Has PC Gaming Died over the past year or so?

XBox and PS3 will get more games for it, not because it's less piracy, but mainly because it's easier to develop on and it's easier to charge horrendous prices for a new game.

You can't compare one format (PC) to that of consoles (3/4 different formats!).

Also the PC game sales do not take account of digital downloads (i.e. Steam) so again you can not compare it justifiably.




M.
 
Every month my PC Zone magazine gets thinner and thinner, I'm starting to think about ending my subscription. There is never anything very interesting on the cover DVD now either.
 
Ozzie Dave said:
Recent games like Empire Total War are true PC titles. But these are getting rarer and rarer.
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I feel the same. As consoles have become more like PCs, PCs have become more like consoles. PC gaming isn't dying, but the type of PC gaming many of us grew up with is.

Rather than System Shock we get Bioshock. Still a decent game, but dumbed down. X-Com, BG, Planescape, Civ etc are no more. We used to get exclusives made just for the PC. Exclusives that weren't only about pushing technology (Crysis is not a good example of a PC exlusive by any means), but about pushing gameplay and depth.
 
Shadez said:
Well lets think about it, in the last few months we have had hits like

L4D
Empire TW
DOW 2
F.E.A.R. 2
.
.
.
.

+ lots more that probably arnt worth talking about
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ROFL, are you saying thats good? you must be joking....

thats the worst list ever and it proves that nothings happening PC wise.
 
The 'classics' of PC gaming haven't, and i doubt will ever die. MMOs and RTS' will always have their places and games like Team Fortress 2, Counterstrike and Battlefield 2/2142 clearly have plenty of life left in them.

That said, there really are few releases these days on the PC, maybe 1 worthy of mention a month if you're lucky. I find myself almost wishing i never bought a PS3 recently, having forked out a fortune for several excellent games in the past month and i'm still missing out on some due to time and money constraints that i will have to pick up second hand on the cheap.

What has come out in the past month, or even 2 months that is honestly fantastic (and exclusive) on the PC? All i can think of is Dawn Of War 2 which compared to its predecessor was a bit of a let down sadly (however it's still a fantastic RTS). I will still get the odd game of guild wars and team fortress 2 in when i can, but at present i've got 3 games needing completion sat next to my PS3, all bought on release within the last month.

The PC as a gaming platform will never die, i just feel its role is changing. Instead of being a release-a-month platform like it previously was, we'll get a huge title every year or so (read: World of Warcraft/Battlefield/Half Life) that will have enough depth to keep people interested for a long time.

[EDIT] Looking at the post above... if fear 2 really is one of the best titles to come out on the PC recently, it must be doomed :p /sarcasm (it did suck tho)
 
We have to thank the Europeans (Eastern Europeans and Russians) for keeping PC exclusives alive, even though some of the games are quirky non mainstream or old school. I personally like them because they are unlike the console hand-me-downs. I have just started Drakensang and am really enjoying it and later in the year I am going to play Cryostasis. There have also been some great games like The Witcher and STALKER. I just pray that the European studios do not sell out to the consoles.
 
saguy said:
I personally like them because they are unlike the console hand-me-downs.
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While i do not feel either platform is superior and therefore don't want to turn this into a debate i feel i have to comment on this.

You can't say that consoles exist on 'hand me down' mentality when truely unique games such as Valkyria Chronicles, Flower, The Last Guy, Little Big Planet and Pixel Junk Monsters, Racers and Eden (three separate games made by the same developer) exist, and that's just the PS3 exclusive ones. The majority of those listed are dead cheap too downloaded from the PSN which is nice
 
i'm not sure. I still love it as much as ever. maybe it has been a victim of its own success in parts?

some PC titles have aged very well, and if you play your games for 2 years then you're less likely to buy more...

when i had a PS2 i bought new games all the time because most of them became boring pretty quickly and it didnt have the multiplayer functionality.

at present i am playing through Fallout 3, Red Alert 3 and Half Life 2. I also play BF2 for some online serious FPS or L4D. And if i have a spare 30 minutes jump on CSS or UT3. Also now Quake Live is taking up some of my time.

Anyway my point is thats 7-8 games that i would happily play right now and be content for several hours on any of them. I never had that with console gaming, and while the online play on them is getting better, the lack of organisation and community means game longevity isnt as prevalent.

There may be a reduction in the amount of quality PC titles becoming available, but maybe thats linked to the success of previous titles reducing demand for newer games?

How many console gamers do you think are playing games over 2 years old right now? Compared to PC gamers? Look at the player numbers for WOW, Eve, CSS, BF2 and the other big online PC games. Consoles by their very nature remove classic games from players librarys by bringing out new generations.

