Why The PC Won E3

PC Gamers don’t get to watch a glitzy press conference at E3. We don’t get a PR firm to pump millions into glossy stage shows, or detailed press releases. We don’t even get a mascot. But we do get incredible games, and a steady stream of hardware innovations that let the PC leapfrog the opposition. Here’s why the PC was the real victor at E3.

[knight626]

PC won when you have to pay more to u[grade graphic card...to play good games

[Gran Touring]

lol you can play pretty much any game today on GPU's made from 2008 forward.

[Hideo_Kojima]

Did pcs even get a conference?
i doubt they won there is not as much support as the other systems.

[STONEY4]

In fact, even an 8800 from 2007 could run todays games pretty well too.

[Substance101]

@Guntrol

PC doesnt need some money grubbing companies looking to make a tax per game to promote it, that stuffs for consoles.

PC's always been the peoples platform. Its the Community that supports it.

[crck]

@1.1.1 uh, that's kind of the point. Even if PC won you guys wouldn't know because PC games are an open platform. There is no single company that is going to shell out millions for a "conference". Which is really just a 1.5 hour long advertisement.

Edit @below. PC games were at E3. 3 conferences do not equal E3. Moron...

[evrfighter]

The whole pc cost $$ to play argument has gone down the toilet. I've seen many articles here at n4g even to showcase why but the fanboys who continue to run their mouths with that nonsense try their best to ignore them.

It's even more so myth when these same fanboys are about to drop $3k on a 3dtv.

[GWAVE]

Didn't that argument get debunked in like...1994?

Seriously, I can see why PC gaming is on the decline: ignorance is allowed to breed.

[mittwaffen]

Sadly your right...

[Substance101]

On the contrary PC gaming is on a rise. 13.1billion use last year in software sales. unfortanately its not tracked since most of it is digital.

Now console gaming on the other hand is on a decline. check the records, 2009 was worse then 2008, 2010 is so far worse then 2009.

While console makers such as Sony and Microsoft are in a rediculous amount of loss billions of usds.

[BattleAxe]

@ Substance

Yeah, and 7 billion of that was probably Windows 7.....GTFO!

[Chris_TC]

No, the 13 billion figure contains only game related sales, not Windows. Look it up on Google, it's the official figure for 2009.

It does include subscriptions for MMOs, so about 1 billion of that is purely World of Warcraft, but 13 billion is beyond what any of the consoles pull in.

[DJKGBYF]

Oh here we go again. PCs only cost thousands of dollars when you buy them premade from a company. And generally when we build a new PC we don't buy the most expensive thing out there. If you know what you are doing, what parts you need, where to get them from, and what is and what isn't a good price, then you would know that PC gaming doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

[edgeofblade]

Look, many of us don't have the knowledge... or the time to take away from family or a job... or the patience to keep up with the nuances... or the cash in case something goes wrong... or the space in our home to dedicate to putting together a computer... or a hundred other reasons why we don't go build our own computers. I'm glad it works for you. It doesn't work for everyone... and that's not a problem because there are GREAT computers out there, pre-made and, as long as you dump their junkware first and install a fresh OS, they make great gaming PCs too.

I have a quad core with 6 gigs of ram and a GeForce 9800 GT for under $1000 from Gateway at Best Buy, and I'm f*cking ecstatic about how well it's been running, and continues to run nearly 2 years later. And I'm sure I could have built it myself for less. I have the knowledge and wherewithal to do so... but my time is not my own, when it comes to a project like that.

If I were buying a PC right now, this is what I'd get: http://www.bestbuy.com/site...

But I simply don't care that much about PC games. I play them from time to time. Same as my PS3, my PSP, my DS, my 360, and my Wii. I like to keep my options open, so I am capable of playing just about anything, excepting DSi games and iPhone/iPad games.

I look forward to playing games like Civ V on my PC. But for most other games, I just don't f*cking care about playing them on PC just to satisfy some misguided principle. I don't even think about it anymore. I play it where ever the f*ck I play it.

[Motion]

Lol, OMG I don't own a table I can use for an hour.

No seriously, I'm not being mean, I just find that really humorous.
And really, if you have all the parts right there, you can build a computer in an hour or less.

