pcgaming. Not sure what keeps me here. I guess I'm too used to m/k to make the switch.

 

[Ivellios]

I think that if GPUs continues to stay overpriced as they are now, its very possible many PC gamers will just switch to consoles

Opposite. There was way more reason to pc game 20 years ago. Not even close. Today you are missing little to nothing if you don't have a pc. Back in the day you missed everything. I mean we were gaming online before console. Doom, quake, duke nukem 3d, half life, battlefield, civilization, starcraft, diablo, medal of honor allied assault, rainbow six, ... These games were pc only back in the day. All those games pushed what the pc could do and just couldn't be done on console. Yes some eventually got ported in some watered down form to console but at best they were inferior versions and appeared much later. Pc gaming is just console ports nowadays in the AAA space.

Halo Infinite is just going to be a console port. Marketing can tell you (the pc gamer) that you're important but it's marketing. The reality is Halo Infinite is just the next Halo for the Xbox and they are also releasing it on pc day one.

Graphics just face the law of diminishing returns. You're paying more and more for less and less of an upgrade. I mean Battlefield 3 still looks pretty good. Graphics haven't improved that much since it came out which is 8 years ago. Just another reason pcgaming isn't as exciting as it was.

I'm still a pc gamer. But...It's just not what it was. PLaying console games with higher settings just isn't exciting. Every console looks more enticing compared to pcgaming. Not sure what keeps me here. I guess I'm too used to m/k to make the switch.

You say anyone who dont have a PC are not missing much but i disagree, since you have a vast library of PC only games that you wont find on consoles. Plus with a good PC you have Xbox exclusives now as well.

Another advantage is not needing to pay for online and having full backward compatibility with older games. And lets not forget mods.

Only problem with PCs now are overpriced GPUs, which hopefully Navi will change.

 

[nkarafo]

Journalists must really like platform deaths.

 

[Chairman Tickles]

Clickbait rag is clickbaiting again.

 

[SoulChamber]

Actually, more & more people are leaving Xbox & Playstation for PC gaming.

There's no real reason for them to go back to either Xbox or Playstation consoles whatsoever.

 

[Screamer-RSA]

"Jon Peddie Research's TV Gaming Market Study is available now in both electronic and hard copy editions and sells for a $12,000 annual subscription "

HONK HONK!

 

[Freeman454]

There's no real reason for them to go back to either Xbox or

On pc your only missing some exclusives. Maybe 10 that intrest. Seeing that more and more exclusives make it to pc every gen, theres less reason to own one.

 

[Majukun]

I fail to see the reasoning here.

less need to constantly upgrade is something that should actually be beneficial to the gaming side of the pc market....the constant need to keep up and buying new parts was cited as the reason to NOT get into pc gaming back in the day..why would someone dissatisfied with the technological progression of the platform would go to a market that is by definition technologically inferior?

the only real measurement to see how good a platform is doing are games, and from this point of view PC is getting more and more games, some historically console only franchises are debuting on pc too.

I mean,i'm no analyst, but seems like he has no idea what he is talking about.

 

[General Lee]

This is somewhat true, but with important caveats. For one, today's processors offer developers untapped potential in the form of additional cores and threads. AMD deserves credit for pushing 8-core/16-thread chips into the mainstream, to which Intel has responded. I'd counter that doubling the number of transistors every two years is not critical to PC gaming, or as critical as it might have been in years past.

Once the current move to 8/16 cores is over, there's nowhere to go but increasing price and power. The node advancements being increasingly slower and exponentially more expensive will have a tremendous effect on the market and its growth. The next three years will be fine, I'm much more worried about what's after that.

PC market still has a lot of potential in the next few years with renewed competition from AMD and Intel's new GPUs, at least from a consumer perspective. VR is also growing and high end VR definitely has plenty of market potential if they can fix some of the current major kinks, and mobile and console VR can break through to mainstream. PC gaming will always be a thing, but it's absolutely true that it'll be increasingly high end, expensive proposition for those who are willing to pay for it.

