PC gaming is dying

I keep hearing that gaming on the PC is slowly dying. Some of the blame can be due to publisher's worrying about piracy, but other blames are attributed to the cost of maintaining a high end PC for years while consoles remain dormant regarding hardware. I personally don't think that PC gaming is going anywhere (meaning nonexistant/dormant). While I understand the need to combat piracy, and the fact that not everyone can maintain an enthusiast level PC, the interface that the PC provides far surpasses that of consoles. Nobody buys a console with the hopes of a key/mouse interface otherwise they would buy a gaming PC. Do you think that developers are slowly straying from the PC format other than the obvious such as Blizzard? I think that sales for MMOs such as SWTOR and WOW would surely keep PC gaming viable for some time, but are we doomed eventually?

Give reasons as to why PC gaming will thrive or fail. Simply reading the topic headline is not truly contributing to the thread's intent.

Ah the weekly PC gaming is dying thread!

Ah the weekly PC gaming is dying thread!

Raxzor

Well, that is not very insightful. The industry is in constant flux, so to incinuate that it is just another ill warranted concern is somewhat naive. I am not trying to flame you or start a flaming thread, this is a legitimate topic. It will be an even more viable topic in 3-6 months from now as more developers delay OR completely neglect the PC as a viable platform. The topic will be viable again 3-6 months after that. To be so shortsighted about it is somewhat overconfident without backing such a statement as to why you think contrary to the issue.

"PC gaming is finished" is something that we hear every few years.

It's true that PC gaming does not pull in the same big numbers that the consoles do, but it's still a very large market, and the rise of services like Steam has also made piracy a smaller issue.

Additionally there are whole game genres that just work very poorly on consoles (Think of trying to play Total War games on an Xbox?) which means that even if the mass market sellers like CoD become more console focused, there are still plenty of games that will be developed either exclusively for the PC or with the PC as the premier platform.

Finally it's worth considering that the indie gaming scene has a much easier time putting their games out on the PC, as they don't have to go through all the red tape that is required to get your game out on Xbox or Playstation.

Oh, and as you mention yourself, the whole MMO scene is still very much centered around the PC's.

So in short there is no reason to worry about the survivability of the PC as a gaming machine. It will continue to be a viable platform that presents some unique opportunities that you cannot easily replicate on a console.

Pc game is alive and well thank you..Have you noticed there all making games for the pc now,,Why because of steam..Steam brought our console back from the dead.Please get your info right before posting..Nothing to see here folks other than a xbox or ps3 fan boy carry on..

Pc game is alive and well thank you..Have you noticed there all making games for the pc now,,Why because of steam..Steam brought our console back from the dead.Please get your info right before posting..Nothing to see here folks other than a xbox or ps3 fan boy carry on..

Gladestone1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBzoBgfm55w&feature=relmfu

[QUOTE="Raxzor"]

Ah the weekly PC gaming is dying thread!

ZOD777

Well, that is not very insightful. The industry is in constant flux, so to incinuate that it is just another ill warranted concern is somewhat naive. I am not trying to flame you or start a flaming thread, this is a legitimate topic. It will be an even more viable topic in 3-6 months from now as more developers delay OR completely neglect the PC as a viable platform. The topic will be viable again 3-6 months after that. To be so shortsighted about it is somewhat overconfident without backing such a statement as to why you think contrary to the issue.

PC gaming will be popular as long as there are PCs because, if for no other reason, it provides a platform all games can exist on long after their console has become obsolete.

PC gaming changes more than consoles, the digital download market being the prime example. Those changes can be seen as "dying" by those who don't understand that or are too used to a static console market.

PC gaming changes more than consoles, the digital download market being the prime example. Those changes can be seen as "dying" by those who don't understand that or are too used to a static console market.LordRork

Exactly. Replace the word 'dying' with 'changing' and you're there.

