by darkmurder
©2009 Noel Schneider
Upon reading this article by Industry Gamer, it occurred to me that whilst the article did indeed have interesting points, the premise of the article is wrong. The PC gaming industry is in fact far from dying.
Sure, the retail sector is taking a plummet but with internet purchases soaring the industry is merely in a transition phase.
With companies providing downloadable PC games from online outlets like Steam and the EA Download Manager where you have an array of choice, industry growth is occurring at a rapid rate.
2009 has already been a massive year for the PC industry and the move into the online sector only has its benefits.
The fact that no DVD is necessary means that piracy can be clamped down upon drastically. Although it is still possible to create pirated versions (such as non-Steam applications) it takes a much longer time for pirates to create a version for download from the internet. Not only is it harder to create the pirated version, the online sector still has many benefits.
Community is one thing that the PC industry still has over consoles.
It is precisely for this reason that many still game with the computer. Games such as ArmA, Battlefield 2 and even America’s Army 2 are followed religiously by the fans of the game. The niche audience that the PC offers for realism is the major benefit for consumers and developers.
Not only is it easier to develop for (not having to learn a new language or unknown architecture) but the costs can be kept down on both sides. By releasing titles on the internet on services such as Steam, games retail well below the AUD$100 mark even at launch.
However, the real death of the PC games industry is demonstrated by programs such as Gaikai. Gaikai is a cloud platform that takes the same premise as OnLive (streaming a game through servers and relaying it back to the user) but takes place all in your browser.
As a PC enthusiast, I can easily say I am less than excited about the introduction of this program. All you will need is a simple plug-in and within a few seconds, you can load up Crysis on your virtual GTX 295.
To the casual user this program is ideal; not only will you play games at the maximum end of the scale but you won’t need to upgrade your PC as any will work. For me part of gaming on computers is to build and show off your ‘rig’.
Staying up to date with the latest drivers, graphics cards, motherboards and CPU’s to name a few. You either have two types of men, the ones who spend to upgrade their cars and the ones who want to upgrade their PCs. Take away the meaning of upgrading your PC and soon there will be no identity in playing PCs at all.
Being a PC gamer is a source of pride.
There is no question that console gaming is on the rise, however the majority of this has come from the casual gamers of Nintendo. Xbox 360 and PS3 offer a much more ‘hardcore’ option to those who feel the Wii is too simplistic.
But for those who still think that the 360 and Ps3 are not pushing the games enough to their limit, there is the PC industry who will gladly welcome you with open arms (assuming you don’t team kill that is!).
The PC industry is far from dying, it is merely going through its transition phase into the online sector (in both sales and cloud computing).
Make no joke about it, when Gaikai launches, the days of having to upgrade your computer will be fairly meaningless for gaming and thus the crowds will flock back. But then I’ll be nostalgic for the days when having a powerful PC meant something.
© 2009 Noel Schneider
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Filed under: Console gaming, Editorial, Game Industry News, Industry News Tagged: | America’s Army 2, ArmA, Battlefield 2, crysis, death of PC gaming, EA Download Manager, Gaikai, Gaming, Gaming Industry, GTX 295, Industry Gamer, OnLive, PC, PC Gaming, Steam
I still have faith in PC gaming. For me, there’s one main attraction: MODS. I have Fallout 3 for PC because of this, with thousands of amazing mods from simple things like changing the lighting to massive overhauls such as retextured landscapes and even a great grass mod that gives it the look of a recovering wasteland – grass starting to grow back and some trees sprouting new growth!
I still love PC gaming despite also owning both a 360 and PS3. I enjoy making new maps myself for games as well.
In fact, next week my new gaming PC should be arriving next week. For the enthusiasts among you:
CPU: Core i7 920 (going to overclock with custom cooler)
MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte UD4P
RAM: 6gb DDR3 1600mhz
HDD: 2 x 1TB in RAID 0
OPTICAL: Regular DVD-RW
GPU: 2 x Sapphire 4890 in Crossfire
SCREEN: Samsung 2333SW+ (23″ @ 1080p)
Can’t wait – previous PC was a lappy.
wishfull thinking BUT where are games? GAMES are on Consoles mates… sorry! Nowadays even FPS came firost on consoles. Leftovers=pc
I wouldn’t go that far mate. There’s plenty of things PC gaming can do over Console gaming any day of the week.
While many developers can see the area of retail sales now rests with consoles, the number of digital distribution outlets for games, especially on PC is growing rapidly as it becomes their main new medium.
Plus be careful with your comments, we do not tolerate any attempts to creatye flame-wars or fanboyism in here – at all.
Are you insane or just an idiot? You welcome Steam but reject Gaikal, the next logical step in the evolution of online gaming?!?! The fact is that true PC gamers love the freedom of boxed games and tend to eschew online DRM-laden services such as Steam in favor of LAN play. Unfortunately, the PC gaming community has been overrun by weenie-tweeners playing on mummy-and-daddy-funded machines who see the PC as just an alternative console and don’t understand what it means to be a PC gamer. Viva-la-PC!
Thanks for the reply, no I am neither I hope to think
. It’s not so much the way that the games are offered (be it through Steam/Gaikai) but it is infact through the upgrading and building process which is lost. To the person who loves to show off and make their build’s and tweak it to perfection, Gaikai will eliminate the need for most of this.
