Is PC Gaming Dead? (as we knew it)

[Spazosaurus]

I agree with mez. No real innovation is going on in the PC segment and all the power inherent in it is largely going to waste with graphics that aren't that much better than consoles which provide similar networking features and much larger community.

Those who already into the PC will stay because they are getting games (never mind that the majority of them are watered down compared to what used to obtain 5 to 8 years ago), but still have things going on to justify remaining there.

There's absolutely nothing drawing the younger generation of gamers into the PC. If didnt know it before, games like Black Ops certainly removed any doubt in a young gamers' mind as to what platform they will ask mommy to get the game for them on, EVEN though they have a PC in the house capable of playing the game. They arent going to roll the dice and hope that if they get it for PC it will work properly. And I dont blame them.


And as time goes by the only people that will be left on the pc is men like us of the older generation who remembers where they came from.

[Doomtack]

imo, PC enthusiasts and hobbyists will always be around, as long as the tech continues to grow.
In that case, PC gaming is bound to survive, even if only for those folks.

[Spazosaurus]

Tech enthusiasts and pc gamers are two very different segments.

Yes they intersect but that number will be a very very small drop in the bucket. To think that that segment will be the boon of pc gaming is foolhardy at best.

So like I said, yes pc gaming would survive but only for a select few who are stuck in a time warp playing the classics to death and happy with it and/or the occasional title that rises above the rest.

[MessiaaH]

@ Awesome.

Watered down :S:S:S What watered down about Dirt 2, Rage, Crysis 2, Starcraft 2!!!!!, Doom 4, Shank, Borderlands, DOW2, Slinter Cell Conviction, BC2, Fear 3, Bulletstorm, and i can go ON, and ON, and ON, WATERED DOWN? roflmao!

And i actualy grew up on consoles, nintendo, super nintendo, nintendo 64, playstation 1, etc etc. But when i reach of age, and wanted a boss pc for myself to do stuff OTHER dan gaming, i end up on pc gaming also.

But anyways, d tons and tons of articles, evidence, reserach, proof, professional analasys by all d gaming sites, reviewers and experts, are all wrong about d Sucessful future of PC Gaming. (And for d last time, d success of d console does not = downfall of pc gaming)

[Berzerk]

I agree with mez. No real innovation is going on in the PC segment and all the power inherent in it is largely going to waste with graphics that aren't that much better than consoles which provide similar networking features and much larger community.

Those who already into the PC will stay because they are getting games (never mind that the majority of them are watered down compared to what used to obtain 5 to 8 years ago), but still have things going on to justify remaining there.

There's absolutely nothing drawing the younger generation of gamers into the PC. If didnt know it before, games like Black Ops certainly removed any doubt in a young gamers' mind as to what platform they will ask mommy to get the game for them on, EVEN though they have a PC in the house capable of playing the game. They arent going to roll the dice and hope that if they get it for PC it will work properly. And I dont blame them.


And as time goes by the only people that will be left on the pc is men like us of the older generation who remembers where they came from.

Graphics that not much better than consoles? u high?

I have a ps3, and hdmi,  and PC is leaps and bounds better looking. its like totally different games dey jed. I would always give jack his jacket but come now. there is no comparison. this is the case with pretty much every game ive tried on ps3 and on pc.

I agree with mez and the innovation though, aside of a few cool gimmicks like eyefinity, etc PC may not be have any true investment in creating new peripherals etc, but does it really need to?

all 360 peripherals work flawlessly on pc, with the advent of games for windows live (yes ive tried  A Lot)

 also all bluetooth devices, (a la wii remotes, ps3 controls etc) it might need some requisite research (which is pretty noob friendly) but is painfully easy to do.


Agree with community aspect etc, but with programs like raptr, steam GFW etc, pc community is getting a lot more organised than it ever was. I think this year would be a judgement year for PC, if very high quality games like Rage, Brink, and Bulletstorm come out in a big way, steam supported etc and are quality sellers on the PC it may garner some hope for the future.

[Mez]

I would also like to add, that the 'big game dev companies' those that are left?
EA, Blizzard, Treyarch. The 'boutique' game dev co's dont have the time/resources to create games on the level of Diablo 3, Fifa '11, Call of Duty.
Which is why we get games like Plants vs Zombies :/
and Agricultural Farmer Extreme "with real ploughing action"

There is a huge disparity in game development companies. The Massive ones, that can afford to Innovate, won't innovate for the PC because they'll lose money doing it.

