Is PC gaming still as strong as it was 5 years ago?

Ive been completely out of PC gaming for a few years now and couldn't even point out the best cards,mobo etc.I considered a new build but with consoles being as powerfull as they are,is it still worth the effort to build to play?Is Pc gaming Still as strong as it was 5 years ago?

I belive it's stronger except for the fact that EA came up with the stupid DRM thing. PC gaming will always be ahead of consle gaming. So imo it'll always be strong.

I belive it's stronger except for the fact that EA came up with the stupid DRM thing. PC gaming will always be ahead of consle gaming. So imo it'll always be strong.

Steameffekt

What is drm?

While people will disagree PC gaming certaintly isn't what it used to be.

I can't explain why, probably because they are more personal opinion than actual fact.

[QUOTE="Steameffekt"]

I belive it's stronger except for the fact that EA came up with the stupid DRM thing. PC gaming will always be ahead of consle gaming. So imo it'll always be strong.

Trinity_Six

What is drm?

EDIT: Forgot my answer. I think that PC Gaming didn't take much change since 2004 (which would be 5 years ago). Most games are really generic, especially First-Person Shooters.

Popularity in PC gaming seems to plateau for long periods of time with the occasional huge releasing causing a surge of growth.

Games like HL2, WoW, Doom3, Crysis etc have helped growth.

Hardware is super cheap nowadays. Do yourself a favor; build a new rig and get back into pc gaming.

Of course it changed, for better or for worse. There are still great games on the Pc, and consoles too. Whatever floats your boat, although Pc is superior.

My last build was set-up with anAmd athlon 64 3500+Venice 2.2 ghz, Nividia 6800gs, A8n SLI 939 MoBo, 120Gig Western digital HDD, 2 Gig Ocz gold, (512x4) Aspire X-Dreamer2 case, XP Sp2, 17 Inch Lcd.That i have not been in the pc gaming scene since this stuff was brand new.I probably couldn'timagine the leaps and bounds that hardware have made.

Hardware is super cheap nowadays. Do yourself a favor; build a new rig and get back into pc gaming.

PTMags

Everything is going mutliplat so if you base the well-being of a system on it's exclusives then, yes, PC gaming is going down but that'll be remedied in a few years when lots of games won't be able to be run on consoles.

This is the era of multiplats. If you only base the health of PC gaming on the games themselve and how they run and such then it's doing very well. About as good or better than in 2004.

No. Since 2006 the PC has been losing most of its "exclusive" games to the consoles. savetehhaloz

It is, im not sure why alot of the media seems to have so many negative things to say about it. Piracy is an issue, but unlike console systems, there are barely any second hand games being sold at stores like gamestop... maybe gamestop is behind all the negative press...? who knows.

Everything is going mutliplat so if you base the well-being of a system on it's exclusives then, yes, PC gaming is going down but that'll be remedied in a few years when lots of games won't be able to be run on consoles.

This is the era of multiplats. If you only base the health of PC gaming on the games themselve and how they run and such then it's doing very well. About as good or better than in 2004.

Nokanhav

PC gaming is always best

PC gaming is always best

AdoringFan_

This fall, Dragon Age will look miles better on the PC.

As will Mass Effect 2, and Assassin's Creed 2, and COD Modern Warfare 2, and about ten other titles that will be cross platform this fall or next spring. And when I say miles better, I mean MILES better. My core i7 is now four months old, and during that time I've not even turned my 360 on even once.

We've already got The Sims 3 exclusively for the PC, and I'm really looking forward to its expansion packs as well. Then we'll see Diablo 3, exclusively on the PC, maybe by the end of next year. There are other PC exclusives, like Civ 4, Drakensang, The Witcher, and Spore (which I actually enjoyed quite a bit) too. So I'd say that things are pretty healthy right now.

Here's my list of programs, by the way.

Recently bought:

Empire Total War

Quantum Of Solace

Mirror's Edge

Call Of Duty World At War

Grand Theft Auto 4

The Sims 3

Far Cry 2

Stalker Clear Sky

Fallout 3

FEAR 2

Drakensang

Assassin's Creed

Crysis pack

VEGAS 2

Mass Effect

Hell's Highway

The Witcher

NBA 2k9

PES 09

FIFA 09

COD 4

Bioshock

Hellgate London

World In Conlict

Spore

Storm Of Zehir

Will Buy Soon:

Dragon Age

Diablo 3

Chronicles of Riddick

Cryostasis

Dead Space

Prince of Persia

Operation Flashpoint 2

Fuel

Dirt 2

Fallout 3 DLC

Bioshock 2

Assassin's Creed 2

Yup, looks like things are pretty healthy for the PC. My social life, on the other hand....