I think both crowds can come together to make the PC stronger. The people that uses OnLive/Gaikai are probably former console players who wants easy setup and ease of use or casual players who dont know computers too much. The main PC gamers will still want to have a good rig so they can play the games locally, and with additional tweaking features and mod support.
Even if the days of showing off a good rig are over, it wouldn’t be a big impact to PC gamers. Only those that want to extend their hardware-peen will feel the loss of this, and they are probably the only ones who would move their box around or invite people to look at it just to show off. The identity of PC gamers can still be uphold as long as people game on a PC, and preferably with kb/m.
by that hardware i meant a nvidia 9800GTX+ and i7 920.
and not to mention consoles are alot more comfortable.
yea i can hook up my pc to my tv than sit on the lounge, but for some reason when i do that i cant get my pc to use my full 32inch TV it only uses a small piece of it.
making the games look rely weird.
in my mind the pc gaming world is dying.
simply because what was the point of playing games on a pc?
it was because pc games did what console games couldent.
they were leaps and bounds above console games.
key word being WERE.
now pc gamers are constantly getting screwed because alot of the games red faction gurrilla for example, is being delayed months after its console brothers.
and alot of the PC games are crappy ports no better than the console copies.
Nvidia and ATI every couple months are releasing new VDUs.
every couple of months intell and AMD are releasing new CPUs.
but what for?
is their 1 application that utilizes the added power of a intell I7960 (i think is their top now).
no their isent.
so whats the point?
because they know people will buy it, the price for these things is outrages $1000 for a dam CPU, 600 for a Nvidia 280GTX.
when i can get a I7 920 for 400 and a 9800GTX for 280 and they can do almost everything than the 280GTX and I7 960 will.
crysis is the most hardware demanding game and i can run it on that hardware max settings on 1080P AA at 16 times no lag.
i want PC games to go back to their original roots, looks like i will have to wait for rage,half life 2 epp 3 or crysis 2 for that
Ok.. Yes. For the intel i7 975 (the ‘Extreme’ edition) it is $999. Because the multipliers are unlocked. The chip has more potential for overclocking. In reality, however, the 920′s can overclock just as far, maybe a tiny bit less, for 1/3rd the price.
Where on earth is a GTX280 still $600? A GTX295 is $500, GTX285′s are well under $400, more often than not $350 or better. And you can get a 9800GTX for less than $150. and I dare you to try and run Crysis at 50+ fps at 1920×1200, or even 1920×1080 (1080p) with that 9800GTX. Or a GTS250 for that matter.. Not going to happen unless you run at a sub par resolution. I couldn’t run Crysis with a C2QX6850 at 4ghz with SLI 9800GTXs. Good luck with that.
For a hardware enthusiast, it’s not about what will actually use it, (and by the way, some of us hardware nuts actually put the stuff to good use. We fold with Folding@Home or SETI@Home, various projects that could actually benefit mankind.)
A lot of us overclock, because we like to get the most out of our hardware, it becomes a kind of virtual e-peen battle to see whos got the biggest and baddest.
Me, personally? Until I upgrade my mobo and cpu, I’m still running that C2QX6850, at a cool 3.6ghz under water, with SLI GTX285′s. I play Crysis, and anything else you could possibly imagine at 1920×1200 with all settings maxed.
As for the console ports getting delayed.. there’s very few of those that I even care about.. For some of those I have consoles anyway. There are certain types of games that I would rather have on the console, but my personal preference is to play them on PC whenever possible, simply because the experience, even if it looks like a crappy console port, will be smoother and with at least a little more eye candy, even if that just means crazy levels of AA.
Oh and btw.. Its a known bug that 16xAA in Crysis doesn’t work properly. I don’t believe it’s been addressed, but I could be wrong. Try playing it at 8xAA, in DX10 with everything at Very High.
@ Loki
Thanks for dropping by, and also for not turning it into a “Mine’s better than yous” article, which it’s certainly not aimed at as you can see. COnsoles serve a purp[ose, as do PC for the real die-hard gaming enthusiast. That said, there’s many a die-hard ‘mature’ gamer (be that in years or attitude) that treats their consoles an dthe games with just as much favour and enthusiasm as do the hardened PC gamer.
We have to agree that the vehicle for game delivery for the ‘average gamer’ (which includes the casual gamer) these days has changed a great deal, especially in the last 3-4 years. With that change so has the amount developers put into their games, and the platforms they “need” to sell them on.
If we all want games to continue being made, we must realise that developers do have to look at all methods of delivery, including the huge console market, the upcoming digital delivery market, as well as the hardcore fan market. Tied to those is also a huge financial balance between retail services which employ millions, and the need to keep them in employment.
I will eventually get a gaming rig for my serious racing sim and flight sim loves, as the experience I want will most likely only be delivered by a serious PC, or the new Forza 3 coming this October, but that only satisfies one of my loves. But that won’t stop me having most of my simple, ‘pick-up-n-play’ games on the 360 for sheer simplicity and ease when I just wantto sit in the lounge away from the computer and also share some fun times with friends in the lounge room . . .
There’s n=room for all factions, if we simply see that we all have our own likes and dislikes, and each is entitled to that.
i only use my pc for strategy games and battlefeild 2142.
every other genre i buy for my ps3 or psp
I totally agree with you darkmurder, a PC gaming is the real deal and it has features that no other platform could overcome. As for piracy, there is a noted decline, companies like EA, Valve and Stardock made good profit because they provide better service than pirates. In my opinion the gaming industry has found part of the puzzle in tackling piracy.