[morgan1jones]

I use to be convinced that ps3 was the best untill i got a desktop. The games are cheaper and the graphics are better. It did not get a press conference as it is an open console and has no lead company that is controlling everything and taxing all games that get released on it. If one of you people were to just try a pc then you would see what i am on about. Alsoo you do not need to keep upgrading you're graphics cards and stuff; only around every 6-10 years you need to. That is about as long when you need to get a new console. IMO it is only worth owning a console theses days for games like twisted metal, warhawk and killzone. Please can you stop trying to justify why you have wasted a lot of money on a console, I know I have. I bet some of you have not even played a gaming pc(btw they normally cost around £400 upwards which is a fair price since it does a whole lot more than gaming)

[nnotdead]

6-10 years without an upgrade? thats crazy talk. iam around 3-4 years and looking to upgrade early next year.

[SPARTANVI]

That's YOUR choice. You can game perfectly fine at console resolutions (480p, 720p, 1080i/p) and settings with 4-6 year old hardware.

Of course, if you want to dial up the anti-aliasing, texture filtering, lighting, shadow, textures, LOD, etc. all while maintaining the highest resolution possible on your display... then you'll have urges to upgrade frequently.

I'm primarily a PC gamer and have multiple rigs (for LANs) idling by with GeForce 7800s, 7900s, 8800s, and one with a Radeon X1900, lying about hooked up to 17" - 19" displays. These are GPUs that are generally around the same age as those that power PS3 and Xbox360, all of which can play the same games at the PC equivalent of 720p (which is actually pretty low to PC gamers) or higher.

[Ocelot525]

@SPARTA...

NO, you can't run games with 4-6 hardware with console quality.

you guys think console games run without AA, AF etc. but this a myth.

2xAA is a common AA level for consoles:

a list with the resolution and AA of console games
http://forum.beyond3d.com/s...

[Motion]

No, you really can. 2x anti-aliasing is really not that stressful, and you can definitely get console quality graphics out of a 4-6 y/o rig. Now you may not be running that at your max monitor resolution, but you can still pull the same or higher res than a console.

[SPARTANVI]

Are you kidding me? The PS3's RSX and the Xbox360's R500 are ~5 year old GPUs. Don't think for a second that they're any more than their desktop counterparts.

For console games, 720p with 2xAA/4xAA or 1080p 0xAA is usually the case. 1280x720 with 2xAA can easily be done for any of the GPUs I've listed. I know this first hand having owned Oblivion on both platforms back in 2006. My X1900XT (R580) was and is still capable of the same, if not better, visuals.

[crck]

Yeah because Sony hasn't made people "upgrade" controllers 2 times now in 4 years. Microsoft hasn't made people upgrade hard drives for 5x retail cost of regular drives. Nintendo hasn't forced people to upgrade those wiimotes for more accuracy.

[SPARTANVI]

Your point is that none of these upgrades are necessary, right?

[evrfighter]

ding ding ding.

in a nutshell if you want the best of all worlds (consoles & pc's).
It cost money. I know pc gamers that are on the same hardware for over 3 years now. I want the best experience so I usually have lots of pc parts lying around.

In fact I know a pc gamer (cs 1.6 everyday) who has been gaming on the same pc since 2003. He's from a financially troubled background in case your wondering.

amd athlon xp 1.3ghz singlecore
x1600 agp
less than a gb ram

He asked me about a gpu upgrade and had managed to save $50 over the course of a long time.

Everyday I would see him log into steam for a few hours scrim cs 1.6 and logout. It was for this reason that I got all my spare parts and put together a pc consisting of all my outdated parts

AMD x2 5400
2gb ddr2
ATI HD3870

slapped everything together in a new case and presented him with it.

[Anon7349]

You're a good person, have a nice life.

I love PC gaming +Bubble for you.

[hoops]

You can buy a MSI GeForce GTS 250 512MB DDR3 SLI Ready Video card for $79
EVGA GeForce GT 240 512MB DDR5 PCIe for $49.99
Even those cards will play most games at high levels.
Put $50 bucks more and you get a gpu that will play over 80% of your games at 1080p@40+fps with some level of AA. How many PS3 or Xbox360 games can game at 1080p@40+fps with 4xAA on? Its less then 5%
The days of a PC costing thousands to run games is over..been over for years. Only console only gamers say this.....

[sid4gamerfreak]

PC wins in everything

PC- It only does everything

[playstation_clan]

i didnt see PC's press conference and lol at the source (PCGAMER)

And just a FYI, ps3 counts as a PC too ^_^

[tdrules]

That's very true, the fact it can run Linux is awesome.

As well as the support for keyboard and mouse on most games the PS3 is the PC 2.0 definately.

