Is PC gamers heading for a disaster?

[ScSiDaN]

Games piracy aside, is the PC gamer/enthusiast and PC gaming as a whole heading for a disaster? While AMD/ATI and nVidia are all trying to bruise each others egos and bank balances, PC gaming is suffering because of this fight. All SLi and Crossfire has ever done for PC gaming is push the price of PC gaming and 3dmark scores, to new highs. While more and more PC games move to either be multi-platform releases or console exclusives with late releases on PC, all nVidia can do is shoot their mouths of at everyone, while AMD/ATi tells people to buy the under performing, expensive, spider platform. PC gaming is at the heart of graphic card sales. Without any PC gamers/enthusiasts and PC gaming, ATi and nVidia would not be the companies they are today. So why do they continue this pissing contest instead of securing PC titles? This will not only make it attractive for developers financially but PC games will become a showcase of game engines, graphic engines, etc. In turn they will sell more cards. But the wisdom that is in the PC GPU industry has left the door wide open for either PC gaming to disappear completely and with it the PC gamer/enthusiast or for Intel to completely dominate the PC market with its new CPU/GPU combo’s.

 

[DaMulta]

Yes, and no


PC is here to stay for now, but we will get more and more ports. Plus they are starting to release them a few months after the consoles which will get even worse.

 

[JC316]

I doubt that PC gaming will ever die. We have plenty of top name games coming out, they are just taking a while to make it. Star craft 2 comes to mind. While other games may be multi platform, the PC versions are almost always better due to better hardware and the all mighty mouse/keyboard combo. The summer slump always leads to this type of talk, once winter hits, the games will be flowing freely again.

 

[btarunr]

Yes, why did Crysis sell below-par with Crytek's expectations? Because not everyone could play the game. On the contrary, almost everyone gets to play WoW.

Okay, I spend $2000 in building a half-decent PC only to discover that the game I'm about to buy is optimised for the hardware I don't have, and that it 'underperforms' on my hardware. Why shouldn't I kick PC gaming and for the same $2000 buy a gaming console, large screen and a decent 5.1 speaker set?

Only big companies that are willing to shed their corporate-vendetta and focus more on the consumer can rescue PC games.

 

[Silverel]

Games piracy aside, is the PC gamer/enthusiast and PC gaming as a whole heading for a disaster? While AMD/ATI and nVidia are all trying to bruise each others egos and bank balances, PC gaming is suffering because of this fight. All SLi and Crossfire has ever done for PC gaming is push the price of PC gaming and 3dmark scores, to new highs. While more and more PC games move to either be multi-platform releases or console exclusives with late releases on PC, all nVidia can do is shoot their mouths off at everyone, while AMD/ATi tells people to buy the under performing, expensive, spider platform. PC gaming is at the heart of graphic card sales. Without any PC gamers/enthusiasts and PC gaming, ATi and nVidia would not be the companies they are today. So why do they continue this pissing contest instead of securing PC titles? This will not only make it attractive for developers financially but PC games will become a showcase of game engines, graphic engines, etc. In turn they will sell more cards. But the wisdom that is in the PC GPU industry has left the door wide open for either PC gaming to disappear completely and with it the PC gamer/enthusiast or for Intel to completely dominate the PC market with its new CPU/GPU combo’s.

:shadedshu

PC gaming is as healthy as its ever been, the only thing that has changed is the sheer volume of things. The console market has diluted the impact of the PC for gaming due to the number of different consoles out there. I personally own a NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, Dreamcast, PS1+2, and an Xbox. Yet only have a single PC. Combine every game that I own for all those consoles, and it would easily fit on a single HD. There's a different appeal for console gaming vs. PC gaming. Console gaming is done on a couch, in front of your TV, at horrible resolutions, and usually with friends in person. It's a social aspect that has always been a part of it.

If anything, the Wii, 360, and PS3 have finally gotten something almost right with online gaming. Now you can sit on your couch and play with other people. More often than not, the Wii is still a social IRL system though. It's about entertaining friends and family, or the quick and casual games. PS3 and 360 are much close to the PC market, essentially copying their strategy of high detail, immersive games, and online playability. PC's generally excel after the "Next Gen" consoles have hit their wall in graphics and capacity. It's not surprising that they're under question considering how much power you can get from a console. Or can you?

