PC gaming stops slide in 2006

i think pc gaming will die. Amazing games like oblivion came to the pc but pc gaming is too expensive for example you need to buy a new graphic card every six month.You need also buy a new cpu and ram. But if you have a console , you never need anything. only new gamepads or accessories. i think you understand what i said.

I was going to say... Wow, The Sims certainly is popular. ... and why is it the second someone is playing a game another person doesn't understand, that other person accuses them of "no life"? Here, I'll give you a large demographic of "The Sims" players... Girls in university. I know a bunch of them who love this game. Other than that, it's probably the guys who buy it and play it once. They make a family who loves to burn down the house and eat junk food. They make one or two crazy scenarios and get sick of it. That's pretty much it. :P

EA-Taking over your PC one Sims game at a time.

damn don't know why these people play sims and wow so much no life i suppose

The Sims 2 is a great game. But not all hardcore gamer really loved it. By the way, i wonder why GTA San Andreas is not in list....perhaps that game will becoming a top ten best game in 2006...

I agree w/Bonik. Those first two games or so, utilize the P.C.,they do not challenge it,as P.C.games can do.From what Iv`e seen,it`s computer gaming that moves the mark. In the long run. I hope for a better year,P.C. gaming deserves it.

well once sims 3 comes out the expansion packs will likely stop being made .im more interested in spore its such an awesome looking game.

It amazes me how the Sims can release a expansion pack every 2-3 months and they will still sell like crazy. Some of these expansions barely include anything new, wow I can have customize a pet in a game here's thirty bucks EA. Some things they just left out in the Sims 2, so they could release it later. EA has released 8, count-em 8, expansion packs since the game was released in late 2004. Obviously EA has the right strategy as turning out expansions and sequels is paying off big time.

5 Sims titles on the list, Civ 4 at #9??? This makes me sick!

One of the reason why PC gaming is lower, is because of the cost to get into PC gaming. You gotta get a good processor, ram, dvd drive, video card, OS and other junk. Heck, i'm still gaming on my Dell 2350 with a Radeon 9250. I'd rather buy a console instead of investing 1000 on gaming.

i absolutely cannot believe there are 5 Sim 2 titles in the top ten i just cannot understand who even buys so many copies of that trash

well with the ps3 sucking so bad, I guess people went back to the PC :)

PC gaming will never die... but it's more expensive than consoles... anyway unitl now some games can't be played with out a PC!!

crimson_axe you make a very good point. While PC gaming may decline, it will never die.

PC gaming with comparable graphics to the current consoles make $500+ look cheap.

PC gaming should grow with the release of Windows Vista. Yes, console gaming is where all the money is at.

That doesn't include digital distribution...sounds like a crap analysis then to me.

I have to agree with crimson_axe. The only company I know that will cater to all levels of PC gamers is Blizzard (maybe Valve too?).

Meh. Looking at that list reminds me of why I am a console gamer and not a PC one.

sims got 5. i'm gonna go kill myself. or everyone on my sisters sims game i can't decide

duh pc games did better in 2004 doom 3 half-life 2 ut2004 far cry. this year will be much better than last year, at least 10% better.

PC Games have runt heir course I'm afraid. The problem isn't that the games aren't any good, though there are far MORE games on consoles that are just as good as the PC greats... and even those are ported over. No, the problem is, that the PC Gaming market has come to a point where it never stops progressing. For instance, you can't even buy a PC game these days and enjoy it unless your rig is stellar. Not a problem for you? Well, the very next year, some new hardware will come out, that basically makes your old hardware obsolete. meaning, you have to plop down another $400-600 just to enjoy the next generation. Consoles are different. They continuously get better and you don't have to "upgrade" for a good five to six years. Case in point? God of War for the PS2. No one would argue its a great looking game. But a game that looks that good on a 5 year old peice of hardware? You don't get that in PC Games. Not by a long shot. Basically, it boils down to this. If you Crysis were available right now, and you could run it on Max Settings, you would probably be blown away by how gorgeous it is. Now, try playing that game on the lowest settings. What does it look like? It looks like something that was made 10 years ago. What's the problem? PC Games don't scale well at all in terms of graphical luxuries. It's like the developers push everything top end, and leave absolutely nothing for the low end. On Consoles, you don't have this problem. The remarkable thing about it is that assuming everyone has a Hi-Def TV, everyone is experiencing the same game. That's what makes them greater than PC Games. However, none of that matter since I still think PC Games could and should be a lot better. They just need to get to some sort of standard, and just friggin slow down the Hardware Wars. I mean, you buy he best thing on the market today, and you barely have enough time to get comfortable with it before you have to get soemthing else.

Hopefully, that means that more games are coming to PCs, and less exclusives for consoles...please?

COD2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

@DJMist C&C3 (BFME2 was ok on the 360 but far more playable on a PC) Hellgate: London Warhammer Online Tabula Rasa S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Spore Jericho

what about duke nuken 4 eva?

Half Sims. Crazy. What a boatload of money that IP must be worth.

