Lost HatterLOL Ask Blizzard and their like.... 20 million game subscribers

It has been said they have dropped down to around 10 million now and not all of those are active.

Also I think people are reading this wrong, they are not saying PC gaming is actually dead they are getting ready to come out with a new PC product.

WoW is down to 10 million subscribers and Diablo III is coming to consoles. Blizzard posted on Gamasutra last year looking for console lead developers.

BumbleBeeoh yeah and the fact all these companies keep saying PC GAMING ISN'T DEAD tells me there is a problem lol

They are merely marketing spiels. That doesn't necessarily mean "there is a problem" with PC gaming, but rather they're basing those spiels from the fears/perceptions on PC gaming. You can say that such perceptions are problematic, but that's being pedantic already.

PC GAMING IS ALIVE.. now go make peripherals people want.

BumbleBeeWoW is down to 10 million subscribers and Diablo III is coming to consoles. Blizzard posted on Gamasutra last year looking for console lead developers.

You mean a game that has been out for 8 years is losing popularity?

BumbleBeePC GAMING IS ALIVE..

Which wouldn't really mean much. I can also equally say that "the Greek economy is alive," even at its current state, simply because it still exists. Thus you are ignoring the "particulars", if you may, of the Greek economy.

Simply saying "PC gaming is alive" does not really supply much of an issue with which a marketing action could be based on.

entropy13Of course games would play "like crap" if you try a $300 PC to play at high resolutions, DX11, high graphics settings, etc. If you lower the resolution and the graphics settings (to 1280x720 for example), and stick with DX9, you'll be getting better performance than the consoles.

Right... so why would you bother with a console-like PC?

3volvedcombatIdk about that charts accuracy :laugh::roll:

I had someone offer me 200$ for my 160gb slim and controller, and that has been more then 1 offer in the past week, and I am not even selling it :laugh:

The console market basically consumes 50% of all kids in age groups 6-16. That's not counting the estimation of people across all ages that are still buying and using consoles.

When the new gen consoles come out, that graph is going to be smashed to bits

IMHO The cost and troubles(hardware/software) that are needed to get a localized experience of PC gaming that can run as good or better then xbox 360 in terms of graphics quality and resolution(500-720p) are what make it impossible to get enough popularity and competition between markets compared to the simple solution of getting a all-in-one gaming platform for under 300$.

The mass of publisher hate towards PC gaming is not helping anyways. Their is just a humongous market when it comes to consoles and game sales for consoles. The figures even represented on the internet could not possibly be right. Their is a massive underground and legal market when it comes to consoles and games. Just huge.

PC gaming might be growing in popularity and market, but even then it's got a long ways to go, and that's understatement.

Everybody I have seen with an Ipod has a game console in their house they touch or use, at least that I know of.
Half the people I know with Ipods don't even have computers, and use their consoles or friends laptops to load new music.
That's why my opinion is slightly shifted because of this reason alone.

The chart is fairly accurate. There was another one I was looking for that had actual sales figures, but couldn't find.

I suppose it depends on the circles you run in. Most everyone I know, at least has a PC of some sort. Some have consoles, some have consoles that they haven't used in a long time and have a layer of dust on them, and very few only have a console.
I think consoles are for the, not so bright, layperson that doesn't have the aptitude to use a PC in the first place. Perhaps that's a little harsh, but most console only gamers I've played with are, to put it nicely, misinformed. They think that console's function and play as well as PC's do. Then when I show them the difference in picture quality, sound quality, load times, the ability to play with any sort of input device, etc. They're literally blown away.
It was always great when a friend would come over see me playing a game and were like :twitch: what is that?!

Regardless, even though the market is large for a relatively small segment, 6-16, people always fail to realize that the previous generation of gamers, are now older, can afford more expensive equipment i.e PC's, and have the money to spend on lots of games. Whereas a kid, probably, not as much. Although there is the pester factor, but that's another debate.

Regardless, I think either way we look at it console and PC gaming is married. I think that developers finally realized that since they make the game ON a PC, it can't possibly be that difficult to port to a PC. And voilà, more profit, fatter cash cow, more revenue and so on.