[stuffwithstuff]

Remember the Eagle Eye converter? :D

[Fishy Fingers]

"the PS3 is the PC 2.0"

eh?

[cjflora]

It can't run Linux anymore...

[evrfighter]

no...no it can't run linux

[tdrules]

damnit I need to get better at sarcasm
*boots up Warcraft III*

[Pandamobile]

A PS3 is not a PC...

[Arnon]

I'm loling pretty hard at this sort of stuff.

[thehitman]

PC will never win an E3.

[Gran Touring]

Gotta agree with you there. But Blizzcom > E3

[Deathracer]

lol yea right

[carreirabr]

GT5, Halo:Reach, Gears of War 3, Infamous 2, Killzone3, LBP2, Twisted Metal will definitely look much better on a PC... er wait!

[tdrules]

http://adrianwerner.wordpre...

and before you say "I don't want these games"
I'm yet to see a PC gamer thrive to play Halo:Reach or KZ3

[JonnyBigBoss]

Negative. I love PC gaming but Sony had way more games to look forward to.

[JohnnyAkiba]

My 9600gt still kick ass. But will buy GTx470 soon.

[cjflora]

"Why China won E3."

Seriously, what's up with these articles about who won E3?

[yamzilla]

is the absolute best....

There are more PC gamers than all 3 consoles combined.

PC games make 75% of Activisions profit.

26 million people use steam alone...now add
Direct2Drive
Impulse
Direct downloads from all major publishers
Retail purchases
Amazon and similar online outlets (newegg, tigerdirect ect.)

If I had to guess I'd say EASILY over 100 million people all over the world game on a pc everyday.

Not to mention all the games look, run, and control better
Are $10 to $30 dollars cheaper (just picked up Transformers WFC for 35 bucks..it's $60 on the 360 or ps3 and looks far worse and all the reviews say the framerate suks....not on pc...i could run 5 instances of this game)

And...the best part....you can actually game in...... HIGH DEFINITION!!!!!

Not 720P...640p....600p...576p...5 40p...
Those are console resolutions....

PC has.....1080p....1440p....1600 p...
and damn does it look good.....yummy

[Deathracer]

Yea thanks to Blizzard and World of Warcraft, don't try to give Activision credit where it isn't due. They don't deserve it.

[despair]

don't forget that things like a game running flawless 60fps is not a marvel but normal to a PC gamer.

[waterboy]

for 360

console?

those are great resolutions for those small screens you pc gamers should be used to such high resolutions on your baby screens, oh and i know "we can hook pc up to a tv" um no, you can stream the pc to the tv get it strait

[STONEY4]

"those are great resolutions for those small screens you pc gamers should be used to such high resolutions on your baby screens, oh and i know"

Your comment makes no sense. You do realize that console's lower resolutions are bad? They look even worse when put on the average 50 inch screen, since you're essentially blowing it up on a screen that's native res it usually 1080p. While most of us PC gamers are always playing at our native resolutions since we tend to buy our monitors based on what our graphics cards can handle or vice-versa (majority being 1680x1050 or 1920x1200).

"we can hook pc up to a tv" um no, you can stream the pc to the tv get it strait"

Nearly all modern graphics cards have HDMI outputs, and so do HDTVs. Is your mind able to figure out what that means, or do I really have to explain it?

[hoops]

Waterboy...Those resolutions are on the PS3 aswell.
How many subhd games litter the PS3 as well as the Xbox360? I lost count how many PS3 games and Xbox360 games run in subhd resolutions...and those games do not even use Anti-Alaising or very little of it....

My PC is hooked up to my LCD HDTV trhough my GPU's HDMI Port...That's 55"...like my consoles.....differnce being...ALL my games will have resoltuions of 1080p or 2056x1600...Can your PS3 or Xbox360 do this???
When I want REAL gaming that a console could only wish for...
I hook it up to my three 24" Monitors for Eyeinfinty gaming.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

When you play video games at that level and I do all the time now...AND they are releasing EYEINFINITY IN 3D...you look at consoles and ask yourself:

"Console games are next generation???"

[Letros]

lol this guy has no clue what he's saying

[waterboy]

if the native games visuals were made for your little baby screens, but since the native visual output is made for tvs that are huge and smaller, not smaller then bigger like pc thats why resolutions are often lower than your wonderful pcs its nothing to do with power

[Letros]

Momma always tell you that high resolution gaming was the devil?

[justpassinggas]

Ignorance is strong with this one.

