MSNBC article on PC gamming dying

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23800152/

(yawn)

Doom and gloom. Every year there are at least 50 published articles that PC gaming is going to die. It hasn't yet and it won't ever.

You have to buy a new game console every 5 years. You can build a decent PC for a little more than the price of a newly released gaming console and upgrade it continuously forever. PC gaming isn't dying.

Why don't you read the full article? And yeah there may have been a lot of articles about it but never has the revenue for PC games sales be so small compared to the over all games sales numbers. That's not an opinion or prediction; it's a fact and one that has more to do with driving the future than anything else.

Try playing an RTS on a console. Then play it on a PC.

Then explain how PC gaming is "dying."

Why don't you read the full article? And yeah there may have been a lot of articles about it but never has the revenue for PC games sales be so small compared to the over all games sales numbers. That's not an opinion or prediction; it's a fact and one that has more to do with driving the future than anything else.

Store24

excpet the NPD figures only account for street retail stores. PC is making quite a shift to DD. and that doesent account for sub fees (150million a month from wow alone) and things like online gambeling. at the end of the day, not even the PCGA has a clue how big (or small) the PC gaming industry actually is in total.

Try playing an RTS on a console. Then play it on a PC.

Then explain how PC gaming is "dying."

OrkHammer007

Again read the article. Sid Meier has already said that the next Civ game will be coming out on console. Plus the Sims 3, the best selling PC game in history will first be coming out on PS3. So that is one of the main points, that one of the last main PC holdouts, strategy games, are finally making the switch to console too.

wow, what complete BS....

they add Hardware sales to the total Console number and dont include DD for the PC (last estimated to be 70% of the PC gaming industry)

When people talk about pc gaming dieing they don't talk about there not being any games on the PC, they mean that every fulltime dev is getting their ass kicked by indie devs or Valve/Blizzard.

Every few days I hear another thing about PC Gaming dying. And it really annoys me, PC gaming is doing fine. I hope the PC gaming alliance tries to dispel the notion that my hobby is dead.

But at $350 and $400, respectively, those consoles are far cheaper than a PC - and they've got plenty of good stuff under the hood. You're not going to be able to play "Crysis" on that four-year-old Compaq PresarioMSNBC

That's as far as I got. Talk about media spin.

I wish all of these people complaining that PC gaming is dying could spend a day with a high end machine with all the classics of the last fifteen years installed.

I would bet a lot of money that the response from almost all of them would be Mhhmasmhm!! - their yells would be indistinguishable through the door they've barricaded themselves behind with a wardrobe and a soiled mattress because they want just ten more minutes in gaming heaven.

Why do people feel the need to create a thread every time some idiots cry about pc gaming is dying or not. ?

why can't people just see the list of games released this year and upcoming games to see how pc gaming is doing

The funniest part about this thrad is that the article linked goes on to disprove all the "PC gaming is dying" talk. I don't think the TC bothered to read the whole article.

From same article:

"While we haven't yet publicly released our first quarterly data, I can tell you that non-retail sales related to PC games is bigger than what occurs at retail, so the PC games market is clearly still thriving," NPD analyst Anita Frazier wrote in an e-mail.

If you havent read the article, you should. It's actually pretty good. Especially the 2nd half

Again read the article. Sid Meier has already said that the next Civ game will be coming out on console. Plus the Sims 3, the best selling PC game in history will first be coming out on PS3. So that is one of the main points, that one of the last main PC holdouts, strategy games, are finally making the switch to console too.Store24

Anyone playing, say, SupCom on a 360 is getting crippled controls and a lower pop cap due to memory constraints.

Other than that... the consoles can have "The Sims." If you can't shoot another Sim, then it's boring. :P

Again read the article. Sid Meier has already said that the next Civ game will be coming out on console. Plus the Sims 3, the best selling PC game in history will first be coming out on PS3. So that is one of the main points, that one of the last main PC holdouts, strategy games, are finally making the switch to console too.

Store24

The next Civ game is a simplified version made specificly for consoles. Sid Mier also said that the console version has nothing to do with the next PC installment...Civ 5.

And the ps3 sims3 is definitly not the home platform, and will not be coming out before the PC/Wii versions.

