140°

PC Gaming Is Back... Just Wearing a New Suit

Back about 5 to 6 years ago the gaming media was flooded with stories about how PC gaming had died and that consoles were growing so fast that they would completely ellipse gaming on the PC. Well back then the numbers supported it. How does the PC look today?

Read Full Story >>
gamesfinity.com
ATi_Elite4097d ago (Edited 4097d ago )

Now looking back to the 2005 to 2007 era when people thought PC gaming was DEAD has always been funny to me especially seeing how the Orange Box, Crysis, World of Warcraft, The Sims, were Kings of The World then.

That whole time PC Gaming was completely changing how business is done, changing how we interact online, making way for more Indie Devs to get games out, and reaching out to bigger and better markets like Russia, Brazil, and China.

Now you have 250 million plus Online PC Gamers worldwide and China and Brazil have a version of World of Warcraft and Warface is huge in Russia to go along with the HUGE Asian and American/Euro PC markets.

Lots of Freedom, Creativity, Indie Devs, Mod Support, Public/Private servers and just having a Voice that Devs listen to make PC Gaming for me a wonderful Hobby.

I'm looking forward to the future of PC Gaming minus Microsoft and the upcoming rise of Voxel and Ray Tracing Graphics along side more Gamer driven games like Eve Online and DayZ!

mandf4097d ago (Edited 4097d ago )

Steam just said this year they have 35 million members. Where do you get 250 million gamers on pc? Sales on pc don't show those numbers at all.

edit steam is supposed to be the biggest thing on pc. So what other service even comes close on pc? These are all legit questions.

Bladesfist4097d ago

Oh so steam released sales numbers to you privately then? and there was me thinking that valve does not hand those out.

mandf4097d ago (Edited 4097d ago )

Last time I checked there is no way to track how many people game on pc. And yes steam did report 35 unique steam users. Other than a mmo name a game that has even broke 10 million sales on pc in the last few years. The numbers just aren't there.

Bladesfist4097d ago (Edited 4097d ago )

@mandf where are you getting steams sales figures from? physical sales are a fraction of PC sales.

http://www.computerandvideo...

The most preordered exclusive is for PC according to VGChartz http://www.vgchartz.com/pre...

mandf4097d ago (Edited 4097d ago )

I am talking digital sales. Let's pick battlefield 3, how many sales does it have on pc? Less than 10 million on pc would mean at 250 million gamers on pc is less than half percent of pc users bought it. That's not a great sale for dice with 250 million users. I'm not bashing the pc but it doesn't have 250 million users. Steam is the top seller on pc for digital games. Name me ten other services on pc that has 10 million or more users you can't do it. Physical are a very small fraction of pc sales. So that leaves digital distribution. What sites add up to 250 million unique gamers? That is the question that is not being answered.

Um your link says bioshock for xbox is number 1

DeadlyFire4096d ago (Edited 4096d ago )

You fail.

http://www.gamesindustry.bi...

STEAM 50 Million users. As of September/November 2012.

Origin also has 17 Million users on the PC. Claimed 30, but Mobile is 13 Million making PC have 17 Million around same time as STEAM's 50 Million mark.
Xfire has 22 Million users.

Now yes some cross paths, but some never do. MMO gamers for example huddle around certain titles and never play anything else. Like WOW. They never need many updates to play the game so PC hardware could be anything really. Some do cross into other genres, but some live in WoW, and other MMO titles eternally. Now if you add up each MMO separately with their concurrent numbers. You could easily get another 10+ Million with just WoW. Others all bundled together could add up to 5 Million or so.

All together if unique users would equate to 104 Million roughly, but I know some lines cross in there. So its likely a little less than that realistically around maybe 70-85 million Globally with growth excelling forward.

There are also large retail PC game sales numbers in regions that never see Steam/Origin.