Screen size does not matter. Say it with me: Does. Not. Matter.

Resolution determines everything. Not your screen size. The only reason PCs are usually hooked to "small screens" is because people use their PCs for other purposes that actually, you know, help them earn a living and typing up anything on a big TV screen is distracting. Plus, an amazing PC costs as much as a big screen TV.

[STONEY4]

"what i mean is that, the ps3 and 360 could easily do 1080 p and higher
if the native games visuals were made for your little baby screens, but since the native visual output is made for tvs that are huge and smaller, not smaller then bigger like pc thats why resolutions are often lower than your wonderful pcs its nothing to do with power"

Wow you really know what you're talking about. Screen size has absolutely nothing to do with resolution. 1080p on a big screen TV is the same as 1920x1080 on a monitor. I could hook up my PC to my HDTV which is around 50 inch, and I will still get the same preformance that I do on my 1920x1200 monitor, in fact slightly better since the TV is a lower resolution. TV size has NOTHING to do with resolution or performance. Even the most hardcore fanboys around here will admit that.

[Xfanboy]

http://www.youtube.com/watc...
& you do know 1080p on a 50inch is a stretched out picture with less detail right?? um never mind if you don't know anything about tech or even your tv then yeah.. u should stay with old tech so sony can tell you what they want & under deliver!!! PS3 will do 1080p 120 fps lmao like this!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Motion]

wow. waterboy has lost at the internets.

[BYE]

If you have the gear to run current games on the highest settings in 1080p, PC gaming is awesome.

With a wireless gamepad, 5.1 system and a 52" TV it can be played like a console on steroids, PS3 and 360 are not even close, sorry.

[Substance101]

@ceekay

Agreed though, it doesnt cost much to have that PC.

Everyone has a PC at home, atleast they would consider having a PC way before purchasing a console. Since a PC is almost required at home these days.

If its anything like a 2-3yr old dual core. then all it needs is a 100usd gpu to beat any console. While doing 1080p in 95% of the games out there. Unless a game is really very demanding or its been very badly programmed this setup is fairly capable.

[waterboy]

i still dont see how ps3 and 360 arent even close, ps3 isnt close as far as above as far as exclusive games, i know i have seen and have compared, not screen shots to beat any console? yes since no console currently exist on the current market

[MechaGear]

Think of all the profit they don't make, because of PC gamers versatility.

[AK46]

blah, blah, blah thxs for the info. Still rather play on my console thank you.

[mcgrawgamer]

quick show of hands from everyone who clearly remembers playing a official copy of wolfenstein 3D and not some flash game download.....

[punisher99]

PC won E3? Okay. Whoever can name all the big name PC exclusives and list all the big name 360 and PS3 exclusives. I'll give you a +bubbles. Its very simple, the consoles are where all the big name and top rated games are.

[AK46]

They are probably Googling the info now.

[Pandamobile]

Ahem -

Star Wars The Old Republic - one of the biggest games at E3.
Star Craft 2 - Will have enough players to found a country.
Diablo 3, one of the most anticipated games of all time.
Civilization 5, fifth installment of one of the best selling RTS games ever.

Those are just some of the biggies off the top of my head.

PC exclusives really don't matter, anyway. There's no single company that owns developers or feeds third party developers obscene amounts of cash to keep a game exclusive to their platform. You'll always have the multiplatform games that will always be better on PC like Portal 2, the Call of Duty series (save MW2); Battlefield, Mass Effect series, etc.

Mods, better graphics, community run multiplayer servers and more :D

[Motion]

I don't have the brain power to comprehend how people are disagreeing with you.

[1PC2PS33360]

have fun with that......your missing out on a lot ...I think i speak for many PC gamers when i say///newsflash...we own all the consoles too....

But when its multiplat...you'd be a fool not to pick the pc....for all the reasons that you choose to ignore......the ps3 and 360 i own are there ONLY for their exclusives....anything else is a sacrifice...why would i play call of duty in 600p...when i have a 1080p tv and can play it on pc and have it look 2 times better????

@punisher....95% of all cosole games are on the pc with better everything and cost $10 less

Starcraft 2
The witcher 2
Guild Wars 2
Star wars the old rebublic
diablo 3
those games, however, will not be on consoles

[AK46]

I don't think I'm missing out on anything, well maybe a higher resolution. I tried playing Doom 3 for the PC, and couldn't get a handle for the controls and didn't feel like syncing the controller to my PC. I like it simple and the consoles offer that. It just a personnel opinion.

