GTA4 is coming to PC

PC gaming is dying guys

PC gaming is also being hurt by piracy/hacker assholes.

For being about something that is supposedly dying, this post is sure getting a lot of responses...

I have been a gamer since the 80's and ever since consoles went 3D back in 96 with the N64 I have been hearing that console gaming is dying. Well guys, it's still here, alive and well.

System requirements have increased but hardware prices have plummeted. It would cost twice as much money only 3 yrs ago to build a top of the line gaming rig than it does today. The majority of PC gamers don't even need the latest hardware. As long as you have a mainstream/performance mainstream card you are good to go for most games. There is graphics settings of course.

Last, I think PC games are different enough from consoles that it gives this market something unique to seperate it and I can't see it dying out any time soon.

Unless laptops that can actually run games get *really* cheap sometime soon, I doubt it. They won't be replacing handhelds either, unless they start making pocket-sized laptops (that you can actually do normal computer tasks on, and afford).



Pretty much all of that aside from modding is already started or growing with the current-gen consoles.

There are at least three main reasons why many developers move towards consoles and away from PC games, and those are the inherent problems the PC scene needs to see resolved before it can regrow.

1) Piracy. It's no joke. If you've seen figures on how much sales are lost to piracy you know what I am talking about. It's totally ridiculous in some instances. Subscriptions, like in MMO's is one way and this is already beginning to change. But economically the PC market today is still very risky and not really worth the effort to many studios.

2) Pickiness of PC customers. Console audiences are way bigger, and are way more content with interesting gameplay innovations than the vocal minority of PC gamers who are very conservative. Some companies, like Valve and Blizzard have the knowledge and resources to keep making pretty much the same game over and over again with better tech, but most other developers don't. For them to make an interesting product it needs to reach an audience that accepts new approaches. The console market is way better in this regard. The potential customer base is much bigger and easier to reach.

My guess is that the PC market will continue to cater for niche games (which it does well, especially with modding and communities) but there is a critical point under which it is no longer profitable. Further fueled by many PC customers wanting to have very high tech games to show off hardware with this becomes a very complicated, and unprofitable, equation. Maybe we'll see this specific PC segment totally implode on itself and see a more indie kind of culture grow.

3) Hardware concerns. As mentioned in previous posts. It's difficult, and expensive, to make a game when you can't be sure what kind of hardware or OS configurations people have. Consoles are dead easy in that regard. If it runs on the dev kit at a decent framerate your good to go. This is getting better on the PC, with general standards being more common, but more is needed. It's still a hassle. And then there is the effect of the market segment, i.e. potential customers, shrinking the more advanced a product you make (in terms of tech).

I do hope the PC market manages to recuperate. I enjoy console games personally when I want a quick fix of good gameplay, but PC games have something different to bring that the consoles scarcely can match. Communities, modding, a different depth of gameplay (at least in strategy games) etc. It's two different kinds of gaming in many regards, and I want both. If I can't have my strategy fix I'll be very grumpy.

Maybe this is what the PC market will be in the future, indie games, MMO's and strategy games, and the PC titles that are better on console are left to consoles. 'Cause I can't really see any reason why I'd want to play Halo, GTA or KOTOR on a PC. With Sins or Total War it's a different story. And perhaps it's easier to retain a paying customer base with these kinds of titles as the players tend to stick with the games for longer periods of time. Subscription based revenues, micro transactions, ingame advertising etc. There are many ways to circumvent the loss of revenue that piracy means but it's going to take some forward thinking and new approaches.

Anyway, my two cents.

KOTOR does have mod support. I dunno how well it works, but it does have it. Just had to say that.

Umm, I have both KOTOR's on my PC, and loved them both. I watched a friend play it on his xbox and it was awkward.


As far as 1st person shooters, PC blows console out of the water. Case in point, I was playing Halo 3 the other night while chugging beers and I'm sorry but the controls are so lame. Any game that has to have some type of autoaim/aim assist because the stupid nobby analog whatevers are a crappy way to attempt precision movements isn't worth my money. Give me WASD with a mouse any day of the week and I'll obliterate any mouthy controller user.


The nature of PC gaming might be in flux, but it sure as hell ain't dying.

Of course it's easier to aim with a mouse than with a pad. That's not the point. It's sure better to play driving games with a steering wheel, but Gran Turismo works with a pad as well. It'll be interesting to see what happens when things like the Wii remote gets better quality (right now it's too wonky). That'll be the day.

My point is, that the mouse aiming alone is not going to save PC shooters. It's not enough of a difference. COD4, Halo3, you name 'em. They're great games on consoles. The large amount of people that think that and buy them are a much better incentive for studios to build shooters for consoles, and avoid piracy issues, than conservative PC players. Why make a shooter for PC and sell 1M copies if you can make it for Xbox and sell 10M? And with the quality consumers expect today you really need to sell 10M copies.

I was not making a comparison between console and PC aiming, I was just arguing why it is that parts of the PC gaming arena gets less attention from major studios than they did five or ten years ago.

But I agree, it's not dying. But it's going to need to change. Which was my point.



I disagree. On a pad you have all the buttons close at hand, and if the design is good you can do lots of things way more elegantly than with a PC--for action games, mind you. Not complex games like strategy or RPGs. Try a game like Rainbow Six Las Vegas for instance. It can do very quickly everything you'd ever need from a shooter. More complex games, like RPG's or strategy games is a different kettle of fish and usually fare better on PC.

Extremely complex issue, and for better or worst, that is one thing that set apart the PC gaming from console gaming.



Sadly, both casual pc gamers and old timers have become spoiled gamers. Games like Starcraft, WoW, Diablo, Age of Empires, C&C, Half-life, Civilization, etc. They are all polished and very good at what they offer. People who play those games today get used to their level of polish. A level that many new and innovative games being released simply can not match (right out in release). So IMO, its not that gamers are conservative, its that they are spoiled, and want every game to be flawless or else it sucks.



Always have been, always will be. It will never change. Most gamers will always not have high-end dream machines.

Although developers seems to have forgotten it. Crysis' devs expected people to dish out over $500 for upgrades simply to play the game.....



Now a days, this argument is stupid, on the PC, one can configure and use a controller to play a game. And I have heard that consoles like the Xbox can use a keyboard and mouse.

Either way, it does not matter at all. The control scheme issue is purely personal. Only real reason a gamer would end up using a control scheme he does not like is if the game forces it.



Ahh, one of my favorite arguments as to why PC gaming is dying.

It is true, consoles now have many features that were previously only on the pc, like internet gaming, modding, communities, etc.

BUT!!! In reality, that is not proof of PC gaming dying at all, its proof of console gaming becoming PC gaming!!!!

Just look at the price of consoles, the gap in price between a mid-range PC and a console is closing. And Sony, et al have said many times that consoles' prices are below what they really cost to make.



MechWarrior and MechAssault are completly different games. MechWarrior is a Sim, MechAssault is action shooter, completly different.

What is the point of these posts?

To say something is dying implies that it will eventually die.

PC gaming won't (at least not in our life-times).

End of.

Move along, these are not the posts you're looking for.



That's just poor control design and could have been done better. But the guys at BioWare work for the same company as I do. Can't really bash them in public, can I?

I can bash BioWare as much as I like? OMG! I'm gonna start booking their conference rooms just to screw with them.



Yes you can, but it's not very common. Most console consumers sit in front of their televison sets and can't be bothered. For better or for worse.