The boutique ones that are willing to innovate cant give 'us' pc gamers the kind of groundbreaking games that make us go. WOW. It hurt my heart when westwood studios closed. But you know what, they were probably hit the hardest, during the time when lan play was rampant and so was piracy.

Big Studio = Profit Driven
Lil Studio = Innovation Driven
however, they both have the drawbacks which are keeping gamers 'away'

I don't think PC Gaming is dead, in a vegetative state, yes. But not dead.
I agree with awesome's point about pcgaming being a generational thing; our generation who did this is not being followed avidly by the next.  I think a large problem as well is that because such a massive number of people are satiated by 'neverending' MMORPGS, we don't have a crowd clamoring for the next diablo 3 or starcraft 2, we have a crowd clamoring for the next instance.
and in the words of Mary Antoinette "LET THEM EAT CAKE" if all they want is WoW that's all we're going to get

[Berzerk]

Here is a list of PC games exclusives for 2011. I totally forgot about torchlight 2, and well Witcher 2 is exclusive as well.

may not be as epic as some console exclusives, but had no idea PC had that much. might personally take a dive into Guild Wars 2.

Exclusive list ends at Xcom (multi platform which includes pc starts from there.)

full link here. http://adrianwerner.wordpress.com/2011-games/

edit highlighted in Red the ones I think people here would be interested in.




PC exclusives are as follows (Does not include Multi platform):




Shogun II: Total War


Might and Magic Heroes VI
New entry in one of the most beloved turn based strategy series of all time.


Age of Empires Online
The rebirth of one of the biggest RTS franchises of all time.


DOTA 2
The mod that started the whole genre is now getting a commercial sequel from Valve Software.


Tropico 4
Another entry in this great city building series. Tropico 3 scored 8.4 from IGN


Cities in MotionT
Spiritial successor to Transport Tycoon from Paradox Interactive.


Jagged Alliance 2: Reloaded
Remake of a classic tactical TBS.


Jagged Alliance 3


Sword of the Stars II
Sequel to a great 4X game.


End of Nations
MMORTS from Petroglyph. Their last RTS was Universe at War, which scored 8.0 at IGN.


Frozen Synapse
An indie simultaneous turn-based tactical game.


Dungeons
Spiritual successor to Dungeon Keeper.


The Sims Medieval


Real Warfare 2: Northern Crusades
Continuaton of XIII Century: Death or Glory, which scored 7.2 at IGN./


A Game of Thrones: Genesis
Epic strategy game based on legendary novel series. It’s being designed Cyanide, which is the studio that made Blood Bowl videogame adaptation.


Project MyWorld
A virtual recreation of the real world combined with 3D gaming and social media.


Stronghold 3


Anomaly: Warzone Earth
Tactical game that plays like a revers of tower defense genre. It’s being made by 11 bit, a new studio formed



Magna Mundi
Commercial follow-up to the best Europa Universalis 3 mod ever made.


Panzer Corps
Spiritual successor to Panzer General.


Xenonauts
Indie turn-based tactical game inspired heavily by X-COM.


Blight Of The Immortals
Web based strategy game set in fantasy universe. It’s being made by Iron Helmet, a small australian company formed by ex-Irrational Games people who already made Neptune’s Pride.


Six Gun Saga
A primarly singleplayer card strategy game from Cryptic Comet, creators of Armageddon Empires and Solium Infernum.


Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II – Retribution
Second add-on to this great RTS.


ROLEPLAYING

Diablo 3


The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Sequel to one of best roleplaying games on last few years.


Dead State
Indie zombie RPG from ex-Troika and Obsidian designers.


Grim Dawn
Action RPG from ex Iron Lore staff (where they worked on Titan Quest)


Darkspore
Hack and Slash from Maxix (makers of Sim City, Sims and of course Spore)


Starport Gemini
Space based indie RPG.


Avadon: The Black Fortress
New RPG from makers of Geneforge and Avernum series. This time Spiderweb finally has completely redesigned their graphics system.


Torchlight II
Sequel to a hack and slash RPG that scored 8.6 at IGN.


Drakensang Online
Cooperative online RPG.


Neverwinter
Online cooperative RPG with powerful adventure building tools, from Cryptic (makers of City of Heroes and Champions)


Star Wars: The Old Republic
Star Wars MMORPG from Bioware.


Guild Wars 2
Original Guild Wars scored 9.0 at IGN


Tera
Beautiful MMORPG with action-game like combat, by ex-Lineage devs.