I think the "Is PC gaming dead" debate is silly.

Alan Wake profits 48 hours in on PC.

www.tweaktown.com/news/22715/alan_wake_on_pc_was_profitable_within_48_hours/index.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

They just wanted to know how many people were willing to spend large $$$ on a "gaming laptop" marketing, it's all marketing :o

phanbueyRight... so why would you bother with a console-like PC?

For the same reason people bother with consoles. Technically consoles are indeed still "PCs", so all Alienware did is to make something "console-like" and "PC-ier" than consoles, so to speak.

entropy13For the same reason people bother with consoles. Technically consoles are indeed still "PCs", so all Alienware did is to make something "console-like" and "PC-ier" than consoles, so to speak.

That is where I think we disagree - people do not "bother" with consoles, they prefer them because bang/$ consoles are cheaper and give you a good gaming experience.

Console-like PC's on the other hand, seem to be the worst of both worlds - they give a poor PC gaming experience, which ends up being worse than console, they cost twice as much, and still have all the pain in the ass maintenance requirements (for normal people) of PC's. As a product it just doesn't make alot of sense. I like where the general idea behind it comes from, but I just dont see it working in reality.

phanbueyThat is where I think we disagree - people do not "bother" with consoles, they prefer them because bang/$ consoles are cheaper and give you a good gaming experience.

Console-like PC's on the other hand, seem to be the worst of both worlds - they give a poor PC gaming experience, which ends up being worse than console, they cost twice as much, and still have all the pain in the ass maintenance requirements (for normal people) of PC's. As a product it just doesn't make alot of sense. I like where the general idea behind it comes from, but I just dont see it working in reality.

I agree with that actually. That's why console renting is a booming business over here. It's so cheap to get consoles that renting them to people at a low price is still profitable.

Although that's not to say that "internet cafe's" aren't booming, since it still is, actually.


So that's why there are PCs at home, and then I rent console(s) somewhere else. Sometimes it's a PS3, sometimes a Xbox 360. And the TV's bigger than here at home.

i've been playin consoles since the Colico Vision of the 70's. Atari 2600 all the way through to the ps3 i own and play today. yes i own a gaming pc. to be quite honest i like both. i use my pc for fps,
rts, and some rpg's. i'll use my ps3 for fighting games(street fighter),racing games(GT5),and some rpg's(Metal Gear). it all boils down to what everybody in here already knows. MONEY.Imho console gamers dont even realize that consoles are in fact pc's. both have cpu's and gp's attached to a motherboard. Pc gaming aint dead or dying. its Evolving, and its only getting better and better.

If PC gaming is dead then what is the need for all the powerful video cards and CPU's? If there is no gaming then there is no need for supper powerful video cards no need for DX10 or 11 or any more DX improvements at all. No it is not dead it is just getting better. Fact is consoles have stagnated the gaming market, They are the death nail if there is one.

If Valve made their financials public, the question wouldn't need to be asked.

lol Roccat are the biggest trolls ever.

Next they will come out saying "Aren't Consoles better than PC?"

pffft...

erockerIf Valve made their financials public, the question wouldn't need to be asked.

Do they honestly need to? Aren't the sheer amount of steam accounts, sales and activity testament enough?

If PC games dies as a platform, product development cycles at Intel and AMD will slow down with it, and they know that. Microsoft's Windows sales might suffer, too.

If not for gaming, a typical PC user needn't upgrade from Athlon X2, and if not for gaming and API upgrade (DirectX 10/11), a Windows XP user needn't upgrade to Vista/7. People won't buy new PC hardware/software for longer periods.

AphexDreamerDo they honestly need to? Aren't the sheer amount of steam accounts, sales and activity testament enough?

