The Death of Computer Gaming?

Over the years the computer has seen its fair share of great games, but is the era of computer gaming coming to an end? If you are a fan of MMORG's the answer might be no, but to the average gamer who enjoys the simplier pleasures of a FPS or an adventure type game might find it hard to say no. You may have noticed lately that your local video game store no longer sells computer games or allows you to trade them in. Why is this? Is it because there has been a shortage in computer gamers? Is it because it is much easier to buy a gaming console every 5-6 years rather then upgrade your computer every 2 years? What ever the reason it seems as though gaming on the computer is a thing of the past. Take this for example: I wanted to pick up halo 2 for the pc not too long ago so I went to my local CompUSA. I figured that there would be no problem I'm running a Dell XPS M1210 with 2 gigs of Ram, and a GeForce 7400. I went to the game section of the store and picked up the game, But To my dismay I found that I needed Windows Vista to run the game. Now Windows Vista prices ranges from about $60-$300 based on which edition you buy. So for me to play halo2 on the pc I would have to spend the standard price for the game (about $49.99) plus $60 to get the standard Windows Vista Program for a grand total of about $110 to play the game. Now The average gamer isn't going to fork out the $110 to play a game that their friend is playing for the Xbox price of $29.99. Its alot more convienent to buy yourself an Xbox360 or a PS3 and not have to worry about upgrading your videocard or Buying more RAM. You can look at it from a Game Industry stand point as well. Should you make a game for the PC that requires a good graphics card and alot of RAM and hope that the consumer will upgrade their Computer for the game, or make the game for a PS3 or a Wii and not have to worry about gamers not able to play because it requires them to upgrade? It is the game industry and the consumer shying away from a complicated computer unit to a more user-friendly Game console. Now thats not saying in the future there won't be computer gaming. There will always be your Classic MMORG that will draw in tons of consumers and will make a lot of money. What it is saying is in the future there won't be your Call of Duty's or your Counter Strike's because they will be on your Future Gaming consoles. So ask yourself, is Computer Gaming taking in its final breaths, or is it just taking a break?

Liltoon

Sorry, and no offence to the OP, but I think I need to be blunt here. Can people please STFU about this stupid theory that PC gaming is coming to an end? If you think about it rationally for even a split second anyone with any knowledge of gaming in general would know that PC gaming can never and will never die, that is unless console gaming dies first. The main reason being that console games are made on PC's, Pc's that are equipped with gaming hardware like GPU's, PC gaming dying would mark a swift death to many PC hardware companies like Nvidia, ATI, or XFX, who in fact supply console manufacturers with their hardware.

Secondly the fact that publishers would never want to completely destroy support for a platform. it makes no sense from a gamers point of view or even a business point of view.

$1500 for a brand new comp that'll play crysis but then need to be upgraded in 2 years and have to worry about sys requirements or $400 for an Xbox 360 that'll last you about 4-5 years and have no fears of game incompatibility. I think most gamers out there (with the exception of the diehard pc fans and the modders etc.) will choose the latter option. just what i think.Forerunner-117

by the same token, if a game is incompatable (or not very optimised, at the least), there's no way to fix it. Quake 4, for example.

Over the years the computer has seen its fair share of great games, but is the era of computer gaming coming to an end? If you are a fan of MMORG's the answer might be no, but to the average gamer who enjoys the simplier pleasures of a FPS or an adventure type game might find it hard to say no. You may have noticed lately that your local video game store no longer sells computer games or allows you to trade them in. Why is this? Is it because there has been a shortage in computer gamers? Is it because it is much easier to buy a gaming console every 5-6 years rather then upgrade your computer every 2 years? What ever the reason it seems as though gaming on the computer is a thing of the past. Take this for example: I wanted to pick up halo 2 for the pc not too long ago so I went to my local CompUSA. I figured that there would be no problem I'm running a Dell XPS M1210 with 2 gigs of Ram, and a GeForce 7400. I went to the game section of the store and picked up the game, But To my dismay I found that I needed Windows Vista to run the game. Now Windows Vista prices ranges from about $60-$300 based on which edition you buy. So for me to play halo2 on the pc I would have to spend the standard price for the game (about $49.99) plus $60 to get the standard Windows Vista Program for a grand total of about $110 to play the game. Now The average gamer isn't going to fork out the $110 to play a game that their friend is playing for the Xbox price of $29.99. Its alot more convienent to buy yourself an Xbox360 or a PS3 and not have to worry about upgrading your videocard or Buying more RAM. You can look at it from a Game Industry stand point as well. Should you make a game for the PC that requires a good graphics card and alot of RAM and hope that the consumer will upgrade their Computer for the game, or make the game for a PS3 or a Wii and not have to worry about gamers not able to play because it requires them to upgrade? It is the game industry and the consumer shying away from a complicated computer unit to a more user-friendly Game console. Now thats not saying in the future there won't be computer gaming. There will always be your Classic MMORG that will draw in tons of consumers and will make a lot of money. What it is saying is in the future there won't be your Call of Duty's or your Counter Strike's because they will be on your Future Gaming consoles. So ask yourself, is Computer Gaming taking in its final breaths, or is it just taking a break?