I don't see it very questionable at all that lower end PC gaming may shrink and move towards next gen consoles that offer increasingly more PC-like features. Enthusiast market will continue to exist, but it's foolish to expect faster GPUs to pop out of nowhere. It's clear that the market is slowing down and we'll soon have another Sandy Bridge scenario in both CPU and GPU markets where there's just no point in upgrading. Everything better is only marginally so, and twice the price. Obviously that's not a problem for those spending $1200 on their GPU now, but the rest will stop upgrading. Of course there's people who welcome this thinking they don't want to upgrade to play new games, but stagnation is absolutely detrimental to the overall market. To get a better than console gaming experience will inevitably mean you're spending $2K instead of $1K, and there's only so many people willing to do that.

 

[MMaRsu]

Pc gaming will die if every pub launches their games exclusively on Egs

 

[Vow of Silence]

Absolute poppycock. Kids seriously into gaming as they grow up aspire to have a gaming PC, judging from my nephews and all their mates. They cross-play on Fortnite big time because they get better performance and visuals on PC. Cross play is a console killer, which is probably why Sony have been reluctant on it because Microsoft have the PC as their fallback platform. I believe Xbox will become a generalised gaming platform that can either run on dedicated hardware (Xbox), a Windows PC or the cloud, with a subscription model like Netflix. Sony do not have the option of the fallback to custom hardware running Windows, only the cloud. The cloud will be very niche for gamers because it isn't reliable and as long as internet can randomly go down (which is forever) it will be a sub par solution.

PC is going to be fine.

 

[Hellblueboy]

How about no.
I'm both console and PC gamer, each of them have their own advantage that can't be replaced.

 

[Freeman454]

Opposite. There was way more reason to pc game 20 years ago. Not even close. Today you are missing little to nothing if you don't have a pc. Back in the day you missed everything. I mean we were gaming online before console. Doom, quake, duke nukem 3d, half life, battlefield, civilization, starcraft, diablo, medal of honor allied assault, rainbow six, ... These games were pc only back in the day. All those games pushed what the pc could do and just couldn't be done on console. Yes some eventually got ported in some watered down form to console but at best they were inferior versions and appeared much later. Pc gaming is just console ports nowadays in the AAA space.

Halo Infinite is just going to be a console port. Marketing can tell you (the pc gamer) that you're important but it's marketing. The reality is Halo Infinite is just the next Halo for the Xbox and they are also releasing it on pc day one.

Graphics just face the law of diminishing returns. You're paying more and more for less and less of an upgrade. I mean Battlefield 3 still looks pretty good. Graphics haven't improved that much since it came out which is 8 years ago. Just another reason pcgaming isn't as exciting as it was.

I'm still a pc gamer. But...It's just not what it was. PLaying console games with higher settings just isn't exciting. Every console looks more enticing compared to pcgaming. Not sure what keeps me here. I guess I'm too used to m/k to make the switch.

Theres also less reason to own a console today then 20 years ago. Today your missing nothing on pc, bar some sony exclusives. Console doesnt have everything pc either. The gap is smaller then ever and the trend is contineuing.

About Halo dont know, all i can go after is that its designed with pc in mind. And again xbox = pc. Everything xbox is pc too.

Diminishing returns affect both.

Once the current move to 8/16 cores is over, there's nowhere to go but increasing price and power. The node advancements being increasingly slower and exponentially more expensive will have a tremendous effect on the market and its growth. The next three years will be fine, I'm much more worried about what's after that.

PC market still has a lot of potential in the next few years with renewed competition from AMD and Intel's new GPUs, at least from a consumer perspective. VR is also growing and high end VR definitely has plenty of market potential if they can fix some of the current major kinks, and mobile and console VR can break through to mainstream. PC gaming will always be a thing, but it's absolutely true that it'll be increasingly high end, expensive proposition for those who are willing to pay for it.

