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PC gaming is NOT DEAD
Desetes
Member UncommonPosts: 88
Crysis sold one million copies:
http://shacknews.com/onearticle.x/51081
The Witcher sold one million copies:
http://www.n4g.com/NewsCom-81964.aspx#Comments
I'm sure there's more, but those are the only games I have the info of.
NPD only counts US retail sales. PC gaming may be dead in America, but it's big in the rest of the world.
Comments
It's a damn shame that consoles are taking over!
It really creeps me out that people are willing to pay immense amounts of money for consoles and console games, when they could get like 2 PC games for the price of one console game
AND Keyboards >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> controllers!
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Waiting on... Who knows?
I agree. People have been saying PC gaming is dead/dying for at least the 10 years from my recollection.
Well they were wrong then and still are.
In fact over the years I've seen consoles start to be more like PCs.
What people don't get is that consoles have always sold more games than PC. In 2007 just took a smaller cut of the total games sold, because of the 3 well established consoles, with Wii and PS3 being recently released in the start of 2007.
PC games still sell well, and PC gaming communities are still thriving. Just consider the ever growing E-Sports scene, which is sure to become even bigger when SC2 is released.
So no. PC Gaming is not dead. Far from. PC version of CoD4 has over 17000 Servers with players on. Right now Steam has about 1.2 million users logged in. All the MMOs are still played on PC(with few exceptions). Bnet has about 50000 users logged in(primarily playing Wc3x)
The Sims, The Sims 2, WoW, Lineage, SC and HL are some of the most sold games ever, only topped by Mario games, GTA games, Gran Turismo series and a few others.
Consoles sell more games than PC, yes. But that doesn't necessarily mean that PC gaming is dead.
Let the masses go to consoles. The really good original games will be for the PC then.
In other news:
The latest Halo game sold 8,3 million copies
the latest Gran Turismo sold 9,5 million copies.
While Call of Duty 4 sold over 7,1 million copies, with the vast majority on consoles obviously as the Xbox360 version in the US alone outsells Crysis worldwide sales.
I don't think a lot of developers will be impressed by Crysis's numbers,
A new PC game costs 50 euro's, a new console game costs 60 euro's.....
"Let the masses go to consoles. The really good original games will be for the PC then."
Like Guitar Hero , Rock Band, Motion sensor controlls, Eye of Judgment, Singstar and..
no, wait..
Yeah sure. You know there was this really cool company that made some really cool PC games. They even pretty much jump-started the 3-D Real Time Tactical genre. And they even did simulatneous releases on Mac and PC.
Guess what happened? Microsoft bought them and told them they couldn't release halo on the PC because it would be Xbox only.
Halo? couldn't care less.
Guitar Hero? neither.
I care about simulators, MMORPGS, strategy.
And less and less about MMORPGS being the crap they are now, they look like console games.
The PC gaming market is just having a revisit of the 1983 Videogame 'depression.' It's nothing new folks, stuff like this happens. We've seen an over-saturation of many kinds of titles on the PC and even on the console, so which one do you expect to win out? The console of course, and here's why: when all you have to do is plugin the power connectors and the video (and audio cables if you happen to have a full home theater setup) cables to the TV to just play then people will go for that over the constant struggle with conflicting hardware types (ATI drivers wiping out game play altogether for some folks, or the fact that DX10 for Vista killed hardware acceleration for audio chipsets... Thanks M$...) or the constant struggle to repatch a game to make it work in the first place. In essence, the PC game market is harder to attract people to because PCs are still very hard for people to grasp. Most people can grasp a console. Most people can grasp a car. Most people grasp the cell phone. Yet, most people don't grasp the PC for a number of reasons, which impede the PC game market overall (such as differences of interface, differences of implementation (different OSes, different non-compiled language libraries, and so on). When we get a standard in PCs we see that the market opens up just a bit more for the games as well.