I dont think PC gaming is dying - but it is going through a period of transition. Hopefully for the better! And i think console gaming will hit this wall eventually. Once their online potential develops i would imagine they will have the same problem PC gamers are facing now - Customers will become far more fussy over spending £50 on a new game, when they are having so much fun playing their current ones! :D
 
Streeteh said:
While i do not feel either platform is superior and therefore don't want to turn this into a debate i feel i have to comment on this.

You can't say that consoles exist on 'hand me down' mentality when truely unique games such as Valkyria Chronicles, Flower, The Last Guy, Little Big Planet and Pixel Junk Monsters, Racers and Eden (three separate games made by the same developer) exist, and that's just the PS3 exclusive ones. The majority of those listed are dead cheap too downloaded from the PSN which is nice
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I have a 360 and before that a couple of other consoles and I do enjoy console gaming. I agree that there are some very innovative games on consoles. There are however only certain types of games that are only suited to the PC like many RPG's such as Neverwinter Nights, Drakensang and MMO's. I prefer shooters on the PC while I am perfectly happy playing something like Fable 2 on a console.

I like jumping from different types of games and platforms. It is not a competition though I do worry that due to the spiralling costs of making games that we may not get the same wide choice in the future.
 
DreXeL said:
Have you actually played any of the games he mentioned? In what way are they 'not worth playing'? :confused:

All the games he mentioned are supurb. Killzone 2 for example is absolutely fantastic, better that any FPS I've played on the PC for a while.
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I differ on this opnion significantly having sold Killzone 2 within 6 days of receiving it. I felt the game was awful when compared to the COD series on the PC. The controls are sluggish with their being very little reward for careful play. The only thing which i liked was the lack of aim assist ut with a pad this makes things extremely tough

feedtheram said:
i'm not sure. I still love it as much as ever. maybe it has been a victim of its own success in parts?

some PC titles have aged very well, and if you play your games for 2 years then you're less likely to buy more...

when i had a PS2 i bought new games all the time because most of them became boring pretty quickly and it didnt have the multiplayer functionality.

at present i am playing through Fallout 3, Red Alert 3 and Half Life 2. I also play BF2 for some online serious FPS or L4D. And if i have a spare 30 minutes jump on CSS or UT3. Also now Quake Live is taking up some of my time.

Anyway my point is thats 7-8 games that i would happily play right now and be content for several hours on any of them. I never had that with console gaming, and while the online play on them is getting better, the lack of organisation and community means game longevity isnt as prevalent.

There may be a reduction in the amount of quality PC titles becoming available, but maybe thats linked to the success of previous titles reducing demand for newer games?

How many console gamers do you think are playing games over 2 years old right now? Compared to PC gamers? Look at the player numbers for WOW, Eve, CSS, BF2 and the other big online PC games. Consoles by their very nature remove classic games from players librarys by bringing out new generations.

I dont think PC gaming is dying - but it is going through a period of transition. Hopefully for the better! And i think console gaming will hit this wall eventually. Once their online potential develops i would imagine they will have the same problem PC gamers are facing now - Customers will become far more fussy over spending £50 on a new game, when they are having so much fun playing their current ones! :D
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This describes PC gaming to be, longevity of the titles. I still play games many months or years after buying them.
 
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AWPC said:
GTA4 sold over 12m on the consoles. PC sold less than few 100K so far!
COD4 sold over 7m on the consoles. PC has not even sold 1m yet!
Fallout3 sold over 5m on the consoles. PC has sold over 850k to date.
Crysis sold over 1m copies on the PC. Its not on consoles as they cannot handle its graphics!
Left4Dead sold around 1m on both PC & X360.

When you consider there are well over 100m gaming capable PC's in the world and most games struggle to get anywhere near 1m it becomes obvious what the future direction will be:(
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you could have a point if you hadnt pulled those numbers out of you a$$.
 
btw, why do people put all consoles combined against the pc platform? especially when all consoles compete with each other? xbox360 is a system, ps3 is another system etc etc. the pc platform blows any other single system out of the water in terms of games, online, capabilities etc etc.

so lets take the xbox360 for example. so far in 2009 it got:
Street fighter 4! (which is coming on pc sooner or later)
.
.
.
hmm anything else? nope, thats it.

Pc so far in 2009:
Empire Total War
Dawn of War 2
Cryostasis
Men of War
Drakensang

games to look for on xbox360 in 2009: Halo 3 ODST. anything else? nope, nothing announced.

games to look for on PC in 2009: Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, Demigod, The Sims 3, CoH: Tales of Valor

anybody care to enlighten me?
 
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