Consoles play in 1080p if you're lucky, have a HDTV, and the right cables to hook it all up. Drop any PC game down to that resolution, and you'll get a lot better gameplay than the reviews you see where everything is benchmarked at 1600+. PC's have a vast advantage in downloadable content, customization, online play, adaptability, and upgrades. Want better graphics on your console? Wait a few years . Want better graphics on your PC? Done! Shipping in 3-5 business days.

Compare next-gen consoles to the PC, and it doesn't look so bad. Compare ALL consoles, and its significantly worse. People don't buy PC after PC after PC when they want better performance. It's more often than not a gradual upgrade path, and can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. GPU companies aren't hurting for consumer level sales either, GPU's are not made for gaming. The ones that are, are downgrades of the GPUs made for business CAD and rendering. They do work, very necessary work. Not gonna disappear anytime soon, if ever.

Is PC gaming dying? No, not at all. Games development is slowing down due to the enormous amount of time it takes to fully utilize the current technologies. Pick your poison, want more games of lower quality (i.e. games only rendered up to 1080p, designed for 20 hours of playtime), or less games of high quality (i.e. opposite of above)? I'll take both, and they can be had for the PC. Sony, M$, and Nintendo are marketing monsters. PC's don't have anything to rally around, and they never have because they don't need it. Don't let the man pull the wool over your eyes, they just want you to buy their crap that can't last more than 3 years without feeling dated.

 

[Azazel]

most pc games i play are fps, strategy games and mmorpg...everything else i play is on console...i think strategy, mmorpg and fps games will alway be better on pc...and

 

[Keiki]

If you think about it, a PS3 only costs $399.99 while a top of the line video card from Nvidia or Ati would cost even more than that, upwards of $499.99 so what exactly is keeping gamers from getting a PS3 instead of a computer? A PS3, when played on a nice HD tv is on par and may even have better graphics than a top end computer with the best hardware.

As for the mouse and keyboard, the consoles now have usb ports, although I'm not too sure if a mouse/keyboard can be plugged in to them, that is a possibility. Furthermore, you can surf the web and play online with the consoles now, which before was the advantage of playing games on the PC.

So what does this boil down to? We all need computers, that's a fact, whether it be doing work or watching movies or surfing the web. However, we don't need to play games on computers if many of the games are already out for the consoles and the fact that a video card can potentially cost as much as a PS3 or a Xbox 360. And also if you look at how often video cards are coming out now, even if you buy the top of the line video card right now, 1 year later it may be mid-end and suddenly you can't play games at top resolutions any more without upgrading. For the consoles, it will take at least 3-5 years before they become obsolete.

The solution would be if the video card makers cut prices to remain competitive and also optimize games on the PC so that video cards don't become obsolete so fast... but that's not going to happen.

 

[DrPepper]

If you think about it, a PS3 only costs $399.99 while a top of the line video card from Nvidia or Ati would cost even more than that, upwards of $499.99 so what exactly is keeping gamers from getting a PS3 instead of a computer? A PS3, when played on a nice HD tv is on par and may even have better graphics than a top end computer with the best hardware.

Well I have to disagree with that since an 8800gt these days only cost ~£100 and is easily capable of better graphics e.g crysis on high. By adding a mouse and keyboard it becomes a pc with reduced functions. Also if you prefer the controller for gaming for years you have been able to attach one to the pc. Also 8 series cards and 2xxx series can be bought for £20 upwards capable of playing most games these days. As for consoles i see them more as a social thing, All our friends meet up play guitar hero on the wii, or super smash bro's melee then go home and play fps and rts on the pc.

 

[FatForester]

Well, I was going to make a witty comment regarding the typo in the title, but eh. Keiki- just because a PS3 costs $400 dollars doesn't mean it performs like a $400 (or $500 for that matter) video card. Also, comparing a PS3 and saying it has better performance than a top end computer is nonsense. Saying that video cards only last a year before they're useless is even more ridiculous! The reasons consoles are so successful is because they're really easy to set up and have a more social flair to them. To most people computers are intimidating, which is why they think they need $500 dollar video cards to get decent performance as well as constantly have to upgrade.

