The End Of PC Gaming?

[fdurso224]

Hi guys:

 

PC gaming has been having complex issues on surviving lately. But I was reading the latest issue of GamePro magazine (#238 July 2008) under the "Sucks or Rules" section on page 24, and it states

 

"PC Gaming: When even long-time PC stalwarts like id Software announce that they simply can't afford to focus exclusively on the more powerful but increasingly complicated platform, you know the end of an era threatens from just around the corner.

 

Any comments about this?

 

Anthony....

[mos6507]

I really don't think it's about complexity. The PS3 is probably more complex than writing a game in DirectX for the PC.

 

I think Microsoft has a lot to blame for pushing the XBox as the preeminent game platform. Too many Xbox exclusives. Windows has also been slowly losing ground to OSX which is not a game platform, nor is Linux. (OSX certainly could be a gaming platform if Steve Jobs gave a damn about games.) And people have been slow to upgrade to Vista, where the latest and greatest DirectX resides.

 

Also, laptops are becoming more popular as people's main computing devices vs. desktops, which means less computing power for games, especially with the new EEE class notebooks which are all the rage now.

 

It seems like the big money is in consoles, and they have better DRM. They just have a huge barrier to entry. So the PC will always be a good platform for the small developer selling downloadable content, but the big players will maybe see a better return with consoles.

Edited June 14, 2008 by mos6507

[Gregory DG]

We hear this same thing every couple of years. PC gaming will never go away.

[MCHufnagel]

As long as people sit in front of their computers, there will be games for them. What do you think drives the hardware market? You certainly don't need dual core cpus with 512 mb gpus to run business apps.

[keilbaca]

As what was said before, we hear that all the time.

 

Last year was *the* year for PC gaming.

 

It takes time to develop the games, and for the most part, we get quality games, not half assed Madden games that are full of glitches.

 

Give it another year or two, it'll pick back up. Two words. Starcraft 2.

[Red_Queen]

That is how it has allways been with PC. First nobody could afford the parts, and everybody was buying SNES systems. Then comes along the X-box and everybody is like

 

PC RulllLezzzzz!!!!!!!411

 

Then these systems comes out ( PS3, Wii, 360, ) and somehow game creators is like oh well we can do it on the system and it will be more cheaper. Lets all just face it everybody we are going backwards into the 90's no the 80's no wait the 1950's or whatever you would like to call it.

 

It is about the fluxation of business. One time everybody was into it, but the next nobody was into it. Like everything to anything.

[Hyper_Eye]

I think Microsoft has a lot to blame for pushing the XBox as the preeminent game platform. Too many Xbox exclusives. Windows has also been slowly losing ground to OSX which is not a game platform, nor is Linux. (OSX certainly could be a gaming platform if Steve Jobs gave a damn about games.) And people have been slow to upgrade to Vista, where the latest and greatest DirectX resides.

 

Maybe I'm just strange in that I have been gaming in Linux for years. I haven't used Windows as my main OS in so long I don't even remember what I was doing with it when I did. Linux is my thing and I am a gamer. I can't play everything the Windows guys can but I have consoles to make up for that. The problem is certainly not an issue with capability. Linux is more then capable and generally outperforms Windows when it comes to native games.

[+SpiceWare]

Two words. Starcraft 2.

Yeah baby! I suspect I'll need to upgrade from my MacBook and it's cheesy integrated graphics for it. Maybe an 8 core Mac Pro

[mos6507]

Maybe I'm just strange in that I have been gaming in Linux for years. I haven't used Windows as my main OS in so long I don't even remember what I was doing with it when I did. Linux is my thing and I am a gamer. I can't play everything the Windows guys can but I have consoles to make up for that. The problem is certainly not an issue with capability. Linux is more then capable and generally outperforms Windows when it comes to native games.

 

Do you just play Tux Racer all day? What kind of shrinkwrapped games can you get on Linux these days?

[Hyper_Eye]

Maybe I'm just strange in that I have been gaming in Linux for years. I haven't used Windows as my main OS in so long I don't even remember what I was doing with it when I did. Linux is my thing and I am a gamer. I can't play everything the Windows guys can but I have consoles to make up for that. The problem is certainly not an issue with capability. Linux is more then capable and generally outperforms Windows when it comes to native games.

 

Do you just play Tux Racer all day? What kind of shrinkwrapped games can you get on Linux these days?

 

I won't lie. I play many games using Wine and Cedega (such as WoW and Guild Wars) but I play native games as well. For native games I have recently been playing "Enemy Territory: Quake Wars" and "Savage 2". As for running through compatibility layers, the graphics conversion from DirectX to OpenGL doesn't involve making up API. The capability is already there and is taken advantage of in native games. Oblivion looks stunning in Linux running under cedega with 3.0 shaders and HDR enabled. Natively, Savage 2 looks pretty sharp.

[MCHufnagel]

I play many games using Wine and Cedega (such as WoW and Guild Wars)

 

You play both WOW and Guild Wars? How do you find the time to post here?

