What has happened to PC gaming?

I recently went through the list of PC games release dates via IGN.com and I'm really disappointed. I'm sure bones will be thrown this summer at all the gaming conventions but compared to console gaming the PC gaming world is really in a drought. The last few great things we've had are either Valve games (L4D, OB) or WoW's new expansion. That's not to say Valve or Blizzard games aren't fun but more so that PC games aren't getting much love.

Someone get me out of this depressing funk and tell me an awesome PC game that's coming out this year

Dragon Age from Bioware, Sims 3...

but blizzard games do make games which you don't really need to play any other games except theirs

How about Empire: Total War, which is out right now? Also, Sins of a Solar Empire will get an expansion soon, so grab that and get comfortable with it before that comes out.

[quote name='kilm']Dragon Age from Bioware, Sims 3...

but blizzard games do make games which you don't really need to play any other games except theirs[/QUOTE]

BioWare is becoming very Console based if you ask me, Mass Effect ran like crap on PC and it has taken them months to patch it to "Playable" status. I also feel the Sims series has gone straight down hill since the expansion riddled Sims 2. I doubt 3 will be much better.

[quote name='snookie_wookums']How about Empire: Total War, which is out right now? Also, Sins of a Solar Empire will get an expansion soon, so grab that and get comfortable with it before that comes out.[/QUOTE]

At this point I'll sound like I'm trying to something out of nothing but all the PC has had for a while are RTS's. I may try out SoaSE as I've heard it's great but C&C3, Empire, SC2, Warhammer etc. it feels like this is all that's being made anymore.

I've had my computer for 4 years and I haven't been able to play most games since Oblivion came out a year later. However my Xbox 360 has been able to play every single Xbox 360 game that I've ever put in it. There is really no standard hardware for PCs so unless developers create a game that's accessible to older and newer systems (like Blizzard did with World of Warcraft) then it's really a crapshoot if a PC game will sell well. Honestly, could anybody's rig actually handle Crysis at its highest settings?

Consoles killed it.

The way I consume PC games, it does not really bother me how many games there are or will be on PC. I stick to one or two and play them for years. My StarCraft, Counter-Strike, Diablo II, Warcraft III and Team Fortress 2 time would attest if I would have started using Xfire earlier.

[quote name='Hydro2Oxide']Someone get me out of this depressing funk and tell me an awesome PC game that's coming out this year [/QUOTE]

Unfortunately PC gaming has become more of a niche market, and not one catered to by AAA developers that cannot at least release the game as a multi-platform title to increase revenue. AAA studio developed games have become more and more expensive to make as they have expanded production team sizes to get the newest and best graphics and physics which has come at the expensive of gameplay, in some cases, as well as not being able to afford making the game for PC release only. Some people will say the game has to be dumbed down for a console controller, but I don't won't to pick up that argument here.

Fortunately, the ability of indie game developers to reach customers and distribute games digitally has advanced quite a bit. You can see some indie games on Steam or ImpulseDriven. With the growing market share of netbooks that do not have an optical disc drive (either CD or DVD), digital distribution of games will become more necessary for the PC gaming market. This is also convenient to the desktop and laptop crowd as to not hunt for CD's or worry about damaging them. Digital distribution through the creator's site or some other site greatly reduces the cost to bring a game to market. This can allow for lower game prices to consumers as well as greater percentage of sales dollars going to the team that created the game. Going back to the shareware days, quite a few game teams were one and done because of low sales but still made a decent to good product. This new model should allow a better survival rate of indie teams that do make a good product.

With that said, I am looking forward to this game in 2009: Age of Decadence.

If you are not into turn based RPG's in the mold of Fallout & Arcanum, then here is a list of indie games one website is looking forward to in 2009. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/02/02/unknown-pleasures-2009/

Backwards compatibility and indie games mang. Means I never run out of games to play.

Anyway, games I'm looking forward to, not caring about exclusivity.

