PC/Laptop sales are booming. Hardware sales are booming.
You can't just say its dying because they are prioritizing consoles.
And on graphics, once the next generation of consoles come out, we will be seeing much better graphics.
On pirating, I'm afraid there's not much you can do. Everything is gonna get cracked eventually. I just wish that companies would realise that, because at the end of the day, its the paying customers that are suffering from DRM and stuff like that, while the pirates get to skip all of that with a crack.

Also, this is unrelated to skyrim and should go in the community section.

Not to mention that a) console games are more expensive and B) every few years you end up "upgrading" anyway. And you're required to keep your crappy old console somewhere incase you want to play a fun old game you enjoyed, unless older generation games work on modern consoles? But I doubt it.

It isn't dying, browse through this http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=447650 (specifically http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=31723167&postcount=66) for reason enough. Going by market revenue PC digital and retail generates 19% of overall revenue, while every current gen console combined takes in around 29%, that's over half of all console and handheld revenue despite the PC being only one platform as opposed to 3. If we count MMOs and casual social games (facebook etc) PC gaming takes in over 51% of overall gaming revenue taken from 2010 data. It's hardly dead. Also according to Nvidia research PC gaming is growing, which is typical as late into a console's generation people tend to want better hardware and a PC provides them that, the cycle repeats every generation.

Source:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.322713-Nvidia-Profits-Grow-On-Strength-of-High-End-PC-Gaming
http://gamerinvestments.com/video-game-stocks/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/NewzooTotalConsumerSpend2010_Page_1.jpg

My logic is not flawed by any stretch, consoles lose developers more money than PCs do, that is a fact. That is the only point I made in reference to your post.

now now... console gamers hated DA2 as well~

Modding games is 50% of the enjoyment for me. I have to find out how things work. Far Cry 2 was a terrible game until I cracked it open and changed all the weapon stats; then it was actually pretty fun.

PC gaming isn't dying. There are hundreds of indy developers making great PC games. Mount & Blade is a good example. A highly addictive, innovative and incredibly fun medieval combat sim that just wouldn't work on console as the combat relies on mouse gestures. Then there's ArmA - the thinking mans Modern Warfare.

Gaming in general has become more popular and mainstream, but PC sales aren't falling comparatively - it's always been a niche market.

Then you wouldn't be able to max games now, but you'd still be able to play them, what's your point?

Not a single one of the possible voting options is correct!
PC gaming went back, because developers "decided" it to. Also it's because people can't do maths (aka "PCs are soo expensive").

To maximize their profit, developers do the cruel mistake to make every PC game cross-plattform, as long as it's somehow "playable" with a gamepad (even if the gameplay is really bad that way .. like with every 1st person shooter).
By doing that, more and more gamers stopped building gaming-PCs, because they thought consoles would be cheaper (and because they don't care about appropriate controls). That's the reason, the player-base on PC today is smaller than on console.

Developers (and also a lot of gamers) don't care about getting the best experience ... they rather play shooters and interactive movies on console, because they forgot, what real gaming is actually about.
I love PC games, which are PC games, and I love console games, which are console games.
I HATE it to see more and more PC games on consoles (instead of good console games), and I HATE to see PC games ruined by only being ported from a plattform, they should have never been on in the first place.

This whole cross-plattform-desaster is bad for both player-bases.
Sadly only a few cross-plattform titles do really work good on all plattform. It also depends on the genre, if this is even possible.



That said, shooters (and a lot of other games, including Skyrim) would be much better playable on console, if the console-developers would finally bring out gamepads with trackballs instead of a second anolog-stick. I don't understand, why they're not doing this with all the shooters and other 1st person games on consoles today.

*mind blown*

I will only reply to you this final time, because clearly you have a problem getting your point across.
Consoles do have more piracy.

Second hand sales do not = piracy, nor can they ever reach the level of piracy. Developers for one reason or another have set their price and have made their choice about DRM, it's possible on consoles, I dont own a console so I don't know how many enforce it.

hey guys im just gona say well for me its been the oposite well as a kid i use to go to my friends place were they had a pc and thats were i first got in to gaming. then wen i saved up enough money for myself i bought an xbox back wen they first came out (not the 360) then next was the 360 then i bought my own pc a couple of years ago, this year iv upgraded my pc and it rules lol id never go back to consoles
lol :intergalactic:

um... according to your second link, consoles bring in 43% on their own, not 29%.. and if they gave the consoles the ability to properly use fb apps, those numbers might change a bit... although most fb games are just shoddy reskins used as a cash grab

I disagree, the reason PC gaming might be declining (only on equal grounds, f2p, browser-based, etc. haven't stopped growing) is because PC gamers are fed up about bying poor quality products made for inferior platforms.

Its not dying at all and is a myth.

Pc gaming has been "dying" for as long as I have been playing games.
I had a atari handed down and a NES/SNES on launch day.

I haven't disputed this.


Reading comprehension is your friend. I never said that second hand sales are piracy, but that they lose developers more money in sales than piracy does by virtue of the fact that many more people are willing to buy second hand than pirated because it's legal, and there are no potential issues with the game disc working. Some developers (EA) have started implementing a quasi-DRM by way of the online-pass because of the simple fact that they're not getting any money out of these sales.

True, but there are still those few titles it is worth upgrading for.

Maybe they'll melt together...
Online cloud gaming is the future.
DVD was yesterday, your game in the cloud is the future. Streamable to all your platforms via licence.
Don't think like a gamer, and never ever think in black & white! Think like a CEO and globalist.