Liltoon

Liltoon

Onemic, I think you misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm talking about gaming on a home computer or laptop not the computer industry in general.

Liltoon

PC gaming isn't even close to dying. Read this article for more info:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2188336,00.asp

The whole console 500$ is so much BULLSHIET.... How much does a Plasma or a 32" LCD costs? and STILL ull never have the resolution a computer monitor has... with 1000$ u buy a not so good LCD...

With 1500$i could buy right now a computer that will last me for at least 2 years and with a cpu upgrade and gpu upgrade prolly 1 year and a half more and thats playing in high all games...

Since when was the 7900 released? and it still holds out any game in high settings...

I didn't write the post to say that I thought it was dead the reason I wrote it was to see what PC gamers thought about this issue. I know it has been circulating for a long time whether or not it is dying out I just wanted to see what PC gamers themselves thought about it seeing as they would have the most knowledge about the issue.

This is a point that's been brought up time and time again, for as long as I can remember. There are two other points to remember, the vast majority of gamers don't need a $1,500 machine. For a computer capable of playing halo 2, you can go buy one for $300-$500 from a major dealer. No big deal, that's about the same as an XBox. Any more that you spend than that is above what consoles can do (DX10, etc). And I agree with you, more than that isn't needed. So, those that buy the $1,500 computers are generally die-hards/fanboys. Not always, because here comes the clincher... you can do other things on a computer besides play games, you know?

For me, my gaming pc is also my workstation. It's rigged out for heavy computation, so I'm getting a productive element of the family and a gaming platform for the same price as a console. Not only that, I can buy a controller if I really wanted one for $30, so even the controls of a console can be mimicked.

If you asked me, yeah, I did spend more than $500 on this computer, and it was very first-gen tech when I built it. However, I've built several extremely powerful computers in the last few weeks for, say, $800 dollars for multi-processor, windows, office, etc.

Lastly, how many consoles do you own? Each generation of consoles generally has about three, now. Nintendo, playstation, and xbox. Add the prices together to get a platform that can play anything and you're at more than a pc ;).

Walls of text detract people from replying or even bothering to read the first sentence of a post. Try to break it apart.

This fall/winter is definitely the wrong time to be a soothsayer about PC gaming. There have already been 2 amazing titles inside a month (Bioshock and WiC) with 4 more coming between now and Christmas. They may not be PC only, but I GREATLY prefer the two new releases on my PC over the 360, simply better gameplay. If you complain about it in March when a good title hasn't been released since January, I'll find it more believable.

Honestly though, to play the new consoles RIGHT you need to be buying the $1500-$3000 TV that will burn out in 4 years or less, about the same time you should be buying the new computer. HD games without the HD TV are NOWHERE near as good. The only thing that lasts for either consoles or PC is the sound system.

So chill out man, great times are at hand and even better are to come!

Also, you dont need to spend 1500$ to play crysis, you can buy a 1000$ computer thatll run the game fine with decent gfx(Better than the xb360 could ever do). And im not even gonna bother listing more reason of how it wont die or reading posts like this. Dr_Brocoli

Well could you give me an example build? i'm really starting to get into pc gaming but what's turning me off is the whole $1500 thing so if i could get a rig that would play crysis, cod4, orange box, etc. on med/high settings for around $1000 count me in! :D

Sorry, and no offence to the OP, but I think I need to be blunt here. Can people please STFU about this stupid theory that PC gaming is coming to an end? If you think about it rationally for even a split second anyone with any knowledge of gaming in general would know that PC gaming can never and will never die, that is unless console gaming dies first. The main reason being that console games are made on PC's, Pc's that are equipped with gaming hardware like GPU's, PC gaming dying would mark a swift death to many PC hardware companies like Nvidia, ATI, or XFX, who in fact supply console manufacturers with their hardware.