Dragon Age - Bioware, RPG, free pass.
Borderlands - Gun based RPG with co-op and vehicals
Diablo 3 - lol
Starcraft 2 - lolol
Aion - MMO uses very sexy version of farcry engine
Alan Wake - If it ever comes out..
Still Life 2 - Adventure game, stop serial killer
Damnation - bad ass looking steampunk 3rd person shooter with platforming shit ala prince of persia uses unreal engine
Overlord 2 - sequel to the excellent original
Orb and the Oracle - promising looking rpg
Alpha Protocol - looks like present day mass effect
Bioshock 2 - lololololol
Mass Effect 2 - loved the original

[quote name='Nikadimas'] Honestly, could anybody's rig actually handle Crysis at its highest settings?[/quote]



My rig can and its nothing to extreme

1680x1050(my monitors max res)
4xAA and All settings very high I am at a constant 40ish fps never below

Expansion-riddled made Sims 2 turn downhill? How so, cause Sims 1 did it too... Sims 3 will be fine, stop making excuses.

You have your Blizzard games with Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. You have Valve updating L4D and TF2, and may even release HL2 Ep. 3 this year. You have your MMOs and your RTS games. Multi-platform games across the board that look and sometimes play better on the PC.

Oh yeah, Duke Nukem Forever.

PC gaming is fine.

[quote name='Hydro2Oxide']
...all the PC has had for a while are RTS's. ...it feels like this is all that's being made anymore.[/quote]

Yes, this is true, and for good reason, RTS and 4X (which is what SoaSE is) work better when you have a keyboard and mouse. The same reason as why consoles are shoring up all the FPS games: they work better on consoles in many respects. Still, I prefer a good responsive mouse and the standard keyboard configurations over a control pad anyday for games like L4D and Team Fortress.

At the end of the day, the entire industry is in a bit of a funk, and it's partly because of the success of consoles feeding into the survival and renewed success of stores like Gamestop. The only thing that will really save PC gaming is firstly, for people to actually buy games on PCs.

Digital downloads might be the ticket to that, and it may take longer than we like, but I already see Steam leading the way. They do it better, more affordably and they're not complete a-holes about activation codes or multiple installs, which is also a large part of what killed PC gaming IMHO.

Remember Electronics Boutique? They used to sell used PC games, but thanks to piracy, they got out of that business since it was cheaper for the average shmuck to copy a game then sell it back with a dead activation code.

Now that companies like EA are seeking out ways to cripple used games with their own activation methods for consoles, I really hope that people will begin a migration over to Steam and PC gaming. Here's hoping...

IMO the biggest problem that hit the PC gaming market was that consoles got too close in power. Yes, a top notch PC will still beat out any console. But back in the day you couldn't even put a PC and a console, ANY console, in the same sentence in a discussion of pure power, graphics, etc.

An added problem is that the genres of games that PC does particularly well are out of favor. When was the last time you saw a huge flight sim, or turn based strategy game? Even adventure games as much as I can't stand them are a pretty dead genre. The classic style RPGs are dead. Instead everything we get is consolized. The only areas where the PC still rules pretty much are MMOs and RTS. If a keyboard/mouse combo ever becomes a console standard those will probably go next.

PC gamers still get their occasional PC only big name game like Spore, Diablo, Starcraft....but they are becoming fewer and further between.

I grew up in the age of Commodore. I've seen it happen before and I'm watching the shelf space shrink again right before my eyes. Fortunately this is historically a cyclical market so we'll probably see PC games live again. It's just not right now.

I mean xbox and ps3 run the games smooth and the look nice but no WAY can you compare the PC and consoles in terms of graphics. Everything is super sharp and with 8x AA and 16xAF enabled its just unreal. I have COD4 for my xbox and i have Cod 4 for my pc even a simple graphical game like that has a huge gap. Fear 2 on my xbox looks bland while on the pc its jumping out of the screen at you

Oh yeah... the other reason it's dead is because my carpel tunnel says so too.

apart from customization/mods and graphics i see little that the PC offers for gaming that a console does not. with the xna studio even developing indie games for a console is fairly straightforward.

now, the mods and ability to mess with the game itself are enough for me to pick PC games over the console versions, but I can certainly understand if that isn't enough for others.

consoles are just becoming more and more like computers, and when they don't have to worry about all the different types of hardware and can focus solely on providing resources for a game, they can do it cheaper if all you care about is games.

I'm a PC gamer gone console I'm afraid. I know, I know, I'm part of the problem. For me though, I sit at a desk with a mouse and keyboard all day at work. Once I'm done with that and home from the gym, I just wanna kick back on the couch and not have to worry about operating systems, graphics card drivers, etc. Just gimme a controller and let me dig in, ya know?