This is not a viable topic, the best thing you can do with such concerns, for anyone that doesn't come here to be annoyed by misinformed, insecure people is to blog it, you're flattering yourself with that 3-6 months thing, if you'd believe in that then you would have waited another almost 3-6 months before you made this thread. At least create such a thread when a new console wave starts and they see a rise in sales (MS and Sony), not when they're already pretty much dead and PC sales have been growing as much as console sales dropped.DanielDust

Since you obviously have a crystal ball, I would like to know if all of the best games for 2012 will be on PC or consoles ONLY mister Dust (or Ms based on your avatar). You are misinformed if you believe that the corporate structure (and the decisions therin) of a company falls in your hands as a consumer to decide (other than bottom line red/black figures). So I guess there is no such thing as foresight huh? I should only post such concerns or topics once they have become an overwhelming undersight or invalid? While I understand that this topic has been beaten to death over the years, it doesn't dissapear. Should detering cyber crime be a topic that is neglected because it has been brought up before despite the advancemnents in technology? The new consoles that debut are only going to be able to utilize video cards that are already outdated by the time of release as compared to PC hardware. The GPU market is not solely driven by PC gaming as some people seem to be disillusioned by. Do you think that ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) uses a GTX 590 X 4? If you do, maybe you should work at the Skywalker Ranch. Obviously you know more about computer hardware and the limitations of a 20" x 20" x 4" box than anyone does.

Last time i heared PC gaming is on the UP and has over-taken console gaming.

Last time i heared PC gaming is on the UP and has over-taken console gaming.

ShimmerMan

[QUOTE="DanielDust"]This is not a viable topic, the best thing you can do with such concerns, for anyone that doesn't come here to be annoyed by misinformed, insecure people is to blog it, you're flattering yourself with that 3-6 months thing, if you'd believe in that then you would have waited another almost 3-6 months before you made this thread. At least create such a thread when a new console wave starts and they see a rise in sales (MS and Sony), not when they're already pretty much dead and PC sales have been growing as much as console sales dropped.ZOD777

Since you obviously have a crystal ball, I would like to know if all of the best games for 2012 will be on PC or consoles ONLY mister Dust (or Ms based on your avatar). You are misinformed if you believe that the corporate structure (and the decisions therin) of a company falls in your hands as a consumer to decide. So I guess there is no such thing as foresight huh? I should only post such concerns or topics once they have become an overwhelming undersight or invalid? While I understand that this topic has been beaten to death over the years, it doesn't dissapear. Should detering cyber crime be a topic that is neglected because it has been brought up before despite the advancemnents in technology? The new consoles that debut are only going to be able to utilize video cards that are already outdated by the time of release as compared to PC hardware. The GPU market is not solely driven by PC gaming as some people seem to be disillusioned by. Do you think that ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) uses a GTX 590 X 4? If you do, maybe you should work at the Skywalker Ranch. Obviously you know more about computer hardware and the limitations of a 24" x 24" x 6" box than anyone does.

Another thing I'm sure you know is that consoles need to be affordable, so their hardware for the next generation will suck, they can't take it much further compared to the available technology, what does console gaming holding back evolution (that's pure fact, everyone knows it..) has to do with your thread? If you're not finding what you just said in your last post stupid, then you're by far the worst poster in the last several months that made such a thread, you're not just insecure and misinformed, you're also have a sense of revolt, entitlement and you believe in a delusional that what you just said makes sense, no you just changed the topic in a highly irrelevant way, not that this thread was relevant even before that, contradicting every statement you made with other statements, you have no idea what you wanted to achieve with this thread and you have no idea what you're planning on gaining from it.

"While I understand that this topic has been beaten to death over the years" no, you don't understand, there is no "but", if you understand you would already have an answer for these plainly idiotic concerns, it's the filthiest garbage anyone can make on this forum, your kind of thread and that is a fact (God knows how you managed to have a decent PC if you're that insecure about your gaming choices and you have a lack of games you'd want that aren't on PC...).

Are these threads on the the trolling list yet? They certainly should be.

It never was dying, it is not dying now, and it is not going to die anytime soon. Just stop already.

