Author Topic: The Death of PC Gaming  (Read 3100 times)

Offline Phrubruh

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The Death of PC Gaming
« on: December 28, 2009, 12:07 PM »
Here is an interesting discussion. With the creation of the ps3, xbox360, iphone and DS, do you think PC gaming is on its way out? When was the last time you bought and or played a PC game?

Personally, I havn't bought a pc game in years. I play my DS alot more than anything I have installed on my PC except for MAME. It's just a lot more convinent and conforable to play on the couch then being stuck infront of my PC's monitor. It's also great to play games on the big flat screen wirelessly than on a computer monitor with cables. Do you guys keep state of the art gaming PCs?
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: The Death of PC Gaming
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2009, 01:13 PM »
I don't upgrade much so I don't PC game much, but ultimately PC's will always be superior to consoles if you stay upgraded, so I don't think PC gaming is dead or will die anytime soon.  There are also still some game types that simply cannot be played properly on consoles.  Strategy, simulation, and so on.  I think it'll be more likely that consoles and PC's will become more closely joined as the same item at some point.  Technology seems to be moving that direction to some degree anyway.
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Offline Rob

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Re: The Death of PC Gaming
« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2009, 02:31 PM »
I've always been a console type of guy myself.

Offline efranks

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Re: The Death of PC Gaming
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2009, 02:49 PM »
There are a lot of games that, on initial release, aren't offered in PC format now so you almost have to own a console unless you want to wait.

But there is definitely PC gaming left.  As mentioned, you have the strategy and simulation stuff, the SIMs games and online gaming is really still the realm of the PC.  I've always been a bigger fan of the FPS on the PC vs a console.  I had a bitch of a time getting decent at Halo on the XBox but after less than an hour playing my first FPS with a keyboard/mouse, I was a pro at it.

The ease of use of the consoles is a huge selling point, though.  Until you can just buy a game and play on the PC, the consoles will only maintain, if not increase, their popularity.  I rarely game on the PC because it seems that every time I look at a game I have to download a new patch, install a new version of DirectX or a new video card driver...and don't even get me started on operating systems. 

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Offline iFett

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Re: The Death of PC Gaming
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2009, 02:51 PM »
I've always been a console type of guy myself.

Me too.  I still remember my good ol Atari 2600  :)  I've played a handful of PC games over the years...Let's see - Diablo I & II, Halo, HalfLife, Sanitarium, and Starcraft and maybe a few others.  Not much - I just don't dig the mouse/keyboard combo and the constant upgrades.  Best to keep things simple especially since the PS3 and XBox machines are pretty much on par with PCs.
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Offline Chris M

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Re: The Death of PC Gaming
« Reply #5 on: December 28, 2009, 02:52 PM »
I'm into the consoles.  I got into early PC games, like Wolfenstein, Doom, etc and then got away from it until Star Wars put out their strategy game that was like Red Alert.  I can't remember it's name.  But since then I haven't played any.  I thought about playing Galaxies, but didn't feel like paying for it when I didn't have that much time anyway.

I'll stick with playing my Wii, and maybe eventually buy the PS3.  But for now, no computer games.  They just don't get me going and I don't feel like sitting in front of the monitor when I can sit in front of my big screen TV.
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Offline Matt_Fury

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Re: The Death of PC Gaming
« Reply #6 on: December 28, 2009, 04:12 PM »
Although I haven't bought a PC game in a while.  There are certain games I prefer on the PC than my X-Box...FPS being one of them.

That being said I'm having a lot of fun with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II on the X-Box!   :D
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Offline JediJman

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Re: The Death of PC Gaming
« Reply #7 on: December 28, 2009, 04:18 PM »
I havne't played a PC game in forever.  Likely in the minority here, but I don't have a console system either (outside of my old N64 packed in a crate somewhere).  I used to play Battlegrounds online and over the LAN pretty religiously, but most of the guys that played that moved on to other games years ago.    :-\
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Offline Paul

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Re: The Death of PC Gaming
« Reply #8 on: December 28, 2009, 05:19 PM »
If the consoles would make the same games, I would switch probably.

But I am a PC Gamer at heart and probably always will be.

Company of Heroes
Flight Sims (WWII type)
FPS
Star War Galaxies
Silent Hunter

all those are pretty much exclusive to PC Gaming.

I've tried to play IL2 and Call of Duty on the Xbox but they are more "Arcade" style games and not the same "Feel" as the Campaign style PC stuff.

But I have seen the death of PC gaming coming for a long time.  Look at the area of space it used to have a Best Buy compared to now. 


Offline Straxus

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Re: The Death of PC Gaming
« Reply #9 on: December 28, 2009, 08:39 PM »
When I play shooter games I prefer console.
I play EVE Online, so thats my main focus for pc games. Sometimes I reinstall Steam and play Half-Life 2 and few other Valve games on the PC though.
The one thing that a number of PC games have going for them are modding potential. Games like Homeworld, Halo (for PC), Half-Life 2, Star Trek Armada 1 & 2 (Which I modded for seven years...) have a lot of replay value with variety of mods, not just for multi-player but for single player as well.
If anything I think the modding communities will keep PC gaming alive.

