Very odd that you use Space Empires V and EA in the same example as their games are buggy for totally different reasons. SE V is because the whole game is designed by practically one person, and EA is because they don't give a damn about their customers. I doubt that your casual PC gamer would even know what SE V is, they would be unlikely to stumble across such an obscure game by accident, find it buggy and draw a conclusion that all games are buggy.

I don't think PC gaming is dying, more that certain genres within PC gaming are shrinking. Fortunately there are companies out there such as Stardock keeping the less mass-marketed genres going.

If it wasn't possible to make money with PC gaming, then it would be dead - all you'd have would be a very small group of people making games for free, which on average would be of an inferior quality (and before you start referencing to games already out there that are free+good quality, just consider for a moment why someone might make a good game for free. In many cases it's likely to build up their cv/be able to impress potential employers. Thus, if there are no such companies out there hiring because none of them can make money, you'll see some of the good quality games go, and will be reliant on those people who are prepared to spend countless hours making a game that will be free). Hence you should be glad there are companies out there wanting to (and making) money. Also bear in mind the more money that is made by one company (with a game), the more attractive PC gaming then becomes to other companies, so you have more games being produced. With gamers presumably on average buying a good game more than a bad game, you then have a clear financial incentive for developers+publishers to make a good game.

The problem is more that companies like EA aren't actually going after what will make them the most money (no DRM), but instead are paying money for something that will decrease their sales. This implies that they misinformed and/or care about other things aside from money.

Of course I doubt PC gaming will die - as long as PCs are such a staple in our lives, gaming will carry on (although it could diminish a bit). The only way I see it dying is if some new technology comes along that replaces the PC, but I really can't see that happening over the current horizon.

Just a follow up, are you trying to say that if a person buys Space Empires V and finds that it has a lot of bugs, they will go off and buy a Wii instead? Wouldn't he/she more likely look for other PC games in that genre instead after realising that consoles don't offer games anything like that? The fact is, PCs can cater to gamers in ways that consoles will NEVER be either able, or willing, to achieve.

There is a method to the madness of consumers who drift away from PC's as their gaming center. Simply put, consoles can offer things that PC's do not offer the day the game is released. Fantstic graphics at a relatively cheap price. Take the xbox 360 for example: default graphics are HDMI into an HDTV while most PC's have no video support beyond DVI.

PCs however will never die out as a video game market because their games are better protected against the wash of time. Eventually there will be no NES' left to play their games while the text based games of MS-DOS will always be around for gamers to experience. That's a pretty crummy example of why PC's will survive as a game port but I'm out of time so I'll summarize the rest of my point:

Consoles are dedicated gaming systems with multi-player in one place

PCs are less social machines but will always have games for them to play.

When things change, people, often those who refuse to change and can't seem to imagine any way but the old one, start saying that such and such is dying. There are several areas all doing that right now, movie, music distribution, and PC games among others, and the companies behind all are refusing to change while crying about their businesses dying. Meanwhile, fresh new companies are making plenty of money by ignoring the old ways and adapting to the times.

It's the way it's always been, going back centuries, every time there's a major change in the way technology effects business.

HDMI TV's are a bad joke right now. The signals being sent to them are insufficient to actually use the bandwidth capability of HDMI 1.3, and 1.0 was about half the speed of a DVI link. If the consoles stop using 30 fps refresh rates, you'll begin to have a reason for the HDMI link on a 1920x1080, non-interlaced screen. The DVI link can handle it at 60Hz just fine. The only current benefit from HDMI over DVI is that it includes the 8 channel sound instead of needing audio plugs as well.

Have you not noticed the problems with the economy and gas prices, of course people aren't going a $250 Wii, or a $350 Xbox 360 or a $600 PS3, because they are payiing a shit load of money on gas or food. This all because Bush started the war with Iraq, because i belive that the high gas prices are being used to secretly fund the war in Iraq and the military, why else wouldn't Bush lower the prices, because he wants to continue the war because either he wants oil or something else and if this war continues the US will be in so much debt plus we've lost half of our military because of this endless war. Nothing is oging to save PC gaming.

At the risk of going off topic, oil prices are determined by supply and demand, nothing more, nothing less. If demand is low, the prices are cheap. If demand is high, prices are high. Thanks to developing countries like China and India, who collectively account for more than 1/3 or the ENTIRE planet's population, the amount of demand for oil is increasing very, very, very, very fast, faster than oil companies can find and extract new reserves. Also, the increase in the number of gas-guzzling cars in the West isn't helping.

That's why we have such high oil prices. It has nothing to do with Bush or Iraq, nor can any government do anything to really reduce prices.


Mad Cat

[quote I doubt that your casual PC gamer would even know what SE V is, they would be unlikely to stumble across such an obscure game by accident,[/quote]

i bought it but i had no idea about the glitches and i think in SE 6 they should call it, Space Empires IV: More bugs than you can imagine!

Nothing is "oging"? Is it "going"? Just joking.  

Seth, I agree with you on a lot of stuff, but not this. The evidence saying that PC gaming is alive and well is overwhelming and overshadows your argument.

Also, there was also a thread talking about this before. You should have put your arguments there.


Etrius

Whee! Blame Bush that PC gaming is "dying"! Hey everyone, it's a conspiracy!
Honestly. I think you ought to look into the reason for higher prices. Mad Cat's got it in one.

Well, with my computer I use a DVI to VGA adapter, and my monitor supplies me with a nice 1600x1200 resolution @ 75Hz, non-interlaced. Have a good old fashioned CRT, although a new LCD is on my wish list. Problem is, with all of that width, they lose some height. You'd think that with the new technologies I'd get higher resolutions both ways, but I guess not . It's basically the same thing as 1080p but with a different aspect ratio.



There are some very nice MMORPGs for PCs . In fact, many of the top selling PC games are MMORPGs. Not to mention instant messaging, VoIP, Email, and of course the occasional LAN party.

I suppose the console does have that split screen thing, I'll give it that.

Although that is more a matter of priority and usage rather than technology. Split screen games for the PC do exist, and there's nothing saying you can't plug several game controllers into the USB ports on a PC.



By the way, you can play NES games on an emulator - on a PC .

DOS games have gone the same way - I need an emulator for them, as current versions of Windows have gotten rid of DOS.

In my experience, widescreen aspect ratios are far, far, far, far superior to non-widescreen ratios, ESPECIALLY in games like Sins where you can really make use of the extra space on the edges. So you lose a half to one inch in height - it's MORE than made up for by the width, however.


Mad Cat

I doubt piracy is a reason at all. It's getting easier for anyone with a console to find a mod that will allow them to play any game for free. The mods are legal and the games are transferred over bittorrent as easy as the PC software.

Sure, you can't play a pirated console game online, but how is that any different than PC games like SINS?

For the record, I have both a modded console and a PC, and I still prefer PC games. Besides the better control and easier learning curve, I can do other things (like facebook) during brief downtimes in gaming. My console is usually playing from a radio stream or my Drobo and I use it very little for actual gaming.

While PC gaming is not dead, it most certainly is dying.. Having been a PC gamer for 20 years, I've seen the decline, especially in the last few years..   On my last few visits to stores like Gamestop, EB, Walmart and Best Buy, you are lucky to find one shelf of PC games.. while console games now take up 90 percent of their gaming area..  Most remaining PC gaming companies are only geared for Online games so they can market you even as you play..  So Let's just thank goodness for companies like Stardock and a few others, who still think making good PC is not just a money cow but see it as a joy, a commitment and an art ..

To me, playing a great PC game is still like curling up with a good book..