Are these threads on the the trolling list yet? They certainly should be.

vfibsux

Nope.

Ah the weekly PC gaming is dying thread!

Raxzor

[QUOTE="ZOD777"]

[QUOTE="DanielDust"]This is not a viable topic, the best thing you can do with such concerns, for anyone that doesn't come here to be annoyed by misinformed, insecure people is to blog it, you're flattering yourself with that 3-6 months thing, if you'd believe in that then you would have waited another almost 3-6 months before you made this thread. At least create such a thread when a new console wave starts and they see a rise in sales (MS and Sony), not when they're already pretty much dead and PC sales have been growing as much as console sales dropped.DanielDust

Since you obviously have a crystal ball, I would like to know if all of the best games for 2012 will be on PC or consoles ONLY mister Dust (or Ms based on your avatar). You are misinformed if you believe that the corporate structure (and the decisions therin) of a company falls in your hands as a consumer to decide. So I guess there is no such thing as foresight huh? I should only post such concerns or topics once they have become an overwhelming undersight or invalid? While I understand that this topic has been beaten to death over the years, it doesn't dissapear. Should detering cyber crime be a topic that is neglected because it has been brought up before despite the advancemnents in technology? The new consoles that debut are only going to be able to utilize video cards that are already outdated by the time of release as compared to PC hardware. The GPU market is not solely driven by PC gaming as some people seem to be disillusioned by. Do you think that ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) uses a GTX 590 X 4? If you do, maybe you should work at the Skywalker Ranch. Obviously you know more about computer hardware and the limitations of a 24" x 24" x 6" box than anyone does.

Another thing I'm sure you know is that consoles need to be affordable, so their hardware for the next generation will suck, they can't take it much further compared to the available technology, what does console gaming holding back evolution (that's pure fact, everyone knows it..) has to do with your thread? If you're not finding what you just said in your last post stupid, then you're by far the worst poster in the last several months that made such a thread, you're not just insecure and misinformed, you're also have a sense of revolt, entitlement and you believe in a delusional that what you just said makes sense, no you just changed the topic in a highly irrelevant way, not that this thread was relevant even before that, contradicting every statement you made with other statements, you have no idea what you wanted to achieve with this thread and you have no idea what you're planning on gaining from it.

"While I understand that this topic has been beaten to death over the years" no, you don't understand, there is no "but", if you understand you would already have an answer for these plainly idiotic concerns, it's the filthiest garbage anyone can make on this forum, your kind of thread and that is a fact (God knows how you managed to have a decent PC if you're that insecure about your gaming choices and you have a lack of games you'd want that aren't on PC...).

Holy hell. You have sucessfully butchered the english language to an extent that I didn't know was possible until now. Take a few college courses and get back to me. Consoles NEED to be affordable? Tell that to Sony execs that pull in 2.5 million a year when it comes to being concerned about the consumer when they release a console that is 700 dollars on release. You are the epitome of indiscretion and naivity that they so desire. This thread was intended to discuss the direction of current developer's strategy (publishers not being ignored) regarding the development of new games on current platforms. Surely the PC market is going to thrive in the modding community and enthusiast level users, but this thread was intended to create an intelligent discussion. Based on the vocabulary skills you posess, I suggest you opt out now while you still have a chance at saving what little face you have left. What console gaming has to do with my thread is everything that is pertinent to this thread. I guess you are just another, "My rig can handle any game" consumer that doesn't realize that maybe in the future, your rig can handle a NASA shuttle launch yesteryear, but cannot deal with a modern game because it isn't about the capability, rather the culpability you will face for having such a system that cannot deal with a game that isn't even available to attempt to launch.

I keep hearing that gaming on the PC is slowly dying. Some of the blame can be due to publisher's worrying about piracy, but other blames are attributed to the cost of maintaining a high end PC for years while consoles remain dormant regarding hardware. I personally don't think that PC gaming is going anywhere (meaning nonexistant/dormant). While I understand the need to combat piracy, and the fact that not everyone can maintain an enthusiast level PC, the interface that the PC provides far surpasses that of consoles. Nobody buys a console with the hopes of a key/mouse interface otherwise they would buy a gaming PC. Do you think that developers are slowly straying from the PC format other than the obvious such as Blizzard? I think that sales for MMOs such as SWTOR and WOW would surely keep PC gaming viable for some time, but are we doomed eventually?

