When did PC games start to die?

[Scanner]

For all those who think PC games are dying, when exactly was the beginning of the end?

[Veloxi]

There is no end...there might be a migration from brick and mortar stores to online publishing, but PC gaming won't die...ever...

[knob]

I don't think it'll ever die. Maybe the big publishers/devs will go almost exclusively console, but then we'd still have plenty of other people making games (Fate, M&B, Geneforge, etc).

[Victoria Raverna]

The end of PC gaming to me is when all games use Starforce copy protection.

[Jeff V]

The end of PC gaming to me is when all games use Starforce copy protection.

Fortunately, this will never happen.

There is too much of an installed base for it to "die." What could very well happen is that the development cost of AAA titles using the hottest technology becomes too high to support a PC-only release. However, I find these games largely worthless in the first place; the games I buy are only available on PC and will never be made for consoles. This is a persistent market that just won't die.

[razgon]

PC gaming will never die..so sayeth the profeth alunzo...

[docvego]

As long as there is a PC and someone who dosen't want to do work, there will always be PC Gaming.

[Blackhawk]

2003 is when it began to completely change, but it is still a product for which there are millions of established customers. If you have millions of established customers, somebody will always have products - it is impossible that PC gaming will die.

[razgon]

It's kinda like when canned food arrived. People predicted, that now ordinary people would stop making food themselves, and just buy it canned.
Or, when internet shopping became possible, EVERYONE would stay at home, NEVER leaving the house again, because we didnt need to.

Doomsayers are always the most loudspoken

[qp]

This whole "PC Gaming is dying" thing is stupid.

[tals]

I'm very impressed that Soldiers for 2004 is considered a landmark event along side illustrious titles as wow, I personally think it is However that others think it is is good to see.

PC Gaming - with BF 2 appearing it is as strong as ever.

Tals

[Kraken]

I'm pretty sure 1998 was the year that Sierra sent word down to the troops: No More B Titles. They deliberately killed off their small niche brands to focus exclusively on the big budget, big hype, mass market games that gradually ruined the hobby. Even though the industry trend was already established by the time Sierra caught on, that's the symbollic year that I chose.

[JayG]

PC gaming died around 20 years ago. You're all in denial.

[The Meal]

...that's the symbollic year that I chose.

Similarly I made a symbolic choice for 2003, likely for the same reasons Blackhawk mentioned. For my style of gaming, however, I don't think the PC will every die as an exciting platform.

~Neal

[Jessan]

It started dying when Origin Systems stopped developing for the Apple ][ platform and switched to MS-DOS.

[JonathanStrange]

I don't think it'll ever die. Maybe the big publishers/devs will go almost exclusively console, but then we'd still have plenty of other people making games (Fate, M&B, Geneforge, etc).

Yeah, I see the possibility that as the bigger companies seek higher returns elsewhere, there will be a seemingly fallow period in which smaller companies will be more likely to make the innovative games, which will inspire other games, attracting more gamer dollars, and getting the attention of the bigger companies who will briefly return to play catchup and then begin the cycle again.

[The Preacher]

...that's the symbollic year that I chose.

Similarly I made a symbolic choice for 2003, likely for the same reasons Blackhawk mentioned. For my style of gaming, however, I don't think the PC will every die as an exciting platform.

Ditto, except sub 2002 for 2003.

I'm not afraid of the death of pc gaming but I am saddened by its general decline. Of course, there are still more games available than I have time to play.

[JSHAW]

When did PC Games start to die?

On the day that Derek Smart was born, THAT was the beginning of the end for PC games.

[tals]

When did PC Games start to die?

On the day that Derek Smart was born, THAT was the beginning of the end for PC games.

I'd disagree - i'd say DS gives us what is great about PC games - but then that is another topic and no I don't like his games - but I do appretiate them

Tals

[Blackhawk]

...that's the symbollic year that I chose.

Similarly I made a symbolic choice for 2003, likely for the same reasons Blackhawk mentioned. For my style of gaming, however, I don't think the PC will every die as an exciting platform.

~Neal

Just to clarify my reasons for saying '03, that was the year, in my recollection, that cross platform became the rule rather than the exception. That both changed the style of big name PC games, and lessened the chances of certain types of titles seeing the mainstream. As a result, the big publishers became less PC focused, and the best PC titles started coming from independents and international developers. The process is just reaching a climax now, and certainly started prior to '03, but that, in my opinion, was the signature year that defined the trend of the change.

[Byrns]

I think PC gamers will die before PC gaming. I think with the new consoles coming out more and more kids will ignore the PC as a gaming device and use it for IRC and P2P.

[Ridah]

Dying? I thought it was already dead? Haven't there been zero high-profile PC releases in the past two years?

[farley2k]

I love it when people say "PC gaming will never die!", etc.


The death of PC gaming isn't a state of no games being made. It is when you can't buy PC games at easily accessible retail outlets. When you go to Best Buy, Target, etc. and there are no PC games.