PC sales go up and down every year. Hardware for a PC lasts a long ass time if maintained right and not always aiming for super high end tech it doesn't kill your wallet either. I got my PC in 2008. 4 years later. You know the only thing it might need. An OS upgrade to 64-bit. Not bad really.

Not all sales are on STEAM/Origin.

Digital sales numbers are never released it appears, but they can't have bad sales considering I have a bottom dollar job and over 120 STEAM games.

Sure retail is slowish, but PC gaming crowd exists in small numbers in one area and massive numbers in another. Most have sided with consoles at first, but eventually move up to a PC at some point.

One thing people seem to forget is that a PC game can last forever really if you have a server of your own and enough interest from people around you to keep it alive and play that game for as long as you want online. Unlike many console games with 2-3 year server limits before it gets axe to gut servers.

Globally considering a possible rise of PC gaming in India(4.7 Billion 2012) and Brazil. Now considering 4.7 Billion divided by $1500 PC for example could equal up to 3 Million gaming PCs in 2012 for India. Expected to reach 7 Billion in 2013 for India so possibly another 6 Million on top of that in less than 2 years. Already high number of gamers in Russia, and China. It only grows with time really.

Bladesfist4096d ago

You are stupid. You still have not told us where you are pulling sales figures from. I said PC has the most preordered exclusive which it does according to that link (and that is only retail). Steam does not release its sales numbers, nor do any of the big digital distributors.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4096d ago
TheFirstClassic4096d ago

"Now you have 250 million plus Online PC Gamers worldwide"

Not bashing pc but where did that statistic come from? I agree with most of what you said but don't use fake numbers to support what you say.

landog4097d ago (Edited 4097d ago )

pc gaming is truly the gamers paradise

the level of freedom, customization, amount of free content, amazing titles only possible on pc

the mods, the communities, the clans, the guilds, the indie scene, the betas, the group projects, the mmos, the rts's, the space sims, the racing sims, the freedom of controller, keyboard or racing wheel/flight stick

the sick dedicaded 7.2 audio, the level of immersion only possible at a crisp 1920x1080 or 2560x1600 with 8x anti aliasing, 3d support of 1000's of games, peripherals in numbers that make you dizzy

the multi tasking, the ability to chat with grannie in arizona, and see your nephews on christmas morning while dowloading $5 aaa titles off steam and reading through your work emial and sending a quote for a job to a client all the while a window of shogun 2 total war up

heck on my ps3, when there's a patch, i cannot do anything except look at a stupid black screen, and half the time the patch is just for some stupid ass dlc i'll never buy in a million years

mods alone make pc 100x better than anything else and would be reason enough to make it my platform of choice, everything else is just icing on the cake

a delicious, sumptuous icing

ps4/nextbox will have NOTHING on the pc i have today, i'll grab them eventually, but honestly, i know what to expect, graphics and abilities that are less than what i had on pc 3 years ago

Perjoss4097d ago

I've recently been checking out mods for Fallout 3 and GTA IV, yeah they are quite old games but the visuals you can squeeze out of them with just a few mods is amazing. I love PC gaming :)

http://www.3ona51.com/blog/...

N0S3LFESTEEM4097d ago

T-minus 10 secs before console gamers flood the comments.

Gazondaily4097d ago

Haha brilliant. You can feel the horde rushing in.

N0S3LFESTEEM4097d ago

Seems like a slow night tonight... The wave will come though.

RememberThe3574097d ago

It's the same cycle; the consoles get released then they push the PC for about a year and a half then PC starts pulling away again. Thats the way it has been and it's the way it will be.

But really when it comes to PC gaming I'm most excited by what I've seen from those Kickstarter games. I'm by no means a PC gamer but if I get back into it, it's going to be for those games.

tubers4097d ago

I'm waiting for the next gen consoles as a gfx whore.. I know that'll affect PC game gfx positively as well..