If you buy say an 8800GT today, in a year it won't magically explode because it is a year old and thus "obsolete". The video card department has always been incredibly competitive, so I'm not sure where you're getting the illusion that it isn't. DAAMIT and nVidia are always releasing new hardware, which means the other has to constantly adjust prices to be able to sell their product. Just because they release a whole new batch of hardware every 6 months doesn't mean that what you bought turns to crap. I'm not really sure where my point went, I just really hate ignorance.

 

[Squirrely]

For me, I like PC's because of the ability to customize it. Consoles are so limiting with what you can do, it kinda bugs me. The OS's let you do only one thing, play games. I like to be able to pause a game (if not online) Alt-Tab out, and check messenger, or something similar. On a console you just cant really do that.

But also, as everybody else has said, consoles have a social advantage. Plopping down on your La-Z-Boy with a couple of friends on the couch playing Halo 3 can be fun. A PC really can't beat that.

I see one of PC's advantage exactly like what Silverel said:

Want better graphics on your console? Wait a few years . Want better graphics on your PC? Done! Shipping in 3-5 business days.

That is just something you can not get in a console.

On the other hand, PC's are much faster than consoles. Look at the xbox 360, Microsoft is just getting to making the CPU 65nm, it should of been that way since a while ago, since the technology was there. That is why games are so much better, since most people who have it, have the hardware to push it. If a game creator makes a game for the Xbox 360, or PS3, they can only make it so "demanding" if you would say. There is no person with a better Xbox 360 that can push pixels faster than another. (Unless MS have been improving the speed of a Xbox 360 over the revisions.)

PC games have quality settings. You can still play Crysis with a crappy graphics card. It will not look good, but you can still play it. But if someone has two GX2's in SLI for example, they are able to put it on the highest quality and play it quite well.

Overall, I think PC gaming is doing quite well. Look at Mirror's Edge for example, looks like sweet game. More and more games are being ported, it just takes a while.

Well, thats my two cents.

 

[DrPepper]

Also what console can your browse the net on is it a ps3 (Must resist urge to be pc fanboy)

 

[v-zero]

"Are" PC gamers heading for a disaster?

In a word, no, the industry is healthy and is still the most developer-friendly. Also, considering that steam uptake is becoming very common it seems likely that piracy will drop as prices for PC games fall from the inflated high street prices to the more realistic internet prices.

Is PC game exclusivity ending?

Basically, yes.

 

[lyricalgamer]

consoles are only fun to an extent,and most people dont oen 1080p hdtv's,so they play all their ps3 and x360 games at 720p.but anyone with a half decent pc,plays upward of that resolution.and who says graphic cards get outdated within a year or so,this is only true for the mid range cards,as they are not so high performing,but save up a bit and buy a midrange-high card,it will stand the test of time for a few years or so,like the 8800gts or the gt,both can handle any games currently with ease,and the dont cost a arm and a leg.also there is this sort of satisfaction when you buy a pc with the current balance of components for the correct price.lol,makes you feel like a true pc gamer!

 

[Keiki]

If you look at my post, I didn't say that video cards would explode after a year, I said that if you buy a top end video card, after a year you can't play games at the ultra high resolutions with all the eyecandy AA and AF that you bought it for. I also did not talk about the budget cards such as the 8800gt, I was referring more on the lines of the 9800GX2.

If you look on the consoles, they have much better value as they last much longer and will always give you nice looking games.

Have you ever wondered why the initial games out on the PS2 and the games that come out after that look different? It's because the developers optimize the graphics for the hardware, without forcing people to upgrade the PS2.

Why can't we do that for PC games? It's because video cards need a selling point, it's because they push new video cards so rapidly they need people to have a reason to buy them.

If you buy say an 8800GT today, in a year it won't magically explode because it is a year old and thus "obsolete". The video card department has always been incredibly competitive, so I'm not sure where you're getting the illusion that it isn't. DAAMIT and nVidia are always releasing new hardware, which means the other has to constantly adjust prices to be able to sell their product. Just because they release a whole new batch of hardware every 6 months doesn't mean that what you bought turns to crap. I'm not really sure where my point went, I just really hate ignorance.

