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What killed the pc games industry?

I wouldn't be surprised if pc gaming makes somewhat of a comeback next generation. Its all about balance, as more developers switch over to consoles, the competition rises and thus more people will pull out back to pc's. If consoles come with standard keyboard/mouse then I would say that would be the biggest killer to PC gaming.

As it stands now, PC gaming will always be around, yet the amount of originality and innovation is so low right now its sad. BTW PC RPG's mop the floor with anything consoles could ever offer. A few good adventure games couldn't hurt either.
 
Jotaro said:
I just looked over at some of my older magazines. What amazed me was when I saw the two biggest PC Gamer issues ever: in the end of 1997, the Duke Nukem Forever issue, and the Holitay Extravaganza issue. And damn, they were more then 450 pages! Filled like books, with intelligent articles, and tons of content!

I now look at recent issues, and I am really sad: it's now nearly 25% of the same amount of pages, less and less intelligent features, bigger fonts, and fewer games.

What the hell did happened to the PC Games industry?

Two things:
Publishers and developers becoming too reliant on too few genres. When your only real choses are first-person shooters and real-time strategy games, things get very boring, very quickly. It also alienates those who like neither type of game.

Also, publishers and developers having the audacity to think that customers don't mind patching their brand-new games on the day of release. QA in the PC gaming industry has slid to levels that render it almost non-existent. The blame for this is spread equally: Lazy developers, unrealistic deadlines from publishers, and gamers who think it's okay.

The PC gaming industry is a shadow of its former glory, and they have no one to blame but themselves.
 
Jotaro said:
What the hell did happened to the PC Games industry?

The high mantenence / management / anti-user-friendly nature of PC's

I got a BRAND NEW rig with an X800 ... And my HL2 still stutters.
 
sammy said:
I got a BRAND NEW rig with an X800 ... And my HL2 still stutters.

Something's wrong with your PC. Probably lack of RAM or low CPU. With an 3200+ Athlon, 1GB ram and a 128MB 9800XT @ 1280x1024 8xAF I have no stuttering whatsoever.
 
What killed the pc games industry?
People want to play a game by a) putting it in the disc tray, b) closing the disc tray, and not having to worry about anything else.

PC games, you gotta making sure your PC is equipped to run it properly, then install, download patches, register online...
 
tahrikmili said:
Something's wrong with your PC. Probably lack of RAM or low CPU. With an 3200+ Athlon, 1GB ram and a 128MB 9800XT @ 1280x1024 8xAF I have no stuttering whatsoever.


MY POINT EXACTLY!!

I paid ASSLOADS of $$$ to get *up-to-date* in the PC world ............ And I have to constantly hear commentary, and people spouting out their specs ...... And for what? So I can go back and tinker with my comp for 40 more hours to find out that Valve is "fixing the problem" (ANY DAY NOW!! C'mon I KNOW YOU GOT IT VALVE! TOSSS THE BOXX!)

No thanx... I'll Play Minish Cap in bed, and RE4 in front of the TV .... I'm not in high-school anymore, and don't have the time to tinker (nor do I find it an entertaining learning experience anymore)

It's just really not worth it, when the majority of PC games are just elaborate VideoCard benchmarkers .... The really good stuff is few and far between these days.
 
sammy said:
It's just really not worth it, when the majority of PC games are just elaborate VideoCard benchmarkers .... The really good stuff is few and far between these days.

You really have no idea what you're talking about.
 
Jotaro said:
What the hell did happened to the PC Games industry?

I've thought about this a few times and the only conclusion I came up with is the Playstation. The original PS brought 3D games to market by the boatload whereas it seemed that PC developers were slower to jump onto the 3D bandwagon if I recall correctly.

Obviously 3D was still a new inovation in games at the time yet even with 3D accelerators on the PC side the games were slow in coming.

That and the no-fuss, no-muss (did I just say that WTF?!?) of running a console game compared to PC stuff. Problem is, this "hassle" side of PC gaming still exists today. Witness HalfLife2 and the Steam debicle some ran into.
 
It's time for me to buy a new PC in a few months and I'll get games supporting it, but then when the new consoles come out, I'll go back to playing more console games. Unless the online community is better that said console versions
 
My first console was an Atari 2600, and then a 5200. My first computer was a Mac. My first game was Marathon, and then Myth for the Mac. Subsequently, I moved to the PC platform to enjoy a great range of titles from many different genres- RTS, FPS, and RPGÂ’s.

The PC is still an awesome platform for gaming. However, the (GQ) geek quotient is still too high for the average user. Here are some reasons why consoles have penetrated the latent gaming market better than PCÂ’s in recent years:

1. Consoles have made great strides in graphics quality (realism)
2. Consoles are easier to use than PCÂ’s
3. The constant upgrade cycle with PC's is expensive
4. Most people prefer to play a game on their 27” TV than on their 17” monitor

The average PC user isnÂ’t a hardware geek, and would prefer to treat it like any other CE device. A console is essentially a CE device. In other words, plug and play; as opposed to plug and pray.

