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PC Gaming is Dying @ Gamers Hell
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RPGDot Forums > News Comments

Author Thread
TheMadGamer
High Emperor
High Emperor




Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 487
Location: Southern California
<<< YAWN >>>
   

quote:
Originally posted by yeesh
You don't think PC gaming is on the way out? Have you been to a Software, etc / Gamestop? Have you been to an Electronics Boutique? Why don't you go take a look now, I'll wait... What did you see? Oh yeah, a tiny little computer game section in the back.


Went to EB. Went to gamestop. Went to Software Etc. You're right. The PC section in those stores is pretty small.

Then I went to Best Buy. And Comp USA. And Fry's Electronics. Hmmm. The PC game selection seems about the same size its always been.

BZZZZZT.

Maybe, just MAYBE EB and the gang have oriented themselves more toward videogames... as they've pretty much always have... and maybe, JUST MAYBE, it's that time of the year where there has almost ALWAYS been a slump of PC games.

Christmas of 2004 and summer of 2004 did not stand out as being much different in terms of PC gaming availability as the last 5 years. And that PC gaming selection is currently small is normal for this time of year.

quote:
Originally posted by yeesh
But just look around you. Consoles look as good as PCs, with this next generation.


Um. No. I have every single videogame console since the original Oddyssy (however the heck its spelled) released in the mid-70s up to the current PS2, Xbox and Gamecube. Xbox stands out with the best graphics of the bunch and NO NO NO its graphics are quite dated to PC graphics. Compare Morrowind for the Xbox and then compare Morrowind on a PC with a Radion 9800 or similar graphics card. You can't tell me the graphics are the same as the xbox... even the xbox on a HD TV.

quote:
Originally posted by yeesh
And in case you haven't been paying attention, Intel has formally given up on making it's chips faster.


HUH? Please. Link me Intel's press release stating this. Glancing at several hardware review sites I frequent, I find nothing but articles talking about the latest AMD and Intel CPU offerings along with all the other speed-related leap frogging commentaries these companies have been doing for years.

quote:
Originally posted by yeesh
Dual core and multi core will do NOTHING for games for an awfully time, just like dual processors have done NOTHING for games forever. If devs want to take the time to learn how to rethink their coding so that multiprocessing can lead to performance increases, then of course they'll succeed eventually. But what a lot of time and effort to spend on a SHRINKING market. Which is just to say that PCs will not be pulling ahead of the game in performance terms quite so quickly with this next generation of consoles.


You are speculating here with the ASSUMPTION that the PC gaming market is shrinking. First prove that it is in fact shrinking, then speculate. This thread is still trying to figure out if its shrinking or not.

But for argument's sake, CPU speed is not the ONLY factor in how fast the computer is. For years now, the CPU has far outpaced the rest of the computer system. Advances in in motherboard bus speeds, updates such as PCI-Express, and faster GPU's are playing a far more spectacular role when it comes to high frames per second. Are all the companies involved with these parts of the computer system assuming also that the PC gaming market is about to die? Because all I see is newer and faster technologies being announced right and left.

quote:
Originally posted by yeesh
PC games used to be a niche market, and we were all sorta happy. Then they got mainstream, and that wasn't so bad. But the way games are made has changed, and now it costs a ton of money, more than individuals can muster... So how do PC games go back to being the loveable niche market they were? They can't. Richard Garriot can't just spend 2 years in his garage and make a game anymore. He could, but it's going to be extremely hard to make people want to play it, because the graphics and sound will be not quite as good as a PS1 game.


Maybe your argument MIGHT hold true say for large companies like EA. Where every game made has to take less than 6 months to make and sell more than 2 million units in the first 3 weeks. Ok, slight exageration there but I really can't stand EA.

But what about the smaller developers who have been thriving in the niche created by the big companies who are ignoring it because it doesn't have the right 'ratios?' Those pesky developers out of Europe. You know. Making Gothic. And Divine Divinity. And Arx Fatalis. To name a few. I think smaller developers could in fact operate in a small niche and create the same kind of thoughtful games Richard Garriot made back in the day. Divine Divinity, Gothic, and Arx Fatalis are all modern day proof it can happen.

quote:
Originally posted by yeesh
All of which sucks huge time, IMHO, but all the wishin in the world isn't going to change it. I'm honestly surprised to see so many intelligent people here trying to rationalize it away. Go back to that Gamestop and take another look. You don't need an article or way-too-long post to tell you what to think.


