Is PC Gaming Dying? BitTech

[AndrewZorn]

thats the problem though, i just explained to a friend the other day that he could have bought a computer that played games instead of an acer aspire one and a PS3

and i dont think the "widespread piracy" thing is a matter of medium
but more a matter of the users

as in
the college dudes who want to play the new madden do not consider the fact that there is another way
vs
the l337 ha><or unimpressed with the current pc lineup will hack his 360

if they get everyone to stop playing pc games the piracy rate might even be higher, as i think console piracy is vastly underestimated: once a console is modded it's usually easy going after that (really, think about it), compared to pc titles that constantly evolve and require new haggling. a lot of people get tired of calling the computer guy over to their house for this.

[Chumbucket843]

if they get everyone to stop playing pc games the piracy rate might even be higher, as i think console piracy is vastly underestimated: once a console is modded it's usually easy going after that (really, think about it), compared to pc titles that constantly evolve and require new haggling. a lot of people get tired of calling the computer guy over to their house for this.

M$ could care less about mod chips or firmware hacks. i even considered installing one myself. its even worse than pc piracy because after you do it all you would do is rent games for 5 bucks and install them on the hdd.

[AndrewZorn]

are you serious?

mod chips allow the same thing using all the cracks and mods in the world on pc. easier access to cheats.

let us review:
ps1 - plug into back, free games and cheats
dreamcast - just burn the disc right, free games
ps2 - someone fill me in
xbox - free games, games on hdd, do way more with the console (pretty much the stuff they advertise that the 360 can do)
gc - burn the disc right for free games (?)
360 - mod chip or firmware on optical, free games
psp - no physical mod even needed any longer, free games and vastly enhanced features
ds - see above

how is this not way worse than what the PC crowd is worried about? like i said, once you get started a monkey could do it. with computer games it can take an hour or two of reading online for a specific game, and hassle when a patch comes out... and you can rarely play multiplayer because of the key system.

i am very sure that if we all go to console, pirates will always be pirates, except now all their neighbors and friends will catch on too.

[halo112358]

bit-tech are a bunch of clowns with nothing else to write about

This is so true. These threads were entertaining about 5 years ago, now they're just the same trash repeated ad nauseum.

[dasa]

It's hard to argue against a $400 device that will do everything your $1500 device will do in terms of gaming. If all you really care about is game play what you play it on shouldn't be that big a deal...as long as it does the job.

the gap isnt really that big any more especially when you consider most people need a pc for other tasks anyway
sure you could spend a heap on a i7 pc with sli\cf but that kinda power isnt needed to outdo a console this should run fallout 3 for example better than a console could and could look much better once texture moded thanks to the extra memory


this is all in aus $

AMD Athlon II X2 240 2.8GHz 2x1MB $77
GA-MA770-US3 $95
2x2G 800MHz $58
4870 1GB $199 or 4850 512m $134
500G 7200 sata $64
DVD burner $29
Gigabyte GZ-X $45
Silverstone 500W St50F $70
win 7 free for now...
kb+m $7
$579-644
spend $50 on a hsf to help oc the cpu and $35 on a gaming mouse and this should go ok

Xbox 360 Console Elite $527
Playstation 3 120G slim console $488
Xbox 360 Console Arcade $293


edit
hmm microsoft may have caned that free win 7 trial so xp would be $105 or vista premium 64 would be $130 hurts a bit but still not bad

[Nightstar]

While I don't believe that PC gaming is dying, I have noticed that fewer PC titles catch my interest lately. Everything is recycled from last year or last decade(SC2). To be honest the only games I found to be interesting in the last year were L4D, Defense Grid and Demigod. Having finished the aforementioned games I rarely find a reason to boot my gaming rig.

I believe that the game industry is transitioning from designing PC games for PC enthusiasts to designing PC games for average PC owners. After all the financial incentives favor volume over quality, and the studios aren't making games for the good of the people now are they.

PC gaming is actually returning to it's roots like back when you didn't need to pony up $300 every 2 years for a new VGA card to play the current titles. Yes friends there was a time before VGA video accelerators when people played games on the most rudimentary PCs and had fun nonetheless. These people are the focus of the game studios for the foreseeable future.

Unless the major Hdwr manufacturers decide to bung decent video accelerators into every crappy netbook and desktop sold by DELL Asus and Acer we will continue to see a decline in enthusiast grade games. Whether the improvements in rendering come from CPU or VGA is immaterial, every contemporary PC will need to be so equipped.

[AndrewZorn]

defense grid? a tower defense game is one of the most interesting games? i bought it but am yet to see the magic.

[orangekiwii]

l4d is good but its too casual - dumbed down due to dumb play testers and a simultaneous release with the x360

demigod was also dumbed down in depth (was good but was too simple)

haven't tried defense grid...

every game i'm looking forward to is either multiplatform or a 5 year old sequel... thats not cool... theres NOTHING original coming out for months even years really

I love pc gaming but its so boring playing the same *GREAT* games over and over and over... you just want another great game... but theres nothing to fill that spot any more

[saaya]

I love pc gaming but its so boring playing the same *GREAT* games over and over and over... you just want another great game... but theres nothing to fill that spot any more

totally agree... what was the last time a pc game really wowed us with anything but fancy graphics you grow tired of after a few days to weeks?

just finished playing avp2 once more and i still play starcraft every now and then... next up is sof2 and then the max payne series after that maybe the original splinter cell games once again...

there are nice new games but yeah... they are just barely good enough for me to finish them and play them through... assasins creed is the best game in recent years for me... cause the game play is something new and really fun... but the game is so restrictive and gets boring fast unfortunately... no high replay value...

i think thats it really... all games in recent years have a terrible replay value... after you played them thats it... you dont really want to play them again...