Stellar Dawn
Sci-Fi MMO from makers of Runescape


Rift: Planes of Telara


Untitled Carbine Studios MMORPG
Carbine is a team composed of RPG veterans(including Blizzard ones) like Tim Cain
(one of creators of Fallout and Arcanum) and Jeremy Gaffney (founder of Turbine)


ADVENTURE

Black Mirror 3


Cargo
New puzzle game from makers of Void and Pathologic.


Asylum
New horror adventure game from people who created Scratches, which scored 8.0 at Adventuregamers.


Saturated Dreamers
Indie exploration game from makers or Immortal Defense


ACTION

Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad
Sequel to 8.5 WWII tactical shooter. What’s more, RO2 will singleplayer campaigns for both Russian and German sides.


Firefall
Massive online FPS from RED5 Studios (ex Blizzard people) and lead designer of Tribes 1 and 2.


Heroes and Generals
Online WW2 FPS from a studio formed by lead designers of Hitman series.


CHIVALRY: Battle for Agatha
First-person medieval online combat game running on Unreal Engine 3.0. It’s being developed by a team behind Age of Chivalry mods.


Depth
Indie aquatic stealth game running on Unreal Engine 3. The team is filed with people who created the first version of Killing Floor.


Contagion
Single and multiplayer horror FPS from makers of Zombie Panic! Source mod.


Bounty Arms
Indie platformer running on Unreal Engine 3.0.


The Spire
Indie FPP action-adventure with strong puzzle element built on Unreal Engine 3.0.


Warface
Free military FPS from Crytek.


Snapshot
Snapshot is a 2d sidescrolling game in which the player takes on the role of “Pic” The player controls Pic as well as a camera that can take photos of the environment. Photos can capture objects such as boxes, enemies, and other things. The player can then use these photos to move objects around in the world to complete each level. One of finalists for 2009 Independent Games Festival’s Excellence in Design Award


Seasons after Fall
Beautiful indie puzzle platformer where you use effects seasonal changes to overcome obstacles.


The Swapper
Very promising and unique puzzle platformer based around the idea of a device that can create copies of yourself with whom you can then swap placesIt features interesting light, shadow and relativeness based game mechanics blended with an ambiguous storyline embedded directly into and told throughout the game.


Battlefield Play4Free
Free to play entry in classic FPS franchise.


Bloodline Champions
Indie arena-based game.


Cobalt
Indie platformer from the makers of Harvest: Massive Encounter.


Swimming Under Clouds
An indie 2-D physics-based puzzle platformer


Sky Legends
Online arcade flying game from the studio that made Snoopy: Flying Ace (console game that scored 9.0 at IGN)


Rising Storm
First add-on to Red Orchestra: Heroes of Stalingrad, made as colaboration with mod teams.


E.Y.E
Indie FPS/RPG hybrid running on Source engine. People who work on it previously made great Half-Life mod called Syndicate Black Ops


Minecraft
Indie retro action and sandbox construction game.


Ground Branch
Tactical shooter from Blackfoot( which is composed of RainbowSix, Rogue Spear and Ghost Recon leads)\


SIMULATION

Microsoft Flight
Finally, a new flight sim from Microsoft.


Steel Armor:Blaze of War
Mew tank sim from the makers of Steel Fury (which was one of the best tank games of all time)


Space Shuttle Mission Simulator 2
Sequel to the best sim of it’s kind.


BlackStar Chronicles
An action MMO described as a mix of the single-player traditions of Wing Commander with the multiplayer feel of Descent. It’s being developed by a team of people who previously worked on sadly canceled Privateer Online as well as on Star Wars Galaxies


Infinity: The Quest for Earth
MMO space simulator with huge procedurally generated universe


PUZZLE/CASUAL

Subversion
Fourth Introversion game (after Uplink, Darwinia and Defcon)


Arcada Mia’s
New puzzle game from the maker of Dangerous High School Girls In Trouble.

[MessiaaH]

No berzerk NOOO, all dat reserach you do HASSSS to be wrong.
PC gaming is vegetated cause some men cousin rather play blackops on d xbox rofl.

Hear nah, we time and time again admit pc gaming has a problem, but is being FIXED.
Id faster belive 3 years ago , if u said pc gaming is vegetated. But it is not anymore.
Companies lashing strong. Is ah recession in d world, obviosuly some fellers will close down.
But dat dont say boo.

All d extensive reserach i doing online says, pc gaming is getting better, and better, and better. I basing my conclusions, on d countless expert reviews/previews and articles around d net. GOOGLE PPL GOOLE!

