PC Gaming is Dead

Gimpymoo · 7 Dec 2016 at 10:17

Maundie said:
I've always had both as I like console for things like NHL and FIFA and PC for Dawn of War and Euro Truck Simulator.

I tried to play a RTS game on a console and I couldn't work it at all, the mouse and keyboard makes controlling units and selecting buildings so muck easier.

Gamepad support on PC is one area which has improved a lot over the years.

Native controller suppport, albeit mostly limited to a single controller type (Xbox) has made things much better. Previously on PC, developer support was difficult as it was not known how many buttons the user would have on their gamepad.

Gamepad use on a PC back pre "Xbox" controller days was sometimes just not worth the hassle unless for a simple game with 2 buttons as the UI prompts made no sense depending on the controller you were using. Nevermind trying to use more than one controller? Anyone remember using a gameport splitter?

Still baffles me that using two keyboards/mice on one PC still requires black magic to work. Even then, is a bit iffy.

EA were the only ones I think to design the game around a certain controller (Logitech). Not ideal, but it tidied it all up.

Maundie · 7 Dec 2016 at 10:25

Gimpymoo said:
Snip

Totally agree, I do have the Xbox controller and use it to play Assassins Creed/ Battlefield 4 but I just don't like sitting there playing FIFA or NHL on the PC.

Plus I have the PS4 in the spare room as a Blu-Ray player and Netflix/Amazon prime streamer

Zhuni · 7 Dec 2016 at 10:27

Over the last 5 years a lot of big console youtubers and twitch gamers have switched from console to pc. My younger brother hadn't considered pc untill xcal switched. And come to think of it i was watching RussianBadger vid years ago when he switched and it prompted me too. I use to switch every couple of years but wouldn't go back now.

Scottland · 7 Dec 2016 at 10:33

I think the cost of 1080P gaming on PC has come down a lot, add to that the ease of use for Steam, Origin etc and there's much more parity with consoles now you have to download and install current titles on the XBone and PS4.

Xinput has helped a lot too.

bfar · 7 Dec 2016 at 10:35

It was never more than a marketing meme spread by people trying to sell consoles or tablets.

NarutoHokage · 7 Dec 2016 at 10:49

bfar said:
It was never more than a marketing meme spread by people trying to sell consoles or tablets.

Haha that's so true. PC Gaming will not die down in the foreseable future.

spoffle · 7 Dec 2016 at 10:55

That's not what ironic means. Also, technology slowing down means that over time the costs if entry into PC gaming will drastically drop for what isn't much different to the average gaming computer.

spoffle · 7 Dec 2016 at 10:59

Ryan-3 said:
This - consoles are now just a lower powered dedicated gaming PC. PC ports no longer require a lot of work like they once did either.

Games aren't actually ported though, and realistically haven't been for a long time.

this_is_gav · 7 Dec 2016 at 11:07

It's going to be interesting to see whether Windows is still the go-to platform for PC gaming in 10 years or so. Linux is increasingly gaining support thanks to Steam, and if it manages to continue it may well be the case that many gamers are using it, so will many other companies, and if that's the case then Microsoft could well be in trouble.

I can't imagine that's going to be the case, but Microsoft need to start realising that some of their recent decisions haven't left many happy (don't get me wrong, I was happy with Win 8/8.1 and am happy with 10, but the attempted forced upgrades to 10 and the gimping of 7's updates annoyed many others, and managing 10 on a domain in the workplace is still terrible).

Scottland said:
I think the cost of 1080P gaming on PC has come down a lot, add to that the ease of use for Steam, Origin etc and there's much more parity with consoles now you have to download and install current titles on the XBone and PS4.

I built for someone (well, OcUK did as I didn't have the time) a full PC, 24" 1080p monitor and all, for ~£700 with a Radeon 470 and quad-core i5 6400 and 240GB SSD a couple of weeks back.

I could have gone a lot lower with an SSHD and Radeon 460 or GTX 1050 (TI) if they were in stock at the time too.

Pretty damn respectable in my opinion considering the performance and the value of the pound.

Still, I'd argue we've had it better in the past in select periods. We had the Celeron 300A (best CPU ever - within 10 seconds you had a Pentium 2), then he whole AMD resurgence of 2000 onwards and price wars to go with it, and more recently the 8800GT.

For top PC gaming performance now you need to spend £1,000 just for the best GPU (not that most need it, but that particular market has changed considerably).

CHokKA · 7 Dec 2016 at 11:47

I have always been a PC gamer right from the days of Doom and Duke Nukem. I messed around with my 486 back in the day, even overclocking it from an i486 DX2-66 to a DX2-80! I will always be a PC gamer at heart. I did, however, purchase an XBox 360 on release. I played on that for a good while, mostly for the ability to play from the comfort of my couch, but I still played games on my PC as well. At this time, PC upgrades used to be required every year or two to remain current, but these days you don't need to upgrade for years to still be able to play things at a decent resolution with good graphics. I play at 1080.