 

[lyricalgamer]

the 8800gt is abudget card wit excelent performance to boot,and it wont bcome obsolete anytym soon.

 

[imperialreign]

IDK - the way it's been looking for the last year or two, we're starting to see a definitive split between console and PC games (if you remove all the ported titles)


PC games have been pushing what our systems are capable of, while console games are lagging . . . I've noticed that if a game is going to be ported, they develop for the console first, and then port to the PC . . . if developers were to do it the other way around, you'd see massive differences between the PC and console versions in way of graphics, gameplay, engine capabilities, physics, etc.


This has left, IMO, a rather bland PC gaming market, as these ported games are still console games at heart - the action is intense, quick and so repetitive that it becomes boring rather quick . . . PC games have lost their complexity, their depth, and their ability to make the player think.

But, it all boils down to the fact that the vast majority of gamers are glued to their consoles, and many of them won't even consider playing on a good gaming rig. Its too easy to turn a console on whenever, play for 30min, save and exit - big thing the PC gaming industry has, though - no "loading zones" every 15min, 3rd party modifications, official patches, and game prices that don't hang out at $60+ for 1.5 years.



The way I look at it, though, as long as they keep developing FPS games, the PC gaming market will still hold out. FPS suck on consoles, and are inherently handicapped; don't believe me? Go load up Shadowrun and see how quick you'll pwn the console players - even with the impossed handicaps on PC players to balance the game.

RTS games also tend to be more suited for the PC as well.



The PC market isn't going anywhere anytime soon - IMO, it's quickly making a swift comeback, and I think the tables are going to turn between the markets.

 

[FatForester]

If you look at my post, I didn't say that video cards would explode after a year, I said that if you buy a top end video card, after a year you can't play games at the ultra high resolutions with all the eyecandy AA and AF that you bought it for. I also did not talk about the budget cards such as the 8800gt, I was referring more on the lines of the 9800GX2.

If you look on the consoles, they have much better value as they last much longer and will always give you nice looking games.

Have you ever wondered why the initial games out on the PS2 and the games that come out after that look different? It's because the developers optimize the graphics for the hardware, without forcing people to upgrade the PS2.

Why can't we do that for PC games? It's because video cards need a selling point, it's because they push new video cards so rapidly they need people to have a reason to buy them.

I understand your point, but not being able to play new games with all the eye candy on older hardware happens on both consoles and PCs. With a console, if anything you're more stuck in terms of graphics than on a PC. After developers tweak a console, those graphics are the best you're going to see until the next console comes out years later. I could change around the sentence to "If you look on PCs, they have much better value as they last much longer and will always give you nice looking games." and it would make just as much sense. PCs if anything are optimized just as much as consoles are. What do you think drivers are for?

 

[Darknova]

If you think about it, a PS3 only costs $399.99 while a top of the line video card from Nvidia or Ati would cost even more than that, upwards of $499.99 so what exactly is keeping gamers from getting a PS3 instead of a computer? A PS3, when played on a nice HD tv is on par and may even have better graphics than a top end computer with the best hardware.

As for the mouse and keyboard, the consoles now have usb ports, although I'm not too sure if a mouse/keyboard can be plugged in to them, that is a possibility. Furthermore, you can surf the web and play online with the consoles now, which before was the advantage of playing games on the PC.

So what does this boil down to? We all need computers, that's a fact, whether it be doing work or watching movies or surfing the web. However, we don't need to play games on computers if many of the games are already out for the consoles and the fact that a video card can potentially cost as much as a PS3 or a Xbox 360. And also if you look at how often video cards are coming out now, even if you buy the top of the line video card right now, 1 year later it may be mid-end and suddenly you can't play games at top resolutions any more without upgrading. For the consoles, it will take at least 3-5 years before they become obsolete.

The solution would be if the video card makers cut prices to remain competitive and also optimize games on the PC so that video cards don't become obsolete so fast... but that's not going to happen.

Wow, I'm going to have to agree with FatForester, this ignorance in this post is overwhelming.

My £130 graphics card performs better than a 360 or PS3. PS3 costs £299, cheapest 360 is £160.

