Topic: First signs of the crash

[KDR_11k]

Well, since so many people talk about some upcoming videogame industry crash, I think I'll share my thoughts on that.

The consoles are nicely serviced. The GC is getting a fair share of innovative games, even though it seems a bit GDR like, as in "There's one good game per genre and you play that!". However, the true problem is the PC.

On the PC there are tons of titles coming out every month/year/whatevertimeperiodyoufindappropriate. Problem is, those are (of course) 90% crap and of those 10% a further 95% are unoriginal clones. There are very few upcoming titles on PC I really care about (X2 - The Threat and Sam & Max Freelance Police). Many of the upcoming "top" titles are sequels. Okay, my favourite ones too, but they fall into more obscure genres. The main bunch of PC games is made up of egoshooters. The most wanted games, according to PC Games, are:

1. Half-Life 2
2. Doom 3
3. Far Cry
4. Deus Ex 2
5. Need For Speed: Underground
6. Baldur's Gate 3
7. Battlefield Vietnam
8. World of Warcraft
9. STALKER
10. The Sims 2

Six (1 2 3 4 7 9) of them are egoshooters, one is racing, one is an MMORPG, one is a Sims game and one is an RPG that wasn't even announced yet. None of those games were ever called innovative. And, frankly, I don't care about any of them. The only more recent game I bought for the PC was SpellForce (to be released in the US in February). Granted, that's a good game, but it doesn't really sting out between all the other games. And it isn't really innovative. The PC market has become one large piece of mud, consisting of games you can only tell apart with a microscope. I don't care about the PC anymore, I don't bother with getting PC games anymore and I think those are the same things people felt before Nintendo entered the market. I've read an article claiming the PC to be on its decline and predicting consoles to be the only game systems on the market soon.

The only positive thing to be said about the PC is: The freeware games are really good. Rarely do you find games as innovative as, say, Frequon Invaders (who thought games could implement six dimensions that nicely?). However, few freeware games get much exposure. Publishing is too expensive. Good freeware games are just as far in between as good commerial games. And freeware alone can't keep the PC alive.

I will still apply upgrades to my system, I need at least a new graphics card to be able to work with Blender again. That's the disadvantage of consoles: You can't develop on them. And they have no Cho Ren. No game system should be without Cho Ren Sha!

[Grey Ninja]

Well done.  PC Games have been bothering me more and more as time goes on, and you expressed my own views perfectly.

The one thing I would like to add is that the PC Gamer mentality is affecting consoles too.  When PC Games go, I think it's going to take a good share of the console games with them.  The problem is that the average person doesn't know the difference between consoles, PCs, or even genres.  I know lots of people who bought an Xbox because the hardware could do a few more things according to them, and they both played games, so what was the problem?

The thing is that people no longer see a difference in games, and I think that mentality is brought over from PCs.

I am seriously worried at the way that things are going, and I am not seeing a clear end in sight.  It just seems to me that things get worse every year.

[manunited4eva22]

PC games go?  What?  You are out of your mind.  Just because you think that every game coming out, which in your view is a sequel, doesn't mean that the games are getting less innovative.  Maybe some games are following basically the same controls and some of the same gameplay, but there have been quite a few new games to come out of no where and change a lot of minds about how a game should be made.  

As for some kind of imminent crash, nonsense, things might not look that much better, but there will be different innovations in the coming years.  

[S-U-P-E-R]

I think the game biz is in no danger of crashing, no sir, since it's been doing so well (even during an economic downturn) and bad games don't sell so well compared to the NES/SNES days. In fact, I must say that fewer absolute trash games are even released.

But, er, in the realm of PC gaming, it seems like its just shrunk down to a little niche or something, outside of this week's MMORPG and this week's Sims expansion.  I don't see how it'd really effect (largely Japanese-based) console gaming, even if John Romero's American McGee's Pretentious Failure Shooter From The University Of Getting Fired From Id came out fifty times next year to try to get back market share from Warren Spector's Sid Meier's Jason Hall's Nobody Cares: The Game next year.

[MysticalMatt517]

I think PC gaming is going away because people are sick of upgrading their hardware every six months. With a console, you buy it and you're set for the next 4-5 years. I do think that there are people who mindlessly blow their money on a console without considering which one is truly the best value - this is demonstrated by the popularity of the PlayStation 2. If you buy the exact same game on the GameCube and the PS2, then look at them side by side the GC one always looks better. The same goes with the XBOX and the PS2. Since the Xbox and the PS2 share a large portion of the same titles in their library it only makes sense to go with the XBOX, especially if you don't care about playing the newest Grand Theft Auto Game. With the Final Fantasy franchise finally returning to Nintendo there is no reason to own a PS2.

To the mindless masses though the PlayStation has name recognition so they buy it even though it's not the best platform. Yes it has the biggest library, but that's only because the developers will make more money on whatever the mindless masses buy. So ultimately in the end what makes the PS2 a "better" console than the Xbox or Gamecube is the fact that it's what people recognize - not its games or its technical power. Heck, for that matter there's no logical reason that the PSOne came out on top - The N64 was a MUCH better console. Granted the cartridge format was a problem but if you want to look at overall better systems I would definately have cast my lot to Nintendo.  

[manunited4eva22]

Someone show me where PC gaming is going away?  If anything the PC gamers are growing...

[KDR_11k]

Well, I've read some articles that said that while the console market is growing, the PC one is shrinking. I don't have any numbers and I don't know if it's true, I just know how I feel about it.

