The death of PC gaming

[Itisnotlogical]

WoW can say all it wants about it's millions upon millions of players- PC gaming has reached its endgame. Graphics are advancing far too fast for any but the best (and most expensive) computers to keep up. Even on a brand-spanking-new Dell, I have to turn Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2's graphic settings all the way down- and it still lags. For a game 3 years in the past, GRAW2 still kicks computer's asses, apparently. However much I want to play the upcoming Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3, I don't want to buy an even newer computer, go through the hoops of removing Vista and downgrading to XP or upgrading to 7, soup it up with RAM sticks and a bigger hard drive and all that hooplah, and find out it still lags. Does anyone agree that the PC simply can't keep up with the gaming industry anymore?

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

The PC has plenty of Steam left in it yet.

See what I did there?

 

[clint g]

The PC has plenty of Steam left in it yet.

See what I did there?

Yeah, I think the PC still has some life left in it, but as time goes on the gaming world seems to shift more and more to the consoles. At least with the games I care about.

 

[Chaos Descending]

WoW can say all it wants about it's millions upon millions of players- PC gaming has reached its endgame. Graphics are advancing far too fast for any but the best (and most expensive) computers to keep up. Even on a brand-spanking-new Dell, I have to turn Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2's graphic settings all the way down- and it still lags. For a game 3 years in the past, GRAW2 still kicks computer's asses, apparently. However much I want to play the upcoming Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3, I don't want to buy an even newer computer, go through the hoops of removing Vista and downgrading to XP or upgrading to 7, soup it up with RAM sticks and a bigger hard drive and all that hooplah, and find out it still lags. Does anyone agree that the PC simply can't keep up with the gaming industry anymore?

Either your computer isn't as up to snuff as you think it is, or you're doing something horribly wrong. My PC was brand new in March of 2007 (new GPU though, GeForce 9800GT), and it can run GRAW2 at full settings without breaking a sweat.

 

[Capt. Vulcan]

Also Starcraft 2 seems to scale pretty well. A friend of mine is playing it on an extremely old system (it doesn't even have a dvd rom drive or sata) and starcraft runs fine on it.

If anything is ruining pc games, it's stuff like steam and crazy copy protection schemes. It's just unfriendly to buy pc games these days. It's just not worth all the hassle. I now have pirated versions of all the pc games I've purchased in the last few years just so I don't have to deal with that crap.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Yeah, if a brand-new computer can't run a two-year-old game at full settings, that's because you bought one with a shitty graphics card, not because PCs can't "keep up" with today's graphics requirements.

PC gaming is far from dead. In fact, the death of PC gaming has been prophesied for at least a decade, and it's still going. Some kinds of games just don't work well on consoles. Why some people insist on calling for the death of PC gaming is beyond me, though. If you don't want to play games on your PC, then don't. No one is stopping you from buying an XBox or a PlayStation or a Wii. And some people even have multiple consoles and a gaming PC!

 

[Jadzia]

I've heard this topic a few times before, and I have a few opinions on it.

I'll inject one of the points many people make into this discussion: What about games which feature high precision fast reflex gameplay, such as in RTS and FPS games?

The game controller doesn't replace the mouse at all effectively. Auto-aim is looked down upon by those who are serious about these games. Many people believe that despite the popularity of consoles, the mouse is still the preferred controller in enough genres to keep the PC in business as a games platform.

 

[Canadave]

PC gaming will never die, IMO, at least so long as the current PC\console dichotomy exists. PCs just offer a better platform for gaming; they're more customizable, more flexible, and are generally more powerful than consoles. There's a reason why the most jaw-dropping graphical advancements always appear on PC.

Plus, as Jadzia mentions, many games are just more suited to being on the PC. There's no way to play an FPS as well with a gamepad as with ye olde WASD + mouse combo. Strategy games and puzzle games are also poorly suited to consoles, as are adventure games and simulators. Add to this the PC's immense modding communities, and you have a machine that outstripes consoles in almost every conceivable way. While I enjoy console gaming, the PC will always be my platform of choice.

 

[eastman23]

The PC has plenty of Steam left in it yet.

See what I did there?

PC gaming is far from dead. In fact, the death of PC gaming has been prophesied for at least a decade, and it's still going.

That was the first thing I thought of when I saw the title.

Some kinds of games just don't work well on consoles.

Yup. I can't picture myself playing Civilization or SimCity on a console. I just can't. On the flip side, I can't see playing Mario or Final Fantasy on the computer (the fact that I have FF VIII for the PC aside, it just doesn't feel right to me). PCs and consoles have their own strengths when it comes to games.

If you don't want to play games on your PC, then don't. No one is stopping you from buying an XBox or a PlayStation or a Wii. And some people even have multiple consoles and a gaming PC!

*raises hand*

My PC is about 10 feet away from my entertainment stand with a NES, SNES, N64, PS2, and Wii all hooked up. And I want to add a 360 or PS3 in the near future. I swing both ways when it comes to games.

