Is PC Gaming Really Dead?

[Synwyn]

The PC gaming industry is constantly innovating. Console gamers are playing the same re-hashed game every year. (CoD)
The best players and the highest levels of competition are on the PC. No, PC gaming is not dying. PC gaming is thriving.

Great talk. Cya out there.

[Deleted]

Wow, just wow, this was a troll or ignorant post. I've just a few examples to add here because people have pretty much explained everything.

The only ways that a console is superior to a PC overall (not game by game) is that a console is cheaper and that consoles can be played in a more relaxing state.

The biggest MMO in the west - World of Warcraft, you might have heard of it, is on the PC and is one of the most NET profitable games of all time.
The most successful eSport/RTS in the west - Starcraft 2 on the PC.
The most successful FPS genre - CoD is modded and patched on the PC by community veterans, ie. CoD4 Promod.

PC has the greatest variety in game genres and the most success in games overall.

This thread will prob end up being a console/PC war if it isn't kept constructive.

[Caiada]

15 years ago was 1996 (soon 1997. Quake 2 came out that year). DOS games were nearly dead by '96. Definitely dead by 97. Everything released then was a Windows game. The vast majority of those games will still work in anything. A small minority won't work in x64 editions of Windows but will still most likely work in any 32bit edition. After that, there's XP mode. It doesn't take much effort, at all.

I also like my comfy chair, my controller, and my emulators and rom collections. Good luck matching those with the Virtual Console, XBLA or PSN.

Considering emulating and roms questionable legality, the subjectiveness of your chair and the irrelevantness of the controller, it'd be pretty easy to match....

---------- Post added 2011-12-22 at 10:09 PM ----------

The PC gaming industry is constantly innovating. Console gamers are playing the same re-hashed game every year. (CoD)
The best players and the highest levels of competition are on the PC. No, PC gaming is not dying. PC gaming is thriving.

Great talk. Cya out there.

.....Now THAT'S cherrypicking. Wow.

[Feel The Power]

So the PS3 isn't a console?

Explain how someone stating that the Xbox having no problem with Skyrim is really saying "the ps3 isn't a console". Oh wait, you end your statements with buzzwords like "derp" to try and prove what you're saying is correct and other people are stupid. Quite original, and not in the least bit toolish.

[redmund]

It always gets that way after a few years though.
When the next gen of consoles come out. (Wii U in 2012, XBox 720 in 2013, and PS4 in 2014) they will pull ahead again for a couple years.

Console hardware specs are locked in for at least a year before they actually launch. Even at that point, they don't compare favorably to high end PCs. By the time they actually do release, they're comparable to a mid-range PC. The biggest problem with performance between PC and console versions of games around the launch of a new console generation is a lack of optimisation (shitty ports) by the developers, usually due to time or money constraints.

Look at the 360 for example. The Xenos GPU inside it is based on the same architecture as the Radeon X1900 and has almost identical specs. The X1900 was a mid-range card at the time, retailing for around $200. So even when it launched, the GPU in the 360 was already out-paced by the PC, which had GPUs 50% more powerful available to it. The exact same thing will happen with the next round.

[This name sucks]

Considering emulating and roms questionable legality, the subjectiveness of your chair and the irrelevantness of the controller, it'd be pretty easy to match....

---------- Post added 2011-12-22 at 10:09 PM ----------



.....Now THAT'S cherrypicking. Wow.

Of course they are illegal, but since nobody is making money off of an ancient copy of link to the past for snes, I don't feel bad over it.

But with pc gaming you can use any source of input you want, mouse, keyboard, controllers for any console, im sure somebody made a conversion system for the original joystick, even a track pad if you wanted.

[kckttk]

PC gaming will never die and will always be a head of consoles. As anything that competitive on a professional level in gaming is on PC as an example.
a keyboard and a mouse will always be better then something to hold and on 2 hands with like 12 keys.
some of the reasons you put them showing that PC gaming is dead.
3grand for a pc? you need to check the prices.
you can also play with a wireless mouse and a controller if not connect a xbox or ps3 controller.

[Synwyn]

Considering emulating and roms questionable legality, the subjectiveness of your chair and the irrelevantness of the controller, it'd be pretty easy to match....

---------- Post added 2011-12-22 at 10:09 PM ----------



.....Now THAT'S cherrypicking. Wow.

No, that's the reality of things. The PC gaming community may be smaller, but it's more mature and more innovative. Look at the mods we have at our disposal. Look at the mods on xbox. HIGH SPEED CALL OF DUTY 4 MOD JTAG!!!! - Consoles are accessible. Nothing more. They are great for getting people involved in gaming, sure. Gaming really shines on a high end PC. There's no contest. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

[Caiada]

No, that's the reality of things. The PC gaming community may be smaller, but it's more mature and more innovative. Look at the mods we have at our disposal. Look at the mods on xbox. HIGH SPEED CALL OF DUTY 4 MOD JTAG!!!! - Consoles are accessible. Nothing more. They are great for getting people involved in gaming, sure. Gaming really shines on a high end PC. There's no contest. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Ok, now, actual proof instead of your opinions and holding graphics over everything. You're sort of disproving maturity, and mods have nothing at all to do with the community and much more to do with the nature of the platform. I'd, for example, argue that the motion controls in some Kinect games and Wii games are much more innovative than anything any PC exclusive has put out in a decade.