[manunited4eva22]

Right....which is why there have been far more high end 'gamer pc' companies springing out of no where, why companies like dell are designing computers specifically targeted at PC gaming, and why the number of PC titles has at worst held steady, with more developers springing out of no where.  The fact is that neither PC gaming nor console games are in danger of dying.  

To even suggest that PC gaming is going to die out of anything but microsoft randomlly going under and catching every developer off guard is a tad more than foresight.

[the_zombie_luke]

Why are you bashing the PC? The GameCube is getting many sequels, yet when the PC gets a lot of them, suddenly it's wrong. The PC has so many original games that are overlooked by everyone. It's true that console games sales are more than PC games sales, but guess what:console games have always outsold PC games. There will be no "crash" and PC gaming is here to say.  

[Smashman]

It's all Sony and Microsoft's fault. oints finger at Sony and Willy Gates:

It's like school social system:

Nintendo is like the smart nerdy kid, Sony is the arrogany popular kid, and Microsoft is the custodian.

[Ian Sane]

PC gaming will never truly die or crash because for the forseeable future people will continue to use PCs for non-gaming purposes.  And if people are using PCs they're going to want to play at the very least one or two games, even if they're just simple games like Solitaire.  So the PC gaming industry will never truly die.

I do think that there is a lot of "sameness" with the PC gaming scene right now.  However I can't think of a time where PC gaming wasn't full of clones.  That's just how it is.  In time I think the currently popular genres (FPS, RTS, MMORPG) will become less popular but then something new will come out and every PC game will just copy that.

The only situation I can see where PC gaming will truly die is if console gaming becomes standardized like DVDs and CDs and people can buy a game player from multiple manufacturers and every game is playable on it.  At that point PC gaming will seem proprietary and publishers will instead go for the "standard" where they can sell more copies.

[Smashman]

My last post was a joke.

PC and console gaming really shouldn't be compared. There are SO many more PC games than console games, and there is nothing to compare. The two have different atmospheres, and styles of games.

[Uglydot]

PC gaming isn't preparing for any sort of crash.  Hardware companies and game companies are seeing plenty of profits.  You don't have to grow constantly to avoid a crash...

[S-U-P-E-R]

I am interested in seeing some sales data.

[RickPowers]

The biggest problem with PC Gaming is that it costs so damned much for a decent 3D experience.  I have to spend hundreds (and cumulatively, thousands) just to play games on my PC, when I get a better experience on cheaper consoles.  If anything is going to "kill" PC gaming, that's going to be it.

[Flames_of_chaos]

And also what kills the PC biz is how the graphic chip sets and all the pc ugrades come out so fast, I usually see people gloat how they got the most powerful PC on the market and yet it wont last a long time as for being the most powerful.  The only Computer I want is a dual 2 GHZ G5 from mac but the price made me die. CONSOLES FOR ME!!!!!!!

[manunited4eva22]

So your saying the option to upgrade, yet still maintane software support for nearly 10 years is a negative thing?  

CPU updates occur approximately every 6-12 months (no I don't count a minor bump in speed a big thing...)
Video cards 6-12 months as well.

There is a reason why PCs encompass far more than games and it's not because you are stuck with a certain limit for half a decade...

[mouse_clicker]

PC games barely have any sway over the industry- despite all the publicity they get, the sales of PC games are nearly always dwarfed by that of console games. And to be talking of the lack of variety on the PC, it's just like any other console- we've seen very little innovation on the XBox, PS2, or Gamecube, and we're seeing a lot of the same types of titles on at least the XBox and Gamecube. One might wonder why until one comes to the obvious conclusion- certain groups of people perfer certain systems over other systems, and these people prefer certain types of games, which publishers and developers provide.

Also, Ty, it doesn't matter how well the industry is doing today, that could all change tomorrow. The stock market can rise substantially before crashing.

[AERO]

Quote
Originally posted by: Smashman
It's all Sony and Microsoft's fault. oints finger at Sony and Willy Gates:

It's like school social system:

Nintendo is like the smart nerdy kid, Sony is the arrogany popular kid, and Microsoft is the custodian.

A better anology is that gamecube is the zima or consoles.  

[The Omen]

There will be no crash.  Not Nintendo , MS or Sony.  The only thing that WILL happen is developers will be forced to close their doors and merge or be bought out.  Consoles will not suffer as they did in the saturated market in the early 80's.  Why?  Much more common place now. They're no longer hobbies, game systems are now part of the entertainment center, not sitting in a kids room, but next to the 20 and 30 somethings bigscreen and stereo.  Consoles are a neccessity.  These sucky developers however will start feeling the effects of low sales from their sh!t games.  And thats the way it should be.  If a Titus, Acclaim or Eidos have to be merged, i say good riddance.  There are plenty of smaller development houses that will fill the void ten fold.

[KDR_11k]

Omen: I agree, consoles are here to stay, but it doesn't look as good for the PC.

[the_zombie_luke]

Oh yeah? As long games like StarCraft and Doom 3 are being developed and mods like Counterstrike are still made, the PC will stay around. The only way I can see PC games disappearing is if Windows suddenly ceases to exist.  

[KDR_11k]

Something

I don't think it'll disappear altogether, but it will probably become a niche.

[manunited4eva22]

A niche, nah, gamestop just blows

[mouse_clicker]

I forsee a huge drop in revenue for Gamestop should they stop carrying PC games. I'm crazy that way.