BS!! They compare PC sales with 6 other consols. If they compared it to 1 other consol. say compare the xbox 360 and the PC the sales totals might be higher on the xbox but it's not going to be a rediculously high number. It's not fair to compare 1 system to 6 others and say that it has low sale numbers. It seems that people are just getting stupider by the day.ferrari2001

hey, good point...

wow, this article did nothing to educate me on the state of pc gaming. i think the 'game editor' of msnbc is even more ignorant than 99% of the people here at gamespot pc forum. she obviously never played a single pc game in her life. how could anyone neglect to mention steam or dd in an article about pc gaming dying? she's a 'tard.fireandcloud

They did mention DD actually. You should probably read the entire article

I'm beginning to wonder if anyone actually read the article, and not the original post that had select quotes to make the piece seem like it was uneducated Pc bashing

[QUOTE="fireandcloud"]wow, this article did nothing to educate me on the state of pc gaming. i think the 'game editor' of msnbc is even more ignorant than 99% of the people here at gamespot pc forum. she obviously never played a single pc game in her life. how could anyone neglect to mention steam or dd in an article about pc gaming dying? she's a 'tard.TeamR

They did mention DD actually. You should probably read the entire article

actually, she doesn't mention dd. she mentions online games like wow. and then she mentions non-retail sales. but she doesn't ever mention 'direct download' or 'steam.' my point was that she doesn't give a comprehensive report and analyze the state of pc gaming at all clearly and throws out figures that are misleading to support her theory that pc gaming is dying. there's really no point in nitpicking about what i wrote as long as you get the gist.

[QUOTE="ferrari2001"]BS!! They compare PC sales with 6 other consols. If they compared it to 1 other consol. say compare the xbox 360 and the PC the sales totals might be higher on the xbox but it's not going to be a rediculously high number. It's not fair to compare 1 system to 6 others and say that it has low sale numbers. It seems that people are just getting stupider by the day.fireandcloud

hey, good point...

I just searched around on google and found sales results for the consols. Apparently the xbox 360 made 4.8 billion in 2007. This include consols, accesories and games. The consols itself counts for over 50% of xbox360 sales. So bringing game sales alone to around oh 2 billion give or take. This is only about 1 billion more that PC game sales, (not counting Steam and any other online distribution method) So really If you also counted PC hardware sales. I think the sales figures would be a very close comparison.

[QUOTE="fireandcloud"]

I just searched around on google and found sales results for the consols. Apparently the xbox 360 made 4.8 billion in 2007. This include consols, accesories and games. The consols itself counts for over 50% of xbox360 sales. So bringing game sales alone to around oh 2 billion give or take. This is only about 1 billion more that PC game sales, (not counting Steam and any other online distribution method) So really If you also counted PC hardware sales. I think the sales figures would be a very close comparison.

ferrari2001

That's some good research there. But, if they really want to compare apples with apples, lets add in the PC hardware sales, and see how it compares to the 4.8 Billion of the Xbox.

[QUOTE="ferrari2001"]

I just searched around on google and found sales results for the consols. Apparently the xbox 360 made 4.8 billion in 2007. This include consols, accesories and games. The consols itself counts for over 50% of xbox360 sales. So bringing game sales alone to around oh 2 billion give or take. This is only about 1 billion more that PC game sales, (not counting Steam and any other online distribution method) So really If you also counted PC hardware sales. I think the sales figures would be a very close comparison.

Cobretti1818

That's some good research there. But, if they really want to compare apples with apples, lets add in the PC hardware sales, and see how it compares to the 4.8 Billion of the Xbox.

fixed...

I'm sick of this "PC Dying" bull@@@@, whoever believes that either lives in a fantasy world or is missing a chromosome. Games are built, developed and designed on PC's; what makes people think PC's are going to be cut out of the picture completely? Consoles nowadays are just PC's with minimal function. you have net capability, music, video's, messaging and games, Does that remind you of something? Yea PC'S!.............This logic makes no sense what so ever, it's like the people who write this BS are no smarter than uneducated seniors who never touched a computer in their life. Computers arent that dam complicated, people are just stupid. and what makes people think that a 2-3 year old xbox360 can run crysis when a stock compaq cant?

The only logical explanation is that Microsoft or Sony is funding Misinformation campaigns to raise console sales. I really don't know what these people are thinking in the future console's wont exist, portable PC's (without a monitor) will take there place cause thats exactly what Consoles are turning into. Consoles are just PC's That Can't be upgraded! the stupidity of this spreading rumor has no ends. IF PC gaming dies whats going to happen? Everyone's just going to pawnshop their PC's and buy a console? Sounds exactly like a console corporation would want. And all they have to do is heard the sheep to accomplish their goal and thats exactly what they're doing.

