Have Computer Games Been Overshadowed By Today's Gaming Systems?

The pcs market is mainly online which is why you don't see a lot of it. Parts are usually bought online as are games aside from the few mainstreams (WoW) and some of todays consoles are good (only 1 i personally will play anymore is ps2 tho :P).

PC gaming has always been niche and associated with a more "hardcore" audience that is into quality under-the-radar games.

Console gaming has always been mainstream, easier to anyone to get into, and more casual, and far more advertised.

The fact this question even gets asked is pretty much testiment to how PC gaming and PC hardware have influenced and basically defined how Console operate and function.

With each new generation, Consoles basically try to emulate PCs more and more.....I mean, look at two of the "consoles" now, everything they tout is pretty much a PC feature that was brought over......Nvidia and ATI GPUs, Browsers, Hard Drives, Buddy Lists......you throw in a keyboard and make the OS in the 360 or PS3 capable of more multitasking features, and you basically have a simple brand-name set-top PC.
I wouldn't call it overshadowing when you're simply take features the PC has had for years and transferring it over to a more mainstream device.

Second.....every generation for the first two years Consoles and Console games dominate the spotlight.......then two years in, as PC gaming and PC hardware noticably pulls ahead of the capabilities of Consoles, then PC begins to get noticed more, especially at awards time.

Every gen for the first two years of a console lifecycle you have people declaring the death of PC gaming or that it's been overshadowed....When quality FPS titles like Goldeneye started appearing on N64 in 1997, people declared PC gaming defeated and that no PC FPS title would match the acclaim or attention of Goldeneye......the following year Half Life was released.

When Dreamcast was introduced with online features and it's fancy graphics for the time, some declared the death of PC gaming....we all know what happened to Dreamcast, PC gaming is still here.

Last gen in 2001 and 2002 you had certain people declaring the death of PC gaming by 2003....bla bla bla.
2003 proved to be a big year for PC when at E3 that year PC returned in full force with great showings with Half Life 2 garning a large majority of Best of E3 awards over uber-hyped games like Halo 2 and MGS3. In addition, 2003 was the year COD released becoming a big hit.
.....the next year HL2 released and captured a good number of Best Shooter awards in addition to some Overall GOTY awards and went on to sell well over 5 million copies on PC in retail. And of course World of Warcraft released that year in addition to other titles like Far Cry. More people where able to enjoy high end games thanks to Nvidia offering affordable but very capable hardware like the 6600 GT, etc.
In other words, in a year that some claimed PC would be dead by, it really ended up being probably the biggest year for PC.

Now we are two years into a new generation.......
2007 was a solid enough year for PC. Crysis gave a technical showcase that no current console can, nor probably ever will match, but it also proved to be a game with great gameplay especially when it won best Overall Shooter here beating out some heavy competition.
Nvidia released excellent yet affordable hardware with the 8800GT.
The Witcher, a game that literally had no pre-release hype, sold over a million copies so far is being considered among the best Western RPG games this year....even above hyped titles from veteran studio.

Probably the only real downer this year for PC gaming was the disappointment that was Vista....which is fine now that XP has been further extended due to Vista's poor market performance.

Then of course there is 2008.....and some of the most promising titles coming next year are PC exclusives......Starcraft 2, Half Life 2: Episode Three, Battlefield 3, Far Cry 2, STALKER Clear Sky, etc.....Spore should also be finally arriving that year, one of the most anticipated games. BioWare's most ambitious project, Dragon Age, should be shown in some form. There are rumors that Diablo III and Homeworld 3 will be announced. You also have promishing niche titles like Dreamfall Chapters and Sins of a Solar Empire.

Like I said, PC gaming has always been niche while consoles have always been mainstream......yet that still doesn't stop PC from exclusively getting some of the best titles year after year.

Robnyc22:

Awesome. I do not even feel the need to post after reading yours.You tell 'em :)