PC Gaming is slowly on its way back, but I sincerely doubt we will see the record numbers of the mid 2000's

assasins creed is also coming out on PC, umm warhammer online, shadowrun, command and conquer tiberian wars 3, I mean i could go on if you wanted me to djmist, but i just thought I would touch on a few

Only Crisis? What about Stalker?

add WoW monthly payments and i bet it's through the roof

yes.....yes..... and for 2007 what?? Only Crysis seems interesting. What else?

What's with the Sims hater? It's a good game and it has nothing to do with not having a life. And a lot of girls play/like Sims games, so that helps the sales quite a lot. Sims 2 isn't meant to be a second life. That's pretty much saying any RPG or game you personalize yourself whether it's a name or clothing is a game for people who aren't satisfied with their life.

sooo many sims nowadays...

"Jabadiah: As in people that aren't satisfied with their own life so they make a new one on the computer?" Bingo. Look at twisted hovels like Second Life. That place looks like a pornographic furry convention during mardi gras half the time, and a lonely penny strip show the rest of the time. I just do not understand the appeal of the virtual life idea. If you could plug me in Matrix-style... I could see taking a virtual vacation, but these games are about as Matrix as a calculator is HAL. I'll grant you that the Sims is fun for a while, but at some point don't people realize that even though the avatars are changing, the micromanage gameplay doesn't? It's a tragedy when a game like Civ IV falls behind a way to dress your sim-poodle in a miniskirt.

Don't care. Consoles are the best.

@powerincarnate: "...Emachine..." LOL. Thats like buying a Dodge Neon to race NASCAR with. Emachines != gaming rig. Point invalid. A 10,000 word reply doesn't make your point correct, it makes it seem like you're running in circles. So lemme summarize: A 4 year old GAMING PC is still just as valid of rig compared to a PS2 purchased in the same year. It's the software that seems to be confusing you. Talk software designed for that hardware cycle to better focus on a point. And yes, using your own analogy you should buy a new TV every few years if you want the latest and greatest. That was all you.

well this is very shocking, does this sales tally add up all the games that are downloaded off the internet , meaning from the offical site of the game , or from direct 2 drive??? i do that now so yea. Plus pc world is totally warez world now . People download the games, to play online they just buy a cd key off some ranbom site and play the game.. thats a major reason why games like sims are doing good. Like seriously all these new shooters that came out would be there, where is bf 2142??? look on x-fire how many people play that game...

No surprises there.

The Sims 2: Pets Expansion Pack--?? are they kiding me and telling me that fear wasnt sold enough to get in line ?? holly lala

Star Wars Empire at War? Didn't see that coming.

PC games are better. oh, i forgot. its not 1998 anymore. i remember those days. back when i first got AOL and was psyched that i finally got my 56k modem. lol. nah, PC games are still cool. but PS3 and 360 now goin online doesnt help them much...

The_Weekend "The Sims 2 dominated much of the chart ... welcome to the new age of gamers!" As in people that aren't satisfied with their own life so they make a new one on the computer? Its a decent game, but I can't play it long enough without getting really bored.

WoW is still the top selling game......DAMM!!!!!!

The sims rules in the PC market... :)

5 of the top ten PC games sold in the U.S. were Sims games?!?! That's insane. I bet most of the people here don't even play those. But that just goes to show that even people who play the Sims are hardcore gamers in their own right.

I still don't get why the hell the sims is popular... unless there are just that many sad and frustrated people who need to have either a fake life to feel validated or a minion to control in order to feel big... either way its just sad... the only enjoyment i ever got out of it was when i hijacked my friends character, bought like thirty ovens, turned them all on, and burnt his house down

The reason why sales were so high back in 2004 was obviously because popular games such as World of Warcraft, The Sims 2, and Half-Life 2 were released. Only so many people can by games, its not like food where you run out and have to buy more. Just hope that some hit games come out on the PC, that will fix the problem. I bet sales will surpass $1.1 billion in the next 5 years.

I find it funny how nobody says the reason why developers aren't making games for the pc like they were. And you all do it whether you admit it or not. You download cracked versions of pc games. Why buy it for 50 bucks when you can leave your pc on overnight and have it by morning. Granted that doesn't work on on-line games but i'm happy with FarCry single player. Until this stops PC games are dead or at least dying. Crysis will help but it won't fix the problem.

Another reason why pc gaming is declining is because 2 years ago, developers who took their game seriously would make it for the PC, then scale it back to play on the XBox or PS2. Now they don't have to. Make it for the consoles and its good enough for the PC. Then you throw in exclusive games and BLAH, PC gaming is DYING. I hate to say it cuz I got a monster $2500 rig. Without the gaming side I might as well bought a e-machine from wal-mart. But its true. I went and got a 360 and just the amount of games makes it worth it. The fact that almost everyone I know has one doesn't hurt either. I know 20+ people with 360's, and i'm the only one with a badass computer. Strength in numbers.

As far as the sims goes I have a hard enough time with my own life let alone haveing a few fake ones on the side. If you play the Sims you either bought the wrong game on accident, or you truely have nothing better to do with your time than make up a 2nd life. (pun)