[ninjarabbit]

PC gaming will aways exist in one form or another for several reasons:

 

-People own more PCs and laptops than consoles so you have a bigger market

 

-You don't have to pay a licencing fee to Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo nor do you have to get their approval to make a game

 

-Certain types of games like RTS and MMORPGs are much better suited for a keyboard/mouse combo than a controller or WiiMote set-up

 

 

Still though current-gen consoles have eliminated many of the advantages PCs have had like decent online gameplay, hard drives, and various online content.

[Red_Queen]

Videogames arent even classified as computers, they are toys, that somehow could playback tape, Cassette, or even FMV. They are the practice ground for all creation devices that involve electronics. From blinking lights, to GUI displays, all games will remain free of boudaries.

 

With a PC you have to be in front of it, or set it up for free usage. Then while the programming is easily understood everything is in a pre-incompleted state. In that incompleted state games that are is non noticable and is sized and reshape.

 

The consoles is better since it is a challenging and thus allows far more creative actions then any PC game.

 

 

-People own more PCs and laptops than consoles so you have a bigger market

 

But most people own computers that is lacking or cannot generate high end graphics like myself. Also most games on my pc is emulated. Otherwise I have started to buy more of the games my PC emulates which is for console.

Also a LAbtop is a true Microcomputer a PC is just a cheaper dumbed down consumer version of the Labtop.

 

Also the situtation where people have to share a PC. Most homes is like that and thus will turn to even TV toy and console units.

 

-You don't have to pay a licencing fee to Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo nor do you have to get their approval to make a game

 

People have and forever will still release games for systems even if it is not legal. You just need the licenese to sell it in Gamestop, or a supplier who sells it in bulk. There is no "law of god" nature, or man preventing you from making games. It is like me leaving work when I marked myself present.

 

-Certain types of games like RTS and MMORPGs are much better suited for a keyboard/mouse combo than a controller or WiiMote set-up

 

 

There is

 

Converters/ Adapters that allows a Mouse and Keyboard to be used even on the Atari. You can strip a mouse and turn it into a Atari Mouse.

 

Network Rpg games means nothing to the true RPG user. It just means we can play online with other people. Personally I did everything that there is to be done in PSO and I am sick of it. What more is there to offer aside for the SIMS XXX show.

 

 

Still though current-gen consoles have eliminated many of the advantages.

 

Videogames have eliminated Microcomputers since the Commendore 64. They are cheap, affordable, a artist/programmers/sound persons/writers dream, and have multiple usages. With a game console ( starting with MSX and Atari ) you can plug any device in and use it with it. Heck I could browse the internet on the Master System.

 

have had like decent online gameplay, hard drives, and various online content.

 

Yeah like when the first network game was about conquering planets and building worlds ( which I came up with also in a dream )

 

or the fact that there is something called memory cards which have been around since battery storage. I still have my save of Dragon Warrior but if I wanted to point out the infiearity of these save devices I would look to Pokemon Gold/Silver which is now currently erased. Both the SNES, and Genesis utilized memory cards. SEGA had them for sports games and third parties made them on the SNES. You can even backup on your PC threw otherwise for most cases.

 

Also there needs to be a limit. If we have no limit then there is no challenge in breaking them. The Saturn and SNES limit is good enough for me with a little PSX/N64 on the side as pure 3d systems.

 

Lastly in terms of compression the consoles will win where I could store the data on file then record to disk/disk and load up threw eteral or in some cases dialup.

Edited June 15, 2008 by Red_Queen

[godslabrat]

PC gaming will aways exist in one form or another for several reasons:

 

-People own more PCs and laptops than consoles so you have a bigger market

 

-You don't have to pay a licencing fee to Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo nor do you have to get their approval to make a game

 

-Certain types of games like RTS and MMORPGs are much better suited for a keyboard/mouse combo than a controller or WiiMote set-up

 

Still though current-gen consoles have eliminated many of the advantages PCs have had like decent online gameplay, hard drives, and various online content.

 

This pretty much sums it up for me, too. I can't see PC gaming ever completely going away, but with laptops becoming the dominant hardware platform, Windows losing marketshare to OSX/Linux, and consoles becoming a staple in the average living room... I think PC gaming will lose a lot of its luster. Years from now, PC gamers will start to fall into very distinct categories:

 

A) The hardware zealots who build megasystems for the absolute peak gaming performance and

 

B) The low-key gamers who play pogo and Sims on eee-PCs.

 

I think the "end" of PC gaming is going to amount to the disappearance of any group in the middle.

[Seob]

PC gaming won't go away.

The market for pc gaming is still big. In germany most people don't even have a console. PC gaming is no 1 there.

But the pc market has to change a little.

For once they can't afford to keep releasing games that don't even play on highend pc's today, like crysis and assassins creed.

People won't keep buying new computer parts to get the maximum out of the game. Only a small group will do this and they are to small to keep on focusing on. I think the future of pc gaming will be focusing more onto internet playable games, flight and other sims, and rts games.

[Reaperman]

pc gaming won't go away. It's too common of a platform... That said, it's status as a "gaming platform" is shakey at best.