I know that doesn't help, but there's one possibility as to why people are shying away from PC gaming - computers are being used more and more at work.

Honestly the only reason I still really love PC Gaming is because of the kb/m controls. I kind of wish the consoles makers would realize this already and include kb/m support.

There are many factors to the decline.

How many people can afford a beefy gaming PC? Conservatively, it'll be about $1000 for the whole system.

How many people can actually maintain a gaming rig? Most people throw their hands up in the air and walk away when presented with PC errors. With more or less infinite configurations, PCs are difficult to program for. There will be the occasional issue.

Now you have someone that's already put down at least a grand AND is PC savvy. Do you think they want to pay $50 for Dungeon: The Rat Quest? No, so they pirate it.

I think PC gaming will always be the superior experience, but it comes with a learning curve that goes against the instant gratification of most people.

You can grab a 360, plug it into your TV and plop in a game and it plays. The "just works" aspect is too appealing to the general gaming public.

[quote name='Hydro2Oxide']BioWare is becoming very Console based if you ask me, Mass Effect ran like crap on PC and it has taken them months to patch it to "Playable" status. I also feel the Sims series has gone straight down hill since the expansion riddled Sims 2. I doubt 3 will be much better.

At this point I'll sound like I'm trying to something out of nothing but all the PC has had for a while are RTS's. I may try out SoaSE as I've heard it's great but C&C3, Empire, SC2, Warhammer etc. it feels like this is all that's being made anymore.[/quote]

It's looks like it's less about PC gaming and PC games coming out than it is about your just giving excuses to not look forward to PC games.
Crying: Bioware is too consolized so therefore all its future games will suck.
Crying: Didn't like Sims 2 so therefore Sims 3 and all its sequels will suck.
Crying: RTS games ultimately have no differentiation between products.

More people are playing PC games than at any point in history. All sorts of PC games: FPS, RTS, MMO, casual, RPG, indie, etc. etc. Steam regurly peaks at 1.8 million concurrent users (MS recently announced that XBL reached a record 1.5 mill); WoW has 12.5 million subscribers; Battle.net is still alive and kicking; every meaningful FPS game from the past 10 years still has active servers...

I agree 100% with thater: AAA games are extremely expensive to produce. Hell, analysts blame ballooning development costs for the industry's financial woes. If you spend $20+ million on a game, it makes sense to sell it to the largest possible audience. Consoles have the install base and marketing machinery neccessary to deliver those sales. If you spend $100 million making GTA IV, of course it won't be a PC exclusive.

PC gaming needs more outfits like Stardock making low-cost games that don't need a bazillion sales to reach profitability. Some of the best PC games of all time were made on what would today be considered a shoestring budget. You didn't need millions of sales to make a profit.

[quote name='Hostile']The way I consume PC games, it does not really bother me how many games there are or will be on PC. I stick to one or two and play them for years. My StarCraft, Counter-Strike, Diablo II, Warcraft III and Team Fortress 2 time would attest if I would have started using Xfire earlier.[/quote]

The head of the PC Gaming Alliance said something similar. PC games are so good that you don't have to buy very many of them. Look at the 100,000+ people still playing Counter-Strike. Hell, I can still find a good Battlefield 1942 server six years later.

[quote name='snookie_wookums']I really hope that people will begin a migration over to Steam and PC gaming. Here's hoping...[/quote]

What Valve's done with Steam is pretty amazing. They've basically created a console for nothing. The PS3 has roughly the same install base as Steam; guess which one cost billions of dollars to create. I don't see anything on the consoles with the same ROI as Steam or WoW.

Nothing has happened, except it getting better, I guess. We get the same amount of big-budget games that we always have. But the attention is on consoles now, primarily, so perception has changed. We have even more indie games than we ever have, as well as browser-based and free-to-play games. Console people absolutely lose their shit when they get thrown a bone for free; we take it for granted because we're so ahead of the curve. They'll be losing their shit in 2012 at what we're taking for granted right now.

But there's still more people playing PC games than all three consoles combined. There's more people on Steam alone than there is on Xbox Live.

Solution to this issue:

If people would stop stealing computer games, more money would be dumped into big PC game development.