Give reasons as to why PC gaming will thrive or fail. Simply reading the topic headline is not truly contributing to the thread's intent.

ZOD777

I read that console gaming had a cataclysmical fall in sales last month, about a 30% year on year (just after a 20% fall in December), and the prospections for this year are even worse, whereas Steam grew from 30 to 40 million users and some publishes as EA had in his DLC clients (Origin) his more proficient business. How that fits in your crazy theories?

Wii is a dead horse, PS3 sales are in decline and Xbox 360 run out of titles -multis? you can play multis en PC, and better- and no one is sure about the fate of 3DS and PS Vita, so how can you talk about PC gaming dying when is clearly putting console gaming aside? Free to play games, Steam sales and low cost gaming in PC are slaughtering the pricey console gaming scheme... And you're on the verge of the need to buy a new generation of machines -which some experts think that could be the last one, at least in portable handheld consoles-.

You're wrong, man, the hole that PC gaming is carving is not for him, is for this gen of consoles...

[QUOTE="ZOD777"]

I keep hearing that gaming on the PC is slowly dying. Some of the blame can be due to publisher's worrying about piracy, but other blames are attributed to the cost of maintaining a high end PC for years while consoles remain dormant regarding hardware. I personally don't think that PC gaming is going anywhere (meaning nonexistant/dormant). While I understand the need to combat piracy, and the fact that not everyone can maintain an enthusiast level PC, the interface that the PC provides far surpasses that of consoles. Nobody buys a console with the hopes of a key/mouse interface otherwise they would buy a gaming PC. Do you think that developers are slowly straying from the PC format other than the obvious such as Blizzard? I think that sales for MMOs such as SWTOR and WOW would surely keep PC gaming viable for some time, but are we doomed eventually?

Give reasons as to why PC gaming will thrive or fail. Simply reading the topic headline is not truly contributing to the thread's intent.

Ondoval

I read that console gaming had a cataclysmical fall in sales last month, about a 30% year on year (just after a 20% fall in December), and the prospections for this year are even worse, whereas Steam grew from 30 to 40 million users and some publishes as EA had in his DLC clients (Origin) his more proficient business. How that fits in your crazy theories?

Wii is a dead horse, PS3 sales are in decline and Xbox 360 run out of titles -multis? you can play multis en PC, and better- and no one is sure about the fate of 3DS and PS Vita, so how can you talk about PC gaming dying when is clearly putting console gaming aside? Free to play games, Steam sales and low cost gaming in PC are slaughtering the pricey console gaming scheme... And you're on the verge of the need to buy a new generation of machines -which some experts think that could be the last one, at least in portable handheld consoles-.

You're wrong, man, the hole that PC gaming is carving is not for him, is for this gen of consoles...

I don't know what crazy therory I am making that you are referencing since you neglect to point out what that absent theory I made actually is. If you took the time to read the very quote that you replied to, you would see that I actually state that PC gaming is not going anywhere in my opinion. I don't have the time nor energy to defend every single thing that I type, but I think that if anyone would simply take the time to read such entries, they might see that some of these generic responses to the topic headline are not valid hence the reason I adjusted the OP in bold at the bottom. Ugh...

**--- maybe not ----**

Mods please lock the thread before it gets out of hand.

We haven't had one of these threads in a while. The answer is no. It is not dying. It will never die.

Oh nice, another "PC Gaming is dying". Man, that must be a cliché by now.

From the people I've spoke to in the past couple of years more and more people have been jumping from console to pc, myself included. People wouldn't be doing that if they thought they were jumping onto a sinking ship.

