PC Gamers - A Dying Breed?

[[Chris]]

Ok, this started off with my reading an article about Pc gaming dying out.. And yeah..

A lots been going on with the PC gaming scene; New hardware (DX11 Please?), More releases, Ubisoft being a good sport.. Wait.. What?

DRM aside, Computers - The grandfather of gaming, being pushed aside? NEVER!
Well, PC gaming seems to be dying out.

Recently, Epic’s president said that the company was going to halt their development of PC games and focus on console games for a while. He said that the PC gaming market was in “disarray.”

Now, I understand that PC gamers are a small minority, But look it in the way - New hardwares being released, Thats cheaper and more efficient, Ok; Look it from MY perspective, I own an Xbox 360, But i also own a laptop - Ok, its not great - I know, But i find myself just clicking the little icon that is TeamFortress 2. Ok, So whats your point? My point is - I load the game up, Have a good match, Have a good chat with MATURE people. I say this, because quite frankly - I find that PC gamers are more mature, Simply because of the price of a decent computer.

Compare this to consoles - Have you ever joined a game, And had younger children/Teenagers screaming, shouting and abusing players down the mic? When all you want, is to have a nice game, maybe chat to some of the players?

This brings me on to PRICING. Ok, i can hear you already "Pc gaming costs too much, Parts cost too much." Ok, ok. I see what you mean; Building (Or buying) a decent gaming rig, Can, And Will cost you a fair bit of your hard earned money, But is it really that different from buying a console?

Now, a friend suggested i mentioned Hardware faults. Hardware faults have become a large factor in the gaming industry, The Red ring of death and the Yellow light (deathly music cue). A pc can be kitted out with plenty of fans, holes for air circulation, And once the warrenty for parts run out - they can still keep on going, As can a PS3 or a 360, But then comes the hard truth - Your console will more than likely suffer from the heat

The PS3 and the 360 has the same fault - HEAT. The heat is the problem, It causes the lead-free solder in the components to crack - What happens when your warrenty runs out.. Do you run off to the closest game store and buy another console? Forking out another £150 or £250 for a new console?

Also - PC gamers can get most (if not all) Of their games over download services like steam, Is that really a bad thing?
And have you ever wanted an OLD game, Only to realise that its not sold any more on disk? Or its on a console that you dont own - You can probably find it somewhere on the internet.. Even if it does involve piracy (Do not pirate children! unless its Ubisoft games, Then your good , I joke. But whos going to listen to me.)

Although, In the future - I do see PC gaming being a large part of the market, Due to everything being easily accessable - And computers have a multi-purpose right?

Yes, I seem to have waffled on. Sorry. But how do YOU feel about developers not supporting PCs, Leaving avid gamers out in the cold?

/Wall of text

[Neil]

I had a discussion with my friend about this a while back, personally I think PCs are getting put to the back because it's less practical for consumers to buy PC parts and constantly upgrade just so they can run the newer games, of course it's more realiable than a PS3 or an xbox but it does cost more money in the long run, the fact is you can buy a brand new PC now and it'll have enough to run some of the most recent highly detailed games at a decent speed with high graphics settings but not even 2 years from that point you'll have to of upgraded ram, graphics and possibly processor just to keep up, while a cheap £150 for an xbox and it never requires you to pay extra just to keep playing the best new games at higher graphical settings.

That's not to say console gaming is superior, it's just more practical.

[Black_Apalachi]

Personally I've only ever played games like Worms, Age of Empires and The Sims on PC. The thought of playing normal console games on a PC has just never appealed to me - especially if you're talking about using the keyboard and mouse. I much prefer to sit back on the sofa or wherever with a wireless controller and a nice big TV :8

[Adamm]

Personally I've only ever played games like Worms, Age of Empires and The Sims on PC. The thought of playing normal console games on a PC has just never appealed to me - especially if you're talking about using the keyboard and mouse. I much prefer to sit back on the sofa or wherever with a wireless controller and a nice big TV :8

As opposed to my 27inch HD Screen, XBOX Controller and easily moddable games? Super.

PC Gamers are a dying bread but that's only because producers aren't producing the games for the PC. That's all. If you have a console, chances are you have a computer of some sorts so you can't say the market isn't there.

[Black_Apalachi]

Can you use a 360 pad on a PC?

[Oleh]

it seems the pc gamer breed have stuck to what they know and no more are joining the bandwagon (World of Warcraft doesnt appeal to the current teens neither does counter strike)

[Bailey]

World of Warcraft doesnt appeal to the current teens

/cough

Yeah, I have an xbox but I much prefer TF2 and some other games I like to play on the PC

[PaulMacC]

Can you use a 360 pad on a PC?

Yes with mapping programs but I personally will hunt you down and hit you over the head with a controller if you do. Keyboard and Mouse dogs all over Controllers. Just takes a while getting used to it.

I personally am upgrading my PC so I can play Call of Duty 4. Dedicated Servers dogs all over Console's online service.

[dbgtz]

I think consoles are better as said before, practicality. If you kinda think about it too they have like a basis to work with on consoles but PCs vary in their specs so yer. Personally I prefer consoles, yes I've played games on PC and I hate the keyboard and mouse, however on that note some games only suit PC like the Sims.

[Fez]

I've brushed elbows with a giant PC community, a bit like the Freemasons, I rub elbows and then they invite me into their nest. Thing is it's like I don't have arms, I don't have a good enough PC.

PC gaming is best suited to FPS controls and whatnot, not so much anything else, hope I got proven wrong. The community on there is so tight and networked, dedicated servers, whole clans stick together everyday and know where everyone is. It's a more fluid and defined experience.

Console gaming is another story. Usually you'll just be in a party with your mates, playing 16 maps until a map pack comes out. Connection problems strike and so do 12 year olds. A major problem and downfall of console gaming is also its biggest strength, it is more practical and appealing than building and rebuilding a PC.

I would like to get into PC gaming one day. Stumble into a great group of people and game everyday, but then I would still want to keep my consoles so I don't miss out on titles like Heavy Rain and Uncharted 2.

I probably know all of this firsthand because I setup a clan on the Orange Box PS3 version, in Team Fortress 2, we were a small console based clan based off of our PC overlords. But we were a more tight group then anyone out there. You'd see the same person out there, one of around 500 people who played it. We had server shutdowns every month, connection problems, no clan tags so we had to make seperate IDs but we had some fun for a while.