# PCGamer, SMAC, and the continuing decline of the PC gaming industry **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pcgamer-smac-and-the-continuing-decline-of-the-pc-gaming-industry/237758 "2004-04-01T16:59:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pcgamer-smac-and-the-continuing-decline-of-the-pc-gaming-industry/237758/41 "2004-04-02T20:16:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Which kind of proves my point: if a 7 year old AI written for a P-2, 200MhZ with MMX technology can beat out every single AI written since, then there is a genuine creative slump in this industry. Thanks! Nah, AI is really, really hard to make. I’m still not sure how they managed to make it. But anyway, no console has even come close to matching HL’s performance. Truth be told, Consoles are getting some big sales these days, but they aren’t any more original. > [@](#): > > Btw, where is Knoxburg? I live in Knoxville, are we close? I do live in Knoxville. There are like, 2 other dopers from here. > [@](#): > > There are plenty of ways to keep playing console games long after they’ve “faded away.” And then there’s a super great easy way to play console games in their original form: Honestly, I’m not about to go out and buy my favorite games all over again. I already own them. Hence the whole point of playing them on PC. AV switchers are nice, too, but who wants to have 12 consoles out on the floor? ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pcgamer-smac-and-the-continuing-decline-of-the-pc-gaming-industry/237758/42 "2004-04-02T20:49:23Z")
Speaking of AIs, I dunno who else is playing UT2K4, but the bots are often as good (and sometimes better) than other people in multiplayer servers. And not just 1v1, I mean they work in teams a lot better than some crappy teams I’ve been on. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pcgamer-smac-and-the-continuing-decline-of-the-pc-gaming-industry/237758/43 "2004-04-02T21:57:08Z")
> [@](#): > > over the past four years, by looking at the amount of space dedicated to PC games at Best Buy (even accounting for the smaller boxes) shrink from a full 2 double-sided shelves to 1/2 of 1 side of the same shelves … And the game shelves at Fry’s Electronics have gone from a single shelf to two full rows. Hell, they have one entire side dedicated soley to FPS’s. > [@](#): > > by seeing how the gaming magazines went from 300+ page issues to 125 page issues More competition. You have any idea how many magazines there are now, compared to seven or eight years ago? Further, most magazines have become more specific… previously, PC games and console games used to be lumped together. Now most magazines differentiate (several mags are dedicated entirely to the Playstation). Your survey sample ain’t lookin’ too hot, JohnT… > [@](#): > > I know I’ve changed, but I also can tell that the games really haven’t. Sure, if you look only at the way that games haven’t changed and ignore the ways they have, that’s exactly how the scenario will look. For instance, nowadays, first-person shooters still use a first-person perspective. Well, damn, how uninnovative! They had first-person first-person shooters back in the early nineties! Maybe they should try putting their first-person shooters in third-person mode! And the third-person shooters should be done as flight simulators! See, you’re only looking at the fundamentals and noticing a “stagnation”. Well, duh, that’s why it’s a fundamental. But look at the list of games I rattled off, and see if you can, off the top of your head, pump out an equally large list of _bad_ first-person shooters. Consider it a bit of a challenge. 20X6! ---
**Author:** ![kinoons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@kinoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kinoons)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pcgamer-smac-and-the-continuing-decline-of-the-pc-gaming-industry/237758/44 "2004-04-02T22:55:48Z")
one of the major reasions I stay with my PC than a counsel is graphics. My system runs at 1024x768 for normal use, and I crank it up to even 1600x1200 for games. I have yet to find a X-box or PS2 that can do that, because they are still constrained by being played on a TV (to the best of my knowlage) ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pcgamer-smac-and-the-continuing-decline-of-the-pc-gaming-industry/237758/45 "2004-04-02T23:25:15Z")
Consoles stopped being constrained by TVs after the Sega Dreamcast, though not all games took advantage of the ability. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pcgamer-smac-and-the-continuing-decline-of-the-pc-gaming-industry/237758/46 "2004-04-02T23:52:08Z")
I gotta agree with other that say that this ‘PC games are in decline’ have been heard since time immemorial. And then you get a game which changes up things and they are considered the exception, but it results in great innovation. I recall when people said the CRPG was dead, as in never coming back. Then Fallout and Baldur’s Gate came out and suddenly RPG was the new ‘hot’ genre. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pcgamer-smac-and-the-continuing-decline-of-the-pc-gaming-industry/237758.md?page=2)