The Death of PC's?

Joar from Gamer Syndrome writes: "Again, whether you like it or not - the pc offers it's players alot more exclusive games. Indie game developers aim almost entirely for the PC.. The fact is, that developing a PC game is alot cheaper than developing a console game...."

[Kakkoii]

The Hardware part of this article is incredibly flawed. If your a PC gamer, you would know that you don't need to upgrade every few months to play the latest games. That's the same crap console fanboy's spout.

New GPU generations come out on average every year, not few months. Same goes for CPU's. They both operate on a TICK-TOCK schedule. The TICK is a new generation & fab size, and a TOCK is just a new fabrication node, bringing the manufacture size down a bit, and thus cost's too.
6 months a TOCK, 6 months after, a TICK, on average.

And the hardware isn't that expensive if you take the time to do a little bit of research about what to get. If you get a system with a quad core, and 4GB+ of RAM, the only thing you'll want to upgrade for quite a few years will be just the GPU.

Playing at console graphics level is incredibly cheap, you can just buy a PC that's the same performance as a console. Then when a new console comes out years later, UPGRADE! Oh look, it cost's just as much as a console.

Stupid fanboy's who know nothing about PC hardware need to stop spouting the same propaganda over and over again. It's incredibly annoying. What do you have to gain from bashing PC's?

[Barack Obama]

The market is both stable, and healthy. These manufacturers of fear in the console gaming camp do a great disservice to the Real Gamers of this country.

[omegaortega]

Not only was your comment knowledgeable but also well written.

[Tony P]

I agree mostly, though it's a crappy article.

Although if you're paying to upgrade every few months, I'd say you're doing something wrong. It's a flawed argument to begin with.

PC development follows consoles. Consoles aren't more powerful than average gaming PCs and they don't change over time. So why am I upgrading "every few months" to keep up with games made for weaker hardware that never gets upgraded?

The only real point I like is that PC has a lot of exclusive games. No one ever highlights that.

Or people denigrate PC genres like RTS and MMO by saying they don't matter. Then all of sudden when that genre comes to console (Halo Wars, DCU, Agency) it's, "We got MMOs and RTS too! We are superior! La la la!"

But as far as I'm concerned, that's the nature of the thing. If any platform can do something better or has advantages, there are always guys there to swarm it and highlight its flaws to distract from its strengths.

I'd rather be content enjoying the advantage each platform has to offer.

[Demon5500]

When you look at the industry a few years ago, you would have games coming out every few weeks that would have features that your one month old card would not support, which would make you ether play the game with shader or corrupt graphics and slow FPS or go out and by a whole new card, and don't forget ATI and Nvidia cards didn't all ways work with some games, I had a friend who had two pc because of it, I also remember a friend building his dream machine around the time doom3 came out boy was he pissed when his pc wouldn't even run the game on medium, That is why people bag pc gaming out if it was more optimized there wouldn't be any consoles at all, and this trend keeps happening over and over from doom to crysis, people don't want to blow money every 6 months, so in till there is a change pc gaming will all was be last now:(

[Montrealien]

A Few years ago Demon? maybe in the nineties, but not a few years ago. I was playing Doom 3 at launch on a AGP 128mb ati 9600 that cost me 100$ Cnd, so I would be interested in what this dream machine was. A few years ago WoW was launched and could play on everything from a Voodoo 3 or a Gforce 2 to the latest GFX of 2004, that was 5 years ago. Even unreal 3 could be played in 640x480 on a corner of your screen if you needed it to. And as for PC gaming always being last, that is wrong. I am willing to bet more people log on and play some form of game evey day on the PC then people that log onto PSN and Live combined.

I am talking of everything from Farmville to World of Warcraft.

[Tony P]

I don't disagree Demon, but again, that is really no longer the case.

PC devs have learned their lessons from console's meteoric rise in the industry and have largely adopted standards so that you're not always having to reinvent your hardware for each and every game. As a result, PC games often don't require the latest and greatest hardware to run. That's my view of it anyway. In my experience, I haven't had to upgrade every few months at all.

[theunknown]

How about "Death of PC as a major player in the Game?" Better?

[theunknown]

...you think I only play consoles?

[Montrealien]

Let me know when consoles have millions of people playing poker, millions of people playing online shooters, and 10s of millions of people playing MMos, and millions of other playing everything from Chess to Il-2 and then I may agree with the fact that the PC is not a major player in the game anymore.

[champ21]

pcs will never die.

games will always be made on pcs. who could ever make a game on a console lol.

Pc is the best online platform currently and always has been.
Forget games made for pcs, but even games made for consoles run and play better on the pc.

As the digital distibution takes over (and it is) pcs dont even need retail much which means its easier for game developers to get the games to the end user.

So bottom line is games will be made on pcs regardless and they are distributed on the pc with no packaging costs, no royalties (lol sony, micro we aint your whores). so yea i dont see pcs dieing.

