# PC Gaming. Is it dying? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 9, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986 "2010-11-09T02:05:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/101 "2010-11-12T02:27:23Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > I leave you with some words from Ken Levin, man behind irrational games and Bioshock: > > "The PC is the place where great game developers are born, even-and maybe especially-where great console game developers are born. " Indeed. I have fond memories of playing Miyamoto’s opus, Legend of Zelda, on my first computer, a 286. I think I followed that up with Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear which I remembered being slightly cumbersome with a mouse and keyboard, but I made do. And who can forget Shinji Mikami’s classics, all available first on the PC. God damn gaming would be fucked if it weren’t for the PC giving life to these developers. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/102 "2010-11-12T02:39:46Z")
Yeah, because PC being a source of some of the best modern console games and genres means that there were no great console games before :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/103 "2010-11-12T02:51:34Z")
Metal Gear actually did start on the PC. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/104 "2010-11-12T02:56:29Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Why do sports games not port well to the PC? Is there something different about sitting there with a gamepad in your hands in front of a monitor? > > Console fan misconception #158212852. You aren’t limited to keyboard/mouse controls on the PC. Control shit with a gamepad. Control it with a steering wheel. Control it with a joystick. Control it with rudder pedals. Control it with TrackIR. Control it with your fucking rock band drum set. Use whatever the hell controls you want to. In my experience, PC game pads never match up _exactly_ with their console counterpart. The one exception is how it’s working now on my laptop using my PS3 controller. I’ll give you that. But people who play sports games tend to play in between intermissions/half time in a game that they’re watching on TV, in my experience. That usually means playing with friends. I seldom play sports games by myself. Online accounts for about a third of my play, with the majority being with other people at my apartment. Would you concede that PC games aren’t the best when you have two people playing in the same room, or is that another console misconception? ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/105 "2010-11-12T03:00:35Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Yeah, because PC being a source of some of the best modern console games and genres means that there were no great console games before :rolleyes: “How dare someone offer counter examples to my unclear point!” I hear ya, brah. In order to make such a statement requires hindsight, and I don’t see how \*when \*a developer came to be matters–PC gaming has existed before consoles and has always been a factor. > [@Kinthalis via Ken Levine](#): > > “Halo, Mass Effect, Call of Duty…PC developers first,” he pointed out.: Harmonix, Sucker Punch, Platinum Games, Level-5…console developers first. Look, I can make pointless lists too! > [@Palooka](#): > > Metal Gear actually did start on the PC. Indeed, I forgot the MSX2 was a computer and not a PC. I could have listed one of myriad interchangeable games and my point would still stand, however. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/106 "2010-11-12T03:06:05Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Indeed, I forgot the MSX2 was a computer and not a **PC**. \*Console :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/107 "2010-11-12T03:17:28Z")
A little company called Blizzard Entertainment started on the consoles. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/108 "2010-11-12T03:23:39Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > A little company called Blizzard Entertainment started on the consoles. Indeed they did! Lost Vikings will always live on in my heart. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/109 "2010-11-12T04:02:24Z")
There are good games for both (all?) platforms. I don’t think anyone is arguing the inherent hardware superiority that PC’s have enjoyed for so long, just that there are different parameters for PC games versus console games, and what consoles offer that PC’s can’t is that “instant multiplayer playability” component that is especially fun for games like Madden on Xbox or PS3 that PC’s cannot offer. That said, anyone that thinks a game like Fallout New Vegas is better on a console than a PC doesn’t really understand PC gaming and likely never will. ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/110 "2010-11-12T08:15:18Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Well, it’s interesting why this question keeps coming up. > You think it’s because of a PC vs console attitude. It’s not interesting the question keeps coming up as it comes up every console generation and about every six months on top of that. If people chucked a PC every time this question had come up in the last 15+ years there wouldn’t be one left on the planet yet PC gaming still hasn’t faded away. It is a console vs PC attitude as if the market has to be one or the other. You see the same (to lesser extent) in console vs console debates. The only difference is that sometimes console platforms do die before their time. That’s never been the risk with PC gaming. > [@](#): > > I don’t think so. For one thing, I’ve joined this discussion as someone pessimistic about the future of PC gaming and yet I own a high-end PC and do not own a games console. If it were like the megadrive vs snes posturing of yesteryear why am I betraying my side? Just because you are on a ‘side’ doesn’t mean you can’t form a bad opinion of it. Like someone bashing their own favourite sports team it happens. Also it’s possible for a person’s preferences to change and move from one to the other or back. > [@](#): > > It’s because I want to see games that innovate – not graphically but in gameplay. > And for the most part that’s what console games do, not PC games any more. > As I stated earlier, of the cherished PC genres, in my opinion, MMOs are getting set in their ways, and RTS games are both set in their ways and crap. Which is funny because I usually see innovation in PC games and indie developers. Of course console games do seem to have a lot of gimmick control schemes out there right now so this might change. Maybe PC gaming will lose you. Still won’t make it die. > [@](#): > > I’m glad you’re mentioning this, as some upthread seem to have assumed that “dying” means the complete end of the PC gaming platform. That if a single PC game is bought by anyone in the world the platform is not dying. Well as I stated I don’t think PC gaming will ever just be a pity platform which I would consider ‘dead’. > [@](#): > > Clearly that’s not going to happen. But the point it’s at now, is where even taking into account steam and the like, the PC game market is small potatoes. And smaller stores don’t even have any PC games, or they may have a couple of console ports and a bunch of click adventures…yeah, that’s dying. Small potatoes if you compare it against the entire console market and not an individual console. It is also on how people are stacking the numbers. It makes for a better story that way. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/111 "2010-11-12T15:18:34Z")
Well that’s settled then. PC gaming is in rude health and the fact that this question keeps coming up just shows how jealous people are. I can now walk with pride to the dusty corner of my local games shop, and behold the wonders of the couple of shelves of WoW and Sims packs, and budget titles that are up to 10 years old. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/112 "2010-11-12T15:26:10Z")
[QUOTE=Mijin] I can now walk with pride to the dusty corner of my local games shop, and behold the wonders of the couple of shelves of WoW and Sims packs, and budget titles that are up to 10 years old. [/QUOTE] Or, you could get yourself one of those new fangled ‘high speed internet connection’ thingies and do what the rest of us do…download your games from a direct marketing site like Steam or Direct to Drive (or Window’s Live, or [Battle.net](http://Battle.net), or Stardock, or…). 😛 Seriously, people are basing their opinion that PC Gaming is dying (for the 10 millionth time) because there aren’t a lot of PC Games on the shelves of their local EB?? That’s hilarious! -XT ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/113 "2010-11-12T15:33:30Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Seriously, people are basing their opinion that PC Gaming is dying (for the 10 millionth time) because there aren’t a lot of PC Games on the shelves of their local EB?? That’s hilarious! > > -XT Well, that plus **SenorBeef** ’s rant in every thread on this topic that evil consoles are killing his hobby, and his diatribes that everyone with a console should play games on a PC instead. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/114 "2010-11-12T15:53:59Z")
PC games will live on as long as PCs live on. Hell, I consider my iPad a ‘PC’, and soem of the first stuff I got for it (once I Jailbroke the thing) were games. And there were more games than I could put on it. My computer at home has a TB drive, much of it taken up with games and mods. Right now I have more games that I have time to play them (I recently got back into WoW which is cutting into my Fallout New Vegas time, as well as my time to play all the Steam games I’ve downloaded and haven’t had time to get into). I’m trying to figure out how to make time for when Diablo III comes out, or the FONV expansions I know are coming, or Total War Shogun…or to get back in to play some of my old favorites that have expansions or mods to them that I want to try out (there are some mods to Total War Empire/Napoleon that I want to try out). If PC gaming is dying it’s not obvious to me. There is already a bigger list of games due to come out next year than I have time to play. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/115 "2010-11-12T16:44:29Z")