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Offline Hemish

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Re: The Death of PC Gaming
« Reply #10 on: December 29, 2009, 04:43 AM »
I still game on the pc, with stores like steam offering some fantastic discounts(Mirrors Edge for $5) its an easy enough medium to buy for
Things like Dragon Age Origins, Left for Dead and the Warcraft series there is still plenty of life in gaming on PCs
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: The Death of PC Gaming
« Reply #11 on: December 29, 2009, 05:18 AM »
WoW is obviously the big PC gaming point.  You can't play WoW on a console right now, even if it was ported.  A port would be simply attrocious till they decide to start porting games you can use a keyboard with as a controller.

Strategy games and simulations are the real keys to PC gaming longevity though as well...  MMORPG's are the flagship, but you simply can't play a good strategy or simulator on an X-Box.  Not yet anyway.  That controller doesn't replace a flight stick that has 90 buttons just on it, and the keyboard with another plethora.

X-Wing, TIE Fighter, X-Wing: Alliance...  These don't work on consoles.  LA tried with Rogue Squadron, and it's ok for what it is, but it's not a flight simulator like the X-Wing/TIE Fighter series tried to be (as much as you can simulate a fictional universe and ships that sorta defy physics).  The same applies to flight sims for various warbirds though too.

FPS's I see the argument for both...  Mouse/Keyboard though is unmatched in terms of speed and reflexive actions, so to me the M/K and PC FPS's takes the cake for "realism".  I haven't played one in ages though, ironically.  I play them pretty well exclusively on the 360 now, but if i had a new PC I'd be interested.  I always liked  the Star Wars ones though and LA isn't interested in trying their hand at one anymore.  It's sad because at one point Lucasarts used to be a revolutionary company in the gaming world.  Dark Forces took the FPS to a whole new level, and was great EU material to boot. 

Then Jedi Knight and Mysteries of the Sith came out, and JK was modded for years and years (another good point about the modding community...  There's people still playing games from the late 1990's because they're able to be modded to look fantastic even today).  I played some of my best gaming experiences in my life in Jedi Knight, and on modded levels to boot!  The one guy crossed Aliens with Star Wars, put a great story to it, and made it a super long playable level in Jedi Knight complete with cut scenes and everything.  It was miles beyond a lot of games I've payed to play.

RTStrategy though, is equally tough to put onto a console.  You're working practically the entire keyboard, plus the mouse, to manage the true large scale RTS's out there.  From old Medeival games I used to love, to Age of Empires, to the Star Wars games that all had charms and flaws...  Then Empire At War.  I couldn't even fathom how you could consider attempting a port of a game like EAW onto a console.  I had a hell of a time keeping everything wrangled with the keyboard and mouse on that one when I played it.

I think from LA's standpoint, they're trying to get on the Console bandwagon, but they're walking away from a legacy of great PC games that you simply cannot duplicate on consoles.

And I'm a diehard XB360 guy, so don't get me wrong here.  I adore my 360, I buy a new console whenever the big 3 start putting out new ones (usually MS), but realistically I think PC's always will have a gaming home, and PC's will always be the superior platform if you're willing to stay atop technology to play.

If there were more PC games out I'm interested in, I'd probably be more inclined to drop more into upgrades, but I like to stick to SW gaming a lot on my PC to justify the cost, and they really haven't delivered much I'm into in the past several years I guess.  So I stick with my console for now...  The Old Republic could really sway me though.  Galaxies didn't wrap me up in the hype, but TOR may very well do it.
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Offline Phrubruh

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Re: The Death of PC Gaming
« Reply #12 on: December 29, 2009, 10:04 AM »
I use to think that a shooter like Call of Duty would be impossible to play with a standard console controller but somehow they do it and well. I can't ever go back to keyboard and mouse for a shooter anymore. It would feel really weird. I think flight simulators and RTS can be done on the consoles since you can plug a keyboard into all consoles via usb but it just wouldn't be fun. Those type of games are for one person to play and don't play well while sitting on a couch in front of the TV. It just doesn't feel right.

I love the old PC games like everyone else but it's funny how no one mentions playing any new PC games that have been created in the last year or two. I believe most people that have a computer never upgrade the machine. They only buy a new one when it gets too slow to use. Only the die hard gamer would keep up to date on technology. For most people, installing drivers, patches and video cards is way too much work just to play a game. The console games are static environments. I think we will see games improve as the programmers get better with the hardware. PCs allow the game programmer to be lazy since they can rely on new technology to compensate for poor coding. Take Crysis for example. There is no reason that game couldn't be played on the xbox 360. Programmers would have to work harder to match the graphics of the PC version but the control is there.

I think the thing that will save PC gaming is cloud computing. This is where the software is on the internet and the player just clicks a link on the browser to run the software. Nothing is installed locally. This could be a great thing for PC gaming. Imagine just clicking a link to play half life with state of the art graphics without having to install drivers or patches and your video card doesn't need upgrading. Even a lowly netbook could run it.

 
« Last Edit: December 29, 2009, 11:59 AM by Master_Phruby »
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