Just get use to it, but to uneducated people (*coughs* Gameloading *coughs*) that think PC gaming is dead; please tell me why Steam (and its owners Valve) keep expanding in influence? Hmmm? It's not because there are less people buying PCs, that's for sure. It's because PCs are (albeit slowly) easier to use, most of the thanks goes to Intel and IBM for setting some basic standards (which are royalty free and some that are full F/OSS...) that make it easier for game designers, PC makers (Dell and HP...) to reduce conflicts between software and hardware (and firmware). All in all, any doomsaying by the anti-PC-gamers out there is just the typical tripe right up there with John C Dvorak's column.
Anyways, PC games are not dead, not by a long shot. If it weren't for PC games, there would be no push by hardware makers to make better (faster and easier to use for both developers and end-users) goodies (GPUs, CPUs, and memory, which btw is used in all current consoles, considering the last major generation of consoles to use specialized DSP, GPU, and/or CPU chipsets was probably in 2003? hmmmm?). So, enjoy being part of a market that is still emerging. It will probably take decades more, but that's how it is folks.
-- Brede
In other news:
People are still buying PC games so PC gaming is hardly dead.
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
In other news:
People are still buying PC games so PC gaming is hardly dead.
Hmm, you're better at responses than me, considering my wouldbe 'treatise'.
-- Brede
A new PC game costs 50 euro's, a new console game costs 60 euro's.....
"Let the masses go to consoles. The really good original games will be for the PC then."
Like Guitar Hero , Rock Band, Motion sensor controlls, Eye of Judgment, Singstar and..
no, wait..
Those are your picks for original console features? Where the fuck have you been the past 20 years?
_______________________________
PM me when an MMO as good as UO was comes out.
So yeah maybe you should care.
A new PC game costs 50 euro's, a new console game costs 60 euro's.....
"Let the masses go to consoles. The really good original games will be for the PC then."
Like Guitar Hero , Rock Band, Motion sensor controlls, Eye of Judgment, Singstar and..
no, wait..
Those are your picks for original console features? Where the fuck have you been the past 20 years?
That's kind of what i thought, Motion sensor controllers 2 different types of cameras and a audio MikeYea haven't seen those a hundred times for the PC.
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
Let the masses go to consoles, while the clever people with PCs download free/gratis games from the internet.
Keyboard + Mouse > Game controller
Upgradable PC > Diverse Console
PC gaming with Xfire > Console gaming with no xfire
I could go on.
I almost always stick to PC games, I only own a Wii because it's original and different (and to support the opposition of Sony and Micrococks but that's kinda irrelevant in this thread).
Qaze - Atheist, Nihilist, Sadist.
WinRAR.rar
Mudkip Video
The fact is both are going to be around for a very long time. And you will more likely see the death of Consoles before the death of the PC. The PC is a tool, the console is a game platform.... One is usefull one waists peoples time... though the first is good at that too... but it can be useful!
We've already seen the consoles first steps to becoming a PC, upgradable parts, hard drives... THE 64 COULD UPGRADE ITS GRAPHICS... with that Donkey Kong thing they brought out....
All I think we are really seeing is the birth of the Idiot proof computers... Computers that when you go to install memory its in a little plastic slot in the back of your console so you can't electrocute your self because your an idiot that forgot to turn the power off on your PC when you were going to upgrade. But in the future... Games will work on both just watch 500 gig harddrives for your console pah... thats not a console anymore and cross platform games? AoC anyone? FFXI anyone? Bah Consoles lose Easy
What they need to do is protect the games better, cuz downloading games is still a big part.... Go to the torrents, millions of em and thousands of people seeding/downloading at all times so pc companys loose their $$ right there.... and since not everybodys smart enough to copy/download games for consoles they sell more stuff....
I'm sorry... WoW has 10 million actively subscribed accounts (accounts that will be charged within the next 30 days)
And Halo 3 sold 8 million copies? huh. I wonder if blizzard has made more money in the last year than Bungee ever did off of Halo.
And Tribes.
And Tribes 2.
"Vivendi, publisher of World of Warcraft, the world's most popular online computer game, said Tuesday that first-quarter profit rose 32 percent... Net income rose to 932 million, or $1.27 billion, from 707 million a year earlier."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/15/business/bxviv.php
So... How much money is that since that article was published?
Complex math. Heres a hint.
>
The ultimate solution to every problem: more space marines.