Sure PC games will still exist, but they won't be where the cutting edge stuff is being done. Actually that is already going on I would say.

[The Preacher]

The death of PC gaming isn't a state of no games being made. It is when you can't buy PC games at easily accessible retail outlets. When you go to Best Buy, Target, etc. and there are no PC games.

There's this new fad called "buying online". Catch the wave and you're sitting on top of the world.

[baron calamity]

It began in 99 when sales started salling rapidily and pc games disappeared for store shelves.

[Dave Allen]

The decline of PC gaming officially commenced the year EB moved all the PC games from the front to the back of the store.

Now what year WAS that anyway?

[Grundbegriff]

The death of PC gaming isn't a state of no games being made. It is when you can't buy PC games at easily accessible retail outlets.

Why should that be construed, metaphorically, as death rather than as transcedence and liberation? "If you strike me down, Vader, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!"

Sure PC games will still exist, but they won't be where the cutting edge stuff is being done. Actually that is already going on I would say.

As private distribution becomes more important, the cutting edge stuff will bypass grand scale retail outlets entirely.

[yossar]

I'm not afraid of the death of pc gaming but I am saddened by its general decline. Of course, there are still more games available than I have time to play.

As soon as that happens I might start noticing the general decline and become sad. But for me I still have more fun games than I have time and the quality seems to be getting better every year. If anything, certain genres of PC games are dying (or at least on a decline). But that happens even in industries that are healthy. How many Western movies get made nowadays?

Edit: And why have I never heard of this Gish game?

[Suitably Ironic Moniker]

If anything, certain genres of PC games are dying (or at least on a decline). But that happens even in industries that are healthy. How many Western movies get made nowadays?

Well, movie revenues have been significantly down this year and there have been no westerns released. Coincidence? I think so! Still, I'd pay for a good western.

[Jeff V]

Courtesy of Moby Games

Game Releases by Platform by Year

2004 - Windows 572, PS2 255, Xbox 164
2003 - Windows 685, PS2 306, Xbox 205
2002 - Windows 619, PS2 264, Xbox 167
2001 - Windows 583, PS2 165 PS 129

The current year is panning out thusly:

2005 - Windows 199, PS2 75, Xbox 65

Okay you whining Chicken Littles, where above is the evidence that PC gaming is dying?

[dbt1949]

Spoil sport!

[farley2k]

Courtesy of Moby Games

Game Releases by Platform by Year

2004 - Windows 572, PS2 255, Xbox 164
2003 - Windows 685, PS2 306, Xbox 205
2002 - Windows 619, PS2 264, Xbox 167
2001 - Windows 583, PS2 165 PS 129

The current year is panning out thusly:

2005 - Windows 199, PS2 75, Xbox 65

Okay you whining Chicken Littles, where above is the evidence that PC gaming is dying?

Wow! Your right! When I walk into Gamestop and EB they just have hidden the huge PC games section! Same at Best Buy, Target and Wal-mart. Thye are just teasing!

[Blackhawk]

There are a few things about the shrinking PC selection at mainstream stores that people tend to ignore, compared to, say, five years ago. The first is smaller boxes. That by itself probably shrunk the section by 20%. The second is that they now only display one or two copies of 90% of their games, as opposed to entire stacks of them five years ago. One title now gets probably 1.5"x7"x5". Five years ago it would have had 10"x11"x7" - just the different method of display of games is responsible for about a 50% reduction in shelf space without removing a single title.

Finally, in my experience, most of what has been cut has been out of date titles. You used to see walls of games stretching back over the last three or four years, most of it marked down to really low prices. Now you see mostly games released in the last 18 months, which again cuts down on the number of titles on the shelves without accurately reflecting the number of releases.

The point is people look at the B&Ms and the fact that they only have 20% of the space they did five years ago devoted to PC games, and use that as evidence that PC gaming is gasping for breath, when simple repackaging, display methods, and outdated inventory reduction are responsible for probably 60 of that 80% reduction in space.

Now, I'm not denying that they have cut a bunch of retail space and services - they certainly have. Some B&Ms have even cut PC games altogether. There is a funny thing about PC gamers - virtually all of them own computers! The majority are also connected to the internet. There have been plenty of articles in recent years about how a huge percentage of customers have turned to online shopping over traditional retail, causing all sorts of reorganizations across in all sorts of traditionally retail industries. If a huge percentage of your customers stop buying your off-the-shelf merchandise and start buying it online, it only makes sense to move the products they prefer to purchase online off of your shelves to make room for products bought by offline customers, and, as mentioned, PC gamers = PC users. Yeah, there may have been a marked decline in how B&Ms cater to PC gamers over the last five years, but what about making the same comparison with online shopping? How do EBGames.com, Gamestop.com, Amazon, and GoGamer compare to five years ago?