Secondly the fact that publishers would never want to completely destroy support for a platform. it makes no sense from a gamers point of view or even a business point of view.

onemic

[QUOTE="onemic"]

Sorry, and no offence to the OP, but I think I need to be blunt here. Can people please STFU about this stupid theory that PC gaming is coming to an end? If you think about it rationally for even a split second anyone with any knowledge of gaming in general would know that PC gaming can never and will never die, that is unless console gaming dies first. The main reason being that console games are made on PC's, Pc's that are equipped with gaming hardware like GPU's, PC gaming dying would mark a swift death to many PC hardware companies like Nvidia, ATI, or XFX, who in fact supply console manufacturers with their hardware.

Secondly the fact that publishers would never want to completely destroy support for a platform. it makes no sense from a gamers point of view or even a business point of view.

Bulldog19892

/agree

If you think about it rationally for even a split second anyone with any knowledge of gaming in general would know that PC gaming can never and will never die, that is unless console gaming dies first. The main reason being that console games are made on PC's, Pc's that are equipped with gaming hardware like GPU's, PC gaming dying would mark a swift death to many PC hardware companies like Nvidia, ATI, or XFX, who in fact supply console manufacturers with their hardware.

Secondly the fact that publishers would never want to completely destroy support for a platform. it makes no sense from a gamers point of view or even a business point of view.onemic

I agree!

Another thing to remember with the current situation in PC gaming is that we have had a few major advances in terms of technology. Firstly we had Windows Vista released and with it came DX10 which opened a lot of new doors for game developers in terms of visual performance and such like for the gamers. The other thing to remember is also that every so often in the gaming world there is a big leap in terms of graphics and performance of games as new engines are built and new games released that utilise this technology. I mean look at the Nvidia 8800 series, until Bioshock and Crysis were announced there really wasn't many games on the market for a PC gamer to fully utilise their graphics card if they had an 8800 series. But now developers are creating games that will allow a PC gamer to really push their system to its limits, and that is in no way a bad thing.

The main point about PC gaming is, if you can't afford to keep up with the evolution of gaming technology or you don't want to because you refuse to upgrade your PC. Then buy a current gen console, its just that simple. I often think of PC gaming, and i don't mean to offend anyone here, as being the choice of the more hardcore player. The person who really wants to achieve the best a game has to offer in terms of graphics and performance and sound.

[QUOTE="Bulldog19892"][QUOTE="onemic"]

Sorry, and no offence to the OP, but I think I need to be blunt here. Can people please STFU about this stupid theory that PC gaming is coming to an end? If you think about it rationally for even a split second anyone with any knowledge of gaming in general would know that PC gaming can never and will never die, that is unless console gaming dies first. The main reason being that console games are made on PC's, Pc's that are equipped with gaming hardware like GPU's, PC gaming dying would mark a swift death to many PC hardware companies like Nvidia, ATI, or XFX, who in fact supply console manufacturers with their hardware.

Secondly the fact that publishers would never want to completely destroy support for a platform. it makes no sense from a gamers point of view or even a business point of view.

PhoenixPrime

/agree

Which is why I think its dying video card companies dont have to be so dependant on computer sales when they are selling them to sony, nintendo, and microsoft. Which is why I'm asking " In the furture will computer gaming infact be computer gaming or just computer console gaming."

The OP is obviously very invested in PC gaming and makes some good points.

As a PC Only gamer myself I feel like going to Gamestop for PC titles is a wasted effort. Computer titles are hidden in the back on one lonely rack.

The point about the OS upgrade is a weak one though. How long did XP last? I mean it's not like you have to fork over a hundred bucks for a new OS very often.

Onemic, I think you misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm talking about gaming on a home computer or laptop not the computer industry in general.

Liltoon

Liltoon

The point I was making was that the destruction of the PC gaming industry would cause a rather quick chain reaction to many PC hardware companies(ATI, Nvidia, etc.) Which of course would greatly affect the console gaming industry as well. There's no way PC gaming would die simply because it would put far too many other industries at risk of a massive decline as well.(Console companies as well)

[QUOTE="PhoenixPrime"][QUOTE="Bulldog19892"][QUOTE="onemic"]

Sorry, and no offence to the OP, but I think I need to be blunt here. Can people please STFU about this stupid theory that PC gaming is coming to an end? If you think about it rationally for even a split second anyone with any knowledge of gaming in general would know that PC gaming can never and will never die, that is unless console gaming dies first. The main reason being that console games are made on PC's, Pc's that are equipped with gaming hardware like GPU's, PC gaming dying would mark a swift death to many PC hardware companies like Nvidia, ATI, or XFX, who in fact supply console manufacturers with their hardware.