At this time, a well-adorned PC can blow a console out of the water graphically speaking. Yet that is little advantage to someone who prefers a CE-like device that they can plug into their 27” TV and just play.

Joe six-pack could care less about frames per second, or all the graphical goodness available on the PC platform because they arenÂ’t playing their favorite game on a puny monitor.
 
the funny thing is pc game sales have been picking up in the past few years. it's better then its ever been.
 
teepo said:
the funny thing is pc game sales have been picking up in the past few years. it's better then its ever been.

What do the relative market share numbers for console vs. PC look like?
 
The problem here is basing this opinion on the thickness of a magazine. Things have changed since 1997. People aren't buying mags as much. The most up to date info is on the net. Those big thick mags cost more I would assume and aren't as practical now(guessing here). Anyway, Don't you remember the big thick console mags of the day? You dont see much of those around anymore either. Doesn't mean consoles are dying.
 
tahrikmili said:
You really have no idea what you're talking about.

do i not?

I played/completed whatever I could find for last holidays' offerings ... Doom 3, HL2, Pirates, FarCry, WoW +
Certainly PC has had a great year, and it was a long time comming ....... I can't remember a year as good as that for the PC.

But still My consoles gave me 30+ titles (I personally purchased) this season, and no hastles... And still the majority of those PC games are headed to console...

PC games are by no means less than console... if anything just 'different'...

But to be a PC gamer you have to be very tekky, and that audience isn't growing very fast.
 
Dr.Guru of Peru said:
Haha. Yeah. Nothing like getting online and playing a 128 player FPS on my console.

does anyone actually play those Novalogic games? because god knows, no one plays Planetside.
 
The real question is WHAT KILLED THE IDIOTS?

I mean, I used to walk on the streets and see lots of idiots. They were saying stupid things, and using stupid arguments to prove their stupid thoughts were right to other people. Now all of a sudden, people don't talk that much, and they're no longer idiots.

But then, I logged on the Internet, and realized THAT'S WHERE THEY ALL ARE!
 
HokieJoe said:
Joe six-pack could care less about frames per second, or all the graphical goodness available on the PC platform because they arenÂ’t playing their favorite game on a puny monitor.

It's not just Joe six-pack tired of it. It's a lot of the people that used to go out and get the newest graphics card anytime a new high-benchmark type game came out.

As we all know, there's this retarded subculture of *some* PC gamers that waste their time and money always upgrading because they actually like doing it. They actually like spending hundreds of dollars every year or so just to brag about getting the lastest game 10 fps faster.

The thing is, eventually, common sense catches up with these people. After doing it for say 2 or 3 years they figure out that they are indeed retarded and wasting their money. Then they drop out of the loop and are actually surprised when they can play HL2 on an old GF3 just fine and they've saved 300 bucks in the process. That's 6 console games you can buy for not being an asshole.

Not that I know anything about this. It's a... friend of mine... or something.
 
Foreign Jackass said:
The real question is WHAT KILLED THE IDIOTS?

I mean, I used to walk on the streets and see lots of idiots. They were saying stupid things, and using stupid arguments to prove their stupid thoughts were right to other people. Now all of a sudden, people don't talk that much, and they're no longer idiots.

But then, I logged on the Internet, and realized THAT'S WHERE THEY ALL ARE!


So, instead of seeing dead people, you see stupid people?

EDIT: remember the little boy in the Sixth Sense: "I see dead people".

Haha,

"I see stupid people"
 
Dsal said:
It's not just Joe six-pack tired of it. It's a lot of the people that used to go out and get the newest graphics card anytime a new high-benchmark type game came out.

As we all know, there's this retarded subculture of *some* PC gamers that waste their time and money always upgrading because they actually like doing it. They actually like spending hundreds of dollars every year or so just to brag about getting the lastest game 10 fps faster.

The thing is, eventually, common sense catches up with these people. After doing it for say 2 or 3 years they figure out that they are indeed retarded and wasting their money. Then they drop out of the loop and are actually surprised when they can play HL2 on an old GF3 just fine and they've saved 300 bucks in the process. That's 6 console games you can buy for not being an asshole.

Not that I know anything about this. It's a... friend of mine... or something.

You make a good point. As I stated, I have always been an avid PC gamer. I think it has a lot to offer, but the more frequent upgrade cycle does wear my already onion-skin thin wallet a little thinner.

It's one of the reasons I bought an Xbox. I enjoy both systems, but I can see a day coming when my PC will become mostly a tool and 95%+ of my gaming will be console oriented.

The next generation of consoles may do just that.
 
