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Dreading the day ...
We have all heard the rumors and predictions for years now: "PCs are Dead... ALL games are moving toward consoles".
I, for one, am dreading the day that gaming dies for PCs ... I suppose if we can attach a keyboard and mouse and play the same way, it might be bearable. Hmm, on second thought, I'm not sure what I think about that.
Being someone who enjoys fairly frequent hardware upgrades , I would be pretty distraught the day an awesome game lagged and I had no way to increase the performance.
Nothing fancy...
Just DEATH
Comments
If there is a convergence of sorts, it will consist of consoles turning into cheap PCs optimized for gaming but capable of doing other PC functions as well.
I think we are actually seeing a divergence. PC's used to be one of the only ways to play games, consoles used to be much more limited (cartridge based with no network access). It used to be among the only multipurpose devices in a household, and possibly the only networked device.
Although I agree with Quiz, in that Consoles are trying to become more multipurpose, although mainly just so they can have bulletpoints on the side of their box as good reasons to buy this one instead of that one, not really so they compete with a PC.
I don't think PC gaming is dead, or will die. I think it will just be smaller slice of the growing pie. There will be a lot of games that don't care what you play it on - think about all the Facebook games out there: I don't care for them, but they don't care what you play them on, and has handheld and mobile devices get more powerful (not just phones, all those gameboys and PSPs as well), gaming will become even more diverse.
I don't see PC's dying anytime soon, but as other devices become more capable, people will start doing chores and entertainment on them rather than being chained to their desk at a PC to do it. I think, overall, it's a good thing. PC's will always be the big, multipurpose machine that's capable of doing just about anything - and I think Steve Jobs was right to compare them to the truck - it's a multipurpose vehicle, whether you need to haul boxes or people or just drive to the store, but there are better ways to do all 3 if that's the only thing you need to do. They won't ever go away, but people will find they can do most everything they want or need to do with more accessible and nimble devices, and gaming is a part of that.
I just wish gaming developers would stop trying to maximize their profits and shotgun spread their releases across multiple platforms, because it just serves to water down capabilities you can support in the title. But, I guess companies are always out to make a profit, and I am one of those that prefers to game on my PC, even if it's more expensive. For what it's worth, I also drive a truck...
Agreed.
I've been a console gamer most of my life and just recently switched to PC. Consoles are becoming more like PC's (live features, netflix, internet browsing, facebook, etc). I think we'll continue to see things like this and maybe even some options to upgrade console parts like you can with PCs. For example you can already buy bigger hard drives for xbox 360s, whos to say in a couple of years you won't be able to buy better graphics too.
I don't think PC gaming will ever die, I think what Quizzical said is true, consoles will turn into gaming PCs that are ultra simplified.
Its actually the other way around. Consoles are getting defeated to the point the Japanese are developing the majority of games for their handhelds while SmartPhones and Tablet PCs is where most gaming occurs among the general public. Thanks to the backwards compatability of the Windows Operating System, along with the aggressive nature at communities representing each title out there with its own fan base...There are means to download, purchase and install the full list of games available for PC. Not so for consoles...
Console games have a half life of around two years for popular titles in short supply. At the end of the run, the game tends to be released later and usually on a handheld. In fact, its a common trend today. If someone talks about playing old console games without a console, then its a PC they are using to run console emulators. Yes...This is what I (and many here probably use) do as the only console I have out now is a Playstation II due to the games I like there....
You know consoles are going downhill when Final Fantasy 15 is being made for Nintendo 3DS and when most advertisement for "Console Games" aired today on TV are HANDHELD games. Walk around any subway, train station, city or board any ship or plane and you are going to find most are running games on their smartphones and tablet PCs. Why do I want to play Street Fighter games on a Handheld (unless of course multiplayer exists) and Kingdom Hearts and Phantasy Star Portable Infinity are popular in Japan and Handheld based. Look at any handheld game list and you find a large disappointment.....so why would I want some handheld where I walk around ignoring everything around me except for the game I am playing enough to get ran over by a car or hit by a bus....?