Consoles are for drivers, PC's are for the mechanics. And mechanics know how to drive aswell, so they'll get more out of it. Console users just want to go fast. It's a metaphor, but a precise one. It's exactly how i feel about it. Same applies for Apple computers

PC gaming is not dead. It will never be as long developers USE pc's for creating games. The console audience just grew larger the past few years. That doen't mean PC gaming can't earn it's rightful place within the gaming market/community anymore... Next to that, there are a lot of genres that just don't work on a console with a gamepad. You can't just 'banish' those.

Stop looking at this in a completely black and white contrast. There are plenty shades of grey. The fact that one platform makes more money does not mean that the other platforms can't make less.

Your 'options' (which are pretty much all biased towards the negative side of pc gaming) :

- Piracy also exists for consoles, in a lesser degree.

- Console players can also fanatically stick to one game (FIFA, COD), just as some pc gamers do with various MMO's.

- PC gaming isn't THAT expensive anymore. Next to that, you use it for more than just gaming.

- Consoles can NOT be the way of the future since they grow outdated. The next generation consoles makes up for this, but you can as easily dish out 300 bucks for a better videocard and some extra RAM, and you're set for the next two or three years.

$6000 for a gaming PC is beyond ludicrous. Anything you find for that price is going to be using components which are terrible value for money, plus a hefty premium charged for the Alienware brand. I'd never buy an Alienware or recommend that anyone else should. $1500 would be quite enough for a very good PC, component-wise:
http://techreport.com/articles.x/21876/6

A good gaming PC is also a good PC for other uses too, of course. And, while a gaming PC does cost more than a console, now that the current generation of consoles are getting long in the tooth (the graphics chips in both the Xbox 360 and PS3 are derivatives of PC GPUs which are now a few generations old), the difference in graphics can be noticeable. This is mostly because, if I play a game on my PC at 1080p, it's rendering every one of those 1920x1080 pixels, but on consoles, it's normally 720p or less scaled up. Look at this in 1080p:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o921p4TIzH4

You're paying more, but getting more too - it's a choice. And it disappoints me when I see people using "I want to sit on the sofa with a controller and play on my TV" as a reason in favour of consoles. PCs can use controllers and be hooked up to TVs no problem.

Consoles and PCs are both valid choices for different reasons, both with their pros and cons.

Good things tend to get butchered these days.

Sadly, a company as "humble" as Bethesda is in support of such butchering.

I've been hearing that PC gaming is dying for over 20 years now. No joke.

The same arguments are made every single time.

PC gaming isn't dying. People just like to talk about it like it is.

It's good to see on a game's forum some people are up for a debate and discussion, although in my view, most need to put their opinion's and preferences aside, and look at the bigger picture.

"Is PC Gaming dead", I believe the answer to that is NO, the strong and sometimes extremely passionate response from the PC users on this thread is evident of that. I think a better question is, "is PC Gaming as strong as it has been in the past, which I believe the answer to be is NO.

No one can deny that the gaming industry has of recent gone from strength to strength, and in some cases become bigger than films. Money and investment in games, has gone through the roof, and even got to the point of games been referenced as "Block busters". Is this growth because of PC gaming? I don't think it is. Consoles have dragged gaming into the mainstream. PC gaming has played it's part but only consoles have taking gaming from PC's on desks, to the living rooms of families.

I believe this change is down to Casual gamers and gaming. The industry has shifted so much attention to this market to get bigger audience's and more people playing and buying games, and it's because of consoles this is been possible, people can buy a game and put it into the console and it just works, this is the key. they don't care if it's the best it can be, if they did, they would play on a PC (just like our passionate PC friends). They just want something that works.

As the industry continues to grow in this way, then I believe PC gaming format doesn't have as strong hold on the industry as it used to, because the human behaviour of modern gamers is they just want to play the game, and not keep up dating their system or fiddling around with it to make it work.

When it comes down to it, it's to do with money, and that's the bottom line. No money no industry, so if you where in the business where which markets would you invest in, casual gamers I believe are the biggest market. It just makes business sense.

Sadly it's not as precise as you may think, there was a time a few years ago when it rang true, not anymore. Now it would be along the lines of:

Consoles are for people who want to be driven around, PCs are for people who enjoy driving. You can alter a few more things on the PC and on occasion a lot more in single-player sandboxes, but in most cars you don't have the knowledge/time to change the dashboard, gearbox, etc. etc. and with online games your modifications won't be street legal.

This and it's far to expensive. Your looking at a fraction of the price to just buy a console, something i'd really rather do. Cheaper, effective, built for the purpose and easier to maintain.

Once I can buy a decent gaming rig for a decent price I'll consider switching to gaming on the PC, until then I'll leave my rig half built and neglected.

I's say it is slowly dying due to our economy today. Why pay whatever the price is for a decent computer, when for $200 you can get the console.

I'd say that since its this forum though people will feel differently about it...

What :facepalm: ?

I'm taking my numbers from CDProjekt (for The Witcher's total sales), Bethesda (from Todd Howard's interview in which he states that 90% of Bethesda's audience is now on consoles), and from NPD/European sales charts.

You have no clue about what you're talking about.

Of the 3.2 million units Skyrim sold in its first week, short of 15% were PC. As for digital download numbers, it's an overused argument, but here goes:

- Valve doesn't publish sale numbers, but they inform the developers (of course) of the number of download. In the light of this, developers still favour consoles, making it extremely clear that Steam isn't providing a competitive income compared to retail console units.

- 175.000 concurrent users on the week of release point at a total userbase during said week that is almost certainly well under 500k units. To assume that at no time during the week of release at least one third of the buyers were playing the game is absurd. To this you need to add the fact that the PC retail SKU are Steamworks, so those sales count towards the 175k concurrent users.


In short, the PC userbase is tiny compared to the console one. It's in the numbers. It's in how developers, who wouldn't disregard a huge userbase if it was profitable, act.
Live with it.