Correction:

And to answer the question about the games coming out... Bioshock 2

[quote name='JadoJodo']Solution to this issue:

If people would stop stealing computer games, more money would be dumped into big PC game development. And Bioshock 2.[/quote]

Its just those people who get a hair across their ass about the price of games that does it.

I recently just bought my new computer and I am extremely happy with it so far including how easy it is to find games and play with my friends. Mainly thanks to Steam. But I hope PC gaming improves in the next year. I personally can't wait for SC 2, Diablo 3 and Sims 3.
----------------
Now playing: Primus - Lacquer Head via FoxyTunes

I know I'm totally QQing and nitpicking but I'm mostly playing devils advocate. I just feel like PC is being over run by consoles and only a few things are saving it from being wiped out (Namely Steam and MMOs)

I also hate that Huxley is such vapor-ware, I was so looking forward to that game but at this point it feels like a pipe dream.

[quote name='keiblerfan69']Its just those people who get a hair across their ass about the price of games that does it.

I recently just bought my new computer and I am extremely happy with it so far including how easy it is to find games and play with my friends. Mainly thanks to Steam. But I hope PC gaming improves in the next year. I personally can't wait for SC 2, Diablo 3 and Sims 3.
----------------
Now playing: Primus - Lacquer Head via FoxyTunes[/QUOTE]

Yeah, alot of new games coming out.

[quote name='Hydro2Oxide']I know I'm totally QQing and nitpicking but I'm mostly playing devils advocate. I just feel like PC is being over run by consoles and only a few things are saving it from being wiped out (Namely Steam and MMOs)

I also hate that Huxley is such vapor-ware, I was so looking forward to that game but at this point it feels like a pipe dream.[/QUOTE]
feel the same about Wiki and Project Offset :' (

Steam isn't "saving" PC gaming, it's changing it. Like I said, it's all a matter of perception. Steam is simply a better place to sell AND buy games than retail stores. The decline in boxed sales has been just about in-line with Steam's rise in popularity.

A look at PC game NPDs isn't an example of how poor "hardcore" game sales are, it's simply an example of the type of gamers still shopping for games at retail. Dawn of War 2 is at the top, but people are going to bring that home and register their key with Steam: http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/03...-on-top-of-best-selling-pc-game-retail-sales/

1. Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II - THQ
2. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - Blizzard
3. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe - Electronic Arts
4. The Sims 2 Deluxe - Electronic Arts
5. World of Warcraft - Blizzard
6. World of Warcraft Battle Chest - Blizzard
7.Spore - Electronic Arts
8. The Sims Carnival: Snap City - Electronic Arts
9. The Sims 2 Apartment Life - Electronic Arts
10. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade - Blizzard

Click to expand...

Basically Pc has seen a loss of sales due to.
1. Piracy
2. developers releasing broken games, games with too much DRM
3. more Piracy spurded on by #2
4. Developers trying to sell games by giving the best graphics ever, but said graphics require the newest video card.(compared to a console where developers try to squeeze the most out of an old but stranded hardware)
5. due to #4 pc gaming got the stigma of being expensive, between this and the ease of use of a console(no installs, no upgrades, no spyware ect...) people where willing to put up with traditional pc games but with inferior gameplay on a console.

The online capabilities of current consoles were the nail in the coffin for PC gaming. Or the flu virus in the syringe I guess, considering that as long as people have home computers there will be PC games to a degree. I love playing games on my computer; nearly all are backwards compatible and it's fun to play with settings and mods. And they're cheap when they're old. I love getting great games in the $10 jewel case packaging.

we're just not getting as many exclusives as we used to. with pirating/DRM, console's online capabilities, and the "confusing" configurations (to non PC-savvy individuals), most companies are realizing that if you want to make money on RPG, FPS, and even RTS games, it'll have to made for console.

sure there are some exceptions. Sins of a Solar Empire made LOADS of money. but keep in mind that game was made for under 1 million dollars. And Blizzard and Valve have been doing the PC-only thing for over 10 years now and have cemented their franchises as PC-exclusive. Until the Orange Box anyway.

Half Life 1 was on the PS2 ages ago...

