PC vs. Console

[[AK]Swae]

Is PC gaming dying?

[[AK]StitchJones]

[long wind post]
I myself have posted here about this situation many times. Consoles are were your seeing the most development and growth. And it will continue to stay that way for quite a long time. The simple truth is that there are too many 3rd party hardware vendors creating PC based hardware. This adds additional time to game development and also leaves companies in a lurch to leave development team members to patch and update games after they are released to fix bugs and hardware based issues.
There are and have been games released over the years that offer jaw dropping graphics, but that comes at a cost. For a PC you already own, depending on it's age. You may or may not be able to play the newest and coolest 3D game that just came out. Let's pick Crysis for example. Okay maybe Crysis will play on your machine but you have to run the resolution at 800x600 with very low quality settings. This will take away from the overall experience from the game. Now if you spend several hundred dollars or more for new video card(s) and or maybe you uplift other parts of your system, let's say you invest about $500 in total. You now can play and enjoy Crysis with better quality. And you will be very impressed.
Move the clock forward a year or so, maybe a new super duper game will be out that you simply must play, but you are faced again with having to look at a upgrade to get the best quality possible. You are now in a constant rat race.
Consoles on the other hand, all have the same hardware and configurations. Developers know exactly how and what it can do and code their games as such. Any singe one of you who have walked into any type of Video Game store (E.B. Games, Gamestop) can attest to the fact that the PC gaming section has been reduced to a single portable display, or in some cases a floor bin. And the console games (Sony, Xbox, Nintendo) take up the rest of the store. This has become the trend. In many cases with the newest wave of consoles that produce higher output resolutions, 1280x720 and 1980x1080 you now have the HD generation (except for Nintendo). You are seeing higher quality games that look great, play smooth and most importantly when playing on line,,,,, No cheating or hacks.

Wow I went on a freakin rant.

Okay to get this post complete, let me say that PC gaming is and has been in a lurch. The best thing possible to re-boost and get sales numbers up, hardware companies need to unify devices for better compatibility when running games. Things need to be more Mac like on the PC side
[/long wind post]

[[AK]Vaxschulah]

I love my PC but have been seeing this for some time now...especially since playing on the Xbox 360. That thing is incredible. I am so tired of not getting to play stuff because I can't afford the PC upgrade to.

[[AK]StitchJones]

Vax, thanks for posting something in here. I was overly worried that I nuked this thread

[[AK]The Beast]

PC games aren't dead, but they are being relegated to a niche market. Can you imagine playing WoW on a console? Same goes for strategy games. Civ 4 or Company of Heroes just doesn't work with an XBox 360 controller. And just ask Hylander what he thinks of sim racing games for the console. That opinion is shared by flight sim enthusiasts, too.

Of course, I can't really imagine playing a shooter on a console, but more and more that's where they're coming out (at least first, if not exclusively). Sports games rule on consoles, though.

[[AK]Hylander]

PC games aren't dead, but they are being relegated to a niche market. Can you imagine playing WoW on a console? Same goes for strategy games. Civ 4 or Company of Heroes just doesn't work with an XBox 360 controller. And just ask Hylander what he thinks of sim racing games for the console. That opinion is shared by flight sim enthusiasts, too.

Of course, I can't really imagine playing a shooter on a console, but more and more that's where they're coming out (at least first, if not exclusively). Sports games rule on consoles, though.

Exactly right. How often are consoles released with updated hardware? Once every 3 to 5 years? How advanced do you think Graphics would be if the PC platform had no games on it? Do you think AMD/ATI or NVIDIA would be pushing forward with more powerful and better equipment regularly when there is no platform to sell their hardware on?

In terms of Sims (racing, flight, etc.) the biggest draw back is there is no modding community possible for the console. Just go take a look at rfactor central and look at the hundreds of mods available for rfactor, or look at the hundreds upon hundreds of community created tracks and vehicle add-ons. The same holds true for air and rail sims. It's just not possible on a console. Until the console stores it's games on a HD, and there is a traditional OS that allows modders to tinker with it... the consoles will be limited to FPS and sports games for the most part. Modding is a huge part of gaming these days. I won't even get into the controller aspect and communication limitations. I wouldn't even want to think about trying to play Civ IV or something like WoW without a keyboard and mouse.

[[AK]Clay]

Stitch is right of course, but so is Beast. If consoles really want to put the nail in the PC coffin, they're going to need to better integrate keyboards and mice. I believe such can be plugged in, but it's an anomily. Games like WoW, Civ IV, etc, just can't be played on a stock conventional console. WoW in particular is as much a social game as a video game - keyboard/text communications are crucial for that model to work.

