Concerned about the state of PC gaming

[sid]

I feel I'm having to agree with the OP. Its been 15 years of pc gaming. People like me who will spend big money to game big titles are crysis are declining. Apart from Far cry 2, I see nothing on the horizon that interests me that much and that will be another upgrade for sure.

PC gaming is cheaper than ever now as well.

I'm currently using OS X and playing guitar hero on the ps3....

 

[Hostile_18]

People have been saying this for years though. I suspect the PC games market isn't any smaller than it was 15 years ago.

I would have thought generally it would be a lot smaller now? Just going by these boards alone I know a lot of members have switched their primary focus to consoles around 2006 time. Certainly the console markets have grown significantly in any case.

Online distribution methods for the PC while profitable I suspect its only counts for a small % of sales total as around say 90% of the public is still comfortable buying physical copies in retail stores.

Most of the big name PC games have been ports if were honest Bio Shock, Rainbow 6, COD 4 etc. Those that were exclusive such as Crysis haven't met expectations sales wise. Developers are often keen to quote how many more times their games sell on consoles compared to PC's and its usually quite significant. I can see a time when the majority simply will not bother to use the resources to create a PC version, especially as more and more PC games move to console gaming.

At the end of the day for all gamers it comes down to where you can get the best gaming experience and that (perhaps sadly) is where developers can make the most money. With the depth of console games now a days it seems to me the only stumbling block is having to get used to a controller over a mouse. For me its a small price to pay and I think after a few hours you don't really notice it much anyway.

 

[dirtydog]

Well in terms of driving games we currently have Rfactor and LFS with their endless mods to keep things fresh, Race series by Simbin as well as GTR. Not to forget an old but still excellent RBR.

Where are the mass appeal, highly accessible racing games for the PC? Where is the PC's equivalent to Gran Turismo, Forza, PGR, Burnout...

We got Test Drive Unlimited from the 360, which was a badly optimised, buggy mess.

PC games are the poor relation of the games world. We get cheap 'hand me downs' ports long after the game was on the consoles. Look at the abysmal PC version of Resident Evil 4 - it was a disgrace.

I think there have been precious few AAA titles on the PC for many years. The last really good quality single player FPS is probably Half Life 2 and its episodic sequels. Most of the other FPS games in that time have been shallow, soulless rehashes of old ideas.

 

[Tenzen]

Single player games consoles can have for all I care, the fact is consoles will neer be popular online. Due to the fact you cant interact with people you play with. ~Could imagine trying to coordinate a raid in an mmo with a joypad? lol...

Voice is never a substitute for keyboard. Rather it is a complementary part.

Or how about going into your fps lobby and trying to get people into a match - it jsut doesnt work on a console and will most likely never work.

The pc is the showcase for where things are headed. Consoles are the showcase for the latest money grabbing excersise. There are VERY few quality games on cosoles. Infact the latest hyped games - GoW,AC ME, were a load of crap not worth the discs they were printed on (yes i have played them, didnt take long to work out they were all bells and whistles with little content).

The otehr major factor in pc gaming is the fact that games comapnies need to build communities and continuity around their games - how do they do this? well they allow players to mod the game.

Granted single player gaming will die out ont he pc - fine by me, sooner the better as siongle player is a thing of the past imo. The future is multiplayer adn has been for some time, there can be no arguments about piracy tehre as keycodes are authenticated at point of entry. Anyone making an online/multiplayer game cant whine about piracy.

 

[dirtydog]

^ there will surely always be a big demand for single player titles, á la Half Life or GTA. Such games, especially FPS games are inherently better when played on the PC, with a mouse.

 

[Glaucus]

I agree MMO are a savior to the pc games industry. Pc games are never going to die out. People will always want the latests gfx and that's only possible on a pc. By the time the next xbox/ps4 is released the gfx on this generation of consoles will look shocking compared to a pc. You also have the fact that a keyboard and a mouse is need for competition and gaming is becoming ever more serious and competitive.

 

[Hostile_18]

^ there will surely always be a big demand for single player titles, á la Half Life or GTA. Such games, especially FPS games are inherently better when played on the PC, with a mouse.

I don't know not every FPS needs pin point accuracy. You could make an argument that using a controller is more realistic. If everyone is on the same playing field using a controller how can it be worse? You get rumble feedback as well using a controller.

 

[Hostile_18]

I agree MMO are a savior to the pc games industry. Pc games are never going to die out. People will always want the latests gfx and that's only possible on a pc. By the time the next xbox/ps4 is released the gfx on this generation of consoles will look shocking compared to a pc. You also have the fact that a keyboard and a mouse is need for competition and gaming is becoming ever more serious and competitive.

I guess it depends on why people play games. Serious and competitive to me isn't a good thing. Neither is having the best graphics at the expense of having to upgrade often. If developers can get use to the standard hardware it allows more time to focus on the game play.

 

[dirtydog]

I don't know not every FPS needs pin point accuracy. You could make an argument that using a controller is more realistic. If everyone is on the same playing field using a controller how can it be worse? You get rumble feedback as well using a controller.