Once again, PC gaming is changing. The top, high-end developers and publishers are releasing a different type of high-advertising, high-hype, high-potential game than a few years ago, while smaller developers and international developers fill in the niche titles that the larger developers have dropped. Independent developers are becoming a reality, rather than a novelty. More developers are beginning to break the traditional dev/publisher model and self-publishing or opting for online distribution. Sales are moving off of the shelves and onto the internet.

Like I said before, so long as there is an established, millions-strong customer base ready to spend money, there will be companies developing products for them. We just happen to be in a phase in which the high-end dev/pub model is breaking, mainstream publishers are taking the Wal-Mart business model, smaller companies are filling in the holes, game design is approaching a graphical and auditory limbo which forces a different approach to development, and so on.

The gaming industry has sort of stagnated over the last three years, and when an industry stagnates, you can expect to see a bit of a collapse (lots of buy-outs, major companies closing, lots of small companies starting up with a new approach), followed by a bit of chaos, followed by a reestablishment of a more efficient, more effective form of the industry. Collapse, chaos, reestablishment. It happens all the time, in all sorts of industries. We're in the chaos phase right now. Again, things are changing, not dying.

[Zaxxon]

Blackhawk, you rock.

[The Preacher]

Okay you whining Chicken Littles, where above is the evidence that PC gaming is dying?

# of Releases =? Quality

[razgon]

Okay you whining Chicken Littles, where above is the evidence that PC gaming is dying?

# of Releases =? Quality

Of course not. But some of the highest ranked computer games are recent, at least according to Gamerankings.com

1. Half-Life 2 PC VU Games 95.8% 95.4%

2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City PC Rockstar Games 8.7 93.7% 94.9%

3. Half-Life PC Sierra Entertainment 94.1% 94.5%

4. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn PC Interplay 93.6% 94.4%

5. Unreal Tournament PC GT Interactive 93.6% 94.1%

6. Grand Theft Auto III PC Rockstar Games 90.8% 93.5%

7. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic PC LucasArts 92.9% 93.4%
8. Unreal Tournament 2004 PC Atari 92.8% 93.4%

9. System Shock 2 PC Looking Glass Studios 91.7% 93.0%

10. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos PC Blizzard Entertainment 92.6% 92.8%

first percentage score is overall score, second is main score over at www.gamerankings.com

hope it helped.

[Kraken]

I love it when people say "PC gaming will never die!", etc.


The death of PC gaming isn't a state of no games being made. It is when you can't buy PC games at easily accessible retail outlets. When you go to Best Buy, Target, etc. and there are no PC games.

Sure PC games will still exist, but they won't be where the cutting edge stuff is being done. Actually that is already going on I would say.

PC gaming is dying as mainstream entertainment. As PC games are slowly squeezed out of the retail channels, they return to their origins as a niche hobby. Since mass marketing and big budgets are what's killing the industry in the first place, that is a Good Thing. Quality and innovation will return when big corporate attention focuses elsewhere and PC game studios can again afford to ignore the demands of the Konsole Kiddies.

[DOS=HIGH]

The death of PC gaming isn't a state of no games being made. It is when you can't buy PC games at easily accessible retail outlets. When you go to Best Buy, Target, etc. and there are no PC games.

Sure PC games will still exist, but they won't be where the cutting edge stuff is being done. Actually that is already going on I would say.

That could be the most prehistoric comment I've ever read on these boards. I'd also be interested in what cutting edge gaming I'm missing on the PC that I can only get on an X-box or PS2.

Next gen consoles are certainly going to be interesting and have a performance advantage over the PC. But the PC will catch up and pass them again before the PS4 or X-Box 720? hit the sales floor at Best Buy. I think some of you have been brainwashed by mass media and marketing. Sure there is a lot of crap in PC gaming but HL2, WoW, IL2 series, Rise of Nations, Combat Mission series, and many other games considered the best in thier genre are currently only available on the PC.

[The Preacher]

But some of the highest ranked computer games are recent, at least according to Gamerankings.com

Well, there's a couple things here. First is that gamerankings, as good as it may be, doesn't have scores for old games. I can't tell what year exactly their records start, but it's not much before 1997. For instance, try to find out how Ultima IV, a near-universally praised game, ranks.

Second, there is no question in my mind that the best games are some of the best ever made. HL2, for instance, is a just a great game. The question is a more generalized quality*quantity index. Now this is damn hard to judge and is largely going to be personal. For instance, grognards go ga-ga for WiTP but it has a very niche market (it also only had a single review score on gamerankings).

My last observation is that 30% of those games are ports from consoles to the PC. That doesn't exactly harken to glory days of PC gaming.

[Ridah]

Next gen consoles are certainly going to be interesting and have a performance advantage over the PC. But the PC will catch up and pass them again before the PS4 or X-Box 720? hit the sales floor at Best Buy.

People keep saying the new consoles are so cutting edge that they blow PC graphics away but I'm telling you, Oblivion is going to look just as good on the PC as it will the Xbox, if not better. PC games, I believe, are almost already at the level of what the PS3 and Xbox2 have to offer.