Is PC gaming Dying?

[Edward M]

I remember about 5-10 years ago, I was always excited to upgrade my PC.  The reason was, the PC delievered a gaming experience consoles couldn't match.   It had online massive teambased games like Unreal Tournament and Team Fortress Classic.  It had high resolution graphics  that made the n64 look like complete crap.Also they had 4.1 surround sound for the ultimate sound quality.   Also they had harddrives so you could download extra levels. Also the Keyboard and mouse made for the ultimate control system

 

 

But now, it appears the new consoles have all that.  Games like Oblivion are also providing the awesome open ended computer RPG experience on a console. The xbox 360 has some awesome team based shooters such as Ghost Recon Advanced Warfare and Gears of War, that are played in high resolution with a HDTV with 5.1 surround sound.   Also you can download extra levels, and talk to people online in real time while killing them.  Also, the controls work so well with the new behind the back camera, that I don't miss the keyboard and mouse.   And I can play on my TV without having to worry about all the bugs and glitches that come with PC games.  I also know I won't have to spend hundreds of dollars every year to upgrade.   How much money would it cost to buy a computer that could run Gears of War in the same quality as the Xbox 360?

 

I go to Gamestop nowadays, and the PC games are hidden in a tiny shelf in the back.   And it seems to be cluttered with not much else besides World of Warcraft and The sims games.  It is obvious PC Gaming is dying, but I really can't say that I really care.   The new consoles seem to be taking all the best features of PC gaming, without including all the hassles of it.  What does everyone think about this?  I just can't see any reason to get over joyed about upgrading my computer the way I used too.  I'd rather play Gears of War on my big screen TV.

[Atarifever1]

PC gaming could be so much better.  I mean, console owners are trying their hardest to get in everyone's home, and PCs ARE already in everybody's homes.  Maybe if PC developers spent more time focusing on, oh I don't know, fun, instead of wondering what textures would look like if their minimum requirements used the latest graphics card, then their industry wouldn't be drying up.  I got a new-used computer a few years ago and bought some games (which were as old as the machine), including Half-Life, which I went on about here, and I still think the computer has some inhgerent advantages.  Too bad those are outweighed by spec. obsessed developers who think you should have to pay $50 for their game and then $100 upgrading to play it.

Don't count them out yet though.  PC Gamer just did a story on Vista and Microsoft's new gaming plan.  If it works, it might soon be the best time to be in computer gaming since the C64 and Atari 8 bits were fighting it out.  Apparently Microsoft basically wants something like a set of agreed on requirements to dub something a "Game for Windows", that will even have distinctive boxes and everything.  If they could use their might to force the computer gaming industry to slow it down a little on the upgrades, while increasing the number of games anyone with a computer could play, they'd do us all a big favour (and line their pockets of course).

[Atarifever1]

[QUOTE=Atarifever]I mean, console owners are trying their hardest to get in everyone's home, and PCs ARE already in everybody's homes. 
[/QUOTE]
Console makers.  Sorry.

[sega saturn x]

The pc market has to just me limping along at this point.  I don't have any figures but they can't be doing well.  90% of the games you might actually want to play hit consoles, there is no sort of quality control.  And even the "heavy hitter" next year crysis looks underwhelming.  And by that I mean the game LOOKS great but it seems to be a rather ladderal movement in the game play department, looks to be another far cry.

[Confused]

Am I to understand you didn't like Half-Life, Atarifever? Why? Was the game not sucky enough to meet your requirements to enjoy it?

[math]

Well for me, after that horrible 360 experience, I'm more into PC gaming lately. Mainly cause the games. Also you cant beat the graphics quality you can get from the PC. There is just a much wider range of PC games compared to console games, and I have never been one to go along with the main stream. For example, where else can you play a train simulator? Don't say on San Andreas.

 

And yes, PC games ARE much better, no doubt.

[Atarifever1]

[QUOTE=Confused]

Am I to understand you didn't like Half-Life, Atarifever? Why? Was the game not sucky enough to meet your requirements to enjoy it?

[/QUOTE]
Nope, I was saying I loved it and it made it clear to me that there was still some stuff computers are inherently better at (like deep FPS games).  Like I said, I went on about it here.  That was because I loved it, and it's one of my top 5 favorite games of all time.  It's pretty much a flawless game.

[a1]

[QUOTE=math]

Well for me, after that horrible 360 experience, I'm more into PC gaming lately.

[/QUOTE]

You mean the experience that you made up. I kid I kid . Thanks for changing the name to math by the way, I was getting tired of typing mathematician every time I wanted to respond to your posts. Now...how can I shorten my name?

[Alienblue]

I lived through the 8-bit computer eras, and have seen the steady evolution of computers. The problem with today's PC's is, they are too complex and there are too many makers of Windows compatible machines. In the "old days" (1984) you could get a computer game to work pretty easily and knew that it WOULD work so long as it was "for your machine" (well, 98% of the time!). I look at the PC market now, it seems mostly for either non-gamers who don't HAVE another machine (sims, card games, puzzle games) or deep RPG's and Simulations for those who spend their whole life in front of a PC (I have a freind who plays online 18 hours a day right now-I never hear from her anymore!)... plus there's the worry a game won't be compatible with your hardware. So it is becoming a niche market, but PC gaming will always be with us. I use my iMac's MAME emulator every day, and then there is freeware and shareware, ways to get games you can't via consoles!

[Adamant1]

Is PC gaming dying NOW? Dude, computer gaming has been declining since the release of the NES. This is nothing new.