[PC] Decline of PC Gaming?

PC Gaming isn't on the decline because of hardware. PC Games have always fluctuated in 3 to 4 year cycles where the new stuff won't work with older hardware. Perhaps some of you don't remember when you couldn't play 66mhz games with 33mhz processors, but I do.

There's a huge base of gamers that do know the ins-and-outs of their PCs, and do pay the money to keep up in terms of the hardware. That's because a lot of PC Gamers aren't 13, and actually have paying jobs and an income. You're also paying for more than just a gaming platform when you buy a PC. It doesn't matter if you can use a mouse and keyboard on an Xbox, nobody is going to game on it like they do a PC. Using it as so is just redundant, and leads to a lot of software compatibility issues.

Consoles are starting to lose a lot of the appeal they used to have. It's getting to the point where you can't even purchase complete games anymore. The online sweetspot has given console developers casus belli to justify early releases followed by the extensive patching that has plagued PC Gaming since its inception. The pre-requisite of unstable HD standards is also going to create huge dents in gamer's pocketbooks, since they'll be shelling out over a thousand dollars for a television that may not even be viable in the next two years in addition to the original 300-600 dollars they payed for the console. The only company that isn't adopting these trends seems to be Nintendo, which is why the Wii will be the first Nintendo console I've owned since the original NES.

The fact of the matter is that consoles are beginning to cost as much to make as mid-range PCs. The PS3 costs over a thousand dollars US to make, yet Sony is only selling it for 600 in the hopes that software sales will subsidize their cost of production. That's a lot of games for the average owner to buy, which is pushing it, since the lowest common denominator isn't like you and me, and has an extensive game library.

PC Gaming is on the decline because PC games suck. Don't believe me? Let's take a look at the big genres as they stand today compared to a couple years ago.

Modern Role Playing games barely qualify as roleplaying experiences to begin with. I don't see how you can say roleplaying gamers are sure to love Oblivion when that title has more in common with Grand Theft Auto than franchises like Fallout, KOTOR, and the early Ultima series that create tangible consequences in the game world based on the player's choices. Low-budget offerings are on the right track, but they get no real exposure. That a lot of them tend to be developed in Europe doesn't help either.

First Person Shooters are a dime a dozen. HL2 had great single player and multiplayer, but it serves more as a springboard for Steam than anything else. Valve's pay-to-play content doesn't hold a candle to what free mods used to offer. I love DoD: Source, but it doesn't hold a candle to the original Day of Defeat in terms of what it offers. 3rd parties can't just code-in the British, after all. HL2:ep1 is the same stuff you played in the original HL2, only with an incremental story progression and more shots of Alyx's ass. Everybody likes the first Sin episode, of course, but there's a very legitimate concern over whether or not 6 hours of gameplay is worth 20 dollars.

Doom3 was a great single player experience, but its multiplayer is very noob-hostile in terms of its accessibility (people who have played Quake 3 for the past 6 years are much more knowlegeable of Id's engine dynamics than people like me). Quake 4, not surprisingly was phenomenally average, and Call of Duty 2 lacked some of the lustre of its predecessor while offering little more in terms of its multiplayer. It also doesn't help, I suppose, that a lot of these titles are cross-platform releases, and as a result have been "dumbed down" by PC standards.

RTSes are just lame. I'm sorry, but whether it's Swords and Sworcery, or starships and phasers, it's all the same shit from a decade ago. RTSes are only truly great when the playable factions are well balanced between each other, and the gameplay actually involves a level of strategy. Supreme Commander seems poised to offer these, but the rest of the genre falls flat on its face. Even the sweetspot tactical RTSes are lacking in a lot of respects. Having to cater to their small online element, Rome: Total War had AI that was even dumber than in Medieval, and the player could simply hold back and decimate the AI with arrows before moving in for the kill. Granted, this is how the English defeated the French with the longbow, but the difference between the French and Rome's AI is that the French actually fought.

Other than that, I honestly can't comment much on RTSes. The Warhammer 40k game Dawn of War seemed pretty solid, but I could only repeat what I've heard through 2nd hand.

Honestly, what's going to save PC Gaming is digital distribution and its accessibility to independant developers. Steam is great and all but Valve makes a lot of shady business practices, which is why the advent of Galactic Civilizations 2 has proven the viability of the PC as a future gaming platform.