Secondly the fact that publishers would never want to completely destroy support for a platform. it makes no sense from a gamers point of view or even a business point of view.

Liltoon

/agree

Which is why I think its dying video card companies dont have to be so dependant on computer sales when they are selling them to sony, nintendo, and microsoft. Which is why I'm asking " In the furture will computer gaming infact be computer gaming or just computer console gaming."

Uh, about 80 million video cards are shipped every year. I think there's more money in PC GPUs than console GPUs.

i didn't bother reading the walls of text, but no PC gaming isn't dead, and the myth that you NEED 5000$ PCs to get stuff done is getting old very quick. In this day and age where quad cores cost 300$ and high end gaming rigs come up at ~1700$, anyone can enjoy pc gaming.

Also thanks to multiplatforming, you wont see many games pushing the boundaries as much as crysis does for a while to come, since everything has to be built on the same engine that will run on ps3, xbox360 and pc. Thus new upcoming processors and graphics cards such as nvidias next line of cards and the Intel 45nm Penryn chips will be unnecessary for a while.

Speaking in terms of FPS, almost all the effects and 3D features that have been used and perfected for years in CGI (trailers, movies) have all come to real-time rendering, partly thanks to Crysis and other games such as Project Offset. Features such as sub surface scattering (light passing through translucent objects or skin), micro-triangle displacement (dynamically generated geometry for advanced detail and surface texturing), motion blur and depth of field, parallax mapping (using layers of texels to simulate advanced depth maps allowing much more detail than normal mapping), etc. There is a threshold or a bar that cgi always sets, and real-time always tries to reach, and soon, both will be at the same level. The only things graphics cards have a problem dealing with still, among all this, believe it or not, are alpha maps (transparent maps, aka wire fences, glass). Also, dynamic lighting is a HUGE resource eater and game engines still have problems using an abundance of that effect, using it only in certain places deemed important visually.

Anyway this is just part of the graphics side of things, not mentioning advances in physics and AI, and the PC always is (naturally) at the forefront of technologies discovered to make rendering these features possible in real time, so in short

No PC gaming isn't dead and never will be.

PC Gaming died of laughter after seeing this thread.

Crysis, Hellgate, WiC, GeoW, CoD4, The Witcher, Farcry2, Spore, Bioshock, Orange Box, UT3, Starcraft2, Jericho, Dragon Age and god knows what else. That's pretty good for a dying platform.

PC Gaming died of laughter after seeing this thread.

Crysis, Hellgate, WiC, GeoW, CoD4, The Witcher, Farcry2, Spore, Bioshock, Orange Box, UT3, Starcraft2, Jericho, Dragon Age and god knows what else. That's pretty good for a dying platform.

EntwineX

with that avatar, im surprised you didnt mention Fallout 3 :P

That game needs another trailer btw, it built massive hype but everyone forgot about it already

This is the funniest post everyone.

The fact is the opposite is happening.

Console gaming is turning into PC Gaming. Consoles are stand alone units.
Now you have consoles that have downloadable features/games (PCs have this ability), ability for voice communication (PCs have this), online game play - PCs as well, chat/type and even mouse lol PCs too. Ability to hook up to networks/tvs/monitors PCs also have. Controlers - PCs now have same control use as xbox 360. lol

Notice the gamings systems becoming more and more expensive over the last decade. HAHA you are being fooled! They are bulding mini PCs and calling them consoles. In the upcoming years the consoles will keep climbing as they put the latest and greatest hardware into them inorder to keep up with the evolving graphics and processing power of the PC. PS4 and XBOX1180 will be 600-800 bucks at the rate they are scaling lol. That or they will be similar and the PCs will drop in price and they will be one plateform. MSOFT will unite the PC and console gaming within a decade, under similar operating systems.

with that avatar, im surprised you didnt mention Fallout 3 :P

That game needs another trailer btw, it built massive hype but everyone forgot about it already

WARxSnake

it's supposed to come out a year from now, so they'll probably have one at E3 08.

Instead of starting up another annoying topic about "is computer gaming dying?" or "Death to computer gaming."

Try reading up on past postings, like this one for example: http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=25887690

It kind of grows old reading through posts of the same thing over and over again...so I suggest you check out the link above and read through the 100 or so posts in there. Then if you cannot find your answer, feel free to ask it on the forums.

not reading the box to see if your pc can run halo 2 does not = the death of pc gaming.