As a result of this thread, I decided to poke at graphics cards, since mine is two years old. Now, granted, what I currently have was a $100-150 card two years ago, but comparing it to a 2010 $200 card…dear god. NVIDIA and ATI are still making incredible technological advances (apparently for the sole purpose of running Crysis quickly) and I’ve already sold myself on upgrading my video card sometime in the next few months. Which is a bit of a conundrum, as I’d really like to get an X-box 360, but then that means buying new games on top of it. The video card would make the existing games I do play run really fast and really pretty. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/116 "2010-11-12T17:12:15Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Seriously, people are basing their opinion that PC Gaming is dying (for the 10 millionth time) because there aren’t a lot of PC Games on the shelves of their local EB?? Yes, that’s right, among other things. If the existence of a flourishing online marketplace is sufficient to kill the physical retail presence, why hasn’t the same happened to the xbox or ps3? And why does the PC section look virtually identical to a couple of years ago: sims, WoW, budget titles from the start of the decade? But anyway, talk of online downloads has reminded me of something: [QUOTE=Ken Levin] (PC is…) where the leading-edge ideas form, primarily because the barrier of entry is low and you can have an idea that goes like this: “Hey, I’ve got an idea!” “Cool! Who do we need to approve this idea?” “Umm…nobody?” And then the idea gets done. Because magic can happen when there are no middle men, no marketers, and no naysayers. [/quote] How about XBox Live Arcade and XNA? I mean someone needs to “approve” your game on this portal, but only in the sense of checking it works, and rating it for adult content. And you have access to a large market. I don’t see how launching on Steam, say, is any different. iPhone and android apps also have virtually no start up costs. ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/117 "2010-11-12T17:23:25Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Well that’s settled then. > > PC gaming is in rude health and the fact that this question keeps coming up just shows how jealous people are. I don’t know how you got that from what I said. Console gamers are in no way jealous of PC gaming. And they certainly have no reason to be. There is a weird rivalry (on both sides) and as technology and the Market changes there will be questions about PC’s role in that market. It’s just not a dying industry. > [@](#): > > I can now walk with pride to the dusty corner of my local games shop, and behold the wonders of the couple of shelves of WoW and Sims packs, and budget titles that are up to 10 years old. Alright but that’s not how most PC gamers get their games anymore. Digital sales are now greater then store sales. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/118 "2010-11-12T22:50:52Z")
> [@Darkhold](#): > > Alright but that’s not how most PC gamers get their games anymore. Actually, I think it rather is- at least in this part of the world. Digital sales here haven’t taken off to the huge extent they have in the US due to the slow average speed and data limits on broadband here, along with exchange rate issues and a mistrust of spending a lot of money for a product with no physical presence (ie a game disc). To be fair, EB Games and JB Hi Fi etc do have the latest release PC games, so there’s no issue getting “Big” releases, but B-side releases can be more work if you’re determined to get a legitimate copy on disc. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/119 "2010-11-13T01:51:03Z")
I used to be a die hard PC game fan but recently I’ve gone over to PS3. Several reasons: It’s more fun for me playing games on a 42 inch plasma screen than on a conventional PC monitor. I don’t have to worry about software bugs so much. I never have to worry that a game is going to crash as soon as I start it up or that it won’t be compatible with some arcane system application my PC is running. You don’t have to patch, patch, patch all the time. There are more interesting games, like Heavy Rain. With all that said, I _miss_ the days when there were lots of great PC games that I liked. But I also miss the days when there were more console games I liked. But part of that, a big part, is just nostalgia. I remember when I first got my Playstation, when I was around 11 or 12, and played Final Fantasy VII, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, Fighting Force, and other games all the time. There’s just something magical about those old games that I’ll never, ever be able to recapture because they fit with a time and place in my life that I can never go back to, just as I can never play pee wee hockey again, and can never turn on the local top 40 radio station and hear The Cranberries and The Sundays and Better Than Ezra. When I play those old playstation games nowadays, for nostalgia, they just make me sad. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986/120 "2010-11-13T02:20:37Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Yes, that’s right, among other things. > > If the existence of a flourishing online marketplace is sufficient to kill the physical retail presence, why hasn’t the same happened to the xbox or ps3? Speaking as a guy who plays games on both, because it’s simply easier to download large games on the PC than it is on my PS3. The big titles simply cannot be purchased through D/L on my PS3. If they could be, I’d buy them that way, but they can’t, at least not that I’ve seen. When I wanted Red Dead Redemption, I **had** to buy physical media. When I wanted Civ V, I didn’t; I had a choice. > [@](#): > > And why does the PC section look virtually identical to a couple of years ago: sims, WoW, budget titles from the start of the decade? Same reason the PS3 section always looks the same: FPS’s, sports, and guitar games. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-is-it-dying/559986.md?page=7)