I don't see it very questionable at all that lower end PC gaming may shrink and move towards next gen consoles that offer increasingly more PC-like features. Enthusiast market will continue to exist, but it's foolish to expect faster GPUs to pop out of nowhere. It's clear that the market is slowing down and we'll soon have another Sandy Bridge scenario in both CPU and GPU markets where there's just no point in upgrading. Everything better is only marginally so, and twice the price. Obviously that's not a problem for those spending $1200 on their GPU now, but the rest will stop upgrading. Of course there's people who welcome this thinking they don't want to upgrade to play new games, but stagnation is absolutely detrimental to the overall market. To get a better than console gaming experience will inevitably mean you're spending $2K instead of $1K, and there's only so many people willing to do that.

You dont need the highest end to match lr exceed consoles, thats more true now then before. Compared to 20 years ago, pc hardware is cheap now.

 

[General Lee]

You dont need the highest end to match lr exceed consoles, thats more true now then before. Compared to 20 years ago, pc hardware is cheap now.

No one buys a gaming PC to "match" a console. It's a false narrative to begin with. And once next gen rolls around, you will need to pay considerably more to get anything that's better than the console alternative. HW prices 20 years ago have no relevancy to the discussion either.

 

[Vawn]

PC gamers switching to consoles because PC gaming is dead.

Console gamers switching to PC because console gaming is dead.

It must be working. Those influx of gamers coming over have made both more than popular than ever.

 

[TheDuskwalker]

Analysts: PC gaming is dead! People are moving to consoles.
*years later*
Analysts: Console gaming is dying and won't last much longer as PC and mobile gaming skyrocket!
*few years later*
PC gaming is dying as prices for parts rise as console graphics are impressive enough!
*Months later*
Analysts: Console gaming will be dead after the next generation as people move to streaming and cloud services on PC or low price streaming boxes.
*few months later*
Analysts: PC gaming is dead as PC gamers will move to consoles.

They're a consistent bunch aren't they?

 

[Freeman454]

No one buys a gaming PC to "match" a console. It's a false narrative to begin with. And once next gen rolls around, you will need to pay considerably more to get anything that's better than the console alternative. HW prices 20 years ago have no relevancy to the discussion either.

True, you dont even need to match a console to enjoy its advantages. Not that its hard to match or exceed.
We dont even know what kind of HW next gen will have. Anything in there will be avaible anyways, at probably faster speeds, and at half the nvidia/intel prices.
If high prices didnt off pc gaming 20 years ago, it wont now.

 

[PhilipDoesMatter]

Wait let me ask a PC player friend of mine ..... he said no.

 

[Sorc3r3r]

I heard this 20-25 years ago.

Pffff
Since internet becoming a thing PC gaming is dying.

 

[XOMTOR]

I think that if GPUs continues to stay overpriced as they are now, its very possible many PC gamers will just switch to consoles

Sadly, this is where I'm at right now.

Another advantage is not needing to pay for online and having full backward compatibility with older games. And lets not forget mods.

Backward compatibility was always the main reason I stuck with PC but if Sony can somhow pull off BC with all their past library on PS5, that would sway me back to a console. As for pay for online play, that's certainly in favor of PC but I'm starting to feel that the multiple launchers/storefronts on PC is becomming a bigger pain in the ass.

Only problem with PCs now are overpriced GPUs, which hopefully Navi will change.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for sure.

 

[Chiggs]

Remember when internet-connected devices, like WebTV in the late 1990s, were going to kill off the PC?

What is it about the personal computer that inspires such hate? I swear there is an army of poorly-skilled journalists in the 44-60 years old range that are harboring grudges based on a terrible experience with Dell, Gateway or HP/Compaq, and all they do is either write hit pieces or worm their way into analyst roles and misinterpret data.

A PC is such a powerful tool; it provides the user with not only entertainment, but productivity and creativity options. Why anyone would be rooting for its demise, which is the sense I get when I read reports like this, is strange.

I'm not a conspiracy guy, but there is--and has been--a war on the personal computer since the late 1990s. Some of that is probably because of piracy.

 

[xpresstuning]

Better? In what respect? PC is better like phones are better based on how many of them exist, but when was the list time a exclusive PC game got GOTY? Heck when was the last time a exclusive AAA PC even released?

So when was the last time a phone game got GOTY?

So this isn't saying folks don't play it or the install base doesn't exist, simply the install base is not the focal point of the industry.