Is this reason enough? :P

I believe that many big publishers have tried to ignore PC gaming to some extent in the past few years. They have also tried to avoid advertising for PC gaming, and focus on how great the consoles are. The problem is that PC is a robust and flexible platform for video games. The indie developers have somewhat filled the void, sold a great number of games, and made great profits. Console gaming has become more homogenized in recent years, and the hardware is getting dated, and they have lost all innovation in gameplay. It's no wonder that PC is coming back strong with digital distribution platforms, more innovative games, and word of mouth. The big publishers are going to lose a lot of money by avoiding PC gaming.

Oh nice, another "PC Gaming is dying". Man, that must be a cliché by now.

Miroku32

Again, for the LAST TIME read the original post in its entirety. Games such as Red Dead Redemption and many others have failed to reach the PC platform, and some that have are terrible ports. Some PC games have even been dumbed down to accomodate the console (Crysis 2 most notably). I am not suggesting that it should die, nor that it will, but if you follow the latest news (this isn't 1985, PCs were not even a common household item until the early to mid 90s at best) you would see that PC gaming is only as sucessful as it is because of the dated consoles. Hey, don't get me wrong, I am a PC gamer all the way, but the latest trends in the development community are suggesting that PC gaming is a footnote to a paragraph and not the main emphasis on the chapter. If you are that blind to what the latest trends in the industry are, go buy a dual processor motherboard that supports 32 GB of ram and 4 x PCIe slots then come back to this very issue with a box of tissue in a couple years when no games push your system. PC gaming has been taking a back seat for several years now, and it could be just a matter of time before it is neglected almost (emphasis on that ALMOST word, since most seem to think in extremes in forums) entirely. I have still yet to hear an intelligent argument for or against the idea, yours included. No argument is invalid if it can be renewed with the passing of time. Apparently you do not understand this concept or that technology doesn't remain dormant, nor do ideas and buisiness models that are intended to turn maximum revenues.

tl:dr

The PC is dying bs started shortly after all the current gen consoles were launched and was exacerbated when the financial crisis hit the hardest, in early 2008.

Before this generation started the only way to sell games was through retail. There was just no other way to do it. Then, once people saw Steam and the likes worked fine, digital distribution started spreading like wildfire (it still is). The problem is that people were so used to retail that everyone underestimated the huge speed at which DD rose. DD services usually do not disclose their sale numbers per game. The retail numbers for PC were going down, very fast, and because those were the only numbers people saw, the idea that PC gaming was sinking took off.

Also, due to the graphics standards set by console developers, the budgets for developing games this generation skyrocketed, and the financial crisis made economist asshats force developers to take less risks when developing games by going multiplatform and produce shallow mass marketed games. Multiplatform titles are usually developed with X360 as lead platform and that puts severe limitations on the game, limitations that make PC gamers think twice before buying said game (no moddability, less graphic options, non-ideal control scheme), and X360 gamers are usually much less interested in "games" per se, they just game because it's a timesink. PC and consoles markets don't work the same way - a PC gamer is much more likely to be attracted to deeper, more complex games than console gamers are. It's a matter of legacy I suppose. The big companies that had to cut risks and make shallower games saw PC numbers going down and thought it was piracy's fault (unsurprisingly enough the bs against piracy only started this generation), and thus started to give less attention to the PC version, which had a vicious cycle effect.

All of this is a big huge IMO of course, I'm just a gamer who is interested in gaming, not an analyst.

Don't kid yourself - while some of the most known PC-centric developers were forced to go multiplatform, so were console centric developers. There hasn't been a single exclusive released on X360/PS3 that wasn't bought by MS or Sony. Instead, all exclusives PC gets, it gets them out of the developers' free will.

Now, with the rise of DD and the indie developers scene, big companies have been shown a new way to do business on PC, just like music companies were when P2P sharing started and the iTunes store appeared. If you do some research, you'll see that PC hit its lowest point in 2008 and 2009, and has been on an almost vertical rise since 2010.

http://www.gamespot.com/forums/topic/28988970/the-amazing-line-up-of-pc-games---2012?page=0

http://i.imgur.com/iTZtG.jpg

Hope that was "insightful" enough.