I think you and the guy who wrote the article are correct. That PC gaming is going to die. But scientists have also predicted that someday the Sun is going to explode. It just ins't going to happen tomorrow or next week. And PC gaming isn't going to die today, next week, or next year or 5 years from now. And it isn't going to happen for many of the reasons currently be speculated as the cause.

I've heard this all before. The sky is falling the sky is falling. /yawn
_________________
The Poster Previously Known As NeptiOfPovar
Post Sat Mar 26, 2005 3:03 am
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Gorath
Mostly Harmless
Mostly Harmless




Joined: 03 Sep 2001
Posts: 6327
Location: NRW, Germany
   

yeesh, you make a common mistake in your argumentation. North America is only one market of many. You canīt assume PC games were shrinking everywhere only because a few retail chains nobody knows in other parts of the world decided to concentrate on consoles. Half of Europe is still PC territory and markets in Eastern Europe are growing quickly, due to increasing income.

Even if we assume that the US market for PC games collapses Iīm not sure what this means for the world market. Will the top5 publishers pull out of PC development? If so, will the market just disappear or will smaller publishers be able to fill the gap?

Donīt forget that games like Silent Storm or Cossacks donīt need much more than 100k full price sales to reach the break even. Gothic, Arx, DivDiv, Sacred and SpellForce hardly need more than 200-250k - worldwide.
50k sales in North America are of course more than welcome, but itīs not unthinkable the typical Euro production can be a commercial success without them.
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Webmaster GothicDot
Post Sat Mar 26, 2005 4:47 am
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Kristophe
Obi-Wan Kermobi
Obi-Wan Kermobi




Joined: 26 Apr 2004
Posts: 4
Location: The Outer Banks of NC, USA
   

Of course, while we sit on opposite sides of the fence and carry on this rather lively discussion; no one has even taken notice to the inevietable fact that - sooner or later - the "hybrid console/PC" system is going to be introduced into the gaming world, and thus catch everyone by surprise (or so abound the rumors re the next-gen Xbox:-).

Once that happens, our next "platform gaming is dead" discussion will probably be to pit the merits of "hybrid console/PC" gaming systems against "hologram" gaming systems (Holy Shades of Star Trek:-).
Post Sat Mar 26, 2005 12:23 pm
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yeesh
Keeper of the Gates
Keeper of the Gates




Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 113
Location: Unofficially representing Queens
   

While I think you folks really do need to take a closer look at what's going on with PC hardware specifically regarding Intel's move to multicore and the sudden ending of the Ghz races, because the ramifications for PC speed increases (specifically to gaming performance) are serious (but then again, I'm sure we'd all be happier if games were less emphasizing the kind of features that require such horespower, and more emphasizing the basics like oh say gameplay), there's no point in arguing over speculation I guess. I will say that if we could somehow get the future of PC gaming to depend on TheMadGamer's ability to spin convincing arguments instead of the buying decisions of the masses, we'd all be a lot happier. The future will advance upon us menacingly or not, so soon enough all questions will be answered. What can we do but wait and see, and play whatever comes down the pike? Best of luck to us all.
Post Mon Mar 28, 2005 8:04 pm
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TheMadGamer
High Emperor
High Emperor




Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 487
Location: Southern California
bleh
   

quote:
Originally posted by yeesh
TheMadGamer's ability to spin convincing arguments instead of the buying decisions of the masses, we'd all be a lot happier.


LOL. I made some good points. If you want to dismiss them iin the name of 'spin' go right ahead. But you haven't convinced me of your arguments at all and trying to win the debate by belittliing my points isn't going to be the thing that changes my mind.

quote:
Originally posted by yeesh
What can we do but wait and see, and play whatever comes down the pike? Best of luck to us all.


What happened to your cystal ball? The one that shows you that the death of PC gaming is upon us and that the sun is going to explode tomorrow? Now you want to wait and see huh...

Gaming will evolve as a whole. Someday. PC gaming will evolve. Someday. Console gaming will evolve. Someday.

I just very much doubt that 'someday' is ever going to be according to the timetable of some internet guy making a superficial analysis of the marketplace. Or for the reasons they drum up.

What's REALLY going on when articles like this pop is is the 'look at me' factor. It's a headline grabber to garner attention.

If anything, the reviewer is cackling right about now, as we've all fallen into his trap.
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The Poster Previously Known As NeptiOfPovar
Post Mon Mar 28, 2005 8:38 pm
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You did indeed. The article really is nothing to do about pc gaming DYING, its about it de-volving, which only a few people have picked up on.
Post Tue Apr 05, 2005 4:18 am
 


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