And why are so many people obsessed with this whole High Def BULLSHIT. PC Gamers have been gaming in this so called "high def" for far longer than consoles have. Even TV shows have been shot at what could be called "mid def" (1280x800) resolution for decades, but they broadcast it at a much lower res (640x480).

And so far, the reason consoles have taken a lot longer to become "obsolete" is because they have never embraced the latest and greatest tech, because they've never needed to. All the past generations have been using 640x480, so they've never needed the latest and greatest.

Also, my 1950XT (that's now what? 2-2.5 years old?) can still play Crysis at 1680x1050 at Medium and look fantastic.

Now, I would like to point out a prime example of what makes PC Gaming great.

A game we all know, Oblivion. What does Oblivion on the PC have over Oblivion on consoles? Enough user content to add thousands of hours on top of the basic 60+ hour main/side quests. That makes the PC far superior in my opinion.

And in your last statement, you imply that it's the graphics card makers fault for poorly optimised games. In fact it is sub-standard devs, and heavy-handed companies that force the game out before it's ready, that make poorly optimised games.

Vampire Bloodlines is the greatest example of this. A bloody Bug-fest because Activision forced it out before it was ready, it even forced Troika into bankruptcy because of it.

 

[k0rn_h0li0]

okay consoles i have to say are my second favorite cause of all the online stuff and you know gameplay

for pc i think that techonology is going to quick and look at how the economy is doing. parts are easy to come by now and then but then it starts getting obsolete and gamers want to spend more money on parts than they do on consoles.

i don't think the pc age will last very long as companies start to spend more money on chips while the economy slopes then i believe to having them make cheaper parts for cheaper prices like how amd is doing right now

i rather save money and just like buy online subs to a console than rather bust 200-300 dollars on a part that probably voids warranty if i mess with it and then if it were to break have to spend time to get it in and out for replacement.

oh its all about cross-fire and sli. and your point is? yeah can i play the game or not?

oh yeah starcraft 2 is out but why would that game stress out our computer and for a game like that i wouldn't put money into graphics and seeing wow can it get any better. i just stick to the easy save money for the summer coming up and gas being at 4 dollars a gallon i rather smoke or something

 

[imperialreign]

okay consoles i have to say are my second favorite cause of all the online stuff and you know gameplay

for pc i think that techonology is going to quick and look at how the economy is doing. parts are easy to come by now and then but then it starts getting obsolete and gamers want to spend more money on parts than they do on consoles.

i don't think the pc age will last very long as companies start to spend more money on chips while the economy slopes then i believe to having them make cheaper parts for cheaper prices like how amd is doing right now

i rather save money and just like buy online subs to a console than rather bust 200-300 dollars on a part that probably voids warranty if i mess with it and then if it were to break have to spend time to get it in and out for replacement.

oh its all about cross-fire and sli. and your point is? yeah can i play the game or not?

oh yeah starcraft 2 is out but why would that game stress out our computer and for a game like that i wouldn't put money into graphics and seeing wow can it get any better. i just stick to the easy save money for the summer coming up and gas being at 4 dollars a gallon i rather smoke or something

but, again, this boils down to the differences between games being developed for PC first, or being developed for console first

if they game is developed solely for PC, multi-GPU setups are almost a must (Crysis, i.e.); and these games that task the ever loving crap out of PC hardware will never make it to console.

But, if a game has been devloped on console first, and then ported to PC - 4-gen old PC hardware will run the game quite well, and if you have current hardware, there's nothing to worry about.

PC parts don't become obsolete unless you want to play at the forefront of tech hardware - but usually, somewhat older parts will get the job done just fine.



I'd rather pay $250 or so every few years for the newest GPU, than spend $400 every couple of years for the newest console. Not to mention backwards compatibility. I can still get old school games to run well on my machine; can a console go back 3 generations? Not unless you have that console laying around.



And, then there's the emulation we have here for PCs as well - don't think the console world is oblivious to the effects of piracy. We don't need a $400 console to play a console game.

 

[Xolair]

I'm not sure if PC gaming is about to die, but it's ''slowing down'' as far as I can see it.