Consoles are.

Consoles basically decide when a generation is starting, ending, push development in regards to actually hardware to make developers shift to and by default of how first parties work will always have a substantial amount of games not coming to PC. Because PC is open source, MOST making titles on it can't actually afford to JUST leave some AAA PC game ONLY on PC. So because no one really "owns" PC in terms of the platform, those developers have no ode to keep something on a system with such a shifty install base when the majority is playing stuff like PubG and Fortnite.

It would be like expecting lots of current gen releases to appear on PS3-360 despite the active install base shifting. Now.....could you imagine if the MAJORITY of the console market in terms of active users was just on PS3 and 360? You'd have so many games seeking the BARE minimum as they'd NEED to support PS3 and 360 to keep making expensive AAA games, but it also means not using all the hardware in PS4 and XONE.

That is what is happening to PC RIGHT NOW ,where the majority is casual, thus publishers seemly seek PC to port to, not to make AAA expensive exclusives for the handful that have the hardware to push it.

Know how many PS4's or XONEs run that base hardware? All.

PC gaming being better depends whether or not your interested in what it exclusively offers compared to home consoles.

The strength of PC gaming lies within its wide customizability; both software and hardware. On the hardware side, yes, you can build a rocket, but you can also build a modest machine that can play everything as well - and remember that what you can actually do with a personal computer is a Hell of a lot more than what you can do with a home console (that's where i see your PC/phone comparison as being valid, and that's where it ends). On the software side, i'll make a list because it's easier:

• Endless backwards compatibility within the PC library.
• Emulators for almost every single home console, handheld under the sun. - An added bonus of this is that you can "remaster" the console video games you own. Like playing Xenoblade Chronicles at 1440p with an Xbox One controller, for example. Your entire console collection of video games on one system with the possibility of being connected to both a TV and a monitor.
• Mods - You can remaster or remake, you can mold, create, fix bugs/polish jank, and pour your own passion and creative nature into a video game you love. The video games on PC are forever relevant, eternally "ageless" as long as there's a modding community for it; For example, S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl has thousands of hours of content released as recent as 2019. I personally just made a package for the game that practically is a free remaster - and there's nothing complicated about it. You just drop it and go, 2 minutes. And this is how you make a 12 year old game look.

How do games released on consoles in 2007 look? I believe they do not play at 1440p/75 FPS. No, you'd need to wait for a potential "remaster" that you'd need to buy yet again.

I'm not proposing that PC is "better" or isn't "better" than home consoles. No, i'm saying that you need to acknowledge the limitless potential of this element attributed to PC gaming, even if you don't share any interest or appreciation. Otherwise your attempt of a dismissal is pointless.

There is no massive shift in those install bases in terms of power, everyone gets the same base power and Pro and X don't even have exclusives, this keeps it on a level playing field and allows developers to work on hardware not that they THINK someone will have, hardware they know 100% of those install bases actually have at the minimum. This can't be done on PC. It being modular also means that shift in install base and if the majority favor PubG, Fortnite etc and their PC's hardware reflects that......so will the lack of AAA PC exclusives.

So I don't think PC gaming will die out, but no longer seeing those massive AAA PC exclusives is very much a sign of the times as last gen we saw that happen and this gen is pretty much that nail in the coffin in regards to PC gaming ever being where it once was.

The console market leads the industry and PC must follow. It is unfortunate the price to pay for being modular when the majority favor casual.

Everything is on the PC platform, more so than in the past thanks to SEGA, Capcom, and other console centric developers taking an interesting in the PC gaming market. What isn't on PC is what's exclusive to the home consoles which is an extraordinarily negligible number of video games if their quality is of any interest to you.

What's your definition of "AAA"? And i'd appreciate it if you could list 10 examples.