I don't know what crazy therory I am making that you are referencing since you neglect to point out what that absent theory I made actually is. If you took the time to read the very quote that you replied to, you would see that I actually state that PC gaming is not going anywhere in my opinion.

ZOD777

PC gaming is growing. Everything else (living-room consoles, handhelds...) is dying, except smartphones/tablets. Console gaming is in freefall, whereas Valve, Zynga and Riot are swiming in money. You can play more games in PC than in any other sigle platform, with better visuals and sound, and at lower prices. Steam will be larger in less than two years than the user base in Xbox Live, PlayStation Network or Nintendo Network.

PCs will always exist, and gaming in PC is more cheaper and easy than ever. Fool yourself as long as you want, PC is a strong platform for gaming and the only console company that will be able to survive no matters what the future will provide is Microsoft, and only due his dominion in the PC OS market. I can see myself keep at playing in PC in the next 10 years, but I'm not sure about playing in consoles due I only bought 2 games for PS3 and 1 for 360 in the last 2 years, and both platforms will be more than dead in 1-2 years, and no one known how doomed will be the market for PS4/X720 at the reach of 2014. Maybe PC nets as OnLive or Gaikai will take out the console market from his misery, or maybe Apple will finalty release a console ad kill the market forever; anyway a thing is sure: PC gaming still will exist -nad will be bigger than ever) along this decade, whereas the future of Sony and Nintendo is unknown.

In fact, I think PC gaming is hitting the nails in the console gaming coffin. Is just that some people refuse to look at how the consople market is shrinking...

These threads were more convincing when I first read them 5 years ago - when I saw very few games on the horizon that I was interested in, and a mid-range PC wasn't massively more powerful than a console.

As a mass-consumer "blockbuster" platform PC is finished.

It will never completely die out, it will just become like Linux gaming or Android gaming.

A smaller niche market for enthusiasts of the platform.

All the projections of it taking off etc, they're basically talking about trash games ie Facebook, Free to Play, MMO's, etc.

It all comes down to what you mean when you talk about the word "gamer."

To me people who only play WoW, LoL, Farmville etc etc are not the same as people who buy Halo and RDR and Skyrim.

You have people who only play Kinect games, or phone games, or only buy CoD every year etc.

There's a huge market but it's very generalized and spread out, and very difficult to accurately guage or quantify like "Who is a PC gamer."

My girlfriend only plays Cityville, is she a PC gamer?

I play only Starcraft, am I a PC gamer?

I use 5 platforms, what kind of gamer am I.

Very hard to quantify.

Why do people act as if you need to have an up to date enthusiast level PC all the time.

I for one WILL NOT buy into the next generation of consoles. This last generation is my last as far as consoles go. MS and Sony finacially cannot afford to put out some beastly powered console to try and compete with gaming rigs over the long haul. I mean some of the best graphics cards out right now cost upwards of $400 or more! That is just for a GPU. How in the world are MS and Sony going to put out an entirely new console and not lose their collective arses by keeping their new console prices "family friendly"? If you guys think that the console makers can put out a console that can run games at 1080p native at 60fps with a minimum 500GB HDD and atleast 1-2 GB RAM for under $400, you are nuts!! Because, that is what it will take to make a new console better than what we currently have! I predict the next XBOX and PS will retail for a minimum of $499!!! ShoTTyMcNaDeS

Yep.

I'm pretty much done buying consoles.

I got my fill this gen, played alot of great games, but the one thing I hate about consoles is that they have "gens."

On a PC you have continuity, your hardware doesn't become obsolete, you upgrade bits and pieces every few years and it's an all-in-one do everything platform, that's very attractive to me.

[QUOTE="Raxzor"]

Ah the weekly PC gaming is dying thread!