[Britney Spears]

l4d,mass effect,fable 3 are all on pc,seems there is no reason to get a certain other console.

[HopSkotch]

PC was at E3?

[Sarobi]

Where is that one guy on here who once said "if it wasn't for PC Gamers you console-tards wouldn't be here", ANYWAY, PC always wins it doesnt need to be at E3 to prove that, i myself have been a pc gamer for the most part of my life and i will never pick a console over my desktop,

and just like 1PC2PS33360 pointed out, those games along are a good reason to have a Gaming PC, I Could go on and on but if you don't get the point by now you obviously never tried gaming on PC

[Trroy]

PC games often devolve into tech demos, because the engineers are so busy keeping up, they never get a chance to flesh out some gameplay code with the design teams.

If PCs weren't the primary dev tool for making games on consoles, there wouldn't be PC games at all any more, outside of small-scale shareware and small dev houses in countries with really weak economies.

[Letros]

source?

[Ironfungus]

Oh, I guess this one is pretty self-explanatory.

[webeblazing]

pc did have games there and i agree they most likely won or wii, but most of they games was shown being played on console. most of they exclusive devs is sellout my pc is old and was gonna build a new one but doing $hit like what they was doing push the console ver and forgeting the pc that made them what they are is not convincing. i didnt see rage or crysis2 on the pc. pc do have the best games and i do want starcraft, crysis, rage, and deus ex (best game there) but how long b4 they exclusive go console and be tailored for them for a quick buck. im all for good and fun games but what boundaries is they gonna push with these old consoles.

o yeah what games do yall recommend should be finished by end of summer.

[Xfanboy]

Yeah PC is dead anyway!! & these are the only games I will be able to play on my Rig!! I hate it!!!

1:Crysis 2

2:R.A.G.E

3:Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Demo

4:Metal Gear Solid: Rising
.

5:Star Wars The Old Republic

6:End of Nations

7:Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

8:Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

9:Portal 2

10:FEAR 3
.

11:Mafia 2

12:Homefront

13:Fallout New Vegas

14:Deus Ex Human Revolution

15:DC Universe

16:Call of Duty Black Ops

17:FINAL FANTASY XIV

18:Bulletstorm

19:Medal of Honor

20:Dead Space 2

21:XCOM

32 games in a 3 day event?? sigh :(

& then I have to put up with seeing them in 1080p?? ugh!!!

Then I'll have to buy 3 of these http://www.newegg.com/Shopp...
for $900 to do this http://www.youtube.com/watc... with my PS3 exclusive on PC!! I wish I could have this
http://www.google.com/produ...

sigh again...
Oh yeah 22:The Agency(Suck looking game)

& 23:DC Universe(I want)

24:Fable 3

25:R.U.S.E

26:Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2

27:Spec Ops: The Line

28: Red Faction: Armageddon

29:Test Drive Unlimited 2

30:need for speed online

31:F1 2010

32:Mass Effect 2: Overlord

& don't forget Non e3 showers Guild Wars 2/ Lego universe/ & many many more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! !! like Sniper: Ghost Warrior

$50 dollar games for me compared to $60 dollars

Ok... thats enough their is more but that's enough...

Gothic 4

I hate you PC!!!!

point made.. bye..

[Xfanboy]

$60x32 games on console?? $1920
$50x32 games on PC?? $1600

If I buy all console games that's $320 per year more than a PC games that's to 5770s in crossfire $150 each!!

[hoops]

And half those games you can get for the PC that are on the console for $40 a pop while the console versions are $50-$60 or more. And we all know what versions look better 99% of the time....

[yamzilla]

that is not on PC......is a port

we should coin a slogan......

if it's not pc, it's a port baby.

or maybe....

pc....it's what poor people don't play on....lol

[ATi_Elite]

The PC didn't have to spend 20 million dollars on advertising a 3 day event about motion controllers and cameras.

Star Wars: The Old Republic nuff said.

[likedamaster]

My most anticipated PC games besides Crysis 2 is The Witcher 2 & Hunted: The Demon's Forge.

[punisher99]

Looks like basically no one could take me up on my offer about my previous post. Basically the 360 and the PS3 releases more high quality exclusives than the PC does. So with that said. How can the PC platform win E3? E3 in my opinion should be about games. Gamers should be about games, not resolutions. The best platform is the platform that has the best high rated, most talked about games. And that platform is the consoles. When was the last time a PC game even won "Game Of The Year" from a popular website???