 

[Rii]

If you want to play console games, go get a console. The majority of titles worth touching on PC are exclusive to the PC. PC gaming isn't dying, it's evolving. It's almost as differentiated from X360/PS3 as the Wii is.

 

[darthraidr]

i remember hearing this last year, and the year before that, and the one before that, etc.

pc gaming was supposed to be dead everytime a new console hit.

pc gaming is always "on it's last breath" but manages to survive for another decade longer. then the hardcore console gamers dismiss the massive sales of the big PC games (as the OP does with WoW) and the huge casual population that plays games on facebook or pop-cap.

if you want to see a dead gaming system, check out the dreamcast, the neo-geo, the 2600, the SNES, the 32x, the xbox, the ps1... there is a long list of dead systems.

let me make a bold prediction: we will see the death of the Wii, PS3, and the 360 before we see the death of PC gaming.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Oh i don't know, i have came back to the PC gaming after 4 years on consoles almost exclusively, and I'm enjoying it immensely.

 

[zakfa]

PC releases nowadays are mostly just ports of console games.
Still a few decent exclusives nowadays though (sc2, disciples 3, c&c4).

It's nothing like 10 years ago. In 2000 you had baldur's gate 2, deus ex, icewind dale, nolf, diablo 2, etc.

Graphics wise it has stagnated. Hell, crysis is 2 and a half years old now. It's not dead but it's not what it used to be either.

 

[watermelony2k]

PC gaming is hardly dying -- it's still the place to go for online gaming. World of Warcraft anybody?

Hell, PC gaming is practically blossoming on Steam. Digital distribution ftw.

Also, just like how console gaming is adept for certain genres of games like racing, fighting, RPG, and party games, there will always be certain niches for PC's to fill, like strategy and shooters.

 

[Canadave]

PC releases nowadays are mostly just ports of console games.
Still a few decent exclusives nowadays though (sc2, disciples 3, c&c4).

Eh, so what's different from the consoles? The vast majority of games are ported from system to system with only a few true exclusives. That said, there are plenty of PC-only games out there...

 

[The Fatman]

WoW can say all it wants about it's millions upon millions of players- PC gaming has reached its endgame. Graphics are advancing far too fast for any but the best (and most expensive) computers to keep up. Even on a brand-spanking-new Dell, I have to turn Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2's graphic settings all the way down- and it still lags. For a game 3 years in the past, GRAW2 still kicks computer's asses, apparently. However much I want to play the upcoming Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3, I don't want to buy an even newer computer, go through the hoops of removing Vista and downgrading to XP or upgrading to 7, soup it up with RAM sticks and a bigger hard drive and all that hooplah, and find out it still lags. Does anyone agree that the PC simply can't keep up with the gaming industry anymore?

yeah, I'd be curious what the tech specs are in the system you bought. It sounds to me like you got thoroughly ripped off. As others have said, GRAW2 is not exactly a system killer. I have a 3 year old Compaq tower that I put in 2 RAM sticks and a GeForce 8800GT video card (minus monitor, the total cost was $450) and I can still play new games well.

For example, I just bought Arkham Asylum (off topic: holy shit this game is awesome!!) and I can play it on high settings with PhysX turned on.

 

[Hermiod]

One of the things that's slowly putting me off PC gaming is the "just put up with it" atmosphere.

I had several problems with my new gaming PC, largely due to the immaturity of the Windows 7 drivers for the Radeon 5770 I originally had in it. It got so bad that I swapped it out for a nVidia card.

While looking for solutions, the general atmosphere was one of "well, it's a PC so don't expect it to work all the time" and "messing around with drivers and settings is part of the fun". Well, no it isn't part of the fun. I want stuff to work first time. I want drivers for my graphics card that don't cause the PC to lock up when I use Cover Flow in iTunes or play Flash videos in fullscreen.

The good news is that PC gaming doesn't have to die, but it does have to be smarter. Desktop PC sales are shrinking and laptop sales are on the up.

Games need to run on a wider array of hardware. If a laptop has fairly up to date dedicated graphics - something like a nVidia GeForce 9400m then games should be playable on it. I know I'm a Valve fanboy but the Source engine should be the model here. Source engine games are playable on Direct X 7 cards if necessary but can still look good on top end machines.

Valve are also getting it right by making their games cross compatible with Macs. Their chunk of the consumer PC market continues to grow. You're cutting off a big slice of your potential audience otherwise.

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

One thing Blizzard does well which so many others don't is that they seem to scale down their graphic requirements. Low end systems can run their games comfortably.

 

[Hermiod]

One thing Blizzard does well which so many others don't is that they seem to scale down their graphic requirements. Low end systems can run their games comfortably.

Exactly - and their game has millions of players paying a subscription to play.

 

[Jax]

PC Gaming is not dying just gravitating towards one area of gaming. PC Gaming seems to be settling on MMO's and multiplayer games like BFBC etc, its the single player experience thats being forced out on PC. With consoles becoming more like PC's but cheaper and more accessable/friendly to non experience gamers then PC market will struggle in the future but MMO's for example don't work on console so they will have there place.