[Ragedaug]

Consoles have always - ALWAYS been much cheaper then PC's. In fact the gap between the price of a PC and a console are now closer then they've ever been, and that's never stopped people from gaming on PC's before. So I don't see a problem with PC gaming in the foreseeable future.

Remember this thread from 1983?:

Thread: Is PC Gaming Really Dead?

On my current computer Spy Hunter is virtually unplayable. The cursor always comes back saying "unknown program". I personally feel it is much cheaper to invest in a gaming console rather than putting together a gaming computer. The initial cost could well be over $800 when compared to an Atari 2600 which is around $199. And with new products coming out for the PC it is like you have to replace something every 3 years to stay with the newer games coming out. I've finally decided to quit gaming on the PC and make that move to Consoles.

[Synwyn]

Ok, now, actual proof instead of your opinions and holding graphics over everything.

Play Starcraft 2 on a controller. Play WoW on a controller. Play an FPS game on a controller (without aim assist) against somebody with a mouse. Both arguments can be looked at as biased, but they simply aren't. Consoles are completely incapable of providing an experience like the PC can. If you enjoy vanilla games, dumbed down graphics and 13 year old kids calling you racial slurs over voice chat - then the console experience is definitely superior.


Also Rock Band.

[kronpas]

So I decided to start this thread after my recent experiences with gaming on the PC.

First lemme start of by saying that I don't really have a high end gaming computer and I have never personally owned a Console. I have only played the NFS series, RoadRash, the FiFa and Football Manager Series as well as the COD ones. I have never needed a high end computer for any of those games. However, recently I decided to pick up Skyrim, BF3 and MW3. All these games requires a decent gaming computer to truly have a smooth gaming experience.

On my current computer Skyrim is virtually unplayable. It is so choppy and is very slow. I personally feel it is much cheaper to invest in a gaming console rather than putting together a gaming computer. The initial cost could well be over $1000 when compared to an Xbox which is around $299. And with new products coming out for the PC it is like you have to replace something every 6 months to stay with the newer games coming out. I've finally decided to quit gaming on the PC and make that move to Consoles.

These are my reasons why I feel Console gaming is better than PC gaming.

1. Don't need to spend $3,000 on a PC to play console port games when the games were design in console in mind.
Bullshit. Here where I'm living computer parts are expensive as hell (like $290 for a video card where its only $210 on newegg), and I spent like 800USD 2 years ago for a computer that plays Skyrim at max settings.
2. Don't need to worry about system requirements, finding/downlaoding drivers, updates and bios updates from websites.
The only thing you are gonna update is video driver, as it affects directly gaming performance.
3. Console will last 5-8 years without needing to upgrade like PC where you need to upgrade every 3-6 months to keep up with games
Bullshit, again. I bought my current computer on January 2010, and never bothered upgrading it since then, nor I'm planning to do so in at least 6 months. And its playing Skyrim on max @30FPS, AA ON, true 1080p, with modability.
4. Lots of great exclusives games that will never be on PC...never.
up to you really. My gaming need is satisfied.
5. Don't need to worry about bugs, glitches, game breaking issues or missing content that can be found on PC games..
WHAT? DO YOU REALLY THING CONSOLE GAMES HAVE NO BUGS AND DONT NEED PATCHS AT ALL? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Seriously, pull your head out of your butt.
6. Able to sit back on the couch or sit anywhere with wireless controllers and able to play split screen with family/friends.
Cant do that with my strategy games and FPSes. For the life of me, I can never play a FPS with pad.
7. Don't need to worry about playing an online game with aimbotters/speed hackers or cheaters in general.
Dont play much online games on console, so dont know.
8. Developers will support console better than the PC leaving game breaking bugs unsolved or unsolved performance issue on PC
Too bad its true for most half-assed developers out there
9. Motion controls that will never be or happen on PC
Its fancy and novelty feature on Xbox.
10. Able to rent games on gamefly if money is tight that you can never do on PC
Heard of one-time-use code? Publishers are catching up with cheap renting to 'protect' their revenue.
11. Never need to worry about your electric bill being high due to playing on the PC
You obviously never calculated how much a console/TV combo cost compared to a PC system.
12. Console platform is the best choice as it was design for gaming
Only you think so.

Do you'll think console gaming is better and that PC gaming is dying? I mean besides MMOs games are just that much better on consoles and I don't care about MMOs at all.

Im editing right into the quoted text for easier read.