There's nothing realistic about aiming a gun with a joystick. With a mouse you can aim it exactly where you want, in an instant - just like with a real gun.

Speaking of FPS games, Unreal Tournament 3 is another case in point of PC gaming dying. UT2004 was superb (and still is one of the most played online games) and ran well on modest hardware even when it first came out. UT3 is yet another badly optimised bugfest, clearly written with the consoles in mind and with the PC version as an afterthought. Prior to this, all UT games were either lead on the PC or exclusive to it. Result, as well as the technical issues, the gameplay is watered down, dumbed down tripe to make it easy to play on a gamepad. No wonder it has bombed on the PC.

 

[Glaucus]

I guess it depends on why people play games. Serious and competitive to me isn't a good thing. Neither is having the best graphics at the expense of having to upgrade often. If developers can get use to the standard hardware it allows more time to focus on the game play.

The competitive is a large and increasing market.

You don't have to upgrade. My computers 3 years old and still plays new games. Just not at full detail.

A game at lower res will still look better than a console game. after a short while.

 

[dirtydog]

The competitive is a large and increasing market.

You don't have to upgrade. My computers 3 years old and still plays new games. Just not at full detail.

A game at lower res will still look better than a console game. after a short while.

Have you tried Test Drive Unlimited on your machine? I bet it doesn't run as well as the 360 version even if you run it at 640x480 on low details (which makes it look like a PS2 game).

 

[Hostile_18]

Result, as well as the technical issues, the gameplay is watered down, dumbed down tripe to make it easy to play on a gamepad. No wonder it has bombed on the PC.

For me it bombed on the consoles as well. Played it for 20 minutes and then traded it in. Offered nothing new and everything it had, had been done better else where. Bad game no matter format IMO.

As for the controller point who can aim that well and accurately in real life!? (aside from Chuck)

 

[Glaucus]

Have you tried Test Drive Unlimited on your machine? I bet it doesn't run as well as the 360 version even if you run it at 640x480 on low details (which makes it look like a PS2 game).

No but then my computer is older than modern consoles. What I'm saying is consoles are static. Pc's are evolving and even a old computer in pc terms will usually outperform a console especially towards the end of the consoles life cycle.

 

[Hostile_18]

Pc's are evolving and even a old computer in pc terms will usually outperform a console especially towards the end of the consoles life cycle.

True enough but its impossible to deny a consoles best output is towards the end of its life when developers are lot more experienced at coding for it. You can't really get that same experience on a PC as things are always changing.

 

[dirtydog]

For me it bombed on the consoles as well. Played it for 20 minutes and then traded it in. Offered nothing new and everything it had, had been done better else where. Bad game no matter format IMO.

As for the controller point who can aim that well and accurately in real life!? (aside from Chuck)

Yes it did bomb on consoles too because it's just not a good game is it Such a game needs to be on the PC and needs a lot more to it, in this day and age. All the skill and nuances of gameplay from UT2004 were removed and they just concentrated on the graphics, and chased the console dollar...

It is sad because Epic were one of the biggest supporters of the PC platform, so for them to have treated it this shabbily isn't a good sign.

The remaining big name PC supporting developer is Valve, and I hope they give us a version of Half Life 3 in future, which is developed on the PC as the lead platform.

 

[medley]

No One Lives Forever GOTY (2001)

That game is class Make sure you play the second as well. Can't remember if both games have Co-op but I know the 2nd does. Very short but fun while it lasts

 

[Glaucus]

True enough but its impossible to deny a consoles best output is towards the end of its life when developers are lot more experienced at coding for it. You can't really get that same experience on a PC as things are always changing.

But it doesn't matter how well they code. The power of a console will be nothing compared to pc's.

 

[dirtydog]

No but then my computer is older than modern consoles. What I'm saying is consoles are static. Pc's are evolving and even a old computer in pc terms will usually outperform a console especially towards the end of the consoles life cycle.

You just said "You don't have to upgrade. My computers 3 years old and still plays new games. Just not at full detail. A game at lower res will still look better than a console game. after a short while."

PCs have more raw power than consoles but that doesn't mean the games will be better, or even as good.

Again, look at Resident Evil 4. The PC version is a port of the PS2 version, which itself looked inferior to the original Gamecube version. They ported over the low res 512x384 sized movies as well. It doesn't matter how powerful your PC is, if the games coming out for it are badly written rubbish.

 

[Hostile_18]

The remaining big name PC supporting developer is Valve, and I hope they give us a version of Half Life 3 in future, which is developed on the PC as the lead platform.

I think any game can be good no matter the platform developed on. Its just the stupid idea that console gamers can't handle the kind of complex/deep games pc gamers have traditionally had that ruins a lot of multi-platform games. It builds up resentment from pc gamers, I've felt it myself at somepoints. Words such as "streamlined" and "accessible" are the bane of my life.. anyone remember R6: Lockdown and Deus Ex 2

 

[Glaucus]

They ported over the low res 512x384 sized movies as well. It doesn't matter how powerful your PC is, if the games coming out for it are badly written rubbish.

That's a port. What do you expect.