Let the misinformed play Consoles, that way i can play to my hearts desire on my pc when special 3rd party developers create to their wildest imagination without hardware limitation. No ignorant fanboys when i play on multiplayer, only intelligent communities that are spam free. Maybe if PC goes to a special group the biased media, cocky a-hole dev's, and high game prices will all disappear. -A PC Gamers Dream

actually, she doesn't mention dd. she mentions online games like wow. and then she mentions non-retail sales. but she doesn't ever mention 'direct download' or 'steam.' my point was that she doesn't give a comprehensive report and analyze the state of pc gaming at all clearly and throws out figures that are misleading to support her theory that pc gaming is dying. there's really no point in nitpicking about what i wrote as long as you get the gist.

fireandcloud

'direct downloads' and 'steam' are non-retail sales. So in mentioning non-retail sales, she mentions steam and DD as well as every other form of non-retail sales currently propelling the pc game industry. To name each individually isn't the point of the article.

As you said, she doesn't give a comprehensive report. If you read the entire article you'll notice that she doesnt lean in either direction. The question "Is Pc gaming dying" is asked, and then evidence is provided in support of the statement as well as against it. So you are mistaken again on her theory. She provides ample evidence for both sides of the argument. If anything, her article is pointless because it's the same rehash that news outlets post every few years.

But the article is neutral. You were successfully trolled by the original poster. He cut out the controversial bits without posting the rebuttals, and you (alogn with most people in this thread) ate it hook, line and sinker

BS!! They compare PC sales with 6 other consols. If they compared it to 1 other consol. say compare the xbox 360 and the PC the sales totals might be higher on the xbox but it's not going to be a rediculously high number. It's not fair to compare 1 system to 6 others and say that it has low sale numbers. It seems that people are just getting stupider by the day.ferrari2001

This really is the big point. Everybody knows that the NPD only accounts for retail sales. Everybody, for some reason, all of the sudden wants to put the PS3, 360, Wii, PSP, PS2, and DS all on the same team and pit them against the PC. What the hell? Looking at each one as an individual platform, which they are, and you can see that PC gaming accounts for it's fair share of revenue.

The thing that sooooo many folks seem to conveniently ignore about PC's when spruiking this misinformation can be summed up in one word: CONVERGENCE

Please name one other device that is almost ubiquitous in the home's of developed and developing nations, that performs a multitude of other electronic functions aside from gaming. Try doing your university essay/budget your income/watch a movie/listen to some music/surf the net/then blast your enemies afterwards on it. Hell, you could even run a home security system on it in the background while hacking and slashing your bloodsworn enemy to little pieces with the processing power that is becoming available nowadays. Name a console that can do that; when one does come out that can do it all, it will simply be a sheep in wolfs clothing, a pseudo-pc if you will.

While there are PC's in loungerooms or studies or dens etc in this world, on the balance of probability there will be some sort of game on there. Please explain how PC gaming can die under such circumstances. When will this topic die a miserable uneducated death!

PC game sales were dwarfed by consoles and console games in 2007 - at least at retail.

Store24

That line made me stop reading and reply with a simple: That article is bullcrap because whoever made that, obviously didn't do enough research.

[QUOTE="Store24"]

PC game sales were dwarfed by consoles and console games in 2007 - at least at retail.

BlackAlpha666

That line made me stop reading and reply with a simple: That article is bullcrap because whoever made that, obviously didn't do enough research.

What are u going on about? lol. Its true. Online PC sales are way bigger than retail sales

"In the old days, the best-seller lists were dominated by first-person shooters and adventure games. Now, those games have migrated to the consoles."

??? In the end I no longer care.

wow, this article did nothing to educate me on the state of pc gaming. i think the 'game editor' of msnbc is even more ignorant than 99% of the people here at gamespot pc forum. she obviously never played a single pc game in her life. how could anyone neglect to mention steam or dd in an article about pc gaming dying? she's a 'tard.fireandcloud

lol i thought you typed "tart" at first and i almost choked on my cereal with mirth. that insult isn't used enough i say!

as many others on here have said, the author of this article seems a little uninformed. at least she quotes some positive things from others about PC gaming. the quote from NPD gives me a little ray of hope they may finally start taking DD into account - which should redress the balance.

as someone also said earlier, people who fight the corner of consoles always seem to quote the combined sales numbers/revenue of all consoles. this seems a little unfair combining the sales of 4-6 platforms against 1 (and that 1 has ALWAYS been a more niche platform since the days of SNES/MEGADRIVE)

im not against consoles, i enjoy playing my 360 sometimes. but consoles, by their very nature, will never match the power of PC's. if they did, they would essentially turn into PC's. i dont think PC gaming is going anywhere, even if new games dry up there will always be some dev/publisher that takes a chance e.g. Sins Of A Solar (and that has been really successful)

Wow, that was actually a good read. At first I started worrying that it was just a doom and gloom article but it is actually a very balanced article. She is right when she says "A 400 dollar PC won't run Cysis" but that is just stating that the average cheapy system that people buy for email and browsing the net doesn't have the power to do so. I also like seeing the Editor-in-chief of PC Gamer telling her opinion and trying to remove the fantasy that you need the 4000 dollar super machine to play PC Games.