[QUOTE="AdoringFan_"]

PC gaming is always best

savetehhaloz

I stopped playing my PS3 right when I ordered the Dell XPS 630i. It should be coming soon! :D

Ive been completely out of PC gaming for a few years now and couldn't even point out the best cards,mobo etc.I considered a new build but with consoles being as powerfull as they are,is it still worth the effort to build to play?Is Pc gaming Still as strong as it was 5 years ago?

Trinity_Six

Here's a short, simple answer to the thread title: No.

I'm not impressed with pc games lately, but I see a lot of cool games in dev.

Also, there are folks who would think that the biggest problem with PC is : multiplats. Which means PC are losing exclusivity.

Not necessarily a bad thing.

Coz Dead Space, Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4, Left4Dead, Fallout 3 etc,etc proved them wrong.

Another thing people seem to neglect is how healthy the modding community in the PC scene is. The amount of quality mods for Fallout 3, for example, is the sole reason why the PC have a definite edge over other consoles in terms of multiplat titles.

How in the name of god could anybody say that PC gaming isn't as strong as it was five years ago? Do we have some console fan-boys in here maybe?

I've got so many games on my shelf right now that I can't possibly play them all. Not each of these titles is a PC exclusive, but I can guarantee you that each of these titles looks way better on the PC than on any of the consoles. My Core i7 makes my 360 look like a prize you might win in a box of Cracker Jacks.

Here, I'll re-post my list. Five years ago I never had this problem. Five years ago I was bored, and WAITING for titles to come out.

Chronicles of Riddick

Cryostasis

Dead Space

Prince of Persia

Fuel

Fallout 3 DLC

Empire Total War

Quantum Of Solace

Mirror's Edge

Call Of Duty World At War

Grand Theft Auto 4

The Sims 3

Far Cry 2

Stalker Clear Sky

Fallout 3

FEAR 2

Drakensang

Assassin's Creed

Crysis pack

VEGAS 2

Mass Effect

Hell's Highway

The Witcher

NBA 2k9

PES 09

FIFA 09

COD 4

Bioshock

Hellgate London

World In Conlict

Spore

Storm Of Zehir

And coming soon to a PC near you:

Bioshock 2

Assassin's Creed 2

Mass Effect 2

Borderlands

Deus Ex 3

Diablo 3

Dragon Age Origins

Uh, yeah - wow. Is there ever a shortage of titles to choose from right now. I mean, there's just nothing here on my shelf at all. Oooooooh I long for the good old days. Just so much time, and so few game to choose from.

Yeah, whatever.

Essentially, if you've been 'out of the loop' then you could quite literally buy a brand new triple-A game every single day for a month and a half and not go wrong. I could name at least 45 cutting edge titles that are worthy of your time and attention.

This fall, Dragon Age will look miles better on the PC.

As will Mass Effect 2, and Assassin's Creed 2, and COD Modern Warfare 2, and about ten other titles that will be cross platform this fall or next spring. And when I say miles better, I mean MILES better. My core i7 is now four months old.

We've already got The Sims 3 exclusively for the PC, and I'm really looking forward to its expansion packs as well. Then we'll see Diablo 3, exclusively on the PC, maybe by the end of next year. There are other PC exclusives, like Civ 4, Drakensang, The Witcher, and Spore (which I actually enjoyed quite a bit) too. So I'd say that things are pretty healthy right now.

Charles_Dickens

This pretty much settles the issue: PC gaming is doing quite well.

Topic-

In short:

HELL NO

If you notice, a ton of forum posts are advertising indie games and downloadable games. Sure, this is cool, but PC 5 years ago had the exclusive blockbusters that made you want to upgrade your PC; now there is not much more than ports.

Topic-

In short:

HELL NO

If you notice, a ton of forum posts are advertising indie games and downloadable games. Sure, this is cool, but PC 5 years ago had the exclusive blockbusters that made you want to upgrade your PC; now there is not much more than ports.

Erik729

WTF?

While people will disagree PC gaming certaintly isn't what it used to be.

I can't explain why, probably because they are more personal opinion than actual fact.