Galciv2 proved a lot of things:

1. Copy Protection is horseshit. Galciv2 had no cd copy protection, and yet it still rose to the top of Wal-Mart's retail charts. This disproves the notion that gaming sales have gone down because of piracy, as opposed to the fact that PC games just suck.

2. Digital Distribution is a great way to make more money for developers. With the distributor taken out of the picture, that means a bigger slice of the pie for developers themselves, which supplements the cost of developing the next project. Galciv2 itself wouldn't have been possible if it hadn't been for the online success of the Windows Galciv, which created a lot of revenue for Stardock. Not bad for a 10 man development team, eh?

3. People aren't interested in the name as much as they are by the gameplay. Publishers latch onto franchises like they were candy found on the street, preserved in its wrapper. Fallout, Ultima, X-Com, Command & Conquer, countless franchises have fallen by the wayside because their sequels failed to offer experiences that satisfied the original fandom. Galciv 2 proved this by offering gameplay that Masters of Orion fans loved, but wasn't offered at all in MOO3. It isn't about the name of the game that draws people, or even the narrative. It's the game.

The future of PC gaming depends in a large part on how many companies are willing to follow Stardock's example. The end result would be a lot of low-budget titles that are accessible and fun to play while making the process viable to independant developers. Sure you'd still have your big-budget successes like your FEARs, and Half-Life 2s, but niche gaming is what will support the PC as a gaming platform, and really that's what PC Gaming has always been to the mainstream: a niche.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

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What do you mean? There are persons how like to play with keyboard + mouse rathar than a gamepad? What has it to do with decline of the PC gaming?

It's a pre-emptive argument against people who would use mouse and keyboard attachments on their consoles to get PC-like controls with First Person Shooters while also acting as a double-whammy to defend against people that mod their Xboxes to function like computers.

The idea being that it isn't the platform that is the problem.

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And I haven't understood this sentence: "It's getting to the point where you can't even purchase complete games anymore."

A "Complete Game" has certain connotations for a lot of people, but in this case I'm referring specifically to the issues that are involved in a game launch. It used to be, before you could patch games, that releases needed to be bug-free in order to sell well. It didn't matter what speed internet connection you had, it didn't even matter if you did have the internet, it wasn't an issue. That was one of the benefits to console gaming that can no longer be particularly touted.

Nintendo becomes the exception, since even though they're starting to receive a lot of 3rd party support, they're still requiring all games to have a seal of approval. This is a kind of quality assurance that doesn't exist anywhere anymore.

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Again? This argument is getting tired, the X360 doesn't require any HDTV, it supports it but will also work on any TV that has a SCART or composite plugs, i.e. any TV that's not 20 years old. I still don't know about the PS3 but I doubt they'll require anything asides the SCART/composite. This is the so called 'Wii talk' where Nintendo fans rant against XBox360/PS3 pseudo requirements...

Yet they do require High Definition televisions to enable a lot of their features, as well as provide imagery that competes with the current level of PC graphical capabilities. In short, I hope you enjoy paying money for features you can't use.

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Go figure... the Wii also connects to the internet so there's space for 99999 patches games too.

Which fails to take into account Nintendo's quality assurance. If anything, the Wii being connected to the internet will mean more downloadable content as opposed to required patches. Granted, this does leave the gate open for them, but doing so means that Nintendo has given up on part of the business practice that has made them such a successful niche group.

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Anyway you can get a 360 for 300€, I dare you to find/build a PC with the same horsepower a 360 has for just 300€.

I don't intend to. On the other hand, you can use the PC for more than just gaming. If we get down to la nitty gritty, I COULD build a PC with the same horsepower as a 360 if it meant that I wouldn't have necessary components for, like, having a PC. What people predominantly associate with gaming in terms of PCs, the video cards, are only half the cost of the current consoles if you're buying last-generation or last-iteration video cards, which would last you about 3 to 4 years as it was.

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Depends on the prices and conditions, for example some time ago I wanted to buy Legacy of Kain: Defiance, if I bought as a digital ditribuition I would pay 20€, I would need to activate it and then reactivate everytime I play it on a diferent PC. That means this PC would need to be connected to the internet, if it wasn't I wouldn't be able to play, plus you only get 5 free reactivations then you have to pay again for a game that it's yours.
The retail/CD version costs 8€...

See, this is the flaming retard realm of Digital Distribution, and fails to take into account anything that makes it beneficial to both the developer, and the consumer. I mean, honestly, when you can have your own copy for half the price, why even bother in the first place?

