GDC: Molyneux despairs at "tragic" state of PC gaming

Matt Martin of GamesIndustry.biz writes: Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux has said that the PC gaming market is in a tragic state, with two blockbusters hogging sales and stagnation in the casual market.

"I think it's a huge tragedy. I mean, you might as well say PC gaming is World of Warcraft and The Sims... The weird thing is everyone's got a PC, they're just not buying software for it," commented Molyneux.

"The fascinating thing is when they first started, all these games came out like Peggle and Mystery Files and Alice Greensleeves and Diner Dash, and it felt quite exciting. There was a lot of innovation going on. Okay, there weren't great graphics, but there was innovation.

"In my view, that has completely stopped. They're doing the same game over and over again with a different wrapper. It's like a mini-universe in itself which is emulating what's happening in our industry," he added.

[permutated]

People don't buy into PC gaming for a number of reasons, most of which are hardware requirement inconsistencies.

[wageslave]

It used to be that a PC was head and shoulders above what could be done on a console. Not so much the case these days.

Sure, a PC still delivers the best games, but this has shrunk to a reasonable gap.

Secondly, as the median age of gamers has increased, it has become a more mainstream family activity.

And, people dont want to crowd around a computer. They want to play in the living-room, on the TV.

Im not 12 years old anymore (a rarity on this forum :) ), I cant hole-up in my bedroom and play games on my PC. My wife likes to enjoy some gaming time together... and, if I'm playing while she's reading a book or something, we can pause our respective activities quicker and interact.

Being in the Office is kinda anti-social.

[xhi4]

I mean, most pc users don't buy games for it, it's mostly used for the internet and other stuff that can only be done on the pc like web design, word processor etc.

But for most people, its sad, but most people use it for the internet.

People play games for their 360/PS3/Wii now, the console market seems to be eclipsing the PC gaming market.

I mean you need damnn good hardware to just run the game at a decent frame rate. And now that consoles have reached and surpassed graphics for normal PC's unlike the last gen, there seems to be no need for PC gaming.

[Gorgon]

Surpassed PC graphics? You havent played PC in a few years, have you?

[VigorousApathy]

Actually only top of the line PCs have better graphics than say the PS3. And that can only be accomplished by spending far more money than the $500 it costs for a PS3.

[wageslave]

2.2 Your way off base.

"an nVidia spokesperson was quoted in PlayStation Magazine saying that the RSX GPU is basically a slightly less powerful GeForce 7800."

http://www.evilavatar.com/f...

You can't even buy a 7800 now. It was discontinued in 96.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

The 7800 series was replaced by the 7900, and you can even get a **7900** now.

The whole GeForce 7 series has been replaced by the GeForced 8 (and 9 now) series.

You can buy a GeFroce 8 series card here:
http://www.pricewatch.com/v...

For less than a $100.

The Short story? The *replacement* for the PS3's slower-than-a-7800 card costs less than $100.

[VigorousApathy]

That's just the video card. There's a lot more that goes into a gaming machine... PS3 also has ram issues compared to PCs. But since PS3's hardware is integrated together so well and games are designed specifically for it, those aren't problems like they would be with a PC. Plus a PC has to run many other smaller programs in addition to a game at all times.

[green]

look at it this way
you buy a PS3 or 360 for 400dollars,by extra controller and basically that is all you will spend on hardware for around 5years.You also need a HDTV,but that is not just for gaming and is more like an investment.

With PC's you need to spend 2-3 times amount to get a good gaming rig and in 2years your hardware will be old hat and you would have to upgrade.So why bother.

Also consoles are portable and can be carried around.I do a bit of travelling and my 360 is always with me.How am i supposed to carry my PC in my backpack?

[Charlie2688]

Have you ever thought for ONE minute that maybe...just maybe there is people out there that like building their own PCs? that like to upgrade? that have the budge to upgrade and hell some even have the budget to have the luxury to upgrade as soon as there is a new part out there? that like the sense of accomplishment they get for using something they built? even costume modded? maybe they even prefer there PC over a console?

maybe?...for like one minute?

but nah...you don't see people like that around console centered sites so they MUST be a myth

I mean its "logical", if someone tells you there opinion about what they think is "best" is because its universally applied and everyone shares the same idea...its obvious

[Fishy Fingers]

I love my PC much more than my consoles.

I love playing around and tweeking my system, i enjoy playing with drivers and settings.

I got more excitement from recieving my 2 news GTS's than when i bought either of my PS3 or 360. If console up-grades where avaliable i bet console plays would be loving them also.

Different strokes for different folks i guess.