Sure PC has better graphics, mouse/keyboard combo and such, lately I've just begun to appreciate ''the comfort and the easyness'' of the consoles. When you get a console, you do have to live with that for years to come while PC catches up and exceeds the graphical boundaries, but even so I'm slightly fed up with the PC nowadays. Piracy is running wild and many game-makers are deciding to not release games ONLY for PC, because of the cheap-ass bastards who download games instead of buying them legally. There's not a long distance from this current situation to a lot worse one. Also all the viruses, errors and such are quite discomforting, but then again you get that with the consoles, at least the X360 breaking down with its earlier models. PC gaming has all the advantages that have been mentioned here, such as mods but these could easily be implemented into the consoles, perhaps as a symbiosis with PC and transferring mods into a console.

Maybe it's just the lack of money talking, but I just am not too keen with computers right now. I don't hate them, but my liking has slowly began to degrade. You don't have to spend 500$ every month on a new part, but that's almost the picture I've gotten lately about the PC scene, not much more than 3DMark fuzz and multiplayer games such as WoW or CoD4 happen on this platform anymore. All the better games (yet again, this is all my opinion) come to the consoles. If videogames kept on a hold in technological leaps, well, at least slowed them down a bit, I'd like the PC scene more, now there's new GPUs and stuff coming out almost every half a year and in 1½-2 years you should be upgrading your computer to get similar performance than you did that time ago and spending some 1000$ every two years. It's not much by the standards of some people, but others don't get quite as good salary. Consoles offer a certain visual range that can't be exceeded after reaching it, but so what? Then you can look for alternative methods of appeal, different and unique colour schemes etc. Graphic appeal lasts to a certain degree, but if there's nothing else there than it all fails. But I do admit that I like great graphics, no denials on that.

Guess I'm more of a gamer than a hardware enthusiast, but the consoles seem like a better option for me right now. I'll probably game on one until I get sufficient funds to get my own system and hopefully by then PC gaming is still somewhat alive. I just see the vision that at this speed, in the future no one won't be playing nothing more than online games and some occasional titles that come like waterdrops into a huge ocean of piracy, from the bigger tables of the all-ruling consoles in which all the game-makers would rely on for all the profits and all the best games. Hopefully this wouldn't happen.

As for now (at least), I'll put the PC scene to a hold on my behalf and see if it's all just a twisted ''mind-trick'' created by the horrible success of Crysis, or a real problem in the horizon.

 

[Nitro-Max]

I do prefer pc gaming mouse accuracy in 1st person shooters is alot better than a pad and also moves faster but the games releases for a pc is slow and normally a long wait i think more titles should come out in a year you might get 2 or 3 good games that can be played online but the 360ps3 etc release games all the time.

 

[beyond_amusia]

So why do they continue this pissing contest instead of securing PC titles?

Ah... companies love to piss all over eachother's feet though, and all we can do is hope we don't get splashed with it....

I personally feel that people get councils because they are either clueless about PCs or cannot afford a good one, and game makers see this, so they target the 360, Wii, and PS3 first, and if enough people bitch, they will give us a PC version with outrageous requirements, because somehow even a Wii must be able to out do any PC. =/ (in other words, they are givin us bloated games)

When Fable 2 launches I will have to pray they keep in mind that not all of us want a stupid 360 for one game.

 

[DrPepper]

Piracy is running wild and many game-makers are deciding to not release games ONLY for PC, because of the cheap-ass bastards who download games instead of buying them legally.

Well if you look on the pirate bay you would see alot of ripped xbox games and the big one that comes to mind is GTAIV since my friend brought his downloaded version to school. I wouldn't say that was the reason they are taking so long to release games but think of the size of games nowadays; flight simulator X 15gb, ghost recon 4-5gb, medieval 2 total war + expansion 10gb. Surely it must take alot of time even for huge companies to write that many lines of code + test all of it for bugs, optimising it etc.

 

[imperialreign]

piracy affects both PC and console


the PC market itself has just been shaky for the last 2 years. Intel and nVidia have lead the hardware parade, and that has kept hardware prices through the roof, which is what has turned off a lot of new gamers from the PC realm. Costly hardware, and super spec games haven't helped at all.

Hopefully, though, when we start seeing some DX10 games that have been coded from the ground up, and new hardware that is capable of competing with the lynchpins, the PC market will start evening back out and become cost reasonable again.