What I really love about PC gaming is multi-tasking though.. I always alt+tab into several forums and YT vids after playing for 30 mins. or so.. :D

Blackdeath_6634096d ago (Edited 4096d ago )

yeah, one thing i don't understand is that almost all console gamers have a laptop or pc of some sorts i don't understand why they just don't get a gaming pc that can do all of that in one device its also cheaper. i also don't get it when people say pc gaming is expensive when they have mobile phones and tablets that cost just as much.

peowpeow4096d ago

This is common. I know gamers unwilling to shell out cash for a PC, own a console or 2 and tablet/phones which aren't necessary as they are not in need of the business/productivity applications of today's smartphones

Show all comments (27)
70°

Why Are Steam's Recommendations Dogpoop?

Blindfolding myself and clicking a Steam page at random would serve me better recommendations than Steam’s algorithm

Read Full Story >>
thegamer.com
UltimateOwnage9d ago

Hmm, not sure I agree with that. The recommendations I get are usually pretty good, but then again I have pretty large library of games on Steam and hundreds of them in my wish list, along with lots of curators I follow for it to build recommendations off of. On occasion it will throw me a random FIFA game or something I've never bought or shown interest in, but mostly its decent IMO.

80°

5 Best Metroidvania Games on Steam (March 2024)

Dive into the best Metroidvania games on Steam, from hidden gems to top-rated classics, and embark on unforgettable adventures!

jznrpg19d ago

Skul is a metroidvania ? It’s on PS+ soon I’ll check it out. If it’s good I’ll buy a copy physically if they have one

Nacho_Z19d ago

If Pseudoregalia is one of the best I'd hate to see what the worst look like.

330°

Dragon’s Dogma 2 releases to mixed user reviews, as microtransactions criticised

Players can pay to edit their character, resurrect the dead and other actions.

Read Full Story >>
videogameschronicle.com
AdonisIsBeast27d ago

Who cares as long as it’s optional

phoenixwing27d ago

paying to edit your character is kind of crap as far as microtransactions go

Xristo27d ago (Edited 27d ago )

I hate any/all MTX in a paid game (especially a full-price game)... but know that you can spend in-game currency (RC), which you get from killing mobs, to completely remake your character.

phoenixwing27d ago

@xRisto how much did it change the gameplay though? Changing your character would have probably not cost any rc if they weren't hellbent on getting money by making it inconvenient

koga8827d ago

You can literally edit your character using in-game gold, dropped from monsters or obtained from selling items, as soon as you reach the first main town. You can even use Rift Crystals obtained from other people using your pawn or dropped from monsters to change your entire character or Pawn. It's paying to avoid doing something that is literally in the game.

PRIMORDUS27d ago

They are lucky there using Denuvo or their game and all future DLC etc. would be for free. 🤣

phoenixwing27d ago

@koga you completely missed the point i was making but go ahead and act like i'm being the wrong one

lucian22926d ago

you can pay ingame currency though; why are ya so derp

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 26d ago
Crows9027d ago (Edited 27d ago )

Capcom cares quite a bit....hence why it was kept from reviewers and initial impressions.

As far as optional...yeah...ALL mtx are optional. That's not the problem. The miss the mark entirely.

Heck buying the game is "optional" too.

The fact that they were hiding this is scummy as hell. I was going to buy this day 1 or day 3. Now I'm reconsidering the purchase entirely because as the reviews point out...there are certain design decisions which have not changed but funnily enough seem to be remedied by these mtx...

In other words they may have left certain features in the game in order to monetize them. So the mtx affected the development of the game in a negative way.

garos8227d ago

I'm certainly not buying it anymore. It has affected at least one sale from me. I'll pick it up second hand

peppeaccardo27d ago

Very close to buy the game at a discounted price but not anymore.
Bad business practice and hence they do not get my support/money !

warriorcase26d ago

It wasn't kept fromreviewers s though. Twitter reviewers are saying there was mention of mtx's in the reviewers guide

-Foxtrot27d ago (Edited 27d ago )

STOP. USING. THAT. SHITTY. EXCUSE

God damn man

Look how DLC changed after Oblivions horse armour, within 10 years most developers took the absolute p***. What was said then aswell? “It’s only optional who cares?” Now look where we all are.

