Is the PC loosing ground?

Hello people,

Well as the topic states, "Is the PC loosing ground?" or perhaps better said "Is the PC loosing grounds when it comes to gaming?"

Back during the home computer wars the PC alwys seemed to pull the short straw when it came with computers, older machines such as the Commodore 64, the Spectrum, and then current machines such as the Amiga and Atari ST seemed to receive much better support when it came to actions, adventure, RPGs, sports, movie tie ins, with the occasional conversion to the PC.

Around the nineties I think this started to change, lots more games started to develop for the PC, and where converted to other machines, as the graphics quality started to improve and the fact that a hard drive became more important if you wanted to make more 'larger' games.

However these days long after the home computer wars, and now in the next gen console wars which contenders how long since caught up with the PC's hardware capabilities, we see a shift from PC to these.

There are probably many reasons but I think the biggest issue might be the software pirating that also plagued the home computers and might have led to their demise.

But the fact is that most developers and publishers rather these days work with the big consoles such as the X360, the upcoming PS3 and to a smaller degree the Wii (I still have to see more software coming for it).
Abandoning the PC market and its users, or publishing lesser.

Perhaps also because most small developers are part of the big publishers, and the costs of developing new software plays a role, in general the costs of a console and a PC game are the same, but console games reach the buying public easier than PC games as a lot of people don't have a PC or not a state of the art one that can run these games.

I am not saying that the PC market is dying but will this shift continue, making it so in the end that PC releases are usually conversions of existing console games or games that were developed at the same time as their console counter parts (which often leads to control related problems).

What do you all think?

The PC's main advantage over the consoles in recent years has been it's online gaming ability. The last generation of consoles promised to compete but only XBox came close, PS2 didn't get it's act together until late on in it's lifespan because of the slow takeup of broadband and Gamecube didn't try. I think the next generation (360,PS3) have a much better chance of competing.

This has been an ongoing discussion on many gaming forums for a long time now.

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However these days long after the home computer wars, and now in the next gen console wars which contenders how long since caught up with the PC's hardware capabilities, we see a shift from PC to these.

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Far from it. Have you seen the first DirectX 10 graphics cards for the PC? They blow any of the next generation consoles out for the water.

Also more recent graphics cards can output directly to HDTV via HDMI connector which is a great feature. And with DX10 it will easily be able to push the games at full resolution with no problems.

But I think the consoles and the PC have now reached a point where developers don't need to struggle with limitations of any current hardware platform to get the results they want. Hopefully this will show a switch from trying to show off the capabilities of hardware to concentrating on the actual game mechanics and gameplay. But we will see, as with any new generation of hardware the first thing a lot of users want to see is a demonstration of what their new hardware can do.

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But the fact is that most developers and publishers rather these days work with the big consoles such as the X360, the upcoming PS3 and to a smaller degree the Wii (I still have to see more software coming for it).
Abandoning the PC market and its users, or publishing lesser.

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It actually depends on the genre of game and the style of gameplay. Strategy games are always more likely to sell on PC than any console, same for many types of RPG, Flight Sims and some other genres. Also the MMORPG market is huge on the PC and nowhere near the same size on any console. They hope to change this with the networks in place on the new consoles, but only time will see if this does have any effect. Look at World of Warcraft for the best example.

Equally other genres like racing, platform, and action adventures are all better suited to console control than a PC keyboard.

Personally I don't think we will see much difference in the way people play games compared to recent years. The Wii may make more PC only gamers start playing some console games but I think the Wii will always be an addition to any existing gaming trends instead of replacing them.

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Originally Posted by Harrison

This has been an ongoing discussion on many gaming forums for a long time now.

Quote:

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However these days long after the home computer wars, and now in the next gen console wars which contenders how long since caught up with the PC's hardware capabilities, we see a shift from PC to these.

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Far from it. Have you seen the first DirectX 10 graphics cards for the PC? They blow any of the next generation consoles out for the water.

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Exactly. A decently spec'd PC blows away the 360 and PS3. My brother has an Xbox360 and he was amazed at me playing FarCry (an "older" game mind you) on my barely mid-level speced PC.

The PC will always be better then any console, because you can quickly upgrade the parts to play the newest games on fantastic settings. The consoles however, will begin to date within the next few years.

PCs **** me off with their constant driver-update-requiring setings-tweaking BSOD-ing online-registering spec-changing patch-releasing shizzle.

Give me a console that plugs right into my big telly easily and a disc that slots in and just runs any day of the week.

Also, playing PC games with real friends physically in the same room just doesn't seem to work too well, for me anyway.


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Disclaimer:
Post may contain exaggerations. If you don't like it, suck it.

That is very true. PC gaming is really only for single player locally and mutiplayer over a network. Console gaming so directly geared towards multiplayer and works due to the TV normally being much larger than a PC monitor, the console directly supporting easy to use controllers and the location meaning you can all sit together on comfortable seats instead of at a desk.