I don't know why people are using hardware cost as the cause of the supposed decline of pc gaming. PCs are cheaper now than what they use to be and you don't need the latest graphics card to enjoy the games. There is definitely a lack of variety in pc gaming (because of developers not willing to take risks due to increasing development costs), but I don't think that means pc gaming is dead.
 
sammy said:
do i not?[/B]

No you don't.

If you only played the games you named, then you really don't have any idea wtf is going on in the PC gaming world. You haven't played Rome: Total War, you haven't played Hearts of Iron II, you haven't played GTR, you haven't played Dawn of War, you haven't played you haven't played Sims 2, and these are just some PC exclusive games I played on the PC during the holidays season. I'm not even mentioning games with console versions like Chronicles of Riddick, NBA 2005, Collin McRae 2005, NFS:U2 etc.

Just because you're a console whore and buy more games for your consoles (half of which, I bet, can be played with better graphics on a PC..) does not mean good PC games are infrequent. You're just talking out of your ass without even the first clue when you say good PC games are so far in between that most are just elaborate benchmark programs. Let me change that, you're a certified moron if you say that.

There are just two reasons criticism against PC gaming seem to focus on:

1) OMFG! This is so techie, I feel like a dumbfuck!
2) OMFG! Graphics cards are so fucking expensive!

And both are just plain utter bullshit. It doesn't take being a certified network administrator or nVidia software debugger to play games on PCs. And saying pc graphics cards cost $500 is like saying all console games are $50. Wake up, high end cards can be found for as low as $300 these days and for $200 you can find something that will keep you entertained for at least two years. You think that's retarded? Then I think people who buy more than one console should be placed in mental institutions because by that scale they would become criminally insane.
 
The PC gaming industry fucked itself. Is it dead? Of course not but only because companies like ID, Valve and Blizzard keep it alive.
 
tahrikmili said:
No you don't.

If you only played the games you named, then you really don't have any idea wtf is going on in the PC gaming world. You haven't played Rome: Total War, you haven't played Hearts of Iron II, you haven't played GTR, you haven't played Dawn of War, you haven't played you haven't played Sims 2, and these are just some PC exclusive games I played on the PC during the holidays season. I'm not even mentioning games with console versions like Chronicles of Riddick, NBA 2005, Collin McRae 2005, NFS:U2 etc.

Just because you're a console whore and buy more games for your consoles (half of which, I bet, can be played with better graphics on a PC..) does not mean good PC games are infrequent. You're just talking out of your ass without even the first clue when you say good PC games are so far in between that most are just elaborate benchmark programs. Let me change that, you're a certified moron if you say that.

There are just two reasons criticism against PC gaming seem to focus on:

1) OMFG! This is so techie, I feel like a dumbfuck!
2) OMFG! Graphics cards are so fucking expensive!

And both are just plain utter bullshit. It doesn't take being a certified network administrator or nVidia software debugger to play games on PCs. And saying pc graphics cards cost $500 is like saying all console games are $50. Wake up, high end cards can be found for as low as $300 these days and for $200 you can find something that will keep you entertained for at least two years. You think that's retarded? Then I think people who buy more than one console should be placed in mental institutions because by that scale they would become criminally insane.


Look, I feel ya' brother. I love PC gaming, and it is a superior experience in a many ways. However, we're not talking about GA forum members. The percentage of people on this forum relative to the gaming public at large is not even a statistical blip.

I doubt that the majority of console gamers are even "techie" enough to find this forum. I see it on Xbox Live all the time. A while back, I was playing PGR2 with some guys, and just making conversation, I mentioned that I couldn't wait for HL2 to come out. Most of the responses were limited to "uhhhh", "errrr" or utter silence. BTW, that ilk of response wasn't confined to just one room. OTOH, maybe I would've gotten different responses in R63 BA room- I don't know.

Now that isn't exactly a valid statistical sample or method; however I think it is a small example of how out of touch a lot of people are with PC gaming. I couldn't believe it either. I thought EVVVVEEEERRRBODDDEEEE knew about Half Life 2. Hell, I'd been looking forward to that game for eons.

I hope for the best, but at the current rate, I don't have grand expectations for PC gaming. Maybe I'm wrong.
 
Nothing has killed the PC industry. The only thing that has been killed is growth, by PS2 and Xbox.


"gamecube games come out more often than pc games."

"And usually sell better too."

I wouldn't pat Nintendo on the back. While the PC industry isn't shrinking, Nintendo's console market is very quickly.



You don't have to pay tons to have a decent PC. Unless you buy it from someone. The PC market isn't for everyone.
 
I think Nintendo also believes the online market doesn't make profit. Tell that to Blizzard.
 
teh_pwn said:
I think Nintendo also believes the online market doesn't make profit. Tell that to Blizzard.
Well, they've just been burned repeatedly (Mobile GB, Radnet, BSX, FC Modem, etc). It's pretty clear online is the next step, otherwise why bother with WiFi in DS?
 
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