[green]

i agree with what your saying.I also like upgrading my PC a bit when i have the chance.Its just that there are not as many people doing that specifically for gaming as there used to be in the past.

Consoles can never touch a PC when it comes to graphics,but the practicallity and comfort of a console seems to be winning over the masses.

[Fishy Fingers]

Its not case of everyone having a PC but not buying software.

Its that to play this "software" (games) to the standard that they're advertises you need a £3000 gaming rig. If crysis looked and played like it was shown to use on a £800 system it would of sold much much better.

Long story short, lower the hardware prices.

[darkshiz]

$200 - 1000 for a good CPU
$200 - 600 for a set of good ram
$100 - 300 for a Good motherboard
$100 - 400 for an OS
$50 - 200 for a good Screen
$50 - 100 for a mouse and keyboard.
$100 for a tower
$100 - 300 for a good audio card.
$150 - 300 for a good power supply.
$50 - 200 for a good Harddrive.
$200 - 600 for a video card just to play the games coming out.

Prices are made up but you get what I mean.

[TheMART]

We've seen the sales on UT3

Pathetic on PC...

A lot of illegal downloads though for sure

[Charmers]

I can safely assure you piracy had nothing to do with low sales on UT3. Do you want to know how I know this, it's simple hardly anyone downloaded that crap. I mean 5 mins with the demo did more damage than piracy ever could do. I think most people came to the conclusion that UT 3 wasn't even worth wasting bandwidth on let alone good money.

[Strife Lives]

Like my P4 2,8ghz with windows XP , 512MB RAM and a 64mb graphics card will play COD4 as well as.. My xbox 360? Nah. my pc exists, for me to store music,use the internet and ..well,ofcourse, stream stuff to my 360. My pc is still stock, js like when I got it in 2004. Play the sims on it? Sure,it'l work.sims2? Yeah. Sims3? Nah.prolly nt

[Genki]

flash based games on the web...I don't know, but maybe that's cut into the market a bit.

Somewhat like the DS cutting into consoles in Japan. I could be wrong, just a thought.

[Prismo_Fillusion]

A decent/good gaming rig costs over $1000 *easily*.
And within two years you need to buy the latest upgrades (which costs hundreds of dollars more) to be able to play the newest high-end PC games.

That's why PC gaming is dying.

My computer is four years old and I can't play any games that come out today.

People who've owned a PS2 for years and years are STILL buying new games for it.

[bloodshed]

name me one console game that looks better than crysis
ps.console Killer

[gEnKiE]

ya....I still play WoW... Thats about it on the PC..

[Gorgon]

How about helping by releasing your next game on PC instead of making it an Xbox 360 exclusive, mr Molyneux? Oh right, you get paid by MS to do that so that you can make your games.

Well, the reason why games are becoming just the same thing over and over again is preciselly because there is demand for that and publishers wnat to make money. Its just economics. If people still prefer Halo and Resistance and Crysis and god knows what to stuff like Stalker or Bioshock then thats what they get. Its the same reason why we get crappy holywwod action movies too. People buy and watch them.

[Leathersoup]

...I'm pretty sure that the majority of them are pirating or perhaps buying from Steam. It's tough to say if that's actually what's happening as Valve doesn't release its Steam data.
It seems that these days the only way that a developer can make any money is to make an MMO, force people to purchase copies in order to get an account and then charge a monthly fee for the game.
Otherwise it's a shot in the dark. There are far too many people out there who have this "I'm superior and it doesn't matter how much time and money other people put in to their products, I shouldn't have to pay for it" attitude.
The consoles are a much safer route for developers to take. I don't blame them.

[bigjclassic]

console games are 20x better than PC games.

PC games have only a couple of main genres (MMO, FPS, RTS and the dreaded ARPG) and they only appeal to a small sect of gamers. PC devs are trying thier best to push PC games onto console gamers to make a quick buck instead of BEING INNOVATIVE.

Let me say it clearly, shiny graphics arent innovative and thats what the PC market is.

[bloodshed]

what console games lair halo 3 all bull sh*t games
ps.console Killer

[durran3]

The only thing killed PC gaming is piracy and players how downlaod from torrents. If PC gaming was half as profitiable as console gaming PC gaming would be at a whole new level

[Cyrus365]

I think people who use computers these the definition has evolved. Back 5-10 years ago, computers was meant to do some work (like typing, and such) and mainly play games really...

PC Games always had hefty requirements, that required people to upgrade ram, install a CD-drive when most games were on floppy's, etc. But then the computer evolved, it allowed users to do more on it, to surf the net, to chat, to watch movies, to make/edit movies, to view pictures, etc. So as a result gaming was competiting on the computer, rather than being option A or option B.