There’s no half measures with these things, when will people realise this.

jwillj2k427d ago (Edited 27d ago )

Oh it’s gonna get worse. Ng+ locked behind mtx, “cool downs” preventing you from playing for more than 3 hours at a time unless u pay the mtx for unlimited access, main campaign bosses, in-game music, certain dialog, difficulty modes, certain npc interactions, all locked behind mtx, etc.. etc. gonna end up being like the NBA 2k games eventually paying for cross overs and shit… They gon get mid-evil on our asses.

OMGitzThatGuy27d ago

I can guarantee most of the items you can buy with mtx and ingame currency wouldn’t exist in ANY paid form if the main goal wasn't monetization. If the goal is to give idiots who are willing to pay for basic game features as mtx a way to do things faster then the only ones the mtx hurt are the non paying players as you are now locking features behind a grind that you chose to put in the game that you are essentially admitting to creating some type of time sink. I have never heard of a game locking basic character editing behind a ingame paywall, it’s usually just an option.

Chard26d ago

Takes two to tango though - unfortunately people buy this garbage which incentivises the behaviour. It's an inevitable outcome of the profit motive

thorstein27d ago

@Mario

Yes. And so are resurrection "Wakestones." You can find them but they're rare.

victorMaje27d ago

Buying the game is now very optional too. If you don’t know why then you don’t get it.

shinoff218327d ago

Because it's only a door way. That's why we care. We've already seen some shit since Mtx was introduced.

Rimeskeem27d ago

1. DD2 is an ARPG with 8 different playable classes
2. There is no multiplayer aspect to the game
3. You can only have one character (have to pay for more)
4. You cannot delete the character unless you go into the game files
5. The game is $70 dollars upfront

Having to pay for more character slots in a game that *features* 8 playable classes is pretty much not optional for an ARPG.

Angyobangyo27d ago

Judging from steam reviews, gamers care. Not plastic gamers. Why didn’t Itsuno mention such MTX would be available in-game? Why weren’t the MTXs there for review copies?

Kiryu199227d ago

Who cares is how all this started. The many many excuses. Please keep defending these greedy publishers and unfair tactics. We be gamers are the problem

Horse armor

$10 online passes if buying a used copy

Cheat codes gone and are replaced by micro transactions

Unlocking stuff by playing games behind micro transactions and XP boosters

It’s only cosmetic

No one is being forced to spend even though publishers are literally making their games more grindy to force people to play

Full priced games have mobile game type micro transactions

$70 priced games because higher development costs while making record profits and laying off record number of employees

And to play the game early pay us extra $20-30 on top of full price

Release games now and promise to maybe fix them later only to abandon the game

Day one patches that make the games worst

If it’s your favorite game defend the publisher if it’s not hate on another publisher for similar content

SixFrvgz26d ago Show
+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 26d ago
kenpachi27d ago

Must have picked up some EA crew to put this in the game

robtion27d ago

Yeah these are really bad ones. Directly impacting gameplay too. Super scummy move. I hope nobody buys them.

CrimsonWing6927d ago

Yet Helldivers 2 gets a pass? Y’know a GotY contender by the name of RE4 had them and so does Devil May Cry V. The funny thing is I enjoyed both of those games thoroughly without having to buy a single microtransaction.

What I do consider a valid complaint is not being able to start a new game or being able to edit your character. That’s kind of a seriously baffling decision, but then I think how I played Dragon’s Dogma 1 and I never edited my character and I just did a 100% playthrough on a single file and didn’t start a NG since. So, I don’t think these are really going to impact me, but I can see how it will others.

Crows9027d ago

Helldivers 2 is a live service game where everything is obtainable in game with incredible ease.

Not sure about re4 or DMC but nobody is giving anyone a pass ...this article is about dragons dogma 2...not those games.