[Nightstar]

Neither Defense grid, L4D or Demigod were "magical" indeed these games seem to cater to the casual gamer, nonetheless they were the best of the lot. This should serve to underscore the point I made regarding the focus of the industry. Expect more of the same.

The last game that really captivated me was Guildwars and it lost it's appeal with the taint brought on by expansions.

If I decide to buy a new GPU this year I'll likely buy Flashpoint otherwise I really haven't seen anything worth playing(and I have been testing various games which people here have been anticipating, they've left me feeling nothing but dismay).

[orangekiwii]

I have high HOPES but if they fail i'll become a x360 zombie like everyone else

Modern Warfare 2 - looks amazing
Left 4 Dead 2 - what l4d1 should have been in every way (except the lame characters)
Assassins Creed 2 - whats wrong with this? fixes all the complaints of the old one and just builds on what was good
Operation Flash point - looks like it might be a well done realistic sim instead of arma 2 which was horrible

I have many more coming out in 2010 but... common theme... they're all sequels... theres nothing truly original coming out

[AndrewZorn]

Left 4 Dead 2 - what l4d1 should have been in every way

funny you mention this, as valve promised free new content etc
then they just release a new game that is barely different

i will not buy L4D2 even though the original is one of the best games ever

even valve is jumping on the GET MONEY, LOL!!!!1! train

[Calmatory]

Fallout 3 is on the console, so I don't see the problem.
And don't think even for a second that PC gaming is better than console gaming.

Great that you don't even know what Fallout 2 is. Play it and read your post again.

[m.fox]

even valve is jumping on the GET MONEY, LOL!!!!1! train

Nothing new... with their money-making 5h episode aproach, that won't see an end with another afternoon-long one at least for a year... Not to mention the story which won't see an end anytime soon.

[mikeyakame]

Best game of the year for me has been one that has suffered from poor marketing and bad console reviews! I've put over 3-400 hours into The Last Remnant from Square Enix because it's simply an awesome JRPG and it's leaps and bounds better than it's original X360 release.

I only hope Square Enix decide to release Final Fantasy XIII on PC otherwise I'll have to settle for buying the PS3 version instead ;(

I love playing games on a big tv and all, but when it comes to games which require a lot of time to get through I would always prefer playing them on my PC instead. It's just so much more intimate

[AndrewZorn]

Nothing new... with their money-making 5h episode aproach, that won't see an end with another afternoon-long one at least for a year... Not to mention the story which won't see an end anytime soon.

better than a single release much later with now's graphics (called HL3), maybe... ep2 was awesome i just finished it... but yeah i hope its not just cliffhanger after cliffhanger.
but disappointing to finish a 'game' in an afternoon and have to wait forever for the next one, like you said.

before the LOL YOU JUST PROVED YOURSELF WRONG YOU SAID ITS OKAY THAT MEANS STARCRAFT IS FINE
no, because HL2 is single player only and the episodic releases are inexpensive

[orangekiwii]

Except I don't think the episodes are money grabs (they are CLEARLY but thats not the real reason behind them)

for me the episodes are THE ONLY game where a developer spends literally years fine tuning the story adding little things that you notice each play through

I mean ep2 was simply fantastic on so many levels and I'm positive the follow up to the cliffhanger (ep3) will probably be 8 - 10 hours long

Theres so much to close with ep3 and so much they can do right... there are LITERALLY so many things they can do with ep3... the story telling VALVe is capable of doing is bar none in my opinion

How I think of VALVe:

Amazing Game Maker
Amazing Support
Awful Troll (trolls players all the time on purpose... think tf2 and l4d... tf2 players complained it was becoming too mmo-ish and VALVe added monsters to the GCFs and color coding levels for these monsters)
TERRIBLE Public Relations

They are a game company with an attitude and thats why I love them.
They're like that super talented kid that just doesn't fit with the rest of society. Once they grow up the'll learn to *fit* better.

[AndrewZorn]

too bad they are getting TOO trolly, unless L4D2 is a complete joke.

EDIT L4D2 is a joke, but not in the sense i wish it was.

[Xoulz]

Console system have yet to have 64 person Battlefield servers... (coincidentally, thats why 1943 was delayed for the PC).


Saaya, because only once a year is there a PC Game worth buying, all others are just franchise marketing fluff... are you really going to by Ghosbusters for you PC and play that game, or any such stupid crap?

Quality games in the future will require a subscription... and I am fine with that! Plus, no amount of Xbox is going to give you ARMA 2, or Flashpoint. In which many will buy ONCE and play 600 hour a year.

90% of Console games are throw-away... meant for the now. Certain games are great for single play.. such as Fable2, but other like Sports games are great for the couch and have repeat play value. But single person games like Assassin's creed are dead to me... it was great, but near the end I just didn't want to finish the game, because it was nothing more of the same ... over and over.

How Activision/EA fund some of this crap, is beyond me... just a production line of cheap code, glased over with eye-candy, kewl effects and marketing. Project Offset will be a game worth buying... gears of war was not.

[orangekiwii]

Games worth buying for me

Left 4 Dead 2 (friends)
Episode 3
Assassins Creed 2 (look up some previews... looks like it fixes all of the bad stuff with AC1 and just builds on the good stuff)
Crysis 2 (i personally loved crysis and crysis warhead)
Project Offset (if this is released, i'll my pants it looks so epic if done right)
Call of Duty MW2 (if the campaign is as good as 4's it will be a buy just for the campaign)


Maybe Operation Flashpoint depending on quality... arma 2 frankly sucked so we'll see how flashpoint does in comparison