Either way, people will always say a platform is dying. The only thing that makes the PC different from the consoles when they say it is dying is that you can't kill the PC off as no one truely supports it like a console. (Sega, Atari, etc)

*Thinks about some of the upcoming pc titles*

I don't see how PC Gaming is gonna die anytime soon. I've been a PC Gamer since playing games on a Commodore 64 and a 286. Two decades later im still playing PC Games.. It's not dying, quite the opposite actually. The industry has and is continually growing.

People that buy a $400 machine for email and word documents obviously aren't wanting to use it for games. A PC Gamer knows the machine they'll need is going to be expensive and top of the range. We know it and we accept it. Consoles may cost less but you can't do as much on a console as on PC. The cost of consoles is going up with every generation too and they aren't all that cheap.. wait till next gen and the one after that. Soon they'll be the same price as a gaming PC.

Easy or not, PC game sales were dwarfed by consoles and console games in 2007 - at least at retail. PC game sales accounted for $911 million in revenue - a relatively small percentage of the $18.8 billion sales seen by the industry overall, according to the NPD Group."

Store24

The NPD group only counts retail sales in the US. It does not count sales in any other country, nor does it include games bought via Steam or other download services. In addition, it does not include revenues for MMO games. So that figure is blatantly disproportionate to how much PC games actually make world-wide across a range of delivery mechanisms. Therefore the NPD figures are as useful as a chocolate teapot, but they do make for good propaganda if you're a console gamer.

The cost of consoles is going up with every generation too and they aren't all that cheap.. wait till next gen and the one after that. Soon they'll be the same price as a gaming PC.

Rattlesnake_8

if you want to play all the exclusive console games, i.e. sony ninty and MS, you would have to spend as much as it costs to build a good gaming PC on the consoles themselves not counting the expensive console games and HDTV and surround sound if you want the proper experience.

and, the sheer amount of space it takes up - the consoles (bearing in mind you have to give them plenty of room to breath or they will die) and their massive brick power supplies, HDTV, surround sound. suddenly my tsunami dream, creative 4.1 speakers and iiyama 19" LCD monitor don't look so big!

Here we go again on the PC is dying debate.

Dell, HP, Alienware, VoodooPC, FalconNW, and every other pc maker that make gaming pcs, if PC gaming was dying then you would see little effort in investing into a product that would never sell. The fact is this, microsoft and sony have lost money on their consoles, while Dell, HP, nvidia, intel, and AMD have all been profiting over the gaming pc market.

The thing that sooooo many folks seem to conveniently ignore about PC's when spruiking this misinformation can be summed up in one word: CONVERGENCE

Please name one other device that is almost ubiquitous in the home's of developed and developing nations, that performs a multitude of other electronic functions aside from gaming. Try doing your university essay/budget your income/watch a movie/listen to some music/surf the net/then blast your enemies afterwards on it. Hell, you could even run a home security system on it in the background while hacking and slashing your bloodsworn enemy to little pieces with the processing power that is becoming available nowadays. Name a console that can do that; when one does come out that can do it all, it will simply be a sheep in wolfs clothing, a pseudo-pc if you will.

While there are PC's in loungerooms or studies or dens etc in this world, on the balance of probability there will be some sort of game on there. Please explain how PC gaming can die under such circumstances. When will this topic die a miserable uneducated death!

TheJGene

Yes very good point. My computer IS my entertainment system. I have a console, which I play on my second monitor. And I have CCTV feeds that I can monitor from my second monitor whilst working, playing Crysis. Hell the other night I watched Die Hard 4.0 whilst playing CoD4. Since I've built my new system(other 1 year ago) my home would be bare without it, I use it for everything.

Crysis only 83,000 copies. UT3 sells only 33,995 copies. Sales were tallied during November.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/14/crysis-sales-in-crisis-ut3-gets-fragged-too/

Crysis sells a little over 1 million worldwide.

http://www.digitalbattle.com/2008/02/01/crysis-sells-1-million-copies/

UT3 sells one million but it's combined PC/PS3 sales. PC version sells very poorly.

I am so sick of "...in comparison to console sales" articles.

Yes, we know...consoles and console games outsell PC rigs and PC games by a lot.