Infact once hardware reaches a level when we are close to on parity with reality and no more upgrades are needed (we are getting close to that point now). pc games will cost cheaper, upgrades wont be needed. Console users will just end up paying extra as royalties to mirco and sony.

[HarryM]

I'm no expert on computers but I can't agree with you more. PC gaming will never die, they can't die. They shall always be part of the gaming industry, and a big part at that.

[Gue1]

PC gaming have been dying since I was born... And here we are in 2009 and they are still dying. lol

[Mr Face Creamer]

It's the consoles such as both the outdated Xbox and PS3 that are dead from the start because of their pitiful hardware.

PCs created gaming, and PC gaming is here to last another thousand years while consoles can't stand 5 years without changing their pathetic excuse for hardware.

A PC with a Quad-Core and an ATi 4870 with 4GB RAM costs 600$-900$, and that PC should last you much more than a crappy Nvidia 7900 that's available in today's consoles.

[Kakkoii]

I think Wiimaniac's comment was sarcastic. As his comment means people have been saying that PC gaming is dying for ages now. Yet, it's not dead.. lol. It's "still dying", in that idiots keep saying it's dying haha.

But I could be wrong, could be intentional or not.

[Major_Tom]

Lol There's a bad example of a PC fanboy :/.

[Pizzagaki]

Pc's will always outrun consoles a few years after a new console has been released.

I mean, look at the difference between Pc fallout3 (november 2008 game) and console fallout3, the difference is huge.
I can only imagine how big the difference is going to be for Crysis 2 on consoles and Pc.

I know on which system i will be playing the multi's like Rage, on my PC trough tvout and with my 360 gamepad connected to my pc.

[champ21]

haha forget few years.

the ps3 was outclassed before it was even released.

when ps3 was shipped the pc already had the G88xx series of cards which far out class any console gpu. So really it doesnt even take few years.

Consoles are outdated even at launch.

i dont see why ppl like to pay 10USD extra for console games + additional charges for going online.

in the end after afew games purchased console gaming is more expensive then PC and the experience is inferior.

[Pandamobile]

A few years? Consoles are outdated hardware before they ship.

Like Champ said, the PS3 shipped at the same time the GeForce 8800 hit the market.

[Nihilism]

come on pc gamers ( all 4.5 billion of you), lets burn our pc's and admit defeat, what hope do 4.5 billion people and the endless functionality of our pc's, have against 2 little boxes that have sold less than 40 million each and have lost hundreds of millions for their makers, ^walks away^

( i have no beef with the wii, the wii is excluded from my rant...also because it remains the only profitable console)

[zagibu]

Well, we are many, but we are not 4.5 billions. The whole populace of the world is around 7 billions, so your 4.5 billions are a tiny bit exaggerated.

[Pandamobile]

I think there's only been like 1.2 B PC's made.

[DiffusionE]

....that was a poorly written article. I've said this before, and I will say it again "How the hell did these type of articles get approved as news?". Fan-boy rants are NOT news, we have the comment sections and forums for that purpose.

Yes, I too, prefer PCs for gaming but c'mon, was all that really necessary? Each gamer has his/her own preferred platform(trying to shove your opinion down the other person's throat is not the best way to convince him/her), and arguing about which one is better is a waste of time and effort.

[HarryM]

I'm glad you enjoyed the article.

[PotNoodle]

Dream on, the PC will never die.

[BattleAxe]

I'm sorry, but PC gaming sucks and is on the way out. Whether you like it or not, the fact is that you have to upgrade yearly to play the latest games. But hey, its your time and money :)

[champ21]

@BattleAxe

i am sorry but pc gaming is cheaper then console gaming.. i am sorry but thats just the way it is.

you pay a lot extra for the console games(this alone makes up a big difference)
while they give you an inferior gaming experience
Console hardware fails alot
console accessories are expensive
hell you even have to pay to be online lol

My older pc has a 8800 GTX in it,2.33ghz dual core cpu and 2gb of ram i made it the same time the ps3 was released. it can out do the XBox or the ps3 in any game. i havent upgraded this box in 2 years now. it plays games in 720p @ 60fps+ somthing consoles only dream of.

While at 1080p is still above 30fps. (consoles dont do true 1080p for most of the games.

so my older rig clearly outclasses consoles and by now the games bought for it make it a cheaper investment compared to buying a ps3 or 360 at launch.

[PotNoodle]

"the fact is that you have to upgrade yearly to play the latest games"

False.

[kraze07]

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you on some of your points.

"you pay a lot extra for the console games(this alone makes up a big difference)"
-You only have to pay about $10 extra for new games which does make a big difference over time, but you can't forget about used games.
"while they give you an inferior gaming experience"
-that's just a matter of opinion
"Console hardware fails alot"
-I'm guessing you're talking about the Xbox360 with the "alot" part. PC hardware fails too (I know this for a fact because I fix them for a living. No electronic hardware is perfect.
"console accessories are expensive"
-Depends on where you shop around, and some PC accessories will even work on consoles (mainly refering to the PS3)
"hell you even have to pay to be online lol"
-Refering to the Xbox360 again?