[quote name='DukeEdwardI']we're just not getting as many exclusives as we used to. with pirating/DRM, console's online capabilities, and the "confusing" configurations (to non PC-savvy individuals), most companies are realizing that if you want to make money on RPG, FPS, and even RTS games, it'll have to made for console.

sure there are some exceptions. Sins of a Solar Empire made LOADS of money. but keep in mind that game was made for under 1 million dollars. And Blizzard and Valve have been doing the PC-only thing for over 10 years now and have cemented their franchises as PC-exclusive. Until the Orange Box anyway.[/QUOTE]

Almost all Valve games get a Console port. CS:S, HL2 and 1...

I was a pretty solid PC gamer for about a year and 3 months-- from 9/07 until 12/08. Played just about everything on my PC, used it for all my media, and other stuff. I finished the exclusives and PC versions of console games that I wanted to play, got a macbook, and started using my 360 more...and now I just feel "done" with PC gaming.

It's a combination of a lot of things. But in the end, the lack of anything but RTS coming out and the hassle of using my PC (which is not big, but is nothing near "power up and play" like a console) outweighed the better framerate and image quality. I'd rather sell off my PC now while it's still worth a few bucks, because after playing Fallout 3, I have nothing left until Diablo 3, which I can play on my macbook (or iMac if I get one before then.)

[quote name='itachiitachi']Basically Pc has seen a loss of sales due to.
1. Piracy
2. developers releasing broken games, games with too much DRM
3. more Piracy spurded on by #2
4. Developers trying to sell games by giving the best graphics ever, but said graphics require the newest video card.(compared to a console where developers try to squeeze the most out of an old but stranded hardware)
5. due to #4 pc gaming got the stigma of being expensive, between this and the ease of use of a console(no installs, no upgrades, no spyware ect...) people where willing to put up with traditional pc games but with inferior gameplay on a console.[/QUOTE]

or 6 where the market is take over by online games and MMORPG

There's another thing I'd like to add about the whole DRM and anti-piracy crap that industry jerks like EA are putting everyon through. Frankly, it makes me mad as hell that the publishers are putting honest consumers like me through the wringer with draconian limits on installs and spyware on my machine and all that various crap, and ultimately I did *not* purchase Spore for that very reason. Aggressive DRM and install limits do NOTHING to deter pirates, as the numerous copies of Spore going all over the internets proved beyond a shadow of a doubt.

This is one of the many reasons why I love Steam. They've got it right with a compromise where the consumer has to authenticate one time only and no limit on the number of installs (though I think this varies a little from publisher to publisher). It might place limits on the number of otherwise great games I can enjoy, but any games with unacceptable forms of DRM will only cause me to vote with my dollar, and this goes for console games as well.

If EA and its brethren continue down the anti-consumer path of dictating how and where I purchase or play my game, they will never get another dollar from me, no matter how cool next year's features are in Madden.

[quote name='62t']or 6 where the market is take over by online games and MMORPG[/QUOTE]

Folks should make up their minds. Is the PC overrun by RTS? Or is it MMORPGs? Some say it's shooters. Or puzzle games. Wait, what? We have strong representation in every genre, even emerging ones? Get out of town.

Damn PC being overrun with platforming/exploration games!!11

Have you ever seen Love? Great little platformer, only $1:

[youtube]KBPNrExoaf4[/youtube]

As this thread has already illustrated, the PC has a much better lineup than the consoles (as always)... it gets the best console games along with some killer PC exclusives. They just don't get as much hype as console games, so it's sort of like asking "Why aren't there any great foreign films coming out soon?"... just because they aren't getting press doesn't mean they aren't there.

[quote name='ninja dog']the hassle of using my PC (which is not big, but is nothing near "power up and play" like a console) outweighed the better framerate and image quality[/QUOTE]
perhaps it's because I so seldom play videogames but I disagree, I couldn't disagree more... every time I try to play a game on X360 or PS3 I'm told I need to update my system and patch the game. It's pretty painless on X360 but a PITA on PS3. The only PC game that often forces patches on me is Call of Duty... my other games, some of them were installed years ago and play fine without any updates. Even no disc switching: click an icon and you're good to go.

I wouldn't call consoles a hassle, really, but I wouldn't say they're as hassle-free as a PC.

To each their own, I guess...