What are u guys basing your conclusions on? :S
Black Ops sales figures? :S

[MessiaaH]

Dat list berzerk post dey is juss STAGGERING!
PC GAMING DYING, and dat shitload of exclusives? rofl  lmao rofl.

And dies juss exclusives, when u include multiplatform in dat biatch, d list will juss explode.
But anyways, like i said, d researchers and analyst those companies have, to justify making all those PC games, HAS to be wrong. Its all about Black Ops Yo!

[W1nTry]

As with all things time will be the ultimate judge. That being said all round looks like continued good times (regardless of platform) for us gamers on a whole!

[MessiaaH]

^^ Yup, regardless of platform, is only good times ahead for gaming on d whole.

[Spazosaurus]

And these pc titles are sooooo groundbreaking and exciting that they are going to make young gamers abandon their consoles and flock to the pc in droves.

Kids are gonna stop wanting xbox and ps3 for Christmas and start asking for gaming pc's instead.

Also, everybody knows 'expert' opinions on websites are NEVER wrong and that their word is practically gospel.

This generation of pc gamers is gonna live forever and sweat game with our 5 or 6 friends cuz thats all we need, nothing else matters.

Yeah, we pc gamers are SAVED!

[Berzerk]

das a level of ignorance I seriously shocked at oui.


no one said it was groundbreaking, but I don't think anyone knew there were so many exclusives.

Diablo3, Witcher 2, Torchlight 2, Guild Wars 2, Star wars the old republic and Dawn of war retribution are all high quality titles and all are exclusives. stuff that actually would raise eyebrows. And these are a fraction.


its a good time to be a gamer, period. whether on PC or Console.

[MessiaaH]

Why u keep talking bout youths, and kids flocking to d pc.
Pc gaming DOENST NEEDDDDDDDDD no kids to flock to it lol.

i said it a MILLION times, d SUCESS of consoles DOES NOT EQUAL -> Downfall of PC.
Also, what GROUNDBREAKING games it have on d console? :S

This is not a Console vs Pc war.

Its a, "IS PC GAMING DYING" thread.

If billions upon billions of ppl playing xbox, so the hell what? lolol.

PC Gaming is targeted at a particular audience, and it is doing better and better and better each year.

And d pc gaming even gone clear with d casual gamers via farmville and wow.

ANd like i said, i grow up on cosnoles, but when i reach of age, i got ah ...PC!

Doesnt matter if all d kids playing d xbox/ps3.

That ent say boo to pc gaming.

My cousin is 15/16 now, and he does be swetin gears with we on d pc.
And wants ah gaming pc of his own.

All d massive amount of titles, it dont matter what d ass man post, alyuh fellers rel hard headed boy. lololol.

For d last time, IT DONT MATTER IF KIDS PLAYING D XBOX.
PC GAMING IS INCREASING AT A STAGGERING RATE GIVEN D PROBLEMS IT HAS FACED FOR YEARS!

Again i ask, what so ground breaking and breath taking games it have on d xbox?

Zelda is d only title in my eyes capable of them kinda statements, provided miyamoto work his magic on skyward sword., And uncharted 2 earn some praise as well.

But what is d GROUND breaking thing u talking bout?

[TriniXaeno]

Messiaah, yuh ain't shame? you post a link of IGN running a demo of RAGE on an xbox 360. lol

Sabotage iwmc

QuakeCon has 8500+ attendees who are playing Quake Live for years upon years. That's practically the same as Quake 3. Id themselves are taking 7 years to bring Rage to market. I do hope it is worth the wait, being a huge Id fan myself.

Berserk, that list is the most epic contribution in favour of pc gaming to date.

Yes the consoles have equally impressive line ups as Awesome rightfully said and this will not turn the tide but I think it gives a fighting chance.

You almost single handedly restored faith in the PC platform with that post.

My hats off to you. Well played.

I pray and hope this isn't just death throes. That last desperate grasp for life before slipping into the netherworld.

Once the market responds well (and by that I mean purchase enough of these games for the developers/publishers to see a decent profit) we should be safe on the PC for many years to come. Would be incredible to see a diverse landscape flourish again outside of World of Warcraft.

If the majority of these flop at the end of the 2011 fiscal cycle. Well you know how the story ends (see Arcade / Lan Party).

Extremely impressive showing by both yourself and messiaah though in the defense of the PC, throughout the discussion. Shining light in an ocean of darkness and despair.