DigitalExile

[QUOTE="Erik729"]

Topic-

In short:

HELL NO

If you notice, a ton of forum posts are advertising indie games and downloadable games. Sure, this is cool, but PC 5 years ago had the exclusive blockbusters that made you want to upgrade your PC; now there is not much more than ports.

Charles_Dickens

WTF?

Not. even close. 5 years ago was about the peak of PC Gaming, with the release of Half-Life 2 on the horizon and some truly awesome games were being pumped out. I'd consider PC Gaming winded until the release of SC2/D3.Bumzur

My last build was set-up with anAmd athlon 64 3500+Venice 2.2 ghz, Nividia 6800gs, A8n SLI 939 MoBo, 120Gig Western digital HDD, 2 Gig Ocz gold, (512x4) Aspire X-Dreamer2 case, XP Sp2, 17 Inch Lcd.That i have not been in the pc gaming scene since this stuff was brand new.I probably couldn'timagine the leaps and bounds that hardware have made.

Trinity_Six

now thats some old **** :| , go post in the PC Hardware board, and I'll be more than happy to help you out :)

[QUOTE="Trinity_Six"]

My last build was set-up with anAmd athlon 64 3500+Venice 2.2 ghz, Nividia 6800gs, A8n SLI 939 MoBo, 120Gig Western digital HDD, 2 Gig Ocz gold, (512x4) Aspire X-Dreamer2 case, XP Sp2, 17 Inch Lcd.That i have not been in the pc gaming scene since this stuff was brand new.I probably couldn'timagine the leaps and bounds that hardware have made.

Tagerh

now thats some old **** :| , go post in the PC Hardware board, and I'll be more than happy to help you out :)

I think im going to build again,thanks for everyones input,We will see what $1,500 will do for me.

[QUOTE="Charles_Dickens"]

[QUOTE="Erik729"]

Topic-

In short:

HELL NO

If you notice, a ton of forum posts are advertising indie games and downloadable games. Sure, this is cool, but PC 5 years ago had the exclusive blockbusters that made you want to upgrade your PC; now there is not much more than ports.

Naikori

WTF?

Thank you for understanding.

And I upgraded my PC in February. The "new" games I have on there are Crysis and X3:TC, L4D, and Penumbra. Other than that, the games I play on my PC are the very same games I played the LAST time I upgraded (CS:S, DODS, Doom 3, HL2, Painkiller, Company of Heroes, Max Payne 2), PC gaming has become mostly an afterthought. Which is why I am glad I have a PS3 as well as a gaming rig. I used to be all about PC, 5 years ago, everything about PC gaming was superior to consoles, now the difference is marginal at best; devs aren't pushing hardware, and they don't even appear to be trying to for PC gamers, where on the consoles, games continue to amaze me with every new purchase. It's sad, because five years ago, I would have traded three consoles before I would give up my PC, now, I could deal with it quite easily.

How in the name of god could anybody say that PC gaming isn't as strong as it was five years ago? Do we have some console fan-boys in here maybe?

I've got so many games on my shelf right now that I can't possibly play them all. Not each of these titles is a PC exclusive, but I can guarantee you that each of these titles looks way better on the PC than on any of the consoles. My Core i7 makes my 360 look like a prize you might win in a box of Cracker Jacks.

Here, I'll re-post my list. Five years ago I never had this problem. Five years ago I was bored, and WAITING for titles to come out.

-LIST SNIPPED-

Uh, yeah - wow. Is there ever a shortage of titles to choose from right now. I mean, there's just nothing here on my shelf at all. Oooooooh I long for the good old days. Just so much time, and so few game to choose from.

Yeah, whatever.

Charles_Dickens

That list would actually be impressive if 95% of the games you posted weren't non-exclusive multi-platform titles. You fail.

Five years ago I was bored, and WAITING for titles to come out.

Charles_Dickens

Wow, you must have been living in a cave at that time. 5 years ago would put us back in 2004 when we were still rocking hard with titles like Half-Life 2, Doom 3, Far Cry, UT 2004, Warhammer Dawn of War, The Sims 2, and even the release of World of Warcraft. That was one of the best years ever in PC gaming history.

And, to top it off, while you were "WAITING" for titles to come out, you could have been playing hardcore exclusiveswithin the 2002-03 time period such as Medal of Honor Allied Assault, Battlefield 1924, SimCity 4, C&C Generals, Call of Duty, Max Payne 2, Warcraft 3 & The Frozen Throne, Rise of Nations, Deus Ex Invisible War, and many, many more.