Double Post:
devil already covered a few things, so I'm going to pick up his slack.

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PC lacks variety in games.

Nigger please. As if your anime-fighter battle menus, platformers, and beat-em-ups are anything to shake a stick at.

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PC needs upgrades every year,new tech comes in which then is applied in new games making your card obsolete.

This is horseshit. Who has even had to upgrade their hardware in a year unless they've bought aging cards to begin with? Upgrading PC hardware is all about making large jumps as opposed to keeping up with the pace of what's "hip" and "happenin."

OH GOOOOD I CAN'T ENABLED HDR LIGHTING WHAT WILL BECOME OF MY GAMING EXPERIENCE!!!!!? =(((((((

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How many of you guys think ,your PC can run upcoming CRYSIS?...lol.

Just the ones with 64-bit processors and decent video cards. If I made the leap to 64-bit I could run Crysis with the rest of my hardware. Closer inspection of Crysis, however, reveals a graphical and gaming leap that's extraordinarily incremental.

Here's footage of chinks in a jungle! Trees fall down! EXCITING!

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PC is best for repetitive online games,RTS and FPS with refurbished ideas.

I'm not even going to touch repetition again. You're failing to take into account, though, the kind of point-and-click interface that makes the PCRPG. I'd like to see drag-and-drop menu systems and radial combat menus on the console. Oh wait, you can't have those, I forgot.

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PC lacks creativity.

=/

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Evry PC hit also comes on consoles.

To be played with an inferior control scheme, and more often than not, inferior graphics. Oh wait, I forgot, you can pay 20 more dollars for the same game on the 360. Silly me.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Never tried clicking on something on your map, huh?

Skexis brought up Spore in my chocojournal, and that seems to be a game that'll blow people's minds. Biosphere is also set to offer a great horror roleplaying experience. Sure it'll be on the Xbox360, but do you really want to play it on an Xbox? =/

PC Gaming may not be dying yet.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

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When i said VARIETY i meant more GENRE'S.More than 3 i.e RTS,MMORPG and FPS.

So how about simulators (which encompass a wide variety of titles from flight simulators, to business, to racing, to space sims, to the Sims family), or Turb-Based Strategy, or 4x games, or galactic exploration, CRPGs, Adventure games, puzzle games, tactical combat. The list goes on and on and on.

And since you seem confident enough to bring up future titles, what do you have to say about Spore? A game where you determine the evolution of a species from a single-celled organism in the primordial soup to a galaxy-faring race?

Don't talk to me about variety or innovation. XIII was one of the most underrated FPSes to date, but I suppose you wouldn't know anything about that.

As for your wide range of genres:

Zelda series. Action RPG
Metroid prime. FPS/platformer
MGS series Stealth shooter (hello Thief)
"Fighting games like DOA,Tekken,SoulCaliber,you cant even begin to imagine playing fighting games on PC...lol" I could if I owned a gamepad. Too bad there isn't a market for it, though, since fighters are about as interchangeable as your child's kidneys. Soul Calibur and Virtua Fighter 4 are great games swimming in an ocean of bile.
GT series. Racing sim.
PGR series. More racing.
Mario. Platformer.
Jak and Daxter,Ratchet series. Platformers.
HALO series. First Person Shooter
FinalFantasy series. Calling this an RPG is a laugh. Calling the genre innovative is HILARIOUS. Steambot and FFXII are exceptions to the rule, not the example.

So aside from Fighters and Platformers, how much genre variety does the console honestly have?

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And now every developer is considering 360 first and ideal platform.
Id software and Valve for example.

Bull fucking shit. Unless you call lacklustre support a consideration for the 360's superiority, then Valve and Id are all up in that.

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From creativity i meant games like ICO,Shadow of the Colossus,Katamari to name a few.

And they are, indeed a few.

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And BTW, Console library(of good games) is way bigger than PC's.

Arguing the dick size of game libraries is an excercize in futility as it is, since people are only going to buy the games they're actually interested in.

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PC lacks japanese support.

But it does have South Korean support.

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Wii and its remote is another SLAP on PC.That what i call gaming.

Yeah, a controller gimmick that will make your arms tired is a surefire slap in the face of the PC market. Nevermind the DS stylus. I wouldn't expect you to actually formulate an intelligent rebuttal, though.