It's amazing that PC gaming's cruising along despite a lack of public supporters, marketers, and spin doctors, plus Microsoft's blatant attempts to undermine the platform in support of the Xbox.

we're just not getting as many exclusives as we used to. with pirating/DRM, console's online capabilities, and the "confusing" configurations (to non PC-savvy individuals), most companies are realizing that if you want to make money on RPG, FPS, and even RTS games, it'll have to made for console.

Click to expand...

More people are playing PC games than ever before, maybe not buying them, but playing them. As I said, today's ridiculously expensive games necessitate millions of sales to break even. Expecting those types of sales from the PC is stupid because, with a few very notable exceptions, the PC has never been driven by high sales numbers, which is problamatic if you spend $20 million of Graphic Whore FPS 3 and only a small percentage of people have PCs capable of running it. So while PC gamers are accused of being graphic whores, the reality is that the most successful and popular PC games can be played on lower systems (Diablo, StarCraft, Source-engine games, etc.)

RE: Piracy. If it vanished tomorrow, I wouldn't expect PC game sales to astronomically rise. All media is pirated (even console games, especially on physical discs in many parts of the world) but money is still made by musicians, film makers, etc. I personally think piracy is merely a way of justifying DRM that effectively eliminates the second-hand market.

I've wanted a bunch of PC games. Unfortunately, they came saddled with SecuROM. I've passed on Bioshock, Mass Effect, Spore, Red Alert 3 (just to name some off the top of my head), because of the stupid DRM and install limits that publishers think "saves" their games from being pirated.

I miss the old days of CD keys. (

[quote name='Lawyers Guns N Money']I've wanted a bunch of PC games. Unfortunately, they came saddled with SecuROM. I've passed on Bioshock, Mass Effect, Spore, Red Alert 3 (just to name some off the top of my head), because of the stupid DRM and install limits that publishers think "saves" their games from being pirated.

I miss the old days of CD keys. ([/QUOTE]

You're in luck. Those are all on Steam without SecuROM. A few registry entries get made (that people on forums will whine about endlessly) but they don't actually do anything. No install limits.

[quote name='Koggit']As this thread has already illustrated, the PC has a much better lineup than the consoles (as always)... it gets the best console games along with some killer PC exclusives. [/quote]

True, but the optimization of console games ported to PC is often horrendous. Publishers know they won't sell a ton of PC ports relative to their previously released console siblings, so they cheap out and hire a third party to do rush-job. Then the game runs like ass, it's buggy, and buyers get frustrated and give up. Then you sell fewer the next time around. It's a self-defeating business practice.

For example I just spent around three hours getting DMC 3 to run right on my computer. Capcom passed the port off to Ubisuck, who royally screwed it (and Onimusha 3 and RE 4), so I was up until 1 am uninstalling&reinstalling, searching forums, finding patches, and then figuring out how to ovecome all the remaining problems still not solved by the patches. This seems to be the norm any more.

I will almost never buy a port of a console game to a PC and the same vice versa, I made an exception for The Orange Box on 360 (but I own everything but Portal on both), and for GTA III when it came out since I didn't have a PC.

For me, choosing is mainly about Genre. I'd rather play a RTS on the PC, obviously MMORPGs on the PC. I prefer Civilization IV to Civilization Revolution. I like sports games on the PC because of the mod communities so I don't have to buy the game every year, but I'll buy a game like NHL 09 on the console due to the CAG community that plays it.

That being said, I prefer my casual games on a console like UNO, I just find sitting with a controller in my hand to be far less stressful than alt tabbing through a bunch of stuff while I'm trying to play. And sometimes I even like achievement whoring on the 360 over playing a game on the PC. But most of all, if there's ever a doubt my PC can "handle" a mutli-platform release, I'll go 360 and not risk it.

I installed my games onto a fresh computer last night, here's what I had:

I think it's fair to say I'd prefer to play all of those on PC rather than on a console.

The reason I'll never get a console is basically because there's just too many great games out there. I've got the opposite situation from the original poster. I've got about 20 games on my shelf I want to play and about 5 more coming out this year I can't wait for (Dragon Age, Braid, Bioshock 2, Starcraft 2 (part 1), The Agency, Fable 2, DC Universe Online, and on and on and on. Next year: Alan Wake, Diablo 3, Guild Wars 2, Starcraft 2 part 2, etc etc etc). The LAST thing I need is another system demanding my time. I'm still having too much fun on my first time through Fallout 3!