What is valid are in game features made to supposedly force you to think carefully only to have a surprise online store offer solutions to built in problems for more money.

Goosejuice27d ago

Those same things they are selling can be found Ingame as well. U can buy the character editor through merchants with gold. Don't get me wrong..I dislike these mtx they are doing but you don't need to buy them to be able to get them.

CrimsonWing6927d ago (Edited 27d ago )

Oh my bad, I can’t bring up games with microtransactions that nobody had a sh*t fit over. My mistake.

I love how people move the goalpost.

Crows9027d ago

@goose
@crimson

All mtx sucks. I'd rather helldiver's not have them because it makes me wonder if the rate at which you collect materials. That said. The games features are all fully enjoyable and aren't affected by the mtx.

That's not the case with dragons dogma 2...they left in place features that are supposedly part of the challenge of the game only to let you buy your way out very conveniently. I didn't look through all of them but I've heard some are rare but can be purchased with more money now. Even more so in a game about managing weight load there's a tent, I believe, that you can pay more money for that weighs less than your typical tent...not all sure on all the mtx and I'm aware that you can purchase many through in game vendor but they're incredibly useful mtx that are obtained much more slowly in game...or even a limited amount of them.

Instead is selling fast travel...just let us don't for free....or instead of selling cosmetic changes...how about letting us do it for free...

Nothing in helldivers comes close to this abomination

Angyobangyo27d ago

One is a single player game and one is a live service game. One is $40 vs$70. And most importantly, one game is there to spread democracy.

Ironmike26d ago

It's not incredibly easy for certain things in helldivers though u still have grind quite bit but u ate correct in saying u can eventually get enough medals to purchase stuff

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 26d ago
Moegooner27d ago

Read your comment again and maybe, just maybe you might realise how dumb it was.

CrimsonWing6927d ago (Edited 27d ago )

What was dumb about it? That I pointed out the hypocrisy?

garos8227d ago

It was extremely scummy that capcom hid this from reviewers. I have no doubt this game is good but these type of microtransactions don't sit well with me. They've lost a sale from me

Lionsguard27d ago

I was going to pay full price to support this game because I've been waiting for it for forever but I think I'll wait until I get it for free from Epic or a Humblebundle monthly.

Redemption-6427d ago

I am not defending Capcom, as I am not a fan of MTX in single player games. I do however belive they were open to reviewers about having MTX in their game. The reviewers just decided to leave that part out. Which is very disingenuous. There are some companies that get away with these things. Image if this was done by EA, Ubisoft, or even Activision? I am positive those defending Capcom, would have had their pitchforks ready if the companies listed above did this

anast27d ago

That's why reviewers can't be trusted. In fact, they are not reviewers at all. They get free codes to talk about stuff they don't understand nor care about.

Sanctusone27d ago

I mean it was pretty obvious to anyone with eyes...one of the items you get from deluxe edition was in game items.
1500 Rift Crystals - Points to Spend Beyond the Rift (A)
Which honestly I figured they kept a similar mtx system like DMC5 and the optional red orbs.

Lionsguard27d ago

1500 Rift Crystals doesn't mean anything. The first game had Rift crystals too, you just earned them by people hiring your Pawn and you get it from certain quests.

anast26d ago (Edited 26d ago )

A reviewer's job is to point out the obvious of a product as though they were the consumer. This means reviewers, to do their actual job, would need to review the complete game: the edition they are reviewing, how they got the game, technical aspects, story, and monetization scheme. Since, it is obvious that MT's are a part of the game, it would need to be reviewed. This way people can be informed, so they can decide if they want to play this style of game/monetization scheme.

For example, AC Origins was bad with Mt's. I had to farm side missions or pay to advance the story. This was after I already did close to 25 or more side missions. While I was grinding there were constant reminders that I could pay to ease the grind. I would have never bought the game if it were reviewed properly.

Show all comments (78)