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Author Topic: Why PC gaming is poised to become relevant again
mrlastills  96 posts
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Why PC gaming is poised to become relevant again 10/12/09 4:33am
Just wrote a little article about why PC gaming is about to become relevant again and might take the innovation / development lead from consoles for the next 5 years or so ... thought you guys might like it happy let me know what you think

http://bit.ly/2yBb5I

 
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madmonk1971  2777 posts
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Why PC gaming is poised to become relevant again 10/12/09 5:34am
Nice change from the usual doom and gloom about the supposed fall of the PC (which never seems to come). I believe the PC as a gaming platform will be fine and always will be, it might take a hit if a MMO as popular as WoW hits consoles but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

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Cathedralmaster  4357 posts
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Why PC gaming is poised to become relevant again 10/12/09 12:30pm - Edited By: Cathedralmaster  10/12/09 12:44pm (3 edits total)
PC's aren't just losing their technological edge to consoles, the edge itself is becoming less an edge. Unless your a total graphics whore, even with more limited hardware, console graphics and performance are good enough for most people (look at how well the Wii sold). The days when PC graphics were multiple times superior are long gone. Do PC games look a little better? Of course, but the difference is becoming less and less, the ports looking more and more the same. Even on the PC, upgrading your graphics card to the latest greatest in the minute it was available, like people used to do in the Quake 2 era, is becoming a rarity (at least among the people I know).

Half your argument seems to be based on people needing better performance that to me looks increasingly like people won't need beyond what the normal console cycle/upgrades now provides. The 5 year console cycle is lengthening to 8-10 because buying a whole new console isn't needed as much anymore. That's bad news for the PC, not good. PC gaming will probably always be around, but consoles or some other specialized gaming device I think are really looking like the future with PC's staying the niche platform it's become.

As for your developers argument, there is plenty of creativity on the consoles. Look at where the big indie games are at the moment - Xbox Live and the PS store. As for the future, I think it's too early to predict. You increasingly have companies adding in customizable content creation tools into their games (Little Big Planet, Spore), DLC is really taking off (GTA IV and Fallout 3), you have the stores, you have steam on the PC, you have the whole DRM issue, you have Microsoft looking towards helping/butt-raping the little guys. I don't think you can make much of an argument one side or the other as to either having the invulnerable high ground till those issues are resolved. If OnLive really takes off, what kind of mod scene is there even going to be?

EDIT: Innovation is similarly in question. You have motion controls taking off on the consoles like they never did on the PC, you have peripherals based games like Rock Band which is mostly console, you have the whole issue of whether people are going to go for 3D or not.

 

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DeadLazy  7920 posts
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Why PC gaming is poised to become relevant again 10/12/09 3:00pm
My own perception of PC gaming right now isn't grim, just boring. When I get a new PC I go on a spending frenzy buying up all the games that I couldn't run on my old PC. Well, I got a new PC about six months ago, a little more, and it didn't go too well this time. There were few games that I really wanted that I had not already played on a console and many of the PC exclusives, like STALKER, didn't impress me. PC games feel.... boring to me these days. Sure, I got my strategy fix, but that's it.

That's not to say I think the platform is getting killed off. There will always be PC games but the days of PC domination are long over. MMO's can f'ing die until they do something other then the tank/dps/healer loot grind. Die WoW die!

 

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Cathedralmaster  4357 posts
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Why PC gaming is poised to become relevant again 10/13/09 7:36am
If you posted this on Gaming Discussion on the main forum, it probably would have gotten more discussion.

 

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Lambchops  11705 posts
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Why PC gaming is poised to become relevant again 10/25/09 4:59pm
PC gaming is still relevant because it's probably still the favoured market for indie developers who are making imaginative fun games and getting them noticed thanks to digital distribution. The consoles are getting in on the act now but that market is much more established in the PC sector and it's still where many of the best titles for small developers come out.

And while it may not be my favourite genre I can't see PCs ever not being the preferred platform for strategy games.

Personally I find the only thing PC gaming lacks is local multiplayer; which is the only reason I own a Wii. The big FPS titles still for the most part comi out on the PC as well as the consoles and they've become so much more adept on consoles now that accusations of FPS games being "dumbed down" for consoles are becoming increasingly irrelevant.

 

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wandaba 

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Why PC gaming is poised to become relevant again 11/4/09 10:52am

I believe that the PC has always been a stable gaming platform. I mean, you're free to customize many aspects of the experience which you don't often get in console games. Oh, the mouse. Yeah, the mouse is helpful. XD I've yet to see an RTS pulled off successfully for a console.

 
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