You talk about the PC being expensive? Why would I want to go out and buy a console (which one? all 3?) when I've got all these great games on my PC, which I'd still have to own in addition to any consoles I bought? It's not like anyone's ever going to get rid of their computer! You need it for too much other stuff. (gee, what are you reading this on? Hmmm...) OK, I admit PCs are more expensive than consoles, but the great thing about PCs that you can't do with consoles is that you can upgrade them a piece at a time. Sure, a new PC costs about $1000, but why would you ever go out and spend all that money all at once? For an average of about $100 a year, you can keep your PC up to date enough to play all the new games. I've been doing it for 15 years! A video card every few years, a CPU every few years, maybe a motherboard or some RAM. Again, I admit this is still more than you'd spend on one console over the life of the console, but I can afford to save about 10 bucks a month to keep doing all this awesome gaming. And don't even get me started on how new triple-A titles are $50 on PC, but $60 on console. There's your first month's 10 bucks right there! When you think about it, it's really not as expensive as everyone says it is. Do you really NEED to play Crysis on maxed out settings? Give me a break. I played it on medium settings and it STILL looked better than anything on the so-called "next gen" consoles.

And why is everyone here bashing on MMO's? I love em! My biggest problem is trying to decide if I should play WoW, Lord of the Rings Online, Warhammer, Everquest 2 or EVE! Could I play any of those on a console? Not! Still too much money? Try one of the free ones! FreeRealms is coming out this year. Too young for you? Try Sword of The Free World or Dungeon Runners! Who knows, Aion might even be free to play.

And another thing: I really don't have a problem with ports. I loved GTA 4, Asassin's Creed, Mass Effect AND Gears of War. Looking forward to Fable 2. Have any of you checked out The Witcher? It's a friggin' masterpiece. Can't play that on a console.

You say the PC's only good for Stategey (Empire: Total War, Red Alert 3 or Dawn of War 2, Supreme Commander (with expansion), World in Conflict (with expansion) or Company of Heroes (expanded twice) anyone?), RPGs (Fallout 3, The Witcher, Spore, Neverwinter Nights 2, Oblivion), MMOs (see above) or flight sims (Flight Simulator X STILL kicks ass)? OK then, how about shooters (Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, Orange Box Half-Life series, Bioshock, Call of Duty 4)? Adventure (Sam & Max, Rainslick Precipice) or just the crazy puzzle-y platform-y stuff (Portal, Braid)??? And don't even get me started on all the free mods and flash games online! And have you seen the deals on Steam and Good Ol' Games!?!?

The bottom line is: piracy sucks, but PC gaming is in great shape. If nobody ever made another PC game, I'd STILL have enough to play for years. I think you get my point. If you're not finding enough great games to play on the PC, then you're just not looking, my friend.

[quote name='Richard Longfellow']True, but the optimization of console games ported to PC is often horrendous. Publishers know they won't sell a ton of PC ports relative to their previously released console siblings, so they cheap out and hire a third party to do rush-job. Then the game runs like ass, it's buggy, and buyers get frustrated and give up. Then you sell fewer the next time around. It's a self-defeating business practice.

For example I just spent around three hours getting DMC 3 to run right on my computer. Capcom passed the port off to Ubisuck, who royally screwed it (and Onimusha 3 and RE 4), so I was up until 1 am uninstalling&reinstalling, searching forums, finding patches, and then figuring out how to ovecome all the remaining problems still not solved by the patches. This seems to be the norm any more. [/QUOTE]

Those cases are pretty rare.. reading your first paragraph the first things to mind were RE4 and DMC3.. it's really a small handful of games.

Yes, most cross-platform games aren't developed on PC first. Only certain companies like Valve do this. The 360 version is usually converted to a PC version. Bethesda did this with Oblivion and Fallout 3, Ubisoft did this with Far Cry 2, AC. EA did this with Dead Space, Mirror's Edge... everything. FEAR 2, Burnout Paradise. All of these are well-performing ports that were developed on console first.

Failures like Saints Row 2 or RE4 stick out like sore thumbs, though, so it creates a perception problem.

Witcher is coming out on consoles.