[MessiaaH]

And yea i know is xbox footage, but ID eh releasing no PC footage yet, dem men keepin dat under wraps, lolol. And it looking so good on d xbox already, and dey taking special care on d pc version, so i could jus imagine. I read articles where dey see d pc version in action and dey was amazed. But no footage available yet that i coudl find., Ill do some googling.

[TriniXaeno]

well the real problem, why they'll brakes from doing that, is you can't really appreciate the superior PC graphics with a typical online video, unless you stream it at 1080p (which most people won't do, especially embedded in an article on a website)

and I purposefully was leaving out that issue about Generation Y missing from the PC gaming industry. They are 99% on the console. No children = no future.

That is a whole separate issue that too dark to deal with in an already grim discussion.

So I'll just pretend it doesn't exist and go with Berserk's list yes.

A Lighthouse for PC gamers to navigate their way to shore with Steam as paddles.

[Spazosaurus]

The success of the console has everything to do with the demise of the pc. For every person who drop out of the pc gaming arena for whatever reason, there is going to be 10 people jumping on the console JUST because of the ease of play and they are HALF the cost of a gaming rig (not lower, HALF). Better graphics alone are not enough to change their minds.

What does the PC arena need to really get back on its feet? What is 'groundbreaking'? Glad you asked.

For every blockbuster game and as many lesser known titles as possible, developers have to pay special attention to the pc versions, continue to push the envelope in the graphics segment (not just make it barely better looking, actually USE the power of the hardware at your disposal), offer exclusive content or maps to the pc FIRST then trickle down to the consoles months after, BRING BACK LAN play, wrote PROPER code or at least test it before release. Make beta testing MANDITORY in all the games. Where is native motion control gaming inputs for the pc, NOT talking about who hack they kinect to work with some games on PC. I mean a dedicated effort to bring motion control over.These are EXCELLENT places to start. MAKE newcomers WANT to see what this damn PC version is all about.

And this next part, I dont know what it is so difficult to understand. If all the youngsters coming into gaming are gravitating towards the consoles, what will happen? The older heads will be the only ones left on the pc alone with the trickle of youths that make it to the pc. To me, this is only common sense. Cant see how people not getting this.

So YES, pc games are still being released for the pc and I never ever ever say they are not. Oh lord please READ what I am saying but there will come a time where an analysis is going to be done to find out what games are actually being played on the PC and we are going to be found SERIOUSLY wanting. It is at that point things will start to go downhill.

On a personal level, I care nothing for RPG's and MMO's, yet all im seeing as exclusives are...guess what. MMO's and RPG's. The only saving grace is that the PC dominates in these genres and they may just be the things to keep the pc alive but i'll tell you this, it aint keeping ME around. I am certain that a LOT of other people feel this way as well.

So before anyone goes around saying Awesome gone against by saying PC gaming dead, please, READ and UN-DUH-STAND what I am saying. Please.

[MessiaaH]

Your point about d youths on consoles i reply to by saying.

I grew up on consoles, but am now on PC.
And that is what i think will happen.
Children when dey reach of age to appreciate ah good pc. Shall do so.

D pc industry is shaping up very nicely for d future, and when all d flare of d ps3/xbox die off, PC gaming will be lashing hard.

I personally will never give up my pc and go to game on ah console.
Console is secondary gaming, PC is my primary.
And i know alot of ppl, young and old. Feel d same way.

Time will ultimately tell.
But as of right now, it have tons and tons and tons of games on pc.
And tons more in development, weather cross platform or what.

And all d collective points in dis thread, im happy to be a PC gamer.
Its much better dan it was 3 years ago, and thats ah very good sign, and things lining up to juss get better. Lan parties is what kill pc gaming, i dont see how bringing it back going to help. Becuase Lan parties goes hand in hand with ppl pirating d games.

Blizzard made a killing on d profits of SC2, so now dey coudl take dat money, and bring better games. Which at d end of d day is d most important thing to me.
If lan had to die, for ppl to make dey money, and make more/better pc games down d road, So be it!

[Spazosaurus]

I hear your points, especially abt switching over to PC after u gained the means but I am proposing that is what happened in YOUR case. I think that it is a mistake to assume that any significant number of those kids will follow in your footsteps because people, by nature like the easy way out as well as the cheapest way out especially when it comes to non-essential things like gaming and entertainment. Remember, kids LIKE tech but dont KNOW it enough to love and appreciate a good gaming rig.

For the rest of ur points, as the saying goes, I disagree with what you say but for your right to say it I will fight.