I used Crysis as an example because it's very demanding, yet it sold over a million. The Witcher had little to no hype and it sold over a million. If I had the information for other games, I would post it (not info from NPD since they don't count digital sales and only US sales where PC gaming isn't that popular).
Couple of observations.
First, if you read the shacknews article posted in the first post, and I quote, "Still, PC revenue as a whole is down 30% for EA over last year, which saw blockbuster entries in The Sims and Battlefield franchises."
So even with big franchise, PC games rev is down and down by a lot. While I would not say PC gaming is dead, a 30% decrease at the biggest publisher is still alarming.
Second, someone has already pointed out that 1M copies sold is really not very impressive compared to big console titles.
However, sales like this can obviously still support plenty of development. The question is whether the pc games will continue to lose revenue in the coming year. Personally, I see that as cyclical. Right now, PC games are really not looking that much better than console games. Most people cannot tell the difference between Crysis and COD4 on the 360. However, the gap is going to get wider in the latter part of the life cycle of consoles and PC games will surge then (just like when the PS2 is getting old, PC games become more popular).
So yeah maybe you should care.
God.. Myth was terrible. No, it' was a breakthrough you are right... but so frustrating.I know what you mean, but others will come.. new blood with new ideas.
I feel like there are games meant for consoles and there are games meant for PC. Here is my opinion on how the genre should split.
PC: MMORPG's, shooters, puzzle games, strategy
Console: RPG's, racing, action/adventure(like resident evil style games)
That being said PC games seem to just get recycled with better graphics everytime. The trend is obvious in shooters even though they try to be "innovated". MMO's seem to be blurring together. How many different yet similar games have you played that are like the warcraft title. I guess the same could be said about console games but atleast it seems like they've got a bit more creativity on their side.
I agree with a previous post though, its impossible for the PC to just dissappear in this situation, it would be much more likely that consoles will just meld into the PC market. Just look at the new shift for consoles moving towards connectivity. Eventually they will all be as on-line as any PC. The only difference would be useability for work related applications. Then again, why couldn't you use those applications? Doesn't the PS3 run an OS like Linux or something? Atleast I know you can load it onto the machine. Mabye someday Sony will be a direct competitor with a company like Dell in the PC market.(I think sony woudl squash dell)
So yeah maybe you should care.
God.. Myth was terrible. No, it' was a breakthrough you are right... but so frustrating.I know what you mean, but others will come.. new blood with new ideas.
Others will come and they will get bought and told to release on console.PC gaming isn't dead, nor will it "die". But it faces serious barriers.
Console are where the serious money is and trying to get as close to a game developer monopoly as possible is high high incentivized.
At least 50% of the people who buy a particular console do so because of the game choice. Not hardware specs or interface options.
Mircosoft bought bungie because Halo had a lot of hype and they needed to cultivate their stable of games. They got lucky and hit a home run but they were and are doing it with other studios and titles.
To Bungie's credit they are trying to get out from under that gigantic hippo that has been sitting on them. But the phenomenon itself is highly significant for the PC gaming community.
Remember Halo was originally being developed as a simultaneous PC release. The only reason it was an XBoX-only release was business not technical.
Half of the games that could be on PC are not on that platform simply because of attempts at monopolistic behavior on the part of the console companies. Because that kind of behavior pays off ten fold. It is to such a point that MS and Sony are willing to have every other purchase be a failure as long as they get a few marquis games.
Piracy FTW!
Qaze - Atheist, Nihilist, Sadist.
WinRAR.rar
Mudkip Video
What blockbuster EA franchises are you talking about? Sims is really nothing, they keep rehashing it. And BF2142 was a joke. BF2 is much better. EA blames the PC market when it's their fault they make crappy rehashes. And you can't tell the difference between Crysis and CoD4? Well first of all, CoD4 has absolutely no physics. 2nd, all of the game takes place in very linear corridors so it's not hard to make graphics for stuff like that. Just look at the vegetation levels in CoD4. The vegetation is static paper with no physics at all. Let's see CoD4 render a huge seemless and open island. CoD4's graphics are cleary dumbed down for consoles.