Apparently not since these "PC gaming is dead" discussions pop up from time to time. Mr. Boardroom financial guy most likely doesn't know what Valve is since it's a private company. For as big as Valve is, they are overlooked far too often with discussions like this.

if it weren't for my windows games, i'd be on linux

erockerApparently not since these "PC gaming is dead" discussions pop up from time to time. Mr. Boardroom financial guy most likely doesn't know what Valve is since it's a private company. For as big as Valve is, they are overlooked far too often with discussions like this.

amen

good debate either way, Imho ( All ) people buy consoles because their cheaper (and for your son/daughter(xmass)) mostly, if they had the money ,and the opportunity to play on a decent gameing machine ,they wouldnt be buying exbox's

id put all the money i have(78p due to upgrades) we all had consoles but have now moved on as have gfx etc:D

now gimme a free mouse roccat ya fags thats all i wanna hear from you's:D

erockerApparently not since these "PC gaming is dead" discussions pop up from time to time. Mr. Boardroom financial guy most likely doesn't know what Valve is since it's a private company. For as big as Valve is, they are overlooked far too often with discussions like this.

Which is why I called Roccat a troll. Cause only trolls or ignorant people consider such a statement.

uber_cookieWill next Blizzard game be released on a video games console?

:nutkick:

Blizzard doesn't count. They are part of Activision now and since have ceased to exist as a legitimate game developer.

PC gaming may very come back and kill consoles - I'm not saying it's likely, but it is plausible.

The problem PCs had was piracy, diverse components, relative cost vs consoles for the grunt required to run stuff.

Steam and clones of Steam solve the piracy issue to at least some effect. Relative cost vs consoles can drop significantly with the way both AMD and Intel are shunting equivalent of entry level discrete GPUs into CPUs. Diverse components is becoming very much a thing of the past thanks to the seldom praised, but miraculous Direct X.

So in 5 years time can you imagine a PC gaming world where you can buy an AMD or Intel solution where sound, graphics and processing are rated to a specific level, where FIFA 18 comes out and says "Requires Grade 4 hardware" and as long as you were rated to grade 4 you could play it to a satisfactory level, but anyone with greater than grade 4 would see faster gameplay, better gameplay?

If you can imagine that then you can probably imagine lots of off the shelf solutions which have built in "smart TV" functions, console functions, media centre, email/browsing etc. If Dell can produce a decent gaming console style PC through Alienware then they could easily produce something that would run the majority of current games to a decent level for a few hundred dollars. As things progress then that would drop.

Pc gamming isn’t dead yet.
Although saying this pc gaming is not far from dying.
When I first starting gaming, it was on a NES at computers where at least $3000K. This was back in the early 90’s. I got a sega mega drive great console. Many memories. It wasn’t until I got a PC and started modding Quake 1 I realized PC gaming was the way of the future.
From there I went to many lan parties made mods even encoded MP3’s It use to take about 4 hours to convert a CD in to MP3’s. I use to dream of the day I would be able to play online. This day has come and gone.
More and more games are released with retard DLC or no dedicated servers or LAN modes. RTS use to be the only genre of games that consoles couldn’t compete with. But sadly RTS is a dying genre.

Can someone name a top selling RTS game that was made after 2007 with Lan support?
Or an FPS?
Over the years there have been many epic PC titles. One of my favorite developers Bullfrog where bought out by EA then rapped and hidden away. Although its good EA haven’t remade any of their games and killed them like they did to Westwood.

ID software are dead, there last release was crap. Pretty much everything after doom 3 has sucked, it may look good but it hasn’t had any real multilayer or been ground breaking.
Unreal tournament was an epic game sadly the 3rd game wasn’t as much fun as the first.
Games use to be based around LAN and multiplayer support. Now they are only based around multilayer. There are some good single player games. But most game companies just try and flog as many games as they can.
MODs, look at some of the top selling PC games counterstrike day of defeat they were once mods. Pretty much most of what would have been a free mod is now passed off for a game. The modding scene has been dying. Who to blame? EA? Blizzard? Pirates ? DLC? Or this is the way gaming has gone?

Most games now days a rehashes of old games. Although I don't mind spending some coin if its done right. When its done horribly wrong eg flatout 3 it makes you angry.
Is it just me or are games less inventive and less fun? Is there more shovel ware out there?