I'm not trying to say you make a bad argument or that I don't like PC gaming (I'm a hardcore gamer myself and enjoy playing on all the platforms, PC included) but most of what you say just seems like your opinion rather than actual facts.

[shiner]

Upgrade yearly?!? LOL, if you do, you're doin it wrong. I've been building PCs for almost 15 years (longer than most of you have been alive) and the only time I upgrade within the same year I build is if I find a sale or a deal I can't pass up.

The common console fanboy bash is "it's too expensive". I'm not going to get into that because there are plenty of good comments above me explaining how that is not the case. All I can say is that if you're too lazy to actually research prices and gain the knowledge to put together a good system that will perform to your standards for years to come, then, good riddance. We don't want your kind in the community. Go spout your immature rants on XBL or join the SDF and bomb gaming threads with your world domination B.S. Good for you, you can open a box, plug it in and play, you're awesome.

[zagibu]

And let's not forget that most console gamers also need PCs for regular computer work. So they buy a PC AND a console. They could also spend another 200$ for a better video card instead of the console, but hey, whatever they tell you, the prices are NOT the reason people move to console gaming. Comfort is. Exclusive console gamers are usually scared of DirectX runtimes or .Net frameworks. And don't mention drivers in their vicinity, or they will fall into a catatonic state.

[BattleAxe]

You have no clue about console gaming. You are clearly refering to the XBOX 360, but I'm a PS3 owner.

[Nihilism]

lol, there's like a lone console fanboy thumbing everyones factual statements down, you go girl!!!!!

[HarryM]

An obvious PC fanatic above me.

[mega BIG time]

i always cringe a little when i jump to my consoles straight from quad core gtx280 goodness. But ya know a comfy controller and XBL keep me coming back for more

[evrfighter]

you mean the exact same 360 wireless controller I bought for 5 bucks from someone who RROD'd. All I had to do was buy the receiver and guess what?

I can play my non fps or rts games at native 1080p, AAx8, AFx16, with nothing less than 75fps on my 40" on my couch if I want to use my controller....How bout you?

[champ21]

@Kraze07

Well i dont know about you kraze but usually i purchase anywhere between 2-3 games a month on my pc. If i were to buy these on console that would be usd20-30 difference a month. that about 300usd for the year. also consider the USA is not the entire world here in the middle east console games cost 75usd while pc games cost 35-49usd. Consider 3-4 years thats enough money for many good pc upgrades.

Superior gaming experience on the pc- i dont know how you doubt that, FPS, RTS, mmo just are better on the pc. Adventure games can be played on game pads. to boot all of these can be played at true HD instead of 720p (or worse below and at 30fps). Plus free mods on the pc are an additional bonus.

I been building PCs for the last 12 years now i have never seen parts fail 30% of the time (yes xbox iam looking at you.)

so in general yes i still think pc is cheaper, while it provides a superior gaming experience. Additionally gaming is not the only thing a PC can do... pcs are alot more then just games so thats more value for your money.

[slinkey123]

agreed man. Here in the UK, brand new PC games usually cost about 25 pounds. While brand new console games are 40-45 pounds. In the long run PC gaming works out cheaper.

[kraze07]

Damn, I didn't know there was such a big difference in the price of PC games and console games in the middle east. I'm in Crete right now, but I haven't checked out the local prices of video games yet (I do most of my shopping online and will probably continue to do so if prices are as high as other European countries.)

[likedamaster]

Pandamobile come out of hiding, you know you wrote this! Rofl

[Pandamobile]

I'm a much better writer than who ever wrote this.

And I'm a hardware junkie. I could never be bogged down with one system for 5 years. That would drive me insane.

[dreamoner]

gaming laptops are the salvation of the pc gaming..

[STONEY4]

I've said it serveral times, unless you want to show off Crysis at your school or something, gaming laptops aren't worth the money! They can be around 3x the price of a desktop with the same specs, and I'd rather be gaming on my 28" monitor than a 17" laptop screen. Also the official driver support for laptops is terrible.

[bednet]

Actually we'll be seeing some major changes in PC gaming in the coming years as Intel prepares to battle ATI and Nvidia with their Larrabee GPGPU.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Good times are a coming.

[Bizmal]

Hi, this is my first time posting here. But I'm blow away at this statement.

"It’s true that the PC’s biggest disadvantage is the fact, that you need to pay once every few months to update its hardware in order to play the latest games."

I'm not sure that you meant to write or that it was a typo or that you don't really play games on your PC. I have owned my PC for 3 years and I still have not updated one thing on it. I play all the latest games on high settings. If you did mean to state that as a fact you are flat out as a fact wrong. PC's can last up to and around 5 years before games, some games become unplayable. Sure things start loading slower and you may not be able to play it on max settings after a very long time. But it's still up to par with consoles. I think people buy cheap and trashy PC’s like Dell, gateway and others. Find someone who knows about it and go from there.