Now, if its all right with you, I would like to continue PC gaming and enjoying the PC exclusives we still get. Yes...still get, meaning PC gaming isnt dying. It is a market, and a fairly significant one at that, which means there will always be PC games to play.

I am noticing a trend...PC games turn out bad when developers try to compete and match console game sales.

Sins of a Solar Empire...this game didnt try to compete with consoles and sell 2+ million units.

Unreal Tournement 3...this game expected to sell a lot of copies as a multiplatform title, and as a result Cliff B.'s feelings are hurt.

Where on earth does it say that in order to stay afloat and be successful PC games need to sell and much as console games. Thats like saying Audi or Saab needs to sell as many cars as Ford or Toyota to stay in business.

Crysis only 83,000 copies. UT3 sells only 33,995 copies. Sales were tallied during November.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/14/crysis-sales-in-crisis-ut3-gets-fragged-too/

Crysis sells a little over 1 million worldwide.

http://www.digitalbattle.com/2008/02/01/crysis-sells-1-million-copies/

UT3 sells one million but it's combined PC/PS3 sales. PC version sells very poorly.

Aim

UT3 was odviously going to sell bad.. It was a subpar version that every saw it to be before the game was released..

Not just that but Crysis on the otherhand, 1 million copies in about two months for the pc is amazing.. Crysis really can be played on most likely 20% of the pc base.. And this is to completely assume people can afford it, like fps's, have access to buying it, and are not busy playing another game..

See here is the thing I notice alot more on things for the PC.. Console gamers usually jump at the next great game out.. Pc gamers if it a great game, wll be playing it for years on end.

[QUOTE="Aim"]

Crysis only 83,000 copies. UT3 sells only 33,995 copies. Sales were tallied during November.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/14/crysis-sales-in-crisis-ut3-gets-fragged-too/

Crysis sells a little over 1 million worldwide.

http://www.digitalbattle.com/2008/02/01/crysis-sells-1-million-copies/

UT3 sells one million but it's combined PC/PS3 sales. PC version sells very poorly.

sSubZerOo

UT3 was odviously going to sell bad.. It was a subpar version that every saw it to be before the game was released..

Not just that but Crysis on the otherhand, 1 million copies in about two months for the pc is amazing.. Crysis really can be played on most likely 20% of the pc base.. And this is to completely assume people can afford it, like fps's, have access to buying it, and are not busy playing another game..

See here is the thing I notice alot more on things for the PC.. Console gamers usually jump at the next great game out.. Pc gamers if it a great game, wll be playing it for years on end.

exactly. This reinforces my point that PC gamers are entusiasts, whereas console gamers just want immediate satisfaction for the next six hours and they want to immediately jump into the first multiplayer game no matter who is in it or how laggy it is.

I mean, I still played Counterstrike and that game, other than the visual overhaul, is almost ten years old! When was the last time a good amount of people played Halo 2 on xbox?

the article is stupid and untrue and bysis. Don't beleave everything you read creability comes in play. Gw sold 5 mill, witcher sold 2 mill, crysis sold 2 mill. In fact alot of pc game devs are now going whole sale. The uk market is muxtly pc. Pc isbeating up concoles in all fourms. Even the Ut ceo beat down by sale and facts that the pc market is strong. the write of this article this article should have his or her creability cecked. In fact there was more AAA games on oc than any concole. Even a new game gender like sin of the solar empire "realt time

can some link this for me please not sure how

http://pc.ign.com/objects/746/746632.html

the article is stupid and untrue and bysis. Don't beleave everything you read creability comes in play. Gw sold 5 mill, witcher sold 2 mill, crysis sold 2 mill. In fact alot of pc game devs are now going whole sale. The uk market is muxtly pc. Pc isbeating up concoles in all fourms. Even the Ut ceo beat down by sale and facts that the pc market is strong. the write of this article this article should have his or her creability cecked. In fact there was more AAA games on oc than any concole. Even a new game gender like sin of the solar empire "realt time

can some link this for me please not sure how

http://pc.ign.com/objects/746/746632.html

blackdreamhunk

http://pc.ign.com/objects/746/746632.html

Paste link and hit the enter key, its not that hard. ;)

i think I have given the wrong links Ok put some more to support what i have to say

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26204726

http://www.guildwars.com/events/press/releases/pressrelease-2008-02-26.php

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26287419

http://play.tm/wire/cluster/1747112

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26029653

I would like to say that pc game are not like concole games they last longer now days too as well. So some games are still selling really strong even if it's old. If you still need more prove I can find a ton of other pc only games snd even some of the free ones like runscape