PCs now have an amazing position. Most Console Multiplayer games today are actually PC multiplayer games ported to consoles. PC technology allows for anyone on a midrange video card to actually get a decent framerate at 1080p resolution and establish integrated audio/HD video decoding on video cards. It gets cheaper with each generation to actually put together a PC..that can deliver a framerate at 1080p. In fact SLI and other setups are there for those who need a lot more power, but those who desire to get some decent settings will find what they need to get by.
PCs are so strong now and support is behind them on such a level that in order for Japanese to "Enjoy" the games on PC and have them released for them and have continuous development for PC gaming platforms, the company Square-Enix Purchased Eidos. On Steam you find it the "Square-Enix" pack which is 80 - 90% EIDOS games...A Japanese company wouldn't "Admit Defeat" and conform to a PC gaming company in order to improve themselves unless a revolution exists.
Did you know that almost each time a Console MMO or Online game is made, that eventually after much revision the best version always turns out to be the PC version? So much that learning from their mistakes, the next Phantasy Star game is going to be a purely PC game only. ^_^
I think Shinami does make some fair points here.
Besides, if there is a convergence of any kind happening, then it's largely to the benefit of PCs, because the nature of it seems to be that PCs get continually cheaper and cheaper to build, while consoles are continually made more and more expensive to become like PCs, with multipurpose capabilities. We're quickly reaching a point where an at-release console costs the same as getting a PC with similar capabilities, at which point it becomes a question of asking why you need the extra hardware replication. If you're going to have a PC anyways, you might as well spend that same $400 you'd spend on a console and use it to get a more expensive PC that will both do more and be vastly better at gaming.
The really funny thing though, is listen to the developers. They claim that PC gaming is dying because of piracy, so they focus their development on the console. Then they complain about second-hand sales destroying the console environment, so they make the majority of the content DLC and account-linked.
You'd think these development companies are starving to death.
Consoles will never handle MMORPGs correctly -- at least until you get rid of the textual interface completely. If they get to the point where it is 100% 3d with voice recognition for the questors as opposed to typing in an interface and 100% voice communication between players and nobody can type at all -- then it might go console -- but until that happens it will be PC and we are talking > 10 years for the above to be even close to viable. Not the playstation 3. Not the playstation 4. Probably not the playstation 5. By the time you get to a PS6 maybe you will have to worry but by that point who even knows what a computer will be like?
It's much more difficult to pirate singleplayer games on consols which is why may publishers are moving in that direction. This is not a problem for games like MMO's which have subs..
Also, if anything the PC gamer base is only growing with facebook games like Farmville. I know, the game is a piece of crap in its own right but regardless it is a game.
Honestly though I cant see PC games going away, do you realize how many more PC's are out in the world that consoles? It's such a gigantic user base that isn't going away.
Remember Old School Ultima Online
It also doesn't help that these companies have made foolishly bloated consoles and are taking a loss on every one sold so have to rely solely on these game sales to turn a profit. (Though I think now Microsoft is actually making a tiny profit off the xbox 360 now days, or at least breaking even.)
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
That, and that they are putting out games with multi-million dollar budgets and hoping they sell based on advertising, rather than being fun.
Actually, thanks to the scare that SONY gave to Americans this month, many have responded by ditching their PS3s and PSPs in anger. People are afraid of being "prosecuted" just for not being liked since now Sony has legal power to get almost any PS3 owner for whatever reason they want and even prosecuted in Japan, thanks to a certain Judge...
You see....Developers thought whole-heartedly that Consoles could be a detterent to escape Piracy...But that has failed miserably. Today piracy is alive and growing in the console world. In Japan, they are prosecuting people for hacking and pirating their games...Europeans and Americans both have the binaries needed to pirate PSP games and PS3 games.
And if you think Xbox 360 is a detterent, think again.....More piracy occurs through a 360 now more than ever.
The only shit that truly annoys me...and I know you all hate it too....is when we wait for that one game we want to play which shows up on every console + PC and you then deal with all of these ads that claim you get access to "Exclusive Content" depending on the version you own and where and who you shop from. So much for owning a "complete game."
I saw that, they subpoenaed the IP addressed for everyone that even just visited the hack site, and somehow the retarded judge granted it. Like just looking at the information made you a criminal, regardless of it you downloaded the crack file, or installed it, or used it, or even used it in a malicious or illegal fashion, which would actually be the only real illegal action of all of those listed.