Not to mention the modding and constant need for patches that some game models require.

[Neurotic]

I'd rather play a game where there really is no end in site just yet and have to constantly lvl, get gear, progress, download new content, then play a game where you can beat it in 1-2 days and then a few weeks later have an "upgrade" available and you go get it using "xbox live" for example and beat that lvl in 2 hours. lol

Kinda why I stopped my xbox360 and bought a new comp. Plus like clay said pc games are more of a social game and video game then a console


DANCE or DIE!!

[[AK]Nuts]

What attracts gamers to PC games is the ability for additional and new content to be added. By means of internet downloads and online worlds, additional material can be added to the game at any time. The downfall is that most gaming companies don't want to invest in a 3 - 5 year lifecycle for a game. From development to production games are dated the minute they are released. In order to attract new sales and stay fresh in the market by the time most companies release their product they are already halfway through the development cycle for the next game.

Game companies must be willing to make a long term investment in a game. The shouldn't outsource patches and addons to a third party. They shouldn't let products die but instead continue to add to the gamer's experience through not just new content but engine modifications and core game changes... make an investment in the game and gamers will stay with you.

Like any drug dealer knows, the real profit is in the come-back. Cellular providers know this too that's why phones are free because the real money is in the airtime. So game companies should do the same thing. Sell the game and then sell addons, new content, develop richer online environments, build your community.

Personally I like PC Gaming because I feel that there are fewer kids playing PC games when compared to console games. I just wish the gaming companies would develop gaming models that attracted a wider bredth of players.

[[AK]Hylander]

I just received this months MaximumPC Mag and on page 8 there is an article titled "PC Gaming Alive and Kicking". Talks about a new group formed called the "PC Gaming Alliance" (PCGA). They claim PC gaming sales in the US Last year was $2.76Billion, up 12%.

Just an FYI

[[AK]Faxman]

Why 2008 might turn out to be a good year for PC gaming.

[[AK]Hylander]

FiRST RACING
Ex-Lead guys from Papyrus(basically the GOD of racing sims until Sierra closed
them down)are now working on self-funded online-centered hardcore racing sim to be released in 2007

Self-Funded = John Henry (Owner of Red Sox) and partner in Roush-Fenway Racing in NASCAR

iRacing.com = In the next couple of months

I'm all over this because they partnered with the SCCA to license the Spec Racer Ford - which is one of the series I use to race in:


A combination of laser scans and measurements will provide the data required for iRacing.com engineers, technicians and artists to build an extremely accurate digital rendition of SCCA's most popular race car, the Spec Racer Ford.


By precisely determining the location and mass of each significant component of the Spec Racer Ford and accurately measuring all suspension geometry, iRacing.com's digital model of the car will perform in the simulation exactly as it does in the physical world.

You won't find this on a CONSOLE!

[[AK]StitchJones]

All of the points mentioned for the PC gaming side are both good and valid. And 2008 does look like it's shaping up to be a great year for PC gaming. Like I have mentioned before my only real issues at this point is hardware upgrading. Companies as a whole should be creating games with a certain baseline that covers a much larger hardware scheme. Not having the most cutting edge performance that you need to pay to achieve. I realize with what I just said could be attacked with "Well just turn the settings down". We shouldn't have to turn the settings down, more games should be optimal as a norm. Look at Quake Wars from last year. OMG that game had so much going on in it, but it ran as smooth as silk with my aging PC hardware. Cyrsis on the other hand made my PC go into a state of depression that took weeks to get it to come out into the public again.
We are all a very diverse group and that is why there are so many choices. So at the end of the day, each platform has a group of fans to enjoy. I am a gaming wh0r3 so I own 'em all

[[AK?]Azmodious]

Now that consoles are getting more advanced they are catching up in the area of Grafix, but imagine wow with NO MODS. the game whould have never made it as far, if it were not for the customization options that come with it. You can realy twist the UI to suit your own gaming style. I have seen a lot of good games in the past get killed by a crappy UI. Now I wont be surprised when we start buying console games loaded on solid state drives that allow modding, or console systems that allow for something like that. I know the XBOX got verry close to this. The one thing that does still hold a lot of sway is the Unerversal Standard, there is now on adv. more than 1 computer in every home in America (Im not sure about europe). Playstation, nor XBOX can claim that. So if a designer wants to hit as large a market as possible... PC is the answer. If they want to keep support cost low (Make your money and go Method) they can go Console... But all in all a Static game that never changes will probably never hold #1 game ever again, now that Dynamicly designed and updated MMOs are out there.

[[AK]Bribo]

but imagine wow with NO MODS.

Better yet - imagine WoW with no keyboard or mouse. :P