And one thing: stop comparing PC graphics to console graphics. Even being dragged down by ancient consoles, graphics quality on PC s always waaaaay better than console, even with all-low settings. My 2 years old computer can do med-high in multiplay, 64 players BF3. Play BF3 on xbox/ps3 alongside and you suddenly realize that terrible fact.

[This name sucks]

Ok, now, actual proof instead of your opinions and holding graphics over everything. You're sort of disproving maturity, and mods have nothing at all to do with the community and much more to do with the nature of the platform. I'd, for example, argue that the motion controls in some Kinect games and Wii games are much more innovative than anything any PC exclusive has put out in a decade.

Mods show that the community has dedication that they are willing to put forth a massive amount of time and effort to improve their game for very little profit to themselves other than the "HAY I MADE THIS". Nature of the platform indeed, it can be customized to do almost anything, an inconvenient menu in a console game? that can be fixed easily on PC.

Innovation =/= good.

I love nintendo to death but they need to stop with the gimmicks. Motion and 3d is not fun and causes more problems than it solves.

[moguri]

While I love PC games I'm sort of agreeing with the OP. I play WoW on my 4-year-old laptop. Its pretty much the only game I can play since any game that has come out in the past 2 years is virtually unplayable. Xbox360 is still kicking hard (next gen won't be around until 2013) so thats 8 years of life out of one console. You can go through at least 2 major upgrades of a gaming machine in that time. Cost-wise its way more effective to be a console gamer, which is really sad. I've havent played consoles since SNES but when the next gen of Xbox comes out I'll probably abandon PC gaming and just stick with that since I know it'll last close to a decade.

[Specops]

Ok, now, actual proof instead of your opinions and holding graphics over everything. You're sort of disproving maturity, and mods have nothing at all to do with the community and much more to do with the nature of the platform. I'd, for example, argue that the motion controls in some Kinect games and Wii games are much more innovative than anything any PC exclusive has put out in a decade.

If we're talking about motion controls, then where does the Razer Hydra fit in? PC exclusive motion control that looks a whole lot better than Nintendo, or Sony has put out.

[Synwyn]

Mods aren't innovative? Have you ever played a complete overhaul of a game? Go download an Oblivion total conversion mod. One person completely re-doing a game isn't innovative or exceptional? Motion control has been around for years.

Also, I can build a PC that'll run BF3 on medium (console is on low) for 5-600 bucks without a problem. You enjoy paying 300 for your console, 75 or whatever a year for XBL, 10 bucks more for your new games, your personal computer (that's not for gaming).. and I'll enjoy my high-end gaming machine that I spent about 1k on. Pretty sure I spend less money in the long run.

[redmund]

Innovation =/= good.

I know you're probably cutting that down for the sake of argument, but I still have to disagree. Innovation and experimentation are always a good thing, if only that we learn from the mistakes that are made. An innovative game may not actually be a GOOD game, but it is a good thing that the game was made, so that we may learn from it and either know that the idea was bad and discard it, or know that the idea was good but needed refinement.

Taking Nintendo as an example, just look at the original Wii Remote vs Motion Plus. The original was pretty inaccurate, had limited functionality and wasn't all that fun to use. Motion Plus on the other hand is a pretty good piece of hardware and works really really well. I just recently played through Skyward Sword and it was a fantastic experience. You did have the feeling of actually swinging your sword around. It's obviously not something that every game needs, but there's a place for it in the gaming world.

[This name sucks]

I remember some interview from the guys who make metroid. They were pissed about how they had to extremely limit ,and even cut one feature, some gameplay because of console limitations. I will try and find the link.

[JimPaladin]

What? What?

What?

What kind of question IS this?

Computer gaming is ALWAYS the superior, for the most part. I enjoy consoles more, but I wont beat around any bushes. Computers are just better in general for games and internet connections than a solo console.

Consoles are cheaper, have a wider selection of games, and are more "practical" to play on/with friends. It's easier to have a group of buddies together and play some games around your big screen TV than it is to hover over each other's shoulders at a computer.

Console Gaming is inferior, Computer gaming is more obscure.

There you go. That is how it has always been and will always be until Consoles somehow get to the point where they advance so far ahead if/way faster then PCs that they are better in every way.

[xenaros]

PCs can be expensive, or not, depending on your standards. Mine cost me £1000 2 years ago and a simular spec would probably cost £500 now (from the right company) and runs every game I have ever tried in Ultra, no problems. I can use my PC to do a variety of things, it's an entertainment center. I can use my £300 xbox to... play games and use my controller to type messages to friends.

PCs are more interactable and customisable, but console imports can be bugged as they are converted poorly, and you don't tend to get an awful lot of support on these issues. Games ported to console from PC can be equally bugged though. You can get alot more out of a PC than a console. Games released for PC are usually amazing and tuned.

Imo consoles feel boring to play, I don't feel immersed and I'd much prefer to use my PC, especially for FPS games. I use my TV as a monitor when playing some games if I want to, the option is there. The only reason I play consoles is to play with friends who seem to be mindlessly fixated to xbox live.