 

well this has been festering for about 10 years inside me, so feel free to tune me out now:

-------------------------------------------------

for me pc gaming started dying when multitasking OSes came out--specifically windows 95. PC stopped 'feeling' better than consoles. We learned to except random slowdown when the OS decided it searching for updates was more important than gaming.

 

Then it died a little more when I found out I had to keep upgrading video cards. Oh sure, we had soundcards before. But they didn't have to get upgraded every other month, and for the most part their stats weren't horribly confusing. There are those in this world who 'know too much' about video cards, which is sad, since it's pretty much a full time job... Are there even 12-step programs for that?

 

then it finished dying when the game genres I loved stopped being huge hits. Now the only real polish goes on top of mmo's, fps's and a rts's. Oh there are a lot of variety in pc games still, but the games 'pc gamers' really seem to go nuts over, fall into those 3 genres, and the rest are half-baked attempts--the beta before it gets converted to a console. Now my only pc enjoyment comes from few and far between budget titles.

 

I guess to say what I really mean, to me (personal opinion):

PC gaming has become nothing but confusing and expensive upgrades needed to play lame plotless clone-titles. I figure that if I'm lucky, by the time I finish screwing with my PC I could have had quite a bit better gameplay and a significantly lower price, just by buying a console.

 

I actually tried to get back into pc gaming a while ago in an attempt to avoid purchasing an expensive console. I purchased an average video card and the brand new (at the time) CMR Dirt. after a few days, I finally got all my various hardware working as it should (wheel profiles, graphic settings, etc) and I was treated to the worst gameplay I could have imagined. Wasting no time, I went right back to forza ~$200 poorer than when I started. Oh yeah, my fun meter was freaking pegged...

Edited June 16, 2008 by Reaperman

[Kripto]

Yes, PC-based gaming is completely "over"... Nothing to see here... Move along...

[AtticGamer]

PC Gaming was good when DOS was around and annual updates weren't necessary.

[Zeptari1]

Hi guys:

 

PC gaming has been having complex issues on surviving lately. But I was reading the latest issue of GamePro magazine (#238 July 2008) under the "Sucks or Rules" section on page 24, and it states

 

"PC Gaming: When even long-time PC stalwarts like id Software announce that they simply can't afford to focus exclusively on the more powerful but increasingly complicated platform, you know the end of an era threatens from just around the corner.

 

Any comments about this?

 

Anthony....

 

 

One word......... SPORE!..... play the demo....... amazing!

This is one game I'd upgrade my PC to play!

 

Try it!

 

-rick

[JohnnyBlaze]

PC gaming can survive if Microsoft would accept that Vista is the next ME and stop making games exclusively for that. Many PC owners(like me), know of the many glitches in Vista(it seems Microsoft can't do anything right these days) and refuse to switch unless Microsoft corrects them. If Microsoft really gives a damn about people upgrading to Vista: THEN FIX THE FUCKING THING ALREADY!!!! I'm not upgrading until I'm sure that Vista is going to run smoothly!

Edited June 18, 2008 by JohnnyBlaze

[MCHufnagel]

One word......... SPORE!..... play the demo....... amazing!

This is one game I'd upgrade my PC to play!

 

Try it!

 

-rick

Not if it has the same DRM Mass Effect has!

[Zeptari1]

One word......... SPORE!..... play the demo....... amazing!

This is one game I'd upgrade my PC to play!

 

Try it!

 

-rick

Not if it has the same DRM Mass Effect has!

 

 

Is that a problem with Mass Effect on the PC?

 

What is DRM?

 

-rick

[Hyper_Eye]

One word......... SPORE!..... play the demo....... amazing!

This is one game I'd upgrade my PC to play!

 

Try it!

 

-rick

Not if it has the same DRM Mass Effect has!

 

 

Is that a problem with Mass Effect on the PC?

 

What is DRM?

 

-rick

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management

[edweird13]

I dont have any problem playing mass effect without DRM.

[classicgamingguy]

Well, that's my "second" gaming system, the PC. Actually, it might be my first since I've been on the damn thing every night this week until well past 10 p.m.!

 

The game I've been playing is Titan Quest, more specifically the expansion pack Immortal Throne. I've always had a thing for action/rpg's, and this one fit for me after Diablo II was over and done with. Well, for me anyway. The Greek/Japanese, etc. theme in the game has me hooked as well.

 

Oh yeah, my first gaming system is my Atari 2600, with lots of fun games to play. I don't won a modern console or portable system either, so PC or Atari is the way to go for my gaming needs.

 

I also like the fact that I can run the old DOS games (which were lacking on graphics, but choker-block full of fun and excitement), and emulation as well. The computer is versatile, but unfortunately I don't have the money to upgrade it fuller for the current PC games that require mega amounts of everything to run them well.

 

So, perhaps it's the end for PC gaming, perhaps not. I don't go online with my PC so I don't have the "joys" of online gaming with others. I guess I'm a PC hermit...

 

-Steve