ZOD777

Well, that is not very insightful. The industry is in constant flux, so to incinuate that it is just another ill warranted concern is somewhat naive. I am not trying to flame you or start a flaming thread, this is a legitimate topic. It will be an even more viable topic in 3-6 months from now as more developers delay OR completely neglect the PC as a viable platform. The topic will be viable again 3-6 months after that. To be so shortsighted about it is somewhat overconfident without backing such a statement as to why you think contrary to the issue.

PC gaming won't die because all the smart and nice looking PC gamers prefer PC gaming over the dumbed down console gaming :)

Besides, more and more dev's are making fantastic releases on the PC and the market is there :)

So PC gaming have a golden age atm. lots of great titles for PC and more to come!!

I think console gaming is going to die soon thou, as more companies have started making cheap laptops for gaming, that rival everything the console's are offering, often at the same price - but with the ability to upgrade instead of buying a whole new laptop.

So yea, PC gaming is going to get bigger and bigger, and console gaming will be dead pretty soon - with the continued development of cheap and powerfull laptops.

Peace and happy gaming ;)

I keep hearing that gaming on the PC is slowly dying. Some of the blame can be due to publisher's worrying about piracy, but other blames are attributed to the cost of maintaining a high end PC for years while consoles remain dormant regarding hardware. I personally don't think that PC gaming is going anywhere (meaning nonexistant/dormant). While I understand the need to combat piracy, and the fact that not everyone can maintain an enthusiast level PC, the interface that the PC provides far surpasses that of consoles. Nobody buys a console with the hopes of a key/mouse interface otherwise they would buy a gaming PC. Do you think that developers are slowly straying from the PC format other than the obvious such as Blizzard? I think that sales for MMOs such as SWTOR and WOW would surely keep PC gaming viable for some time, but are we doomed eventually?

Give reasons as to why PC gaming will thrive or fail. Simply reading the topic headline is not truly contributing to the thread's intent.

ZOD777

I'm not seeing anything to suggest that PC Gaming is going to die or wither away. It's impossible to guess at what will happen in the future, especially in an area like IT, where things change almost overnight. However, going by the trends we're seeing today, I'm just not seeing anything to suggest that PC Gaming is doing anything but growing, diversifying and evolving.

- PC Gaming revenues are consistently growing and are nearing the point where they are poised to surpass the revenues from all the consoles combined.

- Digital Distribution has grown explosively over the last 10 years and even in a rough economy, we continue to see dramatic increases in PC Game sales online. This is at a time where console game sales are slowly declining.

- Casual gaming has been another area where PC gaming has grown by vast amounts. While many of us don't consider Farmville and Angry Birds to be 'real' gaming it represents an influx of funds and focus on gaming.

- MMO's.. another area of huge growth. While no MMO have managed to match WoW's success, it's still proving to be a very successful genre that drawn tens of millions of players. Again those numbers are growing, new MMO's are constantly experimenting with different payment systems, new game types and different ideas of how to use massive multiplayer gaming.

- We're seeing traditional console 'centric' business move to gain a foot hold in the PC Gaming market. That, more than anything, should show that some of the movers and shakers in the gaming industry has a lot of faith in the future of PC Gaming. A decade ago, GameStop moved away from PC Gaming to profit from the lucrative used console game market. Now they are making a serious effort to move into digital distribution with their purchase of impulse. GameFly, a company that rents and sells console games are now moving into PC Gaming by buying up Direct2Drive, starting their own 'free to play for members' service and developing their own standalone client. EA is better a lot on its Origin service. Would any of those companies make such an investment and effort to gain a foothold in PC Gaming if they didn't think there was a future for the market or significant profits to be made?

- While we're still seeing some high profile console games get released without seeing a pc version, we are seeing more titles released on the PC than on the consoles, we're seeing more exclusives on the PC and we're seeing plenty of console developers look to the PC just like we're seeing PC developers look to the console. True we haven't seen a PC version of RDR, but we haven't seen a PC version of StarCraft 2 either.

So, in short. All things for or against, I'm just not seeing any evidence that PC Gaming is dying. On the contrary, as far as I can tell, PC Gaming is arguably as strong as it's ever been.