So there you go. You might be able to build a extremely powerful PC, but what good does that do that install base when you are the only one that can afford it? So.....NASA also has a lot of super computers, when was the last time you say any massive expensive AAA titles release for that for the 126 people who could afford it? Consoles have just caught up to PC and Crysis last gen shows that gamers were not really that into some of those PC exclusives enough to have the majority build to support those type of games. So if PS5 or XBNEXT uses some 10 or 12TFLOP GPU, 100% of the games that release are able to use it as they know 100% of the install base HAS THAT HARDWARE FOR A FACT! PC has that power right now, where are those exclusives to max it out? Do you now see why PC gaming is here to stay, but will likely never match what is continuing with console gaming?

The only thing continuing is the death of the simplicity of home console gaming, while PC gaming has never been as simple.

 

[Mexen]

PC gaming is never dead, PC gaming is always dying.

 

[tr1p1ex]

Theres also less reason to own a console today then 20 years ago. Today your missing nothing on pc, bar some sony exclusives. Console doesnt have everything pc either. The gap is smaller then ever and the trend is contineuing.

About Halo dont know, all i can go after is that its designed with pc in mind. And again xbox = pc. Everything xbox is pc too.

Diminishing returns affect both.

No there is more reason to own a console. Almost all the games are on console. They are designed for console first. Consoles are cheaper. Consoles are less hassle. Consoles hook up to your tvs which look better than the average monitor. And then you just aren't getting that much better graphics these days by going pc. Plus now consoles have mid-cycle more powerful "Pro" models assuming that continues next-gen.

 

[Sentenza]

Hasn't PC gaming been better than ever? PC gaming will always be the high tier of the gaming side and never die out.

Despise Epic's recent efforts to revert the trend, I'd argue that YES, that's basically been the case.
Things reached the bottom around the early 2000s but then everything has been on a slow but steadily improving pace in the last 15 years.

We even got back entire genres that publishers buried as "not commercially viable" thanks to crowdfunding and shit.

 

[tr1p1ex]

PC gaming being better depends whether or not your interested in what it exclusively offers compared to home consoles.

The strength of PC gaming lies within its wide customizability; both software and hardware. On the hardware side, yes, you can build a rocket, but you can also build a modest machine that can play everything as well - and remember that what you can actually do with a personal computer is a Hell of a lot more than what you can do with a home console (that's where i see your PC/phone comparison as being valid, and that's where it ends). On the software side, i'll make a list because it's easier:

• Endless backwards compatibility within the PC library.
• Emulators for almost every single home console, handheld under the sun. - An added bonus of this is that you can "remaster" the console video games you own. Like playing Xenoblade Chronicles at 1440p with an Xbox One controller, for example. Your entire console collection of video games on one system with the possibility of being connected to both a TV and a monitor.
• Mods - You can remaster or remake, you can mold, create, fix bugs/polish jank, and pour your own passion and creative nature into a video game you love. The video games on PC are forever relevant, eternally "ageless" as long as there's a modding community for it; For example, S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl has thousands of hours of content released as recent as 2019. I personally just made a package for the game that practically is a free remaster - and there's nothing complicated about it. You just drop it and go, 2 minutes. And this is how you make a 12 year old game look.

How do games released on consoles in 2007 look? I believe they do not play at 1440p/75 FPS. No, you'd need to wait for a potential "remaster" that you'd need to buy yet again.

I'm not proposing that PC is "better" or isn't "better" than home consoles. No, i'm saying that you need to acknowledge the limitless potential of this element attributed to PC gaming, even if you don't share any interest or appreciation. Otherwise your attempt of a dismissal is pointless.



Everything is on the PC platform, more so than in the past thanks to SEGA, Capcom, and other console centric developers taking an interesting in the PC gaming market. What isn't on PC is what's exclusive to the home consoles which is an extraordinarily negligible number of video games if their quality is of any interest to you.

What's your definition of "AAA"? And i'd appreciate it if you could list 10 examples.




The only thing continuing is the death of the simplicity of home console gaming, while PC gaming has never been as simple.

Your example of Stalker is an example of what pcgaming was back in the day. Stalker was a game that was made for pc only. It was one of the last cool fairly big pc only single player games. But that was 12 years ago.

That's why I was a pcgamer. Pcgaming had the more in depth cutting edge games that you couldn't find elsewhere. Now....you just get console ports. Not the same.

 

[triplestation]