Forward to now, and we still have two XBox 360s that are never used (actually, it's three, but one is an oven-baked console that had to undergo this thanks to the 3RLOD issues, which still works!), and I only ever game on my PC. If I want to play on the couch, I have a Steam Link for this and my library of games on Steam is playable from any room that has a TV

The only upgrade to my PC in recent years was a replacement GPU due to my old one failing. The other components are still from 2012 and I can play everything I want to play at a decent resolution. I'm happy!

Unfortunately, PC gamers are still excluded from certain titles as they're console only, which I don't really understand given the technologies available these days. I was disappointed to learn that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be a console-only game. I loved the original. I can understand platform exclusive titles like The Last Of Us, Uncharted, Bloodborne etc, but when something is released on both consoles, it really should be on the PC as well. I'm certainly not buying a console just to play one game...

Nemeses · 7 Dec 2016 at 13:37

Really

ebilcake · 7 Dec 2016 at 13:47

PC Gaming will never die, however I wish survival/crafting games would.

Minecraft was fun for a bit, but we don't needs hundreds of games doing the same thing with different graphics and themes.

It's getting silly now, I also hate how elements of it are getting into every game now, it ruins the experience.

kinger8938 · 7 Dec 2016 at 14:22

^ true mate, steam early access is riddled by these and they never seem to hit full release

spoffle · 7 Dec 2016 at 15:03

ebilcake said:
PC Gaming will never die, however I wish survival/crafting games would.

Minecraft was fun for a bit, but we don't needs hundreds of games doing the same thing with different graphics and themes.

It's getting silly now, I also hate how elements of it are getting into every game now, it ruins the experience.

Popularity sells, however I don't think it's really part of many games. You might just be getting spammed by steam or something.

justbeingmiko · 7 Dec 2016 at 15:19

I can't help but wonder if the stabilization of hardware on the PC contributed to the case. Now the upgrade path is a lot smoother, with PC core components lasting for longer than a few months and new gen games still playable on relatively old PC hardware.

The constant need to upgrade to the better and best to play the new titles has ceased. That was one of the major advantages of consoles - longevity of the hardware. That would have appealed to the masses.

Now PCs are in the a similar boat.

wellibob · 7 Dec 2016 at 15:32

I'm hopeful that Projects like MS Scorpio will set the standard of gaming consoles. Gamer developers can then squeeze as much as they can with given hardware, and then PC users with higher actual PC specifications can go nuts with settings. If it doesn't happen like this. I'm moving Planets.

TNA · 7 Dec 2016 at 15:38

wellibob said:
I'm hopeful that Projects like MS Scorpio will set the standard of gaming consoles. Gamer developers can then squeeze as much as they can with given hardware, and then PC users with higher actual PC specifications can go nuts with settings. If it doesn't happen like this. I'm moving Planets.

Well if you do end up moving Planets, I recommend Uranus

Drollic · 7 Dec 2016 at 15:47

Far from dead, however there does seem to be more of a trend in releasing games that are partially broken and require a number of patches before they are properly playable. Regular updates addressing minor bugs and gameplay balance issues is perfectly acceptable. Patches over a period of weeks to address fundamental flaws and crashes isn't.

My ps4 sits in a drawer unused as it feels like a relic tech wise compared to 60 fps+ gaming with 144hz and gsync. This kind of tech is a big jump forward for PC gamers.

Gimpymoo · 7 Dec 2016 at 17:25

spoffle said:
That's not what ironic means. Also, technology slowing down means that over time the costs if entry into PC gaming will drastically drop for what isn't much different to the average gaming computer.

Why is it not ironic?

Irony
A state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects.

This is "PC Games" though, seems petty to pull people up on grammar skills or their apparent lack thereof.

ttaskmaster · 7 Dec 2016 at 17:28

mid_gen said:
It was in danger of becoming uneconomical to develop for PC due to piracy....

As a dev friend of mine pointed out - The Dev for PC is FREE, because it's already been written ON the PC in the first place... The publishing is really the only cost for PC release, which is why it's cheaper than the console editions. However, it is/was also the piracy risk, which as you pointed out has been dramatically reduced by things like Steam/Origin/Uplay/GoG, etc...

I could still go and get pirated games, Mass Effect Andromeda, or whatever... but it's likely to be problematic, missing certain online features and it's just too much hassle, TBH.
I did actually get a dodgy copy of a certain game once, but liked it so much I then went and bought the über-spanky ultimate edition of it anyway!!

CHokKA said:
Unfortunately, PC gamers are still excluded from certain titles as they're console only, which I don't really understand given the technologies available these days.

It's console-only so that, if you want to play this game, you MUST buy a console... which is what it always about, IMO and why PC gaming was "dead" - Not because of any reason other than consoleers were hogging the game exclusivities like spoiled little children.

I can't afford a PC and a console, but since the PC did all those other things like play movies and organise my files, process photos, office functions, yadda yadda... and because I hate controllers, a console would have been a pointless waste of money.
This is why I've never played HALO.