I'm getting tired of these threads. Anyone can see that ENTIRE GENRES (RTS andMMORPG to name a few) are almost exclusively for PC and for good reason. PC GAMING IS ALSO CHEAPER FOR MANY PEOPLE. Last time I checked most people I know own a computer. It is not hard to buy a $200 graphics card and play almost any game with graphics superior to many console games. If you buy a Dell nowadays it probably has a Gig of RAM and a decent processor. The PC can also include level design, mods, and more convenience. If i want to play online with a friend i can just IM them and then set up a game o Xfire (Note: not paying for playing online).

Please let's stop saying things before we think. The only people that buy $1500 computers are the ones that want $1500 worth of performance. Is anyone suggesting that the PS3 is a better value? Come-on... I can play almost any computer game EVER on my pc. Now that's value.

I'm getting tired of these threads.

bob9999999999

Oh yeah? Well I'm getting tired of the f***in Halo 3 threads in the PC forums!

"When is Halo 3 coming out for PC? "Halo 3 is the ****" "Release date for PC Halo 3?" "Halo 3 rulez" "Halo 3 for the PC?"

geez just STFU ppl! go rant about Halo 3 in the xbox 360 forums where ppl will actually be impressed by it's gameplay!

[QUOTE="bob9999999999"]

I'm getting tired of these threads.

Forerunner-117

Oh yeah? Well I'm getting tired of the f***in Halo 3 threads in the PC forums!

"When is Halo 3 coming out for PC? "Halo 3 is the ****" "Release date for PC Halo 3?" "Halo 3 rulez" "Halo 3 for the PC?"

geez just STFU ppl! go rant about Halo 3 in the xbox 360 forums where ppl will actually be impressed by it's gameplay!

[QUOTE="Forerunner-117"][QUOTE="bob9999999999"]

I'm getting tired of these threads.

WhiteSnake5000

Oh yeah? Well I'm getting tired of the f***in Halo 3 threads in the PC forums!

"When is Halo 3 coming out for PC? "Halo 3 is the ****" "Release date for PC Halo 3?" "Halo 3 rulez" "Halo 3 for the PC?"

geez just STFU ppl! go rant about Halo 3 in the xbox 360 forums where ppl will actually be impressed by it's gameplay!

Well see that's the thing! Right now I've pretty much chosen to get a nice PC rather than an Xbox 360 so what does that mean? That's right, no Halo 3 for me! >:( You don't know how much I love the Halo series and just watching the Halo 3 trailers makes my body tingle lol So it really pains me when all these people rub it in especially on the PC forum. So hopefully you understand my pain :(

not this junk again. and why on earth are you trying to play halo 2 on pc? it's such a poor choice for the pc; there are millions of better shooters for the pc than halo 2. it requires vista cuz bill freaking gates thought that releasing halo 2 as a vista-only game would drive up the sales for vista. of course, he didn't account for the fact that the halo franchise, though very much the best fps available for consoles, doesn't compare favorably to pc shooters.fireandcloud

you do know there's an easily accessable patch that makes halo 2 work on xp right?

[QUOTE="fireandcloud"]not this junk again. and why on earth are you trying to play halo 2 on pc? it's such a poor choice for the pc; there are millions of better shooters for the pc than halo 2. it requires vista cuz bill freaking gates thought that releasing halo 2 as a vista-only game would drive up the sales for vista. of course, he didn't account for the fact that the halo franchise, though very much the best fps available for consoles, doesn't compare favorably to pc shooters.onemic

you do know there's an easily accessable patch that makes halo 2 work on xp right?

which microsoft issued after realizing that halo 2 will do nothing to drive up vista sales and halo 2 will otherwise be a big sales dud if it's not compatible with xp. just a theory. ;)

[QUOTE="WhiteSnake5000"][QUOTE="Forerunner-117"][QUOTE="bob9999999999"]

I'm getting tired of these threads.

Forerunner-117

Oh yeah? Well I'm getting tired of the f***in Halo 3 threads in the PC forums!

"When is Halo 3 coming out for PC? "Halo 3 is the ****" "Release date for PC Halo 3?" "Halo 3 rulez" "Halo 3 for the PC?"

geez just STFU ppl! go rant about Halo 3 in the xbox 360 forums where ppl will actually be impressed by it's gameplay!

Well see that's the thing! Right now I've pretty much chosen to get a nice PC rather than an Xbox 360 so what does that mean? That's right, no Halo 3 for me! >:( You don't know how much I love the Halo series and just watching the Halo 3 trailers makes my body tingle lol So it really pains me when all these people rub it in especially on the PC forum. So hopefully you understand my pain :(