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'PC is dead because No gameplay innovations'.

You're a fucking idiot.

Bring this trash again and you will be banned from this thread. It would be different if you had any clue what you were talking about, but your general idiocy and failing English is coming off as borderline trolling.

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I am objective

Liar. The only thing you've hurt is my intelligence. I hope you enjoy not wasting your time and ours.

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Frat appeal. And a gamepad control scheme that didn't make people ARGH FURIOUS!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Not only that, but the PC exclusive journalism is all garbage. Have you read PC Gamer lately? What a bunch of self-fellating hogwash.

As for the mother of all FPSes, Wolfenstein 3D is the Grandaddy. How do you even quantify parental connotations for games anyways? I guess you could say that Halo is the mother of console FPSes since so many people are attempting to follow its formula. GJ Bungie.

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That depends entirely on how much you mind spending a lot of time acheiving nothing but the generation of success or misery for a bunch of simulated people that aren't you.

Simulated life is fun to toy around with for awhile, but much like real life it gets hella boring. You could have an excellent time creating bizarre estates and being a sadistic asshole to your sims, but that's an investment of time that doesn't strike a cord at least for me.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

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Speaking of which, there aren't any Fallout type games out anywhere or coming out anytime soon is there? I was a big fan of the game.

Well, Fallout 3 is going to have the same setting, but whether or not Bethesda can actually create a game like Fallout we have yet to see.

There are plenty of post-apoc games that are currently in development, and Bioshock will feature a lot of 40's art deco and a decaying environment, albeit under the ocean.

As for games with Fallout-like gameplay though? Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura had the same roleplaying element, but its combat sucked donkey donk. (Still a great game though) Any other game like it doesn't really exist, and since Troika bit the bullet after Vampire, the chances of there being another one are close to none.

Silent Storm had tactical grid-based combat like Fallout, but it's on a 3D plane, and the combat rules are much more detailed and quite frankly, awesome. It's not a roleplaying game, though. Hammer & Sickle tried to be the Silent Storm roleplaying game, but it had little to no roleplaying element at all. In any case, Silent Storm is what I consider to be the epitomy of squad-based TBS.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

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I think this is true because PC games are much cheaper to make and publish because of the relatively cheaper "dev kits".

It's not just that, PC developers are actually capable of creating games from scratch, so long as they're executable from DOS, Windows, or Macintosh platforms.

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I wouldn't say a lack of variety, at least not with respect to genres, but more of a lack of a quality control.

Which is also, unfortunately, a matter of money. Publishers aren't as keen to support QA teams that have game testers who are familiar with the code as opposed to a bunch of nerds that raise their hands whenever there's a problem. Professional QA teams have been going the way of the dinosaurs ever since publishers tried to follow in EA's footsteps.

The CRPG also died with Black Isle studios. The combination of Interplay's massive managerial incompetence and Troika's going belly-up has meant the death of the original CRPG. Now former Black Isle members are stuck making sequels to Bioware games that are much more worth playing than their predecessors.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R it seems will finally be released this next year, though, although it's not certain how much of a roleplaying element it'll actually have. There's also an X-COM style sci-fi tactical RPG that'll be released over Steam at some point.

Spore is set to dominate the way people perceive PC Gaming, and Paradox has announced that the tried-and-true Europa Universalis engine will be replaced with a fully 3D one for EU3.

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PC Gaming as a commercial enterprise will die. The AAA boxes have been dying out since the turn of the millenium, and with smaller and smaller PC sections at retail stores it's a good chance that everything for the PC will go digital.

People are tired of the same old shit being recycled over again and again. It's a graphical crawl, and "next gen" is defined mostly by its bloom.

The way I see it, PC Gaming will go back to what it used to be, a hobbyist's pursuit, and we'll finally get to see a majority of games made by people who want to make them.

Looking back on my old post is funny, though. It's been almost a year, and apparently the RPG component in STALKER is annoying even though it's a solid game (it's shipping to me right now), and Europa Universalis 3 is phenomenal.

Still no real word on that X-COM-esque squad game, other than that it's not vaporware.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by RacinReaver

Until console makers start letting you use a mouse and keyboard for controls. Then I might finally start playing FPS games on consoles, too.

At that point, consoles are basically PCs anyways.

The way I see it, the fact that almost every console game has a PC release is just further evidence that I should spend that 350 dollars on a new video card instead of an Xbox.

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